Learn how to apply functional F# design patterns to a huge range of programming challenges, and discover a smart route to building better applications About This Book This book provides a path if you are coming from imperative and object-oriented paradigms It will take you to an intermediate level of functional programming in very practical manner to write enterprise-quality idiomatic F# code Tackle complex computing problems with simple code by fully embracing the functional-first F# paradigm Packed full of practical coding examples to help you master F# programming and author optimal code Who This Book Is For This book is for .NET developers, web programmers, C# developers, and F# developers. So, if you have basic experience in F# programming and developing performance-critical applications, then this book is for you. What You Will Learn Acquire the practical knowledge to use the main functional design patterns Realign some imperative and object-oriented principles under the functional approach Develop your confidence in building and combining first-order and higher-order functions Learn to use core language pattern matching effectively Make use of native F# algebraic data types in place of custom-built classes Recognize and measure the difference in resource consumption between sequences and materialized data collections Navigate and use F# Core libraries with ease by seeing patterns behind specific library functions Master writing generic polymorphic code In Detail Following design patterns is a well-known approach to writing better programs that captures and reuses high-level abstractions that are common in many applications. This book will encourage you to develop an idiomatic F# coding skillset by fully embracing the functional-first F# paradigm. It will also help you harness this powerful instrument to write succinct, bug-free, and cross-platform code. F# 4.0 Design Patterns will start off by helping you develop a functional way of thinking. We will show you how beneficial the functional-first paradigm is and how to use it to get the optimum results. The book will help you acquire the practical knowledge of the main functional design patterns, the relationship of which with the traditional Gang of Four set is not straightforward. We will take you through pattern matching, immutable data types, and sequences in F#. We will also uncover advanced functional patterns, look at polymorphic functions, typical data crunching techniques, adjusting code through augmentation, and generalization. Lastly, we will take a look at the advanced techniques to equip you with everything you need to write flawless code. Style and approach This book will teach you how to write F# code in an idiomatic functional-first manner, thereby improving the productivity of F# programmers. This book is ideal for an F# programmer who wants using F# in functional-first way.

Step inside the world of the talented art departments who, led by Academy Award?-winning production designer Stuart Craig, were responsible for the creation of the unforgettable characters, locations and beasts from the eagerly anticipated new adventure in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.The Art of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, edited by Dermot Power, concept artist on the film, takes you on a magical journey through a design process every bit as wonderful as that encountered by Newt Scamander in the wizarding world: from the earliest gatherings of the artists, designers and filmmakers to the magical time of the film’s production itself at Leavesden Studios.Bursting with hundreds of production paintings, concept sketches, storyboards, blueprints and matte paintings, and filled with unique insights about the filmmaking journey from Stuart Craig and the artists themselves, this superb book – officially licensed by Warner Bros. Consumer Products – presents a visual feast for readers, and will welcome fans of Harry Potter films into the world of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Learn effective tools and techniques to separate big data into manageable and logical components for efficient data visualization About This Book This unique guide teaches you how to visualize your cluttered, huge amounts of big data with ease It is rich with ample options and solid use cases for big data visualization, and is a must-have book for your shelf Improve your decision-making by visualizing your big data the right way Who This Book Is For This book is for data analysts or those with a basic knowledge of big data analysis who want to learn big data visualization in order to make their analysis more useful. You need sufficient knowledge of big data platform tools such as Hadoop and also some experience with programming languages such as R. This book will be great for those who are familiar with conventional data visualizations and now want to widen their horizon by exploring big data visualizations. What You Will Learn Understand how basic analytics is affected by big data Deep dive into effective and efficient ways of visualizing big data Get to know various approaches (using various technologies) to address the challenges of visualizing big data Comprehend the concepts and models used to visualize big data Know how to visualize big data in real time and for different use cases Understand how to integrate popular dashboard visualization tools such as Splunk and Tableau Get to know the value and process of integrating visual big data with BI tools such as Tableau Make sense of the visualization options for big data, based upon the best suited visualization techniques for big data In Detail When it comes to big data, regular data visualization tools with basic features become insufficient. This book covers the concepts and models used to visualize big data, with a focus on efficient visualizations. This book works around big data visualizations and the challenges around visualizing big data and address characteristic challenges of visualizing like speed in accessing, understanding/adding context to, improving the quality of the data, displaying results, outliers, and so on. We focus on the most popular libraries to execute the tasks of big data visualization and explore "big data oriented" tools such as Hadoop and Tableau. We will show you how data changes with different variables and for different use cases with step-through topics such as: importing data to something like Hadoop, basic analytics. The choice of visualizations depends on the most suited techniques for big data, and we will show you the various options for big data visualizations based upon industry-proven techniques. You will then learn how to integrate popular visualization tools with graphing databases to see how huge amounts of certain data. Finally, you will find out how to display the integration of visual big data with BI using Cognos BI. Style and approach With the help of insightful real-world use cases, we’ll tackle data in the world of big data. The scalability and hugeness of the data makes big data visualizations different from normal data visualizations, and this book addresses all the difficulties encountered by professionals while visualizing their big data.

