Most Popular Books by Michael Allen

A Small-Town Murder: A Book for Mystery Booklovers! In small-town America, where time moves at the pace of a gentle breeze, —the peaceful facade of Pierce is shattered when a beloved Verlin Simpson is found lifeless in a roadside ditch. Known for his infectious laughter and a desire for the bottle, Verlin’s unanticipated death sends shockwaves through the tight-knit community. His grieving widow, Shirley, finds peace in her faith and the comforting arms of her church and choir. But beneath the veneer of small-town piety, a darker truth lurks. Former LAPD officer Tom Phillips, now Pierce's local law enforcement, is tasked to hunt a killer. As he goes deeper into the case, a web of secrets unravels. With no clear motive and a town full of potential suspects, Phillips is forced to confront the possibility of a serial killer on the loose. When a second body turns up in a chilling location, his church, the once peaceful town, is filled with a sense of fear. Can Phillips crack the case before another innocent life is claimed? Or will the killer remain hidden in the shadows of Pierce? This Christian murder mystery is a tale of faith and the search for justice. Prepare to be drawn into a world where nothing is as it seems.''

Illuminates recent national economic policy and warns against the single-minded commitment to balance the federal budget. The paperback edition features a new preface and afterword

An original collection of the most influential documents in American history, from the bestselling author of A Patriot's History of the United States. Since 2005, A Patriot's History of the United States has become a modern classic for its defense of America as a unique country founded on principles of justice, equality, and freedom for all. The Patriot's History Reader continues this tradition by going back to the original sources-the documents, speeches, and legal decisions that shaped our country into what it is today. The authors explore both oft-cited documents-the Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, and Roe v. Wade--as well as those that are less famous. Among these are George Washington's letter to Alexander Hamilton, which essentially outline America's military strategy for the next 150 years, and Herbert Hoover's speech on business ethics, which examines the government's role in regulating private enterprise. By helping readers explore history at its source, this book sheds new light on the principles and personalities that have made America great.

Hissy Fitz lives with some two-legged creatures who are destined to serve him in every possible way and understand his every whim. Sadly, these creatures are sorely lacking in their skills. For one thing—they touch him when they want to touch him. Don't they know that the two-legged are there for him to touch when he wants to—meaning when he wants food? Petting wakes him up! They speak to him—don't they know the two-legged should be seen (so Hissy knows where to demand food from) and not heard?! It's becoming intolerable. What is this irascible cat to do?

The 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Georgia volunteer infantry regiments spent most of the Civil War fighting under Brig. Gen. George Thomas "Tige" Anderson in Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Until now, no biographical roster of their members has ever been published. These Georgians saw it all, from the bloody battle of First Manassas through the ferocious combat of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and the long siege of Petersburg. They finally furled their banners at Appomattox. Nearly 5,000 men passed through these four Georgia regiments. These rosters offer a long overdue record of these men. Each roster is organized by company in a simple and easy to use format. Entries feature full names (if known), promotions, demotions, casualties, transfers, and resignations for every rank—an unprecedented look into men and the structure and evolution of these organizations. They include the most comprehensive examination of the personnel originally enlisted and their subsequent service histories within these units in chronological order for the first time. Compiler and author Richard Allen has spent nearly two decades researching scores of archives and other sources to prepare these rosters. He utilized primary sources such as the Official Records, Compiled Service Records, newspaper accounts, diaries, letters, census information, burial records, and a variety of documents from both published sources and private collections. Students of the Civil War, genealogists, and enthusiasts of Georgia history will find these rosters invaluable. Everyone who uses them owes Rick Allen a hearty, and heartfelt, thank you.

The 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Georgia volunteer infantry regiments spent most of the Civil War fighting under Brig. Gen. George Thomas "Tige" Anderson in Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Until now, no biographical roster of their members has ever been published. These Georgians saw it all, from the bloody battle of First Manassas through the ferocious combat of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and the long siege of Petersburg. They finally furled their banners at Appomattox. Nearly 5,000 men passed through these four Georgia regiments. These rosters offer a long overdue record of these men. Each roster is organized by company in a simple and easy to use format. Entries feature full names (if known), promotions, demotions, casualties, transfers, and resignations for every rank—an unprecedented look into men and the structure and evolution of these organizations. They include the most comprehensive examination of the personnel originally enlisted and their subsequent service histories within these units in chronological order for the first time. Compiler and author Richard Allen has spent nearly two decades researching scores of archives and other sources to prepare these rosters. He utilized primary sources such as the Official Records, Compiled Service Records, newspaper accounts, diaries, letters, census information, burial records, and a variety of documents from both published sources and private collections. Students of the Civil War, genealogists, and enthusiasts of Georgia history will find these rosters invaluable. Everyone who uses them owes Rick Allen a hearty, and heartfelt, thank you.

