After graduating from the Army's first academy for female officers, where the intention had been nothing much more than to "train" young women to be assistants and submissive playthings for senior officers, Jodie Lawrence's unique ability at military strategy and her resulting promotion all the way to the rank of Lieutenant General upset some other high-ranking officers. Perhaps it was inevitable that there would be a backlash, but no one expected that some of the former officers, already compelled to take retirement after trying to discredit the Academy for female officers, would actually try to stage a coup. For Jodie, arrested on false charges but escaping with the help of some of her former academy colleagues (among others), it was a nightmare. There were those who were determined to keep women "in their proper place" (preferably tied, helpless, in pain and available for anything), or dispose of them altogether. Somehow, she had to prove her innocence and resume her role as... Views: 49
It is the Day of the Dead. The fiesta in full swing. In the shadow of Popocatepeti ragged children beg coins to buy skulls made of chocolate...and the ugly pariah dogs roam the streets. Geoffrey Firmin, HM ex-consul, is drowning himself in liquor and Mescal, while his ex-wife and half brother look on powerless to help him. As the day wears on, it becomes apparent that Geoffrey must die. It is his only escape from a world he cannot understand. UNDER THE VOLCANO is one of the century's great undisputed masterpieces. Views: 49
A dangerous cult disbanded years ago. Now they’re back, and they want revenge.Alex Mercer spends his spare time operating a blog for missing children—a pastime inspired by his daughter’s recent disappearance. Another relative goes missing. As he follows up on leads coming into his site, the police department is inundated with a rash of missing persons cases. The incidents seem unrelated until evidence ties the cases to a dilapidated apartment building known for its unsavory clientele. Suspicion falls on a disbanded cult. The same cult Alex’s own relatives had managed to escape from and bring down a decade earlier. The cult leaders, recently released or escaped from prison, reassemble their members and mandate a new mission to capture and kill all those responsible for the breakdown of their community. After another loved one disappears, Alex is ready to rescue the missing people from certain death. But will he get there in... Views: 49
"The fly fell down." Quiller sent the message off to London as requested. He had just seen a supersonic jet plunge 60,000 feet to its destruction. It was the 36th crash, and more were to come-unless Quiller finds out who is to blame. That meant entering the deadly shadow world between East and West, where the name of the game was betrayal and the stakes were sky-high. "If you are a Quiller fan this is for you. If you have never met him, it's time you did." (Charleston Evening Post) Views: 48
Breakwater by Simon Bestwick is an sf novelette about an engineer, who with her late, marine biologist husband designed an underwater research platform, is caught up in the war between humans and mysterious creatures beneath the seas that are destroying coastal cities around the world.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. Views: 48
Library Journal describes the romantic mystery No Defense as a "powerful first novel." At her father's behest, and over her husband's objections, LuAnn moves her husband and children home to Alabama. There she inadvertently spurs the investigation that leads to her father's indictment. Family secrets, a taut story line, and a surprising ending combine to create a riveting courtroom drama. Views: 48
Sierra tries to find a way to balance all of the activities in her life in this third delicious book in the Sprinkle Sundays series from the author of the Cupcake Diaries series!Sierra does lots of things. She's captain of the softball team, the director of the school play, and she's on Student Council, but her favorite thing to do is work at the ice cream shop with her best friends Tamiko and Allie. But when her parents decide to foster three kittens and their mama, Sierra's life gets a lot more catty! Can Sierra do it all—and maybe find homes for the cats, too? Views: 48
CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA was raised during a tumultuous time in Portugal. Although her father was called King Juan IV, the Pope (due to pressure from Spain) refused to recognize him as anything other than a duke. Looking for an advantageous political alliance, Catherine’s mother, Donna Luiza, sets her sights on the English throne. Even when Oliver Cromwell takes power in England, Donna Luiza does not lose hope in marrying Catherine to the young Prince Charles, and when Charles is restored to England’s throne, marriage negotiations begin immediately. Catherine’s marriage, like so many royal marriages, is arranged out of strategy, yet Catherine and Charles begin their lives happily together. As a Catholic, she is not trusted by the people — they believe she will convert Charles, just as his brother James had been converted by their mother. Catherine spends her marriage as Queen in name, yet is sadly unable to keep her merry husband King in her bed. Her inability to produce an heir, despite the fact that all of Charles’s mistresses have healthy boys, sets the people of England and the court strongly against her. Charles, however, remains faithful to Catherine by never divorcing her, not even to legitimize at least one of his “bastard” sons. Outliving her husband and witnessing the brief reign of James II before the co-regents, William and Mary, overthrow the Catholic king, Catherine returns to Portugal as her life comes full circle. Views: 48
Romance. 87854 words long. First E-Reads Edition 2004 Views: 48
In a plot for revenge, an intricately organized crime group makes James Bond, 007, believe he is going mad. The only way Bond can regain his sanity is to embark on a personal mission that will lead him to the ultimate face-to-face confrontation--with himself. Views: 48
Plutarch's Parallel Lives, written at the beginning of the second century A.D., form a brilliant social history of the ancient world. They were originally presented in a series of books that gave an account of one Greek and one Roman life, followed by a comparison of the two: Theseus and Romulus, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Demosthenes and Cicero, Demetrius and Antony. Plutarch was interested in the personalities of his subjects and on the way their characters molded their actions, leading them to tragedy or victory. He was a moralist of the highest order. 'It was for the sake of others that I first commenced writing biographies' he says, 'but I find myself proceeding and attaching myself to it for my own; the virtues of these great men serving me as a sort of looking-glass, in which I may see how to adjust and adorn my own life' Plutarch was a man of immense erudition who had traveled widely throughout the Roman Empire, and the Lives are richly anecdotal and full... Views: 48
By the age of twenty-four, Air Force Staff Sergeant Mike Severance had already survived a series of missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. But his life back at home, in Texas, would prove a lot more dangerous...In the winter of 2005, Mike's wife, a veterinarian named Wendi Mae Davidson, reported him missing. Wendi told police that Mike had been acting erratically--visiting local clubs, staying out late, sometimes not coming home at all. She filed for divorce the very next day. Eventually Mike's body turned up in a stock pond on a private ranch. Investigators described a corpse that was weighted down with two cinder blocks, a rock, a boat anchor, and other equipment. It had also been stabbed forty-one times with a knife. But an autopsy report told a different story: That the cause of death was exposure to pentobarbital and phenobarbital, drugs commonly used in veterinary medicine. All the evidence pointed to Wendi...and soon she would be found guilty of... Views: 48
"The best book ever written about the strangest CIA chief who ever lived." - Tim Weiner, National Book Award-winning author of Legacy of AshesA revelatory new biography of the sinister, powerful, and paranoid man at the heart of the CIA for more than three tumultuous decades.CIA spymaster James Jesus Angleton was one of the most powerful unelected officials in the United States government in the mid-20th century, a ghost of American power. From World War II to the Cold War, Angleton operated beyond the view of the public, Congress, and even the president. He unwittingly shared intelligence secrets with Soviet spy Kim Philby, a member of the notorious Cambridge spy ring. He launched mass surveillance by opening the mail of hundreds of thousands of Americans. He abetted a scheme to aid Israel's own nuclear efforts, disregarding U.S. security. He committed perjury and obstructed the JFK assassination investigation. He oversaw a massive... Views: 48
