"Strap your helmet on, because The Cumal Files is a wild ride you won't soon forget...It is fast-paced and filled with characters that are a joy to spend time with." BestThrillers.comINNOCENCE LOST. LEGACIES DESTROYED. A NATION'S DARKEST SECRET REVEALED...Forty teenage girls have disappeared from Sydney's streets without a trace, feared abducted, and the whole city is on edge. Disgruntled police investigator Dan Porter is one of few who seems to care, and after a brutal murder the killers dare him to hunt them down. When more victims are located in the United States, Europe and Asia, Porter realizes an organized crime syndicate is responsible, one driven by white supremacy ideals and aided by large scale corruption. He's joined by Lionel Roberts, a human-rights lawyer determined to expose government neglect, and they form the 'Carinya' investigation. A mysterious informant directs them to Crooked River, a hot and dusty outback town, and says clues from the past might solve crimes of the present. The Carinya team receive a hostile reception and their questions are answered with violent threats. What are the locals and powerful members of the elite so desperate to hide?When Carinya probes deeper into the town's history the crimes uncovered are more sinister than imagined. But to identify those responsible and rescue missing girls before more turn up dead they must recover historical documents that will reveal a nation's darkest secret. Documents contained within, The Cumal Files. An earlier version of this story was released as Big White Lies.
Police investigator Dan Porter returns in ORIENTAL ILLUSIONS, a suspenseful crime-fiction thriller set in Southeast Asia, the riveting sequel to James Keegan's bestselling debut, THE CUMAL FILES.IN THE MYSTERIOUS ORIENT, NOTHING AND NO-ONE ARE AS THEY SEEM...Disillusioned with his State Police career after dismantling a global sex-slave network with the Dragon Slayer taskforce, Dan Porter joins the newly-formed Interpol unit in Sydney. When multiple young backpackers vanish from Southeast Asia he's sent to Bangkok and entrusted with the difficult task of finding them.He joins the 'Lost Angels' investigation team and it's obvious from the start both Thailand's government and its suspicious elite don't want him there. Frustrated by police bosses and politicians who refuse to acknowledge something sinister is afoot, Porter fears an untouchable crime syndicate is responsible for the disappearances.He searches Bangkok's seedy underbelly for clues, in constant danger and hampered by endemic corruption. Apathy and archaic investigative methods are dismissed as misunderstandings and cultural differences. The city both intrigues and disgusts him at the same time. He's mesmerized by his partner, a true oriental beauty, but has no idea if he can trust her or anyone else. Porter delves deeper to uncover evidence linking several Thailand-based entities to human-trafficking. Religious charities, NGO's, Russian internal security agents, Cambodian gangsters, Arab drug dealers and Korean loan-sharks become targets. All have secrets to hide and plenty of reasons to want him dead. When he pursues powerful men suspected of leading a criminal network operating between Southeast Asia and Los Angeles, his loved-ones both near and far are threatened. Angry and more determined than ever he ignores the warnings and pushes on, desperate to locate the missing backpackers and expose the predators who profit from trading innocent lives. But if Porter's to succeed he must first learn to separate fact from illusion. Because in the mysterious orient, nothing and no-one are as they seem...
Ten years after fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War, lifelong friends McCall "Mac" Patton and Ron "Sandy" Sands left Clay County, Missouri behind for another life adventure of prospecting for gold in the Colorado Rockies. Fate and destiny intervened and placed an old enemy Union Redleg Captain John Merna, in the path of Mac and Sandy. Follow Mac, Sandy, Keegan, and Hugo as they encounter renegade Union Redlegs, hostile Indians, sickness, tornadoes, and high mountain passes, as they travel "The Keegan Trail" across the plains of Kansas and Colorado to the far away Rocky Mountains.
