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Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal
by George PackerA New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice"[George Packer's] account of America’s decline into destructive tribalism is always illuminating and often dazzling." —William Galston, The Washington PostAcclaimed National Book Award-winning author George Packer diagnoses America’s descent into a failed state, and envisions a path toward overcoming our injustices, paralyses, and dividesIn the year 2020, Americans suffered one rude blow after another to their health, livelihoods, and collective self-esteem. A ruthless pandemic, an inept and malign government response, polarizing protests, and an election marred by conspiracy theories left many citizens in despair about their country and its democratic experiment. With pitiless precision, the year exposed the nation’s underlying conditions—discredited elites, weakened institutions, blatant inequalities—and how difficult they are to remedy.In Last Best Hope, George Packer traces the shocks back to their sources. He explores the four narratives that now dominate American life: Free America, which imagines a nation of separate individuals and serves the interests of corporations and the wealthy; Smart America, the world view of Silicon Valley and the professional elite; Real America, the white Christian nationalism of the heartland; and Just America, which sees citizens as members of identity groups that inflict or suffer oppression. In lively and biting prose, Packer shows that none of these narratives can sustain a democracy. To point a more hopeful way forward, he looks for a common American identity and finds it in the passion for equality—the “hidden code”—that Americans of diverse persuasions have held for centuries. Today, we are challenged again to fight for equality and renew what Alexis de Tocqueville called “the art” of self-government. In its strong voice and trenchant analysis, Last Best Hope is an essential contribution to the literature of national renewal.
Last Boat to Yokohama
by Nassrine Azimi Michel WassermanLast Boat to Yokohama tells a story of both tragedy and grandeur in the 20th century. It recounts the life and work of Beate Sirota Gordon: the influence of her father, Leo Sirota, one of the greatest pianists of his generation; her secret work ensuring women’s equality while helping to develop the post-WWII Japanese constitution-at the age of 22; her broad influence on hundreds of Western artists such as Robert Wilson, David Byrne and Peter Sellars-who were introduced to leading contemporary Asian music, dance, theater and visual artists through her extraordinary cross-cultural efforts. The book relives Beate's drive, talent, ambition, and influence, with intimate diary excerpts from her mother, an introduction by Beate herself, and an afterword from her daughter, Nicole.
Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took On a World at War
by Deborah CohenA prize-winning historian&’s revelatory account of a close-knit band of wildly famous American reporters who, in the run-up to World War II, took on dictators and rewrote the rules of modern journalism &“As intimate and gripping as a novel, this brilliant book vividly conveys what it felt like to live through the shocking crises of the thirties and forties.&”—Larissa MacFarquhar, author of Strangers DrowningThey were an astonishing group: glamorous, gutsy, and irreverent to the bone. As cub reporters in the 1920s, they roamed across a war-ravaged world, sometimes perched atop mules on wooden saddles, sometimes gliding through countries in the splendor of a first-class sleeper car. While empires collapsed and fledgling democracies faltered, they chased deposed empresses, international financiers, and Balkan gun-runners, and then knocked back doubles late into the night. Last Call at the Hotel Imperial is the extraordinary story of John Gunther, H. R. Knickerbocker, Vincent Sheean, and Dorothy Thompson. In those tumultuous years, they landed exclusive interviews with Hitler and Mussolini, Nehru and Gandhi, and helped shape what Americans knew about the world. Alongside these backstage glimpses into the halls of power, they left another equally incredible set of records. Living in the heady afterglow of Freud, they subjected themselves to frank, critical scrutiny and argued about love, war, sex, death, and everything in between.Plunged into successive global crises, Gunther, Knickerbocker, Sheean, and Thompson could no longer separate themselves from the turmoil that surrounded them. To tell that story, they broke long-standing taboos. From their circle came not just the first modern account of illness in Gunther&’s Death Be Not Proud—a memoir about his son&’s death from cancer—but the first no-holds-barred chronicle of a marriage: Sheean&’s Dorothy and Red, about Thompson&’s fractious relationship with Sinclair Lewis. Told with the immediacy of a conversation overheard, this revelatory book captures how the global upheavals of the twentieth century felt up close.
