Bücher veröffentlicht von Simon & Schuster

The fifth novel in Pocket Books sucessful crime mystery tying in with the hit television series, CSI: Miami, this time with a holiday theme!

Following the death of Ross Wright, a motley assortment of family members, friends, neighbors, and others gathers for a memorial at his house on the Mediterranean island of Santerre, unleashing a complex wave of family tensions, rivalries, quarrels, romantic attraction, and financial upheaval. A fi

The third in Sharie Kohler’s sexy werewolf series, following the sultry paranormal novels Marked By Moonlight, and Kiss of a Dark Moon. Psychic Chloe Ferguson has spent her life hiding from the emotions other people feel, until a pack of bloodthirsty lycans brutally attacks her and places her in a cell with a dangerous, starved, half-breed werewolf. Suddenly, she is overcome with terror, fury, and desire. What’s even more frightening than being on the fast track to becoming a lycan herself is her own blood-burning need for her darkly sexy cellmate. Half-breed Sebastian Santiago is more animal than human when Chloe is tossed into his cell. His enemies expect him to feed on her for survival, but the beautiful woman with the tender eyes of a wounded animal ignites a hunger in him that has nothing to do with his body’s need for food…and everything to do with his dark appetite to possess her, body and soul.

It's a Christmas tale only a man called Kinky could tell. King Jonjo Mayo the First is in a bind. Every Christmas, he commissions an artist to paint a traditional nativity scene to be dramatically revealed after midnight mass. This year, though, the date is mere weeks away, and he still has not yet found his painter. The king decides to take a chance on a peculiar, mute boy whose artistic genius and clairvoyance are rumored throughout the kingdom. He sends three valiant, if begrudging, knights to seek out the boy in the remote countryside. Finally, they find Benjamin -- and he is, indeed, peculiar. Nobody knows if the child is up to the task, but the king's Christmas tradition -- and Benjamin himself -- might just be saved by a Christmas miracle that comes in the form of a very special pig -- who is rather peculiar herself.

Most manufacturing companies with batch-and-queue "push" production systems have been blindsided by today''s consumer who expects quality products and services delivered on demand and customized to individual taste. In The Perfect Engine, manufacturing experts Anand Sharma and Patricia E. Moody describe for the first time how leading "pull" production pioneers build to order by reducing inventory, decreasing cycle time, minimizing floor space, and eliminating waste. Drawing on scores of examples and detailed case studies of three leaders in the demand economy field -- Maytag, Pella, and Mercedes-Benz -- Sharma and Moody demonstrate how these companies achieved astonishing results using the pathbreaking LeanSigmaSM Transformation. Combining lean production and quality elements from the famous Six Sigma process, LeanSigma produces annual productivity gains of 15 percent to 20 percent. In addition, the authors show, inventory turns more than quadruple; cycle times drop by more than 70 percent; and floor space reductions of 30 percent to 50 percent are not uncommon. Sharma and Moody provide immensely readable explanations of key technical aspects of the process--for example, how cell-based one-piece flow can replace batch-and-queue with dramatically improved lead times and inventory turnover. A chapter on a revolutionary design technique the authors call Design for LeanSigma or 3P (product and production preparation) shows how to build flexibility into the product design and the production systems at very low risk, which will be especially helpful when forecasts and customer orders deviate from original projections, as they usually do. Further, the Design for LeanSigma method is devised to produce profitability at short-term volume projections, which makes it a perfect tool for the new demand economy. Essential, timely, and important, The Perfect Engine is perfect reading for this new manufacturing era.

This fine blend of Harvard scholarship and seasoned judgment is really two books in one. The first develops a sophisticated approach to negotiation for executives, attorneys, diplomats -- indeed, for anyone who bargains or studies its challenges. The second offers a new and compelling vision of the successful manager: as a strong, often subtle negotiator, constantly shaping agreements and informal understandings throughout the complex web of relationships in an organization.

