An old-school Southerner is recruited to run a political campaign in a dangerous African electionClinton Shartelle doesn’t seem like a good choice to run a political campaign in Albertia. For one thing, he’s American, and Albertia is a small coastal republic in Africa, about to be cut loose from the English Crown. For another, Shartelle is Southern and fiercely proud of it, and his ideas about racial politics veer unpredictably from progressive to rigidly old-fashioned. But Shartelle is the best, and the political future of Albertia is too important to be left to anyone else. If history is any indication, this first fair election will probably be the country’s last. Rich natural resources make it attractive to businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic, opening Albertia up to political corruption. For his part, Shartelle is hired to make sure that a British industrialist’s favored candidate wins the presidency. But the opposition is backed by the CIA, for whom murder is just another political tool. Views: 54
The building does not have thirteenth floor: fourteenth immediately follows twelfth. But three very strange-looking gentlemen want to rent it nevertheless. Views: 54
It is the year 2650 and Earth has become a world of non-Aristotelianism, or Null-A. This is the story of Gilbert Gosseyn, who lives in that future world where the Games Machine, made up of twenty-five thousand electronic brains, sets the course of people’s lives. Gosseyn isn’t even sure of his own identity, but realizes he has some remarkable abilities and sets out to use them to discover who has made him a pawn in an interstellar plot. Views: 54
1938 - 20 Jan 1939Julian Day, while seeking revenge upon those who had ruined his career in the Diplomatic Service, becomes drawn into a quest for treasure, buried for over 2,000 years. It was for lovely Sylvia Shane that Julian decided to set out upon his quest, but it was the damnably dangerous yet adorable Princess Oonas Shahamalek who delayed his going. Women found him very attractive! Julian's quest takes him through such excitements as a night in the Tomb of the Sacred Bulls in Alexandria, dope-running in the City of the Dead outside Cairo, white-slaving on the Suez Canal, a fight for life in a Pharaoh's tomb in the Valley of the Kings – to the final dénouement in the middle of the waterless Libyan Desert, 500 miles from civilization. Views: 54
Space 1999 - The Space-Jackers Views: 54
Ann Bridge takes the little-known country of Albania for her background recreating the primitive grandeur of the country. The Albanian way of life demonstrates a noble standard of values that is rapidly disappearing under the pressure of modern materialism. Our protagonist is an unhappy and disillusioned young widow who travels to Albania as the result of a chance encounter on the Istanbul express. A fellow passenger tells her that there she will find a life that contains something far more satisfying than the restless gaiety of her cosmopolitan clique. Later, living in the feudal household of an Albanian prince, absorbing an atmosphere of immemorial dignity, and enjoying the friendship of two remarkable women – one a mature and cultured English writer, the other a wise old American doctor – she comes to understand what he had meant. And when, for the second time, she is faced with a tragic outcome to hopes of happiness in love, she is able to find solace... Views: 54
A bungled hand-off lands St. Ives in jail on suspicion of murderIt’s three in the morning, and Philip St. Ives has come to the all-night Laundromat to meet a thief. His laundry bag isn’t carrying dirty clothing—it’s stuffed with $90,000 cash. But he finds his contact, Bobby Boykins, in no state to talk. Bobby has been beaten, strangled, and stuffed behind a washing machine; Philip is inspecting the corpse when the police find him. Standing in a Laundromat with a dead body and a sack full of cash, Philip learns, is a good way to get arrested.St. Ives is a go-between—a mediator between thieves and their victims—and he came to meet Bobby for the sake of a rich man who has lost his diary. If Philip can escape the Tenth Precinct, Bobby’s killer will come for him next.Review“Ross Thomas is without peer in American suspense.” —Los Angeles Times“What Elmore Leonard does for crime in the streets, Ross Thomas does for crime in the suites.” —The Village Voice“Ross Thomas is that rare phenomenon, a writer of suspense whose novels can be read with pleasure more than once.” —Eric AmblerAbout the AuthorThe winner of the