Last Call for Bud Light: The Fall and Future of America's Favorite Beer
by Anson FrericksThe astonishing inside story of how Bud Light lost its position as the most popular beer in the United States from a longtime Anheuser-Busch executive. Anson Frericks, a former president at Anheuser-Busch—formerly the home of America&’s most popular brewery—watched as the company unraveled at the hands of globe-trotting financiers and progressive middle management. Rather than pursue shareholder profits, Anheuser-Busch suddenly became focused on stakeholder capitalism and the vague mandates of environment, social, and governance (ESG). This ill-advised change cumulated in the shocking evaporation of $30 billion in market cap after releasing an advertising campaign starring political activist Dylan Mulvaney. Now, Anheuser-Busch&’s evolution and its subsequent fallout is brought to light as never before with this ultimate insider&’s look. Compelling, candid, and eye-opening, Last Call for Bud Light is the unforgettable story of the downfall and future of an American icon.
Last Call for Liberty: How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat
by Os GuinnessThe hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War.
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
by Daniel OkrentA brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America's most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict one of America's favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages. From its start, America has been awash in drink. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. By the 1820s, liquor flowed so plentifully it was cheaper than tea. That Americans would ever agree to relinquish their booze was as improbable as it was astonishing. Yet we did, and Last Call is Daniel Okrent's dazzling explanation of why we did it, what life under Prohibition was like, and how such an unprecedented degree of government interference in the private lives of Americans changed the country forever. Writing with both wit and historical acuity, Okrent reveals how Prohibition marked a confluence of diverse forces: the growing political power of the women's suffrage movement, which allied itself with the antiliquor campaign; the fear of small-town, native-stock Protestants that they were losing control of their country to the immigrants of the large cities; the anti-German sentiment stoked by World War I; and a variety of other unlikely factors, ranging from the rise of the automobile to the advent of the income tax. Through it all, Americans kept drinking, going to remarkably creative lengths to smuggle, sell, conceal, and convivially (and sometimes fatally) imbibe their favorite intoxicants. Last Call is peopled with vivid characters of an astonishing variety: Susan B. Anthony and Billy Sunday, William Jennings Bryan and bootlegger Sam Bronfman, Pierre S. du Pont and H. L. Mencken, Meyer Lansky and the incredible--if long-forgotten--federal official Mabel Walker Willebrandt, who throughout the twenties was the most powerful woman in the country. (Perhaps most surprising of all is Okrent's account of Joseph P. Kennedy's legendary, and long-misunderstood, role in the liquor business.) It's a book rich with stories from nearly all parts of the country. Okrent's narrative runs through smoky Manhattan speakeasies, where relations between the sexes were changed forever; California vineyards busily producing "sacramental" wine; New England fishing communities that gave up fishing for the more lucrative rum-running business; and in Washington, the halls of Congress itself, where politicians who had voted for Prohibition drank openly and without apology. Last Call is capacious, meticulous, and thrillingly told. It stands as the most complete history of Prohibition ever written and confirms Daniel Okrent's rank as a major American writer.
Last Days in Shanghai: A Novel
by Casey WalkerLuke Slade, a young Congressional aide, begins this business trip to China like all other international travel he's endured with "Lyin' Leo": buried under a slew of diplomatic runarounds, non-functioning cell phones, and humiliation from the Congressman at every turn. But on day two, a new challenge rears its ugly head: Leo goes on a drunken bender and disappears into the night. Unsure what dubious business his corrupt and buffoonish boss had planned, Luke must piece together the Congressman's lies while maintaining appearances with their Chinese contacts.Amidst the confusion, a little bleary from jet-lag and alcohol, Luke receives a briefcase full of money from the mayor of a rural Chinese province. Luke accepts the "gift" in his daze, but when he later realizes his mistake and tries to return the cash, he discovers even more anxiety-inducing news. The mayor is dead.As Luke tries to unravel the complex minefield of corruption he's tumbled into, he must also confront his own role in the events. Unwitting marionette? Fall guy? Or perhaps someone more capable of moral compromise than he would have liked to believe. Last Days in Shanghai is an unforgettable debut by a writer to watch. It's both a hold-on-to-your-seat thriller and a pitch-perfect exploration of present day China-the country's rapacious capitalism, the shocking boom of its cities and the wholesale eradication of its traditions.
Last Days of the Civil War
by Bruce CattonFrom the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning history A Stillness at Appomattox, an electrifying account of the end of the Civil War--Grant and Lee's final maneuvers as four years of internecine conflict inched to a close."The end of the war was like the beginning, with the army marching down the open road under the spring sky." Here is the triumphant close of Bruce Catton's history of the Army of the Potomac, the major Union army that fought and ultimately won the war. In the spring of 1865, the war was in its endgame, as Grant broke through the defenses at Petersburg and chased Lee's army for the final clash. Meanwhile, Lee had one final option open to him: escape to North Carolina and join up with General Joe Johnston or otherwise accept defeat. Here are the war's final days and minutes, the race to the finish of America's bloodiest years.
