Eerie, suspenseful, poignant, the stories in A Long December range from horror to suspense, crime to dark fantasy, mainstream to mystery. Views: 61
Frannie O'Neill is a young and talented veterinarian living in Colorado. Plagued by the mysterious murder of her husband, David, a local doctor, Frannie throws herself into her work. It is not long before another bizarre murder occurs and Kit Harrison, a troubled and unconventional FBI agent, arrives on her doorstep.Late one night, near the woods of her animal hospital, Frannie stumbles upon a strange, astonishing phenomenon that will change the course of her life forever....Her name is Max.With breathtaking energy, eleven-year-old Max leads Frannie and Kit to uncover one of the most diabolical and inhuman plots of modern science. When the Wind Blows is as unique a story as has ever been told, filled with suspense and passion. Views: 61
Luke Evans never knew his father - he′d cleared out before he was born. So when his internet skills track down someone living at a luxurious resort in tropical Queensland who could be his dad, Luke′s imagination runs wild. What happens when they finally meet is unexpected, and shocks him to the core. Luke has some hard lessons to learn as he realizes that no one is perfect, and that the world can be a tricky place, where people aren′t always who they appear to be and nothing can be accepted at face value. How Luke deals with what he finds will change his life . . . if he can survive. Views: 61
Noah, Megan, Richie, and Ella are the Action Scouts; friends whose tree house overlooks the Clarksville City Zoo. When they discover a magical world hidden within the zoo, they are swept away on an adventure in which penguins can fly, a mysterious figure lurks in the shadows, and the scouts are enlisted to help Mr. Darby, who is in charge of the Secret Zoo.But will the scouts be able to fight against the dangerous sasquatches who have escaped the zoo and threaten their town? There's only one way to find out if the four friends training as Crossers can help save the Secret Zoo. Views: 61
Madeline Oxley could not completely fault Adam Coates. Her father had hoodwinked them both...but now that she stood at last before him, how could she ever walk away?"Your father sent me the wrong bride!"Madeline gritted her teeth. "Sir, you are not the only one who has been inconvenienced by this. I just spent forty-six days on a damp, creaky ship, and now you tell me in front of everyone that I'm not the one you ordered, and I shouldn't have bothered. I believe I've had quite enough insults for one day. My father assured me you had asked for my hand. I had no reason to question the truth of it."Adam's chest heaved with a sigh. "No reason to question it? Do you not have a mind of your own?"Oh, this was too much. "To tell you the truth, Mr. Coates, I do have a mind of my own—a mind to poke my father with a knitting needle, and if I may say so, you could use a poke yourself!" Views: 61
Charles Todd’s critically acclaimed novels featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge have been hailed by The Washington Post Book World as “one of the best historical series being written today.” The New York Times Book Review calls Todd’s mysteries “meticulously wrought...harrowing psychological drama.” Now he stakes out new territory in this mesmerizing stand-alone novel of one woman’s dark journey through family obsession, wartime secrets, and a chilling legacy....The Murder StoneThe Great War is still raging in the autumn of 1916, when Francesca Hatton’s beloved grandfather dies on the family estate in England’s isolated Exe Valley. Grieving for the man who raised her, Francesca is stunned to find an unsigned letter among his effects, cursing the Hattons and their descendants. Now a stranger has shown up on her doorstep, accusing her grandfather of being a murderer.Ex-soldier Richard Leighton blames Francis Hatton for the death of his mother, who vanished nearly a quarter of a century earlier. Her body was never found, only a shawl stained with her blood. And Leighton is not the only one with a claim on Francesca’s grandfather. On the day of his funeral, unexpected visitors arrive with the mourners, and Francesca is besieged by charges of Hatton’s vicious dealings. Yet there is also a shy young woman who praises his secret generosity.At the center of the intrigue is an unusual white stone that lies hidden in a secluded garden where Francesca once played with her five male cousins, all of them dead now on the battlefields of France. According to the terms of Hatton’s will, the Murder Stone must be dug up and transported to Scotland, where it is to be buried forever. But before Francesca can begin the journey, a series of ominous “accidents” occur, culminating in the discovery of a bleeding body on the Murder Stone itself.Was Hatton the loving, caring protector his granddaughter always believed him to be? Or a vindictive, secretive man who cultivated dangerous enemies? Francesca sets out in pursuit of the truth—and into the sights of someone determined to exact a revenge long overdue. From the Hardcover edition.Amazon.com ReviewHow well do we really know the people we love? Maybe never well enough, to judge by the example of Francesca Hatton, the young British heiress around whom Charles Todd constructs his first standalone historical suspense tale, The Murder Stone. Leaving London and her volunteer work with wounded World War I soldiers, Francesca--"the last of the Hattons ... [a] long and distinguished line"--returns in 1916 to River's End, the rural estate where her powerful and beloved grandfather is dying of a stroke. Francis Hatton's passing hits Francesca hard, especially coming so soon after the demise of her five male cousins, all of them "mown down with their dreams of glory" in battle. But her mourning is interrupted by multiple mysteries. Why did Francis insist in his will that the Murder Stone, a large and cryptically named white rock in his garden, be moved to the farthest corner of Scotland? Why had he concealed his ownership of two other, distant estates? And could there be any truth in the charge, leveled by an invalided soldier, that Francis long ago "abducted and killed his mother, then buried the body where it couldn't be found"? Forced by new revelations to rebalance her faith in the man who'd taken her in as an orphaned child, while simultaneously