inaugural Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award, Ross Thomas (1926–1995) was a prolific author whose political thrillers drew praise for being witty as well as suspenseful. Born in Oklahoma City, Thomas grew up during the Great Depression, and served in the Philippines during World War II. After the war, he worked as a foreign correspondent, public relations official, and political strategist before publishing his first novel, The Cold War Swap (1967), based on his experience working in Bonn, Germany. The novel was a hit, winning Thomas an Edgar Award for Best First Novel and establishing the characters Mac McCorkle and Mike Padillo.He followed it up with three more novels about McCorkle and Padillo, finishing the series in 1990. He wrote nearly a book a year for twenty-five years, occasionally under the pen name Oliver Bleeck, and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel with Briarpatch (1984). Thomas died of lung cancer in California, a year after publishing his final novel, Ah, Treachery! Views: 54
When Lloyd Westcott was hired to build and run the Green Oasis casino he didn't ask about the owner or where the backing came from. He didn't care, as long as the place was legit and he could run it clean as a whistle. But then the Big Man moved in. Views: 54
Also published as Out from the Sun . From Robert Silverberg’s “Earthmen and Strangers” anthology, 1966:
Arthur C. Clarke is a true citizen of the world. Where he is at any given moment only his travel agent is likely to know: perhaps in New York conferring with his publishers, perhaps excavating sunken treasure off the coast of Ceylon, perhaps supervising the filming of a movie in London, perhaps studying the cored formations of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, perhaps watching a rocket blasting moonward from Cape Kennedy. He was born in England, but he is at home on any continent, and probably will be found sightseeing on Mars and Venus as soon as commercial service to those ports of call is inaugurated. As an acknowledged master of science fiction, Clarke’s presence in any anthology is almost mandatory. He works within the great tradition of H. G. Wells, combining literary artistry with scientific accuracy to create stories of stirring wonder and breathtaking provocativeness. Here Clarke offers a fitting epilogue for this collection of stories of alien life: a glimpse of a life-form so incredibly strange that we poor mortals can barely begin to comprehend its nature. Views: 54
No man walks away . . .For years, there have been none better at the trade than buffalo-skin hunter Kerry Barran. But he's taken part in too much killing -- of beast and man alike -- and now he wants to lay down his gun for good. But the hunter's got powerful enemies in Otley Creek -- and a "partner" who's unhappy about Kerry's refusal to finish one more job. If teaching the stubborn loner a lesson means breaking his bones, then so be it. In a town owned by his adversaries -- with a ruthless gang of toughs on his tail -- Kerry Barran's going to need all the help he can muster. And he's found it in the most unlikely quarters: with a dapper English dude and his sister . . .with a Texas gunslinger ...and with a whip-wielding hellcat who goes by the name "Calamity." Views: 54
Body Snatchers
The horrifying story of Burke and Hare, whose names have become as sinister and evil as the gory exploits they undertook.
The film stars PETER CUSHING, June Laverick and Donald Pleasence in the leading roles.
A CORGI NOVEL Views: 54
Readers of The Portuguese Escape will remember Hetta Páloczy, the young Hungarian girl who eventually marries Richard Atherley of the British Diplomatic Service. The Episode at Toledo takes us to Spain, not only to the world of Embassies, Military Intelligence, and Cold War intrigue, but into a little-known area of Spanish life. Here Hetta accidentally uncovers a Communist plot to assassinate an American Admiral during his visit to inspect a NATO base; a marked woman once more, she takes refuge in Portugal in the baroque palace of Gralheira. But again, among the tranquil scenes of Portuguese harvest-time and vintage, peril lurks; an attempt is made on her own life, and another on her return to Madrid. After this, at her husband's insistence, she is sent with her unborn child to the Western Highlands of Scotland, to stay under the auspices of her old friend Julia Probyn, a familiar figure from several previous books. In this one, however, the accent is mainly on Hetta Atherley,... Views: 53