In New Chapel, Indiana, flower shop owner Abby Knight worries about her business failing. She needs new customers and knows that flowers and funerals go together like bacon and eggs. Thus she decides to open up a "tasteful" floral booth at the Funeral Director Society's annual convention. On the down side, Abby will deal with some creepy souls who appreciate the DEARLY DEPOTTED as no one else can dig them. For instance, the Colonel who is president of the FDS is the self-anointed Master Mortician who insists he knows everything there is in converting a corpse into a living tribute and is willing to tell anyone who is not afraid to ask him for a consultation. Then there is the environmental ground-hugger Eli "Green Guy" Cotton who believes Kermit is right that grieving relatives should send their loved ones off in green. The lively gala turns morbid when cosmetician to the dead Sybil "the Diva of Death Masks" Blount is killed. Unable to resist, Abby investigates who was drumming up business. Views: 112
Lily believes her boyfriend Jack is perfect, but wonders why he won't talk about his past. Wouldn't it be fantastic, she thinks, if she could talk to his ex and fill in all the gaps?Lily devises a way to do just that. But what begins as a bit of fun has unexpected – and disturbing – consequences . . .Don't Ask is a story about love, friendship and secrets. Sometimes it's better not to ask too many questions. Views: 111
Ray\'s Daughter - A Story of Manila is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Charles King is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Charles King then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 111
Review
Secrecy and a deft touch are the hallmarks of every successful burglar. Or so thinks Bernie Rhodenbarr before he gets a shocking proposal from his dentist. Sitting back in the chair, vulnerable thanks to a dental instrument in his mouth, he discovers that Dr. Sheldrake needs a burglar. "Like you, Bernie", the good dentist says. So much for leading a secret life of crime. Bernie, smart guy that he is, turns the dentist down flat. So why is Bernie picking the locks on the posh apartment of Crystal Sheldrake, the dentist's ex-wife? Because he's a burglar. Plus, Crystal has a cache of jewels worth any burglar's time. Trouble is, Crystal comes home early - and she's not alone. Bernie quickly hides in a closet, which Crystal promptly and inconveniently locks. As time goes by, Crystal rids herself of her companion and Bernie manages to pick his way out of the closet -- only to discover Crystal dead on the floor and the jewels gone. Bernie must sleuth his way out of a real mess. The Burglar in the Closet is a terrific read! -- Midwest Book Review
Product Description
It's hard to ignore someone with his hands in your mouth. Bernie Rhodenbarr's all ears when Dr. Sheldrake, his dentist, starts complaining about his detestable, soon-to-be-ex wife, and happens to mention the valuable diamonds she keeps lying around the apartment. Since Bernie's been known to supplement his income as a bookstore owner with the not-so-occasional bout of high-rise burglary, a couple of nights later he's in the Sheldrake apartment with larceny on his mind -- and has to duck into a closet when the lady of the house makes an unexpected entrance. Unfortunately he's still there when an unseen assailant does Mrs. Sheldrake in . . . and then vanishes with the jewels.
Bernie's got to come out of the closet some time. But when he does, he'll be facing a rap for a murder he didn't commit -- and for a burglary he certainly attempted -- unless he can hunt down the killer who left him hanging.
Views: 110
Allon is recovering from his grueling showdown with a Palestinian master terrorist, when terrorism comes to find him once again. An al-Qaeda suspect is killed in London, and photographs are found on his computer-photographs that lead Israeli intelligence to suspect that al-Qaeda is planning one of its most audacious attacks ever. To Allon, there is something terribly familiar about the information, something horrifyingly close--but even he does not realize how close. Urgently, he throws himself into the hunt, but there may simply not be enough of anything: enough time, enough facts, enough luck. An extraordinary enemy walks among them . . . and he's just getting started. Filled with remarkable characters and breathtaking double and triple turns of plot, The Messenger solidifies Silva's reputation as his generations' finest writer of international thrillers. Views: 109
In Hester Browne's "deliciously addictive" (Cosmopolitan) bestseller The Little Lady Agency, Melissa Romney-Jones transformed herself from doormat to diva as Honey, London's premier freelance girlfriend. Now, Melissa is about to take Manhattan, and its clueless bachelors, by storm!With the Little Lady Agency doing a booming business back home, Melissa joins her dashing American boyfriend, Jonathan Riley, for an extended holiday in Manhattan. But she's soon out of her depth among Jonathan's hard-charging friends and his interfering ex-wife. And while she's all for shopping and sight-seeing, a covert work opportunity is an irresistible temptation -- a project that soon lands her in the tabloids! Now, a hilarious and heartbreaking chain of events may force Melissa to choose between the man she loves and the unique man-handling business into which she has poured her heart and soul....From Publishers WeeklyAs readers of The Little Lady Agency know, Melissa Romney-Jones makes her living by offering helpless London bachelors "every girlfriend service a man could need, except sex and laundry." Her clients know her only as Honey Blennerhesket, but her up-and-coming American realtor boyfriend, Jonathan Riley, loves the real Melissa. His invitation for her to stay with him in New York for a month sets up the action in this delightful, Atlantic-straddling sequel. Melissa is initially unsure about the holiday—business is booming and her personal life is overflowing with drama—but she is soon noshing on bagels and strolling through Central Park. Jonathan begins making noise about getting engaged, but what would happen to Melissa's beloved agency? An observant and witty narrator, Melissa provides a grab bag of nifty outsider observations (Kate's Paperie is "a vast temple to stationery-based politeness"; an Upper East Side apartment building is "more lavishly appointed than most London hotel bars"), though Americans' dialogue can come off a bit stiffly British. Browne's series (a sequel is not so subtly hinted) is a bright spot in a bloated genre. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistBrowne's follow-up to The Little Lady Agency (2006) finds Melissa Romney-Jones still happily dating handsome Jonathan Riley and running the Little Lady Agency, the business she created to help socially challenged men. When her flatmate Nelson kicks Melissa out of their apartment so it can be renovated, Jonathan invites her to accompany him on an extended business trip to New York. Tempted by the opportunity to experience life in the glamorous city, Melissa agrees, only to be faced with constant reminders that Jonathan's ex-wife, Cindy, resides in the same town. While at a party hosted by friends of Jonathan and Cindy, Melissa runs into Godric Ponsonby, an English actor she knew (and fooled around with) in high school. Godric's agent immediately latches on to Melissa, hoping that Melissa can help tame Godric's bad manners, but Melissa's willingness to help creates friction between her and Jonathan. Lighthearted and full of funny moments, Browne's second novel is sure to charm fans of her first. Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 108
"If you live near the jungle, you will realise that what is real and what is not real is not always clear. In the forest there is not a big gap between the two."A Datin recalls her romance with an orang bunian. A teenage pontianak struggles to balance homework, bossy aunties, first love, and eating people. An earth spirit gets entangled in protracted negotiations with an annoying landlord, and Chang E spins off into outer space, the ultimate metaphor for the Chinese diaspora.The ebook edition of Campbell-nominated author Zen Cho's short story collection SPIRITS ABROAD features 15 speculative short stories, author commentary, and an ebook-only cover by artist Likhain (likhain.net)."The stories in Spirits Abroad succeed in both interrogating the premise of speculative fiction and Malaysiana by combining the two in unique, charming, and often deeply moving ways." - The Star Views: 107
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Renowned inventor Kurzweil (_The Age of Spiritual Machines_) may be technology's most credibly hyperbolic optimist. Elsewhere he has argued that eliminating fat intake can prevent cancer; here, his quarry is the future of consciousness and intelligence. Humankind, it runs, is at the threshold of an epoch ("the singularity," a reference to the theoretical limitlessness of exponential expansion) that will see the merging of our biology with the staggering achievements of "GNR" (genetics, nanotechnology and robotics) to create a species of unrecognizably high intelligence, durability, comprehension, memory and so on. The word "unrecognizable" is not chosen lightly: wherever this is heading, it won't look like us. Kurzweil's argument is necessarily twofold: it's not enough to argue that there are virtually no constraints on our capacity; he must also convince readers that such developments are desirable. In essence, he conflates the wholesale transformation of the species with "immortality," for which read a repeal of human limit. In less capable hands, this phantasmagoria of speculative extrapolation, which incorporates a bewildering variety of charts, quotations, playful Socratic dialogues and sidebars, would be easier to dismiss. But Kurzweil is a true scientist—a large-minded one at that—and gives due space both to "the panoply of existential risks" as he sees them and the many presumed lines of attack others might bring to bear. What's arresting isn't the degree to which Kurzweil's heady and bracing vision fails to convince—given the scope of his projections, that's inevitable—but the degree to which it seems downright plausible. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks MagazineKurzweil is one of the world’s most respected thinkers and entrepreneurs. Yet the thesis he posits in Singularity is so singular that many readers will be astounded—and perhaps skeptical. Think Blade Runner or Being John Malkovich magnified trillion-fold. Even if one were to embrace his techno-optimism, which he backs up with fascinating details, Kurzweil leaves some important questions relating to politics, economics, and morality unanswered. If machines in our bodies can rebuild cells, for example, why couldn’t they be reengineered as weapons? Or think of singularity, notes the New York Times Book Review, as the "Manhattan Project model of pure science without ethical constraints." Kurzweil’s vision requires technology, which we continue to build. But it also requires mass acceptance and faith.Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. Views: 107
It's twenty-five years since John Rebus appeared on the scene, and five years since he retired. But 2012 sees his return in STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE. Not only is Rebus as stubborn and anarchic as ever, but he finds himself in trouble with Rankin's latest creation, Malcolm Fox of Edinburgh's internal affairs unit. Added to which, Rebus may be about to derail the career of his ex-colleague Siobhan Clarke, while himself being permanently derailed by mob boss and old adversary Big Ger Cafferty. But all Rebus wants to do is discover the truth about a series of seemingly unconnected disappearances stretching back to the millennium. The problem being, no one else wants to go there - and that includes Rebus's fellow officers. Not that any of that is going to stop Rebus. Not even when his own life and the careers of those around him are on the line. Views: 106
The Drummer Boy is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 105
