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<h3>Review</h3><p>“…Trueba scores with his story about the need people have to connect to others, whether through sports, love or money.”—_Cleveland Plain Dealer_  </p><p>“One part Paul Thomas Anderson's <em>Magnolia</em>, one part Paul Haggis' <em>Crash</em>, the rest is all David Trueba, modern day Madrid, and a narrative that pulsates with longing, lust and simmering rage. Don't dare pick it up if you have plans for the weekend, or for the rest of the day for that matter. It's that good. I was casting the adaptation in my mind as I tore through it. Vivid, real and raw, the novel is at once unsparing and entirely humane. Simply masterful.”—Joe McGinniss, Jr., author of <em>The Delivery Man</em>  </p><p>“_Learning to Lose_ is complex, powerful, surprising and most of all smart. David Trueba is the real thing. I had a lot of work on my desk and it is still on my desk. I have however read Mr. Trueba's novel. Enough said.”—Percival Everett, author of <em>I Am Not Sidney Poitier</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It is Sylvia’s sixteenth birthday, and her life as an adult is about to begin—not with the party she had been planning, but with a car accident and a broken leg. Behind the wheel is a talented young soccer player, just arrived from Buenos Aires and set for stardom on and off the field. As their destinies collide and a young romance is set in motion, across town, Sylvia’s father and grandfather are finding their own lives suddenly derailed by a violent murder and a secret affair with a prostitute. <br />Set against the maze of Madrid’s congested and contested streets, <em>Learning to Lose </em>follows these four individuals as they swerve off course in unexpected directions. Each of them is dodging guilt and the fear of failure, but their shared search for happiness, love, purity, redemption, and, above all, a way to survive, forms a taut narrative web that binds the characters together. <br />From one of Spain’s most celebrated contemporary writers, <em>Learning to Lose </em>is a lucid and gripping view into the complexities of lives overturned and into the capriciousness of modern life, with its intoxicating highs and devastating lows. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The title of this collection of humorous essays could also serve as a warning label for its readers. They'll want to stay on guard as _GQ <em>writer-at-large Rakoff (</em>Fraud_) skewers everything and everyone he encounters. His writing is at its best when trained on the pompous and ostentatious: flying on the Concorde or visiting an exclusive, $1,300-a-night resort off Belize. While attending the Paris couture shows, Rakoff reveals the silliness of the whole enterprise with quips about Karl Lagerfeld's pre–weight loss "large doughy rump" and the "dry spaghetti" of one model's hair. In another piece, a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon tells Rakoff, "this is the Dark Ages" for cosmetic surgery (meaning that future generations will be amazed by the inevitable advances) before taking him into an examination room. While Rakoff's sardonic wit is clearly his greatest asset, it is sometimes his undoing; the same dry humor that works so well when aimed at the rich and decadent seems mean-spirited when applied to less prominent targets, like "Wildman" Steve Brill, who forages for food in New York City's parks. Still, Rakoff is generally a knowing observer of "first world problems," and his devilishly uncomfortable commentaries are generally quite funny. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>The belly laughs start on page 7 and occur regularly throughout Rakoff's frequently impertinent, occasionally irascible, yet always inimitable take on contemporary American society. A newly minted U.S. citizen, a process he reveals in all its maddeningly hypocritical inconsistency, Rakoff embarks on a series of journalistic assignments as peculiar in their phantasmagoric diversity as, well, America itself. From the pretentious preoccupation with gourmet dining to the rigor of fasting, Rakoff contemplates the extremes to which we will go in pursuit of our particular, often downright peculiar pleasures. A trip on the Concorde is followed by a jaunt on Hooters Air, and visits to Beverly Hills plastic surgeons segue seamlessly into a tour of a cryogenics storage facility in Arizona. Whether interpreting popular culture or investigating political calumny, Rakoff's cogent observations are delivered with a comforting mixture of appropriate moral outrage and unabashed mocking wonder, as he unfailingly elicits the inherent truths behind our most cherished and churlish institutions. <em>Carol Haggas</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The title of the fifth book from Lebovitz, celebrated pastry chef and Chez Panisse alum, is a bit of a misnomer: this feisty memoir-with-recipes is just as tart as it is sweet. Writing with the same cheeky tone that has made his blog one of the most popular food sites on the Internet, Lebovitz presents an eclectic collection of vignettes illustrating his experiences living as an expatriate in Paris. After reading accounts of perpetually out-of-service public toilets and hospitals that require patients to BYOB (bring your own bandages), one begins to question what, exactly, Lebovitz finds so intoxicating about the City of Lights. It certainly isn't something in the water, but it just might be in <em>le chocolat chaud</em>. With this book, for the first time Lebovitz expands beyond his standard repertoire of desserts and includes a smattering of savory recipes. These range from such classic French dishes as a warm goat cheese salad to nostalgic American favorites like oven-roasted pork ribs with ketchup marinade. This is not to say Lebovitz's legions of sweet-toothed fans will be disappointed—many of the 50 recipes are made with plenty of butter and sugar; a flawless rendition of <em>dulce de leche</em> brownies is sure to become the home baker's equivalent of that <em>très</em> chic little black dress, returned to again and again. <em>(May)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>American baker Lebovitz, alumnus of California’s famed Chez Panisse, moved to Paris following his partner’s untimely death. There he found a culture whose rituals and courtesies mystified him. It took him a while to get used to personally greeting every clerk and shopkeeper, to consuming every morsel of food using both fork and knife, and to coping with an uncommonly wily bureaucracy fond of enforcing self-contradictory regulations. He discovered the social necessity of pressing every wrinkle out of his clothes, even from his jeans and his towels. Recipes dominate the text, many of them Lebovitz’s signature chocolate dessert creations. Some of these pastries display their Parisian provenance, an absinthe cake in particular standing out. But he also includes popular Mexican mole and crispy pork carnitas, about as exotic to most Parisians as one could imagine. An annotated list of food and equipment sources brims with good information. --Mark Knoblauch </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Outer Dark is a novel at once fabular and starkly evocative, set is an unspecified place in Appalachia, sometime around the turn of the century.  A woman bears her brother's child, a boy; he leaves the baby in the woods and tells her he died of natural causes.  Discovering her brother's lie, she sets forth alone to find her son.  Both brother and sister wander separately through a countryside being scourged by three terrifying and elusive strangers, headlong toward an eerie, apocalyptic resolution.</p>


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<div><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 5-10-Alex Rider is giving it up. Being a teenage secret agent is just too dangerous. He wants his old life back. As he lies in the hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound, he contemplates the end of his career with MI6, the British secret service. But then he saves the life of Paul Drevin, son of multibillionaire Nikolei Drevin, and once again he is pulled into service. This time his mission involves eco-terrorists, rockets to space, maniacal killers, and a less-than-idyllic tropical island. Is it all in a day's work, or will this truly be Alex Rider's last mission? The action-filled plot develops quickly and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The over-the-top characters, with their exaggerated quirks and personalities, work well in this James Bond-like novel. Detailed background, technical, and political information, essential for any spy story, is uncomplicated and easy for most readers to understand. Though there are some references to previous missions, this title can certainly stand alone. Recommend it to your reluctant readers and get ready for them to line up for the rest of the series._-Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Gr. 6--9. In his sixth adventure Alex Rider runs afoul of a group of murderous "eco warriors" and befriends Paul Drevin, the lonely son of venerated multibillionaire Nikolai Drevin, who isn't what he seems. In fact, neither is Paul, as Alex finds out when he accompanies the father and son on a vacation to the family's luxurious home in Flamingo Bay, which happens to be the launching site of a rocket that will carry the observation module for Drevin's hugely publicized Ark Angel, the first hotel in space. Readers will need to suspend disbelief more than usual this time: Alex's solo trip into space is unquestionably over the top, and there are a few glitches in plotting. What's impossible to resist are the imaginative gadgets and the breakneck action, which Horowitz handles with his usual assurance and skill. Expect very high demand for this. The first title in the series, <em>Stormbreaker </em>(2001), is being released as a movie, and to celebrate the event, the publisher has redesigned the series' book covers to incorporate a snazzy holographic foil. <em>Stephanie Zvirin</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>

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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The new Liverpool-based World War Two saga from the author of Goodnight Sweetheart is a tale of four very different young women thrown together by war. A unique bond is formed as the hostilities take their toll on Britain.When Diane Wilson leaves Cambridge for Liverpool, destined for Derby House and war work as a teleprint operator, she is intent on mending her broken heart. But will hundreds of miles ease the pain of her betrayal?From the moment she first lays eyes on Myra Stone in the Wavertree terrace she is billeted to, Diane senses she's bad news. But does Myra's bitterness and caustic wit belie a secret heartache?Ruthie starts work at the munitions factory, enduring terrible conditions in order to put food on the table for herself and her widowed mother. But Ruthie is befriended by lively and vivacious Jess Hunt who injects colour and fun into the drab surroundings.All four women are brought together at The Grafton, the local dance hall favoured by American GIs as well as the local girls. In this heady, uncertain time, infatuation and passion blossom. But has each girl found true love - or true trouble?</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. But all three have been given a second chance to work for an agency that no-one knows exists. Its purpose - to prevent time travel destroying history . . . When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window where and when she shouldn't have, Liam is marooned sixty-five million years ago in the hunting ground of a deadly - and until now - undiscovered species of predator. Can Liam make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's torn to pieces by dinosaurs and without endangering history so much that the world is overtaken by a terrifying new reality?</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Foulds's erudite, Booker-shortlisted debut follows three men--Dr. Matthew Allen, mad peasant poet John Clare, and prodigious pipe-smoking poet Alfred Tennyson--as their fates intertwine at the High Beach mental institution outside of 1837 London. Worried over the cost of the wedding for his eldest daughter, Matthew invents a machine to mass-produce filigreed wood furniture. Ignoring the asylum for his business pursuits, Matthew seeks investors, including the Tennyson family, of whom Alfred's brother, Septimus, is a patient at High Beach. John, meanwhile, spirals into a fantasy world fueled by his obsession with a dead childhood sweetheart, Mary. Things become complicated when John deludes himself into thinking a fellow patient is his dead love. All the while, Alfred, who is at the asylum to be near his brother, is fruitlessly pursued by Matthew's adolescent daughter, Hannah. While Alfred, unfortunately, is the least convincing character, John's madness is richly imagined, and Matthew comes off as powerfully sympathetic as he grows ever more desperate to raise funds for his business gamble. There's a manneredness to the storytelling that devotees of 19th-century British literature will appreciate. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Foulds’ novel is grounded in fact. Its setting is High Beach, a licensed lunatic asylum run along enlightened principles by Dr. Matthew Allen. One way Allen intersects with literary history is through the delusional laboring-class poet John Clare, who was his patient for several years. Another intersection is through Alfred Tennyson, whose family had a history of mental illness and who took up residence nearby. Allen’s boundless energy was not confined to the treatment of the insane. He became involved in a scheme for the mass production of ecclesiastical wood carvings, and his need for investors led to the Tennyson family’s ruin. More focus on one or two characters would have given the reader something to hold on to; instead we get multiple points of view—those of not just Allen, but several of his daughters; not just John Clare, but other patients—resulting in episodes rather than sustained narrative. Still, Foulds fashions his intriguing premise into fiction with a sure sense of time and place and often lyrical prose. --Mary Ellen Quinn </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A mutiny aboard the Discovery ends John Grimes' military career with the Galactic Federation</p>


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<p class="description">In this magnificent new novel, the National Book Award-winning author of All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing fashions a darkly beautiful elegy for the American frontier.  The setting is New Mexico in 1952, where John Grady Cole and Billy Parham are working as ranch hands. To the North lie the proving grounds of Alamogordo; to the South, the twin cities of El Paso and Juarez, Mexico. Their life is made up of trail drives and horse auctions and stories told by campfire light. It is a life that is about to change forever, and John Grady and Billy both know it. The catalyst for that change appears in the form of a beautiful, ill-starred Mexican prostitute.  When John Grady falls in love, Billy agrees--against his better judgment--to help him rescue the girl from her suavely brutal pimp. The ensuing events resonate with the violence and inevitability of classic tragedy.   Hauntingly beautiful, filled with sorrow, humor and awe, Cities of the Plain is a genuine American epic.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. Max Bloomquist brings his considerable talents to Crawford's meditation on the meaning of work and disparity between blue collar and white collar occupations. Crawford draws on his own experience—he quit a miserable think tank job and has found joy and meaning working as a motorcycle mechanic—to question the presumed value of the cubicle working world, deplore society's disconnection from the material world and vividly convey the reward of working with one's hands. Bloomquist reads with authority and erudition; his steady, everyman narration makes Crawford's well-founded arguments even more persuasive. <em>A Penguin Press hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 20). (June)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>We note that <em>Publishers Weekly</em> named <em>Shop Class as Soulcraft</em> one of the top ten books of 2009. Reviewers were clearly intrigued by Crawford's argument, but only a couple of them seemed fully persuaded. (The <em>New York Times Book Review </em>critic, for example, admitted to enjoying Crawford's manual work alongside his academic career.) But most critics, while praising the book's overall premise, seemed a little hesitant about fully embracing <em>Shop Class as Soulcraft</em>, perhaps because, as the <em>New York Times </em>reviewer observed, many of the author's personal preferences and quirks, such as Crawford's defense of dirty jokes, seem to impede his argument. However, it's hard not to be interested in a philosopher who, in a nation that privileges intellectual attainment, can also successfully replace a carburetor. </p>


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<h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Outlawed by the mage-priests of Thimhallen since the Iron Wars, the Ninth Mystery, called Technology, has survived only among society's outcasts until a young man born without magic and a priest who is a catalyst of magical energy form an alliance that shakes their complacent and stagnant world. The authors of the "Dragonlance" series again demonstrate their talent for vivid world-crafting and strong characterization in a novel that will appeal to fans of epic fantasy. Recommended. JC<br />Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>/Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman In the enchanted realm of Merilon, magic is life. Born without magical abilities, Joram is left for dead but grows to manhood with the help of his constant vigilance and sleight-of-hand skills. When he meets the scholarly catalyst Saryon, the two join forces, attempting to forge the powerful magic-absorbing Darksword and ov. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>/Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Wielding the powerful, magic-absorbing Darksword, Joram returns to Merilon to win revenge and claim his birthright. Here he will test Bishop Vanya and his fierce army of Duuk-tsarith in a battle unlike any their world has known. From the bestselling authors of the Dragonlance series. </p><h3>From the Publisher</h3><p>Born without magic, Joram was one of the Dead, denied the throne of Merilon. For years, he lived among outlaws, surviving by wit and sleight-of-hand. Now, wielding the powerful, magic absorbing Darksword, Joram returns to the enchanted Kingdom that once was his home to win revenge and claim his birthright. Here he will test Bishop Vanya and his fierce army of Duuk-tsarith in a battle unlike any their world has known. Joined by the scholarly catalyst Saryon, the young mage Mosiah, and the trickster Simkin, Jorma confronts the shattering secret of his past and discovers the ancient prophecy that puts the fate of the world in his hands-the hands that forged <em>The Darksword</em>. </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>/Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Joram and his wife, Gwendolyn, return from beyond the Border to reclaim their rightful place in Merilon. Rejoined by Saryon, Mosiah and Simkin, Joram must confront the evil sorcerer, Menju, and his army of Technologists in a final apocalyptic battle to fulfill the ancient prophecy of the Darksword--to either save the world. </p>

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<h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Weis and Hickman return to the world of the "Darksword" trilogy in this heroic fantasy, which measures up to its predecessors. After the fall of Thimhallan, its people migrated to Earth. Bereft of magic, the evil Technomancers on Earth wanted and feared the new darksword. Believing that it could help defeat the alien invading Hch'nyv, King Garald and General Boris try to convince Saryon to go back to Thimhallan to retrieve the sword. Recommended for fantasy collections where the "Darksword series" is popular.<br />Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From</h3><p>At the conclusion of the original Darksword trilogy, magic had virtually disappeared. At this tale's opening, it exists, if at all, merged with science as <em>technomancy</em>--a concept Weis and Hickman handle well, even if it may make both sf and fantasy purists scream. Shortly, however, aliens from space who can be dealt with only by magic appear on the scene, and it turns out the menace they pose can really be addressed only by means of a rediscovered or re-created Darksword. And so readers wind up with a time-traveling, technologically informed, admirably fast-paced quest for a magical talisman. Weis and Hickman forge their classic fantasy plot into one of their most original books and one of the least prolix recent high fantasy novels, to boot. What's more, it allows for a sequel without so absolutely requiring one that it betrays yet another saga aborning. How admirable! <em>Roland Green</em></p>


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<div><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; "><h3 class="productDescriptionSource" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 1.23em; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0.75em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.375em; margin-left: -15px; clear: both; ">Product Description</h3><div class="productDescriptionWrapper" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; "><p>Featuring brand-new stories by: Edwidge Danticat, Rodney Saint-Eloi, Madison Smartt Bell, Gary Victor, M.J. Fièvre, Marvin Victor, Yanick Lahens, Louis-Philipe Dalembert, Kettly Mars, Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel, Evelyne Trouillot, Katia Ulysse, Ibi Aanu Zoboi, Nadine Pinede, and others.</p><p>Haiti has a tragic history and continues to be one of the most destitute places on the planet, especially in the aftermath of the earthquake. Here, however, Danticat reveals that even while the subject matter remains dark, the caliber of Haitian writing is of the highest order.</p></div></span></div>


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<div><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> Carlson's <em>Crystal Lies</em> brings to life the horror of crystal methamphetamine addiction. Hapless Glennis Harmon, who <em>thought</em> she was a typical suburban wife and mother, wakes up one day to find her resentful teenage son, Jacob, addicted to meth, the "poor man's cocaine." In the bargain, Glennis' high-rolling husband is having an affair. Carlson's story is as much about a middle-aged woman's melancholy coping as it is about drugs, but Carlson makes the point that an addiction has ripple effects: on an indulgent mother; a self-righteous sister; and a stern, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may father. Carlson provides no easy answers; instead, she offers a realistic portrait of addictive behavior, the trap of enabling, and the always incomplete process of recovery. <em>Crystal Lies</em> isn't as clever as Carlson's portrait of the ravages of schizophrenia, <em>Finding Alice</em>, but it's every bit as valuable for bewildered parents--and therapists. <em>John Mort</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>“Raw, real, and provocative, <em>Crystal Lies </em>thrusts us into a world inhabited by more people than we may realize on the surface. This account of one mother’s struggle for the healing of her drug-addicted son speaks to anyone who has ever loved anyone else. Melody Carlson never fails to drag us out of our Christian easychairs and right into the coals of the confusing culture in which we all find ourselves. She never fails to reveal that place of compassion within each of us. Excellent.”<br>–Lisa Samson, author of <em>The Church Ladies</em> and <em>Tiger Lillie</em>  </p><p>“As an addiction specialist, I was moved by <em>Crystal Lies</em>. With great confidence, I can say that Melody Carlson’s story will enlighten, encourage, and empower you. Read this book; walk through its pages toward healthy God-directed relationships.”<br>–Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of The Center for Counseling &amp; Health Resources, Inc.  </p><p>“An honest, doesn’t-pull-any-punches, look at the reality of addiction and codependency in Christian families. Told in Carlson’s adept style, this is a novel that will lead readers into the light of a powerful God who stands firm and loves beyond all measure and who delights in meeting His children inside the world’s most impenetrable, convoluted issues. I found myself praying Carlson’s prayers over my own children as I lay in bed. Read, enjoy, and–most important–pass this along to everyone you know who is struggling with addiction.”<br>–Deborah Bedford, author of _If I Had You, Just Between Us <em>and </em>When You Believe<br>_<br>“‘Crystallize: to coat with sugar.  To give a definite and permanent form.’  So says the <em>American Heritage Dictionary.  </em>Melody Carlson’s <em>Crystal Lies </em>creates a permanent image of a family in pain and the various ways they chose to sugar coat their lives rather than face it.  We are this family, whether touched by methamphetamine use, alcohol addiction, super-perfection and adultery or not.  We are this family because we avoid, separate, pretend blindness, live inside fogs of drugs or denial because to face the pain alone is just too great.  What Melody reveals through her crisp yet tender words is that we are not alone even when we separate ourselves.  God has chosen to bring each of us closer.  We are given the gift of hope and the definite and permanent form of God’s love to take us through the lies, the pain and disappointment into a steadied peace.  Melody’s <em>Crystal Lies</em> is <em>brilliant</em>.  Her best.”<br>–Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of The Tender Ties series  </p><p>“Melody Carlson knows addiction is an issue that affects not only addicts, but their families, their friends, their associates. And she shows that, when the addict is a believer, addiction affects the body of Christ. <em>Crystal Lies</em> is a wonderful lesson, taught the way Jesus taught–in story. I recommend it especially to those of us who have thought we were being charitable when we looked at those marginalized by addiction and thought, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ Carlson's highly personable prose puts that viewpoint on its ear, and teaches us to see it as, ‘Here we are together, in need of God's grace.’ <em>Crystal Lies</em> is clearly truth–revealed in fiction.”<br>– Tom Morrisey, author of <em>Yucatan Deep</em> and _Turn Four<br>_<br><em>“Crystal Lies</em> pulls no punches about the emotional devastation caused by addictions, and yet offers beautiful, accessible hope.  Having been through the turmoil of addictive behavior in my own family, I wept with both the agony and the joy of what I read.  Don't miss this book!”<br>– Janelle Burnham Schneider, author of “From Carriage to Marriage” in the <em>Brides for a Bit</em> anthology and “A Distant Love” in the <em>Christmas Duty</em> anthology </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>After a team of American scientists at Wilkes Ice Station discover what seems to be a spaceship in a four-million-year-old cavern below the ice, two of the divers disappear while checking out the craft. Lt. Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield and his highly trained team of Marines respond to the scientists' distress signal. By the time the leathernecks reach Wilkes, three days later, one of the scientists has killed another, six more members of the Wilkes team have disappeared in the ice cave and eight French scientists from a nearby station are for some reason at the U.S. base. Would the French government kill Americans to capture a frozen UFO? Probably: six of the French "scientists" turn out to be the members of the French special forces. From that discovery onward, this first novel offers nonstop thrills as Schofield and his team fight for their livesAand for those of the remaining American scientistsAagainst French and British commandos and a secret American spy group; against killer whales and strange aquatic mammals; and against time, for both the French and British commandos harbor "eraser" plans to wipe out all survivors in case of mission failure. Reilly's debut evokes a host of predecessors, including Jaws, The Andromeda Strain, The X-Files and the combat novels of Tom Clancy. It also echoes the work of Ian Fleming, as the outrageously heroic Schofield comes off as less a real Marine than a fantasy action figure on a par with Bond. There's not much that's original hereAeven the set-up is reminiscent of the classic SF film The Thing, about a saucer buried in Arctic iceAbut Reilly doesn't really need to be original, not at the pace at which he whips his story line past readers. Employing crude but effective prose, a nonstop spray of short, punchy paragraphs and cliffhangers galore, this is grade-A action pulp. (Sept.) FYI: Ice Station was previously published by Pan Macmillan in Reilly's native Australia, where it sold 30,000 copies. <br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Fans of Clive Cussler will enjoy this first novel by Australian author Reilly. Set in Antarctica, Ice Station pits a group of U.S. Marines against a host of unexpected adversaries. Buried deep in the ice, in a layer 100 million years old, is something that arouses the greed of governments around the globe. Their respective Special Forces units are unleashed in this inhospitable land in a race to claim the hidden treasure. The book moves along at a good pace, and as with all well-told military thrillers there are plenty of unexpected twists, turns, and betrayals. Reilly's characters are colorful and engaging, and his bad guys are more wrong-headed than evil. The laws of science are sometimes shunted aside to make way for improbable weaponry and impossible situations, but that's just part of the fun. Recommended for public libraries with large military fiction collections.APatrick Wall, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Spartanburg <br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It is the biggest treasure hunt in history with contesting nations involved in a headlong race to locate the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 4500 years ago, a magnificent golden capstone sat at the peak of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was a source of immense power, reputedly capable of bestowing upon its holder absolute global power. But then it was divided into seven pieces and hidden, each piece separately, within the seven greatest structures of the age. Now it's 2006 and the coming of a rare solar event means it's time to locate the seven pieces and rebuild the capstone. Everyone wants it - from the most powerful countries on Earth to gangs of terrorists ...and one daring coalition of eight small nations. Led by the mysterious Captain Jack West Jr, this determined group enters a global battlefield filled with booby-trapped mines, crocodile-infested swamps, evil forces and an adventure beyond imagining. 'More action, hair-raising stunts and lethal hardware than you'd find in four Bond movies. Reilly is the hottest action writer around' - "Evening Telegraph". </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Matthew Reilly, born and still resident in Sydney, studied law before turning his pen to fiction. His previous novels, Contest, Ice Station, Temple, Area 7 and Scarecrow have been massive bestsellers in every continent. </p>

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<h3>From</h3><p>There's a new supernatural kid crowding in with the recent surge of teen vampires, fallen angels, and zombies, and this time, she is just as likely to crave milk as blood. The signs that 16-year-old Mary is becoming something not altogether human begin at her elite Manhattan school, where she falls asleep and begins to purr. At home, she finds herself licking spilled milk from the floor and considering a rodent snack before orange fur begins to sprout from her legs. Only dreamy classmate Nick can explain: Mary is experiencing her first “turning,” during which she shape-shifts into feline form. This first act in a proposed series sets up the fantastical premise, which includes a violent war between New York City's domestic and stray cats. Shape-shifting involves clothes shedding, and there is an undercurrent of chaste eroticism that Twilight series' fans will recognize. A few characters, such as Nick's Greek grandparents, slip into caricature, but the blend of contemporary realism and fantasy, romance, humor, and adrenaline-charged action is sure to hook an eager teen audience. Grades 8-11. --Gillian Engberg </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"There is an undercurrent of chaste eroticism that Twilight series' fans will recognize... The blend of contemporary realism and fantasy, romance, humor, and adrenaline-charged action is sure to hook an eager teen audience." (_Booklist_ ) </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The universe shifts and changes: suddenly you understand, you get it, and are filled with a sense of wonder. That moment of understanding drives the greatest science-fiction stories and lies at the heart of <em>Engineering Infinity.</em> Whether it's coming up hard against the speed of light and, with it, the enormity of the universe, realising that terraforming a distant world is harder and more dangerous than you'd ever thought, or simply realizing that a hitchhiker on a starship consumes fuel and oxygen with tragic results, it's hard science-fiction where sense of wonder is most often found and where science-fiction's true heart lies. The exciting and innovative science-fiction anthology collects together stories by some of the biggest names in the field including Stephen Baxter, Charles Stross, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Gwyneth Jones. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Johnathan Strahan is an editor and anthologist. He co-edited <em>The Year's Best Australian Science</em> <em>Fiction</em> <em>and Fantasy</em> anthology series in 1997 and 1998. He is also the reviews editor of Locus. He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife and their two daughters. </p>

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<p>Illustrated in full color. Brother Bear is a master at teasing--until the tables are turned and he's the one being heckled for being the principal's pet. And when Brother finally understands that teasing isn't just mean, it's also dangerous, he actually decides to stick up for the new kid at school.  <br><br><i>From the Trade Paperback edition.</i></p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Tells the stories of a man who foresaw his own death, a ghost who solved a murder, a mummy's curse, a haunted museum, and a phantom sailor.</p>


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One of the world's most acclaimed adventure writers returns to the world of ancient Egypt with the stunning sequel to the New York Times bestselling River God. In the wake of a sixty-year war over the reign of the kingdoms of Egypt, two young pharaohs have risen to claim power, but only one can succeed, deciding the fate of his empire forever...The mission of Prince Nefer, rightful heir to the throne, is to rebuild a magnificent kingdom in the stark and tumbled ruins of the embattled city of Gallala. The desire of Lord Naja is to destroy his rival and rule the land with unholy supremacy. But Nefer has on his side the warlock Taita, a matchless ally and legendary priest of notorious powers...To see their dream come true, Nefer and Taita must stay one step ahead of the depraved assassin, survive the tortuous shadow of her ever-pursuing armies, and outwit the shocking betrayals of is own flesh and blood. As Nefer's courage increases, and as Taita's magic grows more beguiling, so grows stronger the power of their tireless enemies....Now, with the threat of tyranny and blood thundering closer and closer toward the vulnerable gates of Gallala, the ultimate battle for Egypt will begin...


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Strieber's epic sequel to 2006's <em>The Grays</em> blends equal parts science fiction thriller, supernatural horror and provocative spiritual speculation. As struggling author Wylie Dale works on his latest novel, which revolves around an upcoming date when the earth crosses both the galactic equator and the solar ecliptic—a time that the Maya predicted would mark the cataclysmic end of this age—he begins to uncover evidence that what he's writing about is actually happening on a parallel earth. If nothing is done, on December 21, 2012, gateways will open into this world and reptilian invaders will not only enslave humanity but feast on their succulent souls as well. While Strieber's exploration into the existence and import of the soul isn't exactly profound, it is wildly entertaining. Fans of apocalyptic page-turners like King's <em>The Stand</em> and Niven and Pournelle's <em>Lucifer's Hammer</em> will enjoy this ambitious—and audacious—tale as it invokes everything from rectal probes and Ann Coulter to the destruction of the Great Pyramid of Giza._ (Sept.)_ <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Archaeologist Martin Winters gets out of the collapsing Great Pyramid of Khufu just in time to see a gigantic lens arise from the rubble. Simultaneously at equally ancient monument sites all over the world, other lenses emerge. What's happening is a kind of alien invasion, but the aliens, whose advance agents have been subverting human society for some time, aren't really another species. They're their world's degenerates, whose earlier incursions into human history inspired the way the evil beings of religious mythology have been represented. In short, they're demons, fortunately killable but possessed of awesome power by the standards of Martin's world, which is one of three parallel Earths. The others are the invaders' and ours, in which buff sf writer Wiley Dale is compulsively and automatically writing Martin's story, which is more transmission than story. Eventually the demonic aliens pop up in Wiley's as well as Martin's Kansas homeland. Each Earth has advantages over the others; one of those, in both Martin's and the aliens' worlds, is that the physical existence of the soul has been discovered. The implications of that discovery drive the action of Strieber's hyperactive cosmological thriller. Despite Wiley and his cop buddy's excruciating hardy-har-he-man palaver and the exposition turning to cardboard whenever love is mentioned, it's immensely entertaining, and it's optioned for a big, splashy, FX-laden movie. Oh boy! Olson, Ray </p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p><em>Hudson Sun (MA)</em>Read this one with all the lights on.  </p><p><em>Kirkus Reviews</em>Vampire fiction at its best.  </p><p><em>Publishers Weekly</em>Fast-paced...intriguing.  </p><p><em>The Washington Post</em>Vividly, skillfully written.  </p><p>Peter StraubPure and original invention. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Eternal youth is a wonderful thing for the few who have it, but for Miriam Blaylock, it is a curse -- an existence marred by death and sorrow. Because for the everlasting Miriam, everyone she loves withers and dies. Now, haunted by signs of her adoring husband's imminent demise, Miriam sets out in serach of a new partner, one who can quench her thirst for love and withstand the test of time. She finds it in the beautiful Sarah Roberts, a brilliant young scientist who may hold the secret to immortality. But one thing stands between the intoxicating Miriam Blaylock and the object of her desire: Dr. Tom Haver...and he's about to realize that love and death to hand in hand. </p>


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She lives.  Miriam Blaylock's insatiable hunger has never ceased. Her incomparable beauty has made her a legend among the Keepers. Her many lovers have come and gone, crumbling into ash and nothingness. She knows the secrets of civilization, and the mysteries of life. In the hollow soul of her mother she has witnessed the agony of undeath.  For centuries she has gained the wisdom of God and the wit of the Devil. For centuries she has traveled the world undetected. For centuries she has felt safe. Until now.  For Miriam Blaylock, immortality is a thing of the past.  He watches.  Vampires. Interpol agent Paul Ward knows of them: he has battled and cleansed continents of their exquisite poison. He orchestrated the extermination of an ancient lair in Bangkok, obtained their sacred Book of Names, and knows where they hide and when they feast. He knows their weaknesses. And what's more, he knows his own...it's Miriam Blaylock. Elusive and toxic, she has escaped his complex network of hunters for years. Seductive and cunning, she has become his obsession.  And now each has set a trap for the other.  Now, predator is about to become prey. Killer to become lover. Good and evil will become inexorably entwined. The endgame begins for the last vampire.  The eternal heroine of Whitley Strieber's classic novel "The Hunger, " Miriam Blaylock returns in "The Last Vampire" -- a new tale of stunning invention and mounting suspense that goes as deep into the dark as a nightmare.


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An ancient vampire, beautiful beyond words, a vulnerable young man drawn to her by a power beyond his understanding, two desperate parents searching across the world for the son they love -- these are the riveting, unexpected elements of Whitley Strieber's extraordinary new novel.  Lilith, the ages-old mother of the dying race of vampires, has been forced to come out of her cave deep in the Egyptian desert in search of food -- human blood. But she knows nothing about the modern world. She can't drive a car, rent a room, turn on a TV. She struggles to New York, penniless, vulnerable, and starving, protected only by her beauty and her power to capture men with desire...especially certain very special men.  The instant she sees young Ian Ward, she knows that he is part vampire himself. She knows that Ian, if he ever tastes human blood, will belong to her forever. And she needs him desperately, to help her survive and live in this harsh new world of jets and credit cards and guns. She sets out on a campaign of seduction -- as sensuous as it is terrifying -- to touch human blood to Ian's lips, which will then become for him a drug a thousand times more addictive than heroin.  Ian's father, Paul Ward, part vampire turned expert and obsessive hunter of vampires, knows that if the blood transforms Ian, Paul will have to kill his own son. The titanic conflict between father and son and seductress, hunter and hunted and huntress, comes to its surprise conclusion in the secret chambers beneath the great pyramids, where the hidden truths of all human history are stored.  From its beginning in the dark back alleys of Cairo to its totally unexpected ending, "Lilith's Dream" draws the reader down seductive new paths of discovery, into places where no novel has ever before. With "Lilith's Dream" Whitley Strieber has created a vampire so original and a story so new that he has virtually invented a new genre.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Strieber, author of Communion and Transformation , continues to write on the implications of UFO sightings in this novel, a blend of fact and fiction. Working on a tip from an ex-CIA agent, reporter Nicholas Duke investigates a decades-long cover-up of a 1947 spaceship crash, in what PW termed a "very long, sensationalized story." <br />Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>An ancient Satanic cult takes over a neighborhood church in Queens each evening with the goal of breeding monstrously evil creatures</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The solar system's entry in 2020 into a supernova's atmosphere threatens the future of life on Earth in Strieber's over-the-top sequel to <em>2012: The War for Souls</em>. On arrival at West Virginia's Acton Clinic, Dr. David Ford, the clinic's new chief psychiatrist, learns from the woman who hired him, Aubrey Denman, that the job involves more than being a medical administrator. He must also protect the clinic's secret mission from its enemies, who include the members of the Seven Families who control the wealth of this planet. When Denman dies shortly thereafter in a car bomb explosion, Ford has to fend for himself. Ford's later researches in the Acton library lead him to conclude that Osiris, Moses, and Jesus, among others, were time travelers from a lost civilization. Ponderous prose (No doubt Goliath is many things, but one of them must be that violet light—the highest color of alchemical growth and also the color of ultimate death) does little to help the nonsensical plot. <em>(June)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>In a thriller about the end of the world as we know it, Strieber takes us on a journey through the horrors of apocalypse and into the promise of hope in a future changed beyond all recognition. Since 2012, radiation from a supernova has been wreaking increasing havoc with technology. Eventually, the ferocity of the solar storms threatens to burn life on Earth to a crisp. Enter David Ford, a psychologist hired to work at the exclusive Acton Clinic. Of course, nothing is as it appears on the surface. Though he has no recollection of it, David was once a student at the center that preceded the clinic, at which Herbert Acton and others taught a science so ancient it had passed into the realm of mysticism. Many of the present-day patients were David's classmates, and they hold the only hope for the survival of humanity in their command of the science they learned there. Strieber regards the popular theme of apocalypse from a New Agey angle not unusual for him and sometimes rather dull. --Regina Schroeder </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>When Bob Duke turns into a wolf and begins to roam the streets of Manhattan, his wife and son vow to find him and restore his humanity. By the author of <em>The Wolfen </em>and <em>Communion. </em>Reissue. </p>


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<div><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; ">The Wolfen (1978), the debut novel by Whitley Strieber, tells the story of two police detectives in New York City who, while investigating the violent deaths of two policemen in a junk yard, discover that a pack of intelligent and savage wolf-like creatures are stalking the city. These predators are not traditional werewolves, as they are a separate race of intelligent beings descended from wolves that live secretly alongside mankind in our cities and quickly killing anyone who learns about their existence. What is unique about this novel is that some of the story is told from the point of view of the alpha creatures and this causes the reader to be sympathetic of the creatures' needs. </span></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In a world where males are rarely born, they've become a commodity-traded and sold like property. Jerin Whistler has come of age for marriage and his handsome features have come to the attention of the royal princesses. But such attentions can be dangerous-especially as Jerin uncovers the dark mysteries the royal family is hiding.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Confronted by the threat of genocide at the hands of the alien Nefrim, humankind's only hope lies in Captain Mikhail Volkov's desperate mission to the Sargasso Sea in search of the mystery behind the long-lost spaceship Fenrir, but his discovery of a secret that could save the human race is threatened by damage to his own ship that could prevent him from returning home.</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Wit and intelligence inform this off-beat, tongue-in-cheek fantasy from Spencer (Alien Taste, etc.), set in near-future Pittsburgh-or rather, the part of Pittsburgh that's been translated to the Faerie world of Elfhome by a faulty hyperphase gate created by the Chinese. After 18-year-old tech genius Tinker saves Windwolf, the elven governor of North America on Elfhome, from a pack of nasty wargs, Windwolf in gratitude turns her into an elf and makes her his consort. In her new and important position, Tinker becomes the target for a conspiracy of humans, elves and oni (Japanese demons that control their own part of Faerie) who are trying to build another gate for use in conquering Earth and Elfhome. Furious action, including a memorable car chase, good characterization, playful eroticism and well-developed folklore all help lift this well above the fantasy average. The routine jacket art, of an elven biological dirigible, probably won't help, but Buffy fans should find a lot to like in the book's resourceful heroine. FYI: Spencer has won the 2003 John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award.<br>Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Spencer's latest novel is as imaginative and weird as usual for him, and it makes the same effective use of her old hometown, Pittsburgh, as a setting. This time a part of early-twenty-first-century Pittsburgh is taken through an interdimensional gate into Elfland. Tinker, a young orphan who runs a salvage yard in the city, rescues the local elvenlord from assassins, and thereafter finds herself entangled in a magnificent web of romance; plots involving humans, elves, and <em>oni</em> (Japanese demons); and a race to build another gate by means of which the oni can conquer both Earth and Elfland. Spencer's intertwining of current Earth technology and otherworldly elven magic is quite ingenious. But the whole novel possesses ebullient humor, and even the sex is entertaining, though there may be rather a lot of it for some readers' taste. The book ends with a cliffhanger, so Spencer is clearly kicking off another series. Most readers of this book will consider that good news. <em>Roland Green</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>

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<div><h3>From</h3><p>The sequel to <em>Tinker</em> (2003) continues the adventures of salvage-yard owner and intuitive mechanic Tinker and Wolf Who Rules Wind, an elflord whose domain now includes most of early-twenty-first-century Pittsburgh, which was transported to Elfhome through a gate. Tinker is now genetically an elf, and she and Wolf are married. Their honeymoon consists, however, of trying to coordinate the mind-sets of humans and elfkind, both between one another and as lord and lady of Wolf's realm. And they also must stave off the attempts of the <em>oni</em> (Japanese demons) to conquer the realm, fight intrigue that includes assassination plots, and build a gate to return those Pittsburghers who wish to return. All of that keeps them busy and the reader turning pages. <em>Frieda Murray</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The popular fantasy novel <em>Tinker</em> introduced the inventor-heroine of the same name, who lives in a near-future Pittsburgh, which shares an interdimensional border with the land of the elves. In this sequel, Wolf Who Rules, the elven noble whose destiny is intertwined with Tinker, finds himself besieged from all sides. Viceroy and head of the Wind Clan, he had been able to guarantee the safety of everyone in his realm, but faced with an oni invasion, he has had to call in royal troops and relinquish his monopoly of Pittsburgh, which is now entirely stranded on Elfhome. He now struggles to keep the peace between the humans, the newly arrived Stone Clan, the royal forces, a set of oni dragons, the half-oni children who see themselves as human, and the tengu trying to escape their oni enslavement. Meanwhile, Tinker strives to solve the mystery of a growing discontinuity in Turtle Creek. She's plagued with inexplicable nightmares that may hold the keys to Pittsburgh's future. The only clue from the Queen's oracle to help Tinker is a note with five English words on it: Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Oni, and dragons and tengu ? oh my! </p>

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<p class="description"><span id="freeText8706277083493538698" style="" class="reviewText">There's
 a nasty flu going round. An epidemic, they call it. The posters say to 
cover your mouth when you sneeze, and throw away the tissue. But such 
simple measures won't stop this flu. Because when you catch the flu, 
armed police come and lock you in your house to die alone. When you 
catch this flu, it kills you in days. And when you catch this flu, two 
hours after it's killed you, your eyelids snap open again..."Flu" is a 
pacey, terrifying, frighteningly real zombie horror story.</span></p>


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Satirical military space opera, #1 of 11-book series. Compulsive gambler Joey Czerinski must escape Old Earth fast to elude the bad-ass loan shark gunning for him. Desperate, he borrows funds from a shady Foreign Legion ATM, then gets shipped across space to fight a spider-like alien species. But one lucky roll of the dice could put him back in the game - if he can manage to stay alive!


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The satirical military space saga continues ... Decorated war hero, or war criminal guilty of atrocities? It depends on who’s passing judgment on ex-legionnaire Joey Czerinski. This lucky gambler turned soldier turned casino boss finds his businesses destroyed by continued alien insurgency. Desperate, he turns to his old friend the Galactic Foreign Legion ATM for a loan and ends up reenlisted!


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Captain Joey Czerinski of the United States Galactic Foreign Legion faces double-crossing friends and adversaries on both sides as the situation deteriorates for human occupation of planet New Colorado, and the Arthropodan Empire plans to take control. The wolves are literally at the door, and maybe all Czerinski can do is take a dive and throw the fight - literally - to save the day!


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Decorated Legion war hero Captain Joey Czerinski and his platoon go to planet New Colorado’s New Gobi Desert to guard the demilitarized zone dividing human-occupied territory from areas claimed by the Arthropodan Empire. With a new alien spider commander, a human boy rising to lead a militia, and McDonald's, Walmart, and Chupacabra added to the mix, the funny bone gets smacked hard.


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Colonel Joey R. Czerinski and his band of legionnaires try to quell a citizen uprising in planet New Colorado’s New Gobi Desert and foil an insurgency plot to kill the spider Arthropodan Emperor and his lovely wife, Queen Rainbow. Suspicion and mistrust threaten the stability of Legion command, while Czerinski deals with troubles arising from a tryst with a long-gone marine.


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"A triumph, both epic in scope and entirely unpredictable, and anchored by one of the most refreshing and unique voices in modern horror fiction.  Expect great things from Mr. Greatshell in the future." --Nate Kenyon, Horror World Reviews  </p><p>"The writing is fast paced and keeps you hooked.  The book itself is a cross between Night of the Living Dead and an end-of-the-world-type premise like Earth Abides, one of my all-time favorites." --Roundtable Reviews  </p><p>"I loved [this] book." --David Wellington, Author of Frostbite </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>When the Agent X plague struck, it infected women first, turning them into mindless killers intent only on creating an army of "Xombies" by spreading their disease.   </p><p>Running for her life, seventeen-year-old Lulu is rescued by the father she has never known and taken aboard a refitted nuclear submarine that has one mission: to save a little bit of humanity.   </p>

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<h3>Review</h3><p>"Xombies: Apocalypticon is more exciting, more action-packed, more gory, and more darkly humorous than its predecessor."</p><p>--BSCreview </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Survivors of a cataclysmic zombie-making plague leave a temporary safety of a refitted nuclear sub to scavenge for food and supplies on land. But they soon find themselves facing new terrors on the surface and mutiny below. </p>


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Masters of weapons and martial arts, Mercenaries Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane have just saved one of the Marked, those gifted with special powers, from a mob that appears to be under the influence of a priest of the Sleeping God. Learning that this is not an isolated incident and realizing that Dhulyn's own unique gift will make them a target, the two take ship for safer climes. Once ashore the partners take on a seemingly simple mission of escorting a young woman to distant relatives. But not even Dhulyn's talent can warn them of the threat that awaits at the far end of their journey.


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A new novel of high fantasy and adventure featuring martial arts masters Dhulyn and Parno. Fulfilling their Mercenary contract, Dhulyn and Parno have accepted the surrender of Prince Edmir, heir to the Tegriani Realm. The Common Rule of the Mercenary Brothers states that prisoners taken by them go free and unharmed. But when the War Commander who hired them refuses to honor this agreement, the duo break their contract and escape with the prince. And thus they take the first step along a path that might lead Dhulyn to the truth about her past—or bring them to a magical trap from which there may be no escape.


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>The third novel in Violette Malan's bold fantasy series. </strong>   </p><p>Mercenary Partners Dhulyn and Parno have returned to their Mercenary House to clear themselves of accusations of kidnapping and murder. But before they can resolve these charges, old friends are taken hostage by the Long Ocean Nomads, and they are forced to come to the rescue, agreeing to trade their services for the release of their friends. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>Violette Malan</strong> has a Ph.D. from York University in 18th-Century English Literature, has been a book reviewer, and has written feature articles on genre writing and literature for the <em>Kingston Whig Standard</em>. </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers... </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>Victoria Laurie's ghoulishly great follow-up to <em>What's a Ghoul to Do?</em> in her new Ghost Hunter Mystery series</strong>   </p><p>Northelm Boarding School on Lake Placid has the worst bully of all-a demon by the name of Hatchet Jack. M.J. Holliday, along with her partners Gilley and the handsome Dr. Steven Sable, are ready to send him back to the portal from whence he came. The school's summer construction, an uncooperative dean, and the very tempting Dr. Delicious are all trying to distract M.J. from her ghost hunting. But with a demonic disturbance as great as Hatchet Jack, she must focus and show no mercyto send him to detention for an eternity-in hell. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>A demonic guest terrorizes a haunted hotel</strong>  </p><p>When ghost hunter and medium M.J. Holliday appears on a television show called <em>Haunted Possessions</em>, she encounters an evil knife that releases a demon. Now all hell has broken loose in the haunted hotel where M.J. is staying—and it’s up to her to give the uninvited guest an early checkout. </p>

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<h3>Review</h3><p><strong>"A hair-raising tale that will keep readers engrossed in the ghost-driven action." -- <em>Darque Reviews</em></strong></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><em></em>New in the national bestselling series  </p><p>Psychic M.J. Holliday finds herself in a witchy situation... <em></em>   </p><p>When M.J. and her friends travel to a small town near Edinburgh, Scotland, to film the first installment of their new cable TV show <em>Ghoul Getters</em>, they find plenty of spooky action in a series of supposedly haunted caverns. But when they discover the body of a maintenance worker, the cause of death is reminiscent of an old legend involving a witch's wrath...   </p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In Laurie's frantically fun, if at times cartoonish, fifth Ghost Hunter mystery (after March 2010's Ghouls Gone Wild), M.J. Holliday and the Ghoul Getters cable TV show crew face some anxious moments at Dunlow, a haunted Irish castle, especially after their producer, Peter "Gopher" Gophner, goes missing. Treacherous tides can make it tricky to reach Dunlow, which is located on an island. Another challenge is the powerful castle phantom guarding the hidden treasure of Lord Ranald Dunnyvale, who ransomed some survivors of the Spanish Armada back in the 16th century for a hefty sum. Reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's bunch, Laurie's enthusiastic, punchy ghost busters make this paranormal series one teens can also enjoy. (Dec. 28) <br>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>When M.J. Holliday and the crew of her cable TV show, <em>Ghoul Getters</em>, venture to the haunted ruins of Dunlow Castle in Ireland, drawn by the legend of hidden treasure, they hope the road will rise up to meet them, that the wind will always be at their backs-and that the resident phantom won't push them off a cliff. If they treasure their lives, M.J. and her ghost busters need to get the drop on the menacing phantom... </p>

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<div><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 5–8—Somewhere in the U.S., in a small farming community called Lowland County, a girl named Piper McCloud is born to a simple, God-fearing farmer and his wife. Piper has a special talent: she can fly. What follows is an uneasy mix of fantasy and science fiction that has plot points that are fairly derivative. When her talent for flying is discovered, a charismatic director of a special school takes Piper under her wing. She arrives at an amazing place with multiple floors and discovers a lot of other kids with extraordinary powers, too—as well as a nefarious plot to remove their special talents by altering their DNA. Character development is achieved by the author telling, not showing, readers, and speech patterns are not always successful. Piper's rural, colloquial manner of speech seems out of place in a time period that appears to be present day and borders on caricature, especially when she utters phrases such as, "Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" The writing style is clunky, and the author strives to be clever with wordplay. For example, the evil director of the school is named Dr. Letitia Hellion, and the German professor, whose accent is almost unintelligible, is named Dr. Mumbley. The acronym for the school, or institute, is I.N.S.A.N.E. (Institute of Normalcy, Stability, and NonExceptionality). The book ends with the kids taking over the school, and the affirmation of everyone's differences, and everyone's right to "be themselves." Libraries looking for engaging fantasy will want to look elsewhere.—_Jennifer Ralston, Harford County Public Library, Belcamp, MD_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> In this terrific debut novel, readers meet Piper McCloud, the late-in-life daughter of farmers. Her parents revel in conformity, so it’s disconcerting at best when Piper shows a talent for flying. Homeschooled and kept away from outsiders, Piper is lonely. Finally, her parents let her go to a community picnic, where she thinks she’ll meet new friends. Instead, she terrifies the neighbors by flying up to catch a ball during a kids’ game. In no time, the McCloud farm is besieged. Then, out of a helicopter comes the empathetic Dr. Letitia Hellion, who whisks Piper off to a secret school for kids with special talents. But are things there what they seem to be? No. Forester gets almost everything right here. The story soars, just like Piper, with enough loop-de-loops to keep kids uncertain about what will come next. Her plainspoken heroine has a big heart and a strong streak of defiance, and Piper’s reactions always seem true, even in the midst of sf machinations. Many other characters are also clearly set within the context of their lives, giving them dimension sometimes lacking in supporting casts. Best of all are the book’s strong, lightly wrapped messages about friendship and authenticity and the difference between doing well and doing good. Give this to fans of Trenton Lee Stuart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007). Grades 4-7. --Ilene Cooper </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The first in a new trilogy of novels from New York Times best-selling author Richard Baker. Forsaken House is the first title in a new trilogy chronicling the tempestuous return of an isolated society of elves to the mainland of the Forgotten Realms world. The events in this trilogy will have far-reaching impact across the entire setting. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>Richad Baker</strong> works as a game designer and Managing Developer for the roleplaying game line at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. A New York Times best-selling author with Condemnation, his additional Forgotten Realms novels include The City of Ravens and the forthcoming Last Mythal trilogy.  </p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> [Signature]_Reviewed by William T. Vollmann_The focus of this novel is extremism. It tells the tale of two Kashmiri villages whose inhabitants gradually get caught up in communal violence. As we know from Yugoslavia, hatred takes on especially horrific manifestations when neighbors turn against each other. The neighbors to whom Rushdie introduces us are memorable and emblematic characters, especially his protagonists, the Hindu dancer Boonyi Kaul and her childhood sweetheart, Shalimar the clown, son of a Muslim family. Their passion becomes a marriage solemnized by both Hindu and Muslim rites, but as conflict heats up, Boonyi seduces the American ambassador. The resulting transformation of Shalimar into a terrorist is easily the most impressive achievement of the book, and here one must congratulate Rushdie for having made artistic capital out of his own suffering, for the years he spent under police protection, hunted by zealots, have been poured into the novel in ways which ring hideously true. Bit by bit, Shalimar becomes a figure of supernatural menace.The life of the ambassador, Max Ophuls, is also brilliantly invented. In a series of highly effective set pieces—Nazi-occupied Strasbourg, where he failed to persuade his principled parents to save the books they published, not to mention themselves, from the flames (the family was Jewish); southern France, where his exploits on behalf of the Resistance were so colorful that I would spoil the reader's pleasure if I betrayed them; England, where a glamorous wartime romance led him into his only marriage—the author builds our sympathy for the man who (with her connivance) ruins Boonyi's life and sets in motion Shalimar's destiny.Now for the novel's defects: Rushdie's female characters are generally less plausible than the male ones. When he is describing Kashmir's good old days of communal tolerance, he too frequently takes refuge in slapstick. His depiction of Los Angeles relies so much on references to popular culture that the place becomes a superficial parody of itself. In terms of technique, Rushdie's most irritating tic is the sermonistic parallelism or repetition, but the novel's best passages (not to mention his other great work, <em>Shame</em>) prove him capable of great style.Never mind these flaws. _Shalimar the Clown <em>is a powerful parable about the willing and unwilling subversion of multiculturalism. And for those readers who even in this post-September-eleventh continue to cling to American narcissism, the parable grows more urgently pointed: Ophuls and Boonyi conceive a daughter, who is taken away at birth and in due time becomes a beautiful, troubled, privileged ignoramus in Los Angeles. About Shalimar the clown, her mother's husband, she doesn't have a clue. Is that her fault? Is it our fault that we never paid much attention to the rest of the world? But one day, without any warning, two planes smashed into the Twin Towers, and now (wake up and run!) Shalimar the clown has arrived in Los Angeles. (</em>On sale Sept. 6)__Vollmann's most recent novel is_ Europe Central <em>(Viking).</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Like some of the post-9/11 literature, <em>Shalimar</em> delves deep into the roots of terrorism and explores the turmoil generated by different faiths and cultures attempting to coexist. How can nations, Rushdie asks, go from near-peaceful ethnic and religious acceptance to violent conflict within a mere generation? Critics agree that Rushdie has brilliantly unraveled the construction of terrorists: some of them fight for ideas; others fight to fulfill vows or, if they are men, to reclaim their wives.</p><p><em>Shalimar</em> is at once a political thriller, folk tale, slapstick comedy, wartime adventure, and work of science fiction, pop culture, and magical realism. In shimmering (if sometimes baroque) language, Rushdie invokes clever satire and imaginative wordplay. Yet, despite its diverse genres and styles, Shalimar is, at heart, a story of love, honor, and revenge—and the global consequences of such emotions and actions. Critics particularly praised Rushdie’s shocking description of Shalimar’s transformation into a cold-blooded Islamic terrorist, from his participation in training camps to forced humiliations before Taliban leaders. Similarly, wrenching descriptions of pre- and post-war Kashmir, his homage to a paradise lost, confirm Rushdie’s brilliant powers of observation and keen social insight. Some reviewers felt that some characters lacked psychological depth or complete plausibility, or were too allegorical, but most described Shalimar as convincingly real—too real, even.</p><p>In the 21st century, <em>Shalimar</em>’s painful, terrifying themes are both fantastical and devastatingly real. To evidence otherwise, Rushdie offers a note of cautious optimism: people can work out their differences if left alone by ideologues or fanatics. <em>Shalimar</em> provides a timely, ultimately idealistic, message for our times.</p><p><em>Copyright © 2004 Phillips &amp; Nelson Media, Inc.</em></p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Don't miss the gripping conclusion to Salvatore's <em>New York Times</em> best-selling Transitions trilogy!  </p><p>When the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, Drizzt and his companions are caught in the chaos. Seeking out the help of the priest Cadderly–the hero of the recently reissued series The Cleric Quintet–Drizzt finds himself facing his most powerful and elusive foe, the twisted Crenshinibon, the demonic crystal shard he believed had been destroyed years ago.  </p><p><em>From the Hardcover edition.</em></p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. Investigative journalist Christianson, author of the award-winning <em>With Liberty for Some,</em> charts the 75-year history of gas chamber execution as well as its intersection with eugenics, the Holocaust, and America's ongoing capital punishment debate. Christianson is clear that his focus is the United States, underscoring that the chamber's operation can hardly be described as painless or kind. After the Germans launched the first gas attack during WWI, American scientists and chemical companies—particularly DuPont, which had ties to the German manufacturers that later supplied concentration camps—scrambled to produce their own lethal concoctions. From their earliest incarnations, gas chambers employed various forms of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) pumped into a sealed room where the condemned was strapped to a chair. Despite being developed as a swifter and more painless alternative to death than hanging or electrocution, Christianson describes in graphic detail the numerous botched executions during which death took over 10 agonizing minutes. Though the gas chamber hasn't been used in America since 1999, Christianson makes a chilling argument for its—and the death penalty's—abolition. 8 b&amp;w photos. <em>(July)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Christianson makes a chilling argument for its [the gas chamber's]--and the death penalty's--abolition." STARRED REVIEW--_Publishers Weekly_  </p><p>"This sobering work is recommended to all readers interested in exploring the topic."--_Library Journal_  </p><p>"First full-scale history of gas chamber connects murky (and sure-to-be controversial) dots, including Hitler's adoption of American technology and joint American-German research and development."--_American History_  </p><p>"Christianson has written the definitive (actually, the only) history of the gas chamber. It is a history so complicated and convoluted that it reads almost like something out of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow."--_California Lawyer_</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The climactic conclusion of The Year of Rogue Dragons! Madness takes hold, Sammaster draws closer to victory, and forgotten secrets are revealed at last. Dorn and the rogue dragons will have to find the source of a millennia-old curse, then find some way to destroy it, before the Rage overcomes the world. </p>

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<p class="description">IN THE CHAOS-INFESTED Sabbat<br>Worlds, Imperial Commissar Gaunt<br>must lead his men through as mich<br>in-fighting amongst rival regiments as<br>against the heretical forces of Chaos.<br>First and Only is an epic saga of<br>planetary conquest, grand ambition,<br>treachery and honour.</p>


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In the last few decades, tremendous advances have been made in veterinary technology--nearly tripling the average life span of many pets. But cats that are seven years and older have special needs and require additional emotional support, nutritional help, and medical care. A longer life also means more cats suffer age-related conditions such as kidney problems, diabetes, and arthritis, all of which can be successfully managed with your loving assistance. Complete Care for Your Aging Cat contains the answers you need to care for your mature cat. Pet expert Amy Shojai explains: * How to entice your older cat into getting more exercise. * What changes to expect as your cat ages--and which changes are natural and which are warning signs that should send you to the veterinarian. * Which pet-specific over-the-counter medications every owner should keep on hand. * How to use the L.O.V.E. Program to keep your cat loving longer and living better. * Tips on everything from choosing the right products and food for your aging cat to performing nursing care at home. Filled with heartwarming stories, the latest developments in geriatric veterinary care, age-defying tips, and comprehensive reference material, this is the definitive guide to turning back the clock on aging--and keeping senior cats vital, happy, and active throughout their golden years.


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<h3>Review</h3><p>“An absolutely wonderful and sometimes hilarious and always soulful book.” (Mademoiselle )  </p><p>“Smart, bright, well-written....A book about cats as good as this one is rare.” (Smithsonian )  </p><p>“Perhaps the best aspect of the book, combined with Holland’s style, is the appropriately low-grade temperature of the cat/human philosophizing—nicely situated between Sartre and Wild Kingdom.” (Trenton NJ Times )  </p><p>“May be the most elegantly written, witty, perceptive statement about felines ever published.” (Philadelphia Inquirer )  </p><p>“Charming....Will soften the heart of even a certified ailurophobe.” (Publishers Weekly ) </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>What is really going on behind those luminous feline eyes?</p><p>Affectionate yet aloof, intelligent and inquisitive yet dangerously careless, the more-or-less domesticated house cat intrigues us as no other animal can. Now Barbara Holland offers cat lovers a fascinating, funny, and refreshingly candid look at their feline companions: their history, lore, and secrets, and their complicated relations with people and with each other.</p><p><em>Secrets of the Cat</em> is a lively appreciation of cats as we know and love them, with witty analysis and fresh observations about felines both high and low. Here are Winston Churchill’s ginger tom, who attended cabinet meetings; Teddy Roosevelt’s cat, Slippers, who came to dinner; and even the author’s own George II, who was bitten by a mouse and adopted by a blue jay. Barbara Holland’s warm, vivid speculations on cats’ lives and times—on their social, psychic, and mythological legacy, and their impenetrable mysteries—will give readers a delightful cat’s-eye view of the world.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> The trick to writing, Prose writes, is reading—carefully, deliberately and slowly. While this might seem like a no-brainer, Prose (_Blue Angel_; <em>A Changed Man</em>) masterfully meditates on how quality reading informs great writing, which will warm the cold, jaded hearts of even the most frustrated, unappreciated and unpublished writers. Chapters treat the nuts and bolts of writing (words, sentences, paragraphs) as well as issues of craft (narration, character, dialogue), all of which Prose discusses using story or novel excerpts. This is where the book truly shines; Prose is remarkably egalitarian in choosing exemplars of fiction: David Gates, Denis Johnson, John le Carré and ZZ Packer, for instance, are considered as seriously as Chekhov, Melville, Flaubert or Babel. Prose insists that "literature not only breaks the rules, but makes us realize that there <em>are none</em>," and urges writers to re-read the classics (Chekhov, especially) and view "reading as something that might move or delight you." Prose's guide to reading and writing belongs on every writer's bookshelf alongside E.M. Forster's <em>Aspects of the Novel</em>. <em>(Aug.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Adult/High School–Life is precious, and much of that preciousness lies in the details: the sights, the sounds, the scents we too often ignore in our busy lives. Prose makes a superb application of that concept for readers of fiction. To know how the great writers create their magic, one needs to engage in a close reading of the masters, for that is precisely what successful writers have done for thousands of years. College programs in creative writing and summer workshops serve a purpose, but they can never replace a careful reading of the likes of Austen, Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Salinger, Tolstoy, and Woolf. In this excellent guide, Prose explains exactly what she means by close reading, drawing attention to the brick and mortar of outstanding narratives: words, sentences, paragraphs, character, dialogue, details, and more. In the process, she does no less than escort readers to a heightened level of appreciation of great literature. Many will want to go to the shelves to read again, or for the first time, the books she discusses. And to aid them, she thoughtfully adds a list at the end: Books to Be Read Immediately._–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA_ <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Melding superb research and the extraordinary expedition photography of Frank Hurley, <em>The Endurance</em> by Caroline Alexander is a stunning work of history, adventure, and art which chronicles "one of the greatest epics of survival in the annals of exploration." Setting sail as World War I broke out in Europe, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by renowned polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, hoped to become the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But their ship, <em>Endurance,</em> was trapped in the drifting pack ice, eventually to splinter, leaving the expedition stranded on floes--a situation that seemed "not merely desperate but impossible." </p><p>Most skillfully Alexander constructs the expedition's character through its personalities--the cast of veteran explorers, scientists, and crew--with aid from many previously unavailable journals and documents. We learn, for instance, that carpenter and shipwright Henry McNish, or "Chippy," was "neither sweet-tempered nor tolerant," and that Mrs. Chippy, his cat, was "full of character." Such firsthand descriptions, paired with 170 of Frank Hurley's intimate photographs, which are comprehensively assembled here for the first time, penetrate the hulls of the <em>Endurance</em> and these tough men. The account successfully reveals the seldom-seen domestic world of expedition life--the singsongs, feasts, lectures, camaraderie--so that when the hardships set in, we know these people beyond the stereotypical guise of mere explorers and long for their safety. </p><p>Alexander reveals Shackleton as an inspiring optimist, "a leader who put his men first." Throughout the grueling ordeal, Shackleton and his men show what endurance and greatness are all about. <em>The Endurance</em> is a most intimate portrait of an expedition and of survival. Readers will possess a newfound respect for these daring souls, know better their unthinkable toil and half-forgotten realm of glory. <em>--Byron Ricks</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The unparalleled adventure and ordeal of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew, stranded on the Antarctic ice for 20 months beginning January 20, 1915, then forced to row a 22-foot boat 850 miles across storm-ravaged seas, has inspired at least three marvelous books: Shackleton's own memoir, South; Alfred Lansing's bestselling Endurance; and this stirring account by Alexander (The Way to Xanadu). In 1914, Shackleton sailed to Antarctica with 27 men in hopes of being the first human to transverse the continent. But his ship, the Endurance, was trapped, then crushed, by ice in the Weddell Sea, propelling the party into a nightmare of cold and near starvation. Alexander, relying extensively on journals by crew members, some never published, as well as on myriad other sources, delivers a spellbinding story of human courage (and occasional venality) in the face of daunting odds. She succinctly and boldly captures the character of the men and of the terrible land- and seascape they crossed toward salvation. What makes this book especially exciting, however, are the 170 previously unpublished photos by the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley: stark, artfully composed tributes to the savage beauty of the ice and to the fortitude of the men and their dogs. Not one of the men died during their sojourn in a freezing hell; as Alexander makes clear in her gripping, emotionally resonant book, this incredible fact bears witness not only to Shackleton's leadership but to the strength of the human spirit. Agent, Anthony Sheil. Author tour. (Nov.) FYI: The Endurance is being published in association with the American Museum of Natural History, which in March 1999 will open an exhibit, curated by Alexander, chronicling Shackleton's voyage. A feature-length IMAX film on the subject will be released then, as well.<br>Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Alternate historian extraordinaire Turtledove (Hitler's War) explores a dozen different "what if?" scenarios in this reprint collection. These stories, some dead serious and some absurdly improbable, demonstrate his ability to slip, chameleonlike, from one mode to the next. An aging John Audubon searches for rare birds in "Audubon in Atlantis," and Hitler's life takes a very different turn in the epistolary "Uncle Alf." "The Catcher in the Rhine" adeptly blends an American classic and a Wagnerian opera. Perhaps the most outrageous is "Bedfellows," featuring George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. Turtledove also takes a few potshots at the modern media in "News from the Front." Helpful forewords explain the inspiration for, or divergence point of, each story. Whether he's going for humor or pathos, action or social commentary, Turtledove's research is always solid, his speculation thoughtful, and his execution professional. (Dec.) <br />(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Turtledove has long been established at the head of the alternate-history field. This short-story collection suggests that he can also thrust his tongue farther into his cheek than most authors can dream of. The first and last stories are laid in his new creation, the mid-Atlantic subcontinent of Atlantis. In one, John James Audubon sets out to capture on canvas the fast-disappearing birdlife; in the other, an eminent London detective and his doctor partner tackle the mystery of the Scarlet Band. In “Daimon,” the Greek general Alkibiades rises to the level of Alexander the Great, with unfortunate results for Socrates. “The Horse of Bronze” is a wild romp through classical Greece, while “Occupation Duty” explores another possible conqueror for Southwest Asia. “The Catcher in the Rhine” is a send-up that a certain cult novel has long deserved, while “News from the Front” savagely juxtaposes modern mediaocracy with WWII. And let’s not forget “Uncle Alf,” wholly spent inside the mind of an alternate Adolf Hitler (the Germans won WWI), and just plain scary. High Demand Backstory: Publisher promotion, plus his recognizable name, equals buzz. --Roland Green </p>


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<h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> Whether he's writing Hap Collins-Leonard Pine mysteries, genre-bending horror novels, or his own blend of historical fiction and gritty country noir, cult-favorite Lansdale rarely hits a wrong note. He's a superb stylist and a first-rate storyteller, and his sandpaper wit never fails to scratch out a brand of humor that hovers somewhere between knee-slap funny and painfully revelatory. He's in his country-noir mode here, in what just may be his best novel yet. The tale begins with a hold-your-breath set piece in which red-haired beauty Sunset Jones kills her husband, Pete, who happened to be raping her at the time. Given all that, it comes as a surprise to the residents of Camp Rapture, an ironically named sawmill settlement in Depression-era East Texas, when Sunset's mother-in-law, majority owner of the mill, arranges to have Sunset replace Pete as the settlement's constable. Soon enough, Sunset--with the help of two deputies, both with romantic designs on their boss--is investigating the murder of a woman and her unborn child, a crime that may implicate Pete. Lansdale layers the mystery elements skillfully, building to an action-filled climax, but where he really shines is in his evocation of both the desperation and the determination that grew from the dirt of the Depression. Sunset is a marvelous character; you don't see many feminist heroines in the femme-fatale world of noir, which makes her emergence, her coming-of-age in an age set firmly against her, so exhilarating. <em>Bill Ott</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>“[<strong>Sunset and Sawdust</strong> is] filled with turns and twists, nastiness, broad humor, moments of grace. . . . Lansdale is a storyteller in the great American tradition.” –_The Boston Globe<br />_<br />“A wonderfully nasty piece of work [that] inspires I-can’t-believe-this laughter. . . . Very entertaining.” –_Newsday_  </p><p>The opening . . . will grab unsuspecting readers by the lapels and pull them right in. . . . Lansdale's prose--laconic and sarcastic--is so thick with slang and regional accent that it's as tasty as a well-cured piece of beef jerky." --_The Denver Post_  </p><p>"Lansdale is an exceptional storyteller . . . readers will feel the Texas heat and hear the story in the author's unique East Texas drawl. The vivid characterization will make readers cheer for the protagonist and boo the villain." --_Rocky Mountain News_  </p><p>“Delivers the unexpected and bizarre that his fans have come to expect. . . . The narrative is entertaining, but Lansdale’s patently unvarnished storytelling–backwoods and brash all at once–is the real reason to crack this cover.” --_Texas Monthly_  </p><p>"Funny, bloody and bizarre. . . . Another five-star doozy of a tale from an immensely talented and original storyteller." --_The Flint Journal_  </p><p>“Sunset Jones is the kind of woman that men who drink in East Texas bars would call a ‘pistol.’ As a tornado rips through the sawmill camp town of Rapture, in the rousing opening scene of Joe R. Lansdale’s historical barnburner <em>Sunset and Sawdust</em>, Sunset finally puts a stop to her husband Pete’s bloody beatings. . . . Soon Sunset has her own posse, including a wonderful dog whose abject adoration of the fiery gunslinger pretty much sums up this reader’s feelings.” --_The New York Times Book Review<br />_<br />"A first-rate whodunnit. . . . [Lansdale] knows how to tell a story." --_The Globe and Mail _(Toronto)  </p><p>“Sly, easy-paced and so comfortable in its setting that it becomes almost seductive. This is what good storytelling is all about.” --_Arizona Republic<br />_<br />"Lansdale can catch that meandering East Texas twang in his writing, but just as quickly he can tighten the plot and our stomachs with a turn of phrase. . . . Lansdale gives us both atmosphere and action." --_Winston-Salem Journal_   </p><p>"Surrealistic. . . . Unpredictable. . . . A darker kind of storytelling." --_Pittsburg Tribune-Review_</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Murphy—an Emmy-winning writer, director, and producer—celebrates Harper Lee's only novel with a documentary, <em>Hey, Boo,</em> and this book, a collection of mostly venerating interviews with writers and celebrities, black and white, from Oprah Winfrey to Tom Brokaw, Rosanne Cash, and Richard Russo. A few incisive remarks emerge. James McBride, for example, takes issue with calling Harper Lee brave—doing so absolve[s] yourself of your own racism. Wally Lamb and Allan Gurganus, among others, reveal Lee's influence on their writing. Unfortunately, in Part I, Murphy summarizes the most interesting of her subjects' comments, creating a sense of déjà-vu when the reader gets to the actual interviews. Racism, smalltown America, Lee's 50-year silence since the book's publication, her relationship with Truman Capote, and the appeal of the book's principal characters are touched on by most of the interviewees; such shared themes and opinions result in redundancy. Readers should turn (or return) to <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em> before bothering to dip into this disappointing collection. 11 b&amp;w photos. <em>(June)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>“And that’s really what reading this book is like: attending a big book club meeting with 26 lovers of <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>.” (Los Angeles Times )  </p><p>“You come away from Murphy’s book with a renewed amazement at what Lee was able to achieve with a single perfect novel.” (Entertainment Weekly ) </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>Book Description</strong></p><blockquote><p>In over his head with two pigs, a dozen chickens, and a baby due any minute, the acclaimed author of <em>Truck: A Love Story</em> gives us a humorous, heartfelt memoir of a new life in the country. </p></blockquote><p>Last seen sleeping off his wedding night in the back of a 1951 International Harvester pickup, Michael Perry is now living in a rickety Wisconsin farmhouse. Faced with thirty-seven acres of fallen fences and overgrown fields, and informed by his pregnant wife that she intends to deliver their baby at home, Perry plumbs his unorthodox childhood—his city-bred parents took in more than a hundred foster children while running a ramshackle dairy farm—for clues to how to proceed as a farmer, a husband, and a father. </p><p>And when his daughter Amy starts asking about God, Perry is called upon to answer questions for which he's not quite prepared. He muses on his upbringing in an obscure fundamentalist Christian sect and weighs the long-lost faith of his childhood against the skeptical alternative ("You cannot toss your seven-year-old a copy of <em>Being and Nothingness</em>"). </p><p>Whether Perry is recalling his childhood ("I first perceived my father as a farmer the night he drove home with a giant lactating Holstein tethered to the bumper of his Ford Falcon") or what it's like to be bitten in the butt while wrestling a pig ("two firsts in one day"), <em>Coop</em> is filled with the humor his readers have come to expect. But Perry also writes from the quieter corners of his heart, chronicling experiences as joyful as the birth of his child and as devastating as the death of a dear friend. </p><p>Alternately hilarious, tender, and as real as pigs in mud, <em>Coop</em> is suffused with a contemporary desire to reconnect with the earth, with neighbors, with meaning . . . and with chickens. </p><p><strong>Amazon Exclusive: Marshaling Memories by Mike Perry</strong></p><p>In forming a recollection of that compelling moment when I laid my tongue upon a frozen hammerhead--an act some forty years past--I trust my memory completely. I give this trust based on the electric clarity with which I can resurrect the physical sensation of my taste buds tacking themselves to the subzero steel with a merciless subcellular crinkle. I see no need to verify this reminiscence by licking additional frozen hammers. Still, memory is a notoriously unreliable narrator, and therefore, whenever possible, I rummage around for verification. Sometimes it is as simple as calling Mom. When you took my brother Jud to the Frost-Top Drive-In on his first day with the family after the social worker dropped him off, did he (as I recall) really eat his hamburger, wrapper and all? He ate the wrapper, says Mom, but it was a <em>hot dog</em>. And so the correction is made.* In other instances the verification is archival. Seeming to remember that I experienced my first religious conversion after a spate of bad behavior in third grade, I traveled to the grade school of my childhood and was allowed to rummage through a box in the subterranean boiler room until I found my third grade report cards. The following excerpt served as evidence that yes, the third grade me was in need of spiritual improvement. Also, my third grade teacher wasn’t a top hand with the typewriter: </p><p>_Work Habits: Continues to Waste Time. Mike appears to belligerentwhen asked to get to work._</p><p>In other cases we strive not for verification but elicitation. In looking at the first photo on the right I can recall what it was like to be a shirtless farm boy in the sun; the straw-like smell of the stubble and how it pricked the soles of my bare feet; and, out of the blue, an unexpected emotional wallop as I recognize my mother’s handwriting and realize that the evocation of a person hardly requires their likeness. Literal traces will do. </p><p>Sometimes--and I am not speaking here of fabrication--we must construct memories we never retained. Poorly-lit as it is, the secpnd photo tells me much about my world as it was on my third day of life: that my father was the type of man who would grab a sheet of discarded stock from the paper mill of his employment and fashion a sign to welcome his wife and firstborn son home from the hospital; that the big ship painting currently hanging upstairs in my parents farmhouse has been in the family since the beginning; and finally (this required close study until I made out the rocking chair in the shadows, and further realized that the two strips of shininess visible toward the right side of the piano were reflected from the gilded pages of two bibles), I was able to conjure the week-old me, safe in my mother’s arms, the Word of God close at hand, belief and unbelief yet to come.</p><p>*_The question of Mom as unreliable narrator is not to be raised. Shame on you._</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. Perry (_Population: 485_) is that nowadays rare memoirist whose eccentric upbringing inspires him to humor and sympathetic insight instead of trauma mongering and self-pity. His latest essays chronicle a year on 37 acres of land with his wife, daughters and titular menagerie of livestock (who are fascinating, exasperating personalities in their own right). But these luminous pieces meander back to his childhood on the hardscrabble Wisconsin dairy farm where his parents, members of a tiny fundamentalist Christian sect, raised him and dozens of siblings and foster-siblings, many of them disabled. Perry's latter-day story is a lifestyle-farming comedy, as he juggles freelance writing assignments with the feedings, chores and construction projects that he hopes will lend him some mud-spattered authenticity. Woven through are tender, uncloying recollections of the homespun virtues of his family and community, from which sprout lessons on the labors and rewards of nurturance (and the occasional need to slaughter what you've nurtured). Perry writes vividly about rural life; peck at any sentence—One of the [chickens] stretches, one leg and one wing back in the manner of a ballet dancer warming up before the barre—and you'll find a poetic evocation of barnyard grace. Photos. <em>(May)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>WWII was the most destructive war in history and caused the greatest dislocation of cultural artifacts. Hundreds of thousands of items remain missing. The main burden fell to a few hundred men and women, curators and archivists, artists and art historians from 13 nations. Their task was to save and preserve what they could of Europe's great art, and they were called the Monuments Men. (Coincidentally or not, this book appears only briefly after Ilaria Dagnini Brey's <em>The Venus Fixers: The Untold Story of the Allied Soldiers Who Saved Italy's Art During World War II</em>, Reviews, June 1.) Edsel has presented their achievements in documentaries and photographs. He and Witter (coauthor of the bestselling <em>Dewey</em>) are no less successful here. Focusing on the organization's role in northwest Europe, they describe the Monuments Men from their initial mission to limit combat damage to structures and artifacts to their changed focus of locating missing items. Most had been stolen by the Nazis. In southern Germany alone, over a thousand caches emerged, containing everything from church bells to insect collections. The story is both engaging and inspiring. In the midst of a total war, armies systematically sought to mitigate cultural loss. <em>(Sept. 3)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: "degenerate" works he despised.<br />In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Momuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. <br />Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>[Signature]_Reviewed by_ Jeb BrugmannIn <em>The Routes of Man</em>, Conover, author of the NBCC award–winning <em>Newjack</em>, reveals globalization's neural system growing along the world's expanding and connecting road systems. Governments and smugglers, armies and insurgents, and the local poor and international NGOs negotiate their ambitions at border crossings, checkpoints, and dives. Tracing the route of rare mahogany from Peru's illegal jungle logging camps to Manhattan's brownstones, he examines how highways connect the fates of forests, untouched tribes, and finicky antique collectors. In the Himalayan frontier of Kashmir, highways are ventures of national territorial control, and in China a growing superhighway system underscores the disparity between the haves and have-nots. Conover's voice is that of a sobered Kerouac, tamed by a bigger conscience, and on an open road increasingly controlled by corporate, government, and military interests. His acclaimed narrative gifts are on full display in a wonderfully evenhanded treatment of the roadway in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Highways have been co-opted for Israeli settlements, and Palestinian professors, engineers, and migrant laborers construct ever-shifting back-road routes and taxi-hops to earn their living. With Conover as our guide, we move through Israeli checkpoints in Palestine's West Bank and witness the daily indignities faced by corralled Palestinian commuters and the psychological angst of Israeli soldiers. There is no open road here, just a gritty, fractured infrastructure of hatred that strangles both nations.More subtly, Conover reveals the highway as common social territory, particularly as the meeting place between men and women. His treatment of east African truck drivers—whose travels are suspected to be linked with the global spread of AIDS—avoids stereotype and sensationalism. He is as attentive to and interested by the drudgery of transporting goods as with the truckers' polygamy or encounters with sex workers and police bribery. We meet truck drivers who are true gentlemen and tough, articulate women fully capable of negotiating roadside life. Conover maintains a commitment to accurate portrayal and embraces the whole world, not only its dramatic aspects. <em>The Routes of Man</em> seeks to describe more than to explain this ever-connecting world. It does the former with an agility that leaves the reader anticipating the next adventure. But the narrative fails to build the argument posed in its subtitle: that roads themselves have become a source of change in the world, independent of the nations, armies, and cities that build, control, and fill them with trade and traffic. But this many-textured journey is not to be missed. Conover deftly navigates the romance and harsh reality of a world intent on a real and not just a virtual connectedness._Jeb Brugmann is author of_ Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World_._ <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Reviewers were generally happy to follow Conover as he brought to life some of the world's most interesting and dangerous routes while managing to steer clear of the thousand "road-as-life" metaphors that could have congested the work. But they tended to criticize him with their own transit analogy: Routes of Man, many wrote, lacks the promised path connecting Conover's adventures perhaps because many of the essays originated as magazine articles in National Geographic, the Atlantic, and other publications. For some critics, this was no issue; the [hardcover's] subtitle, they argued, was clearly an imposition by the marketing department and shouldn't detract from the book. But others wanted more reflection from an author whom they respected for traveling so far and learning so much. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Big bad business shenanigans turn a poor little rich girl into a turbocharged avenger in bestseller Bagshawe's absorbing, if overheated, second Sheldonesque thriller (after <em>Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of the Game</em>). Against her family's wishes, New York socialite Grace Knowles marries Lenny Brookstein, who's more than 30 years her senior—and one of the cofounders of Quorum, the most profitable hedge fund of all time. For a while, everything's utterly fabulous, until Lenny's investors lose $75 billion. When Lenny disappears after going for a solo sail off Nantucket one summer day (his body surfaces a month later), Grace winds up in prison for securities fraud, among other charges. Determined to clear her name and Lenny's, Grace pulls off a daring escape. NYPD Det. Mitch Connors sets out to catch the elusive society beauty, but in the course of his hunt provides her some unexpected help. Sheldon fans will find only tenuous links to Sheldon's own novels. <em>(June)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><blockquote><p>What happens when the woman who has everything loses everything . . . and the man who has nothing realizes he has nothing to lose? </p></blockquote><p>The young, naÏve wife of a multi-billionaire financial superstar, Grace Brookstein's life is the stuff of fantasy. In New York, Lenny Brookstein is the King of the Wall Street social scene, both liked and respected in the worlds of high finance and high society. </p><p>Then one day Lenny vanishes, his yacht discovered abandoned far out at sea. The police believe his death was no accident, that his involvement in a spectacular financial fraud was about to be exposed to the world. But Grace can't accept the terrible allegations now coming to light, and she <em>will</em> learn the truth . . . even if that truth destroys her. </p>


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<p class="description">To some, revenge is the only law … Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd returns in a new finger-on-the-pulse action adventure: if you like Andy McNab, you’ll love Leather.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The last stand against the self-proclaimed God, Adam, has retreated to the anarchic planet Bakunin-a world besieged by civil war. Humanity's last hope lies with Nickolai Rajasthan, a Moreau who believes that the human race that created his kind is already damned beyond redemption.</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>An unseen bell haunts a seaside town and a magical mansion in this delicate fable from World Fantasy Award winner McKillip (_Od Magic_). Inside the baffling Aislinn House, young chambermaid Emma, opening an ordinary cabinet door, might find a rack of towels or encounter knights, crows and a lonely princess. As Lady Eglantyne, the ancient matron of the house, lies dying, her long-lost grand-niece is sent for. The townspeople are delighted by wealthy, city-bred Miranda Beryl, but suspicious of her eagerness to make herself at home and inherit the house—spellbound bell and all. Meanwhile, vacationing academic Ridley Dow's interest in Aislinn House hints at another motive for his visit to the village beside the ocean. Romantic intrigue and touches of this fantastic make this light mystery an easy and pleasant read. <em>(Sept.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>The small seaside town of Sealey Head is home to a few families, an inn, and Aislinn House, an old mansion with a special power—its doors sometimes open onto the world of faerie, where princesses like young Ysabo occupy their time with a complex ritual and knights exist to marry the princesses. Each day at sunset, a bell sounds, heard by everyone, yet its whereabouts and the identity of its ringer remain unknown—until a few strangers arrive to unlock an ancient past. McKillip (_Song for the Basilisk_; <em>Solstice Wood</em>) weaves elegant modern fairy tales from simple themes, drawing the mythical and everyday worlds into an enchanted union. Elegant, deceptively spare prose and well-developed characters make this a good choice for adult and YA fantasy collections. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Summoner-King Martris Drayke must attempt to meet this great threat, gathering an army from a country ravaged by civil war. Tris seeks new allies from among the living - and the dead - as an untested generation of rulers face their first battle. Meanwhile, the legendary Dread are stirring in their burrows after millennia of silence and no one knows what hand wakes them and whom they will serve when they rise.  </p><p>Now, Drayke turns to the Sworn, a nomadic clan of warriors bound to protect the Dread. But even the mighty Sworn do not know what will happen when the Dread awake. All are certain, though, that war is coming to the Winter Kingdoms.  </p><p>THE SWORN is the beginning of a new adventure set in the world of The Chronicles of the Necromancer. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Gail Z. Martin discovered her passion for SF, fantasy and ghost stories in elementary school. The first story she wrote - at age five - was about a vampire. Her favorite TV show as a preschooler was <em>Dark Shadows</em>. At age 14 she decided to become a writer. She enjoys attending SF/Fantasy conventions, Renaissance fairs and living history sites. She is married, and has three children, a Himalayan cat and a golden retriever. </p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>'It's an old story but Cameron gives it tremendous narrative power.' OXFORD TIMES </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Arimnestos is a farm boy when war breaks out between the citizens of his native Plataea and and their overbearing neighbours, Thebes. Standing in the battle line - the wall of bronze - for the first time, alongside his father and brother, he shares in a famous and unlikely victory. But after being knocked unconscious in the melee, he awakes not a hero, but a slave. Betrayed by his jealous and cowardly cousin, the freedom he fought for has now vanished, and he becomes the property of a rich citizen of Ephesus. So begins an epic journey from slavery that takes the young Arimnestos through a world poised on the brink of an epic confrontation, as the emerging civilization of the Greeks starts to flex its muscles against the established empire of the Persians. As he tries to make his fortune and revenge himself on the man who disinherited him, Arimnestos discovers that he has a talent that pays well in this new, violent world, for like his hero, Achilles, he is 'a killer of men'. </p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In Gortner's latest riveting historical (after The Last Queen), the influential Dudley family sends orphan servant Brendan Prescott to serve their cruel son, Lord Robert, at King Edward's court, and the young man is soon caught up in intrigue, suspicion, and shifting loyalties. Young King Edward is under the thumb of the Dudleys, but illness is greatly affecting his influence. Then the lion-eyed Princess Elizabeth, whom the Dudleys view as a threat, arrives and Prescott becomes a spy for her protector, William Cecil. Deeper involvement in the conspiracies surrounding the throne makes Prescott increasingly uncertain of loyalties, including his own, and he begins to question his fate and identity. In Gortner's capable hands, Prescott is a believable and enjoyable hero, a man of strong loyalties but naïve enough to be exploited. And while the Dudleys are mostly broadly drawn villains, Robert has depth, and though readers familiar with the Tudor era will know the key players, they may be surprised by their depiction here. Gortner handles action with aplomb, adding a riveting, fast-paced thriller to the crowded genre of Tudor fiction. (Feb.) <br>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>In 1553, England is a dangerous place to be. King Edward is on his deathbed. Vying for the crown are Elizabeth, her half sister Mary, and their cousin, Lady Jane Grey, who is manipulated by her powerful father-in-law. Into the midst of all this drama rides Brendan Prescott, a 20-year-old orphan raised by the servants at the Duke of Northumberland’s country home. Sent to court to serve the duke’s sons, one of his first tasks is to deliver a secret missive to Elizabeth. But Brendan is soon lured by Elizabeth’s protector, William Cecil, into working for Elizabeth instead, as Cecil promises to help Brendan decipher the mystery of his parentage. Amid crosses and double crosses, Brendan realizes he has to choose a side, for the issue of succession to the throne quickly becomes a matter of life and death—and not just for the potential monarch. An exciting, vividly rendered story of intrigue and espionage. --Hilary Hatton </p>

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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>A Letter from Author Karen Abbott</strong>   </p><p>My grandmother used to tell me stories about growing up during the Great Depression, and she once related a tale about a cousin who saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform in 1935. “She took a full fifteen minutes to peel off a single glove,” the cousin said, “and she was so damned good at it I would’ve gladly given her fifteen more.” This story got me thinking: who <em>was</em> Gypsy Rose Lee? And how did an awkward girl named Louise Hovick become her? I spent three years researching the answer, research that included connecting with Gypsy’s late sister, the actress June Havoc; I was the last person to interview her. </p><p>When I arrived at June’s Connecticut farm I found her lying in bed, her hair done up in pert white pigtails. She was ninety-four years old, give or take, and the legs that once danced on stages across the country were now motionless, two nearly imperceptible bumps tucked beneath crisp white sheets. Her eyes were a bold shade of blue and painfully sensitive to light. She told me the musical <em>Gypsy</em> distorted her childhood so thoroughly it was as if “I didn’t own me anymore.” She realized her sister was “screwing me out in public,” and that, in the end, there was no stopping either <em>Gypsy</em> or Gypsy; the play was both her sister’s monument and her best chance for monumental revisionism. </p><p>It took another visit for June to share more personal memories: money was Gypsy’s “god,” and she would do anything to anybody, including June, to make more of it. Gypsy did in fact do things, not only to June but also to herself—“terrible” and “awful” and “shocking” things, things beneath her sister’s formidable intellect and keen wit, things that made June believe, to that day, that love (even love fraught with competition and jealousy) never existed between them at all. </p><p>I asked and listened, for as much time as June gave me. I asked until her patience wore thin and her eyes watered with the effort to stay open. </p><p>“I hope I didn’t upset you today,” I whispered. “That’s not my intention.” </p><p>“I know,” June said. Those startling eyes found their focus, settling on mine. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more open about some things… I’m still ashamed for her. I wish they hadn’t happened.” </p><p>“Would Gypsy wish the same?” I asked. </p><p>“She had no shame.” </p><p>A pause, and I said, feebly, “You were a good sister to her.” </p><p>A hand tunneled out from the sheet. She coiled long, blade-thin fingers around my wrist. </p><p>“I was no sister,” June said. “I was a knot in her life. I was nothing.” </p><p>She retracted her hand, gave her eyes permission to close. I kissed her cheek and crept out the bedroom door. I was grateful she let me inside—even on the periphery, even briefly¬—and I suspected she was saving her own questions for the day she reunited with the sister she did profess to love, the one she still called Louise. </p><h3>Review</h3><p><em></em>Praise for <em>American Rose</em>:<br /><em></em><br />"Abbott creates a brainy striptease similar to the one her subject may have performed: uncovering doozies in one chapter about Lee's outrageous life, followed in the next by the less salacious (but always captivating) details about how New York City's Minsky brothers, who played a crucial role in Lee's stardom, built their burlesque empire." —_Newsday_  </p><p>"At its core, <em>American Rose</em> is a haunting portrait of a woman 'giving what she has to, keeping all she can,' offering her audiences a sassy, confident self while making sure they would never know the damaged soul who created her." —_The_ <em>Los Angeles Times</em>  </p><p>"_American Rose_ is the rare biography that captures the imagination and doesn't let go. It would scare the bejeesus out of Gypsy Rose Lee, and it's guaranteed to enthrall readers." —_Book Page  </p><p><em>"[Abbott's] portrait of the famed stripper is both darker and more inspiring than the famed stripper's version of her life as filtered by Broadway or Hollywood." —</em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution <br />_<br /><em></em><br />Praise for Karen Abbott’s <em>Sin in the Second City</em><em></em>  </p><p>“A delicious history . . . a lush love letter to the underworld . . . [Abbott] describes the Levee’s characters in such detail that it’s easy to mistake this meticulously researched history for literary fiction.”—_The New York Times Book Review_  </p><p>“[Abbott’s] research enables the kind of vivid description à la fellow journalist Erik Larson’s The <em>Devil in the White City</em> that makes what could be a dry historic account an intriguing read.”—_The Seattle Times_  </p><p>“[A] satisfyingly lurid tale . . . Change the hemlines, add 100 years, and the book could be filed under current affairs.”—_USA Today_  </p><p>“Assiduously researched . . . Even this book’s minutiae . . . make for good storytelling.”—_The New York Times_  </p><p>“A colorful history of old Chicago that reads like a novel.”—_The Atlanta Journal-Constitution_  </p><p>“Lavish . . . an immensely readable book.”—_The Wall Street Journal _</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Andrew Mueller couldn't decide between being a rock journalist, travel writer or foreign correspondent so he hit upon the novel, if time consuming, idea of trying to be all three at the same time. ROCK AND HARD PLACES is a retrospective of the backstages, front lines and assorted side shows he's encountered over the past 20 years. Among his adventures, he cracks America with Radiohead, wanders all over the shop with U2, and tunes into the music scene in bombed out Sarajevo. He accidentally goes to war in Bosnia, watches Def Leppard play in a Moroccan cave, and tries to make sense of Gallipoli on Anzac Day. He's funny, unpredictable and occasionally makes a point.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Light and funny, with a bitter aftertaste, the action of <em>Sellevision</em> takes place behind the scenes (and on the set) of a successful television shopping network, where a feminine role model, Peggy Jean Smythe, the married, Christian mother of three, begins receiving suspicious e-mail from a viewer who insists that Peggy's hairy earlobe is obscuring her presentation of jewelry during the broadcast. When Peggy fails to respond to the e-mail, but silently waxes her lobe, the cruel notes escalate, until Peggy believes herself to be suffering from a hormonal crisis that has given her a mustache, a gruff voice, and the manner of a lumberjack. Meanwhile, one of her cohosts, Max Andrews, has been fired for accidentally exposing himself during a children's special, and learns just how undesirable a commodity a penis-baring ex-Sellevision host can be on the job market. The book is an unusually smooth read for a first novel, with six or seven truly inspired lines. <em>--Regina Marler</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>A relentless spoof of cable's home-shopping mania shamelessly borrows from gossip tabloids, TV talk shows and the endlessly loopy world of advertising. This first novel dives behind the scenes of Sellevision, "America's premier retail broadcasting network," as the channel confronts its first juicy scandal. Much-loved and handsome host Max Andrews has accidentally exposed his private parts during a "Toys for Tots" segment, and the flood of invective from outraged viewers forces the network to fire him. Though Max struggles to find another job, he bounces back nicely by segueing into an adult-film career. Meanwhile, another beloved host, prim and perky Peggy Jean Smythe, receives insulting e-mail from a mysterious fan named Zoe, whose snide commentary about Peggy's hairy earlobes and clumpy mascara sends Peggy over the edge into Valium addiction and heavy drinking. Peggy Jean's picture-perfect family is on the rocks, too: her husband, John, is happily seducing the nubile and willing 16-year-old next door. While Peggy Jean seeks solace through the guidance of Debby Boone and rehab, someone else must step in to peddle the Princess Diana memorabilia and the Dazzling Diamonelle merchandise. Either of two lead candidates for the job may also be the creepy e-mail stalker: Trish Mission, the innocent, young newcomer, or Leigh Bushmore, executive producer Howard Toast's mistress. This kaleidoscope of gleefully salacious intrigue aims to titillate and amuse in a purposefully over-the-top way. Advertising copywriter Burroughs throws in some witty zingers but, overall, the energy of this satire of commercial madness almost peters out before the last FuturePop Popcorn Popper or Moisture-Whik Control Panties are sold. (Sept.) <br />Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>Book Description</strong></p><p>In <em>Summer World: A Season of Bounty</em>, Bernd Heinrich brings us the same bottomless reserve of wonder and reverence for the teeming animal life of backwoods New England that he brought us in Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. Now he is focusing on the animal kingdom in the extremes of the warmer months, with all its feeding, nesting, fighting, and mating. </p><p>Whether presenting disquisitions on ant wars, the predatory characteristics of wasps, the mating rituals of woodpeckers, or describing an encounter with a road full of wood frogs, <em>Summer World</em> never stops observing the beautifully complex interactions of animals and plants with nature, giving extraordinary depth to the relationships between habitat and the warming of the earth. How can cicadas survive—and thrive—at temperatures pushing 115°F? Do hummingbirds know what they're up against before they migrate over the Gulf of Mexico? Why do some trees stop growing taller even when three months of warm weather remain? With awe and unmatched expertise, Heinrich explores hundreds of questions like these. </p><p>Exquisitely illustrated with dozens of the author's own drawings, <em>Summer World</em> is Bernd Heinrich's most engaging book to date, a fascinating work from one of our very best science writers. </p><p><strong>On <em>Summer World</em>: An Amazon Exclusive Essay by Bernd Heinrich</strong></p><p>Summer, as I experience it, is not just one time. In terms of living, it is a time of courting, birthing, foraging and feeding, avoiding being eaten, growing, and lastly preparing for winter. Furthermore, unlike in winter or life under severe desert conditions, nothing is static. Most of us live in a world where timing is everything. Here in Vermont and Maine where I live, there is about a week to prepare the soil, another to plant the peas, another to put in the tomato plants. There is a week where the bees pollinate the apple trees and a week for us to harvest the fruit, and another to dig the potatoes. All nature is on a tight schedule. The wood frogs mate in mid-April, the robins return late April, the blueberries bloom in May, and the geese migrate north the second week in October. Summer as we know it is not a uniform struggle against excessive heat and lack of water. It is instead a continually shifting schedule of living where the lives of one species adjust to those of others.</p><p>So, as I set out to write <em>Summer World</em>, my focus changed. One potential approach was to discuss various topics such as mating, nesting, feeding and predator avoidance. Instead, it seemed possibly more engaging to concentrate on conspicuous aspects of the lives of common, every-day animals and plants that we tend to take for granted but that are marvelous because of their hidden agendas and concealed complexities.</p><p>It seems to me that we are in a perpetual crisis mode where attention is rightly focused on what is wrong with the world, although too little appreciation is given to what is right with it. Nature is always right. It always bats last; it is the final arbiter of all things that concern every living thing. So I focused on the first thing I saw that captured my attention: mating wood frogs. This species breeds in large crowds that gather for a one- to several-day orgy in almost every temporary little pool, of which there are more that a dozen within my neighborhood. It was a joy to watch the frogs’ antics, and I tried to trick them to find out what they respond to, and to then contemplate and figure out their various stratagems. The frogs were strange, comical and counter-intuitive. The noisy males were not only competing fiercely to catch any female they could but also unknowingly, I presume, cooperating in attracting them. Nothing that they did was obvious to me without first delving into their detailed life histories.</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In his pursuit of actively observing his camp in the forests of western Maine and the woods, beaver bog and gardens around his Vermont home, Heinrich (_The Trees in My Forest_) delights with the surprising activities of local flora and fauna—and his own scientific antics: with a pet grackle named Crackle, he raids wasp nests to see what the red-eyed vireo will do with the paper and builds platforms in trees to find out who visits the sapsucker lick (hummingbirds, hawks and warblers). For entertainment, he recommends, There is a solution that beats... a television set with 100 channels, by a mile: watching ants and other critters. The book features such mysteries as the significance of the mating habits of wood frogs and the eating patterns of caterpillars, but Heinrich also takes time to observe <em>Homo sapiens</em>, remarking that, like birds, we live in a perpetual summer, not by strenuous biannual migrations but by creating and retreating into 'climate bubbles,' reminding readers that they need clear vision and also a spiritual imperative so that we will focus on the ultimate ecology, not the proximate economy. <em>(Apr.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>The author of the breakout hit <em>Here Comes Everybody</em> reveals how new technology is changing us from consumers to collaborators, unleashing a torrent of creative production that will transform our world. </strong>   </p><p>For decades, technology encouraged people to squander their time and intellect as passive consumers. Today, tech has finally caught up with human potential. In <em>Cognitive Surplus</em>, Internet guru Clay Shirky forecasts the thrilling changes we will all enjoy as new digital technology puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use at last.   </p><p>Since we Americans were suburbanized and educated by the postwar boom, we've had a surfeit of intellect, energy, and time-what Shirky calls a cognitive surplus. But this abundance had little impact on the common good because television consumed the lion's share of it-and we consume TV passively, in isolation from one another. Now, for the first time, people are embracing new media that allow us to pool our efforts at vanishingly low cost. The results of this aggregated effort range from mind expanding-reference tools like Wikipedia-to lifesaving-such as Ushahidi.com, which has allowed Kenyans to sidestep government censorship and report on acts of violence in real time.   </p><p>Shirky argues persuasively that this cognitive surplus-rather than being some strange new departure from normal behavior-actually returns our society to forms of collaboration that were natural to us up through the early twentieth century. He also charts the vast effects that our cognitive surplus-aided by new technologies-will have on twenty-first-century society, and how we can best exploit those effects. Shirky envisions an era of lower creative quality on average but greater innovation, an increase in transparency in all areas of society, and a dramatic rise in productivity that will transform our civilization.   </p><p>The potential impact of cognitive surplus is enormous. As Shirky points out, Wikipedia was built out of roughly 1 percent of the man-hours that Americans spend watching TV every year. Wikipedia and other current products of cognitive surplus are only the iceberg's tip. Shirky shows how society and our daily lives will be improved dramatically as we learn to exploit our goodwill and free time like never before. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>Clay Shirky</strong> teaches at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, where he researches the interrelated effects of our social and technological networks. He has consulted with a variety of groups working on network design, including Nokia, the BBC, Newscorp, Microsoft, BP, Global Business Network, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Navy, the Libyan government, and Lego(r). His writings have appeared in <em>The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times</em> (of London), <em>Harvard Business Review, Business 2.0</em>, and <em>Wired</em>. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p><em>Essential SQLAlchemy</em> introduces a high-level open-source code library that makes it easier for Python programmers to access relational databases such as Oracle, DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. SQLAlchemy has become increasingly popular since its release, but it still lacks good offline documentation. This practical book fills the gap, and because a developer wrote it, you get an objective look at SQLAlchemy's tools rather than an advocate's description of all the "cool" features.  </p><p>SQLAlchemy includes both a database server-independent SQL expression language and an object-relational mapper (ORM) that lets you map "plain old Python objects" (POPOs) to database tables without substantially changing your existing Python code. <em>Essential SQLAlchemy</em> demonstrates how to use the library to create a simple database application, walks you through simple queries, and explains how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to multiple databases simultaneously with the same Metadata. You also learn how to:  </p><ul> <li>     Create custom types to be used in your schema, and when it's useful to use custom rather than built-in types </li> <li>     Run queries, updates, and deletes with SQLAlchemy's SQL expression language </li> <li>     Build an object mapper with SQLAlchemy, and understand the differences between this and active record patterns used in other ORMs </li> <li>     Create objects, save them to a session, and flush them to the database </li> <li>     Use SQLAlchemy to model object oriented inheritance </li> <li>     Provide a declarative, active record pattern for use with SQLAlchemy using the Elixir extension </li> <li>     Use the SQLSoup extension to provide an automatic metadata and object model based on database reflection </li></ul><p>In addition, you'll learn how and when to use other extensions to SQLAlchemy, including AssociationProxy, OrderingList, and more.  </p><p><em>Essential SQLAlchemy</em> is the much-needed guide for every Python developer using this code library. Instead of a feature-by-feature documentation, this book takes an "essentials" approach that gives you exactly what you need to become productive with SQLAlchemy right away.</p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Rick Copeland is a senior software engineer with retail analytics firm Predictix, LLC, where he uses SQLAlchemy extensively, primarily for web application development. He has been using Python full-time for development since 2005, in projects as diverse as demand forecasting, business web applications, compilers, and hardware synthesis.</p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p>“A bold, terrifying read that goes down smooth thanks to a crisp infusion of humor. Thanks to this book, I can now aspire to dying in cooler ways than I ever thought possible. F<em></em>k you, old age. I’m holding out for a megatsunami.” <br /><strong>—Daniel H. Wilson, author of <em>How To Survive a Robot Uprising</em></strong><br /><em> </em><br />“The book is proof that the ridiculous and the horrible are joined at the hip and will never be separated; in a universe that seems to continually be thinking up new ways to kill us, Brockway knows there is but one rational response: to point at it and laugh.” <br /><strong>—David Wong, author of <em>John Dies at the End</em></strong>  </p><p>“There has never been a hipper Prophet of Doom. Irreverently entertaining and terrifyingly accurate, the probability of our future death has never been more fun.” <br /><strong>—Michael Largo, author of <em>Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die</em></strong>  </p><p>“This book is hilarious. As if I wasn't already afraid the leave the house. What's that? Brockway suggests the apocalypse doesn't knock? What if I cower under a desk? Well, damn. I might as well have another nacho.” <br /><strong>—Garth Sundem, author of <em>The Geeks’ Guide to World Domination</em></strong></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>_Just when you thought you’d accepted your own mortality . . . <em>Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody</em> is bringing panic back. Twenty illustrated, hilariously fear-inducing  essays reveal the chilling and _very real <em>experiments, dangerous emerging technologies, and terrifying natural disasters that soon could</em>—_or very nearly already did_—_bring about the end of humanity. In short, everything in here will kill you and everyone you love. At any moment. And nobody’s told you about it_—_until now:_<br /><em> </em><br />•   Experiments in green energy like the HiPER, which uses massive lasers to create a tiny “contained” sun; it’s an idea that could save the world if it doesn’t consume us all in a fiery fusion reaction first. <br />•   Global disasters like the hypercane—a hurricane so large it could cover all of North America and shoot trailer parks into space!<br />•   Terrifying new developments in robotics like the EATR, which powers itself on meat_—_an invention in the running for “Worst Decision Made by Anybody.” </p>


