The story of how a criminal Shangri-La almost happened In 1981, a small but heavily armed force of misfits from the United States and Canada set off on an unlikely mission: to invade the impoverished Caribbean island of Dominica, overthrow its government in a coup d'etat, and install a new bought-off prime minister. For two years, the gangleaders recruited manpower, wooed investors, forged links with the mob, stockpiled weapons, and planned their assault. They called it Operation Red Dog. They were going to make millions. All that stood in their way were two federal agents from Louisiana on the biggest case of their lives. Bayou of Pigs tells a remarkable story of foreign military intervention, revolutionary politics, greed, treachery, stupidity, deceit, and one of the most outlandish crimes ever attempted: the theft of a nation. Stewart Bell (Toronto, ON) is the author of Cold Terror (978-0-470-84056-6).

A Tale of Bayou drug smuggling The mystery begins when a barge and tug appear one morning, seemingly abandoned, at a remote shipyard on a South Louisiana bayou. Oddly, there are three national flags on board, but its owner and crew have vanished. The suspense builds when Louisiana State Police narcotics agents find fifteen tons of oil and water soaked marijuana in the hold. They quickly learn it is just the damaged dregs of the single largest importation of drugs in the history of the United States. Wrestling with Pigs is a novel about smugglers, cops and corruption on the Cajun coast. Based on real events, this authentic story provides humorous, and sometimes graphic insight into police life complete with complex and flawed characters. It gives a gritty, and in-the-trenches look at the lucrative Central American-originating drug smuggling operations of the 80's and how U.S. law enforcement struggled to combat it. Political insights revealed may just change the reader's perception of organizational leadership inside police agencies and their bureaucracies.

George T. Malvaney's life epitomizes the old maxim that "You cannot make this stuff up." Combine a young Klansman from Mississippi, an armed coup attempt in the Caribbean, a stay in prison, and a life-changing epiphany, and you have but half of this swashbuckling tale. Throw in the worst man-made ecological disaster in the history of the United States, and you have unleashed Malvaney's full life story. The Klansman, the soldier of fortune, the wild-eyed prisoner transforms into a renowned leader of the Mississippi Gulf Coast cleanup effort in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In his too-crazy-not-to-be-true memoir, Malvaney chronicles what easily should be several lifetimes of adventure--and misadventure. Growing up in a close-knit family in Jackson, Mississippi, the young Malvaney preferred woods and swamps to the drudgery of high school. He dropped out, enlisted in the Navy, and shortly afterwards joined the Ku Klux Klan. While onboard, he organized a branch of the Klan, corrupting and endangering his crewmen. After his discharge, he answered a mercenary call to take part in an invasion of Dominica, a Caribbean fiasco known as the "Bayou of Pigs." That madness landed him in a federal penitentiary. And there, somehow, he vowed to turn his life around. Cups Up, a title drawn from the wake-up call shouted at prisoners, is a story of perseverance, cleansing, and redemption. It chronicles the roller coaster life of a high school dropout, ex-Klansman, ex-mercenary, ex-felon, and ex-con, who went on to become a college graduate, a hardnosed environmental regulator, and a widely respected top executive in a company with more than a thousand employees.

Trosclair, Thibodeaux, and Ulysse are three pigs with a whole lot to do. Their mom has just kicked them out of the house and it's time they make their own way and start constructing new homes in the heart of the swamp. When ol' Claude the gator comes sneaking along, however, the three brothers are forced to question their choice of construction materials! This hilarious tale from the creators of the popular Petite Rouge (which School Library Journal declared "A treat from start to finish") will once again take you to the heart of the Cajun swamps and show you the Three Little Pigs like you've never seen them.

Big Bad Gator Claude will do anything to have a taste of Petite Rouge...even if it means putting on a duck bill, flippers, and frilly underwear. He presents no match for the spunky heroine and her quick-thinking cat TeJean, though, as they use some strong Cajun hot sauce to teach Claude a lesson he will never forget! The combination of hilarious rhyme and exaggerated art creates a highly original retelling of the classic fairy tale. A pronunciation guide/glossary accompanies a tempting dialect that begs to be read aloud or acted out again and again. This is Little Red Riding Hood as she's never been seen before: Cajun and ducky.

I don't know for sure if dat story is true, But down where de Cajuns live on de bayou, When dey tell dem stories, dey shore like to talk About dat boy Jacques and his magic beanstalk. You know the classic story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but you've never heard it like this before. Told in Cajun dialect with a distinct bayou flair, this book is perfect for reading aloud. There is even a glossary and pronunciation guide to help! The creators of Petite Rouge (which Publishers Weekly called "a sassy, spicy outing") once again deliver a hilarious twist on a well-known fairy tale.

"Southwest Louisiana is famous for time-honored gatherings that celebrate its French Acadian heritage. And the culinary star of these gatherings? That's generally the pig. Whether it's a boucherie, the Cochon de Lait in Mansura or Chef John Folse's Fete des Bouchers, where an army of chefs steps back three hundred years to demonstrate how to make blood boudin and smoked sausage, ever-resourceful Cajuns use virtually every part of the pig in various savory delights. The author traverses Cajun country to dive in to the recipes and stories behind regional specialties such as boudin, cracklings, gumbo and hogs head cheese. From the Smoked Meats Festival in Ville Platte to Thibodaux's Bourgeois Meat Market, where miles of boudin have been produced since 1891, this is a mouthwatering dive into Cajun devotion to the pig."--Back cover.