Best known for his libertarian science fiction ( The Probability Broach ), Smith offers a change of pace with this swashbuckling space adventure, loosely patterned in the spirit of Rafael Sabatini and C. S. Forester. The powerful imperia-conglomerate of the 31st century spans the star systems, extorting from those under its rule. When young Arran Islay decides to live as a brigand, he declares war on ''those who live by stealing property--life and liberty--from its rightful owners.'' Adopting the name of his murdered friend, Henry Martyn, he sets sail in search of fortune and revenge. Other Islay family members are fully delineated and play important roles in this story, written in an evocatively archaic style reminiscent of both the classic adventure tales familiar from childhood and the space operas of 1930s pulp fiction. The author has a flair for inventive future terminology and imaginative concepts: '' Legos : The architectural style was still referred to by its legendary name.'' Smith blends intergalactic action, heroics and derring-do into a futuristic political thriller, and the result is a delight: piracy in high space, penned with panache. Views: 163
Jonathan thinks his parents are normal—but he’s about to see the light of day
Nine-year-old Jonathan is convinced that sleeping during the day and waking at night is what every kid does—especially if your parents work at a blood bank all night. But when he breaks his parents’ rules and sneaks outside during the daytime, he meets Tobi, a neighborhood girl who fills him in on the truth about telephones, TV, and school. Shocked at his discovery, Jonathan confronts his parents, who tell him the truth about their nocturnal life.
Determined to fit into the daytime world, he convinces his parents to let him go to school and make friends. But it isn’t easy being the new kid—especially when your parents are vampires whose supplies from the blood bank are getting low. Maybe inviting his friends over wasn’t such a good idea after all.
This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Ann M. Martin, including rare images from the author’s collection. Views: 160
Philadelphia heiress Alicia Stanford has a thousand reasons never to trust a man again. Only, when she flees to hide her shame in the western wilderness, the tantalizing Mississippi keelboatman who takes her to freedom forcefully reminds her that she's in a man's world. Views: 158
'This was the ultimate way to kill a man' During the 1970s a group of Protestant paramilitaries embarked on a spree of indiscriminate murder which left thirty Northern Irish Catholics dead. Their leader was Lenny Murphy, a fanatical Unionist whose Catholic-sounding surname led to his persecution as a child for which he took revenge on all Catholics. Not for the squeamish, The Shankill Butchers is a horrifying detailed account of one of the most brutal series of murders in British legal history - a phenomenon whose real nature has been obscured by the troubled and violent context from which it sprang. Views: 145
Amazon.com ReviewThis passionate, epic account of the Vietnam War centers on Lt. Col. John Paul Vann, whose story illuminates America's failures and disillusionment in Southeast Asia. Vann was a field adviser to the army when American involvement was just beginning. He quickly became appalled at the corruption of the South Vietnamese regime, their incompetence in fighting the Communists, and their brutal alienation of their own people. Finding his superiors too blinded by political lies to understand that the war was being thrown away, he secretly briefed reporters on what was really happening. One of those reporters was Neil Sheehan. This definitive expose on why America lost the war won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1989. From Publishers WeeklyKilled in a helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1972, controversial Lt. Col. John Paul Vann was perhaps the most outspoken army field adviser to criticize the way the war was being waged. Appalled by the South Vietnamese troops' unwillingness to fight and their random slaughter of civilians, he flouted his supervisors and leaked his sharply pessimistic (and, as it turned out, accurate) assessments to the U.S. press corps in Saigon. Among them was Sheehan, a reporter for UPI and later the New York Times (for whom he obtained the Pentagon Papers). Sixteen years in the making, writing and re search, this compelling 768-page biography is an extraordinary feat of reportage: an eloquent, disturbing portrait of a man who in many ways personified the U.S. war effort. Blunt, idealistic, patronizing to the Vietnamese, Vann firmly believed the U.S. could win; as Sheehan limns him, he was ultimately caught up in his own illusions. The author weaves into one unified chronicle an account of the Korean War (in which Vann also fought), the story of U.S. support for French colonialism, descriptions of military battles, a critique of our foreign policy and a history of this all-American boy's secret personal liehe was illegitimate, his mother a "white trash" prostitutethat led him to recklessly gamble away his career. 100,000 first printing; first serial to the New Yorker; BOMC main selection ; a uthor tour. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 143
A gentle man, the victim of a violent father, is made violent himself by a fellow cop whom he suspects of murdering a local labor official, and an ex-wife who limits contact with their daughter. Views: 133
India, 1778. Richard Bryant arrives in India as a humble clerk with the John Company. But he is driven by an ambition and military enthusiasm that sees him rise beyond his status. He has barely been in Bombay a year when a disastrous love affair with Barbara Smythe forces him to flee the city. He enters the Indian jungle. It is the start of a new life as an outlaw, relying on his wits and his pistols to survive. In the escapades and dangers which lie ahead, Richard becomes an adventurer on a grand scale. He commands French regiments at the court of the feared Begum Sombre, making enemies of every nationality and, in time, carving his own kingdom out of the jungle. Feared by princes, marauders and fellow mercenaries alike, Richard finds a place for himself in the world. But there are terrible scores to be settled, even at the risk of throwing all of his glory away... 'Sword of Fortune' is an epic military adventure set against the backdrop of the flourishing British empire. Praise for Christopher Nicole: 'Well-researched...Evocative descriptions of scenery and edifices, and exact period dialogue' - Historical Novels Society '...told with smooth authenticity' - Publishers' Weekly Christopher Nicole is a prolific British writer of over 200 novels and non-fiction books since 1957. He wrote as Christopher Nicole under several pseudonyms including Peter Grange, Andrew York,Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C.R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams,Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He also wrote under the penname Max Marlow co-authoring with his wife, fellow author Diana Bachmann. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books. Views: 115