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<h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 5–9—The mantra of the environmental movement is "think globally, act locally," and this book offers examples of local heroes who are helping to save the planet. Maps, illustrations, and photographs are used to good effect. Each of the 12 chapters tells the story of a person doing his/her part to preserve our environment. Debby Tewa works to bring solar energy to Indian Country, and Sarah James speaks on behalf of the Gwich'in Indian Peoples of Alaska and Canada who want to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. Judy Bonds, a community activist in West Virginia, works to bring an end to mountaintop removal mining; and Omar Freilla founded ReBuilders Source, a New York City-based company that recycles building materials. Stories come from all across America and include a diverse group of men and women, making this volume of interest to a broad audience. A final section offers information on how readers can get involved in their own communities.—_Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL_ <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Rather than featuring the usual roundup of environmental heroes, this title spotlights 12 contemporary conservationists who are working to fight pollution in cities, oceans, and wetlands, from Alaska to Mexico City. Many of the featured activists are young people. At age 11, Alex Lin started a campaign in Rhode Island for the safe disposal of electronic waste (“Today’s technology should not become tomorrow’s toxic trash”). Erica Fernandez, a teenage Mexican immigrant in California, led a successful fight to prevent a pipeline that would transport highly explosive gas through her neighborhood. Julia Bonds, a coal-miner’s daughter in Appalachia, is working to replace coal with wind power. The book’s format is lackluster, but the black-and-white photos do show the individuals at work in their communities. The powerful mix of personal stories with crucial environmental and social issues will be a call to action for young readers, who will want to move on to the final section: “How You Can Get Involved.” Grades 6-10. --Hazel Rochman </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Sanderson's eerie second fantasy (after 2005's <em>Elantris</em>), set in a mist-haunted, ash-ridden world, pits Kelsier, "the Survivor of Hathsin," against the immortal Lord Ruler's 1,000-year domination of both the Great Houses and their serflike "skaa." Through Allomancy acquired in the Ruler's most hellish prison, Kelsier can "burn" 10 metals internally, fueling superhuman powers he uses to assemble rebels in a loose plan to destroy the nobility, the empire and the Lord Ruler himself. Kelsier uses Vin, a street urchin with the same Mistborn powers Kelsier possesses, to infiltrate the Great Houses' society, where she falls in love with philosopher prince Elend Venture. This mystico-metallurgical fantasy combines Vin's coming-of-age-in-magic and its well-worn theme of revolt against oppression with copious mutilations, a large-scale cast of thieves, cutthroats, conniving nobles and exotic mutants. The fast-paced action scenes temper Vin's interminable ballroom intrigues, while the characters, though not profoundly drawn, have a raw stereotypic appeal. <em>(July)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>The Sliver of Infinity, the Lord Ruler, is the locus of religious and temporal order in a world in which the skaa are slaves or worse. Half-skaa erstwhile thief Kelsior is the only person to survive and escape the Lord Ruler's most brutal prison, in which, however, he discovered he has the powers of the Mistborn, which are based on the internal "burning" of certain metals, all of which the Mistborn can use, while most others can burn only one. Now Kelsior plans his most daring raid ever, into the center of the palace to discover the secret of the Lord Ruler's power. Beforehand, his band finds the half-skaa orphan Vin in another thieving crew, where she's useful because she brings good luck. She is also Mistborn and, if she can master and learn to trust her powers, will enable Kelsior's crew to infiltrate the nobility and possibly overthrow the status quo. Intrigue, politics, and conspiracies mesh complexly in a world Sanderson realizes in satisfying depth and peoples with impressive characters. <em>Regina Schroeder</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The stories in Black's solid debut collection are fraught with loss, usually of a loved one. Evocative and lyrical, the characters' introspections, while sometimes overwrought, are balanced by the sharp dialogue. In The Guide, a father takes his blind teenage daughter to meet her new seeing-eye dog and is forced to confront her independence. While painting a portrait of a man with Alzheimer's, the aging main character of Immortalizing John Parker grapples with the recent death of her lover. The title story is the tale of neighboring couples battling over a fence, told from the perspective of the wife with terminal cancer. In Pine, a woman must decide whether to move on from the memory of her dead husband to begin a love affair with her male best friend. Each story is carefully crafted, though Black is at her best when she resists the impulse toward tidiness. <em>(Apr.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>A blind daughter prepares to leave her parents and go to college. An artist paints a portrait of a terminally ill man. A young widow contemplates life alone. This collection of poignant stories about life’s transitions examines the truths of human relationships, even when those truths seem almost unbearably depressing. On its own, each story is a delicately crafted look at relationships and life, and is easily read. As a collection, though, a moment or two of comic relief, or a story or two not about death, illness, dying, or betrayal, would help lighten the overall feeling of gloom the book currently evokes. These are well-written explorations of characters and situations sure to appeal to readers of Alice Munro and Mary Gaitskill. --Marta Segal Block </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In <em>Team of Rivals</em>, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods. </p><p>Ten years in the making, this engaging work reveals why "Lincoln's road to success was longer, more tortuous, and far less likely" than the other men, and why, when opportunity beckoned, Lincoln was "the best prepared to answer the call." This multiple biography further provides valuable background and insights into the contributions and talents of Seward, Chase, and Bates. Lincoln may have been "the indispensable ingredient of the Civil War," but these three men were invaluable to Lincoln and they played key roles in keeping the nation intact. --_Shawn Carkonen_</p><p><strong>The Team of Rivals</strong></p><p><em>Team of Rivals</em> doesn't just tell the story of Abraham Lincoln. It is a multiple biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that he put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. Here, Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles five of the key players in her book, four of whom contended for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and all of whom later worked together in Lincoln's cabinet. </p><p><strong>1. Edwin M. Stanton</strong><br />Stanton treated Lincoln with utter contempt at their initial acquaintance when the two men were involved in a celebrated law case in the summer of 1855. Unimaginable as it might seem after Stanton's demeaning behavior, Lincoln offered him "the most powerful civilian post within his gift"--the post of secretary of war--at their next encounter six years later. On his first day in office as Simon Cameron's replacement, the energetic, hardworking Stanton instituted "an entirely new regime" in the War Department. After nearly a year of disappointment with Cameron, Lincoln had found in Stanton the leader the War Department desperately needed. Lincoln's choice of Stanton revealed his singular ability to transcend personal vendetta, humiliation, or bitterness. As for Stanton, despite his initial contempt for the man he once described as a "long armed Ape," he not only accepted the offer but came to respect and love Lincoln more than any person outside of his immediate family. He was beside himself with grief for weeks after the president's death.</p><p><strong>2. Salmon P. Chase</strong><br />Chase, an Ohioan, had been both senator and governor, had played a central role in the formation of the national Republican Party, and had shown an unflagging commitment to the cause of the black man. No individual felt he <em>deserved</em> the presidency as a natural result of his past contributions more than Chase himself, but he refused to engage in the practical methods by which nominations are won. He had virtually no campaign and he failed to conciliate his many enemies in Ohio itself. As a result, he alone among the candidates came to the convention without the united support of his own state. Chase never ceased to underestimate Lincoln, nor to resent the fact that he had lost the presidency to a man he considered his inferior. His frustration with his position as secretary of the treasury was alleviated only by his his dogged hope that he, rather than Lincoln, would be the Republican nominee in 1864, and he steadfastly worked to that end. The president put up with Chase's machinations and haughty yet fundamentally insecure nature because he recognized his superlative accomplishments at treasury. Eventually, however, Chase threatened to split the Republican Party by continuing to fill key positions with partisans who supported his presidential hopes. When Lincoln stepped in, Chase tendered his resignation as he had three times before, but this time Lincoln stunned Chase by calling his bluff and accepting the offer.</p><p><strong>3. Abraham Lincoln</strong><br />When Lincoln won the Republican presidential nomination in 1860 he seemed to have come from nowhere--a backwoods lawyer who had served one undistinguished term in the House of Representatives and lost two consecutive contests for the U.S. Senate. Contemporaries attributed his surprising nomination to chance, to his moderate position on slavery, and to the fact that he hailed from the battleground state of Illinois. But Lincoln's triumph, particularly when viewed against the efforts of his rivals, owed much to a remarkable, unsuspected political acuity and an emotional strength forged in the crucible of hardship and defeat. That Lincoln, after winning the presidency, made the unprecedented decision to incorporate his eminent rivals into his political family, the cabinet, was evidence of an uncanny self-confidence and an indication of what would prove to others a most unexpected greatness.</p><p><strong>4. William H. Seward</strong><br />A celebrated senator from New York for more than a decade and governor of his state for two terms before going to Washington, Seward was certain he was going to receive his party's nomination for president in 1860. The weekend before the convention in Chicago opened he had already composed a first draft of the valedictory speech he expected to make to the Senate, assuming that he would resign his position as soon as the decision in Chicago was made. His mortification at not having received the nomination never fully abated, and when he was offered his cabinet post as secretary of state he intended to have a major role in choosing the remaining cabinet members, conferring upon himself a position in the new government more commanding than that of Lincoln himself. He quickly realized the futility of his plan to relegate the president to a figurehead role. Though the feisty New Yorker would continue to debate numerous issues with Lincoln in the years ahead, exactly as Lincoln had hoped and needed him to do, Seward would become his closest friend, advisor, and ally in the administration. More than any other cabinet member Seward appreciated Lincoln's peerless skill in balancing factions both within his administration and in the country at large.</p><p><strong>5. Edward Bates</strong><br />A widely respected elder statesman, a delegate to the convention that framed the Missouri Constitution, and a former Missouri congressman whose opinions on national matters were still widely sought, Bates's ambitions for political success were gradually displaced by love for his wife and large family, and he withdrew from public life in the late 1840s. For the next 20 years he was asked repeatedly to run or once again accept high government posts but he consistently declined. However in early 1860, with letters and newspaper editorials advocating his candidacy crowding in upon him, he decided to try for the highest office in the land. After losing to Lincoln he vowed, in his diary, to decline a cabinet position if one were to be offered, but with the country "in trouble and danger" he felt it was his duty to accept when Lincoln asked him to be attorney general. Though Bates initially viewed Lincoln as a well-meaning but incompetent administrator, he eventually concluded that the president was an unmatched leader, "very near being a 'perfect man.'" </p><p><strong>The Essential Doris Kearns Goodwin</strong></p><p><strong>More New Reading on the Civil War</strong></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Pulitzer Prize–winner Goodwin (_No Ordinary Time_) seeks to illuminate what she interprets as a miraculous event: Lincoln's smooth (and, in her view, rather sudden) transition from underwhelming one-term congressman and prairie lawyer to robust chief executive during a time of crisis. Goodwin marvels at Lincoln's ability to co-opt three better-born, better-educated rivals—each of whom had challenged Lincoln for the 1860 Republican nomination. The three were New York senator William H. Seward, who became secretary of state; Ohio senator Salmon P. Chase, who signed on as secretary of the treasury and later was nominated by Lincoln to be chief justice of the Supreme Court; and Missouri's "distinguished elder statesman" Edward Bates, who served as attorney general. This is the "team of rivals" Goodwin's title refers to.The problem with this interpretation is that the metamorphosis of Lincoln to Machiavellian master of men that Goodwin presupposes did not in fact occur overnight only as he approached the grim reality of his presidency. The press had labeled candidate Lincoln "a fourth-rate lecturer, who cannot speak good grammar." But East Coast railroad executives, who had long employed Lincoln at huge prices to defend their interests as attorney and lobbyist, knew better. Lincoln was a shrewd political operator and insider long before he entered the White House—a fact Goodwin underplays. On another front, Goodwin's spotlighting of the president's three former rivals tends to undercut that Lincoln's most essential Cabinet-level contacts were not with Seward, Chase and Bates, but rather with secretaries of war Simon Cameron and Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. These criticisms aside, Goodwin supplies capable biographies of the gentlemen on whom she has chosen to focus, and ably highlights the sometimes tangled dynamics of their "team" within the larger assemblage of Lincoln's full war cabinet. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Scientists and academics have spent entire careers investigating what makes people happy. But hidden in obscure scholarly journals and reports, their research is all too often inaccessible to ordinary people. Now the bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series distills the scientific findings of over a thousand of the most important studies on happiness into easy-to-digest nuggets of advice. Each of the hundred practices is illustrated with a clear example and illuminated by a straightforward explanation of the science behind it to show you how to transform a ho-hum existence into a full and happy life. </p><ul> <li><p>Believe in yourself: Across all ages, and all groups, a solid belief in one's own abilities increases life satisfaction by about 40 percent, and makes us happier both in our home lives and in our work lives.</p> </li> <li><p>Turn off your TV: Watching too much TV can triple our hunger for more possessions, while reducing our personal contentment by about 5 percent for every hour a day we watch.</p> </li></ul><h3>About the Author</h3><p>David Niven, Ph.D., bestselling author of the 100 Simple Secrets series, is a psychologist and social scientist who teaches at Ohio State University. </p><hr /><p>David Niven, Ph.D., es el autor de los bestsellers internacionales <em>Los 100 Secretos de la Gente Exitosa</em>, y <em>Los 100 Secretos de las Buenas Relaciones</em>. Es psicólogo y científico social, y enseña en la Florida Atlantic University.</p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p><strong>Praise for Nassim Nicholas Taleb</strong>  </p><p>“The most prophetic voice of all.” —_GQ_  </p><p>“The hottest thinker in the world.” —Bryan Appleyard, <em>The Sunday Times</em> (London)  </p><p>“[Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne.” —_The Wall Street Journal_  </p><p>“Idiosyncratically brilliant.” —Niall Ferguson, <em>Los Angeles Times</em>  </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>By the author of the modern classic <em>The Black Swan</em>, this collection of aphorisms and meditations expresses his major ideas in ways you least expect.  </p><p><em>The Bed of Procrustes</em> takes its title from Greek mythology: the story of a man who made his visitors fit his bed to perfection by either stretching them or cutting their limbs. It represents Taleb’s view of modern civilization’s hubristic side effects—modifying humans to satisfy technology, blaming reality for not fitting economic models, inventing diseases to sell drugs, defining intelligence as what can be tested in a classroom, and convincing people that employment is not slavery.   </p><p>Playful and irreverent, these aphorisms will surprise you by exposing self-delusions you have been living with but never recognized.  </p><p>With a rare combination of pointed wit and potent wisdom, Taleb plows through human illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>This fast-paced interstellar military drama doesn't quite meet the high expectations set by its predecessor, Scalzi's acclaimed <em>Old Man's War </em>(2005), but it comes impressively close. Shifting focus from seniors in young bodies to infants in old bodies, it follows Jared Dirac, a superhuman soldier, from unusual birth to ambiguous death. Dirac is an altered clone of Charles Boutin, a military scientist who betrayed humankind to alien aggressors, and the Colonial Defense Forces' only hope of finding Boutin lies in transplanting his memories into Dirac's brain. When the transplant seems to fail, Dirac is sent to Special Forces, known as the Ghost Brigades for their habit of creating new soldiers from the DNA of the dead. His indoctrination there comes in handy when Boutin's memories begin to surface. Scalzi pays gleeful homage to <em>Ender's Game</em>, <em>The Forever War</em> and <em>Starship Troopers</em>, sometimes at the expense of originality. All he needs to make the jump from good to great is to trust in his own ideas. <em>(Mar.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Though it's a sequel of sorts to his 2005 debut, <em>Old Man's War</em>, John Scalzi's new novel is hardly business as usual. Beyond the battles and the portent of humanity's end, Scalzi plays with deeper issues of identity in an increasingly technological world in this second volume of a proposed trilogy. A switch from first person to third and one narrator (Dirac) who is unaware of his own role in the story might hold the book back from must-read status, but otherwise <em>The Ghost Brigades</em> gleams with the best traits of thoughtful SF.[HTML_REMOVED]<em>Copyright © 2004 Phillips &amp; Nelson Media, Inc.</em></p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>"In the field of film aesthetics, it is the first important American work, still important--The Art of the Moving Picture is astonishing."<br />--Stanley Kauffmann  </p><p>Written in 1915, The Art of the Moving Picture by poet Vachel Lindsay is the first book to treat movies as art. Lindsay writes a brilliant analysis of the early silent films (including several now lost films). He is extraordinarily prescient about the future of moviemaking--particularly about the business, the prominence of technology, and the emergence of the director as the author of the film. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>"In the field of film aesthetics, it is the first important American work, still important--The Art of the Moving Picture is astonishing."<br />--Stanley Kauffmann  </p><p>Written in 1915, The Art of the Moving Picture by poet Vachel Lindsay is the first book to treat movies as art. Lindsay writes a brilliant analysis of the early silent films (including several now lost films). He is extraordinarily prescient about the future of moviemaking--particularly about the business, the prominence of technology, and the emergence of the director as the author of the film. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>For crafty green types who want to master the fundamentals of a scratch pantry and have graduated from simple weekend jam and baking activities, this book offers a wide variety of recipes and blueprints for artisanal food projects. Forty projects with accompanying recipes appeal to a range of skill levels and palates. <em>D.I.Y. Delicious</em> goes beyond pickling and preserving into fermenting, culturing cheese, and brewing sodas and tonics. A total of 75 recipes and more than 50 step-by-step, color photographs lead the way to outfitting a scratch pantry that uses fewer ingredients to make delicious staples at a much lower cost. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Vanessa Barrington is a chef and author with co-writing credits on Heirloom Beans. She lives in Oakland, California.  </p><p>Vanessa Barrington is a chef and author with co-writing credits on Heirloom Beans. She lives in Oakland, California. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. A decade-long art scam that sullied the integrity of museum archives and experts alike is elegantly recounted by husband-and-wife journalists Salisbury and Sujo. In 1986, when struggling painter and single father John Myatt advertised copies of famous paintings, he never imagined he'd become a key player in one of Britain's biggest art frauds. Myatt soon met John Drewe, who claimed to be a physicist and avid art collector. Soon Drewe, a silver-tongued con man, was passing off Myatt's work as genuine, including paintings in the style of artists like Giacometti and Ben Nicholson. When buyers expressed concern about the works' provenance, Drewe began the painstaking process of falsifying records of ownership. Posing as a benefactor, Drewe even planted false documents in the archives of London's Tate Gallery, but suspicious historians and archivists eventually assisted Scotland Yard in bringing him to justice. Salisbury and Sujo (who died in 2008) evoke with flair the plush art world and its penetration by the seductive Drewe as well as the other players in this fascinating art drama. <em>(July 13)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>The true story of one of the twentieth century's most audacious art frauds </strong>   </p><p>Filled with extraordinary characters and told at breakneck speed, <em>Provenance</em> reads like a well-plotted thriller. But this is most certainly not fiction. It is the astonishing narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate cons in the history of art forgery. Stretching from London to Paris to New York, investigative reporters Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo recount the tale of infamous con man and unforgettable villain John Drewe and his accomplice, the affable artist John Myatt. Together they exploited the archives of British art institutions to irrevocably legitimize the hundreds of pieces they forged, many of which are still considered genuine and hang in prominent museums and private collections today. </p>


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<div><p class="description">Sam Flynn is the rebellious 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer who disappeared when Sam was just a child. When Sam looks into his father's disappearance, he finds himself pulled into the same world of brutal programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for almost 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidante, Quora, Kevin Flynn and his son Sam must embark on a life-and-death voyage across a visually-stunning cyber universe to put an end to the evil Clu and his reign of this digital world.</p>
<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Sam Flynn is the rebellious 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer who disappeared when Sam was just a child. When Sam looks into his father’s disappearance, he finds himself pulled into the same world of brutal programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for almost 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidante, Quora, Kevin Flynn and his son Sam must embark on a life-and-death voyage across a visually-stunning cyber universe to put an end to the evil Clu and his reign of this digital world.  </p>

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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>jQuery: Novice to Ninja is a compilation of best-practice jQuery solutions to meet the most challenging JavaScript problems. In this question-and-answer book on jQuery, you'll find a cookbook of ready-to-go solutions to help breathe life into your web page.   </p><p>Topics covered include: - Scrolling, Resizing and Animating Webpage elements - Backgrounds, Slideshows, and Crossfaders - Menus, Tabs, and Panels - Buttons, Fields, and Controls - Lists, Trees, and Tables - Frames, Windows, and Dialogs - Adding interactivity with Ajax - Using the jQuery User Interface Themeroller - Writing your own jQuery plug-ins  </p><p>All code used to create each solution is available for download and guaranteed to be simple, efficient and cross-browser compatible.</p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Sporting a Masters in Information Technology and a lifetime of experience on the "web of hard knocks", Earle Castledine (Mr Speaker) holds an interest in everything to do with computers. A Senior Systems Analyst and JavaScript expert - he is equally happy in the muddy pits of .NET code as in the fluffy fields of client-side interaction development. Co-creator of the client-side opus TurnTubelis, Earle recognizes the Internet not as a lubricant for social change, but as a vehicle for unleashing frivolous ECMAScript gadgets and interesting time-wasting technologies.</p><p>Craig Sharkie's intricate knowledge of best-practice JavaScript is apparent in his writing. He began his jQuery journey as a Fine Arts graduate turned programmer, and has successfully worked with some of the Web's biggest names. Craig discovered JavaScript in 1995 and has been an evangelist for the "good parts" since then. This is your chance to benefit from Craig's extensive experience.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Former hacker Kevin Poulsen has, over the past decade, built a reputation as one of the top investigative reporters on the cybercrime beat. In Kingpin, he pours his unmatched access and expertise into book form for the first time, delivering a gripping cat-and-mouse narrative-and an unprecedented view into the twenty-first century's signature form of organized crime. The word spread through the hacking underground like some unstoppable new virus: Someone-some brilliant, audacious crook-had just staged a hostile takeover of an online criminal network that siphoned billions of dollars from the US economy. The FBI rushed to launch an ambitious undercover operation aimed at tracking down this new kingpin; other agencies around the world deployed dozens of moles and double agents. Together, the cybercops lured numerous unsuspecting hackers into their clutches. . . . Yet at every turn, their main quarry displayed an uncanny ability to sniff out their snitches and see through their plots. The culprit they sought was the most unlikely of criminals: a brilliant programmer with a hippie ethic and a supervillain's double identity. As prominent white-hat hacker Max Vision Butler, he was a celebrity throughout the programming world, even serving as a consultant to the FBI. But as the black-hat Iceman, he found in the world of data theft an irresistible opportunity to test his outsized abilities. He infiltrated thousands of computers around the country, sucking down millions of credit card numbers at will. He effortlessly hacked his fellow hackers, stealing their ill-gotten gains from under their noses. Together with a smooth-talking con artist, he ran a massive real-world crime ring. And for years, he did it all with seeming impunity, even as countless rivals ran afoul of police. Yet as he watched the fraudsters around him squabble, their ranks riddled with infiltrators, their methods inefficient, he began to see in their dysfunction the ultimate challenge: He would stage his coup and fix what was broken, run things as they should be run-even if it meant painting a bull's-eye on his forehead. Through the story of this criminal's remarkable rise, and of law enforcement's quest to track him down, Kingpin lays bare the workings of a silent crime wave still affecting millions of Americans. In these pages, we are ushered into vast online-fraud supermarkets stocked with credit card numbers, counterfeit checks, hacked bank accounts, dead drops, and fake passports. We learn the workings of the numerous hacks-browser exploits, phishing attacks, Trojan horses, and much more-these fraudsters use to ply their trade, and trace the complex routes by which they turn stolen data into millions of dollars. And thanks to Poulsen's remarkable access to both cops and criminals, we step inside the quiet, desperate arms race that law enforcement continues to fight with these scammers today. Ultimately, Kingpin is a journey into an underworld of startling scope and power, one in which ordinary American teenagers work hand in hand with murderous Russian mobsters and where a simple Wi-Fi connection can unleash a torrent of gold worth millions. From the Hardcover edition.</p>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A newsbreaking memoir that tackles head-on the toughest challenge in the world today. When a dying King Hussein shocked the world by picking his son rather than his brother, the longtime crown prince, to be the next king of Jordan, no one was more surprised than the young head of Special Operations, who discovered his life was in for a major upheaval. This is the inspirational story of a young prince who went to boarding school in America and military academy in Britain and grew up believing he would be a soldier. Back home, he hunted down terrorists and modernized Jordan's Special Forces. Then, suddenly, he found himself king. Together with his wife, Queen Rania, he transformed what it meant to be a monarch, going undercover to escape the bubble of the court while she became the Muslim world's most passionate advocate of women's rights. In this exceptionally candid memoir, King Abdullah tackles the single toughest issue he faces head-on- how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian standoff- and reveals himself to be an invaluable intermediary between America and the Arab world. He writes about the impact of the Iraq war on his neighborhood and how best to tackle Iran's nuclear ambitions. Why would a sitting head of state choose to write about the most explosive issues he faces? King Abdullah does so now because he believes we face a moment of truth: a last chance for peace in the Middle East. The prize is enormous, the cost of failure far greater than we dare imagine.</p>
<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A newsbreaking memoir that tackles head-on the toughest challenge in the world today. When a dying King Hussein shocked the world by picking his son rather than his brother, the longtime crown prince, to be the next king of Jordan, no one was more surprised than the young head of Special Operations, who discovered his life was in for a major upheaval. This is the inspirational story of a young prince who went to boarding school in America and military academy in Britain and grew up believing he would be a soldier. Back home, he hunted down terrorists and modernized Jordan's Special Forces. Then, suddenly, he found himself king. Together with his wife, Queen Rania, he transformed what it meant to be a monarch, going undercover to escape the bubble of the court while she became the Muslim world's most passionate advocate of women's rights. In this exceptionally candid memoir, King Abdullah tackles the single toughest issue he faces head-on- how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian standoff- and reveals himself to be an invaluable intermediary between America and the Arab world. He writes about the impact of the Iraq war on his neighborhood and how best to tackle Iran's nuclear ambitions. Why would a sitting head of state choose to write about the most explosive issues he faces? King Abdullah does so now because he believes we face a moment of truth: a last chance for peace in the Middle East. The prize is enormous, the cost of failure far greater than we dare imagine.</p></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration." -- <em>John Updike</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>An impeccable inquiry into the proposition that supernatural events can happen in this world. C. S. Lewis uses his remarkable logic to build a solid argument for the existence of divine intervention. </p>

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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Illus. in full color. "Out shopping, the Bears look at frilly and silly hats, bumpy and lumpy ones. Offers slapstick humor and simple concepts of sizes and shape."--_School Library Journal. _</p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>Illus. in full color. "Out shopping, the Bears look at frilly and silly hats, bumpy and lumpy ones. Offers slapstick humor and simple concepts of sizes and shape."--_School Library Journal. _</p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Illus. in full color. Three terrified little bears explore the inside of a mysterious old tree and go <em>into, up, through, over, down,</em> and <em>out. </em></p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>Illus. in full color. Three terrified little bears explore the inside of a mysterious old tree and go <em>into, up, through, over, down,</em> and <em>out. </em></p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p>"Carried along by rhyme and rhythm, enlivened by humorous, colorful illustrations."--_Chicago Tribune. _ -- <em>Review</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>According to Papa Bear, a bear must use his “smarts” to search for honey. When he brings Brother Bear along on a hunt for honey, it takes more than a few missteps to outsmart the Bears. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>When Brother Bear gets a brand-new bike, he’s all set to ride it–that is, after Papa Bear shows him the rules of the road. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>Illus. in full color. Papa teaches Junior to ride a bicycle. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><em>not</em> the person you love but a doppelgänger: or, what Leo Liebenstein coolly terms a "simulacrum" of his wife Rema at the outset of <em>Atmospheric Disturbances</em>. David Byrne's infamous cry that "this is not my beautiful wife" seems the most likely response, but Leo's reaction to this sea change takes unpredictable and dazzlingly plotted turns in the story that follows. Leo's journey to recover the "real" Rema is nothing short of byzantine; among its many mysteries is the delightfully inscrutable Dr. Tzvi Gal-Chen, a master meteorologist who in cleverly constructed flashback sequences takes up residence in the daily rhythms of Leo and Rema's marriage and becomes as much a focus of Leo's obsession as his wife's whereabouts. (Think <em>--Anne Bartholomew</em>  </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. In this enthralling debut, psychiatrist Dr. Leo Liebenstein sets off to find his wife, Rema, who he believes has been replaced by a simulacrum. Also missing is one of Leo's patients, Harvey, who is convinced he receives coded messages (via Page Six in the <em>New York Post</em>) from the Royal Academy of Meteorology to control the weather. At Rema's urging, Leo pretends during his sessions with Harvey to be a Royal Academy agent (she thinks the fib could help break through to Harvey), and once Re- ma and Leo disappear, Leo turns to actual Royal Academy member Tzvi Gal-Chen's meteorological work to guide him in his search for his wife. Leo's quest takes him through Buenos Aires and Patagonia, and as he becomes increasingly delusional and erratic, Galchen adeptly reveals the actual situation to readers, including Rema's anguish and anger at her husband. Leo's devotion to the real Rema is heartbreaking and maddening; he cannot see that the woman he seeks has been with him all along. Don't be surprised if this gives you a <em>Crying of Lot 49</em> nostalgia hit. <em>(June)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. This hard-bitten follow-up to Hammond's 2007 science fiction noir debut <em>KOP</em>, set in the 28th century on the technologically backward world of Lagarto, offers further evidence of his considerable talents. A former member of the Koba Office of Police, Juno Mozambe has been forced into retirement by corrupt detective Diego Banks, who murdered Koba's previous police chief. Now a sleazy, broke PI, nothing but a drunken old has-been, Mozambe reluctantly lets his ex-partner Maggie Orzo hire him to exonerate Adela Juarez, a young woman about to be executed for murdering her parents. Orzo suspects her current partner and rival, Ian Davies, of framing Juarez. Mozambe struggles through a mire of corruption and violence to get the answers and protect his own loved ones. Koba is a tough town full of desperate people, and Hammond makes full use of this richly imagined society. <em>(Oct.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>After getting fired, aging detective Juno of the economically depressed colony planet Lagarto has been making a scant living photographing scandals for the papers. His wife is hospitalized after what Juno only wishes were an accident, and all his money goes to her medical bills. So when his ex-partner, Maggie, offers to hire him to investigate a murder case she believes her new partner, Ian, is falsifying, he agrees, despite already knowing what bad news Ian is. While Maggie works the case of a sadistic serial killer, Juno tracks down the truth, discovering that his case and Maggie’s are linked parts of a sickening undercover operation, and that Ian is even more dangerous then he thought. Ex-Kop is even better than Kop (2007), involving as it does all the best elements of an sf crime thriller: engrossing, high-stakes case; a fascinating setting; and a downtrodden, dogged hero whose worthiness outshines his flaws. Readers can only hope Hammond gives us more stories of Juno and his jungle world. --Krista Hutley </p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Just what sci-fi ought to be and so often isn't!" --reader, Jim </p><p>"It is a solid piece of science fiction and something that reminds me slightly of the Clarke and the Herbert." --reader, Andrew </p><p>"This is extremely imaginative and well written! Perfect sci-fi!" --reader, Liz </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>At the end of the 21st century, a catastrophic accident in the asteroid belt has left two surveyors dead, but the asteroid itself is completely missing, along with their young son, Alex Manez, who was accompanying them. On the outer edge of the solar system, the first manned mission to Pluto, led by the youngest female astronaut in NASA history, has led to an historic discovery: there is a marker left there by an alien race for humankind to find. We are not alone! While studying the alien marker, it begins to react and, four hours later, the missing asteroid appears in a Plutonian orbit, along with young Alex Manez, who has developed some alarming side-effects from his exposure to the kinetic element they call Kinemet. From the depths of a criminal empire based on Luna, an expatriate seizes the opportunity to wrest control of outer space, and takes swift action. The secret to faster-than-light speed is up for grabs, and the race for interstellar space is on! </p> </div>


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<div><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">After Ishmael Wang is promoted to the environmental section, he's caught in a swirl of mystery, doubt, belief, lust and a really nice fitting pair of jeans. He has to come to grips with what it means to be a spacer while he's still trying to figure out what it means to be a man. Join Ishmael, Brillo, Pip, and the rest of the crew of the Lois McKendrick as they help the newest member of the crew adjust to life in the Deep Dark.Half Share is the sequel to Quarter Share, also available at Podiobooks.com.Note: Some scenes in Half Share involve adult themes, nudity, sex and references to religions not based on Judeo-Christian traditions. Read at your own risk.</span></div>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. In Sigler's riveting horror thriller, alien seeds from outer space infect a number of unlucky humans, who develop some unusual symptoms—itchy, blue triangular growths on their skin—that eventually result in the carriers becoming screaming, homicidal maniacs. CIA agent Dew Phillips must find out why these formerly docile citizens are running amok, aided by Margaret Montoya, a Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist, who reported the first of the strange cases. One of the infected, former football player Perry Dawsey, doesn't take any crap from anybody, not even the aliens residing in his body. Sigler (_Ancestor_) leads the reader from one startling detail to the next—the creatures learn to speak (feed us we hungry); they grow little black eyes—until even hardened genre fans will find themselves whimpering at each new revelation. This terrifying page-turner could be the author's breakout book, fueled by an extensive online podcast campaign. <em>5-city author tour. (Apr.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Part Stephen King, part Chuck Palahniuk, <em>Infected </em>blends science fiction and horror into a pulpy masterpiece of action, terror, and suspense.  Three recommendations: don't read it at night, or just after you've eaten a full meal, or if you're weak of heart.  You've been warned!"<br />—James Rollins, <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author of <em>The Judas Strain </em>and <em>Black Order</em>  </p><p>“Powerfully written . . . an unforgettable central character.” <br />—_Dallas Morning News_  </p><p>“Sigler is masterful at grabbing the reader by the throat and refusing to let go. Just when I thought I knew what abyss he was leading me across, he knocked the bridge out from under... I think I screamed the whole way down... <em>Infected</em> is a marvel of gonzo, in-your-face, up-to-the-minute terror.”<br />—Lincoln Child, _New York Times <em>bestselling author of </em>Deep Storm <em>and </em>Death Match  </p><p>_“Fraught with tension . . . <em>Invasion of the Body Snatchers</em> meets <em>The Hot Zone</em>.” <br />—_Rocky Mountain News_  </p><p>“Sigler is the Richard Matheson of the 21st Century…smart and creepy,_ Infected_ is a flawless thinking-person’s thriller.<strong> </strong>Bravo to a bold new talent!”<br />—Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of <em>Bad Moon Rising</em> and _Ghost Road Blues<br />_<br />“Riveting . . . even hardened genre fans will find themselves whimpering at each new revelation.”<br />—_Publishers Weekly_ (starred review)  </p><p>"Horror mavens rejoice!_ Infected_ is a revelation -- a novel that lives up to its hype. From page one, the story of a mysterious smart-virus that turns its hosts into deadly drooling drones creeps up on a reader like the ratchet of a roller coaster climbing toward its inevitable crest. Sigler brings the folksy character detail of Stephen King, the conceptual panache of Clive Barker, and the oozing, shuddery pathologies of a David Cronenberg movie.<strong> </strong>Zombies, spies, conspiracies, and gallons of goo make this the fastest read in the west! Highest recommendation!"<br /><strong>— </strong>Jay Bonansinga, national bestselling author of <em>Shattered, Twisted, Frozen</em>, and <em>The Sinking of the Eastland</em>  </p><p>"Sigler has a unique talent for keeping readers on the edge of their seats; I absolutely had to know what was going to happen next. Infected is full of mayhem, action, and gore--and you won’t be able to put it down."<br /><em></em>— <strong>Dave Wellington, author of <em>13 Bullets</em> and the <em>Monster Island</em> trilogy</strong>  </p><p><em></em>"Scott Sigler's_ Infected_ is a bucking pulp pony that throws you this way and that, and just when you think you've got your balance, that ole pony bucks the other way.<strong> </strong>All in all, one hell of an exhilarating ride, and highly recommended." <br />—Joe R. Lansdale, World Horror Convention Grand Master and six-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of_ Bubba Ho-Tep_ and <em>Lost Echoes</em>  </p><p>"_Infected_ is as unnerving as a scream in a morgue…a breakout novel that gets under your skin. If the voice in your head is Sigler's, you're locked in for a very scary night."<br />—E.E. Knight </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Acorrupt policeman, an overgrown jungle city that gets only five hours of sun between 17-hour nights, and battling crime gangs set the extremely noir scene for Hammond's solidly constructed, fast-paced SF debut. In 2787, the impoverished colony planet Lagarto is a dead end, its economy destroyed by a trade imbalance that favors rich offworlders while natives go hungry. In Koba, Lagarto's largest city, aging street cop Juno Mozambe clings to the power and bribery gained by strong-arm tactics in his youth. His friend Paul Chang, chief of the Koba Office of Police, senses that rivals want them removed. As Juno teams up with new partner Maggie Orzo to investigate a murder by an apparent serial killer, he and Paul must also stop their long alliance with the Bandur cartel from being exposed. Hammond's writing is workmanlike with occasional terse highlights, offering rewards to fans of both crime novels and science fiction. <em>(July)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Hammond's gritty, futuristic detective story is full of morally gray characters, ambiguous alliances, necessary betrayals, and a lot of heart. In 2762, cops Juno and Paul harnessed the idea of organized crime to bring a kind of peace and prosperity to their impoverished colony planet, Lagarto. Working with the Bandur crime family, they took control of Koba and the Koba Office of Police (KOP). More than 20 years later, Paul, now chief of police, assigns Juno to a murder case that lands him in danger with the newly elected mayor. Behind a facade of purging corrupt government officials, starting with those at KOP, his honor is planning the worst crime of all. Lagarto is a vivid setting for this tale of hope borne of despair, a fully realized world as important to the story as the characters. Juno, the focal character, is a sympathetic, desperate hero trying to do what is right in a world where right is often criminal. Although the story sometimes becomes convoluted, it's a thrillingly dark read. Hutley, Krista </p>


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In this incredible second book in a series of autobiographies, the poet, still in her teens, gives birth to a son, tries to keep a job, falls in love, dances, falls out of love, chases after her kidnapped baby, and goes to work in a house of prostitution thinking she is helping the man she loves. "From the Hardcover edition."


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<h3>From</h3><p>Now in her 80s, writer Angelou, a food lover who has struggled with weight and health concerns, learned the value of portion control. In this cookbook, she recommends eating great food (no calorie counting) in small portions all day long. Her recipes come from childhood and from her travels and include reworked concoctions influenced and inspired by other cookbooks she loves. Angelou breaks the rules of what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with recipes for meals to eat any time of the day. The emphasis is on food so flavorful that whenever it is eaten, it is savored and so satisfying that small portions are enough. Among the recipes for creamy pork hash, chicken tetrazzini, Swedish hash, and oxtail stew are recollections from her life and commentary on acquired tastes and eating beyond physical fullness. In addition to the meat dishes are sections for vegetarians and recipes for soups and desserts. Gorgeous illustrations and extended commentary add to the appeal of this book. --Vanessa Bush </p><h3>Review</h3><p>_<strong>Praise for Maya Angelou’s <em>Hallelujah! The Welcome Table</em></strong>_  </p><p>“A tour-de-force collaboration of two of Angelou’s major passions—writing and cooking . . . She also shares the poignant, pithy and sometimes hilarious memories that accompany each dish.”<br /><em>—Ebony</em>  </p><p>“Poet and literary legend Maya Angelou is as mighty with her spoon and spatula as she is with her world-renowned pen.”<br />_—Chicago Sun-Times<br />_ <br />“Serious comfort food . . . The poet’s life [is] laid out like a colorful banquet. . . . Meals serve as metaphors for life experience.”<br /><em>—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</em>  </p><p>“The life of the poet-autobiographer . . . comes even more alive through plumes of aromas, a palette of flavors and a recipe box of memories.”<br />_—Seattle Post-Intelligencer<br />_<br />“Each recipe is thoughtfully conceived and made even more enticing by the personal history attached to it. . . . The result is as divine as the woman herself, full of flavor, passion and hard work.”<br /><em>—Oakland Tribune</em>  </p><p>“[Readers] will find not only a wealth of dishes . . . but a close-up, personal glimpse of a compelling writer and her family.”<br /><em>—New York Daily News</em>  </p><p>“Written in the exuberant tone of an impromptu dinner gathering.”<br />_—Newsweek<br />_   </p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p>“The buoyant, gifted Maya Angelou continues her autobiography. . . . Both her joy and her despair have twice as much impact as most people’s.”<br /><strong><em>–New York</em></strong>  </p><p>“Angelou may be one of the best hunters of the heart, one of the best to explore the insides of folks, black or white, and find what moves them, what makes them real and tangible to themselves and others.” <br /><em></em>_–The Christian Science Monitor<br />_<em></em><br />“Angelou is a sharp observer and commentator on culture. . . . [Her book is] filled with penetrating observations about the people she encounters.”<br /><strong><em>–Chicago Tribune Book World</em></strong>  </p><p>“Honest, funny and heartwarming . . . The strength of the book is Angelou’s lyrical writing . . . a God-given gift.”<br /><strong><em>–The Washington Star</em></strong>  </p><p>“Angelou is one of the geniuses of the Afro-American serial autobiography.”<br /><strong><em>–The New York Times</em></strong></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>In this third self-contained volume of her autobiography, which began with <em>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings</em>, Maya Angelou moves into the adult world. Maya struggles to support herself and her son through a series of odd jobs and weathers a failed marriage to a white man before landing a gig singing in one of the most popular nightclubs on the San Francisco coast. From there, she is called to New York to join the cast of <em>Porgy and Bess.</em> Maya soon finds herself on a joyous and dramatic adventure, touring abroad through Italy, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Egypt with spirited cast members, and performing for large, enthusiastic audiences. The exciting experience is dampened only by Maya’s nagging guilt that she has abandoned the person she loves most in life, her son, whose reentrance into her world reveals to Maya the healing power of devotion and love.  </p><p>Charged with Maya Angelou’s remarkable sense of life and love, <em>Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas</em> is a unique celebration of the human condition–and an enthralling saga that has touched, inspired, and empowered readers worldwide. </p>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>Oprah Book Club® Selection, May 1997:</strong> Maya Angelou has had more lives than the proverbial cat, and in <em>The Heart of a Woman</em> she continues the account of her remarkable life begun in <em>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings</em>. In the first book of her bestselling autobiographical series, she describes her traumatic childhood in the small, segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, during the 1930s. <em>Gather Together in My Name</em> picks up the story in the postwar years, when Maya, a single teenager with an infant son becomes, in short order, a cook, a madam, a dancer, and a prostitute. Next comes <em>Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas,</em> an account of her twenties and her unsuccessful first marriage to a white man. <em>The Heart of a Woman,</em> the fourth in the series, takes us through one of the most exciting and formative periods of Angelou's amazing life: her beginnings as a writer and an activist in New York. </p><p>Angelou has a happy knack of attracting the best and the brightest into her orbit, and <em>The Heart of a Woman</em> offers a veritable cornucopia of black luminaries in its pages. Singer Billie Holiday, writers John Ellins and Paule Marshall, jazz musicians Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, and actors Godfrey Cambridge and James Earl Jones--Maya meets and learns from them all. Political activism soon follows as Ms. Angelou first organizes a theatrical benefit for the Reverend Martin Luther King and then becomes the director of the New York Southern Christian Leadership Conference office. Her involvement in the civil rights movement eventually brings her into contact with African freedom fighters Oliver Tambo and the charming Vusumzi Make, whom she marries and follows to Africa. </p><p><em>The Heart of a Woman</em> is as honest, painful, funny, outraged, and outrageous as Angelou herself. From her debut at the Apollo Theatre to her meeting with Malcolm X, Maya Angelou gives us something to cheer about and plenty to ponder as well. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>“Remarkable . . . a great lady moving right on through a great memoir.”<br><strong><em>–Kirkus Reviews</em></strong>  </p><p>“Maya Angelou has . . . achieved a kind of literary breakthrough which few writers of any time, place, or race achieve. . . . What makes [her] writing unique is . . . a melding of unconcerned honesty, consummate craft, and perfect descriptive pitch, yielding a rare compound of great emotional force and authenticity.”<br><em></em>_–The Washington Post Book World<br>_<em></em><br>“To say that Angelou is a living legend is in no way an exaggeration. [She is] one of the great voices of contemporary literature.”<br><strong><em>–The Voice</em></strong>  </p><p>“Angelou is one of the geniuses of the Afro-American serial autobiography.”<br><strong><em>–The New York Times</em></strong>  </p><p>“A uniquely gifted wordsmith and storyteller.”<br><strong><em>–The San Diego Union-Tribune</em></strong></p>

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<div><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> The most famous family in Kenya—and, indeed, the world—provides the context for exploring the broader history of that nation as documentary filmmaker Firstbrook explores the Obama family legacy. He draws on academic historical research as well as oral history and interviews to trace Barack Obama’s family history back 23 generations. Part of the Luo, the second largest tribe in Kenya (following the Kikuyu), the Obama family traversed through several ancestral lands before religion (some were Seventh-Day Adventists, and others were Muslims) and distance separated them into the towns of Kendu Bay and K’ogelo. He highlights Obama’s paternal grandfather, Onyango, who traveled beyond the ancestral lands, prospered, fought in two world wars, and witnessed bloody revolt against British colonialism as well as Kenyan independence. His son, Barack, similarly restless and ambitious, was educated in Hawaii (where he met President Obama’s mother) and the continental U.S. before returning home to continue straddling tribal tradition and the demands of modern Western culture. Obama senior was critical of the government and friendly with Tom Mboya, an activist, who was killed during the Jomo Kenyatta administration, adding to suspicion later when Obama was killed in a car accident. Enhanced with maps and photographs, this is an epic look at the history of a nation and a family. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The story of Barack Obama’s Kenyan roots, this title is the product of dozens of interviews with Obama’s African relatives, presented by the first person to trace Obama’s family history back 400 years and 23 generations. --Vanessa Bush </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>On January 20, 2009, a few hundred men, women, and children gathered under trees in the twilight at K’obama, a village on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya. Barack Obama’s rise to the American presidency had captivated people around the world, but members of this gathering took a special pride in the swearing in of America’s first black president, for they were all Obamas, all the president’s direct African family.   </p><p>In the first in-depth history of the Obama family, Peter Firstbrook recounts a journey that starts in a mud hut by the White Nile and ends seven centuries later in the White House. Interweaving oral history and tribal lore, interviews with Obama family members and other Kenyans, the writings of Kenyan historians, and original genealogical research, Firstbrook sets the fascinating story of the president’s family against the background of Kenya’s rich culture and complex history.  </p><p>He tells the story of farmers and fishermen, of healers and hunters, of families lost and found, establishing for the first time the early ancestry of the Obamas. From the tribe’s cradleland in southern Sudan, he follows the family generation by generation, tracing the paths of the famous Luo warriors—Obama’s direct ancestors—and vividly illuminating Luo politics, society, and traditions.  </p><p>Firstbrook also brings to life the impact of English colonization in Africa through the eyes of President Obama’s grandfather Onyango. An ambitious and disciplined man who fought in two world wars, witnessed the bloody Mau Mau insurrection, and saw his country gain independence from white rule, Onyango was also hot-tempered and autocratic: family lore has it that President Obama’s grandmother abandoned the family after Onyango attempted to murder her. And Firstbrook delves into the troubled life of Obama’s father, a promising young man whose aspirations were stymied by post-independence tribal politics and a rash tendency toward self-destruction—two factors that his family believes contributed to his death in 1982. They say it was no accident, as described in the president’s memoirs, but rather a politically motivated hit job.  </p><p>More than a tale of love and war, hardship and hard-won success, <em>The Obamas</em> reveals a family history—epic in scope yet intimate in feel—that is truly without precedent. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Simon Canderous, of the Department of Extraordinary Affairs, is used to fighting vampires and zombies. But the strange murder of a professor has everyone stumped. And it's making some people crazy. Literally. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><blockquote><p>An ancient Biblical prophecy . . . The convening of the richest and most powerful men on earth . . . The sudden, mysterious death of the vice president . . . </p></blockquote><p>When Iraq War vet October "Tobie" Guinness volunteers to remote view a priceless artifact looted from war-ravaged Baghdad, she unwittingly becomes the main target in the midst of a horrific bloodbath. Now a fugitive accused of murder, Tobie turns for help from her sometime partner, rogue CIA agent Jax Alexander. Ranging from a high-mountain Moroccan kasbah and a medieval English church to a frozen Idaho lake, the two must race to unravel the secrets that link a long-lost mosaic to a mysterious Biblical codex, in time to stop a deadly cabal of powerful zealots with a chilling plot to remake the world and bring on the Second Coming. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>C.S. Graham is the pseudonym of writing team Steven Harris and Candice Proctor. Steven Harris spent twenty-one years as an Army Intelligence officer. His career ranged from participation in the Army's controversial domestic spying activities to running agents in Southeast Asia. He also spent ten years in Washington, D.C., working at the national intelligence level. Candice Proctor is the author of more than a dozen previous novels, including the critically acclaimed Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series published under the name C.S. Harris. A former academic with a P.h.D. in history, she has lived most of her life abroad, in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. </p>

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<h3>From</h3><p>Steampunk fans will delight in this first title in the sure-to-be-popular Iron Codex series, featuring an alternate, Victorian-flavored America tightly controlled by Proctors and driven by the Engine, an underground power source. The only girl at the prestigious School of Engines of Lovecraft Academy, Aoife Grayson is terrified that she will follow her mother and brother into the hereditary madness that strikes on the sixteenth birthday, now just a few weeks away. Determined to escape that fate, she sets off to her never-met father’s estate, with her friend Cal and a cocksure but very appealing hired guide. Here, she tumbles into a magical world she recognizes from her father’s journals and her mother’s mad ravings. Kittredge’s richly descriptive narrative captures all the details of clockwork, inventive machinery, foggy mists, ghastly ghouls, and creative landscapes. There’s plenty of tame but satisfying romance, too, and plot twists galore. Aoife is a caustic-tongued, feisty, and independent young woman, with plenty of nerve and courage. The abrupt ending signals a sequel, which can’t come too soon. Grades 7-12. --Debbie Carton </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft's epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.<br />     Aoife Grayson's family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.  </p><p><em>From the Hardcover edition.</em></p>


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n days of old, deep in the dark woods, Druidess Seren discovers a wolf shape shifting into the bare, muscular Celtic God, Gwydion. Seren’s mind turns from the Samhain feast to wicked thoughts of feasting on Gwydion’s  yummy goodies. Will this new found love last beyond a Samhain tryst to survive the ultimate long distant relationship of a god in the otherworld and a woman on earth? Is the love Gwydion and Seren share strong enough to overcome the social barrier between an immortal god and a mortal woman? Will a warning of danger from beyond the grave destroy the sensual magic brewing between the wolf and the druidess?


