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It's been said the code was never deciphered. That's not true. As an introvert growing up in Lakehurst, NJ, the tragic loss of a close friend forced me to understand how consequence and conscience are akin to the Roman god Janus—both sides of the same coin. 1972 became the genesis of my father’s immersion into the macabre Grace Cohen case, a troubled young girl who wrestled with her inner demons and vanished from Horicon Lake. Her vexing disappearance thrust the rural town famous for the Hindenburg disaster into a maze of deadly nuance, rendering it ground zero for the mesmerizing Zodiac Killer case. No one could ever have imagined the mystery, embroiled in international espionage and secret encryptions, would by six degrees of separation reveal the clandestine motive of Hindenburg’s destruction and unlock the enigma hidden within the “unbreakable” Somerton Man Code. -
Finding Flow provides readers with a simple process to reclaim a close, playful relationship with God. This book adds a spiritual element to the current discussions by psychologists, athletes, and creatives about "flow," which author brian plachta defines as being one with the Divine Spirit who opens our hearts, allowing us to experience inner peace, balance, and wholeness. Finding Flow offers doable spiritual practices organized around: 1. Solitude: establishing rituals to spend daily "quiet time" to deepen our relationship with God 2. Spiritual reading: delving into books that teach and inspire 3. Community: surrounding ourselves with people who nudge us to grow 4. Contemplative Action: discovering our unique gifts and talents and using them to make the world a better place These practices derive from the tradition of Saint Benedict, a fifth-century father of the Church who required his monks to establish a Rule of Life consisting of daily balance between prayer and work (ora et labora). Finding Flow takes Benedict's timeless wisdom, recrafts it with modern language and personal stories, and makes the monk's wisdom accessible to today's readers. +
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The generation of young men who grew up in the shadow of World War II but were too young to fight came of age idealizing patriotism and adventure. They burned to live life to the fullest and do their part in the Cold War. In 1951, when BAYARD FOX graduated from Yale, the CIA promised a unique opportunity to do both by serving as a double agent. Assigned to Europe, the Congo, and Iran, Fox—who spoke several languages and was always game to learn new ones— grew disillusioned and resigned after 12 years. Soon after, a horse he was riding cartwheeled on him, shattering his hip. After organizing local fishermen in the Solomon Islands while swimming and diving for two years of rehabilitation, he was able to walk and ride again. Fox bought a ranch in the mountains of Wyoming, 17 miles from the nearest paved road and telephone, and set out with his family on his life’s true work: a sustainable, benevolent, ethical relationship with nature and the animals and people who thrive in it. This eloquent and brave autobiography of a solitary pioneer evokes those of other men on horseback, such as T.E. Lawrence and Teddy Roosevelt. Their dazzling physical exploits and success in battle made them legendary in their lifetimes, apart from the historical roles for which we remember them. Fox, at 92, reveals a similarly rich life of impossible adventures—and of hardships mastered by grit and mysterious good fortune—in his own spare and unsparing voice. You’ll be riveted and grateful to discover it before he and his generation’s other remaining survivors ride ahead over the last ridge. -
After coming across an unexpected discovery in their storage unit, a couple enlists the help of the SFPD's Homicide Bureau to decipher their findings. The case becomes part of the workload for a two-officer team, Inspectors John O'Neill and Liam Donnelly, who follow a broken trail to find the criminal. With the help of Inspector Kathy Sullivan from Vice, the inspectors uncover the recent disappearances of girls in the escort and mail order bride services. The question remains – who is the man behind all this? This novel is an unraveling of twisted events that shakes up the SFPD and the city's justice system, with everyone involved giving it their all to solve this intriguing case. -
When a serial killer targets the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, the entire community must band together to help the homicide inspectors catch a killer or risk the tragedy that he will kill again. Lucia is a good girl; she's an eighth grader at the local parish school who gets great grades, helps her parents around the house, and loves her siblings. As she waits after school, a stranger - hands laden - asks for help getting into his van. Before she knows it, Lucia's shoved into the van, knocked unconscious, and she's never going home again. After her mother reports her missing, Lucia's firefighter father, as well as other community members, manage to elevate her missing person's report all the way to the Homicide Bureau. So begins a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat narrative of a community connected through more than just the streets they live on to catch a killer and bring a grieving family peace. Two homicide teams, made up of Inspectors O'Neill and Donnelly and Inspectors Gibson and Sullivan, work against the clock and side-by-side with other agencies to bring the criminal down. Chock-full of twists, turns, romance, murder, and community, hiding in plain sight is a can't miss mystery read for crime novel enthusiasts, San Francisco natives, and readers who love a good thriller. Readers will feel immersed in the investigation as they struggle to solve the web of covered tracks alongside investigators. Feel the heart-pounding race against the clock as sands drain from the hourglass and the suspect gets farther away. -
