Matthew Reilly dazzled the world with his electrifying thrillers Ice Station and Temple. And now, Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield returns with his most harrowing and explosive adventure yet. . .
AREA 7
It is America's most secret base, hidden deep in the Utah desert, an Air Force installation known only as Area 7. And today, it has a visitor - the President of the United States. He has come to inspect Area 7, to examine its secrets for himself. But he's going to get more than he bargained for on this trip. Because hostile forces are waiting inside.
Among the President's helicopter crew, however, is a young Marine. He is quiet, enigmatic, and he hides his eyes behind a pair of silver sunglasses. His name is Schofield. Call-sign: Scarecrow. Rumor has it, he's a good man in a storm. Judging by what the President has just walked into, he'd better be... Views: 710
For fans of Wolf Hall, Alison Weir’s New York Times bestselling biography of Henry VIII brilliantly brings to life the king, the court, and the fascinating men and women who vied for its pleasures and rewards.
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Alison Weir’s Mary Boleyn.
Henry VIII, renowned for his command of power, celebrated for his intellect, presided over the most stylish—and dangerous—court in Renaissance Europe. Scheming cardinals vied for power with newly rich landowners and merchants, brilliant painters and architects introduced a new splendor into art and design, and each of Henry's six queens brought her own influence to bear upon the life of the court. In her new book, Alison Weir, author of the finest royal chronicles of our time, brings to vibrant life the turbulent, complex figure of Henry VIII and the glittering court he made his own.
In an age when a monarch's domestic and political lives were inextricably intertwined, a king as powerful and brilliant as Henry VIII exercised enormous sway over the laws, the customs, and the culture of his kingdom. Yet as Weir shows in this swift, vivid narrative, Henry's ministers, nobles, and wives were formidable figures in their own right, whose influence both enhanced and undermined the authority of the throne. On a grand stage rich in pageantry, intrigue, passion, and luxury, Weir records the many complex human dramas that swirled around Henry, while deftly weaving in an account of the intimate rituals and desires of England's ruling class—their sexual practices, feasts and sports, tastes in books and music, houses and gardens.
Stimulating and tumultuous, the court of Henry VIII attracted the finest minds and greatest beauties in Renaissance England—poets Wyatt and Surrey, the great portraitist Hans Holbein, "feasting ladies" like Elizabeth Blount and Elizabeth FitzWalter, the newly rich Boleyn family and the ancient aristocratic clans like the Howards and the Percies, along with the entourages and connections that came and went with each successive wife. The interactions between these individuals, and the terrible ends that befell so many of them, make Henry VIII: The King and His Court an absolutely spellbinding read.
Meticulous in historic detail, narrated with high style and grand drama, Alison Weir brilliantly brings to life the king, the court, and the fascinating men and women who vied for its pleasures and rewards.
NOTE: This edition does not contain illustrations. Views: 709
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City.
Hailed as “America’s most popular suspense novelist” (Rolling Stone) Dean Koontz has entered a rich new phase of his writing career that is yielding his most imaginative, meaningful, and popular work yet.
At the height of his powers as a literary craftsman, he has won the acclaim of critics as well as the allegiance of millions of fans the world over, transforming the greatest fears and hopes of our time into masterworks of dazzling originality and emotional resonance.
Now, with the stunning depth and virtuosity of his storytelling, he brings to readers one of his most gripping and richly imagined novels to date—an intoxicating story of adventure and suspense, mystery and revelation, told with humor, heart, and high art.
One Door Away From Heaven
In a dusty trailer park on the far edge of the California dream, Michelina Bellsong contemplates the choices she has made. At twenty-eight, she wants to change the direction of her troubled life but can’t find her way—until a new family settles into the rental trailer next door and she meets the young girl who will lead her on a remarkable quest that will change Micky herself and everything she knows—or thinks she knows—forever.
Despite the brace she must wear on her deformed left leg, and her withered left hand, nine-year-old Leilani Klonk radiates a buoyant and indomitable spirit that inspires Micky. Beneath Leilani’s effervescence, however, Micky comes to sense a quiet desperation that the girl dares not express.
Leilani’s mother is little more than a child herself. And the girl’s stepfather, Preston Maddoc, is educated but threatening. He has moved the family from place to place as he fanatically investigates UFO sightings, striving to make contact, claiming to have had a vision that by Leilani’ s tenth birthday aliens will either heal her or take her away to a better life on their world.
Slowly, ever more troubling details emerge in Leilani’s conversations with Micky. Most chilling is Micky’s discovery that Leilani had an older brother, also disabled, who vanished after Maddoc took him into the woods one night and is now “gone to the stars.”
