The Armageddon Project

"Now Sam is a prime target for the C.I.A., the French intelligence, and Israel's Mossad, who dispatch a sexy El Al stewardess to use any means necessary to stop him. To uncover the story and stay alive, he uses his reporter's instincts and the unwitting help of his foolish brother-in-law, who becomes an unlikely savior in the nick of time. From Paris' Latin Quarter, to the Italian Riviera, to England's Dover Castle, Sam races to reveal the truth before the "Armageddon Project" triggers a real apocalypse in the Middle East."--BOOK JACKET.

A difficult to read, RAW(uneditied) sci-fi novel incorporating elements from the Old and New Testements featuring Samson, Noah, Moses and Jesus. Follow Bella Carrera on his journey, as he battles back from being charged as the lead conspirator in a plan to destroy Tranquility Moon Base, to becoming its Commander.

By DAN BARNETT - The Buzz Posted: 11/05/2009 12:00:00 AM PST Graphic novels are comic books for grown-ups. Full length, immersive, complex, they meld a particular (or peculiar) illustrative style with words that take on the big issues of life. Thus it is with "Spirit Armageddon" ($20.95 in paperback from www.iuniverse.com) by Zacheas Hertz, the pen name of 20-year-old Chico writer Travis Henderson. Coupled with the manga-influenced design and black-and-white illustration of Serpentwitch, the story is the first in a planned series exploring a terrible human paradox: Is it the case that one must become violent to stop violence? Henderson writes in a news release that he is a civilian pilot, recently enlisted in the Air Force, whose "true calling is with flight, but I find my pen has the strange ability to fly over paper" as well. "In both endeavors I lose myself to the awe and wonder of the grand scheme." The author will be signing copies of "Spirit Armageddon" at 6-8 p.m. Nov. 19 at Lyon Books in Chico as part of the bookstore's gathering of local writers, dozens of whom will be honored at the store through early December. Zacheas imagines an earth in which falling asteroids are having a strange effect. As one character explains, "Random people from all over the world have been gaining powers. ... The power we receive has an unfortunate side effect in many people, insanity fed by their own hate, fear, greed or what is most commonly called evil." These "medians" ("it is what the media called the first ones and the name kinda stuck") wreak violence everywhere, and the government's Armageddon Project must stop it. Some medians can be rehabilitated, relocated, but others must be killed. "No therapist can fix them, no jail can hold them, all we have left is to consider the well being of the people around them." And so young Mino, herself imbued with the asteroid's powers, despised by others from her childhood, must now consider saving the very people who hate her. There are lighter moments in the story, but many panels depict stylized violence, and the sounds zziing, dharr, sett, sett, sett, srakh rattle in the reader's head as power confronts power. The final question continues to resonate: "What have we all gotten ourselves into?" Dan Barnett teaches philosophy at Butte College. To submit review copies of published books, please send e-mail to [email protected]. Columns are archived on the Musable blog, http://dielbee.blogspot.com.

At age fifteen my cousin Michael was so distraught and out of his mind over what was happening in his life that he chased his father down the street with a huge tree branch. What did his father do to encourage such an outrageous outburst? He tried to get his son into the car so they could travel to a four-day summer convention of Jehovahs Witnesses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After fifteen years of knowing nothing but the bizarre lifestyle of a childhood in the Jehovahs Witness organization, young Michael finally snapped. That is by no means the end of the story, but it was a sad and major turning point in the lives of both he and his parents. I, too, was raised from infancy as a Jehovahs Witness, and Im here to say that the experiences of our childhoods will shock, amaze and in some cases infuriate those who read them.This is a provocative and highly disturbing work of non-fiction featuring brainwashing and isolationism, sex and demons, blood and fear, Bible prophecy, mankinds impending demise and the forbidden fruit...A detailed journey through the inner sanctum of a prominent religious organization as told by two people who were there.

