A SIR HENRY MERRIVALE MYSTERY. No one expected a clergyman's daughter from East Roystead to author a scandalous bestseller, but when Monica Stanton published Desire she quickly got hired at Albion Films. Expecting to adapt her own work, she is instead assigned to help scriptwriter William Cartwright adapt his latest detective novel. Almost immediately, a series of mysterious attempts on her life begin, and the flamboyant Sir Henry Merrivale is called in to investigate. But can he see through the intrigue to seek out the perpetrator before it's too late? Views: 24
Put a Lid on It, Donald E. Westlake's most recent novel, was published in Mysterious Press hardcover in 4/02. It will be published in mass market paperback in 3/03 to tie in with the hardcover release of MONEY FOR NOTHING.*Westlake's critically acclaimed The Hook (Mysterious Press hardcover, 3/00) won a "Book World Rave" for 2000 in the Washington Post Book World and has over 90,000 hardcover and paperback copies in print combined. The Ax (Mysterious Press, 1997) reached #9 on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list, hit the New York Times business best-seller list, and has over 146,000 copies in hardcover and paperback print combined.Westlake's novels have a history of Hollywood success: Mel Gibson's Payback was the #3 money earner of the spring 1999 movie season, and What's the Worst That Could Happen? earned more than $50 million at the box office. Films based on four of his novels are in development.Amazon.com ReviewProving the old adage that there's no such thing as the windfall promised by the title, Westlake starts this funny divertissement with an intriguing premise: Mr. American Everyman, young, ambitious, decent, honorable husband and father, has been receiving a check for $1,000 once a month from an unknown benefactor for seven years. Just when Josh Redmont has finally stopped worrying about where the money comes from or what it means, a stranger with a foreign accent approaches him on the Fire Island ferry and clues him in. Therein hangs the tale of who's behind Josh good fortune and what kind of bill has come due for all those tax-free dollars. Unbeknownst to our hapless hero, he's been a "sleeper agent" whose paymaster has awakened him just in time to play a big role in a political assassination. How Josh gets out of a mess he had no idea he was in drives the lively narrative to its breathless conclusion. Westlake is the undisputed master of the caper genre--although Money for Nothing may not be as deviously convoluted or sidesplittingly comic as some of his earlier novels (The Ax, Put a Lid On It), it's well worth the reader's attention and appreciation. --Jane AdamsFrom Publishers WeeklyProlific MWA Grand Master Westlake's latest novel has neither the engaging characters of his Dortmunder series nor the comic zing of his previous stand-alone, Put a Lid On It (2002), but it does offer an entertaining answer to the timeless debate over whether anything in life is ever truly free. Josh Redmont, a struggling New York office temp, receives a $1,000 check in the mail from United States Agent, a firm he's never heard of and, despite his best attempts, is unable to contact. He decides to deposit the check, and it clears. So begins the biggest mistake of his life, as checks arrive each month for the next seven years, seemingly a tax-free error in his favor. Then one day a man on the Fire Island ferry tells Redmont he's from U.S. Agent and states, "You are now active." By now a successful advertising executive with a wife and young son, Redmont finds his life turned upside-down as he's drawn into a terrorist plot to assassinate a visiting dignitary. His only hope is a disgruntled operative, Nimrin, who originally "recruited" him as a mole or sleeper agent without his knowledge. With time running out, Redmont must find two other moles recruited by Nimrin and turn the tables on the terrorists. Westlake creates a fascinating scenario, yet fails to fully develop Redmont and his fellow players. Some of the lesser characters are often more interesting than Redmont, who for all his charm and wit still comes across as a rather dull yuppie.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 24
Two groups of teens—those waiting to be saved and those doing the saving—are in a race against time and a battle against Mother Nature after an avalanche traps them in an isolated cabin in this chilling novel."I promise it'll be a weekend you'll never forget." A trip like that is exactly what Matt was hoping for—a fun adventure. A daring escape. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go cross country skiing in a thrilling but dangerous pass through the Rocky Mountains. The perfect way for Matt to forget about his disappointing father and maybe let loose a little with his best friend and a group of carefree adrenaline junkies. But then their guide takes them off-path...and straight into an avalanche. By the time they make it safely into an abandoned cabin, one skier is dead and another severely injured. Trapped with no heat, no water, and no radio the group decides to wait it out. Help will come. It has to. Until it doesn't.... Views: 24
Rabbi Aharon Handalman’s expertise with Torah code—rearranging words and letters in the Bible—has uncovered a man’s name. Who is Yosef Kobinski, and why did God hide his name in His sacred text? To find the answers, Aharon begins an investigation, and discovers that Kobinski, a Polish rabbi, was not only a mystic but also a brilliant physicist who authored what may be the most important lost work in human history. In Seattle, Jill Talcott’s work with energy wave equations is being linked to Yosef Kobinski, now deceased, who claimed nearly fifty years ago that he discovered an actual physical law of good and evil. But when Jill’s lab explodes, she is forced to flee for her life, realizing that her cutting-edge research is far more dangerous than she ever has imagined. And that powerful people have a stake in what she may have uncovered. Now Jill, her research partner, and a writer fascinated by Kobinski are about to meet Handalman in Poland—all four desperate to solve the astonishing riddle. Searching through the past, they trace Kobinski to a clearing in the woods near Auschwitz. And in that clearing they come face-to-face with the inexplicable: that Kobinski, drawing on his own alchemy of science and the Kabbalah, made himself vanish from the death camp in a blaze of fire. Now, with intelligence agents hot on their trail, the investigators have no choice. They must follow Kobinski—to wherever he may have gone. Views: 24