Learn to solve challenging data science problems by building powerful machine learning models using Python About This Book Understand which algorithms to use in a given context with the help of this exciting recipe-based guide This practical tutorial tackles real-world computing problems through a rigorous and effective approach Build state-of-the-art models and develop personalized recommendations to perform machine learning at scale Who This Book Is For This Learning Path is for Python programmers who are looking to use machine learning algorithms to create real-world applications. It is ideal for Python professionals who want to work with large and complex datasets and Python developers and analysts or data scientists who are looking to add to their existing skills by accessing some of the most powerful recent trends in data science. Experience with Python, Jupyter Notebooks, and command-line execution together with a good level of mathematical knowledge to understand the concepts is expected. Machine learning basic knowledge is also expected. What You Will Learn Use predictive modeling and apply it to real-world problems Understand how to perform market segmentation using unsupervised learning Apply your new-found skills to solve real problems, through clearly-explained code for every technique and test Compete with top data scientists by gaining a practical and theoretical understanding of cutting-edge deep learning algorithms Increase predictive accuracy with deep learning and scalable data-handling techniques Work with modern state-of-the-art large-scale machine learning techniques Learn to use Python code to implement a range of machine learning algorithms and techniques In Detail Machine learning is increasingly spreading in the modern data-driven world. It is used extensively across many fields such as search engines, robotics, self-driving cars, and more. Machine learning is transforming the way we understand and interact with the world around us. In the first module, Python Machine Learning Cookbook, you will learn how to perform various machine learning tasks using a wide variety of machine learning algorithms to solve real-world problems and use Python to implement these algorithms. The second module, Advanced Machine Learning with Python, is designed to take you on a guided tour of the most relevant and powerful machine learning techniques and you’ll acquire a broad set of powerful skills in the area of feature selection and feature engineering. The third module in this learning path, Large Scale Machine Learning with Python, dives into scalable machine learning and the three forms of scalability. It covers the most effective machine learning techniques on a map reduce framework in Hadoop and Spark in Python. This Learning Path will teach you Python machine learning for the real world. The machine learning techniques covered in this Learning Path are at the forefront of commercial practice. This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package. It includes content from the following Packt products: Python Machine Learning Cookbook by Prateek Joshi Advanced Machine Learning with Python by John Hearty Large Scale Machine Learning with Python by Bastiaan Sjardin, Alberto Boschetti, Luca Massaron Style and approach This course is a smooth learning path that will teach you how to get started with Python machine learning for the real world, and develop solutions to real-world problems. Through this comprehensive course, you’ll learn to create the most effective machine learning techniques from scratch and more!

Leverage the full potential of Entity Framework with this collection of powerful and easy-to-follow recipes About This Book Learn how to use the new features of Entity Framework Core 1 Improve your queries by leveraging some of the advanced features Avoid common pitfalls Make the best of your .NET APIs by integrating with Entity Framework Who This Book Is For This book is for .NET developers who work with relational databases on a daily basis and understand the basics of Entity Framework, but now want to use it in a more efficient manner. You are expected to have some prior knowledge of Entity Framework. What You Will Learn Master the technique of using sequence key generators Validate groups of entities that are to be saved / updated Improve MVC applications that cover applications developed using ASP.NET MVC Core 1 Retrieve database information (table, column names, and so on) for entities Discover optimistic concurrency control and pessimistic concurrency control. Implement Multilatency on the data side of things. Enhance the performance and/or scalability of Entity Framework Core Explore and overcome the pitfalls of Entity Framework Core In Detail Entity Framework is a highly recommended Object Relation Mapping tool used to build complex systems. In order to survive in this growing market, the knowledge of a framework that helps provide easy access to databases, that is, Entity Framework has become a necessity. This book will provide .NET developers with this knowledge and guide them through working efficiently with data using Entity Framework Core. You will start off by learning how to efficiently use Entity Framework in practical situations. You will gain a deep understanding of mapping properties and find out how to handle validation in Entity Framework. The book will then explain how to work with transactions and stored procedures along with improving Entity Framework using query libraries. Moving on, you will learn to improve complex query scenarios and implement transaction and concurrency control. You will then be taught to improve and develop Entity Framework in complex business scenarios. With the concluding chapter on performance and scalability, this book will get you ready to use Entity Framework proficiently. Style and approach Filled with rich code-based examples, this book takes a recipe-based approach that will teach .NET developers to improve their understanding of Entity Framework and help them effortlessly apply this knowledge in everyday situations.