Last Ditch House
by Shane DunphyThe cases recounted here by the author-- a child protection worker, are those of four children from very different aspects of Irish society, each with a unique story to tell.
Last Futures: Nature, Technology and the End of Architecture
by Douglas MurphyWhatever happened to the last utopian dreams of the city?In the late 1960s the world was faced with impending disaster: the height of the Cold War, the end of oil and the decline of great cities throughout the world. Out of this crisis came a new generation that hoped to build a better future, influenced by visions of geodesic domes, walking cities and a meaningful connection with nature. In this brilliant work of cultural history, architect Douglas Murphy traces the lost archeology of the present day through the works of thinkers and designers such as Buckminster Fuller, the ecological pioneer Stewart Brand, the Archigram architects who envisioned the Plug-In City in the '60s, as well as co-operatives in Vienna, communes in the Californian desert and protesters on the streets of Paris. In this mind-bending account of the last avant-garde, we see not just the source of our current problems but also some powerful alternative futures.From the Hardcover edition.
Last Gate of the Emperor
by Kwame Mbalia Prince Joel MakonnenFrom Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel David Makonnen comes an Afrofuturist adventure about a mythical Ethiopian empire. Sci-fi and fantasy combine in this epic journey to the stars.Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime -- a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family... and his only friends.Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and wisecracking sense of humor, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb's Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears.Suddenly, all the stories Yared's uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the center of them.Together with Besa and the Ibis -- a game rival turned reluctant ally -- Yared must search for his uncle... and answers to his place in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.
Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War
by Lynne OlsonA groundbreaking account of how Britain became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of Europe in their desperate struggle to reclaim their continent from Hitler, from the New York Times bestselling author of Citizens of London and Those Angry Days When the Nazi blitzkrieg rolled over continental Europe in the early days of World War II, the city of London became a refuge for the governments and armed forces of six occupied nations who escaped there to continue the fight. So, too, did General Charles de Gaulle, the self-appointed representative of free France. As the only European democracy still holding out against Hitler, Britain became known to occupied countries as “Last Hope Island.” Getting there, one young emigré declared, was “like getting to heaven.” In this epic, character-driven narrative, acclaimed historian Lynne Olson takes us back to those perilous days when the British and their European guests joined forces to combat the mightiest military force in history. Here we meet the courageous King Haakon of Norway, whose distinctive “H7” monogram became a symbol of his country’s resistance to Nazi rule, and his fiery Dutch counterpart, Queen Wilhelmina, whose antifascist radio broadcasts rallied the spirits of her defeated people. Here, too, is the Earl of Suffolk, a swashbuckling British aristocrat whose rescue of two nuclear physicists from France helped make the Manhattan Project possible. Last Hope Island also recounts some of the Europeans’ heretofore unsung exploits that helped tilt the balance against the Axis: the crucial efforts of Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain; the vital role played by French and Polish code breakers in cracking the Germans’ reputedly indecipherable Enigma code; and the flood of top-secret intelligence about German operations—gathered by spies throughout occupied Europe—that helped ensure the success of the 1944 Allied invasion. A fascinating companion to Citizens of London, Olson’s bestselling chronicle of the Anglo-American alliance, Last Hope Island recalls with vivid humanity that brief moment in time when the peoples of Europe stood together in their effort to roll back the tide of conquest and restore order to a broken continent.Advance praise for Last Hope Island“A rip-roaring saga of hairbreadth escape, espionage, and resistance during World War II, Lynne Olson’s Last Hope Island salvages the forgotten stories of a collection of heroic souls from seven countries overrun by Hitler who find refuge in Churchill’s London and then seek payback in ways large and small. In thrilling fashion, Olson shows us that hell hath no fury like a small country scorned.”—Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake “Lynne Olson is a master storyteller, and she brings her great gifts to this riveting narrative of the resistance to Hitler’s war machine. You will be thrilled and moved—and enraged, saddened, and shocked—by the courage and steadfastness, human waste and stupidity, carelessness and nobility, of an epic struggle. Last Hope Island is a smashing good tale.”—Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Being Nixon “A powerful and surprising account of how figures from Nazi-occupied Europe found Great Britain an essential shield and sword in the struggle against Hitler. This is a wonderful work of history, told in Olson’s trademark style.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion
Last Instructions (Agent 10483 Ser. #2)
by Nir HezroniFirst there was Three Envelopes, critically acclaimed on publication – now the story of Israeli secret service operative Agent 10483 continues in Last Instructions. A psychopathic former Israeli spy, Agent 10483 is busy trying to shut down the spy organization he once worked for. At the same time, he is plotting his revenge on the individuals he deemed responsible for betraying him, and trying to hunt down a nuclear warhead. It cannot end well. Everyone wants to get their hands on him: the Organization, two assassins working for Herr Schmidt, who is also trying to get hold of the warhead, and Carmit, who has quite literally been messing with his brain. Offering a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the technology of high-level intelligence operations, Nir Hezroni&’s dark thriller is a chilling exploration of a psychotic killer.
