Books in the Ultimate series

A gripping serial killer thriller brings attention to a local unsolved mystery.After a night out with his friends — he vanished.Rumors are flying around the Northwoods. Another smart, popular, athletic, young man drowns in the icy waters of winter. Was it a tragic accident, a suicide, or something more sinister? Payton Richardson, a tenacious college student, takes it upon herself to discover the truth. During her investigation, horror meets hilarity when the killer includes Payton and the town of River Bend in a murderous game. Who wants to play? The secrets start to unravel in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.When Payton wakes up cold, wet, and bloody with a silver cross necklace in her hand, she comes to the terrifying conclusion that her own life is now in jeopardy. Who can she trust as she tries to piece together the twisted bits of memory swirling around in her head?Scary Ghostface and Stephanie Plum fans this book is for you. It has the best of both worlds: A Calamity Queen you’ll love to death, and a witty, smart-ass killer you’ll love to hate.After years of research, Smiley, the infamous urban legend of the Northwoods, is unleashed and runs smack-dab into Payton on the page. This fact-based tale with fictional spin was created to bring awareness to this unsolved mystery and justice for the boys.Every year since 1997, the list of names grows longer. To this day, young men continue to disappear during the dead of winter. After a night out with their friends, they vanish. Days, weeks, even months pass before their lifeless bodies are tragically found in the river, pond, or other water source  . . . Some boys are never found at all.There are many theories floating around the Northwoods. Which one is right? That is a good question.Where will the killer strike next? Honestly, no one seems to know. That is what makes this mystery almost impossible to solve, but the good guys and Payton are on it. I have faith in truth and justice. In the meantime, the scene is set in the fictious small town of River Bend. A cast of unforgettable characters are waiting for their fate to be revealed.This fast-paced, on the edge of your seat thrill ride is the first book in The Ultimate series. Get inside the killer’s head while the games unfold. Also enjoy a front row seat as Payton races to save the day. Unfortunately, not everyone will make it to the finish line alive.SK Lundberg’s action-packed murder mystery has the perfect balance of creepy suspense, comic relief, romance, mayhem, and is topped off with a touch of sarcasm. The author also includes a sneak peek into THE ULTIMATE SECRETS. 

A young woman is murdered while cycling in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Henry Lawter, a meth addict, confesses. He is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. On appeal, the conviction is reversed because Lawter could not hear the Miranda warning-he was temporarily deaf, having pierced his own eardrums with an ice pick. He must be released.Judge Raleigh Westlake, who presided over the trial and sentenced Lawter, cannot tolerate this injustice. He forms a vigilante tribunal with four others. Robert Crenshaw, Westlake's protégée and an Assistant US Attorney, serves as the tribunal's prosecutor. David Johnstone, defense lawyer, acts as attorney for the accused, though the verdicts and sentences are pre-ordained. Marcus Cunningham and Ignacio Perez, two US Marshals and ex-Marines who protect the Judge and his federal courtroom, apprehend the criminals and carry out the sentences. The cabal captures Lawter on a Florida beach. This time there is no reprieve. Lawter is put on trial in a secret courtroom inside a semi-trailer and found guilty again. He is executed by a heroin overdose masked as suicide.Crossing the line is not easy. Westlake has been a federal judge for a dozen years. As he levies secret justice on each criminal, Westlake grapples with his Cherokee heritage, his Catholic faith, and his waning trust in the judicial system. He is not sure which one will win out.A woman who made and distributed pornographic videos of her children is the next target. She escaped prosecution by turning government informant. Judge Westlake puts her on trial in the trailer and finds her guilty of heinous victimization of her kids. When promised a gruesome execution, she commits suicide.The third target is an alcoholic baseball star who ran over five people in a cross-walk. A Savannah judge metes out a sentence of 30 days in an addiction clinic, a miscarriage of justice Judge Westlake cannot abide. The baseball player must answer for his crimes. Convicted of manslaughter and squandering second chances, the young prodigy is plied with the alcohol he so craves, put behind the wheel of his SUV, and pushed off a bridge into the Savannah River.The tribunal's clandestine efforts produce only a small ripple in the cesspool of criminals. The Judge is unsated. He wants to send a message.The fourth target is a US Congressman who has perpetrated a massive Ponzi scheme, bilking thousands out of their savings. He avoids prosecution through a network of shell companies, lawyers, and political connections. When the Department of Justice declines to prosecute Representative Lyle Walker for securities fraud, the voices of thousands of victims are ignored. The cabal captures the Texas Congressman and tries him in the trailer. He admits his crimes, as they all do. Congressman Walker is convicted of excessive greed and sentenced to death by rattlesnake. The group sends a public message to other criminals: someone is watching.After the Congressman's assassination, the FBI launches a nationwide manhunt for the vigilantes. The FBI plants a false lead and Crenshaw, believing their capture is imminent, confesses the secret tribunal to his boss, United States Attorney Caroline Bannister. Caroline was on the trial team that convicted Henry Lawter, only to see him set free. She too has lost faith in the system. Her sister was murdered in a drug slaying 25 years earlier. The killer has not been caught.Feigning an investigation into Westlake's criminal enterprise, and promising Crenshaw full immunity, Caroline invents a rendezvous with the FBI to capture Westlake and his cohorts. In a surprise finale, Crenshaw is dead. The FBI has not been informed of the secret tribunal. Caroline must confront the cabal alone.

