In this, Book II of the Hawkenlye Trilogy, the Abbess Helewise takes on another strange case with her French partner, Josse d'Acquin. A lumberjack in the Wealken forest has been found dead. The locals would have it that the mythical Forest People are to blame for his violent end. But when the Abbess Helewise steps in to investigate, she thinks a supernatural solution too easy an answer. She consults her friend Josse d'Acquin, a French soldier of fortune who has helped her many a time. He, concerned about the safety of the abbey, ventures into the forest himself, only to find in this so-called haunted wood something that terrifies even him. Now the two must reconcile superstition with their better judgement. Views: 25
Amazon.com ReviewHistorical mysteries grounded in fact and embellished with fiction are Collins's forte, and here he takes the World War I sinking of a great Cunard liner as the canvas for a rollicking story of murder, espionage, and mayhem. Willard Wright, a critic, journalist and mystery writer (under the pseudonym of S.S. Van Dine), is supposed to be interviewing the rich and famous who are making the journey to England on the luxurious ship. But what he's really doing is investigating the sub rosa shipment of munitions by a government supposedly neutral in the European conflict. Aided by a female version of Philo Vance, Van Dine's series hero, Wright unmasks a couple of spies and a murderer and finds the munitions in plenty of time to carry on a decidedly modern affair with the beautiful and sexy Pinkerton agent, but, alas, too late to save the Lusitania from a German U-boat. A skillfully told story with all the verisimilitude and historical accuracy of earlier books in this captivating series, which gave the Titanic, Hindenburg, and Pearl Harbor disasters the same lively treatment. --Jane AdamsFrom Publishers WeeklyIn this traditional, pre-World War I mystery, prolific Collins (The Pearl Harbor Murders, etc.) emulates the memoir-like writing style of S.S. Van Dine, a mystery writer and art critic popular in the Jazz Age, and casts him as a journalist-cum-amateur sleuth. Humbled by the need to make a buck, the ever disdainful Van Dine agrees to board the Lusitania in order to interview the ship's wealthiest passengers and investigate rumors that the opulent ocean liner is carrying munitions. While touring the vessel, Van Dine and his guide surprise three stowaways who may be German saboteurs. When one of them turns up dead, Philo Vance, the ship's dimpled detective, takes over and enlists Van Dine as her assistant and lover. Two corpses later, Philo and Van Dine deduce there's a traitor in their midst who is most likely one of the vessel's most esteemed passengers. Collins, author of several screenplays and movie/TV tie-in novels (In the Line of Fire; Road to Perdition), ably weaves a well-paced, closed-environment mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie, but the acerbic Van Dine, who scorns popular fiction and politics, will grate on readers' nerves. Nevertheless, the author succeeds in resurrecting a long-forgotten writer and re-imagining the Lusitania's final voyage.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 25
Her life on hold for too long, Janette Hinson has returned to the United States in search of a mother she hasn't seen in twenty-five years. But to find her Jan will have to accept help from the one man she desperately wants to avoid: Stephen Scott. Sexy, rich, powerful, and dominating, Stephen has been pursuing Jan for the last year, and she's the first to admit he more than has what it takes to hold a woman's interest. But her traumatic past has kept from true intimacy all these years. Yet she senses a darkness in Stephen, one that goes beyond the rumors of his kinkier side... Stephen Scott is not a man to take no for an answer. Ever since he met Jan he hasn't been able to get her off of his mind. And no matter how many hours he spends at work, he can't get the hot little vixen out of his system. It's time to prove he wants more than just a fling, despite his dark sexual history. What he wants from Jan is to Master her. In every way. Views: 25
Newlyweds Jade Calhoun and Kane Rouquette have barely said “I do” when
there’s a disturbance in the shadow world that’s draining the energy of angels.
As shadow walkers, Jade and Kane are pressed into service, tasked with the
impossible mission of solving the mystery before any angels are lost…until
Kane’s accused of poisoning the shadows with his incubus energy and his power
is stripped.
