Day in and day out, the harvest fields of Danvers, MA only provide endless hard labor for 17 year old Claire Proctor who desires more out of life. The longing for excitement Claire holds in her heart is fulfilled when she meets a mysterious woman. With this stranger is a secret that will change her life forever. Little does this young farmer know about the deadly fate she entangles in.
When Stephenie Meyer’s first novel, Twilight, was published in 2005, it had an astounding reception, selling millions of copies. The three sequels that followed—New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn—became international bestsellers as well. The worldwide success of the movie adaptations further cemented the series as a cultural force on par with other popular franchises such as Harry Potter. But why is this? What is it about Twilight that makes it so appealing to people? And what does Twilight’s success reveal about transnational cultural trends? In The Twilight Saga: Exploring the Global Phenomenon, Claudia Bucciferro has assembled a collection of essays that examine the series from a variety of perspectives. The essays in this volume consider both the books and the movies, emphasizing the relationships among the texts, the audience, the entertainment industry, and other aspects of the multimillion-dollar franchise. Organized into five sections, the chapters offer a contextualization of the series’ appeal, explore different types of Twilight audiences, analyze the cultural referents associated with the main characters, and present new ideas regarding representations of gender, sex, class, and race. Concluding essays examine the saga’s influence, unveiling its links to newer workssuch as The Hunger Games, True Blood, and Fifty Shades of Grey. Making sense of how the popular franchise fits within larger contexts, this collection addresses Twilight from an interdisciplinary framework, including insights from history, philosophy, literature, sociology, fan studies, intercultural communication, film studies, and more. Featuring contributions by scholars from the United States, France, Spain, Chile, and Australia, this book emphasizes the international and intercultural relevance of the Twilight phenomenon. The collection is aimed at scholars and students of media and popular culture, but it will also appeal to general readers who are familiar with the series.
A chilling high-concept geo-political thriller where a declining United States and a resurgent China come to the brink of all out nuclear war.The year is 2028. Oil is the black gold that controls the fortunes of all nations and the once-mighty United States is down to the dregs. A giant oil field is discovered off the Tanzanian coast and the newly elected US President finds his solution to America's ailing economy. While the US blindly plots and plans regime change in this hitherto insignificant African nation, Tanzania's allies - the Chinese - start their own secret machinations. The explosion that follows shatters a decades-old balance of global power and triggers a crisis on American soil that the United States may not survive.Political conspiracies, military manouvers, and covert activities are woven together in this fast-paced, gripping novel that paints a stark warning of an uncomfortably likely future.
“Todd Starnes is a fierce defender of freedom and a great patriot. He has seen, and understands, what is happening to our country like few others—his book is absolutely terrific, a must read!” —President Trump President Biden ushered in a dark winter of malaise across our great nation. He snuffed out Lady Liberty’s bright beacon of hope and brought despair to the land. And now we stand at a time of great choosing. Do we choose the path that leads to freedom or the path that leads to tyranny? We face difficult days, but not hopeless days. Together, we can restore the Republic and reclaim our standing in the world. But first, we must remember our roots and return to the values that made our nation great. A deep and abiding desire for freedom and liberty, girded by faith in God, is the essence of who we are. Those are the precepts that must be reaffirmed if America is to be saved.
