This is a murder mystery that begins with the noisy re-union of two very crusty, wise-cracking old-timers who won't accept a coroner's verdict of suicide for the death of one of their old friends. Their rowdy verbal treatment of each other, rough as it appears to others, seems to be simply the result of spending a lot of years together as they grew up, then through the rough and tumble world of construction during their working years when they had to rely on each other's judgement, ingenuity and people-handling skills as well as their physical prowess and craftsmanship. Now they've been presented with perhaps the greatest single challenge of their lives: solving a murder...and they revel in that too! Mike Danford is a retired corporate bureaucrate whose passion is writing unusual adventure/romance stories with a humorous approach and some real people and real incidents included.

A Carribean woman loves a Seattle sculptor. Their romance should end with slurred Daquiri kisses. But there's this little problem. Someone else wants her- the guy in the aqua Thunderbird. The color of his ride clues her who's driving. Her first lover. Someone related. Ron Dakron's novel Newt delves into incest, racism, ecstatic art and the true evil of the color aqua. Using techniques of cubism and parallel time, Newt evokes doomed love through a terse, poetic prose.

The definitive, authorized biography of one of the most important, provocative, and visionary political figures of our time. In one way or another Newt Gingrich has been leading a revolution for most of his life. Citizen Newt is the definitive account of that struggle. Writing with the full cooperation of Speaker Gingrich and the players around him, New York Times bestselling author Craig Shirley captures the events, ideas, failures, and successes of Newton Leroy Gingrich—one of the most complex, influential, and durable political figures of our time. Returning to Gingrich’s childhood in Pennsylvania and his formative years as a young history professor, Citizen Newt moves through Gingrich’s first forays into politics and takes readers behind the scenes of the Congressman’s crucial role in the Reagan Revolution, his battles with George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and his masterly orchestration of 1994s “Gingrich Revolution” and the Contract with America, which catapulted him to national prominence and forever changed congressional and national politics. Drawing upon untold stories from Gingrich and those who know him best—political allies and opponents, Washington insiders and political iconoclasts, Capitol Hill staffers and colleagues—Shirley has crafted a fascinating, humorous, humanizing, and insightful account of a true American original.

This book paints a scathing portrait of the former Speaker of the House as a threat to American democracy. The authors accuse him of using nonprofit organizations for illegal political purposes, evading of Federal Election Commission rules, influence peddling and more.

Newt Gingrich is one of the most polarizing and consequential figures in US politics. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, he rose from a minority party backbencher to become the first Republican Speaker of the House in forty years. Though much has been written about Gingrich, accounts of his time in Congress are incomplete and often skewed. In their book Newt Gingrich: The Rise and Fall of a Party Entrepreneur, political scientists Matthew N. Green and Jeffrey Crouch draw from newly uncovered archival material, original interviews, and other data to provide a fresh and insightful look at Gingrich’s entire congressional career. Green and Crouch argue that Gingrich is best understood as a “party entrepreneur,” someone who works primarily to achieve their congressional party’s collective goals. From the moment he entered Congress, Gingrich was laser-focused on achieving two party-related objectives—a Republican majority in the House and a more conservative society—as well as greater influence for himself. Using a conceptual framework taken from theories of military strategy, the authors explain how Gingrich initially struggled because of a mismatch between his lofty goals and the resources available to him. After years of patiently cultivating allies, tempering his immediate objectives, and waiting for favorable circumstances to emerge, Gingrich finally claimed victory in 1994, with Republicans winning control of the House and electing Gingrich as Speaker. Yet while Gingrich had been creative, patient, and ultimately successful at gaining power for himself and his party, he proved ineffective at balancing his goals with the demands of the Speakership, and he resigned from Congress just four years later. Newt Gingrich: The Rise and Fall of a Party Entrepreneur, the latest contribution to the Congressional Leaders series, sheds new light on a historically important congressional leader whose complicated legacy is still debated today by scholars, journalists, and politicians.

Recent estimates suggest that nearly 3 million people in the US alone keep an amphibian or reptile as a pet. YouTube videos with odes to cane toads are ubiquitous. And yet amphibians and reptiles also keep extermination companies in business, and are reviled by many. These emotions pose great challenges to the conservation of these species, just as their populations in the natural world are in great decline. It can be quite hard to inspire stewardship of a tomato toad in the same way that one can more generally charismatic fauna like pandas and polar bears. In response, herpetologists have created large-scale programs such as Amphibian Ark, the umbrella organization behind the Year of the Frog campaign, http: //www.amphibianark.org/, to educate and enthrall citizens with the charm of the more slimy species of the planet. Few herpetologists have contributed more to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles than Marty Crump, a renowned expert on declining amphibians. This manuscript is her ode to the toad, a masterful compilation of science and narrative centering on human relations with amphibians and reptiles across the globe. An intrepid explorer and skilled writer, Crump has gathered stories and myths and paired them with natural history to give a wonderful view of how essential amphibians and reptiles are to our well being. Using symbolism, folklore, and science, the manuscript also explores the conservation consequences of our complicated amorous and vexed affair with snakes, frogs, toads and other herpetofauna.

Legendary fantasy illustrator Michael Hague takes readers on a strange and fantastic journey in Eye of Newt! As a young wizard's apprentice, Newt, embarks on a wonderful and perilous quest through the mysterious Netherworld and beyond, he learns a dark secret that could shape his entire destiny!

Take a first look at the fascinating lives of newts in this beautifully illustrated ebook for babies and toddlers. Part of DK's illustrated animal alphabet series, N is for Newt is the 14th picture ebook installment, a perfect first nonfiction ebook for young children. The friendly, read-aloud text and delightful illustrations will have young animal-lovers smiling in no time as they learn new words about newts that all begin with the letter "n." Have fun with your little one by pointing to the colorful illustrations that tell the story of these amazing animals. Learn what baby newts are called, where they live, and how they communicate with each other. Filled with simple, playful facts, N is for Newt provides lots to talk about and lots to look at for curious, animal-loving babies and toddlers everywhere.

The purpose of this book is to communicate basic knowledge about two species of amphibians of the Urodela order, the fire salamander and the banded newt, along the southern border of their distribution in Israel in an area of especially extreme conditions, and to present to the reader the fascinating world of these species. The book is based on theoretical material from the academic literature that has been published in journals in t he English language over the past 40 years.