Secrets and Conspiracies


Book Description

This collection of essays offers a rich variety of texts written on secrets and conspiracies. They investigate and analyse the various kinds of theories there are and analyse them further by casting a look at historical as well contemporary phenomena.




The Case of the Vanishing Veil


Book Description

A Boston Wedding... A Veiled Threat... A Dangerous Environment... When Nancy attends a wedding in Boston, she encounters a marriage marred by mischief. The groom may have stolen the bride's heart, but a thief has made off with her antique lace veil! From a mansion in Cape Cod to a museum of witchcraft in Salem, Nancy, Bess, and George follow a trail of intrigue and deceit across the New England countryside. They uncover the shocking story behind the wedding-day prank -- and a $60 million mystery behind the vanishing veil!




The Veil of Isis


Book Description

Nearly twenty-five hundred years ago the Greek thinker Heraclitus supposedly uttered the cryptic words "Phusis kruptesthai philei." How the aphorism, usually translated as "Nature loves to hide," has haunted Western culture ever since is the subject of this engaging study by Pierre Hadot. Taking the allegorical figure of the veiled goddess Isis as a guide, and drawing on the work of both the ancients and later thinkers such as Goethe, Rilke, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger, Hadot traces successive interpretations of Heraclitus' words. Over time, Hadot finds, "Nature loves to hide" has meant that all that lives tends to die; that Nature wraps herself in myths; and (for Heidegger) that Being unveils as it veils itself. Meanwhile the pronouncement has been used to explain everything from the opacity of the natural world to our modern angst. From these kaleidoscopic exegeses and usages emerge two contradictory approaches to nature: the Promethean, or experimental-questing, approach, which embraces technology as a means of tearing the veil from Nature and revealing her secrets; and the Orphic, or contemplative-poetic, approach, according to which such a denuding of Nature is a grave trespass. In place of these two attitudes Hadot proposes one suggested by the Romantic vision of Rousseau, Goethe, and Schelling, who saw in the veiled Isis an allegorical expression of the sublime. "Nature is art and art is nature," Hadot writes, inviting us to embrace Isis and all she represents: art makes us intensely aware of how completely we ourselves are not merely surrounded by nature but also part of nature.




Handbook of Research on Contemporary Approaches to Orientalism in Media and Beyond


Book Description

Orientalism is about much more than just information gathered about the East within its general postcolonial period. In this period, orientalism is a Western discourse that dominated and shaped the view of the East. There is “otherization” in the way the West has historically looked at the East and within the information presented about it. These original stories of travelers in the past and previous telling about the East are facing a reconstruction through modern types of media. Cinema, television, news, newspaper, magazine, internet, social media, photography, literature, and more are transforming the way the East is presented and viewed. Under the headings of post-orientalism, neo-orientalism, or self-orientalism, these new orientalist forms of work in combination with both new and traditional media are redefining orientalism in the media and beyond. The Handbook of Research on Contemporary Approaches to Orientalism in Media and Beyond shows how both new media and traditional media deal with orientalism today through the presentation of gender, race, religion, and culture that make up orientalist theory. The chapters focus on how orientalism is presented in the media, cinema, TV, photography, and more. This book is ideal for communications theorists, media analysts, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students working in fields that include mass media, communications, film studies, ethnic studies, history, sociology, and cultural studies.




Behind the Veil


Book Description

In 1920s Los Angeles, Letitia Hawking inhabits the veil between life and death. Using her scrying bowl to experience the final moments of the deceased, Letitia brings what little closure she can to her clients, allowing them to move on with their lives. Grief-stricken war widows and mourning families find peace when they visit Letitia. She knows no such peace. For Letitia, it's penance.For Alasdair Driscoll, Letitia's abilities offer the chance to save his beloved niece, Finola, from her nightmares and-as he fears-her growing insanity. But when Letitia sees a shadowy figure attached to the Driscoll family, old fears of her unspeakable past in England surface. She refuses to help him, despite his money and insistence. Instead, Letitia finds herself facing a father whose young daughter has been kidnapped-the third girl to have gone missing in as many months. Evading a determined Mr. Driscoll, a man used to getting his way, proves difficult. And as the darkness creeps in, Letitia makes the connection between the missing girls and Finola: the shadows haunting her visions. Letitia thought she could find refuge in a new, burgeoning city, far from her past. But she'll discover that unless she helps Mr. Driscoll rid his niece of her nightmares, the shadows will haunt Letitia-risking not only her newfound sanctuary but also her very sanity.




