The crow king is dead, and in the field below all the creatures tremble as the Murder gathers to choose a new king from the rival sons Sintus, Milus and Nascus. When the crows drive everyone from the field to keep the reckoning secret, the quail Isyl, Cormo and Harlequin believe they must simply follow their elders to safety.But when the crows turn against each other, the forest becomes full of danger. In the confusion the last wolf, Asmod, shucks off his isolation and begins to raise an army to claim the kingdom for his own. As hidden truths are brought to light and enormous sacrifi ces are made Isyl and his friends must make an epic journey and an unthinkable alliance if the lesser animals are to survive. Views: 6
In humankind’s Third Expansion, the species has spread throughout the galaxy and assimilated all challengers but the mysterious Xeelee; in a 20,000-year stalemate, humans have kept them at bay in the galaxy’s center. Time travel (used by both sides to gather intelligence) creates numerous “drafts” of time lines, but apart from this uncertainty the endless war has brought about a strangely static human society. Soldiers and pilots are bred in vats near the Front and taught only war; few survive past their teens. When Prius, a young pilot, captures a Xeelee ship and takes it to the recent past for study, an innovative program is begun to develop new weapons technology. While Prius Blue (the pilot from the future time line, now stuck in this one) is sent to the Front, the younger Prius Red (from this time line) must travel throughout the solar system with an eccentric but brilliant scientist in a quest for knowledge needed for the anti-Xeelee weapon. Working with widely differing elements of society, Red learns many secrets he’d rather not know, adjusts to new knowledge, and grows into a leadership role: he heads up Exultant, the elite squadron tasked with deploying the new weapon. Even in a genre characterized by unfettered imagination, Baxter’s future universe is extraordinary in its depth, breadth, and richness of invention. Cutting-edge physics, subtle humor, time-travel paradoxes, and loopy twists combine to give readers a wonderfully original sci-fi experience. It can be read independently of Coalescent , which is set in the same universe but mostly in the present age. Views: 6
Jack Liffey, a decent guy, compassionate and brave, again finds himself on a case that turns familiar city streets into dangerous war zones.Liffey's city is greater Los Angeles, his turf the forgotten suburbs, run-down neighbourhoods, and volatile ethnic communities. To the anguish and despair of parents and protectors a city like LA holds lots of places for sons and daughters to hide, or be hidden. Liffey understands loss. First he lost his job in the aerospace industry, then he lost his wife and daughter. In his unerring ability to track down missing children, however, he has found his true calling. His newest case takes him deep into Los Angeles' Vietnamese community, where a beautiful young woman, Phuong, has disappeared. But the exotic realities and complex alliances of Little Saigon are not all that Liffey has to contend with as he uncovers the corporate fraud and feuds surrounding plans to develop a new airport at El Toro Marine Base. Views: 6
1890s New Orleans keeps its secrets like a sultry courtesan, but when the prim and proper Miss Eve spied Chapin, her husband, with a little blonde secret of his own, her anger turns to longing. How can she learn to ignite her husband's passion? Her brother-in-law, the enigmatic Dewel, suggests the highly skilled maids from the School of Domestic Endeavour. They arrive, along with the bewitching Monique, to train Eve in the ways of Seduction. However, things spin rapidly out of control. The maids are not what they seem, and lessons in deportment soon turn into a spanking party! When Chapin discovers these curious trysts, Eve fears she will lose her prestigious place in New Orleans society. Then Chapin's covert life unravels to reveal the biggest secret of all. Mc MacNeal is the undisputed queen of kinky erotica set in the world of corsets and chaperones. Views: 6
Tea shop owner Theodosia Browning knows that something's brewing in the high society of Charleston—something other than her newest tea...The Indigo Tea Shop, Charleston's favorite spot of tea, has just come out with its latest flavor: Gunpowder Green. Theodosia Browning cannot wait to hear its praises as it is unveiled at the annual yacht race. But when she hears the crack of an antique gun meant to end the race, a member of Charleston's elite falls dead. Theodosia has a hunch that his demise was no accident—and will go out of her way to prove it. But if she doesn't act fast, Theo will find herself in hot water with some boiling-mad Charlestonians—and more than a little gun-chai...# Includes a delicious recipe and tea-making tips! Views: 6
Poor, plain spinster Bette is compelled to survive on the condescending patronage of her socially superior relatives in Paris: her beautiful, saintly cousin Adeline, the philandering Baron Hulot and their daughter Hortense. Already deeply resentful of their wealth, when Bette learns that the man she is in love with plans to marry Hortense, she becomes consumed by the desire to exact her revenge and dedicates herself to the destruction of the Hulot family, plotting their ruin with patient, silent malice. Cousin Bette is a gripping tale of violent jealousy, sexual passion and treachery, and a brilliant portrayal of the grasping, bourgeois society of 1840s Paris. The culmination of the Comédie humaine, Balzac's epic chronicle of his times, it is one of his greatest triumphs as a novelist. Views: 6
Clay Bell spent the last six years fighting Indians, rustlers, and the wilderness itself to make the B-Bar ranch the prize of the Deep Creek Range. But Jud Devitt, a ruthless speculator from the East, now threatens everything Clay has worked for. Devitt, holding a contract with the Mexican Central to deliver railroad ties, wants to harvest timber off the land where Clay grazes his cattle. Backing Devitt are shady politicians, a dishonest banker, and fifty of the toughest lumberjacks in the county. But as Colleen Riley, Devitt's fiancée, realizes the brutal game he's playing, her disapproval of his actions, and Clay Bell's obvious integrity and charm, pull her toward a destiny that will tip the scales in their bloody battle over timber and cattle.From the Paperback edition. Views: 6
More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA Views: 6
Sarah Fortune, lawyer and professional mistress,
returns in an intriguing mystery which is as much about the identity of
the human spirit as it is about the unexplained death of an unknown
girl.
