When they returned the next year, they were met with sticks and stones, stripped naked and sent home with red cheeks.Mark Horrell and his two friends Mark and Ian shared a dream to climb an 8,000m peak, but it seemed the gods were against them too. They had made no fewer than eight attempts without success (though they had managed to return with their clothes on).With towering ice walls, monsoon rainstorms, arm-twisting crevasses and – most dangerous of all – welcoming teahouses ready to entrap them, would it be different this time?

    It seems like she’s always been attracted to the kind of man who’s bad for her. In fact, it’s been one textbook bad-boy after the next, and it’d left her feeling so defeated that she decided quit dating altogether…for a whole year!Until she met Eric. Good, stable, boring and dependable Eric. He loves her way more than she loves him and it feels good to be on the other side of the equation for once, even though the sex is not the best…but that’s not all relationships are about are they?She’s finally getting her life together and things are going great…but then the universe decides to throw her a curve ball when her teaching assistant quits and is replaced by James Sumner. He’s tall, dark and handsome…covered in tattoos, listens to punk rock and wears a leather jacket. He’s everything Hayley’s been avoiding…so why can’t she stop thinking about him? She wants to put him out of her mind because she knows that Eric is the right man for her…...or is he?The feeling is definitely mutual because James can’t seem to stop thinking about Hayley either. Their attraction is undeniable. When a friendship starts to blossom between them, Hayley begins to doubt everything she knows. Is James really the kind of bad-boy who’ll break Hayley’s heart? Is she meant to be with Eric? Is she meant to be alone?

    Assigned to watch over teenage delinquent Nicholas LeBeck, the last thing Rachel needs is Nick’s hotheaded stepbrother storming into her courtroom. Zack Muldoon is protective and stubborn, but whether he likes it or not, he needs Rachel’s help—both to keep Nick out of trouble and to reconnect with his younger brother. Rachel knows the importance of a family bond, but she hasn’t considered what excitement—or complications—a blossoming romance could add to their agreement. But Zack and Rachel’s chemistry is hard to ignore, and the two could be falling for each other faster than they realize.Convincing AlexDetective Alex Stanislaski thought he’d seen it all—until he mistakenly arrests the bold soap opera writer Bess McNee. Committed to understanding her characters, Bess often looks for research opportunities to help her write the best she can—and accidentally being arrested gives her the best opportunity of all. She decides to follow the sexy detective around to get ideas for her show, but Bess will soon discover that Alex is not only perfect for research but maybe a perfect match for herself, as well. Now all she has to do is convince him she’s right…

    Ride along with Jesse and Frank James and the Younger brothers as they share in the adventures of The Lone Jack Kid.This was wartime and men lived and died fighting their enemy . . . and sometimes they died fighting each other. Cole looked at the men, raised his hand, and said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “Don’t do it, boys. Sturman was a yellow cur, and a deserter, and you don’t have to die trying to avenge the likes of him.There were seven Indians and they were standing around two semi-naked white women who appeared to be a mother and daughter. Charlie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he aimed - - and fired, and fired, and fired again, repeatedly. He dropped four of the Indians before they knew what hit them. Then he charged into the clearing and shot another Indian reaching for his gun.“My name is Charles Longstreet.” The men looked at each other as recognition set in. “You’re the Lone Jack Kid?” The Kid smiled. “The one and only.” He pulled his hat off of his head and waved it in the air, then he gave the Rebel yell. “See you money grubbers in hell, boys.” He jerked the reins, and nudged Comet with his heals. She turned her head and leaped into the bubbling stream with water as high as the stirrups, and dashed across, splashing tendrils of water high in the air on both sides of her. It was an impressive display of horsemanship, and the toll collectors watched with grudging admiration.