Gabriella's goal was to help abuse victims avoid the horrors she’d experienced herself. Life was good. Until HE found her again. She knew he wouldn’t stop until every piece of her was ruined. Kolson was ruled by his dark past and didn’t care to be involved with someone whose life was as messy as his. One look at Gabriella and all bets were off. Two strangers. One night that changed their lives. Views: 23
An Unwilling MistressDuncan, Lord Risley, is challenged by a bet to try his luck with actress Madeleine Charron--when he should be looking for a suitable wife. He takes her to dinner, and discovers strong feelings for this beautiful woman who is so clearly a lady. But how can he contemplate marrying outside his class?Madeleine yearns to be accepted by society, but she is not willing to become any man's chère amie. The burning question is: what is more important--love or reputation? Views: 23
A head-on collision with burned-out rodeo star Reid Alexander is the last thing actress Cammi Carlisle needs! Pregnant, widowed and considered a "has-been," Cammi is returning to her family's Texas ranch in search of forgiveness. Little does she know that Reid wants her forgiveness....Though there's sizzling chemistry between them, Reid knows a relationship would never work. Unbeknownst to Cammi, Reid was the one driving the pickup that killed her mother years ago. Even though it was a tragic accident with no one at fault, how will she ever forgive him when he can't even forgive himself? Views: 23
"Like Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato, All That's Left to Tell celebrates not just the power of storytelling but the deeply human need for it in even the most dire situations. Alternately gripping and dreamy, Daniel Lowe's debut imagines what the stories we tell reveal about ourselves, and how they may save us."—Stewart O'Nan, author of West of SunsetEvery night, Marc Laurent, an American taken hostage in Pakistan, is bound and blindfolded. And every night, a woman he knows only as Josephine visits his cell. At first, her questions are mercenary: is there anyone back home who will pay the ransom? But when Marc can offer no name, she asks him a question about his daughter that is even more terrifying than his captivity. And so begins a strange yet increasingly comforting ritual, in which Josephine and Marc tell each other stories. As these stories build upon one another, a father and daughter start to find their way toward... Views: 23
Can the past show you the way home? Charming and memorable, The Right Place is an Australian novel, combining warm romance with family drama and the longing to fit in. Perfect for readers who love The Missing Pieces of Us by Fleur McDonald and Josephine Moon. With her dreams of dominating Melbourne's fashion scene in tatters, Nella Martini has returned to the last place she wants to be – Torrente Blu, the market garden inherited from her late nonna. She just needs to clean up the property, sell it quickly, and avoid run–ins with her neighbour: surly Adrian Tomaso.But when Nella comes across her nonna's cookbook things start to change. The place, with its endless tomato plants and gallons of olive oil in storage, gets under her skin, as does Adrian with his passion for this life. But her dreams have always meant being anywhere but here – haven't they? Or has the right place been here all this time?For Esta Feliciano in the 1950s, the right place was her Italian... Views: 23
Returning home to the Scottish Highlands after battling the English, Tayg Munro receives a hero’s welcome—and a shocking ultimatum. In order to take his place as heir to the chiefdom of Culrain, he must choose a wife within the month or have one chosen for him. Angered by his family's decree, Tayg delays the inevitable by volunteering for a mission for the king that takes him deep into the Highlands. Preoccupied by his marital obligation, the brooding warrior sets out with no hint of the fateful encounter that awaits him... Catriona MacLeod is known throughout the Highlands as the Shrew of Assynt, thanks to her razor-sharp tongue and her unwillingness to yield to her five brothers. When she's told that her eldest brother has promised her hand in marriage to a man she has good reason to hate, she flees into the Scottish wilderness, determined to seek the king’s intervention in her plight. When she reluctantly joins forces with a handsome traveler, she cannot anticipate the treacherous plot that will soon embroil them—nor the passion that will ignite between them.Review"Talli Roland is rapidly running up my ladder of favorite authors...If you haven't read anything yet from Roland, get her on your list!" —Chick Lit Plus "All of Talli's books are funny, romantic and easy to read, and you find yourself constantly turning the pages, becoming involved in the story and wanting to find out more." —Kim the Bookworm "Talli's writing is fresh, lively and different. Her words carry you along and her characters make you care what happens to them." —Bookersatz About the AuthorLaurin Wittig was marked by her Scottish heritage at birth, when her parents chose her uniquely spelled name from a plethora of Scottish family monikers. At ten, she attended her first MacGregor clan gathering and her first ceilidh, where she danced with the hereditary chieftain of the clan. At eleven, she visited Scotland, and it has fueled her imagination ever since. She studied anthropology at Brown University before launching a career in the computer industry. But as a voracious reader, it was only natural she would become a storyteller too. She penned her first book when her children were young, writing whenever they napped. Her novel The Devil of Kilmartin won the National Readers' Choice Award for short historical romance, and all of her books have appeared on the Amazon Top 100 Historical Romance and Top 100 Historical Fiction lists. Wittig lives in southeastern Virginia with her two children, her husband, and their rescue Eskie. Views: 23
