Showing results by author "Brian Taylor" in All Categories

Being used to a diet of organised crime, drug manufacturing, smuggling, and dealing in all its many forms, and attacks on them by assassins working for the Russian, and the Chinese, governments, all as a result of their association with Chief Inspector Macdonald, Sinead Grogan and Christopher Caine had been afraid they might find life boring when they gave up working for Macdonald and became private detectives, instead but they were wrong. Fresh from their first success as private eyes Grogan and Caine found themselves surrounded by crooks aplenty when employed by the owner of a hotel in ...

A secret way into another world in another dimension. A world where elves, sprites and fairies live alongside mortals. And where a war between the sorceress who controls the fire ice jewels mined in the depths of the mountains there, jewels which can control the minds of anyone who comes into contact with them, and those trying to free themselves from her subjugation, has flared up again. It was hard enough for Aurora Bradley, known as Rory to her friends, to escape from that world the first time she stumbled into it accidently through the time portal at the end of her great aunt’s garden...

Look out for the wind the old man said for it may be changing and pointing towards Madragora again. And where is Madragora the young man asked I don’t believe you ever explained that to me fully. A land of dragons sorcerers, elves and pixies is where it is, the old man said and if you watch the movements of the weather vane we fashioned out of dragons gold for the purpose carefully enough it will guide you there because it doesn’t ever point an any other direction than towards Madragora and then only monetarily. Loose that moment as the wind changes and you might never find your way to it.

A secret way into another world in another dimension. A land called Madragora by those who lived there, where elves, sprites and fairies live alongside mortals. And where a war between two sorcerers battling for control of the fire ice jewels mined in the depths of the mountains there, jewels which can control the minds of anyone who comes into contact with them, simmered for centuries. It went on for more than five hundred years, always involving that same stretch of road with a cottage at the end of it where three sisters, local people believe to be witches, lived. The latest of these ...

When Caroline Meredith was a child and her father often went off on trips without her. He always told he couldn’t take her with him because he was chasing the dragon and she would see him as a sort of a St George figure as result. One day after he’d failed to return from one of those trips, and she’d had to investigate his disappearance, she found out what he’d been doing on them and how he had earned his family’s fortune.

Middleton Hall was an eighteenth century landscape garden with lake, woodlands, statuary and buildings originally designed by Humphrey Repton, now swallowed up by urban sprawl. The Borough Council had purchased it from its last noble owner during the 1930s, when local authorities still had the funds for such extravagances, and turned it into a public park. Now, in 1983, it was an anachronism, an uneasy mixture of olde worlde gardens and up to date recreational facilities. The park, like most of the people attracted to work in it, or visit it, was a square peg in the round hole of a forward ...

"From the land beyond the Endless Sea, from the land beyond eternity, in a dream there came to me, strangers one and two and three. I saw a stone before my eyes, hot as fire, yet cold as ice, it promised me a paradise, beware the stone, beware it lies! But in my dreams I then perceived, fools and wise men all deceived, and of their senses taken leave. Then the sound of fighting filled my head, my stomach rose at the stench of the dead, armies rose and armies bled, because of the words that the stone had said. Beware the strangers when they come, beware the mother who seeks her son, Beware ...

I was startled by a sudden stirring of the body in front of me as I stooped above it, looking down into a pair of surprisingly alert eyes. He reached up a hand to grasp my arm fiercely as his lips struggled to form the words he was trying to say. “Why…didn’t… they… …?” He gasped, breaking off with the effort of speaking. “Don’t try to talk. I’ll go for help.” I freed myself from his grasp as gently as I could. Standing up again and turning to go. “Too late for that.” He said weakly, “I’m done for. I’ve seen it happen too many times before.” His eyes closed ...

From October 1944 to April 1945 the Red Army fought a bloody campaign to destroy the German Army in East Prussia, and capture the capital of the province, Königsberg. This book follows the course of one of history’s forgotten battles, the fall of the city of Königsberg. It covers in detail the desperate battles the Germans fought to hold off the Red Army, from the Soviet Memel and Gumbinnen Offensives of October 1944, which saw Russian soldiers break into the frontier districts of East Prussia, to the final stand of the German defenders of Königsberg in April 1945. The German generals,...

A chronological account of the formation, battles and campaigns of the Roman state and democracy, from the foundation and growth of the city, to the epic struggles with Carthage during the Punic Wars and the resultant expansion throughout the Mediterranean. Each year is detailed in turn, showing how events unfolded throughout this fascinating period of history: the development of the Empire, its external struggles and outstanding generals and politicians who shaped it. Each conflict is dealt with as a separate entry, be it the Punic Wars, Hannibal crossing the Alps with his elephants, or a ...