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><em>Revolution</em>, Jennifer Donnelly's remarkable new novel, weaves together the lives of Andi Alpers, a depressed modern-day teenager, and Alexandrine Paradis, a brave young woman caught up in the French Revolution. While in Paris with her estranged father, a Nobel geneticist hired to match the DNA of a heart said to belong to the last dauphin of France, Andi discovers a diary hidden within a guitar case--and so begins the story of Alexandrine, who herself had close ties to the dauphin. Redemption and the will to change are powerful themes of the novel, and music is ever present--Andi and Alex have a passion for the guitar, and the playlist running through <em>Revolution</em> is a who's who of classic and contemporary influences. Danger, intrigue, music, and impeccably researched history fill the pages of <em>Revolution</em>, as both young women learn that, "it is love, not death, that undoes us."--_Seira Wilson_</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Donnelly (A Northern Light) melds contemporary teen drama with well-researched historical fiction and a dollop of time travel for a hefty read that mostly succeeds. Andi Alpers is popping antidepressants and flunking out of her Brooklyn prep school, grieving over her younger brother's death. She finds solace only when playing guitar. When the school notifies her mostly absent scientist father that she's flirting with expulsion, he takes Andi to Paris for Christmas break, where he's testing DNA to see if a preserved heart really belonged to the doomed son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Andi is ordered to work on her senior thesis about a (fictional) French composer. Bunking at the home of a renowned historian, Andi finds a diary that relates the last days of Alexandrine, companion to (you guessed it) the doomed prince. The story then alternates between Andi's suicidal urges and Alexandrine's efforts to save the prince. Donnelly's story goes on too long, but packs in worthy stuff. Musicians, especially, will appreciate the thread about the debt rock owes to the classics. Ages 14–up. <br />Copyright © PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>In the land of monsters, you'll want her by your side.  </p><p>Nyrielle Tam--better known by her code name, Thorn--is a Dark Lantern sent undercover to a summit in the monstrous kingdom of Droaam. The beasts of Droaam have organized and want recognition from the kingdoms of Khorvaire. Breland attends to gauge its neighbors' reaction to the new state's demands of equality . . . and to take the opportunity to recover something long ago stolen by the mysterious Sheshka, Queen of the Medusas. It's up to Thorn to accomplish both, while keeping her King and Country out of war.  </p><p>The creator of the world of <strong>Eberron</strong> returns with a series that shows off <strong>Eberron</strong>'s cross-genre capabilities--all the smarts and action of a spy thriller, with the magic and depth of world only fantasy can create. There's something here for every fan! </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Keith Baker discovered <strong>Dungeons &amp; Dragons</strong> in elementary school, and this was the beginning of a lifelong interest in games of all sorts. In 2002, he quit his job to become a full-time freelance writer. Much to his surprise, in 2003 his world <strong>Eberron</strong> was selected as the finalist in the Wizards of the Coast fantasy setting search. He is the author of the Dreaming Dark Trilogy. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Thorn infiltrates a gang of criminals with special powers-aberrant dragonmarks-trying to gain information on their leader, the enigmatic Son of Khyber. But when her orders and her experiences contradict each other, Thorn starts listening to what the Son of Khyber has to say. Featuring characters from Baker's popular Dreaming Dark Trilogy that return to challenge Thorn.  The creator of the world of Eberron returns with a series that has all the smarts and action of a spy thriller, with the magic and depth of world only fantasy can create. There's something here for every fan! "From the Paperback edition."</p>


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The award-winning creator of Eberron® infiltrates the magical cities of the feyspires.Thorn’s latest mission: protect the prince of Cyre, a monarch in name only since his country was destroyed by the Mourning. But in that same cataclysm, seven cities of the Feywild—the feyspires—were trapped on the plain of Eberron, a concurrence the eladrin who rule the feyspires insist is no coincidence. They insist that with the right pieces they can repair the devastation of the Mourning. All they need are a few missing –one in the heart of a mysterious Cyran soldier and one that’s lodged in Thorn’s spine, carrying the soul of the Angel of Flame. Intense secret agent action with all the magic and mystery of Eberron—the Thorn of Breland series has been a perfect mix of fantasy and adventure. James Bond meets J.R.R. Tolkien.


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Most readers know Capain Nemo only as the enigmatic protagonist of Jules Verne's classic novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." But what if Nemo was a real man, whose actual life was more fantastic and adventurous than all the fictions it inspired?Here is the epic tale of Andre Nemo, the man behind the myth. The free-spirited and inventive son of a French shipbuilder, Nemo goes to sea as a cabin boy, faces marauding pirates and bloodthirsty sharks, is marooned for years on a mysterious island, battles prehistoric monsters long believed extinct, journeys to the center of the Earth, balloons across Africa, escapes from Arab slavers, discovers the fabled city of Timbuktu, endures a plague of locusts, survives the Charge of the Light Brigade, tends to the wounded with Florence Nightingale, is pressed into service by the ruthless Robert the Conqueror, and, ultimately, wages war on War itself as the captain of his greatest creation: the legendary underwater vessel known as the "Nautilus.""Captain Nemo" is also the story of Nemo's childhood friend, Jules Verne, who would bestow immortality upon the captain's exploits, and of the remarkable woman they both loved to the very end.


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Here is the gut-wrenching, heartrending story of hard-bitten Denver homicide detective Jane Perry and nine-year-old Emily Lawrence. Emily has witnessed the murder of her parents — murders authorities believe have ties to a larger wave of crime. But Emily can’t recall a thing about the killings. When the murderers come after Emily, Jane’s boss sends the two of them to a remote town in Colorado. There, Jane, who doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body, must pose as Emily’s mother and serve as her protector. At the same time, she needs to help Emily slowly remember the devastating event without traumatizing her further. And while she does so, the killer is closing in . . . .Protector marks the debut of Jane Perry, an immensely flawed, utterly sympathetic character. She will shock you, confound you, astonish you, and ultimately grip your soul.


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Northern Exposure </p><p>Even in Grundy, Alaska, it’s unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham—who has been openly critical of Mo’s ability to adapt to life in Alaska—has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble. </p><p>For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it’s love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he’s worried that he might be the violent canine in question. </p><p>If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he’s not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . . . </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Raised in Mississippi and Kentucky, Molly Harper graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism.  She worked for six years as a reporter and humor columnist; her reporting duties included covering courts, school board meetings, quilt shows, and once, the arrest of a Florida man who faked his suicide by shark attack and spent the next few months tossing pies at a local pizzeria.  Molly lives in western Kentucky with her husband and daughter. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Man with the Golden Arm is Nelson Algren's most powerful and enduring work. On the 50th anniversary of its publication in November 1949, for which Algren was honored with the first National Book Award (which he received from none other than Eleanor Roosevelt at a ceremony in March 1950), Seven Stories is proud to release the first critical edition of an Algren work. The Man with the Golden Arm is the classic American novel of the post-war period. Algren himself had wanted this relentlessly dark novel to be titled "Night Without Mercy," although he finally relented and allowed his publisher, Doubleday, to use their preferred title. Algren would name his cat Doubleday. Special contributions by Russell Banks, Bettina Drew, James R. Giles, Carlo Rotella, William Savage, Lee Stringer, Studs Terkel, Kurt Vonnegut, and others. "The finest American novel published since the war."-Washington Post Book World "A true novelist's triumph." TimestrongChicago Sun Times/em</p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Who is more dangerous? An enemy? A friend? Or a lover?Bonnie Graham is standing in her friend�s flat. She is alone, except for the dead body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. What happened? What will she do? And what role has she played in the murderous events?Bonnie is a music teacher who has spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships unravelling as the days themselves unwind. What was meant to be a summer of happiness, love and music turns deadly as lovers betray one another, passions turn murderous and friendship itself becomes a crime. Everyone tells lies. But is anyone prepared to tell the truth to uncover a murderer? </p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"......(a)unique and terrifying world that Grabowsky launches us into...at very twisted turns it delves into the psychedelic..." -- <em>Tahoe Daily Tribune</em>  </p><p>"A solid storyline, fresh ideas on everything from religion (to) blood-chilling violence makes Grabowsky's latest offering a compelling read!" -- <em>Sacramento News &amp; Review</em>  </p><p>"Nicholas.....I salute you: your ambition, your dedication, your accomplishments....your fertile and blissfully complex imagination..." -- <em>Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Candyman, Imajica)</em>  </p><p>"The reader will be unable to get the terrifying and original visions out of their head!" -- <em>Heidi Martinuzzi, E! Entertainment Television, Pretty/scary.net</em>  </p><p>"YOU WILL BE SCARED! PERIOD!" -- <em>Sean Price, Slash Productions</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A tale of beings who have fallen from heaven at the dawn of mankind's history who integrated themselves into the human gene pool, fathering themselves from life to life in a bizarre reincarnation cycle throughout the ages.</p><p>The story involves Max Polito, a renown ufologist bent on proving to the world that these beings exist and are responsible for a majority of all UFO phenomena. His exploits lead him to an "Everborn" reborn into society as a pair of twins, one possessing an eternal soul and one who does not, one a timid ghostwriter for a world-famous horror novelist and one a vicious serial killer on a quest to truly be "born again." </p><p>A surreal guardian angel for Andrew, the ghostwriter, teams up the protagonists to thwart not only the evil twin's diabolical plans but the apocalyptic schemes of the Magdalene Salvatia, an ancient she-demon on a quest to revenge her kind and plunge the world into everlasting darkness under her rule. </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Eugenie Markham, the new queen of the Thorn Land (as established in Storm Born and Thorn Queen), likes being the daughter of the Storm King and carrying his powers, but the responsibility is a pain. For example, her offspring is prophesied to conquer humanity. She has to visit the otherworld regularly while keeping the bills paid with her part-time shaman gig in the real world. Her ex-boyfriend, Kiyo, is back in her life, while hunky, kinky King Dorian has designs on her body and her womb. Oh, and war is raging between her land and the land of Queen Katrice. The fabled Iron Crown might end the war, but is Eugenie willing to gamble her life on questing for it? Eugenie's a pretty inept queen, but fans of the series will overlook that amid the kick-butt action and hot sex. (Mar.) <br />(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><em>New York Times</em> bestselling author Richelle Mead takes readers back to the Otherworld, an embattled realm mystically entwined with our world--and ruled by one woman's dangerous choice. . . </p><p>Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land's queen, she's fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear. . . </p><p>Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown's ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril. . . </p><hr /><p>Praise for Richelle Mead's Storm Born. . .</p><p>"My kind of book--great characters, dark worlds, and just the right touch of humor. A great read." --Patricia Briggs, #1 <em>New York Times</em> Bestselling Author </p>


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<div><p class="description">DISINTEGRATION</p>
<p class="description">When a mysterious fire destroys his home and shatters his family, Jacob Wells is pulled into a downward spiral that draws him ever closer to the past he thought was dead and buried.</p>
<p class="description">Now his twin brother Joshua is back in town, seeking to settle old scores and claim his half of the Wells birthright. Jacob’s wife Renee is struggling with her own past and her attempts to salvage Jacob are driven by guilt and ambition.</p>
<p class="description">As Jacob and Joshua return to the twisted roles they adopted at the hands of cruel, demanding parents, they wage a war of pride, wealth, and passion. They share a poisonous obsession with the provocative, manipulative Carlita, whose immigrant family helped build the Wells fortune.</p>
<p class="description">Joshua wants other things, too, but Jacob’s desires are divided between the forbidden love he can’t possess, the respectability he can never have, and the revenge he is dying to taste. And Renee has dark motives of her own.</p>
<p class="description">If only Jacob can figure out which of them to blame. But the lines of identity are blurred, because Joshua and Jacob share much more than blood.</p>
<p class="description">And the childhood games have become deadly serious.</p>
<p class="description">-----<br>A crime thriller from Scott Nicholson, #1 Kindle bestselling author of THE RED CHURCH, THE SKULL RING, SPEED DATING WITH THE DEAD, CURTAINS: MYSTERY STORIES, and 13 other books. He's also written six screenplays, the graphic novels DIRT and GRAVE CONDITIONS, and, as L.C. Glazebrook, the YA paranormal series OCTOBER GIRLS. Visit him at Author Central or www.hauntedcomputer.com</p>
<p class="description">"Always surprises and always entertains."--Jonathan Maberry, Patient Zero</p>
<p class="description">"Buy everything he writes. He's the real deal."--Bentley Little, The Disappearance</p>
<p class="description">"Keep both hands on your pants, because Nicholson is about to scare them off."--JA Konrath, Shaken</p></div>


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<h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> The promotional material for former British criminal barrister Tolkien’s second novel (the first, The Final Witness, was published in 2002) shamelessly plays up the fact that the author is the grandson of J. R. R. Tolkien. Enough of this literary-pedigree nonsense. As Tolkien shows in both his mysteries, he does not need to have his DNA trumpeted; he is a first-rate writer in his own right. His latest thriller moves from a horrific crime perpetrated on a French family by two British soldiers during World War II and then straight into 1959, with the opening of a trial at the Old Bailey. Tolkien provides the kind of caustic portraits of judges and barristers and knowledge of the innermost cells of the Old Bailey that the late John Mortimer, also a barrister, delighted readers with in the Rumpole series. On trial is 22-year-old Stephen Cade, accused of shooting his estranged father in the head. The father was a war hero and then a well-heeled university professor. The son had motive: the father had just written him out of his will and denied him a requested sum of money. He had opportunity: he was, apparently, and by his own admission, with his father in his library. And his prints were on the gun that was found near the body. But something seems off to the officer in charge of the case. Detective Inspector William Trave of the Oxford CID uses the window of opportunity between trial and sentencing to trace the locked-room mystery back to its origins in France. Written with great surety and absolutely compelling. --Connie Fletcher </p><h3>Review</h3><p>Praise for _The Inheritance  </p><p>_“A fine novel. A thinking person’s <em>Da Vinci Code</em>.” –_Chicago Tribune  </p><p><em>“Simon Tolkien’s grandfather is J. R. R., but his new novel owes more to Agatha Christie—and Dan Brown.” </em>–New York Times  </p><p>_“Expertly paced—the suspense builds to nearly unbearable levels—and filled with fascinating characters, <em>The Inheritance</em> also showcases Tolkien's spare, graceful prose—and his moral fervor. He spins a gripping story, but there's more to <em>The Inheritance</em> than smarts and skill. It's also a meditation on the death penalty, and Tolkien leaves no doubt that he's an ardent opponent.<br />A deft combination of Agatha Christie manor-house whodunit, Erle Stanley Gardner courtroom drama and Dan Brown thriller, <em>The Inheritance</em> is nonetheless unique to its creator. And Tolkien, with this compelling read, proves himself worthy—and then some—of his literary pedigree. —_Richmond Times Dispatch  </p><p><em>“Simon Tolkien is the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien and, while there are no elves or dwarves in these pages, there is on display a narrative skill that the author of </em>The Lord of the Rings <em>would surely have recognized and admired…. It works so well, not because of cheap tricks like cliff-hanger chapter endings, but because of Tolkien's deft handling of ensemble. It is the differences in character and motive, the continual changes in viewpoint, that drive one to find out what exactly is going on and what actually happened.” –</em>The Philadelphia Inquirer_</p>


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<div><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; "><h3 class="productDescriptionSource" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 1.23em; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0.75em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.375em; margin-left: -15px; clear: both; ">Product Description</h3><div class="productDescriptionWrapper" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Cast into slavery by the machinations of the Sith, Ori Kitai believes she’s found her way back into the Lost Tribe—and perhaps a whole lot more. Ori’s discovery of a second starship gives her the opportunity to avenge the humiliations heaped on her family by the decrepit Grand Lord. Indeed, she could turn their entire society upside down—offering escape from their planetary prison. But Ori encounters resistance from a surprising person: the seemingly humble farmer who took her in: a man with a secret past and an agenda of his own. He cannot allow Ori Kitai to unleash the Lost Tribe on an unsuspecting galaxy. But how can he stop the woman he loves without destroying them both?</div></span></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF ADRIAN MOLE is the third in the series to be part of Penguin's Sue Townsend repackaging programme. A chance to sell Sue Townsend to a whole new audience! Adrian Mole has grown up. At least that's what it says on his passport. But living at home, clinging to his threadbare cuddly rabbit 'Pinky', working as a paper pusher for the DoE and pining for the love of his life Pandora has proved to him that adulthood isn't quite what he hoped it would be. Still, intellectual poets can't always have things their own way... </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Sue Townsend became Britain's bestselling author of the 1980s with her books THE SECRET DIARY OF ADRIAN MOLE AGED 13 3/4 and THE GROWING PAINS OF ADRIAN MOLE. She is the author of seven other novels, including THE QUEEN AND I and GHOST CHILDREN, andmost recently her collected journalism, THE PUBLIC CONFESSIONS OF A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN (AGED 55 3/4), was published in 2001. She is also well known as a playwright, and lives in Leicester. </p>

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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Jack finished university three years ago, but he's still stuck in a dead-end job in a sinister call-centre in Manchester. When the beautiful (and rich) Jennifer comes into his life he thinks he has finally found his ticket out of there. Trouble is that his boss is interested in Jennifer as well, and there's something strangely bestial about him...So when Jennifer buys Fell House, a mysterious old mansion out in remote Cumbria, a house party on a legendary scale seems like the perfect escape. But as the party spins out of control on a seemingly neverending night, they must face up to the terrifying possibility that not all their guests may be human - and some of them want to feed. An astonishing and innovative blend of horror, folktale and disturbing realism, The Leaping is the first instalment in what is shaping up to be a genre-defining series. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Tom Fletcher is a young author (he is 24) who has already made a name for himself thanks to spine-chilling readings of his work at Manchester's monthly live lit event, 'There's No Point in Not Being Friends'. He has published a number of his short stories in a three-author anthology, Before the Rain. The Leaping is his first novel. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Holt's latest comic fantasy gently twists the reader's mind like a wet dishrag. Polly Mayer thinks she's going crazy: her coffee keeps disappearing, someone else is doing her work, and a dry cleaner vanishes without a trace. Her brother, Don, assumes a rational explanation until he finds an object capable of working magic. Polly's boss, Mr. Huos, knows quite a bit about some ongoing transdimensional skullduggery, but he has no idea who he is or where he came from. Holt (Blonde Bombshell) throws in a highly intelligent pig, a brass ring that isn't, and a "chicken or the egg" riddle with universal ramifications, leaving readers clinging by their fingernails to this rapid-fire tale of a space-time continuum going manic. (Mar.) <br />(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Polly is a real estate solicitor. She is also losing her mind. Someone keeps drinking her coffee. And talking to her clients. And doing her job. And when she goes to the dry cleaner's to pick up her dress for the party, it's not there. Not the dress - the dry cleaner's.  </p><p>And then there are the chickens who think they are people. Something strange is definitely going on - and it's going to take more than a magical ring to sort it out.  </p><p>From one of the funniest voices in comic fiction today comes a hilarious tale of pigs and parallel worlds. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>China Witness is an extraordinary work of oral history that illuminates the diverse ways in which the Chinese perceive and understand their own history. Xinran, the acclaimed author of The Good Women of China and Sky Burial, traveled across China in 2005 and 2006, seeking out the nation’s grandparents and great-grandparents, the men and women who have experienced, firsthand, the vast changes of the modern era. In cities and remote villages, Xinran spoke with members of these generations from all tiers of society, interviewing them for the first and perhaps the last time. Although many of them feared repercussions for speaking freely, they spoke to Xinran with stunning candor about their hopes, fears, and struggles, and about what they have witnessed: from the Long March to land reform, from Mao to marriage, from revolution to Westernization. While the West has commonly viewed the last one hundred years in China through the single narrative lens of Mao’s rise and rule, the experience of this same period for the Chinese themselves has been infinitely more complex. In the same way that Studs Terkel’s Working and Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation gave us the essence of very particular times, China Witness gives us the essence of modern China–a portrait more intimate, nuanced, and revelatory than any we have had before.From the Hardcover edition.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>For most adults, fairy tales are among the childish things we've put away. Alice Hoffman, however, feels differently. <em>Practical Magic</em> starts out as a tale of Gillian and Sally Owens, two orphaned girls whose aunts are witches--of a mild sort. For the past two centuries, Owens women have been blamed for all that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town, ever since their ancestor arrived, rich, independent, and soon accused of theft: "And then one day, a farmer winged a crow in his cornfield, a creature who'd been stealing from him shamelessly for months. When Maria Owens appeared the very next morning with her arm in a sling and her white hand wound up in a white bandage, people felt certain they knew the reason why." The aunts are daily ostracized by the same upstanding citizens who sneak to their house at night for magical love cures. To the sisters they are for the most part benevolently absent, though their bell, book, and candle routine makes life a torment for Gillian, beautiful and blonde and lazy, and Sally, who's all too responsible. But when one of the aunts' cures works too well, ending as a curse, the dangers of real love become all too clear. In Hoffman's world being bewitched, bothered, and bewildered is no mere metaphor--and neither is desire. The elbows of one enamored man pucker a linoleum counter, another walks around with singed cuffs. It's difficult to catch the author's power in brief quotes. She needs space and increment to build her exquisite variations of vision and reality, her matter-of-fact announcements of the preternatural. <em>Practical Magic</em> again and again makes one recall the thrill of hearing at bedtime, "Now will I a tale unfold..." <em>--Kerry Fried</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Her 11th novel is Hoffman's best since Illumination Night. Again a scrim of magic lies gently over her fictional world, in which lilacs bloom riotously in July, a lovesick boy's elbows sizzle on a diner countertop and a toad expectorates a silver ring. The real and the magical worlds are almost seamlessly mixed here, the humor is sharper than in previous books, the characters' eccentricities grow credibly out of their past experiences and the poignant lessons they learn reverberate against the reader's heartstrings, stroked by Hoffman's lyrical prose. The Owens women have been witches for several generations. Orphaned Sally and Gillian Owens, raised by their spinster aunts in a spooky old house, grow up observing desperate women buying love potions in the kitchen and vow never to commit their hearts to passion. Fate, of course, intervenes. Steady, conscientious Sally marries, has two daughters and is widowed early. Impulsive, seductive Gillian goes through three divorces before she arrives at Sally's house with a dead body in her car. Meanwhile, Sally's daughters, replicas of their mother and their aunt, experience their own sexual awakenings. The inevitability of love and the torment and bliss of men and women gripped by desire is Hoffman's theme here, and she plays those variations with a new emphasis on sex scenes?there's plenty of steamy detail and a pervasive use of the f-word. The dialogue is always on target, particularly the squabbling between siblings, and, as usual, weather plays a portentous role. Readers will relish this magical tale. BOMC main selection. <br />Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Silence is deadly.<em></em><br><em></em><br>The murder of eighteen-year-old Angie Vance was exceptionally vile–her mouth was sealed with glue, an obscenity scrawledwas across her skin, and she was suffocated in a garbage bag. The killing seems personal, so police detective Carina Kincaid focuses her efforts on the victim’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steve Thomas. But without physical evidence, Carina can’t make a collar or a case. She also can’t stop Sheriff Nick Thomas, the prime suspect’s brother, from conducting his own unwelcome investigation.   </p><p>Though Nick is still scarred and unsteady from a recent confrontation with a serial killer, he’s determined to prove his brother’s innocence. But his confidence is shaken when he learns of Steve’s dark side, and when a friend of the murdered girl meets a similarly gruesome fate. With no time to lose, Carina and Nick work together to trap a psychopath, before another unlucky woman faces an unspeakable end.  </p><p>Evil has spoken. Now see what it can do. </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>One  </p><p>Her death had not been easy.  </p><p>Homicide detective Carina Kincaid stared at the dead, naked corpse of the young woman, avoiding the wide-eyed terror etched on her face. Her mouth was gagged, but what drew Carina’s eye was the word slut scrawled in thick black marker across her chest. A small red rose was tattooed on her left breast.  </p><p>The victim lay in a disjointed fetal position, dried blood on her legs and vicious red welts on her breasts, indicating that her murder had followed a sexual assault. In California, that made the killer eligible for the death penalty. One small step toward justice, but it didn’t satisfy Carina. This Jane Doe would still be dead.  </p><p>She glanced away from the body, just for a moment, and watched the waves roll up the beach. Back and forth, calming. Her cheeks stung from the early-morning salt air, but in just a few hours she’d be tugging off her windbreaker as the sun peaked over San Diego.  </p><p>When she first arrived on the scene with Jim Gage, supervisor of the Forensic Field Services Unit of the San Diego Police Department, they immediately documented that the evidence had been contaminated. Three layers of heavy-duty green garbage bags had been cut away from the body. The park ranger hadn’t been able to lift what he thought was trash, so he sliced it open. What had he been thinking?  </p><p>“I didn’t think there was a body inside,” he’d said when Carina questioned him.  </p><p>By the tension in Jim’s jaw, it was obvious that he was pissed. But true to form he didn’t say anything. He never said anything, which had been the primary reason Carina had broken up with him last year. She could handle his moodiness—she had four brothers, she could put up with almost anything—but his refusal to talk about what bugged him, on the job and off, was a relationship breaker.  </p><p>Or maybe they hadn’t loved each other enough to make it work.  </p><p>Carina glanced behind them when she heard a car approach. The coroner’s van pulled into the empty parking lot and a short, trim, well-dressed Asian man exited the vehicle. Assistant Coroner Ted Chen, the perfectionist. Carina liked it when he pulled one of her cases, even if he made her a bit self-conscious. She triple-checked her reports when he was the responding coroner, afraid to appear the novice despite her nearly eleven years on the job.  </p><p>“Doctor Chen is here,” she told Jim.  </p><p>“Hmm.” Jim finished photographing the body and surrounding area, glancing up as Doctor Chen crossed the sand to where the body lay. “Hello, Ted.”  </p><p>“Gage. Detective.” Chen nodded toward the victim. “Was the body found in this condition?”  </p><p>“The bag had been intact. The park ranger opened it.”  </p><p>“Why on earth would he do that?”  </p><p>Jim removed his wire-rim glasses and rubbed his eyes with his forearm. “Thought it was filled with garbage and planned on taking multiple trips to dispose of the contents.”  </p><p>Chen shook his head in disgust, his thin lips a tight line. He knelt in the sand, careful to prevent further granules from rolling into the plastic. “She suffocated,” he said quietly.  </p><p>“You mean she was put into the bag alive?” Carina asked for clarification.  </p><p>“It would appear so, but the crime lab will need to go over the bag to confirm it,” Chen said. “See her discoloration?” The victim appeared bluish, almost purple. “No oxygen. No sign of strangulation, and no blood in her eyes or ears to indicate it, either. I can give you a better answer at the autopsy.” He glanced at his watch. “I have three autopsies scheduled this morning, but I’ll postpone the afternoon schedule to fit her in.”  </p><p>“Thanks, Doctor Chen. I appreciate it.”  </p><p>“I’ll have her on the table at two.”  </p><p>Carina nodded, caught Jim staring at her, his face unreadable. “You going to join us?” she asked.  </p><p>“We’ll see how far my team can get with the bag. We’re backlogged as it is.”  </p><p>No surprise. Contrary to popular television, most evidence wasn’t processed until a suspect was apprehended and a court date set. The wheels of justice also turned the cogs of the laboratory.  </p><p>Carina forced herself to stare at the victim’s face while Chen and Jim prepared her for transportation to the morgue. She looked so young. Eighteen, maybe. Was she a college student? There were two universities within spitting distance of the beach. Maybe she was still in high school.  </p><p>She thought about her baby sister. Well, Lucy wasn’t a baby anymore. She was a high school senior and smart enough to go to just about any college she wanted. Their parents wanted her to stay close to home; Lucy desperately wanted to move away. But college campuses were dangerous, and Carina found herself siding with her parents on this one.  </p><p>Fourteen years ago she wanted the exact same thing as Lucy—to get out from under her parents’ thumb. But that was before she’d decided to become a cop. Before she realized how truly dangerous the city could be. Before she realized that justice wasn’t always swift, and that the system didn’t always work.  </p><p>That some murders would never be solved.  </p><p>She turned away from the death scene and stared again at the Pacific Ocean, unconsciously wrapping her arms around her waist. It would be temperate today, as virtually every day was in San Diego. Here on the coast, the cool morning breeze loosed a few strands of dark hair from the French braid Carina wore when on the job. The tide was receding, the waves small and playful, pulling back. The shells and rocks reflected the sunrise behind her, the ocean still dark and mysterious. A pair of early-morning joggers, a man and woman, ran on the packed sand.  </p><p>Had the girl been murdered here on this quiet, clean beach? Or had Jane Doe been dumped?  </p><p>Carina voted for dumped, but asked the experts.  </p><p>“Dumped is my guess,” Jim said. “There’s no sign of struggle, but of course the scene’s been contaminated.” He visually scanned the area to confirm his hypothesis.  </p><p>Carina followed his gaze to the parking lot adjacent to this stretch of beach. The highway on the other side was beginning to bustle with morning commuter traffic. Dozens of small, outrageously expensive homes lined the opposite side of the road. A few hundred yards north was a beachside shopping area with several popular restaurants and a bar that catered to the college crowd, which, even on a Sunday night, wouldn’t have closed down until the state-mandated two a.m.  </p><p>That didn’t mean the body hadn’t been dumped before two, but from Carina’s college days as well as her years on patrol, she knew this beach saw heavy traffic until the wee hours of the morning. Before two a.m. it was more than likely someone would have seen a body-size bag being tossed onto the beach.  </p><p>Usually, body dumps were done when no one was around, to minimize the killer’s chances of being caught.  </p><p>Though Carina couldn’t absolutely rule out the possibility that the girl had been left earlier, logic suggested that she’d been dumped between three and five in the morning. Commuters hit the road early, and by five-thirty traffic steadily passed only a hundred feet away. Sunrise had hit about thirty minutes ago.  </p><p>“Do you know when she died?” she asked Chen.  </p><p>He glanced up at Carina from his position next to the body. “Lividity isn’t fixed, and it’s obvious she’s been moved. Her body temperature is 86.3 degrees. But I’m not sure how being wrapped in the garbage bags would affect the loss of heat.” He glanced at Jim.  </p><p>“I’ll do some research on that,” Jim said. “I’m thinking it would slow it down, but not by much.”  </p><p>Chen nodded. “That would mean she died four to twelve hours ago, but I’d put it closer to four to eight hours because rigor mortis hasn’t completely set in. There’s still some movement in her larger muscles.”  </p><p>Carina made notes. Ten p.m. to two a.m. Sunday night. He killed the girl somewhere else—in a car? The woods? Someone’s house? A secluded stretch of beach? She dismissed the last idea: there were no secluded areas on this part of the coastline, and the police routinely patrolled the area because of the nearby college.  </p><p>Someone kills her, puts her in their vehicle, and transports her here, to a public beach, where her body would most certainly be found sooner rather than later.  </p><p>“Arrogant,” she muttered.  </p><p>“Excuse me?” Jim asked.  </p><p>“The killer. Arrogant. Dumped her body where we’d quickly find it. Convinced he won’t be caught, thinks he’s smart.”  </p><p>“Dusting off your psych degree, Carina?” Jim teased.  </p><p>She rolled her eyes and smiled. Jim knew she’d taken all of one psychology class and had never graduated from college.  </p><p>She walked over to the uniformed officers and instructed them to canvas the area. “Start with the houses across the street. See if someone noticed anything unusual after ten last night up until five this morning. A suspicious car, strange noise. People on the beach. Then hit the shops up the street when they open, focusing on those open past eight p.m., clubs and bars in particular.”  </p><p>As she walked back to Jim and Chen she heard a car turn into the gravel parking lot. Her partner, Will Hooper, jumped out and strode across the sand toward them.  </p><p>Jim shook his head. “Asshole,” he muttered.  </p><p>“Give it a rest, Jim,” she said.  </p><p>“Sorry, Kincaid.” Will approached with a guilty grin. “I didn’t hear my beeper go off.”  </p><p>“... </p>

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<div><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> Grade 5-9–At the conclusion of <em>Crispin: The Cross of Lead</em> (Hyperion, 2002), Crispin and Bear have escaped and are enjoying their hard-won freedom, planning to resume their 14th-century lifestyle as traveling minstrels and jugglers. But that freedom doesn't last long because they soon find themselves hunted again by men who believe Bear to be a traitor to the Brotherhood (which is planning a revolt against the oppressive rulers of England). And, with Bear severely injured, Crispin has to make crucial decisions about their future, which for Bear means confronting the sins of the past. The thoughtful introduction of Troth, a disfigured girl, and the trio's fearful journey across the Channel add historical relevance and bring home a critical lesson in tolerance. This second book in a planned trilogy explores even more thoughtfully the themes of religion, war, the motives of men, and the meaning of family. This is an extraordinary work of lyrical simplicity, nearly flawless in its execution, and a haunting tale of love and loss. Readers will devour this story and eagerly anticipate the conclusion of Crispin's adventures._–Melissa Moore, Union University Library, Jackson, TN_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> Avi's engrossing follow-up to his Newbery-winning <em>Crispin: The Cross of Lead</em> (2002) begins with Crispin and his father figure, Bear, tasting freedom briefly before Bear is recognized and shot with an arrow. Fleeing into the forest, they meet Troth, a girl shunned because of her cleft lip. Her protector, old Aude, nurses Bear's wound, but when villagers brutally turn against Aude, Crispin and Bear must flee again, this time with Troth. The three, now a family, make a stormy voyage to Brittany, where English soldiers force them to help in a ruthless attack on a church. Unlike many stories set in the Middle Ages, this novel doesn't romanticize the era; instead, it portrays England and France as places where poverty, superstition, and violence were commonplace. Crispin, Bear, and Troth face each new situation with dread born of painful experience, well aware that the people they meet are as likely to harm them as to help them. The love connecting the three main characters is so vital that maintaining the bond and protecting each other become driving forces in their choices. Along with plenty of action and adventure, this displays a solid emotional base. The combination will make fans eager for the final installment. <em>Carolyn Phelan</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>

