On the surface, Sylvia Miller has a perfect life. She's married to her college sweetheart, has three great kids, a rewarding career, and wonderful friends. But beneath the appearances, Sylvia is restless. She loves her husband, but wants to see more of the world than their peaceful Michigan town. For years, she's dreamed of the interesting places she wants to visit. Now, their youngest child is grown, and Sylvia is ready for adventure.Left a penniless orphan, David Miller promised himself his family would never know the same humiliation. For twenty-six years, he and Sylvia have lived frugally, saving for the future. Now, Dave is on the brink of a promotion that will ensure their financial security, but Sylvia wants him to retire and travel with her.When Dave refuses, Sylvia decides to go alone. But it's a decision that could cost them much more than money. Views: 70
Desperate for worldwide success, a businessman places himself in the hands of the unforgiving mafia Born a refugee, Eddie Franks intends to live like a Rockefeller. He wants wealth, not for its own sake but because it means never having to be like his father, who fled Nazi Germany only to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. For most of his childhood, Eddie was raised by the Scargos, an American family whose patriarch kept his real son, Nicky, in constant competition with Eddie. Their battle has never ended. Though now an internationally successful hotel magnate, Eddie still feels the need to outdo Nicky. At his stepbrother's suggestion, he goes into business in the Americas, opening a cruise company in the Caribbean. Expansion is the name of the game, and Nicky offers financing, with strings attached. The money is an investment from organized crime, and Eddie is unaware that the interest will be paid in blood. This ebook features an illustrated biography... Views: 70
Trevor Whitlatch always wins when playing the game of love. His first glimpse of lovely, baseborn Clarissa fills him with desire — and determination. She will be his next mistress. But love is no game to Clarissa. She has suffered all her life from the choices her mother made, and vows that no child of hers will bear that shame. Irresistible force ... meet immovable object. Views: 70
Morgan Kirkwood was only nineteen when her performance at the Seoul Olympics garnered her a gold medal, made her name a household word and her face that of America's sweetheart. Twelve years later a new political faction is vying for dominance in the small republic. At the same time, the United States is electing a new president. Morgan is the linchpin in both elections and the shocking secret she holds could affect the outcome of both governments.Jack Temple's been in the CIA long enough. He's planning to resign, but finding that Morgan Kirkwood is in trouble, he accepts one last assignment and rushes to her rescue. Jack traveled as a swim team coach to Seoul at the same time Morgan was a gymnastics competitor. While his real position was to back her up in the political operation she'd agreed to perform, he found himself falling for the young gymnast. Being in the CIA offers him no opportunity for entanglements and she was definitely a complication. Now that someone wanted more... Views: 70
Rife with intrigue and betrayal, heroism and sacrifice, Grail brings Elizabeth Bear’s brilliant space opera to a triumphant conclusion. At last the generation ship Jacob’s Ladder has arrived at its destination: the planet they have come to call Grail. But this habitable jewel just happens to be populated already: by humans who call their home Fortune. And they are wary of sharing Fortune—especially with people who have genetically engineered themselves to such an extent that it is a matter of debate whether they are even human anymore. To make matters worse, a shocking murder aboard the Jacob’s Ladder has alerted Captain Perceval and the angel Nova that formidable enemies remain hidden somewhere among the crew. On Grail—or Fortune, rather—Premier Danilaw views the approach of the Jacob’s Ladder with dread. Behind the diplomatic niceties of first-contact protocol, he knows that the deadly game being played is likely to erupt into full-blown war—even civil war. For as he strives to chart a peaceful and prosperous path forward for his people, internal threats emerge to take control by any means necessary. Views: 70
Sam Acquillo’s at the end of the line. A middle-aged corporate dropout living in his dead parents’ ramshackle cottage in the Hamptons, Sam has abandoned his friends, family and a big-time career to sit on his porch, drink vodka and stare at the Little Peconic Bay. But when the old lady next door ends up floating dead in her bathtub it seems like Sam is the only one who wonders why. Burned-out, busted up and cynical, the ex-engineer, ex-professional boxer, ex-loving father and husband finds himself uncovering secrets no one could have imagined, least of all Sam himself. Meanwhile, a procession of quirky characters intrudes on Sam’s misanthropic ways. A beautiful banker, pot-smoking lawyer, bug-eyed fisherman and gay billionaire join a full complement of cops, thugs and local luminaries in this tale of money and murder. From the Trade Paperback edition.
From Publishers Weekly Sam Acquillo, the hero of Knopf's arresting debut (a Book Sense notable selection for May), is the very epitome of the dropout. An ex-corporation man, divorced from his wife and estranged from his daughter, he lives in his parents' run-down cottage in Southampton, Long Island, and seems content to drink himself into oblivion. Then one day he finds the black and swollen body of his elderly neighbor, Regina Broadhurst, who has apparently drowned in her bathtub. Is it an accident or murder? And if it's the latter, will solving the mystery behind Regina's death enable Sam to pick up the pieces of his life and move on? While the promotional copy's likening the book to Camus's The Plague may be a stretch, there's a definite whiff of Elmore Leonard here, particularly in the snappy dialogue and the colorful, oddball characters, including a gay billionaire. Knopf's effortless narrative style and sense of humor bode well for the further adventures of Sam Acquillo. Views: 70
Why exactly is the wicked Queen so nasty, particularly to Snow White? Perhaps it has something to do with the creepy-looking man in the magic mirror who's not just some random spooky visage... Views: 70
FEAR STREET -- WHERE YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES LIVE... Selena has it all. She just scored the lead in her high school play, and everyone adores her. So when she starts receiving dead flowers from a secret "admirer" named The Sun, she just assumes it's a harmless fan. But Selena soon realizes that The Sun is serious...dead serious. First, her understudy is injured in a suspicious accident. Then, a speeding car almost kills her! Selena doesn't know what this psycho wants.... All she knows is that her number-one fan has become her number-one nightmare. Views: 70
Jack Stallworthy is a bad detective just on the right side of corrupt. But now he's turning criminal... Detective Sergeant Jack Stallworthy has been accepting backhanders for most of his career. And why not? He's spent thirty years putting villains behind bars, surely he's entitled to a little nest-egg? Lily, the pretty wife he dearly loves, dreams of retirement on the tropical island Ko Samui, but Jack will happily settle for a bungalow in Devon. Until, that is, influential businessman Emslie Warnaby offers him paradise on a plate. All he has to do is steal one slim file from the Fraud Investigation office at police HQ. But soon Jack Stallworthy is dangerously out of his depth... Views: 70
