From New York Times bestselling author of A Cat in the Stacks mystery series, a novel about murder, fiction and the deep, deep South...A Deep South Mystery (#3)For Andy Carpenter, graduate school is stressful enough without adding romantic complications to the mix. First, Andy has to contend with the presence of Rob Hayward, newly enrolled in the history PhD program. He thought Rob was out of his life for good, but now he has to confront his unresolved feelings and not let his work suffer.When Andy discovers the body of fellow graduate student Charlie Harper in the university library, his ex, Rob, looks like the chief suspect in the murder. And just what was the relationship between Rob and Charlie?Andy and his best friend, Maggie McLendon, agree that Rob isn't a murderer, and they decide the best way to exonerate him is to figure out who really killed Charlie. Who else might have had a motive for murder? When a second murder occurs,... Views: 542
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Day After Tomorrow and The Day of Confession comes The Exile, an all new heart-pounding thriller
The Los Angeles Police Department's famed 5-2 squad boards a commuter train in an attempt to take a cold-blooded killer into custody. John Barron, the newest and youngest member of the elite LAPD unit, learns quickly that the 5-2 has their own deadly system of justice, and that even the slightest protest will result in his suffering the same swift fate. Thus begins a dark, explosive struggle between good and evil—pitting Barron's squad against an exceedingly imaginative and brutal killer.
Suddenly the game widens when John flees to London with his sister, Rebecca, and they are thrown into a race against time. Pursuing them is a baroness, beautiful and cruel, who will stop at nothing to protect her family, her fortune, and her global ambitions. Her secret—spanning oceans, continents, the collapse of the USSR, even the death of the Tsars—is a stunning revelation that could catapult her to the pinnacle of world power.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. Views: 541
Twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman's mom just died, and his fisherman dad is too depressed to drag himself off the couch and go to work. So these days Skiff has to take care of everything himself. But when his dad's boat sinks, Skiff discovers it will cost thousands to buy a new engine. Skiff's lobster traps won't earn him enough, but there are bigger fish in the sea -- bluefin tuna. If he can catch one of those monster fish, Skiff just might save the boat -- and his family Views: 541
It's perilous penning this blurb. It's fine when man is modest about his work. It even affords him the aura of an invisible crown!But what about his work? Were it an art or craft, it is there for all to see.What of a literary work of an unheralded author? Well, lauding the same might raise one's eyebrows. Failing to praise wouldn't make a 'jewel-less crown' either! Why not see, if this is the great Indian novel.This is the story of the rise and fall of an ambitious man, the decline, and the decay of his conniving wife, the trials, and tribulations of their wayward son as well as the grit and gall of a spirited woman, who enters into his life. This depiction of their life and times not only pictures the facets of ambition and achievement, intrigue and betrayal, compulsion and compromise, sleaze and scandal, trial and sentence, but also portrays the possibilities of repentance and resolution, love and empathy coupled with compassion and contribution, leading to the spirituality of materialism, and that makes it the saga of our times.The story of a lifetime, truly.This story is scripted inBook One, Artha and Kama,1. Party Gone Sour2. Trauma at Tihar3. Mind of the Maligned4. Twist at Tis-Hazari5. Trial in Camera6. Dilemma of Qualms7. Moment of Reckoning8. End within End9. Vestiges of Prestige10. High on Rebound11. Bellows of Delhi12. Dicing with Life13. Spidering Spadework14. Loss to Order15. Daring the Fate16. Victims of Deceit17. Baring the Soul18. Garland of Guilt.Book Two, Dharma and Moksha1. Bliss of Being2. Collage of Crime3. Domain of the Devil4. Renaissance of Life5. Sprouts of Love6. Despair of Hope7. Turn at the Bend8. Amity of Empathy9. Day to Remember10. Spirituality of Materialism11. Sense of Reincarnation12. Epilogue.Book excerpt for the feel of its literary style - Party Gone SourThat New Year's Eve, all the nouveau riche of
New Delhi
seemed to have gathered at the Misty Nest in their ubiquitous wear. While women
wore designer dresses, men turned up in safari suits. Hosting them at their
