Ten years ago Angie Bartoli eloped with Sam Holland. But before their impetuous marriage even began, they were torn apart by chance. For Angie, the gold band on her finger is a constant reminder of the man she could never forget. Aiming to find her husband and resolve their relationship once and for all, Angie sets out on the adventure of a lifetime.In a small Colorado town, Angie discovers that her young groom has grown into a man--still handsome, irresistible, and infuriating as ever . . . and now the father of two young children. Forced to become a temporary family, Sam and Angie are surprised to find a deeper love awakening between them--one that could require more than they are willing to give if they are to forge a lasting new life on the American frontier. Views: 6
The opening sequence of J.G. Ballard's The Crystal World, in which Dr. Edward Sanders begins his journey through Cameroon to visit his friends, Max and Elizabeth Clair, is reminiscent of Graham Greene's Journey Without Maps or the film "The African Queen." Ballard does a wonderful job of portraying a Cameroon which is still inhabited by a relatively large number of European colonizers, although his characters have a tendency to be more altruistic. Sanders runs a leper colony while the Clairs have set up a clinic in the interior of Cameroon. The characters who aren't altruistic are somewhat shady. Sanders gets involved with the gun-toting Ventress while still on the first leg of his journey and later meets the mine-owner, Thorensen. Although Sanders talks with each man individually, neither really reveal anything of this history, although it becomes clear that their destinies are tied to each other. Similarly, Father Balthus, a priest who is questioning his beliefs, is seen more as a shadowy figure than as an individual. Part of this shadiness is Sanders apparent inability to firmly connect with any of the characters he comes into contact with, including Louise Peret, the American journalist with whom he has an affair, and the Clairs, who are such good friends he will brave the rigors of travel to see them. As the first leg of his journey ends, Sanders begins to suspect that all is not right at Mont Royal, where the Clairs have their clinic. During his brief stay in Port Matarre, Sanders sees some exquisite crystal work which seems to have come from the interior, near Mont Royal. The appearance in the harbor of a man whose body has been crystalized confirms that something strange is going on and Sanders, along with Louise, begin their journey to Mont Royal, he to see his friends, she to find out what happened to her colleagues. The second part of the novel takes place once Sanders has arrived in Mont Royal. By now he knows the secret, that the jungle is turning everything in it to crystal. This change effects organic and inorganic objects equally, and a thin crystaline shell covers the river. Neither Sanders nor Ballard seem to be particularly interested in what is causing the crystalization, although Ballard does create an esoteric explanation which does not seem particularly likely. Although Sanders is the thread that ties everyone's stories together in Mont Royal, he actually seems to have little sustained interaction with any of the other characters. Instead, he spends enough time with each of them to heighten the air of mystery about them without shedding any light on their histories, motives or the strange occurences in the jungle. It is of note that the most interesting character Sanders deals with, who gives him the most information, is one of the most minor characters in the novel, Kwanga. While Ballard manages to evoke the setting of colonial Africa, his story and the characters are not particularly compelling. The Crystal World is definitely a novel written in the 1960s, and although the drug culture is not explicit in the novel, the book does have an hallucinatory quality which evokes the use of drugs. If the reader is looking for plot or character, The Crystal World falls short. If the goal is to find evocative prose and a strong sense of locale, then The Crystal World is a novel to look for. Steven H Silver Views: 6
What if?What if you had the perfect family, lived the perfect life, had the perfect job, the perfect everything and then without warning, you discover you are not the person you think you are, and your family is not the family you think they are?Twenty-two year old Adanya Anniston is a successful, smart, and attractive assistant college instructor who simply adores her family. She is especially close to her father and does not mind being labeled a daddy's girl. But, Adanya's picture perfect, fairy tale life takes a devastating turn when she mistakenly overhears her mother disclose something so mind boggling that it crushes Adanya to the core of her spirit.Graphic artist, Bleak Blessinger, seems to be just what Adanya's troubled spirit needs, until she discovers that the handsome, green eyed, hunk just might have a connection to her family that can wreak even more havoc in her once idyllic life. What's Blood Got To Do With It? Before it's all over, Adanya Anniston might discover... Views: 5