In their youth, Manni and Franzi, together with their brothers, Ziggy and Sebastian, captured Germany's collective imagination as the Flying Magical Loerber Brothers -- one of the most popular vaudeville acts of the old Weimar days. The ensuing years have, however, found the Jewish brothers estranged and ensconced in various occupations as the war is drawing near its end and a German surrender is imminent. Manni is traveling through the Ruhr Valley with Albert Speer, who is intent on subverting Hitler's apocalyptic plan to destroy the German industrial heartland before the Allies arrive; Franzi has become inextricably attached to Heinrich Himmler's entourage as astrologer and masseur; and Ziggy and Sebastian have each been employed in pursuits that threaten to compromise irrevocably their own safety and ideologies. Now, with the Russian noose tightening around Berlin and the remnants of the Nazi government fleeing north to Flensburg, the Loerber brothers are unexpectedly reunited. As Himmler and Speer vie to become the next Führer, deluded into believing they can strike a bargain with Eisenhower and escape their criminal fates, the Loerbers must employ all their talents -- and whatever magic they possess -- to rescue themselves and one another. Deftly written and darkly funny, Germania is an astounding adventure tale -- with subplots involving a hidden cache of Nazi gold, Hitler's miracle U-boats, and Speer's secret plan to live out his days hunting walrus in Greenland -- and a remarkably imaginative novel from a gifted new writing talent.

Rachel is so the It Girl. She has the looks and any guy she wants. Until Dylan. To get Dylan, Rachel has her best friend, Hannah, write an e-mail for her. It works. Dylan thinks he''s falling for Rachel -- but he''s really falling for Hannah. And now Hannah has two choices: bail on her best friend, or risk losing Dylan forever.

"Aclear-sighted, heartfelt, and humane story of the needless tests and treatments that cripple healthcare....as a guide to good medicine, it may help us get back to the essence of what good doctors do: be with patients in healing." —Samuel Shem, M.D., author of The House of God and The Spirit of the PlaceIn Hippocrates’ Shadow, Dr. David H. Newman upends our understanding of the doctor-patient relationship and offers a new paradigm of honesty and communication. He sees a disregard for the healing power of the bond that originated with Hippocrates, and, ultimately, a disconnect between doctors and their oath to"do no harm." Exposing the patterns of secrecy and habit in modern medicine’s carefully protected subculture, Dr. Newman argues that doctors and patients cling to tradition and yield to demands for pills or tests. Citing fascinating studies that show why antibiotics for sore throats are almost always unnecessary; how cough syrup is rarely more effective than a sugar pill; and why CPR is violent, invasive—and almost always futile, this thought-provoking book cuts to the heart of what really works, and what doesn’t, in medicine. 

By the 1920s, Denver had outgrown its frontier-town beginnings. But for some, life was still as perilous as the surrounding terrain. The insidious influence of the Ku Klux Klan was reaching its peak, and those who stood in its path feared for their safety. Denver is the saga of a family caught in this tempestuous time. To newspaperman Tom Hastings, his writing matters more than anything. As the book opens, President Harding has just died, and Hastings finds himself drawn toward the biggest story of his career. But his wife resents his allegiance to the newspaper and his Jewish stepfather is a target for the supremacist Kleagles—two good reasons not to persist in his pursuit of the story: that and the KKK has penetrated the highest levels of government in the state. Some eighty characters surround Tom Hastings: there’s his half-sister, the quiet, passionate Jewess Anna Kohl; David Waldo, a socialist and friend to Jack London; Willie Brown, a rising political star torn between his desire for elective office and the love of his life; and Marvel Millette, a Nellie Bly–like reporter in whom Tom Hastings finally meets his match. John Dunning creates flesh-and-blood figures, not only of these fictional characters but of historical personages as well. There is John Galen Locke, the Grand Dragon of the KKK, and Fred Bonfils, a founder of a newspaper dynasty built on tabloid sensationalism; President Calvin Coolidge, too, makes a gruff appearance. Denver is a panoramic novel as vibrant as the city for which it is named, as tumultuous as the era in which it is set. John Dunning never lets the reader lose sight of the men and women who live their lives on the pages of this saga. While crosses burst into angry flames and menacing droves of white-robed Klansmen gather against the torch-lit skies, passions, fears, joys, and hates are played out in Denver in the 1920s.

