Having discovered a monstrous conspiracy to overthrow the pharaoh, Ramses the Great, Judge Pazair has been deported for a crime he did not commit and sentenced to die in a prison camp. But the conspirators have reckoned without the love of Neferet, the young woman doctor Pazair has just married, and the courage of Suti, his friend with the hot head and the generous heart. Together, Neferet and Suti attempt to rescue Pazair so that he can resume his investigation. For there are many questions yet to be answered. Who murdered the veteran guards of the Great Sphinx? Who violated the Great Pyramid and stole the Testament of the Gods, which guarantees Pharaoh's legitimacy? Who killed Pazair's spiritual master?
This action packed drama is set in the harsh desert of ancient Egypt. Her brother Jonas is missing! The unexpected news sends Egyptologist Anina Shapiro on a journey into the desert and to historical sites. Connor O’Hearn, Jonas’s best friend accompanies her. He is in love with her and hopes that this trip will bring her closer to him. Anina is unaware of this. To her, he is just her brother’s friend. By coincidence Anina meets the mysterious Bedouin, Shekhar Fahir. He takes over the search when Connor is unable to continue. During their troublesome journey, a deep bond between Shekhar and Anina develops. But when the search ends, Shekhar realises that his tradition and culture would not allow a future for them. Will Connor make Anina his bride or is fate going to play another hand?
On the run across the Sahara, a young woman and an ex-soldier must rely on their wits, their faith, and each other in this inspiring romantic thriller. When aid worker Lexi Shannon is abducted at gunpoint in Mali, she quickly learns her kidnappers are really after her brother—and the money he’s stolen. Landing at the secluded desert compound, ex-military pilot Colton Landry has a clear mission: rescue his brother-in-law, who’s being held for ransom. But after discovering the kidnappers also have Lexi, there’s no way he’s leaving her behind. Colton and Lexi’s daring escape soon turns into a deadly chase when their plane is shot down, stranding them in the desert. Making a desperate run for the Moroccan border, they must trust each other and rely on their strength and ingenuity to survive. But it may not be enough to outrun and outsmart their relentless pursuers . . .
The only book that examines the lifestyles and motivations of the world’s biggest gamblers, the whales, and how the casinos harpoon and beach them. This definitive exposé reveals the shrouded world of ultra-high rollers and the Faustian pacts they forge with their hosts, the casino representatives whose job it is to part them from their fortunes. The third edition includes an extensive update about Las Vegas, the "greening" of gambling, the nightclub and day club scenes, the evolution of the host position, and much more--all in the words of superhost Steve Cyr.
In pre-1990s Las Vegas, casino marketing executives were all cut from the same cloth; sharply-dressed and smooth-talking with street-savvy. They rose through the ranks of operations -- dealer, floor-man, pit boss, shift boss and casino manager. When it was time to leave the trenches, they went "upstairs" into the executive offices, where they hosted a handful of established players according to the unwritten rules of old-school Vegas. Then Steve Cyr showed up.
