The author of The Man at the Wheel brings back Scotland Yard's Inspector Peckover in this "valuable addition to the classic British detective" (The New York Times). A femme fatale . . . or a female Jack the Ripper? It's springtime in France—the season of love in the country of romance. But Scotland Yard Insp. Henry Peckover has murder on his mind. The local police have asked him to make some inquiries about Mrs. Mercy McCluskey, a Frenchman's lusty American wife. It seems a former boyfriend of this most-liberated lady has turned up dead. Then a second . . . and a third! Before long, Inspector Peckover has uncovered an IRA connection, a gin-swilling gunrunner, a mysterious killer with a very French twist, and another potential corpse—his own . . . "With bits of Peckover's naughty light verse, a tad of slapstick, and lots of French food: a jaunty, somewhat silly black-comedy." —Kirkus... Views: 457
All Patrick O'Brian's strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate-infested waters of the Red Sea. While Captain Aubrey worries about repairs to his ship, Stephen Maturin assumes the center stage for the dockyards and salons of Malta are alive with Napoleon's agents, and the admiralty's intelligence network is compromised. Maturin's cunning is the sole bulwark against sabotage of Aubrey's daring mission. Views: 452
Documents Relating to The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire is an sf novel by Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing. It concludes her five-book Canopus in Argos series & comprises a set of documents that describe the final days of the Volyen Empire, located at the edge of our galaxy & under the influence of three other galactic empires, the benevolent Canopus, the tyrannical Sirius & the malicious Shammat of Puttiora.
The Sentimental Agents is a social satire written in the tradition of Jonathan Swift & George Orwell focusing on the debasement of language in political rhetoric. In this fictional universe it's propaganda that keeps fragile empires afloat. When language becomes too distorted, some succumb to a condition called "undulant rhetoric" & are placed in a Hospital for Rhetorical Diseases.
Because of its focus on characterization & social/cultural issues, & no emphasis on technological details, this book is soft sf, or "space fiction" as Lessing calls her Canopus in Argos series. While The Sentimental Agents can be read as a stand-alone book, she does continue with the history of the Sirian Empire, picking up from where she left off in The Sirian Experiments ('80), 3rd book in the series. Views: 451
Jeff Greene was only seven when Melody, his mother, left him with his reserved, undemonstrative father, the Professor. So when she reenters his life years later with an invitation to spend the summer with her in Charleston, Jeff is captivated by her free spirit and warmth, and he eagerly looks forward to returning for another visit the following year.
But Jeff's second summer in Charleston ends with a devastating betrayal, and he returns to his father wounded almost beyond bearing. But out of Jeff's pain grows a deepening awareness of the unexpected and complicated ways of love and loss and of family and friendship -- and the strength to understand his father, his mother, and especially himself. Views: 447
A New York Times Best Book of the YearNobel Prize Laureate Mazurka for Two Dead Men, the culmination of Camilo José Cela's literary art, opens in 1936 at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War: Lionheart Gamuzo is savagely murdered. In 1939, as the war ends, his brother avenges his death. For both deaths, the blind accordion player Gaudencio plays the same mazurka. Set in backward rural Galicia, Cela's excellent novel portrays a reign of fools, and works like contrapuntal music, its themes calling and responding, alternately brutal, melancholy, funny, lyrical, and coarse. Views: 441
Born a wealthy French heiress but betrayed into bondage, Brigitte de Louroux swears she will never be any man's slave. Rugged and powerful Rowland of Montville sees only a beautiful enchantress in peasant's rags--a wench to serve his every need. Defenseless against his unbridled passions, Brigitte is forced to yield her innocence to the desires the warrior lord arouses in her heart. But her surrender will vanquish the handsome knight--awakening within him a love as mighty and relentless as his conquering sword. Views: 441
This enthralling medieval saga features Quentin, a disenchanted younq acolyte propelled into a deadly mission by the urgent plea of a dying knight. On his shoulders rests the course of a kingdom; and ahead of him, a magical quest awaits. Views: 434
