The drag queen named Vera Reynolds swayed on-stage singing "Falling in Love Again." And a sixteen-year-old boy lay in Vera's fire-engulfed apartment...very, very dead. He was a "rent boy," a sex-for-hire street kid who catered to the tastes of special customers. It was the kind of murder Soho's Vice Squad saw often. But the influential do-gooder who was a prime suspect in this one made the young boy's death different-a ticking bomb able to blast

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"As investigators brought out the bagged remains of several dozen young men from a small Chicago ranch home and paraded them in front of a crowd of TV reporters and spectators, attention quickly turned to the owner of the house. John Gacy was an upstanding citizen, active in local politics and charities, famous for his themed parties and appearances as Pogo the Clown. But in the winter of 1978-79, he became known as one of many so-called "sex murderers"...

"When the application for a new sedative called Kevadon--commonly known as thalidomide--landed on Frances Kelsey's desk at the FDA in 1960, it seemed destined to sail through the review process. The drug, billed as entirely risk-free, was already being sold in forty-six countries. But when Kelsey learned that the drug caused terrible birth defects, she and a team of dedicated doctors, parents, and journalists fought Merrell, the drug's American manufacturer,...

Learn how to spot people who play mind games and keep their attempts at sabotage and manipulation from getting under your skin. Psychological games players—those who actively seek to undermine, sabotage, and manipulate others—can be found in nearly every workplace and social gathering. This course was designed to help you spot these individuals and keep their mind games from getting under your skin. Instructor Chris Croft delves into the theory...

When a rich and powerful society ceases advancing-- a combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline-- it creates a strange kind of "sustainable decadence." It reflects a sense of futility and disappointment-- a feeling that the future was not what was promised, that the frontiers have all been closed, and that the paths forward lead only to the grave....

"A searing satire set amid the mayhem of the Sri Lankan civil war. Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida--war photographer, gambler, and closet queen--has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts...

Introducing Gideon Crew: trickster, prodigy, master thief
At twelve, Gideon Crew witnessed his father, a world-class mathematician, accused of treason and gunned down.
At twenty-four, summoned to his dying mother's bedside, Gideon learned the truth: His father was framed and deliberately slaughtered. With her last breath, she begged her son to avenge him.
Now, with a new purpose in his life, Gideon crafts a one-time mission of vengeance,...

I have three deadly problems: 1. I've seriously offended a maniacal killer. 2. I just had a bullet removed from my brain. 3. My new daughter is growing up too fast--and she's in the line of fire. Living on an obscure, technology-free island off California means safety from the murderer who hunts Kellen Adams and her new family.... Or does it? Family time becomes terror-time, and at last, alone, Kellen faces a killer playing a cruel game. Only one...

"Through the voices of twelve diverse writers, Whatever Gets You Through offers a powerful look at the narrative of sexual assault not covered by the headlines--the weeks, months, and years of survival and adaptation that people live through in its aftermath. With a foreword by Jessica Valenti, an extensive introduction by editors Stacey May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee, and contributions from acclaimed literary voices such as Alicia Elliott, Elisabeth...

A New England farmer must choose between his duty to care for his difficult, invalid wife and his love for her vivacious young cousin.