I, Michael Bennett

                                                    I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson

                                                                       Publish at July 9, 2012

Detective Michael Bennett arrests an infamous Mexican crime lord in a deadly chase that leaves Bennett's lifelong friend Hughie McDonough dead. From jail, the prisoner vows to rain epic violence down upon New York City-and to get revenge on Michael Bennett.

Judges murdered

To escape the chaos, Bennett takes his ten kids and their beautiful nanny, Mary Catherine, on a much-needed vacation to his family's cabin near Newburgh, New York. But instead of the calm and happy town he remembers from growing up, they step into a nightmare worse than they could have ever imagined. Newburgh is an inferno of warring gangs, and there's little the police-or Bennett-can do to keep the children safe.

Target: Michael Bennett

As violence overwhelms the state, Bennett is torn between protecting his hometown and saving New York City. A partner in his investigations, federal prosecutor Tara McLellan, brings him new weapons for the battle-and an attraction that endangers his relationship with Mary Catherine. A no-holds-barred, pedal-to-the-floor, action-packed novel, I, Michael Bennett is James Patterson at his most personal and most thrilling best.

Revolt

 

 

Revolt! The Next Great Transformation from Kleptocracy Capitalism to Libertarian Socialism through Counter Ideology, Societal Education, & Direct Action 

Published July 1, 2011 

Championing counter ideology, societal education, and direct action professor Asimakopoulos develops a theory to action model for working class movement building toward societies based on self-organization and self-direction. Revolt! begins with an analysis of the 2008 economic collapse showing how neoliberal globalization is intensifying capitalism's contradictions resulting in perpetual crises affecting workers. By looking at the labor and civil rights movements it then demonstrates meaningful working class gains were obtained through high levels of class conflict made possible by radical leaders and ideology, class-consciousness and solidarity through societal education, and even rebellion. Now, argues professor Asimakopoulos, social justice can only be achieved through a new movement which, short of the immediate overthrow of capitalism, can obtain with direct action specific working class victories that will set in motion evolutionary radical change. One strategic proposal is demanding corporate boards of directors only include community and labor representatives. Revolt! will be of most interest to workers, activists, college students, and scholars, as well as anyone interested in the practical side of radical anarchism, Marxism, and social movements.

Fifth Avenue

                                                  Fifth Avenue by Christopher Smith

                                                                        Published October 12, 2010   

Look beneath all the power and all the wealth that represents New York City's Fifth Avenue, and you'll find greed, blood, revenge. In the thriller "Fifth Avenue," each intermingles within a revered society that is unprepared for what's in store for it when one man finally strikes in an effort to destroy another man for murdering his wife thirty-one years ago. Louis Ryan is that man. George Redman, his wife, two daughters and their close friends are his targets. Both men are self-made billionaires who came from nothing to stake their claim to Fifth Avenue. But when Louis Ryan hires an international assassin to literally rip the Redman family apart, a series of events that can't be stopped catapults them all through a fast-paced, hard-edged thriller in which nobody is safe. Secrets are revealed. The Mafia get involved. And George's two daughters, Celina and Leana Redman, come to the forefront. More than anyone, it's they who are caught in the throes of their father's past as Louis Ryan's blind desire to kill them all takes surprising turns in his all-out effort to see them dead.    

Fifty Shades Freed

                                                Fifty Shades Freed by E L James 

                                                                       Published April 17, 2012 



When unworldly student Anastasia Steele first encountered the driven and dazzling young entrepreneur Christian Grey it sparked a sensual affair that changed both of their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and, ultimately, repelled by Christian’s singular erotic tastes, Ana demands a deeper commitment. Determined to keep her, Christian agrees.

Now, Ana and Christian have it all—love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of possibilities for their future. But Ana knows that loving her Fifty Shades will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own identity. And Christian must overcome his compulsion to control as he wrestles with the demons of a tormented past.

Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to make Ana’s deepest fears turn to reality.

Fifty Shades Darker

               

                                                      Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

                                                                       Published April 17, 2012

Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. 

But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades.

While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey

 

 

                                                       Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

                                                                       Published April 3, 2012

Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2011 erotic fiction novel by British author E. L. James. Set largely in Seattle, it is the first installment in a trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of BDSM.
The second and third volumes are titled Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, respectively. Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists in the U.S., the U.K., and around the world.The series has sold around ten million copies worldwide, with book rights having been sold in 37 countries.

