Bøger af Phil Williams

"An impressive writer" - Mark Lawrence, Gemmell Award Winner and international bestselling author"I freaking bloody loved the Blood Scouts" - Julia Sarene, The Fantasy Hive"A unique, compelling story with plenty of action and vivid characters." - Patrick Samphire, author of Shadow of a Dead GodWild Wish was trained to do one thing: kill.Saved from a lonely backwater existence by a global war, Wish couldn't believe her luck when she got into the Blood Scouts. Now she gets to share tents with an all-female platoon of night-stalking, giant-slaying, boat-sinking, battle-swaying legends in the making. The problem is, they keep dying. And they've been given their worst assignment yet.The enemy Dread Corps are combining magics deep within the nightmare lands of Low Slane, to unleash a weapon that could sway the entire war. It's up to the Blood Scouts to stop them - with a journey that gets more dangerous with every step.Far behind enemy lines, death hangs in the air. Monsters lurk around every corner.Are Wish's skills - and positive attitude - enough to keep her Blood Scouts alive?Or will the cost of survival finally break her?

The problem with being a drifter is where it might take you...Clouds conceal the nation of Estalia, where a lone boatman makes his way across its freezing landscape. Marquos drifts through the dystopian empire without meaning, searching for hope of a better future as he scavenges to survive. In the Deadland of the North, they say the sky is clear, and the stars shine: Marquos dreams of seeing it, believing that there is something more to this world. With rebels plaguing the canals, hunted by the authoritarian Border Guard, and the guards of the Metropolis pursuing Marquos for his attempts to liberate a child, the route north is wrought with peril. As the militant rulers and the ragged bands of resistance fighters vie for the boatman's support, Marquos is drawn into a war many don't realise exists. His journey takes him beyond the inhospitable North, past the darkest truths of his people and their history - onward into an increasingly chaotic fight for survival.

Henry wants to retire as a gentleman farmer in his beloved, and snowy, upstate New York. Mildred, his wife of forty-four years, not only hates the snow, but wants a life filled with culture, social activities, and to retire from the drudgery of housework. The pair soon find themselves at a retirement living facility outside Atlanta. At Shady Manor Villas, the opportunities for Mildred to be involved are endless, while Henry can barely stay out of trouble. Henry finds unlimited opportunity to refine his sometimes outrageous sense of humor as he jokes about the institution, and the individuals who run it. Henry entertains himself by poking fun at management and the myriad presentations he attends. He enjoys learning about future technology, including a preview of Detroit's newest, The Elder Car. Best of all, he discovers an old-fashioned farm nearby, and forms a close friendship with a scientist and his intelligent robot.

Although challenges posed by various kinds of violent armed groups initially appear highly diverse and unrelated to one another, in fact they all reflect the increasing connections between security and governance and, in particular, the relationship between poor governance and violent armed groups. In many cases, these groups are overtly challenging the state; in others they are cooperating and colluding with state structures while subtly undermining them; in yet others, the state is a passive bystander while violent armed groups are fighting one another. The mix is different, the combinations vary, and the perpetrators of violence have different motives, methods, and targets. In spite of their divergent forms, violent nonstate actors (VNSAs) share certain qualities and characteristics. These violent armed groups represent a common challenge to national and international security, a challenge that is far greater than the sum of the individual groups, and that is likely to grow rather than diminish over the next several decades. This monograph focuses on the complex relationship between human security, crime, illicit economies, and law enforcement. It also seeks to disentangle the linkages between insurgency on the one hand and drug trafficking and organized crime on the other, suggesting that criminal activities help sustain an insurgency, but also carry certain risks for the insurgency.

Security and stability in the 21st century have little to do with traditional power politics, military conflict between states, and issues of grand strategy. Instead they revolve around the disruptive consequences of globalization, declining governance, inequality, urbanization, and nonstate violent actors. The author explores the implications of these issues for the United States. He proposes a rejection of "stateocentric" assumptions and an embrace of the notion of the New Middle Ages characterized, among other things, by competing structures, fragmented authority, and the rise of "no-go" zones. He also suggests that the world could tip into a New Dark Age. He identifies three major options for the United States in responding to such a development. The author argues that for interventions to have any chance of success the United States will have to move to a trans-agency approach. But even this might not be sufficient to stanch the chaos and prevent the continuing decline of the Westphalian state.

Dr. Williams looks in detail at major criminal activities, including the theft, diversion, and smuggling of oil, the kidnapping of both Iraqis and foreigners, extortion, car theft, and the theft and smuggling of antiquities. He also considers the critical role played by corruption in facilitating and strengthening organized crime and shows how al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jaish-al-Mahdi, and the Sunni tribes used criminal activities to fund their campaigns of political violence. Dr. Williams identifies the roots of organized crime in post-Ba'athist Iraq in an authoritarian and corrupt state dominated by Saddam Hussein and subject to international sanctions. He also explains the rise of organized crime after the U.S. invasion in terms of two distinct waves: the first wave followed the collapse of the state and was accompanied by the breakdown of social control mechanisms and the development of anomie; the second wave was driven by anarchy, insecurity, political ambition, and the imperatives of resource generation for militias, insurgents, and other groups. He also identifies necessary responses to organized crime and corruption in Iraq, including efforts to reduce criminal opportunities, change incentive structures, and more directly target criminal organizations and activities. His analysis also emphasizes the vulnerability of conflict and post-conflict situations to organized crime and the requirement for a holistic or comprehensive strategy in which security, development, and the rule of law complement one another.

No one returns from Ikiri.Reece's gang of criminal jazz musicians have taken shelter in the wrong house. There's a girl with red eyes bound to a chair. The locals call her a devil - but Reece sees a kid that needs protecting. He's more right than he knows.Chased by a shadowy swordsman and an unnatural beast, the gang flee across the Deep South with the kid in tow. She won't say where she's from or who exactly her scary father is, but she's got powers they can't understand. How much will Reece risk to save her?On the other side of the world, Agent Sean Tasker's asking similar questions. With an entire village massacred and no trace of the killers, he's convinced Duvcorp's esoteric experiments are responsible. His only ally is an unstable female assassin, and their only lead is Ikiri - a black-site in the Congo, which no one leaves alive. How far is Tasker prepared to go for answers - and how will these two adventures collide?The Ikiri Duology collects the second standalone arc in the Ordshaw series in one edition, including Kept From Cages and Given To Darkness. Read this complete, action-packed supernatural thriller today!What reviewers are saying about the Ikiri Duology..."Elements of Tarantino, Indiana Jones, and James Bond mix to form a heady brew of adrenaline cut with cultural soul." - Fantasy Book Review"a gripping and unique suspense novel with a significant cross-genre appeal" - Fantasy Book Critic"An addictive read that is difficult to put down" - Lynn's Books"one of the strongest and most attention-grabbing opening chapters of all the self-published books I've ever read" - Fantasy Inn"From the first page of the book, I was hooked" - Paul's Picks"A crazy kind of adventure where you can only expect the unexpected" - Space & Sorcery"If you're looking for a high adventure style book, with brilliantly written characters and a perfect mash-up of genres then look no further." - Crook's Books"pure popcorn...the thriller-style pacing had me flipping the pages" - Jen, Queen's Book Asylum"I had no idea what I was getting myself in for and I was richly rewarded" - The Sword Smith"A wonderful, exciting, page-turner of a book" - Phil Parker, author of The Knights Protocol"Get ready for a crazy, fun and terrifying ride!" - Dini Panda Reads"The ONLY Urban Fantasy writer I will not hesitate to read (other than Dyrk Ashton of course)." - OllieSpot SFF Book Reviews

Fairies are real. And they have guns.Pax is one rent cheque and six days away from the rough streets of Ordshaw. A big poker score should've settled that - but when a vagrant steals her winnings, his trail leads her to the darkest corners of the city.Pax's underworld connections can track people down, but it's not just people she needs to find. The search lands Pax in the crosshairs of a shady government Ministry and the thief's mysterious partners.Between keeping herself alive and trying to unravel rumours of a subterranean labyrinth, Pax discovers her city hosts a whole other kind of underworld.People have disappeared simply for discovering what's lurking under Ordshaw.To survive, Pax needs to go a lot further than that.Under Ordshaw is the first entry in a genre-bending contemporary fantasy series packed with incredible characters and unusual creatures. Once you step into Ordshaw, you'll find its twists and turns, heart-pounding adventure and mercenary fairies impossible to resist. Start reading today!

This volume examines the origins and development of Russian criminal organizations, analyses the major players, investigates Russian criminal activities in Russia and the US, and considers the consequences of this phenomenon.