CHILDREN · FICTION
Robert Rigby
This was the first time.
— from Avenger
Most acclaimed
Avenger
For three full decades, on television and in film, actor William Shatner has portrayed one of the most dynamic heroes of science fiction: James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise. Although Kirk appeared to perish at the conclusion of Star Trek Generations, the big national bestseller, The Return, revealed the amazing story of Kirk's resurrection. Now William Shatner brings his distinctive blend of talents as actor, writer, director, and producer to continue the saga of Jim Kirk's second life -- and to reunite one of the greatest teams of any future century.... A lethal virus, inimical to all conventional forms of plant life, threatens the entire Federation with starvation and dissolution. With the Federation already on the brink of overpopulation, Starfleet's resources are stretched to their limit. Whole worlds and even complete star systems are placed under quarantine, causing interstellar food supplies to run dangerously low, and hostile alien empires to eye the weakened Federation with malevolence. But now, in this moment of Starfleet's greatest need, Captain James T. Kirk, long believed dead, embarks on a desperate quest to find the true source of the mysterious virus. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Ambassador Spock, his diplomatic efforts stalled by the spread of famine and chaos, returns to his native world of Vulcan to confront a mystery of a deeply personal nature. Did Sarek, his legendary father, really die of natural causes -- or was he murdered? Determined to learn the truth, Spock begins a highly logical investigation that soon leads him to a reunion with a long-lost friend he never expected to see again. Kirk and Spock, together again, must join forces to save a new generation from an awesome menace unleashed by a ruthless interplanetary conspiracy. Pursued by hidden assassins and aided by old lovers and unlikely new allies, the two heroes risk everything, only to find themselves confronted by the one man who might be able to stop them -- Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise NCC-1701-E. Full of high adventure and powerful drama, Star Trek: Avenger is an engrossing new Star Trek epic -- and a moving tale of past memories and new hope that only William Shatner could tell.
Boy Soldier
Gripping, action-packed thriller from the bestselling author of BRAVO TWO ZERO, Andy McNab, and Robert Rigby, veteran of many successful TV screenplays. Ideal for adventure-seeking readers.Danny Watts's grandfather, Fergus, was a traitor. One of the worst sort. An SAS explosives expert who betrayed his country and his Regiment for money. Drug money. He was arrested and left to rot and die in a Columbian jail.At least, that's what seventeen-year-old Danny is told when his hopes of becoming a soldier are destroyed for ever. But he knows something the army doesn't seem to know. Fergus Watts is alive and in the UK, living in secret under an assumed name - but where? Fergus is Danny's only living relative. Burning with fury and desire for revenge, Danny sets out to track down his grandfather and expose him. In doing so he sets in train an explosive sequence of events which throw Danny and Fergus together on the run from the people who want Fergus, and now Danny, dead.Packed with breathtaking action, SAS procedures and surveillance and survival techniques, this is a fast-moving, action-packed thriller for teenagers.
Payback
From the child taunted by her playmates to the office worker who feels stifled in his daily routine, people frequently take out their pain and anger on others, even those who had nothing to do with the original stress. The bullied child may kick her puppy, the stifled worker yells at his children: Payback can be directed anywhere, sometimes at inanimate things, animals, or other people. In this book, the authors, an evolutionary biologist and a psychiatrist, offer a look at this phenomenon, showing how it has evolved, why it occurs, and what we can do about it. Retaliation and revenge are well known to most people. We all know what it is like to want to get even, get justice, or take revenge. What is new in this book is an extended discussion of redirected aggression, which occurs not only in people but other species as well. The authors reveal that it's not just a matter of yelling at your spouse "because" your boss yells at you. Indeed, the phenomenon of redirected aggression, so called to differentiate it from retaliation and revenge, the other main forms of payback, haunts our criminal courts, our streets, our battlefields, our homes, and our hearts. It lurks behind some of the nastiest and seemingly inexplicable things that otherwise decent people do, from road rage to yelling at a crying baby. And it exists across boundaries of every kind, culture, time, geography, and even species. Indeed, it's not just a human phenomenon. Passing pain to others can be seen in birds and horses, fish and primates, in virtually all vertebrates. It turns out that there is robust neurobiological hardware and software promoting redirected aggression, as well as evolutionary underpinnings. Payback may be natural, the authors conclude, but we are capable of rising above it, without sacrificing self-esteem and social status. They show how the various human responses to pain and suffering can be managed mindfully, carefully, and humanely.