The acclaimed autobiography from the Tony and Academy Award-winning actress casts Patricia Neal in her greatest role?as the indomitable heroine of her own incredible real-life story: ?Destined for bestsellerdom? (Library Journal).Throughout her triumphant career, Patricia Neal faced a series of devastating challenges and losses, sometimes privately, sometimes before an audience of millions. By age twenty-one, the self-confident, determined, Southern-bred actress had starred in a Broadway hit, won a Tony, was ?the toast of New York? and was featured on a Life cover?only the first of many triumphs in a celebrity life. ?In this account, Neal writes candidly about her numerous love affairs, both transient and profound, such as a liaison with Gary Cooper and her twenty-five-year marriage to writer Roald Dahl. More arresting are the tragedies that beset her, including the deaths of two of her five children and, at age thirty-nine, a massive stroke suffered when she was at the peak of her career and carrying her fifth child. Her heroic struggle to regain her speech, mobility, and mental capacities adds another dimension to an already courageous human being? (Publishers Weekly).

Bestselling author Andrea Kane delivers a pulsating blend of corruption, seduction, and bone-chilling suspense in this sensational blockbuster thriller. From its opening scene to its shattering climax, the dark undercurrents of murder and love entwine in her most powerful and edgy novel yet.Manhattan attorney Victoria Kensington is deeply alarmed when she runs into her sister, Audrey, in Central Park—clad in a hospital gown and fleeing from unknown pursuers. As Audrey collapses at her feet, warning about danger, Victoria rushes for help. When she returns, Audrey has vanished from sight. Despite threats against her life, Victoria vows to discover her sister's whereabouts. She works alone until the only man she ever loved, Zachary Hamilton, suddenly appears in New York. Assigned to investigate a worldwide drug syndicate, he suspects it may tie in to Audrey's disappearance. Together, Victoria and Zach race against the clock to crack the deadly drug ring and find Audrey. While they work, they find the white-hot electricity between them recharging to a fever pitch. Pursuing the shocking truth that might tear Victoria's family irrevocably apart, she and Zach begin to unravel a complex web of deceit—which echoes terrifyingly back to Victoria's own life.

Destinies are shattered, the Romulan Empire is shaken to its core, and Jean Luc-Picard's life is changed forever in this Star Trek: The Next Generation novel.Long before Captain Jean-Luc Picard took command of the legendary Starship Enterprise(TM), he fell deeply and hopelessly in love with Doctor Beverly Crusher. Though, for one reason or another, Picard never acted on his feelings, he found a measure of contentment as Beverly's close friend, colleague, and daily breakfast partner. But when Doctor Crusher leaves her position on the Enterprise to become the chief medical officer of Starfleet, the brightest light in Picard's life is taken from him. And he has hardly resigned himself to his loss when he learns that Beverly has been declared missing in action on a distant planet?and presumed dead. Kevratas is a bleak, frozen world on the far side of the Romulan Neutral Zone where the Federation has become the plague-ravaged natives' only real hope of survival and freedom. Starfleet has no recourse but to send in another team to try to save the Kevrata?and Picard is the natural choice. Critical to the success of his mission are two colleagues who served under him when he commanded the Starship Stargazer?Pug Joseph, a man with a past to live down, and Doctor Carter Greyhorse, who has served time for attempted murder?as well as a Romulan who left his people years earlier and never expected to return. Together, they follow the trail of Beverly Crusher to Kevratas, determined to succeed where the doctor failed. On the Romulan homeworld, meanwhile, the political vacuum created by the demise of Praetor Shinzon has been filled by his staunchest supporter, Senator Tal'aura. But there are those who oppose her, including Commander Donatra and the warbird fleets under her command, because of the way Tal'aura has mishandled rebellions on the Empire's subject worlds. And one rebellion in particular; the movement for self-determination on frigid Kevratas. So begins a desperate struggle?not only for the freedom of the long-oppressed Kevrata but also for the soul of the Romulan Empire. Before it's over, destinies will be forged and shattered, the Empire will be shaken to its ancient foundations, and Jean-Luc Picard's life will be changed...forever.

Synopsis coming soon.......

In THE MAGIC OF CONFLICT, struggle becomes success, stress becomes harmony and a whole new world of possibilities is opened up for the reader.

