Montana, USAWhen Lance Spector quit the CIA, he never looked back.The backstabbing, the killing, the cold-blooded murder.He swore, if he had to swallow one more government lie, he was going to lose it.He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep. Years of service had left him with nothing, and no one.Washington, Langley, the Pentagon, the whole rotten swamp could go to hell as far as he was concerned.Yekaterinburg, RussiaA Russian expedition to the heart of the tundra returned with a devastating new pathogen, harvested from the corpses of long-dead mammoths.It was the biological super-weapon they'd been looking for, an apocalypse-level pathogen, a virus more deadly than anything ever to come out of a Russian lab.It would stop NATO and the Americans in their tracks.A Biological Chernobyl.Strong enough to win a war.Washington DC, USAA mysterious vial, sealed in a titanium case, arrived at CIA headquarters. They had no idea who'd sent it, but it came with a message."I will only speak to Lance Spector."The Asset by Saul Herzog is a stunning new thriller, a spectacular tour de force, a book that has single-handedly taken the publishing industry, and Hollywood rights departments, by storm. This dazzling debut kicks off the jaw-dropping new Lance Spector series, and sets the stage for a franchise that's on track to break all records. From the mind of one of the most creative and versatile writers working in America today, this book will go down as a classic of the spy thriller genre.If you read only one book this year, this is it. Action, adventure, rebellion, provocative foreign agents, characters you can sink your teeth into. If you're looking for a new spy thriller series that will stay with you long after you turn the last page, look no further.Recommended for fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp, Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne, and Brad Thor's Scot Harvath.

Rising inequality is the defining feature of our age. With the lion’s share of wealth growth going to the top, for a growing percentage of society a middle-class existence is out of reach. What exactly are the economic shifts that have driven the social transformations taking place in Anglo-capitalist societies? In this timely book, Lisa Adkins, Melinda Cooper and Martijn Konings argue that the rise of the asset economy has produced a new logic of inequality. Several decades of property inflation have seen asset ownership overshadow employment as a determinant of class position. Exploring the impact of generational dynamics in this new class landscape, the book advances an original perspective on a range of phenomena that are widely debated but poorly understood – including the growth of wealth inequalities and precarity, the dynamics of urban property inflation, changes in fiscal and monetary policy and the predicament of the “millennial” generation. Despite widespread awareness of the harmful effects of Quantitative Easing and similar asset-supporting measures, we appear to have entered an era of policy “lock-in” that is responsible for a growing disconnect between popular expectations and institutional priorities. The resulting polarization underlies many of the volatile dynamics and rapidly shifting alliances that dominate today’s headlines.

How the asset—anything that can be controlled, traded, and capitalized as a revenue stream—has become the primary basis of technoscientific capitalism. In this book, scholars from a range of disciplines argue that the asset—meaning anything that can be controlled, traded, and capitalized as a revenue stream—has become the primary basis of technoscientific capitalism. An asset can be an object or an experience, a sum of money or a life form, a patent or a bodily function. A process of assetization prevails, imposing investment and return as the key rationale, and overtaking commodification and its speculative logic. Although assets can be bought and sold, the point is to get a durable economic rent from them rather than make a killing on the market. Assetization examines how assets are constructed and how a variety of things can be turned into assets, analyzing the interests, activities, skills, organizations, and relations entangled in this process. The contributors consider the assetization of knowledge, including patents, personal data, and biomedical innovation; of infrastructure, including railways and energy; of nature, including mineral deposits, agricultural seeds, and “natural capital”; and of publics, including such public goods as higher education and “monetizable social ills.” Taken together, the chapters show the usefulness of assetization as an analytical tool and as an element in the critique of capitalism. Contributors Thomas Beauvisage, Kean Birch, Veit Braun, Natalia Buier, Béatrice Cointe, Paul Robert Gilbert, Hyo Yoon Kang, Les Levidow, Kevin Mellet, Sveta Milyaeva, Fabian Muniesa, Alain Nadaï, Daniel Neyland, Victor Roy, James W. Williams

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

An inspiring personal development book that “can change your life” (Pete Hegseth, New York Times bestselling author and cohost of Fox & Friends) and help you obtain elite levels of success, from former Special Forces Green Beret Daniel Fielding. Thought-provoking, engaging, and accessible, The Asset Mindset effortlessly delivers twelve chapters of self-awareness, self-manifestation, and personal development, helping you to: -Discover and change any negative mindsets and behaviors that prevent you from achieving success. -Build a mindset you will be proud to live with and start creating positive changes today. -Turn yourself into an elite level asset, the kind that overcomes any obstacle that life may throw at you. Take ownership of your life and effectively pursue your goals as never before with this ultimate guidebook that is the key for “today’s pursuit for success” (Ray “Cash” Care, Navy SEAL veteran).

A study of asset price bubbles and the implications for preventing financial instability.