Sheriff Homer Deters returns in the " delightful " sequel t o Death in West Wheeling from the award-winning author of the Caleb and Thinnes mysteries ( Publishers Weekly). When Sheriff Homer Deters' proposal to his sweetheart is interrupted by the report of a body in a ditch, he discovers the corpse is skeletal and half the town has trampled through the scene. Before the investigation gains traction, someone turns a truckload of actual mustangs loose in the Truck Stop parking lot. And when the truck driver is subsequently murdered, Homer has a real whodunit on his hands. Complaints about rats and transients, jackasses of the two and four-legged variety, and a series of hijackings interrupt both investigations. While Homer tries to sort things out, a local farmer is murdered and dumped in another ditch. With help from the State Police and plenty of assistance from his sweetheart, deputy, and adopted son, the West Wheeling Sheriff manages to survive an Indian uprising, West Wheeling's Oktoberfest, and Sadie Hawkins Day. He just has to solve the murders while he's at it. Praise for Death in West Wheeling "Dymmoch pushes into Joan Hess territory with this rollicking tale of murder, moonshine and madcap law enforcement . . . Dymmoch handles this farcical crime wave with down-home warmth and humor."— Kirkus Reviews "Homer keeps his cool, handily solving murders and disappearances. Breakneck pace and solid atmosphere are the hallmarks here."— Booklist

Can Christians and churches be both catholic and Reformed? In this volume, two accomplished young theologians argue that to be Reformed means to go deeper into true catholicity rather than away from it. Their manifesto for a catholic and Reformed approach to dogmatics seeks theological renewal through retrieval of the rich resources of the historic Christian tradition. The book provides a survey of recent approaches toward theological retrieval and offers a renewed exploration of the doctrine of sola scriptura. It includes a substantive afterword by J. Todd Billings.

The murder of a Vietnamese woman reawakens wartime trauma for cop John Thinnes and psychiatrist Jack Caleb in an "absolutely gripping" police procedural ( Chicago Tribune). After a woman is shot in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Chicago, Detective John Thinnes realizes he knew the victim when he was stationed in Vietnam. In fact, he was the best man when his friend Bobby Lee married Hue An. When an anonymous tip comes in that Thinnes might be the real father of her son, Tien Lee, who is the prime suspect in her murder, he is pulled off the case and his partner Don Franchi takes over. At Hue An Lee's wake, a schizophrenic man insists there is a connection between her death and an unsolved murder in wartime Saigon. Psychiatrist Jack Caleb is called in to help the schizophrenic mourner, but the therapy is kicking up his own PTSD from serving as a medic during the war. Working with Caleb, Thinnes remembers a deadly criminal from his days as an MP in Saigon—known as White Tiger—who he fears has resurfaced in Chicago. Now it's up to the two vets to stop him . . .

With "terse prose," this "fascinating" entry in the award-winning series pits psychiatrist Jack Caleb and cop John Thinnes against a serial arsonist ( Library Journal). While jogging through Chicago's Lincoln Park at dawn, Dr. Jack Caleb comes upon a scene of horror—a mob in white robes about to set a police car on fire with the officer inside. Caleb's training as a medic in the Vietnam War kicks in and he rushes to rescue the man. One cop is saved, but later his female partner is found in another location, stoned to death. Homicide detective John Thinnes has a cop killer on his hands. But these two attacks are only the beginning in a series of arson fires and murders over the course of a long, hot, deadly summer. Evidence points toward cultists in the Church of Divine Conflagration—but then some of them also fall victim to the pyromaniac. When a physician friend of Caleb is implicated, the psychiatrist works with Thinnes to set a trap for the killer—but it's one they might not escape unscorched themselves . . .

Textbook on Criminal Law covers all of the topics studied on undergraduate, CPE, and GDL criminal law courses, combining exposition of the current state of the law with academic critique, and providing the ideal balance of coverage and detail.

