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They say it’s hard getting into the movies…try getting out!Fresh from the cutting room floor, The Silver Scream exposes the bloodiest behind-the-scenes details of the most gruesome, shocking, true-crime tragedy of our time. Part autopsy, part grisly director’s “cut,” this is the only book with a comprehensive exploration inside the mind of America’s notorious, celluloid-obsessed, rock star turned cinema-copycat murderer, Spencer Charnas. Bayonet Award–winning television reporter Roy Merkin is the only storyteller in possession of the journals scrawled by disgraced psychotherapist Dr. Ian Black. The Silver Scream reconstructs, with unflinching detail, how fiction became fact, art imitated death, and the most horrific movie murders by the likes of Jason, Leatherface, Freddy, Michael, and the rest became real. Merkin courageously slashes open the ghoulish mind and tortured nightmares of Spencer himself, probing deeply, with razor-sharp precision. Learn how the box office created so many oblong boxes. Understand why this rock n’ roll heartthrob chose to stop so many human hearts.

LegendaryBlack Veil Brides' founder and frontman Andy Biersack curated his favorite Edgar Allan Poe tales, presented here in their original language with supplemental materials.Dive back into classics likeThe Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, The Oval Portrait, and The Mask of the Red Death with accompanying original artwork and a foreword from Andy himself. This compact, small but mighty, Poe collection is made to be a staple on your shelf.

Sami Yaffa is a bass guitar legend, an icon of the rock world, and an uncompromising walker of his own way, who rose to prominence as the bassist of the mythical Hanoi Rocks. A man of lights and shadows, and the embodiment of street credibility, Yaffa has recorded with Bruce Springsteen and Slash, played with the New York Dolls and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, crawled across Helsinki pubs and restaurants with Anthony Bourdain, and performed at Carnegie Hall. This is his story.

Whether they're self-taught bashers or technical wizards, drummers are the thrashing, crashing heart of our favorite punk bands. In Forbidden Beat, some of today's most respected writers and musicians explore the history of punk percussion with personal essays, interviews and lists featuring their favorite players and biggest influences. From 60s garage rock and proto-punk to 70s New York and London, 80s hardcore and D-beat to 90s pop punk and beyond, Forbidden Beat is an uptempo ode to six decades of punk rock drumming. Featuring Ira Elliot, Curt Weiss, John Robb, Hudley Flipside, Bon Von Wheelie, Joey Shithead, Matt Diehl, D.H. Peligro, Mike Watt, Lynn Perko-Truell, Pete Finestone, Laura Bethita Neptuna, Jan Radder, Jim Ruland, Eric Beetner, Jon Wurster, Lori Barbero, Joey Cape, Marko DeSantis, Mindy Abovitz, Steven McDonald, Kye Smith, Ian Winwood, Phanie Diaz, Benny Horowitz, Shari Page, Urian Hackney, and Rat Scabies.

In 2014, Radfar moved to West Los Angeles for one reason: to be closer to Toshi Sakamaki and his incredible Yakitori restaurant. This visual love letter to Sakamaki's cuisine includes more than 100 dishes and 125 stunning full-color photos.

Sam Kovner reads messages on walls and hears voices in the hall, and wonders: if you find yourself losing your mind, how do you get well?Winter, 1976, Columbia University. The dorms brim with academic pressure, recreational drugs, roiling testosterone, and repressed sexuality. At sea as a freshman, Sam retreats to the safety of his memories while he fails to control voices in his head that begin to proliferate with malevolence.As Sam searches for control in a new world of experiencesromantic entanglements, the pressure from his difficult family, and the intense energy of New York Cityhis inner turmoil spirals and the voices only grow louder.When his father delivers him to a psychiatric hospital, Sams journey takes a new turn. Over four years and across three hospitals, he confronts a cycle of torment and revelation.

Surviving the Odd is a rare and deeply personal glimpse into a childhood spent in the halls of one of Californias first homes for the mentally ill. With humor and an unflinching eye, Candi recounts growing up amidst psychiatric patients, a father who ran the care home like a nightclub, and a world where madness and laughter often blurred together. As she navigates through the chaos, she unearths a story of resilience, love, and the determination to find her own voice amidst the clamor of mental illness and societal disregard in the Bay Area during the 1970s.This book is an unforgettable exploration of what it means to survive in a world that often feels on the edge, wrapped in the bittersweet absurdity of a life lived between punchlines and lithium prescriptions.