Richard Beaumont hoped to see the elusive chough on the Dover
cliffs. Instead he sees a young woman falling to her death. No-one
recognises her, no-one has reported her missing, and Richard returns,
shaken, to his new young wife, but instead of finding solace in Lilian's
company, he locks himself away and obsessively paints the scene of the
woman's broken body on the rocks. His cool behaviour towards her takes
Lilian to the flat below and the wordly-wise company of Sarah Fortune.
But Sarah, once Richard's lover, is awkward with her and is also
preoccupied with her brother's unbreakable habit of cat-burglary, and
the suspicious traffic to the penthouse at the top of the mansion block.
Unable to forget what he witnessed, Richard returns to the coast and
is befriended by the local police surgeon. Recently widowed, John is
depressed, not so much by his wife's death but by the realisation that
his marriage had been a loveless void. Recognising the symptoms,
Richard introduces him to Sarah, so that she can no longer ignore the
Beaumonts' troubles and is drawn into helping to trace where the dead
girl came from and in so doing reveals a trade which is both
breath-takingly lucrative and chillingly cruel. Views: 6
“A Courtesan
needs to be practical and clever and cold-hearted. There is nothing of romance
in it, or if there is, then it is very fleeting and must be suppressed.” Madame Aphrodite.
The boldest, most unconventional of the
three Greentree sisters, Marietta believes her best course would be to emulate
her natural mother, the notorious courtesan Madame Aphrodite. Being woefully
unschooled in the ways of passion, however, Marietta, at Aphrodite’s
insistence, must first prove herself by properly seducing one man: Max Valland,
the moody, disgraced, and disinherited former Lord Roseby.
With his life and reputation already in
tatters, Max is most willing to help the exquisite young minx practice her
chosen craft—though he is surprised at the depth of his desire…and by her most
unprofessional tenderness. But Marietta’s plans are threatened by the dangerous
mysteries swirling around this disarmingly sensual gentleman..and by a heart
that urges her to break the courtesan’s cardinal rule: never all in love.
The boldest, most unconventional of the three Greentree sisters, Marietta believes her best course would be to emulate her natural mother, the notorious courtesan Madame Aphrodite. Being woefully unschooled in the ways of passion, however, Marietta, at Aphrodite's insistence, must first prove herself by properly seducing one man: Max Valland, the moody, disgraced, anddisinherited former Lord Roseby.With his life and reputation already in tatters, Max is most willing to help the exquisite young minx practice her chosen craft—though he is surprised at the depth of his desire . . . and by her most unprofessional tenderness. But Marietta's plans are threatened by the dangerous mysteries swirling around this disarmingly sensual gentleman . . . and by a heart that urges her to break the courtesan's cardinal rule: never fall in love.About the AuthorSara Bennett has always had an interest in history, and to survive a series of mind-numbing jobs, she turned to writing historical romance. She lives in an old house with her husband and two children in the state of Victoria, Australia, where she tries to keep the house and garden tidy, but rarely succeeds—she'd rather be writing or reading. Views: 6
Leonard and Rosemary Cannon summon their middle-aged offspring, along with partners and children, to the family home in the Welsh Marches for the Christmas holiday. As the gathered family settle in to their first Christmas together for some years, the grown siblings - Rodney, Jonny and Gwen - are surprised when they are invited to each put stickers on the furniture and items they wish to inherit from their parents. Disputed Land is narrated by Leonard and Rosemary's thirteen-year-old grandson, Theo, who observes how from these innocent beginnings age-old fissures open up in the relationships of those around him. Looking back at this Christmas gathering from his own middle-age - a narrator at once nostalgic and naïve - Theo Cannon remembers his imperious grandmother Rosemary, alpha-male uncle Jonny, abominable twin cousins Xan and Baz; he recalls his love for his grandfather Leonard and the burgeoning feelings for his cousin Holly. And he asks... Views: 6
Science Fiction/Fantasy. 56870 words long. Views: 6