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"The world runs on social media--and so should your business. While over 54 percent of users make purchasing decisions using social media, only 49 percent of companies have a documented social media strategy. Your business can't afford to be left behind."--Page 4 of cover.

In this second installment in the Ultimate series, Judge Raleigh Westlake and the secret tribunal continue to prosecute criminals who have escaped justice. In their mobile courtroom, the cabal targets a judge who has taken bribes in exchange for lenient sentences and a politician linked to the murder of a young woman a quarter century in the past. In his real courtroom, Judge Westlake oversees the trial of an 18 year old accused of rampaging through a Christmas party, killing dozens. But the defendant has been framed.As the story unfolds, long-buried secrets are revealed. The Judge himself is linked to the death of a client and her children while he was still in law school. Caroline Bannister, the zealous federal prosecutor who saved them all from certain capture in Ultimate Verdict, seeks to avenge her sister's death at all costs. In her quest for justice, she becomes blinded by revenge.Judge Westlake and Caroline Bannister become entangled romantically, though neither fully trusts the other. As the trial of accused terrorist Abdul Alnoor commences, they become ensnared in a web of deceit perpetrated by the real terrorist-Viktor Volkov. Volkov, a Russian spy embedded in America as a plastic surgeon, has planted damning evidence to frame Alnoor. Though Alnoor professes his innocence, his prosecution steams forward unabated.When the cabal sets free that judge who took bribes, Caroline secretly returns and kills him, making it look like suicide. And the cabal has made a critical mistake-they have trusted Caroline. In pursuing the Mayor of Charlotte for the death of her sister, Caroline is blinded to the truth. She alters evidence to serve her own agenda, convincing the others that the politician is guilty. At the end of the politician's trial in the secret courtroom, before sentence can be imposed, Caroline brutally executes the Mayor.A missing cell phone holds evidence that has never been unearthed. When the cell phone surfaces at the end of the novel, it contains a video that exculpates the politician, a revelation that sends them all into a tailspin. They have murdered an innocent man. In their misguided pursuit of the politician, they have veered straight into the path of the real terrorist. And they become his target.As the trial of accused terrorist Abdul Alnoor gets underway, the real terrorist blackmails Judge Westlake and Caroline Bannister. In the critical climax, the secret tribunal must make their most difficult decision: Do they save themselves, or an innocent man?

From video production to promotion, author Jason R. Rich details how to use the power of YouTube to promote business brands, products, or services, ultimately attracting new customers. Unfamiliar entrepreneurs receive a full tutorial on pre-production and production essentials, from developing video ideas that attract attention to overcoming lighting and sound challenges. Amateur producers receive a full list of equipment needed, and they gain tips from well-known YouTube users on how to produce quality spots without breaking the bank. After covering the basics, Rich joined by YouTube-savvy entrepreneurs reveals how small business owners can drive viewers to contact their business. Rich also shows entrepreneurs how they can make money, while promoting themselves.

Written for beginners, author Jon Rognerud offers every tip, trick, and secret from keyword research and competitive analysis, to marketing and messaging, content development, link building, and conversions and tracking of search engine positions. Local search, social media, and blogging are new to this edition, and show examples on how to optimize these important new development areas. Updated content includes social media search content that reflects strategies and market information tohelps business owners easily add this companion to SEO work, blog optimization steps with best SEO tactics for creating search engine friendly sites, and the topten hottest WordPress plugins for top traffic boost. A local SEO section showsreaders how to avoid the most common mistakes on optimizaing for local search and the updated section on Google analytics shows how to track top keywords and pages. An updated link building section provides new white hat SEO link building tactics to provide better long term rankings and traffic building, and an expanded resource sectionincludes updated screen-shots of SEO applied. Step-by-step examples are written with an at the kitchen table type dialogue for accessibility and an advanced strategy section takes readers to the next level.

With 4,000 percent growth in just six months, 17 million users, and a record for more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined, Pinterest delivers an unbelievable opportunity for marketers . . . if they know how to effectively use it. Karen Leland acquaints business owners with the newest social media kid on the block. She covers: the ins and outs of signing up and getting started; building boards that get noticed, drive traffic, and convert fans into customers; creating a Pinterest community through power connections, contests, social media outreach, and smart pinning strategies; strategies for becoming a power Pinterest user and creating an enthusiastic following; best practices for pins that promote, including image optimization, consistent branding, social media integration, and high-value content; and Pinterest etiquette. Business owners learn to expand their business and brands success one pin at a time.

Dive into the wild world of sharks! Get up close to learn the truth behind these fantastic, ferocious fish with famed National Geographic photographer and explorer Brian Skerry.

From Tsunamis and sea turtles to riptides and reefs, learn all about the creatures, science, and ecology of our oceans, which cover more of the planet than all the continents and are just as important!