Whether through his writing, live appearances, tweets, or thousands of hours of videos and podcasts, his work has been seen by many. He’s set two Guinness World Records, earned the ire of legendary baseball players, penned two novels about an alligator fighter pilot, raised thousands for charity via custom Super Mario Bros. levels, and works a side job as a professional wrestling manager. These are the stories that people already know. Before jumping headfirst into the public eye, Ryckert’s history was just as unique. He’s been a Catholic schoolboy and an insufferable movie theater employee. He’s befriended the insane and almost been stabbed. Time and time again, he’s taken long shots that have inexplicably paid off in ridiculous ways. Dan Ryckert’s history of unlikely events didn’t start in 2009. They were happening for 25 years prior to that, and the details can be found in The Dumbest Kid in Gifted Class.

    This massive volume includes the complete text of the novels SIEGE OF TITAN, TEARS OF KERBEROS, FIRES OF PROMETHEUS, BATTLE FOR PROXIMA, FALL OF TERRA NOVA and FALL OF HYPERION. This epic science fiction series chronicles humanity’s first interstellar confederation, torn apart by religious strife and extremism. The bloody struggle is told through the eyes of an illegal pit fighter named Spartan, who is forced to choose between incarceration or military service in the Confederate Marine Corps. This box-set includes every book in the bestselling Uprising series: SIEGE OF TITAN In the first book of the Star Crusades Uprising series, the bloody struggle is told through the eyes of an illegal pit fighter named Spartan, who is forced to choose between incarceration or military service. Choosing the Confederate Marine Corps over servitude he begins his thirty long weeks of training. Together with his group of marines, they are honed into a force ready to be thrown into the meat grinder on the newest and greatest planet in the Confederacy, Proxima Prime. His term of service will soon become one of violence and carnage, as the entire sector is ripped apart by a brutal and virulent religious movement and its shocking plans. TEARS OF KERBEROS The religious insurgency continues to spread through the weakened colonies of the Confederacy. Spartan, now a sergeant in the Marine Corps and his armoured platoon is rushed to the defence of New Carlos on the planet of Prime. The massive city is besieged by the terrifying biomech shock troopers, its fall is imminent. As the battles rage across the continent enemy agents continue to foment revolt throughout the remaining colonies in their struggle to bring the empire crashing down. FIRES OF PROMETHEUS The sector is entering a short period of calm. There is peace in Proxima Centauri but for how long? The religious insurgency has already exploded throughout the system and one by one the colonies have seceded from the Confederacy, lured to the offerings of the Church of Echidna. Spartan and General Rivers have vanished and are presumed to have been executed at the hands of their Zealot captors for the murder of the President of Kerberos. BATTLE FOR PROXIMA In this latest book of the Star Crusades Uprising series the Confederacy is on its knees. Months of war have lost them most of the populated colonies and more will surely follow. Spartan, now a Lieutenant in the Marine Corps has been given his own special platoon, the Vanguards. Using the best weapons and armour in the Confederate arsenal, his unit is thrown back to the Bone Mill to locate information that could change the war. FALL OF TERRA NOVA The action shifts to Terra Nova, the shining beacon of humanity and the single most important planet in the Confederacy. Guarding access to this isolated planet is the Anomaly. This mysterious location is the gateway to Terra Nova and the rest of the Confederacy. When the Echidna Union begins moving scores of ships to the Anomaly, Admiral Jarvis must make a critical decision that could win or lose the war. Either she continues Operation Perdition and reclaims the lost colonies of Proxima Centauri, or she sends the fleet to take control of the Anomaly and the route to Terra Nova in one final apocalyptical battle. SLAVES OF HYPERION The newly founded Alliance rises from the ruins of the old Confederacy. Scattered groups of the enemy remain, but organised resistance has been crushed. Amnesty has been granted to those still at large and peace has returned to the war-torn colonies. Or has it?

