Gabriel Garcia Marquez's News of a Kidnapping is a powerful retelling of actual events from a turbulent period of Colombian history.
'She looked over her shoulder before getting into the car to be sure no one was following her'
Pablo Escobar: billionaire drugs baron, ruthless manipulator brutal killer and jefe of the infamous Madellin cartel. A man whose importance in the international drug trade and renown for his charitable work among the poor brought him influence and power in his home country of Colombia, and the unwanted attention of the American courts.
Terrified of the new Colombian President's determination to extradite him to America, Escobar found the best bargaining tools he could find: hostages.
In the winter of 1990, ten relatives of Colombian politicians, mostly women, were abducted and held hostage as Escobar attempted to strong-arm the government into blocking his extradition. Two died, the rest survived, and from their harrowing stories Marquez retells, with vivid clarity, the terror and uncertainty of those dark an volatile months.
'Reads with an urgency which belongs to the finest fiction. I have never read anything which gave a better sense of the way Colombia was in worst times' Daily Telegraph
'Compellingly readable. A book with all the panache of Marquez's fiction, hitting home rather harder' Sunday Times
'A piece of remarkable investigative journalism made all the more brilliant by the author's talent for magical storytelling' Financial Times Views: 252
These 13 stories by the author of The Invisible Man "approach the elegance of Chekhov" (Washington Post) and provide "early explorations of (Ellison's) lifelong fascination with the 'complex fate' and 'beautiful absurdity' of American identity" (John Callahan). First serial to The New Yorker. NPR sponsorship.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 252
Brilliant, fearless, incorruptible, Andrew Trevayne was a self-made millionaire at thirty-five, former Undersecretary of State, current head of one of the nation's most prestigious foundations. Now, at the express wish of the president, Trevayne undertakes an investigation into the "secret government"--and is swept up in a tidal wave of intrigue and danger beyond the corridors of official power...into a nightmare maze where Mafia leaders and billionaires mingle...where Congress and even the presidency itself can be bought and sold. Here, in this sizzling world of mystery, seduction, and betrayal...where his family's survival and his own hinge on a hair trigger...where sinister forces are poised to exact a chilling conspiracy...here, a man like Trevayne can become a dreaded enemy, a duped pawn--or a king. Views: 251
Israeli Military Intelligence agents Eytan Eckstein and Benni Baum are about to conclude a delicate prisoner swap between Israel and her nemesis, Iran. But when a suicide bombing at the Israeli embassy in New York throws the plan into chaos, they discover the involvement of Martina Klump, a vicious German terrorist who has an old score to settle with Baum. If Eckstein and Baum can't stop her, Klump will not only thwart the prisoner swap, but ignite an all-out war between Israel and Iran.Steven Hartov was born in the United States and educated at Boston University. After serving in the U.S. Military Sealift Command, he emigrated to Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces parachute corps and Military Intelligence special operations. He is the author of the espionage trilogy, The Heat of Ramadan," The Nylon Hand of God," and The Devil's Shepherd," and co-author of the New York Times best seller In the Company of Heroes" and The Night... Views: 248
The 6th novel in the Albany Cycle opens in a Manhattan hotel room that is soon transformed into the scene of what the tabloids dub 'The Love Nest Killings' of 1908. The mystery is unravelled together with the destinies of the main characters. Views: 248
She is an impoverished noblewoman who lives by her wits as a Tarot reader for the English nobility. He is London's most notorious cat burglar.
They met one dark, glittering night. Yet even Jessamine Maitland cannot foresee the destiny that will sweep her into the adventure of her life with the proud, arrogant thief who has no intention of ever being caught—by man or woman.
But Alastair MacAlpin has not reckoned on Jessamine—and a passion that will turn a game of cat-and-mouse into a matter of life and death. As the elusive aristocrat attempts the most daring coup of his checkered career, he is undone by this elegant beauty who sees the tenderness behind his mocking façade... and who will pursue him over rooftops and to the ends of the earth, if she must, for the love only he can give her. Views: 247
Fred Scully waits at the arrival gate of an international airport, anxious to see his wife and seven-year-old daughter. After two years in Europe they are finally settling down. He sees a new life before them, a stable outlook, and a cottage in the Irish countryside that he's renovated by hand. He's waited, sweated on this reunion. He does not like to be alone - he's that kind of man. The flight lands, the glass doors hiss open, and Scully's life begins to go down in flames. Views: 247
The New York Public Library. A silent sanctuary of knowledge; a 100-year-old labyrinth of towering bookcases, narrow aisles and long marble hallways. For Doctor Stephen Swain and his daughter, Holly, it is the site of a nightmare. Because for one night this historic building is to be the venue for a contest. A contest in which Swain is to compete - whether he likes it or not.