In the Danza family, the men did most of the cooking -- great Italian-American food that has remained the favorite cuisine in American households for more than a century. Now, actor, television personality, and exuberant cook Tony Danza and his son, Marc (and grandson, Nicholas!), invite you into the kitchen with their huge, at times hilarious, Italian-American clan for 50 top-secret family recipes (the sauce and the lasagna) and never-before-shared stories and photographs. You'll meet Tony's mom and dad, and Tony's mom's family, the Camisas. You'll meet Marc's family and of course his son, Nicholas. You'll meet the uncles, the aunts, and the cousins, all important people in Tony's and Marc's upbringing. You'll read stories about an Italian immigrant family that grew strong in America and really lived the American dream. The stories are, for the most part, wrapped around the recipes and the food that was the center of family life: Uncle John's Pasta with Prosciutto Sauce, Mother's Lasagna, Chicken with Lemon and Garlic, Holiday Antipasto, Roasted Chicken and Potatoes, Escarole and Bean Soup, Ricotta Cheesecake, and even Tony and Marc's Quick or Date Sauce, a fabulous tomato sauce that's fast, easy, and sure to help you impress the ladies. So pull up a chair, pick up a fork, and join Tony and Marc as they cook, eat, and laugh their way through the generations. And remember, "don't fill up on the antipasto."

Eminent mystery authors Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply team up for a richly nuanced new installment in the Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson series that is a tribute not only to two witty, smart fictional sleuths but also to the enduring friendship of their creators. It's late August, just when thousands of vacationers on beautiful Martha's Vineyard are preparing to go home so the kids can return to school. There's a problem, though. A union has gone on strike, paralyzing the Steamship Authority, which runs the ferries to "America," and creating panic and anger among many tourists and islanders alike. When an explosion destroys a boat's engine room and kills the striker who apparently planted the bomb, J. W. Jackson, once a Boston cop but now an island man-of-all-work, reluctantly agrees to the widow's pleas that he attempt to prove her husband innocent of the crime. As J.W. begins inquiries, he discovers a complex series of relationships among strikers, scabs, and boat owners, and encounters violence of his own. Meanwhile, Boston attorney Brady Coyne gets a call from a former client now living full-time on the Vineyard, who tells him about a group of armed men loading and unloading mysterious crates at a dock at midnight. Jackson and Coyne get together and discover that not only are their cases connected but that time is running out for them to prevent a crime that could have international ramifications -- and their only hope will be to confront dedicated killers face-to-face....With its winning contrast of page-turning suspense and evocative Vineyard ambiance, Third Strike is crime fiction at its best.

J. W. Jackson, the ex-Boston cop turned fisherman, cook, and jack-of-all-trades, delves deep into the mysterious depths of his beloved Vineyard in author Philip Craig's most compelling caper yet.With his wife, Zee, and two kids visiting relatives in "America," J.W. is alone and quickly tiring of his temporary bachelor status when a request from Carole Cohen comes as a blessed diversion. Carole wants J.W. to find the person who's stalking her brother, Roland. Known locally as "The Monk" for his reclusive ways, Roland lives on a beautiful piece of Vineyard real estate that he co-owns with his cousin, Sally Oliver. A number of people, including Sally, would do almost anything to convince Roland to sell his valuable property. But does that include violence? J.W. is happy to take on what looks like a short and easy assignment, though he soon realizes that Roland may lead a more complicated life than his austere living arrangements suggest. And when a body turns up near Roland's land, what seemed like a property dispute takes a detour into murder -- with J.W. in the midst of the action once again. Featuring a rich mix of money, lust, pride, and jealousy, spiced with a little poignant regret, Vineyard Stalker is a page-turning and deftly plotted addition to this popular and engaging series in which Martha's Vineyard itself is always the star.