The follow-up to Kristin Caseys widely acclaimed memoir Rock Monster: My Life with Joe WalshCasey Dancer is the true story of a 39-year-old part-time stripper, full-time real estate agent, and struggling writer navigating the chaos of love and ambition. Fresh out of a tumultuous divorce and newly sober, Kristin finds herself struggling to re-enter the dating scene. When she falls for Lalo, a charming but troubled ex-coke dealer, their steamy affair leads to deep emotional conflict, testing her boundaries and stirring memories of past relationships.Through the highs of passion, the lows of financial strain, and the gritty realities of sex work, Kristin fights to reclaim her sense of self.Bold, raw, and unapologetically honest, Casey Dancer is a story of resilience, vulnerability, and self-discovery.

US Treasury Agents Charlie Carr and Jack Kelly are investigating a counterfeiting ring when cool and ruthless LA Detective Travis Bailey warns them of a plot to murder their prime witness. Unwittingly, they are involved in a phony stake out in which Kelly is seriously wounded. Deeply suspicious and determined to avenge his partner, Carr puts his life and career on the line in order to build a case against Bailey, and sets out to prove that he is the mastermind behind a series of robberies from the area's wealthy residents. Carr's mission draws him into the depths of moneyed Beverly Hills, as well as into the underworlds of have-nots, hungry for a piece of the Rolls Royce action.To Die in Beverly Hills is an original and harrowing thriller and Gerald Petievich once again successfully demonstrates both his talent for convincing characterization and his inside knowledge of the U.S. Secret Service Treasury Department.

THE NOVEL THAT INSPIRED THE CULT CLASSIC MAJOR MOTION PICTUREAgent Richard Chance is on a relentless mission to avenge his partner's murder by bringing down master counterfeiter Eric Masters. As Chance delves into the dangerous underworld of Los Angeles, he faces a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where every move could be his last.The novel that inspired the iconic film of the same name, To Live and Die in L.A. is a gripping thriller with a vivid portrayal of the darker side of the City of Angels.

From the acclaimed author of To Live and Die in L.A...In the streets of Beverly Hills, secrets are the most valuable currency. Meredith Fox, a once-prominent Hollywood publicity agent, has clawed her way back from the brink of obscurity. Now, she’s poised for a comeback, leveraging the dark secrets of her celebrity clients to put herself back on top. But when a routine money drop goes fatally wrong, Meredith finds herself caught in a deadly web of betrayal.Detective Michael Casey, navigating the waters of Beverly Hills' elite, is tasked with unraveling the mystery behind Meredith's death. As he delves deeper, he uncovers a cold world where loyalty is fleeting, and trust is a rare commodity. With every clue leading to more questions, Casey must confront his own demons while piecing together a puzzle that threatens to expose the darkest secrets of Los Angeles.13 Hillcrest Drive is a gripping thriller that peels back the layers of Hollywood’s glitz to reveal the raw, unfiltered human drama underneath. In a city where image is everything, the truth can be the most dangerous revelation of all.

