Classic reprints from:Edward P. Jones, George Pelecanos, Paul Laurence Dunbar, James Grady, Julian Mayfield, Marita Golden, Elizabeth Hand, Julian Mazor, Ward Just, Roach Brown, Larry Neal, and others.George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO series The Wire, and the author of fifteen novels set in and around Washington, DC. He is the editor of the best-selling first volume of D.C. Noir. Views: 136
In this globe-scattered Sri Lankan family, we speak of only two kinds of marriage. The first is the Arranged Marriage. The second is the Love Marriage. In reality, there is a whole spectrum in between, but most of us spend years running away from the first toward the second. [p. 3]The daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants who left their collapsing country and married in America, Yalini finds herself caught between the traditions of her ancestors and the lure of her own modern world. But when she is summoned to Toronto to help care for her dying uncle, Kumaran, a former member of the militant Tamil Tigers, Yalini is forced to see that violence is not a relic of the Sri Lankan past, but very much a part of her Western present.While Kumaran’s loved ones gather around him to say goodbye, Yalini traces her family’s roots–and the conflicts facing them as ethnic Tamils–through a series of marriages. Now, as Kumaran’s death and his daughter’s... Views: 135
On the night of Guinevere's birth, there was a prophecy that foretold she would one day be highest lady in the land and wed to a great king. But 13 years have passed, and the prophecy couldn't be further off. Guinevere is now an orphan and a ward of her aunt and uncle, the king and queen of Gwynedd. Tomboyish and awkward, Gwen is no great beauty, and nobody takes the prophecy seriously--especially not Gwen.But then one day Gwen meets a strange young man in the woods who claims to be part of an ancient tribe whose mission is to guard and protect her. Then she stumbles across a sinister plot brewing within the castle walls--one she alone might be able to prevent. Guinevere is beginning to realize her destiny is more complex than it seems--and this is only the beginning.From the Hardcover edition. Views: 135
Amazon.com ReviewChelsea Cain steps into a crowded, blood-soaked genre with Heartsick, a riveting, character-driven novel about a damaged cop and his obsession with the serial killer who...let him live. Gretchen Lowell tortured Detective Archie Sheridan for ten days, then inexplicably let him go and turned herself in. Cain turns the (nearly played out) Starling/Lecter relationship on its ear: Sheridan must face down his would-be killer to help hunt down another. What sets this disturbing novel apart from the rest is its bruised, haunted heart in the form of Detective Sheridan, a bewildered survivor trying to catch a killer and save himself. --Daphne Durham Questions for Chelsea CainAmazon.com: Gretchen Lowell haunts every page of Heartsick. Even when she actually appears in the jail scenes with Sheridan, she reveals nothing, and yet it's obvious she's anything but one-dimensional. What is her story? Cain: I purposely didn't reveal Gretchen's past, beyond a few unreliable hints. I thought there was a really interesting tension in not knowing what had driven this woman to embrace violence so enthusiastically. The less we know about killers' motives, the scarier they are. Maybe that's why people spend so much time watching 24-hour news channels that cover the latest horrible domestic murder. We want to understand why people kill. Because if we can peg it on something, we can tell ourselves that they are different than us, that we aren't capable of that kind of brutality. Plus this is the launch of a series and I thought it would be fun for readers to get to learn more about Gretchen as the series continues. I just finished Sweetheart, and I promise there's a lot more Gretchen to come. Amazon.com: As a first-time thriller author, you've got to be elated to see early reviews evoke the legendary Hannibal Lecter. Did you anticipate readers to make that connection, or are there other serial series (on paper or screen) that inspired the story of Gretchen and Sheridan? Cain: I thought that the connection to Lecter was inevitable since Heartsick features a detective who visits a jailed serial killer. But I wasn't consciously inspired by Silence of the Lambs (or Red Dragon, which is the Harris book it more accurately echoes). I grew up in the Pacific Northwest when the Green River Killer was at large, and I was fascinated by the relationship between a cop who'd spent his career hunting a killer (as many of the cops on the Green River Task Force did) and the killer he ends up catching. I'd seen an episode of Larry King that featured two of the Green River Task Force cops and they had footage of one of the cops with Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer) in