Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances
Leland Melvin - 2017
Though his path to the heavens was riddled with setbacks and injury, Leland persevered to reach the stars.While training with NASA, Melvin suffered a severe injury that left him deaf. Leland was relegated to earthbound assignments, but chose to remain and support his astronaut family. His loyalty paid off. Recovering partial hearing, he earned his eligibility for space travel. He served as mission specialist for two flights aboard the shuttle Atlantis, working on the International Space Station.In this uplifting memoir, the former NASA astronaut and professional athlete offers an examination of the intersecting role of community, determination, and grace that align to shape our opportunities and outcomes. Chasing Space is not the story of one man, but the story of many men, women, scientists, and mentors who helped him defy the odds and live out an uncommon destiny.As a chemist, athlete, engineer and space traveler, Leland’s life story is a study in the science of achievement. His personal insights illuminate how grit and grace, are the keys to overcoming adversity and rising to success.
Mop Men: Inside the World of Crime Scene Cleaners
Alan Emmins - 2004
The side of his van reads: “Crime Scene Cleaners: Homicides, Suicides and Accidental Death.” Whenever a hotel guest permanently checks out, the cops finish an investigation, or an accidental death is reported, Smither’s crew pick up the pieces after the police cruisers and ambulances have left.Alan Emmins offers a glimpse at this little-known aspect of America’s most gruesome deaths. Filled with details as fascinating as they are gory, Mop Men examines not just the public fascination with murder but also how a self-made success like Smither can make a fortune just by praying for death.
Down Among the Dead Men: A Year in the Life of a Mortuary Technician
Michelle Williams - 2010
. . and an unusual occupation. When she impulsively applies to be a mortuary technician and is offered the position, she has no idea that her decision to accept will be one of the most momentous of her life. “What I didn’t realize then,” she writes, “was that I was about to start one of the most amazing jobs you can do.”To Williams, life in the mortuary is neither grim nor frightening. She introduces readers to a host of unique characters: pathologists (many eccentric, some utterly crazy), undertakers, and the man from the coroner’s office who sings to her every morning. No two days are alike, and while Williams’s sensitivity to the dead never wavers, her tales from the crypt range from mischievous to downright shocking. Readers won’t forget the fitness fanatic run over while doing nighttime push-ups on the road, the man so large he had to be carted in via refrigerated truck, or the guide dog who led his owner onto railway tracks—and left him there. The indomitable Williams never bats an eye, even as she is confronted—daily—with situations that would leave the rest of us speechless.
Shifter
Tamara Rose Blodgett
The Complete BBW Ménage Dark Romance Serial 1-6 SAC 1 Talyn Phisher is a counselor in a world that has been turned on its ear by an unthinkable discovery: vampires roam among humans. If all this upheaval was not enough, Talyn's body is changing. Signs that something is seriously wrong plague her. Having been told she's barren and there's no hope—Talyn still longs for a family of her own, though the stories she hears from clients tell her happiness is a long shot. Talyn wants that shot. She yearns for a man who will put her first—for who she is. Until a stalker's pursuit threatens everything close to Talyn's heart. When Talyn feels her life is in imminent danger, she reaches out in desperation to the Final Enforcement, an elite, fringe group of the police who do more than take the law into their own hands. Only to discover Talyn isn't what she thinks she is. And neither is the one who stalks her. SAC 2 Who can Talyn trust? Certainly not those she thought. As the evidence mounts that something is seriously wrong, Talyn gains strength from the sameness of her life. Only to have it shattered when a seemingly innocent come-on turns out to be the beginning of the end of the life she knows. When the local police disregard the facts, Talyn receives unconventional assistance in the form of Enforcer Narah Adrienne. Until she finds that there is no assisting what plagues her, and that she's more sought after than she could have ever imagined.... SAC 3 Talyn finds herself in a compromised position—literally. Having escaped the supernatural battle raging inside her house, she falls into the wrong set of arms, and soon finds herself alone in a prison