It Starts When you Walk Through the Door...You immediately realize that this is different, special, and without yet knowing why, you get the feeling this is going to be a night to remember. Then you look around Dan Tana's and you understand. This is not the hot new fusion cooking restaurant du jour everyone is talking about, the one that will close down within a year and never be mentioned again. No, this is a timeless restaurant, a perfect combination of Old Hollywood and new Hollywood...a seven-night-a-week social scene full of stories and secrets.Built in 1929, and sandwiched between Beverly Hills and the residential Norma Triangle, the location was not a traditional restaurant location in any sense of the word, as it was basically a bungalow housing fast food joint with names that changed over the years but whose fare stayed the same: Black Lucky Spot Café, Domenico's Lucky Spot, Dominik's Hamburger Stand. The primary clientele for this diner location were streetcar maintenance workers, on break from the Santa Monica line.But by 1964, change was coming to Los Angeles. Freeways were replacing street cars, the backlot of 20th Century Fox had been sold, and inits place Century City was rising, smog was everywhere, and every year hundreds of thousands of people were moving to LA. Still, the little house on Santa Monica Boulevard looked out over empty lots and vast undeveloped space, forever stuck in time—or so it seemed.Dan brought the location for $30,000 soon after opening the restaurant. It was a leap of faith by both Tana and the seller, given their agreement: a three-year payment schedule of $10,000 a year. In the very beginning it wasn't a roaring success. The challenge was intense competition in the LA dining scene. There were old favorites such as Musso & Franks, Villa Capri, La Scala, The Formosa Cafe, and Chasen's, plus a new restaurant, Matteo's, started by Dan's fellow La Scala staff compadre, Matty "Matteo" Jordan.For the first two years, the restaurant averaged only twenty-five dinners a night. At one low point, Joe DiMaggio stopped by to eat, and Dan Tana offered him 50% ownership for $15,000. No dice. So Tana did something The Yankee Clipper rarely did—he struck out. But Tana's tenacity and mission eventually succeeded in making Dan Tana's a legendary Hollywood mainstay that thrives to this day.

A brand new volume of previously unpublished writings from the archives reflecting Jack Kerouac’s Buddhist thinkingFrom a young age Kerouac was a spiritual thinker and questioner, and he always considered himself a spiritual writer. Buddhism gave more meaning to Jack’s work as a writer: he was working not for personal accomplishment and glory but for human betterment. And Buddhism justified his lifestyle: with its vision of the material world as empty and illusory, he was free to do what he wanted.This collection shows Jack at his earnest, soulful best. The writing is consistently and wonderfully Kerouacian: it is honest, reflective, heartfelt, and revealing, with great characterizations amid his self-exploration as he wrestles with his consciousness, desperate for belief.

For both the film buff and the general moviegoer, this celebrated handbook unlocks the secrets of noir movies and their relevance todayFor a tour of noir cinema, No Daylight in this Face is the perfect companion, and Barry Gifford is an ideal guide. His choice selection of films exposes the menacing, moody, and oftentimes violent underbelly of this dark movie genre that occupies a favorite niche in American popular culture.Some are classics, some are little known and seldom seen, but all, once viewed, are deeply remembered by aficionados of noir. Gifford's roll call of unforgettables includes these, and more: The Asphalt Jungle, Body and Soul, Body Heat, Charley Varrick, Chinatown, The Devil Thumbs a Ride, D.O.A., Double Indemnity, High Sierra, Key Largo, Kiss of Death, Mean Streets, Mildred Pierce, Mr. Majestyk, Out of the Past, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Strangers on a Train, White Heat, along with several noir classics from Europe―Repulsion, The Hidden Room, Shoot the Piano Player, The 400 Blows, Odd Man Out.Gifford identifies the directors and names the many noir stars, the greats and not-so-greats who were cast in the indelible roles of hoods, B-girls, psychopaths, grifters, gumshoes, waifs, tarts, femme fatales, mobsters, molls, and ex-cons.In an introduction, novelists Edward Gorman and Dow Mossman collaboratively applaud Gifford's selections and his insights: “The movies discussed here range from the lowest of the B's to the biggest of the A's, and this book is going to make you want to run out and locate every one of them (and good luck to you; finding The Devil Thumbs a Ride could take you a lifetime). Through Barry Gifford's eyes, we begin to see their similarities and their value. What Andrew Sarris did for the mainstream film in The American Cinema, Barry does here for the crime film.”With a connoisseur's insight and an offbeat sensitivity perfectly tailored to his subjects, Gifford's brief essays cover a hundred of the noir buff's favorites. His highly polished impressions take the reader through five decades of noir to find both the heart and the art of the plotline.

In the near future, when every autumn is fire season in California, wealthy San Franciscans flee their city for smoke-free pastures. Among them are the Petersons, a family enriched by the lumber industry, who traditionally spend every August in Hawaii. This annual retreat, once a period of leisure and luxury with golf, hikes, and high-society mingling, takes a turn when 22-year-old Cole Peterson aligns himself with Aid For Earth, a climate justice organization. Cole and Aid For Earth proceed to mire the Peterson family in scandal, alleging that Peterson Lumber started a forest fire, covered up their culpability, and then profited off a government contract to extract the burnt lumber.Smokebirds is not just a narrative about the complexity of familial bonds and the facade of integrity; it is a commentary on the enduring power of privilege against the backdrop of climate justice. It captures the tension between societal expectations of accountability and the reality of an elite untouched by the demands for change, reflecting on who truly bears the cost of our environmental crises.

