Last Breath

Last Breath PDF Author: Peter Stark
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345449525
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Sudden, extreme deaths have always fascinated us-- and now more than ever as athletes and travelers rise to the challenges of high-risk sports and journeys on the edge. In this spellbinding book, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark reenacts the dramas of what happens inside our bodies, our minds, and our souls when we push ourselves to the absolute limits of human endurance. Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, Stark narrates a series of outdoor adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Stark describes in unforgettable detail exactly what goes through the mind of a cross-country skier as his body temperature plummets-- apathy at ninety-one degrees, stupor at ninety. He puts us inside the body of a doomed kayaker tumbling helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes. He conjures up the physiology of a snowboarder frantically trying not to panic as he consumes the tiny pocket of air trapped around his face under thousands of pounds of snow. These are among the dire situations that Stark transforms into harrowing accounts of how our bodies react to trauma, how reflexes and instinct compel us to fight back, and how, why, and when we let go of our will to live. In an increasingly tamed and homogenized world, risk is not only a means of escape but a path to spirituality. As Peter Stark writes, "You must try to understand death intimately and prepare yourself for death in order to live a full and satisfying life." In this fascinating, informative book, Stark reveals exactly what we’re getting ourselves into when we choose to live-- and die-- at the extremes of endurance.

Last Breath

Last Breath PDF Author: Peter Stark
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345449525
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 323

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sudden, extreme deaths have always fascinated us-- and now more than ever as athletes and travelers rise to the challenges of high-risk sports and journeys on the edge. In this spellbinding book, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark reenacts the dramas of what happens inside our bodies, our minds, and our souls when we push ourselves to the absolute limits of human endurance. Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, Stark narrates a series of outdoor adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Stark describes in unforgettable detail exactly what goes through the mind of a cross-country skier as his body temperature plummets-- apathy at ninety-one degrees, stupor at ninety. He puts us inside the body of a doomed kayaker tumbling helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes. He conjures up the physiology of a snowboarder frantically trying not to panic as he consumes the tiny pocket of air trapped around his face under thousands of pounds of snow. These are among the dire situations that Stark transforms into harrowing accounts of how our bodies react to trauma, how reflexes and instinct compel us to fight back, and how, why, and when we let go of our will to live. In an increasingly tamed and homogenized world, risk is not only a means of escape but a path to spirituality. As Peter Stark writes, "You must try to understand death intimately and prepare yourself for death in order to live a full and satisfying life." In this fascinating, informative book, Stark reveals exactly what we’re getting ourselves into when we choose to live-- and die-- at the extremes of endurance.

Stark Tales - An Anthology

Stark Tales - An Anthology PDF Author: Greater Canton Writers' Guild Inc
Publisher: Bookbaby
ISBN: 9781098325138
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
In 1961, Thomas Berg visits his family's ancestral home in Norway to finalize his late uncle's estate. Situated at the base of Norway's Northernmost mountain, Mt. Jeghorerdet, the centuries-old town of Gammel is where Thomas Discovers Freake and Monter's Emporium on a whim while looking for souvenirs. It is there he meets Jonas Freake and gets caught in a cat-and-mouse game between Jonas and his nemesis, Vincent Demonico. At this point, Thomas is sent back in time trapped in a magical clock shop with Jonas's prized possessions - the timeflies - in order to keep them from Demonico. While on a camping trip in 1921, four friends find Thomas in his clock shop and accidentally let the timeflies escape into the world causing havoc to all they encounter. This is an adventure spanning three centuries with the friends as they search for the timepiece that will send the timeflies back to Thomas and his shop and ultimately send the clock shop back to Norway and Jonas Freake.

