Sex with multiple females, the abuse of drugs from marijuana to mushrooms, and ecstasy to tobacco, and cocaine to alcohol, and prescription pills to paradise was probably the reason why our relationship was facing pure pandemonium. We rode the surf; this getaway took its toll. I knew, in retrospect, this would happen the moment we planned the trip (except we didn't remember planning it), but I didn't think drugs and alcohol would spoil a good buzz this quickly. Grabbing the phone from my hands with a smile, Mr. Edwards-the blame for half of my mistakes-said, "Its over," and fell on the floor after he unplugged the phone from its outlet. Paradise Island, Bahamas, January 2005: Joseph James and Jeffrey Edwards are two men who push life to the edge. But they're on the verge of going overboard. Traveling to Paradise Island from Detroit, Michigan, the two cousins disrespect and destroy the tourist haven in an attempt to break the paradox between total control and reckless abandon. From mixing with happy families, high-stakes gambling, and nightlife with upper society to sharing a pint of rum with a homeless local and sleeping with random women, the pair's contribution to the Bahamas is nothing more than an abuse of free will and destiny.

In 1967 the Peace Corps sent P. F. Kluge to paradise - or so the American possessions in Micronesia seemed. His assignment was as noble as it was adventurous: to help the people of those half-forgotten Pacific islands move from old to new, so that paradise would have prosperity and freedom as well as physical beauty. He immersed himself in the lives of the diverse peoples of the islands. He composed speeches for their leaders. He wrote a stirring manifesto that became the Preamble to the Constitution of Micronesia. He began a friendship with a man who would one day be president of Palau. And then, a generation later, P. F. Kluge went back. . . . The result is a book the New Yorker called "remarkably effective," the Economist deemed "terrific"; a book Smithsonian Magazine found to be "written from the heart." The Edge of Paradise shows the impact and ironies of America's presence in an undeveloped part of the world, how perhaps there's no way "a big place can touch a little one without harming it."

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, international corporations and governments have embraced the idea of a global village: a shrinking, booming world in which everyone benefits. What if that's not the case? Alex Perry, award-winning foreign correspondent, travels from the South China Sea to the highlands of Afghanistan to the Sahara to see first-hand globalization at the sharp end -- and it's not pretty. Whether it's Shenzen, China's boom city where sweatshops pay under-age workers less than $4 a day, or Bombay, where the gap between rich and poor means million-dollar apartments overlook million-people slums, or on the high seas with the pirates of southeast Asia who prey on the world's central trade artery, or South Africa, where Mandela's dream for a Rainbow Nation is being crushed by a new economic apartheid, Perry demonstrates, vividly and chillingly, that for every winner in our brave new world, there are hundreds of millions of losers. And be they Chinese army veterans, Indian Maoist rebels or the Somali branch of al Qaeda, they are all very, very angry. Falling Off the Edge is an adrenaline-charged journey through the developing world, which reveals with clarity that globalization starts wars. Far from living in a time of peace and prosperity, Perry suggests, the boom is about to go bang.

What would tempt a young woman to run off to a country she knew almost nothing about? I was that young woman. Fleeing a bitter divorce and my safe, but mundane, life I accepted a job in Saudi Arabia, a country that by all reports was the most austere on earth. I ran headlong into an unexpected adventure that would change my life forever. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - mysterious, beautiful and dangerous. A land of stunning desert landscapes where modern ways co-exist uneasily with ancient traditions. An enigma of a place where the state executioner is revered, where beautiful women shroud themselves in black, and ferocious desert sandstorms turn high noon into darkest night. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with the Middle East and its people, their proud history, and their gracious hospitality. This is my story.

Amateur sleuth Harriet Monroe’s new job as PR director for the exclusive Island Resort is a dream come true. Except for the dead bodies that keep turning up. Working in public relations means Harriet needs to experience everything the resort has to offer. She takes her closest friend with her to check out the resort’s amazing spa–only to have a woman collapse and die at their feet before they even make it past the reception area. According to the granddaughter, the dead woman had no known enemies. So who wanted her dead? Harriet needs to help the island’s security director find the answer before word of the murder gets picked up by the ever-hungry news media. News of another murder would destroy the newly opened resort’s reputation. When a wealthy woman dies unexpectedly the cops always look at who will benefit. The dependent granddaughter? The granddaughter’s struggling boyfriend? Another guest? The more answers they find, the more questions they have–until nothing makes any sense. Who killed Alice Haggedorn and why? A cozy mystery series set on a tropical isle with female amateur sleuth Harriet Monroe.