grand dwelling in the Defense Colony were the Gautams, Prabhu and Sneha. By the
time the last guest was hugged in welcome, Gautam’s silk kurta and Sneha’s mink coat were truly crumpled. Augmenting the
warmth of their bonhomie was the Glenfiddich with soda. In time, while
the lure of the Scotch drove many into the lap of Bacchus, the allure of Venus
enticed others to ogle at the desirable. But, above all, it was Gautam’s good-humored
banter and Sneha’s sensuous charm that lent aura to that midnight rendezvous.When
the New Year was an hour away in its coming, what with the inebriated becoming
tardy in their tangos, the going got really bawdy. As Sneha too got into the act,
there was a virtual riot for a round with her. When someone went overboard to
bottom pinch her, she paid back with a belly punch that regaled the gathering.As the
gigantic clock was all set to halve the night, the antique chandeliers were put
off. When the radium hands went straight up on the dial, the ribaldry reached a
new low on the floor. At that, as the Gautams goaded all to raise their hands
to fold out the year on hand, the boozers struggled to get on to their feet to
welcome the year in the offing. But, for its part, the antique piece welcomed
the incoming year with the first of its twelve chimes that reverberated in that
sprawling banquet hall.In the
prevailing darkness, the euphoria that followed led to a fresh round of
bear-hugs amongst the sexes before the stewards switched on the chandeliers as
though to let those bear witness to the goings on. As if that translucence
showed the revelers the reality of life, sanity was restored in that exuberant
setting, and soon the pangs of hunger made the gathering scamper for the buffet
of varied cuisines, brought from the capital’s five-star restaurants.When
the hosts went up to the table to pick up their plates, a steward alerted
Gautam to an urgent telephone call. Soon, seeing her man turn all pale, Sneha
made her way to him in apprehension. When Gautam made her privy to their
unfolding tragedy in an undertone, Sneha nearly swooned into his arms. The news
of Suresh Prabhu, the heir to their business empire, hauled up in the lock-up
was enough to unnerve her. That he was booked for rape and murder as well
ravaged her soul no end. In her state of shock, she was unable to comprehend
what Gautam mumbled into her ear to lift up her spirits.Having
realized that they were attracting undue attention, Gautam led his wife into
the anteroom, leaving the gathering with a free rein on the rumor mill. The
breaking news, set in motion by someone who had eavesdropped on the hosts’
conversation, gained circulation with understandable exaggeration. And there
followed an intense debate about the eventual outcome of the current indictment
that led to the Gautams’ predicament. The indignant gathering, in one tone,
roundly censured the hosts for the fall of their only offspring. For once,
everyone seemed to agree that loose morals would only bring ruin in the end,
even for the rich and famous. Of course, even the mighty of the world are bound
to fail on the false path, so emerged the consensus. Even those who professed
closeness to the Gautams maintained that they knew all along that things would
come to this pass with Suresh, sooner than later.Such
are the ways of the world that the lows of life would turn the admirers into
critics, and what is worse; make the naive speak as the know-all.Closeting
with Sneha, Gautam assured her that he would pull out all the stops to free
Suresh in no time. But Sneha was terrified that the magnitude of the indictment
might be beyond the endurance of their son. In spite of her awareness of their
political clout and the loopholes of law, her sixth sense gave a dissenting
note, making her apprehensive about the possibility of her son coming clean out
of this messy case. But as hope coupled with her confidence in her go-getter
man calmed her nerves a little, Gautam led her back into the banquet hall.When
the besieged couple resurfaced, what with everyone feigning camaraderie and
volunteering help, hypocrisy seemed to rule the roost on the human stage. As if
to show up the fallacy of human sympathy, appeared malice to induce innuendoes
about the perceived closeness of Sneha with the powers that be.'Why,
in this topsy-turvy,’ said a naughty one, ‘her leeway is bound to come in
handy, won’t it?’Not to
be left out, curiosity too entered the arena to tie the crowd to the unfolding
drama. When the hosts tried to make light of the incident as but a storm in the
teacup, the guests maintained that they would not desert the ship in the storm.