    Whether in business or his personal life. Not many people tell him, “No.” Until Kourtney Deen, a striking beauty, refused to sell her business to him so that he could put up a luxury spa and golf course. Business is business that’s what Zac has always believed. He refuses to get caught in the marriage trap like his cousins. However, the day he meets the feisty shop owner face to face, he can’t resist the attraction he has for her. Kourtney refuses to allow herself to get distracted. No matter how tall, grey-eyed and handsome he maybe. That road has already been traveled. Years ago, she made some mistakes and had to make some tough choices. Now, the only two things she cares about are her daughter and the success of her shop. In Zac’s structured life, things have always gone how he planned it, but one unexpected event leads to another. When he discovers that nothing is what it seems and there are secrets, yet revealed, he learns quickly that it is not his wallet he has to lean on, but his heart.

    Each recipe tackles a specific problem with a solution you can apply to your own project, and includes a discussion of how and why the recipe works.Most of the recipes use the ggplot2 package, a powerful and flexible way to make graphs in R. If you have a basic understanding of the R language, you're ready to get started.Use R's default graphics for quick exploration of dataCreate a variety of bar graphs, line graphs, and scatter plotsSummarize data distributions with histograms, density curves, box plots, and other examplesProvide annotations to help viewers interpret dataControl the overall appearance of graphicsRender data groups alongside each other for easy comparisonUse colors in plotsCreate network graphs, heat maps, and 3D scatter plotsStructure data for graphing

    Lucy is the wrong side of thirty and tormented daily by the idyllic family pictures cluttering up her Facebook newsfeed. All of her friends seem to be getting married and having babies, and yet here she is, resolutely single, and no prospect of creating the perfect family she's always dreamt of. How she longs for it to be her turn. But finding love is complicated, and as time passes she wonders if there might just be another way to make her dreams come true. Is she brave enough to go it alone, or is the fantasy of 'baby makes three' just too precious to give up on?

    The bookshop is about to close, abandoned buildings line the canal and Potherthwaite’s residents seem stuck in a disheartened rut. Something has to be done, but what? And who will do it?When an unexpected tragedy shatters Sally’s life, she bravely takes on the task herself. Supported by a group of locals, including thrice-married Marigold Boyce-Willoughby, who is forever looking for love, and married couple Jill and Arnold Buss, who might both be falling for their new neighbours, Sally embarks on her ambition to bring the town back to life. But can one woman rally a whole community to save itself?David Nobbs’ much-anticipated new novel is a hilarious, heartwarming tale about what keeps our community spirits alive.

    Now, hopes and expectations for JavaScript’s future are considerable.In this insightful report, Dr. Axel Rauschmayer explains how the combination of several technologies and opportunities in the past 15 years turned JavaScript’s fortunes. With that as a backdrop, he provides a detailed look at proposed new features and fixes in the next version, ECMAScript.next, and then presents his own JavaScript wish list—such as an integrated IDE.

    But with the increasing power of visualization software today, scientists, engineers, and business analysts often have to navigate a bewildering array of visualization choices and options.This practical book takes you through many commonly encountered visualization problems, and it provides guidelines on how to turn large datasets into clear and compelling figures. What visualization type is best for the story you want to tell? How do you make informative figures that are visually pleasing? Author Claus O. Wilke teaches you the elements most critical to successful data visualization.Explore the basic concepts of color as a tool to highlight, distinguish, or represent a valueUnderstand the importance of redundant coding to ensure you provide key information in multiple waysUse the book's visualizations directory, a graphical guide to commonly used types of data visualizationsGet extensive examples of good and bad figuresLearn how to use figures in a document or report and how employ them effectively to tell a compelling story

    Think of the familiar map of the New York City subway system, or a diagram of the human brain. Successful visualizations are beautiful not only for their aesthetic design, but also for elegant layers of detail that efficiently generate insight and new understanding.This book examines the methods of two dozen visualization experts who approach their projects from a variety of perspectives -- as artists, designers, commentators, scientists, analysts, statisticians, and more. Together they demonstrate how visualization can help us make sense of the world.Explore the importance of storytelling with a simple visualization exerciseLearn how color conveys information that our brains recognize before we're fully aware of itDiscover how the books we buy and the people we associate with reveal clues to our deeper selvesRecognize a method to the madness of air travel with a visualization of civilian air trafficFind out how researchers investigate unknown phenomena, from initial sketches to published papers Contributors include:Nick Bilton, Michael E. Driscoll, Jonathan Feinberg, Danyel Fisher, Jessica Hagy, Gregor Hochmuth, Todd Holloway, Noah Iliinsky, Eddie Jabbour, Valdean Klump, Aaron Koblin, Robert Kosara, Valdis Krebs, JoAnn Kuchera-Morin et al., Andrew Odewahn, Adam Perer, Anders Persson, Maximilian Schich, Matthias Shapiro, Julie Steele, Moritz Stefaner, Jer Thorp, Fernanda Viegas, Martin Wattenberg, and Michael Young.

