Dishonor Before Death

Gwop’s dedication the his set takes him to the top of the food chain, but could his dedication mean more than the love of his life. As he struggles to see which one wins his strong points will be revealed in the next move he makes.

Achieving success with her twenty-four-hour beauty salon after a long stint in prison, Sunni despairs of finding a healthy relationship, while Trill, having served five years for a crime he did not commit, dreams of revenge and winning the lifestyle his model girlfriend craves. Original. 60,000 first printing.

Nearly every city has a Ghetto, a Gutta, a Trap, and products of those very environments. In Trapstarz Raine Carter and Davae Sanders are doing all the Trappin; as well as reaping proceeds from their actions. Along with rubberband bundles of blood-stained cash, expensive cars and promiscuous womenled on by the alluring street lifecomes dishonor, deception, betrayal, and oh, murder, as the two childhood friends fight for a more substantial position on the totem pole of life. Like every other obstacle-course, theres hurdles and surprises around nearly every corner. So many in Trapstarz that Raine and Davae manage to lose themselves in the thick of things. Could it be the newly discovered drug Ecstasy abruptly interjected into their world? Wear and tear from the coarse streetz taking its toll on their lives? Or even worse, the wrath of Karma vindictively finding her way back to the two? Even though the game has a predictable ending in most cases, this grimy street tale will definitely leave your stomach twisted in knots. Will they finally make it up and out of the traps, or will they remain Trapstarz for the rest of their lives?

"This is not your average Ninja Tale." Everything about brothers Terry and Yuri is a lie-their lifestyles, their careers, their behavior, right down to their friendly smiles. Beneath the veneer of luxury, lurk two killers with a lethal skill-set that was taught to them by a legendary subculture long-thought extinct. In a single stroke of cunning, the two brothers were forcibly catapulted into a shadowy and gritty world of honor, stealth, and murder when they were adopted into one of the last surviving Japanese ninja clans after they were orphaned by the tragic death of their parents. Life has changed greatly since their childhood deep in the countryside of Iga, Japan, the homeland of the fabled ninja. Following a less-than-amicable split with their clansmen, they built a life of extravagance far from Iga. Guided by Ninpo-the fanatically religious code of the Shinobi-Terry and Yuri trade their swords for rifles and market themselves as killers-for-hire for any employer with a contract that aligns with their values. And, life is good. Until, after nearly a decade, they are recalled to Japan to fulfill Ninpo's most sacred duty-a duty that could cost them their lives. As their past catches up to their present, the brothers are led to an unbelievable and inconceivable truth: all is not what it seems in an organization that demands secrecy from its followers, as it may also have secrets of its own-secrets that inevitably could lead to the deaths of countless innocents and threaten to extinguish an integral part of Japanese history that the two American-made brothers have come to identify with. Threatened from all directions by enemies as shadowy as themselves, Terry and Yuri realize that vengeance and honor are their only allies as they race time to avenge their dead. Will they succeed or will they find themselves the prey of their enemies?

Ten years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011, Rethinking the Law of Armed Conflict in an Age of Terrorism, edited by Christopher Ford and Amichai Cohen, brings together a range of interdisciplinary experts to examine the problematic encounter between international law and challenges presented by conflicts between developed states and non-state actors, such as international terrorist groups. Through examinations of the counter-terrorist experiences of the United States, Israel, and Colombia--coupled with legal and historical analyses of trends in international humanitarian law--the authors place post-9/11 practice in the context of the international legal community's broader struggle over the substantive content of international rules constraining state behavior in irregular wars and explore trends in the development of these rules. From the beginning of international efforts to rewrite the laws of armed conflict in the 1970s, the legal rules to govern irregular conflicts of the "state-on-nonstate" variety have been contested terrain. Particularly in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, policymakers, lawyers, and scholars have debated the merits, relevance, and applicability of what are said to be competing "war" and "law enforcement" paradigms of legal constraint--and even the degree to which international law can be said to apply to counter-terrorist conflicts at all. Ford & Cohen's volume puts such debates in historical and analytical context, and offers readers an insight into where the law has been headed in the fraught years since September 2001. The contributors provide the reader with differing perspectives upon these questions, but together their analyses make clear that law-governed restraint remains a cardinal value in counter-terrorist war, even as the law stands revealed as being much more contested and indeterminate than many accounts would have it. Rethinking the Law of Armed Conflict in an Age of Terrorism provides an important conceptual framework through which to view the development of the law as the policy and legal communities move into the second decade of the "global war on terrorism."

The period from 1945 to the present day may not constitute an American century, but it can be seen as the American Moment: the time when, for good or ill, the United States became the predominant political, military, economic and cultural power in the world. This revised and updated new edition introduces the historic and tumultuous developments in American politics, foreign policy, society and culture during this period. It includes coverage of key recent events, such as the: - 2008 election of Barack Obama - global recession - protracted war in Iraq and Afghanistan - rise of the internet - transformation of American Society and Culture - challenges of new immigration and multi-culturalism - changing global status of the US in the new millennium. Examining the American Moment in a global context, the authors emphasise the interaction between politics, society and culture. America Since 1945 encourages an awareness of how central currents in art, literature, film, theatre, intellectual history and media have developed alongside an understanding of political, economic and social change.

"Blackheart is pure Stuart Bad Boy, so sexy he will knock your socks off." --The Best Reviews "Stuart proves it takes a thief to steal your heart!" --The Best Reviews It takes a thief to steal her heart. Catspaw 1 A reformed cat burglar. Can he be trusted? Self-made socialite Francesca "Ferris" Byrd is too sharp to be fooled by even the smartest--and sexiest--man, even when he's notorious ex-thief Patrick Blackheart, now one of San Francisco's most eligible bachelors. Blackheart runs a respectable security business these days, and seems like the perfect man to protect the fabulous Von Emmerling emeralds. All he has to do is make certain the jewels get back to their owner after an elite charity ball. And all Ferris has to do is make sure he isn't tempted to keep them. The problem is, temptation is Blackheart's specialty, and from the moment they meet it's clear that he'd love to steal Ferris away from her stodgy life. When the emeralds disappear, Blackheart is a top suspect. His reputation--and Ferris's hard-won social standing--are at stake. What's a woman to do when she's got to kick off her high heels and follow her heart? Catspaw 2 He won her love. But is it enough to keep him out of trouble? Being engaged to sexy-hot reformed cat burglar Patrick Blackheart, now a legit security expert, is thrilling, but a challenge. Ferris Byrd has loosened up, but she's still a law-abiding socialite, and Blackheart promised to steer clear of his old habits. If he doesn't, the wedding is off. When a string of jewel heists in Europe matches Blackheart's recent travel itinerary, Ferris fears he's succumbed to his old ways. Why was he secretive about his whereabouts? She wants to believe that someone's setting him up, but . . . An exhibit of Faberge eggs at the San Francisco Museum is the ultimate catnip for a jewel thief, and Ferris is in charge of them. She'll be ready and waiting to unmask this cat burglar. She desperately hopes he's not Blackheart. Anne Stuart is currently celebrating forty-five years as a published novelist. She has won every major award in the romance field and appeared on the NYT Bestseller List, Publisher's Weekly, and USA Today. Anne Stuart currently lives in northern Vermont.