After being defeated in battle by Elena and her rebel army of humans, trolls, elves, shapeshifters, and dragons, the vengeful Dark Lord and his evil minions unleash the Weirgates, powerful black walls of extraordinary energy, on the victors. Views: 137
Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, fiction, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted, and admired. Views: 137
In Aeryn, where science has never developed but magic is powerful, the Blue Queen, a usurper aided by a very powerful wizard, has ravaged the land. A boy is called out of his own life on a farm to enter a legendary forest and learn magic in order to help Kirith Kirin reclaim his rightful throne to maintain the balance of order. Jessex grows strong in his magical studies and fighting skills discovering his crucial role in the battle against the evil that overshadows his land. First of a trilogy the others of which are science fiction novels. Views: 136
For a limited time at a special price, enjoy New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell's stirring western romance, Beautiful Dreamer, along with the first four chapters from her upcoming new book, Beautiful Sacrifice, on sale May 22, 2012.Nevada's rugged, majestic beauty is a balm for the aches of Hope Gardener's heart. But the ranch she loves is dying of thirst, thanks to the worst drought the area has ever seen, Hope needs a miracle—and one day it comes to the Valley of the Sun.A man out of time, Rio is an anachronism in the modern-day West, bringing with him a reputation for finding water in any desert. Hope has no choice but to trust this dark stranger who claims to make dreams real. And Rio, who has never had a dream of his own to follow, has found something in this extraordinary lady whose passion tempts him to defy his own rules. In the midst of adversity, two free spirits must now explore the most closely guarded corners of... Views: 134
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 of detail.... Views: 134
A thrilling original novel set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation / Deep Space Nine!In 2367, Captain Benjamin Maxwell of the starship Phoenix ordered the destruction of a Cardassian warship and a supply vessel, killing more than six hundred crew members. Maxwell believed that the Cardassians were arming for a new attack on the Federation, and though history eventually proved he was probably correct, the Federation had no choice but to court martial and incarcerate him. Almost twenty years have passed, and now Maxwell is a free man, working as a maintenance engineer on the private science station Robert Hooke, home to crackpots, fringe researchers, and, possibly, something much darker and deadlier. Maxwell's former crewmate, Chief Miles O'Brien, and O'Brien's colleague, Lieutenant Commander Nog, have come for a visit. Unfortunately, history has proven that whenever O'Brien and Nog leave Deep Space 9 together, unpredictable... Views: 134
'I always wanted to be historical,' Gertrude Stein once quipped. In 1932, Stein began writing the 'autobiography' of her longtime friend and companion, Alice B. Toklas. The book, an immediate bestseller, guaranteed them both a place in history. An account of their life together in Paris before, during, and after World War I, it is full of the atmosphere of the changing life of the city and of idiosyncratic glimpses of such figures as Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Cocteau, Apollinaire, Pound, Eliot, Hemingway, and other luminaries and aspirants who were their close friends. But at the center of the narrative there is always the titanic figure of Gertrude Stein, the self-proclaimed 'first-class genius' who some dismissed as the 'Mother Goose of Montparnasse,' presiding over her celebrated residence-salon-art gallery at 27, rue de Fleurus. William Troy remarked about her: 'It is not flippant to say that if she had not come to exist . . . it would be necessary to invent Miss Gertrude... Views: 134
A brutal and apparently motiveless murder leads Skinner to suspect his own friends of treachery, in this gripping crime novel of retribution and ultimate justice. For Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner, the Thursday night football game at the local gym has long been an unbroken ritual. Until the savagely mutilated body of a former player is found, and suddenly the Thursday Legends have more to worry about than aching backs and dodgy knees. Former Head of Special Branch Alec Smith made plenty of enemies during his long career - and there is no shortage of suspects. But as Skinner's investigation gathers pace, everything keeps pointing to the Legends themselves. Is someone targeting this disparate group of colleagues and friends in some bizarre scheme of retribution? Or is the murderer one of them? Either way, the hunt for the killer is going to come uncomfortably close to home... Views: 134
From Publishers WeeklyTake a self-assured Brit with an eye for the ladies, drop him in the middle of Paris with a tenuous grasp of the language and you have Clarke's alter ego, Paul West, who combines the gaffes of Bridget Jones with the boldness of James Bond. Hired to oversee the creation of a French chain of British tearooms, Clarke, aka West, spends nine months—the equivalent of a French business year—stumbling his way through office politics à la française. Clarke's sharp eye for detail and relentless wit make even the most quotidian task seem surreal, from ordering a cup of coffee to picking up a loaf of bread at the boulangerie. Luck is by West's side as he moves into a stunning apartment (with his boss's attractive daughter), but he has to be careful where he steps, as he finds he "began to branch out from literal to metaphorical encounters of the turd kind." Between conspiring colleagues, numerous sexual escapades (he deems French porn "unsexy" since "Being French, they had to talk endlessly before they got down to action") and simply trying to order a normal-sized glass of beer, West quickly learns essential tricks to help him keep his head above the