Leilani’s tenth birthday is approaching. Micky is convinced the girl will be dead by that day. While the child-protection bureaucracy gives Micky the runaround, the Maddoc family slips away into the night. Micky sets out across America to track and find them, alone and afraid but for the first time living for something bigger than herself.
She finds herself pitted against an adversary, Preston Maddoc, as fearsome as he is cunning. The passion and disregard for danger with which Micky pursues her quest bring to her side a burned-out detective who joins her on a journey of incredible peril and startling discoveries, a journey through terrible darkness to unexpected light.
One Door Away From Heaven is an incandescent mix of suspense and humor, fear and wonder, a story of redemption and timeless wisdom that will have readers cheering. Filled with tragedy and joy, with terror and hope, it solidifies Dean Koontz’s reputation as one of the foremost storytellers of our time. This is Dean Koontz at his very best—and it doesn’t get any better than that. Views: 705
A tour de force of investigative journalism-this is the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the U.S.-led covert sixteen-month manhunt. With unprecedented access to important players-including Colombian president César Gaviria and the incorruptible head of the special police unit that pursued Escobar, Colonel Hugo Martinez-as well as top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar's intercepted phone conversations, Bowden has produced a gripping narrative that is a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world. "The story of how the U.S. Army Intelligence and Delta Force commandos helped Colombian police track down and kill Pablo Escobar is a compelling, almost Shakespearean tale." ("Los Angeles Times") "Absolutely riveting. . . . Mark Bowden has a way of making modern nonfiction read like the best of novels." ("The Denver Post") Views: 702
Simon, Garance and Lola flee a family wedding that promises to be dull to visit their younger brother, Vincent, who is working as a guide at a chateau in the heart of the charming Tours countryside.
For a few hours, they forget about kids, spouses, work and the many demands adulthood makes upon them and lose themselves in a day of laughter, teasing, and memories. As simply and as spontaneously as the adventure began, it ends. All four return to their everyday lives, carrying with them the magic of their brief reunion. Views: 699
For use in schools and libraries only. The confrontation between Jason, a twelve-year-old accused of murdering a young girl, and his interrogator forms the chilling climax of this terrifying look at what can happen when the pursuit of justice becomes a personal crusade for victory at any cost. Views: 698
The bestselling author of Stones from the River and The Vision of Emma Blau renews her reputation as an extraordinary writer of short stories in this major collection that balances her reader on the magical border of laughter and sorrow.
In Hotel of the Saints, Hegi enters the perspectives of lovers and loners, eccentrics and artists, children and parents: a musician tries to protect her daughter from loving a blind man; a seminary student yearns for the certainty of faith that belonged to him as a boy; a woman transcends her embarrassment for her first love, who has tripled in size.
Ursula Hegi's bicultural background enriches these eleven luminous stories that are set in Europe, Mexico, and the United States. Her characters take risks in searching out the unique places where faith thrives for each of them -- a rundown hotel, the currents of Cabo San Lucas, the embrace of an ex-convict. And once again, she surrounds them with her elegant language and exquisite images. Views: 694
Get swept back to Partholon in this fan-favorite series by #1 New York Times bestselling fantasy author P.C. Cast.
The most excitement Shannon Parker expected on vacation was a little shopping. But her latest purchase, an antique vase, flings her into Partholon...where she's treated like a goddess. Somehow Shannon has taken on another's role in another world. And while there's an upside--who doesn't love lots of pampering?--it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and the threat of war against an army of pure evil. Oh, and everyone hates her because they think she's her double. Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, getting married to a horse or losing her mind...
Originally published in 2001 Views: 693
Barbara Taylor Bradford has enthralled millions of readers with her New York Times bestsellers, unforgettable tales that explore the rich tapestry of the human heart. Her new novel is no exception. The Triumph of Katie Byrne weaves a powerful and compelling story of one woman’s struggle to reclaim her future — by unraveling the dark mysteries of her past....
In London, Katie Byrne is an American actress on the verge of a triumph. But Katie seems barely aware of her charisma or her fortune. Caught up in a relentless quest for perfection onstage, Katie is not sure she will accept the career-making role she has been offered, even less sure that she could do justice to the part.
Suddenly, Katie seems incapable of taking the steps she has dreamed of taking all her life — of claiming her life as an actress and of letting a promising love affair blossom. For Katie, the answer lies in a past she has shared with almost no one, in the small Connecticut town where she was born and raised in an adoring, close-knit family.
