The fae world’s biggest secret has been revealed …Having escaped an Unseelie prince and a world of shadows, Emerson and Calla are now hunted by the Guild of Guardians. On the run, constantly trying to remain one step ahead, they must figure out how to find and rescue everyone the Guild has taken from them.Then, in an unprecedented move, Unseelie Prince Roarke breaks the fae realm’s most important rule. Now two worlds stand on the brink of war. Caught in the middle between guardians and Prince Roarke’s forces, Em knows her Griffin Ability is powerful enough to stop them both. But as she masters control of her unique magic, Em is confronted with a question: how far is too far when you possess the kind of power she was born with? Can she step back from the line that shouldn’t be crossed, or will she end up losing herself before finding those she loves?Join Emerson and her companions in this race to save... Views: 29
"Extraordinary, hypnotizing and disturbing tales." A cultural history of Czechoslovakia, told through the stories of artists, writers, and performers whose lives were completely and often strangely altered by the various pressures of the times. The story of Eduard Kirchberger is one of the fascinating and absurd cases that this book collects: in the 1920s and '30s, Kirchberger was a writer of pulp fiction, the author of bestselling thrillers in which gruesome monsters preyed on helpless women. When the Communist government came to power in 1946, they banned genre fiction for ideological reasons, so Kirchberger reinvented himself as Karel Fabián, author of equally lurid novels in which ruthless capitalist exploiters preyed on defenseless workers. It was a clever substitution that is indicative of the feints, dodges, compromises, and sleights of hand that the citizens of Czechoslovakia became accustomed to over the course of the twentieth century, during the eighty years between the founding of the nation and its peaceful dissolution in 1993. Elegantly written, Szczygiel's book captures the stories of authors, artists, signers, actors, and other prominent individuals whose lives were subject to extraordinary reversals, and who responded sometimes with dignity and courage, sometimes with bald opportunism, and often with a particularly wry Czech sense of humor--for instance, the peasant who, in 1939, as the Germans were advancing, said: "You can only die once. And if you die a little earlier, you're just dead for a little longer." From the Bata shoe empire to Kafka's niece, Szczygiel has dug into the archives and talked to the principals, where possible, and to their family members, descendants, journalists, writers (including Milan Kundera), historians, and ordinary citizens to assemble a unique and powerful testament to how strange things can actually get in the course of human affairs--and how individuals survive regardless. Views: 29
USA Today bestselling author Julia London, "a gifted and versatile author" (Publishers Weekly), introduces a sexy, wildly romantic and emotionally charged new trilogy in which three aristocratic young ladies, upon discovering they are destitute, resort to desperate means to keep up appearances...and find the husbands of their dreams. When the young ladies of the Fairchild family learn that their stepfather has absconded with their late mother's fortune, Ava, the eldest, hunts down the notoriously wealthy rakehell Jared Broderick, the Marquis of Middleton and heir to a dukedom. Much to her shock and delight, the marquis sweeps her into a whirlwind romance and proposes marriage. But after their passionate wedding night, Ava discovers Jared has ulterior motives of his own. Not only does he expect her to deliver an heir while he continues to enjoy a rogue's life, but Ava also suspects she is a pawn in her husband's quest for revenge. Marriages of convenience work for... Views: 29
Paul Fleischman spins three engrossing stories about the unexpected ways an artist's creations reveal truths—tales whose intriguing plots and many moods will entertain readers and inspire future writers. Can wood, copper, or marble communicate? They can if they are the graven images in Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman's trio of eerie, beguiling short stories. If you whisper a secret into a wooden statue's ear, will anyone find out? Can a wobbly weathervane bearing the image of Saint Crispin, the patron saint of shoemakers, steer a love-struck apprentice toward the girl of his dreams? And if a ghost hires a sculptor to carve a likeness of him holding a drink to a baby's lips, what ghastly crime might lie behind his request? And, in a brand-new afterword, the acclaimed storyteller reveals how he found his own author's voice. Views: 29
Charles I waged civil wars that cost one in ten Englishmen their lives. But in 1649 parliament was hard put to find a lawyer with the skill and daring to prosecute a King who was above the law: in the end the man they briefed was the radical barrister, John Cooke. Cooke was a plebeian, son of a poor farmer, but he had the courage to bring the King's trial to its dramatic conclusion: the English republic. Cromwell appointed him as a reforming Chief Justice in Ireland, but in 1660 he was dragged back to the Old Bailey, tried and brutally executed. John Cooke was the bravest of barristers, who risked his own life to make tyranny a crime. He originated the right to silence, the 'cab rank' rule of advocacy and the duty to act free-of-charge for the poor. He conducted the first trial of a Head of State for waging war on his own people - a forerunner of the prosecutions of Pinochet, Milosevic and Saddam Hussein, and a lasting inspiration to the... Views: 29