Last Knight: A Biography of General Sir Phillip Bennett AC, KBE, DSO (Big Sky Publishing Ser.)
by Robert LowryGeneral Sir Phillip Bennett is a good example of what makes a great leader. With a good combination of innate personal qualities, education, broad experience and the hardening that comes with survival on the battlefield he prospered. As a young officer he survived the first and most perilous year of the Korean War, including the Battle of Kapyong.
Last Lectures on the Prevention and Intervention of Genocide (Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity)
by Samuel TottenLast Lectures on the Prevention and Intervention of Genocide is a collection of hypothetical ‘last lectures’ by some of the top scholars and practitioners across the globe in the fields of human rights and genocide studies. Each lecture purportedly constitutes the last thing the author will ever say about the prevention and intervention of genocide. The contributions to this volume are thought-provoking, engaging, and at times controversial, reflecting the scholars’ most advanced thinking about issues of human rights and genocide. This book will be of great interest to professors, researchers, and students of political science, international relations, psychology, sociology, history, human rights, and genocide studies.
Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy
by Peter S. CanellosThe comprehensive New York Times bestselling biography of Senator Ted Kennedy dives deeply into his political career, his shocking downfall, and his redemption from disappointing member of a grand dynasty to respected sage in the Senate.No figure in American public life had such great expectations thrust upon him and fallen short of them so quickly. But Ted Kennedy, the gregarious, pudgy, and least academically successful of the Kennedy boys, became the most powerful senator for over forty years and the nation&’s keeper of traditional liberalism. As Peter S. Canellos and his team of reporters from The Boston Globe show in this intimate biography, Ted witnessed greater tragedy and suffered greater pressure than his siblings. He inherited a generation&’s dreams and was expected to help confront his nation&’s problems in order to build a fairer society. But political rivals turned his all-too-human failings into a condemnation of his liberal politics. As the presidency eluded his grasp, Kennedy was finally free to become his own man. He transformed himself into a symbol of wisdom and perseverance. Perceptive and carefully reported, drawing from candid interviews with the Kennedy family, Last Lion captures magnificently the life, historic achievements, and personal redemption of Ted Kennedy, and offers a fresh assessment of his enduring legacy.
Last Man Down: The Fireman's Story: The Heroic Account of How Pitch Picciotto Survived the Collapse of the Twin Towers
by FDNY Battalion C Richard 'Pitch' PicciottoThe No. 1 bestselling true story of Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto who, on 11 September, survived the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.On September 11th, Battalion Commander Richard 'Pitch' Picciotto was the highest ranking fire department commander in the twin towers when the North Tower fell. Pitch and his men were on the 17th floor racing upward when the world seemed to explode around them. From his intimate knowledge of the Towers gained during service after the 1993 WTC bombing Pitch was able to lead the firefighters to an alternative stairwell to floor 12 where they were met with a horrifying sight - more than 50 workers too crippled, too old, or too weak to have made their way out on their own. Pitch ordered his firefighters to form a human chain and pushed and cajoled them down the stairs. They were in the 7th floor stairwell when the tower fell, and Pitch and a handful of survivors woke to find themselves buried on the landing of floor 2. This is the story of how Pitch Picciotto led his men and the survivors to safety.