Learn how to use the power of Xcode to turn your next great app idea into a reality About This Book Learn the theory and tools behind app development using Swift 3 and Xcode 8 Build a fully featured iOS app, including a companion app for the Apple Watch Optimize, debug, and ultimately release your app on Test Flight and the App Store Who This Book Is For This book is intended for programmers looking to get a jump-start into the world of iOS development. Whether you’re a young student who has only spent a few months with Java, or a seasoned developer who has spent their career developing for a different platform, all that is expected is a basic understanding of a programming language such as C++, C#, or Java. What You Will Learn Understand the most important features of the Xcode IDE Write Swift 3 code for application data models and view controllers Prepare visual layouts for an iOS application using storyboards, size classes, and auto-layout Integrate many common technologies into an app, such as multi-touch gestures, CoreData, and notifications Build companion applications for the Apple Watch with watchOS 3 Debug applications using Xcode’s suite of debugging tools, and prevent bugs with unit testing Optimize an application using Xcode 8’s profiling tools and asset catalogs Distribute a beta application through TestFlight, and a finished application through the App Store In Detail Over the last few years, we’ve seen a breakthrough in mobile computing and the birth of world-changing mobile apps. With a reputation as one of the most user-centric and developer-friendly platforms, iOS is the best place to launch your next great app idea. As the official tool to create iOS applications, Xcode is chock full of features aimed at making a developer’s job easier, faster, and more fun. This book will take you from complete novice to a published app developer, and covers every step in between. You’ll learn the basics of iOS application development by taking a guided tour through the Xcode software and Swift programming language, before putting that knowledge to use by building your first app called “Snippets.” Over the course of the book, you will continue to explore the many facets of iOS development in Xcode by adding new features to your app, integrating gestures and sensors, and even creating an Apple Watch companion app. You’ll also learn how to use the debugging tools, write unit tests, and optimize and distribute your app. By the time you make it to the end of this book, you will have successfully built and published your first iOS application. Style and approach This easy-to-follow guide presents topics in a hands-on lecture format where concepts are introduced and explained, then used in an example as reinforcement. The first third of the book covers the separate building blocks of development, while the second two thirds cover the development of an app from start to finish.