Jeanette and Maria Vandermeer were born fraternal twins. Even though they have the same birthday, they dont have anything else in common. They are night and day different, inside and outmost notably in that Jeanette is always happy, while Maria never seems to be. Growing up together, they learned many of the same lessons; even so, the way they look at the world is very different. As an adult, Maria is kicked out of the family home for unruly behavior, and Jeanette moves away to marry her boyfriend. Despite their differences, they both find themselves settling for less than theyre worthin life and in love. Cheerful Jeanette finds that her sunny disposition is not enough to keep her marriage together, while Maria wanders in her own self-doubt and despair. But where theres life, theres hope. Jeanette is given a second chance to find true love, while Maria makes the acquaintance of Leon Lanix, who offered her hope for her future. Despite challenges, the sisters do find ways to make life work. Different by birth, they do have something in common: Jeanette and Maria both know that no matter what happens, its how we react that makes us who we really are. Sisters, one happy, one sad, each seeks her own place in paradise; they may be surprised where they find it.

In a far corner of the universe, dragons of creation have provided life to the dark land of Naibar through the mind of a ten-year-old boy. Within Naibar lives Samoilg, a vicious creature determined to take the boys life and Sufur, the young guardian of the land who has a newly-created mission to save the boy along with the planet. Unfortunately, Sufur has no idea how he will achieve his goal. As Recotoa humanoid tree and guardian of memorybegins helping Sufur explore Naibar, he tumbles upon mystical places and, along with the boy, must confront Ilkey, a creature that feeds from fear and Iblis, a demon desperate to steal the boys soul. While the boy vacillates between two worlds in dreams until he is too ill to continue, Sufur and Recoto gather power and weapons to save him from a seemingly inevitable dark destiny. When they finally defeat Samoilg, now they must rescue the boys soul from Ilkey and Iblis, or he will never get a second chance at life. In this fantasy novel, a boy trapped between reality and a fantasy world must rely on help from a guardian and a band of unlikely heroes to save him from a dark fate.

In l967, when Georgene Dreishpoon and her husband Irving read a National Geographic article about the Bahamas, a mental seed was planted that would sprout seven years later when they embarked on an unforgettable and magical ferry ride to the island of Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas. In her fascinating memoir, Pursuit of Paradise, Dreishpoon shares her experiences as a member of an American family who sought a fishing retreat in the Bahamas and, in the process, discovered lifelong friendships and ultimately faced the fact that even in paradise, the realities of life lurk in the background. For sixty days a year, the Dreishpoons left their life in America and lived on an island that captured their imaginations and their souls. Through entertaining anecdotes, Dreishpoon provides a glimpse into how her family immersed themselves in a new culture, learned to communicate with local inhabitants, and acquired a taste for new food--all while cherishing their time together as they experienced a new adventure. Pursuit of Paradise chronicles nearly twenty-five years of amazing stories of one family's extraordinary experiences on a beautiful Bahamian island that affected their philosophy of living and loving forever.

Three friends travel to Party Island, the hottest vacation spot on the planet. You can soak up the Sun on a tropical beach, and then dance all night long on the Neon Strip, where once the Sun goes down the whole street becomes a dance floor. They're free from college, and ready for adventure when they meet the people who run the island and are introduced to Ambrosia. A secret wine with a psychedelic kick that reveals the truth. Welcome to Paradise. 18+ For Mature Readers Only

Paradise Lost: a Divine Comedy or Profane Bathos? (, Ai-ichigen) breaks the spell, awakening the dreamer. For living in our dreams, we struggle to live in Paradise. Darwin said the origin of species was by means of natural selection, the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life; & history has borne him out. Proceeding from a faulty & partial memory, it needs repeating & constant amending; yet it renders no progress: history affirms the blind & random nature of human events! Schooled that by the labors of our native intelligence, we alone could subdue Darwin, we have made nature pay for our great industry. Our mighty institutions embrace Darwinian principles making us highly competitive through fear & separation. Love & unification we spurn to maintain our competitive edge, believing that by keeping our independence, our freedom we secure; for space & time were limited. These beliefs, being empirical, we never question. But what if Darwin was wrong? if things don’t evolve? if life were vouchsafed? For science avers that nature is lawless. It follows no rules in having no point or purpose. Positing a cosmic intelligence steering nature offends science. All the laws & meanings we find in nature are what science gives it. Yet were point & purpose never any part of this world, then how could we know them or even possess them in ourselves? & that includes our native wits. So, science concedes that life is deterministic &, promptly, reality dissolves; for life, we know to be uncertain & rife with choices. What we dare not question, this book answers. Strangers here we have become, thinking life in Paradise could ever be a struggle. Having turned fantasy into reality, Paradise is lost on us!