The plot traces the relationship between recent college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and manipulative billionaire, Christian Grey. Steele is required by Grey to sign a contract allowing him complete control over her life as well as a non-disclosure agreement, something that he's required from all of his previous submissives. Upon learning that she is a virgin, Grey agrees to have sex with her in order to prepare her for later encounters, fully intending that the contract would be signed. As she gets to know him, she learns that his sexual tastes involve bondage, domination, and sadism, and that childhood abuse left him a deeply damaged individual. In order to be his partner, she agrees to experiment with BDSM, but struggles to reconcile who she is (a virgin who has never previously had a boyfriend) with whom Christian wants her to be, his submissive and a to-do-with-as-he-pleases partner in his "Red Room of Pain".

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind --- until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Reception to Fifty Shades of Grey has been mixed, with Princeton professor April Alliston writing, "Though no literary masterpiece, 'Fifty Shades' is more than parasitic fan fiction based on the recent 'Twilight' vampire series." The Telegraph criticized the book as "treacly cliché" but also wrote that the sexual politics in Fifty Shades of Grey will have female readers "discussing it for years to come." A reviewer for the Ledger-Enquirer described the book as guilty fun and escapism, but that it "also touches on one aspect of female existence [female submission]. And acknowledging that fact – maybe even appreciating it – shouldn't be a cause for guilt." The New Zealand Herald stated that the book "will win no prizes for its prose" and that "there are some exceedingly awful descriptions," but that it was also an easy read and if you "can suspend your disbelief and your desire to – if you'll pardon the expression – slap the heroine for having so little self respect, you might enjoy it."The Columbus Dispatch also criticized the book but stated that, "Despite the clunky prose, James does cause one to turn the page."Metro News Canada wrote that "suffering through 500 pages of this heroine’s inner dialogue was torturous, and not in the intended, sexy kind of way".Jessica Reaves, of the Chicago Tribune, wrote that the "book's source material isn't great literature", noting that the novel is "sprinkled liberally and repeatedly with asinine phrases", and described it as "depressing".The book has also been criticised for the author's use of British idioms which, syntactically, present a disconnect from the would-be American voice of the protagonist, thus adding further strain to the dialogue.

 

Wool Omnibus 

 

                                              Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey (Wool 1 - 5)

 Published January 25th 2012

This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.

The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

Review

"This story is terrific. I was completely immersed, watching Howey slowly paint a picture of a society gone wrong through the eyes and discovery of some truly compelling characters." - Boing Boing Review

"The old assumptions about indie books no longer hold true, and readers need to be prepared to adjust their expectations accordingly. The Wool Omnibus is a great book and deserves recognition as a full fledged contribution to the science fiction genre."- Wired.com's GeekDad Review

Catching fire

 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Published September 1, 2009

“I relive versions of what happened in the arena. My worthless attempt to save Rue.  Peeta bleeding to death. Glimmer’s blotted body disintegrating in my hands. Cato’s horrific end with the muttations. These are the most frequent visitors.”

Nightmares haunt her. Katniss Everdeen has survived the last horrible games sponsored by the Capitol. Beaten, starved, bloody and practically dead, she has been physically put back together --- even the ear that was torn off has been rebuilt. Still she can never be the same because she has killed, she has seen death up close, she has lost friends, and she has risked everything only to be set up once again for another game. This is practically unheard of; once a victor, you are not put back in, but she is a special case. Katniss knows that President Snow, and all he represents, hates her. They hate her for her rebellious nature. They are not satisfied that she is playing “their” game to perfection, and they will beat her this time. Though she is only 17, she is not likely to live through another ordeal in the arena.

In this remarkable second installment of Suzanne Collins Hunger Games Trilogy, the reader is again swept into the iron grip of the Capitol, a world where no one dares rebel. Nobody disobeys, districts are created, walls are built, rules are brutally enforced and bodies pile up as their smothering laws are put in effect. Her own love, Gale, is beaten within an inch of his life because their relationship cannot be. Peeta, wise and caring, has been set up as her “love match,” which she must pretend to follow.

There is a point, however, when Katniss knows that she does love Peeta and that she does love Gale --- and sadly, they now all suffer for it. She also knows there are no winners, and that this time she will live only to protect Peeta because she does not want what they want for her. The beautiful mockingjay pen given her for her victory in the last games represents her strong spirit; it is a mixture of both the dangerous jaybird and the free-spirited mockingbird.

“A mockingjay is a creation the Capitol never intended to exist. They hadn’t counted on the highly controlled jabberjay having the brains to adapt to the world, to pass on its genetic code, to thrive in a new form. They had not anticipated its will to live.”

