Cotton Malone is back and the stakes were never higher: a deadly virus that could wipe out civilisation as we know it - and a cure that lies buried in the past. The Venetian League, a secret group of 45 political and economic leaders from around the world, has joined forces with a coalition of former Soviet republics to create a potentially devastating biological weapon, a bird flu-like virus that has been artificially mutated to pass from human to human. Whoever develops the cure would control the future of global warfare. Yet that cure may have been discovered centuries ago, and if so the clue to the location of the formula lies buried with Alexander the Great. When Cotton Malone's former companion Cassiopeia Vitt hears about it, she and Cotton join the hunt for Alexander's long-lost tomb, and what at first seems to Cotton a wild quest for the answer to a perplexing historical riddle becomes a harrowing fight for truth that has unimaginable repercussions, both geopolitical and terrifyingly personal. Views: 852
Kek comes from Africa. In America he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He's never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter – cold and unkind.
In Africa, Kek lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived, and now she's missing. Kek is on his own. Slowly, he makes friends: a girl who is in foster care; an old woman who owns a rundown farm, and a cow whose name means "family" in Kek's native language. As Kek awaits word of his mother's fate, he weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his new friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country.
Bestselling author Katherine Applegate presents a beautifully wrought novel about an immigrant's journey from hardship to hope.
Home of the Brave is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year. Views: 851
The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children.
When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy.
Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse—at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name.
Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop’s flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs. Views: 849
"Locked inside Dervish's study. Breath coming quickly, raggedly. Trembling wildly. I still feel sick and dizzy, but maybe that's fear. I force myself to breathe normally, evenly. When I'm in control, I study my reflection, looking for telltale signs. Am I turning into a werewolf? I don't know. . . " Grubbs Grady has so far escaped the family curse, but when he begins to experience alarming symptoms at the onset of the full moon, he is scared that the jaws of fate are opening and about to swallow him whole. He has cheated death, defeated demons, moved on with his life. But Grubbs is torn between the world of magic and his wolfen genes. Can he fight the beast inside or will he fall victim to his tainted blood? Views: 849
The death of history teacher Craig Foster devastated his young wife, who’d sent him off to work that morning with a lovingly packed lunch. It shocked his colleagues at the Upper West Side private school. And as for the ten-year-old girls who found him in his classroom in a pool of bodily fluids, they may have been traumatized for life.
Lieutenant Eve Dallas, of course, is more hardened to murder cases. And this is clearly a murder case. That lovingly packed lunch was tainted with deadly ricin. And Mr. Foster’s colleagues, shocked as they may be, have some shocking secrets of their own. It’s Eve’s job to get a feel for all the potential suspects, and find out why someone would have done this to a man who seemed so inoffensive, so pleasant…so innocent.
Now Magdelana Percell – there’s someone Eve can picture as a murder victim. Possibly at Eve’s own hands. The slinky blonde - an old flame of her billionaire husband, Roarke, from his days on the wrong side of the law – has turned up in New York, and she’s anything but innocent. Unfortunately, Roarke seems blind to Magdelana’s manipulation, but not to her shapely figure and flirtatious ways. And he insists that the occasional lunch or business meeting with her is nothing to worry about…and none of Eve’s business. Eve’s so unnerved by the situation that she finds it hard to focus on the Foster case. Still, she’ll have to put aside her anger, jealousy, and heartbreak, for a while at least - because another man has just turned up dead, and the case is taking some strange turns and hitting some frustrating dead ends.