United States Supreme Court decisions have interested me since my twenties. My primary interest has been in the cases decided by split votes. If the nine Court justices voted 9 or 8–0 (sometimes a justice’s seat was vacant or a justice did not vote), or even 7 or 8–1, I have generally given such cases little thought, assuming that those decisions were probably reasonable.  That assumption was based on the fact that given the different backgrounds, training and philosophies (think Democrats v. Republicans) of the justices, when they all, or almost all, agree on a case, they probably reached a fair decision. Of course, there have been bad unanimous Supreme Court decisions, depending on whom you ask, but they seem to have been few over the years. Conversely, when I see a 5–4 decision, as in the Second Amendment case of District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) (Heller), the subject of this book, I tend to take notice.The 5–4 (or the occasional 4–3) decisions bring up questions of why there would be such a split vote. Given that all the justices are said to be accomplished attorneys, and that they all have presumably read and heard the same facts and law of a case, why did their conclusions differ? It should be so simple. The justices should just read the law, absorb the facts, listen to the oral arguments, and make the right decision.That, of course, isn’t life, given laws and facts are often imprecise, if not in dispute, and that humans, with all our differences, are involved in the analysis and voting.This brings me to the raison d’etre of this work: the 5–4 vote of the consequential 2008 Supreme Court Heller decision. That decision found in the Second Amendment an individual right to arms for self-defense in the home, unconnected with the militia. Prior to that decision, no Supreme Court decision had ever found an individual right to arms in the Amendment.I examined the decision and researched, with others helping, Colonial and founding-era documents, firearms laws and related material surrounding that decision. That examination and research culminated in this book showing why the Heller decision was not supported by the facts presented in its Opinion.

In The Boy from Athens, Nikolas Patsaouras invites readers on an extraordinary journey through history, resilience, and personal triumph. Born in Athens in 1943 amidst the brutal Nazi occupation of Greece, Patsaouras paints a vivid picture of the hardships endured by his family and fellow Greeks during World War II and the subsequent civil war.Raised in a one-room house without electricity or running water, Patsaouras's childhood was marked by poverty and scarcity. Yet, amidst the adversity, he found strength and resilience. With a mother who held two jobs and a father who instilled the value of education, Patsaouras and his siblings thrived against all odds.Patsaouras's journey takes a pivotal turn when, at the age of 17, he embarks on a life-changing journey to the United States. Despite facing initial struggles with language and culture, he perseveres, excels in his studies, and becomes a successful electrical engineer. Along the way, he navigates the complexities of immigration, education, and career advancement, ultimately achieving remarkable notoriety with his own private business.Beyond his professional accomplishments, Patsaouras's story is one of civic engagement and community leadership. From serving on county and city commissions to advocating for the arts, he demonstrates a deep commitment to giving back and making a difference.Filled with poignant memories, heartfelt reflections, and valuable lessons learned, The Boy from Athens is more than a memoir--it's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of perseverance. Patsaouras's story serves as an inspiring reminder that, with determination and resilience, one can overcome even the most daunting challenges to achieve success and make a lasting impact on the world.

Cash's search for catharsis might just send him on a new path to chaos. Inexplicably, Cash has become troubled, depressed, irrationally angry with his friends, and worried unaccountably about the safety of his daughter and grandson. Callie suggests he see Abe Stein, the therapist who helped her son, Lew.Reluctantly, Cash agrees, and the two men begin to explore his largely forgotten past--particularly the story of his parents, who died in a car accident when he was seven. They examine his distant memories, his barely recalled dreams, his feelings about the daughter he didn't know until she was twenty-five, having a new grandson. It appears that there is some basis for his depression, his irrational anger, but something does not fit.As the horrors from his past come alive in the present, Cash and Callie must assemble their most trusted allies: Andre, a prosthetic-legged Afro-Caribbean mercenary; Itzac, the "Macher," perhaps the largest diamond traders in the world; Seattle Detective Ed Samter, a proven partner; and now Abe. Therapy raised dormant, burning issues from his past, but nothing has prepared Cash for the enemy he's about to face in Out of the Past, the exciting third Callie and Cash thriller... This time, he must take on the unthinkable...