Seine. Originally self-published in Paris, Clarke's first book in a soon-to-be-series is funny and well-written enough to appeal to an audience beyond just Francophiles. Agent, Susanna Lea at Susanna Lea Associates. (May)From BooklistBrit Paul West escapes his homeland to take a job in Paris marketing English tearooms to the French. Over a year's cycle he discovers that the French way of doing business thrives on maneuvering nimbly through a minefield of unique, demanding personalities. An inveterate womanizer, he finds plenty of skirts to chase and conquer. After a comic search for an apartment, he settles in the city's trendy Marais district. Urban stress in general, combined with a need to escape the upstairs family whose every move reverberates to distraction, forces West to escape to a Norman getaway featuring all the bucolic charms and a cast of neighbors and townspeople to rival Peter Mayle's Provencal rustics. West disdains French food for its love of organ meats and its fascination with revoltingly smelly cheeses. Francophobes will find much here to reinforce their prejudices; more balanced observers will find Clarke's caricatures of the French simply very funny reading. Mark KnoblauchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 133
Lukewarm believer Sam Bennett awakens from a dream to discover that he can hear the deepest spiritual needs of those around him. Frightened at first, he begins to embrace his gift and follow the Spirit's leading, with the result that many lives are touched and led to faith in Christ. In the end, Bennett's life is radically transformed, and his friends, family, and church are forever changed as they begin to "hear" the needs of others as God hears. The Heart Reader is a moving evangelistic challenge for all believers. Views: 133
In this novel, every characterisic is changed - directions are reversed, the issue of slavery is reversed to serfdom, the color of the oppressed class is changed from negro to blond - only the victors, as changed, stay the same. As a history buff, it makes a very interesting story. Sentry Peak is really Lookout Mountain. The generals are given similar names in the book, but they keep their true natures. The book covers the Tennessee fron in 1863, when U S Grant (General Bart in the book), took over from Roscrans (Guildenstern in the book) and got things moving by driving General Bragg (in the book - Thraxton) out of Tennessee in spite of an almost impossible position. Grant had the ability to cause his generals to work together and to strike his enemy with massed and combined forces. Bragg fought with his subordinates and seldom struck a solid combined blow. The book uses magic to replace science and thus has spells, flying carpets, and crossbows, and even has unicorns instead of horses in the cavalry - makes a very interesting tale out of a subject that many classes study through in boredom. Views: 133
Amazon.com ReviewMore than 10 years ago, I was shocked to learn that some puerile piece of fluff had won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original, when it was so obvious to me and virtually everyone else in the Western Hemisphere that the award should have gone to The terrific Elvis Cole series has grown through the years, each book better than the last, but nothing prepared me for the quantum leap (yes, it's a cliché, but it belongs here) that Crais has made with L.A. Requiem. It's not as funny as the other books in the series, but it's a beautifully plotted detective story, rich with police procedure, and it will keep even the most sophisticated reader at sea right until the end. And that's what elevates this book to the level of literature. This one is more about Joe Pike, Elvis's silent sidekick, than it is about Elvis. We learn, through Pike's own eyes, how his childhood made him the way he is today. It's also about a friendship so strong that it threatens Elvis's relationship with his beloved Lucy. It is a tender but dark book--a serial killer book--but it doesn't attempt to outgross the other serial killer books on the shelf. It is funny at times and chilling at other times, making it one of the rare books that can't help but linger in the memory long after it's been read and put away. --Otto PenzlerFrom Publishers WeeklyIn his eighth book about wise-cracking Los Angeles private detective Elvis Cole, Crais has expanded his narrative reach and broadened his characters' horizons to produce a mature work that deserves to move him up a notch or twoAinto Parker or Connelly country. He's done this by focusing on Joe Pike, Cole's tough and hitherto totally enigmatic partner. It's Pike who breaks in on Cole's reunion with Lucy Chenier, his lawyer/broadcaster lover who has just moved from New Orleans, to ask for Elvis's help in tracking down the missing daughter of a rich and powerful Hispanic businessman. When the girl turns up murdered in Griffith Park, it's Pike who gives a nerdy medical examiner valuable assistance; and when it turns out that the girl's death is linked to several other murders, it's Pike who is charged with killing the chief suspect. Through flashbacks to Joe's past life as an abused child, a highly motivated teenage soldier and an L.A. cop fighting to keep a corrupt partner from destroying his family, we learn more about Pike than we did in the seven previous Cole books. This new focus also allows Crais to keep Elvis's often annoying throwaway lines to a minimumAalthough more pruning could have been done with no loss of flavor. The book's scope is wide enough to include many other memorable characters, especially a rough-edged, vulnerable police officer named Samantha Dolan, plus a choice of plausible villains. There may be one too many metaphoric descriptions attempting to link aspects of the L.A. landscape with the moods and deeds of its inhabitants, but overall Crais seems to have successfully stretched himself the way another Southern California writerARoss MacdonaldAalways tried to do, to write a mystery novel with a solid literary base. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 131