Haunting Stories From Unseen World


Book Description

This anthology is a collection of spine-chilling narratives drawn from the darkest corners of the cosmos, where the laws of reality bend and twist, and the veil between the mundane and the macabre is perilously thin. Each tale serves as a portal to an otherworldly realm, where the inexplicable and the terrifying converge to weave a tapestry of cosmic horror. These stories are not bound by the limitations of our known universe; instead, they propel readers into the cosmic unknown, where the echoes of dread and the whispers of the eldritch dance in the shadows. As the curator of this ethereal compendium, I invite you, dear reader, to embark on a journey into the realms beyond the stars. Prepare to encounter malevolent entities, ancient forces, and unspeakable horrors that defy earthly comprehension. These stories are not for the faint of heart; they are tales that grip the soul and elicit a primal fear—a fear that resonates not only with the unknown lurking in the cosmos but also with the depths of the human psyche. In the following pages, you will traverse desolate planets shrouded in perpetual darkness, confront entities that defy the laws of nature, and witness the awakening of malevolent forces that have slumbered for eons. Each story is a portal to a different dimension, a glimpse into the cosmic nightmares that await those who dare to peer beyond the veil.




Behind the Veil


Book Description

Just because the marriage is fake doesn't mean the attraction is¿Delilah Barrett is a head-turning beauty on a quest for justice. The former cop with a checkered past has made a career of recovering stolen rare books with her private detective firm. She's level-headed, smart, cool under pressure¿ and entirely unprepared for her new assignment.When a centuries-old book worth an astronomical fortune disappears from Philadelphia's Franklin Museum, Delilah is paired up with Henry Finch, a brilliant rare book librarian and celebrated academic. Their orders: Go undercover as a married couple and recover the book by whatever means necessary.Henry can speak four languages and wear a suit like he was born in Armani. But he's never squared off against criminals. Never operated in this underground society of glamour and greed. And he's certainly never pretended to be married to a woman who both dazzles and distrusts him.Delilah's keen instincts are her greatest gift, but her growing attraction to the sexy librarian is messing with her head. Every feigned caress, every for-the-audience kiss only heightens the seduction, building a fire that refuses to extinguish. As the danger intensifies, so does the temptation to let their fake desire become real. With a priceless artifact at stake, can this undercover couple learn to trust each other¿before it's too late?Author's Note: If fake marriage, closet sex, secret passages, guns and garter belts, high-society galas, mysterious code words, and danger pushes your pleasure buttons Behind the Veil is for you!




Beyond the Ruby Veil


Book Description

A dark, queer YA fantasy that's perfect for fans of the Three Dark Crowns series. After Emanuela Ragno kills the one person in Occhia who can create water, she must find a way to save her city from dying of thirst. Emanuela Ragno always gets what she wants. With her daring mind and socialite schemes, she refuses to be the demure young lady everyone wants her to be. In her most ambitious move yet, she's about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn't care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn't want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she'll have it all. But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In the city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has given themselves up for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She's kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years. When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back ... and kills her. Now Occhia has no one to make their water and no idea how to get more. In a race against time, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the secrets of the watercrea's magic and find a way to save their people -- no matter what it takes.




Wisdom's Journey


Book Description

John Herlihy takes readers on a journey of understanding to the heart of Islam, the world's fastest growing religion. Weaving details of Islam's central beliefs and practices--its Five Pillars--with intimate autobiographical details of his more than thirty years in the religion, Herlihy provides readers with an insightful glimpse into a religion that currently claims more than one billion adherents and yet remains so often misunderstood in the West. In Wisdom's Journey Herlihy speaks openly about his conversion to Islam and intimately retells his moving experiences while performing the pilgrimag.




Behind the Kingdom's Veil


Book Description

“A fascinating account of the significant changes underway in Saudi Arabia based on years of excellent reporting on the ground.” —Bruce Riedel, director of the Brookings Institution Intelligence Project, author of Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States Since FDR Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most secretive countries. Now, Susanne Koelbl, award-winning journalist for the German news magazine Der Spiegel, unveils many secrets of this mysterious kingdom. For years she traveled the Middle East, and recently lived in Riyadh during the most dramatic changes since the country’s founding. She has cultivated relationships on every level of Saudi society and is equally at ease with ultra-conservative Wahhabi preachers, oppositionists, and women from all walks of life. In this “piercingly powerful book” (Ahmed Rahid, New York Times-bestselling author of Taliban), you can have breakfast with Royal Highnesses; meet Osama bin Laden’s bomb-making trainer; enter palaces of secret service chiefs; listen to intimate conversations with women about their newly offered freedoms; learn about journalist Jamal Khashoggi; and view an in-depth portrait of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), as you learn about the not-so-obvious facts of the kingdom’s history, politics, customs, and hidden power relations.