There, on a fall day ten years before, tragedy crossed Katie Byrne’s path. Now she must return there — for answers, for a miracle, and for the kind of forgiveness that can set her free.... Views: 692
The Great War with the vile Al'ar was all but forgotten, the last alien resistance eliminated ten years ago. However, war hero Joshua Wolfe cannot forget. Friend, prisoner then destroyer of the Al'ar, they called him Shadow Warrior - master of the Al'ar killing arts. He alone knew the conflict was far from over.
Originally published in three separate volumes in the US, SHADOW WARRIOR is the first UK publication for this gripping SF series. Views: 692
Jacaranda Vines was once the greatest vineyard in Australia, but the death of its owner, Jock Witney, leaves the business in shambles. As the Witney family fight over the future of the winery, Jock's young granddaughter Sophie makes a voyage of historical discovery through the Australian outback, hoping to learn more about her family's past. Set between the 1830s and the modern day, Jacaranda Vines is an exploration of ancestral ties, bitter rivalries and the importance of sharing family history. Views: 690
“RICE WRITES WITH HER USUAL EROTIC AND HISTORICALLY EVOCATIVE FLAIR.”–PeopleOnce a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, Marius is kidnapped and forced into that dark realm of blood, where he is made a protector of the Queen and King of the vampires–in whom the core of the supernatural race resides. Through his eyes we see the fall of pagan Rome to the Emperor Constantine, the horrific sack of the Eternal City at the hands of the Visigoths, and the vile aftermath of the Black Death. Ultimately restored by the beauty of the Renaissance, Marius becomes a painter, living dangerously yet happily among mortals, and giving his heart to the great master Botticelli, to the bewitching courtesan Bianca, and to the mysterious young apprentice Armand. But it is in the present day, deep in the jungle, when Marius will meet his fate seeking justice from the oldest vampires in the world. . . . Views: 690
Self-confessed loafer Time Moore, seduced by the speed and glamour of the biggest annual sporting even in the world, sets out to cycle the course of the Tour de France. All 3,630km of it. Racing old men on butchers' bikes and chased by cows, Moore soon resorts to standard race tactics - cheating and drugs - in a hilarious and moving tale of true adventure. Views: 689
Amazon.com ReviewCelebrated outdoorsman-turned-author Gary Paulsen relates his lifelong romance with open water to teen readers with this short and salty memoir, Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats. Paulsen packs adventure into every sentence of this 100-page book. He grabs our attention within the first few pages with a shocking childhood memory of watching from the saftey of a troopship as sharks attacked plane-wreck victims. Strangely, this doesn't scare Paulsen off as much as it challenges him to conquer the ocean's power. He remembers disastrous first sailing attempts, unsteady vessels, and frightening tropical storms that reminded him of his frail mortality. Still, he fondly recalls that every boat he ever knew had valuable lessons to impart: "To show me the sea. To show me myself. And never, ever look back." Though some of the stories are told out of context, and he often takes for granted that his audience has some background knowledge of shipboard vocabulary, fans of Paulsen's wildly popular survivor tales will no doubt be caught by this one as well. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer HubertFrom School Library JournalGr 7 Up-On the coattails of Guts (Delacorte, 2001) comes another collection of Paulsen's autobiographical vignettes, this time about sailing. His love for the sea began at age seven, aboard a troopship headed to the Philippine Islands. A plane crashed into the water and Paulsen watched as sharks attacked the women and children. Though gruesome, the account is typical of the author's unaffected, matter-of-fact writing style. The rest of the stories are dull in comparison, however, as Paulsen chronicles his experiences with various sailboats over the years. He tries to define the sailing terminology as he uses it, but it is complicated stuff for landlubbers. His writing is adult in tone and he often looks back and reflects on his adventures. The passages about food, reminiscent of those in Father Water, Mother Woods (Doubleday, 1995), are better. When he describes the taste of double-stuffed Oreo cookies, readers taste them, too. It is quintessential Paulsen to describe the number one law of the sea: "If given a chance a container of oatmeal will open, mix with a container of coffee grounds, further combine itself with eight or ten gallons of sea water and then find its way into your sleeping bag." At book's end, Paulsen refers to his age and current heart condition but dangles a carrot in front of readers about a sailing trip around Cape Horn. Stay tuned.Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NYCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Views: 689
Cinnamon loves the shadows, because that's where no one can find her... For Cinnamon, dreaming of imaginary worlds and characters is her only escape from her mother's breakdowns. Her grandmother's overbearing control. Her family's turmoil. But Cinnamon is discovering something special about herself, a gift from deep within that sets her apart: a talent for the theater that would finally give her a chance...to truly "escape." Views: 688