If the nations of the world were to unite - against what would they unite? Against whom? Manhattan corporate lawyer Kevin Traynor gets entangled in a conspiracy that threatens to destroy his world - in the name of humanity. Through the skyscraper canyons of Manhattan, along the Old Man River, to the boondocks of Old Europe, and over the roofs of Paris Traynor has to hunt a secret that is about to end civilization as we know it. The hurricane of the century, enemy jetfighters, explosions, and earth-shattering disaster - what can stop him? And whom can he trust? The government? His associates? His friends? His mysterious new lover? Himself? Anyone? Who is scheming to bring about the end of the world? Greedy businessmen? Corrupt politicians? Religious fanatics? Or... Kevin Traynor. With the right to be politically incorrect.

In Spies for Hire, investigative reporter Tim Shorrock lifts the veil off a major story the government doesn't want us to know about -- the massive outsourcing of top secret intelligence activities to private-sector contractors. Running spy networks overseas. Tracking down terrorists in the Middle East. Interrogating enemy prisoners. Analyzing data from spy satellites and intercepted phone calls. All of these are vital intelligence tasks that traditionally have been performed by government officials accountable to Congress and the American people. But that is no longer the case. Starting during the Clinton administration, when intelligence budgets were cut drastically and privatization of government services became national policy, and expanding dramatically in the wake of 9/11, when the CIA and other agencies were frantically looking to hire analysts and linguists, the Intelligence Community has been relying more and more on corporations to perform sensitive tasks heretofore considered to be exclusively the work of federal employees. This outsourcing of intelligence activities is now a $50 billion-a-year business that consumes up to 70 percent of the U.S. intelligence budget. And it's a business that the government has tried hard to keep under wraps. Drawing on interviews with key players in the Intelligence-Industrial Complex, contractors' annual reports and public filings with the government, and on-the-spot reporting from intelligence industry conferences and investor briefings, Spies for Hire provides the first behind-the-scenes look at this new way of spying. Shorrock shows how corporations such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, CACI International, and IBM have become full partners with the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Pentagon in their most sensitive foreign and domestic operations. He explores how this partnership has led to wasteful spending and threatens to erode the privacy protections and congressional oversight so important to American democracy. Shorrock exposes the kinds of spy work the private sector is doing, such as interrogating prisoners in Iraq, managing covert operations, and collaborating with the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans' overseas phone calls and e-mails. And he casts light on a "shadow Intelligence Community" made up of former top intelligence officials who are now employed by companies that do this spy work, such as former CIA directors George Tenet and James Woolsey. Shorrock also traces the rise of Michael McConnell from his days as head of the NSA to being a top executive at Booz Allen Hamilton to returning to government as the nation's chief spymaster. From CIA covert actions to NSA eavesdropping, from Abu Ghraib to Guantánamo, from the Pentagon's techno-driven war in Iraq to the coming global battles over information dominance and control of cyberspace, contractors are doing it all. Spies for Hire goes behind today's headlines to highlight how private corporations are aiding the growth of a new and frightening national surveillance state.

On the 50th anniversary of the most dangerous confrontation of the nuclear era, two of the leading experts on the Cuban missile crisis recreate the drama of those tumultuous days as experienced by the leaders of the three countries directly involved: U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Compelling High-Tech Drama and International Intrigue! In Frank Camelio’s gripping new thriller Savior, Swiss geneticist Joshua Mason has made a discovery that promises good health and long life for all humanity. He wants everyone inoculated with his special serum – but on his terms only. Mason is also concealing the serum's full impact on humans and taking extravagant measures to hide his past. Meanwhile, the Supreme Trust, a clandestine international cabal, is funding its own genetic research with the purpose of controlling global population and demographics. As Mason and the Trust move separately and secretly to shape the future, their plans collide, prompting an investigation by the U.S. National Security Agency. The conflict entangles American geneticist Joyce Ching, historian Jim Rogers, and National Security agent Laura Andrews, who face mortal dangers in pursuit of the truth. As the three begin to comprehend the magnitude of Mason’s findings and the Trust's grand strategy, shocking revelations surface – disclosures that alter history and foreshadow a precarious future. Whichever future prevails, Savior will make readers ask themselves, “Given the choice, would I take Mason’s serum?"