Brian Taylor

"This book provides a concise and accessible overview that places Russia in a global context while explaining its internal political development. Russian politics is powerfully shaped by large, impersonal forces such as geography and Russia's place in the international political and economic system. At the same time, its formal political institutions, such as the Constitution and electoral procedures, are relatively weak and manipulable compared to...

"We all have good luck and bad, courtesy of our very own lucky rabbits and black cats. Most people never even notice them. Cecil Bean had certainly never noticed his villainous cat, Millikin, or his devoted rabbit, Leek. At least not until Millikin hatched a deliciously evil plan to have Leek vanish within a magician's hat, leaving Cecil with no good luck at all. Thrown into a shadowy, perilous world, Leek will stop at nothing to return to his boy--even...

A hit man has been given a poison that will kill him in one hour. In order to stay alive, delay the poison, and take revenge, he keeps his adrenaline cranked up by any means possible.