Run The Gauntlet

Jim Ward tells the detailed story of discovering his own fascination with body piercing, his founding of Gauntlet (the first body piercing studio), and the beginning of the modern body piercing industry.

In February 1942, three of the major ships of the German surface fleet – the battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen – stormed out of the harbour at Brest on a dramatic voyage back to Germany. Passing through the straights of Dover, the ships faced everything the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy could throw at them. In a dramatic running fight, the ships managed to sail right under the nose of history's greatest maritime nation to reach the safety of Germany. The brilliantly executed operation brought great humiliation to the British – Hitler, who had developed the plan, had judged perfectly the reaction of the British command to the Channel Dash. This book tells the complete story of this great race, from the planning through to the repercussions of this unique Germany victory.

Change your ATTITUDE. Change your BUSINESS. Change your FUTURE. What’s stopping you from making the changes your business needs to thrive? The most dangerous move in business is the failure to make a move at all. The history of business is filled with companies that are no more because their leaders refused to enact change when the writing was on the wall. Fear. Apathy. Lack of personal responsibility. These simple human flaws can turn a good company into a dead company. The writing on the wall has never been clearer than it is now—and marketing phenomenon Jeffrey Hayzlett is on a mission to make you see it, understand it, and heed it. Today’s business environment is so competitive and volatile that you can’t afford to be satisfied with business as usual. You must make changes now to compete in the future. Building on the principles and concepts in his first book The Mirror Test, Hayzlett takes you on a step-by-step journey to: Develop a “takeover mentality” for your business Summon the vision and courage necessary for driving change Sharpen the mental and emotional toughness to make strategic, lasting change Execute the right changes and deal with any disruptions they might cause Sustain and manage your company’s new-found momentum Change is already happening all around you—to products, to organizations, to entire industries. Eventually, it will happen to your company, whether from outside forces or your own initiative. You’ve always had the ability to institute positive change in your company. Now, with Running the Gauntlet, you have the inspiration and knowledge to make it happen and take control of it—instead of letting it control you. Praise for Running the Gauntlet "If the shoe fits, wear it! Jeff's advice fits any hard-charging business owner and leader." —Tony Hsieh, New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness and CEO, Zappos.com “I've seen a lot of sharks, and Hayzlett's advice comes like a Hammerhead. He can smell blood from a mile away, so when Hayzlett jumps in big waters, some sharks have to jump out.” —Daymond John, founder and CEO, FUBU, and star of ABC’s business show Shark Tank “If Jeff were a wine, it would be strong, sassy, and bold - just like his savvy business advice. This is a wine you want to open again and again.” —Gary Vaynerchuk, co-founder, Vaynermedia.com "Running the Gauntlet just played the Trump Card. This book is terrific!" —Ivanka Trump, EVP Trump Organization "It's time someone grabs you (and your business) by the shirt collar and shakes you! Strap on your chaps—business celebrity Jeff Hayzlett is going to take you on a rough-and-tumble ride that just might change the life of your business forever. Muster the courage and buy this book!" —Darren Hardy, Publisher, SUCCESS magazine, and bestselling author of The Compound Effect

**Update 1st November 2021** - In response to some reviews, the text has been checked and a number of errors corrected. A production error resulted in the duplicated text, This has been eliminated. I also took the opportunity to make some amendments to the narrative and chapter structure of the novel. ** It is September 1939 and Falcon Squadron have traded in their Fairey Battle's for new Bristol Blenheims. They're going off to war.Wing Commander Winwright must overcome the lethargy of peacetime and mould his unit into an effective fighting force. Pilot Officer Chandler is the new arrival and the welcome has been far from friendly. The old hands view him with suspicion and he must survive friendly fire as well as enemy action to show them what he can do. On a routine training flight over France, Flying Officer Hagen catches a glimpse of the hell that is waiting for them if they let their guard down. Facing the battle hardened Luftwaffe, Falcon Squadron are about to discover that war is far from a game.

Every choice has a cost. The fate of the Terran Coalition stands on a knife's edge. An anti-war president-elect stands ready to take the helm, with a platform of a peace treaty based on appeasement. The Coalition Defense Force has mere months to inflict maximum damage on the League's military capabilities in hopes of preserving all the gains paid for in blood. Before they're wiped away in favor of a tenuous peace. A peace Colonel David Cohen knows won't last. A treaty with the socialist League won't be worth the paper it's written on. The Coalition's best hope is to orchestrate a daring plan to cripple the enemy where it will hurt most - in the heart of their home turf. David is charged with leading a small but powerful force of CDF ships behind enemy lines to destroy key shipyards that will cut League military capabilities by seventy percent. But a serpent is most dangerous when cornered. When David is confronted with overwhelming League forces, he embarks on a desperate attack, using untested technology and tactics. Because the price for failure would be too high. Will the cost of success finally be too high to bear?

Private Jacob Murray, a twenty-six-year-old Pennsylvanian volunteer in the ranks of George Washington’s Virginia Provincial Militia, is scouting the dense, almost impassable Ohio Valley wilderness in May 1754. Together with his twin brother, Israel, and two Mingo warriors, Jacob searches for a party of French troops encroaching on British soil. Back at home, Murray’s wife, Maggie, and their four children carve out a meager existence until a group of French and Huron war parties raid their small farm. Taken captive, they are unsure if they will live to see their husband and father again. With word spreading that French-backed Huron raiding parties are decimating the Pennsylvania countryside and taking white captives, young Major Washington, Murray, and a French officer bent on revenge are destined to cross paths. As three hostile powers continue to vie for control of the coveted Ohio Valley, a war soon begins that will engulf them all. The Gauntlet Runner tells a tale of fractured lives, broken treaties, and the stark realities of the struggles faced by early American settlers as they risk their lives to cultivate the young, formidable nation.

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair. Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet… It didn’t look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked…elegant. It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images—a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider—and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand. The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners.