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Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead. Until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for theBlack Companyto find her... Glen Cook was born in 1944 and began writing SF in 1967. He published his first novel,The Heirs of Babylon, in 1972. His many other books includeAn Ill Fate Marshalling,Reap the East Wind,The Swordbearer,The Tower of Fear, and the popularBlack Companyseries of novels. Here is the first installment in Cook's popularBlack Companyseries of fantasy novels. Some feel that the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel that she is evil itself. The hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead. That is, until they hear the prophecy:The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. Could there be a waysomehow, sometimefor the Black Company to find her?


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Mercenary soldiers in the service of the Lady, the Black Company stands against the rebels of the White Rose. They are tough men, proud of honoring their contracts. The Lady is evil, but so, too, are those who falsely profess to follow the White Rose, reincarnation of a centuries-dead heroine. Yet now some of the Company have discovered that the mute girl they rescued and sheltered is truly the White Rose reborn. Now there may be a path to the light, even for such as they. If they can survive it.


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She is the last hope of good in the war against the evil sorceress known as the Lady. From a secret base on the Plains of Fear, where even the Lady hesitates to go, the Black Company, once in service to the Lady, now fights to bring victory to the White Rose. But now an even greater evil threatens the world. All the great battles that have gone before will seem a skirmishes when the Dominator rises from the grave.


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...embedded in the trunk of the scion of the godtree, it contains the essence of the maddest of the Ten Who Were Taken...The Dominator. Defeated by the Lady and cast from this world, all that was left of him was a foul trace of lingering evil. But the graveyard that was once the Barrowland contains more secrets than dead. All who would possess the power of the Dominator are drawn to the spike. A foolhardy band of thieves is the first to reach it, and a rapacious and malign spirit is unleashed on an unwary world. The forces gather, sides are drawn, and mortal men can only die as the Dark Lords battle for domination.


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After the devastating battle at the Tower of Charm, Croaker leads the greatly diminished Black Company south, in search of the lost Annals. The Annals will be returned to Khatovar, eight thousand miles away, a city that may exists only in legend...the origin of the first Free Companies.Every step of the way the Company is hounded by shadowy figured and carrion-eating crows. As they march every southward, through bug infested jungle, rivers dense with bloodthirsty pirates, and cities, dead and living, haunted by the passage of the Company north, their numbers grow until they are thousands strong.But always they are watched--by the Shadowmasters--a deadly new enemy: twisted creature that deal in darkness and death: powerful, shadowy creatures bent on smothering the world in their foul embrace. This is the first round in a deadly game, a game that the Black Company cannot ea hope to win.


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"Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these scribblings do survive....I am Murgen, Standard bearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead., One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write. I will be your guide for however long it takes the Shadowlanders to force our present predicament to its inevitable end..."So writes Murgen, seasoned veteran of the Black Company. The Company has taken the fortress of Stormgard from the evil Shadowlanders, lords of darkness from the far reaches of the earth. Now the waiting begins.Exhausted from the siege, beset by sorcery, and vastly outnumbered, the Company have risked their souls as well as their lives to hold their prize. But this is the end of an age, and great forces are at work. The ancient race known as the Nyueng Bao swear that ancient gods are stirring. the Company's commander has gone mad and flirts with the forces of darkness. Only Murgen, touched by a spell that has set his soul adrift in time, begins at last to comprehend the dark design that has made pawns of men and god alike.


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The wind whines and howls with bitter breath. Lightning snarls and barks. Rage is an animate force upon the plain of glittering stone. Even shadows are afraid.At the heart of the plain stands a vast grey stronghold, unknown, older than any written memory. One ancient tower has collapsed across the fissure. From the heart of the fastness comes a great deep slow breath like that of a slumbering world-heart, cracking the olden silence.Death is eternity. Eternity is stone. Stone is silence.Stone cannot speak but stone remembers.So begins the next movement of Glittering Stone....The tale again comes to us from the pen of Murgen, Annalist and Standard Bearer of the Black Company, whose developing powers of travel through space and time give him a perspective like no other.Led by the wily commander, Croaker, and the Lady, the Company is working for the Taglian government, but neither the Company nor the Taglians are overflowing with trust for each other. Arrayed against both is a similarly tenuous alliance of sorcerers, including the diabolical Soulcatcher, the psychotic Howler, and a four-year-old child who may be the most powerful of all.


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Regrouping in Taglios, the surviving members of the Black Company are determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain. Journey there under terrible conditions, they arrive just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new world gained and lost...all at a terrible price.


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When sorcerers and demigods go to war, those wars are fought by mercenaries, "dog soldiers," grunts in the trenches. And the stories of those soldiers are the stories of Glen Cook's hugely popular "Black Company" novels. If the Joseph Heller of Catch-22 were to tell the story of The Lord of the Rings, it might read like the Black Company books. There is nothing else in fantasy like them.Now, at last, Cook brings the "Glittering Stone" cycle within the Black Company series to an end . . . but an end with many other tales left to tell. As Soldiers Live opens, Croaker is military dictator of all the Taglias, and no Black Company member has died in battle for four years. Croaker figures it can't last. He's right.For, of course, many of the Company's old adversaries are still around. Narayan Singh and his adopted daughter--actually the offspring of Croaker and the Lady--hope to bring about the apocalyptic Year of the Skulls. Other old enemies like Shadowcatcher, Longshadow, and Howler are also ready to do the Company harm. And much of the Company is still recovering from the fifteen years many of them spent in a stasis field.Then a report arrives of an evil spirit, a forvalaka, that has taken over one of their old enemies. It attacks them at a shadowgate--setting off a chain of events that will bring the Company to the edge of apocalypse and, as usual, several steps beyond.Glen Cook is the leading modern writer of epic fantasy noir, and Soldiers Live is Cook at his best. None of his legion of fans will want to miss it.


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Croaker has fallen and, following the Company's disastrous defeat at Dejagore, Lady is one of the few survivors--determined to avenge the Company and herself against the Shadowmasters, no matter what the cost.But in assembling a new fighting force from the dregs and rabble of Taglios, she finds herself offered help by a mysterious, ancient cult of murder--competent, reliable, and apparently committed to her goals.Meanwhile, far away, Shadowmasters conspire against one another and the world, weaving dark spells that reach into the heart of Taglios. And in a hidden grove, a familiar figure slowly awakens to find himself the captive of an animated, headless corpse.Mercilessly cutting through Taglian intrigues, Lady appears to be growing stronger every day. All that disturbs her are the dreams which afflict her by night--dreams of carnage, of destruction, of universal death, unceasing...


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Doomstalker (1985) is the first Fantasy novel in the Darkwar trilogy. It is set on a world far away in time and space where the meth live. In the Upper Ponath, they live in ignorance and poverty, but elsewhere the silth rule a world of technology and spaceflight. 

In this novel, Marilka is a ten year old meth in a litter of three pups. Her dam is Skiljan, head of a loghouse in the Degnan packstead. 

Kublin is another pup in the litter. He is small and weak, but has more intelligence than the other male littermate Zamberlin. 

In this story, Marilka and Kublin like to explore together. Marilka has less fear -- as appropriate for a female -- but Kublin follows her into very fearful situations. They have been testing their limits with the Machen Cave, where the Wise hold their rituals. 

Kublin detects something within the cave, but Marilka can only sense the presence of old Pohsit, the sagan of the Wise. But as she gets closer, Marilka begins to detects something scary within the cave. Both decide to go elsewhere. 

Pohsit has decided that Marilka is a silth. Marilka doesn't know what a silth is, but Pohsit wants her dead. And the death of Marilka will also lead to the death of her littermates.

Marilka and Kublin learn to run around and tire out Pohsit. But they keep returning to the cave. Although Marilka can now sense the thing, she still doesn't know what it is. 

Then the worse winter in living memory comes to the Upper Ponath. The Degnan huntresses gather meat and the males collect plants and firewood. Then the nomads invade the Upper Ponath in large numbers. 

Other meth packsteads in the area are overwhelmed. Then hundreds of nomads come to Degnan. The nomads lose many to the Degnan pack, but they eventually overrun the packstead. 

Runners sent to the packfast return with three silth. These kill or drive away the remaining nomads, but they take the three Degnan survivors back to the packfast. They insist that Marilka shall become a sister, as the silth call themselves. 

This tale exposes Marilka to advanced technology, but doesn't lead her to admiration of the sisters. She is trained in three ways, including the use of her powers. But much is withheld from her by the sisters. 

This story presents a change in the author's style. Over a decade after his first novel -- The Heirs of Babylon -- and the start of five series, the author tries something new. His previous works were about human cultures or something very similar. 

In this tale, the author depicts truly alien creatures loosely based on wolves. Then he shows a cultural clash between the primitives and the more advanced society. And he shows this conflict through the eyes of a primitive. 

This story ends with a cliffhanger. The next installment -- Warlock -- will reveal the extend of the disaster. Read and enjoy! 

Highly recommended for Cook fans and for anyone who enjoys tales of alien cultures, witch powers, and young heroines. 

-Arthur W. Jordin


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Marika, leader of the silth, who are known for their psychic powers, challenges her enemies with a plan to use solar mirrors in space to end the world's permanent winter


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In Old Tin Sorrows, hard-boiled private eye Garrett is back in action--trying to help out an old Army buddy, Blake Peters. Apparently, there is an unearthly plot on the life of Blake's boss, the wealthy General Stantnor. It is a tough case, but Garrett always gets his man, gnome or elf!


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The Stormwarden's children have been kidnapped and Garrett, P.I. is on the case. But caught between the bewitching beauty of a half-elf and the fearsome power of a horde of ogres, Garrett has to think twice before sacrificing all for a fortune in gold--after all, even in this enchanted land, he's only human.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Welcome to the world of the Instrumentalities of the Night, where imps, demons, and dark gods rule in the spaces surrounding upstart humanity. At the edges of the world stand walls of ice which push slowly forward to reclaim the land for the night. And at the world’s center, in the Holy Land where two great religions were born, are the Wells of Ihrain, the source of the greatest magics. Over the last century the Patriarchs of the West have demanded crusades to claim the Wells from the Pramans, the followers of the Written. Now an uneasy truce extends between the Pramans and the West, waiting for a spark to start the conflict anew.

 

Then, on a mission in the Holy Land, the young Praman warrior Else is attacked by a creature of the Dark—in effect, a minor god. Too ignorant to know that he can never prevail over such a thing, he fights it and wins, and in so doing, sets the terrors of the night against him.

 

As a reward for his success, Else is sent as a spy to the heart of the Patriarchy to direct their attention away from further ventures into the Holy Lands. Dogged by hidden enemies and faithless allies, Else witnesses senseless butchery and surprising acts of faith as he penetrates to the very heart of the Patriarchy and rides alongside their armies in a new crusade against his own people. But the Night rides with him, too, sending two of its once-human agents from the far north to assassinate him.

 

Submerged in his role, he begins to doubt his faith, his country, even his family. As his mission careens out of control, he faces unanswerable questions about his future. It is said that God will know his own, but can one who has slain gods ever know forgiveness?


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

It’s cold.  The wells of power are weakening and the forces of Night grow strong. The gods are real, and still have some power, mostly to do harm.  The Instrumentalities of the Night are the worst of these.

 

Piper Hecht, born Else Tage, survived a battle with the Instrumentalities. Now he’s Captain-General of the armies fighting a crusade for Patriarch Sublime V. Intrigues swirl around the throne of the Grail Empire, as the imperial family’s enemy Anne of Menand raises money to help the perpetually indebted Patriarch finance his crusades. To reduce his own vulnerability, sickly young Emperor Lothar assigns his two half-sisters—his immediate heirs—to their own realms.

 

Now Piper Hecht learns that the legendary sorcerer Cloven Februaren, referred to as the Ninth Unknown, is still alive, more than 100 years old, and on Piper’s side. As the dynastic politics of the Empire become even more convoluted, it’s clear that while the old gods may be fading, they’re determined to do everything they can to bend the doings of men to their own advantage.  

 

Sieges, explosions, betrayals, Anti-Patriarchs, and suspicious deaths will ensue as the great chess game plays itself out, with Piper Hecht at the center of it all…


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A young boy's dreams of glory and war turn into a bitter nightmare as his father's kingdom is overrun by an invading army. Lost and alone in the woods, he finds an ancient sword that promises him the ability to claim his vengeance. As he begins to take that vengeance, he comes to realize the price that the sword will demand of him. Enemies soon become allies and strange bedfellows abound as the prophesies of an age swirl into chaos.


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Marika, now a psychic adept in the Maksche Cloister of Silth, faces new challenges as she befriends the tradermale Bagnel, uncovers a renegade Silth sect, and confronts the mysterious, powerful Warlock


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It should have been a simple job. But for Garrett, a human detective in a world of gnomes, tracking down the woman to whom his dead pal Danny left a fortune in silver is no slight task. Even with the aid of Morley, the toughest half-elf around, Garrett isn't sure he'll make it out alive from a land where magic can be murder, the dead still talk, and vampires are always hungry for human blood.


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She is tall, blonde, and offering Garrett an irresistible fee to take a case that seems open-and-shut. But in a town of elves and humans, thugs and swindlers - a place where magic and religion could prove an all to potent mix - Garrett had learned to take a long, hard look before saying yes. Garret's doubts are confirmed when the Grand Inquisitor comes looking for his help in the lovely lady's wake. But even a hard-boiled detective like Garret, with the Dead Man for an ally and the toughest half-elf in town guarding his back, can find that it's too late to say no. Turns out Garret's been fingered as the latest sacrifice to a long-dead god - and his only chance to save his neck is to solve the case.


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When the former mistress of the now-defunct king hires Garrett to find her missing teenaged daughter, the human detective gets more than he bargained for in a world full of suspects, sex, and corpses. Original.


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Garet , P. I., is on the case There are some new gods in the town of TunFaire, but temple real estate on the Street of Dreams is at a premium. So the big gods on the block issued a challenge-find the "key" to the one temple still available. When two rival pantheons try to hire Garrett, he knows he is in for it...


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The vendetta in space... had started centuries before "Mouse" Storm was born ... with his grandfather's raid on the planet Prefactlas, the blood bath that freed the human slaves from their Sangaree masters. But one Sangaree survived -- the young Norborn heir, the man who swore vengeance on the Storm family and their soldiers, in a carefully mapped plot that would take generations to fulfill. Now Mouse's father Gneaus must fight for an El Dorado of wealth on the burning half of the planet Blackworld. As the great private armies of all space clash on the narrow Shadowline that divides inferno from life-sheltering shade, Gneaus' half- brother Michael plays his traitorous games, and a man called Death pulls the deadly strings that threaten to entrap them all -- as the Starfishers Trilogy begins.


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If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl—someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment—not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.   Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.


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The nail-biting climax to Kelley Armstrong's bestselling Darkest Powers trilogyChloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, Chloe happens to be a genetically engineered necromancer who can raise the dead without even trying. She and her equally gifted (or should that be 'cursed'?) friends are now running for their lives from the evil corporation that created them. As if that's not enough, Chloe is struggling with her feelings for Simon, a sweet-tempered sorcerer, and his brother Derek, a not so sweet-tempered werewolf. And she has a horrible feeling she's leaning towards the werewolf...Definitely not normal.


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After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home. At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Since the end of the war, there had always been bigotry against non-humans in TunFaire. Even though many species had sacrificed in battle, some groups of humans thought the "Golden Rule" translated to  "Humans rule. Now give us your gold." With the streets descending into bloody race riots, and the organized "human" brotherhoods flexing both physical and economic muscle, TunFaire was a hairsbreadth from total chaos. Garrett is a wise-guy private investigator who speaks loudly and carries a big stick.  Backed by a circle of friends no one would wish on their worst enemy Garrett is caught in a conspiracy of hate that pits man against.everybody!  Praise for Glen Cook:  "Lively homage to Chandler and company, with plenty of suspects, sex, and corpses...Cook turns fantasy inside out!" --*Locus*  "Garrett spouts argot and attitude worthy of the hardest-boiled detective who ever pounded mean streets...fun to read!" --*Fantasy Review*  "Fast-paced adventure that combines sword and sorcery with hard-boiled detective fiction!" --*Library Journal*


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A series far ahead of its time, now back in print Anyone else would have learned by now: when trouble comes knocking, don't open the door. But there's a reason why Garrett's still in the P.I. business after all these years-he's not one to learn his lessons. Maybe that's why he lets himself get roped into being a bodyguard for Kip Prose, an obnoxious kid being threatened by creatures that can't quite be described. But before Kip Prose has a chance to explain what he's done to get on the hit list of some nameless nasties, the precocious Prose is abducted, and the chase begins...


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In TunFaire, a city of gorgeous women, powerful sorcerers and dangerous magic, the beautiful, criminally insane daughter of a comatose crime boss has some lascivious designs on private investigator Garrett-who now has to figure out why everyone is suddenly after him.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Garrett uncovers the dark side of the fantasy city TunFaire, where no-one is to be trusted especially beautiful woman. When a pack of gorgeous woman knock on his door, Garrett knows it-s too good to be true. The leader of the group is Alyx Weider, the daughter of the largest brewer in town. Her father and friends are opening a new theater in TunFaire and the lovely ladies are there to persuade Garrett to help get rid of the paranormal parasites living in the new construction. Garrett agrees because after all, it means free beer and the company of these beautiful girls. What else could a man want? But Garrett doesn-t realize the drama he-s stepping into.


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The Starfishers hope to gain control of Stars' End, an artificial planet which can insure their survival against the Confederation and the forces of the Sangaree


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In high school, Bill Brannon was head over heels for his childhood friend Lettie Campbell. Twelve years later, Bill has almost forgotten his crush on the wild and feisty Lettie. Almost. But when fate reunites them, he realizes that some opportunities shouldn't be missed. Lettie Campbell wants to start her own business--designing lingerie. Her dream is going to become a reality with the cash she's bringing in as a cheating consultant at My Alibi, a company that lies for cheaters 24/7. When her sister, Amy, asks her to help a friend by providing an alibi, Lettie agrees. Lying to strangers is easy. But lying to the friend you've had since fifth grade is hard.As the lies pile up and Lettie and Bill burn up the sheets, she will have to come clean. Because the person she's lying to is Bill--and no amount of lies will help her when he discovers he's been conned.


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Drummond Clark was once a spy of legendary proportions. Now Alzheimer's disease has taken its toll and he's just a confused old man who's wandered away from home, waiting for his son to fetch him. When Charlie Clark takes a break from his latest losing streak at the track to bring Drummond back to his Brooklyn home, they find it blown sky high-and then bullets start flying in every direction. At first, Charlie thinks his Russian "creditors" are employing aggressive collection tactics. But once Drummond effortlessly hot-wires a car as their escape vehicle, Charlie begins to suspect there's much more to his father than meets the eye. He soon discovers that Drummond's unremarkable career as an appliance salesman was actually a clever cover for an elaborate plan to sell would-be terrorists faulty nuclear detonators. Drummond's intricate knowledge of the "device" is extremely dangerous information to have rattling around in an Alzheimer's-addled brain. The CIA wants to "contain" him--and so do some other shady characters who send Charlie and Drummond on a wild chase that gives "father and son quality time" a whole new meaning. With Once a Spy, Keith Thomson makes his debut on the thriller stage with energy, wit, and style to spare. From the Hardcover edition.


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Popular fantasy author Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld series) makes her first foray into crime fiction, with the debut of a series of non-paranormal novels featuring female assassin Nadia Stafford. Nadia Stafford is one of the world's few female contract killers. A former cop, drummed out of the force because of a scandal, she is an expert at disguise and cool under pressure. But when fellow hitman Jack arrives on the scene, Nadia's very private existence is seriously challenged. A series of victims are being murdered seemingly at random all over the country -- different areas, different walks of life, different MOs. There is nothing to tie them together except a random page torn out of a single book: "Helter Skelter," But does the Helter Skelter killer -- as the hysterical media now dub him -- have a real connection to Charles Manson? Or is there something even more sinister at work? Is this, in fact -- as Jack believes -- the carefully planned exit strategy of a fellow professional killer, determined to leave the life, but equally determined to clear up an old mistake? And, if so, which is the real victim? Now, the highly suspicious and secretive hitman community will have to break their cover -- at least, to each other -- and help take down this killer before the cops and the Feds discover his true connection to their own secret, exclusive society... .


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Columbus is a small, fading town, untouched by the twenty-first century. But when three young women are found dead - victims of what appear to be ritual murders - things start to get very dark, and very dangerous...Private investigator Savannah Levine can handle 'dark and dangerous'. As the daughter of a black witch, she has a lot of power running through her veins, and she's not afraid to use it. But her arrival in Columbus has not gone unnoticed. Savannah may think she's tracking down a murderer, but could she be the killer's next target?Of course she could always ask her old friend (and half-demon) Adam Vasic for back up. But Savannah has her own - very personal reasons - for keeping Adam well away from Columbus. And in any case, she can rely on her own powers. Can't she...?A tense, compelling mystery with a supernatural kick, Waking the Witch is the brilliantly imagined and deeply satisfying new book from international bestseller Kelley Armstrong.


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The author of the acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series returns with her latest novel featuring an exciting heroine with a lethal hidden talent. This time she’s hot on the trail of a young woman no one else cares about—and a killer who’s bound to strike again.Nadia Stafford isn’t your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, she’s known only as “Dee” to her current employer: a New York crime family that pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance and her old instincts go into overdrive.With her enigmatic mentor, Jack, covering her back, Nadia unearths sinister clues that point to an increasingly darker and deadlier mystery. Now, with her obsession over the case deepening, the only way Nadia can right the wrongs of the present is to face her own painful ghosts—and either bury them for good, or die trying. Because in her book everyone deserves a chance. And everyone deserves justice.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Human civilisation as we know it has ended. What next? The world lies devastated after the massive oil crisis that was described in LAST LIGHT. Human society has more or less entirely broken down and millions lie dead of starvation and disease. There are only one or two beacon communities that have managed to fashion a new way of living.Jenny Sutherland runs one of these groups. Based on a series of decaying offshore oil-rigs - for safety - a few hundred people have rebuilt a semblance of normality in this otherwise dead world.But as she and her people start to explore their surroundings once again, they start to realise not every survivor has the same vision of a better future than their catastrophic past. There are people out there who would take everything they have. War is coming, and the stakes are truly massive...


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It begins on a very normal Monday morning. But in the space of only a few days, the world's oil supplies have been severed and at a horrifying pace things begin to unravel everywhere. This is no natural disastersomeone is behind this. Oil engineer Andy Sutherland is stranded in Iraq with a company of British soldiers, desperate to find a way home, trapped as the very infrastructure of daily life begins to collapse around him. Back in Britain, his wife Jenny is stuck in Manchester, fighting desperately against the rising chaos to get back to their children in London as events begin to spiral out of controlriots, raging fires, looting, rape, and murder. In the space of a week, London is transformed into an anarchic vision of hell. Meanwhile, a mysterious man is tracking Andy's family. He'll silence anyone who can reveal the identities of those behind this global disaster. The people with a stranglehold on the future of civilization have flexed their muscles at other significant tipping points in history, and they are prepared to do anything to keep their secretand their powersafe.


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It's early April 1945, deep in the bloodied days of World War II. The Nazi regime is being slowly throttled by the oncoming Russian and Allied armies and Hitler rages uselessly in his Berlin bunker. But the high command have one more throw of the dice to make. An audacious plan is hatched to save the Fatherland and beat off the oncoming apocalypse. All it will take is a hodge-podge squadron of escort fighters, a captured U.S. bomber, and one brave but suicidal pilot to fly it over the Atlantic into the beating heart of America. Half a century later, a rusting plane is discovered, sunk with its crew, off the coast of New Yorka relic from a bygone age. Chris Roland, a brilliant young photographer, is sent to take photos of this time capsule. But it is only when he discovers that the fragments of Nazi uniforms on the decaying corpses that he realizes that he has come across a secret so terrible that even 50 years later it could still kill him.


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There once was a girl who liked to pretend she was lost. . . . Meg Rosenthal is driving toward the next chapter in her life. Winding along a wooded roadway, her car moves through a dense forest setting not unlike one in the bedtime stories Meg used to read to her daughter, Sally. But the girl riding beside Meg is a teenager now, and has exchanged the land of make-believe for an iPod and some personal space. Too much space, it seems, as the chasm between them has grown since the sudden, unexpected death of Meg's husband.  Dire financial straits and a desire for a fresh start take Meg and Sally from a comfortable life on Long Island to a tucked-away hamlet in upstate New York: Arcadia Falls, where Meg has accepted a teaching position at a boarding school. The creaky, neglected cottage Meg and Sally are to call home feels like an ill portent of things to come, but Meg is determined to make the best of it--and to make a good impression on the school's dean, the diminutive, elegant Ivy St. Clare. St. Claire, however, is distracted by a shocking crisis: During Arcadia's First Night bonfire, one of Meg's folklore students, Isabel Cheney, plunges to her death in a campus gorge. Sheriff Callum Reade finds Isabel's death suspicious, but then, he is a man with secrets and a dark past himself. Meg is unnerved by Reade's interest in the girl's death, and as long-buried secrets emerge, she must face down her own demons and the danger threatening to envelop Sally. As the past clings tight to the present, the shadows, as if in a terrifying fairy tale, grow longer and deadlier. In Arcadia Falls, award-winning author Carol Goodman deftly weaves a mesmerizing narrative of passion: for revenge, for art, for love. "From the Hardcover edition."


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2008: Deep in the mountain forests of Wyoming, Julian Cooke stumbles across the rotting remains of a wooden wagon. He's discovered what's left of the Preston Group, a convoy of settlers that vanished in the winter of 1856. It's clear that something horrific happened here all those years ago, but Cooke can only find a few tantalising clues.1856: as early snows descend, the eclectic group of settlers that form the Preston wagon train are forced to dig in. Miles from any kind of civilisation, they see the group of Native Americans also trapped nearby as their greatest threat. But they soon realise what true danger is. When a woman is found murdered, one of the Indian party struggles wounded back to camp, whispering of unspeakable evil as he dies. United by fear, the settlers and the Indians must protect themselves against whatever is lurking in the woods. But as suspicion and panic grow, perhaps their own terror will be just as dangerous. Or maybe, whatever's out there is worse than anything they can imagine.Back in the present day, as Cooke unravels the mystery, he must question if the horror he is uncovering was in fact only the start of something much worse...


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In Stealing Light, Dakota discovered the Shoal's dark and dangerous secret, now she works towards stopping not only the spread of this knowledge, but also the onset of the Nova war. Found adrift near a Bandati colony world far away from Consortium space, Dakota and Corso find themselves prisoners of the Bandati. It becomes rapidly clear to them, that the humanity's limited knowledge of the rest of the galaxy ' filtered through the Shoal ' is direly inaccurate. The Shoal have been fighting a frontier war with a rival species, the Emissaries, with their own FTL technology for over fifteen thousand years. Realising that the Shoal may be the Galaxy's one chance at sustained peace, Dakota is forced to work with Trader to prevent the spread of deadly knowledge carried on board the Magi ships. But it seems that the Nova War is inevitable'Ś


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The nova war has begun to spread as the Emissaries wage a fierce and reckless campaign, encroaching on the area of space occupied by humanity and forcing the Shoal into a desperate retreat. While Dakota goes in search of the entity responsible for creating the Maker caches, Corso, left in charge of a fleet of human-piloted Magi ships, finds his authority crumbling in the face of assassination attempts and politically-motivated sabotage. If any hope exists at all, it lies in an abandoned asteroid a thousand light-years beyond the Consortium's borders, and with Ty Whitecloud, the only man alive with the skill to decipher the messages left behind by an ancient race of star travellers. Unfortunately Whitecloud is locked in a prison cell aboard a dying coreship adrift in space, awaiting execution for war crimes against Corso's own people. But if humanity has any hope of survival, Corso is going to have to find some way to keep him alive - and that's only if Dakota doesn't kill him first ...


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In the 25th century, only the Shoal possess the secret of faster-than-light travel (FTL), giving them absolute control over all trade and exploration throughout the galaxy. Mankind has operated within their influence for two centuries, establishing a dozen human colony worlds scattered along Shoal trade routes.  Dakota Merrick, while serving as a military pilot, has witnessed atrocities for which this alien race is responsible. Now piloting a civilian cargo ship, she is currently ferrying an exploration team to a star system containing a derelict starship. From its wreckage, her passengers hope to salvage a functioning FTL drive of mysteriously non-Shoal origin. But the Shoal are not yet ready to relinquish their monopoly over a technology they acquired through ancient genocide.


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THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF THE SMART, SEXY — SUPERNATURAL — WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLDEve Levine — half-demon, black witch and devoted mother — has been dead for three years. She has a great house, an interesting love life and can’t be killed again — which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve. Yes, the afterlife isn’t too bad — all she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy.But fate — or more exactly, the Fates — have other plans. Eve owes them a favor, and they’ve just called it in. An evil spirit called the Nix has escaped from hell. She feeds on chaos and death, and is very good at persuading people to kill for her. The Fates want Eve to hunt her down before she does any more damage, but the Nix is a dangerous enemy — previous hunters have been driven insane in the process. As if that’s not problem enough, the only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword. And Eve is no angel. . . .


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In this thrilling new novel from the author of Industrial Magic, a pregnant werewolf may have unwittingly unleashed Jack the Ripper on twenty-first-century—and become his next target.Ever since she discovered she’s pregnant, Elena Michaels has been on edge. After all, she’s never heard of another living female werewolf, let alone one who’s given birth. But thankfully, her expertise is needed to retrieve a stolen letter allegedly written by Jack the Ripper. As a distraction, the job seems simple enough—only the letter contains a portal to Victorian London’s underworld, which Elena inadvertently triggers—unleashing a vicious killer and a pair of zombie thugs. Now Elena must find a way to seal the portal before the unwelcome visitors get what they’re looking for—which, for some unknown reason, is Elena.


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Readers around the world have fallen for Kelley Armstrong’s intoxicating, sensual and wicked tales of the paranormal, in which demons and witches, werewolves and vampires collide – often hilariously, sometimes violently – with everyday life. In Armstrong’s first six novels, Elena, Paige and Eve have had their way with us. Now get ready for Jaime Vegas, the luscious, lovelorn and haunted necromancer. . .Jaime, who knows a thing or two about showbiz, is on a television shoot in Los Angeles when weird things start to happen. As a woman whose special talent is raising the dead, her threshold for weirdness is pretty high: she’s used to not only seeing dead people but hearing them speak to her in very emphatic terms. But for the first time in her life – as invisible hands brush her skin, unintelligible fragments of words are whispered into her ears, and beings move just at the corner of her eye–she knows what humans mean when they talk about being haunted.She is determined to get to the bottom of these manifestations, but as she sets out to solve the mystery she has no idea how scary her investigation will get, or to what depths ordinary humans will sink in their attempts to gain supernatural powers. As she digs into the dark underside of Los Angeles, she’ll need as much Otherworld help as she can get in order to survive, calling on her personal angel, Eve, and Hope, the well-meaning chaos demon. Jeremy, the alpha werewolf, is also by her side offering protection. And, Jaime hopes, maybe a little more than that.“As I knelt on the cobblestones to begin the ritual, I opened not some ancient leather pouch, but a Gucci make-up bag. . . .I know little about the geography and theology of the afterlife, but I do know that the worst spirits are kept secured, and my risk of “accidentally” tapping into a hell dimension is next to nil. Even if I do bring back some depraved killer’s spirit, what can it do to me? When you deprive someone of the ability to act in the living world, he’s pretty darned helpless. In death, even the worst killer plummets from lethal to merely annoying.Yet whatever had been trying to contact me apparently could cross that barrier, could act in the living world. . .at least on me. I added an extra helping of vervain to the censer.”—from No Humans InvolvedFrom the Hardcover edition.


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In her acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong has created a scintillating realm where the supernatural and the human coexist on the edge of darkness, romance, and eternity. Now Armstrong tells the captivating tale of a young woman with an insatiable lust for danger. She can’t help it. It’s in her blood. Tabloid reporter Hope Adams appears to live the life of an ordinary working girl. But in addition to possessing the beauty of a Bollywood princess, Hope has other unique traits. For she is a half demon—a human fathered by a demon. And she’s inherited not only a gift for seeing the past but a hunger for chaos—along with a talent for finding it wherever she can. Naturally, when she’s chosen by a very dangerous group for a very dangerous mission, she jumps at the chance…. The head of the powerful Cortez Cabal—a family that makes the mob look like amateurs—has a little problem in Miami: a gang of wealthy, bored offspring of supernaturals is getting out of hand, and Hope is needed to infiltrate. As spells, astral projections, and pheromones soar across South Beach, Hope weaves her way through its elite hot spots, posing as upscale eye candy and reading the auras of the clientele—and potential marks. As it turns out, Hope is a little too good at this job. And soon she’s in a little too deep, needing to be bailed out by her jewel-thief werewolf ex-boyfriend and by the Cortez heir himself. And when a killer goes to work, Hope is among many targets at the pinnacle of Cabal rule. For a woman who didn’t know what she was getting into, there’s only one way out: it’s time for Hope to unleash her most potent primal instincts—and open herself, mind and body, to everything she most fears . . . and desires. Sexy and suspenseful, Personal Demon is a thrill ride through a world on the wild side of our own. From the Hardcover edition.


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They’re smart, sexy, and supernatural. They’re the men and women of the Otherworld—a realm of witches, ghosts, and werewolves who live unseen among us. Only now a reckless killer has torn down the wall, trapping one very human woman in the supernatural cross fire.  Robyn Peltier moved to Los Angeles after her young husband’s sudden death, trying to put some distance between herself and her memories. Though she’s still grieving, the challenges of her new life as the PR consultant to Portia Kane—the world’s most famous celebutante wannabe—can sometimes be amusing, even distracting. But when her client is gunned down in the back room of a nightclub, Robyn is suddenly on the run as the prime suspect in the murder. And as more bodies pile up around her, it seems like only Hope Adams, Robyn’s best friend, and Hope’s somewhat spooky boyfriend Karl are on Robyn’s side. Hope Adams follows the kinds of stories whose headlines scream from supermarket checkout lines. But the difference is that Hope’s stories are even weirder—and they’re all true. Though determined to help Robyn, Hope knows it’s only a matter of time before her friend is caught. But it’s not the police Hope is worried about. For Robyn has gotten herself in the middle of a turf war between two powerful Otherworld cabals who’ll spill any amount of blood—human and inhuman—to protect what they consider theirs for all eternity. And the only way Hope can keep her friend alive is by letting her enter a world she’s safer knowing nothing about.From the Hardcover edition.


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"New York Times" bestselling author Kelley Armstrong has captivated readers with her spellbinding Women of the Otherworld series. Now, for the first time, in this collection of four tales she gives center stage to the men who love these sexy, supernatural women--the men who live on the other side of humanity...the "wild" side. As a curious six-year-old, Clayton didn't resist the bite--he asked for it. But surviving as a lone child-werewolf was more than he could manage--until Jeremy came along and taught him how to straddle the human-werewolf worlds, gave him a home...and introduced him to the Pack. So begins this tantalizing volume, featuring three of the most intriguing members of the American Pack--a hierarchical founding family where bloodlines mean everything and each day presents a new, thrilling, and often deadly challenge. For as Clayton grows from a wild child to a clever teen who tests his beloved mentor at every turn, he must learn not only to control his animal instincts but to navigate Pack politics--including showing his brutal archnemesis, Malcolm, who the real Alpha is.... From the nature of fear, weakness, and courage, to the triumph of belonging and the complications of love and loyalty, these mesmerizing tales reveal the trials of a werewolf coming-of-age, and lay bare the hearts and minds of the men strong enough for the women of the Otherworld--and adept enough to take on two worlds. "From the Hardcover edition."


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An erotically charged, addictive thriller from the future queen of suspense.Living in Toronto for a year, Elena is leading the normal life she has always dreamed of, including a stable job as a journalist and a nice apartment shared with her boyfriend. As the lone female werewolf in existence, only her secret midnight prowls and her occasional inhuman cravings set her apart. Just one year ago, life was very different. Adopted by the Pack when bitten, Elena had spent years struggling with her resentment at having her life stolen away. Torn between two worlds, and overwhelmed by the new passions coursing through her body, her only option for control was to deny her awakening needs and escape.But now the Pack has called Elena home to help them fight an alliance of renegade werewolves who are bent on exposing and annihilating the Pack. And although Elena is obliged to rejoin her "family," she vows not to be swept up in Pack life again, no matter how natural it might feel. She has made her choice. Trouble is, she's increasingly uncertain if it's the right one.An erotically charged thriller, **Bitten** will awaken the voracious appetite of every reader, as the age-old battle between man and beast, between human and inhuman forces, comes to a head in one small town and within one woman's body.*From the Paperback edition.*


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International acclaim for Kelley Armstrong's sophisticated debut novel, Bitten, is steadily growing. It was in Bitten that thirty-year-old Elena Michaels came to terms with her feral appetites and claimed the proud identity of a beautiful, successful woman-and the only living female werewolf.  In "Stolen," on a mission for her own elite pack, she is lured into the net of ruthless Internet billionaire Tyrone Winsloe, who has funded a bogus scientific investigation of the "other races" and their supernatural powers. Kidnapped and studied in his underground lab deep in the Maine woods, these paranormals-witches, vampires, shamans, werewolves-are then released and hunted to the death in a real-world video game. But when Winsloe captures Elena, he meets his match.  Suspenseful, chilling, and witty, "Stolen" is a novel of rich and amazing versatility.


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From one of today’s most original writers comes the mesmerizing tale of an exceptional young woman caught up in an otherworldly realm where some will stop at nothing to get what they want.Dime Store MagicPaige Winterbourne was always either too young or too rebellious to succeed her mother as leader of one of the world’s most powerful elite organizations—the American Coven of Witches. Now that she is twenty-three and her mother is dead, the Elders can no longer deny her. But even Paige’s wildest antics can’t hold a candle to those of her new charge—an orphan who is all too willing to use her budding powers for evil...and evil is all too willing to claim her. For this girl is being pursued by a dark faction of the supernatural underworld. They are a vicious group who will do anything to woo the young, malleable, and extremely powerful neophyte, including commit murder—and frame Paige for the crime. It’s an initiation into adulthood, womanhood, and the brutal side of magic that Paige will have to do everything within her power to make sure they both survive.


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Meet the smart, sexy — supernatural — women of the otherworld. This is not your mother’s coven...Kelley Armstrong returns with the eagerly awaited follow-up to Dime Store Magic. Paige Winterbourne, a headstrong young woman haunted by a dark legacy, is now put to the ultimate test as she fights to save innocents from the most insidious evil of all.. . .In the aftermath of her mother’s murder, Paige broke with the elite, ultraconservative American Coven of Witches. Now her goal is to start a new Coven for a new generation. But while Paige pitches her vision to uptight thirty-something witches in business suits, a more urgent matter commands her attention.Someone is murdering the teenage offspring of the underworld’s most influential Cabals — a circle of families that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful than the Cortez Cabal, a faction Paige is intimately acquainted with. Lucas Cortez, the rebel son and unwilling heir, is none other than her boyfriend. But love isn’t blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt for an unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it’s a battle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry. If she gets the chance.


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When Kinsey Millhone first arrives in Floral Beach, California, it’s hard for her to picture the idyllic coastal town as the setting of a brutal murder. Seventeen years ago, the body of Jean Timberlake—a troubled teen who had a reputation with the boys—was found on the beach. Her boyfriend Bailey Fowler was convicted of her murder and imprisoned, but he escaped. After all this time, Bailey’s finally been captured. Believing in his son’s innocence, Bailey’s father wants Kinsey to find Jean’s real killer. But most of the residents in this tight-knit community are convinced Bailey strangled Jean. So why are they so reluctant to answer Kinsey’s questions? If there’s one thing Kinsey’s got plenty of it’s persistence. And that’s exactly what it’s going to take to crack the lid on this case.As Kinsey gets closer to solving Jean’s murder, the more dirty little secrets she uncovers in a town where everyone has something to hide—and a killer will kill again to keep the past buried...


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"One of the sassiest, most appealing of the recent spate of female gunshoes . . . 'G' is for glorious, galloping read, and I can't wait for 'H' ."--Louise Bernikow, CosmopolitanGood and bad things seem to be coming in threes for Kinsey Millhone: on her thirty-third birthday she moves back into her renovated apartment, gets hired to find an elderly lady supposedly living in the Mojave Desert by herself, and makes the top of ex-con Tyrone Patty's hit list. It's the last that convinces Kinsey even she can't handle whoever's been hired to whack her, and she gets herself a bodyguard: Robert Dietz, a Porsche-driving P.I. who takes guarding Kinsey's body very seriously. With Dietz watching her for the merest sign of her usual recklessness, Kinsey plunges into her case. And before it's over, she'll unearth the gruesome truth about a long-buried betrayal and, in the process, come fact-to-face with her own mortality. . . . "Wit is the most versatile weapon in Sue Grafton's well-stocked arsenal, and she uses it with disarming precision. . . . Grafton excels in this milieu."--Newsweek"The story is complex; the body-count high; the sexual encounters feverish; and the villains chilling--in another can't-put-it-down outing for this talented author."--Kirkus ReviewsFrom the Paperback edition.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

* #1 *New York Times* bestselling author Sue Grafton’s PI Kinsey Millhone tackles insurance fraud in her latest outing—and finds that she’ll have to commit some deceit of her own to catch a cold-blooded killer…*

**H IS FOR HUSTLER…**

When PI Kinsey Millhone’s good friend and colleague Parnell Perkins is found murdered in the parking lot behind California Fidelity Insurance, she can’t believe he had any enemies. The only clue that raises a red flag for Kinsey is one of Parnell’s files on a Bibianna Diaz, who appears to have made a lucrative career out of scamming insurance companies with phony claims… 

**H IS FOR HAZARDOUS…**

Taking an alias, Kinsey goes undercover to befriend Bibianna, hoping she’ll get close enough to catch the con artist at her own game. But Kinsey never dreams that hanging out with Bibianna will get them both thrown in jail. And when they’re released, Bibianna’s very jealous, very dangerous ex-fiancé Raymond Maldonado is waiting for them. 

***H IS FOR HOMICIDE***

Kinsey soon discovers the short-tempered thug is the kingpin behind Bibianna’s and countless other phony insurance claims. But was Raymond also responsible for Parnell’s death? All Kinsey knows is that she’ll have to think quick to nab one of the most treacherous criminals she’s come face to face with—and keep herself alive…


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When David Barney was acquitted in the shooting death of his wife, Isabelle, a good many thought that justice had not been served -- including Kenneth Voight, Isabelle's former husband. Now, five years later, Voight is the plaintiff in a civil suit in which Barney stands accused of Isabelle's wrongful death. The stakes are high -- Isabelle's estate is worth millions -- but time is running short: the statute of limitations will cut Voight off in only a matter of weeks. Enter sexy, savvy ex-cop-turned-P.I. Kinsey Millhone, brought in by Voight to gather the necessary damning evidence. It doesn't take long, however, for Kinsey to find that while a lot of people hate David Barney, a lot more hated Isabelle. Suddenly a simple civil case becomes a deadly hunt for someone who once got away with murder -- and may again....Look for other titles in the Alphabet Mystery Series published by Random House AudioBooks.Judy Kaye has appeared on Broadway in Oh, Brother, Grease, and On the Twentieth Century, and won the Tony Award for her performance in The Phantom of the Opera.


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'On the face of it, you wouldn't think there was any connection between the murder of a dead man and the events that changes my perceptions about my life...' For Kinsey Millhone, the investigation started with a surprise visit from an ex-colleague at California Fidelity - the company that had fired her nine months previously. Fives hours later she was on a plane to Mexico, hot on the trial of a suicide who'd allegedly just come back to life. After a five year wait, Wendell Jaffe's widow had finally succeeded in having the real estate swindler declared dead, collecting half a million dollars for her pains. Now it looks like a 'pseudocide' - and Kinsey's ready to risk everything to get to the truth. 'Friendlishly clever...better than anything else that's currently on offer' - "Literary Review".


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**READ THE SENSATIONAL BLOCKBUSTER THAT STARTED IT ALL!**



*Take it from the top in #*1 New York Times* bestselling author Sue Grafton’s knockout thriller that introduced detective Kinsey Millhoneand a hot new attitudeto crime fiction*

**

**A IS FOR AVENGER**

A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.



**A IS FOR ACCUSED**

That’s why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki’s bad name won’t be easy.



***A IS FOR ALIBI***

If there’s one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it’s playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closerand sharperthan she imagined.


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Although business has been slow lately for P.I. Kinsey Millhone, she’s reluctant to take on the case of locating Beverly Danziger’s sister Elaine Boldt. It’s a small matter that Beverly should be able to handle herself. So why is she enlisting Kinsey’s services? Beverly claims she needs Elaine’s signature on some documents so that she can collect a small inheritance. But the whole affair doesn’t sit well with Kinsey. And if there’s something she’s learned in her line of work, it’s to always follow your instincts… Kinsey’s hunch proves true when she begins her inquiries into Elaine’s whereabouts and discovers that the attractive widow was last seen in a flashy lynx coat boarding a plane for Boca Raton. But the more Kinsey searches for Elaine the more questions she encounters. Is Elaine’s disappearance tied in to the brutal murder several months ago of one of her bridge partners? And what happened to Elaine’s Persian cat who seems to have also vanished?Things take a turn for the worse when a stranger vandalizes the home of one of Elaine’s neighbors and another neighbor turns up murdered. With her reputation and career on the line, Kinsey risks all to find a missing woman and a killer who’s waiting in the shadows to strike again…


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How do you go about solving an attempted murder when the victim has lost a good part of his memory? It’s one of Kinsey’s toughest cases yet, but she never backs down from a challenge. Twenty-three-year-old Bobby Callahan is lucky to be alive after a car forced his Porsche over a bridge and into a canyon. The crash left Bobby with a clouded memory. But he can’t shake the feeling it was no random accident and that he’s still in danger…The only clues Kinsey has to go on are a little red address book and the name “Blackman.” Bobby can’t remember who he gave the address book to for safekeeping. And any chances of Bobby regaining his memory are dashed when he’s killed in another automobile accident just three days after he hires Kinsey. As Kinsey digs deeper into her investigation, she discovers Bobby had a secret worth killing for—and unearthing that secret could send Kinsey to her own early death…


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When Alvin Limardo walks into P.I. Kinsey Millhone’s office, she smells bad news. He wants Kinsey to deliver $25,000. The recipient: A fifteen-year-old boy. It’s a simple matter. So simple that Kinsey wonders why he doesn’t deliver the money himself. She’s almost certain something is off. But with rent due, Kinsey accepts Limardo’s retainer against her better judgment…When Limardo’s check bounces, Kinsey discovers she’s been had big time. Alvin Limardo is really John Daggett—an ex-con with a drinking problem, two wives to boot, and a slew of people who would like to see him dead. Now Kinsey is out four hundred dollars and in hot pursuit of Daggett. When Daggett’s corpse shows up floating in the Santa Teresa surf, the cops rule the death an accident. Kinsey thinks it’s murder. But seeking justice for a man who everyone seemed to despise is going to be a lot tougher than she bargained for—and what awaits her at the end of the road is much more disturbing than she could’ve ever imagined…


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Tom Newquist had been a detective in the Nota Lake sheriff's office--a tough, honest cop respected by everyone. When he died suddenly, the townfolk were sad but not surprised. Just shy of sixty-five, Newquist worked too hard, drank too much, and exercised too little.Newquist's widow, Selma, didn't doubt the coroner's report. But still, she couldn't help wondering what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life. What was it that had made him prowl restlessly at night and brood constantly? Determined to help Selma find the answer, Kinsey Millhone sets up shop in Nota Lake, where she finds that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood--very likely, her own. . . .


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Wise-cracking, staunchly independent, and chronically curious, Grafton's gritty gumshoe Kinsey Millhone is back. This time, the alphabet series star will take on the toughest case to date: her past. What begins as a random phone call from a "storage space scavenger" (someone who buys the contents of defaulted storage units) leads Kinsey to a box of old papers and personal effects that her ex-husband, Mickey Magruder, left behind. Inside, she finds a 15-year-old unsent letter from a bartender that, among other things, reveals her former hubby was having an affair. The letter also contains details about the murder of a transient--a crime for which Mickey was blamed. Although never convicted, Mickey was ruined--losing his job, wife, and friends. But 15 years later, Kinsey realizes that foul play may have been involved in the murder, a deadly temptation for her. Die-hard fans will especially enjoy Kinsey's self-disclosure--something she's infamous for not doing--about her childhood, the fate of her parents, and the randy details of her first marriage. A very vulnerable and interesting side to Kinsey's character is also revealed when her obsessive-compulsive fact-finding bent is mixed up with matters of the heart. A fast, fun read, O Is for Outlaw is packed with Grafton's clear, colorful imagery and signature metaphors: "Our recollection of the past is not simply distorted by our faulty perception of events remembered, but skewed by those forgotten. The memory is like orbiting twin stars, one visible, one dark, the trajectory of what's evident forever affected by the gravity of what's concealed." --Rebekah Warren


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Lorna Kepler was beautiful and willful, a loner who couldn't resist flirting with danger. Maybe that's what killed her.Her death had raised a host of tough questions. The cops suspected homicide, but they could find neither motive nor suspect. Even the means were mysterious: Lorna's body was so badly decomposed when it was discovered that they couldn't be certain she hadn't died of natural causes. In the way of overworked cops everywhere, the case was gradually shifted to the back burner and became another unsolved file. Only Lorna's mother kept it alive, consumed by the certainty that somebody out there had gotten away with murder. So she hired Kinsey Millhone, P.I.Her eleventh letter into the alphabet is vintage Grafton, where our favorite private investigator finds herself facing dangerous consequences and the frightening possibility of a killer walking free.Look for other titles in the Alphabet Mystery Series from Random House AudioBooks.Judy Kaye has appeared on Broadway in Oh, Brother; Grease and On the Twentieth Century, and won the Tony Award for her performance in The Phantom of the Opera.


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When Kinsey Millhone’s landlord asks her to help deceased World War II vet Johnnie Lee’s family find out why the military has no record of his service, she thinks it’ll be a cinch. But she is about to meet her match in world-class prevaricators who take her for the ride of her life.When Lee’s apartment in burgled and a man named Ray Rawson, who claims to be an old friend of Lee’s, is beaten up, Kinsey soon finds herself on the trail of a pregnant woman with a duffel bag. Soon the intrepid P.I. is following leads halfway across the country and encountering another man from Lee’s past—a vengeful psychopath.Stalked by a new enemy and increasingly suspicious of Rawson—not to mention running out of time and money—now Kinsey must steer a collision course to solve a decades-old mystery that some would like better left unsolved.…


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"M" is for money. Lots of it. "M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands."M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune--four men with very different outlooks, temperaments, and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them--angry, troubled, and in trouble--went missing."M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother."M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. "M" is for malice.And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds."M" is for malice . . . and malice kills.


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She was a "Jane Doe," an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department, but the detectives had little to go on. The woman was young, her hands were bound with a length of wire, there were multiple stab wounds, and her throat had been slashed. After months of investigation, the murder remained unsolved. That was eighteen years ago. Now the two men who found the body, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case. Old and ill, they need someone to help with their legwork and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. They will, they tell her, find closure if they can just identify the victim. Kinsey is intrigued and agrees to the job. But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe's real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her killer. Q is for Quarry is based on an unsolved homicide that occurred in 1969, and Grafton's interest in the case has generated renewed police efforts. During the past year, the body was exhumed and a nationally known forensic artist did the facial reconstruction that appears in the closing pages of Q is for Quarry. Both Grafton and the dedicated members of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department are hoping the photograph will trigger memories that may lead to a positive identification. On the day Jane Doe was reburied, many officers were at the gravesite. "It's eerie," Grafton writes, "to think about the power this woman still has. Here we are, thirty-three years later, and she still wants to go home."


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Private Investigator Kinsey Milhone is back on the job, hired by a privileged parolee's father to keep her out of trouble. It should be an easy assignment-until the parolee's past starts coming back to haunt her.


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Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one–a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret–and now a whole lot of beauty, money, and lies are proving to be a fatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along: a killer standing right before her eyes. . . .


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tres¥pass \'trespes\ n: a transgression of law involving one's obligations to God or to one's neighbor; a violation of moral law; an offense; a sin  *-Webster's New International Dictionary*, Second Edition, Unabridged    

In what may be her most unsettling novel to date, Sue Grafton's *T is for Trespass* is also her most direct confrontation with the forces of evil. Beginning slowly with the day-to-day life of a private eye, Grafton suddenly shifts from the voice of Kinsey Millhone to that of Solana Rojas, introducing readers to a chilling sociopath. Rojas is not her birth name. It is an identity she cunningly stole, an identity that gives her access to private caregiving jobs. The true horror of the novel builds with excruciating tension as the reader foresees the awfulness that lies ahead. The suspense lies in whether Millhone will realize what is happening in time to intervene.    

Though set in the late eighties, *T is for Trespass* could not be more topical: identity theft; elder abuse; betrayal of trust; the breakdown in the institutions charged with caring for the weak and the dependent. It reveals a terrifying but all-too-real rip in the social fabric. Once again, Grafton opens up new territory with startling results.


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This title is from Diamond Dagger winner Sue Grafton - Kinsey Millhone's latest compelling case. In 1960s Santa Teresa, California, a child is kidnapped and never returned...When the case is reopened after twenty years, a man - Michael Sutton - contacts private detective Kinsey Millhone for help. He claims to have recalled a strange and disturbing memory which just might provide the key to the mystery. He may have stumbled across the kidnappers burying Mary Claire Fitzhugh's body...But Michael's account is indistinct - he was only six years old at the time of the kidnapping; and even members of his family try to discredit his evidence. But Kinsey is certain there is something vital within Michael's recollections. And even when what is eventually unearthed isn't what anyone expected, she can't quite let go of the case. As Kinsey gradually brings to light the stories of the protagonists involved in the tragedy, from Country Club parents to their free-living, hippy children, the truth finally begins to emerge. And while stepping back into the past, Kinsey discovers more about her own history too...


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This is the nineteenth novel in Sue Grafton's ever popular "alphabet" series featuring PI Kinsey Millhone. Just after Independence Day in July 1953 Violet Sullivan, a local good time girl living in Serena Station Southern California, drives off in her brand new Chevy and is never seen again. Left behind is her young daughter, Daisy, and Violet's impetuous husband, Foley, who had been persuaded to buy his errant wife the car only days before ...Now, thirty-five years later, Daisy wants closure. Reluctant to open such an old cold case Kinsey Millhone agrees to spend five days investigating, believing at first that Violet simply moved on to pastures new. But very soon it becomes clear that a lot of people shared a past with Violet, a past that some are still desperate to keep hidden. And in a town as close-knit as Serena there aren't many places to hide when things turn vicious ...


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No one can tell that Daphne Urban is a vampire. But the government knows-and she's been recruited to spy for them. To get over a recent break-up, Daphne must throw herself into her work, joining her colleagues to chase down a ruthless enemy. Mysterious, cruel, and unstoppable, this assassin is dead-set on killing a certain presidential candidate. Now Team Darkwing has to find him before it's too late. But soon, Daphne finds herself drawn back into the life she once rejected: a secret vampire underworld, where all pleasures-like human blood-can be found.


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Ever since the Feds "blackmailed vampiress Daphne Urban into joining Team Darkwing (or face termination), she has spied for the government. Her current assignment accompanied by her two remaining teammates is to investigate and mount a rescue of ten kidnapped teenage girls, daughters of New York City's upper crust. 

To accomplish the objective, Team Darkwing needs new members to replace those who left; not all voluntarily. They recruit former criminal Rogue and researcher Audrey to assist them on their mission. Time is running out as the government refuses to negotiate with terrorists so Daphne and Team Darkwing begins a search amidst the decadent Mew York vampiric underground before a deadly outcome occurs.


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The terrorist threat to America continues, but this time it’s so top secret that only those in the highest circles of government know about it. As it unfolds, Daphne and the vampire spies, the Darkwings, become the first—and only—line of defense to save a city. Team Darkwing’s assignment: decipher and defuse the terrorist plot. But Daphne gets distracted when vampire hunters storm the city. Is Darius, her hot-and-cold lover, behind their reappearance? This time, will he return to love Daphne—or to commit the ultimate act of betrayal?


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Genellana beautiful, Earthlike world where intelligent cliff dwellers waited in fear for the day the bear people would return, killing them for their fur... Genellanthe only refuge for a ships crew and a detachment of spacer Marines, abandoned by a fleet fleeing from alien attackers. Stranded on Genellan, the humans struggled to make a home for themselves untilthey hoped against hopethe fleet would return to rescue them. Lt. Sharl Buccari tried desperately to hold on to the threads of command over the spacers and the Marinesto keep her crew together and alive. Winter was coming. No one knew if the winged natives would be friend or foe. And now the bear people were returning, intent on destroying the humansbut not before stealing the secret of hyperlight drive, the key to interstellar flight...


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The government knows that Daphne Urban is a vampire, and they have an ultimatum: spy for them, or be killed. The choice is easy. She can speak 13 languages, has a genius IQ, and has escaped detection for nearly five hundred years-making her perfect for Team Darkwing. Her first mission is to get close to Bonaventure, a shady arms dealer with an unexpected gift for seduction. But when Darius, a darkly sexy vampire slayer, begins chasing her, Darius is torn between desire and duty. For his lithe, young prey is also his ultimate temptation.


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There's a lethal new recreational drug out on the party circuit. To stop its spread, Team Darkwing must immerse themselves in New York City's nightlife, where they discover ties between the drug's revenue and the country's most powerful dynasty. To infiltrate the family, Daphne flirts with its weakest link, a party boy whom she'd love to sink her teeth into. But even as their dalliance leads her deeper into the case, Daphne can't stop thinking about Darius, the darkly sexy human she claimed with a passionate bite. He's the bad boy she knows she must forget-if she doesn't, she'll be risking not only the mission but her own heart.


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Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures. Whether covering the three-ring circus of a vicious presidential race, plunging into the wars between dictionary writers, or confronting the World's Largest Lobster Cooker at the annual Maine Lobster Festival, Wallace projects a quality of thought that is uniquely his and a voice as powerful and distinct as any in American letters.


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In the grand storytelling style that is his signature, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the very beginnings of the Jewish faith, thousands of years ago. Through the predecessors of four modern men and women, we experience the entire colorful history of the Jews, including the life of the early Hebrews and their persecutions, the impact of Christianity, the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition, all the way to the founding of present-day Israel and the Middle-East conflict."A sweeping chronology filled with excitement."THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER


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"Michener's most ambitious work of fiction in theme and scope."THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER"Brilliantly written."ASSOCIATED PRESSOnce again James A. Michener brings history to life with this 400-year saga of America's great bay and its Eastern Shore. Following Edmund Steed and his remarkable family, who parallel the settling and forming of the nation, CHESAPEAKE sweeps readers from the unspoiled world of the Native Americans to the voyages of Captain John Smith, the Revolutionary War, and right up to modern times.


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They were young and innocent. Arriving in a place they had barely heard of, they prepared for the ritual many men had endured before them -- war. They were American fighter pilots, and they came on a huge ship that also carried their helicopters. Trained as professionals, but as frightened as every man before them who had ever gone to war, they would face an enemy they couldn't understand and wage a war they had to win.


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"Michener is America's best writer, and he proves it once again in CENTENNIAL."THE PITTSBURGH PRESSA stunning panorama of the West, CENTENNIAL is an enthralling celebration of our country, brimming with the glory and the greatness of the American past that only bestselling author James Michener could bring to stunning life. From the Native Americans, the migrating white men and women, the cowboys, and the foreigners, it is a story of trappers, traders, homesteaders, gold seekers, ranchers, and hunters--all caught up in the dramatic events and violent conflicts that shaped the destiny of our legendary West.


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At fourteen, Alis has never been outside her strict religious community. But when her parents arrange for her to marry a forty-year-old man, she flees desperately to the dangerous, unfamiliar city. She learns quickly that the only way to survive there is to become a thiefor worse. Facing an impossible choice between a forced marriage or life on the streets, Alis seizes control of her own fate. But the path she chooses sets off a disastrous chain of events that leave her accused of murder. Steadfastly loyal, Alis must decide: will she betray a loved one or sacrifice herself?


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THINGS FALL APART tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a "strong man" of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society. The second story, which is as modern as the first is ancient, and which elevates the book to a tragic plane, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world through the arrival of aggressive, proselytizing European missionaries. These twin dramas are perfectly harmonized, and they are modulated by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul. THINGS FALL APART is the most illuminating and permanent monument we have to the modern African experience as seen from within.


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By the author of "English Music" and "Hawksmoor", this is a novel about sorcery and the possibilities of human redemption. It is concerned with the prospect of an eternal city. It is about the secrets of love and power, in a world where there can be no distinction between the past and the present.


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Aesop's Fables, by Aesop, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. As legend has it, the storyteller Aesop was a slave who lived in ancient Greece during the sixth century B.C. His memorable, recountable fables have brought amusing characters to life and driven home thought-provoking morals for generations of listeners and modern-day readers. Translated into countless languages and familiar to people around the world, Aesop’s fables never tarnish despite being told again and again. This collection presents nearly 300 of Aesop’s most entertaining and enduring stories—from “The Hare and the Tortoise” and “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” to “The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs” and “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.” Populated by a colorful array of animal characters who personify every imaginable human type—from fiddling grasshoppers and diligent ants to sly foxes, wicked wolves, brave mice, and grateful lions—these timeless tales are as fresh and relevant today as when they were first created. Full of humor, insight, and wit, the tales in Aesop’s Fables champion the value of hard work and perseverance, compassion for others, and honesty. They are age-old wisdom in a delicious form, for the consumption of adults and children alike.D. L. Ashliman is emeritus professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He taught folklore, mythology, German, and comparative literature at that institution for thirty-one years. He has also served as guest professor at the University of Augsburg in Germany.


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Winner of the 1986 Booker Prize. Malcolm, Peter and Charlie and their Soave-sodden wives have one main ambition left in life: to drink Wales dry. But their routine is both shaken and stirred when they are joined by professional Welshman Alun Weaver (CBE) and his wife, Rhiannon.


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Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim was published in 1954, and is a hilarious satire of British university life. Jim Dixon is bored by his job as a medieval history lecturer. His days are only improved by pulling faces behind the backs of his superiors as he tries desperately to survive provincial bourgeois society, an unbearable 'girlfriend' and petty humiliation at the hands of Professor Welch.Lucky Jim is one of the most famous and influential of all British post-War novels.


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<p class="description">A century-old classic of British letters that charmed and fascinated generations of readers with its witty satire of Victorian society and its unique insights, by analogy, into the fourth dimension.</p>
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<h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>As part of a projected six-volume edition of the Divine Comedy, Musa (Indiana Univ.) has revised and reissued his translation of Dante's Inferno (LJ 3/1/95) in a bilingual edition, accompanied by a volume-length commentary. Musa's translation is in fluent, colloquial verse that aims for the speed and rhythm of the original though not the form. This serviceable version is on the same level as the recent translations by Robert Pinskey (LJ 11/1/94) and Robert Durling (LJ 3/15/96). Musa's commentary is thorough and clear but doesn't significantly supersede that of Charles S. Singleton (1970). Nevertheless, it can be recommended.?Thomas L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.<br />Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Among currently available parallel-text editions, this one certainly has the most elaborate and helpful annotation..." -- Choice</p><p>"Musa's commentary is thorough and clear... recommended." -- Library Journal</p>


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Walter Crane (1845-1915) was an English artist. Born in Liverpool, he was part of the Arts and Crafts movement. He produced paintings, illustrations, children's books, ceramic tiles and other decorative arts. In 1862 his picture The Lady of Shalott was exhibited at the Royal Academy, but the Academy steadily refused his maturer work; and after the opening of the Grosvenor Gallery in 1877 he ceased to send pictures to Burlington House. In 1864 he began to illustrate a series of Sixpenny Toy-Books of Nursery Rhymes in Three Colours for Edmund Evans. He was allowed more freedom in a series beginning with The Frog Prince (1874) which showed markedly the influence of Japanese art, and of long visit to Italy following on his marriage in 1871. From the early 1880s, Crane was closely associated with the Socialist movement. He provided the weekly cartoons for the Socialist Organs Justice, The Commonweal and The Clarion. One of his last major works would be his Lunettes at the Royal West of England Academy which were painted in 1913.


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This is a tale originally found in a Middle-Eastern folk tale and in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). A poor boy obtains a magic lamp and when the lamp is rubbed, a genie appears and fulfils its owner's wishes.


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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.


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[The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is a children's story by an anonymous author, published in 1765. The story is the origin of the popular phrase "goody two-shoes," often used to describe an excessively or annoyingly virtuous person. In more recent years, the phrase has developed a more negative connotation, implying that the virtuousness of a "goody two-shoes" is insincere.[1]PlotGoody Two-Shoes is a variation of the Cinderella story. The fable tells of Goody Two-Shoes, the nickname of a poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who goes through life with only one shoe. When she is given a complete pair by a rich gentleman, she is so happy, that she tells everyone that she has "two shoes." Later, Margery becomes a teacher, and marries a rich widower. This earning of wealth serves as proof that her virtuousness has been rewarded, a popular theme in children's literature of the era.]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goody_Two_ShoesPlease, Enjoy.


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Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.Who has not laughed at the emperor’s new clothes, thrilled to the song of the nightingale, or sympathized with the ugly duckling? In the 170 years since they first began to appear, Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales have entranced and bewitched millions of readers, adults and children alike.  Writing in the midst of a Europe-wide rebirth of national literature, Anderson broke new ground with his fairy tales in two important ways. First, he composed them in the vernacular, mimicking the language he used in telling them to children aloud. Second, he set his tales in his own land and time, giving rise to his loving descriptions of the Danish countryside. In contrast to such folklorists as the Brothers Grimm, Anderson’s tales are grounded in the real and often focus on the significance of small or overlooked things. Here are all of Andersen’s collected tales, many—such as “The Little Mermaid,” “The Red Shoes,” and “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”—still popular through modern adaptations, and others, including “The Flying Trunk” and “The Most Incredible Thing,” well worth rediscovering. Jack Zipes is professor of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota. A specialist in folklore and fairy tales, he has authored numerous books of criticism over the last thirty years and edited several major anthologies, including the Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature (2005). Marte Hvam Hult holds a Ph.D. in Scandinavian languages and literatures from the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Framing a National Narrative: The Legend Collections of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and a forthcoming translation of Asbjørnsen’s Huldreeventyr.


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In Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, J.M. Barrie first created Peter Pan as a baby, living a wild and secret life with birds and fairies in the middle of London. Later Barrie let this remarkable child grow a little older and he became the boy-hero of Neverland, making his first appearance, with Wendy, Captain Hook, and the Lost Boys, in Peter and Wendy. The Peter Pan stories were Barrie's only works for children but, as their persistent popularity shows, their themes of imaginative escape continue to charm even those who long ago left Neverland. This is the first edition to include both texts in one volume and the first to a present an extensively annotated text for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.


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Readers of all ages will welcome the chance to be reunited with Dorothy Gale and such beloved characters as the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion, as well as to meet new favorites such as the Hungry Tiger, whose appetite is *never* satisfied; Princess Langwidere, who has thirty heads; Billina, a talking chicken; and Tiktok, a mechanical man.

Blown overboard while sailing with her uncle, Dorothy finds herself in the fairy realm of Ev. She sets out with her friends to rescue the Queen of Ev and her ten children, who have been imprisoned by the cruel Nome King. But even Ozma, the wise Ruler of Oz, is no match for the clever king, and it's up to Dorothy to save everyone from terrible danger. But will the Nome King's enchantments be too much even for the plucky little girl from Kansas?

Ozma of Oz has delighted children and adults for over eighty years, and now new generations can enjoy the unforgettable characters and the surprising and funny story in this deluxe facsimile of the rare first edition, featuring forty-two of John R. Neill's full-color plates and twenty-one two- color illustrations, as well as a colorful pictorial binding.Afterword by Peter Glassman. New generations can enjoy this surprising and funny story of the rescue of the royal family of Ev from the evil Nome King in a deluxe facsimile of the rare first edition. A Books of Wonder(R) Classic.


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Dorothy and Toto are off again on an exciting adventure down *The Road to Oz!*

In order to help the lovable, ever-wandering Shaggy Man, Dorothy and Toto must journey through magical and mysterious lands. Soon the three are joined by a lost lad named Button-Bright and the beautiful young Polychromethe Rainbow's Daughter. With magic at work and danger about, these new friends must journey through cities of talking beasts, across the Deadly Desert into the Truth Pond, and through many other strange and incredible places before they can reach the Emerald City.

Along the way, Dorothy and her companions encounter a whole new assortment of fantastic and funny characters--the crafty King Dox of Foxville, the magical donkey King Kik-a-bray, the terrible bigheaded Scoodlers, and Johnny Dooit (who can do anything)--along with old friends Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-tok, Billina, and, of course, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the wonderful Wizard himself.

*The Road to Oz* is the fifth adventure in the magical Land of Oz. For the first time since the original 1909 edition, this stunning new facsimile edition illustrates Dorothy's fantastic adventures on different colors of paper reflecting where she and her friends are on the road to Oz. Featuring all of John R. Neill's 126 striking pen-and-ink drawings, this handsome deluxe edition is one to be treasured for years to come.Afterword by Peter Glassman. This deluxe facsimile of the fifth Oz adventure reunites Dorothy and her friends for Princess Ozma's glorious birthday party. For the first time since the original 1909 edition, the 126 masterful illustrations are printed on colored papers, exactly as the author intended. A Books of Wonder Classic.


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Enchanting fantasy by creator of beloved "Oz" stories whisks young readers away on an exciting underwater adventure! They'll meet a school of beguiling mermaids and an aristocratic codfish, attend an elegant banquet, confront an awesome sea monster, and much more. Enhanced by 78 of John R. Neill's original black-and-white illustrations.


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Captivating tale by a master of make-believe recounts the further adventures of a little girl named Trot; Cap'n Bill, an old sailor; and their new friend, a boy named Button-Bright. Transported with the help of a magic umbrella to an island in the sky, the travelers meet six snub-nosed princesses, discover the King's treasure chamber, encounter a blue wolf, and meet Tourmaline the poverty Queen and Rosalie the Witch. Excitement and adventure fill their days in a delightful sequel to Baum's *The Sea Fairies.* 86 black-and-white illustrations; 12 full-color illustrations.


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First published in 1904, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" by L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, describes the action of some uncommon events in the land of Santa. Not far from the Laughing Valley where Santa and all his magical helpers live, and beyond the Forest of Burzee, there stands a huge mountain that contains the Cave of Demons. Each demon has a specialty: Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance. Because the promise of Santa puts all girls and boys on their best behavior, the demons have hardly any visitors to their caves. In order to remedy their dismal foot traffic, they conspire to kidnap Santa! But oh! even when it looks as if the demons might win, one can never underestimate the power of devoted (and magical!) friends. 

 Adapted by Alex Robinson, author of several graphic novels, the action and menace of the tale will be enhanced and lightly spoofed. It seems a most appropriate treatment of Baum′s work -- he was an author who often let his profound and unsettling meanings roil beneath the surface of his otherwise fanciful stories.


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Fantasy lovers of all ages will rejoice at this chance to travel once again to the marvelous land of Oz!

A California earthquake sends Dorothy Gale and her new friends--Zeb the farm boy, Jim the cab-horse, and Eureka the mischievous kitten--tumbling through a crack in the ground. Deep beneath the earth, Dorothy is reunited with her old friend the Wizard of Oz and his troupe of nine tiny piglets.

Together, Dorothy, the Wizard, and their friends travel through many fantastic lands, where they encounter the Mangaboos, people growing like vegetables in the ground; cross the Valley of Voe, where dama-fruit has turned everyone invisible; and are captured by mysterious flying Gargoyles. At last, the intrepid travelers reach Oz, where they have many unforgettable encounters with such favorites as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, Princess Ozma and the wooden Sawhorse.

*Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz* was the fourth Oz adventure. First published in 1908, it has captured the imaginations of young readers and listeners for four generations. Now a new generation can discover these superb adventures for themselves. This deluxe gift edition faithfully reproduces the rare first edition, including all sixteen color plates and all fifty black-and-white illustrations by John R. Neill, as well as the original colorful endpapers.Afterword by Peter Glassman. A deluxe facsimile of the fourth Oz adventure--originally published in 1908--when Dorothy and the Wizard meet the Mangaboos. A Books of Wonder(R) Classic.


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For the first time in more than eighty years, the most spectacularly illustrated of all the Oz books is available again with the metallic "emerald" green ink that illuminated the color plates of the original edition.Join Dorothy and the Wonderful Wizard as they take Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a fabulous tour of Oz. During their journey they encounter such amazing and amusing people as King Kleaver with his Spoon Brigade and Miss Cuttenclip of the land of paper dolls. But while Dorothy and her friends play, the wicked Nome King has joined forces with the terrible Whimsies, the fearsome Growleywogs, and the evil Phanfasms in a plot to capture the Emerald City. Will Dorothy's friends discover the danger before it's too late?All the enchantment of Oz is here for a whole new generation to discover in this deluxe new edition featuring ninety black-and-white pictures and sixteen dazzling five-color plates by Oz artist John R. Neill.Afterword by Peter Glassman. For the first time in more than eighty years, the most spectacularly illustrated of all the Oz books is available with the metallic "emerald" green ink that illuminated the original edition. A Books of Wonder(R) Classic


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This enchanting tale, originally written more than 100 years ago by L. Frank Baum, marries all the magic and fantasy of *The Wizard of Oz* to the classic Christmas tale.

Nicholas is a mortal child found in the forest and raised by a band of woodland fairies and elves, where he learns to whittle small trinkets and toys from wood. As he grows older, he makes it his mission in life to make children happy by carving and delivering toys. Such traditions like hanging stockings on the chimney, Claus’s flying reindeer, and St. Nick’s immortality are explained through Baum’s colorful narrative thread.

Award winning painter Charles Santore, who has interpreted such classics as *Peter Rabbit*, *The Little Mermaid*, and *The Wizard of Oz*, beautifully re-imagines this Christmas fairytale, which is sure to become a Christmas classic on children’s bookshelves.


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The Marvelous Land of Oz, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is the only book in the series in which Dorothy Gale does not appear. This and the next 34 Oz books of the famous forty were illustrated by John R. Neill. *(Quote from wikipedia.org)*



**About the Author**



Lyman Frank Baum (1856 - 1919)

Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 - May 6, 1919) was an American author, actor, and independent filmmaker best known as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, better known today as simply The Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a plethora of other works (55 novels in total, 82 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts, and many miscellaneous writings), and made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen.



Baum was born in Chittenango, New York, into a devout Methodist family of German (father's side) and Scots-Irish (mother's side) origin, the fifth of six children born to Cynthia Stanton and Benjamin Ward Baum, only three of whom survived into adulthood. He was named "Lyman" after his father's brother, but always disliked this name, and preferred to go by his middle name, "Frank". His mother, Cynthia Stanton, was a direct descendant of Thomas Stanton, one of the four Founders of what is now Stonington, Connecticut. *(Quote from wikipedia.org)*



**About the Publisher** 



Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mytholo


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ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

The acclaimed tale of a shipwrecked Englishman who finds himself stranded on an island off the coast of South America -- a story of survival, self-reliance, adventure, and faith.

THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

• A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes to guide the reader's own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.


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Kate Greenwaway (1846-1901) is one of the most popular children's book illustrators of all time. Edmund Evans produced her first book in 1879, which sold out resulting in triumph and gaining Greenaway her reputation. She has enchanted people, young and old, for over one hundred years with her watercolour illustrations of sweet, charming eighteenth century children with their quaint costumes and idyllic scenes. This book 'The Pied Piper Of Hamelin', written by Robert Browning and illustrated by Kate Greenaway was originally published in 1888. Many of the earliest children's books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pook Press are working to republish these classic works in affordable, high quality, colour editions, using the original text and artwork so these works can delight another generation of children.


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Written in 1855 and first published in the collection "Men and Women", Browning's narrative poem later served as the inspiration for Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series.  The poem tells the tale of Roland, a knight, who comes as last to the object of his quest:  the Dark Tower.  His comrades have all fallen, and he is the last.  He endures, marching on and on, until he comes at last to the Tower.


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The sensational bestselling story of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, seems to belong less to the history of the Victorian novel than to folklore, fairy tale, or myth. The sorrows of Nell and her grandfather are offset by Dickens's creation of a dazzling contemporary world inhabited by some of his most brilliantly drawn characters-the eloquent ne'er-do-well Dick Swiveller; the hungry maid known as the "Marchioness"; the mannish lawyer Sally Brass; Quilp's brow-beaten mother-in-law; and Quilp himself, the lustful, vengeful dwarf, whose demonic energy makes a vivid counterpoint to Nell's purity.


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This new selection of Dickens's Christmas writings confirms his lasting influence upon our idea of the Christmas spirit: that Christmas is a time for celebration, charity, and memory. In addition to the beloved A Christmas Carol, this volume includes such festive works as "Christmas Festivities," "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton," "A Christmas Tree," "The Seven Poor Travellers," The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, and a Christmas episode from Master Humphrey's Clock.


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Under Western Eyes traces the experiences of Razumov, a young Russian student caught up in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing. It deals with topical moral issues such as the defensibility of terrorist resistance to tyranny and the loss of individual privacy in a surveillance society.


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Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1902 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1899) in Blackwood's Magazine. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon.The story details an incident when Marlow, an Englishman, took a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a ferry-boat captain in Africa. Although Conrad does not specify the name of the river, at this time Congo Free State, the location of the large and important Congo River, was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. Marlow is employed to transport ivory downriver; however, his more pressing assignment is to return Kurtz, another ivory trader, to civilization in a cover up. Kurtz has a reputation throughout the region.This very symbolic story is actually a story within a story, or frame narrative. It follows Marlow as he recounts, from dusk through to late night, to a group of men aboard a ship anchored in the Thames Estuary, his Congolese adventure. The passage of time, and the darkening sky, during the fictitious narrative-within-the-narrative parallels the atmosphere of the overall story. (wikipedia)


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Louise de la Valliere is the middle section of The Vicomte de Bragelonne, or, Ten Years After. Against a tender love story, Dumas continues the suspense which began with The Vicomte de Bragelonne and will end with The Man in the Iron Mask. Set during the reign of Louis XIV and filled with behind-the-scenes intrigue, the novel brings the aging Musketeers and d'Artagnan out of retirement to face an impending crisis within the royal court of France. This new edition of the classic English translation is richly annotated and places Dumas's invigorating tale in its historical and cultural context.


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Volume: 9 Publisher: New York: Thomas Crowell Publication date: 1900 Subjects: Rome -- History Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D Byzantine Empire -- History Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.


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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.


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Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (1856-1925) was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations. After failing his army entrance exam he was sent to a private 'crammer' in London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office, for which he never sat. Haggard's father sent him to Africa in an unpaid position as assistant to the secretary to Lieutenant-Governor of Natal Sir Henry Bulwer. Heavily influenced by the larger-than-life adventurers he met in Colonial Africa, the great mineral wealth discovered in Africa, and the ruins of ancient lost civilizations in Africa such as Great Zimbabwe, Haggard created his Allan Quatermain adventures. Haggard also wrote about agricultural and social issues reform, in part inspired by his experiences in Africa, but also based on what he saw in Europe. Haggard is most famous as the author of the best-selling novel King Solomon's Mines (1885). Amongst his other works are She (1887), Allan Quatermain (1888), Eric Brighteyes (1891) and Ayesha (1895).


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Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly called Leviathan is a book written in 1651 by Thomas Hobbes. It is titled after the biblical Leviathan. The book concerns the structure of society (as represented figuratively by the frontispiece, showing the state giant made up of individuals), as is evidenced by the full title.



In the book, Thomas Hobbes argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Influenced by the English Civil War, Hobbes wrote that chaos or civil war - situations identified with a state of nature and the famous motto Bellum omnium contra omnes ("the war of all against all") - could only be averted by strong central government. He thus denied any right of rebellion toward the social contract, which would be later added by John Locke and conserved by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. However, Hobbes did discuss the possible dissolution of the State. As the social contract was made to institute a state that would provide for the "peace and defence" of the people, the contract would become void if the government no longer protected its citizens. In such a case, man would automatically return to a state of nature until the creation of a new social contract.



In Leviathan, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the foundation of societies and legitimate governments. This became one of the first scholarly works on Social contract theory. In the natural condition of mankind, what other philosophers refer to as the state of nature, while some men may be stronger or more intelligent than others, none is so strong and smart as to be beyond a fear of violent death. When threatened with death, man in his natural state cannot help but defend himself in any way possible. Self-defense against violent death is Hobbes' highest human necessity, and rights are borne of necessity. In


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IN THE TITLE STORY, a baby born in 1860 begins life as an old man and proceeds to age backward. F. Scott Fizgerald hinted at this kind of inversion when he called his era “a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken.” Perhaps nowhere in American fiction has this “Lost Generation” been more vividly preserved than in Fitzgerald’s short fiction. Spanning the early twentieth-century American landscape, this original collection captures, with Fitzgerald’s signature blend of enchantment and disillusionment, America during the Jazz Age.


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Geppetto's new puppet can not only dance and turn somersaults, but also talks and misbehaves--and longs to be a real boy. This newly redesigned Puffin Classics edition is just in time for the Memorial Day release of the major motion picture directed by Steve Barron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Home Improvement) as Pinnocchio.


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Doctor Dolittle prefers his animal patients to his people patients. And one day when a mysterious call beckons him to Africa, he discovers that he can talk to animals. Now the people are talking about Doctor Dolittle.


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tle heads for the high seas in perhaps the most amazing adventure ever experienced by man or animal. Told by nine-and-a-half-year-old Tommy Stubbins, crewman and future naturalist, the voyages of Doctor Dolittle and his company lead them to Spidermonkey Island. Along with his faithful friends, Polynesia the parrot and Chee-Chee the monkey, Doctor Dolittle survives a perilous shipwreck and lands on the mysterious floating island. There he meets the wondrous Great Glass See Snail who holds the key to the greates mystery of all.


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Martin Eden, written by legendary author Jack London is widely considered to be one of the greatest books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Martin Eden is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by Jack London is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books International and beautifully produced, Martin Eden would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library.


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Killing a sixty-ton sperm whale that could destroy a boat with a flick of its massive tail was no easy task. Whalemen of the early nineteenth century were not just hunters, they were also explorers—sailing on the uncharted sea in search of some of the largest creatures on earth. The most famous whale of all? Moby Dick. Here are Ishmael, Queequeq, Ahab, and of course, Moby Dick, rendered anew in a dynamic comic book adaptation of one of the greatest American novels ever written. The book also includes information about Herman Melville, facts about whales, and the history of the whaling industry. With all the flare and blaze of Melville’s original story, Moby Dick is sure to intrigue a new generation of readers with this fast-paced and electric portrayal of the famous battle between man and beast.


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Thomas Paine was the first international revolutionary. His Common Sense (1776) was the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution--and his Rights of Man (1791-2), the most famous defense of the French Revolution, sent out a clarion call for revolution throughout the world. Paine paid the price for his principles: he was outlawed in Britain, narrowly escaped execution in France, and was vilified as an atheist and a Jacobin on his return to America. This new edition contains the complete texts of both Rights of Man and Common Sense, as well as six other powerfully political writings--American Crisis I, American Crisis XIII, Agrarian Justice, Letter to Jefferson, Letter Addressed to the Addressers on the Late Proclamation, and Dissertation on the First Principles of Government--all of which illustrate why Paine's ideas still resonate in the modern welfare states of today.


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In this retelling with pop-up illustrations, Peter disobeys his mother by going into Mr. McGregor's garden and almost gets caught.


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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Egypt; Drama / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh;


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*'I* would rather be an angel than God!'   

The voice of the speaker sounded clearly through the hawthorn tree. The young man and the young girl who sat together on the low tombstone looked at each other. They had heard the voices of the two children talking, but had not noticed what they said; it was the sentiment, not the sound, which roused their attention.   

The girl put her finger to her lips to impress silence, and the man nodded; they sat as still as mice whilst the two children went on talking.   

The scene would have gladdened a painter's heart. An old churchyard. The church low and square-towered, with long mullioned windows, the yellow-grey stone roughened by age and tender-hued with lichens. Round it clustered many tombstones tilted in all directions. Behind the church a line of gnarled and twisted yews.   

The churchyard was full of fine trees. On one side a magnificent cedar; on the other a great copper beech. Here and there among the tombs and headstones many beautiful blossoming trees rose from the long green grass. The laburnum glowed in the June afternoon sunlight; the lilac, the hawthorn and the clustering meadowsweet which fringed the edge of the lazy stream mingled their heavy sweetness in sleepy fragrance. The yellow-grey crumbling walls were green in places with wrinkled harts-tongues, and were topped with sweet-williams and spreading house-leek and stone-crop and wild- flowers whose delicious sweetness made for the drowsy repose of perfect summer.   

But amid all that mass of glowing colour the two young figures seated on the grey old tomb stood out conspicuously. The man was in conventional hunting-dress: red coat, white stock, black hat, white breeches, and top-boots. The girl was one of the richest, most glowing, and yet withal daintiest figures the eye of man could linger on. She was in riding-habit of hunting scarlet cloth; her black hat was tipped forward by piled-up masses red-golden hair. Round her neck was a white lawn scarf in the fashion of a man's hunting-stock, close fitting, and sinking into a gold-buttoned waistcoat of snowy twill. As she sat with the long skirt across her left arm her tiny black top-boots appeared underneath. Her gauntleted gloves were of white buckskin; her riding-whip was plaited of white leather, topped with ivory and banded with gold.   

Even in her fourteenth year Miss Stephen Norman gave promise of striking beauty; beauty of a rarely composite character. In her the various elements of her race seemed to have cropped out. The firm- set jaw, with chin broader and more square than is usual in a woman, and the wide fine forehead and aquiline nose marked the high descent from Saxon through Norman. The glorious mass of red hair, of the true flame colour, showed the blood of another ancient ancestor of Northern race, and suited well with the voluptuous curves of the full, crimson lips. The purple-black eyes, the raven eyebrows and eyelashes, and the fine curve of the nostrils spoke of the Eastern blood of the far-back wife of the Crusader. Already she was tall for her age, with something of that lankiness which marks the early development of a really fine figure. Long-legged, long-necked, as straight as a lance, with head poised on the proud neck like a lily on its stem.


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The classic tale of Captain Nemo and the submarine the Nautilus, this is the quintessential translation by the internationally renowned Verne scholar, William Butcher. This edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea reports the very first study of Verne's manuscript and is packed with detail on artistic and scientific references.


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  One of the world’s best-loved stories of shipwreck and survival, *The Swiss Family   Robinson* portrays a family’s struggle to create a new life for themselves on a strange and   fantastic tropical island. Blown off course by a raging storm, the family—a Swiss pastor, his wife,   their four young sons, plus two dogs and a shipload of livestock—must rely on one another in   order to adapt to their needs the natural wonders of their exotic new home. Inspired by Daniel   Defoe’s *Robinson Crusoe*, this classic story of invention and adventure has fired the   imaginations of readers since it first appeared in 1812. Freely translated over the years, with   major sections excised and new subplots added, the novel is published here in its original English   translation, fully restored for a new generation of readers.


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Philippa Gregory, "the queen of royal fiction" (USA Today) Presents the first of a new series set amid the deadly feuds of England known as the Wars of the Roses.Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author. Compact Disk Includes a Bonus MP3 CD of Philippa Gregory's The Virgin's Lover


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The second book in Philippa's stunning new trilogy, The Cousins War, brings to life the story of Margaret Beaufort, a shadowy and mysterious character in the first book of the series - The White Queen - but who now takes centre stage in the bitter struggle of The War of the Roses. The Red Queen tells the story of the child-bride of Edmund Tudor, who, although widowed in her early teens, uses her determination of character and wily plotting to infiltrate the house of York under the guise of loyal friend and servant, undermine the support for Richard III and ultimately ensure that her only son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England. Through collaboration with the dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret agrees a betrothal between Henry and Elizabeth's daughter, thereby uniting the families and resolving the Cousins War once and for all by founding of the Tudor dynasty.


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For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist.  



For Azoth, survival is precarious.  Something you never take for granted.  As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks.  Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.



But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name.  As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.


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<p class="description">You?re the wetboy.? The man cursed. He was sweating, his broad face pasty. His bushy black beard quivered as he trembled. ?Tell me,? Kylar said. ?The Shinga said he pissed off some Cenarian wetboy. We were supposed to kill you if you came here.? ?Where is he?? ?If I tell you, will you let me live?? Kylar looked into the man?s eyes, and curiously didn?t feel or imagine?or whatever it had been the other times?the darkness that demanded death. ?Yes,? he said, though the killing rage was still on him. The man told him of a hideout, another trap, an underground room with only one entrance, and another ten guards. With teeth gritted against the white-cold fury, Kylar said, ?Tell them the Night Angel walks. Tell them Justice is come.?</p>


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From George R. R. Martin’s Introduction to *Warriors: 



*People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. *All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, *and *The Red Badge of Courage *have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thinga story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they’re best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat.” 



Included are a long novella from the world of Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, a new tale of Lord John by Diana Gabaldon, and an epic of humanity at bay by David Weber. Also present are original tales by David Ball, Peter S. Beagle, Lawrence Block, Gardner Dozois, Joe Haldeman, Robin Hobb, Cecelia Holland, Joe R. Lansdale, David Morrell, Naomi Novik, James Rollins, Steven Saylor, Robert Silverberg, S.M. Stirling, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Waldrop, and Tad Williams. 



Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.


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From Nobel Prize-winning scientist James D. Watson, a living legend for his work unlocking the structure of DNA, comes this candid and entertaining memoir, filled with practical advice for those starting out their academic careers. InAvoid Boring People, Watson lays down a lifers"s wisdom for getting ahead in a competitive world. Witty and uncompromisingly honest, he shares his thoughts on how young scientists should choose the projects that will shape their careers, the supreme importance of collegiality, and dealing with competitors within the same institution. Itrs"s an irreverent romp through Watsonrs"s colorful career and an indispensable guide to anyone interested in nurturing the life of the mind.


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The delightful play of William Shakespeare. "Then sighe not so, but let them goe, and be ye blithe and bonnie - converting all your songs of woe into hey nonnie nonnie."


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"I feel that I have spent half my career with one or another Pelican Shakespeare in my back pocket. Convenience, however, is the least important aspect of the new Pelican Shakespeare series. Here is an elegant and clear text for either the study or the rehearsal room, notes where you need them and the distinguished scholarship of the general editors, Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller who understand that these are plays for performance as well as great texts for contemplation." (Patrick Stewart)  The distinguished Pelican Shakespeare series, which has sold more than four million copies, is now completely revised and repackaged.  Each volume features:  

* Authoritative, reliable texts  

* High quality introductions and notes  

* New, more readable trade trim size  

* An essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare and essays on Shakespeare's life and the selection of texts


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Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, exmilitary investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shootera trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not rightand soon the slam-dunk case explodes. Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunningand then beat him shot for shot.


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Jack Reacher.The ultimate loner.An elite ex-military cop who left the service years ago, he’s moved from place to place…without family…without possessions…without commitments.And without fear. Which is good, because trouble—big, violent, complicated trouble—finds Reacher wherever he goes. And when trouble finds him, Reacher does not quit, not once…not ever.But some unfinished business has now found Reacher. And Reacher is a man who hates unfinished business.Ten years ago, a key investigation went sour and someone got away with murder. Now a chance encounter brings it all back. Now Reacher sees his one last shot. Some would call it vengeance. Some would call it redemption. Reacher would call it…justice.From the Hardcover edition.


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Across the country women are being murdered by a killer who leaves no evidence, no fatal wounds, no signs of struggle, and no clues to a motive. They are, truly, perfect crimes. In fact, the only thing that links the victims is the man they all knew: Jack Reacher.


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Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Soldier's son. An elite military cop, he was one of the army's brightest stars. But in every cop's life there is one case that changes everything. For Jack Reacher, this is that case. New Year's Day, 1990. In a North Carolina motel, a two-star general is found dead. His briefcase is missing. Nobody knows what was in it. Within minutes Reacher has his orders:Control the situation. Within hours the general's wife is murdered. Then the dominoes really start to fall. Somewhere inside the vast worldwide fortress that is the U.S. Army, Reacher is being set up as a fall guy with the worst enemies a man can have. But Reacher won't quit. He's fighting a new kind of waragainst an enemy he didn't know he had. And against a conspiracy more chilling, ingenious, and treacherous than anyone could have guessed.


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Jack Reacher was alone, the way he liked it, soaking up the hot, electric New York City night, watching a man cross the street to a parked Mercedes and drive it away. The car contained one million dollars in ransom money because Edward Lane, the man who paid it, would do anything to get his family back. Lane runs a highly illegal soldiers-for-hire operation. He will use any tool to find his beautiful wife and child. And Jack Reacher is the best manhunter in the world. On the trail of vicious kidnappers, Reacher learns the chilling secrets of his employer's past . . . and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war. He knows that Edward Lane is hiding something. Something dirty. Something big. But Reacher also knows this: He's already in way too deep to stop now. And if he has to do it the hard way, he will.


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Reacher's anonymity in Florida is shattered by an investigator who's come looking for him. But hours after his arrival, the stranger is murdered. Retracing the PI's trail back to New York, Reacher's compelled to find out who was looking for him and why. He never expected the reasons to be so personal-and twisted.


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A covert group of assassins has the Vice President of the United States in their sights. They've planned well. There's just one thing they didn't plan on: Jack Reacher.


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From a helicopter high above the empty California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night…. In Chicago, a woman learns that an elite team of ex–army investigators is being hunted down one by one.... And on the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher—soldier, cop, hero—is pulled out of his wandering life by a code that few other people could understand. From the first shocking scenes in Lee Child’s explosive new novel, Jack Reacher is plunged like a knife into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends…and is on its way to something even worse.A decade postmilitary, Reacher has an ATM card and the clothes on his back—no phone, no ties, and no address. But now a woman from his old unit has done the impossible. From Chicago, Frances Neagley finds Reacher, using a signal only the eight members of their elite team of army investigators would know. She tells him a terrifying story—about the brutal death of a man they both served with. Soon Reacher is reuniting with the survivors of his old team, scrambling to raise the living, bury the dead, and connect the dots in a mystery that is growing darker by the day. The deeper they dig, the more they don’t know: about two other comrades who have suddenly gone missing—and a trail that leads into the neon of Vegas and the darkness of international terrorism.For now, Reacher can only react. To every sound. Every suspicion. Every scent and every moment. Then Reacher will trust the people he once trusted with his life—and take this thing all the way to the end. Because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they’d better be ready for what comes right back at them…From the Hardcover edition.


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When a woman is kidnapped, Jack Reacher's in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's kidnapped with her. Now he has to save them both.


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Thumbing across the west Texas desert, Jack Reacher has nowhere to go. Cruising the same stretch of blacktop is Carmen Greer. But the lift comes with a hitch. She's got a wild story to tell--about her husband, her family secrets, and a hometown that's pure Gothic.


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Susan Mark, the fifth passenger, had a big secret, and her plain little life was being watched in Washington, and California, and Afghanistan-by dozens of people with one thing in common: They're all lying to Reacher. A little. A lot. Or just enough to get him killed. A race has begun through the streets of Manhattan, a maze crowded with violent, skilled soldiers on all sides of a shadow war. For Jack Reacher, a man who trusts no one and likes it that way, the finish line comes when you finally get face-to-face and look your worst enemy in the eye.


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Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel, Reacher—a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose—goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead. It wasn’t the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see . . . where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later . . . where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops—the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded—waits and watches . . . where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return.Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair—against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him—and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killing Americans by the thousand.Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch.


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The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity.  Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.


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This is Ayn Rand's challenge to the prevalent philosophical doctrines of our time and the "atmosphere of guilt, of panic, of despair, of boredom, and of all-pervasive evasion" that they create. One of the most controversial figures on the intellectual scene, Ayn Rand was the proponent of a moral philosophy--and ethic of rational self-interest--that stands in sharp opposition to the ethics of altruism and self-sacrifice. The fundamentals of this morality--"a philosophy for living on Earth"--are here vibrantly set forth by the spokesman for a new class, For the New Intellectual.


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Today man's mind is under attack by all the leading schools of philosophy. We are told that we cannot trust our senses, that logic is arbitrary, that concepts have no basis in reality. Ayn Rand opposes that torrent of nihilism, and she provides the alternative in this eloquent presentation of the essential nature--and power--of man's conceptual faculty. She offers a startlingly original solution to the problem that brought about the collapse of modern philosophy: the problem of universals. This brilliantly argued, superbly written work, together with an essay by philosophy professor Leonard Peikoff, is vital reading for all those who seek to discover that human beings can and should live by the guidance of reason.


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This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: rational, conscious, and therefore practical; or contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal. Written with all the clarity and eloquence that have placed Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy in the mainstream of American thought, these essays range over such basic issues as education, morality, censorship, and inflation to prove that philosophy is the fundamental force in all our lives.


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A newly published resource taken from a famous lecture course given by Ayn RandIn 1958, Ayn Rand, already the world-famous author of such bestselling books as *Atlas Shrugged* and *The Fountainhead*, gave a private series of extemporaneous lectures in her own living room on the art of fiction. Tore Boeckmann and Leonard Peikoff for the first time now bring readers the edited transcript of these exciting personal statements. *The Art of Fiction* offers invaluable lessons, in which Rand analyzes the four essential elements of fiction: theme, plot, characterization, and style. She demonstrates her ideas by dissecting her best-known works, as well as those of other famous authors, such as Thomas Wolfe, Sinclair Lewis, and Victor Hugo. An historic accomplishment, this compendium will be a unique and fascinating resource for both writers and readers of fiction.


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A remarkable series of lectures on the art of creating effective nonfiction by one of the 20th century's most profound writers and thinkers-now available for the first time in print.Culled from sixteen informal lectures Ayn Rand delivered to a select audience in the late 1960s, this remarkable work offers indispensable guidance to the aspiring writer of nonfiction while providing readers with a fascinating discourse on art and creation. Based on the concept that the ability to create quality nonfiction is a skill that can be learned like any other, *The Art of Nonfiction* takes readers through the writing process, step-by-step, providing insightful observations and invaluable techniques along the way.In these edited transcripts, Rand discusses the psychological aspects of writing, and the different roles played by the conscious and subconscious mind. From choosing a subject to polishing a draft to mastering an individual writing style-for authors of theoretical works or those leaning toward journalistic reporting-this crucial resource introduces the words and ideas of one of our most enduring authors to a new generation.


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A prolific writer, bestselling novelist, and world-renowned philosopher, Ayn Rand defined a full system of thought--from epistemology to aesthetics. Her writing is so extensive and the range of issues she covers so enormous that those interested in finding her discussions of a given topic may have to search through many sources to locate the relevant passage. THE AYN RAND LEXICON brings together all the key ideas of her philosophy of Objectivism. Begun under Rand's supervision, this unique volume is an invaluable guide to her philosophy or reason, self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism--the philosophy so brilliantly dramatized in her novels THE FOUNTAINHEAD, WE THE LIVING, and ATLAS SHRUGGED.


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The Fountainhead, which became one of the most influential and widely read philosophical novels of the twentieth century, made Ayn Rand famous. An impassioned proponent of rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism, she expressed her unique views in numerous works of fiction and non-fiction that have been brought together for the first time in this one-of-a-kind volume. The Fountainhead, which became one of the most influential and widely read philosophical novels of the twentieth century, made Ayn Rand famous. An impassioned proponent of reason, rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism, she expressed her unique views in numerous works of fiction and non-fiction that have been brought together for the first time in this one-of-a-kind volume. Containing excerpts from all her novels--including Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, and We The Living--The Ayn Rand Reader is a perfect introduction for those who have never read Rand, and provides teachers with an excellent guide to the basics of her viewpoint.


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In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ayn Rand's birth, this newly revised collection of her early fiction ranges from works written from 1926 through 1940, and includes her previously unpublished short story, "The Night King." Original.


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Rarely has a writer and thinker of the stature of Ayn Rand afforded us access to her most intimate thoughts and feelings. From *Journals of Ayn Rand*, we gain an invaluable new understanding and appreciation of the woman, the artist, and the philosopher, and of the enduring legacy she has left us.   Rand comes vibrantly to life as an untried screenwriter in Hollywood, creating stories that reflect her youthful vision of the world. We see her painful memories of communist Russia and her struggles to conveyy them in *We the Living*. Most fascinating is the intricate, step-by-step process through which she created the plots and characters of her two masterworks, *The Fountainhead* and *Atlas Shrugged*, and the years of painstaking research that imbued the novels with their powerful authenticity.   Complete with reflections on her legendary screenplay concerning the making of the atomic bomb and tantalizing descriptions of projects cut short by her death, *Journals of Ayn Rand* illuminates the mind and heart of an extraordinary woman as no biography or memoir ever could. On these vivid pages, Ayn Rand lives.


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In the tumultuous late 60s and early 70s, a social movement known as the "New Left" emerged as a major cultural influence, especially on the youth of America. It was a movement that embraced "flower-power" and psychedelic "consciousness-expansion," that lionized Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro and launched the Black Panthers and the Theater of the Absurd.  In Return Of The Primitive (originally published in 1971 as The New Left), Ayn Rand, bestselling novelist and originator of the theory of Objectivism, identified the intellectual roots of this movement. She urged people to repudiate its mindless nihilism and to uphold, instead, a philosophy of reason, individualism, capitalism, and technological progress.  Editor Peter Schwartz, in this new, expanded version of The New Left, has reorganized Rand's essays and added some of his own in order to underscore the continuing relevance of her analysis of that period. He examines such current ideologies as environmentalism and multiculturalism and argues that the same primitive, tribalist, "anti-industrial" mentality which animated the New Left a generation ago is shaping society today.


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Ayn Rand here sets forth the moral principles of Objectivism, the philosophy that holds man's life--the life proper to a rational being--as the standard of moral values and regards altruism as incompatible with man's nature, with the creative requirements of his survival, and with a free society.


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Here is the final collection of articles and speeches by the bestselling and world-renowned novelist, essayist, and philosopher.


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**The first literary work of one of the most influential philosophers and novelists of the twentieth century-available for the first time in trade paperback.**



 Ayn Rand wrote of her first novel, *We the Living*, "It is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write. The plot is invented, the background is not...The specific events of Kira's life were not mine: her ideas, her convictions, her values, were and are." *We the Living* depicts the struggle of the individual against the state, and the impact of the Russian Revolution on three human beings who demand the right to live their own lives and pursue their own happiness. It tells of a young woman's passionate love, held like a fortress against the corrupting evil of a totalitarian state.



 This classic novel is not a story of politics, but of the men and women who have to struggle for existence behind the banners and slogans.


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The year 2005 marks Ayn Rand's Centennial Year.  Ayn Rand's classic tale of a future dark age of the great ?We??a world that deprives individuals of name, independence, and values?anticipates her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.


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As an interesting relic of the past, this outlandish piece of propaganda is worth the listener's time, even though the author's overconfident sense of her own rightness and persistence at pressing her points with little respect for opposing views can quickly become more than a little annoying. Using outdated words such as "altruists" to represent the forces of evil who would overburden the poor, beleaguered American business community, Rand "protesteth" far too much. Americans have seen many of the abuses come to pass that Rand, writing in 1946, claimed would never happen if free enterprise were just left to its own devices, so many of her arguments will be lost on a modern listener. For instance, the antitrust laws forced railroad barons to use illegal payoffs to forge ahead with expansion, and they shouldn't, therefore, be blamed the antitrust laws are the real problem. Narrator Anna Field's cold, crisp voice is actually well suited to such a heartless piece as this. Recommended. Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NC


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**A special edition hardcover in celebration of Ayn Rand’s centennial.**  

  When it was first published in 1943, *The Fountainhead*--containing Ayn Rand’s   daringly original literary vision with the seeds of her groundbreaking philosophy,   Objectivism—won immediate worldwide acclaim. This instant classic is the story of an   intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his   explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. This centennial   edition of *The Fountainhead*, celebrating the controversial and eduring legacy of   its author, features an afterword by Rand’s literary executor, Leonard Peikoff, offering   some of Ayn Rand’s personal notes on the development of her masterwork.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>At last, Ayn Rand's masterpiece is available to her millions of loyal readers in trade paperback. With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, "Who is John Galt?", Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers. Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world--and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man's body, but about the murder--and rebirth--of man's spirit. * Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club</p>


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Becky Brandon is pregnant! She couldn't be more overjoyed--especially since shopping cures morning sickness. But when the celebrity must-have obstetrician turns out to be her husband's glamorous ex-girlfriend, Becky's perfect world starts to crumble.


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Rebecca Bloomwood is now happily married to Luke Brandon, and all her problems seem to be at an end. But suddenly into her life steps a sister, of whose existence Becky had hitherto been completely unaware. Becky is only too anxious to welcome her into the bosom of the family. But there is only one snag- she HATES shopping. She is the antithesis of the shopaholic. It all makes for some very difficult family relationships.


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The irresistible heroine of **Confessions of a Shopaholic **and **Shopaholic Ties the Knot **is back! And this time Becky Bloomwood and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic.…With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky’s biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to pack light. But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he’s moving to New York for business—and he asks Becky to go with him! Before you can say “Prada sample sale,” Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury boutiques. Surely it’s only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky’s bills miles away in London. But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line! **Shopaholic Takes Manhattan**—but will she have to return it?


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There’s never been a better excuse to buy a new dress...or two. Shopaholic Ties the KnotThe irresistible heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is back!--in a hilarious tale of mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, and one blushing bride who just can’t say no to saying “I do.”Life has been good for Becky Bloomwood: She’s become the best personal shopper at Barneys, she and her successful entrepreneurial boyfriend, Luke, are living happily in Manhattan’s West Village, and her new next door neighbor is a fashion designer! But with her best friend, Suze, engaged, how can Becky fail to notice that her own ring finger is bare? Not that she’s been thinking of marriage (or diamonds) or anything...Then Luke proposes! Bridal registries dance in Becky’s head. Problem is, two other people are planning her wedding: Becky’s overjoyed mother has been waiting forever to host a backyard wedding, with the bride resplendent in Mum’s frilly old gown. While Luke’s high-society mother is insisting on a glamorous, all-expenses-paid affair at the Plaza. Both weddings for the same day. And Becky can’t seem to turn down either one. Can everyone’s favorite shopaholic tie the knot before everything unravels?From the Trade Paperback edition.


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With the same wicked humor, buoyant charm, and optimism that have made her Shopaholic novels beloved international bestsellers, Sophie Kinsella delivers a hilarious new novel and an unforgettable new character. Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets:Secrets from her mother:I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.Sammy the goldfish in my parents’ kitchen is not the same goldfish that Mum gave me to look after when she and Dad were in Egypt.Secrets from her boyfriend:I weigh one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Not one eighteen, like Connor thinks.I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.From her colleagues:When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day.) It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:My G-string is hurting me.I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger.But come Monday morning, Emma’s office is abuzz about the arrival of Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO. Suddenly Emma is face-to-face with the stranger from the plane, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her. Things couldn’t possibly get worse—Until they do.


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Rebecca Bloomwood just hit rock bottom. But she's never looked better....Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it—not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank—letters with large red sums she can't bear to read—and they're getting ever harder to ignore. She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky's only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something....Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life—and the lives of those around her—forever. Sophie Kinsella has brilliantly tapped into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times—and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky Bloomwood's hilarious schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her "confessions" are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance.


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When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed. Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all. Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?


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From Robert Tine’s Introduction to Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Writings about New York            Crane was determined to live in the city and to make his living with his pen. Living a bohemian, hand-to-mouth existence, he took to vanishing into the vast netherworld of the city, living among the whores, the drunks, the drug addicts, and the “b’hoys,” the Irish gangster swells of the Bowery. Emerging from this underworld, Crane would have enough material for a freelance newspaper piece as well as other material that would become Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Occasional newspaper work, a small but providential inheritance, and regular handouts from one of his brothers allowed Crane to cobble together a modest living—but it was Maggie on which he had pinned his hopes.            By 1892 Crane had finished writing Maggie. He approached the editor of Century Magazine, hoping his story would be serialized in the pages of that august publication. Almost immediately his hopes were dashed. The editor found the manuscript “cruel” and far too straightforward about the awful details of slum life. At the time there was no shortage of literature about the life of the underclass, but it was always couched in the safe terms of moral disapproval, sugar-coating the misery of the wretched, and suggesting that somehow the poor were responsible for their misery. Crane’s matter-of-fact presentation of life in the gutter was, the editor of the Century felt, too harsh for its middle- and upper-class readership.            Crane then began that dispiriting trek, so well known to first-time novelists, traveling from publisher to publisher only to have his manuscript rejected again and again. Many of the editors who read Maggie had the same opinion: While there was much to admire in the book, the squalor of the story, the appalling degradation of virtually all the characters, and the coarseness of the language were bound to outrage the “Mrs. Grundys” of the world (the fictional Mrs. Grundy, introduced in Thomas Morton’s play 1798 Speed the Plow, exemplifies the negative influence of conventional wisdom) and bring nothing but opprobrium down on the author and by extension his publisher.            Crane then came up with the idea of publishing his book under a pseudonym, and he chose the bland, almost forgettable name of “Johnston Smith.” “You see,” he explained, “I was going to wait until the world was pyrotechnic about Johnston Smith’s Maggie and then I was going to flop down like a trapeze performer from a wire, coming forward with all the grace of a consumptive hen, and say ‘I am he, friends’” (Stallman, Stephen Crane, p. 69; see “For Further Reading”).            That Crane set out to épater les bourgeois—outrage the middle class—there can be little doubt. However, the intentionally scandalous nature of the book still left him with the problem of finding a publisher—a problem that seemed insurmountable. Following rejection after rejection, Crane was forced to suffer the ignominy of publishing the work himself, paying a house best known for medical texts and religious tracts to print the first edition of Maggie. In 1893 he paid $869 for 1,100 copies of a cheap-looking yellow paperback edition of the book. Johnston Smith, however, had ceased to exist—Stephen Crane’s name appears on the title page. The publisher’s name appears nowhere. Even under the canopy of anonymity the publisher had insisted that the manuscript be bowdlerized to a degree. Some of the rougher language and more violent scenes were removed or toned down. But Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was still pretty strong meat for its day, and Crane now waited (one senses with a degree of gleeful anticipation) for the hue and cry, the fierce literary arguments, the denunciations from the pulpits of every denomination, that would propel Maggie to best-sellerdom and make the young man’s fortune.            Instead, silence. No newsstands or reputable bookshop would take the book on account of its incendiary nature—the only exception was Brentano’s, which took a dozen copies on consignment and returned ten. In desperation Crane took to giving away copies, dozens and dozens of them, and somehow, miraculously, the book found its way into the literary bloodstream, moving from one man of letters to another. When Crane’s spirits and fortunes were at their lowest ebb, he heard through a friend that his book had found its way into the hands of the well-respected author and critic William Dean Howells, who admired the book and announced that he would review it. The friend who gave Crane this welcome news was Curtis Brown, who would later become a prominent literary agent.            Brown remembers: “If Crane had been told that Howells had condemned the book he might have heaved a sigh. But instead, given the welcome news, he seemed dazed. He looked around like a man who did not know where he was. He gulped something down his throat, grinned like a woman in hysterics and then went off to take up his vocation again” (Stallman, p. 71).            But even with the enthusiastic support of the powerful Howells, the 1893 edition of Maggie could only be considered a failure. Just the same, the praise of a literary man whose opinion Crane respected seem to strengthen him and was enough, it seems, to make him “take up his vocation again.”            This vocation led him to write his finest and best-known work, a novel that became an American classic: The Red Badge of Courage. Published in 1895 by the eminently respectable publishing house of Appleton and Company, the novel achieved huge sales and vast acclaim from the critics and reading public. Stephen Crane was suddenly thrust into the limelight he had sought, and had become, overnight, a literary figure to be reckoned with. He was also a rich young author, a guaranteed best-seller. As a result Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was reissued in 1896, and this time the manuscript was returned to its original state—all of the emendations and coy ellipses were removed. Red Badge of Courage may have made Crane’s reputation, but Maggie was first in his heart.


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General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1904 Notes: This is an OCR reprint of the original rare book. There may be typos or missing text and there are no illustrations. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.


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This epic of urban life tells of small- town heroine Carrie Meeber, adrift in an indifferent Chicago. Setting out, she has nothing but a few dollars and an unspoiled beauty. Hers is a story of struggle-from sweatshop to stage success-and of the love she inspires in an older, married man whose obsession with her threatens to destroy him.


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Publisher: New York: Scribner Publication date: 1922 Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.


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Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of her close friend Charlotte Bronte was published in 1857 to immediate popular acclaim, and remains the most significant study of the enigmatic author who gave Jane Eyre the subtitle An Autobiography. It recounts Charlotte Bronte's life from her isolated childhood, through her years as a writer who had 'foreseen the single life' for herself, to her marriage at thirty-eight and death less than a year later. The resulting work - the first full-length biography of a woman novelist by a woman novelist - explored the nature of Charlotte's genius and almost single-handedly created the Bronte myth.


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**An incomparable Henry James’s novel in a new edition **



 Featuring a new introduction, it is a brilliant and sophisticated satire of manners and morals in the best Jamesian tradition. *The Wings of the Dove* is an indelible take on the tragic love triangle in which two poor yet ardent lovers seduce a dying woman in the hope that she will leave them her fortune.


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AMORY ELAINE inherited from his Brother every trait, except the stray inexpressible few, that made him worth while. His father, an ineffectual, inarticulate man with a taste for Byron and a. habit of drowsing over the Encyclopeadia Britannica, grew wealthy at thirty through .the death of two elder brothers, successful Chicago brokers, and in the first flush of feeling that the world was his, went to Bar Harbor and met Beatnce'Q'Hara. In consequence, Stephen Blaine handed down to posterity his height of just under six feet and his tendency to waver at crucial moments, these two abstractions appearing in his son Amory. For ,many years he hovered in the background of his family's life, an unasser ... tive figure with a face haJf-obliterated by lifeless, silky hair, continually occupied in H taking care" of his wife, continually haxassed by the idea. that he didn't and couldn't understand her. But Deatrice Blaine! There was a woman! Early pictures taken on her fath



**Table of Contents** 



CONTENTS; BOOK ONE: THE ROl-lANTIC EGOTIST; C!IAl'Tn I!ACR r AMORY, SON OF BEATRICE 3; 11 SPIRES AND GARGOYLES ? ? ? ? ? 41; lIT '!HE EGOTIST CONSIDERS 99; IV NARCISSUS OFF Dtrr'Y 131; [INTEiLUDE: MAY, 1917-FEBRUARY, 1919]; BOOK TWO: THE EDUCATION OF A PERSONAGE; ClJ~R PAC!:; 1 THE D ''"BUTANTE ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 179; II EXPERIMENTS m CONVALESCENCE; -; 212; III YOUNG IRONY ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ; IV ThE SUPERCILIOUS SACRIFICE; V TnE EGOTIST BECOMES A PERSONAGE



**About the Publisher** 



Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.



Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the diffic


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Anne BrontA's first novel, Agnes Grey, combines an astute dissection of middle-class social behavior and class attitudes with a wonderful study of Victorian responses to young children which has parallels with debates about education that continue to this day. In writing the novel, BrontA drew on her own experiences, and one can trace in the work many of the trials of the Victorian governess, often stranded far from home, and treated with little respect by her employers, yet expected to control and educate her young charges. Agnes Grey looks at childhood from nursery to adolescence, and it also charts the frustrations of romantic love, as Agnes starts to nurse warmer feelings towards the local curate, Mr. Weston. Sally Shuttleworth's fascinating introduction considers the book's fictional and narrative qualities, its relationship with Victorian child-rearing and the responsibilities of parents, and the changing attitudes to the book influenced by modern concerns for children's rights. The new edition includes a revised and updated bibliography as well as revised notes drawing on the latest critical material.


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The first volume of five that comprise Victor Hugo's masterpiece Les Miserables. Each volume is lightweight-a  more friendly and convenient approach than a 1,200-page version; and legible-no squinting required.    The five books that complete this set can be found simply by copying and pasting each ISBN into Amazon's search field. Volume One: Fantine, 1449565468; Volume Two: Cosette, 1449565530; Volume Three: Marius, 1449565573, Volume Four: Saint-Denis, 144956562X; Volume Five: Jean Valjean, 1449565646.


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When CIA agent Chuck Rittersdorf and his psychiatrist wife, Mary, file for divorce, they have no idea that in a few weeks they’ll be shooting it out on Alpha III M2, the distant moon ruled by various psychotics liberated from a mental ward. Nor do they suspect that Chuck’s new employer, the famous TV comedian Bunny Hentman, will also be there aiming his own laser gun. How things came to such a darkly hilarious pass is the subject of Clans of the Alphane Moon, an astutely shrewd and acerbic tale that blurs all conventional distinctions between sanity and madness.


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Joe Fernwright works as a pot-healer, a repairer of ceramics, in a dull future where there isn't much call for his skills. He's broke and bored when the offer from the Glimmung comes along. It might just be the answer to both his financial and spiritual problems, even if it does mean working on a strange project on Plowman's Planet with other assorted odd creatures. The only thing is that the Glimmung may just be divine and ask for more than Joe's commitment to the job . . .


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For all the strange worlds borne of his vast and vivid imagination, Philip K. Dick was largely concerned with humanity’s most achingly familiar heartaches and struggles. In Our Friends From Frolix 8, he clashes private dreams against public battles in a fast-paced and provocative tale that ultimately addresses our salvation both as individuals and a whole.Nick Appleton is a menial laborer whose life is a series of endless frustrations. Willis Gram is the despotic oligarch of a planet ruled by big-brained elites. When they both fall in love with Charlotte Boyer, a feisty black marketer of revolutionary propaganda, Nick seems destined for doom. But everything takes a decidedly unpredictable turn when the revolution’s leader, Thors Provoni, returns from ten years of intergalactic hiding with a ninety-ton protoplasmic slime that is bent on creating a new world order. Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and the object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. Dick has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves.


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In this sardonically funny gem of speculative fiction, Philip K. Dick creates a novel that manages to be simultaneously unpredictable and perversely logical. Poor Pete Garden has just lost Berkeley. He's also lost his wife, but he'll get a new one as soon as he rolls a three. It's all part of the rules of Bluff, the game that's become a blinding obsession for the last inhabitants of the planet Earth. But the rules are about to change--drastically and terminally--because Pete Garden will be playing his next game against an opponent who isn't even human, for stakes that are a lot higher than Berkeley. "From the Trade Paperback edition."


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In 2007, Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s became the fastest selling title in The Library of America’s history. The 2008 companion volume, Five Novels of the1960s & 70s, broke series records for advance sales. Now comes a third and final volume gathering the best novels of Dick’s final years, when religious revelation, always important in his work, became a dominant and irresistible theme. In A Maze of Death (1970), a darkly speculative mystery that foreshadows Dick’s final novels, colonists on the planet Delmak-O try to determine the nature of the God—or “Mentufacturer”—who plots their destiny. The late masterpiece VALIS (1981) is a novelistic reworking of “the events of 2-3-74,” when Dick’s life was transformed by what he believed was a mystical revelation. It is a harrowing self-portrait of a man torn between conflicting interpretations of what might be gnostic illumination or psychotic breakdown. The Divine Invasion (1981), a sequel to VALIS, is a powerful exploration of gnostic insight and its human consequences. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982), Dick’s last novel, is by turns theological thriller, roman à clef, and disenchanted portrait of late 1970s California life, based loosely on the controversial career of Bishop James Pike—a close friend and kindred spirit.


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**First introduced in *Freakonomics*, here is the full story of Sudhir Venkatesh, the sociology grad student who infiltrated one of Chicago's most notorious gangs**  The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in *Freakonomics*. *Gang Leader for a Day* is the fascinating full story of how  Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrŽe into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.  When Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he was looking for people to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty. A first-year grad student hoping to impress his professors with his boldness, he never imagined that as a result of the assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade inside the projects under JT's protection, documenting what he saw there.  Over the next seven years, Venkatesh got to know the neighborhood dealers, crackheads, squatters, prostitutes, pimps, activists, cops, organizers, and officials. From his privileged position of unprecedented access, he observed JT and the rest of the gang as they operated their crack-selling business, conducted PR within their community, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang's complex organizational structure.  In Hollywood-speak, *Gang Leader for a Day* is *The Wire* meets Harvard University. It's a brazen, page turning, and fundamentally honest view into the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in what is tantamount to an urban war zone. It is also the story of a complicated friendship between Sudhir and JT-two young and ambitious men a universe apart.


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Driven by the ghosts of the Darakyon, Achaeos has tracked the stolen Shadow Box to the marsh-town of Jerez, but he has only days before the magical box is lost to him forever.  Meanwhile, the forces of the Empire are mustering over winter for their great offensive, gathering their soldiers and perfecting their new weapons. Stenwold and his followers have only a short time to gather what allies they can before the Wasp armies march again, conquering everything in their path. If they cannot throw back the Wasps this spring then the imperial black-and-gold flag will fly over every city in the Lowlands before the year's end.  In Jerez begins a fierce struggle over the Shadow Box, as lake creatures, secret police and renegade magicians compete to take possession. If it falls into the hands of the Wasp Emperor, however, then no amount of fighting will suffice to save the world from his relentless ambition.


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The vampiric sorcerer Uctebri has at last got his hands on the Shadow Box and can finally begin his dark ritual - a ritual that the Wasp-kinden Emperor believes will grant him immortality - but Uctebri has his own plans both for the Emperor and the Empire. The massed Wasp armies are on the march, and the spymaster Stenwold must see which of his allies will stand now that the war has finally arrived. This time the Empire will not stop until a black and gold flag waves over Stenwold's own home city of Collegium. Tisamon the Weaponsmaster is faced with a terrible choice: a path that could lead him to abandon his friends and his daughter, to face degradation and loss, but that might possibly bring him before the Wasp Emperor with a blade in his hand - but is he being driven by Mantis-kinden honour, or manipulated by something more sinister?


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The war with the Wasp Empire has ended in a bitter stalemate, and Collegium has nothing to show for it but wounded veterans. Cheerwell Maker finds herself crippled in ways no doctor can mend, haunted by ghosts of the past that she cannot appease, seeking for meaning in a city that no longer seems like home. The Empress Seda is regaining control over those imperial cities who refused to bow the knee to her, but she draws her power from something more sinister than mere armies and war machines. Only her consort, the former spymaster Thalric, knows the truth, and now the assassins are coming and he finds his life and his loyalties under threat yet again. Out past the desert of the Nem the ancient city of Khanaphes awaits them both, with a terrible secret entombed beneath its stones...


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First volume in a dramatic and colourful new fantasy series, 'Shadows of the Apt', about the fight for survival against a menacingly regimented empire Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path. All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion. Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause. As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard . . .


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Two young companions, Totho and Salma, arrive at Tark to spy on the menacing Wasp army, but are there mistakenly apprehended as enemy agents. By the time they are freed, the city is already under siege. Over in the imperial capital the young emperor, Alvdan, is becoming captivated by a remarkable slave, the vampiric Uctebri, who claims he knows of magic that can grant eternal life. In Collegium, meanwhile, Stenwold is still trying to persuade the city magnates to take seriously the Wasp Empire's imminent threat to their survival.  In a colourful drama involving mass warfare and personal combat, a small group of heroes must stand up against what seems like an unstoppable force. This volume continues the story that so brilliantly unfolded in Empire in Black and Gold - and the action is still non-stop.


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This is the remarkable story of one endearing dog’s search for his purpose over the course of several lives. More than just another charming dog story, A Dog’s Purpose touches on the universal quest for an answer to life's most basic question: Why are we here?Surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey’s search for his new life’s meaning leads him into the loving arms of 8-year-old Ethan. During their countless adventures Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog.But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey’s journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonderswill he ever find his purpose?Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.


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(MOST OF) THE UNIVERSE IS IN YOUR HANDS"There is a theory in physics that explains, at the deepest level, nearly all of the phenomena that rule our daily lives.... This theory bears the unassuming name "The Standard Model of Elementary Particles," or the "Standard Model," for short. It deserves to be better known, and it deserves a better name. I call it "The Theory of Almost Everything."The Standard Model has a surprisingly low profile for such a fundamental and successful theory.... In physics news items, the Standard Model usually plays the whipping boy. Reports of successful experimental tests of the theory have an air of disappointment, and every hint of the theory' s inadequacy is greeted with glee. It is the Rodney Dangerfield of physical theories, it "don' t get no respect." But it is, perhaps, the pinnacle of human intellectual achievement to date.--From the IntroductionPraise for "THE THEORY OF ALMOST EVERYTHING"In an era when enormous attention is being paid to the promising but highly speculative superstring/M-theory, a great triumph of science has gone nearly unnoticed, except by physicists. Robert Oerter provides here an accessible introduction to the Standard Model--a towering example of human creativity. He outlines how the Standard Model can serve as the launching pad for humanity to--paraphrasing Einstein--see better the secrets of ' the Ancient One.' "--S. J. Gates Jr., John S. Toll Professor of Physics and director, Center for String and Particle Theory, University of Maryland"We always hear about black holes, the big bang, and the search for life in the universe. But rare is the book that celebrates the Standard Model ofElementary Particles--a triumph of twentieth-century science that underpins nearly all we know about physical reality. Oerter' s "The Theory of Almost Everything belongs on anyone' s shelf who cares about how the universe really works."--Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and author of "Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic EvolutionThe Standard Model is the most important theory in modern physics. It is the tried-and-true theory of all known physical interactions, with the exception of gravity. Outside of scientific circles it is not nearly as well known as string theory or chaos theory. But it is more important than both, and it is absolutely essential to understanding where we are heading next in physics. Now, in a "tour de force of science writing, physicist Robert Oerter reveals the Standard Model to the general public.Cobbled together by many brilliant minds--including Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann--the Standard Model combines Einstein' s special relativity with quantum mechanics, revealing a bizarre reality beneath the surface of the mundane world that we all experience. Particles pop into existence from pure energy. Light travels to a given destination on all possible paths at the same time. Solid matter--like light--is neither particle nor wave. Making use of rich analogy and metaphor, Oerter illuminates the quantum world of the Standard Model. He shows that although the theory seems absurd from a common-sense point of view, it nonetheless fully agrees with experiment. Oerter explores the conceptual framework of the Standard Model--what he considers its most fascinating aspect. He shows that different types of symmetry are at the heart ofthe theory. It is these symmetries, which lie deep within the structure of the atom, that give rise to the forces of nature. Oerter reveals that one of these symmetries--or rather, the fact that it was broken only moments after the creation of the universe--is the reason matter as we know it exists. After lucidly explaining the Standard Model' s implications for the universe as a whole, Oerter takes readers to the edge of physics. He shows how new developments could alter the Standard Model. Experiments now running are searching for neutrino mass and the holy grail of particle physics, the Higgs boson. Grand unified theories, supersymmetry, preon theories, and string theory--although not verified by experiment--could be the next steps in theory. "The Theory of Almost Everything is essential reading for anyone curious about what modern physics tells us about the nature of the universe.(c) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.


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Murder in the holiday spiritIt was Christmas in Lickin Creek, and all through the town something was stirring..The borough council was quarreling about the color of the Christmas lights. A social worker wouldn't let a living baby be part of the town's living crèche. And some ladies were stretching the limits of their leotards in a pageant called the Nutcracker. All in all, former New Yorker Tori Miracle was basking in the quaint glow of her adopted Pennsylvania town, when suddenly the season went sour. A boy was missing. A thirty-year-old mystery resurfaced. And now two people have been murdered. With her boyfriend--the town police chief--out of town, Tori must help his befuddled replacement. And what she finds out, or should be finding out, is making Tori the next target--of someone only in the mood for murder....


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**Eat up. Slim down. It’s just that easy--with just 1,500 delicious calories a day!**    

From the author of *The 1,200-Calorie-a-Day Menu    Cookbook*, comes all new recipes for when you are counting calories but don’t want to sacrifice flavor, taste, or variety. While most low-calorie meal plans leave you hungry for more, this cookbook serves up a satisfying selection of energy-boosting breakfasts, fast-fix lunches, and delectable dinners--plus two healthy snacks and one guilt-free dessert--every single day! It’s    hard to believe it’s just 1,500 calories.


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Featuring hundreds of recipes, such as Snow Pea Stir-fry, Hot Chicken Salad, General Tso's Chicken, and Traditional Mu Shu Pork, *The Everything® Chinese Cookbook* makes preparing authentic Chinese dishes fun and easy!  From basic Chinese flavors and dipping sauces, such as Quick and Easy Sweet-and-Sour Sauce, to Chinese cooking methods and meals, including Stir-fried Orange Beef, Appetizers, such as Crab Rangoon Soups, such as Wonton Soup Vegetable dishes, such as Stir-fried Baby Bok Choy Beef dishes, such as Mongolian Beef with Rice Noodles Pork dishes, such as Sweet and Sour Spareribs Mouthwatering fiery dishes, such as Spicy Chicken with Cashews Desserts, such as Sweet Baked Pineapple and Banana *The Everything® Chinese Cookbook* will have you serving up tasty Chinese cuisine to tempt anyone!


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Don't have time to cook? Stir-frying is quick, healthy, and easy. With The Everything[Trademark] Stir-Fry Cookbook, you will learn the essentials for making healthy dishes. Start with the freshest ingredients and the correct equipment, then learn how to properly select and prepare food from around the world. Whip up fish and shellfish dishes and get creative with inventive ideas for marinades, sauces, and second helping-worthy desserts, for menu options such as: Indian Curried Chicken, Stir-Fried Spanish Rice, Crisped Beef with Zucchini, Coconut Shrimp/Stir-Fried Fish in Oyster Sauce, Restaurant-Style Mu Shu Pork, Gingered Pork with Udon Noodles, Double Nutty Fiddlehead Greens with Sesame, Tuna Tofu Casserole. A sizzling sourcebook of 300 recipes for delicious meals that don't require a lot of ingredients-or time-The Everything[Registered] Stir-Fry Cookbook offers helpful tips and techniques for making mouthwatering recipes in less time than it would take you to choose what to order from a Chinese menu. Book jacket.


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Todd Wilbur shares his best-kept secrets for making  knockoffs of your favorite drinks-right in your own kitchen and  without spending a lot of money. Readers can re-create the delicious  taste of America's best-loved brand-name soft drinks, beverages,  dessert drinks, mixers, and liqueurs by following Todd's easy,  step-by-step instructions. If it comes in a glass, cup, bottle, or  mug, it's here for you to clone at home. Discover how to make your own  versions of:    

  * 7-Up&reg  * Starbuck's® Frappuccino&reg  * Nestea&reg  * Sunny Delight&reg  * Dairy Queen® Blizzard&reg  * McDonald's® Shamrock Shake&reg  * 7-Eleven® Cherry Slurpee&reg  * Grand Marnier® & Amaretto      

Plus: Dozens of specialty drinks from T.G.I. Friday's&reg,  Chili's&reg, Hard Rock Cafe&reg, Outback Steakhouse&reg,  Applebee's&reg, House of Blues&reg, Olive Garden&reg, Red  Lobster&reg, Claim Jumper&reg, and many more of your favorite  restaurant chains.      

"The mission: Decode the secret recipes for America's favorite junk  foods. Equipment: Standard kitchen appliances. Goal: Leak the  results to a ravenous public." (*USA Today*)


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The kitchen clone recipe king is back with a new Top Secret Restaurant Recipes collection—the   first since his 1997 bestselling *Top Secret Restaurant Recipes*, which has sold over one   million copies. Wilbur takes readers behind the scenes of big-name restaurants like Olive Garden,   Applebee’s, and Outback Steakhouse, revealing the key ingredients and tricks of the trade they   use to keep diners coming back for more. The book will feature 150 recipes, including:

  **• Red Lobster® Cheddar Bay Biscuits

  • Cheesecake Factory® White Chocolate RaspberryTruffle® Cheesecake

  • Romano’s Macaroni Grill® Penne Rustica®

  • California Pizza Kitchen® Thai Crunch Salad

  • Original Pancake House® Apple Pancake

  • Chili’s® Southwestern Eggrolls

  • Houston’s® Chicago-Style Spinach Dip

  • Tony Roma’s® Baked Potato Soup**  



  Forget takeout—with these fun recipes and blueprints, all using ingredients you can buy at your   local supermarket, you can re-create your favorite restaurant signature dishes right in your own   kitchen.


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Expand your ramen repertoire with an amazingly inventive and unique addition to the million-copy-selling "101" series-101 Things to do with Ramen Noodles.    Ramen is fast, easy, and filling, but what can be done to spruce it up and give it a whole new life? How about recipes like Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup, Summer Garden Soup,    Zucchini Salad, Creamy Beef and Broccoli Noodles, Ramen Burgers, Chicken Alfredo,    Pork Chop Ramen, Tuna Noodle Casserole, Garlic Noodle Saute, Beer Noodles (the ultimate college crowd pleaser!), Chinese Veggie Noodles, Corny Cheese Noodles, and more!    As a student at the University of Northern Colorado, Toni Patrick came up with creative and quick ways to make ramen noodles. These recipes tasted great and fit into her tight budget and busy schedule. Even today, several years after graduating, she still enjoys cooking with ramen noodles. Toni currently lives in Walden, Colorado.


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A hands-on guide to the ins and outs of raising and using vegetables    

Want to grow your own vegetables? You can do it the fun and easy way with this practical guide. From selecting the right spot to preparing the soil to harvesting, *Vegetable Gardening For Dummies,* *2nd Edition* shows you how to successfully raise vegetables regardless of the size of your plot or your dietary needs.      

You'll discover how to plot your garden and get the soil in tip-top shape; select the types of vegetables you want to grow; plant the seeds properly; and care for them as they grow. You'll also know the right time to pick your vegetables and the best ways to enjoy them. Plus, you'll get tips on preserving foods grown at home.            Expert advice on planting, caring for, harvesting, and enjoying the fruits of your own vegetable garden      Features environmentally friendly ways to combat pests in your garden      Charlie Nardozzi is senior horticulturist and spokesperson for the National Gardening Association; he's also been the gardening expert on such programs as HGTV's *Today at Home *and *Way to Grow *and the Discovery Channel's *Home Matters*            

Whether you have a green thumb or you've never grown a plant before, *Vegetable Gardening For Dummies,* *2nd Edition *has all the information you need to create a healthy garden.


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**THINK YOU KNOW THE ATKINS DIET? THINK AGAIN. THE NEW ATKINS IS...   POWERFUL** Learn how to eat the wholesome foods that will turn your body into an amazing fat-burning machine.   **EASY** The updated and simplified program was created with you and your goals in mind.   **HEALTHY** Atkins is about eating delicious and healthy food -- a variety of protein, leafy greens and other vegetables, nuts, fruits, and whole grains.   **FLEXIBLE** Perfect for busy lifestyles: you can stick with Atkins at work, at home, on vacation, when you're eating out -- wherever you are.   **BACKED BY SCIENCE** More than 50 studies support the low-carb science behind Atkins.  

 But Atkins is more than just a diet. This healthy lifestyle focuses on maintenance from Day 1, ensuring that you'll not only take the weight off -- you'll keep it off for good. Featuring inspiring success stories, all-new recipes, and 24 weeks' worth of meal plans, *The New Atkins for a New You* offers the proven low-carb plan that has worked for millions, now totally updated and even easier than ever.


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Sumptuous Thai dishes you can make at home!    

Thai cuisine creates a  harmonious blend between spicy hot and comparatively bland ingredients from age-old Eastern and relatively new Western foods. Featuring  both outstanding traditional recipes and cutting-edge crowd-pleasers such as Spicy Fried Rice Sticks, Salmon Toast, Chicken Satay, and Thai Crab Cakes, The Everything® Thai Cookbook guides you through preparing meals as good as you’d find in your favorite Thai restaurant.     

The Everything® Thai Cookbook is perfect for both vegetarians and meat-eaters, offering an eclectic range of spices, flavors, and aromas. Whether you want to prepare a meal for one—or an entire feast—The Everything® Thai Cookbook will have you serving up tasty fare to tempt even the most critical food connoisseur.    

Featuring mouthwatering recipes for:    

·Banana Fritters    

·Chicken-Vegetable Rice    

·Coconut Curried Chicken    

·Fresh Oranges in Rose Water    

·Pad Thai     

·Pumpkin Rice Custard    

·Spicy Rice and Shrimp Salad


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Five years ago, with the publication of *The South Beach Diet*, renowned Miami cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston set out to change the way America eats. Now he has an even more ambitious goal: to change the way America lives by helping Americans become fitter as well as thinner and healthier . . . for life. 

 

In the all-new *The South Beach Diet Supercharged,* Dr. Agatston shows you how to rev up your metabolism and* lose weight faster* while following the proven healthy eating principles of the original diet: choose good carbs, good fats, lean protein, and low-fat dairy. Collaborating with Dr. Joseph Signorile, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Miami, Dr. Agatston presents a cutting-edge, three-phase workout that perfectly complements the three phases of the diet itself. Based on the latest exercise science, this ease-into-it fitness program combines low- and high-intensity interval exercise (with a focus on walking) and functional core body-toning exercises. The result: You'll look fitter and you'll burn more fat and calories all day—even at rest. 

 

Also included is the latest nutritional research on how specific foods high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and a host of phytonutrients help keep you healthy; new and expanded lists of Foods to Enjoy; taste-tempting Meal Plans for phases 1 and 2; and dozens of easy-to-prepare new recipes, including Eggs Frijoles, Chock-Full-of-Veggies Chili, Roasted Tomato Soup, Homestyle Turkey Meatloaf, and South Beach Diet Tiramisu. In every chapter you'll find inspiring success stories from real-life South Beach dieters and plenty of effective weight loss tips. And as an added bonus, Dr. Agatston answers the questions you've most often asked him about the diet since the original book was published.


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*The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook* proves there's more to this popular appliance than a convenient way to cook a pot of rice. Complete with tips on buying and using a rice cooker, as well as selecting and preparing every kind of rice, grain, and dried bean, this book includes 250 recipes for everything from hot breakfast cereals and creamy desserts and puddings to classic vegetable, bean, and rice combinations and savory whole meal cuisines.


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Provides step-by-step instructions on canning and preserving a variety of fruits and vegetables, and includes one hundred recipes for such items as pear-raspberry jam, chicken stock, and baked beans.


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Do you want to eat burgers, chocolate cake, frozen margaritas, fudge, and French fries--and still fit into your pants?  Is life not worth living without brownies and onion rings?  Do you want a surefire way to tame your cravings? From breakfast ideas and chopped salads to guilt-free junk food and cocktails, Hungry Girl recipes taste great but are low in fat and calories.  Check it out!  

* Eggs Bene-Chick: 183 calories

* Bring on the Breakfast Pizza: 127 calories

* Ooey Gooey Chili Cheese Nachos: 216 calories

* Big Bopper Burger Stopper: 202 calories

* Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge: 65 calories

* Lord of the Onion Rings: 153 calories

* Rockin' Tuna Melt: 212 calories

* 7-Layer Burrito Blitz: 277 calories

* I Can't Believe It's Not Sweet Potato Pie: 113 calories

* Cookie-rific Ice Cream Freeze:  160 calories

* With easy instructions, simple steps, and hilariously fun facts and figures, Hungry Girl recipes are as fun to read as they are to make!  

And when you're not in your kitchen, check out HG's 10 mini survival guides, plus tips 'n tricks that'll help you make smarter food choices anywhere, anytime!


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*Hungry Girl* mania is sweeping the nation! *The New York Times* bestselling phenomenon delivers even more yum-tastic recipes in an easy-to-use cookbook containing 200 Hungry Girl recipes all under 200 calories. Recipes include:  

* H-O-T Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings 

* Sassy Southwestern Roll-Ups 

* Cheesy-Good Cornbread Muffins 

* Holy Moly Guacamole 

* HG s So Low Mein w/Chicken 

* Cheeseburger Lettuce Cups ;

* Chocolate Chip Cookie Crisp Puddin Shake 

* Swirls Gone Wild Cheesecake Brownies 

* Personal Pretzel-Bottomed Ice Cream Pie, and many more.Told with Lisa's signature wit and sassy style, these recipes are as fun to read as they are to make!


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Throw away that take-out menu and turn to one of the recipes in this wonderful new cookbook. Using readily available ingredients and a few simple techniques, Quick & Easy Chinese brings the delicious flavors of Asia into anyone's kitchen. Included are many familiar restaurant classics like Cashew Chicken, Hot and Sour Soup, and even Fortune Cookies—all simplified for easy home cooking. With a wide range of appetizers, soups, entrees, drinks, and desserts, Quick & Easy Chinese will bring everyone good fortune and good eating.


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For years, countless home cooks have shied away from baking their own bread because they were intimidated by all the mess, the experience, and of course, all the kneading required. Now, with Nancy Baggett's revolutionary new Kneadlessly Simple method, even complete novices can bake bread quickly and easily in their own homes, with no kneading and no kitchen mess. The secret is in Baggett's slow-rise method, which allows the yeast to grow slowly and develop the same full, satisfying flavor of traditional bread, without any kneading at all. The technique calls for minimal ingredients, often mixed in one bowl with one spoon, eliminating all the mess of traditional bread recipes, and it can be used to produce a wide variety of breads, from Whole Wheat Boules and English Muffin Loaves to Raisin Bread and Caraway Beer Bread. With this innovative new method, anyone who can read, measure, and stir can now make delicious, fine-textured yeast bread at home. This book will differ from others on the same subject because Nancy Baggett is an experienced food writer who understand home baker's needs. While techniques by other experts may sound similar, they still require messy dough handling. Nancy Baggett's technique is the simplest one yet, and it's virtually fool-proof.


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"The joy of fiction is the joy of the imagination. . . ."  

The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.  

*Stories* is a groundbreaking anthology that reinvigorates, expands, and redefines the limits of imaginative fiction and affords some of the best writers in the world—from Peter Straub and Chuck Palahniuk to Roddy Doyle and Diana Wynne Jones, Stewart O'Nan and Joyce Carol Oates to Walter Mosley and Jodi Picoult—the opportunity to work together, defend their craft, and realign misconceptions. Gaiman, a literary magician whose acclaimed work defies easy categorization and transcends all boundaries, and "master anthologist" (*Booklist*) Sarrantonio personally invited, read, and selected all the stories in this collection, and their standard for this "new literature of the imagination" is high. "We wanted to read stories that used a lightning-flash of magic as a way of showing us something we have already seen a thousand times as if we have never seen it at all."  

Joe Hill boldly aligns theme and form in his disturbing tale of a man's descent into evil in "Devil on the Staircase." In "Catch and Release," Lawrence Block tells of a seasoned fisherman with a talent for catching a bite of another sort. Carolyn Parkhurst adds a dark twist to sibling rivalry in "Unwell." Joanne Harris weaves a tale of ancient gods in modern New York in "Wildfire in Manhattan." Vengeance is the heart of Richard Adams's "The Knife." Jeffery Deaver introduces a dedicated psychologist whose mission in life is to save people in "The Therapist." A chilling punishment befitting an unspeakable crime is at the dark heart of Neil Gaiman's novelette "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains."  

As it transforms your view of the world, this brilliant and visionary volume—sure to become a classic—will ignite a new appreciation for the limitless realm of exceptional fiction.


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With such bestsellers as *A History of God and Islam*, Karen Armstrong has   consistently delivered "penetrating, readable, and prescient" (*The New York   Times*) works that have lucidly engaged a wide range of religions and   religious   issues. In *Buddha* she turns to a figure whose thought is still   reverberating   throughout the world 2,500 years after his death.

  Many know the Buddha only from seeing countless serene, iconic images. But what   of   the man himself and the world he lived in? What did he actually do in his   roughly eighty   years on earth that spawned one of the greatest religions in world history?   Armstrong   tackles these questions and more by examining the life and times of the Buddha   in this   engrossing philosophical biography. Against the tumultuous cultural background   of his   world, she blends history, philosophy, mythology, and biography to create a   compelling   and illuminating portrait of a man whose awakening continues to inspire   millions.


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Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors? Answering these questions with the same depth of knowledge and profound insight that have marked all her acclaimed books, Armstrong makes clear how the changing face of the world has necessarily changed the importance of religion at both the societal and the individual level. And she makes a powerful, convincing argument for drawing on the insights of the past in order to build a faith that speaks to the needs of our dangerously polarized age. Yet she cautions us that religion was never supposed to provide answers that lie within the competence of human reason; that, she says, is the role of "logos." The task of religion is "to help us live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there are no easy explanations." She emphasizes, too, that religion will not work automatically. It is, she says, a practical discipline: its insights are derived not from abstract speculation but from "dedicated intellectual endeavor" and a "compassionate lifestyle that enables us to break out of the prism of selfhood." "From the Hardcover edition."


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A new caliber of thriller set at the collision of rs"60s counterculture and the rise of dark forces in world government.Heroescreator Tim Kring injects history with a supernatural, hallucinogenic what-if. Set in the crucible of the 1960s,Shiftis the story of Chandler Forrestal, a man whose life is changed forever when he is unwittingly dragged into a CIA mind-control experiment. After being given a massive dose of LSD, Chandler deshy;velops a frightening array of mental powers. With his one-in-a-billion brain chemistry, Chandlerrs"s heightened perception uncovers a plot to assassishy;nate President Kennedy. Propelled to prevent the conspiracy of assassishy;nation and anarchy, Chandler becomes a target for deadly forces in and out of the government and is pursued across a simmering landscape peopled by rogue CIA agents, Cuban killers, Mafia madmen, and ex-Nazi scientistshellip;all the while haunted by a beautiful woman with her own scandalous past to purge, her own score to settle. Chased across America, will Chandler be able to harness his "shift" and rewrite history? Combining the nonstop style of Ludlum with the sinister, tangled conspiracies of DeLillo and Dick, and featuring cameos from Lee Harvey Oswald to Timothy Leary to J. Edgar Hoover,Shiftis a thriller guaranteed to be equal parts heart-stopping and thought-provoking. From the Hardcover edition.


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Politics has always been a dirty game. Now justice is, too. In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town’s water supply, causing the worst “cancer cluster” in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it. Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided? The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice.


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"An admirable and impressive work of synthesis that will give insight and satisfaction to thousands of lay readers."THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLDIn this stunningly intelligent book, Karen Armstrong, one of Britain's foremost commentators on religious affairs, traces the history of how men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham to the present. From classical philsophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the modern age of skepticism, Karen Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one superbly readable volume, destined to take its place as a classic.


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'They say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me' Sam Kingston is dead. Except she isn't. On a rainy February night, eighteen-year-old Sam is killed in a horrific car crash. But then the impossible happens: she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the day that she died. Forced to live over and over the last day of her life ' the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party ' she desperately struggles to alter the outcome, but every morning she wakes up on the day of the crash. This is a story of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live. And who falls in love . . . a little too late. BEFORE I FALL is a brave and complex novel about the territory between life and death. As astonishing as The Lovely Bonesand as luminous as Jenny Downham's Before I Die, it will make you want to live every day as if it were your last.


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"All it would take was my true name being mentioned after dark, and it would float back to my aunt. She was the Queen of Air and Darkness, and that meant that anything said in the dark was hers to hear, eventually. The fact that spotting the missing Elven American Princess had become more popular than spotting Elvis helped. Her magic was always chasing blind leads. Princess Meredith skiing in Utah. Princess Meredith dancing in Paris. Princess Meredith gambling in Vegas. After three years I was still a front-page story for the tabloids, though the latest headlines had been speculating that I was dead as the King of Rock and Roll . . ."Three years ago, Princess Meredith fled the court of her cruel Aunt Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness, leaving that garden of decadent delights and backstabbing intrigues for the comparative calm of Los Angeles. Using her magic to pass for human, Meredith began a new life as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now Doyle, the Queen's chief bodyguard and assassin, has been dispatched to fetch her back--whether she likes it or not.The product of a marriage designed to cement peace between the rival Seelie and Unseelie courts, Meredith has always been scorned by both factions in spite of her royal blood. But that blood is behind the Unseelie Queen's surprisingly urgent summons. For ever since the fey's exile from Europe to America, their power and purity have been fading. Desperate to renew her race, Queen Andais now pins her hopes on a contest between Meredith and her own son, the sadistic Prince Cel. The first to produce a child will win the throne.The loser's reward will be death . . . Laurell K. Hamilton's bestselling series of novels featuring Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, established her as one of the hottest new writers of dark fantasy and erotic horror. Now, in a thrilling adventure of unbridled imagination, Hamilton turns her talents to the glittering, myth-drenched lands of Faerie and brings them brilliantly into the postmodern age. Enter a thrilling, sensual world as threatening as it is beautiful, replete with the titanic passions of immortal beings once worshipped as gods or demons. Full of earthly pleasures and dazzling magic, Laurell K. Hamilton's A Kiss of Shadows will hold you under its hypnotic spell.From the Hardcover edition.


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When 16-year-old Scarlett Wakefield transfers from St. Tabby’s to Wakefield Hall Collegiate, she is relieved that no one knows her dark, haunting secret. A few months ago, Scarlett was invited to an elite party with a guest list full of the hottest names in British society, including Dan McAndrew. Before the party, Scarlett had only imagined what it would be like to have her first kiss with Dan, but on the penthouse terrace, Dan leaned in close and she no longer had to wonder. Their kiss was beautiful and perfect and magical, and then . . . Dan McAndrew took his last breath as she held him in her arms. No one knows how or why Dan died, and everyone at St. Tabby’s believes Scarlett had something to do with it. But now that she’s safely hidden away at Wakefield Hall, Scarlett would rather forget that it ever happened. Only she can’t. Especially when she receives an anonymous note that will set her on the path to clearing her name and finding out what really happened to the first and last boy she kissed.From the Hardcover edition.


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After discovering that someone saw what looked like Dan’s emergency EpiPen in A-lister Plum’s designer handbag, Scarlett and her tough American sidekick, Taylor, sneak into a posh London nightclub, where Plum has a private table. Scarlett is stunned to discover a piece of evidence that might implicate another girl in Plum’s exclusive circle, Lucy Raleigh. Which means Scarlett must cast a wider net in order to catch the right suspect.Back at school, groundskeeper Jase is hoping to take Scarlett’s mind off her troubles with some heart-stopping kisses. Scarlett can’t help but feel guilty for indulging in romantic rendezvous when she should be hunting down Dan’s killer. However, once Scarlett finds out how Lucy is connected to Dan, she knows she must drop everything and travel to the McAndrew estate in Scotland to hunt for more clues. But when she arrives, Scarlett becomes the target of a dangerous hunt herself.From the Hardcover edition.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

From playboy doctor to dad Moving to the small town of Cedar Bluff is a fresh start for paramedic Kylie Germaine and her young son Ben. She-ll forget the past to focus on her job - and raising Ben. But gorgeous emergency doctor Seth Taylor has other ideas- Seth appreciates beautiful women, and he can-t wait to get to know his new colleague better! He soon discovers that, as a single mum, her priorities lie elsewhere. But for the first time Seth-s smitten - and Cedar Bluff-s most eligible bachelor finds himself wanting to put a ring on Kylie-s finger and become a father to her little boy.


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Eva Raines is an uncomplicated country girl who's all about food. Eva moves to the Napa Valley where her culinary skills come to the attention of the owners of a start-up, All Things to All People, and Eva finds her niche as a personal chef. Now all she needs is a man as perfect as her cooking, but she has serious doubts that such a creature exists. 

When wealthy entrepreneur, winery owner, and noted lothario, Gabriel Abbott, makes plans to seduce his flavor of the month, his assistant hires All Things to All People to cater a gourmet dinner. Eva expects to use her way with food to showcase the startup. What she unexpectedly discovers is that her culinary skills showcase far more. 

Once Gabriel finds himself seduced by Eva's voice, and the sensual flavors and textures of her food, his previous plans are quickly forgotten. He begins to obsess about meeting his little chef in person. But when Eva and Gabe finally come face to face, the question is, how hot will their fire burn?


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How many minutes should you cook green beans? Is it better to steam them or to boil them?What are the right proportions for a vinaigrette?How do you skim off fat?What is the perfect way to roast a chicken? Julia Child gave us extensive answers to all these questions-and so many more-in the masterly books she published over the course of her career. But which one do you turn to for which solutions? Over the years Julia also developed some new approaches to old problems, using time-saving equipment and more readily available products. So where do you locate the latest findings? All the answers are close to hand in this indispensable little volume: the delicious, comforting, essential compendium of Julia's kitchen wisdom-a book you can't do without. "From the Trade Paperback edition."


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Meghan Chase has a secret destiny--one she could never have imagined...Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.But she could never have guessed the truth--that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.


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Who Knew An Angel Could Get A Girl In So Much Devilish Trouble?Jackie Brighton woke up in a Dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her familiar B-cups have somehow become double Ds, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her fi rst one-night stand ever...with a fallen angel. All she remembers is gorgeous Noah's oddly hypnotic blue eyes...and then a dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a sexy Itch. With help from Noah, Jackie begins to adapt to her new lifestyle -- until she accidentally sends Noah into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands herself in a fi erce battle for an ancient halo with the queen's wickedly hot righthand man. Who just happens to be the vampire who originally bit her. How's a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy's so hard to resist?


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NOBODY SAID SUCKING WAS EASY.With a hot new figure, her dream job as an archaeologist, and "two" gorgeous boyfriends to scratch her seductive Itch -- an angel and a vampire -- Jackie Brighton is totally getting the hang of life as a succubus. Then she accidentally knocks the pizza guy unconscious with her touch. Great -- she's "cursed." After striking a deal to get the curse lifted by a crafty demon, Jackie and her best friend Remy take a road trip to deliver a cryptic message to the nation's oldest succubus. Unfortunately, neither of her jealous lovers is talking to Jackie right now, and due to the curse, she's desperate to get her Itch scratched very soon. Their journey gets weirder with every mile -- demonic possession, a charming stalker, a cryptic warning -- and when they get to New Orleans, Jackie discovers a dangerous catch to her supernatural bargain. Someone wants her dead -- again. Can a brainy vixen in a miniskirt outsmart the forces of evil?


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Sherlock Holmes is back!Sherlock Holmes, the world's first--and most famous--consulting detective, came to the world's attention more than 120 years ago through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and stories. But Conan Doyle didn't reveal all of the Great Detective's adventures...Here are some of the best Holmes pastiches of the last 30 years, twenty-eight tales of mystery and the imagination detailing Holmes's further exploits, as told by many of today's greatest storytellers, including Stephen King, Anne Perry, Anthony Burgess, Neil Gaiman, Naomi Novik, Stephen Baxter, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and many more.These are the improbable adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where nothing is impossible, and nothing can be ruled out. In these cases, Holmes investigates ghosts, curses, aliens, dinosaurs, shapeshifters, and evil gods. But is it the supernatural, or is there a perfectly rational explanation?You won't be sure, and neither will Holmes and Watson as they match wits with pirates, assassins, con artists, and criminal masterminds of all stripes, including some familiar foes, such as their old nemesis, Professor Moriarty.In these pages you'll also find our heroes crossing paths with H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and even Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and you'll be astounded to learn the truth behind cases previously alluded to by Watson but never before documented until now.These are tales that take us from the familiar quarters at 221B Baker Street to alternate realities, from the gaslit streets of London to the far future and beyond.Whether it's mystery, fantasy, horror, or science fiction, no puzzle is too challenging for the Great Detective. The game is afoot!


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**In this tightly plotted yet mind- expanding debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed only with an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people’s dreams**



 In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin toils as a clerk at a huge, imperious detective agency. All he knows about solving mysteries comes from the reports he’s filed for the illustrious detective Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren’t so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound *Manual of Detection* (think *The Art of War* as told to Damon Runyon).



 Unwin mounts his search for Sivart, but is soon framed for murder, pursued by goons and gunmen, and confounded by the infamous femme fatale Cleo Greenwood. Meanwhile, strange and troubling questions proliferate: why does the mummy at the Municipal Museum have modern- day dental work? Where have all the city’s alarm clocks gone? Why is Unwin’s copy of the manual missing Chapter 18?



 When he discovers that Sivart’s greatest cases— including the Three Deaths of Colonel Baker and the Man Who Stole November 12th—were solved incorrectly, Unwin must enter the dreams of a murdered man and face a criminal mastermind bent on total control of a slumbering city.



 *The Manual of Detection* will draw comparison to every work of imaginative fiction that ever blew a reader’s mind—from Carlos Ruiz Zafón to Jorge Luis Borges, from *The Big Sleep* to *The Yiddish Policeman’s Union*. But, ultimately, it defies comparison; it is a brilliantly conceived, meticulously realized novel that will change what you think about how you think.


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The Periodic Table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in THE DISAPPEARING SPOON follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. We learn that Marie Curie used to provoke jealousy in colleagues' wives when she'd invite them into closets to see her glow-in-the-dark experiments. And that Lewis and Clark swallowed mercury capsules across the country and their campsites are still detectable by the poison in the ground. Why did Gandhi hate iodine? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium? And why did tellurium lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? From the Big Bang to the end of time, it's all in THE DISAPPEARING SPOON.


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Jane Urquhart's stunning new novel weaves two parallel stories, one set in contemporary Toronto and Prince Edward County, Ontario, the other in the nineteenth century on the northern shores of Lake Ontario. Sylvia Bradley was rescued from her parents' house by a doctor attracted to and challenged by her withdrawn ways. Their subsequent marriage has nourished her, but ultimately her husband's care has formed a kind of prison. When she meets Andrew Woodman, a historical geographer, her world changes. A year after Andrew's death, Sylvia makes an unlikely connection with Jerome McNaughton, a young Toronto artist whose discovery of Andrew's body on a small island at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River unlocks a secret in his own past. After Sylvia finds Jerome in Toronto, she shares with him the story of her unusual childhood and of her devastating and ecstatic affair with Andrew, a man whose life was irrevocably affected by the decisions of the past. At the breathtaking centre of the novel is the compelling tale of Andrew's forebears. We meet his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Woodman, whose ambitions brought him from England to the northeastern shores of Lake Ontario, during the days of the flourishing timber and shipbuilding industries; Joseph's practical, independent and isolated daughter, Annabel; and his son, Branwell, an innkeeper and a painter. It is Branwell's eventual liaison with an orphaned French-Canadian woman that begins the family's new generation and sets the stage for future events. A novel about loss and the transitory nature of place, "A Map of Glass" is vivid with evocative prose and haunting imagery -- a lake of light on a wooden table; a hotel graduallyburied by sand; a fully clothed man frozen in an iceberg; a blind woman tracing her fingers over a tactile map. Containing all of the elements for which Jane Urquhart's writing is celebrated, it stands as her richest, most accomplished novel to date. "From the Hardcover edition."


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As their holiday unfolds, Colin and Maria are locked into their own intimacy. They groom themselves meticulously, as though someone is waiting for them who cares deeply about how they appear. When they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell, they become drawn into a fantasy of violence and obsession.


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These violent delights have violent ends  And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,  Which, as they kiss, consume. When Romeo first lays eyes on the bewitching Juliet, it's love at first sight. But though their love runs true and deep, it is also completely forbidden. With family and fate determined to keep them apart, will Romeo and Juliet find a way to be together? William Shakespeare's masterpiece is one of the most enduring stories of star-crossed love of all time. Beautifully presented for a modern teen audience with both the original play and a prose retelling of the beloved story, this is the must-have edition of a timeless classic.


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In this tale by William Shakespeare, Prospero--the rightful Duke of Milan--has been usurped and, along with his daughter Miranda, has been exiled on an island for twelve years. During this time, Prospero hones his magic, and eventually creates a storm that brings his enemies to the shore of the island he has come to control...


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One of the last plays Shakespeare penned on his own, The Winter’s Tale is a transcendent work of death and rebirth, exploring irrational sexual jealousy, the redemptive world of nature, and the magical power of art.Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.


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Perhaps the most readable and accessible of the great works of scientific imagination, The Origin of Species sold out on the day it was published in 1859. Theologians quickly labeled Charles Darwin the most dangerous man in England, and, as the Saturday Review noted, the uproar over the book quickly "passed beyond the bounds of the study and lecture-room into the drawing-room and the public street." Yet, after reading it, Darwin's friend and colleague T. H. Huxley had a different reaction: "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that."Based largely on Darwin's experience as a naturalist while on a five-year voyage aboard H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species set forth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challenged contemporary beliefs about divine providence and the immutability of species. A landmark contribution to philosophical and scientific thought, this edition also includes an introductory historical sketch and a glossary Darwin later added to the original text.Charles Darwin grew up considered, by his own account, "a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." A quirk of fate kept him from the career his father had deemed appropriate--that of a country parson--when a botanist recommended Darwin for an appointment as a naturalist aboard H.M.S. Beagle from 1831 to 1836. Darwin is also the author of the five-volume work Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle (1839) and The Descent of Man (1871).From the Trade Paperback edition.


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Each edition includes:• Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play• Scene-by-scene plot summaries• A key to famous lines and phrases• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language• An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play• Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare booksEssay by Susan SnyderThe Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.


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The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and thewondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same. Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever, a dog like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry. Obedience school did no good—Marley was expelled. Neither did the tranquilizers the veterinarian prescribed for him with the admonishment, "Don't hesitate to use these." And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. Marley shared the couple's joy at their first pregnancy, and their heartbreak over the miscarriage. He was there when babies finally arrived and when the screams of a seventeen-year-old stabbing victim pierced the night. Marley shut down a public beach and managed to land a role in a feature-length movie, always winning hearts as he made a mess of things. Through it all, he remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms. Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans.


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Awake in the dead zone and awake to a nightmare. Recoil in horror as you are touched by a young man cursed with the power to perceive the evil in men's souls. And whose ability to see into the future forces him into a terrifying confrontation with a charismatic, power-hungry and infinitely dangerous man.


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FIRESTARTER is the mesmerising and menacing story of a sinister government agency, a fateful drug experiment, and a pigtailed girl named Charlie, who has an unimaginably terrifying gift. The power of pyrokinesis.


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New York Magazine proclaims, "Twitter is the hot web company right now...the Next Big Thing;" the New York Times calls it "one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet;" Time magazine claims "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app;" and Newsweek notes that "Suddenly, it seems as though all the world′s a-twitter."  Since its creation in March 2006, Twitter has unleashed a torrent of self-expression from its six million members around the world, who send and read each others′ "tweets," messages up to 140 characters in length. Friends use the site to make plans; relatives use it to stay connected; politicians use it to lobby for votes; and humorists use it to perfect their craft. In fact, Twitter users have reinvented the classic medium of the witticism in a site where anyone can be a Dorothy Parker or an Oscar Wilde.  Twitter Wit is the first compilation of Twitter aphorisms, with submissions ranging from quotidian vignettes like "I bet in Sweden the Ikea instructions are in English" to bumper sticker-type quips like "I think the bird of love is the dove. My husband thinks it′s the swallow," and contributors ranging from celebrities like Shaquille O′Neal, Jimmy Fallon, Penn Jillette, John Cleese, and Steven Fry to regular people with previously unappreciated sharp tongues. Featuring a foreword by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, this authorized anthology of the thousand most most clever and memorable "tweets" relates the diversity of human experience in hilarious bite-sized pieces.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER****The three Great Premises of Idiot America:· Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units· Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough· Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believe it** With his trademark wit and insight, veteran journalist Charles Pierce delivers a gut-wrenching, side-splitting lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States. Pierce asks how a country founded on intellectual curiosity has somehow deteriorated into a nation of simpletons more apt to vote for an *American Idol* contestant than a presidential candidate. But his thunderous denunciation is also a secret call to action, as he hopes that somehow, being intelligent will stop being a stigma, and that pinheads will once again be pitied, not celebrated. Erudite and razor-sharp, *Idiot America* is at once an invigorating history lesson, a cutting cultural critique, and a bullish appeal to our smarter selves.


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The Descendant
Cool Air
The Call of Cthulhu
Two Black Bottles (with Wilfred Blanch Talman)
PickmanÆs Model
The Silver Key
The Strange High House in the Mist
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Colour Out of Space
The Very Old Folk
The Thing in the Moonlight (spurious)
The Last Test (with Adolphe de Castro)
History of the Necronomicon
The Curse of Yig (with Zealia Bishop)
Ibid


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The Dunwich Horror
The Electric Executioner (with Adolphe de Castro)
The Mound (with Zealia Bishop)
MedusaÆs Coil (with Zealia Bishop)
The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Trap (with Henry S. Whitehead)


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The Dreams in the Witch House
The Man of Stone (with Hazel Heald)
The Horror in the Museum (with Hazel Heald)
Through the Gates of the Silver Key (with E. Hoffmann Price)
Winged Death (with Hazel Heald)
Out of the Aeons (with Hazel Heald)
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Evil Clergyman
The Horror in the Burying-Ground (with Hazel Heald)
The Book
The Tree on the Hill (with Duane W. Rimel)
The Battle that Ended the Century (with R. H. Barlow)
The Shadow Out of Time
ôTill AÆ the Seasö (with R.H. Barlow)
Collapsing Cosmoses (with R.H. Barlow)
The Challenge from Beyond
The Disinterment (with Duane W. Rimel)
The Diary of Alonzo Typer (with William Lumley)
The Haunter of the Dark
Within the Walls of Eryx (with Kenneth S)
The Night Ocean (with R.H. Barlow)


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The Beast in the Cave
The Alchemist
The Tomb
Dagon
A Reminiscence Of Dr. Samuel Johnson
Sweet Ermengarde or, The Heart of a Country Girl
Polaris
The Green Meadow
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Memory
Old Bugs
The Transition of Juan Romero
The White Ship
The Doom That Came to Sarnath
The Statement of Randolph Carter
The Terrible Old Man
The Tree
The Cats of Ulthar
The Temple
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
The Street
Poetry and the Gods
Celephais
From Beyond
Nyarlathotep
The Picture in the House
The Crawling Chaos
Ex Oblivione
The Nameless City
The Quest of Iranon
The Moon-Bog
The Outsider
The Other Gods
The Music OF Erich Zann
Herbert West: Reanimator
Hypnos
What the Moon Brings
Azathoth
The Horror at MartinÆs Beach
The Hound
The Lurking Fear
The Rats in the Walls
The Unnamable
The Festival
The Shunned House
The Horror at Red Hook
He
In The Vault
The Loved Dead
Under the Pyramids


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**The Bunco Babes are a group of hip retirees who love to play bunco- and addictive game of luck. 



 But someone's luck is about to run out... 



 For good. ** 



 When Claudia Connors returns from Vegas with a new husband, actor Lance Ledeaux, Kate McCall and the other Bunco Babes are shocked. To make matters worse, Lance has plans to direct, produce, and star in a play he has written-and he wants all the Babes to participate. 



 When he's killed during rehearsal with a pistol, all eyes are on Claudia, who is literally holding the smoking gun. Anyone could have loaded the real bullets, but its up to Kate to prove Claudia's innocence-or her newly widowed friend will be throwing dice behind bars.


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To Debra Bradley, marriage is being with the man you've always loved--despite the odds. Despite what other people think. And marriage is about family, about protecting your children from a sometimes hostile world.

To her husband, Will Bradley, family is about creating a safe haven. Where it doesn't matter that one of you is white, the other black. Where it's never mattered...

All these years later Will and Debra are still in love, still each other's best friend. They've made a good life for themselves and their children. But their daughter, Angie--pregnant and estranged from the husband she loves--has to discover for herself what family means....


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**From the #1 *New York Times* bestselling master of suspense comes a fast-paced, emotion-packed novel about guilt, grief, and our capacity to forgive** 



    17-year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before, and three months quickly pass without word from the girl, the community assumes the worst. 



    Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators via elaborate—and nationally televised—sting operations. Working with local police on her news program Caught in the Act, Wendy and her team have publicly shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined. 



    In a novel that challenges as much as it thrills, filled with the astonishing tension and unseen suburban machinations that have become Coben’s trademark, *Caught* tells the story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realizes she can’t trust her own instincts about this story—or the motives of the people around her.



    Praise for *Long Lost*: 



    "Coben is one of the best authors around at writing page-turning suspense, as   *Long Lost* makes clear." 

  -*Chicago Sun-Times* 



    "Roller-coaster plot and savvy dialogue...All the ingredients of a good old-  fashioned thriller: murder, action and wit." 

  -*New York Daily News*


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**From *New York Times* bestselling author Stephen King comes the haunting story of *Blockade Billy*, the greatest Major League baseball player to be erased from the game.**   

 

Even the most die-hard baseball fans don't know the true story of William “Blockade Billy” Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first--and only--player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game's history.

Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse... and only Stephen King, the most gifted storyteller of our age, can reveal the truth to the world, once and for all.

 

Originally published through Cemetery Dance Publications on April 20, 2010 as a $25.00 limited-edition hardcover, Stephen King and Cemetery Dance have made an arrangement with Scribner to make available a less expensive hardcover edition of ***Blockade Billy****, *with an on-sale date of May 25th, the same date the audiobook goes on sale. The Scribner edition will be available in all U.S. and Canadian retail outlets. Both the Scribner book and the Simon & Schuster audiobook will feature a bonus short story ("Morality").


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**From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel's *Dog Whisperer*, the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. **For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, "Yes, you *can *raise the perfect dog!" It all starts with the proper foundation in the early years. Here, Cesar tells you everything you need to know to create the best environment for a well-balanced dog in order to avoid behavior issues in the future, and shows you how to correct the most common behavior issues for young dogs. Based on Cesar’s own detailed experiences raising individual puppies from some of the most popular breeds, *How to Raise the Perfect Dog* is like having Cesar right beside you, as your own personal expert, coaching you and your dog from the first day of your life together. Packed with new information aimed specifically at the particular needs of puppies and adolescents, and written in Cesar's friendly, accessible style, *How to Raise the Perfect Dog* answers all the most commonly asked questions and guides you towards a loving, satisfying life-long relationship with your best friend. #1 *New York Times* bestselling author, Cesar Millan shows you how to raise the perfect dog and prevent behavior issues before they start, including:• what to expect from each stage of your puppy's development• quick and easy housebreaking• the essentials of proper nutrition• the importance of vaccinating–and of not over-vaccinating• creating perfect obedience from day one through rules, boundaries, and calm-assertive leadership• how to avoid the most common mistakes owners make raising puppies and young dogs• how to correct any issue *before* it becomes a problem• unique exercises and play to bring out the best in every breed


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A delightfully witty guide to keeping much-loved dogs not just fed and groomed, but happy to be with you. And vice versa. Geared to the millions who want to be socially responsible but also indulgent, who want to be informed about the latest ideas inc are and training, and, above all, who worry about their relationships with their dogs, this poignant, irreverent guide is doggone funny. Written by a first-time dog owner who's been there, worried about that, this comprehensive but accessible book articulates the questions that many people have about all things canine-related but are afraid to ask, all with a reassuring, amusing tone.


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"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring." --**Chuck Palahniuk   **  

  Satan Burger is the international cult hit that has grown such an enormous following over the past 10 years that it not only launched the career of underground author Carlton Mellick III, but inspired an entire literary movement.    

  *Absurd philosophies, dark surrealism, and the end of the human race . . .*  

  God hates you. All of you. He closed the gates of Heaven and wants you to rot on Earth forever. Not only that, he is repossessing your souls and feeding them to a large vagina-shaped machine called the Walm--an interdimensional doorway that brings His New Children into the world. He loves these new children, but He doesn't love you. They are more interesting than you. They are beautiful, psychotic, magical, sex-crazed, and deadly. They are turning your cities into apocalyptic chaos, and there's nothing you can do about it ...  

  Featuring: a narrator who sees his body from a third-person perspective, a man whose flesh is dead but his body parts are alive and running amok, an overweight messiah, the personal life of the Grim Reaper, lots of classy sex and violence, and a motley group of squatter punks that team up with the devil to find their place in a world that doesn't want them anymore.


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*Winner of the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel* In this Time Magazine top 10 book of the year, Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of The Calorie Man; (Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and Yellow Card Man (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions. This title has been nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards. This title was also on the best book lists of the year for Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.


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There is only one writer on the planet who possesses enough basketball knowledge and passion to write the definitive book on the NBA.* Bill Simmons, the from-the-womb hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, is that writer. And **The Book of Basketball **is that book. Nowhere in the roundball universe will you find another single volume that covers as much in such depth as this wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining look at the past, present, and future of pro basketball.From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens–and then closes, once and for all–every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind, five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball.Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), **The Book of Basketball **offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.** More to the point, he’s the only one crazy enough to try to pull it off. *


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When Lemuel Gulliver is shipwrecked, he washes up on an island called Lilliput, where the people are only six inches tall. This is just the beginning of many amazing adventures in which Gulliver meets giants and kings, a dangerous pet monkey and a cat the size of an ox.BLJames Riordan's first novel, Sweet Clarinet, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Novel Award in 1998


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Breakfast Of Champions is vintage Vonnegut. One of his favorite characters, aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. The result is murderously funny satire as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.


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In 1922, the British archaeologist Henry Carter opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb, illuminating the glories of an ancient civilization. And while the world celebrated the extraordinary revelation that gave Carter international renown and an indelible place in history, by the time of his death, the discovery had nearly destroyed him. Now, in a stunning feat of narrative nonfiction, Daniel Meyerson has written a thrilling and evocative account of this remarkable man and his times.Carter began his career inauspiciously. At the age of seventeen–unknown, untrained, untried–he was hired as a copyist of tomb art by the brash, brilliant, and boldly unkempt father of modern archaeology, W. F. Petrie. Carter struck out on his own a few years later, sensing that something amazing lay buried beneath his feet, waiting for him to uncover it.But others had the same idea: The ancient cities of Egypt were crawling with European adventurers and their wealthy sponsors, each hoping to outdo the others with glittering discoveries–even as growing nationalist resentment against foreigners plundering the country’s most treasured antiquities simmered dangerously in the background.Not until Carter met up with the risk-taking, adventure-loving occultist Lord Carnarvon did his fortunes change. There were stark differences in personality and temperament between the cantankerous Carter and his gregarious patron, but together they faced down endless ridicule from the most respected explorers of the day. Seven dusty and dispiriting years after their first meeting, their dream came to astonishing life. But there would be a price to pay for this partnership, their discovery, and the glory and fame it brought both men–and the chain of events that transpired in the wake of their success remains fascinating and shocking to this day.An enthralling story told with unprecedented verve, **In the Valley of the Kings** is a tale of mania and greed, of fame and lost fortune, of history and its damnations. As he did in **The Linguist and the Emperor,** Daniel Meyerson puts his exciting storytelling powers on full display, revealing an almost forgotten time when past and present came crashing together with the power to change–or curse–men’s lives.


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<p>Amid the honky-tonks and sardine canneries of Monterey, California, a motley band forms a colorful—even idyllic—world of its own. Unburdened by the material necessities of the more fortunate, the denizens of Cannery Row discover rewards unknown in more traditional society. Henry the painter sorts through junk lots for pieces of wood to incorporate into the boat he is building, while the girls from Dora Flood's bordello venture out now and then to enjoy a bit of sunshine. Lee Chong stocks his grocery with almost anything a man could want, and Doc, a young marine biologist who ministers to sick puppies and unhappy souls, unexpectedly finds true love. Cannery Row is just a few blocks long, but the story it harbors is suffused with warmth, understanding, and a great fund of human values. First published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is—both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. John Steinbeck draws on his memories of the...


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There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand than Hitler’s rise to   power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich,   Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account   for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new   research and interpretations, Evans’s history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power   of Hitler and the Nazis, even as it shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a   takeover to occur. *The Coming of the Third Reich* is a masterwork of the historian’s art   and the book by which all others on the subject will be judged.


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Beautifully written and elegantly paced,The Story of Edgar Sawtelleis a coming-of-age novel about the power of the land and the past to shape our lives. It is a riveting tale of retribution, inhabited by empathic animals, prophetic dreams, second sight, and vengeful ghosts. Born mute, Edgar Sawtelle feels separate from the people around him but is able to establish profound bonds with the animals who share his home and his name: his family raises a fictional breed of exceptionally perceptive and affable dogs. Soon after his father's sudden death, Edgar is stunned to learn that his mother has already moved on as his uncle Claude quickly becomes part of their lives. Reeling from the sudden changes to his quiet existence, Edgar flees into the forests surrounding his Wisconsin home accompanied by three dogs. Soon he is caught in a struggle for survival - the only thing that will prepare him for his return home.


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** All-new! Fairy tales retold with an erotic edge, by the national bestselling author of the Sons of Destiny series. ** 



 Jean Johnson sneaks between the covers of such classic fairy tales as *Beauty and the Beast, Puss n' Boots*, and *Sleeping Beauty*, and refashions them into bedtime stories for adults only. With clever gender twists, hot fetishistic turns, other-worldly desires, and explorations into forbidden territories, *Bedtime Stories* reveals a veritable garden of sensual delights that gives new meaning to the term "happy ending."


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Nadia Bessonova's career-criminal father has deadly enemies—and to save him, his devoted daughter is willing to make a bargain with the devil himself. She will surrender completely, body and spirit, to the dangerous Dominic Luder, and submit to his every whim.   

Haunted by inner demons and hiding away in his dark, secluded manor, Dominic is mesmerized by his sensuous prisoner who inflames his bestial lust. But Nadia is no mere plaything. At once fearful, willing, and wildly passionate, she brings his most breathtaking erotic fantasies to life—and thaws his cold, wounded heart.   

But Nadia never dreamed she'd become slave to her own desires in a savage game of seduction and revenge. And now that he has tasted ecstasy, will a jealous, magnificent beast be able to relinquish his prize?


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An innocent beauty, trapped in sleep . . .  

Sheltered from society, Aurora Jacquard has yet to feel the sweet release of physical love. Then, on the night she is about to give in to temptation, she inexplicably falls into a deep coma.   

Jacob White is one of the best neurologists in the world, and he intends to awaken Aurora from her virginal slumber. But when she begins to invade his dreams every night, beckoning him into a sensuous place of lust and danger, Jacob realizes there's more to this woman than meets the eye.  

Trapped in a world of erotic dreams, Aurora and Jacob must surrender to their deepest darkest desires . . but how far are they willing to go?


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Allow yourself to be drawn into a fantasy world like no other . . . where a beautiful princess is seduced into a love triangle with a handsome prince and her winsome maid . . . where a mysterious gentleman's young bride is deliciously disciplined for her unchecked curiosity . . . where a naive daughter is married off to a beast of a man whose carnal appetites awaken her budding desire . . .    

With a unique and decidedly adult twist on thirteen classic fairy tales, Nancy Madore intrigues and arouses with her titillating, sizzling anthology of erotic stories guaranteed to keep you up late into the night.    

You'll never look at fairy tales the same way again.


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"Kokoro" is one of the classics of Japanese literature. Soseki introduces readers to the Japanese modern culture and its effect on the young generation of that time. Author narrates the events, when in 1857 Western imperialism invaded Japan. In order to protect Japan and it's culture, the Japanese Emporer Meiji planned and ordered an industrial revolution in the country. Must Read!


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Ronald C. White, Jr., is the author of two bestselling books on Abraham Lincoln: The Eloquent President and Lincoln’s Greatest Speech, a New York Times Notable Book. White earned his Ph.D. at Princeton and has lectured on Lincoln at hundreds of universities and organizations, and at Gettysburg and the White House. He is a Fellow at the Huntington Library and a Visiting Professor of History at UCLA. He lives with his wife, Cynthia, in La Cañada, California.From the Hardcover edition.


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One hundred years after his death, Friedrich Nietzsche remains the most influential philosopher of the modern era. Basic Writings of Nietzsche gathers the complete texts of five of Nietzsche's most important works, from his first book to his last: The Birth of Tragedy; Beyond Good and Evil; On the Genealogy of Morals; The Case of Wagner; and Ecce Homo. Edited and translated by the great Nietzsche scholar Walter Kaufmann, this volume provides a definitive guide to the full range of Nietzsche's thought. Included also are seventy-five aphorisms, selections from Nietzsche's correspondence, and variants from drafts for Ecce Homo.


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Nine-year-old Oliver has spent his life in a workhouse orphanage, where he becomes notorious for daring to ask for more food. Frustrated and hungry, he runs away to London, where he falls into the company of a gang of clever pickpockets, including Fagin, Bill Sykes, and the Artful Dodger. Oliver’s future looks uncertain, until a mysterious plot against him is unraveled by the kind Mr. Brownlow. What will become of poor Oliver Twist?


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*How to Win Friends and Influence People* is the first, and still the finest, book of its kind. One of the best-known motivational books in history, Dale Carnegie's groundbreaking work has sold millions of copies, has been translated into almost every known written language, and has helped countless people succeed in both their business and personal lives.  

 First published in 1937, Carnegie's advice has remained relevant for generations because he addresses timeless questions about the fine art of getting along with people: How can you make people like you instantly? How can you persuade people to agree with you? How can you speak frankly to people without giving offense? The ability to read others and successfully navigate any social situation is critically important to those who want to get a job, keep a job, or simply expand their social network.  

 The core principles of this book, originally written as a practical, working handbook on human relations, are proven effective. Carnegie explains the fundamentals of handling people with a positive approach; how to make people like you and want to help you; how to win people to your way of thinking without conflict; and how to be the kind of leader who inspires quality work, increased productivity, and high morale.  

 As Carnegie explains, the majority of our success in life depends on our ability to communicate and manage personal relationships effectively, whether at home or at work. *How to Win Friends and Influence People* will help you discover and develop the people skills you need to live well and prosper.


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From Debut Novelist David Klein – A Page-Turning Story of Suburbia and Its Secrets Gwen Raine is a woman readers will instantly recognize: an attractive, thirtyish stay-at-home mom who lives in the kind of tranquil suburban community where the wives spend their days ferrying the kids to and from school and music lessons and nature camps and where the husbands work long, grueling hours at stressful white-collar jobs in order to maintain the upscale standard of living to which the whole family has become all-too-accustomed. It’s a milieu in which everything seems to be right—yet so much can go wrong.    And it does—starting with a seemingly minor decision that turns Gwen’s perfect life upside down. It’s a typical Friday morning in late summer and Gwen is anticipating a long-awaited weekend away at the lake with her overworked husband, Brian, and their two small children. After dropping her daughter off at swim class, Gwen drives across town to purchase a small bag of marijuana from an old flame. She’s counting on the pot to help her unwind later that night in those precious private moments with Brian after the kids are asleep. Then, on the way home, Gwen gets into a car accident—an accident that leaves her bruised and somewhat battered but leaves the other driver (an elderly man who crossed over into her lane) dead. The local police know the accident isn’t her fault, but when they find the marijuana in Gwen’s car, they throw the book at her. There have been problems with drugs in the schools and they want to crack down on abusers, whoever and wherever they are. Before long, Gwen is in legal hot water—and the temperature keeps rising. Finally, under pressure from the police, her attorney, and her own husband, she reveals her source’s name.    Meanwhile, Brian is embroiled in a moral and legal dilemma of his own when the big pharmaceutical company he works for markets an anti-anxiety drug for "off-label" use as a weight-loss aid, only to discover that it can have deadly consequences. And Gwen’s former lover Jude, a local restaurateur and the supplier of the stash of the title, has gotten in way over his head with his little side business.    Told from multiple perspectives and revolving around a diverse set of vividly imagined characters, this rich, ambitious, and deeply satisfying novel takes a mordant look at our society’s ambivalent and often hypocritical attitude toward all manner of mood-altering substances, legal and illegal. Paced by psychological suspense and an ever-thickening plot, Stash ultimately is about the moral complications that arise when a modern woman’s fierce determination to do the right thing collides head-on with human fallibility and desire.


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**Sixteen original stories about taking your dream vacation-in any era you desire. ** 



 Take a vacation through time with the help of a Time Travel Agency offering excursions into the past and future. Readers will find themselves in exotic, adventurous locales-and in all manner of trouble and mysteries. And figures from the past will be able to squeak by the other way. 



 Picture Cleopatra in modern-day New York City, or Hannibal searching for elephants at Wisconsin's Circus World. And that's just the beginning of the thrills and danger...


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Not since Jack Reacher has there been such a quickthinking, hard-edged antihero who readers will root for against all odds

 



All recovering drug addict and reformed thief Montgomery Haaviko wants to do is settle down with his wife and baby in their new home and work on building a straight life, one free of the day-to-day hustle and danger of being a career criminal. But for a man who’s never held down a legitimate job it isn’t going to be easy. When Monty foils a robbery in his new home, killing the intruders, he soon finds he has both a small-time crime boss and a star police sergeant looking for ways to ruin him, run him out of town, or kill him. It’s going to take all of the tricks this streetwise ex-con has up his sleeves to prove his innocence, protect his family, and avoid the temptation of the life he left behind.

 



**Montgomery Haaviko’s Tricks of the Trade: 

** Be nice. Nice is good. Nice sets a standard. Then, when you get mean, the shock is strongest. 

 Armored cars are owned by people with guns. 

 When burglarizing a house move slowly. Then slow down. Now cut it by half. And you’ve got it. 

 A couple of drops of crazy glue on the tips of your fingers will eliminate fingerprints.


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FBI Special Agent Brad Raines is facing his toughest case yet. A Denver serial killer has killed four beautiful young women, leaving a bridal veil at each crime scene, and he's picking up his pace. Unable to crack the case, Raines appeals for help from a most unusual source: residents of the Center for Wellbeing and Intelligence, a private psychiatric institution for mentally ill individuals who are extraordinarily gifted. It's there that he meets Paradise, a young woman who witnessed her father murder her family and barely escaped his hand. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Paradise may also have an extrasensory gift: the ability to experience the final moments of a person's life when she touches the dead body. In a desperate attempt to find the killer, Raines enlists Paradise's help. In an effort to win her trust, he befriends this strange young woman and begins to see in her qualities that most 'sane people' sorely lack. Gradually, he starts to question whether sanity resides outside the hospital walls...or inside. As the Bride Collector increases the pace and volume of his gruesome crucifixions, the case becomes even more personal to Raines when his friend and colleague, a beautiful young forensic psychologist, becomes the Bride Collector's next target. The FBI believes that the killer plans to murder seven women. Can Paradise help before it's too late?


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Hagakure ("In the Shadow of Leaves"') is a manual for the samurai classes consisting of a series of short anecdotes and reflections that give both insight and instruction-in the philosophy and code of behavior that foster the true spirit of Bushido-the Way of the Warrior. It is not a book of philosophy as most would understand the word: it is a collection of thoughts and sayings recorded over a period of seven years, and as such covers a wide variety of subjects, often in no particular sequence.  The work represents an attitude far removed from our modern pragmatism and materialism, and posesses an intuitive rather than rational appeal in its assertion that Bushido is a Way of Dying, and that only a samurai retainer prepared and willing to die at any moment can be totally true to his lord. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Hizen fief to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought and came to influence many subsequent generations, including Yukio Mishima.  This translation offers 300 selections that constitute the core texts of the 1,300 present in the original.


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Following on from the huge success of the 44 Scotland Street series, Alexander McCall Smith has 'moved house' to a crumbling four-storey mansion in Pimlico - Corduroy Mansions. It is inhabited by a glorious assortment of characters: among them, Oedipus Snark, the first ever nasty Lib Dem MP, who is so detestable his own mother, Berthea, is writing an unauthorised biography about him; and one small vegetarian dog, Freddie de la Hay, who has the ability to fasten his own seatbelt. (Although Corduroy Mansions is a fictional name, the address is now registered by the Post Office.)


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Captain Rali Emilie Antero and her elite corps of amazons, the Maranon Guard, must embark on a suicide mission with the wizard Gamelon on a hunt for an evil wizard who possesses a doomsday spell capable of destroying all civilization. Rali's search takes her to the end of the world and beyond -- but only in the uncharted waters of her own soul would she find the power to defeat the wizard and return home in triumph.


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Innocence will be sacrificed... On the floor of a church in northern Sweden, the body of a man lies ritually mutilated and defiled and in the night sky, the aurora borealis dances as the snow begins to fall. Rebecka Martinsson is heading home to Kiruna, the small town shers"d left in disgrace years before. A Stockholm tax lawyer, Rebecka has a good reason to return: her friend Sanna, whose brother has been horrifically murdered in the church of the cult he helped create. Beautiful and fragile, Sanna needs someone like Rebecka to remove the shadow of guilt that is engulfing her, to forestall an ambitious prosecutor, and to confront the rumours circulating in a closed and frightened community. But to help her friend, and to find the real killer of a man she once adored and is now not sure she ever knew, Rebecka must relive the darkness she left behind in Kiruna, delve into a sordid conspiracy of deceit, and confront a killer whose motives are dark and impossible to guess...


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**The year's best science fiction and fantasy in one essential volume. **



 An annual commemoration, the Nebula Awards are presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to those members whose imaginations refine and re-define the infinite storytelling possibilities found within the genre. The *Nebula Awards Showcase* represents the best of the best in fantasy in one indispensible collection. 



 This year's compilation includes stories by: 

 •Ursula K. LeGuin 

 •Catherine Asaro 

 •John Kessel 

 •Nina Kiriki Hoffman 

 •Harry Harrison, this year's Grandmaster


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Ray and his best friend, Manny, close ever since they met in juvie almost twenty years ago, have a great scam going: With a couple of fake badges and some DEA windbreakers they found at a secondhand store, they pose as federal agents and rip off small-time drug dealers, taking their money and drugs and disappearing before anyone is the wiser. It’s the perfect sting: the dealers they target are too small to look for revenge and too guilty to call the police, nobody has to die, nobody innocent gets hurt, and Ray and Manny score plenty.But it can’t last forever. Eventually, they choose the wrong mark and walk out with hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a heavy hitter, who is more than willing to kill to get his money back, is coming after them. Now Ray couldn’t care less about the score. He wants out---out of the scam, out of a life he feels like he never chose. Whether the victim of his latest job---not to mention his partner---will let him is another question entirely.Dennis Tafoya brings a rich, passionate, and accomplished new voice to the explosive story of a small-time crook with everything to lose in Dope Thief, his outstanding hardboiled debut.


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**From the *New York Times*-bestselling author of *The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants* and *The Last Summer (of You and Me)* comes an imaginative, inspired, magical book-a love story that lasts more than a lifetime. ** 



 Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has "the memory", the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he's previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short. 



 Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel's unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now "Lucy" in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together. 



 A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love, *My Name is Memory* proves the power and endurance of a union that was meant to be.


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The latest installment of this universally beloved and best-selling series finds Precious Ramotswe in personal need of her own formidable detection talents . . . . Mma Ramotswe's ever-ready tiny white van has recently developed a rather disturbing noise. Of course, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoniher estimable husband and one of Botswana's most talented mechanicsis the man to turn to for help. But Precious suspects he might simply condemn the van and replace it with something more modern. Can she find a way to save her old friend? In the meantime, Mma Makutsi discovers that her old rival Violet Sephotho, who could not have gotten more than fifty percent on her typing final at the Botswana Secretarial College, has set her sights on none other than Mma Makutsi's fiance, Phuti Radiphuti. Can Mma Ramotswe's intuition save the day? Finally, the proprietor of a local football team has enlisted the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to help explain its dreadful losing streak. The owner of the team is convinced he as a traitor in his midst. But how is Mma Ramotswe, who has never seen a football match in her life, going to discern who is throwing the game? Help, it turns out, may come from an unexpected quarter. There are few mysteries that can't be solved and fewer problems that can't be fixed when the irrepressible Precious Ramotswe puts her mind to them. A good cup of red bush tea might be the best solution of all. From the Hardcover edition.


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Priase for The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency series: "Wise and lovely." --"USA Today" "Mma Ramotswe's observations not only inevitably expose her suspects, but also reveal much about humanity as a whole . . . [McCall Smith] is a master . . . There's beauty and revelation of one kind or another woven expertly into every line." --"The Christian Science Monitor" "These novels . . . lift the spirits. They make the reader feel good--about life, the world, the basic decency of people . . . They are wise."-- "Winston-Salem Journal" "McCall Smith is a vivid observer and an elegant writer, honoring Botswanan customs and culture . . . Like the best traditions, this series is one we hope will endure." --"The Plain Dealer" "Alexander McCall Smith has been delighting audiences for years with h


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**La's Orchestra Saves the World** is another delightful story celebrating friendship and the healing power of music, told with the warmth and charm we've come to love from this favourite storyteller.It's 1939 and the war in Europe casts a long, all-encompassing shadow. In a sleepy town in Suffolk, La, the generous and determined widow, forms an amateur orchestra to entertain the locals and soothe her own broken heart. She recruits Feliks, a refugee from Poland, to play the flute, and a touching friendship emerges. When the war is over and the orchestra disbands, La is left pondering her next move. What role can she play in her community now that the war is over? And can she let herself love again?*From the Hardcover edition.*


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Second in the swashbuckling Musketeers mystery series. Aramis's lover-a Spanish noblewoman and childhood friend of the Queen-has been murdered, and the Musketeer has been accused of the crime. Now it's up to Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan to clear their friend's name.


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In this relentlessly gripping psychological thriller, Johnny Depp plays Spencer Armacost, an astronaut sent on a space shuttle mission with his partner, Captain Alex Streck. While in space, an accident occurs that cuts all contact between the men and Earth for two minutes. Both men return from the trip with no memory of those crucial minutes, and soon thereafter Streck mysteriously dies. Little by little, Spencer's wife Jillian, played by Charlize Theron, pregnant with twins, begins to suspect that something happened on the mission during those two minutes--something that changed Spencer into someone other than the man she loves, something that might mean the end of us all. Coming to theaters from New Line Cinema in March '99.


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New from a gifted writer ( VICTORIA THOMPSON) who brings mystery to 17th-century France.As the Four Musketeers race to save Porthos s servant from the gallows, they run afoul of Cardinal Richelieu, who is investigating a far more serious matter a plot against the life of the king.


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Upon his Great-Aunt Belle's death, Harrison Black inherits her candle shop. When he begins to suspect foul play in her death, he does a bit of sleuthing. But it looks like he's playing with fire-because somebody wants Harrison to mind his own beeswax...


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After a power outage at his candle shop, Harrison Black finds his tenant electrocuted. Now Harrison must burn the candle at both ends to catch a killer when what appears to be an accident may really be murder. Includes candlemaking tips. Original.


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In her latest enchanting novel, "New York Times" bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different women discover how to find their place in the world--no matter how out of place they feel. Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother's life. Such as, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? And why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew--a reclusive, real-life gentle giant--she realizes that mysteries aren't solved in Mullaby, they're a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes. Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson's cakes--which is a good thing, because Julia can't seem to stop baking them. She offers them to satisfy the town's sweet tooth but also in the hope of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Flour, eggs, milk, and sugar . . . Baking is the only language the proud but vulnerable Julia has to communicate what is truly in her heart. But is it enough to call back to her those she's hurt in the past? Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily's backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in. "From the Hardcover edition."


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The eighth novel in the bestselling Torchwood range from BBC Books. SkyPoint is the latest high-rise addition to the ever-developing Cardiff skyline. It's the most high-tech, avant-garde apartment block in the city. And it's where Rhys Williams is hoping to find a new home for himself and Gwen. When Torchwood discover that residents have been going missing from the tower block, one of the team gets her dream assignment. Soon, SkyPoint's latest newly married tenants are moving in. And Toshiko Sato finally gets to make a home with Owen Harper. Then something comes out of the wall...


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The ninth novel in the bestselling Torchwood range from BBC Books. Emma is 30, single and, frankly, desperate. She woke up this morning with nothing to look forward to but another evening of unsuccessful speed-dating. But now she has a new weapon in her quest for Mr Right. And it's made her almost perfect! Ianto Jones woke up this morning with no memory of last night. He went to work, where he caused amusement, suspicion, and a little bit of jealousy. Because Ianto Jones woke up this morning in the body of a woman! And he's looking just about perfect! And Jack Harkness has always had his doubts about Perfection...


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The body in the church hall is very definitely dead. It has been sliced open with surgical precision, its organs exposed, and its vocal cords are gone. It is as if they were never there or they've been dissolved! With the Welsh amateur Operatic Contest getting under way, music is filling the churches and concert halls of Cardiff. The competition has attracted the finest Welsh talent to the city, but it has also drawn something else - there are stories of a metallic creature hiding in the shadows. Torchwood is on its tail, but it's moving too fast for them to track it down! This new threat requires a new tactic, so Ianto Jones is joining a male voice choir... Featuring Captain Jack Harkness as played by John Barrowman, with Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones as played by Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, in the hit series created by Russell T. Davies for BBC Television.


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When the city sleeps, the dead start to walk! Something has sealed off Cardiff, and living corpses are stalking the streets, leaving a trail of half-eaten bodies. Animals are butchered. A young couple in their car never reach home. A stolen tugboat is brought back to shore, carrying only human remains. And a couple of girls heading back from the pub watch the mysterious drivers of a big black SUV take over a crime scene. Torchwood must now contend with the intangible barrier surrounding Cardiff, and some unidentified space debris that seems to be regenerating itself. Plus, of course, the all-night zombie horror show!  Featuring Captain Jack Harkness as played by John Barrowman, with Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones as played by Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, in the hit series created by Russell T. Davies for BBC Television.


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<p class="description">Jackson Leaves: an Edwardian house in Penylen, built in 1906, semi-detached, three storeys, spacious, beautifully presented, and left in good condition to Rob and Julia by Rob's late aunt. It's an ordinary sort of a house... except for the way the rooms don't stay in the same places. And the strange man that turns up in the airing cupboard. And the apparitions. And the temporal surges that attract the attentions of Torchwood. And the fact that the first owner of Jackson Leaves in 1906 was a Captain Jack Harkness...   Featuring Captain Jack Harkness as played by John Barrowman, with Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones as played by Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, in the hit series created by Russell T. Davies for BBC Television.</p>
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'Are you trying to tell me, Captain Harkness, that the entire staff of Torchwood Cardiff now consists of yourself, a woman in trousers and a tea boy?' Agnes Haversham is awake, and Jack is worried (and not a little afraid). The Torchwood Assessor is roused from her deep sleep in only the worst of times - it's happened just four times in the last 100 years. Can the situation really be so bad? Someone, somewhere, is fighting a war, and they're losing badly. The coffins of the dead are coming through the Rift. With thousands of alien bodies floating in the Bristol Channel, it's down to Torchwood to round them all up before a lethal plague breaks out. And now they'll have to do it by the book. The 1901 edition. Featuring Captain Jack Harkness as played by John Barrowman, with Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones as played by Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, in the hit series created by Russell T Davies for BBC Television.


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The Hokrala Corp lawyers are back. They're suing planet Earth for mishandling the twenty-first century, and they won't tolerate any efforts to repel them. An assassin has been sent to remove Captain Jack Harkness. It's been a busy week in Cardiff. The Hub's latest guest is a translucent, amber jelly carrying a lethal electrical charge. Record numbers of aliens have been coming through the Rift, and Torchwood could do without any more problems. But there are reports of an extraordinary funeral cortege in the night-time city, with mysterious pallbearers guarding a rotting cadaver that simply doesn't want to be buried. Torchwood should be ready for anything u but with Jack the target of an invisible killer, Gwen trapped in a forgotten crypt and Ianto Jones falling desperately ill, could a world of suffering be the Undertaker's gift to planet Earth? Featuring Captain Jack Harkness as played by John Barrowman, with Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones as played by Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd, in the hit series.


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High-profile new Doctor Who-inspired drama created by Russell T. Davies. The 21st century is when it all changes, and you've got to be ready. Separate from the government; outside the police, beyond the United Nations; Torchwood sets its own rules. A team of investigators, using alien technology to solve crime - both alien and human. This new British sci-fi crime thriller, created by Russell T. Davies, sees them delve into the unknown. A group of people fighting the impossible. A terror hides at the bottom of Cardiff Bay - waiting, feeding, controlling... this novel is a brand-new Torchwood adventure.


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Separate from the government; outside the police, beyond the United Nations: Torchwood sets its own rules. A team of investigators, using alien technology to solve crime - both alien and human. This new British sci-fi crime thriller, created by Russell T. Davies, sees them delve into the unknown. A group of people fighting the impossible. Stars Captain Jack Harkness last seen in Doctor Who. This novel is a brand-new Torchwood story.


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Dr. Bob Strong's GP surgery has being seeing a lot of coughs and colds recently - far more than is normal for the time of year. Bob contacts Owen Harper, an old student friend, who reluctantly agrees to look into it. Meanwhile, Toshiko and Gwen are investigating ghostly apparitions in the marshy areas of South Wales. It's been a dull month and they're just about to pack up when they discover a dead body. The Team find that there's been a massive spike in respiratory infections right across the UK. Captain Jack agrees that it's worth investigating, but at the moment his priority is Tosh and Gwen's work: they've brought the corpse back for examination. It's old, in an advanced state of decay...and still able to talk!


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Tiger Bay, Cardiff, 1950: A mysterious crate is brought into the docks on a Scandinavian cargo ship, the Kungssangen. Its destination: The Torchwood Institute. As the crate is offloaded by a group of local dockers it explodes, killing all but one; a young Butetown lad called Michael Bellini. Fifty-eight years later a radioactive source somewhere inside Torchwood leads the team to discover the same Michael Bellini, still young and dressed in his 1950s clothes, cowering in the vaults. As they question the intruder, it becomes apparent that each of them has met him in the past. All of them remember him talking incoherently about terrifying "Men In Bowler Hats" and little more, but it's Jack who remembers him best of all...


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It's the start of a Cardiff autumn - the days are getting shorter, the dark evenings settling in. There's a part of Cardiff that no one goes to much. No crime, no murders, just... they stay away. A collection of old rundown houses and gloomy streets. Something's not quite right there, something is off-kilter. Except now, the Council are renovating the area. And a new company have been employed to do this. And look: they're going to organize street parties to show off the gentrified area. Clown and face-painters for the kids, street magicians for the adults. None of this is Torchwood's problem. Except that Tosh recognizes the man sponsoring the street parties when she's passing one day: Bills Manger!


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The seventh novel in the bestselling Torchwood range from BBC Books. Shopping for wedding gifts with your fiance is enjoyable, unless like Gwen you witness a Weevil massacre in the shopping centre. A trip to the zoo is a great day out, until a date goes tragically wrong and Ianto is badly injured by stolen alien tech. And Halloween is a day of fun and frights, before unspeakable monsters invade the streets of Cardiff and it's no longer a trick or a treat for the terrified population. Torchwood can control small groups of scavengers, but now someone has given large numbers of predators a season ticket to Earth!


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"I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history," Arthur Miller wrote in an introduction to The Crucible, his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's witch-hunts in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing: "Political opposition ... is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it meets with diabolical malevolence."


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(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)Collected together for the first time in hardcover, these eighteen classic stories from across John Updike’s career form a luminous chronicle of the life and times of one marriage in all its rich emotional complexity.In 1956, Updike published a story, “Snowing in Greenwich Village,” about a young couple, Joan and Richard Maple, at the beginning of their marriage. Over the next two decades, he returned to these characters again and again, tracing their years together raising children, finding moments of intermittent happiness, and facing the heartbreak of infidelity and estrangement. Seventeen Maples stories were collected in 1979 in a paperback edition titled *Too Far to Go, *prompted by a television adaptation. Now those stories appear in hardcover for the first time, with the addition of a later story, “Grandparenting,” which returns us to the Maples’s lives long after their wrenching divorce.


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**The ultimate collection of weird and frightening American fiction** 



 As Stephen King will attest , the popularity of the occult in American literature has only grown since the days of Edgar Allan Poe. American Supernatural Tales celebrates the richness of this tradition with chilling contributions from some of the nation's brightest literary lights, including Poe himself, H. P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and-of course- Stephen King. By turns phantasmagoric, spectral, and demonic, this is a frighteningly good addition to Penguin Classics.


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Have you ever heard a guy say, “We’re pregnant,” and wanted to hurt him?Do you have a friend who insists a stripper was into him every time you leave a strip club?Do you know a guy who emails you the kind of porn that makes you want to cry then vomit?These are just a few of the many guys you’ll find in *Don’t Be That Guy*.**


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Saving the planet, watching over the Rift, preparing the human race for the twenty-first century. Torchwood has been keeping Cardiff safe since the late 1800s. Small teams of heroes, working 24/7, encountering and containing the alien, the bizarre and the inexplicable. But Torchwood do not always see the effects of their actions. When an overlooked alien artefact despatches Jack Harkness into the past, how much of the twentieth century will he have to live through again? What links a three-year-old boy in 1994 to the destruction of a shopping centre in 2009? How does a witness to an alien's reprisals against Torchwood become caught up in a night of terror in a university library? And why should Gwen and Ianto's actions at a local publisher's have a cost for Torchwood more than half a century earlier? For Torchwood, the past will always catch up with them. And sometimes the future will catch up with the past.


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"Michael Ruhlman has long enjoyed a love affair with cooking, food, and the work of the chef. His previous exploration of the restaurant kitchen and the men and women who call it home led Anthony Bourdain to call him "the greatest living writer on the subject of chefs - and on the business of preparing food." But even his broad experience couldn't have prepared him for the profound shift in American culture that has raised restaurant cooking to the level of performance art and the status of the chef to celebrity CEO." "Beginning at Per Se, one of the most recent, exclusive, and expensive of Manhattan's four-star restaurants, Ruhlman takes readers into some of America's most illustrious - and most frenetic - kitchens. Throughout his travels, he seeks out and explains new trends and phenomena, like Las Vegas's recent elevation to the country's food Gomorrah, and returns to previous haunts to see what's changed. A dispatch from a new world where chefs are stars and culinary school classes are burgeoning, The Reach of a Chef looks at the state of professional cooking in the post-Child, Food Network era via the heavy hitters in the industry such as Thomas Keller and Masa Takayama, Grant Achatz and Melissa Kelly, Emeril Lagasse and a new breed of cooking celebrity: girl next door Rachael Ray." "In the end, readers get an in-the-trenches look at professionals whose very life's work had once been to feed us in order to feed themselves - but is now increasingly a type of work that delivers them to corporate boardrooms and television studios."--BOOK JACKET.


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Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a super computer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut–wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.


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“Beautiful…provocative, arresting reading.”–USA TodayKURT VONNEGUT is a master of contemporary American literature. His black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist”* with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He is, as Graham Greene has declared, “one of the best living American writers.” Galápagos takes the reader back one million years, to a.d. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galápagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave new, and totally different human race. Here, America’s master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry–and all that is worth saving. “Vonnegut is a postmodern Mark Twain... Galápagos is a madcap genealogical adventure.”–The New York Times Book Review* The New York Times


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Kurt Vonnegut is a master of contemporary American literature. His black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as a “true artist”* with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He is, as Graham Greene has declared, “one of the best living American writers.”Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.*The New York Times“A great artist.”—Cincinnati Enquirer“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer…a zany but moral mad scientist.”—Time


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The sequel to the cult classic The Illuminatus! Trilogy, this is an epic fantasy that offers a twisted look at our modern-day world--a reality that exists in another dimension of time and space that may be closer than we think.


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An intriguing look at the evolutionary origins and purpose of human pleasure  "Wallenstein shows that pleasure is an evolutionary tactic, a means whereby natural selection gets us to do certain things--often for better, sometimes for worse. Either way, it behooves us to understand our own 'pleasure instinct, ' and this insightful, important book helps point the way." --David P. Barash, professor of psychology, University of Washington, and author of "How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories"  Call it bliss, elation, cheer, thrills, spice, titillation, glee, exuberance, mirth, joy, jubilation, or just plain fun--we all desire it, but what is pleasure, exactly? Why do we spend so much of our time, money, and energy in pursuit of it? How does one person's relaxing glass of wine with dinner become another person's nightmare of alcoholism? And how is it that human beings can find pleasure in such a huge variety of experiences?  In the past, these questions have come mainly from the realms of moral philosophy, religion, and psychology. "The Pleasure Instinct" finds convincing answers in a place where few have thought to look before--human evolution. From our enjoyment of music to our cravings for chocolate, from our love of family and friends to our attraction to things of beauty, this book embarks on an intriguing exploration of the purpose of pleasure in our lives and in human history.


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FletchHe’s an investigative reporter whose methods are a little unorthodox. Currently he’s living on the beach with the strung-out trying to find to the source of the drugs they live for. FletchHe’s taking more than a little flack from his editor. She doesn’t appreciate his style. Or the expense account items he’s racking up. Or his definition of the word deadline. Or the divorce lawyers who keep showing up at the office.FletchSo when multimillionaire Alan Stanwyk offers Fletch the job of a lifetime, which could be worth a fortune, he’s intrigued and decides to do a little investigation. What he discovers is that the proposition is anything but what it seems.


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Brimming with charm, sparkling prose and undeniably unique characters, this hilarious novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics *Chocolat* and *Amelie*.Balthazar Jones has lived in the Tower of London with his loving wife, Hebe, and his pet, the oldest living tortoise, for the past eight years. That's right, he is a Beefeater. It's no easy job navigating the trials and tribulations that come with living and working in the largest tourist attraction in London. The once white-hot flame of Hebe and Balthazar's love has been snuffed in the few years since their son Milo died, a death for which Balthazar blames himself.When Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen by foreign dignitaries, life at the Tower gets all the more interesting. Penguins escape, a bearded pig goes missing, giraffes are stolen, the komodo dragon sends innocent people running for their lives, and canaries suffer fainting fits. As he attempts to cope with this four-legged invasion and his marriage continues to crumble, Balthazar must confront the secret he has been harbouring about his son's death, if he wants to save his marriage and his sanity.**CAST OF CHARACTERS****Balthazar Jones**: Beefeater, overseer of the Tower's royal menagerie, father to Milo, and collector of rain **Hebe Jones**: Balthazar's wife who works at London Underground's Lost Property Office **Mrs. Cook:** Balthazar and Hebe's 180 + year-old tortoise - the oldest tortoise in the world **Arthur Catnip**: London Underground ticket inspector of limited height **Rev. Septimus Drew**: Tower chaplain who writes forbidden prose and pines for one of the residents  **Ruby Dore**: Barmaid at the Tower's Rack & Ruin pub who has a secret **Valerie Jennings**: Hebe's eccentric colleague who falls for someone of limited height **The Ravenmaster**: Philandering Beefeater who looks after the Tower's ravens **Sir Walter Raleigh**: Former Tower prisoner and its most troublesome ghost **Chief Yeoman Warder**: Suspicious head Beefeater **Oswin Fielding**: Equerry to The Queen **Samuel Crapper**: Lost Property Office's most frequent customer **Yeoman Gaoler**: Deputy to the Chief Yeoman Warder who is terrorized by ghostly poetry at night


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***The high adventure of James Rollins combines with the gripping suspense of Scott Sigler in this second installment in the Chess Team Series 

***A genetic disease known as Brugada Syndrome kills its victims without warning, without symptom. When the President of the United States falls victim to a weaponized and *contagious *strain of the disease, the Chess TeamKing, Queen, Rook, Knight and Bishopare assigned to protect Sara Fogg, a CDC detective, as she journeys to the source of the new strain: the Annamite Mountains in Vietnam. Surrounded by Vietnam War era landmines, harsh terrain and more than one military force not happy about the return of American boots to the Ho Chi Minh trail, the fight for survival becomes a grueling battle in the humid jungle. 

Pursued by VPLA Death Volunteers, Vietnam’s Special Forces unit, the team’s flight through a maze of archaic ruins reveals an ancient secret...a primal secret that may stop the disease from sweeping the globeeven as it threatens both the mission and their lives.


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"Convincing, subtle and logically plotted, Inspector Sejer is a great addition to the detectives' league." --"The Dallas Morning News" Inspector Sejer is hard at work again, investigating the brutal murder of a woman who lived alone in the middle of the woods. The chief suspect is a schizophrenic recently escaped from a mental institution. The only witness is a twelve-year-old boy, overweight, obsessed with archery, and a resident at a home for delinquents. When a demented man robs a nearby bank and accidentally takes the suspect hostage, the three misfits are drawn into an uneasy alliance. Confronting a case where the strangeness of the crime is matched only by the strangeness of the criminals, Inspector Sejer finds that small-town prejudices warp every piece of information he tries to collect. Fossum once again provides extraordinary insight into marginalized lives and richly evokes the atmosphere she captured so brilliantly in "Don't Look Back. ""With sharp psychological insight and a fine grasp on police procedure, Fossum is easily one of the best new imports the genre has to offer." --Baltimore Sun Karin Fossum is the author of many novels and two collections of short stories. Her crime novels featuring Inspector Sejer have been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in Oslo.


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When two teenagers steal a purse from a stroller, it results in an infant’s death. Unaware of the enormity of their crime, Zipp and Andreas are intent on committing another. They follow an elderly woman home, and Andreas enters her house with his switchblade. In the dark, Zipp waits for his friend to come out. Inspector Konrad Sejer and his colleague Jacob Skarre see no connection between the infant’s death and the reported disappearance of a local delinquent. And so while the confusion outside mounts, the heart-stopping truth unfolds inside the old woman’s home. Unflappable as ever, Sejer digs below the surface of small- town tranquility in an effort to understand how and why violence destroys everyday lives.  (20060901)


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Inspector Konrad Sejer is on the trail of a violent killer in small-town Norway. Gunder Jomann, a quiet, middle-aged man from a peaceful Norwegian community, thinks his life has been made complete when he returns from a trip to India a married man. But on the day his Indian bride is due to join him, he is called to his sister's bedside at the hospital. A local taxi driver is sent instead to meet the bride at the airport, but returns without her. Then the town is shocked by the news of an Indian woman found bludgeoned to death in a nearby meadow. Inspector Sejer and his colleague Skarre head the murder inquiry, cross-examining the townsfolk and planting seeds of suspicion in a community that has always believed itself to be simple, safe and trusting. For what can only have been an unpremeditated and motiveless act of violence, everyone is guilty until proven innocent.


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Ida Joner gets on her brand-new bike and sets off toward town. A good-natured, happy girl, she is looking forward to her tenth birthday. Thirty-five minutes after Ida should have come home, her mother starts to worry. She phones store owners, Ida’s friends, anyone who could have seen her. But no one has. Suspicion immediately falls on Emil Mork, a local character who lives alone and hasn’t spoken since childhood. His mother insists on cleaning his house weekly—although she’s sometimes afraid of what she might find there. A mother’s worst nightmare in either case: to lose a child or to think a child capable of murder. As Ida’s relatives reach the breaking point and the media frenzy surrounding the case begins, Inspector Konrad Sejer is his usual calm and reassuring self. But he’s puzzled. And disturbed. This is the strangest case he’s seen in years.


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Amarried couple, Reinhardt and Kristine Ris, are out for a Sunday walk when they discover the body of a boy and see the figure of a man limping away. They alert the police, but not before Reinhardt, to Kristine’s horror, kneels down and takes photographs of the dead child with his cell phone. Inspectors Konrad Sejer and Jakob Skarre begin to make inquiries in the little town of Solberglia. But then another boy disappears, and an explanation seems more remote than ever. Meanwhile, the Ris’s marriage starts to unravel as Reinhardt becomes obsessed with the tragic events and his own part in them. 



A riveting portrayal of a communityits insiders, its outsiders, its fissures, and its secretsfrom Norway’s "Queen of Crime," Karin Fossum. 

 (20090816)


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Don't Look Back heralds the arrival of an exotic new crime series featuring Inspector Sejer, a smart and enigmatic hero, tough but fair. The setting is a small, idyllic village at the foot of Norway's Kollen Mountain, where neighbors know neighbors and children play happily in the streets. But when the body of a teenage girl is found by the lake at the mountaintop, the town's tranquillity is shattered forever. Annie was strong, intelligent, and loved by everyone. What went so terribly wrong? Doggedly, yet subtly, Inspector Sejer uncovers layer upon layer of distrust and lies beneath the town's seemingly perfect facade. Critically acclaimed across Europe, Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer novels are masterfully constructed, psychologically convincing, and compulsively readable, and are now available in the United States for the first time.


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For the first time in decades, here, in a single volume, is a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty, comprising some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. Acclaimed historian G. J. Meyer reveals the flesh-and-bone reality in all its wild excess.In 1485, young Henry Tudor, whose claim to the throne was so weak as to be almost laughable, crossed the English Channel from France at the head of a ragtag little army and took the crown from the family that had ruled England for almost four hundred years. Half a century later his son, Henry VIII, desperate to rid himself of his first wife in order to marry a second, launched a reign of terror aimed at taking powers no previous monarch had even dreamed of possessing. In the process he plunged his kingdom into generations of division and disorder, creating a legacy of blood and betrayal that would blight the lives of his children and the destiny of his country.The boy king Edward VI, a fervent believer in reforming the English church, died before bringing to fruition his dream of a second English Reformation. Mary I, the disgraced daughter of Catherine of Aragon, tried and failed to reestablish the Catholic Church and produce an heir. And finally came Elizabeth I, who devoted her life to creating an image of herself as Gloriana the Virgin Queen but, behind that mask, sacrificed all chance of personal happiness in order to survive.  The Tudors weaves together all the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes, that reveal the Tudor era to be, in its enthralling, notorious truth, as momentous and as fascinating as the fictions audiences have come to love.


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Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art. In the second volume they move to London in a whirl of marriage and adulteries, fashions and frivolities, personal triumphs and failures. These books "provide an unsurpassed picture, at once gay and melancholy, of social and artistic life in Britain between the wars" (Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.). The third volume follows Nick into army life and evokes London during the blitz. In the climactic final volume, England has won the war and must now count the losses.



In this climactic volume of *A Dance to the Music of Time*, Nick Jenkins describes a world of ambition, intrigue, and dissolution. England has won the war, but now the losses, physical and moral, must be counted. Pamela Widmerpool sets a snare for the young writer Trapnel, while her husband suffers private agony and public humiliation. Set against a background of politics, business, high society, and the counterculture in England and Europe, this magnificent work of art sounds an unforgettable requiem for an age. 



Includes these novels: 

*Books Do Furnish a Room *

*Temporary Kings *

*Hearing Secret Harmonies *



"Anthony Powell is the best living English novelist by far. His admirers are addicts, let us face it, held in thrall by a magician."—*Chicago Tribune*



"A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu. . . . Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's."—Elizabeth Janeway, *New York Times*



"One of the most important works of fiction since the Second World War. . . . The novel looked, as it began, something like a comedy of manners; then, for a while, like a tragedy of manners; now like a vastly entertaining, deeply melancholy, yet somehow courageous statement about human experience."—Naomi Bliven, *New Yorker *


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**In the #1 *New York Times* bestseller *Moscow Rules*, Gabriel Allon brought down the most dangerous man in the world. But he made one mistake. Leaving him alive…**



 Over the course of a brilliant career, Daniel Silva has established himself as the “gold standard” of thriller writers (*Dallas Morning News*), a “master writer of espionage and intrigue” (The Cincinnati Enquirer), and the creator of “some of the most exciting spy fiction since Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond” (*Rocky Mountain News*). Now Silva takes that fiction—and his hero, the enigmatic art restorer and assassin Gabriel Allon—to a whole new level, delivering a riveting tale of vengeance that entertains as well as enlightens.



 	Six months after the dramatic conclusion of *Moscow Rules*, Gabriel has returned to the tan hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his idyllic world is once again thrown into turmoil with shocking news from London. The defector and former Russian intelligence officer Grigori Bulganov, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, but Gabriel knows better. He also knows he made a promise.



 	*Do you know what we do with traitors, Gabriel? Many things have changed in Russia since the fall of Communism. But the punishment for betrayal remains the same. Promise me one thing, Gabriel. Promise me I won't end up in an unmarked grave.*



 	In the days to come, Gabriel and his team of operatives will find themselves in a deadly duel of nerve and wits with one of the world's most ruthless men: the murderous Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. It will take him from a quiet mews in London, to the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich, and, finally, to a heart-stopping climax in the snowbound birch forests of Russia. Faced with the prospect of losing the one thing he holds most dear, Gabriel will be tested in ways he never imagined possible. And his life will never be the same.



 	Filled with breathtaking turns of plot and sophisticated prose, and populated by a remarkable cast of characters, *The Defector* is more than the most explosive thriller of the year. It is a searing tale of love, vengeance and courage created by the writer whom the critics call "the perfect guide to the dangerous forces shaping our world" (*Orlando Sentinel*). And it is Daniel Silva's finest novel yet.


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Who is Widmerpool? The question that is to dog Nicholas Jenkins crystallizes as he sees the gawky figure of his schoolmate huffing through the mists on a solitary cross-country run. So unexceptional, unsmart -- even unpopular -- Widmerpool continues to drop in and out of Jenkins life through school, university and London in the 1920's. A Question of Upbringing is the first volume of A Dance to the Music of Time -- recently a successful television series starring Simon Russell Beale. James Purefoy, Alan Bennett, Sir John Gielgud and Claire Skinner.


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1910. Having brought Egypt firmly under her thumb, Amelia Peabody turns her attention to a harder challenge: Palestine, a province of the crumbling, corrupt Ottoman Empire and the Holy Land of three religions. Hearing that Morley, an English adventurer, has raised money to mount an expedition to search for the vanished treasures of the Temple in Jerusalem, Emerson and Amelia are persuaded to go after him in order to prevent a catastrophically inept excavation and the possibility of armed protest by the infuriated members of all three religions who view the Dome of the Rock as sacred. The War Office is concerned about increasing German influence in Palestine and insists that Morley is secretly working for German intelligence. Emerson doesnt believe it, but could he be mistaken?In the meantime, their son Ramses has been working on a dig at Samaria, north of Jerusalem, where he encounters an unusual party of travellers. One is a female German archaeologist, and the other a mysterious man of unknown nationality and unknown past. Ramsess insatiable curiosity leads him to a startling discovery about the pair. He must now pass the information on to his parents in Jerusalem but only if he can get there alivePraise for the Amelia Peabody series:I cant wait for the next Peabody story I really do think [Elizabeth Peters] books are great entertainment. Angela RipponA writer so popular that the public library has to keep her books under lock and key. Washington Post Book WorldThe most potent female force to hit Egypt since Cleopatra. Philadelphia EnquirerThink Miss Marple with early feminist gloss crossed with Indiana Jones accomplished entertainment Guardian


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The Honourable Phryne Fisher - she of the Lulu bob, green eyes, Cupid's Bow lips and diamante garters - is the 1920's most elegant and irrepressible sleuth. This collection of Phryne short stories and other Phryne miscellany - including Phryne's favourite shoes and hats, decadent cocktail recipes and her best tips for discouraging unwanted admirers - is a gorgeously collectable treat for all Phryne fans. Lavishly illustrated with divine colour illustrations by Beth Norling, A Question of Deathwill bring joy to the hearts of Phryne Fisher fans everywhere.'With Phryne Fisher, the indefatigable Greenwood has invented the character-you-fall-in-love-with genre.' The Australian


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Meet art historian Vicky Bliss, She is as beautiful as she is brainy--with unassailable courage, insatiable curiosity, and an expertise in lost museum treasures that often leads her into the most dangerous of situations.A missing masterwork in wood, the last creation of a master carver who died in the violent tumult of the sixteenth century, may be hidden in a medieval German castle in the town of Rothenburg. The prize has called to Vicky Bliss, drawing her and an arrogant male colleague into the forbidding citadel and its dark secrets. But the treasure hunt soon turns deadly. Here, where the blood of the long forgotten damned stains ancient stones, Vicky must face two equally perilous possibilities. Either a powerful supernatural evil inhabits this place. . .or someone frighteningly real is willing to kill for what Vicky is determined to find.


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*Vicky Bliss, a brain with a body like a centerfold, often has a tough time getting people to take her seriously. But when it comes to medieval history, this blonde beauty knows her stuff---and she's a master at solving mysteries that would turn the art world upside down.* 

Vicky gasped at the sight of the exquisite gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum held in his hand. The Charlemagne talisman replica, along with a note in hieroglyphs, was found sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man found dead in an alley. 

Vicky vows to find the master craftsman who created it. It's a daring chase that takes her all the way to Rome and through the dusty antique centers and moonlit streets of the most romantic city in the world. But soon she's trapped in a treacherous game of intrigue that could cost her life---or her heart... *Vicky Bliss, a brain with a body like a centerfold, often has a tough time getting people to take her seriously.But when it comes to medieval history, this blonde beauty knows her stuff---and she's a master at solving mysteries that would turn the art world upside down.*

Vicky gasped at the sight of the exquisite gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum held in his hand.  The Charlemagne talisman replica, along with a note in hieroglyphs, was found sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man found dead in an alley.

Vicky vows to find the master craftsman who created it.  It's a daring chase that takes her all the way to Rome and through the dusty antique centers and moonlit streets of the most romantic city in the world.  But soon she's trapped in a treacherous game of intrigue that could cost her life---or her heart...*Vicky Bliss, a brain with a body like a centerfold, often has a tough time getting people to take her seriously.  But when it comes to medieval history, this blonde beauty knows her stuff---and she's a master at solving mysteries that would turn the art world upside down.*

Vicky gasped at the sight of the exquisite gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum held in his hand.  The Charlemagne talisman replica, along with a note in hieroglyphs, was found sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man found dead in an alley.

Vicky vows to find the master craftsman who created it.  It's a daring chase that takes her all the way to Rome and through the dusty antique centers and moonlit streets of the most romantic city in the world.  But soon she's trapped in a treacherous game of intrigue that could cost her life---or her heart...


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A Great War has ended, but evil still casts a long shadow over a violence-scarred land. One woman -- an adventurer and archaeologist with a brilliant mind -- must now confront a dreadful adversary more fiendish and formidable than any she has ever encountered. But by doing so, she may be feeding the flames of a devastating firestorm that threatens the fragile lives of the tender and innocent.


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In New York City in 2059, someone is pursuing missing gems from a decades-old heist...someone who's willing to kill for them. Sharp-witted and sexy, NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is used to travelling in the shadowy corners outside the law. And in a future where crime meets cutting-edge technology, she will attempt to track down the diamonds once and for all-and stop the danger and death that have surrounded them for years.


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No one likes to be alone during the holidays. For New York's most posh dating service, Personally Yours, it is the season to bring lonely hearts together. But Lt. Eve Dallas, on the trail of a ritualistic serial killer, has made a disturbing discovery: all of the victims have been traced to Personally Yours. Eve soon enters an elite world of people searching for their one true love--and one killer searching for his next victim. From Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb.


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A quartet of holiday stories of romance and suspense includes J. D. Robb's "Midnight in Death"; Susan Plunkett's "Christmas Promises"; Dee Holmes's "The Unexpected Gift"; and Claire Cross's "A Berry Merry Christmas." Original.


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The #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring police lieutenant Eve Dallas. New York City's most vulnerable citizens fall victim to a ruthless serial killer.


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National bestselling author J. D. Robb's phenomenal series has captivated readers nationwide with its tantalizing blend of romance, suspense, and near-future police procedural. New York cop Eve Dallas returns to face her most ingenious foe -- a "secret admirer" who taunts her with letters... and kills without mercy.An unknown bomber is stalking New York City. He is sending Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the "corrupt masses". And when his cruel web of deceit and destruction threatens those she cares for most, Eve fights back. It's her city...it's her job... and it's hitting too close to home. Now, in a race against a ticking clock, Eve must make the pieces fit -- before the city falls.


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Lieutenant Eve Dallas is thrust into the spotlight when she becomes the key witness in the brutal murder of a famous actor.


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In this futuristic series combining mystery and suspense, police lieutenant Eve Dallas tracks down a cop killer to an underground criminal hellhole known as Purgatory. This club is the last chance for atonement--a place where one's fate depends on one's most intimate sins. By Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb.


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>'However the act of murder was committed, in cold blood or hot, Eve Dallas was sworn to pursue it to its root. and serve the dead.'>At the luxurious Roarke Palace Hotel, a maid walks into suite 4602 for the nightly turndown - and steps into her worst nightmare. A killer leaves her dead, strangled by a thin, silver wire. He's Sly Yost, a virtuoso of music and murder; a hit man for the elite. Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows him well. But in this twisted case, knowing the killer doesn't help solve the crime. Because there's someone else involved. Someone with a very personal motive. and Eve must face a terrifying possibility that the real target may, in fact, be her husband, Roarke...


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Love, Supernatural Style

Love is the universal language. And nowhere is this more apparent than in these extraordinary stories from four of today-s hottest authors. From a futuristic cop caught in a crisis of the heart to a smoldering vision of an unusual love triangle, from the hunger for a human touch on an alien planet to a witch-s desperate search for the love of one man, these tales of paranormal romance will transport you to a time and a place you-ve never been before-.

Featuring: 

**New York Times** bestselling author J. D. Robb-**with a new Lieutenant Eve Dallas story

**New York Times** bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton-**with a new Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter tale

and

**USA Today** Bestselling Authors,Susan Krinard and Maggie Shayne


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In this all-new original novel from bestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas is back on the beat, and hot on the trail of a seductive killer in the "New York Times" bestselling series.


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In the 14th installment of Robb's (aka Nora Roberts) futuristic In Death series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, celebrate their first anniversary--which will be one they, nor fans of this series, never forget!


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Eve Dallas must face the impossible: someone has unleashed a computer virus that may be able to spread from machine to man...


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A serial killer takes his dead victims' portraits and sends them to the media. Lieutenant Eve Dallas counts on her husband's help to crack the case, but he's just learned a devastating truth about his past.


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'No matter how many times you looked at the horror man inflicted on man, you never saw it all. As Lieutenant Eve Dallas stood over what had once been a woman, she wondered when she would see worse than this...' The summer of 2059 is drawing to a sweaty close when a killer makes his debut with the slashing and mutilation of a prostitute. He leaves behind a note addressed to Lieutenant Eve Dallas, commending her work and inviting her to participate in his game...and signs it "Jack." Now Eve is on the trail of a serial killer who knows as much about the history of murder as she does, and he's paying homage to some of history's most vicious, and infamous, killers, beginning with Jack the Ripper. But who will he choose to emulate next? And will Eve be able to stop him before he decides to finish the game by coming after her?


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Killing was too good for him. She wanted him to beg and plead like the gutter rat he wasshe wanted him to bleed and screamonly then the bastard could die. A slow, withering, agonizing death. Nobody, nobody cheated on Reva Ewing.' Roarke's security specialist Reva Ewing is the prime suspect in a double homicide - accused of killing her adulterous husband and his lover - the woman Reva thought was her best friend. But despite having every reason for wanting both of them dead, Reva protests her innocence and Lieutenant Eve Dallas believes her. At the time of the murders, Reva's husband's computer system was also sabotaged. To Roarke, it's the computer attack that poses the real threat. Roarke Industries have been working on a top secret government contract to develop a program that would shield against a new breed of hackers. The Doomsday Group are techno-terrorists who attack systems, steal data, and corrupt computer units on a large scale - and they kill anyone who gets too close.


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'The summer had been long hot and bloody. Fall, with its cooler temperatures was coming. Maybe people wouldn't be as inclined to kill each other. But she doubted it.' Eve Dallas' latest homicide case is a particularly vicious case. A young mother, Elisa Maplewood, is found raped and strangled in the park, her body naked but for what appears to be a red ribbon tied around her neck. As Eve starts investigating Elisa's friends and relations, an offer of help comes from an unlikely source. The only reason Eve agrees to meet with psychic Celina Sanchez is that she is a friend of a friend. But Celina claims to have experienced visions of the killer and can recite precise details of the case - details that the police have kept to themselves. She is also no glory-hunter - she doesn't want her name released to the media. Haunted by the visions of death that she sees, all she wants to do is help Eve catch the criminal so that she is left in peace. Though Eve remains sceptical of Celina's abilities, she serves the greater good, and she will use all the resources she can to track down the killer before he strikes again...


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The newest in the number-one New York Times-bestselling In Death series featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Roarke. Nora Roberts writing as J. D. Robb returns to the New York City of 2059-where Dallas will struggle to solve the murder of a seemingly ordinary family and to protect one small, terrified survivor. The members of the Swisher family were murdered in their beds with brutal, military precision. The state-of-the-art security was breached, and the killers used night-vision equipment to find their way through the cozy, middle-class house. Clearly, Dallas is dealing with pros. It seems the only mistake they made was to overlook the nine-year-old girl cowering in the darkened kitchen. Now Nixie Swisher is an orphan-and the sole eyewitness to a seemingly inexplicable crime. Kids are not Dallas's strong suit. But Nixie needs a safe place to stay, and Dallas needs to solve this case. With her partner, Peabody, back on the job-and her husband, Roarke, providing the kind of help that only he can give-Lieutenant Eve Dallas is running after shadows, and dead-set on finding out who's behind them.


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Set in 2059 in New York City, the number-one bestselling *In Death* series has given fans a searing glimpse into near-future law and order. Now, as scientists work to expand the limits of technology, Detective Eve Dallas tracks the cunning, cold-blooded killer of a father and son.    A pioneer of modern reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, Dr. Wilfred B. Icove, is found dead in his office-murdered in a chillingly efficient manner: one swift stab to the heart. Struck by the immaculate condition of the crime scene,  Dallas suspects a professional killing. Security disks show a stunningly beautiful woman calmly entering and leaving the building-the good doctor's final appointment.    Known as "Dr. Perfect," the saintly Icove devoted his life to his family and his work. His record is clean. Too clean for Dallas. She knows he was hiding something and suspects that his son-and successor-knows what it is. Then, like father, like son, the young Dr. Icove is killed . . . with the same deadly precision.    But who is the mystery woman-and what was her relationship with the good doctors?  While her husband, Roarke, works behind the scenes, Dallas follows her darkest instincts into the Icoves' pasts. What she discovers are men driven to create perfection-playing fast and loose with the laws of nature, the limits of science, and the morals of humanity.    *Origin in Death* proves once again the incredible appeal of Eve Dallas and the bestselling popularity of her creator. Whether writing as herself or as J. D. Robb, Nora Roberts continues to push the boundaries of suspense-and she takes delighted fans along for the ride.


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The #1 *New York Times*-bestselling author of *Survivor in Death* has Lieutenant Eve Dallas walking a tightrope between her professional duties and her private demons.    Eve Dallas is one tough cop. She's got no problem dealing with a holiday reveler in a red suit who plunges thirty-seven stories and gives new meaning to the term "sidewalk Santa." But when she gets back to the station and Trudy Lombard shows up, it's all Eve can do to hold it together. Instantly, she's thrown back into the past, to the days when she was a vulnerable, traumatized girl-trapped in foster care with the twisted woman who now sits in front of her, smiling.    Trudy claims she just wanted to see how Eve was doing. But Eve's husband, Roarke, suspects otherwise-and his suspicions prove correct when Trudy arrives at his office, demanding money in exchange for keeping the ugly details of his wife's childhood a secret. Barely restraining himself, Roarke shows her the door-and makes it clear that she'd be wise to get out of New York and never bother him or his wife again.    But just a few days later, Trudy's found on the floor of her hotel room, a mess of bruises and blood. A cop to the core, Eve is determined to solve the case, if only for the sake of Trudy's bereaved son. Unfortunately, Eve is not the only one to have suffered at this woman's hands, and she and Roarke will follow a circuitous, dangerous path to find out who turned this victimizer into a victim.


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*Enter a world where no boundaries exist - and where every seduction is supernatural...*    Follow four of today's most provocative authors to a place where love can transform reality-and anything can happen. Here they present stories of ethereal circumstances, magical romance, and otherworldy suspense. Beginning with an all-new tale from #1 *New York Times* bestselling author Nora Roberts writing as J. D. Robb-and featuring lieutenant-of-the-future Eve Dallas-this collection will take you on a breathtaking journey through the passion of the heart and its power to transcend the everyday...


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Eve Dallas has a grisly double homicide to solve when two young lovers-both employees of the same prestigious accounting firm-are brutally killed on the same night. It doesn't leave Eve a lot of leftover time to put together a baby shower for her buddy Mavis, but that's supposedly what friends are for.    Now Mavis needs another favor. Tandy Willowby, one of the moms-to-be in Mavis's birthing class, didn't show up for the shower. A recent emigrant from London, Tandy has few friends in New York, and no family-and she was really looking forward to the party. And when Eve enters Tandy's apartment and finds a gift for Mavis's shower wrapped and ready on the table-and a packed bag for the hospital still on the floor next to it-tingling runs up and down her spine.    Normally, such a case would be turned over to Missing Persons. But Mavis wants no one else on the job but Eve-and Eve can't say no. She'll have to track Tandy down while simultaneously unearthing the deals and double-crosses hidden in the files of some of the city's richest and most secretive citizens, in a race against this particularly vicious killer. Luckily, her multimillionaire husband Roarke's expertise comes in handy with the number crunching. But as he mines the crucial data that will break the case wide open, Eve faces an all too real danger in the world of flesh and blood.


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Eve Dallas has a mysterious homicide to solve when a popular teacher at an exclusive school turns up dead in his classroom, apparently poisoned. Dallas is baffled as to who could possibly hold a grudge against this enthusiastic young teacher.It doesn't help when a beautiful ex-girlfriend of Roarke's comes back into his life. While Eve is fighting her jealousy, she grows more and more frustrated with the case, especially as it becomes obvious that no one is as innocent as they seem.


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Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, puts futuristic lieutenant Eve Dallas in a supernatural showdown with a most seductive criminal: a vampire. An ancient coin whisks an American woman and a modern-day earl into the past-and into each other's arms-in a stirring tale from Mary Blayney. When a city girl visits a Scottish castle in Ruth Ryan Langan's story, she is thrust into a timeless romance with a mighty Highland laird. And Mary Kay McComas gives an unhappy wife a magic-carpet ride into an alternate reality to show her the grass isn't always greener.


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NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas keeps the streets of a near-future New York City safe in this extraordinary series. But even she makes mistakes, and is haunted by those she couldn't save-and the killers she couldn't capture. When the body of a young brunette is found in East River Park, artfully positioned and marked by signs of prolonged and painful torture, Eve is catapulted back to a case nine years earlier. The city was on edge from a killing spree that took the lives  of four women in fifteen days, courtesy of a man the media tagged "The Groom"-because he put silver rings on the fingers of his victims.    

When it turns out that the young brunette was employed by Eve's billionaire husband, Roarke, she brings him in on the case-a move that proves fitting when it becomes chillingly clear that the killer has made his attack personal. The victim was washed in products from a store Roarke owns, and laid out on a sheet his company manufactures.    

With the Groom's monstrous return, Eve is determined to finish him once and for all. Familiar with his methods, Eve knows that he has already grabbed his next victim. Time is running out on another woman's life.    

And chances are he's working up to the biggest challenge of his illustrious career-abducting a woman who will test his skills and who promises to give him days and days of pleasure before she dies: Eve.


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The new novel in the #1 "New York Times"-bestselling series. Technology may be different in 2060 New York, yet the city is still a place of many cultures and great divides. But as ever, some murders receive more attention than others-especially those in which the victim is a prominent businessman, found in his Park Avenue apartment, tied to the bed-and strangled-with cords of black velvet. It doesn't surprise Lieutenant Eve Dallas that Thomas Anders's scandalous death is a source of titillation and speculation to the public-and of humiliation to his family. But while people in the city are talking about it, those close to Anders aren't so anxious to do the same. With some help from her billionaire husband, Roarke, Eve's soon knocking on doors-or barging through them-to find answers. But the facts don't add up. Physical evidence suggests that the victim didn't struggle. The security breach in the apartment indicates that the killer was someone known to the family, but everyone's alibi checks out. Was this a crime of passion in a kinky game gone wrong-or a meticulously planned execution? It's up to Dallas to solve a case in which strangers may be connected in unexpected, and deadly, ways.


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**Ancient church rituals meet cutting- edge crime solving in the latest novel in the #1 *New York Times*–bestselling series that’s “*Law & Order: SVU*—in the future” (*Entertainment Weekly*)**.



*In the year 2060, sophisticated investigative tools can help catch a killer. But there are some questions even the most advanced technologies cannot answer.*



 Ridley Pearson has praised J. D. Robb’s suspense as “taut” and “nerve-jangling.” Her latest thriller sets a new standard for suspense, as the priest at a Catholic funeral mass brings the chalice to his lips—and falls over dead.



 When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained potassium cyanide, she’s determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel Flores, despite her discomfort with her surroundings. It’s not the bodegas and pawnshops of East Harlem that bother her, though the neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband, Roarke. It’s all that holiness flying around at St. Christobal’s that makes her uneasy.



 A search of the victim’s sparsely furnished room reveals little— except for a carefully hidden religious medal with a mysterious inscription, and a couple of underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals more: faint scars of knife wounds, a removed tattoo—and evidence of plastic surgery, suggesting that “Father Flores” may not have been the man his parishioners had thought. Now, as Eve pieces together clues that hint at gang connections and a deeply personal act of revenge, she believes she’s making progress on the case. Until a second murder—in front of an even larger crowd of worshippers—knocks the whole investigation sideways. And Eve is left to figure out who committed these unholy acts—and why.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

** #1 *NEW YORK TIMES* BESTSELLING AUTHOR Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb headlines a hot new anthology of paranormal romance.



 FEATURING A NEW EVE DALLAS NOVELLA.**



 **J.D. Robb** plunges Lieutenant Eve Dallas into the violent aftermath of a ritualistic murder.



 **Mary Blayney,** investigates a deception that has kept two lovers apart for years.



 **Ruth Ryan Langan** brings a lost man out of a storm to face a breathtaking twist of fate.



 And** Mary Kay McComas** follows a mother, her son, and a wizard lost through the threads of time.


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**#1 *New York Times*– bestselling author J. D. Robb takes us to the New York City of 2060, where Lieutenant Eve Dallas faces down a cop killer.**



A Amarylis Coltraine may have recently transferred to the New York City police force from Atlanta, but she’s been a cop long enough to know how to defend herself against an assailant. When she’s taken down just steps away from her apartment, killed with her own weapon, for Eve the victim isn’t just “one of us.”



 Dallas’s friend Chief Medical Examiner Morris and Coltraine had started a serious relationship, and from all accounts the two were headed for a happy future together. But someone has put an end to all that. After breaking the news to Morris, Eve starts questioning everyone from Coltraine’s squad, informants, and neighbors, while Eve’s husband, Roarke, digs into computer data on Coltraine’s life back in Atlanta. To their shock, they discover a connection between this case and their own painful, shadowy pasts.



 The truth will need to be uncovered one layer at a time, starting with the box that arrives at Cop Central addressed to Eve containing Coltraine’s guns, badge, and a note from her killer: “You can have them back. Maybe someday soon, I’ll be sending yours to somebody else.”



 But Eve Dallas doesn’t take too kindly to personal threats, and she is going to break this case, whatever it takes. And that’s a promise.


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When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they were looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who had stayed behind. Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaited them instead. Brutally murdered in her bedroom, Deena's body showed signs of trauma that horrified even the toughest of cops; including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who was specifically requested by the captain to investigate. When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know yet that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities. Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to bring justice.


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**J. D. Robb's *Missing in Death*** investigates a female tourist's disappearance during a ferry ride. Detective Eve Dallas wonders...if she didn't jump, and she's not on board, then where in the world is she? 



** In Patricia Gaffney's *The Dog Days of Laurie Summer***, a woman awakens to a familiar yet unsettling world. 



 In **Mary Blayney's *Lost in Paradise***, a man locked in an island fortress finds hope for freedom in an enigmatic nurse. 



 And **Ruth Ryan Langan's *Legacy*** belongs to a young woman who unearths a family secret buried on the grounds of a magnificent but imposing Irish castle.


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They were best friends, driven by one shared vision - to rule the world of virtual reality games. Cill, hard-edged and beautiful, Var and Benny, brains and business acumen, and Bart, the genius behind the idea. Their newest invention, developed to transport the player into a fantastical virtual world, is just about to be launched. Then, suddenly, Bart is found brutally killed, defeated by their own game. Their close-knit group is torn apart. Who could have engineered a virtual death with such devastating consequences? Even Eve Dallas, New York City's most cunning investigator, is hard-pressed for an answer. But as she digs deeper, peeling back layers of secrets, revenge and misplaced allegiances, she realises with growing dread the depth of the killer's master plan. And she knows his game is far from over...


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In hardcover for the first time, here is the novel that started it all-the first book in J. D. Robb's number-one New York Times-bestselling In Death series, featuring New York City homicide detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Roarke. It is the year 2058, and technology now completely rules the world. But New York City Detective Eve Dallas knows that the irresistible impulses of the human heart are still ruled by just one thing-passion. When a senator's daughter is killed, the secret life of prostitution she'd been leading is revealed. The high-profile case takes Lieutenant Eve Dallas into the rarefied circles of Washing-ton politics and society. Further complicating matters is Eve's growing attraction to Roarke, who is one of the wealthiest and most influential men on the planet, devilishly handsome . . . and the leading suspect in the investigation.


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'a perfect balance of suspense, futuristic police procedural and steamy romancetruly fine entertainmentsure to leave you hungering for more' Publisher's Weekly


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In the wake of three supposed suicides--including a brilliant engineer, an infamous lawyer, and a controversial politician--police lieutenant Eve Dallas discovers evidence that links the three victims, and she suspects they may have been murdered. Reissue.


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Kriminalroman. Eve Dallas modtager breve fra en seriemorder med mystiske gåder om de mord, han vil begå, men altid for sent til at hun kan nå at gribe ind, også hendes mand bliver blandet ind i sagen.


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In The Game, Neil Strauss delves into the bizarre underworld of `pickup artists' - men who have devoted their lives to different techniques of seducing women. These are men with their own vernacular and codes of honour, who operate online and in person, who are so committed to honing their strategies that they give each other seminars and live together in shared houses - or `Projects', as they like to call them. Neil Strauss lived amongst the players and survived - but not before he became one of them. In the course of two years, he transformed himself from a self-confessed balding, skinny writer into the quick-thinking, smooth-talking Style, a character irresistible to women, half psychologist, half magician. He became friends with the other players. He used his Game techniques on Britney Spears. By turns jaw-dropping, poignant and side-splittingly funny, The Game is a gripping portrait of a mad, self-referential community in the process of slow implosion. With guest appearances from Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise (whose character in Magnolia is based on a real-life pickup artist) and Courtney Love, who lived with Neil in `Project Hollywood' for a while, The Game is also the most sensational relationships manual since The Rules - essential reading for men and women alike.


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***The #1 *New York Times *bestselling author teams up once again with her Edgar award-winning son to bring us a new heart-pounding thriller involving the search for a mysterious Atlantean city 



***While mapping the ancient underwater city of Marinth in the Atlantic Ocean, submersible designer Hannah Bryson makes a shocking discovery: she may have finally uncovered the truth about the once-glorious city’s mysterious demise. Long ago it was a thriving metropolis bursting with culture and lifeMarinth’s sudden disappearance has plagued scientists for years. But now, with her unexpected new findings, Hannah realizes that the ancient city’s explosive secret could have dire consequences for the modern-day world. 

But Hannah isn’t the only one who realizes it. When her key artifact is hijacked en route to a research lab, she is thrust into an adventure in which she must match wits against a terrifying enemy who will kill anyone who stands in his way. And when Hannah becomes his target, she knows that her best hope for survival lies with Kirov, a mysterious and deadly man from her past. Together they will race to unravel Marinth’s last great secret in order to prevent a catastrophe of global proportions. Before the lethal game is over, however, Hannah will realize that no one is above suspicion.


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No Matter How Fast You Run: The newborn baby boy is beautiful, perfect, and hers for the asking. All Kate Summers has to do is agree to one condition, she must disappear from Boston and never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone. Or How Far You Go: Fifteen years later, Kate has built a good life for herself and her son, Jon, in Hopewell, Oregon. Still, she is haunted by the fear that he will somehow be taken away. Then Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town and strikes up a friendship with her and Jon. But Daegan has his own past to hide, one with shocking ties to hers. A Killer Will Always Find You: Someone is watching Kate, watching her son, and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him. And the one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever. Soon the past Kate thought she could outrun will explode, unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery, and a fury powerful enough to kill


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*New York Times* bestselling author Brian Haig returns with a riveting new thriller about a man caught between the politics of big government and the corruption of big business.**The Capitol Game**It was the deal of the decade, if not the century.  A small, insignificant company on the edge of bankruptcy had discovered an alchemist's dream; a miraculous polymer, that when coated on any vehicle, was the equivalent of 30 inches of steel.  With bloody conflicts surging in Iraq and Afghanistan, the polymer promises to save thousands of lives and change the course of *both *wars.  Jack Wiley, a successful Wall Street banker, believes he has a found a dream come true when he mysteriously learns of this miraculous polymer. His plan: enlist the help of the Capitol Group, one of the country's largest and most powerful corporations in a quick, bloodless takeover of the small company that developed the polymer.  It seems like a partnership made in heaven...until the Pentagon's investigative service begins nosing around, and the deal turns into a nightmare. Now, Jack's back is up against the wall and he and the Capitol Group find themselves embroiled in the greatest scandal the government and corporate America have ever seen...


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"A room of one's own: is there anybody who hasn't at one time or another wished for such a place, hasn't turned those soft words over until they'd assumed a habitable shape?" When writer Michael Pollan decided to plant a garden, the result was an award-winning treatise on the borders between nature and contemporary life, the acclaimed bestseller Second Nature. Now Pollan turns his sharp insight to the craft of building, as he recounts the process of designing and constructing a small one-room structure on his rural Connecticut property--a place in which he hoped to read, write and daydream, built with his two own unhandy hands. Invoking the titans of architecture, literature and philosophy, from Vitrivius to Thoreau, from the Chinese masters of feng shui to the revolutionary Frank Lloyd Wright, Pollan brilliantly chronicles a realm of blueprints, joints and trusses as he peers into the ephemeral nature of "houseness" itself. From the spark of an idea to the search for a perfect site to the raising of a ridgepole, Pollan revels in the infinitely detailed, complex process of creating a finished structure. At once superbly written, informative and enormously entertaining, A Place of My Own is for anyone who has ever wondered how the walls around us take shape--and how we might shape them ourselves. A Place of My Own recounts his two-and-a-half-year journey of discovery in an absorbing narrative that deftly weaves the day-to-day work of design and building--from siting to blueprint, from the pouring of foundations to finish carpentry--with reflections on everything form the power of place to shape our lives to the question of what constitutes "real work" in a technologicalsociety. A book about craft that is itself beautifully crafted, linking the world of the body and material things with the realm of mind, heart, and spirit, "A Place of My Own has received extraordinary praise: --> "From the Trade Paperback edition.


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The elves have fled to Calius, seeking to escape the overwhelming power of the demonic Garonin. A desperate last stand in their own dimension saved the race, at the cost of 100,000 elves lost to the Garonin. The elf who led that fight, Takaar, is blamed for the losses and has gone into hiding. Now the weakened elf race is tearing itself apart in civil war, human mercenaries have arrived in Calius and are ripping the continent apart. Only one elf can unite the elves. And only one elf believes in him. A young warrior named Auum sets out to bring back the shamed hero and save the elven race.James Barclay's ELVES trilogy will tell the whole story of his immortal elven race, and will appeal to all fans of Tolkien and fantasy - this is a uniquely entertaining take on a fantasy staple perfect to bring new readers to Barclay. And old readers of James Barclay will welcome a return to one of their favourite creations and will also love seeing one of their favourite characters again - the Tai Gethan warriror Auum destined to be one of the Raven.


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Henry IV sits on a usurped throne, his conscience and his nobles in revolt, while his son Hal is immersed in a self-indulgent life of revelry with the notorious Sir John Falstaff. Shakespeare explores questions of kingship and honor in this masterly mingling of history, comedy, and tragedy. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today's most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes fromWilliam Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare's theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare's life and times; and black-and-white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.


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After defeat at the Battle of Shrewsbury the rebels regroup. But Prince Hal's reluctance to inherit the crown threatens to destroy the ailing Henry IV's dream of a lasting dynasty. Shakespeare's portrait of the prodigal son's journey from youth to maturity embraces the full panorama of society. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today's most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes fromWilliam Shakespeare: Complete Works.Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare's theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare's life and times; and black-and-white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.


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A delightful new setting—London—a delightful new cast of characters, and one incredibly clever dog.  Corduroy Mansions is the affectionate nickname given to a genteel, crumbling mansion block in London’s vibrant Pimlico neighborhood, and the home turf of a new cast of captivating, quirky, and altogether McCall-Smithian characters. There’s the middle-aged wine merchant William, who’s trying to convince his reluctant twenty-four-year-old son, Eddie, to leave the nest; and Marcia, the restaurant propriatrix who has her sights set on William. There’s also the (justifiably) much-loathed member of Parliament, Oedipus Snark; his mother, Berthea, who’s writing his biography and loathing every minute of him; and his long-suffering girlfriend, Barbara, a literary agent who would like to be his wife (but, then, she’d like to be almost anyone’s wife). There’s the vitamin evangelist, the psychoanalyst, the art student with a puzzling boyfriend, and the Pimlico terrier, Freddie de la Haye, who can fasten his own seat belt and is almost certainly the only avowed vegetarian canine in London.  The comings and goings, the face-to-face and behind-the-back meetings and misses, the in and outs of neighborliness in all its unexpected variations—here is a new world for us to enter, filled with all the life, laughter, and humanity that we have come to expect from Alexander McCall Smith.


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This authoritative work provides an essential perspective on terrorism by offering a rare opportunity for analysis and reflection at a time of ongoing violence, chilling threats, and renewed reprisals. In it, some of the best international specialists working on the subject today examine terrorism's long and complex history from antiquity to the present day and find that terror, long the weapon of the weak against the strong, is a tactic as old as warfare itself. Beginning with the Zealots of Antiquity, the contributors discuss the Assassins of the Middle Ages, the 1789 Terror movement in Europe, Bolshevik terrorism during the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, "resistance" terrorism during World War II, and Latin American revolutionary movements of the late 1960s. Finally, they consider the emergence of modern transnational terrorism, focusing on the roots of Islamic terrorism, al Qaeda, and the rise of the contemporary suicide martyr. Along the way, they provide a groundbreaking analysis of how terrorism has been perceived throughout history. What becomes powerfully clear is that only through deeper understanding can we fully grasp the present dangers of a phenomenon whose repercussions are far from over.Includes essays by François Géré, Rohan Gunaratna, Olivier Hubac-Occhipinti, Ariel Merari, Philippe Migaux, Yves Ternon


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The witty and utterly delightful follow up to the national bestsellerThe World According to Bertie, this fifth instalment of the 44 Scotland Street series, McCall Smith once again brings us an absorbing and entertaining tale of some of Scotland's most quirky and beloved characters - all set in the beautiful, stoic city of Edinburgh. The Unbearable Lightness of Sconesfinds Bertie, the precocious six-year-old, still troubled by his rather overbearing mother, Irene, but seeking his escape in the Cub Scouts. Matthew is rising to the challenge of married life with newfound strength and resolve, while Domenica epitomizes the loneliness of the long distance intellectual. Cyril, the gold-toothed star of the whole show, succumbs to the kind of romantic temptation that no dog can resist and creates a small problem, or rather six of them, for his friend and owner Angus Lordie.


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From the bestselling author of The Dogs of Babel comes a dazzling literary mystery about the lengths to which some people will go to rewrite their past. Bestselling novelist Octavia Frost has just completed her latest book—a revolutionary novel in which she has rewritten the last chapters of all her previous books, removing clues about her personal life concealed within, especially a horrific tragedy that befell her family years ago. On her way to deliver the manuscript to her editor, Octavia reads a news crawl in Times Square and learns that her rock-star son, Milo, has been arrested for murder. Though she and Milo haven’t spoken in years—an estrangement stemming from that tragic day—she drops everything to go to him. The “last chapters” of Octavia’s novel are layered throughout The Nobodies  Album—the scattered puzzle pieces to her and Milo’s dark and troubled past. Did she drive her son to murder? Did Milo murder anyone at all? And what exactly happened all those years ago? As the novel builds to a stunning reveal, Octavia must consider how this story will come to a close. Universally praised for her candid explorations of the human psyche, Parkhurst delivers an emotionally gripping and resonant mystery about a mother and her son, and about the possibility that one can never truly know another person.


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First in a series that takes readers into a new dimension in detective stories.He was once a second-rate cop, a mediocre husband, and an absent father. But ever since he was killed in a drug bust gone bad, Kevin Faheys been a lost soul in limbo. Until he encounters a dead victim whose murder he thought he solved, a girl who points him to a fresh body. And Fahey realizes he imprisoned the wrong manand the true killer is still on the loose.


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"Christine Barber is new to the Southwest in the sense that *The Replacement Child* is her first novel. But she has a great feel for the territory and for the family connections that enforce its strong community bonds."



—*THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW*

 



Every year, the people of Santa Fe gather together for the burning of a four-story-tall figure called Zozobra, a local custom that that takes place during the Fiesta de Santa Fe. Early the next morning, as the sounds of the Fiesta celebration still echo through the streets, skull is discovered in the ashes of Zozobra. 

 

As Detective Sergeant Gilbert Montoya starts to investigate the case, disturbing displays of human bones begin appearing at religious sites around the city. With a possible psychopath on the loose, Gil goes to newspaper editor Lucy Newroe for help to find the person responsible in a case that will take them into the highest and lowest levels of Santa Fe society.

 

Christine Barber was highly praised for her first book, *The Replacement Child*, which won the first annual Tony Hillerman Prize and was named a *New York Times* Notable Book. An intriguing, impressive new mystery, *The Bone Fire* captures the colorful New Mexican landscape and the unique world of Santa Fe.


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Late on a Monday night, editor Lucy Newroe answers the phone in the *Capital Tribune* newsroom. The caller is the notorious Scanner Lady---an anonymous elderly tipster whose hobby is to phone the newspaper with gossip from her police scanner. The old woman tells Lucy she heard two Santa Fe cops discussing a dead body. But when Lucy checks out the tip, she discovers Scanner Lady has been killed.

          She tries to enlist the help of Detective Gil Montoya, but his mind is on another death. He has just been handed the case of Melissa Baca, a seventh-grade teacher whose body was thrown off the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Over the course of the next few days, as Lucy and Gil hunt down the culprits in each murder, they discover their cases are intertwined in the most intimate ways.

          Rich with details of New Mexico and the people who live there, *The Replacement Child* is the perfect novel for anyone who has fallen in love with the Southwest that Tony Hillerman described so artfully in his Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mysteries.


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Two is trapped: hooked on heroin and forced to sell her body to feed the addiction. Her vampire lover Theroen can lift her from this dark life, but his plans conflict with those of the dangerous elder Abraham, to whom he is bonded by both blood and a long-held promise. Two enters a world of darkness, violence, and despair. She must fight for freedom, both for herself and for those she loves.


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*The reigning master of grand historical fiction returns with the stirring conclusion to his bestselling Dublin Saga.*  *The Princes of Ireland*, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd’s magisterial epic of Irish history, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534 and the disappearance of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick. *The Rebels of Ireland* opens with an Ireland transformed; plantation, the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland, is the order of the day, and the subjugation of the native Irish Catholic population has begun in earnest.   Edward Rutherfurd brings history to life through the tales of families whose fates rise and fall in each generation: Brothers who must choose between fidelity to their ancient faith or the security of their families; a wife whose passion for a charismatic Irish chieftain threatens her comfortable marriage to a prosperous merchant; a young scholar whose secret rebel sympathies are put to the test; men who risk their lives and their children’s fortunes in the tragic pursuit of freedom, and those determined to root them out forever. Rutherfurd spins the saga of Ireland’s 400-year path to independence in all its drama, tragedy, and glory through the stories of people from all strata of society--Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic.   His richly detailed narrative brings to life watershed moments and events, from the time of plantation settlements to the “Flight of the Earls,” when the native aristocracy fled the island, to Cromwell’s suppression of the population and the imposition of the harsh anti-Catholic penal laws. He describes the hardships of ordinary people and the romantic, doomed attempt to overthrow the Protestant oppressors, which ended in defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the departure of the “Wild Geese.” In vivid tones Rutherfurd re-creates Grattan’s Parliament, Wolfe Tone's attempted French invasion of 1798, the tragic rising of Robert Emmet, the Catholic campaign of Daniel O’Connell, the catastrophic famine, the mass migration to America, and the glorious Irish Renaissance of Yeats and Joyce. And through the eyes of his characters, he captures the rise of Charles Stewart Parnell and the great Irish nationalists and the birth of an Ireland free of all ties to England.  A tale of fierce battles, hot-blooded romances, and family and political intrigues, *The Rebels of Ireland* brings the story begun in *The Princes of Ireland* to a stunning conclusion.


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A murdered real estate agent. Unsatisfied home buyers. A possible celebrity scam. A secret society! Join retired police chief Henry Wright in figuring out who killed Palm Springs real estate mogul Rex Thornbird in this page turning thriller that will keep you guessing. This first book in the Henry Wright Mystery Series takes our detective from Palm Springs to the Silicon Valley to find the killer!


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The bestselling master of historical fiction weaves a grand, sweeping drama of New York from the city's founding to the present day.Rutherfurd celebrates America's greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga that showcases his extraordinary ability to combine impeccable historical research and storytelling flair. As in his earlier, bestselling novels, he illuminates cultural, social, and political upheavals through the lives of a remarkably diverse set of families. As he recounts the intertwining fates of characters rich and poor, black and white, native born and immigrant, Rutherfurd brings to life the momentous events that shaped New York and America: the Revolutionary War, the emergence of the city as a great trading and financial center, the excesses of the Gilded Age, the explosion of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trials of World War II, the near-demise of New York in the 1970s and its roaring rebirth in the '90s, and the attacks on the World Trade Center. Sprinkled throughout are captivating cameo appearances by historical figures ranging from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Babe Ruth.New York is the book that millions of Rutherfurd's American fans have been waiting for. A brilliant mix of romance, war, family drama, and personal triumphs, it gloriously captures the search for freedom and prosperity at the heart of our nation's history.


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** Hellboy, a bloodred, cloven-hoofed demon raised by the United States government, is a top field agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He questions the unknown -- then beats it into submission. **  

 Religious artifacts from every faith are disappearing without a trace. The identity of the perpetrator is a complete mystery until Hellboy and Liz Sherman -- acting on an unlikely tip from a ghost -- foil a museum heist attempted by crude, robotic constructs inhabited by human spirits.  

 One of these freed human spirits offers to help Hellboy track down those who imprisoned him: a fanatical order of psychics obsessed with creating a new messiah, one that will bring about a new stage of evolution for mankind -- whether mankind is willing or not. Now only Hellboy and his colleagues stand between a vulnerable humanity and an evil, vengeful *god*....


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**The *New York Times*-bestselling author delivers another extraordinary Walt Fleming thriller. ** 



 Sun Valley sheriff Walt Fleming's budding relationship with photographer Fiona Kenshaw hits a rough patch after Fiona is involved in a heroic river rescue and she attempts to duck the press. Despite her job and her laudable actions, she begs Walt to keep her photo out of the paper, avoiding him when he can't. 



 Then Walt gets a phone call that changes everything: Lou Boldt, a police sergeant out of Seattle, calls to report that a recent murder may have a Sun Valley connection. After a badly beaten body is discovered just off a local highway, Walt knows there is a link-but can he pull the pieces together in time?


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Today's hottest geek and host of G4's ATTACK OF THE SHOW dishes her unique brand of humor of on everything from Star Wars, gadgets, and her love of banana cream pie.  Olivia Munn is an actress, comedian and television host, best known for being the face of the G4 network.  She also occasionally likes to get dressed up as Wonder Woman.  SUCK IT WONDER WOMAN is her paean to Geeks everywhere.  Using her trademark humor in essays like THOUGHTS ABOUT MY FIRST AGENT’S GIRLFRIEND’S VAGINA she skewers what it’s like to live in Hollywood.  In " SEX: WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOURSELF HAVE MORE OF IT" she frankly gets down to the business of getting it on. In "WHAT TO DO WHEN THE ROBOTS INVADE (YES, WHEN!)," Olivia offers valuable information on... what to do when the robots invade! And just when you thought she couldn’t get any more Geeky, she can. This book also includes an Olivia Munn timeline of great moments in Geek history and her answers to the Unofficial Geek FAQ. Is it any wonder that Olivia Munn is quickly becoming the most powerful Geek on the planet? SUCK IT WONDER WOMAN is a humorous look at geeks, gadgets, Hollywood, and huge heapings of banana cream pie.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Dobson, New York, 1905.



Detective Simon Ziele lost his fiancée in the General Slocum ferry disastera thousand perished on that summer day in 1904 when an onboard fire burned the boat down in the waters of the East River. Still reeling from the tragedy, Ziele transferred to a police department north of New York, to escape the city and all the memories it conjured. 



But only a few months into his new life in a quiet country town, he’s faced with the most shocking homicide of his career to date: Young Sarah Wingate has been brutally murdered in her own bedroom in the middle of an otherwise calm and quiet winter afternoon. After just one day of investigation, Simon’s contacted by Columbia University’s noted criminologist Alistair Sinclair, who offers a startling claim about one of his patients, Michael Fromleythat the facts of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to Fromley’s deranged mutterings.



But what would have led Fromley, with his history of violent behavior and brutal fantasies, to seek out Sarah, a notable mathematics student and a proper young lady who has little in common with his previous targets? Is Fromley really a murderer, or is someone mimicking him?



This is what Simon Ziele must find out, with the help of the brilliant but self-interested Alistair Sinclairbefore the killer strikes again.



With this taut, atmospheric, and original story of a haunted man who must search for a killer while on the run from his own demons, Stefanie Pintoff’s *In the Shadow of Gotham* marks the debut of an outstanding new talent, the inaugural winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Crime Novel Competition.


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The careers of New York City detective Simon Ziele and his former partner Captain Declan Mulvaney went in remarkably different directions after the tragic death of Zielers"s fiancée in the 1904 General Slocum ferry disaster. Although both men were earmarked for much bigger things, Ziele moved to Dobson, a small town north of the city, to escape the violence, and Mulvaney buried himself even deeper, agreeing to head up the precinct in the most crime-ridden area in the city. Yet with all of the detectives and resources at Mulvaneyrs"s disposal, a particularly puzzling crime compels him to look for someone he can trust absolutely. When a chorus girl is found dead on a Broadway stage dressed in the leading ladyrs"s costume, there are no signs of violence, no cuts, no bruises'no marks at all. If pressed, the coroner would call it a suicide, but then that would make her the second girl to turn up dead in such a manner in the last few weeks. And the news of a possible serial killer would be potentially disastrous to the burgeoning theater world, not to mention the citizens of New York. Following on the heels of Stefanie Pintoffrs"s acclaimed and award-winning debut, A Curtain Fallsis a moody and evocative tale that follows Ziele and his partners as they scour the dark streets of early-twentieth-century New York in search of a true fiend.


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Set in Maine, this story concerns Bobbi who has developed telepathic powers. A spaceship landed at the bottom of her garden and when it is uncovered, the citizens of Haven metamorphose into increasingly bizarre and dangerous creatures.


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**In this "unexpected delight,"* filmmaker David Lynch describes his personal methods of capturing and working with ideas, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.**  Now in a beautiful paperback edition, David Lynch's  *Catching the Big Fish* provides a rare window into the internationally acclaimed filmmaker's methods as an artist, his personal working style, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.  *Catching the Big Fish* comes as a revelation to the legion of fans who have longed to better understand Lynch's personal vision. And it is equally compelling to those who wonder how they can nurture their own creativity.  **Catching Ideas**  * Ideas are like fish.  If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper.  Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They're huge and abstract. And they're very beautiful.  I look for a certain kind of fish that is important to me, one that can translate to cinema. But there are all kinds of fish swimming down there. There are fish for business, fish for sports. There are fish for everything.  Everything, anything that is a thing, comes up from the deepest level. Modern physics calls that level the Unified Field. The more your consciousness-your awareness-is expanded, the deeper you go toward this source, and the bigger the fish you can catch.*  -from *Catching the Big Fish*


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On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever. Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying? Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens's life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens's friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), DROOD explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, DROOD is Dan Simmons at his powerful best


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**A gripping tale of shipwreck and survival that changed the fate of the colonies and enriched our literary legacy**



In 1609, aspiring writer William Strachey set sail aboard the *Sea Venture*, bound for the New World. Caught in a hurricane, the ship separated from its fleet and wrecked on uninhabited Bermuda, a bountiful island paradise its passengers would inhabit for nearly a year before reaching their intended destination, the famine-stricken colony of Jamestown. Strachey's meticulous account of the wreck, the castaways' time on Bermuda, and their arrival in a devastated Jamestown was read by his contemporaries and remains among the most vivid writings of the early colonial period. Following the life of this ordinary man, Hobson Woodward tells one of the neglected but defining stories of America's founding.



 Strachey had literary aspirations and sought to capitalize on his epic experience, but his writings did not bring him the acclaim he sought. Only in the hands of *another* William would his tale of the wreck and its aftermath make history as *The Tempest*.* A Brave Vessel* is the fascinating account of a near-miss in the settling of Virginia, the true story behind one of Shakespeare's great plays, and the tragedy of the man who failed as an author but who contributed to the creation of a masterpiece.


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The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran, Palestine, in 1947 was one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time. Written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, and hidden in caves by an ancient Jewish sect, these mysterious manuscripts revolutionized our understanding of the Bible, of Judaism and the early Christian world. Geza Vermes is the world's leading Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, whose English translations brought these extraordinary documents to thousands, and whose life has been inextricably interwoven with the scrolls for over sixty years. In this illuminating book he relates the controversial story of their discovery and publication around the world, revealing cover-ups, blunders and academic in-fighting, but also the passion and dedication of many of those involved. He shares what he has learned about the scrolls and, evaluating passages from them, gives his views on their true significance and what they can teach us, as well as those areas where scholarly consensus has not yet been reached. Few scholars have been as closely associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls as Vermes. Writing with candour and unique authority, he has created an ideal introduction to understanding these miraculous documents.


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An order of warrior monks founded to protect pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Templars were among the wealthiest and most powerful bodies in the medieval world. Yet two centuries later, they were arrested, accused of blasphemy, heresy and orgies, and their leaders were burnt at the stake.Part guide, part history, this book investigates the Templar legends and legacy from the mysteries of Solomons Temple in Jerusalem, via nineteenth century development of the Freemasons, through to Templar appearances in Dan Brown and Indiana Jones.This book explains the whole context of Templar history, including the recent evidence discovered by the Vatican that the Templars were not guilty of heresy. It also features a guide to Templar castles and sites.


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Michael Marshall's unique voice adds a chilling intensity to the serial-killer plot, combining dazzling narrative, a white-hot pace and a deeply disturbing backdrop of conspiracy.  Sarah tries to struggle, but the man holds her. The scream never makes it out of her throat. 'Nobody watching,' the man says with hateful calm. 'I made it this way. I can walk where nobody sees.'  The Straw Men. They kill people. Any people. And soon they'll get around to you.  Sarah Becker is the fifth girl to be abducted by this maniac. Judging from the state of the bodies that have been found, her long hair will be hacked off and she will be tortured. She has about a week to live. Former LA homicide detective John Zandt has an inside track on the perpetrator -- his own daughter was one of his victims two years ago. But the key to Sarah's whereabouts lies with Ward Hopkins, a man with a past so secret not even he knows about it. His parents have just died in a car accident, but they leave Ward a very strange message that leads him to question everything he once believed to be true.  As he begins to investigate his own past Ward finds himself drawn into the shadowy, sinister world of the Straw Men -- and into the desperate race to find Sarah, before her time runs out.


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An electrifying thriller from the author of the international bestseller THE STRAW MEN. A guilty man walks alone into the cold mountain forests of Washington State, aiming never to return. What he finds there starts a chain of events that will quickly spiral out of control.  Meanwhile in Los Angeles a woman's body is discovered, sitting bolt upright in a motel bedroom. She is dead, and her killer has left his mark. It soon becomes clear he has something to say, and a lot more work to do. And Ward Hopkins, an ex-CIA agent recovering from the recent shocking death of his parents, is on the trail of his past, tracking down the men who destroyed everything he once held dear, and the murderer whose face he sees every time he looks in the mirror. These three are ominous strands in a web of deadly secrets, roads to a dark history that should never have been told. There are people who will do anything to protect it. Anything at all. It's not a matter of who dies. We're all going to die. What matters is who dies last. Michael Marshall's unique voice adds a chilling intensity to the serial-killer plot, combining dazzling narrative, a white-hot pace and a deeply disturbing backdrop of conspiracy.


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"Since aiding in the capture of his brother, the serial killer known as the Upright Man, Ward Hopkins, has been avoiding his demons holed up in a log cabin with his girlfriend, FBI agent Nina Baynam. But when Nina's boss turns up with an intriguing new serial-killer case for her, the couple realize they can't hide forever. Especially when they learn that the Upright Man has escaped from custody." "Ward's brother must have had help. The most likely candidates are the Straw Men, the shadowy organization founded on murder as a way of life that killed Ward's parents. Former homicide cop John Zandt is obsessed with tracking them down following their murder of his daughter, and as he digs deeper he discovers extraordinary secrets about American history and society." "The shadows are gathering, and across America sinister forces are stirring. Only Ward, Nina and John stand against the Upright Man and his terrifying allies. It's just a question of when the next killings will start...and whether they will ever stop."--BOOK JACKET.


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While searching for $120,000 in stolen money, Lee Scarborough falls in with a ruthless femme fatale whose schemes threaten to destroy his life in this long-out-of-print classic by the author of "Dead Calm." Original.


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Utterly beautiful, smart as a whip, and crooked down to her slightly round heels, here is the most fascinating confidence woman in suspense fiction, as portrayed by one of the classic masters of the form--Charles Williams. Welcome to the roller-coaster world of professional con men - and the one wild beauty who can out-swindle and outwit them all. Utterly beautiful, smart as a whip, here is the most fascinating confidence woman in modern suspense fiction. Her name is Cathy Dunbar - all soft and warm and ready for the taking, until one by one her men find out who is really being taken . . .


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Now here is Charles Williams' River Girl, in every way a giant of a book--the story of a man and a woman who met and knew instantly that not all the world would tear them apart. River Girl, first published in 1951 as "The Catfish Triangle," is a book that shares some similarities with Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice. Down in swamp country a deputy sheriff meets and falls in love with a young lass, but her husband stands in the way... for a time.


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In 1862 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a shy Oxford mathematician with a stammer, created a story about a little girl tumbling down a rabbit hole. Thus began the immortal adventures of Alice, perhaps the most popular heroine in English literature. Countless scholars have tried to define the charm of the Alice books–with those wonderfully eccentric characters the Queen of Hearts, Tweedledum, and Tweedledee, the Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle, the Mad Hatter et al.–by proclaiming that they really comprise a satire on language, a political allegory, a parody of Victorian children’s literature, even a reflection of contemporary ecclesiastical history. Perhaps, as Dodgson might have said, Alice is no more than a dream, a fairy tale about the trials and tribulations of growing up–or down, or all turned round–as seen through the expert eyes of a child.


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Considered one of Dickens's greatest works, "Bleak House" scathingly portrays his belief: "The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itself." Peopled with both comic and tragic characters, including one of literature's first detectives, this classic celebrates the 150th anniversary of its first publication. Original.


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The classic by William Thackeray. "If she did not wish to lead a virtuous life, at least she desired to enjoy a character for virtue, and we know that no lady in the genteel world can possess this desideratum, until she has put on a train and feathers and has been presented to her Sovereign at Court. From that august interview they come out stamped as honest women. The Lord Chamberlain gives them a certificate of virtue."


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The adventures of the outlaw Robin Hood and his merry men as they evade the king and overcome many a foe in Sherwood Forest


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The newest thriller from the author of *The Amateur Spy* and* The Prisoner of Guantánamo* (“Worthy of sharing shelf space with the novels of John le Carré and Ken Follett”—*USA Today)* is as dazzling as its setting.Sam Keller has been enlisted by his V.P. for Corporate Security and Investigation to spy on another employee while they’re traveling for the company. Ordinarily careful to a fault, Sam decides to live it up. What better spot for business-class hedonism than boomtown Dubai, where resort islands materialize from open ocean, fortunes are made overnight, and skiers crisscross the snowy slope of a shopping mall.But when Sam’s charge is murdered during a night on the town, it is only the first in a series of bewildering events that plunge him waist-deep into a lethal mix of mobsters, prostitutes, crooked cops, consuls, and corporate players. Offering a chancy way out is Anwar Sharaf, the unlikeliest of detectives. A former pearl diver and gold smuggler with an undignified demeanor, Sharaf is sometimes as baffled as Sam by the changes to his homeland, especially as they are embodied in the behavior of his rebelliously independent—and hauntingly beautiful—daughter. But he knows where the levers of power reside. As the unlikely duo work their way toward the heart of the case, each man must confront the darkest forces threatening Dubai from within.Here is Dan Fesperman’s most suspenseful novel yet: a stunning portrait of a city whose mysterious rhythm (“like the precision throb of an artificial heart, clicking and insistent, yet cool to the touch”) is underscored by the insistent clashing of old and new.


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A tale of vengeance, true love, and cannibalism

 



Being born undead can have its disadvantages, such as eternal youth and flawless beauty  ---things most unsuitable for a witch. Hiding behind the guise of a grimy old crone, the witch is content living outside Fort Stalwart with her unlikely band of allies: a troll named Gwurm, an enchanted broom, and a demonic duck named Newt. She leads a simple life filled with spells, potions, and the occasional curse.



 

So when a White Knight arrives at Fort Stalwart, the witch knows her days of peace are at an end. The Knight is just days in front of a horde of ravenous goblings, and Fort Stalwart lies right in the horde’s path. But the goblings are just the first wave of danger, and soon the witch and the Knight must combine forces on a perilous quest to stop a mad sorcerer from destroying the world.

 

Filled with menace, monsters, and magic, *A Nameless Witch* is a properly witchly read by the award-winning author of *Gil’s All Fright Diner* and *In the Company of Ogres*.


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Some doors are better left closed... In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it's been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever. A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago. Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying...


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A hair-raising tribute to the classic British ghost story. Few believed Professor Coldwell was in touch with an unseen world and could commune with spirits. But in Scotland’s oldest university town something has passed from darkness into light, and now the students are being haunted by night terrors. And those who are visited mysteriously disappear. This is no place for outsiders, especially at night, so what chance do a rootless musician and burnt-out explorer have of surviving their entanglement with an ageless supernatural evil and the ruthless cult that worships it? This chilling occult thriller is both a homage to the great age of British ghost stories and a fast-paced modern tale of diabolism and witchcraft.


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No man's darling . . .   One by one, Lady Caroline Grayson watched her four sisters celebrate their betrothals, truly sure that marriage was not in her future—and perfectly pleased with that fact. Or so she thought.   Brent Ravenscroft, Earl of Weymerth, nearly gave his life for the Crown. He returned to England a hero with no intention of taking a bride, certain his brusque demeanor would intimidate any young ladies drawn to his good looks—or so he thought.   Bound by a business transaction, Caroline and Brent begin life as husband and wife. Utterly determined not to fall for each other, they stubbornly ignore the sparks flying between them and keep secrets at every turn. They would resist the lure of love—and the pleasures of the marriage bed—forever . . . or so they thought.


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**Bring these four authors together and it's sure to ignite a spark... ** 



 **Angela Knight** pairs a vampire warrior and his seductive captor in a battle against demonic predators. 



 **Nalini Singh** returns to the world of her Psy-Changeling series as a woman in lethal danger finds an unlikely protector-and lover. 



 **Virginia Kantra** continues the haunting tales of the Children of the Sea in her story of a wounded soldier rescued by an enigmatic young woman. 



 **Meljean Brook** launches a bold new steampunk series about a woman who strikes a provocative-and terrifying-bargain for freedom.