     “Crime Squad takes readers on an unforgettable ride as Mike, an innocent lad from the Yorkshire Dales, learns to grow up fast and stay alive on the mean streets of London.” Weebly “A great read… gave a great feel of policing in the 80's and 90's in London, particularly with the change in drug culture and guns.” Netgalley “Well-written and informative, giving an insight into the workings of the police force in London in 1980s. Recommended.” Wendy Rhodes - Reviewer “A rollercoaster read of life on the front line.” Sir Hugh Orde OBE QPM “An accurate and fascinating picture of police work at the sharp end.” Detective Superintendent John Jones (rtd) “Gripping from first to last.” Andy Trotter OBE QPM London 1988: PC Mike Pannett, fresh out of training school, had suspected life in the Metropolitan Police was going to be a bit different from rural North Yorkshire, but the 23-year-old had no idea by just how much. Sent south of the river to Battersea, then top of London’s crime league tables, Mike was thrown straight into the deep end – during his first drugs raid he ended up staring down the wrong end of a double-barrelled shotgun. Mike’s arrival in London coincided with the explosion in crack cocaine use. In the early 1990s, Yardies – criminal gangs from Jamaica and the USA - flooded into the capital, starting in Battersea, where they brought all manner of guns with them, along with a live-fast die-young attitude. Rivals were ruthlessly eliminated and whole neighbourhoods fell under the control of drug gangs. Mike and his police colleagues fought back with extraordinary valour and inventiveness and with the support of the local community they started to turn the tide – but then came the unthinkable crime: the murder in 1993 of PC Patrick Dunne, one of Mike’s colleagues, by Gary Nelson, aka ‘Tyson’, a criminal the national press described as ‘the most dangerous man ever to walk to the streets of Britain.’ Mike was drawn into the long and exceptionally dangerous hunt for Nelson that would go on to cost the life of another police officer. Crime Squad takes readers on an unforgettable ride as Mike, an innocent lad from the Yorkshire Dales, learns to grow up fast and stay alive on the mean streets of London.

    1800s. The family of a young Royal Navy officer killed in action on a mission to capture a French privateer in 1798 install a memorial tablet in their church to commemorate his life and service to King and country. Lieutenant Oliver Anson, a distant relative of the illustrious circumnavigator George Anson and the younger son of a Kent clergyman, led the raid bidding to capture the gun brig Égalité hiding in a small Normandy harbour. But when it all goes wrong, Anson is felled by a musket ball in the head and is among the dead and wounded left ashore after his shipmates seek the refuge of their ship HMS Phryne. Only – and despite official newspaper reports to the contrary – the less-than-god-fearing Anson turns out not to be dead at all but very much alive, and stuns even fellow seamen with his miraculous resurrection. It is, however, far from plain sailing for the prisoners to escape from behind enemy lines and get back across the Channel. And the resourceful and ambitious Anson is then dealt a hammer blow by the admiralty when he is later denied a new sea-going appointment. Instead his future is to be an unattractive-looking, land-based role with the Sea Fencibles – tasked with foiling any potential French invasion attempt along the Kent coastline. Perhaps worse, sea rover Anson finds himself falling into the clutches of a local bigwig’s voluptuous and determined daughter who is desperate to find a husband… The Normandy Privateer charts the ups and downs of Lieutenant Anson and shines a poignant light on the loneliness and responsibilities of command. ‘An enlightening historical thriller.’ – Thomas Waugh David McDine OBE, is a former Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and a former Royal Navy Reserve officer and Admiralty information officer. He is also the author of Unconquered: The Story of Kent and its Lieutenancy. The Five Horseshoes, his debut novel in the Animal Man series, is sure to appeal to fans of Tom Sharpe, Alexander McCall Smith, PG Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh.

    She and her husband had gotten Ira as a puppy—a wedding gift to each other, and their first foray into “parenthood.” Now, her dog is terminal, her marriage is on life support, and Nancy is desperate to save them both (whether they want it or not). In a single year, she loses her two best friends, but Nancy’s life is about to take yet another unexpected turn.With humor and heart, Nancy Balbirer shares her story of relationships, loss, and canine friendship in this illuminating memoir about the lengths people will go to keep love alive…and the power of finally letting go.

    Here, collected for the first time and posthumously, are Fleming's favorite works. He takes us back to the days of the founders, detailing the surprising facts of American life in 1776, including its resemblance to today. He tells the seldom-told tale of the Loyalists, supporters of England who acted on their political convictions with impressive courage during the Revolution, and reveals little-known facets of men ranging from Franklin to Lafayette, Howe to Washington. He concludes with the Constitutional Convention of 1787 when fifty-five men from twelve virtually autonomous states came to Philadelphia in a brave - some thought foolhardy - attempt to replace a loose and fragile confederation with a strong national government. Their astonishing achievement became a standard of enlightenment the world over.

    From TV's award-winning comedy mum, Lucy Beaumont, comes her hilarious debut on the trials and tribulations of motherhood.

    Learn all this and more in this fabulous little book packed with advice and tips to run your home, create household budgets, cut cost, reduce the grocery bill and keep those organics, garden in small spaces, and much, much more. This is a great book for everyone on a tight budget, in debt, one income families, or those of you living on fixed incomes.

