Double Down

For use in schools and libraries only. The pressure's really piling up on Greg Heffley. His mom thinks video games are turning his brain to mush, so she wants her son to put down the controller and explore his "creative side." As if that's not scary enough, Halloween's just around the corner and the frights are coming at Greg from every angle. When Greg discovers a bag of gummy worms, it sparks an idea. Can he get his mom off his back by making a movie . . . and will he become rich and famous in the process? Or will doubling down on this plan just double Greg's troubles?

“An exquisitely crafted memoir” by two brothers who lost their parents, lost their inheritance—and almost lost their freedom (The Wall Street Journal). Frederick Barthelme and his brother Steven were both accomplished, respected writers with stable adult lives when they lost both of their parents in rapid succession. They had already lost their other brother, just a few years earlier. Suddenly they were on their own, emotionally unmoored—and unprepared for what would happen next. Their late father had been a prominent architect, and the brothers were left with a healthy inheritance. Over the following several years, they would lose close to a quarter million dollars in the gambling boats off the Mississippi coast. Then, in a bizarre twist, they were charged with violating state gambling laws, fingerprinted, and thrown into the surreal world of felony prosecution. For two years these widely publicized charges hung over their heads, shadowing their every step. Double Down is the wry, often heartbreaking story of how Frederick and Steven Barthelme got into this predicament. It is also a reflection on the allure of casinos and the pull and power of illusions that can destroy our lives if we aren’t careful. “One of the best firsthand accounts ever written about organized gambling. Like Goodman Brown, taking a walk with a hooded stranger into the darkness of the New England woods, the Barthelme brothers suddenly find themselves inside the maw of the monster. The compulsion to control, to intuit the future, to be painted by magic, could not be better or more accurately described.” —James Lee Burke “Beautifully evoking the gamblers’ addiction, their mesmerizing account is best read as a novel Camus might have imagined, with the writer/protagonists as their own lost characters. A work of high art; enthusiastically recommended.” —Library Journal

Tricia and Antoinette Clarke—best friends, Power Twins, and Boss Ladies—show you how to take your work and life to the Next Level. “Aspiring Boss Ladies in any field should pay attention.”—Gabrielle Union-Wade, actress, activist, and New York Times bestselling author of We’re Going to Need More Wine As African American women who have climbed their way to the highest ranks of the media world, Tricia and Antoinette have learned that to win when the deck is stacked against you, you need to ditch the old Status Quo rules. Whether you’re starting your career, wondering why you’re not further along, or looking to pivot, you’ve got to double down on yourself, and you’ve got to cultivate a tribe of people who will double down on you, too. Now, they share their wisdom with the next generation of Boss Ladies looking to up their game. If you’re tired of getting second-class rewards for first-class work and you’re ready to be respected for who you are, Double Down will give you the tools and tactics to go all in on your dreams. Among the lessons you’ll learn: • Don’t emulate, originate: Identify your unique superpowers to start from a place of strength. • Don’t stay in place, move into white space: To stand out, use your superpowers to do something no one else does. • Don’t just compete, play the long game: Work backward from where you want to end up—aim high, go far. • Don’t inherit your tribe, build it: Actively cultivate a crew of people who will push you to go after your most audacious goals (and set new ones). Packed with strategies and solutions, as well as stories of other badass Boss Ladies including Ayesha Curry, Carly Cushnie, Anne Wojcicki, and many others, this remixed rulebook will help you see the power in yourself—and double down on it.

Veteran thief Nolan tangles with a skyjacker and vigilante in two full-length novels from Grandmaster Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition), collected in one volume for the first time ever. It Takes a Thief to Take a Thief. In the aftermath of a bloody heist, Nolan and Jon find themselves flying home to count their ill-gotten gains -- but a skyjacker taking the same flight has other plans. Meanwhile, in Des Moines, someone is offing members of the Mob-connected DiPreta family and the Mob thinks maybe Nolan can make it stop. Maybe he can -- for a six-figure fee. Originally published as two separate novels (and unavailable in bookstores for 40 years!), DOUBLE DOWN finds Nolan and Jon pursuing the American dream in their inimitable criminal fashion. Flying high off his recent return after more than three decades in SKIM DEEP, Nolan is one of MWA Grand Master Max Allan Collins' most unforgettable characters, and DOUBLE DOWN is Nolan at his hard-boiled, larcenous best.

Lois Lane has settled in to her new school. She has friends, for maybe the first time in her life. She has a job that challenges her. And her friendship is growing with SmallvilleGuy, her online maybe more than a friend. But when her friend Maddy's twin c

Tricia and Antoinette Clarke—best friends, Power Twins, and Boss Ladies—show you how to take your work and life to the Next Level. “Aspiring Boss Ladies in any field should pay attention.”—Gabrielle Union-Wade, actress, activist, and New York Times bestselling author of We’re Going to Need More Wine As African American women who have climbed their way to the highest ranks of the media world, Tricia and Antoinette have learned that to win when the deck is stacked against you, you need to ditch the old Status Quo rules. Whether you’re starting your career, wondering why you’re not further along, or looking to pivot, you’ve got to double down on yourself, and you’ve got to cultivate a tribe of people who will double down on you, too. Now, they share their wisdom with the next generation of Boss Ladies looking to up their game. If you’re tired of getting second-class rewards for first-class work and you’re ready to be respected for who you are, Double Down will give you the tools and tactics to go all in on your dreams. Among the lessons you’ll learn: • Don’t emulate, originate: Identify your unique superpowers to start from a place of strength. • Don’t stay in place, move into white space: To stand out, use your superpowers to do something no one else does. • Don’t just compete, play the long game: Work backward from where you want to end up—aim high, go far. • Don’t inherit your tribe, build it: Actively cultivate a crew of people who will push you to go after your most audacious goals (and set new ones). Packed with strategies and solutions, as well as stories of other badass Boss Ladies including Ayesha Curry, Carly Cushnie, Anne Wojcicki, and many others, this remixed rulebook will help you see the power in yourself—and double down on it.

After losing lives on a mission gone wrong, Maji Rios feels anything but ready for a covert operation to protect volatile Spanish pop star Erlea from the paparazzi and death threats. Celeste, in-house physician for the hotel hosting Erlea’s show, has had enough of putting on a pretty face for the public to protect celebrities. That mistake cost her a thriving sports medicine practice and her trust in herself. When an unlikely friendship with Erlea turns deeper, she has a choice to make—run or double down on love. Somewhere on her climb to fame, Erlea’s reputation as the wild child of Europe’s pop scene overtook her love for creating music. Can she reclaim her personal and artistic integrity with the help of the two women working to keep her life from imploding?