'Sixteen's an interesting age: not quite a fully grown man, but not a kid either. Anything is possible when you're sixteen.' Finmere Tingewick Smith was abandoned on the steps of the Old Bailey. Under the guardianship of the austere Judge Harlequin Brown and the elderly gentlemen of Orrery House, Fin has grown up under a very strange set of rules. He spends alternate years at two very different schools and now he's tired of the constant lies to even his best friends, to hide the insanity of his double life. Neither would believe the truth! But on his sixteenth birthday, everything changes. The Judge is killed, stabbed in the chest with a double-edged sword that's disturbingly familiar, and from that moment on, Fin is catapulted into an extraordinary adventure. Through the Doorway in Fin's London, a hole in the boundaries of Existence, lies another London - and now both are in grave danger. For the Knights of Nowhere have kidnapped the Storyholder, the keeper of the Five Eternal Stories which weave the worlds together. Because of the Knights' actions, a black storm is coming, bringing madness with it. Fin may be just 16, but he has a long, dark journey ahead of him if he is to rescue the Storyholder and save Existence!

For Donald W. Tucker, life from the get-go was a two-edged sword-a "damned if you do/ damned if you don't" black & white shades & wing-tips jungle existence of working the streets of Southside Chicago undercover ("with no cover") as a Federal narcotics and SS agent. Tucker was quick, sharp and street smart. Ultimately he rose through the ranks to become one of America's foremost federal law enforcement administrators and reformers. The Two-Edged Sword is a grim, gutsy, raw in-your-face first-hand account of what it was like to be Black and work as an undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now called the DEA), and United States Secret Service from 1961-1990-some of the toughest years in this country's history of Civil Rights. Tucker's life story reads like a best-selling 007 whodunit, more fiction than fact-yet all of it really happened. "Too many times the risks were far greater than anticipated, but I was young and dumb," writes Tucker. "I didn't know what I was doing until I felt a .45 slammed against my head. Or, until I found myself being cuffed and dragged into a police car manned by an officer who had no way of knowing I was an undercover agent." "That I survived to tell my story is sheer luck," admits Tucker, whose office walls are plastered with certificates, awards and citations for his outstanding service. Tucker was born and raised in a postage stamp apartment that housed five children and four adults. A football scholarship to the University of Iowa served as his ticket to a better life. In 1961 he received his B.A. with a major in sociology and was immediately hired as an undercover agent for the Chicago FBN. In 1962, Tucker was serving in one of the U.S. Military units called in to escort black student James Meredith through the front door of Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. Just as they were about take off for Oxford, however, Tucker and all other blacks were singled out and ordered to stay on base. This act of segregation was a turning point in Tucker's adult life. From that time on and for the rest of his life, he became a voice to be reckoned with as a Civil Rights advocate. In the Federal Law Enforcement agencies and in subsequent positions as U.S. Marshal for the District of Arizona and Protector for the Federal Courts, he was nicknamed "Tucker the Troublemaker." After a career with the USSS for almost 25 years, Tucker retired in March 1990. On March 26, 1990, he was sworn in as U.S. Marshal for the District of Arizona. In August 1994, Tucker was appointed Chief of Court Security for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he monitored the security provided to the Federal Judiciary and supervised the $150 million budget. He also coordinated the investigation of the bombing of the Federal Courthouse in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Tucker returned to Arizona in March 1996, and in January 1997, he started his own Investigations Company, T.I.P.S. (Tucker Investigations and Protective Services).

Double-edged Sword is a survival story like no other. In 2003 Simonne Butler's violent partner, high on methamphetamine, cut off both her hands with a samurai sword. Her hands were reattached in a groundbreaking marathon surgery and she spent the next decade healing her mind, body and spirit. Despite five years in an extremely physically and emotionally abusive relationship, Simonne always had an unbreakable spirit. Even when her self-confidence and sense of self-preservation was at rock bottom, she was able to source phenomenal strength that saw her survive horrendous blood loss and being left for dead for hours, holding her severed limbs in such a way that allowed revascularisation to be possible. Facing obstacles from the very start, including a troubled childhood and an alcoholic and volatile mother, Simonne's optimism and determination have always shone through. Every victim of domestic violence must read this book, and their friends and family. Even those who have never been the victim of violence will be inspired, moved and enlightened by this candid and brutal memoir. Double-edged Sword is so much more than just a story of survival, it is a guidebook for humanity - how to shrug off the oppressors and the obstacles and live your life with the greatest intensity you can muster. It's about conquering the demons and rising like a phoenix from the ashes and learning how to live with passion, honesty and love.

Popular television host and minister, Andrew Wommack shares sixteen of his best teachings in this powerful new book. Teachings include sections from some of his most popular titles: Better Way To Pray, God Wants You Well, The War is Over, Believer's Authority, Spirit Soul & Body, You've Already Got It, The True Nature of God...

"As digital media becomes more omnipresent in our lives, it becomes ever more important for political scientists and communication scholars to understand its influence on all aspects of the political process--from campaigning to governance. Catie Snow Bailard seeks to determine the Internet's influence on citizens' evaluations of their governments' performance, particularly whether the Internet influences their satisfaction regarding the quality of democratic practices available in their nation. While itis clearly important to understand how the Internet can streamline political organization once people are moved to action, the discipline has afforded less attention to whether the Internet influences citizens at this more foundational, antecedent stage of political action. Bailard originates two theories for democratization specialists to consider: mirror-holding and window-opening. Mirror-holding explores how accessing the Internet allows citizens to see a more detailed and nuanced view of their own government's performance, dirty laundry and all. Window-opening, on the other hand, enables those same citizens to see how other governments' perform in general, particularly in comparison to their own. The author offers a theory of the impact of Internet use on evaluations of government, as well as tests of that theory at the country and individual levels based on survey data collected in 73 countries and two field experiments conducted in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tanzania"--

This is the story of an unlikely heroa gay man in the most masculine of worlds who triumphed over prejudice and adversity as he achieved what no American had ever accomplished, teaching even Hemingway lessons in grace, machismo, and respect.

Metabolic diseases and cancers account for half of all mortalities in the world, underscoring the significance of understanding the etiology of these diseases and developing effective therapies. Genomic research in the 21st century has brought cancer and metabolic disease, two once seemingly parallel ailments, as close to each other as they’ve ever been. Many genetic factors have been found to display functions regulating both cancer and metabolic disease. In this research topic: "Double-edged Swords: Genetic Factors That Influence The Pathogenesis of Both MetabolicDisease and Cancer", you will be introduced to individual genes, as well as genetic pathways that play important roles in influencing the progression of both metabolic disease and cancer. By no means covering an exhaustive list of genes qualified, this collection of articles rather serves as a precursor of what is yet to come in biomedical research. It paints the big picture of one of the major fields contributing to the future of “precision medicine”.