Get started with the fundamentals of PowerShell DSC and utilize its power to automate deployment and configuration of your serversAbout This BookCreate flexible and maintainable deployments using DSC configuration *s that stand the test of timeExplore the in depth details of the core architecture, concepts, and practices used by PowerShell DSCA step-by-step guide that shows you how to start using and taking advantage of PowerShell DSC Who This Book Is For This book is intended for system administrators, developers, or engineers who are responsible for configuration management and automation and wish to learn PowerShell Desired State Configuration for efficient management, configuration and deployment of systems and applications.What You Will LearnUnderstand configuration management and why you need itCraft flexible, reusable, and maintainable configuration *s for thousands of serversCreate custom DSC resources to manage any application or server settingApply configuration data to deploy applications to different environmentsUtilize DSC push deployments to test your configuration *s and custom DSC resourcesInstall, configure and use DSC pull serversRun a Windows MSI packageDeploy a website In Detail Windows PowerShell is a task-based command-line shell and *ing language designed especially for system administration. PowerShell DSC is a new management platform that enables you to deploy and manage configuration data for software services and manage the environment in which these services run. This book begins with an overview of the basics of PowerShell DSC by covering the architecture and components of the Desired Sate Configuration. It will then familiarize you with the set of PowerShell language extensions and new PowerShell commands. It will help you understand and create DSC configurations with the help of practical examples, and to create DSC custom resources for your custom applications. Finally, you will learn to deploy a real world application using PowerShell DSC. By the end of the book, you will have better knowledge about the powerful Desired State Configuration platform, which helps you to achieve continuous delivery, and efficient management and easy deployment of data for systems.Style and approach This book is an in-depth guide to using PowerShell DSC, full of real-world experiences and best practices using PowerShell DSC. The topics are explained and build on one another other to provide a holistic learning experience. At the end, all the features learned will be used to create a real world application deployment using DSC.

Harness the power of Nginx to make the most of your infrastructure and serve pages faster than ever About This Book ?Discover possible interactions between Nginx and Apache to get the best of both worlds ?Learn to exploit the features offered by NGinx for your web applications ?Get the newest techniques available, designed with the latest version in mind Who This Book Is For By covering both the early setup stages and advanced topics, this book suits web administrators who interested in solutions to optimize their infrastructure, whether you are looking into replacing your existing web server software or integrating a new tool to cooperate with applications that are already up and running. If you, your visitors, and your operating system have been disappointed by Apache, this book is exactly what you need. What You Will Learn ?Get to know the basics of the Nginx configuration: syntax, structure, and semantics ?Understand the advanced load balancing functionality of Nginx and the newest innovative IO mechanisms ?Create virtual host configurations effortlessly ?Discover all the first-party modules: how to enable, configure, and use them ?Establish advanced rewrite rules with the Nginx Rewrite module ?Set up Nginx to work with PHP, Python, and more via FastCGI ?Configure Nginx to work as frontend for your existing HTTP server ?Manipulate configuration files with ease and adapt them to various situations ?Discover the common pitfalls and find out how to avoid them In Detail Nginx is a lightweight HTTP server designed for high-traffic websites, with network scalability as the primary objective. With the advent of high speed Internet access, short loading times and fast transfer rates have become a necessity. This free, open source solution will either come as a full replacement of other software such as Apache, or stand in front of your existing infrastructure to improve its overall speed. This book is a detailed guide to setting up Nginx in different ways that correspond to actual production situations: as a standalone server, as a reverse proxy, interacting with applications via FastCGI, and more. In addition, this complete directive reference will be your best friend at all stages of the configuration and maintenance processes. This book is the perfect companion for both Nginx beginners and experienced administrators. For beginners, it will take you through the complete process of setting up this lightweight HTTP server on your system and configuring its various modules so it does exactly what you need quickly and securely. For more experienced administrators, this book provides different approaches that can help you make the most of your current infrastructure. Nginx can be employed in many situations, whether you are looking to construct an entirely new web-serving architecture or simply want to integrate an efficient tool to optimize your site loading speeds. Style and approach This tutorial-style book includes detailed instructions on each of the processes it describes, as well as step-by-step tutorials, commented configuration sections, and in-depth module de*ions, so you can make the most of the performance potential offered by Nginx.