Manny /mane/ n A male nanny or babysitter, known to be handsome,fabulous, and a lover of eighties music "Be interesting." That's what the manny tells Keats Dalinger the first time he packs Keats's school lunch, but for Keats that's not always the easiest thing to do. Even though he's the only boy at home, it always feels like no one ever remembers him. His sisters are everywhere! Lulu is the smart one, India is the creative one, and Belly . . . well, Belly is the naked one. And the baby. School isn't much better. There, he's the shortest kid in the entire class. But now the manny is the Dalinger's new babysitter, and things are starting to look up. It seems as though the manny always knows the right thing to do. Not everyone likes the manny as much as Keats does, however. Lulu finds the manny embarrassing, and she's started to make a list of all the crazy things that he does, such as... Views: 29
Everyone has a deep, dark, secret, sensual fantasy they keep locked within themselves, hidden from the world. What if someone could make this fantasy a reality? What if someone could make you act it out...in front of friends and total strangers? I mysterious scientist with just such a power arrives at a posh suburb where he uses his abilities on three bored housewives. Views: 29
Whatever the profession (from medicine to cuisine), it's always good to sit back and relax, knowing that you're in the hands of a consummate professional. So it is with crime fiction, and Peter Robinson is one of the most reliable names around. He has written 17 books in his much-acclaimed Inspector Bank series (Friend of the Devil is the 17th), and his writing has the confidence that is commensurate with the best in the field. DI Annie Cabbot is on loan to another area (and is not working with her colleague, Chief Inspector Alan Banks), and finds herself saddled with a difficult case. A woman's body is found in a wheelchair by the sea. Her throat has been ripped open. At the same time, a teenage girl has been raped and murdered after an alcohol-fuelled night out. DCI Banks is dealing with another case. The two detectives experience very dissimilar results: Banks is faced with a multiplicity of suspects, while Annie Cabbot makes absolutely no progress in her case. Those familiar with detective fiction won't be surprised to learn that the various cases turn out to be interrelated, and when the duo begin to make considerable inroads into the mysteries, they find that aspects of their own pasts are coming back to haunt them. And a burning question becomes ever more pertinent: just how many killers are involved in these cases? We may be used to relationships between male and female detectives that alternate between the fractious and the reluctantly affectionate, but Peter Robinson has always been able to steer a very confident route down this particular avenue, always firmly keeping cliché at bay. But (as always with this author), the plot's the thing to catch the attention of the reader, and Friend of the Devil works out a labyrinthine narrative with a particularly pleasing attention to detail. --Barry Forshaw Views: 29
This story is the sequel to Heart's Passage and continues to follow the story of Jo Madison and Cadie Jones. The pair are settling into their relationship and getting down to the hard work of resolving the loose ends of their respective lives. Jo must come to terms with the parents she ran away from as a teenager, an act which led to her life on the Sydney streets as a drug lord's enforcer. Cadie must deal with the consequences of leaving her ex-partner, Senator Naomi Silverberg. They travel to Jo's childhood home in western New South Wales where they become embroiled in a mystery involving a corrupt station manager and a flock of murdered sheep. At the same time Jo and her parents go through a cathartic reunion, helped by the love and support of her new girlfriend. Then, Jo is called to Sydney to testify against one of her old cronies and at the same time, Cadie must return to the United States before her visa expires. While Jo is occupied with the court case, and trying to find a legal way to join her lover in the US, Cadie becomes entrapped by Naomi's paranoia and intimidation. After a desperate phone call from Cadie's mother, Jo resolves to get to the US by whatever means and calls on some old acquaintances to get her into the country. Can she arrive at the senator's Chicago house in time to rescue Cadie and ensure Naomi will no longer bother them? Views: 29
Lisa Moore's Alligator moves with the swiftness of a gator in attack mode through the lives of a group of brilliantly rendered characters in contemporary St. John's, Newfoundland—a city whose spiritual location is somewhere in Flannery O'Connor country. Its denizens jostle each other in uneasy arabesques of desire, greed, lust, and ambition, while yearning for purity, depth, and redemption. Views: 29