Eve knows all too well that innocence can be a façade. Keeping that in mind may help her solve this case at last. But it may also tear apart her marriage. Views: 847
I am Meredith Gentry, princess and heir apparent to the throne in the realm of faerie, onetime private investigator in the mortal world. To be crowned queen, I must first continue the royal bloodline and give birth to an heir of my own. If I fail, my aunt, Queen Andais, will be free to do what she most desires: install her twisted son, Cel, as monarch?and kill me. My royal guards surround me, and my best loved - my Darkness and my Killing Frost - are always beside me, sworn to protect and make love to me. But still the threat grows greater. For despite all my carnal efforts I remain childless, while the machinations of my sinister, sadistic Queen and her confederates remain tireless. So my bodyguards and I have slipped back into Los Angeles, hoping to outrun the gathering shadows of court intrigue. But even exile isn't enough to escape the grasp of those with dark designs. Now King Taranis, powerful and vain-glorious ruler of faerie's Seelie Court, has leveled accusations against my noble guards of a heinous crime - and has gone so far as to ask the mortal authorities to prosecute. If he succeeds, my men face extradition to faerie and the hideous penalties that await them there. But I know that Taranis's charges are baseless, and I sense that his true target is me. He tried to kill me when I was a child. Now I fear his intentions are far more terrifying. Views: 846
Punished for an indiscretion, Navy SEAL and all-around tough guy Zachary Floyd is forced to head a new SEAL-like program for women. There he meets an alluring Norsewoman, who's escaped a nunnery, her father, and the eleventh century altogether.
A NAVY WARRIOR
He's a world-class player -- nicknamed Pretty Boy -- and a tough guy who's not afraid to get down and dirty. But now, Navy SEAL Zachary Floyd is up for Worst Father of the Year. Turns out that a fling six years ago in Afghanistan resulted in a son Zach never knew existed. When Zach steals Samir away to America, defying protocol, his punishment is to teach a new SEAL-like program for females. There he encounters an alluring Norsewoman who's not his usual style. She's tall, she's muscular, and, worst of all, she rebuffs his advances...
A VIKING WARRIOR MAIDEN
She's escaped a nunnery, her evil father -- and the whole bloody 11th century. So, holy Thor, why can't Britta, time-traveling Viking maiden, escape her growing feelings for Zach? Especially after he has the nerve to ask her to babysit his child! Britta quickly grows fond of Samir and will do whatever it takes to protect him. But she's losing her fight against Zach's considerable charms. In fact, she might even be willing to get a little... down and dirty. Views: 844
Joe Picket returns, this time to the wilds of Yellowstone National Park. Deftly plotted and full of intrigue, Free Fire is C. J. Box's best novel yet.
Joe Pickett, having recently been fired from his job as a Wyoming game warden, is working on his father-in-law's ranch when he receives a call from the governor's office. Governor Rulon-a devious but down-home politico-has a special request, one Joe knows he can't refuse. For weeks, the headlines have been abuzz with the story of Clay McCann, a lawyer who slaughtered four campers in cold blood in a far-off corner of Yellowstone National Park. After the murders, McCann immediately turned himself in at the nearest park ranger station. It seemed like a slam-dunk case for law enforcement-except that the crimes were committed in a thin sliver of land with zero residents and overlapping jurisdiction, the so-called free-fire zone. McCann had taken advantage of a loophole in the law: neither the state of Wyoming nor the federal government can try him for his crime, so he walks out of prison a free man.
Governor Rulon, sensitive to the rising tide of public outrage over the McCann case, wants his own investigation into the murders. The governor will reinstate Joe as a game warden if he'll go to Yellowstone to investigate. Joe, happy to get his badge back, even under these circumstances, agrees. However, it quickly becomes clear to Joe that McCann is deeply involved with some illegal activity taking place in the park-something tremendously lucrative and unusually dangerous. As Joe and his partner Nate Romanowski search in the unlikeliest places to find the key to the murders, they find out that it may be hidden in the rugged terrain of the park itself. Views: 841
Literary sleuth Thursday Next is out to save literature in the fifth installment of Jasper Fforde's wildly popular series
Beloved for his prodigious imagination, his satirical gifts, his literate humor, and sheer silliness, Jasper Fforde has delighted book lovers since Thursday Next first appeared in The Eyre Affair, a genre send-up hailed as an instant classic. Since the no-nonsense literary detective from Swindon made her debut, literature has never been quite the same. Neither have nursery rhymes, for that matter. With two successful books of the Nursery Crime series under his belt, Fforde takes up once again the brilliant adventures of his signature creation in the highly anticipated fifth installment of the Thursday Next series. And it's better than ever.