Embrace the new world of fiance by leveraging the power of crypto-currencies using Bitcoin and the BlockchainAbout This BookSet up your own wallet, buy and sell Bitcoin, and execute custom transactions on the BlockchainLeverage the power of Bitcoin to reduce transaction costs and eliminate fraudA practical step-by-step guide to break down the Bitcoin technology to ensure safe transactions Who This Book Is For If you are familiar with online banking and want to expand your finances into a resilient and transparent currency, this book is ideal for you. A basic understanding of online wallets and financial systems will be highly beneficial to unravel the mysteries of Bitcoin.What You Will LearnSet up your wallet and buy a Bitcoin in a flash while understanding the basics of addresses and transactionsAcquire the knack of buying, selling, and trading Bitcoins with online marketplacesSecure and protect your Bitcoins from online theft using Brainwallets and cold storageUnderstand how Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the Blockchain, works with simple illustrations and explanationsConfigure your own Bitcoin node and execute common operations on the networkDiscover various aspects of mining Bitcoin and how to set up your own mining rigDive deeper into Bitcoin and write *s and multi-signature transactions on the networkExplore the various alt-coins and get to know how to compare them and their value In Detail The financial crisis of 2008 raised attention to the need for transparency and accountability in the financial world. As banks and governments were scrambling to stay solvent while seeking a sustainable plan, a powerfully new and resilient technology emerged. Bitcoin, built on a fundamentally new technology called “The Blockchain,” offered the promise of a new financial system where transactions are sent directly between two parties without the need for central control. Bitcoin exists as an open and transparent financial system without banks, governments, or corporate support. Simply put, Bitcoin is “programmable money” that has the potential to change the world on the same scale as the Internet itself. This book arms you with immense knowledge of Bitcoin and helps you implement the technology in your money matters, enabling secure transactions. We first walk through the fundamentals of Bitcoin, illustrate how the technology works, and exemplify how to interact with this powerful and new financial technology. You will learn how to set up your online Bitcoin wallet, indulge in buying and selling of bitcoins, and manage their storage. We then get to grips with the most powerful algorithm of all times: the Blockchain, and learn how crypto-currencies can reduce the risk of fraud for e-commerce merchants and consumers. With a solid base of Blockchain, you will write and execute your own custom transactions. Most importantly, you will be able to protect and secure your Bitcoin with the help of effective solutions provided in the book. Packed with plenty of screenshots, Learning Bitcoin is a simple and painless guide to working with Bitcoin.Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide to working with Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to learn the basics of Bitcoin and explore how to set up their own transactions.