With his appeals for a premature adieu falling on deaf ears, Gautam left for
South Extension with an entrapped feeling. Thereafter, preyed upon by her
guests, Sneha remained a prisoner in her own palace. Views: 539
From C.J. Cherryh, one of science fiction′s greatest writers and a 3-time Hugo Award "Best Novel" winner, comes the exciting and long-awaited follow-up to Hammerfall, the second novel of the Gene Wars, now in mass market.
In the second volume of "The Gene Wars," C. J. Cherryh further explores the captivating new universe where two interstellar empires, scarred by nanotechnology weaponry, hover in an uneasy detente. Perched at the edge of the galaxy, tiny Concord Station holds the balance of the universe within its carefully regulated worlds. For, created to carefully monitor the crucial desert planet below, it lies in the tenuous intersection between the territories of Earth and the alien Ondat.
Marak Trin Tain has saved a planet′s people from total destruction, when the implacable ondat sent down a hammerfall to destroy the planet and keep its deadly nanoceles from changing life and evolution forever. But the regrowing planet is fragile, and a deadly cataclysm could destroy Marak--and with him, the hope for peace within the universe.
Meanwhile, on Concord, an unexpected ship from Earth disrupts the uneasy truces between human and alien, and the consequences could restart the terrible Gene Wars that once destroyed most of humanity. Views: 538
Colin McElreath, Viscount Grantham, has sold his soul to the devil—a devil of an irate English father. For cash. Colin is about to become a very wealthy man—a very wealthy married man.
The powerful Baron Davies urgently requires a respectable husband for Gillian, his disgraced daughter, and he sees Colin as the perfect candidate. When Colin balks, Davies isn't above using his daughter's large dowry as an incentive—or applying a bit of blackmail. He threatens to expose the undercover work the Free Fellows do for the government, and as a charter member of the Free Fellow League, Colin has sworn to protect the League at all cost. Also someone has been masquerading as Colin, which indirectly landed Gillian in her predicament, so Colin is faced with no choice.
He doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry at the irony. After a lifetime of avoiding society misses, he is about to marry one.
Miss Gillian Davies is about to become a blushing bride.
And Colin McElreath is merely the groom ... Views: 538
"In Jimmy Santiago Baca's haunting story collection, intricate family dramas . . . play out against the luminous, wide-open backdrop of New Mexico." —Los Angeles Times In his first foray into short fiction, award-winning poet and memoirist Jimmy Santiago Baca explores the territory where old-world traditions meet new-world ambitions, and characters try to make something of themselves, while keeping their souls intact. In "Matilda's Garden," an old farmer pines for his wife of fifty years who died in her sleep one-night months before. He is lured to the garden in the middle of the night by what he thinks is her presence, only to meet a gruesome fate. In "The Importance of a Piece of Paper," two siblings must face the brother who has betrayed them by selling his share of the family land, leaving an entire community vulnerable. In "The Three Sons of Julia," a long-suffering mother whose one request is that all her sons come home for the Fourth of... Views: 536
Laird of an ancient Scottish clan, Duncan Macrae also possesses the secret powers of the Guardians--humans with mystical abilities to control nature's forces and see into the hearts of others. Duncan has sworn to use his abilities for the greater good, but duty is eclipsed when he meets the dazzling, independent English widow Gwyneth Owens.
Though Gwynne's father was a Guardian, she believes that she has inherited only her mother's beauty, not her father's power. Then one kiss from the dangerously alluring Duncan ignites a passion that shakes her to the soul--and reveals a looming catastrophe that threatens both their nations. Only by becoming Duncan's wife, and ultimately betraying the man she loves, can she avert disaster.
