Jefferson Halliday leads a life of penury, playing a piano at a nondescript bar. Jeff’s troubles start when he rescues a junkie, Rima Marshall, from being cut open in the bar, by a drug-crazed maniac. After hearing Rima's voice, he is convinced that she can be groomed into a singer with himself as manager. But Jeff needs money to launch Rima, and what can be an easier way than a quick robbery to get the money? But a guard gets in the way and is shot dead by Rima. Since then, both are on the run. Jeff manages to return home, complete his engineering education and land a coveted contract with the city administration. He is also happily married, when out of the blue, Rima appears with a blackmail proposition….. Views: 27
This is a novel of sophisticated government deception in the near future, an exploration of political corruption. Written in 1957 when Silverberg was 22, the novel is cynical and highly suspenseful. Views: 27
Amazon.com ReviewThe story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children (a girl and a boy) for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? By leaving the questions unanswered, The Turn of Screw generates spine-tingling anxiety in its mesmerized readers. ReviewNovella by Henry James, published serially in Collier's Weekly in 1898 and published in book form later that year. One of the world's most famous ghost stories, the tale is told mostly through the journal of a governess and depicts her struggle to save her two young charges from the demonic influence of the eerie apparitions of two former servants in the household. The story inspired critical debate over the question of the "reality" of the ghosts and of James's intentions. James himself, in his preface to volume XII of The Novels and Tales of Henry James, called the tale a "fable" and said that he did not specify details of the ghosts' evil deeds because he wanted readers to supply their own vision of terror. -- __ Views: 27
THE LIVING DEADIn GHOULS IN MY GRAVE you enter the dread world of the living dead where madness lurks and terror reigns. A few samples:In THE GOLD TEETH, Abel, a "mining" man, who excavates gold from the dental ware of the dead, encounters a reluctant corpse one night in Abney Park Cemetery:". . . The dead man had just closed his mouth and sunk his teeth deep into my fingers through my rubber gloves. . ."In THE CEMETERY WATCHMAN, a passing stranger, hired to guard the mysterious mausoleum of Dutchess Opolchenska in Saint Guitton Cemetery has an unexpected visitor one night:" I was crushed by a formidable weight. Sharp teeth bit into my neck, and cold loathsome lips began greedily sucking my blood ..." Views: 27
El Hassan, would-be tyrant of all North Africa, was on the run. His followers at this point numbered six, one of whom was a wisp of a twenty-four year old girl. Arrayed against him and his dream, he knew, was the combined power of the world in the form of the Reunited Nations, and, in addition, such individual powers as the United States of the Americas, the Soviet Complex, Common Europe, the French Community, the British Commonwealth and the Arab Union, working both together and unilaterally...
A novel of colonialism set in North Africa, continuation of “Blackman’s Burden”. First serialized in Analog magazine in Jul–Aug 1962; published in book form in 1972. Views: 27
This novel originally appeared in Analog in two parts under the titles Ultima Thule and Pistolero . Views: 27
Miss Quinn, who cherishes her privacy, intends to spend Christmas on her own as she likes it. But before the holiday, her borther telephones to tell her that his wife has been rushed to the hospital, and would Miss Quinn come and stay with the children? Miss Quinn's unexpectedly hectic Christmas has a significant effect upon her life. Views: 27
An authoritative history of the Knights of St. John, from Jerusalem to Malta, told by the bestselling author of The Great Siege. Known by many names through their centuries-long career, The Knights Hospitaller of Saint John dedicated themselves to defending the poor and sick. First formed in Jerusalem during the Crusades of the eleventh century, the Order of Saint John grew in wealth and power rivaled only by the Knights Templar. They survived exile from the Holy Land, settling first in Rhodes and then in Malta, which they famously defended against the Ottoman Empire's epic invasion of 1565. Even after losing Malta to Napoleon Bonaparte two centuries later, the Order of Saint John continued its mission. Ernle Bradford, whose bestselling book The Great Siege recounts their historic battle for Malta, follows the Knights of Saint John through centuries of war, politics, rivalry, and perseverance in The Shield and the Sword. Views: 27
Sir Henry Merrivale (better known to the public, and to his co-workers of the Military Intelligence Department as "H.M.") had disappeared. Two of his young friends were to be married the following day. Then a telegram arrived: MEET ME IMPERIAL HOTEL TORQUAY IMMEDIATELY EXPRESS LEAVES PADDINGTON 3:30 URGENT MERRIVALE. At once everyone was precipitated into the Punch and Judy Murders… Hours later, the prospective bridegroom, now a fugitive from justice, and dressed in an unlawfully appropriated policeman's uniform, stood at the open door of a small library, confronted with a corpse. He was wondering how he could escape from the house before the bona fide police arrived… Views: 27
A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY
A small boy playing in the park is handed a crumpled piece of paper by a stranger, who then collapses and dies. The boy, realising that he himself is now in danger, flees from the park with the help of detective Nigel Strangeways, only to discover that the mysterious message consists of just his own name and age: Bert Hale 12.
