Off The Target

When a one-night stand leads to a long-desired pregnancy, Susan will do anything to ensure her husband won't find out ... including the unthinkable. But when something horrendous is unleashed around the globe, her secret isn't the only thing that is no longer safe... –––––––––––––––––––––––– A longed-for baby An unthinkable decision A deadly mistake In an all-too-possible near future, when genetic engineering has become the norm for humans, not just crops, parents are prepared to take incalculable risks to ensure that their babies are perfect ... altering genes that may cause illness, and more... Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when an impulsive one-night stand makes her dream come true, she'll do anything to keep her daughter and ensure her husband doesn't find out ... including the unthinkable. She believes her secret is safe. For now. But as governments embark on a perilous genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms – even taking their own lives – something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common, and people are starting to ask questions... Bestselling author of The Waiting Rooms, Eve Smith returns with an authentic, startlingly thought-provoking, disturbing blockbuster of a thriller that provides a chilling glimpse of a future that's just one modification away... –––––––––––––––––––––––– Praise for The Waiting Rooms 'Combines the excitement of a medical thriller À la Michael Crichton with sensitive characterisation and social insight in a timely debut novel all the more remarkable for being conceived and written before the current pandemic' Guardian 'STUNNING and terrifying ... The Waiting Rooms wrenches your heart in every way possible, but written with such humanity and emotion' Miranda Dickinson 'Chillingly close to reality, this gripping thriller brims with authenticity ... a captivating, accomplished and timely debut from an author to watch' Adam Hamdy 'Engrossing and eye-opening, with heart-stopping plot twists ... a stunning medical thriller set in a terrifying possible future' Foreword Reviews 'A touching, gut-wrenching story of family mystery and tragedy ... a thriller that punches on two fronts – heart AND mind' The Sun 'Gripping and disturbing ... the medical research is convincing, the scenarios plausible, and the story is emotionally engaging. This is an incredible debut!' Gill Paul 'If the themes are dark and topical, the writing is exquisite. Breath held, I got to the finale with my heart in my mouth. Eve Smith weaves a complex and clever tale, merging countries and timelines; the result is a superb and satisfying novel' Louise Beech 'Margaret Atwood is one of my all-time writing heroes and The Handmaid's Tale is probably the best book I've ever read. Eve Smith and The Waiting Rooms really do challenge that long-held crown...' Random Things through My Letterbox 'Thoroughly engaging ... an eye-opening read’ Crime Fiction Lover ‘A novel of our times’ Trip Fiction ‘Haunting, honest and horrifying in its reality … An epic and thrilling read’ Book Literati

What would you do if your friend showed you a gun?You are new in town and it's your first day at a new school. Your neighbor, Trevor introduces you to a group of three boys and two girls. Right away you notice that Eric, one of the guys in the group, is being bullied at school. When you go to Eric's house with your new friends, he shows the group a fully loaded handgun that is left in his mother's nightstand. You are faced with some hard choices when someone suggests that Eric should take the gun to school.___________________________________________What should you do? It's time to choose a path: If you're worried that Eric will take the gun to school-continue on page 7.If you decide to take the gun to prevent anyone from being hurt-continue on page 9.If you leave the house with the others and plan to come back for target practice the next day-continue on page 10.____________________________________________Off Target is the first book in The Path You Choose series. You, the reader determine the outcome by the choices you make. Once you read one story, go back and choose a different story. There are thirteen possible endings in this book.What path will you choose

