Encouraged by the West to spearhead a pro-democracy movement, an outspoken refugee from the Tiananmen Square massacre finds help with his efforts in Quiller, a Western agent ordered to lead the rebel to safety. Reprint. NYT. PW. K. From Publishers WeeklyHis latest mission--his 16th--takes British intelligence agent Quiller on a tense adventure to exotic locales in the Far East. He is assigned to ensure a safe passage out of China for Dr. Xingyu Baibing, renowned Chinese astrophysicist and popular dissident leader. Xingyu's ouspoken support of democracy, which helped incite student rebellions culminating in the 1989 riots in Tiananmen Square, is shared by the ambassador Qiao, an intelligence source for the West. The assignment, which could signal the inception of a new Chinese leadership sympathetic to capitalism, is daunting to Quiller, but his anxiety seems to have been for naught in light of the anticlimactic ending. Insistently driving home the conflict between democracy and communism, Hall's characteristically lean prose offers some exciting moments, but several sequences, such as Quiller's secret stay in a Tibetan monastery, are needlessly drawn out. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsBritish superspook Quiller (The Quiller Memorandum, Quiller Barracuda, etc.), weariest of all the sons of Bond, is assigned to protect a potential revolutionary from the Chinese government. The unlikely rabble-rouser is diabetic astrophysicist Dr. Xingyu Baibing, whose charismatic disaffection with the Communists since Tiananmen Square makes him the obvious rallying point for an armed counterrevolution that just might bring democracy to China--and who, expelled from the Party, has sought asylum with British diplomats who are bringing him to Hong Kong. Quiller's assignment: to meet Dr. Xingyu (``the messiah''), spirit him away from the Chinese agents who plan to grab him in Hong Kong (so they can brainwash him and send him back to China to sing a different tune), and smuggle him into Beijing as spokesman for the democratic revolutionaries. Everything that can go wrong does, of course: the operations coordinator is a turncoat; Dr. Xingyu wants to go back when he hears his wife's been arrested; Quiller has to break cover to get insulin in the Tibetan village where Xingyu's insisted on going to ground; and another cadre of free-lance revolutionaries wants to send Xingyu back to Beijing under their sponsorship. Hall's plotting is less intricate than usual, the precisely calibrated dangers little more than a series of riffs. But depressive, sententious Quiller is as good company as ever in this lesser entry in a fine series. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Views: 69
As Brone struggles to cope with the abduction of her friend, she begins to realize that enemies exist not only beyond the Village’s walls. Fueled by a pressing need to uncover the truth about Kormace Island, Brone begins to question the government’s true intentions behind felon incarceration, only to discover something far more terrifying than what she could have ever imagined. Views: 69
London 1882: In this her final case, Frances Doughty goes undercover for Her Majesty's Government to investigate some disturbing information regarding the apparently innocuous Bayswater Bicycle Club. Before long she is plunged into a murky world of deadly secrets, a suspicious disappearance and a brutal murder, and the Lady Detective is forced to do the unthinkable to prevent becoming the next victim. With a new and exciting future lying before her, is there anything the dauntless Miss Doughty cannot do? Views: 69
To the casual observer, Christopher Ravena and Sarah Vida look like normal high school students. But he’s a vampire who has sworn off human blood, and she’s a witch, a daughter of the most powerful vampire-hunting dynasty in history. Slowly, without meaning to, Sarah finds herself won over by his sensitivity, his gentleness, his kindness. But his past and her future collide when they both get tangled up with Nikolas, one of the most reviled vampires ever. Views: 69
Devastated on her wedding day by a shattering revelation, Melissa Corbin turned to a stranger with a brazen bargain: she would take his name in exchange for the power of the Corbin empire. Quinn Rafferty was shockingly handsome and used to command. His bold, generous heart was quickly roused to laughter, to anger...and to white-hot desire for the head strong, sable-maned beauty. Quinn's caresses kindled blazing starlight in Melissa's pounding blood...and soon there was no turning back. But above their happiness loomed a bitter man's vengeance that could destroy all that Quinn most cherished. Now Melissa and Quinn would risk their very lives for the glorious heights of ecstasy....About the AuthorThe daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is the author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels. Now living in Spokane, Washington, the “First Lady of the West” hit a career high when all three of her 2011 Creed Cowboy books debuted at #1 on the New York Times list. In 2007, the Romance Writers of America presented her their Lifetime Achievement Award. She personally funds her Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women. Visit her at www.lindalaelmiller.com. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Chapter OnePort Hastings, Washington March 7, 1891She appeared out of a driving rain, a spirit of the storm, clutching the skirts of her billowing white wedding dress in her hands and running for all she was worth. A circlet of bedraggled flowers graced her dark hair, which hung in sodden ropes to her waist. Her gown was most definitely ruined, and her dainty slippers were muddy and wet. Quinn Rafferty stood fascinated on the platform of his private railroad car, heedless of the rain and the keening of the train whistle that signaled imminent departure. The nymph had gained the tracks now and was charging toward him.Quite a lot of her trim but womanly bosom was visible from Quinn's vantage point, and he was charmed. When the train lurched into motion and began to clatter and clank he saw the bride set her beautiful jaw and burst into even greater speed."Damn you, h-help me!" she gasped, holding up one hand.Quinn was stunned to realize that she'd actually caught up to the train. Like a man moving in a dream he reached down, gained a hold on her, and hauled her aboard.Her small, nubile body slammed against Quinn's, and although the impact was slight, for a moment he was as breathless as though he'd been buried alive in a high-country snowslide.The sprite was spitting mad and panting from her flight and her fury. Her azure eyes snapped. Quinn recovered himself enough to grin and tip the brim of his hat with insolent good manners. He allowed his gaze to slide down over her, and again he had that sensation of being crushed beneath some invisible, elemental substance."This is so sudden," he quipped, to hide his distress at being so violently affected by this little snippet of a girl in a muddy wedding dress and a crown of drooping petunias.She was looking back on the town of Port Hastings now, a certain dismay in her round eyes. A flock of disgruntled wedding guests had gathered at the tracks, peering after her through the drizzle, shouting and waving their arms."Forgive me," she whispered. And then she lifted delicate, gloved fingers to her lips and blew a kiss to the throng.Three men towered in the forefront of the crowd. The one wearing a clerical collar lifted his hand in farewell and smiled sadly, but the other two looked as though they could uproot railroad spikes with their teeth and chew them like peppermint sticks.Quinn wondered which one was the spurned groom. While he'd never been afraid of any man -- save his own father -- he was glad he didn't have to give an accounting of this episode to either of those two. And that very relief nettled his pride."Shall we?" he asked with biting politeness, extending an arm.The lady took the offered arm, full of disdainful dignity, and allowed Quinn to escort her into the car.She looked around her, clearly unimpressed with the luxury Quinn had worked all his life to acquire, and plopped her sodden bustle down on a velvet-upholstered bench. She was peeling off her spoiled slippers while Quinn went to the liquor cabinet and poured healthy doses of brandy for himself and the runaway bride."What's your name?" he demanded, fairly shoving a crystal snifter into her hand.She accepted it without the maidenly reluctance Quinn had anticipated, her incredible azure eyes fixed for the fraction of a moment on something above and beyond his right shoulder. "Pullman," she said, after that brief and patently disturbing hesitation. "Melissa Pullman."He took a long draught of his own brandy before sitting down in a nearby chair and ran one hand through his light brown hair. "Well?" he prompted when, after several long sips from her glass, Miss Pullman had not volunteered her story."Well, what?" she countered testily.Quinn sighed, turning his snifter between his palms. "I'd like an explanation," he responded tautly. "I think you owe me that."She sighed, and her straight little shoulders stooped just a bit as she pondered the amber depths of her brandy. "I suppose I do," she conceded, and Quinn found himself feeling sorry for her.The sentiment was of short duration."I'm not sure I'm going to tell you anything, though," she added. She eyed him in an appraising fashion. "You are a man, after all.""Thank you very much.""Not at all," came the immediate retort. "It wasn't a compliment. And your name, sir?""Rafferty," her host allowed, annoyed. "Quinn Rafferty." Even though he was indisputably the best poker player in four counties, Quinn found that he couldn't keep a straight face. What he was feeling was more than mere idle curiosity; it was a driving, vital need to know. "Which one of those three giants was supposed to be your husband?"A smile curved her lips, and Quinn was struck with a piercing awareness of her loveliness. God in heaven, even in that dirty, water-spotted wedding dress, with her hair dripping and her face wet with rain and, Quinn suspected, tears, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "None. They were my brothers."Quinn searched his memory for a trio of Pullman brothers based in Port Hastings and came up dry. "And the groom?""I doubt that Ajax would stoop to running after me." She made the admission with a small sigh. "He's practically royalty, you know. His family goes back to the time of William the Conqueror."Quinn shrugged, irritated by that kind of pretension. "We all go back to Adam and Eve, don't we?"To his surprise, she smiled. "You're right, Mr. Rafferty. You're absolutely right." She shoved the snifter at him. "Might I have more brandy, please?"Quinn was about to refuse -- it was powerful stuff, that brew -- when he knew a certain stab of sympathy. The poor little sprite had run out of a church, through a pounding rainstorm, and been wrenched