When a friend becomes the latest victim in a string of murders linked by bizarre crime-scene snake paintings, San Francisco homicide detective Frost Easton is drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with the most formidable adversary of his career.
Detective Inspector Joanna Piercy investigates the disappearance of a young husband - and discovers all is not as it seems. Jadon Glover is good-looking, professional, reliable and a perfect husband, according to his wife. So when he fails to return home one miserable March night, she rings the police, certain that something has happened to him. DI Joanna Piercy and DS Mike Korpanski are sceptical: there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. So what is the truth about Jadon? As the investigation proceeds, it soon becomes apparent that Jadon Glover has been keeping dark secrets from his wife. And as the police pursue their house-to-house enquiries through the claustrophobic, jumbled streets of cramped Victorian terraces, they unearth other secrets from behind the net curtains. But, whatever else has been going on among the inhabitants' quiet, desperate lives, it's clear that at least one of them knows what really happened to Jadon.
For the last thirty years, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence on the Irish music scene, an award-winning artist with many bestselling albums to her name. Now, in this long-awaited memoir, Mary takes us back to the roots of her musical heritage and to the influences that helped to shape her as an artist and a woman. Born into a musical family, Mary Black – a feisty tomboy who could hold her own when it came to sparring with her brothers and anyone else brave enough to take her on – began singing folk songs from the age of ten. Music played an important role in the family home and, performing with her brothers and her sister Frances, Mary built her highly successful career on the bedrock of these early years. From the pubs and clubs of her hometown, Dublin, she went on to perform in some of the most prestigious venues across the world. Always committed to exploring new material from the best writers, her unique talent attracted acclaim from critics, fellow artists and the public alike. It also led to a host of bestselling albums, including the multi-platinum No Frontiers, which spent more than a year in the Irish Top 30. Mary’s love of singing was matched only by the love she had for her family. As she recalls the inevitable tensions that arose when trying to juggle family life and a high-profile career, she tells of her struggle to combine the two contrasting aspects of her life. It was only through gritty determination, hard work and a fair amount of laughter that Mary was able to enjoy major success as an artist and, at the same time, raise a close and loving family with her husband Joe. Refreshingly honest, and written with warmth and humour, Down the Crooked Road offers a unique insight into the life and career of one of our most gifted singers – an artist who, during the course of her long career, has captured the hearts of millions around the world.
Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement are the roads of Genius. --William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell One of the world's most brilliant, visionary artists, William Blake was a painter, engraver, illustrator, and poet as well as a mystic of extraordinary proportion. But he was also a political radical, a Dissenter, and a friend and supporter of Thomas Paine, the English common man, and the early stages of the French Revolution. This remarkable personality is reimagined in Tyger on the Crooked Road, a bold historical novel that delves into both the man and the legend. In the late-eighteenth century, Blake struggles to make ends meet. He is harassed by repressive authorities, denied professional membership in the Royal Academy of Art, and considered by major artistic and literary figures of the day to be little but a willful eccentric. Not a few of them think him mad. But beyond his art and politics, Blake is a loyal friend and a passionate and devoted husband. His life comprises an amalgam of conflict and compassion, adventure and failure, violence and political intrigue, frustration and inspiration. This Blake is a man of profound appetite and exquisite skill--one who offers an enduring voice of strength, justice, promise, and capacity. Tyger on the Crooked Road brings Blake vividly to life, a genius underestimated in his own time but known and beloved today.
A compact, full-color companion guide to photographing San Francisco! Whether using a full-featured compact camera or a high-end dSLR, this companion guide provides you with detailed information for taking stunning shots of beautiful San Francisco. Whether you aim to capture breathtaking photos of the majestic Golden Gate Bridge, crooked Lombard Street, infamous Alcatraz, or unique Victorian homes, this portable resource goes where you go and walks you through valuable tips and techniques for taking the best shot possible. You'll discover suggested locations for taking photos, recommended equipment, what camera settings to use, best times of day to photograph specific attractions, how to handle weather challenges, and more. In addition, lovely images of San Francisco's most breathtaking attractions and recognizable landmarks serve to both inspire and assist you as you embark on an amazing photographic adventure! Elevates your photography skills to a new level with photography secrets from professional photographer Bruce Sawle Presents clear, understandable tips and techniques that span all skill levels, using all types of digital cameras, from compacts to high end DSLRs Features San Fransisco's main attractions in alphabetical order as well as thumb tabs on the pages so you can quickly and easily access the information you are looking for Shares detailed information and insight on critical topics, such as ideal locations to photograph from, the best time of day to shoot, camera equipment to have handy, weather conditions, and optimal camera settings to consider Whether you're a local familiar with the territory or a visitor seeing San Francisco for the first time, this handy guide will help you capture fantastic photos!
Diving to the very depths of human feeling and then scrambling desperately to the surface for that last breath of air, Lombard Street weaves the riveting tale of a man’s dangerous and emotional journey through marriage, addiction, madness, countless misfires, and across seas of broken promises from San Francisco to Singapore to Hong Kong.
Written with the immediacy of a novel, this groundbreaking work of creative nonfiction traces the awakening of AIDS activist Linda Jordan, a woman whose life was a struggle to survive, and who became a messenger of hope for families coping with AIDS. From her unlikely beginnings as a second-generation welfare recipient, rape victim, and heroin addict to her eventual status as a local hero, this inspirational true story follows Linda through all five harrowing decades of her life in Hartford, Connecticut.
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It was the fox's fault. If it hadn't darted out from the verge into the path of the van, Sean wouldn't have swerved into the ditch and no one would have died. As it was, Sean and Nole find themselves on the side of the lane chatting with Azrael, the Angel of Death, and setting off along the crooked road to heaven. There, in the Serene Palace of Heavenly Justice, St Peter is waiting to tell them their fate, but in the meantime there is much to learn about the nature of death and a good deal of repenting to be done.
The acclaimed author of Carved in Sand—a veteran investigative journalist who endured persistent back pain for decades—delivers the definitive book on the subject: an essential examination of all facets of the back pain industry, exploring what works, what doesn't, what may cause harm, and how to get on the road to recovery. In her effort to manage her chronic back pain, investigative reporter Cathryn Jakobson Ramin spent years and a small fortune on a panoply of treatments. But her discomfort only intensified, leaving her feeling frustrated and perplexed. As she searched for better solutions, she exposed a much bigger problem. Costing roughly $100 billion a year, spine medicine—often ineffective and sometimes harmful —exemplified the worst aspects of the U.S. health care system. The result of six years of intensive investigation, Crooked offers a startling look at the poorly identified risks of spine medicine, and provides practical advice and solutions. Ramin interviewed scores of spine surgeons, pain management doctors, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, exercise physiologists, physical therapists, chiropractors, specialized bodywork practitioners. She met with many patients whose pain and desperation led them to make life-altering decisions, and with others who triumphed over their limitations. The result is a brilliant and comprehensive book that is not only important but essential to millions of back pain sufferers, and all types of health care professionals. Ramin shatters assumptions about surgery, chiropractic methods, physical therapy, spinal injections and painkillers, and addresses evidence-based rehabilitation options—showing, in detail, how to avoid therapeutic dead ends, while saving money, time, and considerable anguish. With Crooked, she reveals what it takes to outwit the back pain industry and get on the road to recovery.