Former U.S. Senator Quintrell is dead.His son, New Mexico's governor, is preparing hisrun for the highest political office in the land.And dark family secrets are about to explode with thedevastating force of a Southwestern earthquake.An eccentric Quintrell aunt has invited genealogist Carolina "Carly" May to their Taos compound to compile a record of the illustrious family. But digging into the past is raising troubling questions about a would-be president's private life . . . and the grisly street crime that left his drug-addicted sister dead. As a dark world of twisted passions and depravity slowly opens up before Carly, there is no one whom she dares trust -- perhaps least of all Dan Duran, a dangerous, haunted enigma who's tied to the Quintrells' history. But she will need an ally to survive the terrible mysteries a father carried to the grave -- because following the bloodlines of the powerful can be a bloody business. And some dead secrets can kill.From Publishers WeeklyAnn Maxwell has written over 60 books in multiple genres; as Elizabeth Lowell (Die in Plain Sight), she creates dialogue with immediacy and emotional coloration that sets her apart from the romantic suspense pack. Her 10th outing as Lowell begins with the tidy murder of "The Senator," the ill and infirm patriarch of a prominent Taos, N.Mex., clan. Carly May, a genealogist/historical researcher, is commissioned to write a family history by a disgruntled family member who hopes she'll dig up dirt. As Carly's research starts in earnest, she meets, among the Senator's many legitimate and illegitimate children, Dan Duran, a former CIA-like operative who, she finds out (but the reader knows all along), is the Senator's illegitimate grandson. Carly gets dire threats, she and Dan get close, and more people die. By combining new techniques of DNA testing with old-fashioned research and detective work (lots of appealing New Mexican history comes into play), Carly and Dan finally discover the truth about the family. But readers will care less about that than about their many charming exchanges, which Lowell crafts with sophistication and a sense of play. Quality and quantity may not be mutually exclusive after all. (July 1) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistCarly May was adopted and has never found out anything about her own biological roots, yet tracing genealogical roots for other families is how she makes a living. She has been hired by Winifred Simmons y Castillo, aunt of the governor of New Mexico, to write a history of her family, but only of the female descendants. This is highly unusual; then, when Carly arrives in Taos, she finds that the governor's father has died, and no one is truly mourning him. The power dynamics within the family have changed, and only Winifred wants Carly there, as proven by the threats she receives. Dan Duran has returned to Taos after sustaining injuries while tangling with a drug cartel. He knows that searching through family secrets can be deadly and takes on the role of white knight toward Carly as they investigate an illustrious but suspect family. As always, Lowell delivers top-notch romantic suspense in her signature staccato style. Patty EngelmannCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 435
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The gift of sight comes at a dangerous price When Deep Down Salvage begins the hunt for the "Josephine Marie, " it seems like any other dive...until Genevieve Wallace sees the vision of a dead woman in the water, her vacant eyes boring into Genevieve's very soul. Terrified and confused by what she saw, Genevieve is haunted by the memory, but no one -- including her diving partner Thor Thompson -- believes her. When a dead woman washes up on shore, everyone assumes this is Genevieve's "vision," but Genevieve knows the truth: the dead woman is "not" the ghost she saw but another victim of the same brutal killer.
Sensing that the threat of death is coming closer, she and Thor are forced to acknowledge that some things can't be explained, but simply "are." Somehow they have to link a violent past with a present-day mystery or risk losing themselves in an abyss of terror. Views: 433
In 1951, it was suggested to Jack Kerouac by his friend Ed White that he "sketch in the streets like a painter but with words." In August of the following year, Kerouac began writing down prose poem "sketches" in small notebooks that he kept in the breast pockets of his shirts. For two years he recorded travels, observations, and meditations on art and life as he moved across America and down to Mexico and back. In 1957, Kerouac sat down with the fifteen handwritten sketch notebooks he had accumulated and typed them into a manuscript called Book of Sketches; he included a handful of new sketches he had written that year. Published now for the first time, and with an introduction by George Condo, Book of Sketches offers an intimate glimpse of Kerouac at a key period of his literary career. Views: 433
From “one of the great American writers of our time” (Los Angeles Times Book Review): a raw, explicit memoir as high-intensity and riveting as any of his novels.
The year was 1958. James Ellroy was ten years old. His mother, Jean Hilliker, had divorced her fast-buck hustler husband. She gave her son a choice: live with his father or her. He chose his father, and Jean—“half gassed”—attacked him. He wished her dead. Three months later, she was murdered.
Ellroy writes, “I owe her for every true thing that I am. I must remove the malediction I have placed on her and on myself,” and in The Hilliker Curse, he narrates his quest for “atonement in women.” He unsparingly describes his shattered childhood, his delinquent teens, his writing life, his love affairs and marriages, a nervous breakdown and the beginning of a relationship with an extraordinary woman who may just be the long-sought Her. It is a layered narrative of time and place, emotion and insight, sexuality and spiritual quest. And all of it is reported with gut-wrenching and heart-rending candor.
A brilliant and soul-baring revelation of self—and unlike any memoir you have ever read. Views: 433
The situation was one which was absolutely without parallel in all the history of courtship from the days of Mother Eve to those of Miss Lilla Zaidie Rennick. The nearest approach to it would have been the old-fashioned Tartar custom which made it lawful for a man to steal his best girl, if he could get her first, fling her across his horse\'s crupper and ride away with her to his tent. But to the shocked senses of Mrs. Van Stuyler the present adventure appeared a great deal more terrible than that. Both Zaidie and herself had sprung to their feet as soon as the upward rush of the Astronef had slackened and they were released from their seats. They looked down through the glass walls of what may be called the hurricane deck-chamber of the Astronef, and saw below them a snowy sea of clouds just crimsoned by the rising sun. In this cloud-sea, which spread like a wide-meshed veil between them and the earth, there were great irregular rifts which looked as big as continents on a map. These had a blue-grey background, or it might be more correct to say under-ground, and in the midst of one of these they saw a little black speck which after a moment or two took the shape of a little toy ship, and presently they recognised it as the eleven-thousand-ton liner which a few moments ago had been their ocean home. Views: 432
I A SPECKLED BEAUTY Henrietta Hen thought highly of herself. Not only did she consider herself a "speckled beauty" (to use her own words) but she had an excellent opinion of her own ways, her own ideas—even of her own belongings. When she pulled a fat worm—or a grub—out of the ground she did it with an air of pride; and she was almost sure to say, "There! I\'d like to see anybody else find a bigger one than that!" Of course, it wouldn\'t really have pleased her at all to have one of her neighbors do better than she did. That was only her way of boasting that no one could beat her. If any one happened to mention speckles Henrietta Hen was certain to speak of her own, claiming that they were the handsomest and most speckly to be found in Pleasant Valley. And if a person chanced to say anything about combs, Henrietta never failed to announce that hers was the reddest and most beautiful in the whole world. Nobody could ever find out how she knew that. She had never been off the farm. But it was useless to remind her that she had never travelled. Such a remark only made her angry. Having such a good opinion of herself, Henrietta Hen always had a great deal to talk about. She kept up a constant cluck from dawn till dusk. It made no difference to her whether she happened to be alone, or with friends. She talked just the same—though naturally she preferred to have others hear what she said, because she considered her remarks most important. There were times when Henrietta Hen took pains that all her neighbors should hear her. She was never so proud as when she had a newly-laid egg to exhibit. Then an ordinary cluck was not loud enough to express her feelings. To announce such important news Henrietta Hen never failed to raise her voice in a high-pitched "Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut!" This interesting speech she always repeated several times. For she wanted everybody to know that Henrietta Hen had laid another of her famous eggs. After such an event she always went about asking people if they had heard the news—just as if they could have helped hearing her silly racket! Now, it sometimes happened, when she was on such an errand, that Henrietta Hen met with snubs. Now and then her question—"Have you heard the news?"—brought some such sallies as these: "Polly Plymouth Rock has just laid an enormous egg! Have you seen it?" Or maybe, "Don\'t be disappointed, Henrietta! Somebody has to lay the littlest ones!" Such jibes were certain to make Henrietta Hen lose her temper. And she would talk very fast (and, alas! very loud, too) about jealous neighbors and how unpleasant it was to live among folk that were so stingy of their praise that they couldn\'t say a good word for the finest eggs that ever were seen! On such occasions Henrietta Hen generally talked in a lofty way about moving to the village to live. "They think enough of my eggs down there," she would boast. "Boiled, fried, poached, scrambled, or for an omelette—my eggs can\'t be beaten." "If the villagers can\'t beat your eggs they certainly can\'t use them for omelettes," Polly Plymouth Rock told Henrietta one day.... Views: 430
How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe A certain eighteenth-century German noble ventured abroad for military service and returned with a series of amusingly outrageous stories. Baron Munchausen\'s astounding feats included riding cannonballs, traveling to the Moon, and pulling himself out of a bog by his own hair. Listeners delighted in hearing about these unlikely adventures, and in 1785, the stories were collected and published as Baron Munchausen\'s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. By the nineteenth century, the tales had undergone expansions and transformations by several notable authors and had been translated into many languages. A figure as colorful as the Baron naturally appeals to the artistic imagination, and he has been depicted in numerous works of art. His definitive visual image, however, belongs to Gustave Doré. Famed for his engravings of scenes from the Bible, the Divine Comedy, Don Quixote, and other literary classics, Doré created theatrical illustrations of the Baron\'s escapades that perfectly re-create the stories\' picaresque humor. Views: 430
When a pushy saleswoman at a rival boutique winds up dead, Persia Vanderbilt of Venus Envy steps out from behind the counter to find the killer. Views: 430
It's too bad they don't give out diplomas for what you learn at the mall, because I could graduate with honors in that subject. No really. Since I've worked there, I've become an expert on all things shopping-related. For example, I can tell you right off who to distrust at the mall:
1) Skinny people who work at Cinnabon. I mean, if they're not eating the stuff they sell, how good can it be?
2) The salesladies at department store makeup counters. No matter what they tell you, buying all that lip gloss will not make you look like the pouty models in the store posters.
3) And most importantly—my best friend's boyfriend, Bryant, who showed up at the food court with a mysterious blonde draped on his arm.
Yeah, I saw it, and yeah, I told my best friend all about it.
You would think this would mean trouble for Bryant, but you would basically be wrong. Somehow, the evil boyfriend turned everything around, and now I'm the one who has to prove myself! But I will. Even if Bryant—and more importantly his best friend, Colton—keep trying to stop me. Views: 429
When minor league baseball comes to White Sands Beach, not everyone welcomes the club. Birders are upset by the location of Sand Skeeter Ballpark, but will they resort to murder to protect the birds nesting areas? When a woman dies at the ballpark, during the final game of the season, tabloid reporter and amateur sleuth Cassie O'Malley finds herself on the case. Views: 428
How Freckle Frog Made Herself Pretty By Charlotte B. Herr Designs Frances Beem Views: 427
Do you dare open the door and enter a place like no other?In these three historical tales of sensual awakening, nothing that stimulates and titillates is taboo, ecstasy comes in many sizes, and pleasure is its own reward . . . a world of seduction and sensation, where inhibitions are unlaced and desires long corseted are gloriously freed. . . .Fallen Angel Jess MichaelsLondon's greatest beauty and most notorious madam employs the services of a disgraced Bow Street Runner to keep her safe from a stalker . . . and satisfied after dark.Parlor Games Leda SwannAn innocent virgin enters a brothel to escape starvation and receives expert tutelage in the steamy Victorian parlor games that rakish gentlemen indulge in. . . .Border Lord Julia TempletonFleeing an unfaithful fiancé, a nubile young lovely finds herself the prisoner of a lustful Scottish laird and must bow to his every erotic... Views: 427
