A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright — a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever — ruined — unless I can break the spell.Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly. Views: 63
From Publishers Weekly In SF veteran Broderick's brain-stretching stand-alone, 20-something August Seebeck enters a mysterious game, the Contest of Worlds, in which some of the godlike players are his brothers and sisters, battling against terminatorish "deformers." August discovers superhuman powers of his own and falls in love with a heartbreakingly beautiful female player, Lune. But the game's ultimate purpose remains unclear while the context of the action keeps changing, as August zips through multiple universes. The more he learns of other worlds, the less he can be sure of—but the more his decisions matter. As things get increasingly serious for August, the story's tone remains wry, packed with offhand literary references and bookish puns. Broderick (The Dreaming) pays homage to Fritz Leiber's tales of alternate histories and to Roger Zelazny's Amber series; the narrative also resembles Robert A. Heinlein's The Number of the Beast in its cheerful trashing of comfortable but undependable certainties. In a universe where nothing can be taken at face value, scientists and SF readers need to be ready to move on, to ask the next question. Broderick shows that the effort needn't be a grim duty but actually fun. (May 3) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From *Starred Review* August Seebeck fears that Great-aunt Tansy's claim that for several weeks there have been dead bodies in the bathroom on Saturday nights means she's losing her grip. When he meets two women coming in his second-floor bathroom window to dispose of a body, it's shocking, despite Tansy's warning. August learns he and the women have something in common--the string of symbols that is etched into their feet. Moreover, the women's light-show trick to make him forget the encounter doesn't work. And, anyway, the 11 Seebeck siblings are players in a Game of Worlds, and none of the others believe August is their brother until certain proof--more than just the foot-hieroglyphics--is forthcoming. August travels a multitude of worlds, visiting siblings and falling in love with Lune (one of the women in the bathroom--not a Seebeck), bent on understanding the game in which they're all players, while his hitherto-unknown family squabble over his sudden appearance and are attacked by the Deformers, their opponents in the game. Broderick's influences are writ large even before he confesses in the afterword that they are Roger Zelazny and Fritz Lieber. He follows in the footsteps of giants, and does it elegantly, drawing further inspiration from contemporary scientific thought. Regina SchroederCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 63
Playing girlfriend to a werewolf isn't easy and Maddy has enough problems, like an abusive step-father, a greedy loan shark and way too much math homework. But Gareth is everything a man should be: six feet tall, green eyes, black hair to die for... and somewhat animalistic tendencies. How is Maddy supposed to straighten out her life while helping him become Alpha of his old werewolf pack? Views: 63
Patisserie Chef Christopher Miller is looking forward to Christmas alone, then his boss calls him with a last minute order—the order of his dreams. Just as he is about to make the delivery Chris’s world turned upside down by an explosive,fateful meeting with Fred, a chocolate Labrador. The dog’s owner turns out to be Robin Summers, a 1 night stand from months before, a man Chris could not forget. Views: 63
Strictly off limits to the public, Plum Island is home to virginal beaches, cliffs, forests, ponds — and the deadliest germs that have ever roamed the planet. Lab 257 blows the lid off the stunning true nature and checkered history of Plum Island. It shows that the seemingly bucolic island in the shadow of New York City is a ticking biological time bomb that none of us can safely ignore. Based on declassified government documents, in-depth interviews, and access to Plum Island itself, this is an eye-opening, suspenseful account of a federal government germ laboratory gone terribly wrong. For the first time, *Lab 257* takes you deep inside this secret world and presents startling revelations on virus outbreaks, biological meltdowns, infected workers, the periodic flushing of contaminated raw sewage into area waters, and the insidious connections between Plum Island, Lyme disease, and the deadly West Nile virus. The book also probes what's in store for Plum Island's new owner, the Department of Homeland Security, in this age of bioterrorism. Lab 257 is a call to action for those concerned with protecting present and future generations from preventable biological catastrophes. Views: 63
This celebration of what is perhaps the most influential of all poetic forms takes haiku back to its Japanese roots, beginning with poems by the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century masters Basho, Busson, and Issa, and going all the way up to the late twentieth century to provide a survey of haiku through the centuries, in all its minimalist glory.The translators have balanced faithfulness to the Japanese with an appreciation of the unique spirit of each poem to create English versions that evoke the joy and wonder of the originals with the same astonishing economy of language. An introduction by the translators and short biographies of the poets are included. Reproductions of woodblock prints and paintings accompany the poems. Views: 63