Bert and his young friends are confident that they can crack the case but they soon discover that they will need the help of not just Nigel Strangeways, but of the whole British government...
A Nigel Strangeways murder mystery - the perfect introduction to the most charming and erudite detective in Golden Age crime fiction. Views: 27
Charles Forbin is the Director: the one man on earth who speaks directly to Colossus. Five years before, the American supercomputer & the Soviet supercomputer were united—combining their data, their analytic powers, their learning & growth capacity. In the few seconds of that process, they became one Colossus—master of humankind. Programmed to solve humanity's problems, Colossus solved them: forestalled nuclear holocaust, eradicated poverty & the frustration and violence it breeds. Soon there was nothing for people to do—but obey. Some made Colossus their God, & Charles Forbin was their Pope. Others wanted to be free of Colossus—for Colossus was also ruthless beyond any human tyrant ever—& they wanted Forbin as their deliverer. Either of these movements might get Forbin killed. He is appalled & disgusted by the religious cult, terrified by the rebels—who haven't a chance, as he knows better than anyone on earth. Then Forbin is handed the key to the overthrow of Colossus—or is it? He must commit his life to the chance that it is, just to begin with. Then he must commit the earth to the shadowy motives of the mysterious source of this new power. —from the dust jacked of the 1st hardcover edition. Views: 27
Burglary, murder, mysterious disappearances... can you find the clues which will solve these curious crimes? How acute are your powers of perception? Do they begin to match those of Gervase Fen, Oxford don and sleuth supreme? These sixteen short stories are classic examples of Fen's mastery of his art-solving the most insoluble cries where even the best brains in the police force are frankly baffled. They also allow you to flex your own crime-solving muscles: each story contains all the clues needed to anticipate the outcome, using logic and common sense... with a bit of ingenuity thrown in! Views: 27
] Only one American woman could have written this book. Living through the end of the Victorian Age until December 6, 1964, Consuelo Balsan looks back on an era of extraordinary historical interest, on friendships with celebrated persons and on a lost world of distinction and privilege in which she played a leading part. Intimately, wittily, and with disenchanted affection, she writes of New York society and of its personalities in the eighties and nineties, the golden years of the original "400." She recalls their lavish entertainments, the extraordinary "period" houses they built on Fifth Avenue, the country places in Newport and on Long Island to which they moved at the season's end and the yachts in which they roamed about the world. It was a time when young ladies were strictly brought up by parents who had but one object in mind—a great marriage. Disinclined to follow their views, she regards as the bravest act of her luxurious but strict upbringing her deep objection to her mother's decision to marry her to the ninth Duke of Marlborough. Nonetheless filial discipline obliged her to give way to her mother's will. Consuelo Vanderbilt was only eighteen when she became the Duchess of Marlborough, the heroine of the most discussed and publicized international marriage of the end of the century, which made her the mistress of Blenheim Palace, one of the most splendid private residences in England. She describes her complex duties as hostess to such great persons as the Prince and Princess of Wales, the German Emperor, Kino Carlos of Portugal, Queen Marie of Roumania and many other notabilities of the time. She recalls the brilliance of the London season, its grand receptions and balls, the afternoons when fashionable society drove in Hyde Park. And, after such pleasures, she remembers those days in the Houses of Parliament when she listened to such orators as Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Arthur Balfour and the young Winston Churchill debate the politics of the day. Further afield, she describes the splendor of the courts of St. Petersburg and Vienna —the swan songs of the Romanoffs and of the Hapsburgs—as well as the shrill gaiety of the international world at Monte Carlo. Finally, after describing her divorce from the Duke of Marlborough, she relates the happy history of her years in France as the wife of Colonel Jacques Balsan, during which she saw much of the great writers, artists, and statesmen of the time. These years came to a moving close when the Germans invaded France in the spring of 1940. In these recollections Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan tells her story, candidly and objectively. She recreates, in authentic, amused and amusing detail, a world which has long since come to an end, but which still has the power to fascinate those who never knew it. Furthermore, she is able to discriminate, for her readers and for herself, the difference between its glitter and its gold. EXTRAS: an introduction added in 2011 written by her granddaughter, Serena Russell Balfour; over 50 black and white and color illustrations; and the Vanderbilt Family Tree. Views: 27
