Showing results by author "Jerry Bader" in All Categories

A new entry in the Deception series, Defection, details the kidnapping of Rita Daveed, a.k.a. Harriet. The MSS needs to retrieve an audio SD card that will reveal the identity of Dragonfly, a Chinese sleeper agent embedded high up in Vauxhall Cross. Before Rita is taken on orders from Yang Bo, the director of the UFWD, she manages to leave behind a clue, a postcard from the Bowley Gallery in London, with a cryptic message scrawled on the back, “Find Harry!"

Noir Confidential draws upon the era of filmmaking known as Film Noir. Today, the genre is called Neo-Noir, but the same concepts, tropes, and techniques are used to reflect today's feelings of inevitability, cynicism and defeat. The pessimism, distrust, and greed displayed in classic Film Noir movies like "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Third Man" speak to a society racked by geopolitical conflict and economic disparity. All the elements that sparked the Film Noir heyday have returned to haunt society, and a new class of cynical anti-heroes and manipulative Femme Fatales have arrived to ...

Harry is drawn back into the Quandary orbit when his restaurant partner goes missing, and a dead North Korean RGB agent is found murdered on Benten Island under the torii gate of the Itsukushima Shrine, near Matsumae Castle in Hokkaido, Japan. A Japanese Naicho CIRO agent, a Mossad Kidon agent, and twin brother casino operators join Harry and his Quandary colleagues to unravel the latest attempt by the Chinese and North Koreans to disrupt the financial institutions in the West.

The business of intelligence is often referred to as information gathering. A simple proposition: gather enough data so the politicians can make informed, rational decisions on things like national security, or on whether or not one of the several competing forces in the world is about to go all ballistic on your ass. But the problem is not too little information, but too much.

On a chilly November New York City morning in 1953, a scientist working for the CIA on psychotropic mind-control experiments walked off the 10th-floor balcony of the Statler Hotel. He had become increasingly disenchanted with the bizarre and incredibly dangerous work he had been doing in service to national security.

Horse trainers Davey and Pauly Cisco are looking for a fresh start in Southern California after wearing out their welcome in their native Australia. The Cisco twins are identical in looks but not personality. Pauly, like most horse trainers, pushes the envelope of acceptable practice, while his look-alike brother rips through regulations with regularity and abandon.

Internet gambling and expansion of casinos beyond the Nevada State Line have put a financial strain on racetracks. Johnny Luck, Hong Mian triad big shot, and Jesse James, his beautiful blonde ex-jockey protege, are always on the lookout for ways to expand the triad's gambling operation. Back in the '50s and '60s, Jai Alai was a big deal in Florida. Gamblers would fill the frontons and drop thousands of dollars betting on Basque athletics competing in a sport that was so dangerous it was referred to as the "Ballet of Bullets", and the game is dodging death.

It’s not what you know that counts; it’s what you need to know. Today analytics rule, and that approach may be just fine for some businesses; but as seemingly rational as number crunching may appear, it only tells you part of the story, and that can be misleading. Statistical analysis can tell you what people did, but it can’t tell you why; and it doesn’t tell you what they would have done if presented with an alternative. Even A-B testing won’t provide the answer to why people did what they did.

Noir I is four stories: "The Gold Cricket", "The Bastard", "Cine City", and "Killer Jazz".

It all started five years earlier with the murder of Peter "Pretty Boy" Chen, a low-level soldier for Benson Yeung's Hong Mian triad. Rumor had it that the statue that sat on the old man's desk, the symbol of his Dragon Head status as leader of the Hong Mian, was filled with priceless Pigeon Blood rubies, or at least that's what Peter thought. Whether he was right or wrong is a tale for another time and another place. What's significant is, his desire to get his hands on those rubies led to his brains being splattered all over the wall of the Green Dragon Restaurant.

