In a universe filled by chaos and disorder, one physicist makes the radical argument that the growth of order drives the passage of time -- and shapes the destiny of the universe. Time is among the universe's greatest mysteries. Why, when most laws of physics allow for it to flow forward and backward, does it only go forward? Physicists have long appealed to the second law of thermodynamics, held to predict the increase of disorder in the universe, to explain this. In The Janus Point, physicist Julian Barbour argues that the second law has been misapplied and that the growth of order determines how we experience time. In his view, the big bang becomes the "Janus point," a moment of minimal order from which time could flow, and order increase, in two directions. The Janus Point has remarkable implications: while most physicists predict that the universe will become mired in disorder, Barbour sees the possibility that order -- the stuff of life -- can grow without bound. A major new work of physics, The Janus Point will transform our understanding of the nature of existence.
Army veteran and restaurant owner John Callan was at the wrong place at absolutely the worst time. And he paid for it with the lives of his wife and daughter. His attempt at revenge on Morgan Ropp, the country’s most lethal criminal, lands him in a special, top secret section of the Federal Witness Security Program: the Janus Project. Life under Janus is supposed to be the safest available for protected witnesses – and it is for Callan until Morgan escapes from prison and finds out where – and when – Callan is hiding. The Janus Project reveals the struggle of survival when the need for revenge pushes us to the brink of disaster. This character-driven novel highlights the dichotomy of a man torn between the fictional life that has been implanted in his new reality and the depth of his instincts that drive him within his innermost soul. Which reality will win? It’s a matter of time.
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley's spree of torture, sexual abuse, and murder of children in the 1960s was one of the most appalling series of crimes ever committed in England, and remains almost daily fixated upon by the tabloid press. In The Gates of Janus, Ian Brady himself allows us a glimpse into the mind of a murderer as he analyzes a dozen other serial crimes and killers. Criminal profiling by a criminal was not invented by the dramatists of Dexter. Novelist and true-crime writer Colin Wilson, author of the famous and influential book The Outsider, remarks in his introduction to Brady's book that one must first explore the depraved reaches of human consciousness to truly understand human character. When first released in 2001, The Gates of Janus sparked controversy attended by a huge media splash. The new edition, the first in paperback, provides the reader with a decade and a half of updates, including Brady's letters to the publisher, both providing information regarding his own demented history along with demands that Feral House remove its unflattering afterword written by author Peter Sotos.
The Janus Complex - a Political Thriller set in 1960s Britain. It is the era of the beautiful people, flower power, free love and the Beatles...but not everything is beautiful. America is embroiled in a disastrous war in Vietnam and in race riots at home while in Britain, Northern Ireland is on the brink of civil war. When 21 year old Glaswegian, Jamie Raeburn, helps an American Naval Officer being brutally attacked in a dark City street, his actions change his life forever. Seriously injured, the Good Samaritan is rushed to Glasgow's Royal Infirmary where he meets and falls under the spell of Kate Maxwell, a beautiful, but married, English nurse. The couple embark on a torrid love affair which leads to heartache and despair because Kate holds a secret which will eventually tear them apart. Unable to share her secret she returns home to England alone. Disillusioned, Jamie follows, intent on finding her and winning her back but his quest ends prematurely when he meets Lucienne (Lucie) Kent and falls in love. But for Jamie, history repeats itself. Lucie Kent, like Kate Maxwell, has a dark and terrible secret which she tries, in vain, to keep from Jamie. When Lucie finally divulges the horror of it, Jamie is set on a deadly collision course with Max Kelman, a powerful Midlands gangster. In the explosive finale Jamie endeavours to release Lucie from Kelman's clutches but this is something he can't do alone. Enlisting the help of the American Officer and, through him, a Belfast cell of the Provisional IRA, he prepares to confront Kelman. The consequences are fatal for both. Jamie Raeburn has grown into a man but his journey has been painful. He has changed...but what, exactly, has he become
Everything changes for Mylie O'Farrell, a health care assistant, when ex-army officer Harry is admitted to the psychiatric unit after trying to strangle his wife. Through a series of encounters, the two become close, but soon Mylie realises that Harry is harbouring a secret terror.
In Fix You, movie star Andrew Pettigrew (Andy to his fans, Andrew to his friends) somehow found the level-headed love he was looking for in young widow and “regular girl” Kelly Reynolds. Now, as they work to mesh their growing relationship with his gold-statue ambitions, things go a bit sideways, in true Hollywood fashion. Though they’re still wonderfully in love, it’s challenge enough for Andrew and Kelly to decipher what it means to be a family—and a growing family at that—between takes on set. But Andrew also brings history with a temperamental co-star, assorted paparazzi, and someone out there who has serious, perhaps obsessive, issues with him into the mix. Suddenly the Reynolds-Pettigrew clan must fight not just to stay together, but to stay safe. In Trouble Me, the sequel to Fix You and third novel from Rita finalist Beck Anderson, Kelly and Andrew struggle to stay sane within their whirlwind life. It’s a life that’s equal parts amazing and amusing, less glamorous than you might expect, and spiked with very real fears no amount of stardom can overcome. Will Andrew and Kelly stay strong at the broken places or be torn apart?
The fates of universes aren’t the only things time travel can impact. Sometimes the effect is a lot more mundane and closer to home. And when that happens, it’s up to the cops of Themis Division to make time turn out right. It was supposed to be a routine trip for the members of the Gordian Division, both human and AI: fly out to Saturn, inspect the construction of their latest time machines, then fly back. But when the division’s top scientist and chief engineer are killed in the same freak accident, suspicions of foul play run deep. Detective Isaac Cho is sent in to investigate, but he has more on his mind than just a new case. His superiors have saddled him with an exchange officer from the neighboring Admin—Special Agent Susan Cantrell—whose notion of proper “law enforcement” involves blowing up criminals first and skipping questions entirely. Despite his objections, Cho is stuck with an untested partner on a case that increasingly reeks of murder and conspiracy. The unlikely pair must work together to unravel this mystery, and soon they discover their unique combination of skills might just provide the edge they need. But nothing is ever simple where the Gordian Division is involved. Not even time itself. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About prequel The Gordian Protocol: “Tom Clancy-esque exposition of technical details . . . absurd humor and bloody action. Echoes of Robert Heinlein . . . lots of exploding temporal spaceships and bodies . . . action-packed . . .” —Booklist “[A] fun and thrilling standalone from Weber and Holo. . . . Time travel enthusiasts will enjoy the moral dilemmas, nonstop action, and crisp writing.”—Publishers Weekly
Set in an alternate nineteenth century, muskets and magic are weapons to be feared in the first “spectacular epic” (Fantasy Book Critic) in Django Wexler’s Shadow Campaigns series. Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost—until a rebellion left him in charge of a demoralized force clinging to a small fortress at the edge of the desert. To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must lead her men into battle against impossible odds. Their fate depends on Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich. Under his command, Marcus and Winter feel the tide turning and their allegiance being tested. For Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural—a realm with the power to reshape the known world and change the lives of everyone in its path.