As fate casts them onto opposing sides, Gwynne and Duncan must push their powers and passions beyond the most forbidden limits if they are to save their love--and secure the future. Views: 533
It is 4034. Humanity has made it to the stars. Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers, will be fortunate if he makes it to the end of the year. The Nasqueron Dwellers inhabit a gas giant on the outskirts of the galaxy, in a system awaiting its wormhole connection to the rest of civilization. In the meantime, they are dismissed as decadents living in a state of highly developed barbarism, hoarding data without order, hunting their own young & fighting pointless formal wars. Seconded to a military-religious order he's barely heard of—part of the baroque hierarchy of the Mercatoria, the latest galactic hegemony— Taak has to travel again amongst the Dwellers. He is in search of a secret hidden for half a billion years. But with each day that passes a war draws closer—a war threatening to overwhelm everything & everyone he's ever known. Views: 532
Jeremy Heere is your average high school dork. Day after day, he stares at beautiful Christine, the girl he can never have, and dryly notes the small humiliations that come his way. Until the day he learns about the "squip." A pill-sized supercomputer that you swallow, the squip is guaranteed to bring you whatever you most desire in life. By instructing him on everything from what to wear, to how to talk and walk, the squip transforms Jeremy from Supergeek to superchic. Now an off-Broadway musical!
Alternate cover: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... Views: 529
Dangerous and dashing assassin Allegreto wants to regain his rightful place in the rich Italian principality of Monteverde. Happily, the means to do so is Lady Elena, long-lost Monteverde princess and sole heir to the kingdom. Though she is promised to his rival, Allegreto seizes her ship, takes Elena prisoner, and weds her, thus beginning their battle of wits and passion. Views: 527
The minute she had opened the trunk, she knew there wasn't anything like hope in it. Just awful musty things, but each one with a kind of terrible dark halo around it. She picked up that piece of old lace. She saw that stain -- pale, brownish in color. She knew it was blood. Somebody's blood. There was violence in that trunk, and dark secrets, and she did not want to know them. Curious about the old homestead where she now lives, Jerry finds an ancient trunk in the basement that contains, among other things, an old piece of bloodstained lace, some letters, and a battered doll. The objects in the trunk have stories to tell -- stories about the Spanish Inquisition spanning nearly five hundred years and stories of secrets locked deep in the bloodlines of Jerry's ancestors.
Kathryn Lasky's powerhouse novel is a dramatic historical saga that brings the reader face-to-face with some of the worst atrocities ever committed against humankind in the name of God. But above all, it is an unforgettable coming-of-age story about a girl who, in connecting with her own past and faith, is at last able to face her own demons and liberate not only herself but also future generations of her family from the long chain of suffering and silence. Views: 527
Possessed of an extraordinary telekinetic gift, Dahlia Le Blanc has spent her life isolated from other people. And just when she thinks she's finally achieved some semblance of peace, her well-orchestrated world comes crashing down...
For a reason she cannot guess, she has become the target of deadly assassins. Suddenly no place is safe--not even the secret refuge she'd established long ago. Now she must rely on Nicolas Trevane--a dangerous warrior sent to track her down and protect her. Together they generate a scorching heat Dahlia never imagined was possible. But can she trust this man with her secrets--especially when some people would kill to get their hands on them? Views: 525
Glenroyd Ladies College has a reputation to protect - and a charred corpse in the grounds. A grisly murder is the last thing Senior Sergeant Cam Fraser needs. He's just returned to the sleepy Australian town of his youth to get over the death of his wife and son in a house blaze. Having to investigate a burnt body brings back all the ghosts and forces him to confront the layers of secrecy and lies in the Outback community he once felt part of. Cam is close to discovering the truth when fire rips through the evidence – and he's already in more danger than he could ever imagine...Review'A CERTAIN MALICE is an admirable book. Felicity Young has carefully constructed her characters, producing a very believable cast. She has a gift for description which brings alive both the country landscape and the horrors of fire.' Reviewing the Evidence. About the AuthorFrom an early age, Felicity wanted to write. But it wasn't until the pet kangaroo ate her sheep pedigree notes - the final nail in the coffin of her unsuccessful ram breeding business - that she decided to do something about it. Creme de la Crime published Felicity's first crime novel, A Certain Malice, in the UK in 2005. Since then she has written three novels in the Stevie Hooper series for Australian publisher Fremantle Press: An Easeful Death (2007) Harum Scarum (2008) and Take Out (2010). Felicity's three adult children have fled, but her husband Mick has remained with her on the family farm. When not hunched over their laptops or looking after the menagerie, they are fighting fires with their local volunteer bush fire brigade. Views: 525
