Every year a staggering number of corporate service providers mask perpetrators of terrorist financing, corruption and illegal arms trades, but the degree to which firms flout global identification standards remains unknown. This book sheds new light on the sordid world of anonymous shell corporations through a series of field experiments.
Every year a staggering number of unidentified shell corporations succeed in hiding perpetrators of terrorist financing, corruption and illegal arms trades, but the degree to which firms flout global identification standards remains unknown. Adopting a unique, experimental methodology, Global Shell Games attempts to unveil the sordid world of anonymous shell corporations. Posing as twenty-one different international consultants, the authors approached nearly 4,000 services in over 180 countries to discover just how easy it is to form an untraceable company. Combining rigorous quantitative analysis, qualitative investigation of responses and lurid news reports, this book makes a significant research contribution to compliance with international law and international crime and terrorism whilst offering a novel, new approach to the field of political science research. Global Shell Games is an invaluable resource for scholars of international relations, and a fascinating, accessible read for anyone interested in learning about worldwide criminal practice in corporate finance.
Every year a staggering number of unidentified shell corporations succeed in hiding perpetrators of terrorist financing, corruption and illegal arms trades, but the degree to which firms flout global identification standards remains unknown. Adopting a unique, experimental methodology, Global Shell Games attempts to unveil the sordid world of anonymous shell corporations. Posing as twenty-one different international consultants, the authors approached nearly 4,000 services in over 180 countries to discover just how easy it is to form an untraceable company. Combining rigorous quantitative analysis, qualitative investigation of responses and lurid news reports, this book makes a significant research contribution to compliance with international law and international crime and terrorism whilst offering a novel, new approach to the field of political science research. Global Shell Games is an invaluable resource for scholars of international relations, and a fascinating, accessible read for anyone interested in learning about worldwide criminal practice in corporate finance.
Masters of crime fiction immediately hailed Shell Games, which introduced a dynamic new hero and an exciting new author. Michael Connelly: "You know when you read this one that you are on to something good. Kirk Russell comes out of the gate with a story brimming with fresh characters and artful prose." John Lescroart: "Excellent...a compelling plot, fully realized characters, white-knuckle suspense, and unusual yet accessible settings." Ridley Pearson: "...a wonderfully unpredictable plot that holds the reader hostage to the very last page." And Jan Burke: "...a great read...it's hard to believe it's a first novel." Hero John Marquez runs an undercover unit of the California Department of Fish and Game and is taking on international abalone poachers, when he discovers that he's not finished with the ghosts and threats from his past as a drug agent. A completely original and entertaining eco-thriller and crime novel, now in paperback.
Set against a backdrop of murder, intrigue, and industrial labor conflict in the early twentieth century pearl button industry, Shell Games graphically portrays one of the most important battles in the fight for safe and humane working conditions. Filtered through the thoughts and emotions of Pearl McGill, a woman who stood heroically against the injustices destroying the lives of so many around her in the shops and factories, this conflict vividly comes to life and underscores many of the concerns contemporary workers still encounter.
September Eleventh . . . war in Iraq . . . turmoil in the Middle East . . . an impending war with Iran. They have one thing in common: oil. And the world is running out. The Shell Game is a thrilling novel that faces the end of oil and the next big attack on American soil. This fictional tale resonates with chilling facts from real-life informants in the oil industry and the U.S. government, piecing together the terrifying truth about a nation addicted to oil. The tale opens in 2007 as the CIA plans a nuclear attack on an American city, blaming the deaths of millions of Americans on Iran and inciting a retaliatory strike that will place the U.S. in control of Iran's oil resources. Five years later, petroleum geologist Ashley "Ace" Futrell discovers that the world's oil supply is rapidly nearing its end. When his wife - a former national security advisor - is suddenly murdered, Ace finds himself hurtling down a rabbit's hole that leads to the brink of World War III.
Investigates the nature of money by looking at how the Island of Manhattan was purchased in 1627 through an exchange of shells or beads, which the author believes probably did not hold the same significance for both parties in the transaction.
She hit the New York Times list with Bone by Bone. Now her repackaged backlist will fly off the shelves. When a legendary magic trick goes horribly awry on national TV, detective Kathleen Mallory knows the gruesome death won't be the last. For misdirection is the heart of all magic-and perfect crimes.
A covert mission in Shanghai reunites Kusanagi with a wartime rival amid shifting loyalties. The infiltration of an anti-cyberization cult calls for Section 9’s most “human” members to do things the old-fashioned way. A deep dive into the mind of a criminal forces Kusanagi to question the nature of imagination – and her own identity. The stories in Global Neural Network bring a 21st-century perspective to its questions of human identity and the border between mind and machine that made The Ghost in the Shell one of the most revered manga of all time, and unleash top Western comics artists on eye-popping action scenes starring Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa, Aramaki, and all the members of Section 9! Original stories by: * Alex de Campi (Twisted Romance) & Giannis Milonogiannis (Prophet) * Brenden Fletcher (Gotham Academy, Motor Crush) & LRNZ (Golem) * Genevieve Valentine (Mechanique, Icon), & Brent Schoonover (The Astonishing Ant-Man) * Max Gladstone (the Craft Sequence) & David López (All-New Wolverine)
Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design - no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses - one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer - and will understand how to do it.