Learn to build expert NLP and machine learning projects using NLTK and other Python libraries About This Book Break text down into its component parts for spelling correction, feature extraction, and phrase transformation Work through NLP concepts with simple and easy-to-follow programming recipes Gain insights into the current and budding research topics of NLP Who This Book Is For If you are an NLP or machine learning enthusiast and an intermediate Python programmer who wants to quickly master NLTK for natural language processing, then this Learning Path will do you a lot of good. Students of linguistics and semantic/sentiment analysis professionals will find it invaluable. What You Will Learn The scope of natural language complexity and how they are processed by machines Clean and wrangle text using tokenization and chunking to help you process data better Tokenize text into sentences and sentences into words Classify text and perform sentiment analysis Implement string matching algorithms and normalization techniques Understand and implement the concepts of information retrieval and text summarization Find out how to implement various NLP tasks in Python In Detail Natural Language Processing is a field of computational linguistics and artificial intelligence that deals with human-computer interaction. It provides a seamless interaction between computers and human beings and gives computers the ability to understand human speech with the help of machine learning. The number of human-computer interaction instances are increasing so it’s becoming imperative that computers comprehend all major natural languages. The first NLTK Essentials module is an introduction on how to build systems around NLP, with a focus on how to create a customized tokenizer and parser from scratch. You will learn essential concepts of NLP, be given practical insight into open source tool and libraries available in Python, shown how to analyze social media sites, and be given tools to deal with large scale text. This module also provides a workaround using some of the amazing capabilities of Python libraries such as NLTK, scikit-learn, pandas, and NumPy. The second Python 3 Text Processing with NLTK 3 Cookbook module teaches you the essential techniques of text and language processing with simple, straightforward examples. This includes organizing text corpora, creating your own custom corpus, text classification with a focus on sentiment analysis, and distributed text processing methods. The third Mastering Natural Language Processing with Python module will help you become an expert and assist you in creating your own NLP projects using NLTK. You will be guided through model development with machine learning tools, shown how to create training data, and given insight into the best practices for designing and building NLP-based applications using Python. This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package and is designed to help you quickly learn text processing with Python and NLTK. It includes content from the following Packt products: NTLK essentials by Nitin Hardeniya Python 3 Text Processing with NLTK 3 Cookbook by Jacob Perkins Mastering Natural Language Processing with Python by Deepti Chopra, Nisheeth Joshi, and Iti Mathur Style and approach This comprehensive course creates a smooth learning path that teaches you how to get started with Natural Language Processing using Python and NLTK. You’ll learn to create effective NLP and machine learning projects using Python and NLTK.

Sauté your way through more than 100 hands-on recipes designed to prepare any server administrator to work with Windows Server 2016 About This Book Get the first book on the market to unleash the power of Windows Server 2016, which improves the lives of thousands of enterprise users Be the first to leverage the advent of Containers and Nano Server on Windows Server 2016, which utilizes the resources efficiently and increases productivity. This practical, recipe-based approach helps you to delivering global-scale cloud services into your infrastructure using Windows Server 2016 Who This Book Is For This book is for system administrators and IT professionals with experience in Windows Server 2012 R2 environments who are looking to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to manage and maintain the core infrastructure required for a Windows Server 2016 environment. What You Will Learn Build the infrastructure required for a successful Windows network Navigate the new Server 2016 interface efficiently Implement solid networking and security practices into your Windows Server environment Design your own PKI and start issuing certificates today Explore the brand-new Nano Server functionality Enable nested virtualization on Hyper-V and Server Connect your remote laptops back to the corporate network using Microsoft's own remote access technologies, including DirectAccess Provide a centralized point for users to access applications and data by configuring Remote Desktop Services Compose optimal Group Policies Facilitate task automation with PowerShell 5.0 *ing In Detail This hands-on Cookbook is stuffed full of practical recipes that will help you handle the essential administrative tasks in Windows Server 2016. You’ll start by familiarizing yourself with the look and feel of Windows Server 2016, and will then learn how to navigate through some daily tasks using the graphical interface. You will see how to compose optimal Group Policies and facilitate task automation with PowerShell 5.0 *ing. We will also take a look at the functions available to provide remote network access to your traveling users, and explore the much anticipated Nano Server and Hyper-V built-in integration support that is brand new in Windows Server 2016. By the end of this book, you will know how to take your Windows Server 2016-powered server and turn it into any common infrastructure role that might be required in your company. Style and approach The book follows a recipe-based approach that starts with an introduction and the installation of Windows Server 2016, then dives into the powerful features, and then ends with the concept of security.

The #1 New York Times bestsellerThe phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner. Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South’s segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had a shot at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam’s call, moving to Hampton, Virginia and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley’s all-black “West Computing” group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens. Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future.?

