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SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS

The further adventures of erast fandorin.

by Boris Akunin & translated by Andrew Bromfield ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 19, 2008

The lighthearted opening tale is followed by a grisly sequel whose mutilations, many of them described from both the...

Two novella-length cases for Moscow investigator Erast Petrovich Fandorin, the Governor-General’s deputy for special assignments ( Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog , 2007, etc.).

The first novella, “The Jack of Spades,” brings a world-class con man to Moscow. A master of disguise calling himself Momos has swindled the Governor-General himself, Prince Vladimir Andreevich Dolgorukoi, in a manner as ingenious as it is humiliating. Aided by pimply, unpromising police courier Anisii Tulipov, Court Counselor Fandorin takes the pursuit of Momos as his personal mission. He doesn’t know that Momos has developed an equally personal stake in fleecing Fandorin, or that the battle of wits won’t end when Momos and his accomplice, the lovely actress Mimi, have been captured. By the time of the second novella, “The Decorator,” Tulipov has been Fandorin’s assistant for three years. Holy Week of 1889 brings evidence that Jack the Ripper has left London after an eventful autumn season to ply his trade in Moscow. Before Fandorin can bring the shadowy killer to justice, he’s notched even more Russian victims than English, some of them disquietingly close to the Court Counselor.

Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-8129-7860-5

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007

HISTORICAL FICTION | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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by Boris Akunin

by Boris Akunin ; translated by Andrew Bromfield

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IN THE NEWS

WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

by Georgia Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2017

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.

Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “ You’ll get only one shot at this ,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “ Don’t botch it .” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “ That form is a deal breaker ,” he tells himself. “ It’s life and death .” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016

RELIGIOUS FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

BOOK TO SCREEN

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER

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by Kathy Reichs

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Special Assignments

Special Assignments

The further adventures of erast fandorin.

• 3.9 • 9 Ratings

Publisher Description

In Special Assignments , Erast Fandorin, nineteenth-century Russia’s suavest sleuth, faces two formidable new foes: One steals outrageous sums of money, the other takes lives. “The Jack of Spades” is a civilized swindler who has conned thousands of rubles from Moscow’s residents–including Fandorin’s own boss, Prince Dolgorukoi. To catch him, Fandorin and his new assistant, timid young policeman Anisii Tulipov, must don almost as many disguises as the grifter does himself. “The Decorator” is a different case altogether: A savage serial killer who believes he “cleans” the women he mutilates and takes his orders from on high, he must be given Fandorin’s most serious attentions. Peopled by a rich cast of eccentric characters, and with plots that are as surprising as they are inventive, Special Assignments will delight Akunin’s many fans, while challenging the gentleman sleuth’s brilliant powers of detection. Praise from England: “Boris Akunin’s wit and invention are a source of constant wonder.” –Evening Standard “[Fandorin is] a debonair combo of Sherlock Holmes, D’Artagnan and most of the soulful heroes of Russian literature. . . . This pair of perfectly balanced stories permit the character of Fandorin to grow.” –The Sunday Telegraph “Agatha Christie meets James Bond: [Akunin’s] plots are intricate and tantalizing. . . . [These stories] are unputdownable and great fun.” –Sunday Express “The beguiling, super-brainy, sexy, unpredictable Fandorin is a creation like no other in crime fiction.” –The Times

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY DEC 3, 2007

In this thrilling collection of two novellas, Akunin (The Winter Queen) pits Erast Fandorin, his brilliant Russian detective who serves as the deputy for special assignments to the governor-general of czarist Moscow, against two different but equally deadly foes. In the comical "The Jack of Spades," Fandorin finds a Watsonian sidekick in Anisii Tulipov, a luckless and overeducated errand boy whose life changes when Fandorin takes him under his wing. The pair must face a cunning con man and thief, reminiscent of the great French antihero, Ars ne Lupin. Things take a darker turn in "The Decorator," when Fandorin fears that Jack the Ripper is continuing his slaughter of prostitutes, this time in 1889 Russia. Clever writing and tight plotting, coupled with a willingness to shock readers by sacrificing significant characters, continue to cement Akunin's reputation as one of the finest contemporary authors of classic crime fiction.