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<div><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 5-8–At the dawning of the Middle Ages, Thorston, an old alchemist, works feverishly to create gold and to dose himself with a concoction that will enable him to live forever. The key to his success lies in a mysterious book with blank pages that can only be read by desperate, green-eyed people. Master Bashcroft, enforcer of law and order for the city, desires Thorston's secrets for himself. Brother Wilfrid, a priest with green eyes, knows the dangers of the book and seeks to retrieve it. To this mix add Odo, a talking raven, and Sybil, a poor orphan girl whom Thorston has taken in as his servant, and you have an intriguing tale in which goodness ultimately triumphs. Avi's compelling language creates a dreary foreboding, a grim backdrop against which the characters work out their fate. The old city always seems enshrouded in nasty fog and disgusting odors. Thorston keeps consuming part of his life-giving formula and repeatedly appears to die before resuscitating as a younger person. This, plus the fact that after each "death" Sybil and the others bury him, only to have him tromp up the basement steps covered in grime, will surely keep readers turning pages. Odo's cleverness and cynicism make him a likable character, while Sybil's innate goodness will endear her to readers. Clearly this is a story with a message, a true fable. Thoughtful readers will devour its absorbing plot and humorous elements, and learn a "useful truth" along the way._–Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Gr. 5-8. Avi's name on the cover of a new novel is enough to provoke shivers of anticipation in many readers, and in this "Fable of Medieval Magic" set in eleventh-century England, shivers are certainly warranted. Thirteen-year-old Sybil is the servant of Thorston, an alchemist who attempts to steal her "life's breath" but dies before the magic can take effect. Thorston's companion, a talking raven, convinces Sybil to help him seek the secret of alchemy, contained within an enchanted book--a task that's complicated by a flurry of visitors ("A sniff of gold makes everyone sneeze") and by Thorston's stubborn refusal to stay quietly in his grave. Avi reigns supreme in building gothic atmosphere, and children will be thrilled by the ghastly scenes of fog-shrouded cemeteries and villains reduced "to a foul lump of putrid muck." Less certain is how they'll respond to the unconventional structure; though unflappable, compassionate Sybil comes closest to a central protagonist, the narrative ricochets among numerous perspectives and is fractured into terse, dialogue-heavy episodes. Many fans of Avi's 2003 Newbery Award winner <em>Crispin </em>(2002) will miss the feeling of immersion in a narrative conferred by a single point of view even as they ponder the sweeping messages about the transience of life and the evils of avarice. <em>Jennifer Mattson</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>

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<h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 6 Up—In this final installment in the trilogy, Chima spins a finely structured tale that roars to a satisfying conclusion. For readers new to the series, there is considerable work to be done sorting out the plot and the relationships among the various characters, but after a while the power of the story takes over. The wizarding world is fractured and at war with itself. The only hope for peace lies in those few unaffiliated gifted ones (wizards, warriors, enchanters) in the sanctuary of the town of Trinity. As the novel opens, one of these characters, Jason, steals into the hold of another faction and walks out with a mysterious magical object that appears to be extremely powerful: the Dragonheart. When he brings it back to Trinity, the town and its treasure become the focus of the other factions. The action is largely propelled by the emotional needs and weaknesses of the characters, and not simply by their magical abilities. Madison Moss, whose ability to absorb magic enabled her to save her wizard boyfriend, is now a danger to Seph because she keeps leaking the toxic magic that she absorbed. Her fear that this will be discovered, along with her family problems, leads to her making decisions that put her and others in mortal danger. Maddie, along with Jason and Seph, is the central emotional focus, and it is the details of their lives that make the extraordinary plot twists exciting and compelling. Fans of the first two books are sure to love this one.—_Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City_ <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The covenant that was meant to keep the wizard wars at bay has been stolen, and Trinity must prepare for attack. Everyone is doing their part -- Seph is monitoring the Weirwalls; Jack and Ellen are training their ghostly army; even Anaweir Will and Fitch are setting booby traps around the town's perimeter. But to Jason Haley, it seems like everyone wants to keep him out of the action. He may not be the most powerful wizard in Trinity, but he's prepared to fight for his friends. When Jason finds a powerful talisman --a huge opal called the Dragonheart--buried in a cave, his role takes on new importance. The stone seems to sing to Jason's very soul -- showing him that he is meant for more than anyone guessed. Trinity's guardians take the stone away after they realize that it may be a weapon powerful enough to save them all. Without any significant power of his own, and now without the stone, what can Jason possibly do to help the people he cares about -- and to prove his mettle? </p><p>Madison Moss can feel the beating heart of the opal, too. The desire for it surges through her, drawing her to it. But Maddie has other things besides the Dragonheart on her mind. She has a secret. Ever since absorbing the magical blow that was meant to kill Seph, she's been leaking dark powers. Although Maddie herself is immune to magic, what would her friends think if they knew what kind of evil lay within her? Trinity's enemies are as enthusiastic about her powers as she is frightened. They think they can use her to get to the Dragonheart -- and they'll use anyone Maddie cares about to make her steal the stone for them. </p><p>Moral compasses spin out of control as a final battle storms through what was once a sanctuary for the gifted. With so much to lose, what will Jason and Maddie be willing to fight for -- and what will they sacrifice? Every man is for himself in this thrilling conclusion to the Heir trilogy. </p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p>“A cavalcade of delicious facts, surprising trivia and refreshingly honest, hilariously smart-alecky insight that finally sets the wayward historical record straight.” (AmericanProfile.com )  </p><p>“[M]anages to educate and entertain simultaneously, which is a win-win for everybody!” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer )  </p><p>“[B]reezy, bullet-pointed and well illustrated.” (Financial Times ) </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Smarter than a history teacher, funnier than the Founding Fathers, and more American than Alaska, an almost (but not entirely) comprehensive primer on American history (or at least, the good stuff) </p><p>In trademark smart aleck style, this is history according to mental_floss, an insightfully accurate and incisively humorous exploration of little-known truths and widely believed falsehoods, which simultaneously exposes some of America's oddest moments, strangest citizens, most egregious frauds, and much, much more. </p><p>Ten meaty chapters, peppered with fun trivia, entertainingly cover the essential timeline of the social, political, and cultural happenings of American history and mythbust all the lies teachers told us along the way. Was Abraham Lincoln really a heroic defender of liberty and freedom? Were the Sixties actually a groovy time of peace and love? Has the U.S. always been dependent on foreign oil? mental_floss sets the record straight and shares the fascinating stories behind politics, literature, fashion, televangelism, serial killers, genetic engineering, Yuppies, SPAM, the original Swine Flu, potato chips, rollerskating, mobsters, rum, communists, beaver wars, the rise and fall of irony, and everything else made in the U.S.A. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A brutal struggle in the cutthroat computer industry; a shattering psychological game of cat and mouse; an accusation of sexual harassment that threatens to derail a brilliant career...this is the electrifying core of Michael Crichton's new novel, the first since Rising Sun.At the center: Tom Sanders, an up-and-coming executive with DigiCom in Seattle, a man whose corporate future is certain. Until: after a closed-door meeting with his new boss -- a woman who was his lover ten years before, a woman who has been promoted to the position he expected to have -- he is accused of sexually harassing her. Now he finds himself trapped between what he knows to be true and what he knows others will assume to be the truth. And, as he uncovers an electronic trail into the company's secrets, he begins to grasp just how cynical and manipulative an abuse of truth has actually occurred...Tackling one of the most divisive issues of our time, Disclosure compels us to see beyond our traditional responses. It is Michael Crichton at his best.Michael Crichton's novels include The Terminal Man, Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, and Rising Sun.From the Trade Paperback edition.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Morrison's earthy, poetic voice compliments perfectly the fantastical and mythical elements of <em>Song Of Soloman.</em> A world where fathers fly in clouds of rose petals, and women can cast spells. The text is perfectly suited for an audio rendition - as poetry, songs and the spoken word feature so heavily in the book.</p><p>Morrison narrates for three hours and lays out before us the complex lives and backgrounds of four generations of black family life in the south. Central is the character Milkman--an unfortunate nickname owed to his lengthy nursing period and delayed coming of age. Although a late starter, Milkman develops into a fundamentally strong person, who eventually learns to cherish his family and the importance of his roots.</p><p>The narrator breathes life into an intriguing and diverse set of characters--from violent criminals to devout parents. Through them Morrison explores complex social and racial issues using luscious lyrical language <em>This text refers to the audiobook edition of this title.</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>“A rich, full novel. . . . It lifts us up [and] impresses itself upon us like a love affair.” —_The New York Times Book Review  </p><p>_“Exuberant. . . . An artistic vision that encompasses both a private and national heritage.”   </p><p>“A rhapsodic work. . . . Intricate and inventive.” —_The New Yorker  </p><p><em>“Stunningly beautiful. . . . Full of magnificent people. . . . They are still haunting my house. I suspect they will be with me forever.” —Anne Tyler, </em>The Washington Post  </p><p>_“If Ralph Ellison’s<strong> Invisible Man</strong> went underground, Toni Morrison’s Milkman flies.” —John Leonard, _The New York Times Book Review  </p><p><em>“It places Toni Morrison in the front rank of contemporary American writers. She has written a novel that will endure.” —</em>The Washington Post  </p><p><em>“Lovely. . . . A delight, full of lyrical variety and allusiveness. . . . [An] exceptionally diverse novel.” —</em>The Atlantic Monthly  </p><p><em>“Morrison is a terrific storyteller. . . . Her writing evokes the joyful richness of life.” —</em>Newsday  </p><p><em>“Morrison dazzles. . . . She creates a black community strangely unto itself yet never out of touch with the white world. . . . With an ear as sharp as glass she has listened to the music of black talk and uses it as a palette knife to create black lives and to provide some of the best fictional dialogue around today.” —</em>The Nation  </p><p><em>“A marvelous novel, the most moving I have read in ten years of reviewing.” —</em>Cleveland Plain Dealer  </p><p><em>“Toni Morrison has created a fanciful world here. . . . She has an impeccable sense of emotional detail. She’s the most sensible lyrical writer around today.” —</em>The Philadelphia Inquirer  </p><p><em>“A fine novel exuberantly constructed. . . . So rich in its use of common speech, so sophisticated in its use of literary traditions and language from the Bible to Faulkner . . . it is also extremely funny.” —</em>The Hudson Review  </p><p><em>“Toni Morrison is an extraordinarily good writer. Two pages into anything she writes one feels the power of her language and the emotional authority behind that language. . . . One closes the book warmed through by the richness of its sympathy, and by its breathtaking feel for the nature of sexual sorrow.” —</em>The Village Voice  </p><p><em>“Morrison moves easily in and out of the lives and thoughts of her characters, luxuriating in the diversity of circumstances and personality, and revelling in the sound of their voices and of her own, which echoes and elaborates theirs.” —</em>The New Yorker<br />_</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this weighty, riveting analysis of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Metaxas (Amazing Grace) offers a comprehensive review of one of history's darkest eras, along with a fascinating exploration of the familial, cultural and religious influences that formed one of the world's greatest contemporary theologians. A passionate narrative voice combines with meticulous research to unpack the confluence of circumstances and personalities that led Germany from the defeat of WWI to the atrocities of WWII. Abundant source documentation (sermons, letters, journal entries, lectures, the Barman Declaration) brings to life the personalities and experiences that shaped Bonhoeffer: his highly intellectual, musical family; theologically liberal professors, pastoral colleagues and students; his extensive study, work, and travel abroad. Tracing Bonhoeffer's developing call to be a Jeremiah-like prophet in his own time and a growing understanding that the church was called "to speak for those who could not speak," Metaxas details Bonhoeffer's role in religious resistance to Nazism, and provides a compelling account of the faith journey that eventually involved the Lutheran pastor in unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Hitler. Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history and theology. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>''In Hitler's Germany, a Lutheran pastor chooses resistance and pays with his life. . . Eric Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer's story with passion and theological sophistication, often challenging revisionist accounts that make Bonhoeffer out to be a 'humanist' or ethicist for whom religious doctrine was easily disposable. . . Metaxas reminds us that there are forms of religion -- respectable, domesticated, timid -- that may end up doing the devil's work for him. --_Wall Street Journal_  </p><p>''In this weighty, riveting analysis of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Metaxas offers a comprehensive review of one of history's darkest eras, along with a fascinating exploration of the familial, cultural, and religious influences that formed one of the world's greatest contemporary theologians. A passionate narrative voice combines with meticulous research. . . Abundant source documentation brings to life the personalities and experiences that shaped Bonhoefferâ€¦Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history, and theology.'' --_Publishers Weekly_  </p><p>''A welcome new biography of one of the twentieth century's leading lights. Metaxas magnificently captures the life of theologian and anti-Nazi activist Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), who 'thought it the plain duty of the Christian-and the privilege and honor-to suffer with those who suffered.' In the finest treatment of the man since Eberhard Bethge's <em>Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Man of Vision, Man of Courage</em> (1970), Metaxas presents a complete, accessible picture of this important figure, whose story is inspiring, instructive, and international in scope. . . Metaxas rightly focuses on his subject's life, not his theology, though readers will learn plenty about his theology as well. The author makes liberal use of primary sources, which bring Bonhoeffer and other characters to vivid life. For the most part, Metaxas allows this epic story to play itself out, unhindered by commentary; where he does add his own voice, the conclusions are sage. A definitive Bonhoeffer biography for the twenty-first century.'' --_Kirkus Reviews_ (starred review) </p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven.</strong></p><p><em>Heaven Is for Real </em>is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.</p><p>Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.</p><p>Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.</p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Todd Burpo is pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan, a wrestling coach, a volunteer fireman, and he operates a garage door company with his wife, Sonja, who is also a children’s minister, busy pastor’s wife, and mom. Colton, now an active 11-year-old, has an older sister Cassie and a younger brother Colby. The family lives in Imperial, Nebraska.  </p><p>Lynn Vincent is the <em>New York Times</em> best-selling writer of <em>Same Kind of Different as Me</em> and <em>Going Rogue: An American Life</em>. The author or co-author of nine books, Vincent is a senior writer for <em>WORLD</em> magazine and a lecturer in writing at the King’s College in New York City. She lives in San Diego, California. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Set against a backdrop of Oval Office corruption, bestseller Meltzer's overblown thriller opens with a frantic assassination attempt on President Leland Manning, who manages to elude the gunfire. Manning's deputy chief of staff, Ron Boyle, is killed, and his top aide, the cocky, ambitious Wes Holloway, is left facially disfigured. Eight years later, his motivation and confidence drained by his handicap, Holloway still toils away for the out-of-office Manning, fetching refreshments and handling the daily social calendar. On a goodwill junket to Malaysia, however, Holloway spots Boyle, surgically altered, but unmistakably the same man who was supposed to be dead and gone. From this turning point, Meltzer (_The Zero Game_) follows Holloway step by excruciatingly slow step as he tries to find out what really happened eight years earlier. Authentic details about Washington politics and historical mysteries enliven the predictable path. While readers looking for efficient plotting may be disappointed, Meltzer's many fans will enjoy this substantial meal of a book. <em>15-city author tour. (Sept.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Wes Holloway, a hotshot presidential aide, is wounded in an assassination attempt that kills the president's close friend. Eight years later, the dead man reappears, disfigured but very much alive and apparently stalking the former president. Wes thinks he can figure out what's going on, but to do so he must decipher a two-century-old code and penetrate the secrets of Masonic history. From his first novel, <em>The Tenth Justice</em> (1997), through his sixth, <em>Identity Crisis </em>(2005), Meltzer has served up exciting thrillers that take readers behind the scenes of American politics. The pattern doesn't change this time. Like the television series <em>The West Wing</em>, Meltzer's novels focus on the political people the public never sees and tells the stories we never hear. He could be accused here of jumping on the <em>Da Vinci Code </em>bandwagon, but that wouldn't really be fair. He's too good a writer to waste his time imitating someone else's work, and this novel is much more skillfully written--and far more plausible--than Dan Brown's tedious best-seller. The characters are genuine human beings--not all that common in the world of high-concept thrillers--and the plot fluidly integrates historical fact and fiction, which is even less common. Fans of thrillers that reach far back into history will be, well, . . . thrilled. <em>David Pitt</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Bestseller Meltzer (_The Book of Fate_) deserves credit for an audacious conceit—wedding the biblical fratricide of Abel by his brother Cain with the unsolved 1932 homicide of the father of Jerry Siegel, the creator of iconic comic book hero Superman—but the results are less than convincing. A highly tenuous link between the two murders revolves around the mysterious weapon Cain (the world's greatest villain) used to kill his brother. One of numerous theories is that the weapon was a divine book containing the secrets of immortality. After coming to the aid of a shooting victim, Calvin Harper, a homeless volunteer working in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., soon finds himself hopelessly caught up in a life-and-death quest for the ancient artifact that includes the obligatory secret societies, Nazi conspiracies, enigmatic villains and cryptographic riddles à la <em>The Da Vinci Code</em>. A glut of two-dimensional characters and a plot riddled with coincidences don't help. <em>(Sept.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Adult/High School–Meltzer builds suspenseful fiction on a previously little-explored historical nugget: Jerry Siegel, the teenage creator of Superman, lost his father in an unsolved murder in 1932. The author offers a compelling theoretical solution by way of an adult protagonist who is dealing with his conflicted feelings about his own father. Cal works for a rescue mission, picking up vagrants in need of shelter, when he stumbles across a man who turns out to be the father who abandoned him in childhood. The two men join forces in pursuit of what they believe is the lost Book of Cain, the weapon used in the Bibles original murder scene. Meltzer invokes multiple viewpoints as Cal, his father, a mysterious young woman who seems to have befriended the father, a rogue ex-cop, and a hot Federal agent converge on Cleveland in search of the biblical treasure. Teens with a taste for international conspiracies, religion-spouting bad guys, and identity-switching will enjoy this fast ride that leaves some solid and intriguing questions in the wake of its driving plot. Suggest this one to kids who enjoy the likes of Dan Brown, as well as superhero comics._–Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia_ <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong><em>Don't know much about history?</em></strong>   </p><p>Which societies are the most important? Which periods of time saw the most change? How have cultures differed and remained the same across this vast time and space? This guide gives readers the whole world, and then some! Including key ideas as well as lesser- known facts, salient quotes, and crucial terms defined, it prepares readers not only to excel in exams but to become 21st century citizens of the world.  </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>Timothy C. Hall, M.A.,</strong> developed, created, and teaches an online AP World History and Medieval Studies curriculum, and currently teaches AP European History, Sociology, and Civics/Economics at the Franklin Academy in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He earned his M.A. in History from East Carolina University and his B.A. in History from Elon University. </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Meltzer credits 143 people in his acknowledgments, a testament to massive research involving everything from the smallest details of our government's inner workings to the scientific complexities of chaos theory and advanced neutrino research. He's far too seasoned a pro (The Tenth Justice; The Millionaires) to ever let readers bog down in minutiae, though, using his impressive background material as rocket fuel for this rip-roaring novel of government intrigue. Best friends Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler have worked for years as professional Capitol Hill staffers. With boredom and burnout threatening, they've joined a secret group of other like-minded workers to play the Zero Game, which uses congressional voting and government administrative procedure as the basis for placing bets. "We don't change the laws, or pass bad legislation, or stroke our evil goatees and overthrow democracy as we know it. We play at the margins; where it's safe-and where it's fun." The two decide to bet their life savings when a seemingly innocent appropriations item, the sale of an abandoned South Dakota gold mine, becomes part of the game. Because of his senior position as an appropriations committee staffer, Matthew is sure he has a lock on this one. Things go horribly wrong, and soon Harris and Viv Parker, a young Senate page, are on the run, fleeing from hired killer Martin Janos. Their flight takes them to the abandoned gold mine, where they find more mystery and near death 8,000 feet below the surface of the earth. Janos, their nemesis, is relentless, as is the action, and readers will be left breathless. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>When Matthew Mercer confides to his best friend, Harris Sandler, that he's thinking of leaving his cushy job as a senior staffer on Capitol Hill, Harris convinces him to stay by inviting him to play the Zero Game, an anonymous wagering game where you bet on the likelihood of some piece of legislation passing. It's a silly game, but the stakes are minimal, so Matthew joins in, enjoying the diversion and finding the anonymity intriguing. The bet in front of them now is a gimme, especially since Matthew can control its outcome, so the pair decides to up the ante and go for broke. Trouble is, there's another bidder out there (Who else could have such an interest?), and both Matthew and Harris sense that this bet just might be their last. They've learned the hard way that there's no one they can trust and have no choice but to find out who's behind the now-murderous game. Coming to their aid is an unlikely savior, a teenage Senate page who can duck in and out of private offices without raising suspicion. Packed with plenty of backroom D.C. ambience and lots of action, the novel also boasts improved plotting and character development since Meltzer's last high-concept best-seller, <em>The Millionaires </em>(2001). <em>Mary Frances Wilkens</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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The Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of "Founding Brothers" and "His Excellency "brings America's preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic's tenuous early years.John and Abigail Adams left an indelible and remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: both Adamses were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was clearly the more gifted of the two), and over the years they exchanged more than twelve hundred letters. Joseph J. Ellis distills this unprecedented and unsurpassed record to give us an account both intimate and panoramic; part biography, part political history, and part love story. Ellis describes the first meeting between the two as inauspicious--John was twenty-four, Abigail just fifteen, and each was entirely unimpressed with the other. But they soon began a passionate correspondence that resulted in their marriage five years later. Over the next decades, the couple were separated nearly as much as they were together. John's political career took him first to Philadelphia, where he became the boldest advocate for the measures that would lead to the Declaration of Independence. Yet in order to attend the Second Continental Congress, he left his wife and children in the middle of the war zone that had by then engulfed Massachusetts. Later he was sent to Paris, where he served as a minister to the court of France alongside Benjamin Franklin. These years apart stressed the Adamses' union almost beyond what it could bear: Abigail grew lonely, while the Adams children suffered from their father's absence. John was elected the nation's first vice president, but by the time of his reelection, Abigail's health prevented her from joining him in Philadelphia, the interim capital. She no doubt had further reservations about moving to the swamp on the Potomac when John became president, although this time he persuaded her. President Adams inherited a weak and bitterly divided country from George Washington. The political situation was perilous at best, and he needed his closest advisor by his side: "I can do nothing," John told Abigail after his election, "without you." In Ellis's rich and striking new history, John and Abigail's relationship unfolds in the context of America's birth as a nation.


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p><em></em>PRAISE FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE SPORTSWRITER:  </p><p><em></em>"John Feinstein...has done perhaps as much for golf writing as Arnold Palmer has for golf." (<strong>Washington Monthly</strong> _<strong>Ron Rappaport</strong>_ )  </p><p>"Feinstein is the most successful sportswriter in America....He has the gift of re-creating events known to us all while infusing them with excitement, even suspense." (<strong>Wall Street Journal</strong> _<strong>Jay Nordlinger</strong>_ )  </p><p>"The best chronicler in sports journalism." (<strong>Seattle Times</strong> _<strong>Craig Smith</strong>_ )  </p><p>"John Feinstein has become sportswriting's John Grisham." (<strong>Sporting News</strong> _<strong>David Kindred</strong>_ )  </p><p>"Feinstein makes you care." (<strong>Entertainment Weekly</strong> _<strong>Bruce Fetts,</strong>_ )  </p><p>"One of the best sportswriters alive." (<strong>USA Today</strong> _<strong>Larry King</strong>_ ) </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>June 2008's US Open produced one of the most unexpected and dramatic showdowns in golf history. Day after day the invincible Tiger Woods was challenged by Rocco Mediate, a respected journeyman. On Sunday, both ended play tied at par, forcing a playoff. Defying expectations, Mediate played Woods to yet another tie, losing only after forcing a sudden-death showdown.  </p><p>Through it all, Rocco Mediate emerged as one of the most likable, open, and fascinating golfers. In ARE YOU KIDDING ME?, he tells the full story of these five life-changing days. With John Feinstein, whose insider knowledge of the golf world is unparalleled, Mediate relives one of sport's greatest feats, how one man overcame every obstacle to challenge the game's finest. </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>This stimulating, iconoclastic career-development primer is a rare example of the self-help/motivational genre with a difference. Life coach Pollan and his collaborator Levine, authors of the contrarian retirement planning guide Die Broke, don’t mean the title literally; it’s just a metaphor for taking control of your work life, one that rejects all the high-minded shibboleths of traditional business motivation. They argue that companies are "amoral legal constructs" that care nothing for their workers. Bosses are dictators rather than mentors or servant-leaders. Jobs can’t provide psychological or spiritual fulfillment; people should get those things from their lives away from work—where they should spend as little time as possible. The authors elaborate these insights into a refreshingly cynical take on workplace issues. Success doesn’t depend on doing a good job, they say, but on soothing and flattering the boss. Workers shouldn’t wallow in unrequited loyalty to the company, but ought to be constantly "fishing" for better jobs. Other rules: rely on personal ties, because landing a job is a matter of "who you know, not what you know"; don’t personalize your cubicle, because that might encourage you to spend more time at work; above all, don’t try to follow your heart or make a difference in your career: "the job of your dreams is the one that pays the most money." The authors provide lots of shrewd tips on job hunting, negotiating, manipulation and brown-nosing, but their book transcends the merely pragmatic. Their call to "end this destructive pursuit of meaningful work" mounts a subversive challenge to the idea of the calling, and thus to the Protestant work ethic at the very core of the motivational worldview.<br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Fire Your Boss<br />And Hire Yourself.</p><p>Impossible? Not according to nationally bestselling author Stephen M. Pollan. As he says in this new and empowering book, "You don't have to accept your current work situation. You can be in control of your job and your stream of income, so you're never again subject to the whims, prejudices, moods, or circumstances of your so-called boss."</p><p>In today's difficult work environment, gone are the days of finding satisfaction through your job, gone is the time when your job was secure, and gone are the days when your employer cared about you. This new environment requires new rules, and Pollan has provided surprisingly fresh and intriguing methods for finding "success" on the job.</p><p>Pollan's bold and unique message begins with the idea that you must "fire your boss." By this he means you can no longer rely on your manager or your company for economic security. Instead, you must put yourself in charge of your working life. In this thought-provoking and counterintuitive career guide, Pollan presents a seven-step program and a series of exercises that give you the confidence, power, and will to achieve the life of your dreams.</p><p>Once you have changed your mind-set and learned the new rules of the game, you can start the process of moving to a richer, more enriching, and more enjoyable life. And the best part about it? Your boss will love you for it.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Irvine Welsh's controversial first novel, set on the heroin-addicted fringe of working-class youth in Edinburgh, is yet another exploration of the dark side of Scottishness. The main character, Mark Renton, is at the center of a clique of nihilistic slacker junkies with no hopes and no possibilities, and only "mind-numbing and spirit-crushing" alternatives in the straight world they despise. This particular slice of humanity has nothing left but the blackest of humor and a sharpness of wit. American readers can use the glossary in the back to translate the slang and dialect--essential, since the dialogue makes the book. This is a bleak vision sung as musical comedy. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>Blisteringly funny ... don't abandon everything for the movie. It's worth making the effort with <em>Trainspotting</em> not merely because relatively few writers have rummaged through this particular enclave of British youth culture, but because even fewer have dug there so deeply. -- <em>The New York Times Book Review, Mark Jolly</em>  </p><p>The best book ever written by man or woman ...deserves to sell more copies than the Bible. -- <em>Rebel, Inc.</em></p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It’s been nearly 200 years since the collapse of the Confederacy, the last government to claim humanity’s colonies. So when signals come in revealing lost human colonies that could shift the power balance, the race is on between the Caliphate ships and a small team of scientists and mercenarys. But what awaits them all is a threat far beyond the scope of any human government. </p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Okay, it’s not exactly news that Napoleon miscalculated in trying to invade Russia in the dead of winter or that David Caruso hurt his career by leaving NYPD Blue after a mere season and a half. And the authors, publishing veterans, are a bit blithe in describing the battle between Henry VIII and Thomas More as merely a bad personnel decision. (Similarly, poor Anne of Cleves might have felt differently about their saying Henry can’t be faulted for their failed marriage.) Complex historical episodes, such as the rise and fall of Robespierre, are reduced to a quick sketch of blunder, and major historical goof-ups are mixed in with more trivial pop-culture tales of woe, such as Garth Brooks’s worst-selling album and other actors who, like Caruso, bailed out of a TV ship that, far from sinking, was moving full steam ahead. There’s an odd mix here, definitely history very-lite, but perhaps readers who savor schadenfreude will find some satisfaction in it.<br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>History has never been more fun than it is in this fact-filled compendium of historical fiascoes and embarrassingly bad ideas. </p><p>Throughout history, the rich and powerful, and even just the dim-witted, have made horrifically bad decisions that have had resounding effects on our world. From kings to corporate leaders, from captains to presidents, no one is immune to bad decisions and their lasting legacy. The fiascoes that litter our history are innumerable ... and fascinating in their foolishness. This witty collection of historical mayhem chronicles unwise decisions from ancient Greece to modern-day Hollywood and everything in between. Learn such lessons as: </p><ul><li>     Never trust Greeks bearing gifts of large wooden horses. </li> <li>     Avoid building elementary schools on toxic waste dumps, even those with sweet monikers like Love Canal. </li> <li>     Rabbits multiply like rabbits Down Under. </li> <li>     Even if you use brightly colored paint on the boats, it's quite easy to misplace an entire country's navy. </li></ul><p>With more than forty-five chapters of mind-boggling flubs and follies, fans of history, trivia, and those who just want a good laugh will adore this intriguing and fun read. </p>

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<p class="description">“David Sedaris’s ability to transform the mortification of everyday life into wildly entertaining art,” (The Christian Science Monitor) is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this remarkable new book.</p>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Daniel Keyes wrote little SF but is highly regarded for one classic, <em>Flowers for Algernon</em>. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation <em>Charly</em> (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical.</p><p>Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving: </p><blockquote><p>I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time. </p><p>I dint know mice were so smart.</p></blockquote><p>Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate... </p><p><em>Flowers for Algernon</em> is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact. <em>--David Langford</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>PRAISE FOR FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON<br>"A tale that is convincing, suspenseful and touching."--_The New York Times _<br>"An ingeniously touching story . . . Moving . . . Intensely real."--_The Baltimore Sun_  </p>

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"Clap Hands and Sing" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collection Maps in a Mirror. It was later published in his book Posing as People along with a play based on it by Scott Brick.


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High above the earth orbits the starship Basilica. On board the huge vessel is a sleeping woman. Of those who made the journey, Shedemai alone has survived the hundred of years since the Children of Wetchik returned to Earth.She now wears the Cloak of the Starmaster, and the Oversoul wakes her sometimes to watch over her descendants on the planet below. The population has grown rapidly--there are cities and nations now, whole peoples descended from the who followed Nafai or Elemak.But in all the long years of watching and searching, the Oversoul has not found the thing it sought. It has not found the Keeper of the Earth, the central intelligence that also can repair the Oversoul's damaged programming.


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High above the planet Harmony, the Oversoul watches, programmed forty million years ago to guard the human settlement from all threats, especially themselves. In the latest in the Hugo- and Nebula award-winning author's Homecoming series, the great artificial intelligence has lost control of the population, forbidden technology has been rediscovered, war has broken out, and the only repair lies light years distant on a lost and ruined Earth. "There seems little doubt that the whole series will prove as readable--and as morally committed--as we've come to expect from Card." --Locus


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Right-wing rhetoric trumps the logic of story and character in this near-future political thriller about a red-state vs. blue-state American civil war, an implausibly plotted departure from Card's bestselling science fiction (Ender's Game, etc.). When the president and vice-president are killed by domestic terrorists (of unknown political identity), a radical leftist army calling itself the Progressive Restoration takes over New York City and declares itself the rightful government of the United States. Other blue states officially recognize the legitimacy of the group, thus starting a second civil war. Card's heroic red-state protagonists, Maj. Reuben "Rube" Malek and Capt. Bartholomew "Cole" Coleman, draw on their Special Ops training to take down the extremist leftists and restore peace to the nation. The action is overshadowed by the novel's polemical message, which Card tops off with an afterword decrying his own politically-motivated exclusion from various conventions and campuses, the "national media elite" and the divisive excesses of both the right and the left. 

Some video-game developers asked Card to write a scenario for "an entertainment franchise . . . about a near-future American civil war." They came to the right man and held off on releasing the game until he completed this relentless thriller, which couldn't be timelier and is, for all its hyperactivity and flip, Hollywoodish one-liners, heartfelt and sobering. Its heroes are two special-ops army officers who keep their oaths to defend the U.S. against all enemies when far too many of their ostensible colleagues have decided to abandon theirs. A rocket hits the west wing of the White House, killing the president, vice-president, and secretary of defense. While those directly responsible are Arabs, the next day, 14-foot-tall, bulletproof, armed globes on mechanical legs, backed by shooters on individual hovercraft, seize New York City by killing anyone in uniform. None of the new attackers looks anything other than American. A "Progressive Restoration" administration is established in the city, and it encourages other cities and states to join it to restore government as it should have been but for the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004. Intriguing plot wrinkles come fore and aft of those basic developments, there are many deftly shaped supporting players, and major shocks explode in a split second (no Stephen King slo-mo for Card!). Moreover, all the action doesn't obscure the author's message about the dangers of extreme political polarization and the need to reassert moderation and mutual citizenship; indeed, it drives it home.


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Intertwining the story of Sleeping Beauty with Russian mythology, Card (Homebody, etc.) creates an appealing though not potent fairy tale. Ten-year-old Ivan is terrified by, yet drawn to, a beautiful woman frozen in time in the middle of the primordial forest of Russia. More than a decade later, he returns and uses his prowess as a track-and-field star and a promise of marriage to rescue this princess. Echoes of Narnia sound (including some slightly preachy undertones) as Ivan is drawn back into the princess's time. He finds that he has no skills useful in the ninth century, and yet must find a way to defeat the witch Baba Yaga, who has harnessed the power of a god to take over Princess Katerina's kingdom. Ivan brings his betrothed into the modern world to keep her from Yaga's clutches and the pair learn to understand not only each other, but each other's powers and weapons. By the time they return to the fairy-tale world, they are armed with modern-day knowledge and aided by Ivan's relatives, who turn out to be minor Russian deities and witches. In an apparent desire to make his tale believable, Card leaches it of some of its magic, offering up the extraordinary as matter of fact, and his characters lack some of the depth that usually makes his writing so rewarding. His new look at a classic tale is clever, however, adding attractive whimsical twists and cultural confluences to a familiar story.


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Review

 “A fantastic tapestry woven around wholly believable characters.” – Fantasy Review

 -- Enter the city of Hart’s Hope, ruled by gods both powerful and indifferent, riddled with sorcery and revenge. The city was captured by a rebellious lord, Palicrovol, who overthrew the cruel king, Nasilee, hated by his people. <br><br>Palicrovol, too, was cruel, as befitted a king. He took the true mantle of kinghood by forcing Asineth, now Queen by her father’s death, to marry him, raping her to consummate the marriage. [But he was not cruel enough to rule.] He let her live after her humiliation; live to bear a daughter; live to return from exile and retake the throne of Hart’s Hope.

But she, in turn, sent Palicrovol into exile to breed a son who would, in the name of the God, take back the kingdom from its cruel Queen.


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High above the planet Harmony, the Oversoul watches. Its task, programmed so many millennia ago, is to guard the human settlement on this planet--to protect this fragile remnant of Earth from all threats. To protect them, most of all, from themselves.The Oversoul has done its job well. There is no war on Harmony. There are no weapons of mass destruction. There is no technology that could lead to weapons of war. By control of the data banks, and subtle interference in the very thoughts of the people, the artificial intelligence has fulfilled its mission.But now there is a problem. In orbit, the Oversoul realizes that it has lost access to some of its memory banks, and some of its power systems are failing. And on the planet, men are beginning to think about power, wealth, and conquest.


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Orson Scott Card finally explores what happened on earth after the war with the Buggers in the sixth book of his Ender series, Shadow of the Hegemon. This novel is the continuation of the story of Bean, which began with Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel to Card's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ender's Game. While Ender heads off to a faraway planet, Bean and the other brilliant children who helped Ender save the earth from alien invaders have become war heroes and have finally been sent home to live with their parents. While the children try to fit back in with the family and friends they haven't known for nearly a decade, someone's worried about their safety. Peter Wiggins, Ender's brother, has foreseen that the talented children are in danger of being killed or kidnapped. His fears are quickly realized, and only Bean manages to escape. Bean knows he must save the others and protect humanity from a new evil that has arisen, an evil from his past. But just as he played second to Ender during the Bugger war, Bean must again step into the shadow of another, the one who will be Hegemon. In Shadow of the Hegemon, Card can't help but fall back into old patterns. But while the theme is the same as in previous books--brilliant, tragic children with the fate of the human race resting on their shoulders--Shadow of the Hegemon does a wonderful job of continuing Bean's tale against a backdrop of the politics and intrigue of a fragile earth. While the novel is accessible, new readers to the series would be wise to begin with Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. --Kathie Huddleston


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The City of Basilica has fallen. Now Wetchik, Nafai, and all their family must brave the desert wastes, and cross the wide continents to where Harmony's hidden spaceport lies silent, abandoned, waiting for the command to make the great interstellar ships ready for flight again.But of these sixteen people, only a few have chosen their exile. The others, Rasa's spiteful daughters and their husbands; Wetchik's oldest son, Elemak, have been forced against their will. Their anger and hatreds will make the difficult journey harder.


