The finest exponents of horror fiction writing today, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman, Graham Joyce, Paul McCauley, Stephen Gallagher, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Basil Cooper, Glen Hirshberg, Jay Russell, feature in the world's premier annual horror anthology series, another bumper showcase devoted exclusively to excellence in macabre fiction. To accompany the very best in short stories and novellas is the year's most comprehensive horror overview and contacts listing as well as a fascinating necrology. Views: 40
In these stories, Dianne Nelson illuminates that vast territory of pleasure and pain created within modern families. Whether it is a father trying to kidnap his young son from his estranged ex-wife or a woman celebrating her ability to produce babies without any help from men, Nelson's characters reveal the dark, haunting and sometimes comic dilemmas of kinship.In the title story, seventeen-year-old April is an involuntary witness to the seemingly endless parade of lovers who frequent her mother's bed. "I don't know why my mother finds no lasting peace" she muses. Opening a book and trying to find her peace in "facts, dates, the pure honesty of numbers," April is overwhelmed finally by the sounds of lovemaking from the adjoining room. "The walls of this house aren't thick enough to keep that kind of sadness contained." In "The Uses of Memory," Netta and Carlene are engaged in a different sort of mother-daughter drama. The issue at hand is the fate of Franklin, their husband and father, who lies in bed in a near comatose state, oblivious to the nurturings or pleadings of either woman.The past, with its countless repercussion on the present, tugs relentlessly at many of the characters. In "Chocolate," the lingering pain of an impoverished childhood plagues Janice; she recalls, in particular, the birthday and Christmas celebrations, the meager gifts wrapped in the same brown twine that was used to hold the door shut. Hillary, the narrator of "Dixon," is spurred into action by the memory of her dead brother. When a local barfly with "silt for brains" persists in telling outlandish lies about Dixon, Hillary takes up karate training with an eye to defending her brother's name the truth of what she knew him to be. Dee, in "Paperweight," can pinpoint the exact moment at which she came to think of the body as an earthbound trap, "a hopeless house with the doors all locked"; she traces it back to a grade-school theatrical performance and a classmate's luckless efforts to open the cumbersome stage curtains. "If it weren't for my body," she laments, "I could fly, I could go anywhere, I could be anything."Ranging in setting from a restaurant in St. Louis to the rain-soaked streets of San Francisco, from a boisterous family reunion beneath the broad Kansas sky to a ranch in Utah where a young father dreams of becoming a movie star, these fifteen stories show men and women pondering--and often struggling against--the mysteries of their own circumstances, especially the bonds of flesh and blood. Views: 40
Based on the "many worlds" theory of quantum physics-which posits the existence of parallel universes-The Man Who Turned Into Himself is a suspenseful, intellectually intriguing debut.In the middle of an important meeting, businessman Rick Hamilton experiences a terrible premonition: His wife is about to die. Racing to save her, he finds her dying in the road, her car crushed by a truck. The light dwindles from her eyes...and then she is alive again, begging for help, and Rick Hamilton no longer is himself, but another man with another life, a different history.David Ambrose has written a twisting psychological thriller that addresses our deepest questions about reality, death, identity, and the mind. Views: 40
To save his boss's wife, a clever lawyer must unmask a silent serial killer Another woman has died, just like all the others who have been targeted by the so-called pillow killer—her life snuffed out without a sound. He smothers each of them carefully, and they seem to go without struggle, as though the killer were their friend. As each new body is discovered, the women of New York come closer and closer to outright panic. Finally, one of them is about to fight back. Philip Revere is a few blocks away from his office, the stately brownstone of brilliant attorney Charles Camelot, when he sees his boss's wife sobbing outside Central Park. A sex therapist, Nora is convinced that one of her clients is the pillow killer, and she has begun to fear for her life. With Revere's help, she will do whatever it takes to put the culprit behind bars. Views: 40