What's the Big Idea? lays out 28 optional approaches for creating the high concept that can be the center point of all marketing decisions a business needs to make. By using one of these concepts, entrepreneurs can make the appropriate decisions to invest and use the numerous tactical marketing and advertising options available and, more importantly, avoid wasting money on fad, over-hyped tactics that may be suitable for some, but may not be suitable for everyone.

14 Ridiculous Tales of Sage Silliness is a compendium of 14 rhyming stories of cyborgs, vikings, pirates, puppeteers, dragons, politicians, a wueen, an umbrella salesman, a baseball player, and a toothless has-been super hero. Each short lyrical tale has a moral for children to learn, from staying in school, to listening to parents, to avoiding excess, and much more.

We are all familiar with the classic tale of Casey at the Bat but that story was written a long time ago. I felt it was time for a new story about about the best sport there is, baseball. Baseball is unlike any other game, it requires great individual skill, as well as practiced team co-ordination. In terms of life lessons, baseball has a lot to offer children. The Ninth Inning is a humorous take on the game with a nifty rhyme. I hope you like it.

Crime...it's a dirty business, and eventually someone always dies. The thing is...you got to make sure it isn't you, or someone you love. That's the problem: the someone you love may just be the reason you end up on an aluminum table with some white-coated ghoul slicing you open like a prized Thanksgiving turkey. There comes a time when everybody has to make a decision...you're either all-in, or you cash out, if they let you. But you know in the end that's not going to happen. It always gets messy.

In my business, you meet all kinds of people; some, let’s call them civilians, are ordinary, what the politicians call “folks;” then there are the characters, the peculiar sorts, people with strange peccadilloes: what an old friend of mine might call, “people who scare the horses.” Some, let's call them “the desperate:” come to me because they find themselves in a situation, sometimes of their own making and other times… well… let’s just say, imposed upon them. In each case, they have secrets.

AudioZoo Podcast Drama Network Back in the day, radio dramas were called Theatre of the Mind; listening audiences could close their eyes and visualize the stories unfold in their heads as the audio played. Today, we have smartphones, the new entertainment platform of choice, a platform designed to deliver the rebirth of this immersive experience. The AudioZoo Podcast Drama Network is powered by a small, creative, and talented team of writers, sound designers, musicians, and voice actors who are passionate about delivering immersive and powerful entertainment experiences. You, the listener, ...

Art and artifact investigator Axel Webb is asked to investigate a lawyer, A. Barton Bailey. The lawyer claims he represents a client willing to sell a portfolio of paintings by 20th-century bad-boy, Welsh portrait painter, Augustus John. Bailey approaches the Art Gallery of Ontario, owner of what is arguably John’s best work, a portrait of the flamboyant Marchesa Luisa Casati. The bohemian excesses of Augustus John and Luisa Casati, his occasional sexual partner, friend, and muse for over forty years, are legendary.

Antonius Stradivari was the premiere maker of string instruments during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Only six hundred and fifty Stradivarius instruments still exist; each is worth millions of dollars. Like many historic masterpieces, these instruments, particularly the violins, have become the targets of thieves. Unfortunately for the thieves, Stradivarius violins are nearly impossible to fence. As such, only a handful have been stolen, usually by amateurs.

The Man With 21 Faces is back. Private Detective Axel Webb is called to Japan by his Yakuza partner and friend, Hibiki Sato, to help the authorities find who’s behind the new threats. Axel’s expertise is finding lost, stolen, or misappropriated relics of great value, not people. However, the Japanese Naichō and PSIA requested his unofficial help in solving the problem. Axel has no choice but to help.

The Sūn Collection auction of Qing Dynasty snuff bottles at the Shangri-la Hong Kong Hotel was highly anticipated. Three super-wealthy international financial magnates wanted the collection, but only one could get it. The winner, Canadian Kyan K. Tomkins, represented by Alastair Hughes, snagged the prize. Tomkins’ British competitor, Sir Benedict Foxcroft, had to settle for two miniature jade Fu Dogs. American Michael C. Bullock was represented by his daughter-in-law, Wu Jing.