Natural Predators: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 7)
Natural Predators: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 7)

Author: Neil S Plakcy

Publisher: Samwise Books

Published: 2023-10-27

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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The beautiful tropical island of O'ahu is filled with predators, from high-flying owls to bottom-dwelling criminals. When the body of an island patrician is found in a warehouse fire, tracking his killers will bring openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka into contact with many of those predators, natural and otherwise. Kimo and his detective partner Ray Donne dig deep into the history of Hawai'i as the islands were teetering on the brink of statehood in order to understand the victim, his killer, and their motives. Kimo and his partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, decide to become foster parents for a homeless teen who witnessed the crime, while preparing to become dads themselves. What the critics have said about the Mahu Investigations: “Plakcy keeps the waves of suspense crashing!” In LA Magazine “Hits all the right notes as a mystery.” Mystery Book News “Kimo brings needed diversity to the genre, and the author handles the island setting well.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin “Spotless pace, intriguing plots twists, and an earnest depiction of challenges faced by people transitioning out of the closet.” Honolulu Advertiser “Recommended to a wide audience.” Reviewing the Evidence

Mahu: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 1)
Mahu: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 1)

Author: Neil S Plakcy

Publisher: Samwise Books

Published: 2023-10-27

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13:

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SURF’S UP—AND SO IS MURDER THE SINISTER SIDE OF WAIKIKI Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka has a great job, protecting and serving the people of O’ahu from a community policing outpost right on the beach at Waikiki. He can surf at first light, and then be at his desk within minutes. But when he finds a dead body in the alley behind a gay bar, and then does not identify himself as a police officer when he calls it in, his whole world blows up. This decision, made in a fateful moment fueled by adrenaline, turns his life upside down, threatens to rip his family apart, and forever alters his entire department. By the action-packed ending, every single character has been changed in ways they’d never have imagined, long-held beliefs about loyalties, family, and who the good guys are replaced by new experience. Watching the characters unwrap each new package of life is half the fun (although the Honolulu setting’s right up there). Author Plakcy, creator of The Golden Retriever Mysteries, weaves a very different kind of tale here—realistic and hard-boiled, yet also empathetic and warm. MAHU is a taut, ingenious, many-threaded mystery, each unexpected plot twist leading believably to the next, yet nothing telegraphed—in other words, an extremely satisfying read. Readers will love the vivid portrayal of Honolulu— from dawn surfing to tong haunts and sinister alleys, family friends who turn out to be gangsters, Hawaii traditions with Asian flair, and the family picnics and gatherings at the center of it all. And they’ll fall instantly in love with Kimo, from his scrupulous approach to his job to his easy way with his nieces, nephews, brothers, and friends, even when some turn against him on his new path. What’s happening to him is the late-breaking realization that he’s gay. If he’s going to accept that and live as he’s meant to, he has to upend everything and learn a whole new culture. It’s a rocky path, and that’s what makes a good story. Fans of HAWAII FIVE-0 will love this! Also police procedural fans, devotees of Don Winslow’s THE DAWN PATROL, Kem Nunn, and all mysteries set in Hawaii, whether cozy or surf noir.

Zero Break: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 6)
Zero Break: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 6)

Author: Neil S Plakcy

Publisher: Samwise Books

Published: 2023-10-26

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13:

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Zero break refers to the deep-water location where waves first begin, often far offshore. For Honolulu homicide detective and surfer Kimo Kanapa'aka, it means his most dangerous case yet. A young mother is murdered in what appears to be a home invasion robbery, leaving behind a complex skein of family and business relationships, and Kimo and his detective partner Ray Donne must navigate deadly waters to uncover the true motive behind her death. Kimo is also in trouble at home, as he and fire investigator Mike Riccardi plumb the limits of their love for one another and consider the future of their relationship. What the critics have said about the Mahu Investigations: “Plakcy keeps the waves of suspense crashing!” In LA Magazine “Hits all the right notes as a mystery.” Mystery Book News “Kimo brings needed diversity to the genre, and the author handles the island setting well.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin “Spotless pace, intriguing plots twists, and an earnest depiction of challenges faced by people transitioning out of the closet.” Honolulu Advertiser “Recommended to a wide audience.” Reviewing the Evidence