King Henry I wants Royce to wed Julianna to keep her vast dowry in loyal hands. Lord and Lady privately agree to wed, then once the marriage is consummated, they plan to live separate lives. However, Royce can’t resist a mystery, and Julianna presents several tantalizing questions. She’s almost a virgin, is terrified of her late husband’s nephew, Kenric, and wants to be rid of her maid, Marie. Views: 40
When wealthy, widowed art patron Virginia Neville officially announces her engagement to Jake O'Neill -- her handsome, charming, and much younger fiancé -- at a gala gallery opening, not all the gathered friends and stepfamily are pleased. And before the last champagne bubble pops, murder disrupts the grand celebration. Bookstore owner Annie Darling has a vested interest in the investigation, and she's determined to untangle an unholy marriage of jealousy, blackmail, and malicious mischief, even if it means having to cross swords with hubby Max and cross paths with a cruelly clever stalker. Views: 39
What would you do if you met a businessman in a London coffee shop who made you a ridiculous offer of €500,000...merely for you to participate in a series of interviews over a few months? Would you assume the offer to be that of a deranged person, a fraudster or a joker? And, irrespective of that, for €100,000 in advance and non-returnable, would you attend an initial meeting? Well.....would you? Views: 39
Book DescriptionOpening night at Mary’s Place draws the refugees from the now-defunct Callahan’s Bar; and bartender Jake Stonebender quickly learns that Mary’s Place attracts as many bizarre events and persons – including a drunken leprechaun – as its beloved predecessor. The story, says Booklist, “hangs together on the strength of Jake's appealing voice and the bar scene, which is hip and witty.”Written by Hugo and Nebula-Award winning author Spider Robinson.From Library JournalWhen a creature that resembles a drunken leprechaun drops in unexpectedly at Mary's Place, bartender Jake Stonebender gets his first inkling that his establishment might just live up to his expectations as a special bar where unusual things happen. Like Robinson's other Callahan stories, this tale unfolds at a leisurely pace that contrasts delightfully with the strangeness of the events chronicled. A good choice for sf collections and for series fans.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistDoes this popular series (Lady Slings the Booze ) start to run thin? Yes, if you're expecting any sort of plot line; no, if you delight in its playfulness and intellect. Jake Stonebender is back--earnest, wisecracking, and elliptical--to tell us of the opening of a new bar called Mary's (rather than Callahan's) Place and to call forth the memories the series has created. A stranger named Jonathan materializes and announces that he is responsible for introducing AIDS to the human race. An intriguing debate about the origin of AIDS and moral responsibility in general follows but then drifts away--as bar conversations tend to do; other characters--such as "the Duck," "Fast Eddie" the musician, and those weird newlyweds Isham and Tanya--take stage. The story is a rambler, in other words, but more or less hangs together on the strength of Jake's appealing voice and the bar scene, which is hip and witty. It's coffeehouse science fiction, one might say. An acquired taste, but a good number of readers have acquired it, and Robinson has won many awards. John Mort Views: 39
After an exhausting journey through an alternate dimension, Payton Wren and Logan McCullough thought they had finally reached home, only to discover three glowing moons shining down on them from the sky. Though this new world is almost identical to their own, the pair make the decision to flee and re-enter the labyrinth of tunnels. Before they make their escape, Logan’s mother discovers them. Views: 39
Fadi never imagined he'd start middle school in Fremont, California, thousands of miles from home in Kabul--and half a world away from his missing six-year-old sister, Mariam. Adjusting to life in the United States isn't easy for Fadi's family, and as the events of September 11 unfold, the prospects of locating Mariam in war-torn Afghanistan seem slim. When a photography competition with a grand prize of a trip to India is announced, Fadi sees his chance to return to Afghanistan and find his sister. But can one photo really bring Mariam home? Based in part on Ms. Senzai's husband's own experience fleeing Soviet-controlled Afghanistan in 1979, Shooting Kabul is a powerful story of hope, love, and perseverance. Views: 39
