The thrilling stories and stunning illustrations of The Rockets' Red Glare are sure to capture the imagination of anyone interested in the fascinating history of the War of 1812.
Combining the narrative drive of the best of Clive Cussler with the knowledge of Tom Clancy, Rockets’ Red Glare is the techno-thriller of the year about an ingenious coup that would change the balance in the world’s arsenal forever On October 22, 1962, President Kennedy orders the US Navy to search all ships en route to Cuba. For six tense days, a frightened world watches as the two most powerful nations on Earth edge toward war. On October 28, under intense pressure, the Soviet Union agrees to dismantle its bases. The Cuban missile crisis is over. Or is it? Pensacola, Florida, 1987. Two naval officers of the Satellite Surveillance Group who have been tracking a Soviet Foxtrot class submarine suddenly come upon a mysterious VLCC supertanker—identity unknown. Hundreds of miles away in Houston, handsome millionaire industrialist Theodor Churcher takes off in his private helicopter for a clandestine rendezvous with the Soviet submarine in the Gulf of Mexico. Several days later, children playing on a beach in Louisiana find a severed arm floating in the surf—the fingerprints are those of Theodor Churcher. The final ominous moves in a brilliant Soviet strategy that began with the Cuban missile crisis are set in motion. Devastated by his father’s death, young Andrew Churcher undertakes a dangerous mission to the Soviet Union to recover stolen blueprints that would not only avert the unfolding nightmare, but might cleanse his father’s honor of the suspicion of treason. As he tracks a complex trail of move and countermove, Churcher is embroiled in a violent power struggle between two arms of Soviet intelligence. What Churcher doesn’t know is that he is to be the bait in a deadly Soviet trap. From the cockpits of US fighters to the decks of Soviet navy vessels, from the back streets of Moscow to the oilrigs of Texas, Rockets’ Red Glare is the ultimate techno-thriller.
Libby's great aunt, Lobo, is from Mexico, but the United States has been her home for many years, and she wants to become a U.S. citizen. At the end of the week, Lobo will say the Pledge of Allegiance at a special ceremony. Libby is also learning the Pledge this week, at school—at the end of the week, she will stand up in front of everyone and lead the class in the Pledge. Libby and Lobo practice together—asking questions and sharing stories and memories—until they both stand tall and proud, with their hands over their hearts.
An “excellent” collection of case studies and stories from the forensic anthropologist who founded Tennessee’s “Body Farm” (Charleston Post & Courier). A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Bill Bass created the world’s first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition—three acres on a Tennessee hillside where human bodies are left to the elements. His research at the Body Farm has revolutionized the field, helping crack cold cases and pinpoint time of death. But during a forensics career that spans half a century, Bass’s work has ranged far beyond the gates of the Body Farm. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science, using fascinating cases he’s worked on to take readers into the real world of C.S.I. Some cases rely on the simplest of tools and techniques, such as reassembling—from battered torsos and a stack of severed limbs—eleven people hurled skyward by an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on sophisticated techniques Bass couldn’t have imagined when he began his career: harnessing scanning electron microscopy to detect trace elements in knife wounds, or extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to find that the murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a quarter-century before. Beyond the Body Farm follows Bass as he explores the depths of a lake with a twenty-first-century sonar system in search of an airplane that vanished thirty-five years ago; exhumes a fifties pop star to determine what injuries he suffered in the plane crash that killed three rock and roll legends; and works to decipher an ancient Persian death scene. Witty and engaging, Bass dissects the methods used by homicide investigators every day on an extraordinary journey into the high-tech science that it takes to crack a case. “Case studies and anecdotes from the field of corpse identification [with] careful attention to detail and the occasional darkly humorous aside.” —Publishers Weekly “The real crimes and mysteries here are just as or more intriguing than any fictional crime drama . . . offers a real-life understanding of forensic anthropology and the science behind it.” —Knoxville News-Sentinel
A riveting account of America’s second war with England, from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Miracle of Dunkirk. At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the great powers of Western Europe treated the United States like a disobedient child. Great Britain blocked American trade, seized its vessels, and impressed its sailors to serve in the Royal Navy. America’s complaints were ignored, and the humiliation continued until James Madison, the country’s fourth president, declared a second war on Great Britain. British forces would descend on the young United States, shattering its armies and burning its capital, but America rallied, and survived the conflict with its sovereignty intact. With stunning detail on land and naval battles, the role Native Americans played in the hostilities, and the larger backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, this is the story of the turning points of this strange conflict, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner” and led to the Era of Good Feelings that all but erased partisan politics in America for almost a decade. It was in 1812 that America found its identity and first assumed its place on the world stage. By the author of A Night to Remember, the classic account of the sinking of the Titanic—which was not only made into a 1958 movie but also led director James Cameron to use Lord as a consultant on his epic 1997 film—as well as acclaimed volumes on Pearl Harbor (Day of Infamy) and the Battle of Midway (Incredible Victory), this is a fascinating look at an oft-forgotten chapter in American history.
“Why am I a punk? Because I wasn’t anything before, except different. And now it’s like I’m different, but with a vengeance.” It’s been months since the suicide of Darby Crash, L.A. punk rock icon and lead singer of the Germs. He checked out on the same day John Lennon was shot: December 8, 1980. But for Rockets Redglare, it feels like yesterday. Darby was the hot-as-sun center of Rockets’s world. Part ringleader, part god, and all charismatic manipulator, Darby was as close to family as a hustler and street kid like Rockets might ever get. Now, as Rockets amps up for another night looking for tricks and scrounging a meal, Sex Pistols and X lyrics on repeat in his head, he knows he’s come to a turning point–the scene is changing, and nothing’s as easy as it was when Darby brought him into the fold. From the underground clubs to the back of the giant “H” in the Hollywood sign, Rockets and his crew of friends spend the night burning bridges, building new ones, tripping and talking and searching for answers. As the dark gives way to early morning, the punks and the cops engage in their ritual standoff–and Rockets faces the ultimate choice: Should he stay or should he go?
In this “chilling odyssey” (The New York Times) from the #1 bestselling author of Coma, a major scientific breakthrough becomes the ultimate experiment in terror when middle-aged patients begin to die—of old age. . . . “Cook’s best . . . builds with stress-testing speed.”—People At a large Boston clinic, a world-class biologist stumbles upon a miraculous discovery. But when he meets a violent death, a doctor must use more than his medical expertise to explain what he comes to believe is murder—and to stop the biologist’s knowledge from becoming a curse instead of a miracle. As the doctor unearths the scientific breakthrough that the biologist was killed to hide, he realizes that he himself has become the target of a malevolent cabal bent on using the origins of life to create a hell on earth.