Set in the 17th century and based on a true-life historical figure, this novel is a swashbuckling tale of exotic lands, romance, and hair-raising adventures. Andrew Battell is a buccaneer on a British ship when he is taken prisoner by Portuguese pirates. Injured and ailing, Andrew is brought to the west coast of Africa where his only solace is Dona Teresa, a young woman who nurses him back to health. Once his health is restored, AndrewOCOs only hope to return home is to first serve his Portuguese masters, but it is a hope that dwindles as he is pulled further and further into the interior of the continent, into the land of the JaqqaOCothe regionOCOs most fierce and feared cannibal tribeOCooverseen by the powerful Lord of Darkness. Survival means becoming one with the Jaqqa; if he can endure their gruesome rites and initiations. Originally published in 1984, this story by a master of science fiction and fantasy demonstrates the timelessness of any great adventure and will provoke thought in a new audience on the determination to persevere at any cost." Views: 434
By turns humorous and warm, stark and frightening, *Bluebeard's Egg* infuses a Canada of the 1940s, '50s and '80s with glowing childhood memories, the harsh realities of parents growing old, and the casual cruelty that men and women inflict on each other. Here is the familiar outer world of family summers at remote lakes, winters of political activism, and seasons of exotic friends, mudane lives and unexpected loves. But here too is the inner world of hidden places and all that emerges from them—the intimately personal, the fantastic and the shockingly real...whether it's what lies in a mysterious locked room or in the secret feelings we all conceal.
*From the Paperback edition.* Views: 403
Discover the sensual and sweeping power of love in this story of new beginnings and uncertain endings by Judith McNaught—the New York Times bestselling author that USA TODAY raves “is in a class by herself.”
On Friday, a sensuous stranger enters Katie’s life. By Sunday, her life is irrevocably changed forever.
Katie Connelly submerges her painful past in a promising career, an elegant apartment, and uncomplicated, commitment-free romantic liaisons. Yet something vital is missing from her life and she’s uncertain what it is—until she meets proud, rugged Ramon Galverra.
With his charm and passionate nature, Ramon gives her a love she has never known. She is still, however, afraid to surrender her heart to this strong, willful, secretive man—a man from a different world, a man with a daring, uncertain future. Will Katie’s relationship with Ramon survive once the initial thrill of their simmering passion subsides?
In this bold and heartfelt novel, perfect for fans of Julie Garwood and Lisa Kleypas, Judith McNaught proves once again that she “not only spins dreams, but she makes them come true” (RT Book Reviews). Views: 396
Max Desir loved his Italian-American family--even after his iron-willed father exiled him from its intimate innner circle. Max Desir loved his lover, Nick, with whom he openly took up life first amid the enchantment of Rome, then amid the realities of New York. Two loves so deeply felt--in a man so painfully divided.... Views: 390
A little girl called Alice. A deaf-mute. A vision. A lady in shimmering white who says she is the immaculate conception. And Alice can suddenly hear and speak, and she can perform miracles. Soon the site of the visitation, beneath an ancient oak tree, has become a shrine, a holy place for thousands of pilgrims. But Alice is no longer the guileless child overwhelmed by her new saintliness. She has become the agent of something corrupt, a vile force that is centuries old. Innocence and evil have become one. Remember with fear... Views: 384
Nita Callahan is at the end of her rope because of the bullies who've been hounding her at school... until she discovers a mysterious library book that promises her the chance to become a wizard. But she has no idea of the difference that taking the Wizard's Oath is going to make in her life. Shortly, in company with fellow beginner-wizard Kit Rodriguez, Nita's catapulted into what will be the adventure of a lifetime -- if she and Kit can both live through it. For every wizard's career starts with an Ordeal in which he or she must challenge the one power in the universe that hates wizardry more than anything else: the Lone Power that invented death and turned it loose in the worlds. Plunged into a dark and deadly alternate New York full of the Lone One's creatures, Kit and Nita must venture into the very heart of darkness to find the stolen, legendary Book of Night with Moon. Only with the dangerous power of the wizardly Book do they have a chance to save not just their own lives, but their world... Views: 381