With the release of Avatar in December 2009, James Cameron cements his reputation as king of sci-fi and blockbuster filmmaking. It's a distinction he's long been building, through a directing career that includes such cinematic landmarks as The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, and the highest grossing movie of all time, Titanic. The Futurist is the first in-depth look at every aspect of this audacious creative genius--culminating in an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of Avatar, the movie that promises to utterly transform the way motion pictures are created and perceived. As decisive a break with the past as the transition from silents to talkies, Avatar pushes 3-D, live action, and photo-realistic CGI to a new level. It rips through the emotional barrier of the screen to transport the audience to a fabulous new virtual world. With cooperation from the often reclusive Cameron, author Rebecca Keegan has crafted a singularly revealing portrait of the director's life and work. We meet the young truck driver who sees Star Wars and sets out to learn how to make even better movies himself--starting by taking apart the first 35mm camera he rented to see how it works. We observe the neophyte director deciding over lunch with Arnold Schwarzenegger that the ex-body builder turned actor is wrong in every way for the Terminator role as written, but perfect regardless. After the success of The Terminator, Cameron refines his special-effects wizardry with a big-time Hollywood budget in the creation of the relentlessly exciting Aliens. He builds an immense underwater set for The Abyss in the massive containment vessel of an abandoned nuclear power plant--where he pushes his scuba-breathing cast to and sometimes past their physical and emotional breaking points (including a white rat that Cameron saved from drowning by performing CPR). And on the set of Titanic, the director struggles to stay in charge when someone maliciously spikes craft services' mussel chowder with a massive dose of PCP, rendering most of the cast and crew temporarily psychotic. Now, after his movies have earned over $5 billion at the box office, James Cameron is astounding the world with the most expensive, innovative, and ambitious movie of his career. For decades the moviemaker has been ready to tell the Avatar story but was forced to hold off his ambitions until technology caught up with his vision. Going beyond the technical ingenuity and narrative power that Cameron has long demonstrated, Avatar shatters old cinematic paradigms and ushers in a new era of storytelling. The Futurist is the story of the man who finally brought movies into the twenty-first century.
Keegan's crisp, direct poems let us feel both life's complexity and its simplicity. His tone spans the range from whimsy to tragedy. Nature awakens one's soul here, as a presence embracing or ominous by turns, especially in the vast ocean and the safe shore. Poignant intimate relationships strike the heart, as they are possessed or missed or yearned for. In a few poems, God is encountered up close but more often goes wrenchingly absent. Even animals communicate secrets and warnings by their subtle movements and sly glances. Keegan embeds these themes in personal experiences but creates verses which give them universal relevance, a skill that made him an international leader and teacher in the practice of spiritual accompaniment and spiritual direction. The innocence of his vividly recalled childhood moments discloses in adult years the larger and harder truths found in them for all of us. He writes of personal friendships, but we rediscover our own in his lines. In one striking series of poems, he even takes us into the ironies and bleak frustrations of his long struggle with Parkinson's disease: he thereby gives us strength to face our own brokenness. A disciple of Mary Oliver, e. e. cummings, Billy Collins, and others, Keegan keeps his poems accessible, his states of feeling precise, his images tangible. He does so by mastering various poetic forms: sonnets, other rhymed forms, free verse, and blank verse. "By turns fierce and humble," his grasp of life's paradox upholds his tragicomic view, giving us, his readers, "courage to love the broken world", each other, and ourselves.
The sixth volume in the popular Very Christmas series from New Vessel Press, this collection transports readers to the Emerald Isle with stories and poems sure to bring holiday cheer. This anthology is packed with beloved classics, forgotten treasures, and modern masterpieces. You'll find wondrous works by James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, Elizabeth Bowen, Anne Enright, William Trevor, Colm T ib n, Bernard MacLaverty, and many more. See how Christmas is done in snowy Dublin and on the mean streets of Belfast, from west coast to east, and even across sea and ocean to Irish communities in London and New York City. Put a flickering candle in the window and a steaming dinner on the table, and celebrate the Irish way--Nollaig Shona Daoibh--and Merry Christmas
Ten-year-old Thomas Smith and his two best friends never imagined that playing outside could lead to befriending a young visitor not of this planet, especially one that was accidentally stranded. The children suddenly find themselves trying to evade capture from soldiers as they attempt to help their new friend reunite with his out-of-this-world family. Join the fourth grade classmates as they embark on this exciting adventure, full of strange encounters, moral dilemmas, and life lessons that all children must eventually learn.The UFO and an Alien is a children's science fiction book with Ufology elements that follows several classmates, trying to assist a young alien that was accidentally left behind near Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The lessons learned along the way help teach about equality, equity, compassion, and fairness.