Booker Johnson, an Emmy-winning TV reporter on the brink of losing everything, stumbles upon a horrific crime scene in South Florida. Teaming up with no-nonsense police detective Brielle Jensen, they dive into the case, unraveling a web of deception, manipulation, and murder that reaches the highest echelons of power. As Booker uncovers the sinister truth behind a mysterious group pulling the strings, he finds his own life in jeopardy. With personal troubles brewing and powerful forces trying to silence him, he must risk it all to expose the truth.

This Very Short Introduction provides a guide to understanding Russian Politics that goes beyond the headlines, offering a vivid account of the key forces driving Russian politics. It places Russia in a global context while explaining its internal political development. Several major themes run through the book, including the primacy of the state over society, the role of the so-called "West," which has represented a source of inspiration, of threat, and of competition for generations of Russians, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Grumbolt is majoring in action! He's finally getting to follow his dreams at Toy Academy, from learning daring maneuvers, to getting paired up with a sidekick! Grumbolt can't wait to find out who his sidekick is...until it turns out that he's the sidekick. And to school bully Rex Everything, no less. This duo will never work. But when a toy named Tempest Boomcloud kidnaps a classmate and steals Rex's van, it looks like Grumbolt and Rex will have to work together to stop Tempest's evildoing and figure out why she's terrorizing them.

What is Vladimir Putin up to? This book examines how the mentality of Putin and his team - the code of Putinism - has shaped Russian politics over the past two decades. It explains not only the thoughts and ideas that motivate Putin's decisions, but also the set of emotions and habits that influence how Putin and his close allies view the world. While some observers portray Putin as either a cold-blooded pragmatist or a strident Russian nationalist, Taylor provides a more nuanced and compelling interpretation of Putin's motives and actions.

Welcome to Toy Academy: Where toys learn to play. This is where action figures train to battle, stuffed animals study the art of the hug, and collectibles practice standing very, very still. Though Grumbolt isn't really any of those things, he's determined to fit in. But when the Evil Toy Academy threatens to bring down his school, it's up to Grumbolt to go where no good toy has gone before and prove he's truly a great toy after all.

American cities are distinct from almost all others in the degree to which freeways and freeway travel dominate urban landscapes. In The Drive for Dollars, Brian D. Taylor, Eric A. Morris, and Jeffrey R. Brown tell the largely misunderstood story of how freeways became the centerpiece of US urban transportation systems, and the crucial, though usually overlooked, role of fiscal politics in bringing freeways about.

It began with a promise of love and marriage given and a pledge made between people from different dimensions sealed with dragons gold, which had to be taken back by any means possible when that pledge was broken by promises which had formed an important part of it being broken too. Mary Lockyear and Tom Threshold knew nothing of any of this the time they visited Greenaway Cottage on their sunday off, to see if the tales told about the inhabitants of the cottage that they met with elves and fairies, witches and goblins in the dead of night, which Mary believed in and Tom didn’t, were true...

After surviving an abusive home life, Sam has started a new life in the city in an attempt to transform into a better person. However, everything goes wrong when he attempts to make some fast cash with his cat burglar of a friend. Their adventure into an ominous cavern beneath the city to steal a flower turns deadly and leaves the pair with bullets in their heads. The flower they stole is beyond ordinary and brings Sam back to life, making him tremendously powerful. This sudden resurrection releases Malice, a demon that takes over Sam’s body each time he resurrects.

TV reporter Booker Johnson doesn't know when to back down. Fresh off his fourth Emmy win and back in the classroom, he teaches the primacy of truth in journalism. But there is danger in pursuing the truth at all costs. And despite being told by his superiors to move on from the scene of a suspicious accident, Booker just can't leave well enough alone. Booker's investigation soon plunges him into the gritty world of crime boss Parson Manor, where corruption reigns supreme and where Gibby Manor is being trained to follow in his father's criminal footsteps.

The final tumultuous century of the Roman Republic began with a war against the tribes of the Spanish interior and the struggle in Rome between the newly emerging Optimates and Populares factions, embodied int he rivalry between the Gracchi and the Senate. Bloodshed between these factions increased the pace of decline and led to the civil war which erupted between Sulla and Marius. This cycle of civil war, which was continued years later by Pompeius and Caesar, would ensure the eventual rise to power of the ruthless political genius Octavian, the originator of the Principate and Imperial ...