"The rousing notes of the bugle and the laughter and shouting increased the feeling of rebellion within Ralph. As the last strains of the bugle call hovered in the clear mountain air, Ralph made up his mind. He knew now what he was going to do. He was going to run away.Fed up with his timid mother and uncle and his squirmy little cousins, Ralph hops onto his toy motorcycle and zooms down the road to summer camp. It turns out camp is not all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fun. A strict watchdog, a mouse-hungry cat, and a troubled boy named Garf lead Ralph on some fur-raising escapades. Perhaps home isn't such a bad place to be, if only Ralph can find a way to get there again. Views: 18
Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD cop discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour.In a further twist of fate, Lauren must take on a job that threatens everything she stands for. Now, she's paralyzed by a deadly secret that could tear her life apart. With her job and marriage on the line, Lauren's desire for retribution becomes a lethal inferno as she fights to save her livelihood--and her life.Patterson takes us on a twisting roller-coaster ride of thrills in his most gripping novel yet. This story of love, lust and dangerous secrets will have readers' hearts pounding to the very last page. Views: 18
From Publishers WeeklyIn Australian author Fallon's solid second installment of her Wolfblade fantasy trilogy (after Wolfblade), Damin Wolfblade, heir to the High Throne of Hythria, learns "the Rules of Gaining and Wielding Power" from the dwarf Elezaar at the insistence of his powerful mother, Marla, High Prince Lernen's sister. The teenage Damin, along with his siblings, stepsiblings and various other young relatives, find themselves caught up in court intrigue and backstabbing schemes, not to mention an assassination plot or two. As Damin grows to manhood, he learns whom he should hold close, whom he should keep at a distance and just how much of his keen intelligence and political skills he needs to hide. Damin is indeed his mother's son. While this middle book's somewhat predictable maneuvering for position engages the reader's interest, one is left hoping the concluding volume will offer more swashbuckling action. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library JournalAdult/High School–It's been eight long years since ambitious Marla Wolfblade buried her husband and claimed royal power for herself. This second volume in the trilogy shows her shift in focus from securing her own power to transferring it to her teenage son, Damin. Elezaar, the dwarf who taught her everything she knows, takes young Damin under his wing and teaches him the Rules of Gaining and Wielding Power, a fantasy-world version of Machiavellian methods. Damin proves an apt pupil, but just as he nears the age of taking the throne, the lord High Arrion of the Sorcerers' Collective, a dark and devious faction within the kingdom, decides to turn the young ruler into a puppet or tear the throne away from him. Damin must decide whom he can trust and how to claim what belongs to him. With strong characters and layers of political subtext, Fallon creates a tight tale of intrigue, espionage, thievery, and assassination attempts. Despite being the second part of a trilogy, this volume stands on its own as a coming-of-age story. Those looking for action-packed, sword-wielding quests will likely find Damin's story slow but those craving subtle variations within the field of fantasy will find much to enjoy._–Matthew L. Moffett, Ford's Theatre Society, Washington, DC_ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Views: 18
The finale of the acclaimed Watercourse Trilogy from *The New York Times* best-selling author Philip Athans!
When the true mission of the Thayan Enclave is revealed, the richest man in Innarlith decides he wants to be the most powerful too, a once promising young man is transformed into a twisted undead assassin, and a quiet genius finally makes his stand, the explosive fury of decades of boiling rage explodes from the heart of a city at war with itself.
*From the Paperback edition.* Views: 18
Review"Light and dark in equal measure, colorful, thoughtful and bracing." —Manda Scott, author, Dreaming the EagleProduct DescriptionGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the third Roman Emperor, is better known by another name: Caligula, a name synonymous with decadence, cruelty and madness. His reign was marked by excess, huge building projects, the largest gladiatorial battles Rome was ever to see – men and animals killed in their hundreds – conspiracies, assassination attempts and sexual scandal. Rufus as a young slave grows up far from the corruption of the imperial court. His master is a trainer of animals for the gladiatorial arena. Rufus discovers that he has a natural ability with animals, a talent for controlling and schooling them. It is at the arenas that Rufus meets his great friend Cupido, one of Rome’s greatest gladiators.It is his growing reputation as an animal trainer and his friendship with Cupido that attracts the cruel gaze of the Emperor. Caligula wants a keeper for the imperial elephant and Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the imperial palace. Life here is dictated by Caligula’s ever shifting moods. Caligula is as generous as he is cruel, he is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god and simultaneously lives in constant fear of the plots against his life. But his paranoia is not misplaced, intrigue permeates his court, and Rufus and Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor. Views: 18