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After the success in recent years of his mature work (the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning SF diptych Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead and the excellent fantasy, Seventh Son ), the energetic Card returns to his 1979 second novel originally titled A Planet Called Treason . Limiting his rewriting to presentation rather than plot, Card is left with a good story that looks forward to his better work. Arrogant, sophisticated Lanik Mueller, scion of a clan that can regenerate their bodies, learns humility and much else during his exile in "primitive" lands. With his new powers, including the ability to cause earthquakes and drain lakes, he leads his countrymen in revolt against their conquerors. As in his later, better known work, Card provides a colorful dramatization of ethical issues and questions of identity against a backdrop of bizarrely fascinating races from the tree-dwelling Nkumai to the time-manipulating Ku Kuei. 

 Cursed by the uncontrollable manifestation of his family's natural gift for self-healing and bodily regeneration, Lanik Mueller begins a planet-wide journey that reveals the mysterious origins of human existence on the planet Treason and leads him to challenge the assumptions of a society based on warfare and greed. This expanded version of A Planet Called Treason exemplifies Card's talent for creating disturbingly compelling, beautifully written stories. JC


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When naive computer-nerd and millionaire Quentin Fears meets the woman of his dreams at a posh Washington, D.C., party and then marries her, he thinks his life is complete. But in this low-key horror novel, appearances can't be trusted and people aren't always in control of their actions. Although Madeleine seems quite sophisticated, there are deficits in her memory and her background is vague. She claims a large, well-to-do family but invites no relatives to the wedding. When Quentin finally meets his in-laws at their palatial Upstate New York mansion, they strike him as eccentric, almost as cartoons of real people. The domineering grandmother, whom Madeleine hates, sits in a trance, eyes closed, refusing to speak. There are hints of past child abuse?and of the possibility that a young boy may have been murdered. Why do so many of Madeleine's relatives have names identical to those buried in the family cemetery? And why doesn't Madeleine leave any footprints in the snow? Although the story moves toward a powerful climax, its primary pleasures are more subtle: strong character development and complex motivations, a mystery to solve, the discovery of wheels within wheels.


At age 11, Quentin Fears is devastated by his older sister Lizzy's death. Subsequently, he grows up to be a lonely man, obsessed with memories of Lizzy. He becomes extremely wealthy, yet everything he does centers around Lizzy. He even picks a wife who reminds him of her. Madeleine, the woman with whom he falls in love and marries in a matter of weeks, turns out to be an apparition invented by an evil witch. Once the story turns to Quentin's wife and her family, the plot degenerates into the script of a B-movie, with wild explanations for the comings and goings of ghosts and the mysterious treasure box that Madeleine wants her new husband to open. Card, the author of many highly acclaimed works (e.g., Children of the Mind, Tor, 1996) is more handy with quick and witty dialog than story content. There is not enough humor here it to be funny and not enough horror or fantasy for it to be either.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The sphere is alien in origin, but has been controlled by Man for millennia. A legend as old as the stars rules this constructed world: when the seventh seventh seventh human Heptarch is crowned, he will be the Kristos and will bring eternal salvation . . . or the destruction of the cosmos. Patience is the only daughter of the rightful Heptarch, but she, like her father before her, serves the usurper who has destroyed her family. For she has learned the true ruler's honor: that duty to one's race is more important than duty to one's self. But the time for prudence has passed, and that which has slept for ages has awakened. Patience must journey to the heartsoul of this planet to confront her destiny . . . and her world's. Wyrms is an Orson Scott Card classic, one of the novels that helped forge his young career.</p>


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(1990-First Edition)

SUMMARY:
Orson Scott Card shares his advice on how to break into this field, how to develop fantastic story ideas, and evolve fresh plots.


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> Multiple Hugo- and Nebula-winner Card offers short, revealing commentaries on these 22 compelling short stories, novelettes, and novellas, noting that short work has inspired some of his best and best-known long fiction. These short science fiction, fantasy and literary stories, along with a handful of Hatrack River tales (related to the Alvin Maker series) and four stories written by a Mormon, about Mormon culture, for Mormon readers, illustrate Card's fascination with complex child protagonists, touchingly portrayed in Inventing Lovers on the Phone; absorption with moral dilemmas, wrapped up in family love and tensions in Worthy to Be One of Us; and new views of old traditions, familiar and discomfiting in Homeless in Hell and Christmas at Helaman's House. Card intended several of the included stories, like the powerful In the Dragon's House, to open novels not yet written, but even on their own they provide significant examples of his perennial themes: morality, salvation and redemption. <em>(Apr.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Adult/High School—The prolific Card published one short story collection, <em>Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card</em> (Tor, 1990), which supposedly included all of the short fiction he was willing to share. But apparently there are now a lot more selections, as demonstrated by this hefty volume. This compilation, composed of science fiction, fantasy, literary tales, and Mormon stories contains no clunkers. There is some truly innovative and wonderful storytelling here. Card's ability to create believable characters that readers come to care about remains his strongest selling point. Sometimes those characters happen into other worlds, as in "Space Boy" and "Dust." Other times they stay firmly grounded in this one, yet their stories give a new and different perspective on life. Teens who enjoy Card's earlier work, who like short stories, or who are just looking for a new world to lose themselves in can't go wrong here. Standout stories include "Space Boy," "Homeless in Hell," "Inventing Lovers on the Phone," and "50 WPM." Short essays give the origins of the individual selections.—_Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>

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A withdrawn eight-year-old in a troubled family invents imaginary friends who bear the names of missing children in this absorbing thriller. 

 Science fiction writer Card ( Abyss , Pocket, 1989) turns to suspense with this offering. Step Fletcher, his wife DeAnne, and their children have just moved to Steuben, North Carolina, where there has been a rash of mysterious disappearances. Plagued by various problems, the religious Fletcher family slowly adjusts to the community. Eight-year-old son Stevie, however, spends all his spare time with his imaginary friends. Preoccupied with settling into their new home, Step and DeAnne fail to understand the connection between Stevie's friends and the young boys' disappearances. Almost too late, Stevie makes the ultimate sacrifice to convince his family that his imaginary friends are real and to reveal the boys' murderer. Card skillfully uses terror as a background to everyday family life. For Stephen King fans and those who like their suspense mixed with the supernatural.


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The Hugo- and Nebula-winning Card ( The Ships of Earth ) teams up here with a relative newcomer (Kidd has published several non-SF novels with Card's own publishing company, Hatrack River) to produce a moral fable about freedom, responsibility and the arrogance of human beings in treating other living things as unfeeling property. The narrator, Lovelock, is a genetically enhanced capuchin monkey trained to function as a "witness," recording the life and thoughts of the person to whom he is attached. Lovelock's master is Carol Jeanne Cocciolone, the world's leading "gaiologist" and now part of an interstellar colonization effort. As Carol Jeanne's family (including her overbearing mother-in-law and browbeaten father-in-law) settle into the strange, self-contained world of the interstellar Ark (whose population is divided into small agricultural communities as practice for their future lives on a new world), Lovelock begins to chafe under the bonds of his psychological conditioning. Increasingly unhappy with the injustice of his servitude and the indifference of his master, he plots to break free. Card and Kidd's passionate depiction of Lovelock's plight, as well as their insightful portrayal of the various human characters, makes for a gripping read. These very elements, however, tend to drown out any SF interest. In addition, but for Lovelock's enhancement, the novel might almost have been set in a small American town of a half-century past. <br>Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>As a genetically enhanced "witness," trained to record the daily activities of important people for future generations, Lovelock the monkey accompanies planetologist Carol Jeanne Cocciolone aboard the colony ship Mayflower. Lovelock's gradual metamorphosis from contented "slave" to secret rebel echoes the conflicts of the humans around him as the enclosed environment of the spaceship exposes freedom's illusions. Veteran fantasy/sf author Card (Lost Boys, LJ 11/1/92) and sf newcomer Kidd join forces to create a penetrating exploration of inalienable rights in a story that gives "humanistic" beliefs an unusual twist. For most sf collections.<br>Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>

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SUMMARY:
Orson Scott Card has the distinction of having swept both the Hugo and Nebula awards in two consecutive years with his amazing novels Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead. For a body of work that ranges from science fiction to nonfiction to plays, Card has been recognized as an author who provides vivid, colorful glimpses between the world we know and worlds we can only imagine. In a peaceful, prosperous African American neighborhood in Los Angeles, Mack Street is a mystery child who has somehow found a home. Discovered abandoned in an overgrown park, raised by a blunt-speaking single woman, Mack comes and goes from family to family–a boy who is at once surrounded by boisterous characters and deeply alone. But while Mack senses that he is different from most, and knows that he has strange powers, he cannot possibly understand how unusual he is until the day he sees, in a thin slice of space, a narrow house. Beyond it is a backyard–and an entryway into an extraordinary world stretching off into an exotic distance of geography, history, and magic. Passing through the skinny house that no one else can see, Mack is plunged into a realm where time and reality are skewed, a place where what Mack does and sees seem to have strange affects in the “real world” of concrete, cars, commerce, and conflict. Growing into a tall, powerful young man, pursuing a forbidden relationship, and using Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream as a guide into the vast, timeless fantasy world, Mack becomes a player in an epic drama. Understanding this drama is Mack’s challenge. His reward, if he can survive the trip, is discovering not only who he really is . . . but why he exists. Both a novel of constantly surprising entertainment and a tale of breathtaking literary power, Magic Street is a masterwork from a supremely gifted, utterly original American writer–a novel that uses realism and fantasy to delight, challenge, and satisfy on the most profound levels. From the Hardcover edition.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A collection of science fiction and fantasy tales by the acclaimed author offers readers ten excursions into the realm of the fantastic and the mythic</p>


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Anyone who's read  knows about the devastating consequences that Columbus's voyage and ensuing colonization had on the native people of the Americas and Africa. In a thought-provoking work that is part science fiction, part historical drama, Orson Scott Card writes about scientists in a fearful future who study that tragic past, then attempt to actually intervene and change it into something better. 

Tagiri and Hassan are members of Pastwatch, an academic organization that uses machines to see into the past and record it. Their project focuses on slavery and its dreadful effects, and gradually evolves into a study of Christopher Columbus. They eventually marry and their daughter Diko joins them in their quest to discover what drove Columbus west. 

Columbus, with whom readers become acquainted through both images in the Pastwatch machines and personal narrative, is portrayed as a religious man with both strengths and weaknesses, a charismatic leader who sometimes rose above but often fell beneath the mores of his times. As usual, Orson Scott Card uses his formidable writing skills to create likable, complex characters who face gripping problems; he also provides an entertaining and thoughtful history lesson in Pastwatch.



Playing with the time stream isn't new to science fiction, but Card (Ender's Game), who's won both a Hugo and a Nebula, gives the concept a new twist here-with mixed results. His angle is to make the temporal interference not accidental but intentional, as a group of scientists go back in time to alter Columbus's journey. Sponsored by the organization Pastwatch, which uses a machine called TruSite II to view the past in remarkable detail, the "Columbus Project" is headed by Tagiri, whose TruSite viewing of the horrors of slavery has prompted her to revise the famed explorer's agenda. Tagiri sends into the past her daughter, Diko, a Mayan descendent named Hunahpu and a man named Kemal, a prickly sort whose initial skepticism is transformed into a fierce commitment to change the past. Armed with devices from the future, the three return to 1492, determined to transform Columbus from a gold-seeking pirate into a proponent of world peace and global unity. Uniformly well-meaning, the trio is just too sanctified to believe, and in their hands, the complexities of temporal mechanics are boiled down to simplistic cause and effect. Some sparks are generated when the Pastwatchers finally meet Columbus, but even that encounter produces fewer surprises than you'd expect from a master like Card.


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An SF classic from the author of Ender's Game. Kidnapped at an early age, the young singer Ansset has been raised in isolation at the mystical retreat called the Songhouse. His life has been filled with music, and having only songs for companions, he develops a voice that is unlike any heard before. Ansset's voice is both a blessing and a curse, for the young Songbird can reflect all the hopes and fears his auidence feels and, by magnifying their emotions, use his voice to heal-or to destroy. When it is discovered that his is the voice that the Emperor has waited decades for, Ansset is summoned to the Imperial Palace on Old Earth. Many fates rest in Ansset's hands, and his songs will soon be put to the test: either to salve the troubled conscience of a conqueror, or drive him, and the universe, into mad chaos. Songmaster is a haunting story of power and love-the tale of the man who would destroy everything he loves to preserve humanity's peace, and the boy who might just sing the world away.


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The Call of Earth continues the story of Nafai, his family, and the few other people selected by the Oversoul to leave the city of Basilica, and their former lives. When the human refugees from a ruined Earth founded a colony on the planet Harmony, they determined that this world would not be devastated by the endless cycle of vicious warfare that had characterized human life from the beginning. They didn't try to change human nature. Instead they installed a powerful computer, called the Oversoul, and gave it the task of governing human affairs by subtly influencing human minds. That was millions of years ago. Now the Oversoul is growing weak, breaking down. It must be returned to Earth, to the master computer called the Keeper of Earth, to be repaired. The Oversoul must have human help to make that journey. But as the Oversoul grows weaker, a great warrior has arisen, stronger, smarter perhaps, than Nafai and his allies. His name is Moozh, and he is deliberately flouting the will of the Oversoul. He has won control of an army using forbidden technology. Now he is aiming his soldiers straight at Basilica, that strong fortress above the Plains. Who will stop him? Basilica remains in turmoil. Wetchik and his sons, Nafai and Issib, Elemak and Mebbekew, are not strong enough to resist alone. Can Rasa and her allies defeat him through intrigue, or will Moozh take the city and all who are in it? And meanwhile, in their dreams, the most sensitive people of the planet Harmony hear the call of the Keeper of Earth.


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SUMMARY:
Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. Then he was discovered by the recruiters for the Battle School.For Earth was at war -- a terrible war with an inscrutable alien enemy. A war that humanity was near to losing. But the long distances of interstellar space has given hope to the defenders of Earth -- they had time to train military geniuses up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high-orbital facility called the Battle School. That story is told in two books, the beloved classic Ender's Game, and its parallel, Ender's Shadow.Bean was the smallest student at the Battle School, but he became Ender Wiggins' right hand. Since then he has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender's defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now he and his wife Petra yearn for a safe place to build a family -- something he has never known -- but there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemies -- old enemies from the days in Ender's Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth. To find security, Bean and Petra must once again follow in Ender's footsteps. They must leave Earth behind, in the control of the Hegemon, and look to the stars.


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The Tales of Alvin Maker, Volume 1 by Orson Scott Card
(c) 1987 by Orson Scott Card
v1.1 (Jan-24-1999) If you find and correct errors in the text, please update the version number by 0.1 and redistribute.
SUMMARY:
American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults"From the author of Ender's Game, an unforgettable story about young Alvin Maker: the seventh son of a seventh son. Born into an alternative frontier America where life is hard and folk magic is real, Alvin is gifted with the power. He must learn to use his gift wisely. But dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him.


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"Red Prophet" Volume II of the Tales of Alvin Maker "Suddenly the saga of Alvin Maker begins to thrill."--"Washington Post Book World" ""Red Prophet" is but a section of a vast American fantasy epic. It is vividly written, and the principal actors--Alvin, Ta-Kumsaw, the Prophet, and Alvin's Gandalfesque mentor Taleswapper--are all complete and memorable characters."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer" Come here to the magical America that might have been, and marvel as the tale of Alvin Maker unfolds. The seventh son of a seventh son is a boy of mysterious powers, and he is waking to the mysteries of the land and its own chosen people. "Harsher, bleaker, and more mystical than" Seventh Son," this novel superbly demonstrates Card's solid historical research, keen understanding of religious experience, and, most of all, his mastery of the art of storytelling."--"Booklist "


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The Tales of Alvin Maker series continues in volume three, Prentice Alvin. Young Alvin returns to the town of his birth, and begins his apprenticeship with Makepeace Smith, committing seven years of his life in exchange for the skills and knowledge of a blacksmith. But Alvin must also learn to control and use his own talent, that of a Maker, else his destiny will be unfulfilled.


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Using the lore and the folk-magic of the men and women who settled North America, Orson Scott Card has created an alternate world where magic works, and where that magic has colored the entire history of the colonies. Charms and beseechings, hexes and potions, all have a place in the lives of the people of this world. Dowsers find water, the second sight warns of dangers to come, and a torch can read a person's future---or their heart.In this world where "knacks" abound, Alvin, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a very special man indeed. He's a Maker; he has the knack of understanding how things are put together, how to create them, repair them, keep them whole, or tear them down. He can heal hearts as well as bones, he build a house, he can calm the waters or blow up a storm. And he can teach his knack to others, to the measure of their own talent.Alvin has been trying to avert the terrible war that his wife, Peggy, a torch of extraordinary power, has seen down the life-lines of every American. Now she has sent him down the Mizzippy to the city of New Orleans, or Nueva Barcelona as they call it under Spanish occupation. Alvin doesn't know exactly why he's there, but when he and his brother-in-law, Arthur Stuart, find lodgings with a family of abolitionists who know Peggy, he suspects he'll find out soon. But Nueva Barcelona is about to experience a plague, and Alvin's efforts to protect his friends by keeping them healthy will create more danger than he could ever have suspected. And in saving the poor people of the city, Alvin will be put to the greatest test of his life---a test that will draw on all his power. For the time has come for him to turn to his old friend Tenskwa-Tawa, the Red Prophet who controls the lands to the west of the Mizzippy. Now Alvin must take the first steps on the road to the Crystal City that was shown to him in a vision so long ago.


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Peggy is a Torch, able to see the fire burning in each person's heart. She can follow the paths of each person's future, and know each person's most intimate secrets. From the moment of Alvin Maker's birth, when the Unmaker first strove to kill him, she has protected him.Now they are married, and Peggy is a part of Alvin's heart as well as his life.But Alvin's destiny has taken them on separate journeys. Alvin has gone north into New England, where knacks are considered witchcraft, and their use is punished with death.Peggy has been drawn south, to the British Crown Colonies and the court of King Arthur Stuart in exile. For she has seen a terrible future bloom in the heartfires of every person in America, a future of war and destruction. One slender path exists that leads through the bloodshed, and it is Peggy's quest to set the world on the path to peace.


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Seven tales of possible fates for the human race by one of science fiction's most revered authors portrays the inner struggles of characters exploring their hidden selves. Reprint. </p>

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Meet Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the unforgettable boy-hero of Ender's Game -winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novel-and enter his Universe through this collection of stories. "The Polish Boy" is John Paul Wiggin, the future father of Ender. In the years between the first two Bugger Wars, the Hegemony is desperate to recruit brilliant military commanders to repel the alien invasion. They may have found their man-or boy-in John Paul Wiggin.... In "Teacher's Pest"-a novella written especially for this collection-a brilliant but arrogant John Paul Wiggin, now a university student, matches wits with an equally brilliant graduate student. "The Investment Counselor" is set after the end of the Bugger Wars. Banished from Earth and slandered as a mass murderer, twenty-year-old Andrew Wiggin wanders incognito from planet to planet as a fugitive-until a blackmailing tax inspector compromises his identity and threatens to expose Ender the Xeoncide. Also reprinted here is the original award-winning novella, "Ender's Game," which first appeared in 1977.


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">After twenty-three years, Orson Scott Card returns to his acclaimed best-selling series with the first true, direct sequel to the classic *Ender's Game*.</p>
<p class="description"></p>
<p class="description">In *Ender’s Game*, the world’s most gifted children were taken from their families and sent to an elite training school. At Battle School, they learned combat, strategy, and secret intelligence to fight a dangerous war on behalf of those left on Earth. But they also learned some important and less definable lessons about life.</p>
<p class="description">After the life-changing events of those years, these children—now teenagers—must leave the school and readapt to life in the outside world.</p>
<p class="description">Having not seen their families or interacted with other people for years—where do they go now? What can they do? </p>
<p class="description">Ender fought for humanity, but he is now reviled as a ruthless assassin. No longer allowed to live on Earth, he enters into exile. With his sister Valentine, he chooses to leave the only home he’s ever known to begin a relativistic—and revelatory—journey beyond the stars.  </p>
<p class="description">What happened during the years between *Ender’s Game* and *Speaker for the Dead*? What did Ender go through from the ages of 12 through 35? The story of those years has never been told. Taking place 3000 years before Ender finally receives his chance at redemption in *Speaker for the Dead*, this is the long-lost story of Ender.</p>
<p class="description">For twenty-three years, millions of readers have wondered and now they will receive the answers. ***Ender in Exile*** is **Orson Scott Card**’s moving return to all the action and the adventure, the profound exploration of war and society, and the characters one never forgot.</p>
<p class="description">*On one of these ships, there is a baby that just may share the same special gifts as Ender’s old friend Bean**…***</p></div>


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Alvin is a Maker, the first to be born in a century.Now a grown man and a journeyman smith, Alvin has returned to his family in the town of Vigor Church. He will share in their isolation, work as a blacksmith, and try to teach anyone who wishes to learn the knack of being a Maker. For Alvin has had a vision of the Crystal City he will build, and he knows that he cannot build it alone.But he has left behind in Hatrack River enemies as well as true friends. His ancient foe, the Unmaker, whose cruel whispers and deadly plots have threatened Alvin’s life at every turn, has found new hands to do his work of destruction.


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Debut author Leslie Kelly has written a hot, steamy romance that fits the Temptation category perfectly. Very Highly Recommended." -- _Robin Peek, <em>_Under The Covers Book Reviews</em>, May 99  </p><p>"From the first sentence I knew Leslie Kelly had created a book that I could not put down until I had read the last sensuous, heart-stopping word. 5 Stars, Reviewer's Choice" -- <em>Cherri Munoz, Romance Writers at Sime~gen.com, August, 99</em>  </p><p>"Leslie Kelly has written a witty, sizzling hot romance...Filled with humor, sensuality and tenderness." -- <em>Lisa Hamilton, The Booknook &amp; Compuserve, August 99</em>  </p><p>"New author Leslie Kelly has written a funny, sensual, and totally enchanting romance. 4 1/2 stars" -- <em>Sharon Llaird, Bookbug on the Web, August, 99</em>  </p><p>"With this book as her first example, Leslie Kelly will be going far in the romance market." -- _Bea Sheftel, <em>_Midwest Book Review</em>, May, 99 </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Thanks to her sexy radio talk show, Night Whispers, DJ Kelsey Logan has become infamous! Suddenly, men all over Baltimore are desperate to discover the true identity of Lady Love, the sultry siren who keeps them up all night. But the only man Kelsey is desperate to have is stuffy Mitch Wymore. </p><p>Mitch is having a hard time believing that his bratty childhood nemesis has grown into the temptress the whole city's lusting after. A woman he's lusting after. He might have been able to keep his libido under control if Kelsey hadn't made it clear that she wanted to seduce him. </p><p>But could Mitch make love to her knowing their desire might end up on the air?</p>

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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any hotter, Leslie Kelly turned up the thermostat!" 4 1/2 Plugs -- <em>The Romance Readers Connection, November 2002</em>  </p><p>4 1/2--TOP PICK! NATURALLY NAUGHTY...explores soulmates you'll dream about; open honest sex; and a hero to die for. -- <em>RT Bookclub, November, 2002</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>She's looking for satisfaction...any way she can get it! </p><p>Kate Jones: This sexy, successful businesswoman has getting even on her mind--and a target in her sights... </p><p>Jack Winfield: He has a dysfunctional family, a demanding career...and a bad case of the hots for the gorgeous new stranger in town.... </p><p>This place isn't big enough for both of them. Kate Jones, the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, is home--and she's got an agenda. To get revenge on the man who humiliated her mother, Kate's going to seduce that man's son, the town's golden boy, John Winfield, Jr.--and then leave him drooling in a puddle of lust. Only, little does she guess when she finds herself seduced by a sexy stranger named Jack that the tables have just been turned... </p><p>Bare Essentials--Revenge has never been this good! </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><em>Into the Woods</em> by Julie Leto</p><p>Tatiana Starlingham is a frustrated fairy godmother. She grants sexy wishes for others--but all that hot loving is off-limits for her. Until she meets hunky Jack St. Cloud and finally has mind-blowing sex! But can Tatiana wish it into lasting forever?</p><p><em>Once Upon a Mattress</em> by Leslie Kelly</p><p>Who's afraid of the big bad werewolf? Not long-lost princess Penelope Mayfair... Because dark, sexy Lucas Wolf is giving her the best sex of her life! Unfortunately, she's intended for another. But that's not about to stop Lucas. After all, everybody knows wolves mate for life....</p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>With twenty novels under her belt, <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author <strong>Julie Leto</strong> has established a reputation for writing ultra-sexy, edgy stories. A Florida native, Julie lives in her hometown of Tampa with her husband, daughter, a very spoiled dachshund, and a large and beloved extended family. She's currently writing the next installment in her Marisela Morales series for <em>Downtown Press,</em> tentatively titled <em>Dirty Little Lies.</em> For more information about Julie's upcoming releases, visit her website at www.julieleto.com </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>This is one super-sexy wedding night these five women will never forget! Meet the lucky bridesmaids: A totally hot FBI agent offers his full-body protection to very willing witness Bridget Donahue... Stripper Leah Muldoon bares it all for a sexy stranger in a limo, much to their mutual satisfaction! Wild big-city attorney Mia Natale is in for the best sex of her life. But who is that other guy? When dancer Vanessa McKee unexpectedly sees a man from her past, they rediscover their insatiable lust! A breathless night in the arms of a seductive European lover should definitely spice up Gloria Santori's marriage.... </p>

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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>This is one super-sexy wedding night these five women will never forget! Meet the lucky bridesmaids: A totally hot FBI agent offers his full-body protection to very willing witness Bridget Donahue... Stripper Leah Muldoon bares it all for a sexy stranger in a limo, much to their mutual satisfaction! Wild big-city attorney Mia Natale is in for the best sex of her life. But who is that other guy? When dancer Vanessa McKee unexpectedly sees a man from her past, they rediscover their insatiable lust! A breathless night in the arms of a seductive European lover should definitely spice up Gloria Santori's marriage.... </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>What would you steal if you couldn't get caught? That's the tag line of Brad Meltzer's new thriller, which pits an ambitious young money manager against a corporate villain, whose intricate financial shenanigans accidentally put a huge chunk of dough right in front of a man who desperately needs it. Of course Oliver Caruso's conscience troubles him, but that doesn't keep him from letting his somewhat looser and less ethical brother convince him this is too good an opportunity to pass up. Meltzer's in interesting territory here, but in order to buy his premise, you have to believe that it's OK to steal if you have a good enough reason. This makes his protagonist, who narrates the novel, hard to root for and less than sympathetic. Despite this hollow ring, the book is nicely plotted and should please the author's enthusiastic fan club. <em>--Jane Adams</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>This giddy fourth thriller by Meltzer (The First Counsel) mixes up banking, cyber-theft and Disney World in a fast-paced, fresh-scrubbed tale of financial adventure. Oliver Caruso is sweating out some scut work for Henry Lapidus, bigwig at Greene &amp; Greene, a private bank so exclusive clients require $2 million just to open an account. When Oliver and his younger brother, Charlie, find proof that Lapidus has been sabotaging Oliver's career plans, the brothers conspire to rip off the lingering balance from a deceased client's account. Silly boys! Not only is the local security goon Shep (formerly Secret Service) already chiseling in on their scam, the real Secret Service thugs are on the case almost immediately. The $3 million the Carusos swiped has somehow cybernetically blossomed overnight to over $300 million. Desperate to clear their names, the boys escape to Florida, following the money to the daughter of the deceased millionaire, a former tech wizard for Disney with a secret invention everyone in this book would happily kill for. The ins and outs of how to steal money that isn't really there makes for an interesting premise if you don't think about it too much, but two flaws detract from the action. First, the narrative POV jumps too often from one character to the next and from present tense to past, making for a choppy read. Second, the novel's juvenile flavor from the PI who bluffs her way into a building by claiming to be searching for her mother's favorite sock to the hapless schoolboy dialogue ("You touched her cookies, didn't you?") loudly proclaims its Hardy Boys heritage. (Jan. 8)Forecast: Meltzer's legion of fans will jump-start sales of his latest, prompted by massive television, print, radio and transit advertising campaigns and a 12-city author tour. </p><p>Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>Book Description: </strong>In <em>Elizabeth Street</em>, Laurie Fabiano tells a remarkable, and previously unheard, story of the Italian immigrant experience at the start of the twentieth century. Culled from her own family history, Fabiano paints an entrancing portrait of Giovanna Costa, who, reeling from personal tragedies, tries to make a new life in a new world. Shot through with the smells and sights of Scilla, Italy, and New York’s burgeoning Little Italy, this intoxicating story follows Giovanna as she finds companionship, celebrates the birth of a baby girl, takes pride in a growing business, and feels a sense of belonging on a family outing to Coney Island.   </p><p>However, these modest successes are rewarded with the attention of the notorious Black Hand, a gang of brutal extortionists led by Lupo the Wolf. As the stakes grow higher and higher, readers share with Giovanna her desperate struggle to remain outside the fray, and then to fight for—and finally to save—that which is important above all other: family. </p><hr /><p><strong>Amazon Exclusive: Maria Laurino Reviews <em>Elizabeth Street</em></strong>   </p><p><strong><em>New York Times</em> and <em>The Nation</em>, and her essays have been widely anthologized. Read her exclusive guest review of <em>Elizabeth Street</em>:</strong>   </p><p>When readers first meet Giovanna Costa, the protagonist of <em>Elizabeth Street</em>, she is a young woman about to get married in the small Italian fishing village of Scilla, situated between the Calabrian coast and Sicily’s Aeolian Islands. The town is home to the ancient story of Scylla, the once beautiful nymph turned mythical monster that devoured sailors trying to navigate the Straits of Messina. Midway through </p><p>Supporting herself in New York first as a midwife, Giovanna teams up with a woman doctor from northern Italy. The two become close friends and the doctor shares medical knowledge that Giovanna will combine with her holistic midwifery skills. But Giovanna’s fate changes after deciding to open a small fruit and vegetable market with her new husband. The store is an easy source of potential revenue for criminals offering "protection services," and soon Giovanna’s family becomes their prey. With the same mix of disciplined study and the pinch of southern Italian mysticism that she applied to midwifery, Giovanna will take on the ruthless organized crime syndicate that has kidnapped her daughter and murdered the police lieutenant assigned to protect the neighborhood.</p><p>Mario Puzo once claimed, years after writing <em>Elizabeth Street</em> a southern Italian heroine fighting those criminal forces that have long victimized poor and vulnerable immigrants. In this multigenerational, well-researched tale, the reader also learns interesting details of the common struggles facing southern Europeans coming to America--how, for instance, Ellis Island inspectors were instructed to mark northern and southern Italians as two separate races; and how the wages for common laborers in parts of the country were divided into three categories, the highest salary paid to "whites," the middle scale for "coloreds," and the lowest amount to "Italians."</p><p><em>Elizabeth Street</em> is both a fascinating immigrant story and an intimate portrait of how a first-generation American--and the author’s own great-grandmother--outwits one of the most brutal crime organizations of the early 20th century. <em>--Maria Laurino</em></p><hr /><h3>From</h3><p>First novelist Fabiano is dead-on in her portrait of the Italian-American immigrant experience. This engrossing cross-generational saga centers on the experiences of Giovanna Costa, from the small Italian fishing village where she is born to the bustling streets of New York's Lower East Side where she struggles to raise her family and make a living as a midwife after the death of her first husband. In America, the resourceful Giovanna and her second husband eventually open a fruit and vegetable stand, attracting the unwanted attentions of the notorious “Black Hand” crime organization. When Giovanni refuses to meet their demands, her daughter is kidnapped and held for ransom. Basing this story—including the kidnapping—on her own family's immigrant experiences, Fabiano provides a wealth of period detail, infusing the compulsively readable narrative with an authentic sense of time, place, and community. --Margaret Flanagan </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Goddesses vie for the soul of people...  </p><p>Halisstra Melarn, convert to the cause of the goddess Eilistraee, was sent to the deepest depths of the Outer Planes to kill the demon goddess she once worshiped, but instead was transformed into a hideous creature bent to the vengeful will of her former mistress.  </p><p>For the Queen of the Demonweb Pits not only survived her Silence but evolved into something greater than she was before - something that no longer needs to share the domain she calls her own.  </p><p>Could it be that the War of the Spider Queen has just begun? </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Bioterrorist attacks on DisneyWorld, gun-toting Russians and flesh-eating worms aren't enough to stop spy-cum-biologist Marion "Doc" Ford in his 12th adventure. When Ford reluctantly agrees to check in on a friend's brother, Jobe Applebee, a reclusive hydrobiologist, the simple favor escalates to horrific proportions. Ford stumbles onto a brutal interrogation scene, scares off Applebee's attackers, returns to find Applebee has hung himself and later learns that Applebee was "host to a feeding, breathing, sub-community of parasites." White barrels on full throttle: pretty soon Ford's uncovered a madman's plot to unleash ravenous guinea worms into local waterways and piranhas into Texas lakes, which will send property values plummeting—and thus make them ready for a quick snapup once the threats have been taken care of. With the help of his sidekick Tomlinson and a slew of other returning characters, Ford must hunt down the bad guys and find the miracle cure before a statewide infestation begins. Meanwhile, he's fending off Stokes's security—the sexually deviant Russian Dasha, the slow-witted Alexis—and assuring his pregnant girlfriend he'll be home in time for Christmas. White's latest is deliciously addictive and nail-bitingly suspenseful. <em>(Mar.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Ecoterrorism takes a new and incredibly grotesque shape in White's latest Doc Ford thriller. Ford, the mild-mannered marine biologist and reluctant operative for an under-the-radar offshoot of the CIA, agrees to check up on a friend's biologist brother and stumbles into a scene of unimagined horror--the biologist has been eaten from within by a ravenous species of parasite. Soon the errand has morphed into a deep-cover assignment to track down the rogue scientist whose macabre plan to infiltrate Florida's intercoastal waterway with parasites and rare poisonous snakes is on the verge of being realized. White effectively plays the horrific but shockingly realistic thriller plot against the ongoing interpersonal drama in Ford's life: his shaky relationship with his pregnant girlfriend and his equally complex friendship with the mercurial ex--hippie Tomlinson, now struggling with success as an Internet spiritual adviser. Thankfully, the Doc Ford series has grown from genre favorite to crossover success without losing its amiable, Margaritaville spirit. That's no easy trick when rare parasites are invading your body from the most private of entry points. <em>Bill Ott</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Bestseller Ford's 15th Doc Ford thriller (after 2007's <em>Hunter's Moon</em>) may baffle newcomers with a backstory relating to the murder of Ford's parents. Ford, a marine biologist and covert operative who lives on Florida's Sanibel Island, is busy serving his shadowy U.S. government masters by researching the potential use by terrorists of jellyfish and other venomous sea creatures when he receives a desperate appeal for help from an old friend. Shay Money, a successful 26-year-old businesswoman who's about to be married, fears her future happiness is in jeopardy because an extortionist has videotaped her and three female friends in sexually compromising situations. While Ford manages to get the tape in exchange for a sizable payment, his suspicions that the criminal isn't done with Money are soon confirmed. His efforts to protect her lead him to the Caribbean and a sophisticated blackmail racket with a lengthy list of victims. Despite some awkward prose (The combination of flesh and death, the orderly geometrics of my wound, struck me as indefinably profound), series fans should enjoy the ride. <em>Author tour. (Mar.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> What happens in the Caribbean—at least on the tiny island of Saint Arc—definitely doesn’t stay there. Especially if you happen to be a rich, young woman out for a final fling with your girlfriends before tying the knot. That demographic is likely to snag you in the web of Saint Arc’s resident voodoo queen, the Widow, a sexually ambiguous dragon lady who runs a sophisticated blackmail enterprise. In this fifteenth outing for White’s beloved hero, marine biologist and special-ops agent Doc Ford, the Widow meets her match when she targets Ford’s goddaughter, Shay. Feeling a bit out of sorts since he retired from the clandestine services, Ford is ready to mix it up a little and heads off to the island to confront the blackmailers. He finds much more of a challenge than he expected and is happy to join forces with a mysterious island resident, a seventysomething Brit who appears to be a former special-ops type himself. White makes the most of this pairing (imagine Michael Caine as the Brit), injecting some bantering fun into the high-octane action. As always in this consistently entertaining series, the plot offers a fascinating mix of headline-grabbing crime (Caribbean vacations gone bad) and history (island archaeology, with a touch of those ever-popular Knights Templar). Like Robert B. Parker and John D. MacDonald at their best, White draws readers into his world with characters you’d pay just to hang out with and then hooks us with straight-ahead action. It’s an old-school combination, but it still works just fine. --Bill Ott </p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Futuristic speculative Christian fiction is rare, and Brouwer (_Broken Angel_) does it with the skills of an episodic storyteller that make a reader wonder when the movie is coming out. In a postapocalyptic setting, people live in their cars, called soovies, the government has runaway power, and social classes are stratified into Influentials, Industrials, Illegals, Invisibles. When Caitlyn, an Invisible whose life was a government DNA experiment gone bad, breaks free, she is pursued by a bounty hunter for the Influentials. What's darkly horrifying about the book is the plausibility of the story, built on world conflicts in which water causes war, ethicless DNA testing turns a profit, and immigration is intended to create a labor class bordering on slavery. With vivid character description and fascinating details (implanted credit card chips in the finger tips are used for purchases), Brouwer paints a fierce future. The world as he sees it could decay to this dismal degree without the redemption found in the Judeo-Christian ethic and renewed democracy that puts power under people rather than over them. <em>(May)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p><em></em>Praise for<br><em></em>_<strong>Flight of Shadows</strong>  </p><p>“__Flight of Shadows is as haunting as it is intense. Brouwer keeps the pages<br>turning in this deftly written sequel that engages the intellect and paints<br>a frightening picture of a near-future world where the boundaries of<br>morality are tested…and broken.”<br>—JEREMY ROBINSON, author of <strong>Antarktos Rising and </strong>Pulse<br>_</p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The deservedly overshadowed War of 1812 was redeemed by heroics at sea, according to this rousing military history. Journalist and military historian Budiansky (The Bloody Shirt) follows the tiny United States Navy, led by a handful of superfrigates, including the U.S.S. Constitution, in its oceanic struggle against the vastly larger, stronger, and haughtier British fleet, whose bullying practice of seizing American merchant ships and sailors provoked the war. Budiansky makes it a classic David and Goliath story, as the plucky Yanks, with better ships, sailing, and gunnery, win a string of resounding victories that wipe the smirks from their adversaries' faces. The author's colorful narrative is full of gory sea battles, chivalrous flourishes, mutinous tars, and charismatic performances by Stephen Decatur, David Porter, and other American naval legends; it becomes grayer and grimmer as the British blockade tightens and the Americans turn from pitched battles to prosaic commerce raiding. Budiansky's well-researched and skillfully written account extracts a gripping true-life naval saga from an otherwise inglorious conflict. 8 pages of color and 8 pages of b&amp;w photos; 11 photos in text; 8 maps. (Jan.) <br>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Bedeviled on land, U.S. forces were more effective at sea in the War of 1812. Continuing a venerable tradition of historians (Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, Alfred Mahan) drawn to this topic, Budiansky narrates events and ventures explanations for successes of the U.S. Navy against Britain’s Royal Navy. The prerequisite was the pre-existence of an American navy, whose establishment Ian Toll recounted in Six Frigates (2006). Those frigates scored initial victories in warship-on-warship combat (the Constitution’s sinking of the Guerriere) that exhilarated Americans and made U.S. captains (e.g., Stephen Decatur) famous. But naval war in the chivalric style did not strike the historically unsung William Jones as a sensible strategy. Secretary of the navy during the war, Jones is the most important character in Budiansky’s account. Jones thought that attacking Britain’s merchant marine would hamper her superior fleet far more than would destruction of her warships, and so it turned out, as Budiansky’s analysis of the forces tied to convoy and blockade duties verifies. Conversant in nautical technicalities of the age of sail, Budiansky will absorb the avid naval history audience. --Gilbert Taylor </p>