How far would you go to save your life and your world? After a nasty divorce, single mother Joanne Lessing finally has her life together, and she's made a name for herself as a photographer. Then, while on assignment, she witnesses a hit and run. Property damage only. No big deal, she thinks. So she does the right thing—calls the cops. Joanne is dismayed when FBI agents arrive with the local detective. They admit the hit and run driver was a mob killer fleeing the scene of his latest hit. Joanne is relieved to find she can't really identify the hit man. But when she sees the killer again while on another assignment, she takes his picture and finds her new life and her son's future threatened. Caught between the Mob and the FBI, she's on her own...

"Breakneck pace and solid atmosphere are the hallmarks here." —AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION When a local schoolteacher disappears from rural West Wheeling, acting sheriff Homer Deters investigates. Before long he's got three more missing persons, two unidentified bodies, a car theft, a twenty-three-vehicle pile-up in the center of town, a missing tiger, and a squad of agitated ATF agents to deal with. With no help from the Feds, Homer turns to his buddy, Rye Willis, and West Wheeling's eccentric postmistress, Nina Ross, to locate the missing, identify the bodies, and bring a murderer to justice. Packed with regional charm and Deters' wit, Death in West Wheeling shows how wild one case can get.

The Chief Security Officer's Handbook: Leading Your Team into the Future offers practical advice on how to embrace the future, align with your organizations mission, and develop a program that meets the needs of the enterprise. The book discusses real-life examples of what to do to align with other critical departments, how to avoid spending time and resources on unnecessary and outdated methods, and tomorrow's security program. Today's security executives need to help their industry, their organization and the next generation of security leaders to pioneer, optimize and transform every aspect of our programs, technologies and methods. The book is ideal for current chief security officers, aspiring security executives, and those interested in better understanding the critical need to modernize corporate security. - Offers suggestions on the do's and don'ts of professional development - Provides tangible examples on how the CSO works collaboratively with internal peers - Instructs CSO's on how to align with the business while remaining agile - Illustrates the various paths to becoming a CSO - Demonstrates ways to move your program into one that embraces enterprise security risk management, convergence and automation

Psychiatrist Jack Caleb and Chicago cop John Thinnes return in this "well-crafted procedural . . . intriguingly presented . . . spiked by psychological insight" ( Booklist). After a woman is brutally raped in the posh Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago and a second rape victim is murdered, the hunt for a serial rapist/killer becomes a "heater" case, front-burnered due to the scrutiny of publicity. The pressure is on Det. John Thinnes and his new partner, a strong-willed feminist cop named Don Franchi. Psychiatrist Jack Caleb is acting as a police consultant to construct a psychological profile of the rapist, and Thinnes asks his friend to step in and mediate the friction between him and his partner. If they're going to solve an increasingly complicated and disturbing case that matches the MO of earlier, similar crimes in another Illinois city, they need to find a way to work together . . .

In this "exciting" sequel to The Man Who Understood Cats, psychiatrist Jack Caleb and cop John Thinnes must solve the murder of a Native American artist ( Library Journal). Native American artist Blue Mountain Cat seems determined to provoke controversy with his new installation, which strikes art patron Jack Caleb as "Andy Warhol meets Jonathan Swift in Indian country." As the artist's former therapist, Caleb can't help wondering what is driving this new aggressively satirical direction with pieces like Red Man's Revenge and Native American Gothic. There's something to offend everybody, many of whom are at the opening—including a litigious developer, an outraged Navajo woman, a black-market antiquities dealer, and the artist's stunning blond wife, who discovers her husband stabbed to death in a gallery room with a bone knife from his own exhibit. When Chicago homicide detective John Thinnes arrives at the museum, he drafts his friend Caleb to help him navigate the crime scene and the terra incognita of the art world. As the suspects expand to include a desperate museum director, a savage critic, a married mistress, and a shady partner, the shrink and the cop once again find themselves something of an odd couple but a very effective detective duo . . .

How do we see God’s Love for us? What it means for God to be Infi nite How does Faith develop? Windows of Faith How do we Know God? Science and Faith What is Our Own Heaven or Hell? What is God’s Heaven? Religion’s Future Going Home

This landmark study is a detailed textual and thematic analysis of one of Nietzsche's most important but least understood works. Stanley Rosen argues that in Zarathustra Nietzsche lays the groundwork for philosophical and political revolution, proposing a change in humanity's condition that would be achieved by eliminating the decadent exisiting race and breeding a new race to take its place. Rosen discusses Nietzsche's systematically duplicitous rhetoric messages in Zarathustra, and he places the book in the contexts of Greek, Christian, Enlightenment, and postmodernist thought.