Showing results by author "Ralph Griffith" in All Categories

The ancient Indian Sanskrit epic the Rāmāyana was composed some time between the first and fifth centuries BCE. As is the case with most ancient literature firmly rooted in the oral tradition, precise dating is problematic. Traditionally attributed to the sage Valmīki, and composed in rhyming couplets, it is one of the two great Indian epics (the other being the Mahābhārata); consequently it is known and revered not just throughout the Indian subcontinent but also in South-East Asian countries as well, indeed wherever Hindu culture became established.

The Rig Veda stands as one of the oldest surviving testaments to human thought—a luminous tapestry of hymns composed over three millennia ago in the fertile lands of ancient India. More than a sacred text, it is a record of revelation, ritual, and the riddle of existence, set to the rhythms of fire and sky.

“Some people walk backwards so they can see where they came from. But a wise man always walks sideways, thereby he can see where he came from, and be careful as to where he is going.” The Fortune Cookie For Federal Inspector Harry Chin, a trip to Perth was supposed to be a short vacation. A chance to lecture on the cold, clinical world of forensics at a law school. While cracking open a fortune cookie at the legendary Li Po restaurant, the air is shattered by the sharp report of a professional execution. In the time it takes to blink, the head of the powerful Yat Sun Benevolent Society ...

Russian Roulette: A Dmitri Petrov Crime Novel The call to Chief Inspector Dmitri Petrov comes as he is about to retire for the night. The Director of Major Crimes, his voice frantic with the news that four men were executed at one of Saint Petersburg's most upscale restaurants by a group of Chechens wielding AK-47s. But the victims were not well to do business leaders; they were high-ranking vory—powerful leaders of the biggest organized crime groups in the Russian Federation. The Director of Major Crimes, terrified of a brutal gang war erupting in the streets of Saint Petersburg, has a ...

Red Star: A Dmitri Petrov Crime Novel In the treacherous, shifting landscape of the Russian Federation's criminal underworld, rising star Viktor Vasilev is about to learn that some legends refuse to stay buried. One night, after leaving his exclusive nightclub, Vasilev is discovered unconscious in the parking lot—the victim of a brutal assault. While being transported to a hospital he keeps moaning the name of a famous Russian crime boss, Ded Hasan. What makes this truly intriguing to Chief Inspector Dmitri Petrov is that Ded Hasan, a notorious and revered crime boss, was assassinated ...

Amidst the enchanting, perpetual twilight of Saint Petersburg's White Nights festival, a darker reality unfolds for Inspectors Dmitri Petrov and Manislov Illich. Their seemingly straightforward assignment--revisiting two long unsolved cold cases, soon uncovers a disturbing sequence of interconnected crimes. What began as routine soon takes a sinister turn, hinting that the truths they seek are far more perilous than they could imagine. An intricate and captivating mystery, it plunges readers into the heart of Saint Petersburg's hidden darkness. "With atmospheric prose and a sinister plot, ...

Rock & Roll Detective: A Case Gone Platinum (Johnny Walker Novel 2) Ex-homicide inspector Johnny Walker thought he’d left the brutality behind when he retired from the Portland Police. Now a private investigator, Johnny gets pulled back into the dark underbelly of the city when a famous hip-hop artist hires him to find his missing stepbrother. The case takes a sinister turn when the stepbrother is found dead, and all fingers point to the rapper. The stepbrother, it turns out, wasn't just lost--he was holding onto a fortune in stolen cocaine. Framed for murder, Johnny is thrust back into ...

Vodka Express takes readers on a visceral journey into the raw and fractured heart of Saint Petersburg—a city where faded imperial grandeur clashes violently with the brutal realities of its present, where the mean streets hold life cheaper than a bottle of vodka. Amidst this stark duality, Inspectors Dmitri Petrov and Manislov Illich forge an unlikely yet formidable partnership. Petrov, a master of subtle observation in a world quick to resort to force, must navigate this treacherous urban landscape like a deadly chess match. Alongside him stands his imposing partner, Manislov Illich, a ...

The year is 1967. The Summer of Love explodes in San Francisco, a siren song for dreamers and idealistic runaways. Haunted by his Vietnam War experiences, disillusioned Clyde Thomas returns home to Tennessee, only to find that his sister has vanished. Naturally his parents want him to go and find her. Clyde reluctantly ventures into Haight Ashbury's intoxicating swirl of psychedelic music, antiwar protests, and newfound freedoms. Amidst the flower children and civil unrest, Clyde's path collides with the mesmerizing Moonbeam. Their undeniable romance offers a lifeline in a world Clyde no ...

Los Búnkers Retomando lo que dejó Spam Sushi, esta escandalosa trama criminal sigue las aventuras de los Búnkeres, un travieso grupo de siete niños de diez años que han vuelto al negocio. Vender algas secas como marihuana a turistas en Waikiki es su negocio habitual, pero cuando en una escapada de robo de carteras aparece un kilo de metanfetamina cristal en lugar de dinero, sus vidas dan un giro divertido y peligroso. Vender algas como marihuana es fácil, pero ¿deshacerse de un kilo de hielo? Eso es otra historia, sobre todo cuando solo tienes diez años. Entra la Comadreja, un ...