aboard a railroad car by a complete stranger. Despite the cocky act she was putting on, Quinn was convinced that Melissa Pullman was nervous and afraid.He rose and refilled her snifter, and when he handed it back she took a great gulp. After a few more such swallows she seemed more receptive to sensible conversation."Why did you leave Ajax at the altar?" Quinn asked kindly.Melissa smoothed her skirts, ignoring their hopeless condition, and avoided Quinn's eyes. She bit down hard on her lower lip for a moment, then tossed back the last of her brandy. "I didn't love him," she stated shakily, and in a hoarse voice, after a very long time.Quinn had his doubts as to her sincerity. "Wouldn't it have been simpler to say so?" he prompted in a gentle tone."I couldn't have faced him," she said."Then why didn't you just tell your brothers how you felt? Surely they would have understood."Melissa hiccuped and set her snifter aside on a table that, like all the other furniture in the car, was bolted to the floor.She shook her head. "As far as they're concerned, I'm a spinster," she confided. "I'm sure they thought Ajax was my last chance."Moments before Quinn had been glad not to have to deal with the Pullman brothers. Now he longed to confront them. "Bull-balderdash!" he muttered. "How could you be an old maid? You're on the sunny side of twenty or I'm a donkey's first cousin!"She gave a pealing, slightly drunken giggle and gingerly removed her halo of flowers. "I'm twenty-two, and your family heritage would explain your stubbornness, wouldn't it?"Quinn knew that he s... Views: 69
Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong takes on a gang of neo-Nazis in Strong Cold Dead, an action-packed novel of the critically acclaimed Caitlin Strong series by Jon Land 1944: Texas Ranger Jim Strong investigates a triple murder inside a Nazi POW camp in Texas. The Present: His daughter, fifth generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong, finds herself pursuing the killer her father never caught in the most personal case of her career—a conspiracy stretching from that Nazi POW camp to a modern-day neo-Nazi gang. A sinister movement has emerged from the shadows of history, determined to undermine the American way of life. Its leader, Armand Fisker, has an army at his disposal, a deadly bio-weapon, and a reputation for being unbeatable. But he's never taken on the likes of Caitlin Strong and her outlaw lover, Cort Wesley Masters. To prevent an unspeakable cataclysm, Caitlin and Cort Wesley must win a war the world thought... Views: 69
Colonel, Lord Julian St. Simon prides himself in his ability to exercise fierce control, whether it be on the battlefield or in the drawing room, contributed by his impeccable aristocratic breeding. But his powerful response to the beautiful bandit, La Violette, shakes his self-exacting propriety to the very core. Born of an English lady and a notorious Spanish brigand, Tamasyn embodies the strength and fiery passion of a woman sure of what she wants, and confident in her ability to get it. In exchange for vital information to the English military, Tamasyn names her brazen price; Julian St. Simon. If she is to be successful in her quest to find her mother's prominent Cornish family she will need his endorsement, as well as his instruction. Julian is outraged by the mandate but loyalty to his country prevents him from refusing. In spite of his determination to resist, he finds himself deeply affected by the stunning temptress. Unknown to him, however, Tamasyn is in pursuit of revenge upon the hated relatives that abandoned her mother and she will allow no one, including the unsuspecting colonel, to jeopardize her mission. Ultimately, love steps in to catch them both unaware and change their hearts forever. Readers will be taken in immediately by this exciting and sensual romance. Jane Feather showcases her talent to quicken your pulse with another powerful love story. Violet is a provocative portrait of seduction, treachery, powerful family intrigues and a delightful battle of wills sure to capture your imagination to the very end. Ms. Feather's deft storytelling satisfies her readers with extraordinary characters, a spellbinding story line spiced with just the right amount of fiery passion to leave them craving more.Lori Wright -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times Views: 69
With her teenaged daughter's birthday on the horizon and the town's autumn festival in full swing, Emerald has her hands full with party preparations and teashop specials. But a request from her friend Jimbo has her using her abilities to look into the disappearance of his friend. In the woods surrounding the Klickavail Valley enclave, Emerald senses a strange energy manifesting itself-before literally stumbling across the body of Jimbo's friend. While the police are willing to blame the death on a cougar attack, Emerald knows there's something else wandering the forest-something that resembles the Klakatat monster of legend, but may actually be a monster of a more human kind. Views: 69
THE PET SHOW MYSTERY Trixie lunged for the door inside the camper. "It’s locked!” she exclaimed. "The windows don’t open, either!” Honey cried. Suddenly the girls began to be aware of the cold. The icy air quickly penetrated their clothes. "That man’s left us out here to freeze to death,” Norma said. "Someone will find us,” said Trixie. But how? she thought frantically. And when?... Cover by Jody Lee ISBN 0-307-2l560-1 Views: 69