Create games on multiple platforms from a single codebase using Haxe and the HaxeFlixel engine About This Book Learn the modern, cross-platform language Haxe to build games without any trouble Create engaging 2D games that are compatible with desktop, web, and mobile platforms Learn how to speed up your workflow with OpenFL and HaxeFlixel using this useful and compact guide Who This Book Is For This book is for game developers with some experience programming games on one or more platforms already. If you want to leverage your game development experience on one platform to develop for multiple platforms and to get up and running quickly, this book is for you. Having prior experience with a language similar to Haxe, such as ActionScript or JavaScript will help, but isn't required. What You Will Learn Understand the fundamentals of the Haxe programming language Set up a development environment that will work on Windows, Mac, and Linux Create fun 2D games using OpenFL and HaxeFlixel Understand how to implement a user interface Enhance the gameplay experience with cool animations Improve immersion by adding sound Make your game modular and easily expandable using configuration files Compile games that will work on desktop, web, and mobile platforms In Detail Haxe is a powerful and high-level multi-platform language that's incredibly easy to learn. Used by thousands of developers and many high-profile companies, Haxe is quickly emerging as a forerunner in the area of cross-platform programming. OpenFL builds on top of Haxe to make developing for multiple platforms quick and painless. HaxeFlixel provides you with the tools you need to build amazing 2D games easier than ever before. Cross-platform development has been supercharged using the Haxe programming language, making it increasingly easy and hassle-free to develop multi-platform games. If you've programmed games before and want to learn out how to deliver games across multiple platforms, or develop games faster, then Haxe Game Development Essentials is the book for you. It starts by showing you how to set up your development environment, then running you through some Haxe language fundamentals, and finally taking you through the process of programming a game from start to finish. You will learn how to create a side scrolling shooter game using HaxeFlixel. Next you will learn to enhance the game with new gameplay features, user interfaces, animations, sound, and configuration files to make your game expandable. Once your game is built and ready, you will learn how to deploy it to web, Android, iOS, and desktop systems. By the end of this book, you will be confident about creating multi-platform games using Haxe, OpenFL, and HaxeFlixel in a faster and easier way. Style and approach Since this book is aimed at people who have worked on games before, this book is written in a way that will get you quickly up to speed with a new set of tools, but will still be accessible for less experienced developers. Each chapter covers an essential milestone in building a game from start to finish. The chapters move in a logical fashion, starting with the basics of Haxe development and ending with preparing a game for deployment.

Build an interactive and full-featured web application from scratch using Node.js and MongoDBAbout This BookConfigure your development environment to use Node.js and MongoDBUse Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulationsA practical guide with clear instructions to design and develop a complete web application from start to finish Who This Book Is For This book is designed for JavaScript developers of any skill level that want to get up and running using Node.js and MongoDB to build full-featured web applications. A basic understanding of JavaScript and HTML is the only requirement for this book.What You Will LearnConfigure your development environment to use Node.js and MongoDBWrite and configure a web server using Node.js powered by the Express.js frameworkBuild dynamic HTML pages using the Handlebars template enginePersist application data using MongoDB and Mongoose ODMTest your code using automated testing tools such as the Mocha frameworkDeploy the development environment to the cloud using services such as Heroku, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft AzureExplore Single-Page application frameworks to take your web applications to the next level In Detail Node.js and MongoDB are quickly becoming one of the most popular tech stacks for the web. Powered by Google's V8 engine, Node.js caters to easily building fast, scalable network applications while MongoDB is the perfect fit as a scalable, high-performance, open source NoSQL database solution. Using these two technologies together, web applications can be built quickly and easily and deployed to the cloud with very little difficulty. The book will begin by introducing you to the groundwork needed to set up the development environment. Here, you will quickly run through the steps necessary to get the main application server up and running. Then you will see how to use Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulations. From here on, the book will take you through integration with third-party tools for interaction with web apps. It then moves on to show you how to use controllers and view models to generate reusable code that will reduce development time. Toward the end of the book, we will cover tests to properly execute the code and some popular frameworks for developing web applications. By the end of the book, you will have a running web application developed with MongoDB and Node.js along with it's popular frameworks.Style and approach An easy guide to Node.js and MongoDB, which will quickly introduce you to the relevant concepts by taking you through the different steps involved in building a full-fledged web application.