    She erred in not considering commercial and political consequences. Now, someone wants to steal or bury her research and, perhaps, her with it. With no way to fight this unknown foe, Jaswinder knows she has but one chance—complete her research and publish. To do that, she has to stay alive and stay free. Pilot Johannes Yrden desires a courtesan, someone to keep him company on the 8 month trip to the planet Liberty and back. He wants someone not from the Yrden Family spaceship and to hell with his brother, Captain Matt Yrden, who believes the TransPlanetary Corporations will stock his line-up with spies. Yrden's plan runs afoul of circumstance, which throws him together with one 'Jazz Saro', a woman on the run. Forced to run with her, Yrden allows her to convince him to sign her on as courtesan. He needs a companion; she needs a ship, a place to hide. It seems a simple enough arrangement. Jaswinder thinks she's found her perfect solution: a hiding place in hyperspace, where she can complete her research using the ship as her laboratory. Unfortunately, she hasn't reckoned on the possibility of one of her pursuers booking passage, forcing her to maintain the fiction of her alias. The pilot's family, with troubles of their own, grow suspicious and it becomes apparent she cannot complete her research openly. That leaves her the choice: Do what she needs to do to in order to save Jaswinder's life or become Jazz Saro.

    Hidden deep beneath Manhattan lies a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beat.Relic — Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...Reliquary —When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D'Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. Books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child The Pendergast Series Relic Reliquary Other books Mount Dragon Books by Douglas Preston The Kraken Project Impact Blasphemy The Monster of Florence The Codex Jennie At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    Ellen Rosenberger grapples with the real problems, needs, and emotions that missionaries experience. She brings to light the struggles that are not talked about but are very real. She writes openly about depression and burnout, exploring the difficulties of transitions and overcoming conflict. Ellen addresses abuse, struggles with faith, and grief. By talking about these normally overlooked issues, Missionaries Are Real People aims to bring clarity and healing to silent hurts. Maybe you are a missionary who longs for someone to understand your struggles and name your issues. You think, I can’t let anyone know I am struggling with this, especially because I’m a missionary! Perhaps you feel debilitated by the stereotype that “missionaries are perfect” as you are living in the reality of your own brokenness and imperfection. You might feel as though you cannot express the under-the-surface issues that you are facing on the mission field. Having grown up on the mission field and having spent most of her adult life there, Ellen knows what it’s like to have struggled to live under the pressure to be perfect. She’s felt the pain of hidden struggles and masked-over issues. And she’s experienced freedom and healing in being vulnerable about her imperfections as a missionary. This book is not about methodology or theory, but about real life stories and experiences. It’s about the multi-faceted dynamics of missionary relationships with all their joys and struggles. Missionaries Are Real People unveils the unspoken realities of missionary life. Not for the sake of shaming but for the purpose of restoring. The time is now to break down stereotypes, to speak up for what is really going on, and to seek solutions. Let’s not delay another day. There might be a missionary’s life that depends on it.

    If the fire inside hadn't scared off everyone he knew and loved, maybe he'd find it easier to get out of the rut he's found himself in. When he meets beautiful Angelica, an earnest and sweet Canadian antique-hunter, he jumps at the opportunity to learn a new trade and just maybe, change his life for the better.What Chad didn't count on was meeting another fire mage, a stronger, smarter, faster, more experienced supernatural with all the debonair clothes and manner of a true aristocrat. At a snobby antiques auction...in a huge old mansion...full of wood and other burnables.Meeting Basil Chaplin, founder of Arcturus, a secret school for fire magi, means Chad had better bring his A-game.