This time Collins has concentrated a greater amount of time building up to the frightening, bloody battles in the arena. Several characters are also more fleshed out (Haymitch, Gale, Peeta, her mother). Katniss has become a narrator with deeper insights and even greater pain. The Capitol does not just torture in a physical way; their mind games are gut-wrenching, soul-killing ploys. In CATCHING FIRE, Katniss faces the betrayal of someone she has learned to trust with her life. The ultimate destruction is one even the reader cannot imagine.
Do not even think about starting this book until you have read THE HUNGER GAMES. This is a masterful journey of terror, love and loss. Bravo, Ms. Collins! You have written an absolutely brilliant sequel, and I cannot wait for the conclusion of your phenomenal series.

Mocking Jay

 

 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Published August 24, 2010

When THE HUNGER GAMES was published two years ago, I initially started listening to the book on CD. After a few hours of that, though, I found myself at my local children's bookstore, buying a print copy instead. It turns out that the audiobook narration, although adept and exciting, just couldn't keep up with how fast I wanted to ingest Suzanne Collins's harrowing story. Caught up in the action, I wanted to find out what happened next at a pace faster than the narrator could read aloud. So, like countless other fans, I devoured the rest of the book at breakneck pace, did the same with its sequel, CATCHING FIRE, when it released last year, and spent the last several months eagerly awaiting the final installment of the series.

Well, MOCKINGJAY is here, and a satisfactory conclusion it is indeed. Although it lacks the sort of concentrated, stage-managed drama necessitated by the "games" structuring the THE HUNGER GAMES and CATCHING FIRE, the freer form of the storytelling matches the increased complexity of Collins's plot and themes. She doesn't spend a lot of time getting readers up to speed (note: if you haven't read the first two novels in the trilogy yet, do yourself a huge favor and do that first), instead dropping right in on a Katniss who is confused, weakened and disoriented following the devastation at the close of CATCHING FIRE. She's unsure who to trust, deeply ambivalent about her own role in the mounting rebellion against the Capitol, and distraught in the wake of so much loss.

Eventually, however, Katniss agrees to fulfill the role the leaders of the rebellion intended for her --- to become the Mockingjay, the public face of the rebellion. In interviews, promotional videos and skirmishes that are (of course) televised throughout the districts, Katniss is an inspiration to millions, a fact that she only fully understands when she ventures into other deeply damaged but still hopeful and fighting districts: "I begin to fully understand the lengths to which people have gone to protect me," Katniss comments.

"What I mean to the rebels. My ongoing struggle against the Capitol, which has so often felt like a solitary journey, has not been undertaken alone. I have had thousands upon thousands of people from the districts at my side. I was their Mockingjay long before I accepted the role."

Meanwhile, however, Katniss's Hunger Games partner and love interest, Peeta, is being held captive, publicly turned against Katniss and the other rebels, shattering Katniss's trust and forcing her to question everything she thought she knew. And as Katniss and her friends and fellow Hunger Games Victors are sent into dangerous, highly orchestrated missions, she begins to wonder whether the ends justify the means and even, finally, whether it's possible to have "ends" at all.

Collins's countless fans will be eager not only to see how she addresses the complicated political situations she has set up in the first two novels, but also to learn whether and how Katniss resolves the conflicts being waged in her heart, as she struggles to love either Gale or Peeta, both of whom --- like everyone in Katniss's world --- are damaged in their own ways. At first, it looks like Collins might take the easy way out, using external forces to make Katniss's decision for her; rest assured, though, that Katniss must eventually find her own way here as elsewhere.

Although the suspense in MOCKINGJAY is perhaps of a less obvious variety, it is no less palpable than in the previous trilogy installments. Palpable, too, is the anti-war sentiment, stronger here even than in Collins's earlier novels. But amid staggering losses, impossibly high stakes, and indelible scars both visible and invisible, hope, fragile and rare like the mockingjay's song, still abides.

The Hunger Games

  The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins

Published August 24, 2010

In my Teenreads.com review of THE SILENCED by James DeVita, I noted that we have a love of dystopian novels. I think it's because we, as humans, like to be right. We like to be able to make correlations between the conditions we see in the world and possible scenarios about how those conditions could achieve Worse Case Scenario status. It's frightening, really, that we should want to be right about that. Maybe it could be that we're glad other people (authors) seem to share our concerns about our direction --- as a civilization, as a country.