Create outstanding enterprise solutions around DocumentDB using the latest technologies and programming tools with Azure About This Book Get to know the concepts of DocumentDB and learn to work your way around it Manipulate and query your documents using different modern technologies to access DocumentDB Build a real-life scenario using Microsoft Visual Studio and C# with this handy and practical guide Who This Book Is For This book is for novice developers and database architects who need a thorough knowledge of the features of DocumentDB and developing applications with it. Basic knowledge of SQL would be helpful. What You Will Learn Create, manage, and configure your DocumentDB environment Execute SQL queries from simple to complex and nested ones against your database Get to know about advanced DocumentDB techniques such as scopes, portioning, indexing, triggers, UDF’s, and security Fine-tune your DocumentDB database to optimize performance and costs Interact with DocumentDB from different technologies and platforms Build a real-life scenario using C# and put DocumentDB at the heart of Azure solutions Understand how to migrate from your current datastore to DocumentDB In Detail Learning DocumentDB adopts a practical, step-by-step approach to help you learn the basics of DocumentDB and use your new-found abilities in real-life scenarios and enterprise solutions. We start with the absolute basics, such as setting up a DocumentDB environment, and guide you through managing your databases, and executing simple and complex queries. Next, we explain how to work with DocumentDB using the open REST protocol, and demonstrate how JavaScript works with DocumentDB. We’ll also show you how to authenticate and execute queries. Moving on, you’ll find out how to use DocumentDB from within Node.js to kick-start your Node.js projects. Next, you’ll discover how to increase the performance of your DocumentDB database and fine-tune it. Finally, you’ll get to grips with using DocumentDB in conjunction with other services offered from the Microsoft Azure platform. Style and approach This book can be used as a tutorial where you learn step by step, but also as a knowledge base to quickly look up recipes you can instantly utilize. Starting with the basics and moving on to advanced topics, every concept is explained in theory and demonstrated through easy-to-understand examples.

Implement the new features of Citrix NetScaler 11 to optimize and deploy secure web services on multiple virtualization platformsAbout This BookLearn how to design, set up, and deploy NetScaler VPX along with the new Jumbo frames in a virtual environment using your GUI as well as your CLI for both public and private clouds to make all your web applications faster and more secureEnrich your networking skills utilizing the new features of AAA by following the instructions to optimize network trafficA step-by-step guide that will show you how to work with the latest NetScaler, 11, by implementing its new features using sample scenarios and real-world examples Who This Book Is For This book is for Citrix administrators who are just getting started with NetScaler, have some basic networking skills This book does not require prior experience of NetScaler.What You Will LearnConfigure different VPN solutions and learn about ICA Proxy, Unified Gateway and SSL VPNSet up load balancing for SharePoint, Exchange, Lync, SQL and other Citrix componentsGain insights into traffic management with NetScaler, Wireshark, and Citrix InsightProtect your web services with an application firewall, HTTP, DOS, and AAAOptimize traffic using front-end optimization, caching, and compressionDeploy a high availability environmentUse NetScaler in public cloud providers such as Azure or AmazonAdvance your network knowledge of TCP and SSL optimization In Detail With a large demand for responsive websites and availability of services, IT administrators are faced with an ever-rising need for services that are optimized for speed. NetScaler VPX is a software-based virtual appliance that provides users with the comprehensive NetScaler feature set. Implementing apps and cloud-based services is much easier with its increased service performance and integrated security features. This book will give you an insight into all the new features that NetScaler VPXhas to offer. Starting off with the basics, you will learn how to set NetScaler up and configure it in a virtual environment including the new features available in version 11, such as unified gateway and portal theme customization. Next, the book will cover how to deploy NetScalar on Azure and Amazon, and you will also discover how to integrate it with an existing Citrix infrastructure. Next, you will venture into other topics such as load balancing Microsoft and Citrix solutions, configuring different forms of high availability Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB), and network optimization. You will also learn how to troubleshoot and analyze data using NetScaler's extensive array of features. Finally, you will discover how to protect web services using an application firewall and will get to grips with other features such as HTTP, DOS, and AAA.Style and approach This easy-to-follow guide is full of detailed step-by step-instructions on how to implement the key components in NetScaler, using real-world examples and sample scenarios.

