Amazon.com ReviewThis time around Matthew Hope finds himself in southern Florida and in a mess. A woman he's representing is suing a toy manufacturer she says stole her idea. The problem is, the president of the toy company was murdered, and guess who's the prime suspect? The other problem--or problems--is that Hope's primary private investigator winds up on a boat kidnapped by drug runners leaving Hope, who is still smarting from gunshot wounds he collected in other adventures, to contact by himself the subjects for the investigation, all of whom reside on boats. Got that? He does get some help, in the form of an old-school PI named Guthrie Lamb, who throws in his techniques to try to crack this rather nutty case. From Publishers WeeklyHero/narrator Matthew Hope, recovered from gunshots and a coma (There Was a Little Girl, 1994) and, true to his earlier resolve, practicing only civil law in (fictional) Calusa, Fla., represents the plaintiff in a suit involving the eponymous teddy bear, named after a mis-heard line in a hymn ("Gladly the cross I'd bear"). Young toy designer Lainie Commins is suing her ex-boss, toy manufacturer Brett Toland, for copyright and patent infringement, contending that his cross-eyed bear is a direct steal from hers. When Brett is found shot to death on his yacht, Lainie is arrested and charged with murder. She persuades Hope to represent her even as, we later learn, she commits the first legal sin, lying to her lawyer. From mansions to shacks and yacht club to sleazy venues for lingerie "models," McBain gives us a tour of Gulf Coast Florida that's seldom grand. Unable to reach his usual investigators (the main subplot has PI Warren Chambers urging his colleague Toots Kiley to kick her crack cocaine habit cold turkey), Hope hires 60-something Guthrie Lamb, an old-style PI with major male chauvinist traits. McBain, as he has for more than 40 years, keeps his readers riveted through this entire, satisfying tale. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 42
Mia, the saintKolton, the sinnerThe Tour is the conclusion to The Stage: a Phoenix Rising NovelAfter the finale of The Stage, Mia comes to terms with where she’s placed in the competition. But that same night, Kolton and Mia will have to deal with bigger issues—their fear of fire and loss. Not everyone will survive, and the challenges that their relationship cause won’t end when the show is over.Kolton has a secret about the choices made in a moment of survival. Is he willing to expose his secrets and vulnerabilities to earn Mia’s trust? Even though they can’t stay hidden forever when a celebrity’s life is fodder for the masses, he knows it could tear them apart.In the midst of chaos and loss, Mia has to balance her love for Kolton with career. Will she sign with him, letting him be her boss with control over her future? Or will she go out on her own with a subpar record contract that makes her equal to Kolton in her own right?With so many questions, going on tour could either make the answers clear or pull the weaknesses of their relationship to the surface. Will the wounds heal or will they tear until nothing can repair them?When love burns so bright, is it sustainable? Views: 42
SUMMARY:
Following a devastating civil war that obliterated the Wolf Clan, Vlad of the Wards vows revenge and plots to resurrect the Wolves. Allying himself with Katrina Steine's Lyran Alliance may just give him the means to annihilate the Jade Falcons and rule the Inner Sphere once and for all! Views: 42
Romance/Dark Fantasy. 22894 words long. First published in 2007, 2007 Views: 42
"Beyond Peace is Mr. Nixon's best book." —The New York TimesBeyond Peace is a manifesto for a new America, written with visionary insight and a realistic idealism by the 37th President of the United States—and only completed weeks before his death. In this last testament, Nixon offers a new agenda for the United States and defines its role in the complex post-Cold War era.Nixon charts the course America should take in the future to ensure that the opportunities of this new era beyond peace are not lost. America's issues, he argues, extend from a crisis of spirit which manifests itself in a corrosive entitlement mentality that he describes as "one of the greatest threats to our fiscal health, our moral fiber, and our ability to renew our nation."With his unrivaled experience in foreign affairs gained over many years as a statesman in the international arena, he gives answers to complex foreign issues facing the United States. And his intimate portraits and... Views: 42
BooBoo is a gosling. A small, blue gosling who loves to eat. There is nothing that BooBoo won't try. Or is there? Views: 42