    Because SOG operations suffered extraordinary casualties, they required extraordinary soldiers. So when Capt. Thom Nicholson arrived at Command and Control North (CCN) in Da Nang, SOG's northernmost base camp, he knew he was going to be working with the cream of the crop. As commander of Company B, CCN's Raider Company, Nicholson commanded four platoons, comprising nearly two hundred men, in some of the war's most deadly missions, including ready-reaction missions for patrols in contact with the enemy, patrol extractions under fire, and top-secret expeditions "over the fence" into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam. Colonel Nicholson spares no one, including himself, as he provides a rare glimpse into the workings of one of the military's most carefully concealed reconnaissance campaigns.From the Paperback edition.

    The autobiography of the most troubled footballer of modern times.

    We start off in Japan as he’s about to board the cargo ship, and throughout the book flash back to times spent in Amsterdam, Bucharest, Kathmandu, Bangkok and the likes. “I wish I could have written a book this awesome.” – Jack Kerouac Expect plenty of taboo topics, tales of dating misadventures, and honest takes on places like India and Iran. If you like the Momentos series on Niall’s blog, you’ll absolutely love this book. FAQ’s Q. How long is the book? A. 36,506 words on 133 pages. You can read through the whole thing in about three hours. Q. What route did you take from Ireland to Peru? A. Ireland > England > Netherlands > Germany > Switzerland > Austria > Hungary > Romania > Turkey > Iran > UAE > India > Nepal > India > Thailand > Cambodia > Laos > Vietnam > China > Hong Kong > China > Vietnam > Laos > Thailand > Laos > China > South Korea > Japan > Peru Q. Is there a surprise ending? A. Yes, but I’m going to ruin it for you right now: In the last chapter I reveal that I’ve never actually left Ireland, and have been fooling everyone with my photo and video editing skills for years. Suckers! Q. Did Jack Kerouac really say that about your book? A. Um, no. He died thirteen years before I was born. So I kinda lied. Sorry. I hope we can still be friends. Here’s a real testimonial to make amends… “This shit be tight, yo!” – Marco Polo Q. Is there an audio version of the book? A. Yes. You can buy it via my website: http://ndoherty.com/books/cargo/ Q. Are there cargo ship sound effects to go with the audio version of the book? A. I think you can hear a toilet flush at the end of chapter ten. That’s about as good as it gets. Q. Why don't you fly? Sounds dumb. A. It is pretty stupid, and I don't recommend it, but I explain my motivation in the book.

    This is what football is really about. One man’s story of a career in the lower leagues.Chris Hargreaves has been a professional footballer for twenty years. Having started out as a youth team player at Everton he made his debut for Grimsby Town in 1989 and was earmarked as their first million pound sale.It never happened.Instead he went on to play for Scarborough, Hull City, West Brom, Hereford United, Plymouth Argyle, Northampton Town, Brentford, Oxford United and Torquay United.Where's Your Caravan? is the sort of football memoir we don't see enough of these days - an account of life in the lower leagues. It takes us from his wild youth - lots of sex and drugs and drink - through to domesticated family man - school runs and flatpack furniture with plenty of football in between.

    Yet despite all the championship banners the team has put on the walls of Staples Center, and despite all the books the Lakers have put on the shelves of fans - featuring everybody from Jerry West to Magic Johnson to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Phil Jackson to Chick Hearn - there has never been a book on the Lakers from the Buss family. Until now. Until Laker Girl.

    Michael Volkin discovered that fact soon after 9-11, when his personal vow to serve my country convinced him to enlist in the U.S. Army. As Volkin quickly discovered, he was utterly unprepared for the new world of the military, "a completely different environment full of unknown exercises and acronyms, where can't eat or talk without permission. Volkin began taking notes on everything and anything with the hope that no one else would have to go through basic training like I did completely unarmed with knowledge that would have eased my transition into the military and allowed me to be more successful.During Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom, Volkin organized his notes, interviewed hundreds of other soldiers, and began to write. The result is The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook, a unique and utterly indispensable guide to successfully coping with and thriving in today's military. The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook is a comprehensive, practical, and easy-to-follow survival guide written specifically for every new or prospective recruit about to enter any branch of the armed forces. Volkin's book offers step-by-step instructions and solutions, including helpful charts and graphics, for how to prepare both physically and mentally for boot camp. It includes a special eight-week fitness program specifically designed to improve your fitness test scores, specific study guides, an instructional How to"chapter, a list of what to bring (and not to bring) to basic training, tips for success, and much more. The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook was written by a soldier for men and women who want to become soldiers. No one should enter boot camp without having read this book.