The rules are simple: Seven contestants will enter, only one will leave.
With his daughter in his arms, Stephen Swain is plunged into a terrifying fight for survival. The stakes are high, the odds brutal. He can choose to run, to hide or to fight - but if he wants to live, he has to win. For in this contest, unless you leave as the victor, you do not leave at all.
Readers all over the world have been cheering about Matthew Reilly’s lightning fast adventure thrillers. Contest, the action-packed extravaganza that launched this international bestselling career, is vintage Reilly at his explosive best. Views: 239
In the middle of the night, a controversial U.S. senator is found murdered in bed in his Georgetown pied-a-terre. The police turn up only one clue: a mysterious rhyme signed "Jack and Jill" promising that this is just the beginning. Jack and Jill are out to get the rich and famous, and they will stop at nothing until their fiendish plan is carried out.
Meanwhile, Washington, D. C., homicide detective Alex Cross is called to a murder scene only blocks from his house, far from the corridors of power where he spends his days. The victim: a beautiful little girl, savagely beaten and deposited in front of the elementary school Cross's son, Damon, attends.
Could there be a connection between the two murders? As Cross tries to put the pieces together, the killer - or killers - strike again. And again. No one in Washington is safe - not children, not politicians, not even the President of the United States. Only Alex Cross has the skills and the courage to crack the case-but will he discover the truth in time?
A relentless roller coaster of heart-pounding suspense and jolting plot twists, Jack and Jill proves that no one can write a more compelling thriller than James Patterson-the master of the nonstop nightmare. Views: 239
"FAST-PACED . . . PIERCY BREATHES LIFE INTO THE ACTUAL HISTORICAL FIGURES WHO SHAPED THE REVOLUTION."
--San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle
In her most splendid, thought-provoking novel yet, Marge Piercy brings to vibrant life three women who play prominent roles in the tumultuous, bloody French Revolution--as well as their more famous male counterparts.
Defiantly independent Claire Lacombe tests her theory: if men can make things happen, perhaps women can too. . . . Manon Philipon finds she has a talent for politics--albeit as the ghostwriter of her husband's speeches. . . . And Pauline Léon knows one thing for certain: the women must apply the pressure or their male colleagues will let them starve. While illuminating the lives of Robespierre, Danton, and Condorcet, Piercy also opens to us the minds and hearts of women who change their world, live their ideals--and are prepared to die for them.
"MASTERFUL . . . PIERCY BRINGS THE BLOOD AND GUTS, THE IDEAS AND PASSIONS, OF THE REVOLUTION TO LIFE."
--The Women's Review of Books
"PIERCY'S STORYTELLING POWERS CAPTURE THE TURBULENCE AND EXCITEMENT OF [THIS] LIBERATING ERA."
--The Boston Herald
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 239
Out of the crucible of war has come a long list of best-selling, award-winning, and long-remembered novels: The Red Badge Of Courage, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Caine Mutiny, Fields of Fire and The Thirteenth Valley. But none so far has ever captured the power and drama of the United States Marine Corps's ill-fated mission to end the war for Lebanon, which ended in the barracks bombing that killed almost three hundred Marines. For Sergeant David Griffin, a "peace-time" Marine, Beirut was the chance to prove himself capable to the generation of Marines who had been bloodied in the Vietnam War. For Corporal Steven Downs, Beirut was a struggle to separate the civilian from the soldier, his distrust of the politicians' decisions from the military mission. For all of the Marines serving in Lebanon, it was another war in a foreign country where the enemy could be anywhere or anyone. Faced with Griffin's court-martial for engaging the enemy against orders, these two young men... Views: 237
Twenty years out of the combat zone, hidden from killers, but now fate has thrust Alex Crawford back into the front line. Though he is an aid worker, the secret service minders who have protected him for twenty years have reactivated him: they want information about the man who perpetrated a massacre in a Muslim village in Bosnia. His target is the most ruthless killer in the whole war zone: Milan Pravic, codename the Scorpion. And the only eyewitness to the massacre is a twelve-year-old girl whom Pravic will do anything to silence- Views: 237
Scarcely had the Abbey Bell tolled for five minutes, and already was the Church of the Capuchins thronged with Auditors. Do not encourage the idea that the Crowd was assembled either from motives of piety or thirst of information. But very few were influenced by those reasons; and in a city where superstition reigns with such despotic sway as in Madrid, to seek for true devotion would be a fruitless attempt. The Audience now assembled in the Capuchin Church was collected by various causes, but all of them were foreign to the ostensible motive. The Women came to show themselves, the Men to see the Women: Views: 235
