The Freedom Broker

"RAZOR SHARP AND FULL OF YOU-ARE-THERE AUTHENTICITY--A SUPERB THRILLER." --LEE CHILD "AN AMAZING PAGE-TURNER." --JEFF AYERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS "MOVE OVER JASON BOURNE, ACTION HAS A NEW NAME!" --LISA GARDNER The survival window for kidnap victims is small. And Thea Paris is running out of time. Thea Paris, one of only twenty-five elite kidnap and ransom specialists in the world--and the only one who is a woman--is the best in the business. And she's facing the most urgent and challenging rescue mission of her life: her own father's. As a child, Thea was forced to watch, paralyzed with fear, while her younger brother was abducted in the middle of the night by masked intruders. This life-changing experience drove her to become what she is today: a world-class freedom broker. When Thea's oil magnate father, Christos Paris, is snatched from his yacht off Santorini on his sixtieth birthday, days away from the biggest deal of his career, the brutal kidnappers leave the entire crew slaughtered in their wake. Can Thea rescue her father--and prevent this kidnapping from destroying her family for good?

WINNER of the Best First Novel 2018 Award at the International Thriller Writers Awards. The first in a brand new series featuring Thea Paris, a kidnap and ransom specialist. Lee Child calls THE FREEDOM BROKER a 'superb thriller', Lisa Gardner says it's 'clever and gritty' and Peter James calls it 'spellbinding'. If you like the thrillers of James Patterson and Lee Child, or are a fan of Jason Bourne, you will love this. At eight years old, Thea Paris watched her brother being snatched from his bed. Her inability to save him has haunted both their lives ever since. Twenty years later, the unthinkable happens when her billionaire father is abducted. But this time, she is prepared. Now, Thea is at the top of her game as a freedom broker, negotiating for the release of kidnap victims around the world. And she has only one objective: Find him or die trying...

The electrifying sequel to THE FREEDOM BROKER, featuring Thea Paris, a kidnap and ransom specialist. For Thea kidnap is always personal - her brother's life was nearly ruined when he was taken as a child. Lisa Gardner says THE FREEDOM BROKER is 'clever and gritty' and Peter James calls it 'spellbinding'. If you like David Baldacci's King and Maxwell series, you will love this. When Thea Paris's flight is hijacked over the Libyan Desert, her first priority is the two former child soldiers she is escorting to a new life in London. As an international kidnap specialist, Thea Paris negotiates for hostage release as part of her job. She knows one wrong move could lead to deadly consequences. After she is forcibly separated from the boys and the other passengers, Thea and her tactical team quickly regroup. And in their desperate search for the hostages that follows, unearth a conspiracy involving the CIA, the Vatican and the Sicilian Mafia, and a plot far more sinister than Thea could ever have imagined.

From Steve Forbes, the iconic editor in chief of Forbes Media, and Elizabeth Ames coauthors of How Capitalism Will Save Us—comes a new way of thinking about the role of government and the morality of free markets. Americans today are at a turning point. Are we a coun­try founded on the values of freedom and limited gov­ernment, as envisioned by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Or do we want to become a European-style socialist democ­racy? What best serves the public good—freedom or Big Government? In Freedom Manifesto, Forbes and Ames offer a new twist on this historic debate. Today’s bloated and bureau­cratic government, they argue, is anything but a force for compassion. Instead of assuring fairness, it promotes favoritism. Instead of furthering opportunity, it stifles economic growth. Instead of unleashing innovation and material abundance, its regulations and price controls create rigidity and scarcity. Not only are Big Govern­ment’s inefficient and ever-expanding bureaucracies ill-equipped to deliver on their promises—they are often guilty of the very greed, excess, and corruption routinely ascribed to the private sector. The only way to a truly fair and moral society, the authors say, is through economic freedom—free people and free markets. Throughout history, open markets have helped the poor and everyone else by unleashing unprecedented creativity, generating wealth, and raising living standards. Promoting trust, generosity, and de­mocracy, economic freedom has been a more powerful force for individual rights, self-determination—and hu­manity—than any government bureaucracy. Freedom Manifesto captures the spirit of a new movement that is questioning old ideas about the mo­rality of government and markets for the first time since the Great Depression. Going beyond the familiar explanations and sound bites, the authors provide a fully developed framework of “first principles” for a true understanding of the real moral and ethical distinctions between more and less government. This timely and provocative book shows why free markets and liberty are the only way to a better future and a fair and humane society.