constructed of Mutables; a group of shifters that can change into virtually any animal. They too, have a limited female population. Talyn doesn't care. She refuses to become the Lycan Merck and Arden insist she'll become, though her beast is clawing to escape. But a revelation about her lineage makes becoming a Lycan a surety, rather than a choice. The question that haunts Talyn is: who will transition her? Friend, foe—or lover? SAC 4 Talyn wakes to find that she's not with who she started with, and tragedy dogs her every step of the way. Narah works to secure her safety while Mutables make a bid to have her. Can Merck claim her before it's too late? Or will Drake find a way to insert his dominance above all. SAC 5 Talyn's been accidentally poisoned with dragon's blood. Can she allow the cure? While Drake and Merck fight over Talyn, Mutables move toward her like a magnet, seeking her for what she offers them. Will Enforcer Adrienne be able to protect Talyn from a predator who is not what he seems? SAC 6 Talyn escapes the Mutables to an enforcer safe house, and must decide between Merck and Drake—or does she? Half a claim will not be enough to protect her from the Mutable who want to use her to strengthen their shifts. Can she allow a full claim and what it will mean for her future? Or will her bid for freedom cost her more than she realizes? Shifter is
Tales from the Couch: A Clinical Psychologist’s True Stories of Psychopathology
Bob Wendorf - 2015
Drawn from Dr. Bob Wendorf’s thirty-six-year career years as a clinical psychologist, the book examines the lives of some of his most troubled patients, in a project that aims to both educate and fascinate the reader. Clinical syndromes are described and dramatized by real-life case examples (altered only as necessary to protect patient confidentiality).Each of the sixteen chapters focuses on a particular psychiatric diagnosis, including Multiple Personality Disorder, Asperger’s, and ADD. The clinical picture and symptoms are described and explained, then brought to life by case examples taken from the author’s practice. Dr. Wendorf presents the cases as a series of narratives—some dramatic, some humorous, most quite poignant. Along the way, the author offers his own reactions to the people and events described here and application to the general human condition as well.Tales from the Couch offers compelling stories of extraordinary people, clinical conditions, and events—both in and out of the therapy hour—while providing insights into the nature of human beings, mental illness, and the psychotherapeutic enterprise.
Alchemy of the Afterlife: A Memoir
Linda Kinnamon - 2015
Being a hospice nurse she spends her days caring for and visiting the terminally ill. But in the pre-dawn hours, as her patients near death, they occasionally pay her a visit instead.Whether it's perfume drifting through a room or a touch on the shoulder, the strength of spirit displayed at the end of life is as unique as the individual. Alchemy of the Afterlife is a memoir of life AFTER death based on Linda's childhood as an orphan combined with her adult experiences as a hospice nurse. These encounters reveal both a glimmer of heaven and a flash of hell.This is a child's story about surviving abuse and neglect, only to be comforted by a visit from her mother, a visit that took place four years after her mother's death. It's a nurse's story about patients of all beliefs, and their evolution from life to afterlife minus the harps and halos. Most of all, it's an uplifting and universal story of the golden transformation we will all experience at death, a transformation with the heart of pure love.
MudMan
James A. Hunter - 2016
He doesn’t like it, but unfortunately he’s been saddled with a divine commission to dole out judgment on those who shed innocent blood. After seventy years as a cold-blooded murder machine, however, Levi’s trying to change his grisly nature. And the AA meetings and church services are helping. A little. But when he runs across a wounded girl, Sally Ryder, during one of his “hunting expeditions,” he realizes self-help may have to go on the back burner.Someone is attempting to revive a pre-Babylonian murder god, and the road to rebirth is paved with dead bodies. Lots and lots of them.Now, Levi must protect Ryder—the key to an unspeakable resurrection—and defeat a Nazi mage from Levi’s murky past. But the shadowy mage holds a terrible secret about the Mudman’s unorthodox birth, one offering insight into Levi’s morbid compulsion for bloodshed. It’s a secret Levi would pay anything to uncover: maybe even Ryder’s life. If Levi isn’t careful, he may end up turning into the monster he always imagined himself to be.
