The last thing Melanie needs is her old flame and first love, Nicolás ‘Nic’ Gavilan, barging into her life and offering help she hasn’t asked for. But as difficult as it is to admit it, she needs him. She can’t afford to say no. Nic is determined to keep their relationship strictly platonic, help her and be on his way. But the heart wants what it wants and even the best laid plans can go wrong. Views: 31
After Jack Slidell's discovery of his law partner's death in an apparent drug/sex killing, he and the beautiful Caroline Wonder are suddenly hurled into a race for their lives, a hair-raising odyssey filled with outrageous characters and violent suspense. Hit men and sinister government agencies hunt them at every turn, but their quest for justice determines more than the guilt or innocence of a dead friend: the fate of the earth and humanity's survival hang in the balance.A page-burning, pulse-pounding chase-thriller of earth-shattering dimensions, The Extinction Event is also populated with colorful characters almost Dickensian in their energy and flamboyance. This is a book that will stick with you when you are done, a story you will remember for a long, long time. Views: 31
Contents:The Swelling by David ConyersThe Disciple by David Barr KirtleyA Colder War by Charles StrossThe Ghoulish Wife by Kevin L. O’BrienThe Last Horror Out of Arkham by Darrel SchweitzerHarold’s Blues by Glen SingerDocuments in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley by Richard A. LupoffThe Plague Jar by Allen MackeyThe Dead Man’s Hand by Jason AndrewA Little Job in Arkham by John Sunseri In His Daughter’s Darkling Womb by Tina L. Jens Views: 31
Critically acclaimed for his recent bestseller, "The Ax, " Westlake returns with a tale of twisted psychological suspense involving two cunning authors--and one deadly proposition.Amazon.com ReviewMystery grand master Donald Westlake (who also writes under the name Richard Stark) is nothing if not prolific: his publishing career includes juveniles, westerns, and short stories. He is perhaps best known by mystery enthusiasts for his comic crime novels (Smoke, Baby, Would I Lie?, Trust Me on This) and his Dortmunder series (What's the Worst That Could Happen?, Don't Ask, Drowned Hopes). The Hook, however, moves beyond the machinations and deduction-driven plots of traditional mystery, following the path Westlake spearheaded with The Ax into the twisted labyrinth of psychological suspense. The Hook is a harrowing story, told with a crisp incisiveness, and its riveting central characters are extraordinary: Bryce Proctorr and Wayne Prentice are fascinating, compelling tangles of neuroses and ambitions, both wonderfully drawn.Bryce Proctorr has a multi-million dollar contract for his next novel, a wife who is trying to extract the last pound of flesh (but money will do just as well) from him in an ugly divorce, a fast-approaching deadline, and a serious case of writer's block. Wayne Prentice is an author drifting ghost-like through a world that has forgotten his novels; he's gone through two pseudonyms, has watched his sales plummet, and is wondering whether the academic life might be better than this, all things considered. When the two meet by chance in the New York Library, Proctorr has a proposition: if Prentice will give him his unsold manuscript to publish under Proctorr's name, the two will split the book advance fifty-fifty. But as in all Faustian bargains, there is a significant catch: Wayne must kill Bruce's wife.The murder itself is almost insignificant, a small and sordid endeavor. The novel's real appeal lies in its shadowy reflections of the links between the two protagonists: a bond has been created that neither can break--nor wants to. Westlake cleverly questions the boundaries between actual and vicarious experience, fact and fiction. The novel is strikingly self-referential as it plays with the irony of authors trying to "compose" their own realities: "There are moments in almost any novel when it's necessary to move a character from one point to another, so that you can go on with the story, and this was like that." But what happens when the characters, instead of dutifully obeying the wishes of their creators, strike off on their own in unanticipated and fearful directions? --Kelly FlynnFrom Publishers WeeklyThis is a very savvy tale of two writers, instantly recognizable to anyone in the publishing world. Bryce Proctorr is a megaseller who gets million-dollar deals; Wayne Prentice, after a promising start, has fallen into the dread midlist, where his sales records haunt him and he publishes under a succession of pseudonyms to present an unsullied record. The problem is that while Proctorr has hit a major writer's block, Prentice is still productive, though his advances are dwindling. So Proctorr, involved in a protracted and draining divorce from a harridan wife, comes up with this terrific notion. He proposes to Prentice, a friend from earlier days: you take my name, I take your book, and we split the proceeds, on one condition: Lucie must be killed. It's a very promising notion, and once Westlake is over the hump of how the very pleasant Wayne will agree to the deed, and actually manage to accomplish it, much to his own surprise, he is left with a very delicate situation. What will the knowledge of the crime do to the relationship between the two men? How will it affect their work habits? Will the dogged New York police detective find out anything? How will Bryce's editor react to Wayne becoming, in effect, his star's ghost? All these issues are skillfully dealt with in Westlake's super-clean, unfussy narration, which manages to make the plight of the left-behind writer almost as lacerating as that of the downsized executive in his brilliant The Ax. In the end, though, he cannot quite bring his story to an unexpected conclusion, and his last scene, though effective enough, seems to have strayed in from a much less subtly told story. 9-city author tour. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 31
