On a muggy night in the summer of 1930, Deputy Sam Garrett reports for duty to find his mentor and boss, Sheriff I.D. Atkins, shot and left for dead behind the Bell County, Kentucky, courthouse. Unnerved and out of his depth as a greenhorn lawman, Sam is determined to step into the sheriff's shoes but soon finds himself mired in a swamp of deceit.FIREDAMP (200 pp) is a fast-moving, first-person tale of a young deputy's struggle with ruthless bootleggers and crime bosses. Adding to ...

Can Wonder Woman help us understand feminist philosophy? How Does Wakandan technology transcend anti-Blackness? What can Star Trek teach us about the true nature of reality?Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture makes important philosophical concepts and the work of major philosophers relevant, fun, and exciting. Using engaging examples from film and television, this easy-to-read book covers everything from basic metaphysics and epistemology to abstrac...

Much philosophical work on pop culture apologises for its use; using popular culture is a necessary evil, something merely useful for reaching the masses with important philosophical arguments. But works of pop culture are important in their own right--they shape worldviews, inspire ideas, change minds. We wouldn't baulk at a book dedicated to examining the philosophy of The Great Gatsby or 1984--why aren't Star Trek and Superman fair game as well? After...

A philosophical look at the twisted, high-tech near-future of the sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror, offering a glimpse of the darkest reflections of the human condition in digital technologyBlack Mirror―the Emmy-winning Netflix series that holds up a dark, digital mirror of speculative technologies to modern society—shows us a high-tech world where it is all too easy to fall victim to ever-evolving forms of social control.In Black Mirror a...

This is the first book to take a deep dive into the philosophical, social, moral, political, and religious issues tackled by Seth MacFarlane's marvelous space adventure, The Orville.These new essays explore what The Orville has to say on everything from climate change, artificial intelligence, and sexual assault, to gender, feminism, love, and care. Divided into six "acts" (just like every episode ofThe Orville), with the show as its backdrop, the book as...

Quaint, humorous tales meant for grandparents and grandchildren alike . . .The "Little Suzi" stories are recollections of actual events in the life of a young, inquisitive girl growing up "long, long ago" (in the 1960's) in Knoxville, Tennessee. They share one child's experiences in a small world that includes a mischievous imaginary friend Albert, a favorite playmate Denny, and the caring and kind-hearted grownups who influence her life and learning.

Hunter's Moon follows Sam Garrett's debut in Firedamp as a young deputy sheriff taking over for his mentor and boss, Sheriff I.D. Atkins, who has been sidelined by a bootlegger's bullet in Bell County, Kentucky. In this sequel, Sam returns to Pineville after doing battle with gangsters in Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky—the original "Sin City" of its time—only to become entangled with a local moonshiner out for revenge after the deputy removes the man's abused children f...

Murder Creek, the third and final book of the Firedamp series finds Deputy Sheriff Sam Garrett once again in search of his prodigal brother "Tick" (Billy Wade) while at the same time wrestling with his conscience over allowing Jack Grimes (Hunter's Moon) to escape responsibility for the shooting death of his own father, the outlaw moonshiner Dewey Grimes. Sam revisits his cousin me-Curt, who advises him to drop the case against Jack, and re-crosses the swinging bridge to S...

What can South Park tell us about Socrates and the nature of evil? How does The Office help us to understand Sartre and existentialist ethics? Can Battlestar Galactica shed light on the existence of God?Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture uses popular culture to illustrate important philosophical concepts and the work of the major philosophersWith examples from film, television, and music including Sout...

A philosophical look at the movie Inception and its brilliant metaphysical puzzlesIs the top still spinning? Was it all a dream? In the world of Christopher Nolan's four-time Academy Award-winning movie, people can share one another's dreams and alter their beliefs and thoughts. Inception is a metaphysical heist film that raises more questions than it answers: Can we know what is real? Can you be held morally responsible for what you do in dreams?...

The Singularity—the merger of man and machine into a greater whole—is finally within humanity's grasp. When programmer Jeff Lawing gets the opportunity to join Singularity Online, the world's first realistic VRMMO and the testing ground that will lead to the Singularity, he leaps to accept.Singularity is much more realistic and darker than Jeff had imagined, though. As a Sorcerer, his arcane magic is limited only by his imagination, allowing him to craft powerful spells forged from...

PHASE SHIFT INCOMING!Your local sector has been selected to undergo a Quantum Phase Shift in order to increase its habitability. Any humans who survive this process will receive more information on these changes.Expected Survival Rate: 1–5%Phase Shift begins in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . Commence Phase Shift.Troias Drakos awakens to find that the world he knew is gone, and a new reality has risen to take its place. Most of Earth's life was kill...