ENew York TimesE Bestseller EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE is the authorized biography of musician and vintner Maynard James Keenan. Co-author Sarah Jensen's 30-year friendship with Keenan gives her unique insight into his history and career trajectory. The book traces Keenan's journey from his Midwest childhood to his years in the Army to his time in art school from his stint at a Boston pet shop to his place in the international spotlight and his influence on contemporary music and regional winemaking. A comprehensive portrayal of a versatile and dedicated artist EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE pays homage to the people and places that shaped the man and his art.THUntil now Maynard's fans have had access to only an abridged version of his story. EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE presents the outtakes the scenes of disappointment and triumph and the events that led him to take one step after the next to change direction to explore sometimes surprising opportunities. Included are sidebars in his own words often humorous anecdotes that illuminate the narrative as well as commentary by his family members friends instructors and industry colleagues. The book also features a foreword by Alex Grey an American visionary artist and longtime friend of Keenan. Accompanying the text are photos of Keenan from childhood to the present.THMaynard's story is a metaphor for the reader's own evolution and an encouragement to follow one's dreams hold fast to individual integrity and work ceaselessly to fulfill our creative potential.
Actor performer musician entrepreneur winemaker athlete writer curious adventurer a Maynard James Keenan is the embodiment of the archetypal artist. Best known as the vocalist in award-winning groups Tool A Perfect Circle and Puscifer he has trusted the path he's followed and heeded his inner voice ever open to synchronicities and unexpected turnings along the way.THUntil now fans of Maynard James Keenan a or MJK as he is often called a have had access to only an abridged version of his story. In EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE Keenan partners with his friend of 30 years Sarah Jensen to present a full account of his life and career. From his Midwest childhood to his years in the army to his time in art school a and from his stint at a Boston pet shop to his place in the international spotlight and his influence on contemporary music and regional winemaking a the book chronicles the events that led MJK to take one step after the next to change direction to explore sometimes surprising opportunities.THIncluded are sidebars in his own words often humorous anecdotes that illuminate the narrative as well as commentary by his family members friends instructors and industry colleagues. It also features a foreword by Alex Grey an American visionary artist and longtime friend of Keenan along with a bounty photos of Keenan from childhood to the present.THA comprehensive portrayal of a versatile and dedicated artist EA Perfect Union of Contrary ThingsE pays homage to the people and places that shaped the man and his art. A ENew York TimesE Bestseller in hardcover it is presented here for the first time in paperback.
In reflections drawn from his writings and preaching, Pope Francis treats the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, opening for each a window on a larger theme. For instance, under "welcoming the stranger," Pope Francis reflects on the plight of refugees and immigrants. This book is one of Pope Francis's most challenging and personal reflections on the gospel message.
This is an historical survey of 20th Century Roman Catholic Theological Ethics (also known as moral theology). The thesis is that only through historical investigation can we really understand how the most conservative and negative field in Catholic theology at the beginning of the 20th could become by the end of the 20th century the most innovative one. The 20th century begins with moral manuals being translated into the vernacular. After examining the manuals of Thomas Slater and Henry Davis, Keenan then turns to three works and a crowning synthesis of innovation all developed before, during and soon after the Second World War. The first by Odon Lottin asks whether moral theology is adequately historical; Fritz Tillmann asks whether it's adequately biblical; and, Gerard Gilleman, whether it's adequately spiritual. Bernard Haering integrates these contributions into his Law of Christ. Of course, people like Gerald Kelly and John Ford in the US are like a few moralists elsewhere, classical gate keepers, censoring innovation. But with Humanae vitae, and successive encyclicals, bishops and popes reject the direction of moral theologians.
