From Publishers WeeklyIn the latest-and possibly final-installment of the chronicles of the English village of Fairacre and its tiny school, the pseudonymous author and narrator Miss Read (Changes at Fairacre) begins the academic year anticipating few surprises. Two relatively minor but frightening strokes, however, force the stalwart headmistress to consider, and eventually opt for, early retirement. In the course of her final, lovingly described year at Fairacre school, Miss Read carries on her amiable feud with the school's grouchy cleaner, fends off marriage proposals from a handsome newcomer to town, keeps a watchful eye on the courtship of a newly widowed friend and continues her involvement in the pleasing minutiae of village life. Though Miss Read acknowledges the existence of the contemporary world, the village and its school remain resolutely old-fashioned: "More worldly children need videos and computers, but in Fairacre, we still enjoy pencils and paper, I am glad to say." Sensible, well read and acutely observant, the delightfully prim Miss Read continues to be very good company indeed. Line drawings. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalIn the finale to a series that began with Village School (1955), Miss Read's long teaching career in Fairacre is brought to a satisfactory close. This quintessential "gentle read" chronicles Miss Read's decision to retire as schoolmistress after a series of small strokes. Readers are also brought up-to-date on the lives of other inhabitants of the village who have appeared in scores of previous books: Mrs. Pringle, Miss Read's bullying cleaning lady; the newly widowed Henry Mawne; the Willet family; and her old friends Amy, Vicar Gerald Partridge and his wife, the Umbleditches, and the Annetts. Miss Read must also decide whether to resist the attentions of a handsome newcomer with a romantic interest in her. As soothing and warm as a cup of Earl Grey tea, this book will delight fans and newcomers to the series alike.Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, SeattleCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 32
From Publishers WeeklyL.A. private eye Aaron Gunner has familiar qualities: he's youngish, not very successful (his "office" is behind a barber shop), eyed askance by cops but appreciatively by pretty women, medium-boiled with a strong ethical sense. The hook is he's black. When Darrel Lovejoy, head of a church-related Peace Patrol helping young gang members, is killed in a "drive-by," a witness names two "gang-bangers." The public defender of a jailed suspect asks Gunner to find the missing driver. Gunner is soon immersed in the squalid world of violence, drugs, readily available automatic weapons and the bone-deep despair of L.A. adolescent gangs. The eyewitness is a crackhead fed by a nasty drug dealer; the fugitive's older brother is not the upright citizen everyone thinks; a high-profile minister has his own secret; and some of the teenagers are frightening creatures. The title applies to them. The appealing Gunner was featured in Haywood's 1987 Fear of the Dark , which won Best First Private Eye Novel. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 32
Hockey is the only game worth playing in the rough-and-tumble prairie town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When sixteen-year-old A.J. Brandiosa makes the Triple A team of his dreams, he can hardly believe that his life is finally coming together. And then it falls apart. A.J. makes an unexpected discovery about his best friend and teammate, Tulsa Brown, and he can't keep his rage and fear from spilling onto the ice. An aggressive defenseman is becoming a violent one. . . An explosive novel by award-winning author Diana Wieler that looks honestly at teenage sexuality and the world of amateur hockey. Views: 32
At 22 Grace Farnsworth had lost her job as a governess, and had to assume a childish disguise to have enough money for a coach seat. But arriving in Wickfield hadn't solved her problem, as her old governess was away. Lord Whewett, having heard her story, offered her a hundred pounds to act his daughter to appease old Lady Healy's determination to meet her great granddaughter... Regency Romance by Joan Smith; originally published by Fawcett Crest Views: 31
Jed Shannon, a young American movie star on location in England, has received a threat against his life. When the Hardy Boys set out to investigate, they are led to a medieval mansion on the moors and are drawn into a case worthy of Sherlock Holmes--and into a conspiracy as thick as the London fog. Views: 31