Last Man Standing: Mort Sahl and the Birth of Modern Comedy
by James CurtisA Times Literary Supplement 2017 Book of the YearOn December 22, 1953, Mort Sahl (1927–2021) took the stage at San Francisco's hungry i and changed comedy forever. Before him, standup was about everything but hard news and politics. In his wake, a new generation of smart comics emerged—Shelley Berman, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen, and the Smothers Brothers, among others. He opened up jazz-inflected satire to a loose network of clubs, cut the first modern comedy album, and appeared on the cover of Time surrounded by caricatures of some of his frequent targets such as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Adlai Stevenson, and John F. Kennedy. Through the extraordinary details of Sahl's life, author James Curtis deftly illustrates why Sahl was dubbed by Steve Allen as “the only real political philosopher we have in modern comedy.”Sahl came on the scene the same year Eisenhower and Nixon entered the White House, the year Playboy first hit the nation's newsstands. Clad in an open collar and pullover sweater, he adopted the persona of a graduate student ruminating on current events. “It was like nothing I'd ever seen,” said Woody Allen, “and I've never seen anything like it after.” Sahl was billed, variously, as the Nation's Conscience, America's Only Working Philosopher, and, most tellingly, the Next President of the United States. Yet he was also a satirist so savage the editors of Time once dubbed him “Will Rogers with fangs.”Here, for the first time, is the whole story of Mort Sahl, America's iconoclastic father of modern standup comedy. Written with Sahl's full cooperation and the participation of many of his friends and contemporaries, it delves deeply into the influences that shaped him, the heady times in which he soared, and the depths to which he fell during the turbulent sixties when he took on the Warren Commission and nearly paid for it with his career.
Last Man at Arlington (The George Williams Novels)
by Joseph DiMonaA tightly muscled and unflinching thriller Six low-level Kennedy administration operatives are targeted for murder by a mad man on the tenth anniversary of the assassination. One of the intended victims, George Williams, now a Justice Department agent, is locked in a life and death struggle to find the killer before it&’s too late.
Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice
by Michel ParadisA thrilling narrative that introduces a key but underreported moment in World War II: The Doolitte Raids and the international war crimes trial in 1945 that defined Japanese-American relations and changed legal history.In 1942, freshly humiliated from the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was in search of a plan. President Roosevelt, determined to show the world that our nation would not be intimidated or defeated by enemy powers, he demanded recommendations for a show of strength. Jimmy Doolittle, a stunt pilot with a doctorate from MIT, came forward, and led eighty young men, gathered together from the far-flung corners of Depression-era America, on a seemingly impossible mission across the Pacific. Sixteen planes in all, they only had enough fuel for a one-way trip. Together, the Raiders, as they were called, did what no one had successfully done for more than a thousand years. They struck the mainland of Japan and permanently turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. Almost immediately, The Doolittle Raid captured the public imagination, and has remained a seminal moment in World War II history, but the heroism and bravery of the mission is only half the story. In Last Mission to Tokyo, Michel Paradis reveals the dramatic aftermath of the mission, which involved two lost crews captured, tried, and tortured at the hands of the Japanese, a dramatic rescue of the survivors in the last weeks of World War II, and an international manhunt and trial led by two dynamic and opposing young lawyers—in which both the United States and Japan accused the other of war crimes—that would change the face of our legal and military history. Perfect for fans of Lucky 666 and Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial, Last Mission to Tokyo is a thrilling war story-meets-courtroom-drama that explores a key moment in World War II.
Last One Over the Wall: The Massachusetts Experiment in Closing Reform Schools
by Jerome G. MillerLast One over the Wall is an analytical and autobiographical account of Jerome G. Miller's tenure as head of the Massachusetts juvenile justice system, during which he undertook one of the most daring and drastic steps in recent juvenile justice history -- he closed reformatories and returned offenders to community supervision and treatment by private schools and youth agencies. Filled with insights into juvenile and adult behavior in prison and outside, Miller's account provides a rare opportunity to view our juvenile justice system as a whole, including all the politics, economics, and social biases that come with it. In a new preface for this edition, the author reflects on his decision of seven years ago and the lessons learned from it.
Last Orders: An absolutely gripping and unputdownable crime thriller
by S. J. ButlerLondon in the early nineties is a hotbed of political activism and intrigue, prey and predator, and times are changing fast - too fast for DCI Rick Bailey, who is starting to think he cannot keep up. But then a young woman goes missing in the run-up to Christmas, and he's convinced Alice's disappearance is related to an unsolved murder that has haunted him for the last three years.He stumbles upon a suspect connected to all the clues, among them a care worker facing betrayal and abuse, a cemetery worker hearing music that does not play, an activist running from himself and a blind man who sees more than anyone else.Who will lead them to Alice before the church bells ring?_____Praise for S. J. Butler:'S.J. Butler writes like a dream and tells tales from the stuff of nightmares . . . This is high-octane crime fiction' TONY PARSONS'Class warfare in all its glory or goriness' TONY MILLINGTON'⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This story gets hold of you and makes you shudder. Five stars''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ An extraordinarily fantastic literary thriller. A huge five star read for me' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Plenty of twists to keep you guessing! Just brilliant''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Gritty, well written, a real page turner' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Gem of a debut''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Great twists and turns . . . Can't wait to read more of S. J Butlers books!!'An addictive and nail-biting crime thriller from the author of Between the Lines and Deadly Lesson. Perfect for fans of Biba Pearce, Robert Bryndza and Patricia Gibney.