"Stunning. . . . The danger reaches a frightening pitch."--Rocky Mountain News "Mina offers us a complex plot with a shocking ending, all told in an amazingly original voice." -Cleveland Plain Dealer"This is a terrific book." -Dallas Morning NewsA New York Times Notable Book of the YearTrying to escape her own troubled past and the memories of her lover's murder, Maureen O'Donnell finds refuge working as a counselor at a shelter for battered women. When the body of shelter resident Ann Harris washes up on the banks of the Thames River two weeks later, Maureen vows to discover what happened and to prove that Ann's husband is not to blame. Taking her search to London, Maureen soon encounters disturbing truths about Ann's hidden past - including a secret that has Maureen fighting for her life."Atmospheric, intense, and full of the disturbing flavor of inner-city lowlife." -Guardian"Reads like a slap in the face - and a kick in the ribs and a fist in the stomach . . . like its powerful predecessor, Garnethill." -New York Times Book ReviewFrom Publishers WeeklyFollowing her Creasy Award-winning debut, Garnethill (1999), Mina delivers a second powerful novel with the same self-destructive characters, notably protagonist Maureen O'Donnell, and the same grim, gritty British locales. Maureen, while working at a shelter for abused women in Glasgow, gets pulled into the search for a missing shelter client, Ann Harris, the wife of her friend Leslie's feckless cousin, Jimmy. When Ann's mutilated corpse turns up in the Thames, Maureen agrees to go to London to investigate for Leslie, in part to escape her depressing life, burdened by flashbacks to her lover's murder, fights with her new boyfriend, a job she dislikes, estrangement from her alcoholic mother, and a long-absent abusive father whose sudden return frightens her and haunts her dreams. In seedy Brixton, a closed and suspicious community where grungy exile Glaswegians deal dope and brutalize one another, Maureen soon discovers to her peril that Ann was running dope and money between London and Glasgow for a violent criminal. All the characters are richly drawn, though especially brilliant are Mina's depictions of the forlorn Jimmy--unemployed, hapless, lovingly caring for his four "weans"--and of the ambivalent Maureen, aggressive and needy, independent yet desirous of affection, confident of the future but unable to purge the demons of her past. This is the second in a planned trilogy by a writer of stunning talent and accomplishment. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalMina follows up 1999's Garnethill with another novel that is just as gritty. Set in Glasgow, it features Maureen O'Donnell, who labors under enough impediments to fuel two soap opera seasons: alcoholism, parental abuse, trouble finding Mr. Right, and not even a wee dram of fashion sense. Then she stumbles into the matter of finding out what happened to Ann Harris. Ann, a resident of the battered women's shelter where Maureen has been working, has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Has she been killed in London? Did she add drugs to her alcohol problems? Maureen and Leslie, a friendly administrator from the shelter, join forces to find out. Suspicion falls on Ann's boyfriend, the much put-upon Jimmy, who is forever caring for the four weans Ann has left behind. Jimmy falls almost too easily into the role of prime suspect until Maureen and Leslie start rooting around in the less savory parts of Glasgow and London to uncover the truth. A good suggestion for anyone who appreciates their mysteries dark, while the female bonding should appeal especially to fans of the Val McDermid mysteries. Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 31
Joaquin Del Castillo was as proud as his Latino heritage, and he instantly acted to right the wrong he believed had been done to his elderly, loyal employee. He would lure the girl who owed the old man money to Guatemala, and here she would stay until she agreed to repay her debt!But something about Joaquin's captive didn't add up. On the surface, Lucy appeared to be a glamorous gold digger, but underneath she was...innocent. Joaquin's pride unleashed consequences he hadn't expected-his contempt for her was rivaled by his blazing desire! Views: 31
The President's secret task force develops the ultimate defensive weapon. At its core: byzanium, a radioactive element so rare sufficient quantities have never been found. But a frozen American corpse on a desolate Soviet mountainside, a bizarre mining accident in Colorado, and a madman's dying message lead DlRK PITT~ to a secret cache of byzanium. Now he begins his most thrilling, daunting mission -- to raise from its watery grave the shipwreck of the century!
In a daring gamble, DIRK PITT locates the Titanic -- and suddenly his crew is in deadly jeopardy. Sabotaged by Russian spies and savage storms, Pitt must stop a diabolical plan for Soviet world supremacy -- or see the mighty Titanic blasted out of existence! Views: 31
A mysterious stranger comes to Regan from nowhere, drawing out her deep submissive longings. The masochist in her begs that he take her freedom, but he makes her wait, requires she undergo extensive sexual training and when he finally accepts the gift of her submission, he insists that she give not just a piece of herself but everything she is—her body, property and all personal choice. In turn, he offers her the thrills of bondage, punishment and the opportunity to serve him. Choosing to become his alone, she soon believes she can never waver from her devoted service. And yet, when her owner sends her to Tennyson Hallock, she faces a pitiless and cunning master who is determined to expose her weakness. Before she realizes what has happened, he's turned her world into a twisted knot of confusion and deceit. Can she ever make her way back to her master, and will he accept her if she does? Views: 31
School is 'wet and weedy', according to Nigel Molesworth, the 'goriller of 3B', 'curse of St Custard's' and superb chronicler of fifties English life. Nothing escapes his disaffected eye and he has little time for such things as botany walks and cissy poetry with an assortment of swots, snekes and oiks. Instead he is very good at missing lessons, charming masters and putting down little brothers, in fact he is exceptional at most things except spelling. Wildly funny and full of sharp observations on life, the 'Molesworth tetralogy' is magnificently complemented by the illustrations of Ronald Searle Views: 31
