This book shows how dying is a management problem for hospitals, occupying space but few billable encounters and of little interest to medical practice or quality control. An anthropologist and bioethicist with two decades of professional nursing experience, Helen Chapple goes beyond current work on hospital care to present fine-grained accounts of the clinicians, patients, and families who navigate this uncharted, untidy, and unpredictable territory between the highly choreographed project of rescue and the clinical culmination of death.

The U.S. hospital embodies society’s hope for itself—a technological bastion standing between us and death. What does the gold standard of rescue, as ideology and industry, mean for the dying patient in the hospital and for the status of dying in American culture? This book shows how dying is a management problem for hospitals, occupying space but few billable encounters and of little interest to medical practice or quality control. An anthropologist and bioethicist with two decades of professional nursing experience, Helen Chapple goes beyond current work on hospital care to present fine-grained accounts of the clinicians, patients, and families who navigate this uncharted, untidy, and unpredictable territory between the highly choreographed project of rescue and the clinical culmination of death. This book and its important social and policy implications make key contributions to the social science of medicine, nursing, hospital administration, and health care delivery fields.

An extortion letter arrives at Crystal Waters, one of Chicago's wealthiest gated communities. It makes no specific threats, gives no instructions, demands only that $50,000 be gotten ready---chump change for an enclave where the cheapest house is worth three million. It's easy to see it as harmless---a note from a nut. Then a mansion explodes. The homeowners panic, and want it hushed up. If word gets out that a bomber is targeting Crystal Waters, their multimillion-dollar homes will become worthless, a last catastrophe for people strung out from living the good life too well. They hire Dek Elstrom to investigate. Dek Elstrom used to soar high, too, when he lived with his multimillionaire wife at Crystal Waters, but that was before the dominos of his life tipped over and his ex-wife threw him out. Now reduced to living in a crumbling stone turret, bankrupt of everything but attitude, he's not even his own ideal choice for the job. He's too broke, however, to question the motives of a gift-horse client. He needs the money---and the chance to reconnect with his ex-wife. Another bomb goes off, and Dek realizes the culprit must be someone who is angry, needs money, and used to live at Crystal Waters. Then he realizes something else. He himself is the prime suspect. A sly and clever caper among the richest of the rich, A Safe Place for Dying is for fans of Carl Hiaasen and Robert Crais.

"First published in Great Britain by Pan Books"--Title page verso.

In a high-stakes game of international espionage, survival is the only option. Zhao Xin, a defector with secrets that could alter the balance of power, has landed on Andersen Field in Guam, bringing with her a stolen J-20 stealth fighter and a flash drive containing classified war plans. As the only child of China's President for Life, she holds unimaginable leverage over America's top rival. But her father believes she perished in the depths of the Yellow Sea, and now his enforcer is on a mission to confirm her death or eliminate her. To protect Xin, the CIA hatches a daring plan: disguise her as an American astronaut and hide her in plain sight within the lunar mining colony. As an added layer of security, Delta Force operator Jan Worker is assigned as her personal protector. With danger lurking on Earth, in space, and on the Moon itself, Xin and her guardians become the target of President Zhao's relentless enforcer and his team of seasoned commandos. In "No Place to Die," the world becomes a deadly battleground where loyalties are tested, and the line between ally and enemy blurs. As Xin fights to stay one step ahead of her pursuers, she discovers that trust is a luxury she cannot afford. The race against time is on, and the fate of nations hangs in the balance. From the sprawling metropolises of Earth to the desolate lunar surface, the pulse-pounding action unfolds. Xin and her protectors must navigate a treacherous web of deception, betrayal, and shifting alliances. In a world where no one can be trusted, they must rely on their wits, their skills, and their unwavering determination to survive. In this gripping spy thriller, filled with heart-pounding suspense and unexpected twists, the stakes have never been higher. With each passing moment, Xin inches closer to her own demise or the salvation of her secrets. As the hunter becomes the hunted, the world holds its breath, knowing that in the game of spies, there truly is No Place to Die.

A bundle of books one and two in the new romantic suspense series, MURDER IN THE KEYS (NO PLACE TO DIE and NO PLACE TO VANISH), by best-selling author Jaden Skye. Over 150,000 words of reading, all for an incredible price—it also makes the perfect gift! In NO PLACE TO DIE, Olivia and Todd, madly in love, fly down to Key West when Todd offers to take her on a surprise trip for a magical weekend. Though they have only been dating five months, Olivia can’t help but wonder if Todd is preparing to pop the big question along the beautiful shores. Yet Olivia’s paradise quickly turns to hell when Todd dies right before her eyes, in a tragic accident. Or was it? Olivia sinks further into the abyss as the police wonder if she did it, and finds herself backed into a corner, having to prove her innocence while finding out if Todd was truly murdered. Yet as she searches, entering the underbelly of Key West, forced to deal with unsavory locals and with Todd’s difficult and grieving family, she discovers things about Todd that she wished she never knew—discoveries that make her realize that she never really knew the man she loved at all. In NO PLACE TO VANISH, Olivia, back in New York and trying to resume her normal life, receives a shocking phone call: her best friend from college has gone missing. She never returned from her bachelorette party. Olivia, implored by her friend’s husband to help, flies back down to Miami, determined to find her. She meets the woman’s friends, and finds herself lead deeper and deeper into a maze of lies, strippers, secret lovers, and jilted husbands. As the trail leads her back to Key West, she finds herself working side by side with Wayne again, stirring up old memories. Yet, even so, the trail has seemed to gone cold. Olivia can’t help but wonder: did her friend run off? Kill herself? Or was she murdered? MURDER IN THE KEYS is an explosive new romantic suspense series filled with love, tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal and suspense, one that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #3 will be released soon.

A Purple Place for Dying is the third book in John MacDonald's Travis McGee series, and McGee comes upon his most troubling case yet. McGee is brought to the Midwest by a big, brassy, bossy Blonde who needs help. Mona Yeoman suspects that her husband has pilfered her trust fund, and she wants a divorce. McGee's job is to find out what happened to the money. McGee doesn't particularly like Yeoman, but is tempted to take the case because he needs the money. But before he even has a chance to say yes, Mona is murdered right in front of his eyes, and this changes everything. What makes things even more mysterious is that her body disappears when the police are called to the scene of the crime.