Jack Lund figures a good day is when his dad's too drunk to beat up his mom. For Jack, Bogg's End is the end. The end of the turbulent, see-saw years of watching his father go on the wagon and fall right back off gain. Once it took two years, but the inevitable inevitably happened. Now it's just Jack and his mom starting over in the strange old house his grandfather left them. But the ride's not over yet. Jack's father returns, full of apologies and promises, and for a little while, things are looking up. Then in one terrifying, sickening moment, everything comes crashing back down again. So Jack runs. He runs through a strange hidden door that takes him back in time to before his parents were born. Before he was born. Maybe with a second chance he can stop the inevitable. At least he's got to try. What Jack doesn't understand, though, is that he can't change his future until he faces his past. Views: 42
Former astronaut Paul Stavenger is driven by his vision of colonizing space. His dream becomes a reality with the creation of a viable, flourishing, nearly self-sufficient community at Moonbase. But Paul has made an implacable enemy; one who will carry his vendetta to the frontiers of space. Views: 42
In an isolated trailer home in the far north of Japan, an old criminal scrutinizes his tattooed skin while he waits for the past to catch up with him. A year later, the life of a young policeman breaks down as he investigates a tattooed corpse and the history of death and guilt embedded in its skin.From the Japanese underworld to midnight in the London Zoo aquarium, Skin charts the lives of people in a world made stark and fantastical. The grief of a young computer programmer who cannot erase the ghostly memories of his twins. The vicious logic of the games played by children while their parents sip drinks under parasols. And London Zoo, where the disappearance of dead animals is blamed on the 'Featherman', an eerie bodysnatcher who passes through London's wastelands and derelict spaces, leaving no trace for the feathers of green humming-birds. Views: 42
When a savage earthquake rocks Los Angeles, buildings crumble and highways fall apart. Matthew Calvert, a young family man on the job interview of his life, finds himself at ground zero of the destruction—his building collapses beneath him and he wakes to find himself buried under a mountain of rubble, badly injured, trapped in the dark. As his injuries worsen with each passing hour, he clings to memories to fight off the fear of impending death, the hope for salvation. Soon, however, the memories turn dark and his terror escalates. There are things with him in the dark. Trying desperately to hold onto his sanity, Matthew clings to the barrier between this life and the next, his mind flipping between reality and delusion, before confronting a final horrifying truth: Sometimes the hallucinations are real. Views: 42
“John Harvey, British poet and novelist, brings depth of character study and beautiful imagery to the police procedural.”—The Washington PostWhy would a fifteen-year-old boy commit suicide? Despite the fact that he’s a no-good kid on trial for bludgeoning an elderly couple to death. But when the senior investigating officer is then found brutally murdered, DI Charlie Resnick is put on the case, which leads to sinister and startling revelations. It also brings Resnick into contact with Hannah Campbell, with whom he finds himself falling unexpectedly and awkwardly in love.Amazon.com ReviewIn a deeply-textured novel reminiscent of Lynda LaPlante's popular Prime Suspect, John Harvey probes the seamy underside of urban England. A Nottinghamshire police force must move quickly to understand the links between seemingly- unrelated deaths; in the background, the life of a working-class family is changed irrevocably. From Publishers WeeklyHarvey (Cold Light; Rough Treatment) is a hard-bitten British poet of urban angst. His latest gritty crime novel, set in a provincial English city that is clearly Nottingham, has a particularly tough theme: gay male rape. Young ne'er-do-well Nicky Snape, 15, arrested after bludgeoning an elderly couple during a robbery, mysteriously hangs himself on his first night in juvenile detention. Then seemingly conventional, soon-to-retire police inspector Bill Aston, conducting an investigation into the lad's suicide, is found brutally beaten to death. The central mystery is whether these events are connected, and Harvey's police squad is set to find out. Led by laconic Charlie Resnick, the squad is a beautifully observed bunch of men and women whose profane relationships with each other and their suspects are rendered with unerring accuracy. What makes Harvey's grim world bearable is his compassion: even Nicky's hapless mother is wretchedly human; Resnick himself is allowed a dour little romance with a young teacher; and the most intolerant and racist member of the police squad ultimately gets help from an unexpected quarter. Harvey's taut, fluent style moves easily between idle banter and electrifying violence, and only a slightly over-the-top windup is a flaw in an otherwise haunting and memorable performance. 50,000 first printing; author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 42