Ghost Ship: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 9)
Ghost Ship: A Mahu Investigation (Mahu Investigations Book 9)

Author: Neil S Plakcy

Publisher: Samwise Books

Published: 2023-10-26

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13:

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When a sailboat carrying four bodies washes up on the Leeward Coast of O’ahu, openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, on loan to the FBI, must discover what sent this young family and their deadly cargo on a dangerous trans-Pacific voyage. Leaving behind his partner and their infant twins, Kimo must work with his police cohort Ray Donne to unravel the forces that led this family to their deaths. From Hawaii’s sunny beaches to a chilly island in Japan to the Pacific Northwest, Kimo and Ray step far out of their comfort zones to confront an evil much greater than any they’ve investigated before. What the critics have said about the Mahu Investigations: “Plakcy keeps the waves of suspense crashing!” In LA Magazine “Hits all the right notes as a mystery.” Mystery Book News “Kimo brings needed diversity to the genre, and the author handles the island setting well.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin “Spotless pace, intriguing plots twists, and an earnest depiction of challenges faced by people transitioning out of the closet.” Honolulu Advertiser “Recommended to a wide audience.” Reviewing the Evidence

Evolution's Rainbow
Evolution's Rainbow

Author: Joan Roughgarden

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2013-09-14

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 0520957970

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In this innovative celebration of diversity and affirmation of individuality in animals and humans, Joan Roughgarden challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science—and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution's Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality. Roughgarden argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity. She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as lesbian, gay, and transgendered; and calls on the Christian religion to acknowledge the Bible's many passages endorsing diversity in gender and sexuality. Evolution's Rainbow concludes with bold recommendations for improving education in biology, psychology, and medicine; for democratizing genetic engineering and medical practice; and for building a public monument to affirm diversity as one of our nation's defining principles.

Murder on Camac
Murder on Camac

Author: Joseph R. G. DeMarco

Publisher: Lethe Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1590212134

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When author Helmut Brandt is killed in an apparent mugging, P.I. Marco Fontana is hired by Brandt's partner, who suspects this was premeditated murder. Brandt's work on the death of Pope John Paul I angered people in and out of the Church and made him more than a few enemies. His death happens soon after Brandt claims to have incontrovertible new evidence implicating people never before suspected. Fontana doesn't believe in coincidences and takes the case. A former Catholic himself, he knows that uncovering Brandt's killer means more than exposing a thirty-year old plot to kill the Pope: it could also ruin the people named in the documents Brandt is supposed to have. Of course, if Brandt's enemies have killed once over this information, they won't hesitate to murder a P.I. who gets too close to the truth. Entering the arcane world of the Catholic Church, Fontana encounters forces determined to keep him from getting to the truth. Though he manages to gain access to the upper levels of the Archdiocesan hierarchy, Fontana realizes that the web of power and deceit is every bit as intricate, tangled, and deadly as he imagined. As the owner of StripGuyz, a troupe of male strippers, Fontana is no stranger to the seamier parts of the Philadelphia gayborhood. But in this case, he finds that there is an even murkier side to life in the city of Brotherly Love.

Before Religion
Before Religion

Author: Brent Nongbri

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2013-01-22

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0300154178

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Examining a wide array of ancient writings, Brent Nongbri dispels the commonly held idea that there is such a thing as ancient religion. Nongbri shows how misleading it is to speak as though religion was a concept native to pre-modern cultures.

Mahu Surfer
Mahu Surfer

Author: Neil Plakcy

Publisher:

Published: 2011-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781608203819

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Mahu is a generally negative Hawaiian term for homosexual, and for police detective Kimo Kanapa'aka, being gay doesn't make for an easy life. Especially when you're publicly outed. Now, semi-retired, Kimo must go undercover and stop a brutal killer. Already three surfers have been shot dead, and Kimo must infiltrate the close-knit surfing community, knowing his only way back to active duty is to catch a killer he may know all too well.

The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast 1580-1680
The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast 1580-1680

Author: Cornelis CH. Goslinga

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2018-02-26

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 1947372734

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The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area in prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.