Discover over 100 practical recipes to help you master the art of IT service management for your organization About This Book Unleash the capabilities of Microsoft System Center 2016 Service Manager Master the skills of configuring, deploying, managing, and troubleshooting your Service Manager 2016 This book contains practical recipes that leverage the key and newly added features and functionalities of Microsoft System Center 2016 Service Manager Who This Book Is For This book will be useful to IT professionals including SCSM administrators who want to configure and administer System Center Service Manager 2016 and understand how to solve specific problems and scenarios that arise. It will also be useful to users of Service Manager 2012 who want to learn about the new features and capabilities of the Service Manager 2016 release. It will be ideal if you have Service Manager experience as well as experience with other System Center products. What You Will Learn See a practical implementation of the ITSM framework and processes based on ITIL Deploy and configure the new Service Manager HTML5 Self-Service Portal along with Service Catalog design and configuration Get to know about Incident, Problem, and Change Management processes and configuration Get to grips with performing advanced personalization in Service Manager Discover how to set up and use automation with and within Service Manager 2016 Work with Service Manager Data Warehouse Find out what Security Roles are and how to implement them Learn how to upgrade from SCSM 2012 R2 to SCSM 2016 In Detail System Center Service Manager (SCSM) is an integrated platform that offers a simplified data center management experience by implementing best practices such as Incident Management, Service Request, and Change Control to achieve efficient service delivery across your organization. This book provides you with real-world recipes that can be used immediately and will show you how to configure and administer SCSM 2016. You’ll also find out how to solve particular problems and scenarios to take this tool further. You’ll start with recipes on implementing ITSM frameworks and processes and configuring Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Then, you'll work through deploying and configuring the HTML5 Self-Service Portal, configuring Incident and Problem Management, and designing and configuring Change and Release Management. You'll also learn about security roles and overall Microsoft SCSM 2016 administration. Toward the end of the book, we’ll look at advanced topics, such as presenting the wealth of information stored within the Service Manager Data Warehouse, standardizing SCSM deployments, and implementing automation. Style and approach This book will enlighten you on Microsoft System Center 2016 Service Manager through recipes that can be implemented directly in any enterprise. You can read the book from start to end if you’re a beginner, or just open up any chapter and start following the recipes as a reference for advanced users. This book consists of a pool of step-by-step recipes on how to perform activities in Service Manager.

Discover what it means to be an expert developer by exploring the latest features available to you in Alfresco One 5.x About This Book Create reliable and secure enterprise apps with the latest Alfresco One 5.x platform Explore all the latest Alfresco One 5.x APIs such as the CMIS API, Alfresco One API, and the integrated RESTful API to get more out of your enterprise apps Unleash the power of the latest JavaScript engine and the JavaScript API for Alfresco to customize your existing apps for the Alfresco 5 platform Who This Book Is For If you’re an enterprise app developer who wants to create custom applications with Alfresco, then this book is for you. Previous knowledge with Alfresco would be helpful but is not necessary. What You Will Learn Create and manage a custom content model Configure the Alfresco Share user interface Build a new AngularJS 2.0 application Create business process definitions using Activiti Designer Discover the most common extensions provided by Alfresco Configure Alfresco to authenticate against LDAP, including & chaining" LDAP with Alfresco authentication Get familiar with the latest features of Alfresco Mobile SDK, Smart Search, and the new Angular framework In Detail Do you want to create more reliable and secure solutions for enterprise appsAlfresco One 5.x is your gateway to developing the best industry-standard enterprise apps and this book will help you to become a pro with Alfresco One 5.x development. This book will help you create a complete fully featured app for your organization and while you create that perfect app, you will explore and implement the new and intriguing features of Alfresco. The book starts with an introduction to the Alfresco platform and you’ll see how to configure and customize it. You will learn how to work with the content in a content management system and how you can extend it to your own use case. Next, you will find out how to work with Alfresco Share, an all-purpose user interface for general document management, and customize it. Moving on, you write web *s that create, read, and delete data in the back-end repository. Further on from that, you’ll work with a set of tools that Alfresco provides; to generate a basic AnglularJS application supporting use cases, to name a few authentication, document list, document view. Finally, you’ll learn how to develop your own Alfresco Mobile app and understand how Smart Folders and Search manager work. By the end of the book, you’ll know how to configure Alfresco to authenticate against LDAP, be able to set up Single Sign-On (SSO), and work with Alfresco’s security services. Style and approach This book takes a step-by-step practical tutorial-style approach helping you create a complete enterprise app using Alfresco.

Julie's dad is in trouble and she's going to help him out… Nine-year-old Julie Nicholson is in turmoil. Someone has murdered her aunt Rachel's boyfriend and the police suspect her aunt. Even worse, an extortionist is breathing down her dad's neck, threatening to supply the police with proof that Rachel–his very own sister–committed the crime. Julie is hoping her new neighbor, Anne Barrett, who now writes children's mystery stories but used to be a private detective, can put her deductive powers to work and home in on the real murderer. Julie's father, Chase Nicholson, is hoping the same thing. But before he knows it, Chase also wants his attractive new neighbor to home in on him!