Last Orders: An absolutely gripping and unputdownable crime thriller
by S. J. ButlerLondon in the early nineties is a hotbed of political activism and intrigue, prey and predator, and times are changing fast - too fast for DCI Rick Bailey, who is starting to think he cannot keep up. But then a young woman goes missing in the run-up to Christmas, and he's convinced Alice's disappearance is related to an unsolved murder that has haunted him for the last three years.He stumbles upon a suspect connected to all the clues, among them a care worker facing betrayal and abuse, a cemetery worker hearing music that does not play, an activist running from himself and a blind man who sees more than anyone else.Who will lead them to Alice before the church bells ring?_____Praise for S. J. Butler:'S.J. Butler writes like a dream and tells tales from the stuff of nightmares . . . This is high-octane crime fiction' TONY PARSONS'Class warfare in all its glory or goriness' TONY MILLINGTON'⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This story gets hold of you and makes you shudder. Five stars''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ An extraordinarily fantastic literary thriller. A huge five star read for me' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Plenty of twists to keep you guessing! Just brilliant''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Gritty, well written, a real page turner' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Gem of a debut''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Great twists and turns . . . Can't wait to read more of S. J Butlers books!!'An addictive and nail-biting crime thriller from the author of Between the Lines and Deadly Lesson. Perfect for fans of Biba Pearce, Robert Bryndza and Patricia Gibney.
Last Orders: An absolutely gripping and unputdownable crime thriller
by S. J. ButlerLondon in the early nineties is a hotbed of political activism and intrigue, prey and predator, and times are changing fast - too fast for DCI Rick Bailey, who is starting to think he cannot keep up. But then a young woman goes missing in the run-up to Christmas, and he's convinced Alice's disappearance is related to an unsolved murder that has haunted him for the last three years.He stumbles upon a suspect connected to all the clues, among them a care worker facing betrayal and abuse, a cemetery worker hearing music that does not play, an activist running from himself and a blind man who sees more than anyone else.Who will lead them to Alice before the church bells ring?_____Praise for S. J. Butler:'S.J. Butler writes like a dream and tells tales from the stuff of nightmares . . . This is high-octane crime fiction' TONY PARSONS'Class warfare in all its glory or goriness' TONY MILLINGTON'⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This story gets hold of you and makes you shudder. Five stars''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ An extraordinarily fantastic literary thriller. A huge five star read for me' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Plenty of twists to keep you guessing! Just brilliant''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Gritty, well written, a real page turner' '⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Gem of a debut''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Great twists and turns . . . Can't wait to read more of S. J Butlers books!!'An addictive and nail-biting crime thriller from the author of Between the Lines and Deadly Lesson. Perfect for fans of Biba Pearce, Robert Bryndza and Patricia Gibney.
Last Place Called Home: A Novel
by Betsy HartmannAs the secret federal sting operation Snakehead targets the fentanyl trade, the small mill town of Stanton, Massachusetts, becomes a battlefield in the war on drugs and three mothers—newspaper reporter Laura Everett, businesswoman Mimi Sullivan, and machinist Angie Gillen—must overcome their differences and confront their pasts to keep their troubled teenagers out of the crossfire. Help comes from unexpected quarters when several Stanton cops break ranks with their superiors after learning that Snakehead&’s real mission is to militarize the police and northern border. Stakes rise as the opioid crisis deepens and Mimi&’s daughter sinks further into depression and heroin addiction. Laura&’s and Angie&’s sons try to save her, but their efforts only place her more at risk and she is forced to run away. Ultimately, the deadly violence being perpetrated all around her—by gangs, dealers, and those running the Snakehead operation—compels Laura to dig deep within herself for the power to take charge.A fast-paced, multilayered thriller that reveals the high human costs of the drug war, Last Place Called Home is also a story about love and loyalty to family, friends, and place. Stanton is a hard place to live in—but it&’s an even harder place to leave.