In the damp embrace of a Portland night, a confession so vile spills from the shadows of the Grotto that Father Thomas flees the confessional. He asks another priest to take over, but fate, it seems, is a fickle deity. The wrong priest ends up with his throat slit, a victim of mistaken identity. Haunted by his own demons, Detective Johnny Walker takes the case. Battling the insatiable hunger of addiction, he delves into Portland's deceptive heart, unearthing a darkness festering beneath the surface. He’s called upon to navigate the labyrinth of a chilling child serial killer. As Walker ...

The Real Bernie Madoff Ralph Griffith wrote a book that no one else could have! Sara Stratso November 9, 2020 There has been no shortage of books written about Bernie Madoff, but Ralph Griffith’s book stands out above all the rest because the author and Madoff were incarcerated together for seven years. Bernard Lawrence Madoff, a prominent Wall Street figure, was serving time in North Carolina’s Federal Medical Center in FCI Butner. Madoff, the former chairman of NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Automated Quotations Dealers) had been sentenced for 150 years for an elaborate ...

¡Aloha se fusiona con el caos en esta escandalosa aventura criminal! Conoce a Comadreja: un enjuto surfista hawaiano de 40 años. De día, surfea las olas turquesas de Waikiki y vende marihuana de primera en la playa, con la ayuda de un colorido loro, el Capitán Morgan, y una majestuosa cacatúa blanca llamada Bolas de nieve. Al caer la noche, el aire salado de la playa se transforma en el ambiente ahumado de un club de striptease de Waikiki. Allí, Comadreja se pierde en el seductor resplandor del escenario, hipnotizado por Bonnie Lim, una bailarina china con una sonrisa que derretía ...

Amidst the crumbling facades of a once vibrant city, the line between hunter and hunted blurs as private detective Johnny Walker plunges into a deadly game. Hired by a distraught Russian oligarch whose youngest daughter has vanished, Johnny soon discovers that the missing girl is merely a pawn in a much larger conspiracy. Her two stunning sisters, entwined in a web of family lies and secrets, become instrumental in unraveling a plot that stretches far beyond Portland's borders. Meanwhile, Detective Sandy Jenkins, Johnny's girlfriend, wages a relentless war against the city's escalating ...

A rock star's world shatters when his drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend, Terri Richardson, vanishes without a trace. Desperate, he turns to Johnny Walker, a hard-living P.I. with a knack for uncovering secrets—and a thirst for justice. With the help of his girlfriend, homicide detective Sandy Jenkins, Johnny dives into Portland's gritty, neon-lit music scene, a world of backstage betrayals, bitter rivalries, and dangerous obsessions. But the closer Johnny gets to the truth, the more tangled the web of deceit becomes, and the more he realizes that anyone in the band could be guilty.

Tehran, 1969. A city of intoxicating beauty and simmering unrest. Clyde Thomas is no ordinary CIA operative. Haunted by a past tragedy, he's fueled by an unwavering thirst for justice in a world where the line between right and wrong blurs with every step. When the beautiful, young Safie is kidnapped by a shadowy militant group, Clyde's hunt for her becomes a desperate fight against time. From opulent palaces to shadowy alleyways, Clyde's hunt for Safie takes him on a dangerous journey through both 1969 Iran and his own scarred psyche. As he becomes entangled in Safie's fight for survival, ...

Ralph Griffith's Monkey House is a memoir of his time served at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Butner in North Carolina. He spent the last seven years of his sentence with Bernie Madoff, Jonathan Pollard, Nicky Scarfo, Carmine Persico, and other well-known criminals. FMC Butner is a high-security prison that houses inmates with serious medical conditions and mental health issues. The prison also has a designation for high-profile criminals. Griffith describes the prison as a "giant Monkey House for the criminally insane." Monkey House is a fascinating and often humorous account of prison ...

Beneath the sun-drenched opulence of Cairns' French consulate, where gossip bubbles like champagne and secrets swim deeper than the Great Coral Sea, a shocking tableau unfolds. Madame Monet, the captivating Honorary Consul, lies strangled in her silk-swathed bedroom, a pair of Givenchy stockings twisted around her elegant throat. Canberra dispatches their finest: Inspectors, Harry Chin a whirlwind of Savile Row tailoring and razor-sharp deductions, and at his side stands Ash Friday, an aboriginal tracker whose eyes can pierce through the darkest shadows lurking beneath. As they navigate the...

Este es el segundo de la serie de Clyde Thomas que tiene lugar en el sudeste asiático en el invierno y la primavera de 1967-1968. Clyde después de dejar Moonbeam en Haight Ashbury, vuelve a alistarse en el ejército y regresa a Vietnam como parte de la 716ª Policía Militar en Saigón. Regresa un mes antes de la Ofensiva Tet, con la esperanza de eliminar los demonios de su alma. Pero lentamente cae en un mundo más oscuro que el que había dejado. Una novela sorprendente y que invita a la reflexión y captura la política y la cruda realidad de la guerra, en un lugar que a nadie en ...

Teherán, 1969. Una ciudad de embriagadora belleza y agitación latente. Clyde Thomas no es un agente de la CIA común y corriente. Atormentado por una tragedia pasada, lo impulsa una sed inquebrantable de justicia en un mundo donde la línea entre el bien y el mal se difumina a cada paso. Cuando la bella y joven Safie es secuestrada por un grupo militante siniestro, la búsqueda de Clyde se convierte en una lucha desesperada contra el tiempo. Desde palacios opulentos hasta callejones sombríos, la búsqueda de Safie por parte de Clyde lo lleva a un peligroso viaje a través del Irán de ...