Thirteen year old Christopher Munroe has lived his entire life in a nursing home owned and run by his parents in the mining town of Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.Christopher is not like other kids. By the time he was five he had lost his hearing to a degenerative condition and spends his days wandering the run-down home alone with only the dying and the ghosts of past residents to keep him company. When Christopher's foot is severed in an accident, the blow to his parents leaves an atmosphere of loss and blame in the already unhappy house.Cut off from other children, Christopher becomes obsessed with redemption for the residents at his mother's nursing home and is convinced that uncovering their pasts will somehow free him from his own guilt.When a mysterious young man arrives from Sydney to research the lives of aging migrants, he uncovers more about the people living there than he had ever imagined. More shocking than anything is the truth about the... Views: 22
Carole isn't entirely human, but doesn't quite believe it. After all, it's not that unusual to talk with pigs or have rubbery bones. If only she could convince her foster-father to leave the horrible Murtz family farm and find work elsewhere, Carole is certain their lives would improve. Catapulted into a peculiar and dangerous quest, she fights werewolves, dines with faeries, battles dragons, and talks to pigs. Never in her wildest dreams would she have suspected that her freakish abilities are all that stands between the eventual collapse of the universe and finding her way home. Views: 22
Prowling among these Shades of the Past one finds riffraff and gentlemen , pirates and warriors, saints and sinners, smugglers and legiti - mate businessmen: all those, in fact, who made up the foreign communities of Japan in the early days. Harold S. Williams tells about them with the same inimitable humor , irony, drama and whimsy that made his earlier Tales of the Foreign Selllements such a popular success. with due regard for historical accuracy he recreates those fantastic days and the furor and fun with which they were filled. Here you can enjoy the privileged social status of belonging to the Victorian Volunteer Steam Fire Engine Company of Yokohama; you can join those Japanese pirates who were the first to meet Englishmen ; arbitrate japan's first labor dispute, involving foreigners, of course; witness the massacre of forty thousand Japanese Christians; revel in Nagasaki when it was the Paris of the Far East ; travel over the Tokaido when it... Views: 22
Heidi wishes her perfect day would never end in the twenty-first Heidi Heckelbeck adventure!When Heidi wakes up to a bird singing at her window, she has a feeling that this Saturday might be the best day ever. Then, after her favorite breakfast, a shopping trip with friends, and an incredible movie night sleepover, Heidi knows it's better than the best day. It's the perfect day! In fact, it's so good that Heidi sneaks in a little magic to make every day just as awesome. But when she wakes up to relive the same perfect day over and over again...will her best day ever turn into a never-ending disaster? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Heidi Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for beginning readers. Views: 21
In the wake of a young woman's savage murder, Iranian detective Darius Bakhtiar struggles with the local unwritten code of justice under the disapproving gaze of the Imam while trying to discover the truth. Reprint. NYT. K. From Publishers WeeklyIn transposing to an Iranian setting the conventions of the thriller--the hard-drinking detective, the threatened heroine, the frantic escape from a brutal adversary--Koenig invests his story with unusual resonance. Here the familiar figure of the honest cop plays his role in the unfamiliar milieu of Teheran's fundamentalist Islamic society, as he becomes a threat to the government itself. Conducting a routine murder investigation to solve the death of a sexually mutilated young woman, chief homicide detective Darius Bakhtiar discovers the existence of a state-sponsored terrorist group, the Brides of Blood. This secret sorority of virgins, fanatical in their religious devotion, are trained to martyr themselves in terrorist aggression. After Bakhtiar uncovers evidence of sanctioned efforts to arm Iran with biological weapons, he and Maryam Lejavardi, the beautiful former Bride he has begun to protect and love, are tortured in Iran's feared Evin prison. The unimaginable horrors of Iran's torture factory might have overwhelmed a lesser novelist, but Koenig artfully blends assiduous research and superbly maintained suspense as he builds to the thrilling, unrelenting--and very cinematic--final pages. This is a sophisticated evocation of another society and culture; an exotic background made palpably sinister through proven thriller techniques. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalDarius Bakhtiar, American-educated chief of homicide in Teheran, battles an unrelievedly savage array of enemies as he investigates the murder of a young woman and is then drawn into the hunt for a deadly poison. He must also cope with the loss of his Iranian wife, who has rejected him in order to devote herself fanatically to her religion. Koenig presents a bleak portrait of today's Iran, where "brides of blood," or female vigilantes, uphold impossible moral standards and where women are routinely mutilated and killed, often by other women. His protagonist undergoes numerous trials and tortures, is banished from the job he has performed well, and finds himself running for his life. As a suspense novel, the book suffers from a surfeit of political and religious detail. As a description of a modern Middle Eastern city, it turns the stomach. It's difficult to define the appropriate readership for this book by the author of Smuggler's Notch (Ballantine, 1991) and Floater (1989).- Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Company, Ridgecrest, Cal.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 21
From the Edgar Award-winning author of Silent Joe, a new hard-hitting thriller of murder, vengeance, and secret passions that will keep readers spellbound. Homicide cop Tom McMichael is on the rotation when an 84-year-old city patriarch named Pete Braga is found bludgeoned to death. Not good news, especially since the Irish McMichaels and the Portuguese Bragas share a violent family history dating back three generations. Years ago Braga shot McMichael's grandfather in a dispute over a paycheck; soon thereafter Braga 's son was severely beaten behind a waterfront bar – legend has it that it was an act of revenge by McMichael's father. McMichael must put aside the old family blood feud, and find the truth about Pete Braga's death. Braga 's beautiful nurse is a suspect – she says she stepped out for some firewood, but key evidence suggests otherwise. The investigation soon expands to include Braga 's business, his family, the Catholic diocese, a multi-million dollar Indian casino, a prostitute, a cop, and, of course, the McMichael family. Cold Pursuit is the novel that T. Jefferson Parker fans have been waiting for. Views: 21
"Full of sex, magic, and turmoil, this first installment in the series completely blew me away. The way Madhuri weaves Dutch and Juma's story is poetic and utterly beautiful. I can't remember the last time a book made to stop and think, wow." — #1 New York Times bestselling author Meredith Wild on DutchI have three simple rules for any woman who crosses my path: No talking. No kissing. No touching.I'm incapable of the most common courtesy. I have no desire to try. My soul is wretched and perverse, even the blackest heart would cast a glance my way and know his lot is better.I've spent years holed up in the deepest, darkest parts of the city, fighting to keep Death and her Poochas from crossing the dead back to the living. My skill with a blade is bested only by my menace, my despair, my anguish - the strongest weapons I yield.Then I meet Juma Landry and it all goes to hell. She is beauty and... Views: 21
An inspirational journey from tragedy to triumphIn 2003, nineteen-year-old Private J.R. Martinez was on a routine patrol when the Humvee he was driving hit an antitank mine in Iraq, resulting in severe injuries and burns on his face and more than one-third of his body. Out of that tragedy came an improbable journey of inspiration, motivation, and dreams come true. In Full of Heart, Martinez shares his story in intimate detail, from his upbringing in the American South and his time in the Army to his recovery and the indomitable spirit that has made him an inspiration to countless fans.J.R. Martinez always had a strong spirit. Raised in Bossier City, Louisiana, and then Hope, Arkansas, by a single mother from El Salvador, he was well known at school for his good looks and his smart mouth. At seventeen, showing an early determination and drive that would become one of his trademark qualities, J.R. convinced his mom to move to Dalton,... Views: 21
...Until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a reading of the woman's will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she's about to inherit a siazable estate—if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity's English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery—and a ghost story—in an improbably cozy setting, as Aunt Dimity's indominable spirit leads Lori on an otherworldly quest to discover how, in this life, true love can conquer all. Views: 21
The next lush, romantic novel in the Regency romance series, The Rakes of St. James, from New York Times bestselling author Amelia Grey!There may be times when a gentleman is desperate to gain a lady's attention, but a gentleman would never resort to desperate measures to obtain it.—A Proper Gentleman's Guide to Wooing the Perfect LadySloane Knox, the Duke of Hawksthorn is guardian for his sweet, younger sister. Due to his misguided past as one of the infamous Rakes of St James, Hawk is hoping to avoid the Season by securing a match for her before it begins. He has the perfect gentleman in mind, but for one infuriating—and unexpectedly intoxicating—obstacle: the intended groom's own sister, Miss Loretta Quick. Having narrowly avoided her own arranged marriage to an unacceptable nobleman, Loretta is determined that her dear brother—a gentle, good-natured soul—should marry for love.... Views: 21