On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . .Gregg Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets.Review"A searingly tragic look behind the headlines that broke America's heart. Brilliantly researched, wonderfully written."--Anne Rule"A riveting and deeply disturbing chronicle of true crime. Olsen has done a superior job."--Cleveland Plain Dealer"Among the top true crime books published. Once picked up, it's hard to put down."--New Philadelphia Times Reporter"A superior true crime account that should not be missed."--Jack Olsen, author of Doc and I: The Creation of a Serial Killer"A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise."--Seattle Post-IntelligencerFrom the Inside Flap"A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise ." -Seattle Post-IntelligencerAcclaim for the True-Crime Classics of Gregg Olsen Abandoned Prayers"An absorbing, sobering, disturbing book."--Omaha World-HeraldBitter Almonds"Absolutely fascinating...One of the most devious female minds in crime history. Stella Nickell has won her dubious spot in the annals of crime-thanks to Gregg Olsen's research and reporting."--Ann Rule"[A] truly remarkable book. The trailer park babes of Bitter Almonds leap off the page, fingernails sharpened and aimed for your eyes...meticulous reporting and engrossing, vivid detail plunges the reader into a world of schemes and dreams. This is one of the best true crime books of the '90s."-Jack Olsen, author of Son: A Psychopath and His Victims and "I": The Creation of a Serial Killer"A real page-turner...a compelling and fascinating tale of family psychopathology taken to the extreme."--Jonathan Kellerman"Masterfully written...a tale of intricate suspense."-Rod Colvin, author of Evil HarvestConfessions of an American Black Widow"More interesting than the crime itself is Olsen's portrait of Nelson as a brash, trashy, manipulative sexpot...watching Nelson as she almost gets away with murder will fascinate long after the last page." -Publishers Weekly"This time Gregg Olsen has given us a very sexy book that is as disturbing as it is seductive. One reads it compulsively and wonders afterwards 'Why did I like this so much?' as if one had not so much read it as had a very destructive affair with it. A dangerous and informative book, as irresistible as its painfully, wonderfully vicious heroine-or villain, whichever she is. This book might make some moralists more humble." -Darcy O'Brien, bestselling author of Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers and Murder in Little Egypt"Gregg Olsen's standing as one of America's finest crime journalists will rise even higher with The Confessions of an American Black Widow. Here are all the ingredients of a great crime story-murder, infidelity, greed, nymphomania. But the main element is Olsen's skill at describing and explicating human misbehavior. A must read!" -Jack Olsen, bestselling author of Doc and Predator"What a combination! God, Mammon, carnality, all rendered vividly under Olsen's assured touch." -Stephen Michand, bestselling author of The Only Living Witness and Murderers Among Us"Gregg Olsen introduces the reader to a character so mesmerizing, so frightening and so evil that one has to keep reminding himself that this amazing fast-paced story is true."--Carlton Stowers, bestselling author of Careless Whispers"This brilliant true crime story deserves acclaim and thunderous applause." -Elizabeth Loftus, co-author, The Myth of Repressed Memory and 1998 President of American Psychological Society"That rare book that is at once a page-turner and an important chronicle of true crime. An enlightening and devastating read." -Steve A. Eggar, PhD., author of Killers Among Us: An Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigation"This is probably Gregg's best work yet. Sharon Lynn is the kind of woman-and this is the kind of book-that people will talk about. Gregg Olsen shows us just how chilling it is to realize what might be going on in the house next door." -Clark Howard, bestselling author of Love's BloodIf Loving You is Wrong"Gregg Olsen's If Loving You is Wrong is a wonderfully researched book that makes the tabloid stories about Mary Kay Letourneau and her forbidden love sound like comic book stuff. Everyone who wants to understand the back-story of the child-woman and her overwhelming passion for a man-child must read If Loving You Is Wrong. Olsen's books is both gossipy and sympathetic, searing and brilliant. If Mary Kay is the Humbert Humbert of the female sex-and she is-this book is her Lolita. A must-read for both true crime aficionados and students of abnormal psychology! I read until 3 a.m.!" -Ann Rule, author of Bitter Harvest and A Rage to Kill Views: 31
SUMMARY:
Letters by the famous science fiction writer that give insights into his craft and that of others in the field. Views: 31
SUMMARY: Nine stories set in the nightmare world of Dark Future, where road gangs rule the desolate highways of an America devastated by ecological disaster, hunted by a new breed of law enforcer – the Sanctioned Operative Introducing the genius of Dr. Zarathustra, and the sinister Elder Seth, who can be met again later in the series. Then there’s Kid Zero – loneliest of lone wolves – driven by vengeance to take on the power of the multi-national mega-corporations. And Jessamyn 'Jazzbeaux' Bonney, fishnet-and-leather-clad hellcat, destined to become a cyborg pawn of demons in the struggle for the fate of the earth. Stories by Myles Burnham, Brian Craig, William King, Neil Jones, Neil Mcintosh, and Jack Yeovil. Views: 31