Tainted Tales Anthology

Tainted Tales Anthology PDF Author: Abrianna Denae
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 718

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Book Description
Some stories paint us sweet, told to children as they fall asleep.Mother Earth she weaves the world with a whirl of her magic, and her kind embrace shapes us all. Father Time keeps us all, ever constant, ever moving onwards, for time never stands still.Icy hands and a frozen touch, Jack Frost ushers in the cold snap, coating the earth with sparkly delights. If Jack brings cold, May Queen brings warmth, her delicate touch bringing forth the spring.Follow the rainbow and maybe you'll find, a Leprechaun with his lucky pot of gold. The tooth fairy dances through the night, collecting teeth, and leaving shiny coins behind.The watchful eyes of Man in the Moon keeps all of the secrets of the night, shining down on us with his silvery light. The Sandman is here to soothe you to sleep, bringing all to slumber with a pinch of magic dust. Shhh, sleep now. Beware the Boogeyman lurking out of sight, waiting under your bed, to catch naughty children in the night. Be good little children, for Santa is watching, and he knows if you've been naughty or nice.Tales of lore, fair music to our ears. Can you hear it? Did you know? Not every tale is sweet. The truth is darker, our stories more twisted, unlike the rhymes that children hear.All proceeds will be donated to Save the ChildrenThis is a mixed M/F and M/M anthology that contains trigger warnings for its dark content. It is intended for a mature audience of 18+.

Nickels

Nickels PDF Author: Christine Stark
Publisher: Loving Healing Press
ISBN: 161599050X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Nickels follows a biracial girl named "Little Miss So and So," from age 4-1/2 into adulthood. Told in a series of prose poems, Nickels' lyrical and inventive language conveys the dissociative states born of a world formed by persistent and brutal incest and homophobia.The dissociative states enable the child's survival and, ultimately, the adult's healing. The story is both heartbreaking and triumphant.

The Last Empty Places

The Last Empty Places PDF Author: Peter Stark
Publisher: Mountaineers Books
ISBN: 1680516434
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
". . . intriguing, both a solid refresher on our savage colonial history and a smart rumination on what it means to get lost. ― Outside First time in paperback, ebook, and audio editions Part travel adventure, part history, part exploration Features four specific "blank spots" from across the country and delves into our human relationships with place In The Last Empty Places, bestselling author Peter Stark takes the reader to four of the most remote, wild, and unpopulated areas of the United States outside of Alaska and mainly not part of protected wilderness: the rivers and forests of Northern Maine; the rugged, unpopulated region of Western Pennsylvania that lies only a short distance from the East’s big cities; the haunting canyons of Central New Mexico; and the vast, arid basins of Southeast Oregon. Stark discovers that the places he visits are only "blank" in terms of a lack of recorded history. In fact, each place holds layers of history, meaning, and intrinsic value and is far from being blank. He also finds that each region has played an important role in shaping our American idea of wilderness through the influential "natural philosophers" who visited these places and wrote about their experiences--Henry David Thoreau, William Bartram, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold. It’s a fascinating look at the value of nature, the ways humans use and approach it, and what it means to seek out empty places in today’s world.

At the Mercy of the River

At the Mercy of the River PDF Author: Peter Stark
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Even in this age of extreme sports and made-for-TV survival games, there still exist places on earth where the most intrepid among us can plunge into truly unknown territory. The acclaimed adventure writer Peter Stark had waited all his life for just such an opportunity. But when he was invited to Africa to join a small expedition kayaking down Mozambique’s Lugenda River, he balked. The 750-kilometer rivercourse was largely uncharted–dotted with rapids, waterfalls, and home to deadly crocodiles and hippos; two of his four travel companions were not skilled kayakers; and he had a family to think of, (not to mention that at forty-eight, he himself was feeling a bit old for the life untamed). Suppressing inner doubts and driven by that most human of urges–to see what lies beyond the next bend–Stark signed on for the adventure of a lifetime. At the Mercy of the River is Stark’s harrowing, insightful account of this venture into the unknown. “Why,” he muses between capsizes in the Lugenda’s croc-infested waters, “are humans compelled to explore?” The expedition’s five distinct–and sometimes clashing–personalities provide individual answers to that question. Equipped with only the most rudimentary comforts and lacking the customary explorer’s gun, the party encounters breathtaking natural splendor, rich wildlife, and villages little affected by modern life. Ever aware that they are following in the metaphorical footsteps of great explorers of the past–Vasco da Gama, Mungo Park, Ibn Battuta, David Livingstone, and other men of adventure who bridged Africa and the West–Stark shares these explorers’ stories with us, finding a common thread linking his experience with theirs. Using their accounts, his travails on the Lugenda River, and the insights of wilderness philosophers such as Henry David Thoreau, Stark attempts to understand the very nature of “exploration” while pondering the question, Where will we go when our wilderness vanishes? At the Mercy of the River is at turns inspiring, heart-thumping, and even amusing. But most of all, it is a riveting adventure story for a time when adventure is in danger of losing its meaning.