Swinging from South Africa to England: one woman's hunt for her birth mother in an all-too-believable near future in which an antibiotic crisis has decimated the population. A prescient, thrilling debut. 'Combines the excitement of a medical thriller à la Michael Crichton with sensitive characterisation and social insight in a timely debut novel all the more remarkable for being conceived and written before the current pandemic' Guardian 'STUNNING and terrifying ... The Waiting Rooms wrenches your heart in every way possible, but written with such humanity and emotion' Miranda Dickinson 'Chillingly close to reality, this gripping thriller brims with authenticity ... a captivating, accomplished and timely debut from an author to watch' Adam Hamdy ________________ Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed 'The Waiting Rooms' ... hospitals where no one ever gets well. Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother's past, she puts her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too. Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only a few mutations away. ________________ 'Engrossing and eye-opening, with heart-stopping plot twists ... a stunning medical thriller set in a terrifying possible future' Foreword Reviews 'A touching, gut-wrenching story of family mystery and tragedy ... a thriller that punches on two fronts – heart AND mind' The Sun 'Gripping and disturbing ... the medical research is convincing, the scenarios plausible, and the story is emotionally engaging. This is an incredible debut!' Gill Paul 'If the themes are dark and topical, the writing is exquisite. Breath held, I got to the finale with my heart in my mouth. Eve Smith weaves a complex and clever tale, merging countries and timelines; the result is a superb and satisfying novel' Louise Beech 'Margaret Atwood is one of my all-time writing heroes and The Handmaid's Tale is probably the best book I've ever read. Eve Smith and The Waiting Rooms really do challenge that long-held crown...' Random Things through My Letterbox 'Thoroughly engaging ... an eye-opening read' Crime Fiction Lover 'A novel of our times' Trip Fiction 'Haunting, honest and horrifying in its reality ... An epic and thrilling read' Book Literati 'Stunning dystopian debut. A prescient and alarming tale that seems just a whisper from reality' Suzy Apsley ' The Waiting Rooms will certainly distract us from the real world for a few hours and this is the immeasurable value of fiction. It gives hope that, as in Eve Smith's fictitious world, the possibility of a happy ending still exists' Die Burger ' The Waiting Rooms is a seriously impressive debut, a novel that is intuitive and chilling, one that will resonate with all in this current climate' Swirl & Thread

Every week the TV news highlights the routine use of drones and guided missiles against terrorist enemies and the recreational use of drones has become commonplace. The Nazi WWII development of guided missiles and bombs is often given credit for America's Cold War success in this realm. However, it was during that war that America, and the Air Force, in particular, also began the development of systems and weapons that laid the foundation for today's technology. 'Off Target' relates in detail the then "Secret" research, development, and combat employment of these early guided bombs, missiles, and drones from 1917 to 1948. Using formerly Secret/Confidential manuals, reports, microfilm print outs, and photos, collected over 40 years, author Wolf, gives the air war historian and enthusiast a detailed look at this unknown topic that progressed from biplane drones to sophisticated post-WWII guided missiles. Among the subjects discussed are Sperry's aerial torpedo and the Kettering "Bug" of WWI to WWII's early rudimentary GB Series Glide Bombs to the more sophisticated VB Series that evolved from radio, heat, light, or television guidance. The Aphrodite/Joseph Kennedy B-17, BQ, TDR, and target drones are discussed as are the SWOD, GLOMB, GORGON, and JB Jet bomb series.

NAMED A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2021 BY THE TIMES AND THE SUNDAY TIMES "Irreversible Damage . . . has caused a storm. Abigail Shrier, a Wall Street Journal writer, does something simple yet devastating: she rigorously lays out the facts." —Janice Turner, The Times of London Until just a few years ago, gender dysphoria—severe discomfort in one’s biological sex—was vanishingly rare. It was typically found in less than .01 percent of the population, emerged in early childhood, and afflicted males almost exclusively. But today whole groups of female friends in colleges, high schools, and even middle schools across the country are coming out as “transgender.” These are girls who had never experienced any discomfort in their biological sex until they heard a coming-out story from a speaker at a school assembly or discovered the internet community of trans “influencers.” Unsuspecting parents are awakening to find their daughters in thrall to hip trans YouTube stars and “gender-affirming” educators and therapists who push life-changing interventions on young girls—including medically unnecessary double mastectomies and puberty blockers that can cause permanent infertility. Abigail Shrier, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, has dug deep into the trans epidemic, talking to the girls, their agonized parents, and the counselors and doctors who enable gender transitions, as well as to “detransitioners”—young women who bitterly regret what they have done to themselves. Coming out as transgender immediately boosts these girls’ social status, Shrier finds, but once they take the first steps of transition, it is not easy to walk back. She offers urgently needed advice about how parents can protect their daughters. A generation of girls is at risk. Abigail Shrier’s essential book will help you understand what the trans craze is and how you can inoculate your child against it—or how to retrieve her from this dangerous path.