"I have no pride. I tell anything," Jill Conner Browne is fond of saying. As Her Royal Highness, Boss Queen of the Sweet Potato Queens®, she has told legions of fans, known as "SPQ Wannabes," her delectable secrets to living, loving -- and eating -- like a queen. In her words, "More is more." How much more? The #1 New York Times bestselling author of five works of nonfiction now serves up The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet. The humor in this uproarious coming-of-queen novel is more delicious than a favorite dessert (the Queens favor Chocolate Stuff™, of course). In Jackson, Mississippi, Mary Bennett, Patsy, Gerald, and Jill are high school classmates whose daily routine is paced like a shuffle through the local red dirt -- until the arrival of a redheaded newcomer banishes monotony forever. With her luxurious mane and voluptuous figure, Tammy Myers aspires to join the... Views: 18
Les Norton thought they were going to be the easiest two weeks of his life. Playing minder for a young member of the Royal Family called Peregrine Normanhurst III sounded like a dead-set snack. So what if he was a millionaire Hooray Henry and his godfather was the Attorney General? Les would keep Peregrine out of trouble... So what if he was on the run for the IRA? They'd never find him in Australia... The Godson moves at breakneck speed from the corridors of power in Canberra to the grimy tenements of Belfast, to climax in a nerve-shattering, blood-spattered shootout on a survivalist fortress in the Tweed Valley. If you thought Australia's favourite son could get up to some outrageous capers in his previous adventures, until you've read The Godson, you ain't read nothin' yet! Views: 17
The Dreamland team used stealth, raw nerve, and technology to defuse a nightmare on the other side of the world. But now the darkness is racing toward America at blinding speed. With more than two dozen nuclear devices unaccounted for, the global masters of terror have set a catastrophe in motion—a surprise attack more deadly than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 combined. If the nation is to survive, Lt. Colonel Tecumseh "Dog" Bastian and his crew will have to reach deep into their cutting-edge arsenal. And they'll have to do it short-handed—because two of Dreamland's best and bravest have been lost at sea . . . Views: 17
The search for the body commenced. Then the victim walked into town.Behind the picture-postcard façade of Kingsmarkham lies a community rife with violence, betrayal, and a taste for vengeance. When sixteen-year-old Lizzie Cromwell reappears no one knows where she has been, including Lizzie herself. Inspector Wexford thinks she was with a boyfriend. But the disappearance of a three-year-old girl casts a more ominous light on events. And when the public's outrage turns toward a recently released pederast and another suspect turns up stabbed to death, Wexford must try to unravel the mystery before any more bodies appear, and before a mob of local vigilantes metes out a rough justice to their least favorite suspect. In Harm Done, the violence is near at hand, and evil lies just a few doors down the block. From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 17
When Ralph Helfer, now one of Hollywood's top animal behaviorists, first began working, he was shocked by the cruelty that was accepted practice in the field. He firmly believed in "affection training" -- that love, not fear, should be the basis of any animal's development, even when dealing with the most dangerous of creatures. Then Zamba came into his life -- an adorable four-month-old lion cub that went on to prove Helfer's theories resoundingly correct.Over the next eighteen years, Zamba would thrive and grow, and go on to star in numerous motion pictures and television shows -- all the while developing a deep and powerful bond of love and affection with the man who raised him. By turns astonishing, hilarious, and poignant, Zamba is not only the unforgettable story of the relationship that Helfer would come to consider one of the most important in his life but also that of the amazing career and adventures of the greatest lion in the world. Views: 17
SUMMARY:
Experience the love, warmth and magic Christmas brings, with this heartwarming collection from three favorite Harlequin authorsSo much stands between Lancashire mill owner Haywood Denshaw and his new housekeeper Marianne Brown. But even disparate social standing and rumors of disreputable pasts can't get in the way of their love. Only Marianne's refusal to compromise her principles can, in a captivating story by PENNY JORDAN.Wealthy farmer Luke Hudson gets more than he bargained for when he plucks a destitute young woman from the workhouse. He may have rescued Connie Summers from a life of penury and hard labor, but her spirit and warmth give him a new outlook—and a second chance at love, in an enthralling story by HELEN BROOKS.Modern-thinking doctor Harry Fleet and compassionate but old-school nurse Tilly Dainty clash at the Tap House surgery in 1920s East London. But working together to care for the sick and needy turns out to be a healing balm on both their hearts, in an emotional story by CAROL WOOD. Views: 17
Acclaimed short-story master George Singleton follows the lives and schemes of the citizens of fictitious Gruel, South Carolina, in search of glory, seclusion, money, revenge, and a meaningful existence. In these nineteen tales, young Gruelites learn lessons when confronted with neighbors who might not be as blind as they appear, dermatologists intent on eradicating birthmarks, and fathers prone to driving on half-inflated tires in order to flirt with cashiers. Meanwhile, the town's older citizens try to make sense out of dogs that heal wounds, lawn-mowing dead men, wives who don't appreciate gas masks for Valentine's Day, and children who mix their mother's ashes with housepaint. Hilarious and tragic, George Singleton's unforgettable characters try to overcome their limitations as best they can. Views: 17
