The midnight hour approaches in an almost empty all-night diner. Mari sips her coffee & glances up from a book as a young man a musician intrudes on her solitude. Both have missed the last train home. Later Mari is interrupted a second time by a girl from the Alphaville Hotel; a Chinese prostitute has been hurt by a client the girl has heard Mari speaks fluent Chinese & requests her help. Meanwhile Eri is at home & sleeps a deep heavy sleep that is too perfect too pure to be normal; pulse & respiration at the lowest required level. She has been in this soporific state for two months; Eri has become the classic myth
- a sleeping beauty. But tonight as the digital clock displays 00:00 a faint electrical crackle is perceptible a hint of life flickers across the TV screen though the televisions plug has been pulled. Strange nocturnal happenings or a trick of the night?
...

A thousand years ago humanity abandoned Earth after an environmental apocalypse engulfed the globe. In the ensuing centuries the survivors settled on a hospitable planet called Nova Prime withstood an onslaught from a mysterious alien force & carved out a new home in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. This is the fractured home to which General Cypher Raige of the United Ranger Corps returns after an extended tour of duty. For Kitrai his thirteen-year-old son tagging along with his famous father is the adventure of a lifetime
- & a chance to salvage their relationship. When an asteroid collides with their craft they make a crash landing that leaves Cypher seriously
- perhaps fatally
- wounded. Kitai Raige has always wanted to prove that he has what it takes to be a Ranger. Now all too soon he gets his chance. With his father's life on the line Kitai must venture out into the strange hostile terrain of a new world that seems eerily familiar: Earth.


...

Whether youre new to After Effects & want to get up to speed quickly or already a user who needs to become familiar with the new features After Effects Apprentice was created for you. With 11 core lessons plus a final project that pulls it all together youll learn how to tap this programs vast potential
- whether you create motion graphics for network television corporate communications or your own projects. Fully updated to cover the major new features introduced in After Effects CS6 CS5.5 & CS5 this edition of the book presents a professional perspective on the most important features a motion graphics artist needs to master in order to use After Effects effectively. Youll learn to creatively combine layers animate eye-catching titles manipulate 3D space track or rotoscope existing footage to add new elements color key & stabilize a shot to place it in a new environment & use effects to generate excitement or enhance the realism of a scene. Easy to follow step-by-step instructions guide you through the features with explanations of the why" instead of just the "how" behind each technique. Youll learn more than just the tools; youll learn skills that you can immediately put to work expressing your own ideas in your productions. Topics include how to: Animate edit layer & composite video & still images. Manipulate keyframes & the way they interpolate to create more refined animations. Use masks mattes stencils & blending modes to add sophistication to your imagery. Create & animate text & shape layers Place your layers in 3D space. Use tracking & keying to create special effects such as replacing screen displays. DVD contains: All exercise source material & project files for After Effects CS6 CS5.5 & CS5 plus 90 minutes of video tutorials."
...

Everything seemed perfect in Neil Jacksons childhood until one day on a cold January morning in 1976... He was awoken by the police knocking on the door to break the shocking news that his mother had become the second victim of a serial killer
- soon to become known as the Yorkshire Ripper. This evil act exposed a web of secrets & lies that was to devastate Neil & change his life forever. Jane Carter Woodrow an experienced criminologist discovers what happens when the camera & the lurid headlines fade away. Neils riveting story captures the real nature of the tragedy that murder can visit on a family & shows how incredibly he pieced his life back together after becoming one of the forgotten victims of Britains most notorious serial killer.
...

Patrick Paniter was James IVs right-hand man a diplomatic genius who was in charge of the guns at the disastrous battle of Flodden in September 1513 in which the English annihilated the Scots. After the death of his king he is tormented by guilt as he relives the events that led to war. When Louise Brenier daughter of a rogue sea trader asks his help in finding out if her brother Benoit was killed in action it is the least he can do to salve his conscience. Not satisfied with the news he brings Louise sets off to find out the truth herself & swiftly falls foul of one of the lawless clans that rule the ungovernable borderlands. After Flodden is a novel about the consequences of the battle of Flodden as seen through the eyes of several characters who either had a hand in bringing the country to war or were profoundly affected by the outcome. There have been very few novels about Flodden despite its significance & none from this perspective. Its a racy adventure combining political intrigue & romance & its readership will be anyone who loves historical fiction or is interested in the history of Scotland & the turbulent ungovernable borderlands between Scotland & Engl&. ...