I admit: I'm a sucker for a good dystopian novel. In my mind, a GOOD dystopian novel doesn't settle for simply presenting a bleak set of circumstances and warning, "This is what could happen if we don't change our ways." A GOOD dystopian novel forces us to become emotionally invested in the people who are affected by the bleak conditions. A GREAT dystopian novel goes a step further and makes us want more. THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins, author of the Gregor the Overlander series, falls into this category.

The story is set in Panem, part of what used to be North America until an epic disaster rent civilization asunder into a chaotic tailspin. Rising from the ashes is the Capitol, a nightmarish totalitarian state, and 12 Districts kept under the painful thumb of the central Capitol government. The Capitol rules ferociously after an attempt at uprising several years earlier that resulted in the obliteration of a 13th District. To keep the remaining districts in line, the Capitol devised "The Hunger Games," a brutal competition for which each district must supply two "players" (known as tributes) between the ages of 12 and 18. The 24 tributes fight to the last person standing in a wasteland-like arena where they compete for basic survival supplies while every moment is mandatory televised viewing for all citizens.

When her younger sister is randomly chosen to represent their district, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place. She is sent to the Capitol with her district's other tribute, a baker's son named Peeta, where they are forced to participate in a macabre pageantry (complete with make-up artists and celebrity interviews) that leads up to the deadly games themselves. Once she enters the arena, Katniss must face her murderous fellow-tributes (some have been training for years in the event they were chosen) and decide if Peeta is an ally or an enemy. However, the decision seems to be a moot point because, as the rules stand, only one of them can emerge alive from the arena.

Collins's dystopia is somewhat old-fashioned --- mass, seemingly uncalculated oppression --- compared to more recent entries, such as LITTLE BROTHER, which is firmly grounded in a more clearly attainable reality. But I think the old-fashioned approach is part of the charm of this book (if, indeed, you can attribute the word “charm” to something that offers such a grim outlook). Collins crafts a vivid, frightening world where the citizens are worked to the point of exhaustion, starved to the point of collapse, and humiliated beyond the tolerance of any sane person for the entertainment of the elite. The heart of the book is the characters. Katniss is brave and caring, Peeta is smart and smitten. Anyone can scare readers by presenting a future devoid of hope, but it takes a skilled writer to create characters we dare to hope for. Collins has accomplished just that.

You'll be hearing a lot about THE HUNGER GAMES in the weeks and months to come, if you haven’t already. There's good reason for that. If you're like me, you have an unrelenting pile of "to be read" books. Take my advice: nudge this one closer to the top.

 

 Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

 Published 07 February 2012

From Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities. In this brilliantly written, fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human.

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption. With a little luck, her sensitive, beautiful daughter—Annawadi’s “most-everything girl”—will soon become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a fifteen-year-old scrap-metal thief, believe themselves inching closer to the good lives and good times they call “the full enjoy.”

But then Abdul the garbage sorter is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and a global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power and economic envy turn brutal. As the tenderest individual hopes intersect with the greatest global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed. And so, too, are the imaginations and courage of the people of Annawadi.

With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget.

One-Minute Devotions for Dads

      


         





  One-Minute Devotions for Dads by Jay Payleitner 

                                               Published June 1, 2012

The word devotions strikes terror into the hearts of many dads...something dull and guilt-producing you read at 5 a.m. before you do your 100 push-ups.

Enter Jay Payleitner, exit terror. Father of five and bestselling author of 52 THINGS KIDS NEED FROM A DAD (over 75,000 sold), Jay knows how regular guys think because he is one. His 125-plus coaching sessions --- devotions, if you must --- offer unexpected but relevant topics and touches of wacky humor, with titles like

• “Dumping Allowed” (listening to your kids)
• “Let ’Em Fly” (releasing your “arrows” --- your children)
• “Mile Marker 12:1” (teaching endurance)
• “The Circle Game” (telling your kids, “We’re in this  together”)
• “Thou Shalt Not Whine” (God always has a plan)

“What About You?” sections leave readers with a straightforward thing to d o or consider for their day. Dads, younger or older, will be encouraged by Jay’s seasoned wisdom and God-centered thinking.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jay Payleitner is one of the top freelance Christian radio producers in the United States. He has worked on Josh McDowell Radio, Today's Father, Jesus Freaks Radio for The Voice of the Martyrs, Project Angel Tree with Chuck Colson, and many others. He's also a popular speaker at men's events and the author of the bestselling 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad, 365 Ways to Say "I Love You" to Your Kids, and 52 Things Wives Need from a Husband. He has also served as an AWANA director, a wrestling coach, and executive director of the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative. Jay and his wife, Rita, make their home in the Chicago area, where they've raised five great kids and loved on ten foster babies.