California is at a tipping point. Severe budget deficits, unsustainable pension costs, heavy taxes, cumbersome regulation, struggling cities, and distressed public schools are but a few of the challenges that policymakers must address for the state to remain a beacon of business innovation and economic opportunity. City Journal has for years been cataloging the political and economic issues of our nation's largest metropolitan areas, and in this collection compiled and introduced by City J...

A prosecutor torn between justice and loyalty. A cage fighter with a score to settle. And an innocent man desperate to clear his name.When interim District Attorney Jessie Black's friend and mentor is accused of a nightmarish crime, she knows he's innocent. Jesus Rivera is a good man, a lawyer who's guided her throughout her career. But without proof, her hands are tied. She can't intervene without breaking the trust of the city that appointed her.But Jessi...

Two shots. Broad daylight.When a billionaire real estate developer is gunned down on a city street, the evidence against the shooter is overwhelming. The case should be simple.But for newly elected Philadelphia District Attorney Jessie Black, it isn't.The victim becomes a symbol—of greed, evictions, and a company accused of wrecking lives. Overnight, the murder trial turns into a movement, and Jessie finds herself caught in the middle.Protes...

A fourteen-year-old girl accused of murder. A former prosecutor who might be able to save her. And a District Attorney out for blood . . .Jessie Black is on the outside looking in. No longer an assistant DA, she now struggles to find meaning in a new career defending wealthy tax cheats. But when the teenage granddaughter of a colleague is arrested for murder, Jessie suddenly finds herself back where she belongs—fighting for justice in Philadelphia criminal court.

Murder. Corruption. A race for power.Exiled from the career she loved, former prosecutor Jessie Black feels lost. Fighting for victims and their families gave her purpose and fulfillment as a homicide prosecutor. Her new role as a criminal defense attorney only brings anxiety and doubt.Then the District Attorney, Damon Faber, is arrested on corruption charges. The city needs a new DA, and Jessie sees an opportunity—not just to return to the DA's Office, but...

MONSTERS—AND THE CHAMPIONS WHO SLAY THEM!This is the second volume collecting all of bestselling author Larry Correia's short stories, novelettes, and novellas. Correia's novels are known for their hard-hitting, no-holds-barred action sequences, in-depth worldbuilding, and vivid characterization. Now, Correia turns to the short form to deliver stories that take no prisoner."Tokyo Raider" pits giant robots against very big monsters in the Grimnoir Universe. ...

After years prosecuting murderers, Assistant District Attorney Jessie Black doesn't think there's anything that can truly disturb her. She's wrong.When a distraught teenage girl shows up out of nowhere, demanding to talk, Jessie thinks the girl looks familiar but can't quite place her. The girl claims her father was murdered and the police are letting the killer get away with it. Jessie feels for the girl, but investigating murders is the role of the police departm...

Celebrities get away with murder.Assistant District Attorney Jessie Black doesn't believe that. She believes the law applies to everyone, and that justice and truth prevail.But according to veteran prosecutor Ned Ransom, it's exactly what happened six years ago, when hip-hop superstar Jurdel Frazier threw his wife off a fifteenth floor hotel balcony and was found not guilty by a starstruck jury.Now history repeats itself. Police find the cold, dead ...

Prosecutor Jessie Black has an airtight case against Tyrone Nash, a gang thug who shot a man behind a bar in West Philly. But what should be an easy trial turns complicated when Nash somehow intimidates her eyewitness, and he recants his testimony on the eve of the trial. Now Jessie's only move to stop the killer from walking is to call a witness she had hoped to avoid—Reggie Tuck, a smooth-talking jailhouse snitch who claims Nash confessed to him during a short time they shared a cell. Wo...

A powerful corporation. A legal system bought and paid for. A prosecutor willing to risk everything for justice.In a courthouse hallway, Assistant District Attorney Jessie Black runs into an old law school friend. Jessie is excited to catch up with Kelly . . . until she realizes the lawyer is terrified.Kelly is representing grieving parents against a large corporation whose failure to meet safety standards caused a child's death. The company stands to lose ...

A Dark Past. A Deadly Cult. A Prosecutor's Pursuit of Justice.Years ago, a manipulative cult leader slipped through the cracks of prosecutor Jessie Black's murder case, leaving her shaken by the failure. Those demons still haunt her. Now, the ritualistic scene of a new murder points to the same man, offering Jessie a second chance to bring him down.The twisted investigation pulls Jessie into a vortex of deceit and double lives. Shocking revelations and deva...

Larry Correia, the New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Monster Hunter International and Grimnoir Chronicles series of no-holds-barred urban fantasy and the Dead Six trilogy of military adventure novels, now sets his sights on the short story form.Together for the first time, fourteen action-packed tales of demons, monster, vampires, and cosmic horrors too terrible to name—and the men and women who take them all down. Oh, and toss in an ...