When a young John Wick embarks upon an epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the rules that guide their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And why is John Wick seeking vengeance?
A classic spy novel from the bestselling author, Trevanian, about a westerner raised in Japan who becomes one of the world's most accomplished assassins. Nicholai Hel is the world’s most wanted man. Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi. Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his exquisite mistress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he’d tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by his most sinister enemy—a supermonolith of international espionage known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other . . . shibumi.
When a young John Wick emerges from prison and embarks upon his first, epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the Book of Rules that guides their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And who was John Wick before he became the Baba Yaga? Here for the first time, read the thrilling origin story of John Wick, from "Planet Hulk" writer Greg Pak and "Dark Horse Presents" artist Giovanni Valletta.
Each John Wick film has earned more money and recognition than its predecessor, defying the conventional wisdom about the box office's action movie landscape, normally dominated by superhero movies and science fiction epics. As The Worlds of John Wickexplores, the worldbuilding of John Wick offers thrills that you simply can't find anywhere else. The franchise's plot combines familiar elements of the revenge thriller and crime film with seamlessly coordinated action. One of its most distinctive appeals, however, is the detailed and multifaceted fictional world—or rather, worlds—it constructs. The contributors to this volume consider everything from fight sequences, action aesthetics, and stunts to grief, cinematic space and time, and gender performance to map these worlds and explore how their range and depth make John Wick a hit. A deep dive into this popular neo-noir franchise, The Worlds of John Wickcelebrates and complicates the cult phenomenon that is John Wick.
Ambition. Lust. Revenge. You cannot have one without the others. Thousands of years ago, the Ven ruled the world. They were a passionate people, obsessed with Romance and Revenge, opera and theatre, and all the forbidden delights their decadent culture provided. In the end, that which made them beautiful was also the key to their own destruction. Houses of the Blooded is a game about tragic obsession. Players take the roles of powerful characters bent on conquering their world and destroying their enemies in stories of adventure, exploration, romance, intrigue, loyalty and betrayal. This is Houses of the Blooded: a roleplaying game in a violent world ruled by a magical race, featuring: - Systems for The Duel, Warfare, Romance, Revenge and Art - A huge Narrator chapter, filled with advice for new and experienced game masters - 'Seasons' - a system for long-term goals usually absent in most fantasy roleplaying games - Both 'friendly game' and 'cut-throat' modes for players who enjoy a quiet game with friends and those who love destroying their favourite enemies
John Wick's origin story continues! In the underworld of El Paso, Texas, a familiar face introduces an ex-con named John Wick to the local branch of the mysterious Continental Hotel, a neutral zone where professional killers spend their down time. But can John adhere to the rules of the Continental? Or will his search for vengeance destroy his chances for a peaceful life? Also... does John Wick actually have...a cat?
This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!
Since the turn of the century when two German scholars, Albert Schweitzer and Johannes Weiss, dared to oppose the established view of Jesus, numerous writers have leaped at the opportunity to present their own ideas about his unique character and status. Although each based his study on "scientific observation," they all arrived at most diverse results. Was Jesus the apocalyptic "Son of man" or more of an existentialist rabbi? Was he a Nazorean Messiah scheming a "Passionplot" or do the Dead Sea scrolls hold some clue to his Essene-like characteristics? Was one author close to truth when he labeled Jesus a zealot and a revolutionary? Or, far from being any of these, did Jesus bring back the long-forgotten teachings of the early prophets, the spirit of whom as portrayed by the Chasidim, a people who have pursued "a biblical way of life from time immemorial?" And if Jesu did represent this Hebrew prophet line, how can we redefine certain terms like "Hebrew-Christian tradition," "kingdom of God," "promised land"? Arguments from such twentieth-century scholars as Schweitzer, Wrede, Bultmann, Schonfield, Brandon, Bornkamm, Allegro, Cllmann, and Manson are reexamined, but the author makes no attempt to settle the arguments once and for all. The book is purposely left open-ended as Jesus continues to challenge men with the mystery of his own identity.
There have been iconic moments in the action movie genre over the years, but nothing has come close to matching the kinetic, balletic gun-fu of the John Wick films. In They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Ass-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun-Fu and The New Age of Action, bestselling authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross take you behind the scenes of a franchise that includes three films with more on the way, while exploring the action classics that led to John Wick as well as the films it inspired, like Atomic Blonde. They bring you right into the middle of the action of the John Wick films, detailing how the seemingly impossible was achieved through exclusive interviews with the cast, writers, directors, producers, stuntmen, fight choreographers, cinematographers, studio executives, editors, critics, and more. Together, they break down key action sequences while also providing a look back at the road the action genre has taken that led to John Wick, and a look at the character itself, an anti-hero who carries on the grand tradition of Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, but with a twist — and a never-ending supply of ammo — while showcasing the enduring appeal of the action movie as well as John Wick’s unique reinvention of the genre.