Design, build, and program your own remarkable robots with JavaScript and open source hardware About This Book Learn how to leverage Johnny-Five's Read, Eval, Print Loop, and Event API to write robot code with JavaScript Unlock a world of exciting possibilities by hooking your JavaScript-programmed robots up to the internet and using external data and APIs Move your project code from the Arduino Uno to a multitude of other robotics platforms Who This Book Is For If you've worked with Arduino before or are new to electronics and would like to try writing sketches in JavaScript, then this book is for you! Basic knowledge of JavaScript and Node.js will help you get the most out of this book. What You Will Learn Familiarise yourself with Johnny-Five Read, Eval, and Print Loop (REPL) to modify and debug robotics code in real time Build robots with basic output devices to create projects that light up, make noise, and more Create projects with complex output devices, and employ the Johnny-Five API to simplify the use of components that require complex interfaces, such as I2C Make use of sensors and input devices to allow your robotics projects to survey the world around them and accept input from users Use the Sensor and Motor objects to make it much easier to move your robotics projects Learn about the Animation API that will allow you to program complex movements using timing and key frames Bring in other devices to your Johnny-Five projects, such as USB devices and remotes Connect your Johnny-Five projects to external APIs and create your own Internet of Things! In Detail There has been a rapid rise in the use of JavaScript in recent times in a variety of applications, and JavaScript robotics has seen a rise in popularity too. Johnny-Five is a framework that gives NodeBots a consistent API and platform across several hardware systems. This book walks you through basic robotics projects including the physical hardware builds and the JavaScript code for them. You'll delve into the concepts of Johnny-Five and JS robotics. You'll learn about various components such as Digital GPIO pins, PWM output pins, Sensors, servos, and motors to be used with Johnny-Five along with some advanced components such as I2C, and SPI. You will learn to connect your Johnny-Five robots to internet services and other NodeBots to form networks. By the end of this book, you will have explored the benefits of the Johnny-Five framework and the many devices it unlocks. Style and approach This step-by-step guide to the Johnny-Five ecosystem is explained in a conversational style, packed with examples and tips. Each chapter also explores the Johnny-Five documentation to enable you to start exploring the API on your own.

Explore architectural approaches to building Data Lakes that ingest, index, manage, and analyze massive amounts of data using Big Data technologies About This Book Comprehend the intricacies of architecting a Data Lake and build a data strategy around your current data architecture Efficiently manage vast amounts of data and deliver it to multiple applications and systems with a high degree of performance and scalability Packed with industry best practices and use-case scenarios to get you up-and-running Who This Book Is For This book is for architects and senior managers who are responsible for building a strategy around their current data architecture, helping them identify the need for a Data Lake implementation in an enterprise context. The reader will need a good knowledge of master data management, information lifecycle management, data governance, data product design, data engineering, and systems architecture. Also required is experience of Big Data technologies such as Hadoop, Spark, Splunk, and Storm. What You Will Learn Identify the need for a Data Lake in your enterprise context and learn to architect a Data Lake Learn to build various tiers of a Data Lake, such as data intake, management, consumption, and governance, with a focus on practical implementation scenarios Find out the key considerations to be taken into account while building each tier of the Data Lake Understand Hadoop-oriented data transfer mechanism to ingest data in batch, micro-batch, and real-time modes Explore various data integration needs and learn how to perform data enrichment and data transformations using Big Data technologies Enable data discovery on the Data Lake to allow users to discover the data Discover how data is packaged and provisioned for consumption Comprehend the importance of including data governance disciplines while building a Data Lake In Detail A Data Lake is a highly scalable platform for storing huge volumes of multistructured data from disparate sources with centralized data management services. It eliminates the need for up-front modeling and rigid data structures by allowing schema-less writes. Data Lakes make it possible to ask complex far-reaching questions to find out hidden data patterns and relationships. This book explores the potential of Data Lakes and explores architectural approaches to building data lakes that ingest, index, manage, and analyze massive amounts of data using batch and real-time processing frameworks. It guides you on how to go about building a Data Lake that is managed by Hadoop and accessed as required by other Big Data applications such as Spark, Storm, Hive, and so on, to create an environment in which data from different sources can be meaningfully brought together and analyzed. Data Lakes can be viewed as having three capabilities—intake, management, and consumption. This book will take readers through each of these processes of developing a Data Lake and guide them (using best practices) in developing these capabilities. It will also explore often ignored, yet crucial considerations while building Data Lakes, with the focus on how to architect data governance, security, data quality, data lineage tracking, metadata management, and semantic data tagging. By the end of this book, you will have a good understanding of building a Data Lake for Big Data. You will be able to utilize Data Lakes for efficient and easy data processing and analytics. Style and approach Data Lake Development with Big Data provides architectural approaches to building a Data Lake. It follows a use case-based approach where practical implementation scenarios of each key component are explained. It also helps you understand how these use cases are implemented in a Data Lake. The chapters are organized in a way that mimics the sequential data flow evidenced in a Data Lake.