The acclaimed medium takes his talents to new levels & new countries! For After Life" John & a documentary crew travelled to Australia & across the United States where he demonstrated once again that grief healing & hope are eternally intertwined. He answers his fans' most-asked questions about the mediumship process & how it works while revealing his own personal life as a husband & new father. Edward also shares what he's learned through his own personal losses & demonstrates that it's never too late to forgive...and never too far away to love. John also connects with celebrities both here & on the other side." ...

After Moonrise the elite detective agency crosses into the dark side but it can be dangerous when the living communicate with the dead...HAUNTED by P.C. CAST Curtis Raef can channel the most violent of emotions. His power has solved hundreds of police investigations. But his gift comes with a curse...cynical hard & alone hes burning out fast. Then Lauren Wilcox arrives with a haunting case: her murdered twin sister is communing with Laurens spirit. Raefs the only one who can help. But which twin does he want to save? POSSESSED by GENA SHOWALTER The picture Aurora Harpers painting is so disturbing shes convinced shes witnessed a murder & suppressed the memory. Now she needs Detective Levi Reid to help her track down the victim
- & the killer. But Levis dealing with his own issues blacking out for no reason at all. Theyll step into the dark together...but are they ready for what they might find? NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHORS
...

Tamerlane the Ottomans the Mughals the Manchus the British the Soviets the Japanese & the Nazis
- All built empires they hoped
...

From the author of the book that uniquely predicted the Egyptian revolution a new message about the Middle East: everything were told about the Arab Spring is wrong. When popular revolutions erupted in Tunisia & Egypt the West assumed that democracy & pluralism would triumph. Greatly praised author & foreign correspondent John R. Bradley draws on his extensive firsthand knowledge of the regions cultures & societies to show how Islamists will fill the power vacuum in the wake of the revolutions. This vivid & timely book gives an original analysis of the new Tunisia Egypt Syria Yemen Libya & Bahrain by highlighting the dramatic spread of Saudi-funded Wahhabi ideology inter-tribal rivalries & Sunni-Shia divisions. Bradley gives a boots on the ground look at how the revolutions were first ignited & the major players behind them & shows how the local population participated in & responded to the uprisings. In Tunisia he witnesses secularists under violent attack & in Egypt observes radical Islamists taking control of the streets. He illuminates the ancient sectarian strife shaking Bahrain fierce civil war pitching tribe against tribe in Libya & Yemen & ethnic divisions threatening to tear apart Syria & Iran. Taking it one step further Bradley offers a comprehensive look at how across countries liberal progressive voices that first rallied the Arab masses were drowned out by the slogans of the better-organized & more popular radical Islamists. With the in-depth knowledge of a local & the keen perspective of a seasoned reporter After the Arab Spring offers a piercing analysis of what the empowerment of Islamism bodes for the future of the Middle East & the impact on the West. ...

This is a classic murder-mystery set among the struggling upper classes of 1920s Perthshire as in the aftermath of the First World War their comfortable world begins to crumble. Dandy Gilver her husband back from the War her children off at school & her uniform growing musty in the attic is bored to a whimper in the spring of 1923 & a little light snooping seems like harmless fun. Before long though the puzzle of what really happened to the Duffy diamonds after the Armistice Ball has been swept aside by a sudden unexpected death in a lonely seaside cottage in Galloway. Society & the law seem ready to call it an accident but Dandy along with Cara Duffys fiance Alec is sure that there is more going on than meets the eye. What is being hidden by members of the Duffy family: the watchful Lena the cold & distant Clemence & old Gregory Duffy with his air of quiet sadness not to mention Cara herself whose secret always seems just tantalizingly out of view? Dandy must learn to trust her instincts & swallow most of her scruples if he is to uncover the truth & earn the right to call herself a sleuth. ...