Dead Beat

“The wildest, strangest, best Dresden adventure to date...Butcher’s blending of modern fantasy with classic noir sensibilities ensures that there’s never a dull moment.”—SF Site Paranormal investigations are Harry Dresden’s business and Chicago is his beat, as he tries to bring law and order to a world of wizards and monsters that exists alongside everyday life. And though most inhabitants of the Windy City don’t believe in magic, the Special Investigations Department of the Chicago PD knows better. Karrin Murphy is the head of S. I. and Harry’s good friend. So when a killer vampire threatens to destroy Murphy’s reputation unless Harry does her bidding, he has no choice. The vampire wants the Word of Kemmler (whatever that is) and all the power that comes with it. Now, Harry is in a race against time—and six merciless necromancers—to find the Word before Chicago experiences a Halloween night to wake the dead...

The Cost of a Deadbeat is a thought-provoking study that takes both a humorous and cynical approach to identifying and defining the major types of deadbeats, and the hidden monetary and emotional costs they bring to society. With over forty years of experience in the workplace, author Michael Webb applies his business knowledge and observation skills to illuminate what most of us unknowingly tolerate each day from the selfish and lazy in our culture. In each chapter, Webb provides personal examples of DNA (Deadbeat Negligent Activities) and categorizes the types of deadbeats, such as: Workplace deadbeats--slackers, sickies, tenure train riders, and slacking supervisors Criminal deadbeats--pilferers, prisoners, cyber slugs, scam artists, and petty thieves Daylight deadbeats--porky politicians, bumbling bureaucrats, and deadbeat voters Cheater deadbeats--fraud finders, tax evaders, and bankruptcy bums New generation deadbeats--poor parents and weak schools The Cost of a Deadbeat will encourage you to join the fight against deadbeats by examining your own behavior and contributing common sense and decency to your own life.

The stunning first novel in the Kate Brannigan series, from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Val McDermid. 'This is crime writing of the very highest order' The Times

A light-hearted look at the history and practice of “the ultimate human-interest story,” the obituary. “What a wonderful surprise—a charming, lyrical book about the men and women who write obituaries. The Dead Beat is sly, droll, and completely winning.”— David Halberstam Where can readers celebrate the life of the pharmacist who moonlighted as a spy, the genius behind Sea Monkeys, the school lunch lady who spent her evenings as a ballroom hostess? The obituary page, of course. Enthralled by these fascinating former lives, Marilyn Johnson tumbled into the little known world of the obituary page to find out what made it so compelling. She sought out the best obits in the English language, and chased the people who spent their lives writing about the dead. Surveying Internet chat rooms, surviving a mass gathering of obituarists, and making the pilgrimage to London to savor the most caustic and literate obits of all, she leads us into the cult and culture behind this fascinating segment of our daily news.

Sue Grafton's #1 New York Times bestselling series, reissued for a whole new generation of readers! D IS FOR DEADBEAT He called himself Alvin Limardo, and the job he had for Kinsey was cut-and-dried: locate a kid who'd done him a favor and pass on a check for $25,000. It was only later, after he'd stiffed her for her retainer, that Kinsey found out his name was Daggett. John Daggett. Ex-con. Inveterate liar. Chronic drunk. And dead. The cops called it an accident--death by drowning. Kinsey wasn't so sure. Pulled into the detritus of a dead man's life, Kinsey soon realizes that Daggett had an awful lot of enemies. There's the daughter who grew up with a cheating drunk for a father, and the wife who's become a religious nut in response to an intolerable marriage. There's the lady who thought she was Mrs. Daggett--and has the bruises to prove it--only to discover the legal Mrs. D. And there are the drug dealers out $25,000. But most of all, there are the families of the five people John Daggett killed, victims of his wild, drunken driving. The D.A. called it vehicular manslaughter and put him away for two years. The families called it murder and had very good reason to want John Daggett dead. Deft, cunning, and clever, this latest Millhone mystery also confronts some messy truths, for, as Kinsey herself says, "Some debts of the human soul are so enormous only life itself is sufficient forfeit"--but as she'd be the first to admit, murder is not a socially acceptable solution. "A" Is for Alibi "B" Is for Burglar "C" Is for Corpse "D" Is for Deadbeat "E" Is for Evidence "F" Is for Fugitive "G" Is for Gumshoe "H" Is for Homicide "I" Is for Innocent "J" Is for Judgment "K" Is for Killer "L" is for Lawless "M" Is for Malice "N" Is for Noose "O" Is for Outlaw "P" Is for Peril "Q" Is for Quarry "R" Is for Ricochet "S" Is for Silence "T" Is for Trespass "U" Is for Undertow "V" Is for Vengeance "W" Is for Wasted "X"

Longlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize and selected as a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book and an iTunes Store Best Book Globe and Mail columnist Sandra Martin honours the lives of Canada's famous, infamous, and unsung heroes in this unique collection of obituaries of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Here are Canadian icons such as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, social activist June Callwood, and urban theorist Jane Jacobs. Here are builders such as feminist and editor Doris Anderson, and businessman and famed art collector Ken Thomson. Here are our rogues, rascals, and romantics; our service men and women; and here are those private citizens whose lives have had an undeniable public impact. Finally, Martin interweaves these elegant and eloquent biographies with the autobiography of the obit writer, offering an exclusive and intimate view of life on the dead beat. Beautifully written, compelling, and vivid, Working the Dead Beat is a tribute to those individuals who, each on their own and as a collective, tell the story of our country, and to the life of the obit writer who chronicles their extraordinary lives.

As a former member of the United States Army Special Forces, David Bryson lived by the motto “De oppresso liber,” a Latin phrase that means “to free from oppression” or “to liberate the oppressed.” Little did he realize that, years later, he would be fighting to liberate not others but himself from an unjust governmental system. Slapped with a bill for over $23,000 in allegedly unpaid child support— a charge based solely on his ex-wife’s testimony—Bryson refused to pay. As a result, his passport was taken away, his wages garnished, his vehicle seized and sold at auction, and his multiple attempts to refute his ex-wife’s charges denied. Years later, he refuses to surrrender, which means he is still unable to leave the country, own property, or earn a living. Fed up with the systematic fraud and perjury he claims he has encountered throughout the justice system in El Dorado County, California, which has jurisdiction over his case, Bryson has finally decided to take matters into his own hands. In this book, he has published his side of the story, candidly and uneditied, including accompanying legal documentation. By doing so, he hopes not only to hold the County of El Dorado accountable for withholding justice in his case but also to prevent other alleged “deadbeat dads” like him from being presumed guilty before they have a chance to prove their innocence.