It's been fourteen years since Thursday pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and Friday is now a difficult sixteen year old. However, Thursday's got bigger problems. Sherlock Holmes is killed at the Reichenbach Falls and his series is stopped in its tracks. And before this can be corrected, Miss Marple dies suddenly in a car accident, bringing her series to a close as well. When Thursday receives a death threat clearly intended for her written self, she realizes what's going on: there is a serial killer on the loose in the Bookworld. And that's not all--The Goliath Corporation is trying to deregulate book travel. Naturally, Thursday must travel to the outer limits of acceptable narrative possibilities to triumph against increasing odds.
Packed with word play, bizarre and entertaining subplots, and old-fashioned suspense, Thursday's return is sure to be celebrated by Jasper's fanatical fans and the critics who have loved him since the beginning. Views: 841
When the devil meets an angel...
Country bred Lucy Craddock-Hayes is content with her quiet life. Until the day she trips over an unconscious man—a naked unconscious man—and loses her innocence forever.
He can take her to heaven...
Viscount Simon Iddesleigh was nearly beaten to death by his enemies. Now he’s hell-bent on vengeance. But as Lucy nurses him back to health, her honesty startles his jaded sensibilities—even as it ignites a desire that threatens to consume them both.
Or to hell...
Charmed by Simon’s sly wit, urbane manners, and even his red-heeled shoes, Lucy falls hard and fast for him. Yet as his honor keeps him from ravishing her, his revenge sends his attackers to her door. As Simon wages war on his foes, Lucy wages her own war for his soul using the only weapon she has—her love… Views: 840
Angela, Zoe and Maddie are finally seniors and ready for the great year they deserve. After two years of fighting, experimentation and some hilarious stories, they are prepared to enjoy the fruits of seniority - even though being top dogs at school means thinking about college, sex and even the impending end of their inseparable trio. Views: 838
Soon after relocating to Charleston, S.C., to launch a private forensics lab, Scarpetta is asked to consult on the murder of U.S. tennis star Drew Martin, whose mutilated body was found in Rome. Contradictory evidence leaves Scarpetta, the Italian carabinieri and Scarpetta's lover, forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, stumped.
But when she discovers unsettling connections between Martin's murder, the body of an unidentified South Carolina boy and her old nemesis, the maniacal psychiatrist Dr. Marilyn Self, Scarpetta encounters a killer as deadly as any she's ever faced. Views: 837
Divine Assistant Red Garnier Lucy Divine has her career perfectly mapped out, and a new job as assistant to renowned investor Patrick Holden is an extremely opportune place to start. To Lucy's surprise, however, her notorious new boss's accomplishments are instantly overshadowed by his attitude. He's arrogant and conceited and pleasing him is next to impossible. But Lucy's disturbed to find she "wants" to please him-in every way possible. Holden's brooding, sizzling good looks make Lucy wonder if his passion extends beyond the boardroom. No one's ever called Patrick Holden a sweetheart. If he's anywhere in this world, it's due to his fierce determination. A blonde, sexy bombshell assistant whose body is begging for a tumble is a distraction he can certainly do without.and one he's hell bent on getting rid of. No assistant has ever lasted under the strain of his demands, but Lucy is proving to be the exception. She's intelligent, resourceful, determined-and Patrick quickly realizes the only hostile takeover he's interested in involves his Divine assistant. Views: 836
Phil Ockerman falls for Bertha Strunk at a tango lesson in a church crypt in Clerkenwell. Each recently separated, both their Suns are squared by Neptune. Bertha also bears a strong resemblance to the 17th century Venetian singer and composer, Barbara Strozzi with whom Phil is obsessed. Views: 835
In 'Rattlesnakes', three young Americans find themselves lost in the desert, held captive by armed Mexicans; in 'The DOGS of Lincoln Park', a mysterious Korean chef may or may not have something to do with the disappearance of a socialite's pooch; an English bar owner battles to keep all his balls in the air on the Costa Brava; a film biographer becomes a piece of movie memorabilia himself in 'Miss Arizona'; and in the 'Kingdom of Fife'; an ex-jockey and table-football star of Cowdenbeath takes on the charms of Jenni Cahill and her remarkable jodhpurs... Views: 835
