Bøger af Paul Hackney

James J Owens First High Lord of the Death Dealers has gone through a truly life changing experience, from a 97 year old man to a teenage girl. For most humans this would be a big enough challenge to deal with, but the Fates have more in store for the man they once called Death. No, she has to deal with learning how to be more than just a normal teenager. First there is the fact that she is the Head of House for one of the most powerful High Families in all of the Empire. For someone who came from one of the poorest planets in all of the Empire where manners were a luxury, and just getting enough to eat on a daily basis is a challenge, she has to learn how to be a Lady of breeding. As a soldier and front line officer for the Death Dealers courtly etiquettes was not high on their training list. Now, she has to learn how to walk, talk, sit, and everything else like a High Families Lady of the Empire.To add to this fact she also has to deal with trying to return that House to its rightful place within the Political structure of the Empire. Over the past twenty years the High Family House of Nakatoma has slowly fallen out of power not only in the Imperial Parliament, and Hall of Lords, but also in the Hades Planetary Government System. Several High Families have used the very laws of the Planetary System to drive the once great House almost to its knees and with it the people of Hades and the Death Gates System. Seeking to use legal methods Maiha has used her rightful powers as the True Head of House for the Nakatoma Family and First High Lord of the Death Dealers to have these corrupted High Family Members arrested. Their response was to send assassins to kill her and her family; then declare war on House Nakatoma and the Empire.The rebels thought they could just threaten Maiha Mana Nakatoma into following their plans. They made two mistakes. First they underestimated the Daughter of Death. There is a saying among Death Dealers. Never use a gun when a knife will do. However James Owens never fully abided by this saying. Maiha preferred a blunter saying. The proper amount of high explosives can solve any problem. For Maiha this meant that she was not holding back in her plans to destroy the rebels. For the teenage girl who was once one of the most feared man in all of the Empire the answer is simple. If the traitors don't want to face the courts then she shall give them what they want. WAR! For the teenage girl who was once the man called Death it is the only answer. She would bring down the full fury that belongs to her House Military and the divisions of Death Dealers that have been waiting in deep space to act as backup for her.They say Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. There is one thing wrong with that statement. No one ever took into account what a female Death Dealer would do when pissed off. This is the second mistakes the rebels have made when they tried to kill her new family. For Maiha Nakatoma formally James Owens there is no greater crime. The rebels made the greatest sin when they violated the Holy Trinity of Thou Shall not Screw With, and Maiha is now going to make they pay with their lives. How will she keep her family safe when the rebels will use assassination to solve their problems? The answer is simple, turn them into the first of the Second Generation Death Dealers.

The barn owl is a 'flagship' species, at the top of the food chain, and its presence or absence is a good indicator of the health of the countryside. This is the enjoyable and informative story of the author's success in restoring this beautiful bird to areas of the country where its numbers had catastrophically declined. From an upbringing in the Lake District, the author developed a deep interest in natural history which became an all-consuming passion. As a 'licensed rehabilitation keeper', he cared for a wide range of injured and orphaned wildlife, giving individuals a second chance by returning them to the wild. He reveals how and why he later graduated to barn owl conservation. The author describes his many encounters with barn owls, from the acquisition of his first breeding pair; 'Barney', a completely humanised owl; to stories of the fascinating array of people involved in releasing, studying, and simply marvelling at this beautiful bird. Although there is a funny side to most situations, there are also the inevitable disasters and disappointments of conservation work, such as the accidental or deliberate sabotaging of releases or the killing of released birds. The reader shares in the author's disappointment and frustration at the sheer cost in time and money and his frequent self-doubt about the success of the whole exercise. However, there are descriptions of more enjoyable activities such as bird ringing, watching home-grown birds metamorphose from ugly pink scraps into creatures of ethereal beauty, and the seemingly limitless energy and enthusiasm of countless landowners and volunteers who are totally committed to the reintroduction of the barn owl. After almost 20 years, there is now evidence of a marked increase in barn owl numbers in areas where the author has worked. During this period, he bred and released around 250 birds, put up nest boxes and advised on barn owl-friendly approaches to land management. These activities helped to reverse the decline in population as areas were repopulated and also created reservoirs of wild breeding barn owls, whose offspring colonised other under-populated parts of the country. The return of the barn owl not only heralds a brighter future for the British countryside, but also shows, at a time of great public concern about the state of planet Earth, that the negative effects of human activity on the environment can be reversed with effort, goodwill and determination.