Thrown together by circumstance, a group of fathers—a sound engineer, a sculptor, a film producer, a chef, a memoirist, a gangster—meets each morning at a local Tribeca coffee shop after walking their children to their exclusive school. The sound engineer looks uncomfortably like the guy on the sex offender posters strewn around the neighborhood; the memoirist is on the verge of being outed for fabricating his experiences; and the narcissistic chef puts his quest for the perfect quail-egg frittata before his children's well-being. Over the course of a single school year, we are privy to their secrets, passions, and hopes, and learn of their dreams deferred as they confront harsh realities about ambition, wealth, and sex. And we meet their wives and children, who together with these men are discovering the hard truths and welcome surprises that accompany family, marriage, and real estate at midlife.Fascinatingly layered and multidimensional, these linked stories, arranged like puzzle pieces, create a powerful portrait of unlikely friends and their neighborhood in transition. Striking chords that range from haunting and heartbreaking to darkly funny and deeply poignant, Triburbia marks the start of a brilliant literary career.

Lemony Snicket’s unhappy tale of the unlucky Baudelaire siblings begins with The Bad Beginning. In this short bothersome book alone, the three orphans encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.Should you not mind deadly serpents, slippery salamanders, lumpy beds, large brass reading lamps, long knives, and terrible odors, then proceed with caution to the second book in the miserable series, The Reptile Room.Readers unbothered by inclement weather, hungry leeches, and cold cucumber soup will want to continue with the third installment, The Wide Window. Others will not.If you’ve got the stomach to wade through the first three tragic tales in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, then this troubling collection might be the one for you. Several loathsome extras, including a compilation of unsettling quotations and a very disturbing portrait, await those who successfully complete the wretched journey. You’ve been warned!

The Avengers meets Louis Sachar in this hilarious and action-packed tween novel by John David Anderson, which Publishers Weekly called a "superhero story that any comics fan will enjoy" in a starred review.Andrew Bean might be a part of H.E.R.O., a secret organization for the training of superhero sidekicks, but that doesn't mean that life is all leaping tall buildings in single bounds. First, there's Drew's power: Possessed of super senses—his hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are the most powerful on the planet—he's literally the most sensitive kid in school. Then there's his superhero mentor, a former legend who now spends more time straddling barstools than fighting crime. Add in trying to keep his sidekick life a secret from everyone, including his parents, and the truth is clear: Middle school is a drag even with superpowers.But this is all before a supervillain long thought dead returns to the city of Justicia, superheroes begin disappearing at an alarming rate, and Drew's two identities threaten to crash head-on into each other. Drew has always found it pretty easy to separate right from wrong, good from evil. It's what a superhero does. But what happens when that line starts to disappear?

With thrills, chills, and laughs on every page, plus a boy-girl rivalry that will leave you in stitches, this is one frighteningly funny book you don't want to miss. In this second book in a middle grade series that's "sure to please young readers looking for a thrill" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), three monster-obsessed friends must take on a mad scientist who is literally stitching together a Frankenstein-esque football team.Nick, Carter, and Angelo are back to monster business as usual. They're even filming a monster movie for a school project on Building a Brighter Tomorrow. (There's a connection there somewhere, they swear.) But when a new private school arrives in town boasting a football team that's inhumanly good, the boys start to suspect they may have a real monster mystery on their hands. And what's worse, they may need help from their girl rivals, Angie, Tiffany, and Dana, to get to the bottom of it.

With thrills, chills, and laughs on every page, this gruesomely funny book will leave you seeing double! In this third book in the acclaimed middle grade series that is "sure to please young readers looking for a thrill" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), three monster-obsessed friends accidentally unleash an army of evil twins onto their hometown.Nick, Carter, and Angelo have defeated the Zombie King, taken down a mad scientist, and, toughest of all, even learned to cooperate with their monster-loving girl rivals. But when the three friends head on a camping trip with Nick's parents, a fateful hike in the woods leads the boys to a creature that can change its shape at will and even mimic the boys' voices. Carter sneaks the little guy into his backpack and takes him home, and so the trouble begins. And in this frighteningly funny adventure, trouble always comes in twos. . . .With the same "mix of creepy chills and laugh-out-loud humor" that made bestselling author James Dashner call Zombie Kid "the perfect book," this third book in the Case File 13 series will leave you rolling in your tomb.

