The security guard found the body of the vice president of marketing Stephen Jones at 6:39 a.m. Mr. Jones had signed in over twelve hours ago at the front desk and had not bothered to check in since. Although missing a check-in or even several check-ins was not unusual, missing check-ins for twelve hours was out of the ordinary, and therefore, the security guard was dispatched to find out if everything was in order. The first indication that something was amiss was that the door to Mr. Jones office was dead bolted from the inside of the office. After the discovery of the locked door, the fact that Mr. Jones was not responding and the fact that Mr. Jones would not answer his door or his telephone rang warning bells in the security guards brain. He had immediately contacted his supervisor who was next in line in the chain of command. The outer office was normally inhabited by the vice presidents no-nonsense secretary Rebekah Livingston, who, as part of her resume, had a black belt in more than a few martial art forms. She was also licensed to carry several different types of weaponry. Her weapon of choice was a wicked looking snub-nosed Colt .44 magnum with exploding dum-dum bullets. The security guard had never personally seen the exact location where the weapon was holstered but surmised that the short skirts that the young lady wore might have something to do with its hidden location. The security guard was sure of two things. The exact time of day and the fact that Stephen Jones was quite dead.

Enjoy these 40 expertly crafted micro-RPGs that are fast, fun, easy to learn, and come in a variety of genres—from space exploration to jungle dungeon crawlers—everything you need to pick up and play today. Get gaming fast with The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book including brand-new micro-RPGs created by experts across the gaming world. From space exploration to jungle dungeon crawlers this book has everything you need to pick up and play today. With these quick-start games, you can create your own adventures, alone or with friends, without any prep, and with minimal set up and pieces. Whether you’re new to RPGs or working towards your level 20 mage, this collection is a great way to try out different games and systems, and test your roleplay skills on different character types and situations.

In Burning the Tables in Las Vegas, Ian Andersen, author of the classic Turning the Tables on Las Vegas and one of the most successful high-stakes blackjack players of all time, shares his personal program for success at blackjack, poker, and life. This second edition contains three important new chapters: one on the use of the surrender option at blackjack as a camouflage technique, one on green-chip play for medium rollers; and one on understanding casino psychology. The "Crazy Surrender" chapter expands Andersen's Ultimate Gambit and adds another dimension to his technique of using elements of mathematics and psychology to remain below the casino radar. This new edition also contains a Foreword by blackjack legend Stanford Wong.

The theft of strategic and nuclear weapons from a GRU arsenal in the Ukraine gets prompt and full attention at the highest levels of the U.S. and Russian governments. But their respective intelligence communities are having considerable difficulty identifying the perpetrators, much less accurately assessing their motivation and intent. Nations known to be seeking nuclear weapons capability top the list of suspects, together with likely sub-national groups of terrorists and fanatics, and perhaps even the GRU itself. A Russian Admiral, hero of the former Soviet Union, and his KGB friend and colleague turn up unexpectedly in the Caribbean. A Vieques island innkeeper called "The Frenchman," a stunningly beautiful Puerto Rican doctor, a Chinese majordomo, a captivating San Juan socialite, a British artist, and an outspoken priest all appear to be enmeshed in the resulting web of subterfuge. Who has the weapons? And why? Who will be targeted? And when? The nuclear theft is the first move in what becomes an international chess game of intrigue, espionage and deception against the most unlikely opposition.

In a world rife with conflict and tension, how does a great power prosecute an irregular war at a great distance within the context of a regional struggle, all within a global competitive environment? The question, so pertinent today, was confronted by the British nearly 250 years ago during the American War for Independence. And the answer, as this book makes plain, is: not the way the British, under Lieutenant General Charles, Earl Cornwallis, went about it in the American South in the years 1778–81. Southern Gambit presents a closely observed, comprehensive account of this failed strategy. Approaching the campaign from the British perspective, this book restores a critical but little-studied chapter to the narrative of the Revolutionary War—and in doing so, it adds detail and depth to our picture of Cornwallis, an outsize figure in the history of the British Empire. Distinguished scholar of military strategy Stanley D. M. Carpenter outlines the British strategic and operational objectives, devoting particular attention to the strategy of employing Southern Loyalists to help defeat Patriot forces, reestablish royal authority, and tamp down resurgent Patriot activity. Focusing on Cornwallis’s operations in the Carolinas and Virginia leading to the surrender at Yorktown in October 1781, Carpenter reveals the flaws in this approach, most notably a fatal misunderstanding of the nature of the war in the South and of the Loyalists’ support. Compounding this was the strategic incoherence of seeking a conventional war against a brilliant, unconventional opponent, and doing so amidst a breakdown in the unity of command. Ultimately, strategic incoherence, ineffective command and control, and a misreading of the situation contributed to the series of cascading failures of the British effort. Carpenter’s analysis of how and why this happened expands our understanding of British decision-making and operations in the Southern Campaign and their fateful consequences in the War for Independence.