A heartwarming story of gratitude, and a reminder to enjoy the journey. Travel to a mysterious island alongside Frankie to wish on a magic feather. The path to the hidden feather will only be revealed through patience, wit, and joy. But time is running out, and wishes are only granted on one special day. Dance along with the creatures in this sound-enhanced audio story with a powerful message about what’s important in life. Frankie’s Wish is ideal for children 5-8. It features Frankie (no pronouns), Auntie Duke (she), a dinosaur, a gorilla, and an eagle. Major themes include gratitude, asking for help, friendship, self-affirmation, and believing in yourself. Track 2 includes Ballerina Konora’s suggestions for movement exploration. Kids are invited to re-create the characters’ actions and explore movement fundamentals by twirling, squatting, waddling, balancing, jumping, stretching, reaching, sway, and more. Self-affirmation and gratitude are also encouraged. Frankie’s Wish is the latest Dance-It-Out! imagination journey by Once Upon a Dance, winner of over 40 book awards including Mom’s Choice Gold, Kirkus Reviews Starred Review, and Outstanding Creator Awards Top 10 Author of 2022. -
San Francisco, 1967. A teenager comes of age during the Summer of Love at her rock & roll wedding. Her story relates the saga of life and relationships from then until the present through many lessons learned the hard way, until when, in 2005 she transitioned into yet another challenging marriage to the founder of an iconic winery in the Valley of the Moon. An inspirational narrative of one woman’s perseverance, creativity and stamina to overcome the cultural norms of patriarchy through years of controlling abuse and moving on through the learning curve of personal growth. The publication of this story was inspired and encouraged by the now prominent #MeToo Movement. -
The circumstances surrounding the bizarre photograph initially inspiring Meredith Carson to ghostwrite Jack Wagoner’s horrifying account are now included in this audiobook and remain unexplained. When Meredith Carson accepted the task of ghostwriting the frightening narrative you are about to hear, she had no idea how that decision would affect her. Miss Carson shared with other members of the World Codex Staff that, at times, while transcribing Jack Wagoner’s spellbinding story, she felt like Agent Starling from THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Meredith Carson’s unnerving experience documenting Wagoner’s struggle for survival in the Klamath Mountains and the subsequent events is astonishing. -
A famous 18-year-old fiddle player, Beau, is abducted from her parents’ huge Sierra home at a birthday folk jam in her honor one summer in the early part of the 21st century. As a fire burns up the mountain while she is buried on the land under a pile of brush, she is found just in time. A month later, much to her horror, she is abducted again, this time from a Berkeley music jam. The culprit – a crazy but brilliant classical violinist only known for his expert folk guitar playing – hides her away in an underground room in the Sierras so he can compel her to learn classical violin. Pale, gaunt and shattered, can she escape? -
Imagine a world, exactly like ours, but different… Welcome to the H2LiftShips series, a cosmic romp fans have compared to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for its witty quirkiness, and that critics hail as "The most unique and weirdest book series out there." Captain Graciela is where she wants to be, far from her controlling mother, in a rented solar sail cargo ship, trading and gambling throughout the heliosphere. It can be lonely in the void, but the crew on the H2LiftShip, the LunaCola, is all the help she needs: Jack, a talking dog with a nose for Earth jerky, Tang, a poker-obsessed orangutan, and Octopus, in his watery navigation station, are her constant companions on her journey. In book one, Beyond Luna, the crew sets off on a space adventure that has them crossing paths with everything from pirates, anarchists, and poker players, to jail time. Part action-adventure space opera and part tech manual of a possible future, the H2LiftShips series imagines a world where hydrogen balloons lift solar sail ships through outer space to trade goods across planets and asteroids. Here, commerce is the name of the game. Even in deep space, there is no avoiding family issues. When Graciela inadvertently meets her duplicitous mother on a distant rock, it ignites a family showdown between pirates, thieves, and gamblers. Will Graciela rescue her mother and win it all in a rigged card game, or will the crew lose everything? Find out in the first volume of the H2LiftShips series – Beyond Luna, where lovers of science, astronomy, chemistry, physics, engineering, and good old-fashioned sci-fi fun will never be the same after their ride on an H2LiftShip.