Book 1 of the Children of the Desert series. A THIEF CHOOSES THE WRONG VICTIM. A DESERT LORD ABANDONS HIS LANDS. A YOUNG WOMAN ACCEPTS A STEWARDSHIP. THEY ALL FIND THEIR DESTINY ON THE SANDS. When Cafad Scratha was a child, someone murdered his entire family. People have questioned his sanity ever since. As the last Scratha, he's dedicated his life to catching the murderers. Now a desert lord, one of the mysterious elite of the southlands, he stands above every mundane political imperative and rule of courtesy-or so it seems until the king of the northlands tries to bring Scratha to heel. Scratha's bizarre reaction throws the independent southlands into chaos: he hands temporary control of his family lands over to the king, takes on an assumed name, and sneaks out of the city. The king sends Alyea, a young noblewoman, to hold the ceded prize: but while she understands kingdom politics, she's quickly out of her depth in the byzantine world of the southlands. What she thought was a quick ticket to power turns out to be a dangerous assignment that may well lead her to a literal dead end. Just as trapped is Idisio, the orphaned street-thief sent by a chance encounter into Scratha's service. As his new and throughly unstable master goes undercover, Idisio finds himself drawn into the mysterious world of the desert lords and their secrets. Idisio's growing comprehension of the world he's stepped into doesn't just change his beliefs; it leads him to an unsuspected truth about himself that will change his life forever. "A storyteller with a good deal of promise." - C.J. Cherryh ..".a lushly visual and highly detailed world of desert tribes, a language of beads, and a unique way of viewing the world." -Library Journal "intriguing...engaging." -Publishers Weekly "The final product put me in awe of where the world-building skills of Wisoker are at this early stage of her career...reminiscent of something out of an Ursula K. LeGuin novel in detail and complexity. Wisoker, like the best authors of this genre, has created a completely original society upon which to tell her story." -SF Site "Secrets of the Sands, the first novel of Leona Wisoker, is a truly amazing accomplishment. Restrained yet tense, compelling, intricate and imaginative, it contains so much of the everything lacking in most modern fantasy one can find oneself moved to tears when the pages finally run out. If all first novels were this good, no television would ever be turned on again." -CJ Henderson, author of Brooklyn Knight "Leona Wisoker is a gifted storyteller and in Secrets of the Sands she has succeeded in crafting a refreshingly unpredictable tale set in a stunningly rich and detailed world." -Michael J. Sullivan, author of the Riyria Revelations series "With a flair for evoking exotic locales and an eye for detail, Leona Wisoker has crafted a first novel peopled by characters who are more than they first seem. From the orphaned street-thief who possesses an uncanny ability to read situations and people, to the impetuous noblewoman thrust into a world of political intrigue, Wisoker weaves a colourful tapestry of desert tribes, honour, revenge, and an ancient, supernatural race." -Janine Cross, author of the Dragon Temple Saga ..".Wisoker makes a praiseworthy work when it comes to world building, creating with care and without haste a strong world, one piece at a time...another unique element of the story which...certainly will be developed more in the series' next novels." -Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews
Naturalist Craig Childs's "utterly memorable and fantastic" study of the desert's dangerous beauty is based on years of adventures in the deserts of the American West (Washington Post). Like the highest mountain peaks, deserts are environments that can be inhospitable even to the most seasoned explorers. Craig Childs, who has spent years in the deserts of the American West as an adventurer, a river guide, and a field instructor in natural history, has developed a keen appreciation for these forbidding landscapes: their beauty, their wonder, and especially their paradoxes. His extraordinary treks through arid lands in search of water are an astonishing revelation of the natural world at its most extreme. "Utterly memorable and fantastic...Certainly no reader will ever see the desert in the same way again." —Suzannah Lessard, Washington Post
In the darkness of the star-studded desert, bats and moths feed on the nectar of night-blooming cactus flowers. By day, birds and bees do the same, taking to blooms for their sweet sustenance. In return these special creatures pollinate the equally intriguing plants in an ecological circle of sustainability. The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse desert in the world. Four species of columnar cacti, including the iconic saguaro and organ pipe, are among its most conspicuous plants. No Species Is an Island describes Theodore H. Fleming’s eleven-year study of the pollination biology of these species at a site he named Tortilla Flats in Sonora, Mexico, near Kino Bay. Now Fleming shares the surprising results of his intriguing work. Among the novel findings are one of the world’s rarest plant-breeding systems in a giant cactus; the ability of the organ pipe cactus to produce fruit with another species’ pollen; the highly specialized moth-cactus pollination system of the senita cactus; and the amazing lifestyle of the lesser long-nosed bat, the major nocturnal pollinator of three of these species. These discoveries serve as a primer on how to conduct ecological research, and they offer important conservation lessons for us all. Fleming highlights the preciousness of the ecological web of our planet—Tortilla Flats is a place where cacti and migratory bats and birds connect such far-flung habitats as Mexico’s tropical dry forest, the Sonoran Desert, and the temperate rain forests of southeastern Alaska. Fleming offers an insightful look at how field ecologists work and at the often big surprises that come from looking carefully at a natural world where no species stands alone.
