Nick wakes up in a cold, dark room with a lump on his head and an empty stomach.He doesn't know where he is.He doesn't know who grabbed him.But he knows they're about to regret it.The next twenty-four hours will be a battle of wits, doing everything he can to stay alive. Old enemies crawl out of the woodwork. Old mistakes demand attention. And the woman he loves ends up in the blast zone.They grabbed him, thinking it would lead to an easy payday....

Experience an emotionally driven memoir of childhood trauma, mother loss, and healing. At nine years of age, as her parents approach divorce, Connie must choose in court which parent she wants to live with--her frightening, abusive father or her loving but physically and emotionally exhausted mother. She chooses her mother, who has spent six years resisting divorce and trying to keep her four children. But her mother cannot go on and turns Connie and her siblings over to their father. Deva...

The story revolves around a poor child who wishes to give a gift to the Christ Child during the Christmas season. The central theme focuses on the idea that true giving comes from the heart and emphasizes the importance of love and sacrifice over material wealth. As the plot unfolds, the child faces various challenges in their quest to present a meaningful gift, highlighting the contrasts between wealth and poverty, as well as the essence of what it means to give.The title refers to the ch...

Determining the boundaries of responsibility is an essential part of human life. While we tend to associate responsibility with the ability to act with forethought, we also sometimes praise and blame people for things they apparently do without thinking at all, such as a mother's instantaneous action to save her child from danger. This book addresses this apparent contradiction with the help of Thomas Aquinas. The author examines five atypical cases of responsibility in Aquinas's corpus: s...

"I try to be a better person, do the right thing and help others, but I keep getting sandbagged." -Theo RamageRamage is on the road again, but his past isn't far behind.Old scores are settled as the remnants of the Sandman's crew come looking for revenge, and the bill for an older sin comes due. As Ramage fights for his life amidst the striped sandstone canyons and mesas of eastern Utah, he gets entangled with a family of illegal exotic pet traders and ends...

Who are we? Who am I? You really sometimes ask yourself, if you're being honest.My mother used to sing me this lullaby:Hush, hush here comes the boogeyman. He'll catch you if he can. I've become the boogeyman. If you're reading this I'm either in an asylum or dead.After all, how long can a hitman whose hobby is being a serial killer survive? Inside all of us is an Angel and a Demon. It's the verb that drives life.In my case, can you guess who endured? The De...

My days after Christmas were meant to be an uncomplicated holiday on the east coast of Australia, escaping the European winter in a camper van with the gorgeous Madame Charlottenburg. It wasn't meant to be the beginning of a puzzle, the unravelling of which would begin to emerge weeks later on a Mediterranean island. I am Dougay Roberre, and in Australia I had youthful reminiscences to relive, waves to catch, beers to drink, and Madame Charlottenburg's lips to kiss. Once home in Nice, Fran...

I was hoping that gorgeous CIA agent Margarita Gomez would never find out about the deception I had played on her in Türkiye. I feared that if we met up again, the tables would be turned, and I'd be receiving a hefty dose of payback. I'm Dougay Roberre, an expat Australian living on the French Riviera, where trouble has a knack for finding me, posing questions I foolishly feel compelled to answer. Why would a stand-over merchant think I needed to buy his special insurance? Why has the thug...

Child, I Will Always Carry You celebrates the sacredness of motherhood. This volume depicts the wonder and loss that a young mother encounters through raising children. For the narrator, family life serves as a chrysalis that transforms her. The collection portrays ordinary moments as windows into deeper themes of connection and separation, joy and grief, gratitude, and life and death. Some poems function as hymns of gratitude, others are prayers, and still others are comic sketches of the...

Sumbeach on the Gulf of Thailand is home to fishermen, tradesmen, labourers, businessmen, policemen, service providers, expats and tourists all going about their lives in measured tranquillity under the heat of the oriental sun - its bars, restaurants and golf courses overlooked by the towering L'Hotel Majestique. Sumbar, a short walk along the beach, offers upstairs rooms with a sea view, a swimming pool, and cold beers in the noon day sun. For Australian tourist Jack Featherstone, Sumbea...

On the French Riviera, summer was approaching, and Mary-Anne Walton was due back in Cannes. I could hardly wait! I'm Dougay Roberre, ex-pat Australian living in Nice, and Mary-Anne had employed me as a second unit director for international movie producer Harold Kempenski to supervise the filming of snow-capped Swiss mountains for his upcoming production of Heidi. Ahead lay an uncomplicated sensuous summer with Mary-Anne. However, suspect property developer Paul Villan; a Thai kick-boxer; ...

My name is Dougay Roberre. I've been living on the Cote d'Azur for nine months and in that time, I've solved the death of a beautiful blonde, survived a serious beating by criminals, and unraveled a 40-year-old mystery. Now with a five percent share in l'Opera Mozart, I have big plans for 'my café'. That is if I can stay out of trouble and solve a few nagging questions. Why is there an out-of-town detective shining a torch onto the cafe from the alley? Why is Paul Villan, property develope...