Citizen Wynn recounts the cautionary saga of uber-wealthy casino king Steve Wynn, who built a global gambling empire on fantasy, grift, and misogyny before hubris and #MeToo brought him down. Part Mafia history, part deeply researched social commentary, part Horatio Alger gone horribly awry, Citizen Wynn is a modern morality tale with instant appeal to 100 million Americans who gamble regularly as well as millions more who recognize the Wynn name from Macao to Monaco.

Joe Bosco is an arrogant, hard-charging transplant surgeon whose ambition knows no bounds. He pursues his job with a take no prisoners approach and saving patients is not just his job, or even his passion—it’s his religion. After doing his surgical residency, he passes on a job offer from Stanford, instead taking a position at a private hospital in San Francisco which pays Joe an exorbitant salary and where the bottom line is…the bottom line. Joe leaves behind academic medicine, much to the chagrin of his father— a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who is a world-renowned neuroscientist and Nobel Prize winner—and his girlfriend, Kate, who sees Joe turning into a different man than the one she met at Harvard Medical School.Dr. Bosco makes it to the top as a star in the transplant world but soon realizes that the new world he inhabits is fraught with moral and ethical transgressions, some his partners commit and, eventually, some he commits. When the hospital administration sides against Joe in an operating room catastrophe, he is isolated, left with a career in shambles, a girlfriend who wants nothing to do with him, and a father who can’t hide his disappointment.It is not until his life spins out of control that Joe must come to terms with his own failings and find his true purpose in life…in the most unlikely of places.

To win the battle for Earth, what will Thomas have to lose?In the aftermath of the Mastership arriving in Muir Woods, Thomas, Elly, and Eno have to face the heightened danger in their situation. The Martin ship on Earth can only mean the worst: their mentor Ignatius has been captured by Mars authorities and their secret mission potentially exposed. The threesome agree that they must return to rescue Ignatius and find themselves once again on a tenuous voyage through time. In the battle to keep the hope for humanity alive, Thomas will have to make hard choices. He grapples with his feelings for Elly, the truth of his past, new alliances, and new enemies… all while he fights for the world he has been so suddenly thrust into.

Hell or High Winter is a contemporary, urban reimagining of the myth of Hermes and Persephone. A supernatural action/adventure with sharp wit and a deep soul. Over the Ages, gods and goddesses have come in and out of fashion. Each deity struggles to cope with their dwindling popularity. Some fade into oblivion, refusing to answer the desperate prayers of mortals as they establish a new identity beneath the stars. Others spend the millennia waiting by the proverbial phone...desperate to be called into service. Hermes and his godly cohorts confront a new challenge—how to survive without constant worship and adoration. It may just be that even mystical beings can become addicted...gods and goddesses are junkies for the thrill of controlling a mortal's fate. In the digital age of the 21st Century, what the hell is Hermes, Messenger of the Gods, to do? ...Because no one is listening.

Minos, the third work in the Corey Logan Trilogy, derives from the mythical king of Crete who every lunar year condemns seven Athenian youths and seven maidens to be eaten by the ferocious Minotaur. Minos begins at the Olympic Academy, where Billy's friend Sara has just carved a magic circle in the hardwood bathroom floor with an ancient double-edged dagger. She twirls inside her circle calling on the Oracle of Apollo to help her find a modern-day Theseus, the reincarnation of Athens' hero of all heroes who slew the Minotaur. Lost in her magical dance, she knocks over a candle, sets fire to the curtains, and is suspended from school. She is sent to Abe for treatment. Abe discovers that Sara has patched together an entire mythological universe and language with which she tries to make him see that lives are at stake. It is not easy to convince the authorities. But Corey knows that young people are indeed being murdered, and soon Sara's dire warnings begin to make sense. But who is the modern-day descendant of Minos? The key is inside Sara's head.