FOUNDATIONS OF BLOOD... Ian Davion--Prince's Champion of the Federated Suns--is a warrior who has lost his way. Amidst political rmoil and the shifting fortunes of war, he struggles to find his destiny.... Julian's First Davion Guards have restored order on Terra. The Republic is closing its borders, keeping its core intact while leaving farther-flung worlds to fend for themselves. But The Republic is not only being attacked from without--it's being undermined from within, and the hunt for seditionists continues. Ex-knight and now-senator Conner Rhys-Monroe still leads the fight to destroy The Republic from the inside. He is expertly opposed by Countess Tara Campbell, leader of the Highlanders and The Republic's best hope on the outside. Terra lies at the center of their titanic tug-of-war, where Julian struggles to keep his footing in a situation shifting like blood-drenched quicksand. Views: 63
The fate of mankind teeters on the edge of the megalith union. Just as life was returning to normal for Brendan as a college freshman, the hands of fate intervene and adventure besets him again in the second installment of the best-selling Celtic Mythos series. Elathan, the golden god of Celtic lore, is reborn out of the ashes of a dead king and evil witch. Through Brendan and his family, Elathan maneuvers the tendrils of destiny, seeking to gain ultimate power at the expense of all humanity. Dogged by giants, alphyns, and ruas Brendan, Dorian, Lizzie, and a new cast of characters risk it all to unravel the mystery of the ultimate foe. With Corways under attack and Brendan's father captured by a forgotten enemy, can Brendan and his allies prevent the end of days? As the megalith union looms, Brendan and his friends must look to the past to prevent a future where Elathan reigns supreme. If you liked Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Fablehaven, you won't... Views: 63
Jill Ciment’s writing has been called “luminous . . . sad, affecting” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times) and “rich in observation and insight” (Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times).
Now in her new novel, her third, Jill Ciment turns her eye to a painter’s world in the early years of the twentieth century and tells the story of an American woman, an acclaimed artist who’s been stranded on an island for thirty years.
The novel opens in New York in the 1970s. Sara Ehrenreich has returned to New York to much fanfare—Life magazine has arranged for her return and is doing a big feature on her. Sara had been living on a remote speck in the South Pacific for three decades, and she has returned to the city of her childhood and early adulthood, a city made totally different by thirty years of technological and social change.
As Sara experiences all of the sensations of entering a new world, the novel flashes back to tell the story of her life, of herself at eighteen, a Lower East Side shopgirl meeting the man who changes the course of her life—Philip Ehrenreich, a banker’s son and revolutionary, an avant-garde artist who hasn’t made art in years.
Philip introduces Sara to everything from Dada to Marx, from free love to automatic drawing, from trayf to absinthe. Philip sees her art as his chance to create by proxy. They fall in love, marry, and form a collaboration, and by the late 1920s, she takes her place among a small group of famous American Modernists.
As the Depression hits and his family money and her corps of collectors vanish, Philip and Sara are forced to embrace the proletarian life that he had romanticized and that she had fled. In desperation, they sell what is left of his prized collection of Oceanic masks, and their lives are forever altered when one of Philip’s patrons hires him to collect masks in the South Seas.
Sara and Philip book passage on a Japanese ship that drops them off on Ta’un’uu, an island famous both for its masks and its full-body tattooing. The ship that was to pick them up never returns, bewilderment turns into panic, then resignation, and, finally, to a peace neither husband nor wife has known before. When the Second World War breaks out months later and Philip and half the men of the island are killed by Japanese soldiers, Sara turns to her painting for salvation. She learns the art of tattooing and begins the painting that will be her masterpiece—the tattooing of her own body.
A beautifully written novel, powerful in its portrayal of the world it creates and the ideas it is taken up with—ideas of immortality through art, and of the here-and-now-ness of life and experience. Views: 63
Professional psychic Abby Cooper has invested in a fixer-upper, hoping to make a killing in the real estate market. But a killing of another kind puts her plans awry, as the ghost of a murdered woman and some troublesome poltergeists lead her into a mystery that stretches all the way back to World War II. Views: 63
A mesmerising novel of the film industry and one man's life that charts a path for all of us.Larrikin Australian actor Randy Storm had it all. Swept up by Hollywood in the 1950s he had the looks, charm and talent to take on the world. But by the 1990s he's forgotten, burned out after a life of movie star excess.When producer Michael Matthews meets the once great Randy Storm, he is surprised to find a man who is at peace with himself. Both he and researcher Janie Callendar set out to discover the source of this inner peace. Meanwhile his agent Ariel Margoles finds out that Australia's world acclaimed film director Patricia Jordan is making the hottest Hollywood film of the year and she sees a chance for Randy to be a star once more.But just as Randy is about to reach his pinnacle, a secret from his past threatens to bring down his greatest triumph. . . Views: 63
