Henry Cosker knows he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. His uncle’s abuse took care of that. Still, when he learns his uncle is out of jail and begins getting mysterious—and chilling—messages from an unknown number, he puts two and two together. Even though it’s against his uncle’s parole, Henry knows the man is after him. Getting run off the road, he does the only thing he can think of…he runs into the woods and jumps a fence. As it’s been a few years since anyone in Gerald Wintry’s coven has found a beloved—the other half of their soul—Gerald figures he’s missed his opportunity. Over the centuries, he’s seen that Fate’s gifts come in waves, and he’s resigned himself to having to wait until the next round. That changes when, while following up on a tripped sensor, Gerald spots a human running into the back of the garden maze. Tracking him down, he learns his name is Henry, and he’s Gerald’s beloved. Except, Henry is wary of strangers, and for good reason. With a little help from a few friends, Gerald convinces his beloved that he can be trusted. Can Gerald keep Henry safe from the specters of his past?

They brought death to my doorstep. Now, I’ll bring it to theirs. I’m in over my head. There is no denying it anymore. The Skew war is real, and I’m smack in the middle of it. Moreover, after what they did to my friend, there is no getting out of it. Anyone who messes with the people I love messes with me, and they’ll pay for it. My new powers are taking shape, and I’m willing to learn everything Eric Cross has to teach me to defeat our enemies. But when hybrids ambush us, we learn Bernadetta Fiore and Stephen Erickson went further than we’d anticipated. We thought we’d prevented them from creating the vile monsters, but we were wrong, and their existence changes everything. As if all of this weren’t enough, Jake and I are still trying to figure out a way to break up his engagement, my agency is hanging by a thread, and a Midnight Witch has joined our foes. My life is chaos. Jake and I can’t be together. Revenge might be all I have left once this is all said and done. If you enjoy K.F. Breene, Shannon Mayer, Annette Marie, and CN Crawford then step into a conspiracy where you don’t know whom to trust.

Tracking technologies are now ubiquitous and are part of many people’s everyday lives. Large sections of the population voluntarily use devices and apps to track fitness, medical conditions, sleep, vital signs or their own or others’ whereabouts. Governments, health services, immigration and criminal justice agencies increasingly rely upon tracking technologies to monitor individuals’ whereabouts, behaviour, medical conditions and interventions. Despite the human rights concerns of some organisations and individuals, most wearers and their significant others tend to welcome the technologies. This paradox is only one of the many fascinating challenges raised by the widespread use of tracking technologies which are explored in this book. This book critically explores the ethical, legal, social, and technical issues arising from the current and future use of tracking technologies. It provides a unique and wide-ranging discussion, via a cross-disciplinary collection of essays, on issues relating to technological devices and apps whose use is imposed upon wearers or suggested by others, whether agencies or individuals, including in the domains of criminal justice, terrorism, and health and social care. Contributions from leading academics from across social sciences, engineering, computer and data science, philosophy, and health and social care address the diverse uses of tracking technologies including with individuals with dementia, defendants and offenders, individuals with mental health conditions and drug users alongside legal, ethical and normative questions about the appropriate use of these technologies. Cross-disciplinary themes emerge focusing on both the benefits of the technologies – freedom, improved safety, security, well-being and autonomy, and increased capacity of and efficiencies for public services – and the challenges – implementation and operational costs, mission creep, privacy concerns, stigmatisation, whether the technologies work as expected, and useability and wearability for all wearers. This book is essential reading for academics and students engaged in criminology, criminal justice, socio-legal studies, science and technology studies, medicine, health and social care, psychology, engineering, computer and data science, philosophy, social policy and social work and security studies. It will also be of great interest to policy-makers, regulators, practitioners already deploying or considering using tracking technologies, and to current and potential wearers.

This innovative book introduces Group Radical Openness (GRO), a group treatment for individuals who struggle with costly and harmful overcontrol. The book opens with the background and evolution of GRO, followed by a thorough description of how to assess overcontrol. This novel group approach draws on both Group Therapy and Polyvagal Theory and encourages an entirely different way of working with this client group. It explores the concept of overcontrol, describing a pattern of distance in relationships, rigidity, and emotional inhibition. The 27-session group treatment leads the participants on a journey where they develop trust and safety with each other, show flexibility, and become more emotionally aware and expressive. Chapters feature engaging clinical examples and strikingly original exercises. This book is aimed at clinicians looking for ways to effectively treat disorders characterised by excessive self-control, such as mood disorders, eating disorders, and certain personality disorders. This will be an important resource in a wide range of mental health and forensic settings.

Sweet Relief is the remarkable story of how twenty-eight-year-old Marla Ruzicka took on the US government, changed the world, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Marla Ruzicka was a free spirit, a savvy political operator, a wartime Erin Brockovich. Fiercely determined to improve the lives of the less fortunate, the twenty-something blonde was instrumental in convincing the U.S. government to pass historic legislation aiding civilian victims of war. Sweet Relief recounts Marla's journey from an idyllic childhood in a small California town, through Latin America and Africa, and finally to the war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Whether she was Rollerblading the halls of Congress to secure funds for civilians in Iraq or throwing parties for journalists in Kabul to raise awareness of her cause, no one who came within a hundred yards of Marla missed her. Her friendly smile and indefatigable pose were ubiquitous in Afghanistan and Iraq where Marla managed a door-to-door effort to identify war victims. While Marla worked tirelessly to care for others, in many ways she neglected herself. A diagnosed manic-depressive, Marla battled extreme emotional lows and an eating disorder. And although she brought love into the homes of the aggrieved, she often struggled to find a love of her own. Marla gave the invisible victims of war a voice and, in the process, helped to win them millions of dollars in unprecedented aid. Tragically, Marla was killed by a suicide bomber on Airport Road in Iraq in April 2005. Weeks later, the US government named the program she fought so hard to establish The Marla Ruzicka Fund. Her life and legacy are an inspiring reminder that love and determination can conquer all.