From a legendary writer both beloved and banished by Iraq -- a fine work of Arabic literature in the vein of Naguib Mahfouz and Elias Khoury, and a magical and moving comic novel about the birth of modern Iraq.Kirkuk, Iraq, the 1950s. The day Hameed Nylon loses his job, and gains an unfortunate nickname, is the day that his life begins: dismissed as a chauffeur when rumors surface that he propositioned his British boss's posh-tart wife, Hameed finds his true calling as a revolutionary in an Iraq that is destined for a sea change. Also bent on bucking the system is Hameed's brother-in-law, the money-scheming butcher Khidir Musa, who runs off suddenly to Russia to find two brothers who have been missing since World War I. And the key to their fate is held by a seven-year-old boy, Burhan Abdallah, who stumbles upon an old chest in his attic that allows him to speak with three white-robed old men, beings who inform him that they are, in fact,... Views: 52
The charming genealogical gumshoes in the cozy southern Family History Mystery series give new meaning to the old saying "keep the home fires burning" when their investigation into a long-ago house fire leads to a modern-day murder.It's not just politics as usual when genealogists Sophreena McClure and Esme Sabatier are hired to create scrapbook tributes for a former North Carolina senator's intricate family heritage and illustrious career. Sifting through the ashes of his past, they discover his baby brother perished in a suspicious fire that burned down his childhood home. Still saddened by his late parents' steadfast conviction—against all evidence to the contrary—that the fire was cover for a kidnapping, the senator wants this rumor put to rest once and for all. So with only snapshots of the evidence, Soph and Esme are determined to smother all speculation about the decades-old tragedy. The party lines are drawn when a shocking present-day murder turns up new... Views: 52
The temperature in the room dropped, like the bitter cold before a storm, and the smell of magic gathered like a mist. Then the windows rattled, the floor shook and the paper stars and firework cases and all the trumpery tackle of Casimir's trade suddenly lifted off the shelves and whirled around him in a blinding, stinging storm...Simeon Runciman is a firework maker who used to be a dark magician; a difficult man with a dangerous past. His son, Casimir, has always known part of the truth about him. But when Simeon's enemy, the sinister magician, Circastes, reappears in their lives intent on revenge, Casimir is caught in a web of murder, deceit and magic. Forced to fight for his own survival, Casimir must also confront the harsh truth of who his father is and what he has done, as well as the real nature of the magic that he wields. Views: 52
National best-selling author C.J. Cherryh continues her highly acclaimed series with a new generation of alien encounters. A game of interstellar politics in which Hilfy Chanur and her vessel Legacy are commissioned to transport a small, mysterious religious object. The price is extremely generous, perhaps too generous.
Praise for the Chanur series:
A tour de force…quintessential SF. (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
One of the best science fiction tales ever. (Minneapolis Star and Tribune) Views: 52
A mysterious young woman appears in a cynical age. Why is she here ... and will she survive long enough to achieve her purpose?Judgment Day was not as advertised. Instead of fire and wrath, our histories suddenly began to appear as tattoos on our skin. No one could hide their past deeds anymore, unless they visited an illegal tattoo artist, who could replace their sins with unmarked skin.Years later, a young woman appears, entirely unmarked. No one knows what her appearance means, but a small band of people find themselves drawn to her, ready to set off on a quest whose purpose is as unknown as the young woman's past. Views: 52
A fast-paced, exquisitely suspenseful tale of a young woman being stalked by an unknown killer. For twelve years, April Faraday's memory had been shrouded in darkness, blocking out the memory of her mother's murder. But now the time had come to confront the past. And this time it didn't matter if April remembered, for soon she would be silenced forever. Views: 52
Set in a run-down residential hotel in Bournemouth, Separate Tables consists of two linked one-act plays. In the first a lonely divorcee tracks down her former husband in order to resume a kind of half-life with him. In the other a repressed young spinster offers brave moral support to a fake major accused of importuning women in a local cinema. In an alternative version, only recently discovered among Rattigan's papers, the major's offence was revealed to be homosexual; these 'alternative' scenes are published here for the first time. This edition includes an authoritative introduction, biographical sketch and chronology. 'Few dramatists of this century have written with more understanding of the human heart than Terence Rattigan' - Michael Billington Views: 52
In the unforgiving vortex of the American heartland, when you have to choose, you always choose life For Iona Moon, the open fields of the Kila Flats and the town of White Falls are centuries apart rather than the distance of a few miles. Mocked and feared by her classmates, Iona is only desirable to beautiful, brilliant Jay Tyler when they're in the backseat of Willy Hamilton's Chevy. Passion offers relief from the abuse of her older brothers and the sorrow of her mother's slow surrender to cancer. But transient pleasures do not lead to grace—and Iona discovers she must escape everything she knows before she can learn to love the ones who have harmed her. Sensual, haunting, and tender, Iona Moon is a cry for independence, a demand for respect, and a realization that all worlds are cruel in their own ways. Views: 51
"Toronto Collection Volume Three" is books 10 to 13 in Heather Wardell's "Toronto Series" at a terrific price!You get:"Good to Myself": One obstacle keeps columnist Lydia Grange from the promotion she craves: beating her two coworkers in a "be 'good to yourself' for four weeks" competition. Piece of (cheese)cake. Lydia, queen of instant gratification, will indulge herself even more, ensure her readers do too, and it'll be the easiest month of her life. Unless... could there be more to self-care than sex and shopping and sugar?"Pink is a Four-Letter Word": Nothing ever comes easily for Larissa, a makeup artist who both loves and fears pink and all things feminine. After a particularly painful string of disasters, she takes a job teaching English in Kuwait in the hopes that she will be a new and better person there. But can she really leave her psychological baggage behind in Toronto, or is it true that 'wherever you go, there you are'?"Everybody's Got a Story": Both personally and... Views: 51
Lee Brilleaux, the uniquely charismatic star of proto-punk R&B reprobates Dr Feelgood, was one of rock'n'roll's greatest frontmen. But he was also one of its greatest gentlemen - a class act with heart, fire, wanderlust and a wild streak. Exploding out of Canvey Island in the early 1970s - an age of glam rock, post-hippy folk and pop androgyny - the Feelgoods, with Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson at the helm, charged into London, grabbed the pub rock scene by the throat and sparked a revolutionary new era, proving that you didn't have to be middle class, wearing the 'right clothes' or living in the 'right place' to succeed. Lee Brilleaux: Rock'n'Roll Gentleman, while a totally different work, is a companion of sorts to the hugely popular Wilko Johnson book: Looking Back At Me (also co-authored by Howe). It is the first comprehensive appreciation of Lee Brilleaux and, with its numerous exclusive interviews and previously unseen images, is a book no Dr Feelgood fan would wish to... Views: 51