When city girl Constance hires ruggedly handsome Finn Murphy to help her build her hotel, she feels a million miles from home. With Finn’s devastating charms warming her more by the day, Constance might have finally found a love to call her own…

Injured and in peril, agent Charles Nash’s only option is to kidnap Teresa, a nurse who stops to help him. On the run, he’s drawn to the sexy little spitfire. But with enemies closing in, kissing under the mistletoe should be the last thing on his mind!

LITTLE–AND BIG!–DARLIN'(S) Devin Gray had long ago made two resolutions about what was NOT in his future–marriage and fatherhood. And then along came beautiful, lovable and sexy neighbor Molly Shipman to test his resolve on the former. As to the latter, well, when adorable six-year-old Emily showed up on his doorstep, with only a ratty old teddy bear… and a note, claiming HE was her father, well… what was a bachelor to do? Learn to braid hair, for starters. And have tea parties. And chase away bad dreams. And maybe, just maybe… learn how to make both Molly and Emily his own?

Her biological clock just struck midnight. Independent woman Natalie Browning had given up on love–but not on motherhood. Her fiance had split, the sperm bank was a debacle…. Then she met entrepreneur Ben Griffin, the handsome widowed father of two perfect daughters. He was honorable, intelligent, incredibly sexy…her perfect daddy candidate! Many a woman had asked Ben for his manly assistance–say, in lifting heavy boxes or changing car oil–but not Will you father my baby? He'd never been so entranced by a woman, so starved for her touch, but Natalie's proposition was outlandish–and absolutely out of the question! Or was it?

Hunter Morgan incarcerated bad guys; he didn't cootchie-coo babies. But that was before a sperm bank snafu impregnated a stranger with his progeny. Now duty demanded he do right by Ashley Morgen and be the father fate had once denied him…. Ashley refused to share her long-awaited twins with a total stranger, much less agree to wed him! She couldn't risk her already bruised heart–one loveless marriage had been one too many. But she couldn't deny the cherished feeling that overcame her when Hunter moved her under his roof to attend to her every need. And after their first kiss, Ashley couldn't help but hope that the stork would also deliver Hunter's love…

DEATH SPIRAL A ten-year-old mass execution in Bosnia has suddenly resurfaced to haunt the perpetrators. Members of an association of businessmen, which included Americans, who were willing to get their hands bloody for profit are mysteriously dying. When a translator for the Stony Man team is innocently caught in the conspiracy, she turns to Mack Bolan for help. One of the men has used evidence from the killings to blackmail his fellow murderers. Bolan's mission is to identify the men in high places who killed for money and power in the aftermath of a brutal war. The Executioner's hunt to fi nd the proof leads to a showdown in the mountains of Colorado, where blinding snow and bloodlust mix with lethal force.

MISFORTUNES OF WAR Nightwind, the military's best-kept secret, is the most lethal anti-missile aircraft in America's arsenal. Its solid-state laser system and advanced optics make it virtually indestructible and infinitely lethal. But, willing to barter his secrets to enemies of the Western world, the scientist who created it has sold out. The blueprints for Nightwind are going on the auction block in exchange for cold hard cash. Brokering the deal is an ex-KGB killer with traitors on his payroll. Nikolai Kursk's vision is limited only by his capacity for power. Not only has he put the scientist and the system plans on the market, he's about to up the ante by stealing the plane itself. His buyers are dealing because they want to see America burn. And their blood money suits Kursk just fine. But that kind of currency carries a price–soon to be collected in full by the Executioner.

All-access doesn't mean no problems. The three Diamond sisters survived the summer in style after coming to live with their long-lost billionaire father. But making a place for themselves at their exclusive new Las Vegas private school is throwing them any number of gold-plated curves. Savannah's YouTube stardom turns into a Sweet Sixteen reality show extravaganza--with complimentary enemies on the side. Dangerous flirtations don't keep Peyton from a gamble that will risk far more than she planned to bet. And when Courtney and the sisters' archenemy, Madison, uncover two explosive secrets, it will rock even this town of glittering illusion--and turn their lives upside down all over again. Sisterhood, first crushes, and scandalous secrets explode in book two of Michelle Madow's riveting series, The Secret Diamond Sisters.

Enemies bent on total terror have infiltrated the U.S. government's most sophisticated defense technology. Mack Bolan and the Stony Man cyberneticists are in a race against time to crack the doomsday code before America's infrastructure collapses.