Its leader, a charismatic and eccentric millionaire/ex--car salesman named Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is a former chess prodigy and the most recent president of FIDE, the world's controlling chess body. Despite credible allegations of his involvement in drug running, embezzlement, and murder, the impoverished Kalmykian people have rallied around their leader's obsession---chess is played on Kalmykian prime-time television and is compulsory in Kalmykian schools. In addition, Kalmyk women have been known to alter their traditional costumes of pillbox hats and satin gowns to include chessboard-patterned sashes.The Chess Artist is both an intellectual journey and first-rate travel writing dedicated to the love of chess and all of its related oddities, writer and chess enthusiast J. C. Hallman explores the obsessive hold chess exerts on its followers by examining the history and evolution of the game and the people who dedicate their lives to it. Together with his friend Glenn Umstead, an African-American chessmaster who is arguably as chess obsessed as Ilyumzhinov, Hallman tours New York City's legendary chess district, crashes a Princeton Math Department game party, challenges a convicted murderer to a chess match in prison, and travels to Kalmykia, where they are confronted with members of the Russian intelligence service, beautiful translators who may be spies, seven-year-old chess prodigies, and the sad blight of a land struggling toward capitalism.In the tradition of The Professor and the Madman, Longitude, and The Orchid Thief, Hallman transforms an obsessive quest for obscure things into a compulsively readable and entertaining weaving of travelogue, journalism, and chess history.

    

    A murder will make sure of that. The town Sheriff is fat, happy, and useless. Just like his daddy before him and his dad before that. Ethel and Velma Harmon should know. They’ve been around for all three. These two seventy-something sisters-in-law refuse to let their ages slow them down. Especially when there’s a mystery to get tangled up in. The only thing that takes their time away from the whole ball of yarn is, well, a ball of yarn. Crochet class can’t be missed. No matter what. But keeping things on track isn’t easy. Not with old high school boyfriends that still think they’re eighteen and overly friendly mailmen offering up winks. Throw in a dead candidate for mayor, a gender-confused cat, and a splinter-giving park bench, and you’re in for one heck of a time. Come fall in love with these two funny old ladies as they solve the small-town crime of who killed the new guy running for mayor, and make blankets, shawls, and the occasional pair of panties—one stitch at a time.

    His unemployed accountant father is an outspoken critic of the recent default on the crushing national debt, which brings on most of their problems with the law. But his mother is the real complication when it comes to bringing potential girlfriends over to the house. She’s a fanatical prepper. Though Zach can’t see the imminent danger, his parents whisk his family away to the Great Smoky Mountains in case the entire country crumbles into martial law. When the drones circle like buzzards and the bombs start falling, someone has to be the resistance....

    They celebrate the wonders of nature and explore the nature of love and friendship.

    But before he can dig into this latest case, he comes face to face again with Arrington Calder, the one woman who still holds a key to his affections. Stone and his partner, Dino, comb the glittering streets of Palm Beach and begin to suspect that more than one person might be after Allison: one so clever he manages never to show his face, but even more frightening, another man everybody has long forgotten. The Short Forever: Stone's new client, John Bartholomew, asks Stone to fly to London in search of a young woman whom he suspects has taken up with a mysterious character. Bartholomew asks Stone to see what he can find to discredit the man, Cabot. What Stone finds is more bizarre than he had expected. The woman in question isn't related to Bartholomew in quite the way he had implied. And it appears that Bartholomew and Cabot, who once worked together on a secretive assignment, now have very different versions of what went wrong. When Stone himself is implicated in a shocking double murder, he and his partner, Dino, know they have stepped into a strange case unlike any other.

     You’ve seen all the goofy ideas and fads that don’t work. Now it’s time to get back to basics with a simple, time-tested, step-by-step plan that anyone can follow. Arm yourself with the truth about getting out of debt. Knowledge is power and you’re going to get it. Find out: • Whether your mortgage is good or bad (the answer may surprise you!) • About the Power Pay Off Plan (and how Sam saved 20 grand) • The secrets to successfully get out of debt • Where to find the money you need for debt free living • How much money you ought to be putting towards paying off debt • The truth about debt consolidation (including pitfalls to avoid) • How to use insurance to protect yourself from the unexpected • What to do next, once you’ve started on the road to wealth Your student loans, mortgage, car loans, and credit card balances can all be gone with the straightforward strategies you’ll learn in this book. You don’t have to feel stress, shame, or embarrassment over it for one moment longer. You’re going to take control and change your life for the better. You’ll also get free access to The Debt Destroyer. This wickedly good tool will create a customized plan for you to pay off debt and ensure that more of your money stays in your pocket. You don’t have to tackle this alone, and you don’t have to be rich to pull this off. If you want debt help on a budget - with straight talk and no tricks - you’ll find everything you need right here. Debt relief can be yours. Buy this book today and get started. It’s your turn.

    Sometimes he really wishes he could live in a world like Minecraft instead of with his boring family who do boring things like ALL THE TIME! In a moment of anger over his family's boring Christmas plans, Ryan wishes a little bit too hard that he could be a zombie in Minecraft, and the consequences are not quite what he was hoping for, and a little bit too scary for his liking. Will his wish of becoming a Minecraft zombie come true or does it all go a little crazy, and will he even get to spend Christmas day with his own family after so desperately not wanting to?