In this fifth book of the Anne of Green Gables series, our red-haired heroine finally marries her childhood sweetheart and true love, Gilbert Blythe. After a ceremony in the sunshine of the old orchard at Green Gables, surrounded by the loving faces of long-familiar friends, the young doctor and his bride set off for the mist-shrouded shores of Four Winds Harbor.The newlyweds settle in a quaint fishing village, where their snug home offers views of the sea from every window. The new setting provides a fresh opportunity for Anne to discover kindred spirits: lighthouse keeper Captain Jim, teller of enchanting tales; bitter-tongued but kind-hearted Miss Cornelia, who bears an enduring grudge against men and Methodists; fascinating Leslie Moore, trapped in a loveless marriage, who envies and admires Anne; and writer Owen Ford, who seeks inspiration for his great Canadian novel. Poignant, romantic, and brimming with old-fashioned charm, Anne\'s House of Dreams traces the beloved heroine\'s path to maturity. Views: 234
Second Subterranean Press Edition: revised to correct persistent typographical errors from initial omnibus publication by The Stars Our Destination.
Message from Barry Hughart:
"When I got out of Andover in the 1950s I suffered from fairly severe depression, but this was back when the only such term recognized by the medical profession was 'depressive' following 'manic' which was one bad gig until some genius renamed it 'bipolar disorder' and after that it couldn't harm a fly. Since I wasn't lucky enough to qualify for manic and clinical depression didn't exist they diagnosed schizophrenia and packed me off to a booby hatch. (Which was not entirely a bad thing. Man, the scene at Kings Count Psychotic Ward was like awesome!) Then I was promoted to a slightly less odorous asylum where Doctor Oscar Diethelm expounded upon the delights of going snickety-snick on my frontal lobes, and while it would take too long to explain I managed to escape to Columbia University. There I found myself groping through weird landscapes obscured by clouds of pot behind which pimpled prophets of the Beat Generation shrieked, 'Our minds destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked, dragging through black streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, or what the fuck, something like that. Yo, daddy-o!' and I said to myself, 'Barry, you have found a home.'
"When I wafted back into the world a few years later my depression was still there but I was allowed to prove my sanity by blowing things up for the U.S. Air Force. No, not Vietnam. Planting ingenious and mostly illegal mine fields around the eternal DMZ in Korea. Time passed but not much else. I moved to the Arizona/Sonoran Desert where I could live quietly, surrounded on all sides by prickly pear, cat's claw, devil's horns, barrel cactus, jumping cactus, and illegal immigrants. I still occasionally dreamed of bright flashes followed by BOOM! which was a shame because I had other memories of the Far East: good memories, warm memories, and in 1977--ten years before Prozac--I decided to use those and whatever else I could come up with to create an alternate world into which I could creep on dark and stormy nights and pull over my head like a security blanket. So I read a lot and scribbled a lot and gradually the land of Li Kao began to take shape. But the first draft of Bridge of Birds didn't really work and I couldn't see what was wrong, so I dumped it into a drawer for a few years. Then one day I read Lin Yutang's The Importance of Understanding and found the prayer to a little girl that I mention in a footnote in the final version. It made me realize that while I'd invented good things like monsters and marvels and mayhem the book hadn't really been about anything. I opened the drawer. 'Okay!' I said to myself. 'This book is going to be about love.' And so it is, and so are ones that followed.
"Will there be more? I doubt it, and it's not because of bad sales and worse publishers. It's simply that I'd taken it as far as I could. Oh, I could come up with more ingenious plots and interesting characters and so on, but the Ox/Master Li format had become just that, a format, and no matter how well I wrote I'd just be repeating myself. Many writers are content to settle down with an endless if predictable series, but I'd be miserable, and so it was like deciding to quit smoking: cold turkey or forget about it, and I chose cold turkey. Anyway, it was a lot of fun while it lasted, and I hope Ox and Li Kao can continue to give fun to readers, and I most particularly hope that on dark and stormy nights some of those readers will be able to crawl into my alternate world and pull it over them like a security blanket.
"Farewell." Views: 231
