Portrait of the Assassin


Book Description

Highlights from the Warren Commission Report that describes the motives, emotions, human problems, and failures of Lee Harvey Oswald, and his family, by a member of the Commission.




Portrait of an Assassin


Book Description

Russia has never been so unstable as when an assassin begins eliminating key political figures in the midst of the presidential election campaign. The only one who knows who is behind the assassinations is Anthony Bitters, a retired Scotland Yard detective. Even he, however, doesn’t know the killer’s true identity or what he looks like and can only refer to him by his nom de guerre “Matisse.” The only hints are left by Matisse himself in the form of his assassination paintings, each of which reveals a tantalizingly enigmatic facet of his personality and past. Eventually a sort of self-portrait emerges, but only for those with the skill to see. Now, after nearly thirty years of trying, Bitters has one last chance to run down a personal demon, a phantom who has eluded not just him and Scotland Yard, but western security agencies around the world. Will Bitters succeed and at what cost? Russia is in the throes of a collective insanity where intermittent sightings of one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse vie with the sensational political murders for the public's attention. The nation could implode at any moment. Nothing, however, is of any consequence to Bitters other than to bring the hunt that began so long ago to a crashing halt. www.portraitofanassassin.com




Zen Terror in Prewar Japan


Book Description

Written by a Zen priest, this book explodes the myth of Zen Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Can Buddhism, widely regarded as a religion of peace, also contribute to acts of terrorism? Through an insider’s view of right-wing ultranationalism in prewar Japan, this powerful book follows a band of Zen Buddhist–trained adherents who ardently believed so. Brian Victoria, himself a Zen priest, tells the story of a group of terrorists who were responsible for the assassination of three leading political and economic figures in 1932. Victoria provides a detailed introduction to the religious as well as political significance of the group’s terrorist beliefs and acts, focusing especially on the life and times of the band’s leader, Inoue Nisshō. A deeply troubled youth, Inoue became a spy in Manchuria for the Japanese Army in 1909, where he encountered Zen for the first time. When he returned to Japan in 1921, he determined to resolve his deep spiritual discontent through meditation practice, which culminated in an enlightenment experience that resolved his long-term doubts.After engaging in “post-enlightenment training” under the guidance of Rinzai Zen master Yamamoto Gempō, Inoue began a program of training the “patriotic youth” who formed the nucleus of his terrorist band. After the assassinations, Inoue and his band were sentenced to life imprisonment, only to be released just a few years later in 1940. Almost unbelievably, Inoue then became the live-in confidant of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro, a position he held through the end of WWII. In the postwar era, Inoue reinvented himself again as the founder and head of yet another band of ultranationalists known as the “National Protection Corps.” His eventful life came to an end in 1967. Victoria concludes with an assessment of the profound impact of the assassinations, which culminated in Japan’s transformation into a totalitarian state and set the stage for Pearl Harbor. The author also examines the connection of Buddhism to terrorism more broadly, considering the implications for today’s Islamic-related terrorism.




The Murder of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval


Book Description

England entered the nineteenth century having lost the American states and was at war with France. The slave trade had been halted and the country was in torment, with industrialisation throwing men and women out of work as poverty haunted their lives. As the merchants of England and America saw their businesses stagnate and profits plummet, everyone blamed the government and its policies. Those in charge were alarmed and businessmen, who were believed to be exploiting the poor, were murdered. Assassination indeed stalked the streets. The man at the centre of the storm was Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. From the higher reaches of society to the beggar looking for bread, many wanted him dead, due to policies brought about by his inflexible religious convictions and his belief that he was appointed by God. In May 1812 he entered the Lobby of the Houses of Parliament when a man stepped forward and fired a pistol at him. The lead ball entered into his heart. Within minutes he was dead. Using freshly-discovered archive material, this book explores the assassin's thoughts and actions through his own writings. Using his background in psychology, the author explores the question of the killer's sanity and the fairness of his subsequent trial. Within its pages the reader will find an account of the murder of Spencer Perceval and a well-developed portrait of his assassin.




The Mark of the Assassin


Book Description

CIA Agent Michael Osbourne stars in this suspenseful series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Allon novels. When a commercial airliner is blown out of the sky off the east coast, the CIA scrambles to find the perpetrators. A body is discovered near the crash site with three bullets to the face: the calling card of a shadowy international assassin. Only agent Michael Osbourne has seen the markings before—on a woman he once loved. Now, it’s personal for Osbourne. Consumed by his dark obsession with the assassin, he’s willing to risk his family, his career, and his life—to settle a score… A PEOPLE PAGE-TURNER OF THE WEEK




Portrait of a Spy


Book Description

“A bona fide thrill ride.” —Miami Herald “Silva builds tension with breathtaking double and triple turns of plot.” —People Portrait of a Spy is Silva’s eleventh thriller to feature art restorer and master spy Gabriel Allon as he races from Great Britain to Washington to New York to the Middle East on the trail of a deadly and elusive terrorist network responsible for massacres in Paris, Copenhagen, and at London’s Covent Garden.




The Art of Assassin's Creed Origins


Book Description




American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin


Book Description

Finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry One of the New York Times Critics' Top Books of 2018 A powerful, timely, dazzling collection of sonnets from one of America's most acclaimed poets, Terrance Hayes, the National Book Award-winning author of Lighthead "Sonnets that reckon with Donald Trump's America." -The New York Times In seventy poems bearing the same title, Terrance Hayes explores the meanings of American, of assassin, and of love in the sonnet form. Written during the first two hundred days of the Trump presidency, these poems are haunted by the country's past and future eras and errors, its dreams and nightmares. Inventive, compassionate, hilarious, melancholy, and bewildered--the wonders of this new collection are irreducible and stunning.




The Angel and the Assassin


Book Description

A thrilling story of scientific detective work and medical potential that illuminates the newly understood role of microglia—an elusive type of brain cell that is vitally relevant to our everyday lives. “The rarest of books: a combination of page-turning discovery and remarkably readable science journalism.”—Mark Hyman, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY WIRED Until recently, microglia were thought to be helpful but rather boring: housekeeper cells in the brain. But a recent groundbreaking discovery has revealed that they connect our physical and mental health in surprising ways. When triggered—and anything that stirs up the immune system in the body can activate microglia, including chronic stressors, trauma, and viral infections—they can contribute to memory problems, anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer’s. Under the right circumstances, however, microglia can be coaxed back into being angelic healers, able to make brain repairs in ways that help alleviate symptoms and hold the promise to one day prevent disease. With the compassion born of her own experience, award-winning journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa illuminates this newly understood science, following practitioners and patients on the front lines of treatments that help to “reboot” microglia. In at least one case, she witnesses a stunning recovery—and in others, significant relief from pressing symptoms, offering new hope to the tens of millions who suffer from mental, cognitive, and physical health issues. Hailed as a “riveting,” “stunning,” and “visionary,” The Angel and the Assassin offers us a radically reconceived picture of human health and promises to change everything we thought we knew about how to heal ourselves.




Age of Assassins


Book Description

A young apprentice to an assassin becomes embroiled in a conspiracy that could destroy a kingdom in a brilliant epic fantasy debut by David Gemmell Award-nominated author RJ Barker To catch an assassin, use an assassin... Girton Club-foot has no family, a crippled leg, and is apprenticed to the best assassin in the land. He's learning the art of taking lives, but his latest mission tasks him with a far more difficult challenge: to save a life. Someone is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince's murder. In a kingdom on the brink of civil war and a castle thick with lies, Girton finds friends he never expected, responsibilities he never wanted, and a conspiracy that could destroy an entire kingdom. Praise for The Wounded Kingdom: "Dead gods, dread magic, and a lead that feels like a breath of fresh air. Great fun."―Peter Newman, author of The Vagrant "Often poignant and always intriguing, Age of Assassins reveals its mysteries with the style of a magic show and the artful grace of a gifted storyteller."―Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wild "The most interesting treatment of the fantasy assassin trope in a while, and an involving narrative in its own right."―RT Book Reviews The Wounded Kingdom Age of Assassins Blood of Assassins King of Assassins For more from RJ Barker, check out: The Tide Child Trilogy The Bone Ships Call of the Bone Ships