No one likes hearing the phone ring in the middle of the night; it even seems to have a more ominous tone – or maybe it’s just the jingling of our nerves as we pick it up. When Jackie Carpenter uneasily answered a call at 2:00 a.m. – she could never have imagined what she was about to hear. This ordinary Atlanta housewife’s heart pounded in her chest as she listened to her daughter-in-law hysterically telling her that her son had been arrested and charged with felony murder.

Jackie’s worst nightmare had just become a reality. She knew her son had been plagued by copper thefts at his work site and, on the advice of a policeman, had armed himself and hid on the property to try to catch the thieves. They showed up that night.

Few of us will ever experience the devastating horror of living within a war zone. Yet all of us know what it means to form a life-long, sustaining connection with another human being. Together, they weave a spellbinding story ultimately affirming the possibility of peace and reconciliation. In Love and Terror in the Middle East, 3rd Edition (World Audience Publishers), readers walk the war-torn streets of Israel and the West Bank with peace activist Frank Romano, and struggle with the inevitable casualties within his personal life as it becomes caught up in his work.

Romano’s efforts to promote understanding, communication and cooperation in the region among Jews, Muslims, Christians and non-believers have spanned years of bitter conflict. Passing through a virtually endless maze of checkpoints and walls, he has faced hatred on every side.

“I’ve been harassed and arrested by the Palestinian police, harassed and arrested by Israeli police and Israeli soldiers and attacked by Israeli settlers,” he says. “A peace activist friend was recently murdered in the West Bank.”

Rick Robertson has a word for the wise: be careful how you use social media if legal struggles are looming. Why take his advice? Robertson was recently named as the lawyer other lawyers would hire for themselves if they needed a specialist in family law. The “Go-To Guide” was compiled by Texas Lawyer magazine and Robertson is the number one choice for his area of practice. Rating service Super Lawyers also highlighted Robertson’s skills in the courtroom and in the innovative use of technology and social media to win cases for his clients.

In one memorable case, Robertson was able to win visitation rights for his client when his client’s soon-to-be ex-wife splashed her private life all over her Facebook page. “Technology has changed family law and divorces,” Robertson says. He gives his clients a list of “do’s and don’ts,” warning people caught up in divorce, custody fights or other situations that they need to guard their privacy. “Without your knowledge, someone else may be able to monitor all your computer conduct,” he says. “You do not want to see your private life on an exhibit in the courtroom.”

Gangster Redemption (LL Research & Consulting) is the life story of Larry Lawton, one of America’s most notorious jewel robbers. Growing up in the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York, Larry was an altar boy until the day he was sexually molested by a priest. As a teen needing to prove his manhood, he began a criminal career that included ‘enforcer’ for the Gambino crime family and six years up and down the East Coast pulling off jewelry heists worth over 15 million dollars – to the frustration of both the police and the FBI!

Co-written by 8-time New York Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock, Gangster Redemption truly is the life story of a ‘Goodfella’ turned ‘good guy’ who gets his life back on track to help and inspire others. His riveting story has it all; the millions he made from robberies, prison torture, the New York mafia, and much more. A blockbuster movie waiting to happen, Gangster Redemption takes readers on a white-knuckle, roller-coaster ride to hell and back!

Lawton understands first-hand the fine line between making good and bad choices; he spent six years in the Coast Guard before making bad choices that led to associations with organized crime. In prison he saw inmates stabbed and friends die. He saw young men raped and pimped out as prostitutes for other inmates. He studied to become a paralegal while in prison and acted as a gang mediator. Larry fought prison abuses and for doing so, spent three years in the “hole” being tortured by guards – and somehow kept his sanity by helping other inmates.

Jeffrey Stephens’ deftly rendered new novel plunges the reader into a deadly maelstrom of secrets, lies and shadows. Targets of Revenge (Gallery Books) tells the story of top CIA agent Jordan Sandor, whose quick intelligence and lethal skills charged the pages of Stephens’ first two novels, Targets of Deception and Targets of Opportunity. Stephens paints this secretive and dangerous world in vivid and realistic language. A natural born, exceptional storyteller, he has been endorsed by the #1 New York Times best-seller, Vince Flynn.

All the bureaucratic scolding in Washington cannot stop resourceful CIA Agent Jordan Sandor when he’s hungry for revenge. This time he’s on the hunt for the cold-blooded sociopath known as Adina, whose indiscriminate slaughter of innocent people, including Sandor’s close friend, represents humankind at its worst.