Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Italian Renaissance this alternate history takes place in a world where real faith-based magic exists. Our hero is Damiano Dalstrego. He is a wizard's son, an alchemist and the heir to dark magics. But he is also an innocent, a young scholar and musician befriended by the Archangel Raphael, who instructs him in the lute.To save his beloved city from war, Damiano leaves his cloistered life and sets out on a pilgrimage, seeking the aid of the powerful sorceress Saara as he must walk the narrow path between light and shadow, accompanied only by his talking dog. But his road is filled with betrayal, disillusionment and death, and Damiano is forced to confront his dark heritage, unleashing the hellish force of his awesome powers to protect those he loves.The further volumes of this tale are Damiano's Lute and Raphael. Views: 47
McCarthy was drafted from his college biology studies and became a member of the Special Forces. Then he is given the opportunity to contact the Chtorr, but when a helicopter crash leaves him and his companions stranded in enemy territory, he must decide whether to communicate with the Chtorr--or kill them! Views: 46
Book jacket/back: Johnny Rio, a handsome narcissist but no longer a pretty boy, travels to Los Angeles, the site of past sexual conquest and remembered youthful radiance, in a frenzied attempt to recreate his younger self. Johnny has ten precious days to draw the "numbers," the men who will confirm his desirability, and with the hungry focus of a man on borrowed time, he stalks the dark balconies of all-night theaters, the hot sands of gay beaches, and shady glens of city parks, attempting to attract shadowy sex-hunters in an obcessive battle against the passing of his youth. Views: 46
This tale, a continuation of the science fantasy series by the author of the “Well World” saga, describes a world slowly recovering from a battle between titanic forces of good and evil. Views: 46
Getting engaged had seemed like a good idea. But now Sister Eugenia Smith wasn't so sure. She was fond of Humphrey, but did she love him? When surgeon Gerard Grenfell offered her the chance to work in Europe, she gladly accepted. Perhaps a break would help her think things through. But Eugenia hadn't expected to fall in love with Gerard. It all seemed pretty hopeless, though, since he was already engaged to the glamorous Miriam. Fortunately, wedding plans could be changed! Views: 46
A long-distance call from a Texas city on his birthday gives Benjamin Dill the news that his sister—it’s her birthday, too, they were born exactly ten years apart—has died in a car bomb explosion. It’s the chief of police calling—Felicity Dill worked for him; she was a homicide detective. Dill is there that night, the beginning of his dogged search for her killer. What he finds is no surprise to him, because Benjamin Dill is never surprised at what awful things people will do—but it’s a real surprise to the reader. As Newsday said when the novel was first published, “One sure thing about Ross Thomas’s novels: A reader won’t get bored waiting for the action to start.” ** Views: 46
This book was first published in 1970 and was a call to take heed of the looming "Future Shock" or backlash of humanities biggest, unresolved dilemmas such as: the widening disparity between rich and poor, ie, the wealth of the world being monopolized by smaller and smaller percentage of the world human population, while the growing number of poor or outright poverty stricken are growing by leaps and bounds; burgeoning human population pressures with it's ever-increasing demands on limited resources; pollution of the food chains; technology with it's blessings and baggage of intrusive, dehumanizing side-effects; world health crisis, etc. While humanity is currently preferring to live in a state of denial about the impending backlash of the mostly human-caused problems facing our present and immediate future, there is a growing accumulation of data never historically available to us before on how to deal with our problems. Will we put this knowledge to use in time? So what exactly is "Future Shock"? Toffler explains: "We may define future shock as the distress, both physical and psychological, that arises from an overload of the human organism's physical adaptive systems and it's decision-making processes. Put more simply, future shock is the human response to over-stimulation". Overload breakdown! The socio-political, economic and environmental bills are coming due and they WILL be paid, shocking or not! Toffler sees that our time consuming, stressed-out, hyper-industrial, compulsive consuming society is leaving parents no time for proper child rearing– as if they were qualified for the task in the first place. Un-guided, un-taught, un-disciplined children set themselves and society up for another of the many aspects of future shock with their aberrant behavior expanding as they get older. "We don't let just anyone perform brain surgery or for that matter, sell stocks and bonds. Even the lowest ranking civil servant is required to pass