From Publishers WeeklyFarris's ( The Fury ; Wildwood ) latest novel is eerie, fast-paced and original. As a child in 1906, Arne Horsfall finds a sealed crate, addressed to a professor at a local college, that has fallen off a train. His father stores the object in the barn until the wayward professor can pick it up. But the crate operates like a Pandora's box on Arne and his mother; overcome with curiosity, they pry it open and unleash an evil spirit. Physically, the spirit looks like a mummified dark-skinned man--not, however, like a black man--and his mother recognizes it from the stories of her childhood as one of the huldufolk , the "unwashed children of Cain," evil and immortal. When the spirit awakens and escapes, the Horsfall farm becomes blighted; Arne's father dies of gangrene at its touch, and his mother becomes its slave. At this point the novel flashes forward to 1970: Arne is a deaf-mute in a mental institution, where he has lived for untold years. His art therapist, Enid Waller, takes pity on him and invites him to her home for dinner. Out of the hospital for the first time in decades, Arne senses the dark spirit, who has multiplied and stirs now in response to Arne's freedom. The lives of the Waller sisters will never be the same. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalThe mummified, human-like figures hidden in caves beneath a Tennessee burg--where years before 74 people had suddenly disappeared--hold the key to an ancient curse threatening to reemerge. Don't be mislead by the ludicrous title; Farris, Scare Tactics ( LJ 7/88) and The Fury ( LJ 8/76), has written one of the best horror novels of the year, striking the perfect balance between rich Southern gothic and outright hideous graphic narrative. In turns both beautiful and grotesque, Farris's work is on a par with the best of Manly Wade Wellman's ( The Voice of the Mountain, LJ 12/84; What Dreams May Come, LJ 12/15/83). Sure to be a big hit among genre fans.-Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 30
The diaspora has begun: the spending of Earth’s wealth to send STL generation ships to distant stars. Starstruck volunteers queue up hoping to be selected for one of the five ships, but others condemn this dispersal of materials and people needed to help Earth recover from ecological damage. Jeremiah “for the Homeworld” leads the rebels with acts of sabotage calculated to slow the exodus and turn world opinion against it. Meanwhile, Thomas Tidwell, official historian of the Diaspora Project, is tracking down a dark secret that hides the true reason for the migration. Kube-McDowell ( Enigma ) presents the world of 2095 through the two viewpoints of Mikhail Dryke, a security agent trying to track down Jeremiah, and Christopher McCutcheon, a project worker and folk singer who gets caught in the gears. The society is believable, socially and technically, the writing keeps a steady pace, building toward the climax, and the secret proves to be quite imaginative.
Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1991. Views: 29
"The Screwfly Solution" is a 1977 science fiction short story by Raccoona Sheldon, a pen name for psychologist Alice Sheldon, who was better known by her other nom de plume, James Tiptree, Jr. It received the Nebula Award for Best Novelette (1978) and has been adapted into a television film. Views: 29
Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady is Florence King's classic memoir of her upbringing in an eccentric Southern family, told with all the uproarious wit and gusto that has made her one of the most admired writers in the country. Florence may have been a disappointment to her Granny, whose dream of rearing a Perfect Southern Lady would never be quite fulfilled. But after all, as Florence reminds us, "no matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street."
** Views: 29
In 1990, Alexei and Cory Panshin's massive history of science fiction, The World Beyond the Hill, won the Hugo award in competition with books by Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula LeGuin, and Harlan Ellison. Isaac Asimov called it, “The best, the BEST, history of science fiction I have ever read.” Exploring the genre from its roots in the Romantic Period to the late 20th century, the Panshins make the case for science fiction as modern mythology. Renowned literary critic Northrup Frye stated, "I learned a great deal from The World Beyond the Hill." The ElectricStory edition includes hyperlinked contents, index, and notes sections for easy navigation. Views: 29
From WikipediaRunning on Empty is the 36th young adult novel in the long running and successful Hardy Boys casebook series for boys written by Franklin W. Dixon. It was first published by Simon Pulse in 1990. In it The Hardy Boys investigate the disappearance of their friend, Chet Morton, and go undercover. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon In the article: Plot introduction | Footnotes Views: 28