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Special Assignments : Book summary and reviews of Special Assignments by Boris Akunin

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Special Assignments

The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin

by Boris Akunin

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Published Feb 2008 352 pages Genre: Short Stories Publication Information

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Paperback original. In Special Assignments , Erast Fandorin, nineteenth-century Russia’s suavest sleuth, faces two formidable new foes: One steals outrageous sums of money, the other takes lives. "The Jack of Spades" is a civilized swindler who has conned thousands of rubles from Moscow's residents – including Fandorin's own boss, Prince Dolgorukoi. To catch him, Fandorin and his new assistant, timid young policeman Anisii Tulipov, must don almost as many disguises as the grifter does himself. "The Decorator" is a different case altogether: A savage serial killer who believes he "cleans" the women he mutilates and takes his orders from on high, he must be given Fandorin's most serious attentions.

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"Boris Akunin's wit and invention are a source of constant wonder." - Evening Standard (UK). "[Fandorin is] a debonair combo of Sherlock Holmes, D’Artagnan and most of the soulful heroes of Russian literature. . . . This pair of perfectly balanced stories permit the character of Fandorin to grow." - The Sunday Telegraph (UK). "Agatha Christie meets James Bond: [Akunin’s] plots are intricate and tantalizing. . . . [These stories] are unputdownable and great fun." - Sunday Express (UK). "The beguiling, super-brainy, sexy, unpredictable Fandorin is a creation like no other in crime fiction." – The Times (UK). "Clever writing and tight plotting, coupled with a willingness to shock readers by sacrificing significant characters, continue to cement Akunin's reputation as one of the finest contemporary authors of classic crime fiction." - Publishers Weekly. "A good addition to most mystery collections, especially where historicals are popular, this book can stand alone but will be richer when read in the context of the entire series." - Library Journal.

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Boris Akunin Author Biography

Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, who was born in the Republic of Georgia in 1956. A philologist, critic, essayist, and translator of Japanese, Akunin published his first detective stories in 1998 and has already become one of the most widely read authors in Russia. He is the author of ten Erast Fandorin novels listed below, and three Sister Pelagia novels. He lives in Moscow. Erast Fandorin Series 1. The Winter Queen (2003) 2. The Turkish Gambit (2005) 3. Murder on the Leviathan (2004, aka Leviathan) 4. The Death of Achilles (2005) 5. Special Assignments (2007) 6. The State Counsellor (2008) 7. The Coronation (2009) 8. She Lover of Death (2009) 9. He Lover of Death (2011) 10. The Diamond Chariot (2011)

... Full Biography Link to Boris Akunin's Website

Name Pronunciation Boris Akunin: The pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, pronounced CHAHAR-kesh-veely

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Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin

Boris akunin, . . random, $13.95 (335pp) isbn 978-0-8129-7860-5.

Reviewed on: 12/03/2007

Genre: Fiction

Peanut Press/Palm Reader - 230 pages - 978-1-58836-669-6

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Special Assignments

by Boris Akunin

ebook / ISBN-13: 9780297864141

Price: £9.99

ON SALE: 10th June 2011

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Clyde-Green Springs board revamps elementary buildings assignments

CLYDE ― The Clyde-Green Springs Exempted Village Board of Education announced a new elementary school structure for both Clyde and Green Springs elementary buildings effective for 2024-25.

Clyde Elementary will house kindergarten through second grades and Green Springs Elementary will house third through fifth grades. McPherson Middle School will continue to instruct sixth through eighth grades and Clyde High School will house ninth through 12th.

Revamping elementary buildings a response to state legislation

The decision to change the district's elementary buildings structure resulted from the state legislature's budget bill. The bill included several changes to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, a state initiative to identify kindergarten through third-grade students who are behind in reading.