Top ten New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance brings another stunning novel of passion, violence, and dreams turned deadly, featuring Seattle Homicide Detective J.P. Beaumont.There are many bizarre and terrible ways to die. Seattle Homicide Detective J.P. Beaumont thought he had seen them all—until he saw this body, its wounds, and the murder weapon: an elegant woman's shoe, its stiletto heel gruesomely caked with blood. The evidence is shocking and unsettling, even for a man who prowls the shadows for a living, for it suggests that savagery is not the exclusive domain of the predatory male. And the scent of a stylish killer is pulling Beaumont into a world of drugs, corruption, and murder to view close-up a cinematic dream at its most nightmarish...and lethal.

Tras la muerte de sus padres en un accidente automovilístico, el joven Andrés Segovia y sus hermanos se ven obligados a mudarse a México con el resto de la familia. Esta decisión, a pesar de haber sido tomada con la mejor de las intenciones, es un error que trastornará para siempre la vida de Andrés.Después de varios a?os de vivir en México luchando contra el estigma de ser un hispano nacido en Estados Unidos y sintiéndose siempre fuera de lugar, Andrés decide regresar a los Estados Unidos. Las autoridades lo detienen un día y lo ponen bajo la tutela de una terapeuta llamada Grace Delgado, una viuda que vive en El Paso. Su relación se convierte pronto en una gran amistad, y justo cuando comienzan a florecer y a disfrutar de su vida juntos, se descubren secretos inconcebibles acerca de la muerte de los padres de Andrés . . . secretos que bien pueden destruir la posibilidad que tienen de ser felices.

Dani's dreams are anything but restful. Each night, a wolf waits in the moonlight to lead her into the forest for a rendezvous with a mysterious man. Like a choreographed dance, they repeat the same words, the same actions, which lead inevitably to a sensual frenzy that ends too soon. Tonight, Dani's determined to change the course of her dream, slow the pace and find the rapture she's sure awaits her…

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar's mother's affections.Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes—the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain—create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.

Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close—and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives, and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries—because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth.

Hank Mallone knows he's in trouble when Maggie Toone agrees to pretend to be his wife in order to improve his rogue's reputation. Will his harebrained scheme to get a bank loan for his business backfire once Maggie arrives in his small Vermont town and lets the gossips take a look?Maggie never expected her employer to be drop-dead handsome, but she's too intrigued by his offer to say no . . . and too eager to escape a life that made her feel trapped. The deal is strictly business, both agree, until Hank turns out to be every fantasy she ever had.

Goldy Schulz is thrilled to be catering a holiday breakfast feast for the staff of the Aspen Meadow Library. But little does she know that on the menu, alongside the Great Expectations Grapefruit, Chuzzlewit Cheese Pie, and Bleak House Bars, is a large helping of murder.While setting up at the library, Goldy spots a woman lurking in the stacks who bears a striking resemblance to Sandee Brisbane—the Sandee Brisbane who killed Goldy's ex-husband, the Jerk. But Sandee is supposed to be dead. Or so everyone believes.Goldy's suspicions mount when the body of Drew Wellington, a former district attorney, is found in a corner of the library with a map worth thousands of dollars stashed in his clothing. She's convinced that Sandee is involved.But the holiday madness is only just beginning for Goldy. Soon she's drawn into the dangerous, double-crossing world of high-end map dealing. And like the ghost of Christmas past, Sandee keeps making an appearance. Could she be out to prove that revenge is sweet?