Cleveland's Greatest Disasters!

Cleveland's Greatest Disasters! PDF Author: John Stark Bellamy
Publisher: Gray & Company
ISBN: 1598510584
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Recounts sixteen of the most tragic disasters in the history of Cleveland, Ohio, including the Ashtabula Bridge disaster, the Cleveland Clinic fire, and the Terminal Tower tragedy, among others.

Women Behaving Badly

Women Behaving Badly PDF Author: John Stark Bellamy, II
Publisher: Gray & Company, Publishers
ISBN: 1598510002
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Women who murder . . . why are they so much more fascinating than their male counterparts? For evidence, dip into any of the sixteen strange-but-true tales collected in this anthology by Cleveland’s leading historical crime writer. You’ll meet: • Ill-fated Catherine Manz, the “Bad Cinderella” who poisoned her step-sister in revenge for years of mistreatment, then made her getaway wearing her victim’s most fetching outfit, a red dress and an enormous feathered hat . . . • Velma West, the big-city girl who scandalized rural Lake County in the 1920s with her “unnatural passions”—and ended her marriage-made-in-hell with a swift hammer’s blow to the skull of her dull husband, Eddie . . . • Eva Kaber, “Lakewood’s Lady Borgia,” who, along with her mother and daughter, conspired to dispose of an inconvenient husband with arsenic and knife-wielding hired killers . . . • Martha Wise, Medina’s not-so-merry widow, who poisoned a dozen relatives—including her husband, mother, and brother—because she enjoyed going to funerals . . . And a cast of other, equally fascinating women who behaved very, very badly. This is wickedly entertaining reading!

The Immortal Throne

The Immortal Throne PDF Author: Stella Gemmell
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101606525
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 562

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Book Description
No one is safe, and no one is to be trusted as the bloody war that began in Stella Gemmell’s The City continues... The dreaded emperor is dead. The successor to the throne is his nemesis, Archange. Many hope her reign will usher in a new era of freedom and stability. Soon however, word arises of a massive army gathering in the shadows of the north. They are eager to lay waste to the City and annihilate anyone—man, woman, or child—within it. Yet just as the swords clang in fields wet with the blood of warriors, family feuds, ancient rivalries, and political battles rage on within the cold stone walls of the City. A hero must rise up and restore the peace before anything left to fight for is consumed by the madness.

Stark After Dark: A Stark Ever After Anthology (Take Me, Have Me, Play My Game, Seduce Me)

Stark After Dark: A Stark Ever After Anthology (Take Me, Have Me, Play My Game, Seduce Me) PDF Author: J. Kenner
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1472239539
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
What happens after she says 'yes'? Together for the first time in Stark After Dark, these four novellas - Take Me, Have Me, Play My Game, and Seduce Me - continue the story of billionaire Damien Stark and his fiancée, Nikki Fairchild, from J. Kenner's million-copy-selling Stark trilogy: Release Me, Claim Me, and Complete Me. Following the happy couple from their steamy engagement into wedded bliss, this addictive collection is perfect for fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and the Crossfire series. I've long dreamed of my fairy-tale wedding, but it wasn't until I met Damien Stark - who captured me with his kisses and undid me with his touch - that I began to believe it was my destiny. Though we both carry secrets and scars, our shared passion heals us, binding us together. We have surrendered to each other completely, and our mutual ecstasy is the brightest light in my life. But darkness still snakes through the cracks in our armour. Ghosts from our past have moved in, bringing fresh pain that cuts deep and threatens to destroy everything we hold dear. Damien is my anchor to this world, and I am his. But if we are going to keep each other, we have to fight the shadows of our pasts to move forward into our future. Return to the smoking hot Stark world with the Stark International trilogy: Say My Name, On My Knees and Under My Skin is the explosively emotional story of Jackson Steele and Sylvia Brooks. And don't miss the sexy Stark S.I.N. series featuring Dallas Sykes: Dirtiest Secret, Hottest Mess and Sweetest Taboo. Want more of J. Kenner's sizzling romance? Try the Most Wanted series of three enigmatic and powerful men, and the striking women who can bring them to their knees: Wanted, Heated and Ignited.