The new Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan requirements include additional "high-dosage tutoring opportunities aligned with the student's classroom instruction" for kindergarten through fourth-grade students.

That includes three days of tutoring per week, or at least 50 hours over 36 weeks, equating to eight-plus months, according to information from the district. Under the law, districts must adhere to these plans until students can meet reading proficiency requirements.

School board voted for option requiring the fewest new hires

District officials said that, to meet those requirements, a realignment of its elementary schools is necessary. The district's school board ultimately chose realignment out of several proposed options, which ranged from making no alignment changes to hiring up to about five new staff members. Officials noted how realignment would mean making the fewest new hires, saving the district financially.

"The proposed realignment addresses our children's educational and social-emotional needs by providing a structure where our most vulnerable population can be better served," Superintendent Lucas Messer said,

Messer highlighted the importance of realignment in fulfilling special education and literacy legal requirements while being responsible with tax dollars.

The district will post and fill Title 1 positions and possible subsequent openings based on staff movement over the next few weeks. Classroom materials and furniture, where applicable, will be moved after this school year and into early summer.

Malphine Fogel: President Biden, please work for my son's freedom as hard as you worked for Brittney Griner's

I am the mother of Marc Fogel. Marc grew up in Butler and received his teaching degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He then traveled the world teaching American history to high school children of Americans who served in foreign service posts.

Russia was his last teaching assignment. Marc and his family went there in 2012 and he taught there for nine school years. He planned to spend his tenth and final school year in Moscow and then retire.

Medicine for a failing body

Marc turned 60 in August 2021. Pain from three back, two knee, one hip replacement and one rotary cuff surgery did not diminish his passion for teaching, but his body was failing. Opioid treatment was not an option — western Pennsylvania bore too many tragic lessons.

Marc’s doctor prescribed medical marijuana. He took some back to Russia. Marc was arrested on Aug. 14, 2021, at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow for carrying approximately a half ounce of marijuana in his luggage.

It was the beginning of his 10th year in Russia and 36 years into his teaching career. Our family reached out to the State Department. We were told to stay quiet. We were told they would handle it. We did what they said.

Six months later, Brittney Griner was arrested for the same offense as Marc. After two and a half months with Ms. Griner making front page news and the president and secretary of state Antony Blinken reassuring Ms. Griner, her family and her supporters, the U.S. State Department designated her as “wrongfully detained,” opening greater avenues to American aid for securing her release and prioritizing her for prisoner swaps.

My family watched with hope. We were hopeful that, even though Marc was not getting public attention, the president and State Department had not forgotten him, and that given the identical circumstances of Marc and Ms. Griner’s cases, if she came home, so would he.

Parallel cases, different responses

When Marc and Ms. Griner were tried in 2023 under the same exact Russian statute, Marc received a 14-year sentence and Ms. Griner received a nine-year sentence, since Marc had a slightly larger substance amount. There were no surprise charges at Marc’s trial. Marc and Ms. Griner both pled guilty to drug possession. The cases were parallel.

Marc didn’t have the stature or the fame of being a WNBA player, but our family and the State Department had received hundreds of letters from his former students, their parents, fellow faculty, friends, family, and people who experienced and were aware of his enthusiasm for teaching and his love of America.

On Dec. 8, 2022, when President Biden held a press conference to announce that Ms. Griner was being released in a prisoner swap with Russia, our family watched with the rest of the world. It was a slow-motion blur.

To be sure, we cheered Ms. Griner’s release. She did not deserve her harsh and unjust punishment. No American does. But it was bittersweet. Marc’s name was never uttered. President Biden, a proud son of Pennsylvania, forgot my son of Pennsylvania.

When our family received a report from the American Embassy in Russia about Marc’s condition after finding out that he was not released with Ms. Griner, it was heartbreaking. Between his deteriorating health and the news, he was a broken man. During any family communication with him, he never shares any hardship he is experiencing.

We are now almost three years into Marc’s imprisonment. Three American citizens (without dual Russian status) remain detained in Russia. Talks of another prisoner swap with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan are being reported.

