In the first of theBahamasseries,Bahama Snow, Defense Force Commodore Jerome MacArthurs sons are shot to death on Sandy Cay. The drug operation he masterminds is terminated. InBahama Payback, MacArthur discovers thatFloridacharter boat captain and former Marine, Morgan Early, is responsible. He swears revenge. Columbian drug lord Victor Torres sends MacArthur a bloody, stomach-churning message that he must immediately re-activate their smuggling operation. Drug Enforcement Agency District Commander Larry Reid is under orders fromWashingtonto eliminate the corrupt MacArthur. When efforts to recruit Morgan Early for the task fail, he enters into a Faustian bargain with the Commodore. Earlys beautiful fiance, Rhonda Marcus, is kidnapped to draw Early to theBahamas.

We call it justice—the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the incarceration of corrupt politicians or financiers like Rod Blagojevich and Bernard Madoff, and the climactic slaying of cinema-screen villains by superheroes. But could we not also call it revenge? We are told that revenge is uncivilized and immoral, an impulse that individuals and societies should actively repress and replace with the order and codes of courtroom justice. What, if anything, distinguishes punishment at the hands of the government from a victim’s individual desire for retribution? Are vengeance and justice really so very different? No, answers legal scholar and novelist Thane Rosenbaum in Payback: The Case for Revenge—revenge is, in fact, indistinguishable from justice. Revenge, Rosenbaum argues, is not the problem. It is, in fact, a perfectly healthy emotion. Instead, the problem is the inadequacy of lawful outlets through which to express it. He mounts a case for legal systems to punish the guilty commensurate with their crimes as part of a societal moral duty to satisfy the needs of victims to feel avenged. Indeed, the legal system would better serve the public if it gave victims the sense that vengeance was being done on their behalf. Drawing on a wide range of support, from recent studies in behavioral psychology and neuroeconomics, to stories of vengeance and justice denied, to revenge practices from around the world, to the way in which revenge tales have permeated popular culture—including Hamlet, The Godfather, and Braveheart—Rosenbaum demonstrates that vengeance needs to be more openly and honestly discussed and lawfully practiced. Fiercely argued and highly engaging, Payback is a provocative and eye-opening cultural tour of revenge and its rewards—from Shakespeare to The Sopranos. It liberates revenge from its social stigma and proves that vengeance is indeed ours, a perfectly human and acceptable response to moral injury. Rosenbaum deftly persuades us to reconsider a misunderstood subject and, along the way, reinvigorates the debate on the shape of justice in the modern world.

A tribe of brave teens. A dome filled with enemies. And a machine watching humankind destroy itself. Freed from prison in 2041, Eden Shepherd is ready to return to her family and work out what went wrong in Moneyland. Mum is here to help – but Eden’s dad has disappeared, leaving a trail of questions about his role in the rise of an all-powerful artificial intelligence. As Eden and her mum venture into an urban wasteland to try find Dad, the duo are ambushed by a militia led by a man intent on killing Eden – before a whole new biodome descends upon the hapless humans. Eden finds herself trapped and fighting for her life with a tribe of brave teen guerillas who occupy an abandoned shopping mall – until devastating secrets emerge about the tribe’s leader as Eden starts to lose her chance at payback, her family – and her life.

Returning home is never easy. Not when there is a serial killer at work... A completely unputdownable crime thriller full of authentic detail. DI Charley Mann left Yorkshire for the Met and a fast-track career – but now she’s back, she’s in charge and the area’s first young, female DI. Her hometown, the Yorkshire countryside, and her old friends all seem unchanged. But appearances can be deceptive. When a brutal murder is discovered, Charley is forced to question everything, and the interest of her ex doesn’t make it easier. Bodies keep appearing and the pressure is on. Charley will be tested to her limits... But home is where the heart is. Right? The unputdownable new series from the storyline consultants to TV’s Happy Valley and Scott & Bailey, Payback is perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, LJ Ross and Rachel Lynch.

From the child taunted by her playmates to the office worker who feels stifled in his daily routine, people frequently take out their pain and anger on others, even those who had nothing to do with the original stress. The bullied child may kick her puppy, the stifled worker yells at his children: Payback can be directed anywhere, sometimes at inanimate things, animals, or other people. In Payback, the husband-and wife team of evolutionary biologist David Barash and psychiatrist Judith Lipton offer an illuminating look at this phenomenon, showing how it has evolved, why it occurs, and what we can do about it. Retaliation and revenge are well known to most people. We all know what it is like to want to get even, get justice, or take revenge. What is new in this book is an extended discussion of redirected aggression, which occurs not only in people but other species as well. The authors reveal that it's not just a matter of yelling at your spouse "because" your boss yells at you. Indeed, the phenomenon of redirected aggression--so-called to differentiate it from retaliation and revenge, the other main forms of payback--haunts our criminal courts, our streets, our battlefields, our homes, and our hearts. It lurks behind some of the nastiest and seemingly inexplicable things that otherwise decent people do, from road rage to yelling at a crying baby. And it exists across boundaries of every kind--culture, time, geography, and even species. Indeed, it's not just a human phenomenon. Passing pain to others can be seen in birds and horses, fish and primates--in virtually all vertebrates. It turns out that there is robust neurobiological hardware and software promoting redirected aggression, as well as evolutionary underpinnings. Payback may be natural, the authors conclude, but we are capable of rising above it, without sacrificing self-esteem and social status. They show how the various human responses to pain and suffering can be managed--mindfully, carefully, and humanely.