    Clement Litwiller has no desire to follow in his father's footsteps and is not about to waste his life in boring community living. But what he doesn't realize is that his choices and actions have terrible consequences for the ones he claims to love. Edrei and Chloe Litwiller find themselves shunned and have to find refuge in a lonely cabin on top of a hill, far away from the life they used to live. But then it's Christmas time. Will the true spirit of Christmas bring solace to this wounded family, and can miracles really happen at this most wonderful time of the year? A tale of snow, suspense and faith that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

    But when the life of their young son is taken, Jeanie starts to wonder if her family is being targeted by something supernatural. In this novella based on a true story, Jeanie narrates her family's time at the Maple House and the experiences in what she thought would be her dream home that still plague her family today.

    Chess for Beginners offers new players a quick-start guide to learn the game of chess and start winning in no time with rules, strategies, and tactics for success. Starting with the basics, this comprehensive guide provides a clear, illustrated introduction to the movements of each piece along with basic rules and game dynamics. With this foundation, new players will learn effective strategies and tactics to start playing competitively and confidently.From your first move to your last, Chess for Beginners shows you how to play your best game, with: A complete overview that introduces players to the chessboard and the movement of each piece with clear, easy-to-follow illustrations and directions. 10 strategies that show players how to control the board, think several moves ahead, go for a quick checkmate, and more! 10 tactics that offer short-term solutions to support your strategy and achieve checkmate. Position your pieces, coordinate your attack, and capture their king—Chess for Beginners teaches you all of the moves to play the perfect game.

    If a friend told you a riddle, normally you would ask him for a clue before giving up and ask for the answer. So why not get a little help for a riddle book, too? Even if you think a riddle is hard, getting a clue before seeing the answer will make the game much more interesting and fun. This riddle book is specially formatted to provide clues with a simple click, before providing the answer! For each question, click on “Give me a Clue” to get a little bit of help. If you are certain about the answer, ignore this and go straight to “Show Answer”. Then you can “Go to the Next Riddle”. Why this Book is a Great Buy! Challenge yourself, your friends, partner or family and have some fun exercising your brain at the same time! Here is why you are going to enjoy everything about this book: You can ask for a clue before seeing the answer which is really great and makes the game a lot more fun! It is very easy to use, even when you are on your daily commute or waiting in public. It is easy to navigate between questions, answers and clues! All riddles are smart and interesting The riddles are neither too easy nor too difficult. The difficulty level is appropriate for beginner adults or teens, and even for smart kids. (If you are an advanced solver, please “look inside” the book to decide if the difficulty level suits you). You can play alone or together with your friends and family (fun guaranteed!) What you will Find in this Book Each one of the 100 riddles is hyperlinked to a clue and to the solution, and that provides a maximum ease of navigation. This book contains some of the world’s most famous riddles, and also many lesser known gems. This collection contains: "How is this possible?" riddles Recently a mother gave birth to two girls on the same day, at the same time, in the same month and year and yet they're not twins. How is this possible? Lateral Thinking riddles How can you alter the following equation by a single stroke (straight line) to make it correct? 5 + 5 + 5 = 550 Logic riddles A woman was horrified to find a fly in her tea. The waiter took her cup and went into the kitchen and returned with a fresh cup of tea. She shouted, "You brought me the same tea!" How did she know? Word riddles There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word, a great woman.

    Worth, Texas. Cullen Davis was one of the richest men in Texas and his second wife, Priscilla Davis, was shot in their mansion. Also shot and murdered were her twelve-year-old daughter and her thirty-year-old boyfriend, Stan Farr. Priscilla and two other people said it was Cullen. The culprit was wearing a wig so his identity was somewhat hidden but not completely. Cullen was arrested in the early morning hours of August 3, 1976, at his girlfriend's house. He later went on trial for the murder of Priscilla's daughter. He was found not guilty but the next year he was put on trial for a murder-for-hire plot to kill the judge overseeing his divorce from Priscilla. He got off from that charge, too. And somehow he finally skirted any murder charge for Stan Farr. Finally in 1979 he and Priscilla were divorced. Priscilla received 3.3 million dollars and Cullen was able to move back into his 19,000 square-foot mansion. Two books have been written and a movie was made describing these events and characters. But nothing has been written about what really happened in the decades after the trials of the 1970's. This book explains the facts of that fateful August night and what happened in the courtrooms of Texas. But the majority chronicles the path Priscilla took after the trials of the 1970's. Priscilla was not done with Cullen yet and she would try tirelessly to obtain some kind of justice. She also decided to have a little fun along the way. The press loved Priscilla but the general public were split. She had been painted as a low-rent gold-digger in the Texas courtrooms but everyone also knew that Cullen was probably guilty of murder. In the end, only the two of them really knew the truth. This is the story of how Priscilla learned to live with the fact that justice was denied her and Cullen would probably never pay. In 1995, a 26-year-old man named Greg Brown moved in with Priscilla, who was now 53. They became lovers and Greg tells how Priscilla learned to make the most of tragic situations which were both of her making and not of her making. It's a story of struggle, love and compromise even in the most dire of circumstances.

    

    Their dream of owning a ranch in Idaho's Salmon River country kept them going during those tough times in the Army. The dream, however, is derailed when Seth is murdered in the Bear Creek gold fields. In his quest to obtain justice for his friend, Josh is plunged into a quagmire of corruption and wickedness. And then, to complicate matters even more, enter Sarah, an outcast prostitute looking for a ticket to respectability. Is she friend, lover or just someone looking for a free ride out of Bear Creek? Josh has to decide - assuming he lives that long. However, staying alive might be difficult, given the character of the sheriff and his cronies. Few people trust them to uphold the law, yet no one dares to challenge them. The simplest solution to this entire mess would be to walk away, but Josh's conscience won't allow that. Only time will tell if he is to take his stubborn loyalty to the grave.