When Riley Spartz sees a want ad reading 'Wedding Dress for Sale: Never Worn', her news instincts tell her that the backstory might make an intriguing television sweeps piece. The groom, Mark, last seen at the rehearsal dinner, never showed up for the wedding. His own mother, eager to spare him further embarrassment, waited weeks before filing a missing-person report. But when her missing-person's case leads to a murder investigation, Riley discovers a startling motive for Mark's disappearance - and a TV exclusive guaranteed to win the ratings - if she lives to report it...

A data-driven argument for why stock-market short-termism is not causing severe damage to the American economyAccording to most media outlets and corporate lawmakers, stock-market-driven short-termism - when corporations appear to prioritize immediate results in the next quarter over long-term interests - is crippling the American economy. This popular view claims that short-termism is causing widespreaddeclines in research and development (RandD) spending, harmful environmental policies, and degradation of the workplace. But the data does not support this black-and-white representation of short-termism.Mark J. Roe uses economy-wide data on RandD spending trends and corporate financial analysis to show that stock-market short-termism is not the root of all of America's economic problems. The book shows that blaming short-termism overlooks the real causes of declining investment, RandD cutbacks,environmental deterioration, and workplace conflict. By pointing to other sources of tension like accelerating technology change, policy uncertainty, and an increasing sense of workplace insecurity, Missing the Target argues for a more nuanced understanding of the challenges to the American economy.Roe also disproves many of the core claims against short-termism by demonstrating that RandD spending is not in a complete decline. In fact, while government research spending may be down, corporate RandD expenditure is actually rising faster than the economy is growing.Missing the Target complicates the discussion of the American economy by explaining the many factors that contribute to current trends and by making a bold but straightforward claim: short-termism is not the problem.

From the award-winning author of Stalking Susan, TV reporter Riley Spartz returns in another breathtaking, furiously-paced thriller. When Riley Spartz sees a want ad reading “Wedding Dress for Sale: Never Worn,” she finds a jilted bride unsure whether her groom got cold feet or has become a cold case himself. Her betrothed, Mark, last seen at the rehearsal dinner, never showed up for the wedding, humiliating his bride, Madeline—and her high-strung, high-society mother—in front of 300 guests. When Riley’s curious missing person case leads to a dangerous murder investigation, she discovers a startling motive for Mark’s disappearance. Riley now has a TV exclusive guaranteed to win the ratings . . . if she lives to report it.

When an ancient vault is breached and its invaluable contents stolen, the special investigator is perplexed to find an antiquated document intentionally left inside the safe, an enigmatic message if he can decipher it. The Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul thinks he may know the answer to the riddle, but its revelation will soon connect a number of diverse people in ways no one could foresee. Professor Joshua Walker, a man with a mystifying past, has gained world-wide attention by winning access to private papal archives in Rome. He is preparing to take his students on an international quest to solve an age-old mystery while trying to keep his own identity a secret. Will he be able to keep his team alive? Who are the sons of God that marry daughters of men, spawning heroes of old, that are mentioned in the Bible? Are they still among us? Perilous adventure, specked with romance and humor will delightfully engage you in The Missing Mark.

