Acts Of Desperation

This "blistering anti-romance" (Catherine Lacey) paints a riveting, cathartic story about love addiction and what it does to us. Wouldn’t I do anything to reverse my loss, the absence of him? In the first scene of this provocative gut-punch of a novel, our unnamed narrator meets a magnetic writer named Ciaran and falls, against her better judgment, completely in his power. After a brief, all-consuming romance he abruptly rejects her, sending her into a tailspin of jealous obsession and longing. If he ever comes back to her, she resolves to hang onto him and his love at all costs, even if it destroys her… Part breathless confession, part lucid critique, Acts of Desperation renders a consciousness split between rebellion and submission, between escaping degradation and eroticizing it, between loving and being lovable. With unsettling, electric precision, Nolan dissects one of life’s most elusive mysteries: Why do we want what we want, and how do we want it? Heralding the arrival of a stunning new literary talent, Acts of Desperation interrogates the nature of fantasy, desire, and power, challenging us to reckon honestly with our own insatiability. "Hot as viscera." —The New Republic

* Shortlisted for Fiction - 2023 Nero Book Awards * After the death of a young girl, the finger of suspicion is pointing at one reclusive family... 'Gripping... a triumph' SUNDAY TIMES 'Heartbreaking' VOGUE It's 1990 in London and, after the death of a young girl on an estate, the finger of suspicion is pointing at one reclusive Irish family: the Greens. At their heart sits Carmel: beautiful, other-worldly, and once destined for a future beyond her circumstances until life - and love - got in her way. Now, as the scandal unfolds and the tabloids hunt their monster, she must confront the secrets and silences that have trapped her family for so many generations. 'Daring, brilliant... bold and beautiful' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A compulsive read' THE TIMES 'A writer to be read on her own terms' FINANCIAL TIMES

**This highly anticipated debut novel was inspired by actual events.** Sember is a strong-willed attorney who's got it all: the budding career, the condo, and a marriage proposal right around the corner. When her sister, Sarah, needs a new attorney, Sember is torn. She wants to help Sarah, but she is terrified her emotions could compromise the case. With so much at stake, failure isn't an option. In walks Jax Alexander, a brilliant legal mind from New York who excites Sember's body and mind. When he offers to take on Sarah's case, he provides hope in a hopeless situation. Sember and Jax are thrust together as their passion ignites. As a web of lies is exposed, Jax works tirelessly to reveal the truth behind Sarah's case. But, he has a dark secret shadowing his past that threatens to destroy everything. In the midst of so many lies, can Jax really be trusted? His secret could put Sarah's case in jeopardy and could cost Sember her life. Will he risk it all to save them, or will he cut and run, leaving destruction in his wake? Sometimes, desperate acts call for desperate measures.

List of members in each volume.

Brian Daldorph first entered the Douglas County Jail classroom in Lawrence, Kansas, to teach a writing class on Christmas Eve 2001. His last class at the jail for the foreseeable future was mid-March 2020, right before the COVID-19 lockdown; the virus is taking a heavy toll in confined communities like nursing homes and prisons. Words Is a Powerful Thing is Daldorph’s record of teaching at the jail for the two decades between 2001 and 2020, showing how the lives of everyone involved in the class—but especially the inmates who came to class week after week—benefited from what happened every Thursday afternoon in that jail classroom, where for two hours inmates and instructor became a circle of ink and blood, writing together, reciting their poems, telling stories, and having a few good laughs. Words Is a Powerful Thing brings into the light the works of fifty talented inmate writers whose work deserves attention. Their poetry speaks of “what really matters” to all of us and gives the reader sustained insight into the role that creativity plays in aiding survival and bringing positive change for inmates, and, in turn, for all of us. Daldorph’s account of his teaching experience not only takes the reader inside the daily life at a county jail but also sets the work done in the writing class within the larger context of inmate education is the US corrections system, where education is often one of the few lifelines available to inmates. Words Is a Powerful Thing provides a teaching guide for instructors working with incarcerated writers, offering an extensive examination of both the challenges and benefits. When Brian Daldorph decided the story of his classroom experiences and the great writing produced by the inmates deserved to be told to wider audiences, he struggled with how to bring it all together. Not long after, an inmate wrote a poem titled “Words Is a Powerful Thing,” offering Daldorph a title, concept, and purpose: to show that the poetry of inmates speaks not just to other inmates but to all of us.

My son had the fortune of growing up in Italy as a military dependent. There, he learned the sport of soccer through relationships made with his Italian friends. His book, All-American, reveals how he used his knowledge of American sports on the soccer field in order to lead a team that would put together a streak of ten consecutive years of not losing a single regulation game by more than one goal! And now, this book called Soccer Lions of the Nosce Hostem contains the military intelligence and counterintelligence with regard to strategic and tactical deployment of member of his team. This is the second half of the story in explaining exactly how military philosophies based on actual events were used by his Grover Cleveland soccer team out of Ridgewood, New York City. But beware, the faint of heart. My son is now in possession of this legacy called Soccer Lions of the Nosce Hostem. With it, he can help you understand the crucial knowledge gained from knowing your opponent. We are the last of the lions. We are the ghost and the darkness. Lions do not speak, but they know each others thoughts, and these we will convey. My background with regard to the writing of his book can be traced back to the years of growing up in an environment rich in experience gained from participating in the three basic America sportsbaseball, basketball, and football. Currently, I reside in Long Island with my wife, Leila, and my dogs, Gizmo and Betsy. I have two sons, Ted and Chris, and two grandchildren, Christina and Teddy.