Life goes from bad to worse when a lesser Goddess shows up, hell-bent on
stealing the spirits of mortals in pursuit of a fountain of youth. Now it’s up
to Jade and her coven to keep their friends safe, clear Kane’s name, and fix
the shadows before one of them is lost forever.
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A collection of startlingly vivid short stories from Patrick O'Brian, author of the highly acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series.Patrick O'Brian has emerged, in the opinion of many, as one of the greatest novelists now writing in English. His fame rests mainly on the achievement of the epic Aubrey/Maturin novels, but few readers know that O'Brian first made his reputation as a writer of short fiction. Collected here for the first time are twenty-seven stories that O'Brian wishes to preserve: stories of uncommon lyricism and beauty that will confirm his rightful place in the front rank of short-story writers as well as of novelists.Although the tone of this collection ranges effortlessly from the humorous to the dramatic, the most characteristic and memorable stories often have to do with a glimpse of savage, destructive forces through the fragile shell of human civilization. The threatened chaos may be psychological, as in "On the Wolfsberg," or it may be lurking in the... Views: 25
With her son's illness in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work-and finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzle of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start- up biotech companies caught in a zero-sum game... Views: 25
The first in a trilogy of prequel novels, fully authorised by the estate of Roger Zelazny. In Roger Zelazny’s AMBER universe there is only one true world, of which all others are but Shadows. In the ten book saga that he created readers learnt that Amber was not the first true world; rather, it was the Courts of Chaos. The saga chronicled the adventures of the royal family of Amber, culminating with the world-shaking battle between champions from Amber and Chaos. Zelazny did not have the chance to create the origin of Amber and its royal family, or reveal other key information that is alluded to before he died. THE DAWN OF AMBER trilogy will expand the ‘Amber’ universe and answer the important questions left open, including how Amber was created and why. The events in the trilogy will precede those in the existing novels, but will follow some of the same, immortal characters. Finally fans of the series will discover why it was necessary to create Amber, how Chaos and Amber came to be at war, and the true nature of the universal, sentient forces that Amber and Chaos represent. Views: 25
A disgraced Chicago cop launches a one-man war against organized crime A man holds twelve children hostage at gunpoint. Across the street, James Hawker dangles from a skyscraper, watching the terrorist through a sniper's scope. Hawker has a shot, and he wants to take it, but the police brass say no. By the time he gets permission, it will be far too late. The terrorist opens fire, killing two of the children before Hawker can take him out. When the smoke clears, the madman is dead, and Hawker's career is toast. No longer a cop, he's about to become America's deadliest defender. The father of one of the murdered children hires Hawker as a private vigilante, and gives him an unlimited bankroll to wage a nationwide fight against organized crime. The first battle will be fought in Florida, where drug smugglers have taken root like a cancer—and Hawker will have to cut them out. Florida Firefight is the 1st book in the Hawker... Views: 25
Every year, from the end of June to the end of August, Bruce and his family go to their cedar-clad cottage on the blue, wide lake on the edge of the wilderness. At first, the summer of 1954 seems like any other. But just when he realises life is perfect, everything starts to change. He's ten, the family dynamics are shifting, and over the summer both the harshness of the adult world and the patterns of the natural world reveal themselves. By the time the weather turns he will be a different child, and will have chosen his own path to understanding the world. Views: 25
A new novel by a towering presence in contemporary South African literatureIn 1971, nineteen citizens of Excelsior in South Africa's white-ruled Free State were charged with breaking apartheid's Immorality Act, which forbade sex between blacks and whites. Taking this case as raw material for his alchemic imagination, Zakes Mda tells the story of a family at the heart of the scandal -and of a country in which apartheid concealed interracial liaisons of every kind. Niki, the fallen madonna, transgresses boundaries for the sake of love; her choices have repercussions in the lives of her black son and mixed-race daughter, who come of age in post-apartheid South Africa, where freedom prompts them to reexamine their country's troubled history at first hand.By turns earthy, witty, and tragic, The Madonna of Excelsior is a brilliant depiction of life in South Africa and of the dramatic changes between the 1970s and the present. Views: 25
