#1 New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart weaves together a story of a privileged youth on trial for murder and an entire city on the brink of panic in this suspensful and stylish Dismas Hardy legal thriller. Although he appears to have reached the top, Dismas Hardy, rainmaker and managing partner of his thriving San Francisco law firm, has lost his faith in the justice system. When his young associate, Amy Wu, brings in a high profile, controversial double murder case, he decides to sit second chair—in defense of a wealthy, privileged young man even he has trouble believing. At the same time, Hardy’s friend Abe Glitsky has just been promoted to deputy chief of the Investigations Bureau, and has trouble of his own. Hounded by a hostile media, distanced from day-to-day police work, Glitsky must struggle against a wave of violence that has put the city on the verge of panic. As the tension builds around them, Hardy and Amy’s search for the truth will take them down a perilous path, and force Hardy to face his own demons in order to clear his client—and save himself.

They say it's lonely at the top. And it can be even lonelier when you are almost at the top. Church leaders who hold second-chair positions are under tremendous pressure. They are expected to do their jobs and provide leadership but to defer to the top leader too. It's a demanding balancing act. How can they lead effectively while serving under someone else's leadership? Leading from the Second Chair offers an invaluable resource to leaders who serve in second- (and third- and fourth-) chair roles, enabling them to become more productive, proactive, and fulfilled. The book reveals the paradoxes of second chair leadership. These leaders must be subordinate to the top leader yet lead in their own right. They should be deep in their expertise but wide in perspective. And they must be content in their jobs yet remain enthusiastic about their dreams for the future. Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson share their own and others' experiences of failure and success in this vital role. They offer support and practical advice for reshaping the way second-chair leaders can serve well and improve the overall performance of their church or organization. Leading from the Second Chair equips readers with the positive attitudes, skills, and strategies needed to become powerful leaders who will survive and thrive in God's service.

"..."The Stick Chair Book" is divided into three sections. The first section, "Thinking About Chairs," introduces you to the world of common stick chairs, plus the tools and wood to build them. The second section - "Chairmaking Techniques" - covers every process involved in making a chair, from cutting stout legs, to making curved arms with straight wood, to carving the seat. Plus, you'll get a taste for the wide variety of shapes you can use. The chapter on seats shows you how to lay out 14 different seat shapes. The chapter on legs has 16 common forms that can be made with only a couple handplanes. Add those to the 11 different arm shapes, six arm-joinery options, 14 shapes for hands, seven stretcher shapes and 11 combs, and you could make stick chairs your entire life without ever making the same one twice. The final section offers detailed plans for five stick chairs, from a basic Irish armchair to a dramatic Scottish comb-back. These five chair designs are a great jumping-off point for making stick chairs of your own design. Additional chapters in the book cover chair comfort, finishing and sharpening the tools. From the author: "When I first wrote 'The Stick Chair Book' in 2021, I was also fighting cancer. So I hammered out the text with urgency and the desire to record every fragment of information I knew about chairmaking. "To be fair, that's usually how I go about writing all my books. But then I typically take a couple months off, put the manuscript aside, then revisit it with fresh eyes and a sharpened pen. My final revisions remove about 10-20 percent of the original material. The stuff I cut is usually chapters that don't match the tone of the rest of the text. Or I snip sections that aren't as relevant as when I first wrote them. I also smooth out the writing and add bits of information I'd forgotten during the first brain-to-fingers dump. "And that's exactly what I've done for this revised edition. As a result, the text is 10.1 percent shorter than the first edition. It's more to the point. And it's where the manuscript would have ended up under normal conditions..."--Publisher's website.

Leading From the Second Chariot Often people have the mentality that second place means second clas, but author Billy Hornsby shows readers th

A “courtroom thriller extraordinaire” (Providence Journal) from “master craftsman” (Associated Press) John Lescroart puts Dismas Hardy and his daughter in the middle of an uncertain murder case where winning the trial could mean losing everything. On a cool night in May, a teenage foster child named Anlya Paulson plummets to her death from a San Francisco overpass. But did she fall…or was she pushed? Homicide inspectors focus their attention on a likeable but naïve middle school teacher and volunteer foster care advocate. At first, his only connection to Anlya’s death is the meal they shared earlier that night. But soon his story falls apart, and Rebecca Hardy, now an associate at her father’s law firm, is drawn into his defense. As the case rushes toward trial, Dismas and Rebecca battle an aggressive prosecutor, a disinterested police force, and their own client, who isn’t faring well in jail. When a dying woman’s last words cast a surprising new light on the evidence and problems develop with a key witness, the father-daughter duo begins to glimpse the intricate web that connects the young victim to the city’s complex political and judicial machine. Proving their case in court, however, will be harder, as Rebecca comes to realize that a trial doesn’t always end with the truth.

Constructed in 1297−1300 for King Edward I, the Coronation Chair ranks amongst the most remarkable and precious treasures to have survived from the Middle Ages. It incorporated in its seat a block of sandstone, which the king seized at Scone, following his victory over the Scots in 1296. For centuries, Scottish kings had been inaugurated on this symbolic ‘Stone of Scone’, to which a copious mythology had also become attached. Edward I presented the Chair, as a holy relic, to the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey, and most English monarchs since the fourteenth century have been crowned in it, the last being HM Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. The Chair and the Stone have had eventful histories: in addition to physical alterations, they suffered abuse in the eighteenth century, suffragettes attached a bomb to them in 1914, they were hidden underground during the Second World War, and both were damaged by the gang that sacrilegiously broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone in 1950. It was recovered and restored to the Chair, but since 1996 the Stone has been exhibited on loan in Edinburgh Castle. Now somewhat battered through age, the Chair was once highly ornate, being embellished with gilding, painting and colored glass. Yet, despite its profound historical significance, until now it has never been the subject of detailed archaeological recording. Moreover, the remaining fragile decoration was in need of urgent conservation, which was carried out in 2010−12, accompanied by the first holistic study of the Chair and Stone. In 2013 the Chair was redisplayed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Coronation of HM The Queen. The latest investigations have revealed and documented the complex history of the Chair: it has been modified on several occasions, and the Stone has been reshaped and much altered since it left Scone. This volume assembles, for the first time, the complementary evidence derived from history, archaeology and conservation, and presents a factual account of the Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone, not as separate artifacts, but as the entity that they have been for seven centuries. Their combined significance to the British Monarchy and State – and to the history and archaeology of the English and Scottish nations – is greater than the sum of their parts. Also published here for the first time is the second Coronation Chair, made for Queen Mary II in 1689. Finally, accounts are given of the various full-size replica chairs in Britain and Canada, along with a selection of the many models in metal and ceramic which have been made during the last two centuries.