After winning the Mexican War, white Texans turned their attention to expanding control over the vast lands of west Texas. To dominate this huge and forbidding land, they had to subdue everything, man and beast, that called it home--most notably the Comanche people.With their independence threatended, the Comanche saw their way of life vanishing. But they would claim many lives. Only one chief had both the courage and the wisodm to know that war, no matter how valiantly fought, would end in defeat and humiliation. Quanah Parker, the son of a Comanche chief and a white female captive, rose to lead his people--not into abject slavery, but into proud coexistence with an unfolding history that was unstoppable.Impeccably researched, rich with real-life characters and period detail, this powerful historical novel vividly recounts the decline and fall of the Comanche people and their extraordinary leader, Quanah Parker, from the battlefield to the reservation.

All good things must end . . .After ten years and thirteen adventures, at last the triumphant conclusion to Kim Harrison's #1 New York Times bestselling Hollows series!The Witch with No Name In 2004, Kim Harrison made her debut with Dead Witch Walking, an electrifying urban fantasy novel full of action, mystery, romance, and humor, which introduced bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan. Over the course of twelve books, Rachel confronted numerous threats, vanquished a range of cunning and powerful enemies, risked her heart, suffered haunting loss, and nearly lost her life. Now, in The Witch with No Name, Kim Harrison brings back her wildly popular heroine for one final, epic battle.Rachel Morgan's come a long way from the klutzy runner fleeing a bad job. She's faced vampires and werewolves, banshees, witches, and soul-eating demons. She's crossed worlds, channeled gods, and accepted her place as a day-walking demon. She's lost friends and lovers and family, and an old enemy has become something much more.But power demands responsibility, and world-changers must always pay a price.That time is now.To save her best friend Ivy's soul and the rest of the living vampires, to keep the demonic ever-after and our own world from utter destruction at the hands of fanatics, Rachel Morgan will risk everything.

England is close to war. Within days the axe could fall on the neck of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Spain is already gathering a battle fleet to avenge her.Tensions in Elizabeth I's government are at the breaking point. At the center of the storm is John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer in the secret service of Sir Francis Walsingham. When an intercept reveals a plot to assassinate England's "sea dragon," Francis Drake, Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. Busy fitting out his ships on land, Drake is frighteningly vulnerable. If he dies, England will be open to invasion.From the splendor and intrigue of the royal court to the sleek warships of Her Majesty's Navy and the teeming brothels of Southwark, Shakespeare soon learns that nothing is as it seems …

Sam has made it most of the way through sixth grade, barely able to read and write, but now Sam's family have moved again and he is faced with the prospect of attending a new school. How long will he be able to keep his problem secret?

Meet Matt Prior. He's about to lose his job, his wife, his house, maybe his mind. Unless . . . In the winning and utterly original novels Citizen Vince and The Zero, Jess Walter ("a ridiculously talented writer"—New York Times) painted an America all his own: a land of real, flawed, and deeply human characters coping with the anxieties of their times. Now, in his warmest, funniest, and best novel yet, Walter offers a story as real as our own lives: a tale of overstretched accounts, misbegotten schemes, and domestic dreams deferred. A few years ago, small-time finance journalist Matthew Prior quit his day job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse. When his big idea—and his wife's eBay resale business— ends with a whimper (and a garage full of unwanted figurines), they borrow and borrow, whistling past the graveyard of their uncertain dreams. One morning Matt wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife's online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home. Is this really how things were supposed to end up for me, he wonders: staying up all night worried, driving to 7-Eleven in the middle of the night to get milk for his boys, and falling in with two local degenerates after they offer him a hit of high-grade marijuana?Or, he thinks, could this be the solution to all my problems?Following Matt in his weeklong quest to save his marriage, his sanity, and his dreams, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a hysterical, heartfelt novel about how we can reach the edge of ruin—and how we can begin to make our way back.Includes an excerpt from Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins.

In the Depression year of 1931, on the golf links at Krewe Island off Savannah's windswept shore, two legends of the game—Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen—meet for a mesmerizing thirty-six-hole showdown. Another golfer will also compete—a troubled local war hero, once a champion, who comes with his mentor and caddie, the mysterious Bagger Vance. It is Vance, sage and charismatic, who will ultimately guide the match, for he holds the secret of the Authentic Swing. And he alone can show his protege the way back to glory.Written in the spirit of Golf in the Kingdom and The Natural, The Legend of Bagger Vance reveals the true nature of the game in a story that is unforgettable.

The lives of four unlikely friends intersect on the backstreets of New Orleans. Living amid poverty and violence, these fragile heroes of the American underclass redefine our notions of family, redemption, and love.

The lives of four unlikely friends intersect on the backstreets of New Orleans. Living amid poverty and violence, these fragile heroes of the American underclass redefine our notions of family, redemption, and love.

Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . . Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady.When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree flingAnd why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looksIn this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected.

Get the most out of your Qlik Sense investment with the latest insight and guidance direct from the Qlik Sense team About This Book Updated with new coverage on Qlik Cloud, Qlik Sense Modeling, and Extending the Qlik Analytic Platform. Get insider insight on Qlik Sense and its new approach to business intelligence Explore practical demonstrations for utilizing Qlik Sense to discover data for sales, human resources, and more Who This Book Is For Learning Qlik Sense?: The Official Guide Second Edition is for anyone seeking to understand and utilize the revolutionary new approach to business intelligence offered by Qlik Sense. Familiarity with the basics of business intelligence will be helpful when picking up this book, but not essential. What You Will Learn Understand the vision behind the creation of Qlik Sense, and the promise that data discovery offers to you and your organization Get to grips with the life cycle of a Qlik Sense application Load and manage your data for app creation Visualize your data with Qlik Sense's engaging and informative graphing Administer your Qlik Sense system and monitor its security Build efficient and responsive Associative Models Extend the Qlik Analytic Platform with the Dev Hub Optimize Qlik Sense for sales, human resources, and demographic data discovery In Detail The intuitive and powerful Qlik Sense visual analytics software allows anyone to engage in data discovery, to explore your data, and find meaningful insights to empower your business. Qlik Sense lets you easily create personalized reports and visualizations and reveal essential connections to show new opportunities from every angle. Written by members of the Qlik Sense team, this book is the official guide from Qlik to understanding and using their powerful new product with fully updated coverage to the latest features of the most modern edition of Qlik Sense. Benefit from the vision behind the development of Qlik Sense and get to grips with how Qlik Sense can empower you as a data discovery consumer. Learn how to create your own applications for Qlik Sense to customize it to meet your personal needs for business intelligence, and how to oversee and administer the Qlik Sense data architecture. Finally, explore utilizing Qlik Sense to uncover essential data, with practical examples on finding and visualizing intelligence for sales figures, human resources information, travel expense tracking, and demographic data discovery. Style and approach This book is a practical guide to understand what Qlik Sense is and how to implement it. This is an example-rich, step-by-step book to implement and optimize Qlik Sense for sales, human resources, and demographic data discovery.

Master the advanced concepts of game development for iOS to build impressive games About This Book Create a complete game with advanced techniques through the course of the book using in-depth, hands-on instructions Learn how to multi-task and improve performance optimization in your game playing experience The author, Miguel, has 11 years of iOS game development using xcode and has released over 10 games to the Apple AppStoreMaster player movement using touch controls as well as discuss motion controls Who This Book Is For This book is for those who have created an iOS game already and want to hone their skills. A reasonable level of knowledge and an understanding of the core elements and applications would be helpful. What You Will Learn Blast off and start developing fun games Optimize the assets for the best performance in the game app Master player movement using touch controls as well as discuss motion controls Perform bug Squashing by testing and debugging Design interesting various characters and enemies for your game Test your game on both, the simulator on the computer and on real devices Tweak and fine tune the code and graphics before the release of your app Uncover some awesome new gameplay by adding in multiplayer elements, to get more people playing together In Detail iOS is an operating system for Apple manufactured phones and tablets. Mobile gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries, and compatibility with iOS is now becoming the norm for game developers. SpriteKit is part of the native SDK from Apple, and enables developers to make simple entry into game development without unnecessary overhead and a long learning process. SpriteKit also provides other functionality that is useful for games, including basic sound playback support and physics simulation. In addition, Xcode provides built-in support for SpriteKit so that you can create complex special effects and texture atlases directly in Xcode. This combination of framework and tools makes SpriteKit a good choice for games and other apps that require similar kinds of animation. Become a master in iOS game development through this fast and fun guide! In the beginning, we’ll tell you everything you need to plan and design your game. You’ll then start developing your game through step-by-step instructions using the various built-in technologies of Xcode. From there on, we discuss how to deploy your game to the iOS App Store, as well as monetizing it to make more revenue. You will also learn advanced techniques to improve your game playing experience, including better multi-tasking, improved performance optimization, battery management, and more. To end the book off, we’ll show you how to update your game with different features, then port the update to the App Store. Style and approach This book provides an easy-to-understand and fun approach to game development, with step-by-step instructions and detailed explanation of each block of code. The topics covered range from easy to advanced, so buckle up for a fast-paced ride!