Suze Orman has transformed the concept of personal finance for millions by teaching us how to gain control of our money -- so that money does not control us. She goes beyond the nuts and bolts of managing money to explore the psychological, even spiritual power money has in our lives. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom is the first personal finance book that gives you not only the knowledge of how to handle money, but also the will to break through all the barriers that hold you back. Combining real-life recommendations with the motivation to overcome financial anxieties, Suze Orman offers the keys to providing for yourself and your family, including: * seeing how your past holds the key to your financial future * facing your fears and creating new truths * trusting yourself more than you trust others * being open to receiving all that you are meant to have * understanding the lessons of the money cycle The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom is useful advice and inspiration from the leading voice in personal finance. As Orman shows, managing money is far more than a matter of balancing your checkbook or picking the right investments. It's about redefining financial freedom -- and realizing that you are worth far more than your money.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A modern American classic, this huge and galvanizing biography of Robert Moses reveals not only the saga of one man’s incredible accumulation of power but the story of his shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York. One of the Modern Library’s hundred greatest books of the twentieth century, Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V. Lindsay and Nelson Rockefeller. But The Power Broker is first and foremost a brilliant multidimensional portrait of a man—an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and to hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives. We see how Moses began: the handsome, intellectual young heir to the world of Our Crowd, an idealist. How, rebuffed by the entrenched political establishment, he fought for the power to accomplish his ideals. How he first created a miraculous flowering of parks and parkways, playlands and beaches—and then ultimately brought down on the city the smog-choked aridity of our urban landscape, the endless miles of (never sufficient) highway, the hopeless sprawl of Long Island, the massive failures of public housing, and countless other barriers to humane living. How, inevitably, the accumulation of power became an end in itself. Moses built an empire and lived like an emperor. He was held in fear—his dossiers could disgorge the dark secret of anyone who opposed him. He was, he claimed, above politics, above deals; and through decade after decade, the newspapers and the public believed. Meanwhile, he was developing his public authorities into a fourth branch of government known as "Triborough"—a government whose records were closed to the public, whose policies and plans were decided not by voters or elected officials but solely by Moses—an immense economic force directing pressure on labor unions, on banks, on all the city's political and economic institutions, and on the press, and on the Church. He doled out millions of dollars' worth of legal fees, insurance commissions, lucrative contracts on the basis of who could best pay him back in the only coin he coveted: power. He dominated the politics and politicians of his time—without ever having been elected to any office. He was, in essence, above our democratic system. Robert Moses held power in the state for 44 years, through the governorships of Smith, Roosevelt, Lehman, Dewey, Harriman and Rockefeller, and in the city for 34 years, through the mayoralties of La Guardia, O'Dwyer, Impellitteri, Wagner and Lindsay, He personally conceived and carried through public works costing 27 billion dollars—he was undoubtedly America's greatest builder. This is how he built and dominated New York—before, finally, he was stripped of his reputation (by the press) and his power (by Nelson Rockefeller). But his work, and his will, had been done.

Imagine having the financial security to pursue your dreams. Imagine not having to live paycheck to paycheck. Imagine living a life with no limitations. What’s stopping you from turning this dream into a reality? The answer for many of us, is fear. The fear of the first step often paralyzes us from taking any at all. The fear of making a mistake is among our greatest. Mission35 shares the story of Brian Hogben, a mortgage broker in Hamilton, Ontario, whose path to success was not without its fair share of mistakes. It was through trial and many errors, Brian learned the lessons that only these mistakes could teach. He insists he would not be the successful business owner he is today without these experiences. Perhaps you’ve experienced your fair share as well – you’ve taken the first step in pursuit of your passion and been shut out or shot down. Brian encourages you to persevere through these challenges. He believes the right decisions today can lead to your financial security tomorrow, and he wants to show you how. Make this book the first step in your journey and the springboard to launch your own dreams – the world is waiting!

Now in its third edition, The Suitcase Entrepreneur teaches readers how to package and sell their skills to earn enough money to be able to work and live anywhere, build a profitable online business, and live life on their own terms. With new material pertinent to today’s business world, readers will receive the blueprint to create their ideal lifestyle and become their own digital nomad. After eight years of working in the soul-crushing bureaucracy of the corporate world, Natalie Sisson quit her high-paying job and moved to Canada, started a blog, and cofounded a technology company. In just eighteen months she learned how to build an online platform from scratch, and then left to start her own business—which involved visiting Argentina to eat empanadas, play Ultimate Frisbee, and launch her first digital product. After five years, she now runs a six-figure business from her laptop, while living out of a suitcase and teaching entrepreneurs worldwide how to build a business and lifestyle they love. In The Suitcase Entrepreneur you’ll learn how to establish your business online, reach a global audience, and build a virtual team to give you more free time, money, and independence. With a new introduction, as well as updated resources and information, this practical guide uncovers the three key stages of creating a self-sufficient business and how to become a successful digital nomad and live life on your own terms.