A lucid and engaging study of the biblical theology of sin, taking into account views in theology, philosophy, and the social sciences, and offering insights for contemporary culture and ministry. "The haunting question of Karl Menninger, ''Whatever Happened to Sin?'', is given full, thick answer here. Sin has been flattened, trivialized, reduced to ''crime,'' and completely misconstrued among us. With shrewdness and finesse, Biddle shows the ''thickness'' of sin in the Bible, and the way in which sin, without reductionism, pertains to the deepest human reality. Biddle is one ''Mark'' that impressively does not miss! Walter Brueggemann Columbia Theological Seminary Biddle addresses the essential nature of sin. He examines the dominant Christian understanding of sin, carefully rereads key biblical texts, and reveals the lexical depth of meaning in the biblical tradition. Missing the Mark examines the following aspects of the subject of sin: key passages and terms in the Old and New Testaments that deal with sin, its consequences, its effect on the community; reflection on the nature of sin, including original sin, in classical Christian theology; the relationship of the biblical theology of sin to Western juridical practice as well as philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences; the implications of the biblical theology of sin for the life of the church and Christian ministry. The "sin as crime" metaphor, with its emphases on the juridical, the individual, and willful rebellion, and its interests in assignment of guilt and exaction of punishment, addresses certain aspects of the problem of human existence. Yet, although dominant in the Western popular mind, it does not fully reflect the biblical witness, nor provide a sufficient basis for the church''s ministry in addressing human wrongdoing and its consequences, nor take account of the insights of contemporary theological movements, philosophies, and social sciences that do not confirm its validity as a thorough description of the problem of being human. Consequently, the conventional understanding of sin offers the church meager tools for ministry. In response, Mark Biddle reveals the biblical insights often overlooked in the dominant theological tradition, tests these insights against those of contemporary theology, philosophy, and the social sciences to confirm their accuracy and currency as descriptions of significant aspects of the human condition, and shows the value of these insights into sin for ministry to the wide range of human pain and sorrow. Central, of course, to the difficulty in framing a "biblical" doctrine of sin is the incongruity between the semantic fields of terms for "sin" in the biblical languages and in Western languages. In common English usage, "sin" refers to "transgression of divine law" or to "the human propensity for such transgression," definitions that emphasize the act apart from its consequences or the tendency as a trait of human nature and that imply willful violation of a known standard. Biblical terms and usage involve a much broader spectrum of ideas--the act as a wrong regardless of intention, the real effects of the act loosed on the world as an abiding condition unless and until remedied, shortcomings resulting from ignorance or incapacity, a communal phenomenon with communal consequences, etc. The dominant Christian understanding of sin sees it primarily as a soteriological problem; that is, it pertains chiefly to what are the conditions that make salvation necessary. The Bible, and common experience, suggest, however, that sin is more than a blot on one''s record, that, as an organic continuum, it influences the world including and surrounding the sinner in real and lasting ways. Biddle explores the dynamics of sin as act, condition, and cause. Its effects cannot be remedied merely by a transaction analogous to forgiving a debt. Sin does damage that must, as far as possible, be repaired. A biblical view of sin understands that sin''s impact on the world reverberates throughout the sinner''s environment, across space and time. In this sense, sin becomes a cause, and it creates a distorted environment that is the pre-condition for other sin. Careful comparison of the Bible''s understanding of the complex phenomenon of human sin with reflection on common experience reveals that the Bible offers a corrective to Western Christian hyper-individualism, moral relativism, and inadequate theological tools and rationale for ministry to the full range of wrong and wrongdoing. Specifically, the Bible speaks to a number of aspects of sin often largely ignored in Christian theology and ministerial praxis.

Eliza Fricker gets it. Describing her perfectly imperfect experience of raising a PDA child, with societal judgements and internal pressures, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, resentful and alone. This book's comedic illustrations explain these challenging situations and feelings in a way that words simply cannot, will bring some much-needed levity back into PDA parenting. Humorous anecdotes with a compassionate tone remind parents that they are not alone, and they're doing a great job. If children are safe, happy, and you leave the house on time, who cares about some smelly socks? A light-hearted and digestible guide to being a PDA parent covering everything from tolerance levels, relationships and meltdowns to collaboration, flexibility, and self care to dip in and out as your schedule allows to help get to grips with this complex condition. This book is an essential read for any parent with a PDA child, to help better understand your child, build support systems and carve out some essential self care time guilt free.

It was the double murder case that gripped Australia, and former Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC is finally able to share all the shocking details. Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan were both happy, healthy, affluent, middle-class women from conservative, loving families. Such women are hardly ever among the ranks of the missing. They were not hitchhikers, or associates of drug dealers, or unhappy with their family relationships, or suffering from mental health issues. Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan came from different parts of Sydney, mixed in quite different circles, and led completely different lives. They had never met each other, and if they had, they would have had little in common. In fact, Dorothy Davis and Kerry Whelan had one thing in common – they both knew Bruce Allan Burrell. The disappearance without trace of these two women caused massive police investigations and resulted in sensational trials that gripped the nation of Australia. This book explores the intricacies of those investigations and delves into the twisted, tortuous processes of the legal proceedings, while exploring the dark recesses of the mind of Bruce Burrell. 'Gripping writing, from an expert on the inside of some of the state's worst murders and disappearances.' Peter FitzSimons