Southern belle BeBe Loudermilk has lost all her worldly possessions, thanks to a brief but disastrous relationship with the gorgeous Reddy, an "investment counselor" who turns out to be a con man. All that's left is a ramshackle 1950s motel on Tybee Island—an eccentric beach town that calls itself a drinking village with a fishing problem.Breeze Inn is a place where the very classy BeBe wouldn't normally be caught dead, but with no alternative, she moves into the manager's unit, vowing to make magic out of mud. The work is grueling, especially dealing with the bad-tempered caretaker, a fishing captain named Harry who's trying to earn enough dough to get his boat out of hock. With the help of Harry and her junking friend Weezie, BeBe soon has the motel spiffed up and attracting paying guests.Then there's a sighting of Reddy in Fort Lauderdale, and BeBe decides to go after him. She puts together a posse, and with the irrepressible Granddaddy Loudermilk snoring in the backseat of the Buick, heads south. The plan is to carry out a sting that may be just a little bit outside the law but that, with any luck at all, will retrieve BeBe's fortune and put the dastardly Reddy in jail, where he belongs. And maybe Harry, who's looking more hunky every day, will finally get his boat back.

When Judith and her cousin Renie go on vacation in a remote and possibly haunted Scottish castle owned by a rich whiskey distillery baron strange things start occurring. They meet Harry Gibbs, a dissolute young man who is estranged from his wife and is found smothered to death shortly after Judith and Renie arrive. His widow, Moira, is suspect No. 1, of course, but there are plenty to go around since Harry was a real jerk and wanted to run the petrol company Moira inherited from dear old dad. Suspects include Moira's bastard half-brother, Blackwell Petroleum's sleazy CEO, the wily comptroller, an even wilier corporate attorney, the whisky baron, Moira's former mother-in-law who mixes delicious jams along with her not-so-delicious poisons, Moira's apparent lover, and, last but not least, Chuckie, the dwarfish epileptic who runs around castle. There's a ghost, some goofy villagers, and enough suspects to overwhelm any police force, but no challenge is too daunting for the cousins.

For fans of the movie Gladiator comes this bloody account of the clashing of civilizations, as Attila the Hun, "The Scourge of God," struggles to overthrow the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is weakening. In 367 AD, approximately eight years after the great battle at Hadrian's Wall, Roman garrisons begin to hear rumors of barbarian tribes massing to the north. By 449 AD, Attila, the ruler of the Huns, has become the continent's most powerful monarch, his reputation in battle earning him the title "The Scourge of God." Anticipating an imminent attack by the Huns, Roman leaders negotiate with one of Attila's lieutenants, convincing him to play the part of assassin. He is joined on his mission by a Roman citizen, Jonas, an ambassador dispatched to negotiate a peace treaty with the Huns. When the plot is discovered, Jonas becomes a hostage, forced to fight for his captors if he wishes to remain alive. But he soon learns that Attila intends to conquer Rome itself, and is caught between two mighty empires, both poised for one of the greatest conflicts the world has ever seen. Jonas, knowing his life could be forfeit, has the potential to tip the battle in either direction––and his decision will alter the face of Western civilization. For readers of historically nuanced thrillers and adventure stories by authors like Bernard Cornwell and Colleen McCullough. For readers interested in Roman and Barbarian culture and warfare.

An electrifying new voice in military fiction, Joe Buff has written a riveting and utterly realistic submarine adventure. Jeffrey Fuller is going back to war. Commander Fuller has distinguished himself in battle, becoming one of America's most inspirational heroes in its war with the Berlin-Boer Axis. Time and time again, Fuller has taken his crew of elite submariners into the most dangerous waters in the world, matching wits and weapons with the best of Germany's and South Africa's fighting force, and every time he has emerged the victor.But this time, Fuller is given an impossible mission. As the captain of America's most technologically advanced tactical nuclear submarine, Fuller is told that the Allies will lose the war unless two conditions are met. The only problem: if Fuller devotes his time to achieving one of his goals, he will sacrifice the other. With the war hanging in the balance, Fuller must accomplish the impossible, or he will lose not only his life, but the war itself.

Whether it's poker or trial law, wisecracking Rita Morrone plays to win, especially when she takes on the defense of the Honorable Fiske Hamilton, a prominent federal judge accused of sexual harassment. And it's no coincidence that the judge is her live-in lover's father. Then the action turns deadly, and Rita finds herself at the center of a murder case. She probes deep into the murder, uncovering a secret life and suspects in shocking places. When the killer viciously ups the ante, Rita decides to end this lethal game. She lays it all on the line for the highest stakes ever—her life.