Living in an era of immense and bewildering change in technology, pandemic and war, humanity has had cause to challenge the apparent old fixities and certainties of life. Essentially, are we being played? The premise of this volume is that all of human life is underpinned by powerful dynamic systems, so tightly interwoven into our daily lives that we are barely aware of them, whose true nature only comes to light at times of profound disruption or crisis. These powerful dynamic systems, philosophical or otherwise, often fall under the umbrella of ludic theory. Within these pages, some of the leading thinkers of ludic theory from three continents explore its diversity and relevance through the perspectives of some of the world’s most famous philosophers. In many ways, this volume follows on from Sampson’s 'Being Played: Gadamer and Philosophy’s Hidden Dynamic' (2019). It also draws upon other ludic-centred and ludic-inspired texts that include Mattice’s 'Metaphor and Metaphilosophy' (2014) and Arthos’ 'Gadamer’s Poetics: A Critique of Modern Aesthetics' (2014), together with Frazier’s 'Reality, Religion and Passion' (2009) and Homan’s 'A Hermeneutics of Poetic Education' (2020). Although this is not the first volume offering an integrated approach to ludic theory, see Ryall (ed), 'The Philosophy of Play' (2013), it offers a diverse and detailed approach to the subject, including not only Western philosophers, but also thinkers from Ancient China, 16th-century India and modern South America. This volume will be not only of interest to scholars and students of ludic theory and philosophy in general, but because of its deliberate globalised content, it is hoped it might have a wider appeal globally as humanity continues to grapple with significant challenges created by these current winds of change.

The Budapest Gambit 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5) is an aggressive, dynamic approach for meeting 1 d4 and is a great line for throwing opponents onto their own resources. It is certainly double-edged as Black moves the same piece twice early on and also sacrifices a pawn. This pawn is often quickly regained but one of the great advantages of the Budapest is that if White tries to hang on to the pawn (and many players do) Black can quickly whip up a ferocious attack. A great number of materialistic but unprepared White players have found themselves swiftly demolished by Black’s tremendously active pieces. When White is more circumspect and allows Black to regain the pawn, play proceeds along more sedate strategic lines where Black enjoys free and easy development. Experienced chess author and coach Andrew Martin examines all key variations of the Budapest. There is an emphasis on typical middlegame structures and the important plans and manoeuvres are demonstrated in numerous instructive games. * Includes complete repertoires for Black with both 3...Ng4 and 3...Ne4 * Comprehensive coverage featuring several new ideas * Take your opponents out of their comfort zone!

Excel in penetration testing by delving into the latest ethical hacking tools and techniques from scratch Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free eBook in PDF format. Key Features Learn to think like an adversary to strengthen your cyber defences Execute sophisticated real-life penetration tests, uncovering vulnerabilities in enterprise networks that go beyond the surface level Securely manipulate environments using Kali Linux, ensuring you're fully equipped to safeguard your systems against real-world threats Book DescriptionEmbark on an exciting journey into the world of Kali Linux – the central hub for advanced penetration testing. Honing your pentesting skills and exploiting vulnerabilities or conducting advanced penetration tests on wired and wireless enterprise networks, Kali Linux empowers cybersecurity professionals. In its latest third edition, this book goes further to guide you on how to setup your labs and explains breaches using enterprise networks. This book is designed for newcomers and those curious about penetration testing, this guide is your fast track to learning pentesting with Kali Linux 2024.x. Think of this book as your stepping stone into real-world situations that guides you through lab setups and core penetration testing concepts. As you progress in the book you’ll explore the toolkit of vulnerability assessment tools in Kali Linux, where gathering information takes the spotlight. You'll learn how to find target systems, uncover device security issues, exploit network weaknesses, control operations, and even test web applications. The journey ends with understanding complex web application testing techniques, along with industry best practices. As you finish this captivating exploration of the Kali Linux book, you'll be ready to tackle advanced enterprise network testing – with newfound skills and confidence.What you will learn Establish a firm foundation in ethical hacking Install and configure Kali Linux 2024.1 Build a penetration testing lab environment and perform vulnerability assessments Understand the various approaches a penetration tester can undertake for an assessment Gathering information from Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) data sources Use Nmap to discover security weakness on a target system on a network Implement advanced wireless pentesting techniques Become well-versed with exploiting vulnerable web applications Who this book is for This pentesting book is for students, trainers, cybersecurity professionals, cyber enthusiasts, network security professionals, ethical hackers, penetration testers, and security engineers. If you do not have any prior knowledge and are looking to become an expert in penetration testing using the Kali Linux, then this book is for you.

The next Kirk McGarvey novel, Gambit, is an international thriller with non-stop action, perfect for fans of Jason Bourne. “If you like thrillers full of international intrigue, Hagberg is a major find.” —Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author An American billionaire and a Russian oligarch want Kirk McGarvey dead. First they send a South African assassin, and when Mac kills him, they commission a Canadian sniper for the kill. When Mac put him down, they hire a team of highly specialized Chinese killers called “Scorpions.” When Mac dispatches them, they send a squad of Russian special ops armed to the teeth with high-tech firepower. Mac's only chance of survival is to turn on the tables on the people behind this assassination conspiracy, that is, if he can find them. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A soldier is raised from the dead by a desperate magician who needs his help. The soldier cannot remember who he was when alive, so sets out to discover his former life, those who killed him and what he can do about the fact he’s dead. Hunted by demons and frustrated by gods, what hope is there for just one man?Necromancer's Gambit is the first novel in A J Dalton's best-selling Flesh & Bone Trilogy. A J Dalton is the UK's leading author of gothic fantasy.