These hard-hitting, deeply felt stories trace men-- straight arrows and outlaws, have-it-alls and outcasts-- as they take stock of their lives and missteps and struggle to rise above their troubled pasts. A salesman considers his tenuous relationship with his sister after she has been brutally attacked. A house painter looks forward to moving his family out of their seedy neighborhood as he plans his last bank robbery. A drifter finds a chance at love when he delivers news of a barfly's death to the man's estranged daughter.
These are hard-boiled tales of life on the edge in a city where...

This book guides new teachers through difficult situations towards viable solutions. Great care has been taken to relate real life stories from classroom and school situations. New teachers and mentors alike will have ample opportunity to read compelling stories and decide on the best ways to resolve these every day challenges of school life.

**Winner of the International Association of Crime Writers' Dashiell Hammett Award**
A woman goes on the run in this intense and cinematic thriller by an award-winning writer.
To escape the awful life she has descended into, Luz plans carefully. She takes only the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband's safe. The corpses in the hallway weren't part of her plan.
Luz needs to find the daughter she left behind years earlier, but she knows she may die trying. Her husband is El Principe, a key player in a high-powered drug cartel, a business he runs with...