The Agent Runner

From the winner of an Ian Fleming Silver Dagger Award, a spy who came in from the cold for today’s wars. British by birth, foreign by descent, and agnostic by conviction, Edward Henry Malik is an MI6 handler—an agent runner. For four years he has been running an agent codenamed Nightingale inside Pakistan’s notorious ISI, keeping watch on its links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban and its machinations in neighboring Afghanistan, but mostly monitoring for threats to the British homeland. Then, in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s killing, Nightingale is exposed and Ed’s world falls apart. Dismissed from MI6 and with his reputation in tatters, Ed returns to his roots in the immigrant enclave of Whitechapel in London’s East End. He takes a job at a freight forwarding office and unexpectedly falls in love with the proprietor’s daughter. It seems as if he has finally found respite from his demons. But you can’t escape your past. Ed knows too much, and he has come to the attention of Major General Javid Aslam Khan—Pakistan’s legendary spymaster, known as the Hidden Hand. This lean, propulsive thriller tells a classic story of love, trust, and betrayal set against today’s Great Game, while in the background swirl rumors of a one-legged mullah and a shadowy militia with the means to detonate a dirty bomb. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Solve real-world problems easily with artificial intelligence (AI) using the LlamaIndex data framework to enhance your LLM-based Python applications Key Features Examine text chunking effects on RAG workflows and understand security in RAG app development Discover chatbots and agents and learn how to build complex conversation engines Build as you learn by applying the knowledge you gain to a hands-on project Book DescriptionGenerative AI, such as Large Language Models (LLMs) possess immense potential. These models simplify problems but have limitations, including contextual memory constraints, prompt size issues, real-time data gaps, and occasional "hallucinations." With this book, you’ll go from preparing the environment to gradually adding features and deploying the final project. You’ll gradually progress from fundamental LLM concepts to exploring the features of this framework. Practical examples will guide you through essential steps for personalizing and launching your LlamaIndex projects. Additionally, you’ll overcome LLM limitations, build end-user applications, and acquire skills in ingesting, indexing, querying, and connecting dynamic knowledge bases, covering Generative AI and LLM, as well as LlamaIndex deployment. As you approach the conclusion, you’ll delve into customization, gaining a holistic grasp of LlamaIndex's capabilities and applications. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to resolve challenges in LLMs and build interactive AI-driven applications by applying best practices in prompt engineering and troubleshooting Generative AI projects.What you will learn Understand the LlamaIndex ecosystem and common use cases Master techniques to ingest and parse data from various sources into LlamaIndex Discover how to create optimized indexes tailored to your use cases Understand how to query LlamaIndex effectively and interpret responses Build an end-to-end interactive web application with LlamaIndex, Python, and Streamlit Customize a LlamaIndex configuration based on your project needs Predict costs and deal with potential privacy issues Deploy LlamaIndex applications that others can use Who this book is for This book is for Python developers with basic knowledge of natural language processing (NLP) and LLMs looking to build interactive LLM applications. Experienced developers and conversational AI developers will also benefit from the advanced techniques covered in the book to fully unleash the capabilities of the framework.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 32nd Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Computer Science, SOFSEM 2006, held in Merin, Czech Republic in January 2006. The 45 revised full papers, including the best Student Research Forum paper, presented together with 10 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from 157 submissions. The papers were organized in four topical tracks on computer science foundations, wireless, mobile, ad hoc and sensor networks, database technologies, and semantic Web technologies.

'The British spy thriller at its unputdownable best' Observer SELECTED FOR BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS ________________________________ Nat, a veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, thinks his years as an agent runner are over. But MI6 have other plans. To tackle the growing threat from Moscow Centre, Nat is put in charge of The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. His weekly badminton session with the young, introspective, Brexit-hating Ed, offers respite from the new job. But it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Nat down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. _______________________________ 'A rich, beautifully written book studded with surprises. Narrative is a black art, and Le Carré is its grandmaster' Spectator 'Blisteringly contemporary' Economist 'Subtle, wry and seamless, it's an utter joy, from first page to last' Daily Mail 'A very classy entertainment about political ideals and deception . . . laced with fury at the senseless vandalism of Brexit and of Trump' Guardian 'A fine piece of storytelling' Times

“[Le Carré’s] novels are so brilliant because they’re emotionally and psychologically absolutely true, but of course they’re novels.” —New York Times Book Review A thrilling tale for our times from the undisputed master of the spy genre Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie. Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.

This book comprises select papers from the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Engineering (AISE 2020). The volume focuses on the recent advancements in artificial intelligence and addresses how it is useful in achieving truly sustainable solutions. The key strands of this book include artificial intelligence in healthcare, IoT for modern life, security and surveillance, big data analytics, machine learning and computing, communication technologies, gesture technology, virtual intelligence, and audio & speech processing. The book addresses sustainability challenges in various computing techniques and opportunities for sustainable engineering based on AI and supporting tools such as engineering design for sustainable development using IoT/AI, smart cities: waste minimization, remanufacturing, reuse and recycling technologies using IoT/AI, industry 4.0, intelligent and smart grid systems, energy conservation using technology, green engineering/technology, robotic process automation (RPA) and water and air quality management. This book can be a valuable resource for academicians, researchers, and professionals working in AI and its applications.

"Swift pace and passionate characters." -- Kirkus Reviews Welcome to the No Limits Race. In the near future, 16-year-old Kaiden Reed makes a bold and dangerous decision to enter the most brutal sports competition on the planet. One in which he will undergo a radical upgrade and become a new kind of athlete and a new kind of hero. Part human. Part machine. All Kai wants is a shot at a better life and to impress the girl of his dreams. But the stakes in the Race are higher, and the choices tougher, than he ever imagined. Ten days. Ten contenders. One winner. Does Kai have what it takes to compete? How far will he go to win? And should he trust the person who recruited him in the first place - or is she using him to carry out a bold and dangerous agenda of her own? "Designed for YA readers, yet reaching for a broad audience SAND RUNNER is a top-notch read, especially for those dedicated fans of THE HUNGER GAMES and THE MAZE RUNNER." -- Publishers Daily Reviews Get your copy of SAND RUNNER now.