Seeds of a new corn plant are stolen from Oxford University's botany lab, and the professor, Alastair Scott, and his Russian assistant, Tanya Petrovskaya, are missing. Alarms ring in London and Washington, where intelligence officials know that Scott was working on a supergene that could allow control over the world's entire food supply. The British government calls in Arthur Hemmings from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. To his coworkers, Hemmings is just another researcher in the herbarium, but for many years he has been a secret service agent, an outwardly rumpled but dashing covert adventurer. Officials see a Moscow plot. Has Scott been kidnapped? Is he dead? Have Scott and Tanya fled to Russia? And why is Oxford's vice-chancellor withholding vital information? The intrepid Hemmings follows a series of clues into the cutthroat world of international patents, where the hunt for priceless genes is always nasty and often deadly. In Arthur Hemmings, Pringle has created an original heartbreaker of a hero, a botanist detective with a dash of James Bond. Facing murderous threats, Hemmings investigates fearlessly and with devastating precision. Handsome, witty, an ambitious cook, and a wine lover, he is irresistible to a much younger American female researcher. Day of the Dandelion is a seductive modern hybrid of the thrillers of Graham Greene and the adventure novels of Ian Fleming, filled with political, scientific, and commercial intrigue, and laced with miracle plants, deadly toxins, kidnappings, and car chases. It will keep the reader in suspense and amused from prelude to postscript.

Inside a nondescript cinder-block building in Manhattan, beyond the misleading sign that reads "Global Fish" and the attractive plainclothes FBI employee at the reception desk, Special Agent Nick Vanko is running a surprisingly successful undercover operation. His bosses consider him a hard case and the members of his squad a bunch of self-destructive freaks with disciplinary problems. But despite the regular investigations by internal affairs, the squad is capable of doing real Bureau work. They've been chipping away at the Brooklyn mob, where their prime target, the don's anointed capo, Mike Parisi, is in the middle of a bitter power struggle with underboss Danny DiMiglia. DiMiglia is ruthless and unimaginative, but Parisi is smarter, and when Manny, one of his crew, finds twenty grand and a page from a hand-drawn map in his father's abandoned safe deposit box, Parisi realizes he's got the means to bring DiMiglia down. But first they have to retrieve the other half of the map, and it's in an evidence room at the FBI. While the agents at Global Fish obstruct the FBIHQ inspector who's just arrived, a female agent is assigned to the squad. Sheila's got as many problems as the rest of them, but the most serious is her obsession with a serial murder investigation she's been unable to solve. Vanko is rattled by his attraction to her and diverts the squad to help her find the killer, just as Parisi uses the map in a whopper of a scam to keep DiMiglia in check.

The eagerly awaited continuation of OLD WOUNDS!Captain Chakotay and his sister, Sekaya, are being held captive beneath the surface of Loran II by a Changeling -- an outcast Founder masquerading as Chakotay''s second-in-command, Andrew Ellis. To Chakotay''s horror, the Changeling gives the two prisoners over to the infamous Cardassian scientist Crell Moset, who plans to use Chakotay''s Sky Spirit-enhanced DNA to create a super species that will bring him the fame and acceptance he craves. Leaving Chakotay and Sekaya to their fate, the Changeling assumes Chakotay''s image and infiltrates the Starship Voyager™, putting the entire crew at risk. Dr. Jarem Kaz and Lieutenant Harry Kim, increasingly suspicious of their captain''s odd behavior, turn to Admiral Janeway and Lieutenant Commander Tom Paris for help. As Paris races to save Voyager from catastrophe, the real Chakotay must undertake a "Spirit Walk" that could set him and his sister free -- or lead to their ultimate destruction....

For the past twenty-five years Americans have relied on Pulitzer Prize-winning wordsmith William Safire for their weekly dose of linguistic illumination in The New York Times Magazine''s column "On Language" -- one of the most popular features of the magazine and a Sunday-morning staple for innumerable fans. He is the most widely read writer on the English language today.Safire is the guru of contemporary vocabulary, speech, language, usage and writing. Dedicated and disputatious readers itch to pick up each column and respond to the week''s linguistic wisdom with a gotcha letter to the Times. The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time marks the publication of Safire''s sixteenth book on language. This collection is a classic to be read, re-read, enjoyed and fought over. Fans, critics and fellow linguists wait with bated (from the French abattre "to beat down") breath for each new anthology -- and, like its predecessors, this one is bound to satisfy and delight. Safire finds fodder for his columns in politics and current events, as well as in science, technology, entertainment and daily life. The self-proclaimed card-carrying language maven and pop grammarian is not above tackling his own linguistic blunders as he detects language trends and tracks words, phrases and clichés to their source. Scholarly, entertaining and thoughtful, Safire''s critical observations about language and slanguage are at once provocative and enlightening.Safire is America''s go-to guy when it comes to language, and he has included sharp and passionately opinionated letters from readers across the English-speaking world who have been unable to resist picking up a pen to put the maven himself in his place or to offer alternate interpretations, additional examples, amusing anecdotes or just props.The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time is a fascinating, learned and piquant look at the oddities and foibles that find their way into the English language. Exposing linguistic hooey and rigamarole and filled with Safire''s trademark wisdom, this book has a place on the desk or bedside table of all who share his profound love of the English language -- as well as his penchant for asking "What does that mean?" Or, "Wassat?"This new collection is sure to delight readers, writers and word lovers everywhere and spark the interest of anyone who has ever wondered, "Where did the phrase ''brazen hussy'' come from?"

The mystery of the Taurus Reach is about to be revealed in this third novel from the acclaimed Vanguard saga, based on Star Trek: The Original Series!Ancient secrets lie on the fourth planet of the Jinoteur system, and three great rivals are fighting to control it. The Federation and the Klingon Empire want to wield its power; the Tholian Assembly wants to bury it. But the threat stirring on that distant world is more dangerous than they realize. The Shedai, who ruled the Taurus Reach aeons ago, have risen from their ages of deathlike slumber to gather, marshal their strength, and take their revenge. To keep Jinoteur from falling into enemy hands, the crews of Starbase Vanguard and the U.S.S. Sagittarius must risk everything: friends...loved ones...their own lives. But the sacrifices they make may prove too terrible for them to bear.

Within every federation and every empire, behind every hero and every villain, there are the worlds that define them. In the aftermath of Unity and in the daring tradition of Spock''s World, The Final Reflection, and A Stitch in Time, the civilizations most closely tied to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine can now be experienced as never before...in tales both sweeping and intimate, reflective and prophetic, eerily familiar and utterly alien.FERENGINAR: Quark''s profit-driven homeworld is rocked with scandal as shocking allegations involving his brother''s first wife, the mother of Nog, threaten to overthrow Rom as Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance. Making matters worse, Quark has been recruited by Rom''s political adversaries to join their coup d''état, with guarantees of all Quark ever dreamed if they succeed in taking his brother down. While Ferenginar''s future teeters on the edge, the pregnancy of Rom''s current wife, Leeta, takes a difficult turn for both mother and child.THE DOMINION: Since its defeat in the war for the Alpha Quadrant, the Great Link -- the living totality of the shape-shifting Founders -- has struggled with questions. At its moment of greatest doubt, its fate, and that of the Dominion itself, is tied to Odo''s investigation of his kind''s true motives for sending a hundred infant changelings out into the galaxy.As Odo searches for answers and takes a hard look at his past choices, Taran''atar reaches a turning point in his own quest for clarity...one from which there may be no going back.

The first novel in a seductive new medieval romance series A valiant warrior...Wearied by the violence of the Crusades, Simon, Knight of Lyan, is returning home to Ireland when he is attacked by a vampire and transformed into a creature of the night. His only chance for redemption is to find an ancient treasure of legend -- the power of which can restore his humanity. A brilliant beauty...Young Isabel of the Castle Charmot knows that her freedom and the preservation of her family''s estate depend not only on her comeliness, but on an intricate deception of her own design. Thus far, her ruse has kept potential enemies and amorous suitors at bay -- until the mysterious visitor appears at her door, asking to explore the catacombs of her keep. A desperate desire...In each other, Simon and Isabel find the comfort and trust to share their separate secrets -- and a shared passion they never thought possible. But when the sinister creature that cursed Simon to darkness arises once more, the doomed knight must choose between saving his immortal soul and claiming the heart of the only woman he''s ever loved....