As a small child in a wintry Bremen, Hanna dreams about the other side of silence, the place where the wind comes from and palm trees wave in the sun. Seeing her chance to escape from years of abuse in an orphanage and in service, Hanna joins one of the shiploads of young women transported in the early years of the twentieth century to the colony of German South-West Africa to assuage the needs of the male settlers. Following atrocious punishment for daring to resist the advances of an army officer, she arrives in a phantasmagoric refuge in the African desert – “prison, nunnery, brothel, shithouse, Frauenstein”. When the drunken excesses of a visiting army detachment threaten her only companion, Hanna revolts.· · · Mounting a ragtag army of female and natives, she sets out on an epic march through the desert to take on the might of the German Reich. This apocalyptic journey through the darker regions of the soul will also reveal to her the hidden meanings of suffering, revenge, companionship, love and compassion. Views: 5
THE TREES WHISPER OF DANGER The youngest in a long line of witches, Ari senses things are changing—for the worse. For generations, her kin have tended the Old Places, keeping the land safe and fertile. But with the Summer Moon, the mood of her neighbors has soured. And Ari is no longer safe. The Fae have long ignored what occurs in the mortal world, passing through on their shadowy roads only long enough to amuse themselves. But the roads are slowly disappearing, leaving the Fae Clans isolated and alone. Where harmony between the spiritual and the natural has always reigned, a dissonant chord now rings in the ears of both Fae and mortal. And when murmurs of a witch-hunt hum through the town, some begin to wonder if the different omens are notes in the same tune. And all they have to guide them is a passing reference to something called the Pillars of the World. . .. Views: 5
Based on the hit television series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", this bone-chilling novel promises to deliver more than just a few hours of entertainment. It is summertime in Sunnydale and Salma de la Natividad, a friend of Willow and Buffy, is in desperate need of help. Salma and her family had recently moved to America and suddenly her brother, Nicky, who had been staying in her apartment, was found missing. Meanwhile, Angel is in Los Angeles and is trying hard to rescue the Flores family from the evil snares of a poltergeist. The story takes a turn of events when Buffy is stalked by an unknown, unseen monster in the dark hours of the night. Who is this unseen force? Will Buffy be able to save the day again? Find out in "Unseen , The Burning". Views: 5
Anchor and investigative journalist for WSMV-TV in Nashville, Jeremy Finley's debut thriller explores what happens to people's lives when our world intersects with the unexplainable."The lights took him."When the five-year-old grandson of U.S. Senator vanishes in the woods behind his home, the only witness is his older brother who whispers, "The lights took him," and then never speaks again.As the FBI and National Guard launch a massive search, the boys' grandmother Lynn Roseworth fears only she knows the truth. But coming forward would ruin her family and her husband's political career.In the late 1960s, before she became the quiet wife of a politician, Lynn was a secretary in the astronomy department at the University of Illinois. It was there where she began taking mysterious messages for one of the professors; messages from people desperate to find their missing loved ones who vanished into beams of light. Determined to find... Views: 5
A foreign exchange student comes to live with Julie's family for a year—setting off a frightening chain of events Julie isn't thrilled about her parents' decision to sponsor a foreign exchange student from Thailand. Not only is the stranger going to live with them for a year, but Julie is convinced he'll be a nerd and will embarrass her at school. But when a tall, handsome, super-cool guy named Bia arrives, Julie is suddenly the envy of all her girlfriends. Dominic, Julie's 11-year-old brother, is also thrilled to have Bia around the house. So to make the guest feel at home in America, Dominic builds a traditional Thai spirit house in the backyard. Overnight, Bia seems to undergo a major personality change. He's mean and spiteful and lies about everything. He also seems terrified of something . . . or someone. Has Dominic's construction somehow invoked a vengeful spirit? Is Bia the bearer of luck so bad it could harm Julie and her family? Views: 5
Ada Westlake has turned down Viscount Ashmead-again, convinced that a marriage of convenience would ruin their perfect friendship. She then also fails to latch onto the fortune in coins she finds in her apple orchard, assuming it is tainted money. Though the viscount knows something about that money, he can't possibly tell Ada, and so he watches her try to dispose of it-without much luck… Regency Romance by Barbara Metzger; originally published by Signet Views: 5