SUMMARY:
Fatal Vision is the electrifying true story of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, the handsome, Princeton-educated physician convicted of savagely slaying his young pregnant wife and two small children, murders he vehemently denies committing.Bestselling author Joe McGinnis chronicles every aspect of this horrifying and intricate crime, and probes the life and psyche of the magnetic, all-American Jeffrey MacDonald, a golden boy who seemed destined to have it all. The result is a penetration to the heart of darknes that enshrouded one of the most complex criminal cases ever to capture the attention of the American public. It is haunting, stunningly suspenseful-a work that no reader will be able to forget.With 8 pages of dramatic photos and a special epilogue by the author Views: 114
Publisher's WeeklyThe versatile inventor of the La-La Land and Jack Hatch series, Campbell here features his other hero, Jim Flannery of the Edgar-winning The Junkyard Dog. Living according to the Chicago Democratic principle, ''a favor for a favor,'' involves Jim in occasional charitable illegalities. After his political mentor, Chips Delvin, is committed to Larkspur Rest Home by a distant cousin, Jim is refused admittance and must sneak in. Finding Chips hallucinating and neglected, Jim asks another patient to report anything that could empower authorities to close down the ''rest'' home. But the patient is later found drowned in Larkspur's duck pond, a prelude to fearsome, as well as vastly amusing, events. In the end, having relied on another hallowed local custom, the ''get-back,'' Jim is satisfied that he has outwitted nasty conspirators . Views: 114
Over the rainbow to OzIn the dusty Australian outback, a priceless treasure lies under ancient silt stone and sand: opals that gleam with rainbow fire and spark greed and betrayal in the hearts of men.Kelsey Donovan doesn't care about opal. She arrives in Coober Pedy to look for a different treasure, the precious jewels of family and belonging. But when Kelsey finds Jake Donovan, the father she's never known, she is almost too late. Jake is in a coma, hovering between life and death after a mysterious cave-in at the Rainbow Fire mine that he owns with a stranger named Dillon Ward.And who better to benefit from Jake's death than his partner?What can Kelsey do for the father whose love she's always craved except safeguard what belongs to him? She sets out to protect the Rainbow Fire from Dillon himself, and to discover the truth behind her father's accident.Sometimes though, the most precious of treasures isn't found in mines or in... Views: 112
From Publishers WeeklyThe return engagement of Lord Westfield's Men, the Elizabethan-era theatrical troupe introduced in The Queen's Head , faces opposition from Puritan factions attempting to stop the premiere of The Merry Devils . The supposedly impious play goes on, but at the requisite moment three boy devils appear through the trap door instead of the expected two. Was it an appearance by the Devil himself? When the play is staged again, only one devil appears--the other little lad is found in costume backstage, dead. It's up to Nicholas Bracewell, mainstay of the troupe, to solve the crime before the Puritans shut down his organization (and the golden age of Elizabethan drama) forever. Though its period dialogue takes some getting used to, this is a believable, satisfying mystery, colorfully costumed and staged, with a bawdy, raffish and utterly amiable cast. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalMarston's second foray into the world of Elizabethan theater ( The Queen's Head, LJ 6/1/89) flushes out noble and ignoble characters at all strata. The unexpected appearance of one devil too many at a new play by Lord Westfield's Men upsets the superstitious actors; a subsequent "accident" and a death threaten the company's existence. Nicolas Bracewell, the sensible, well-spoken book holder for the troupe, attempts to fathom the mystery behind the scenes. With its wide-ranging backdrops, attention to authentic detail, closely held plot, and sometime boisterous clatter, this welcome portrayal belongs in all public libraries.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 111
Dirty Work is the story of two men, strangers—one white, the other black. Both were born and raised in Mississippi. Both fought in Vietnam. Both were gravely wounded. Now, twenty-two years later, the two men lie in adjacent beds in a VA hospital.Over the course of a day and a night, Walter James and Braiden Chaney talk of memories, of passions, of fate.With great vision, humor, and courage, Brown writes mostly about love in a story about the waste of war.From Publishers WeeklyTwo devastatingly wounded Vietnam vets, Chaney, who is black, and James, white, both sons of the South, lie in a veteran's hospital and talk freely about combat, movies, sex, old loves, their boyhoods, how it feels to kill a man and why God allows wars to happen. PW described this novel as "wrenching" and "memorable." Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review"There has been no anti-war novel . . . quite like Dirty Work."—The New York Times (The New York Times )"A novel of the first order. . . . A gem."—The Washington Post (The Washington Post )"Explodes like a land mine. . . . A marvelous book."—The Kansas City Star (The Kansas City Star )"A real knockout."—New York Newsday (Newsday ) Views: 106
The Reds were on the edge of a scientific breakthrough that would enable them to breed a race of indestructible soldiers. And with Blade missing, the Warriors were hot on his trail--right into a trap from which they had no hope of escape. Views: 101