A data-driven argument for why stock-market short-termism is not causing severe damage to the American economyAccording to most media outlets and corporate lawmakers, stock-market-driven short-termism - when corporations appear to prioritize immediate results in the next quarter over long-term interests - is crippling the American economy. This popular view claims that short-termism is causing widespreaddeclines in research and development (RandD) spending, harmful environmental policies, and degradation of the workplace. But the data does not support this black-and-white representation of short-termism.Mark J. Roe uses economy-wide data on RandD spending trends and corporate financial analysis to show that stock-market short-termism is not the root of all of America's economic problems. The book shows that blaming short-termism overlooks the real causes of declining investment, RandD cutbacks,environmental deterioration, and workplace conflict. By pointing to other sources of tension like accelerating technology change, policy uncertainty, and an increasing sense of workplace insecurity, Missing the Target argues for a more nuanced understanding of the challenges to the American economy.Roe also disproves many of the core claims against short-termism by demonstrating that RandD spending is not in a complete decline. In fact, while government research spending may be down, corporate RandD expenditure is actually rising faster than the economy is growing.Missing the Target complicates the discussion of the American economy by explaining the many factors that contribute to current trends and by making a bold but straightforward claim: short-termism is not the problem.

A provocative look at one of Canada's biggest tragedies On March 16, 2005, almost twenty years after one of the biggest mass murders in Canadian Aviation history, the Air-India Case concluded with a verdict that authors Zuhair Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew predicted sixteen years ago when Soft Target was first published: not guilty. In this second edition, the two offer a detailed foreword that brings readers up-to-date with some startling new information surrounding the twin bombings on June 23, 1985 in the air over the Atlantic, and on the ground in Japan, which left 331 people dead. They offer key details from the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri that took place in a specially-built Vancouver courtroom, leads that were not followed up, and more details of India's intelligence service's clandestine interference in Canada. They explain how their own prediction that justice would not be found because of a botched investigation came true, and that only a public inquiry will offer closure to the families of the victims.

The US government spends billions of dollars to secure strategic and tactical assets at home and abroad against enemy attack. However, as "hard targets" such as military installations and government buildings are further strengthened, vulnerable soft targets are increasingly in the crosshairs of terrorists and violent criminals. Attacks on crowded spaces such as churches, schools, malls, transportation hubs, and recreational venues result in more casualties and have a powerful effect on the psyche of the populace. Soft Target Hardening: Protecting People from Attack, Second Edition, continues the national dialogue started by the first edition by providing case studies, best practices, and methodologies for identifying soft target vulnerabilities and reducing risk in the United States and beyond. Soft target attacks steadily climbed in number and scale of violence since the first edition of this book. New tactics emerged, as terrorists continually hit the "reset button" with each attack. In this volatile, ever-changing security environment, plans to protect people and property must be fluid and adaptable. Along with new hardening tactics, such as the use of tactical deception to disguise, conceal, and divert, the author has updated the text with new case studies to reflect and respond to the fast-moving transformation in methods from more complex and organized forms of terror to simpler, yet still-devastating approaches. This book is a must-read for those who secure, own, and operate soft target facilities, and for citizens who want to protect themselves and their families from attack. ​Soft Target Hardening, Second Edition, was named the ASIS International Security Industry Book of the Year in 2019.