Magic and Decay
Rachel Higginson - 2014
Eden and Kiran from the Star-Crossed Series, Ivy and Ryder from the Siren Series and Reagan and Hendrix from Love and Decay join forces to survive a regular but deadly day at the end of the world. Ivy’s seductive Siren call doesn’t just apply to human men. Zombies of all shapes, sizes and states of decay flock to her, unable to resist her pull. Armed with limited resources and dwindling Magic, the three couples fight alongside each other to stay alive and unbitten. But even with all these supernatural powers combined, no one is safe when Zombies are involved.Magic and Decay is a stand-alone novel. You do not need to have read any of these series to enjoy this book.
Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father's Unsolved Murder
Robert David Crane - 2015
His eldest son, Robert Crane, was called to the crime scene. In this poignant memoir, Robert Crane discusses that terrible day and how he has lived with the unsolved murder of his father. But this storyline is just one thread in his tale of growing up in Los Angeles, his struggles to reconcile the good and sordid sides of his celebrity father, and hi
Naming Jack the Ripper
Russell Edwards - 2014
Bringing together ground-breaking forensic discoveries and gripping historical detective work, Naming Jack the Ripper constructs the first truly convincing case for identifying the world’s most notorious serial killer
Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson
Tom Lange - 1997
Evidence Dismissed
Walk With The Wind: The Endless Circle
Tom Savage - 2015
Experience the incredible exploits of this young elk as he grows to become a great leader of his kind. His life is one of challenge and near tragedy as he struggles to survive the often violent life that is nature. Under the guidance of great bulls and mysterious spirit guides, this brave young bull grows to understand the never-ending circle of life and the oneness that he and all living things share. Enter the brutally honest world that is nature, and walk the journey of this courageous young bull as by his grandeur he brings all four-legged ones to a great oneness with their most feared enemy, man. You will laugh and cry as this young elk grows to become that which you an I hope someday to be.
Hollywood Private Lives Uncensored
Alan Royle - 2016
Hollywood minus the hype and hokum.
Engineering Thermodynamics: A Computer Approach (Si Units Version) (Revised)
R.K. Rajput - 2009
Pure Substances, The First And Second Laws, Gases, Psychrometrics, The Vapor, Gas And Refrigeration Cycles, Heat Transfer, Compressible Flow, Chemical Reactions, Fuels, And More Are Presented In Detail And Enhanced With Practical Applications. This Version Presents The Material Using SI Units And Has Ample Material On SI Conversion, Steam Tables, And A Mollier Diagram. A CD-ROM, Included With The Print Version Of The Text, Includes A Fully Functional Version Of Quickfield (Widely Used In Industry), As Well As Numerous Demonstrations And Simulations With MATLAB, And Other Third Party Software.
Kennedy's Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy, and the Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby
Dan Abrams - 2021
On November 24, 1963, two days after the killing of President Kennedy, a troubled nightclub owner named Jack Ruby quietly slipped into the Dallas police station and assassinated the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Millions of Americans witnessed the killing on live television, and yet the event would lead to questions for years to come.It also would help to spark the conspiracy theories that have continued to resonate today.Under the long shadow cast by the assassination of America’s beloved president, few would remember the bizarre trial that followed three months later in Dallas, Texas. How exactly does one defend a man who was seen pulling the trigger in front of millions? And, more important, how did Jack Ruby, who fired point-blank into Oswald live on television, die an innocent man?Featuring a colorful cast of characters, including the nation’s most flamboyant lawyer pitted against a tough-as-Texas prosecutor, award-winning authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher unveil the astonishing details behind the first major trial of the television century. While it was Jack Ruby who appeared before the jury, it was also the city of Dallas and the American legal system being judged by the world.