contending with a random sniper who's invaded the neighborhood of River's End, Francesca struggles to build a new future, even as her trust in the "facts" of her past crumbles.Over the course of six previous novels, beginning with A Test of Wills--all featuring shell-shocked soldier-turned-inspector Ian Rutledge--Todd (the nom de plume of a mother-son writing team) has shown considerable skill in formulating criminal conundrums against the backdrop of post-World War I Britain. The Murder Stone vividly recaptures the nation in the very midst of that international violence, a painful period of untimely deaths and stunning Zeppelin raids. However, this yarn is as much a Gothic romance as an abstruse puzzler. Most of the secrets here can be figured out faster by the average reader than by the incredibly naïve Francesca. And with the exception of that vexed protagonist, whose investigations paint her into ever tighter moral corners, none of this novel's characters achieve much dimension. They're mechanical players in a drama that is surprising mostly for its failure to surprise. --J. Kingston PierceFrom Publishers WeeklyAfter six superb historicals (A Fearsome Doubt, etc.) featuring Inspector Rutledge, a man haunted by his WWI experiences, Todd misses the mark in his first stand-alone, a predictable, unengaging story of family secrets. Francesca Hatton, an unworldly young woman who's been volunteering for the Red Cross in London since the start of the Great War, returns in 1916 to her family home in the isolated Exe Valley, where her beloved grandfather, Francis Hatton, is on his death bed. After Francis dies, she finds that he kept many things from her, ranging from large properties he owned and maintained to his personal relationships. Her confusion is only compounded when a wounded ex-soldier, whose days are numbered, appears and accuses the older Hatton of having murdered his mother decades earlier. Despite her adoration of the man who reared her and her five orphaned male cousins, she begins to question her faith in him. Those doubts lead her to reexamine the mysterious deaths of her parents and numerous other relatives, though her sleuthing is little more sophisticated than that of Nancy Drew. Given the masterful way Todd's Rutledge novels capture the horrors of trench warfare and the brutal slaughter's effect on those returning to civilian life, it's all the more surprising that his portrayal of the war and its scars here is superficial. Todd's many admirers would be advised to give this a pass and wait for the next entry in the Rutledge series. FYI: Todd is the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 61
Twelve-year-old Daniel wins a place on the New Zealand Warrior's rugby league team and becomes the youngest ever player in the history of the game. How? Well, that's a secret. A secret which will turn Daniel's life upside down and inside out, make him a media sensation – a legend in his own time. But even being a league superstar has its downside.The Flea Thing is bestselling and award-winning New Zealand author Brian Falkner's debut novel. This fun page-turner about sports and superpowers was short-listed for the 2003 LIANZA Junior Fiction Award, the Esther Glen Medal. Read about the other strange things happening at Glenfield High in The Real Thing and The Super Freak. Visit Brian's website to learn more about the author and his books: brianfalkner.com/ Views: 61
The Most Surprising Sports Hero of Our TimeFrom avid sports fans to casual culture-watchers, it seems no one can get enough of Jeremy Lin. He captured the attention of the nation in just a few weeks' time as he went from unknown underdog to rescuer of the woebegone New York Knicks. Everything from his race (Asian-American) to his alma mater (Harvard) has made Lin one of the most unusual sports stars in years. But what forces have shaped Jeremy Lin into who he is today, and what motivates him to keep striving toward his goals?Bestselling, award-winning author Ted Kluck uses his unique backgrounds in sports writing and faith writing to uncover the fascinating world of an out-of-nowhere star who continues to surprise. Views: 61
TO LOVE AND PROTECT When vulnerable beauty Alanna Hayes appeared on his doorstep with a baby in tow, Cain Caldwell didn't know what to think. On the run after uncovering evidence of secret experiments at the Coastal Island Research Park, she claimed his brother had promised to help her, but he was dead. The closer Cain got to Alanna, the more difficult it was to remember she might be involved in murder. Except this hardened lawman couldn't deny the passion rising between them, and neither could Alanna. Would Cain join the mission to save baby Simon from the mysterious forces of Nighthawk Island -- before it was too late? Views: 61
THE SHADOWS OF HISTORY ARE THEIR HOME. THE BLOOD OF HUMANS IS THEIR SUSTENANCE. NOW THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THEM….
It began at the dawn of history, when a darkness rose from deep within an Egyptian tomb. For thousands of years — long before earth was plunged into an intergalactic battle for its survival — four deathless creatures sowed seeds of destruction and chaos. Surviving on the spilled blood of warriors and innocents from ancient Greece to the ashes of Nazi Germany, the creatures have played a role in conflicts great and small. Now, bound by their common ancestry, separated by their own devious ambitions, and armed with mankind's own modern tools of destruction, the deathless ones know that their time has come — and they have been called together by one brilliant leader. His name is Nosferatu. His vision is to become a god on earth. His ultimate weapon will be a Holy Grail, a force that no mortal man can defeat… but his deadliest enemy may be one of his own…. Views: 61
The year is 1951 and eighteen-year-old Elli and her mother arrive in New York City. Finally they can leave behind bitter Holocaust memories and become real Americans! From office filing all day, to the challenge of night school, to interpreting the intentions of Alex, a handsome and persistent doctor, Elli soon finds learning English is only half as hard as "making it" in this new world. Against a backdrop of soda shops, skyscrapers, and subways, acclaimed author Livia Bitton-Jackson fuses old-world tradition and modern dreams, in this vivid kaleidoscope of immigrant America. Views: 61