The New York Times bestselling author Jude Deveraux brings a "wonderful addition" (Booklist) to her Montgomery/Taggert Family series with this supernatural romance in which, with the help of a feisty ghost, a man uncovers the secrets that led to the tragic death of his fiancée.After three years, Jace Montgomery is still grieving over his fiancée Stacy's mysterious suicide. He hasn't been interested in another woman since her passing, and her family still blames him for her death. While flipping through one of her old paperbacks, Jace discovers a photo of a house stuck between the pages, bearing the cryptic message: "Ours again. Together forever. See you there." The note was dated the day before her death. Obsessed by the possibility of understanding her suicide, Jace seeks out the property?Priory House, a big brick fortress in Margate, England?and buys it. It doesn't take long to learn that the house is haunted by a headstrong and feisty ghost, Ann Stuart, whom he must tangle with if he's ever to solve the mystery. Ann died under circumstances similar to those of his late fiancée, and he has a hunch that there is a connection between the two. Through his own investigations and with the help of a beautiful foreign correspondent, Jace is forced to reconcile his fiancée's life and her death. What follows is a satisfying and seductive discovery of both time and love by one of America's favorite storytellers.

"A national language is a national tie, and what country wants it more than America?" -- Noah Webster What makes American English American? In 1800, irascible patriot Noah Webster set out to answer this question by tirelessly recording the vocabulary of a novel breed -- the American citizen. Though he was a political conservative, his American Dictionary of the English Language was born out of his deeply held and profoundly democratic conviction that language was by and for the people. A word's popularity, no matter how lowly its origins, was its criterion for inclusion. Webster's original American dictionary, the granddaddy of them all, helped define the American character. In a light-footed introductory essay, Harvard historian and New Yorker contributor Jill Lepore brilliantly revives the curmudgeonly Webster: his rigor, his passion for words, and his paradoxical ideas about language and politics. Arthur Schulman, longtime crossword puzzle creator for The New York Times, has culled fifteen hundred of Webster's entries from the original book, revealing Webster's interpretive powers as well as his pervasive moralism. Incisively annotated and delightfully illustrated with quotes from contemporary American sources, these excerpts paint a fascinating picture of a budding Republic. For everyone who's ever gone to "look it up in Webster's" Websterisms offers a crisp new view both of the man justifiably called the Founding Father of American English and of his magnum opus. It took Webster twenty-eight years to compile and publish his monumental work, during which time he was much mocked: what could American English be but a perversion of the King's English? But his dictionary stuck, and its influence grew and grew. We still use most of the words Webster defined, like spank and caucus. Others, like musquash, haven't fared as well. Websterisms tells the tale of a language that once was and that lives on.

"There's always a point in the season when you're faced with a challenge and you see what you're capable of. And you grow up." -- J.T. Curtis, head coach, John Curtis Christian School Patriots On Saturday, August 27, 2005, the John Curtis Patriots met for a grueling practice in the late summer New Orleans sun, the air a visible fog of humidity. They had pulled off a 19-0 shutout in their pre-season game the night before, but it was a game full of dumb mistakes. Head coach J.T. Curtis was determined to drill those mistakes out of them before their highly anticipated next game, which sportswriters had dubbed "the Battle of the Bayou" against a big team coming in all the way from Utah. As fate played out, that afternoon was the last time the Patriots would see one another for weeks; some teammates they'd never see again. Hurricane Katrina was about to tear their lives apart. The Patriots are a most unlikely football dynasty. There is a small, nondescript, family-run school, the buildings constructed by hand by the school's founding patriarch, John Curtis Sr. In this era of high school football as big business with 20,000 seat stadiums, John Curtis has no stadium of its own. The team plays an old-school offense, and Coach Curtis insists on a no-cut policy, giving every kid who wants to play a chance. As of 2005, they'd won nineteen state championships in Curtis's thirty-five years of coaching, making him the second most winning high school coach ever. Curtis has honed to a fine art the skill of teaching players how to transcend their natural talents. No screamer, he strives to teach kids about playing with purpose, the power of respect, dignity, poise, patience, trust in teamwork, and the payoff of perseverance, showing them how to be winners not only on the gridiron, but in life, and making boys into men. Hurricane Katrina would put those lessons to the test of a lifetime. Hurricane Season is the story of a great coach, his team, his family, and their school -- and a remarkable fight back from shocking tragedy. It is a story of football and faith, and of the transformative power of a team that rises above adversity, and above its own abilities, to come together again and prove what they're made of. It is the gripping story of how, as one player put it, "football became my place of peace."