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<p class="description"><b><u>SUMMARY</u></b>:<br>Savaged by the K'Chain Nah'Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods -- if her own troops don't kill her first.Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal. In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects. Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, and release her from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will be a force of utter devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world. And so, in a far away land and beneath indifferent skies, the final cataclysmic chapter in the extraordinary 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' begins.</p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Collected here for the first time are all of the tales from the land of Tortall, featuring both previously unknown characters as well as old friends. Filling some gaps of time and interest, these stories, some of which have been published before, will lead Tammy's fans, and new readers into one of the most intricately constructed worlds of modern fantasy. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><em>New York Times</em> bestselling writer Tamora Pierce captured the imagination of readers more than 20 years ago with <em>Alanna: The First Adventure.</em> She has written 16 books about the extraordinary kingdom of Tortall, with another to come in fall 2011. She lives in upstate New York, with her husband and an assortment of wildlife. </p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>When fifteen-year-old Lance Covington finds an abandoned baby in the backseat of a car, he knows she's the newborn daughter of a meth addict he's been trying to help. But when police arrest him for kidnapping, Lance is thrust into a criminal world of baby trafficking and drug abuse. His mother, Barbara, looks for help from Kent Harlan---the man whom she secretly, reluctantly loves and who once helped rescue her daughter from a mess of her own. Kent flies to her aid and begins the impossible work of getting Lance out of trouble, protecting a baby who has no home, and finding help for a teenage mother hiding behind her lies. In this latest novel of suspense and family loyalty, bestselling author Terri Blackstock offers a harrowing look at drug addiction, human trafficking, and the devastating choices that can change lives forever. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Terri Blackstock (www.terriblackstock.com) has sold six million books worldwide and is a New York Times bestseller. She is the award-winning author of Intervention and Double Minds, as well as such series as Cape Refuge, Newpointe 911, the SunCoast Chronicles, and the Restoration Series. </p>

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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>The expeditions of Magellan, Columbus, and Lewis and Clark have been well documented and are instantly familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in world history. But the average person is likely unaware of the U.S. Exploring Expedition or its mercurial leader, Charles Wilkes. This despite the numerous accomplishments and lasting legacy of the massive four-year project that involved six ships and hundreds of men. The "Ex. Ex.," as it came to be known, is credited with the discovery of Antarctica, the first accurate charting of what is now Oregon and Washington, the retrieval of thousands of new species of life, and the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution. Yet when Wilkes returned, instead of being hailed as a great man of science or a national hero, he was shunned by the President, ignored by the press, and was the subject of so much ill will on the part of his men that he was ultimately put on trial for a variety of offenses. In the portrayal presented in Nathaniel Philbrick's <em>Sea of Glory</em>, Wilkes is a passionate man, brash and enthusiastic, driven by seemingly impossible goals, many of which he actually accomplished. But he's also a petty, mean-spirited loner, egotistical enough to unilaterally give himself a promotion in the middle of the expedition. Without Wilkes' singularity of purpose, it's hard to imagine the mission being as successful as it was, but it's also hard to conceive a personality more poorly suited to leadership than the near-universally-despised Wilkes. Philbrick also skillfully reveals the insecurity behind the tyranny in excerpts from letters to Wilkes' wife, Jane. The accounts of the expedition's adventures are at various times exhilarating and tragic as the crew scales the volcanoes of Hawaii, becomes involved in a bloody war with Fijian natives, and struggles merely to stay alive while at the same time not killing Wilkes. Philbrick's compelling narrative and meticulous research provide a vivid picture of the triumphs and hardships of the exploration age. <em>--John Moe</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>After chronicling the sinking of the whaleship Essex in In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick attempts to rescue from obscurity the U.S. Exploring Expedition's 1838-1842 circumnavigation of the world and its cartographic and scientific accomplishments. With a strong narrative pull but an anticlimactic story arc, he chronicles the six-vessel squadron's Pacific escapades. Instead of a grisly page-turner, however, Philbrick follows his bestselling tragedy with a drawn-out success story. More than a tale of the Ex. Ex's journey, the book also profiles the expedition's egomaniacal commander, Lt. Charles Wilkes; the psychological warfare he waged against his officers; and the near-miraculous survival of the squadron despite Wilkes's perverse leadership and lack of nautical experience. Wilkes was, however, an accomplished surveyor, and the Ex. Ex. mapped hundreds of Pacific islands, 800 miles of the Oregon coast, 100 miles of the Columbia River and 1,500 miles of Antarctic coast. The expedition's scientists made groundbreaking contributions in ethnography, biology and geology (their collections formed the basis of the Smithsonian Institution). Particularly noteworthy among Philbrick's gripping passages are his descriptions of brash navigation in the Antarctic-but too much of the book bogs down in Wilkes's petty politicking, as he degraded talented men and promoted incompetent ones so as not to be outshone. After four years at sea, he had alienated nearly every officer and returned home to a court-martial. "Instead of a thrilling tale of discovery and incredible achievement, [America] heard more about the flawed personality of the Expedition's commander than anyone wanted to know," Philbrick writes of Wilkes's 1842 trial, in which he was acquitted. Unfortunately, this spoils the retelling, too. Maps not seen by PW.<br />Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>The Four Pillars of Investing offers a comprehensive, incisive and pithy treatment of the issues. -- <em>Barron's; May 27, 2002</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>Sound, sensible advice from a hero to frustrated investors everywhere</strong></p><p>William Bernstein's <em>The Four Pillars of Investing </em>gives investors the tools they need to construct top-returning portfolios­­without the help of a financial adviser. In a relaxed, nonthreatening style, Dr. Bernstein provides a distinctive blend of market history, investing theory, and behavioral finance, one designed to help every investor become more self-sufficient and make betterinformed investment decisions. <em>The 4 Pillars of Investing </em>explains how any investor can build a solid foundation for investing by focusing on four essential lessons, each building upon the other. Containing all of the tools needed to achieve investing success, without the help of a financial advisor, it presents: </p><ul><li>     Practical investing advice based on fascinating history lessons from the market  </li> <li>     Exercises to determine risk tolerance as an investor  </li> <li>     An easy-to-understand explanation of risk and reward in the capital markets  </li></ul></div>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>Why is it so hard to beat the market? How can you avoid getting caught in bubbles and crashes? You will find the answers in Carl Futia’s new book, <em>The Art of Contrarian Trading</em>. This book will teach you Futia’s novel method of contrarian trading from the ground up. </p><p>In 16 chapters filled with facts and many historical examples Futia explains the principles and practice of contrarian trading. Discover the Edge which separates winning speculators from the losers. Find out how to apply the No Free Lunch principle to identify profitable trading methods.  Learn about the wisdom and the follies of investment crowds – and how crowds are formed by information cascades that drive stock prices too high or too low relative to fair value. Discover the power of your Media Diary - and how to use it to spot these information cascades, measure the strength of the crowd’s beliefs, and decide when the crowd’s view is about to be proven wrong. </p><p>You will watch Futia apply these principles of contrarian trading to navigate safely and profitably through the last 26 tumultuous years of roller coaster swings in the U.S. stock market – a time during which Futia kept his own media diary and developed his Grand Strategy of Contrarian Trading.  See how this Grand Strategy worked during the Great Bull Market of 1982-2000. Watch the Contrarian Rebalancing technique in practice during the dot.com crash of 2000-2002. Find out when the Aggressive Contrarian Trader bought and sold during the bull market of 2002-2007. Read about the causes of the Panic of 2008 and ups and downs of contrarian trading during that dangerous time. </p><p>Futia shows you how the market turning points during the 1982-2008 period were foreshadowed by magazine covers and newspaper headlines that astonishingly and consistently encouraged investors to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. By monitoring crowd beliefs revealed by news media headlines – and with the guidance provided by the many historical examples Futia provides – a trader or investor will be well-equipped to anticipate and profit from market turning points. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>Contrarian theory in investing and trading is based on the idea that markets are driven in large part by crowd behavior. When crowds form around investing themes in the stock market, they push stock prices too high or too low relative to fair value. Contrarians hold that if investment crowds are responsible for the pricing mistakes made by the stock market, it logically follows that you can do better than buy-and-hold if you can detect those situations in which an investment crowd has driven the stock market too high or too low relative to fair value. <em>The Art of Contrarian Trading</em> shows how to take advantage of the crowd's periodic bouts of enthusiasm and fear, and make wise investment choices that most others may think are ill-advised. </p><p>Veteran trader Carl Futia explains the contrarian trader's principal tool: his media diary. Since major market turning points are almost always foreshadowed by magazine covers and newspaper headlines that turn out to be completely wrong, by monitoring crowd behavior through both quantitative indicators and news media headlines—and with the hindsight of historical examples—a trader or investor will be well equipped to profit from market turning points. Futia shows specifically how the information contained in a media diary can be interpreted and then coordinated with a statistical view of a market's current and past swings. By looking back at the bull market of 1982–2000, the 2000–2002 bear market, the bull market of 2002–2007, and the crash of 2008, he reveals how his own media diary effectively identified the many valuation mistakes the stock market made during those years. In addition, he explains the development of the theory of contrary opinion, highlights the contributions key individuals made to the theory, briefly discusses several books every contrarian should read, and offers a quick primer on value investing for the contrarian trader. </p><p>The contrarian trader, says Futia, is not in the business of predicting stock market highs and lows or of making correct forecasts of any kind. Instead, his focus is on a single objective—that of achieving a higher return than that earned by the buy-and-hold strategy. This book will show you how to achieve this elusive goal. </p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Johnson--writer, Web guru, and bestselling author of Everything Bad Is Good for You--delivers a sweeping look at innovation spanning nearly the whole of human history. What sparks our great ideas? Johnson breaks down the cultural, biological, and environmental fuel into seven broad "patterns," each packed with diverse, at times almost disjointed anecdotes that Johnson synthesizes into a recipe for success. A section on "slow hunches" captivates, taking readers from the FBI's work on 9/11 to Google's development of Google News. A section on error takes us through a litany of accidental innovations, including the one that eventually led to the invention of the computer. "Being right keeps you in place," Johnson reminds us. "eing wrong forces us to explore." It's eye-opening stuff--although it does require an investment from the reader. But as fans of the author's previous work know, an investment in Johnson pays off, and those who stick with the author as he meanders through an occasional intellectual digression will come away enlightened and entertained, and with something perhaps even more useful--how to recognize the conditions that could spark their own creativity and innovation. Another mind-opening work from the author of Mind Wide Open. (Oct.) (c) <br>Copyright © PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>The figure of the lone genius may captivate us, but we intuit that such geniuses’ creations don’t materialize in a vacuum. Johnson supported the intuition in his biography of eighteenth-century scientist Joseph Priestly (The Invention of Air, 2009) and here explores it from different angles using sets of anecdotes from science and art that underscore some social or informational interaction by an inventor or artist. Assuring readers that he is not engaged in “intellectual tourism,” Johnson recurs to the real-world effects of individuals and organizations operating in a fertile information environment. Citing the development of the Internet and its profusion of applications such as Twitter, the author ascribes its success to “exaptation” and “stacked platforms.” By which he means that curious people used extant stuff or ideas to produce a new bricolage and did so because of their immersion in open networks. With his own lively application of stories about Darwin’s theory of atolls, the failure to thwart 9/11, and musician Miles Davis, Johnson connects with readers promoting hunches and serendipity in themselves and their organizations. --Gilbert Taylor </p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. Benedict (_The Mormon Way of Doing Business_) has taken a complicated court case centered on eminent domain and turned it into a page-turner with a conscience. In 1997, an EMT named Susette Kelo left her husband, bought a cottage and started over in the economically depressed Ft. Trumbull neighborhood of New London, Conn. In February 1998, the New London Development Corporation began trying to muscle the neighborhood into selling homes to make way for a Pfizer research complex. Benedict's passionate account is rife with heroes and villains—he delights in pillorying Kelo's foil, Claire Gaudiani, the president of Connecticut College who lured Pfizer to consider New London. The fight escalated when the city tried exercising eminent domain to seize the homes of Kelo and others who refused to sell, leading to the case, <em>Kelo</em> v. <em>City of New London</em>, reaching the Supreme Court in 2005. Raising important questions about the use of economic development as a justification for displacing citizens, this book will leave readers indignant and inspired. <em>(Feb.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><ul><li>     'Passionate...A page-turner with conscience...will leave readers indignant and inspired.' - Publishers Weekly  </li></ul></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>An engaging exploration of modern-day deals and deal-making</strong></p><p><em>Gods at War</em> details the recent deals and events that have forever changed the world of billion-dollar deal-making. This book is a whirlwind tour of the players determining the destiny of corporate America, including the government, private equity, strategic buyers, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds. </p><p>It not only examines many of the game-changing takeover events that have occurred in the past years, but also puts them into context and exposes what is really going on behind the scenes on Wall Street. <em>Gods at War</em> completely covers the strategic issues that guide the modern-day deal, and since they unfold under the shadow of the law, it also focuses on the legal aspects of deal-making and takeovers. </p><ul><li>     Each chapter unfolds through the lens of a recent transaction, from the battle between Yahoo! and Microsoft to the United Rental/Cerberus dispute  </li> <li>     Provides in-depth explanations and analysis of the events and actors that have shaped this fast-moving field  </li> <li>     Examines the federal government's regulation by deal approach to saving the financial system and explains the government's biggest "deals", including its bail-outs of AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup  </li></ul><p>Filled with in-depth insights that will enhance your understanding of this field, <em>Gods at War</em> offers an engaging look at deals and deal-makers in the context of recent historical events. It's a book for those who want to understand deals, takeovers, and the people and institutions who shape our world. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>While the financial community looks to regain its footing, dealmakers will continue to do what they've always done—structure deals that drive the fate of corporate America. With powerful professionals competing to create and close better deals, these executives, like gods, will determine the future of companies and our economy. </p><p>Author Steven Davidoff understands both the intricacies of these deals and the forces driving them. Writing as "The Deal Professor" for the <em>New York Times</em> "DealBook," he provides daily commentary on the latest takeover news and has become a nationally known authority on this fast-moving field. Now, with <em>Gods at War</em>, Davidoff introduces you to this trillion-dollar business—from private equity and government to hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds—and reveals the recent events that have changed the way the game is played. </p><p><em>Gods at War</em> is the definitive story of deal-making. Opening with an engaging look at the evolution of this discipline, the book quickly moves into the modern era—where deal-making has become a truly global endeavor—and works its way through the current financial crisis and beyond. Page by page, it skillfully details: </p><ul><li><p>The private equity boom and its implosion </p> </li> <li><p>The return of the strategic transaction and hostile takeover </p> </li> <li><p>The failure of the investment banking model </p> </li> <li><p>The government's deal-making during the recent financial crisis </p> </li> <li><p>And much more </p> </li></ul><p>Each chapter unfolds through the lens of recent events, from the battle between Yahoo! and Microsoft to the United Rentals/Cerberus dispute. Along the way, you'll also become familiar with the federal government's regulation by deal approach to saving the financial system—which included the serial bailouts of AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, and others. In describing the dynamic events of this period, Davidoff not only reveals how deals are accomplished in modern capital markets, but he also details the transformation that the takeover marketplace is undergoing and its prospects for the future. In doing so, he puts forth a definitive view and theory of deals and deal-making. </p><p>The financial revolution, globalization, and financial crises have permanently changed deal-making—creating perils and opportunities for both dealmakers and regulators. With <em>Gods at War</em> as your guide, you'll gain a better understanding of this discipline and discover the various events, individuals, and institutions that continue to shape this competitive arena. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Two years ago, British fashion designer Anna Hindmarch produced the must-have accessory of the season: a bleached, organic cotton tote manufactured in fair-wage factories, subsidized with carbon offsets and emblazoned with the slogan, I'm NOT a plastic bag. But according to Goleman (_Emotional Intelligence_), the people who bought the bag were advertising their ecological ignorance, not their consciousness. In this thorough examination of the inconsistencies and delusions at the core of the going green effort, the author argues that consumers are collective victims of a sleight of hand, helplessly unaware of the true provenance and impact of the products they purchase: they reassure themselves by buying environmentally friendly tote bags that, upon ecological assessment, reveal some uncomfortable facts, e.g., 10,000 liters of water were required to grow the cotton for one bag, and cotton crops alone account for the use of about 10% of the world's pesticides. Goleman's critiques are scathing, but his conclusion is heartening: a new generation of industrial ecologists is mapping the exact impact of every production process, which could challenge consumers to change their behavior in substance rather than just show. <em>(Apr.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> Goleman, best-selling author of such groundbreaking works as Emotional Intelligence (1995) and Primal Leadership (2002), brings his invaluable behavioral insights to our most urgent dilemma: how to halt environmental catastrophe. What’s required, Goleman believes, is ecological intelligence, which he defines as understanding the “hidden web of connections between human activity and nature’s systems, and the subtle complexities of their intersections.” More concretely, Goleman encourages readers to learn about the many invisible threats to our health and the health of the environment caused by product manufacturing. Wisely focusing on the one element we can control, what we purchase, Goleman calls for higher “green” standards and “radical transparency” regarding how products are made. An enlightening foray into industrial ecology reveals how new forms of analysis determine precisely how the manufacture of such disparate items as toys, shampoo, and paper contributes to natural resource depletion, chemical pollution, and global warming. Brimming with intriguing, useful, and galvanizing information, this is an exceptionally sharp, innovative, and realistic approach to raising the demand for environmentally safe merchandise. Given Goleman’s track record and the pressing need for smart strategies, this fascinating treatise has tremendous potential for reaching and motivating a large and diverse audience. --Donna Seaman </p></div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><strong>Dan Ariely on <em>Survival of the Sickest</em></strong><br>MIT professor Dan Ariely has become one of the leaders in the growing field of behavioral economics, and his bestselling book debut, </p><p>_ I have always been puzzled by the way in which genetic diseases have managed to survive throughout the ages. How could it be that these diseases were able to withstand the evolutionary process, where only the most fit survive, and continue to be transferred from one generation to the next? <em>Survival of the Sickest</em> provides a thought provoking yet entertaining explanation to this puzzle. _</p><p>In this insightful book Dr. Sharon Moalem demonstrates how conditions that are considered unhealthy (such as hemochromatosis, diabetes, and high cholesterol), or even deadly in extreme cases, might actually put their carriers at an advantage in combating other life-threatening illnesses. For example, he explains that hemochromatosis, a disease that, if left untreated, will kill you, may have actually been a defense against the deadliest pandemic in history--the bubonic plague during the 14th century. It turns out that this genetic mutation, which continues to be passed down through generations, actually helped spare many lives at one point. </p><p>Throughout the book, Dr. Moalem draws many connections between seemingly disparate subjects, such as the accidental invention of ice wine and cold diuresis, in order to illustrate the basic mechanisms of genetics and medicine in charming and intuitive ways. He skillfully interweaves his knowledge of history, genetics, and medicine not only as they relate to specific medical conditions but also in a way that addresses important challenges of modern society and our future evolution. </p><p>In the most general terms, Dr. Moalem's description of the human body and its complexity left me in awe of how far we have come in our understanding of biology and medicine, while also being reminded that the road to understanding ourselves is still wide open with much more to learn in the decades, and even centuries, to come. It is a fantastic journey on which he leads us and Dr. Moalem is a kind, knowledgeable, humorous, and helpful guide. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Moalem, a medical student with a Ph.D. in neurogenetics, asks a number of provocative questions, such as why debilitating hereditary diseases persist in humans and why we suffer from the consequences of aging. His approach to these questions is solidly rooted in evolutionary theory, and he capably demonstrates that each disease confers a selective advantage to individuals who carry either one or two alleles for inherited diseases. But very little is new; the principles, if not every particular, that Moalem addresses have been covered in Randolph Nesse and George Williams's <em>Why We Get Sick</em>, among others. Whether he is discussing hemochromatosis (a disorder that causes massive amounts of iron to accumulate in individuals), diabetes or sickle cell anemia, his conclusion is always the same: each condition offers enough positive evolutionary advantages to offset the negative consequences, and this message is repeated over and over. Additionally, Moalem's endless puns and simple jokes wear thin, but his light style makes for easy reading for readers new to this subject. <em>(Feb.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>

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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A hilarious collection of stories, centering around wedding plans gone awry, includes Leslie Kelly's "There Goes the Groom," in which a young Italian man falls in love with the woman designing his fiance's wedding gown. Original.</p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>4 1/2 stars--an October Top Pick! -- <em>Romantic Times Bookreviews, October 2006</em>  </p><p>Readers who love a good romantic suspense mixed with some blistering love scenes shouldn't miss Leslie Kelly's ASKING FOR TROUBLE! -- <em>Romance Reviews Today, October 1, 2006</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It was a dark and sexy night, and she was in Trouble! Trouble, Pennsylvania, that is. </p><p>Lottie Santori doesn't realize when she arrives at the mysterious Seaton House that it's inhabited by Simon Lebeaux, a sinfully sexy recluse. While wildly attracted to the dangerous stranger, she's also determined to uncover the secrets of his past, and to find out whether Seaton House is merely a dark and dangerous inn on a mountain, or if it truly is inhabited by the ghost of a notorious serial killer...and his victims! </p><p>It's gothic romance...Blaze style...and it's Leslie Kelly at her best! </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>You know you're hard up when you have to buy a date... But Annie Davis's big family reunion is looming, and she needs a stand-in man fast or she'll never hear the end of it. Any gorgeous guy will do. Her solution? The drop-dead-sexy man at the charity bachelor auction. His good looks and blue-collar background make him perfect for her! Or is he? </p><p>Sean Murphy has a bit of a surprise for Annie. Not only is he not blue-collar, he's actually a sophisticated European entrepreneur, one who's made pleasuring women an art form. And he wants to permanently pleasure Annie! But Sean knows that if she discovers his secret, their wickedly delicious liaison will be over. Lucky for both of them, he's learned enough tricks to keep Annie distracted for a long, long time....</p>

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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>A fresh, surprising story about real people falling in love, not just pretty bodies tumbling into bed. 4 Stars -- <em>RT Bookclub</em>  </p><p>Another keeper that is full of sass, fun and heat. Recommended Read -- <em>Fallen Angel Reviews</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>From the back cover: </p><p>He never guessed he'd uncover the perfect woman...for him! </p><p>Professor Drew Bennett is thrilled when he learns he'll get the chance to promote his latest book, Beyond Eliza Doolittle, on national television...even if it means getting involved in reality TV. But still, how hard can it be? All he has to do is turn five country bumpkins into ladies. Too bad Drew doesn't know that he's the prize... </p><p>Tori Lyons only agreed to embarrass herself in front of a nationwide audience in order to fulfill a not-quite-deathbed promise. But she's going to be the first to leave--she'll make sure of it. But that's before she falls head over heels in love with the sexy professor. And realizes that if she plays the game right, Drew's heart is the one thing she can't possibly win... </p>

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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>Award of Excellence Winner! </p><p>Author Leslie Kelly demonstrates her masterful ability to blend passion and humor in INTO THE FIRE. -- <em>Word Weaving</em>  </p><p>Get INTO THE FIRE, as soon as it hits the shelves. It is definitely a keeper. -- <em>Road To Romance</em>  </p><p>If you love compelling stories, filled with humor, wonderful characters...and hot, sensual moments...pick up a copy. -- <em>Romance &amp; Friends</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The only thing columnist Lacey Clark dislikes more than fellow columnist Nate Logan is her own boring existence. She wants to be spontaneous, spirited...sexy. So when she meets a gorgeous stranger at a party and falls in lust at first sight, she figures she'll never have a better chance to go for it. How could she guess that her first-class lover would turn out to be her number one enemy?</p><p>Nate Logan can't believe it! How could he have had the best sex of his life with the woman who's made his job a living hell? And how can he want her again...and again? Worse, their publisher is suddenly insisting Nate and Lacey collaborate on a joint column. Which leaves Nate wondering if he's going to seduce Lacey into changing her mind--or give up and let the sexy blonde blow <em>his</em>....</p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The theft of some mutant army ants by a scarecrow leads the Three Investigators to the solution of two daring crimes in the art world. </p>

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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The sighting of a UFO leads the Three Investigators to uncover a bizarre confidence game.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>When five dogs disappear from a seaside town and a dragon is sighted off-shore, the Three Investigators look into the situation.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Three Investigators search for a stolen statue only to find that it has mysteriously come to life.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Three young detectives go on a high-stakes treasure hunt in order to restore a fortune to the rightful heirs.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Three Investigators foil a plot to kidnap the son of a political leader in an African colony.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Three Investigators, aided by their friend Allie, try to untangle the unusual circumstances surrounding an abandoned mine.</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Three junior detectives solve a mystery involving a collection of antique busts, a legacy, a strange letter, and a red ruby. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>The Three Investigators must solve an old man's riddle to uncover a great fortune for their friend, Gus. But they're racing against a sinister bunch of treasure hunters who are also hot on the trail. Who will arrive first at the mysterious Fiery Eye? </p>

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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>When an eccentric local artist disappears suddenly, the three investigators look into the matter.</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>A green ghost oozes through the walls of a crumbling old mansion, leading The Three Investigators to an open coffin and a grinning skeleton wearing a string of priceless Chinese Ghost Pearls.  When the ghost disappears--along with the pearls--the sleuths are off on their strangest case ever! </p>

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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>When three junior detectives search for a valuable old Spanish sword lost since the Mexican War, the headless statue of a horse yields a clue.</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Three Investigators are hounded by supernatural forces as they attempt to recover a stolen sculpture of a legendary wolf-dog. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The three investigators, attempting to rescue a beached whale, end up searching for sunken treasure. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The three investigators try to solve a mystery involving a gold Indian amulet and a weird laughing shadow that appeared to them in the night. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Three young sleuths uncover a coven of witches when they search for the missing memoirs of a movie star. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>While vacationing on a California ranch, three boys decide to investigate strange wails that come from a mysterious cave where a famous outlaw disappeared. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>Many years ago, the young bandit El Diablo disappeared into a cave, never to be seen again.  Now an eerie moaning sound is coming from his old hideout, and the ranchers who live nearby think he may still be alive.  </p><p>The Three Investigators set out to explore the moaning cave--and soon wish they had come armed with more than a flashlight! </p>

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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The three young sleuths solve a case of double identity while investigating the legend of Monster Mountain.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Hired to discover why a wild-animal farm's tame lion has become unpredictably nervous, three young detectives begin an investigation that uncovers a smuggling operation.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Searching for a legendary pirate treasure, the Three Investigators find a band of modern day pirates.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The reunion of a group of child movie stars plunges the three young detectives into a case of theft, kidnapping, and false identity.</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A wallet dropped by a scar-faced beggar sets the three investigators on the trail of bank robbers. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The high pitched scream produced by an alarm clock sets the three investigators on the complicated and dangerous trail of art thieves. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>The alarm clock went off with the bloodcurdling scream of a woman in mortal terror!  Who could have made such a clock--and why?  </p><p>The Three Investigators immediately set out to discover where the mysterious clock came from.  When they come across a run-down house in Hollywood, they find an entire room full of dreadful clocks--and time is running out! </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Three Investigators solve a case involving an international gang of art forgers. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Three junior detectives travel abroad to solve a mystery involving a silver spider and a political plot that endangers the life of a young prince. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>The prince of Varania must find the royal badge of office, a jeweled silver spider, in order to be crowned. There's just one problem--the silver spider has been stolen! It's up to the Three Investigators to find the spider and save the prince from his deadly political enemies! </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The three investigators become involved in witchcraft when they try to rescue a woman from the influence of snake worshippers. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Finding a genuine haunted house for a movie set sounds like fun -- and a great way to generate publicity for the Three Investigators' new detective agency. But when the boys arrive for an overnight visit at Terror Castle -- home of a deceased horror-movie actor -- they soon find out how the place got its name! </p><h3>From the Back Cover</h3><p>Originally published in hardcover beginning in 1964, these classic  </p><p>mystery/adventure stories feature three boys--Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and  </p><p>Bob Andrews--who establish a detective firm with the motto "We Investigate  </p><p>Anything!" Perfect for summer reading, these suspenseful action stories will  </p><p>appeal to both boys and girls.   </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>An old trunk involves the three investigators with dangerous criminals seeking a cache of stolen money. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>It all started with a dollar. One dollar paid at auction by Jupiter Jones for a dusty old trunk that once belonged to The Great Gulliver, a magician who vanished as mysteriously as one of his tricks. The trunk attracts a host of bizarre characters, like Zelda the Gypsy, Three-Finger Munger, and Maximilian the Mystic. But what's inside the trunk is even _ more_ bizarre--a skull that talks! </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Missing: One fabulous, jewel-encrusted belt, once owned by the ancient emperors of Japan. The Three Investigators are ready to jump into action, but officials at the Peterson Museum turn them away for being too young. Then a strange twist of fate brings Jupe, Pete, and Bob on the case, and the boys are soon surrounded by master criminals--who will stop at nothing to hold on to their stolen fortune! Is the priceless belt lost for good, or will the Three Investigators be able to save the day? </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>Missing: One fabulous, jewel-encrusted belt, once owned by the ancient emperors of Japan. The Three Investigators are ready to jump into action, but officials at the Peterson Museum turn them away for being too young. Then a strange twist of fate brings Jupe, Pete, and Bob on the case, and the boys are soon surrounded by master criminals--who will stop at nothing to hold on to their stolen fortune! Is the priceless belt lost for good, or will the Three Investigators be able to save the day?   </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>When a 3,000-year-old mummy begins to whisper strange words in an ancient Egyptian tongue, the Three Investigators are determined to find out is an ancient curse is about to be fulfilled. </p><h3>From the Inside Flap</h3><p>When Ra-Orkon, a 3,000-year-old mummy, begins to whisper strange words in an ancient Egyptian tongue, the Three Investigators are determined to find out the facts: Why is he speaking? What is he saying? And how is the horrible curse of Ra-Orkon about to be fulfilled? </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Three young sleuths investigate the disappearance of a caveman's bones from a museum and uncover skulduggery at a science foundation. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Three junior detectives investigate a mystery involving an Oriental chest, a sunken ship, and a baffling dual identity. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Three Investigators are assisted by a Greek youth as they search for clues to a mysterious thief on an island once inhabited by pirates. </p><h3>Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.</h3><p>The Three Investigators made their way into the old cave.  Jupiter's flashlight flicked over rocky crevices and ledges.  </p><p>Suddenly the light stopped.  There on the edge of a rocky shelf was a human skull.  </p><p>It seemed to grin at the boys.  And then it spoke to them.  "Go 'way," it sighed, with a strong accent that sounded Spanish.  "Let me 'ave my rest.  No treasure is here.  Only my tired old bones!" </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Using a clue provided by an unusual stuffed cat, three young detectives investigate the mysterious troubles of an accident-prone carnival. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Three young sleuths discover who is haunting a mysterious old mirror--and why. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Hot on the trail of seven talking parrots that have seemingly vanished into  </p><p>thin air, the Three Investigators are in more trouble than ever. Danger lurks  </p><p>at every turn as they search for the birds, each of whom can quote part of a  </p><p>coded message from a mysterious dead man.  </p><h3>From the Back Cover</h3><p>Originally published in hardcover beginning in 1964, these classic mystery/adventure stories feature three boys--Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews--who establish a detective firm with the motto "We Investigate Anything!" Perfect for summer reading, these suspenseful action stories will appeal to both boys and girls.   </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>The stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>This densely plotted book concludes the futuristic tale begun in Hyperion . Earth has long since been destroyed, and humans now occupy more than 150 worlds linked by the Web, an instantaneous travel system created and operated by artificial intelligences (AIs--self-aware, highly advanced computers). These worlds are about to war with the Ousters, a branch of humanity that has disdained dependency on the AIs. At risk are the planet Hyperion, its mysterious Tombs that travel backward in time, and the Shrike, its god/avatar of pain or retribution. The narrative focuses on the government of the Web and its leader, Meina Gladstone, as observed by Joseph Severn, a cybernetic re-creation of the poet John Keats, and seven Shrike pilgrims, who may affect the war's outcome. Simmons pits good against evil, with the religions of man and those of the machines battling for supremacy. Despite his grand scale, however, he fashions intensely human individuals whom the reader will take to heart. <br>Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>

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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>BILL STRICKLAND, EDITOR-AT-LARGE OF BICYCLING<br>Bike Snob should be lovingly gifted to all new cyclers - and forcefully smacked against the heads of all the jaded know-it-alls who take the sport way too seriously.  </p><p>CHRISTIAN LANDER, AUTHOR OF STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE<br>After reading Bike Snob I put a brake on my fixie, started wearing a helmet, then punched myself in the stomach for spending so much time as a stupid hipster. This is a social manual that should be bundled with every bike shipped in America.  </p><p>ROBERT LANHAM, AUTHOR OF THE HIPSTER HANDBOOK<br>As any avid biker will attest, cycling isn t just a form of transportation. It s a complicated culture with its own slang, taxonomy, and preferred tat styles. If you haven t read Bike Snob, you should consider reattaching those training wheels to your overpriced fixie.  </p><p>LANCE ARMSTRONG<br>I like to think I know a thing or two (or three) about being ruthless and relentless - either trying to win the Tour or fighting cancer. The Snob knows it too. Keeping us dorks in line is tough work. I take pleasure in getting picked on by the Snob, slightly more pleasure in reading his writing, but take the most pleasure punishing his ass (my payback) on the bike either in Central Park or on 9W/River Road. Long live the Snob.  </p><p>ELDEN "FATTY" NELSON, FATCYCLIST.COM<br>First you ll think the Snob is funny. Then you ll think he s smart. Eventually you ll probably think that he s seen far too many movies for his own good. At some point during this book, however, you re going to say to yourself: Holy crap. He is right. Believe me, that is one disconcerting moment. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Cycling is exploding in a good way. Urbanites everywhere, from ironic hipsters to earth-conscious commuters, are taking to the bike like aquatic mammals to water. BikeSnobNYC cycling's most prolific, well-known, hilarious, and anonymous blogger brings a fresh and humorous perspective to the most important vehicle to hit personal transportation since the horse. <em>Bike Snob</em> treats readers to a laugh-out-loud rant and rave about the world of bikes and their riders, and offers a unique look at the ins and outs of cycling, from its history and hallmarks to its wide range of bizarre practitioners. Throughout, the author lampoons the missteps, pretensions, and absurdities of bike culture while maintaining a contagious enthusiasm for cycling itself. <em>Bike Snob</em> is an essential volume for anyone who knows, is, or wants to become a cyclist. </p>

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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; "><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">From WIRED.com:</p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The histories of wars are so often written from the perspective of the victors, and such  is the case with Tolkien’s classic <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The Lord of the Rings</em>. However, back in 1999 in Russia, a paleontologist by the name of <a class="zem_slink" title="Kirill Eskov" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirill_Eskov" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 124, 165); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">Kirill Eskov</a> set about addressing the balance, taking up his pen in the name of orcs and goblins everywhere.</p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Yeskov’s novel <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The Last Ringbearer</em> is set during and after the end of the War of the Ring and is told from the perspective of those who lost. Evidently it was very well received in Russia, but for fear of litigation has not made it beyond a few scant translated passages and various versions in other European languages.</p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">However, a full English translation was published last year online and <a href="http://ymarkov.livejournal.com/270570.html" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 124, 165); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">is available for free download.</a></p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The whole story of this Russian-Middle Earth epic is <a href="http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2011/02/15/last_ringbearer/index.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 124, 165); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; ">told in length (and very eloquently) at Salon.com</a> by Laura Miller.</p></span></div>