Former managing director of emerging markets at Bear Sterns and retired sergeant of the NYPD, Terry Adams is the forensic investigator for a law firm catering to upper crust clients. He also maintains a detective agency in the East Village servicing the local community, mostly as a pro-bono problem solver. An intriguing telephone call thrusts him into a web of conspiracy and corruption on a global scale. The caller hires him to find those responsible for the death of Charles Gregory, an investment banker at his old firm, who was killed by an oncoming subway at the Wall Street station, even though the police pronounced the death accidental. He zeroes in on a bank in Cyprus where a trail of illicit payments to the victim uncovers insider trading at JP Morgan-Chase and leads him to massive corporate fraud in the emerging markets of eastern Europe. Investigations in Budapest and Stavropol, Russia, identify Alexei Godunov, an ex-KGB colonel, as a principal perpetrator in the scheme. Through networking he identifies the corrupt broker, who is also the agent for the Brighton Beach mob. Hacking into brokerage records, Terry discovers the mobs significant investment losses in the swindle. He concludes that the death was the mobs payback for the misdeed. When Alexei Godunov meets the same fate as Charles Gregory and Terry learns of Godunovs business connection to his client, he attempts to intercede with the mob to save his clients life.

This revisionist's view of the '80s by a leading conservative economist--who argues that the so-called "decade of greed", spearheaded by the rise of Michael Milken and Drexel Burnham, actually improved corporate America--examines how Michael Milken became a scapegoat in a complicated and convoluted mess made by the government.

James 'Whitey Bulger is the last of the old-fashioned gangsters. A polished, sophisticated psychopath, Bulger's Boston reign of fear lasted 20 years – he was second only to Osama bin Laden on the FBI's most wanted list. Captured after 16 years in hiding, he now sits in a maximum security prison awaiting trial on racketeering charges and 19 counts of murder. But Bulger will have his payback: at trial he has promised to lift the lid a toxic conspiracy of federal agents, cops, judges and politicians that helped enforce his rule. Combining first-rate reporting and the storytelling of a novelist, T.J. English has been writing about men like Bulger for over two decades. Here, in addition to coming face to face with Whitey, you'll discover hitman Joesph 'Mad Dog' Suliivan's favoured assassination method, you'll meet Eric Vassel, the Jamaican rudeboy who took on the Italian mob, you'll travel deep into the Mexican/American narcosphere as English takes his readers on a bloody but fascinating journey to the dark side of the American Dream.

He crossed an ocean, and it still wasn’t enough to escape his lifelong nemesis. Now he has to work with her. Successful screenwriter Finn Masters just landed his dream job writing for Neighbors, one of Hollywood’s highest-rated, longest-running sitcoms. The only downside? It will put him back in proximity of the show’s universally adored, optimistic, altruistic star, Lavender Rhodes, who has been inadvertently ruining his life since they were school chums in England. But she doesn’t even know she destroyed his acting career and wrecked his relationship with the love of his life. He’s not about to let this woman yank yet another dream out from under his feet. In fact, he realizes he’s been given the ideal opportunity to plot his payback: spinning her character in shocking new directions. What could go wrong? Only everything. As Finn’s not-so-brilliant plot backfires one scene after the next, catching him in the blasts, he’s forced to think about this impossible, infuriating…and maybe even lovable woman in an entirely new light. Sweet romantic comedy Stand-alone novel Book length: 88,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Set in Guatemala and based on a true story, “this intriguing literary thriller will appeal to lovers of international crime fiction” (Booklist). Guillermo Rosensweig is a member of the Guatemalan elite, runs a successful law practice, has a wife and kids—and a string of gorgeous lovers. Then one day he crosses paths with Maryam, a Lebanese beauty with whom he falls desperately in love . . . to the point that when he loses her, he sees no other option than to orchestrate his own death. The Mastermind is based on the bizarre real-life story of Rodrigo Rosenberg, a Guatemalan attorney who, in 2009, planned his own assassination after leaving behind a video accusing Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom of his murder. This is a fascinating depiction of modern-day Guatemala and the corrupt, criminal, and threatening reality that permeates its society. “Engaging . . . Raw and unforgettable.” —Publishers Weekly “This is a compelling story that can easily be read in a single sitting. And, as in any good mystery, when things go wrong, the novel becomes that much more interesting. Even for readers with no interest in Guatemala per se, this is one worth reading for the sheer joy of the writing itself.” —Reviewing the Evidence “A riveting account of one man’s high-stakes journey to self-reckoning.” —Cristina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban