Tom Ball – författare

This book is about a secret CIA program to clone historical geniuses. In the book there are over 100 cloned geniuses, all aged 20 and with their faces changed from the original. In the course of the book, the geniuses are interviewed about their thoughts on the modern world. Some of the views are surprising . . .This book is top secret but sources say some of the geniuses must be imposters since their remains and hence DNA are unknown. Some people say the CIA has brainwashed other geniuses or mixed the geniuses an so on . . .You be the judge.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th FIP WG 2.2 International Conference, TCS 2012, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in September 2012. The 25 revised full papers presented, together with one invited talk, were carefully reviewed and selected from 48 submissions. New results of computation theory are presented and more broadly experts in theoretical computer science meet to share insights and ask questions about the future directions of the field.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th FIP WG 2.2 International Conference, TCS 2012, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in September 2012. The 25 revised full papers presented, together with one invited talk, were carefully reviewed and selected from 48 submissions. New results of computation theory are presented and more broadly experts in theoretical computer science meet to share insights and ask questions about the future directions of the field.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and witness the most audacious act of all!By day, he's Pico Emerson, the endearing, pie-in-the-face, Compo the Clown, bringing joy and laughter to adoring crowds. But when the greasepaint comes off and the lights dim, a different kind of performance begins. Arthur is a phantom, a whisper in the shadows, a world-class jewel thief with a flair for the dramatic.His next target? The legendary 'Star of Seraphina', a gemstone of unparalleled beauty and a prize coveted by kings and criminals alike. This isn't just a heist; it's a meticulously choreographed ballet of deception, where every smile hides a secret and every somersault conceals a calculated risk.Hot on his trail is Detective Valerie Roux, a woman as sharp as a newly cut diamond, who sees through every illusion, every disguise. She knows Compo is more than just a clown, and she's determined to unmask the man behind the makeup, no matter the cost.Clown of Gems is a dazzling plunge into a world where the spotlight illuminates both brilliance and betrayal. It's a thrilling dance between cunning and pursuit, where the greatest performance is the one that sets you free. Can Compo escape the dazzling cage he's built, or will his greatest act lead to his ultimate downfall?The show is about to begin… and the stakes have never been higher.

Saturnian Copyright The galaxy finally discovered Earth. And then they lawyered up. Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it's just another bizarre New York prank when a six-foot "e;nun"e; and a redheaded mullah walk into his office. But they aren't here for legal advice—they're bumbling extraterrestrials with a catastrophic message: The entire universe is bankrupt, and it's all because of human pop music. Since the fateful day in 1977 known to aliens as "e;saturnian copyright,"e; every advanced civilization in the cosmos has been hopelessly addicted to our catchy hooks and three-minute hits. They've been pirating our signals for decades, and thanks to the literal application of American copyright law, the resulting fines now exceed the total wealth of the galaxy. Humans now technically own everything in existence, and the aliens are definitely not amused. With some factions of the "e;Refined League"e; debating whether it's cheaper to pay the bill or simply delete Earth to clear the balance sheet, Nick is tapped as the galaxy's unlikely defender. Armed with nothing but a mastery of fine print and a name he shares with a Backstreet Boy, Nick has 48 hours to find a legal loophole big enough to save the planet from a total cultural foreclosure. A sharp, satirical romp through the outer reaches of the universe and the inner workings of an absurdly dysfunctional industry, Saturnian Copyright is the ultimate survival guide for a planet that accidentally conquered the stars with a chorus.

The Moon is a graveyard. And the United States is holding the shovel.The year is 2029. When China's Chang'e-8 rover touches down at the Sea of Tranquility, the mission is supposed to be a triumph. Instead, it captures a terrifying void: no lander, no flag, and no footprints. The greatest achievement in American history was faked—and China has the 8K proof.Leo Vance was NASA's best visual forensicist until he saw a shadow that didn't belong. Disgraced and exiled to a Mojave trailer, he thought he was done with the Moon. But when a ruthless Mexican cartel intercepts a secret Chinese return capsule, Leo is kidnapped for a specialized mission: verify the footage that could bankrupt a superpower.The Cartel isn't just moving drugs anymore. They've become the "e;shadow carriers"e; for the Lunar Far Side, smuggling an alien isotope—Isotope-X—into the global market. While the world's elite fight for clean energy, the Cartel is laundering moon rocks into Earth's silver mines, holding a "e;dead-man's switch"e; over Washington's head.Now, with the U.S. Space Force launching a desperate "e;redaction"e; mission to plant evidence on the lunar surface, Leo finds himself on a dark-launch shuttle headed for the vacuum. In a three-way war between the CIA, Beijing, and a global crime empire, Leo must decide: protect a sixty-year-old lie that keeps the world stable, or broadcast a truth that will light the dark side—and burn everything down.

Candy's life was a symphony of ashes and servitude, a cruel melody played out in the shadow of her stepsisters' scorn. But a whisper of power, a glint of steel, would shatter that fragile existence forever. Under the chilling tutelage of Morwen, a Fairy Godmother twisted into a ruthless spymaster, Candy sheds her rags and embraces the art of the kill. No longer a cowering servant, she is a ghost in the shadows, her delicate glass slipper now a weapon, its fragile beauty concealing a deadly edge.Her mission: infiltrate the opulent royal ball, a gilded cage of deceit and desperate ambition, and eliminate a target whose death could reshape kingdoms. But as the clock ticks towards midnight, Candy uncovers a conspiracy that stretches far beyond a single assassination. The true prize, the real power, lies hidden within the gilded walls, and the beautiful Princess Isolde, once thought a victim, holds a secret that could unravel Candy's carefully constructed world. In a dance of daggers and deception, Candy must decide if she will be the puppet or the puppeteer, for in this ruthless game, one wrong step means not just death, but the complete annihilation of her shattered soul.

In a Kingdom, bound by "e;Once Upon a Time,"e; destiny isn't a promise—it's a prison.For generations, the Great Archives have dictated the lives of every soul in the realm. The princess must sleep. The mermaid must weep. The girl in the red cloak must always be the prey. But the ink is beginning to fade, and twelve legends are about to do the unthinkable: they are reaching for the pen.From a she who trades her glass slippers for a tailor's needle to a sleeping princess who wakes up to a world that no longer needs a throne or princess, the Unbound Kingdom weaves together twelve reimagined lives. As the old stories shatter, these heroes must navigate a landscape of steampunk cities, enchanted forests, and shifting politics to discover what happens after the "e;Happily Ever After"e; fails.When the scripts are burned and the magic is broken, only one question remains: If you weren't who the story said you were, who would you become?

The perpetual drizzle of Neo-Seattle has always been Maya Vance's only constant, a fitting shroud for a life lived on the fringes, defined by forgotten code and the ghosts of a past she'd painstakingly buried. But the rain-slicked ruins offer no sanctuary when a dead-man's switch, a final, desperate message from her estranged father, Leo Vance, detonates her carefully constructed reclusion. A data packet, encrypted with a complexity that hums with his genius, hints at a conspiracy reaching far beyond the decaying urban sprawl, a secret tied to the shimmering lure of the lunar gold rush and a resource called Isotope-X. Now, with the memory of her father's hushed warnings echoing in her mind, Maya is thrust into a world she never wanted to inhabit, a world where silence is a luxury and ignorance a death sentence. Her only hope lies in an unlikely alliance with Sofia Mateo, a high-society heiress whose privileged life is as alien to Maya as the lunar dust. Driven by her own shadowy motivations and a thirst for truth, Sofia's resources and cunning prove invaluable as they navigate the treacherous landscape of corporate espionage and interstellar politics. Their journey takes them from the grimy back alleys of Earth's orbital stations to the glittering, precarious outposts carved into the Moon's surface. There, amidst the frantic scramble for riches, they unearth a terrifying revelation: Isotope-X is far more than just the universe's most potent fuel. It is an evolutionary catalyst, a cosmic key capable of unlocking humanity's next, terrifying stage, or irrevocably shattering it. As the lines between progress and perversion blur, Maya and Sofia find themselves racing against time, their path converging on the desolate, strategically vital expanse of Shackleton Crater. Here, General Miller, a man consumed by a brutal vision of humanity's future, prepares to unleash 'Protocol 2' – a scorched-earth initiative designed to seize control of Isotope-X at any cost. With the very essence of human evolution hanging in the balance, and Miller's forces poised to ignite a transformation that will forever alter the species, Maya and Sofia must make a desperate stand. The moon, once a symbol of humanity's aspirations, now holds the terrifying potential to be its ultimate graveyard, or its terrifying rebirth.

One witness. One secret. One lie that could topple a government. Peter and Thomas lead a life built on careful discretion. Devoted to one another, they have spent years navigating London in the shadows, avoiding the judgmental gaze of a society they don't quite trust. But their quiet world shatters one night during a walk along the river Bance. Out of the darkness, they witness a hooded figure fleeing a scene of carnage, leaving behind a woman—Mandy—clinging to life with a blade in her shoulder. Terrified of being "e;outed"e; and dragged into a media circus, they flee the scene after a single, desperate call for help. But conscience is a persistent ghost. When they eventually step forward, they find themselves caught in a web far more dangerous than a random mugging. Unknown to them, Mandy is the keeper of a dangerous double life. For two years, she has been the secret lover of Alistair Jones, a high-ranking Cabinet Minister. To settle a crippling gambling debt, Alistair has used his power to smuggle drugs into the UK—only to be betrayed by Mandy herself in a multimillion-pound hijack. Now, as Scotland Yard closes in and an international cartel sends assassins to silence the witnesses, Peter and Thomas must choose: stay hidden and watch an innocent woman die, or step into the light and risk everything to expose the rot at the heart of the British establishment. In a city of secrets, the truth is the most dangerous weapon of all.