One phone call from a concerned neighbor has inadvertently led police to Terence Payne, the elusive serial killer known only as "Chameleon." Now Payne is in custody, perhaps dying, and a long nightmare appears to be over at last. But is it?For Alan Banks—currently head of the local police force—too many questions remain unanswered at the chamber of horrors the press will dub the "House of Payne." Because the darkness has not yet lifted, the casualties are still mounting . . . and there are still monsters loose in the world.Showcasing the dark forces of human nature, master of suspense Peter Robinson is at the height of his storytelling powers in a novel that will leave readers guessing until the final page.

In the heart of a civil war-torn African nation, primate researcher Hope Clearwater made a shocking discovery about apes and man . . . Young, alone, and far from her family in Britain, Hope Clearwater contemplates the extraordinary events that left her washed up like driftwood on Brazzaville Beach. It is here, on the distant, lonely outskirts of Africa, where she must come to terms with the perplexing and troubling circumstances of her recent past. For Hope is a survivor of the devastating cruelities of apes and humans alike. And to move forward, she must first grasp some hard and elusive truths: about marriage and madness, about the greed and savagery of charlatan science . . . and about what compels seemingly benign creatures to kill for pleasure alone.

Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz encounters bridezilla—and murder—in another delectable novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Revenge, Dark Tort, and Double ShotCynics say getting married is a death wish. . . .It's been a long, rainy summer for Goldy Schulz, who is engaged in planning wedding receptions for what seems to be all of Aspen Meadow. It's bad enough that Billie Attenborough, the bride from hell, has changed her menu six times and the event date twice. Now she wants to move the location to the Gold Gulch Spa just a scant two days before tying the knot to her doctor fiancé. Then Doc Finn, beloved local physician and the best friend of Goldy's godfather, Jack, is killed when his car tumbles into a ravine. At least that's what appears to have happened. But Jack thinks Doc was murdered because of the research he was doing at the spa—allegations that are confirmed when Jack himself is attacked. So Goldy dons chef's whites and goes undercover at the spa, where coffee is outlawed in favor of calming smoothies, and the fruit cocktail doesn't include fresh fruit. Add in the obstreperous owner, who years ago tried to sabotage Goldy's fledgling business, and she's got her hands full. Above all, there seems to be a clever killer on the spa grounds, watching her every move. After what befell Jack, Goldy knows that she might be next. Catering weddings, and cooking low-fat food, could be killing her—literally.

A lawman with a hardy appetite for life and an unshakable faith in the explicable, Southern Ute Acting Chief of Police Charlie Moon is not prepared to accept a purely supernatural explanation for the recent strange events of April 1. Nevertheless, something carried off Tommy Tonompicket and his unlikely drinking companion, research scientist William Pizinski, in the black chill of the Colorado night. And something ripped the head off a man outside a lonely cabin in the mountains...and left two large, fanglike punctures in his chest. And though Charlie's eccentric old aunt, the shaman Daisy Perika, claims the gargantuan avenging arachnid Grandmother Spider has risen up from the depths of Navajo Lake, the hulking, good-natured tribal policeman feels in his gut that this is murder, pure if not simple, and most probably by human hands.

From Doris Lessing, "one of the most important writers of the past hundred years" (Times of London), comes a brilliant, darkly provocative alternative history of humankind’s beginnings.In the last years of his life, a Roman senator embarks on one final epic endeavor, a retelling of the history of human creation. The story he relates is the little-known saga of the Clefts, an ancient community of women with no knowledge of nor need for men. Childbirth was controlled through the cycles of the moon, and only female offspring were born—until the unanticipated event that jeopardized the harmony of their close-knit society: the strange, unheralded birth of a boy.