The UFO Conspiracy

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William Lashner

It must have been a hell of a night. One of those long, dangerous nights where the world shifts and doors open. A night of bad judgment and wrong turns, of weariness and hilarity and a hard sexual charge that both frightens and compels. A night where your life changes irrevocably, for better or for worse, but who the hell cares, so long as it changes.It must have been a night just like that, yeah, if only I could remember it.All Victor Carl knows is that he's just woken up with his suit in tatters, his socks missing, and a stinging pain in his chest thanks to a new tattoo he doesn't remember getting: a heart inscribed with the name Chantal Adair.My apartment is trashed, my partnership is cracking up, I'm drinking too much, flirting with reporters, sleeping with Realtors. Frankly, I'm in desperate need of something hard and clean in my life, and finding Chantal is all I have.Is Chantal Adair the love of Victor's life or a terrible drunken mistake? Victor intends to find out, but right now he's got bigger concerns. His client, a wanted man, needs to come in out of the cold, and he's got a stolen painting for Victor to use as leverage.But someone is not happy that the painting has surfaced. Or that the client is threatening to tell all. Or that Victor is sniffing around for information about Chantal Adair. The closer Victor comes to figuring it all out, the deeper into danger he falls, as the ghosts of the past return to claim what's theirs.

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Ralph Morton and David Jaggar

An understanding of how the design and construction processes interact to determine the cost and quality of buildings is essential to architects, builders and surveyors. Design and the Economics of Building is a text for students in all the built environment fields. It takes a fresh approach to the important issues involved in the building process and their relationship to each other, dealing among other topics with the cost and construction implications of design decisions; the way design affects, and is affected by, the construction process; the economics of building's essential resources - labour, materials and technology; the cost of energy efficiency; methods of cost prediction and control; procurement systems and their implications for cost, time and quality; information flow between designers, surveyors and contractors; and the value of buildings, determined by market and social criteria. With its wide scope, readability and generous use of examples and references to recent projects, Design and the Economics of Building will be of interest to all those concerned with the built environment as well as being an essential text for architecture, surveying and construction management students.

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Manuchair Ebadi, Ronald F. Pfeiffer

A new optimism that Parkinson's disease can be defeated is energizing the research community. Halting the progression of the disease, restoring function, and even prevention are all realistic goals. This comprehensive volume provides state-of-the-art information on all aspects of Parkinson's disease, including epidemiology, genetics, diagnosis, treatment, and social issues. Novel and attractive models are included to simplify difficult-to-understand concepts, with emphasis on therapeutics. Written by leaders in the field, Parkinson's Disease emphasizes both the importance of early diagnosis and the search for more effective therapies.

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Joan Severa

"During the nineteenth century - a time of great technical and cultural change - fashion was a cultivating force in the development of American society and was influenced by one's social status, geographic location, and economic standing. 'My Likeness Taken' is a collection of daguerreotype portraits of men, women, and children taken between 1840 and 1860. Selected from the top collections in the United States, each image is analyzed to clarify datable clothing and fashion components. With subjects from among the best-dressed members of society, these portraits - reproduced in full color - reflect the latest fashion developments, trends, and influences. For students of photographic and costume history, this is extraordinary material. Many of these images have never before been published, and Severa's keen analysis adds immeasurably to our understanding of the importance of dress in American society. Photo archivists and colectors, costume curators, social historians, material culturalists, and theater designers will also find My Likeness Taken to be an invaluable resource."--Jacket.