London has never been the safest place to live or work, but lately, the violence has reached an all-time high.And that's where the trouble started...When it comes to ink, Layla is the hottest name around. She owns her own tattoo studio where customers wait months for an appointment. She's been fed up with the fighting and crime around the studio for months now, but her brother ran a crew so she knows all too well what that kind of life is like.It's late when Layla locks up her studio that night... She heads to the car park but walks straight into an altercation between two rival gangs. Shots fire and she runs... Only to be pulled to the ground by a shadowy figure.When it comes to the road, no one's name is more feared than Jackson's. After years of running the streets, he's determined to leave that life behind. He's making moves onto more legit things and although he carries a certain type of name on the road, Layla soon realises that you can't believe everything you hear.The trouble in Layla's life quickly intensifies, but now it's not just around her studio, it's up close and personal. She knows that she should stay as far away from it as possible but her heart just won't let her.Can two people from completely different walks of life make it? Or will the streets find a way to come between them for good?

This fascinating study is a narrative account of the author's personal search for a better understanding of the Peyote religion. It is a phenomenological presentation which guides the reader through the complex ritual of the Peyote ceremony as seen through the eyes of its congregation. Moreover, it presents the reader with the author's unique experience in using the sacred Peyote cactus in ritual context. This work is a major contribution to scholarly studies on the Peyote religion, specifically: The Peyote Cult (1964) by Weston La Barre, The Peyote Religion Among the Navajo (1966) by David F. Aberlie and Peyote History (1987) by Omer C. Stewart.

Most creatures would bleed you by the neck before they start eating you. Not murkscreamers. They would just start eating. Old men become corpses in the mistfrost of night. Fur trappers become outlaws. Children are snatched away in the darkness. Princes corrupt the Citadels they had once sworn to protect and the murkscreamers from within the Lynchwood Mire forsake the ancient boundary oaths and terrorise the road once more. Between the ever-present noose of the law tightening around his neck and the sharp tip of a sadistic outlaw's dagger at his throat, Hrathgar Pelterman must juggle these two lives if he is to get off the road alive. Haunted by his past, uncertain about his future, the huntsman must become the hero he knows he's not.

Despite challenges by the federal government to restrict the use of peyote, the Native American Church, which uses the hallucinogenic cactus as a religious sacrament, has become the largest indigenous denomination among American Indians today. The Peyote Road examines the history of the NAC, including its legal struggles to defend the controversial use of peyote. Thomas C. Maroukis has conducted extensive interviews with NAC members and leaders to craft an authoritative account of the church’s history, diverse religious practices, and significant people. His book integrates a narrative history of the Peyote faith with analysis of its religious beliefs and practices—as well as its art and music—and an emphasis on the views of NAC members. Deftly blending oral histories and legal research, Maroukis traces the religion’s history from its Mesoamerican roots to the legal incorporation of the NAC; its expansion to the northern plains, Great Basin, and Southwest; and challenges to Peyotism by state and federal governments, including the Supreme Court decision in Oregon v. Smith. He also introduces readers to the inner workings of the NAC with descriptions of its organizational structure and the Cross Fire and Half Moon services. The Peyote Road updates Omer Stewart’s classic 1987 study of the Peyote religion by taking into consideration recent events and scholarship. In particular, Maroukis discusses not only the church’s current legal issues but also the diminishing Peyote supply and controversies surrounding the definition of membership. Today approximately 300,000 American Indians are members of the Native American Church. The Peyote Road marks a significant case study of First Amendment rights and deepens our understanding of the struggles of NAC members to practice their faith.