tests proving competence. Yet we allow virtually anyone, almost without regard for mental or moral qualifications to try his or her hand at raising young human beings, so long as these humans are biological off-spring. Despite the increasing complexity of the task, parenthood remains the *greatest single preserve of the amateur*." Toffler suggests that society should "professionalize" child rearing and parents should be educated by mandate of society. That along with every other level of society for a literate, more successful society. Guidelines for instituting "appropriate technology" vs. irresponsible, runaway technology are covered. "Utopian" models for society should always be considered as guidelines for future adjustments and upgrades to consider– and think-tanks for that very purpose should be established. This along with "sanctuaries for social imagination"– sounds like ancient Greece, eh? Ten years after this book was published, Marilyn Ferguson came out with her block-buster book, "The Aquarian Conspiracy". She somewhat took-up where Toffler left off and created a blueprint of where we are and where we should be heading to stave-off the trauma of future shock. She expertly delineates the "Paradigm Shift" or changes needed in our collective thinking and proffers an abundance of guidelines and resources for that objective. The following year (1981), Duane Elgin comes out with his "Voluntary Simplicity", more guidelines for transitioning to a more harmonious existence. Elgin follows this with another similar book to "Future Shock" and "The Aquarian Conspiracy" with "Awakening Earth" (1993), then followed by "Promise Ahead"– a continuation of the paradigm shift of collective consciousness needed for survival into the future. To all of these fine books, one should add Theodore Roszak's "The Voice of the Earth" and we then have a small, but potent collection of some of the most instructive and helpful books ever published for the immediate betterment of our existence on Earth. Excellent "How-to" manuals on global change in human perception of reality. Views: 45
Under the subways' roar, out of the deep, wet caves, comes the fury from Hell...In the bedrock beneath New York, a beautiful news reporter and a hard-bitten cop enter an eerie maze of abandoned tunnels, searching for a train that vanished with all aboard---over half a century ago.But under the city of skyscrapers and tourists, under the peep shows and the penthouses, within the clammy darkness, around the next turn...an unholy evil waits to disgorge itself in violence and blood. Now the final nightmare must explode. Now the killing frenzy must begin... Views: 45
A compelling, perceptive and disturbing account of one man′s fight to survive incarceration.After a brief spell in gaol, Len Tarbutt, nineteen years old and serving a life sentence, is transferred to the maximum security ward of a mental hospital. In The Treatment and its award-winning sequel,The Cure, Tarbutt′s efforts to survive the system into which he has been thrust, and at the same time preserve his individuality, are movingly and often humorously portrayed by Peter Kocan, himself a survivor of just such a system.First published to critical acclaim in the early 1980′s, The Treatment and The Cure are works of intensity, maturity, discipline and surprising humour, and offer the reader a rewarding and compelling literary experience. The Cure won the NSW Premier′s Award for 1983. Views: 45
Brilliant, funny, charming, imperious, Diana Vreeland--the fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and editor-in-chief of Vogue--was a woman whose passion and genius for style helped define the world of high fashion for fifty years. Among her eclectic circle of friends were some of the most renowned and famous figures of the twentieth century--artists and princes, movie stars and international legends, including Chanel, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Isak Dinesen, Clark Gable, and Swifty Lazar.Moving from English palaces to the nightclubs of 1930s Paris, the wilds of Wyoming to the exclusive venues of New York high society, D.V. takes readers into this iconic woman's dazzling life, evoking the luxury and brio of an era that encompassed Josephine Baker, England's Queen Mary, Buffalo Bill, and Diaghilev.Vibrant with the vivid, irresistible voice that elevated every tÊte-À-tÊte and dinner party, D.V. brings this renowned and... Views: 45
She dangled the bait -- and he bit. Suddenly Samantha Maitland had the funds to finance the deal of her lifetime -- loaned by an angel with tarnished wings. From the moment they'd met at the posh California spa to his brash arrival at her island home on Puget Sound, venture capitalist Gabriel Sinclair had made it clear he wanted Samantha at any price. What would happen if he discovered the true motive behind her scheme to block Drew Buchanan's Arizona real estate deal? Had Samantha traded her edge in this dangerous game for a reckless passion with Gabriel, a man she barely knew? Or for the ultimate revenge on Drew Buchanan, the lover she couldn't forgive... or forget.** Views: 44