Mr. Gershkovich was designated as “wrongfully detained” by our State Department two and half weeks after he was arrested, and Mr. Whelan has the status. The State Department refuses to designate Marc as “wrongfully detained” even though his detention circumstances are exactly the same as Ms. Griner’s.

I may never see him again

Neither President Biden nor Secretary of State Blinken have ever acknowledged Marc publicly. They do not say his name.

A cloud shrouds Marc, created by the President’s and Secretary’s avoidance and their choice to ignore the herculean efforts our family has undertaken to bring him home. Their avoidance has rendered him almost invisible and our family powerless to advocate for him, because we are not important enough to get their attention, and by concurrence national media coverage.

My son may never see his beloved Pittsburgh or America again. I am 95 years old. I may never see my son again. I do not want him to be forgotten. He may be just a regular guy from Western Pennsylvania, but he has made a world of difference to his students, colleagues, friends and, of course, his family.

I want him to know that I fought for him every day I could. Mr. President, please say my son’s name. Bring him home.

Malphine Fogel, from Butler, Pa., is the mother of Marc Fogel, an American prisoner in Russia.

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Registration Prerequisites: Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/YTF5EZFUbQRJhHBYA  ). Although the class is primarily intended for PhD students, motivated juniors/seniors and MS students who are interested in this topic are welcome to apply, ensuring they detail their qualifications for the course.

Visualizations for Intelligent AR Systems

Meeting Time: 04:00 PM‑05:15 PM MW  Instructor: Zhu-Tian Chen Course Description: This course aims to explore the role of Data Visualization as a pivotal interface for enhancing human-data and human-AI interactions within Augmented Reality (AR) systems, thereby transforming a broad spectrum of activities in both professional and daily contexts. Structured as a seminar, the course consists of two main components: the theoretical and conceptual foundations delivered through lectures, paper readings, and discussions; and the hands-on experience gained through small assignments and group projects. This class is designed to be highly interactive, and AR devices will be provided to facilitate hands-on learning.    Participants will have the opportunity to experience AR systems, develop cutting-edge AR interfaces, explore AI integration, and apply human-centric design principles. The course is designed to advance students' technical skills in AR and AI, as well as their understanding of how these technologies can be leveraged to enrich human experiences across various domains. Students will be encouraged to create innovative projects with the potential for submission to research conferences.

Registration Prerequisites: Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/Y81FGaJivoqMQYtq5 ). Students are expected to have a solid foundation in either data visualization, computer graphics, computer vision, or HCI. Having expertise in all would be perfect! However, a robust interest and eagerness to delve into these subjects can be equally valuable, even though it means you need to learn some basic concepts independently.

Sustainable Computing: A Systems View

Meeting Time: 09:45 AM‑11:00 AM  Instructor: Abhishek Chandra Course Description: In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the pervasiveness, scale, and distribution of computing infrastructure: ranging from cloud, HPC systems, and data centers to edge computing and pervasive computing in the form of micro-data centers, mobile phones, sensors, and IoT devices embedded in the environment around us. The growing amount of computing, storage, and networking demand leads to increased energy usage, carbon emissions, and natural resource consumption. To reduce their environmental impact, there is a growing need to make computing systems sustainable. In this course, we will examine sustainable computing from a systems perspective. We will examine a number of questions:   • How can we design and build sustainable computing systems?   • How can we manage resources efficiently?   • What system software and algorithms can reduce computational needs?    Topics of interest would include:   • Sustainable system design and architectures   • Sustainability-aware systems software and management   • Sustainability in large-scale distributed computing (clouds, data centers, HPC)   • Sustainability in dispersed computing (edge, mobile computing, sensors/IoT)

Registration Prerequisites: This course is targeted towards students with a strong interest in computer systems (Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, Networking, Databases, etc.). Background in Operating Systems (Equivalent of CSCI 5103) and basic understanding of Computer Networking (Equivalent of CSCI 4211) is required.

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