jail and they were chatting like old friends. They were both trying to manipulate one another. The cop wanted Ridgway to tell him where more bodies were. Ridgway is a psychopath and wanted to feel in control. But on the surface, they seemed like buddies having a drink together at a bar. It was kind of disturbing. I wanted to explore that. Making the killer a woman was a way to make the relationship even more intense. Making her a very attractive woman upped the ante considerably. Amazon.com: Reading Heartsick I was actually reminded of some of my favorite books by Stephen King. Like him, you have an uncanny ability to make your geographical setting feel like a character all its own. Do you think the story could have happened in any other place than Portland? Cain: Heartsick Hawaii would definitely have been a different book. (Archie Sheridan would have been a surfer. Susan would have worked at a gift shop. And Gretchen would have been a deranged hula girl.) I live in Portland, so obviously that played into my decision to set the book here. All I had to do was look out the window. Which makes research a lot easier. But I also think that the Pacific Northwest makes a great setting for a thriller, and it's not a setting that's usually explored. Portland is so beautiful. But it’s also sort of eerie. The evergreens, the coast, the mountains--the scale is so huge, and the scenery is so magnificent. But every year hikers get lost and die, kids are killed by sneaker waves on the beach, and mountain climbers get crushed by avalanches. Beauty kills. Plus it has always seemed like the Northwest is teeming with serial killers. I blame the cloud cover. And the coffee. Amazon.com: In a lot of ways, Heartsick is more about the killer than the killings, and it’s hard not to suspect that Gretchen killed only to get to Sheridan. That begs the question: is the chase always better than the catch? As a writer, is it more exciting for you to imagine the pursuit--with its tantalizing push-and-pull--than the endgame? Cain: The most interesting aspect of the book to me is the relationship between Archie and Gretchen. Really, I wrote the whole book as an excuse to explore that. The endgame is satisfying because it's fun to see all the threads come together, but it's the relationship that keeps coming back to the computer day after day. Amazon.com: Your characters--Susan Ward in particular--are raw, tautly wired, imperfect but still have this irresistible tenderness. It's their motives and experiences that really drive the story and ultimately elevate it way beyond what you might expect going into a serial killer tale. How did you resist falling into something more formulaic? Did you know what shape Susan and the others would take going in? Cain: I knew I wanted flawed protagonists. I'm a sucker for a Byronic hero. Thrillers often feature such square-jawed hero types, and I wanted a story about people just barely hanging on. The psychological component is really interesting to me, and I liked that Susan's neuroses are, in their own ways, clues. In many ways, I embraced formula. I love formula--there’s a reason it works. And I decided early on that I wasn't going to avoid clichés for the sake of avoiding them. Some clichés are great. My goal was not to write a literary thriller, but to take all the stuff I loved from other books and TV shows and throw them all together and then try to put my own spin on it. Heartsick is a pulpy page-turner with, I hope, a little extra effort put into the writing and the characters. Basically, I just wrote the thriller that I wanted to read. (photo credit: Kate Eshelby) From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. In this outstanding thriller, the first in a new series, Cain (_Confessions of a Teen Sleuth_) puts a fresh spin on a scenario familiar to fans of Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs. When someone starts dumping the bodies of teenage girls around Portland, Ore., after soaking them in tubs of bleach, Archie Sheridan, a police detective addicted to pain killers, turns for help to Gretchen Lowell, an imprisoned serial killer who once tortured him (the big scar on his chest was shaped like a heart). Covering the crimes is reporter Susan Ward, a smart-alecky punk with pink hair and authority issues. The suspense builds as the narrative shifts between Sheridan's new case and his ordeal with Lowell, who in her own way is as memorable a villain as Hannibal Lecter. The damp Portland locale calls to mind the kind of Pacific Northwest darkness associated with Ted Bundy and Kurt Cobain. A vivid literary style lifts this well above the usual run of suspense novels. 200,000 first printing; author tour. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Amazon.com ReviewChelsea Cain steps into a crowded, blood-soaked genre with Heartsick, a riveting, character-driven novel about a damaged cop and his obsession with the serial killer who...let him live. Gretchen Lowell tortured Detective Archie Sheridan for ten days, then inexplicably let him go and turned herself in. Cain turns the (nearly played out) Starling/Lecter relationship on its ear: Sheridan must face down his would-be killer to help hunt down another. What sets this disturbing novel apart from the rest is its bruised, haunted heart in the form of Detective Sheridan, a bewildered survivor trying to catch a killer and save himself. --Daphne Durham Questions for Chelsea CainAmazon.com: Gretchen Lowell haunts every page of Heartsick. Even when she actually appears in the jail scenes with Sheridan, she reveals nothing, and yet it's obvious she's anything but one-dimensional. What is her story? Cain: I purposely didn't reveal Gretchen's past, beyond a few unreliable hints. I thought there was a really interesting tension in not knowing what had driven this woman to embrace violence so enthusiastically. The less we know about killers' motives, the scarier they are. Maybe that's why people spend so much time watching 24-hour news channels that cover the latest horrible domestic murder. We want to understand why people kill. Because if we can peg it on something, we can tell ourselves that they are different than us, that we aren't capable of that kind of brutality. Plus this is the launch of a series and I thought it would be fun for readers to get to learn more about Gretchen as the series continues. I just finished Sweetheart, and I promise there's a lot more Gretchen to come. Amazon.com: As a first-time thriller author, you've got to be elated to see early reviews evoke the legendary Hannibal Lecter. Did you anticipate readers to make that connection, or are there other serial series (on paper or screen) that inspired the story of Gretchen and Sheridan? Cain: I thought that the connection to Lecter was inevitable since Heartsick features a detective who visits a jailed serial killer. But I wasn't consciously inspired by Silence of the Lambs (or Red Dragon, which is the Harris book it more accurately echoes). I grew up in the Pacific Northwest when the Green River Killer was at large, and I was fascinated by the relationship between a cop who'd spent his career hunting a killer (as many of the cops on the Green River Task Force did) and the killer he ends up catching. I'd seen an episode of Larry King that featured two of the Green River Task Force cops and they had footage of one of the cops with Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer) in jail and they were chatting like old friends. They were both trying to manipulate one another. The cop wanted Ridgway to tell him where more bodies were. Ridgway is a psychopath and wanted to feel in control. But on the surface, they seemed like buddies having a drink together at a bar. It was kind of disturbing. I wanted to explore that. Making the killer a woman was a way to make the relationship even more intense. Making her a very attractive woman upped the ante considerably. Amazon.com: Reading Heartsick I was actually reminded of some of my favorite books by Stephen King. Like him, you have an uncanny ability to make your geographical setting feel like a character all its own. Do you think the story could have happened in any other place than Portland? Cain: Heartsick Hawaii would definitely have been a different book. (Archie Sheridan would have been a surfer. Susan would have worked at a gift shop. And Gretchen would have been a deranged hula girl.) I live in Portland, so obviously that played into my decision to set the book here. All I had to do was look out the window. Which makes research a lot easier. But I also think that the Pacific Northwest makes a great setting for a thriller, and it's not a setting that's usually explored. Portland is so beautiful. But it’s also sort of eerie. The evergreens, the coast, the mountains--the scale is so huge, and the scenery is so magnificent. But every year hikers get lost and die, kids are killed by sneaker waves on the beach, and mountain climbers get crushed by avalanches. Beauty kills. Plus it has always seemed like the Northwest is teeming with serial killers. I blame the cloud cover. And the coffee. Amazon.com: In a lot of ways, Heartsick is more about the killer than the killings, and it’s hard not to suspect that Gretchen killed only to get to Sheridan. That begs the question: is the chase always better than the catch? As a writer, is it more exciting for you to imagine the pursuit--with its tantalizing push-and-pull--than the endgame? Cain: The most interesting aspect of the book to me is the relationship between Archie and Gretchen. Really, I wrote the whole book as an excuse to explore that. The endgame is satisfying because it's fun to see all the threads come together, but it's the relationship that keeps coming back to the computer day after day. Amazon.com: Your characters--Susan Ward in particular--are raw, tautly wired, imperfect but still have this irresistible tenderness. It's their motives and experiences that really drive the story and ultimately elevate it way beyond what you might expect going into a serial killer tale. How did you resist falling into something more formulaic? Did you know what shape Susan and the others would take going in? Cain: I knew I wanted flawed protagonists. I'm a sucker for a Byronic hero. Thrillers often feature such square-jawed hero types, and I wanted a story about people just barely hanging on. The psychological component is really interesting to me, and I liked that Susan's neuroses are, in their own ways, clues. In many ways, I embraced formula. I love formula--there’s a reason it works. And I decided early on that I wasn't going to avoid clichés for the sake of avoiding them. Some clichés are great. My goal was not to write a literary thriller, but to take all the stuff I loved from other books and TV shows and throw them all together and then try to put my own spin on it. Heartsick is a pulpy page-turner with, I hope, a little extra effort put into the writing and the characters. Basically, I just wrote the thriller that I wanted to read. (photo credit: Kate Eshelby) From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. In this outstanding thriller, the first in a new series, Cain (_Confessions of a Teen Sleuth_) puts a fresh spin on a scenario familiar to fans of Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs. When someone starts dumping the bodies of teenage girls around Portland, Ore., after soaking them in tubs of bleach, Archie Sheridan, a police detective addicted to pain killers, turns for help to Gretchen Lowell, an imprisoned serial killer who once tortured him (the big scar on his chest was shaped like a heart). Covering the crimes is reporter Susan Ward, a smart-alecky punk with pink hair and authority issues. The suspense builds as the narrative shifts between Sheridan's new case and his ordeal with Lowell, who in her own way is as memorable a villain as Hannibal Lecter. The damp Portland locale calls to mind the kind of Pacific Northwest darkness associated with Ted Bundy and Kurt Cobain. A vivid literary style lifts this well above the usual run of suspense novels. 200,000 first printing; author tour. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Views: 135
In the Wilds of Florida - A Tale of Warfare and Hunting is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by William Henry Giles Kingston is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of William Henry Giles Kingston then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 134
When young Wynter Moorehawke returns to court with her dying father, but she finds her old home shadowed with fear. The king has become a violent despot, terrorizing those he once loved. His son and heir Alberon has fled into exile and now there are whispers everywhere of rebellion. Meanwhile, Alberon's half-brother Razi has been elevated to his throne. He struggles to meet his King's demands while remaining loyal to his beloved brother and to his friend-Wynter.Now, she must choose- her father or her dreams, her friend or her king, her duty... or her love.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Atmospheric, complex, and intense, Kiernan's debut fantasy, set in a sort of alternate 15th-century Europe, mixes vengeful ghosts and talking cats into political intrigue. Fifteen-year-old Wynter Moorehawke's return to court after five years away should be joyous, but she fears for her dearest friends, the children of insane, tyrannical King Jonathan. Crown prince Alberon is nowhere to be found, and bastard son Razi is being unwillingly groomed to replace him. The king will go to any lengths to secure his throne, even unlocking the mysteries of a horrible killing device long thought destroyed. Wynter must keep her friends and family alive as she slowly pieces together the king's secrets. The beginning of what promises to be a powerful trilogy with YA crossover appeal, this epic starts strong and doesn't falter one iota, ending with a cliffhanger that will leave readers demanding more. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review'Kiernan has a great sense of theatricality at her fingertips: the story unfolds and is revealed at exactly the most climatic moment ... Kiernan is masterly in her storytelling.' -- Inis Magazine, Winter 2008 'Teen novel that will baroque your world ... all the ingredients of an international bestseller ... the writing is extraordinary ... recommended for both teen and adult readers' -- Irish Independent 'power of the writing, the concentration and the wonderful attention to detail.' -- Sunday Independent 'much-acclaimed first book in the Moorehawk trilogy.' -- Sunday Tribune 'an impressive stylish debut.' -- Irish Independent 'one of the strongest emerging authors in Ireland.' -- The Clare Champion Robert Dunbar's Top 30 Children's books of 2008 'An excellent historical fantasy.' -- The Irish Times 'beautifully written ... Celine Kiernan is a superb writer ... Atmosphere oozes from every page' -- Books Ireland 'This is marvellous, vivid writing, and storytelling at its absolute best. It reminded me of the first time I read Philip Pullman - I was utterly engrossed' -- Roddy Doyle 'Striking debut novel, a fascinating historical fantasy characterized by vivid, colourful writing.' -- The Irish Times 'Well-delivered messages of friendship, familial love and tolerance.' -- Sunday Business Post 'The narrator's voice is strong and the writing stylish. An excellent story from a debut Irish author' -- CBI's Bookfest, Recommended Reading Guide 'a spectacular fantasy by a prolific, creative and multi-talented artist and author' -- The Anglo Celt 'Do you remember that sensation of growing incredulity as you read on through a manuscript? I mean that feeling of absolute happiness that an editor experiences when she realises she is not reading a few rough pages from a would-be writer, but the polishe -- Claudia Casanova, Grupo Planeta, Spain 'I was amazed to find such excellence of style and plot from a debut author. I couldn't stop reading the story until I was finished, and was left dying for more' -- Antonena Gall, AST, Russia's largest publisher 'engages her readers in a carefully-realised semi-fantastical adventure fraught with familial and political tensions and a graphic violence that is never gratuitous but more a release of the emotional tensions generated by the novel's main themes' -- Sunday Independent 'The beginning of what promises to be a powerful trilogy with YA crossover appeal, this epic starts strong and doesn't falter one iota, ending with a cliffhanger that will leave readers demanding more.' -- Publisher's Weekly 'Atmospheric, complex, and intense' -- Publisher's Weekly 'Told with great assurance and attention to detail, this is an exciting fast-paced story - very much anchored in the fears, loyalties and vulnerabilities of its sympathetically drawn characters. It makes for an absorbing read - Kiernan's plotting keeps th -- SFX Magazine ' Kiernan will stun you with her debut novel, as her extraordinarily drawn characters invite themselves into your head for a nice visit. With deep societal intrigue and political machinations at the fore, her investment in the "what if" of medieval Europe -- RT Books Review Views: 134
Natalie Sumner Lincoln (1881-1935) was an American novelist born in Washington, D.C. She was a prolific writer and is most remembered for her mystery and crime novels. Views: 134
Love at Paddington is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by W. Pett (William Pett) Ridge is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of W. Pett (William Pett) Ridge then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 134
A stunning new historical thriller set during the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
New York, 1929, a city of speakeasies, swells and hoodlums at the fag end of the roaring twenties.
It’s a hell of a time and place for a young cop to be trying to make his way in the world.
Joe Quinn has been given a shot at the NYPD’s main headquarters squad and his first case is one that could put his name up in lights - a banker flops onto Wall Street and all the signs point to murder.
Pretty soon, the dead man is not alone - a group of old buddies is being eliminated, in a particularly gruesome manner.
The men have connections to Lucky Luciano and other denizens of the organized crime world.
Their leader’s identity is a closely guarded secret - he is known simply as 'the bag man', once the name given to a top cop on the take.
The days of such naked corruption are supposed to be over, but nothing in prohibition era Manhattan is that simple.
For Joe Quinn, a case that starts as an opportunity swiftly becomes a nightmare from which there is no escape.
The path seems to lead inexorably towards his own father, once New York’s foremost celebrity cop.
And at the heart of the investigation lies a woman whose love he has fought to deny for nearly a quarter of a century.
She was adopted by his mother.
She is about to marry his brother.
And now, through her, he’s about to find out just how painful being an honest cop can be.
Views: 133
John Corwell, Sailor And Miner; and, Poisonous Fish - 1901 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Louis Becke is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Louis Becke then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 133
On the night their mother drowns, sisters Marnie and Diana Maitland discover there is more than one kind of death. There is the death of innocence, of love, and of hope. Each sister harbors a secret about that night-secrets that will erode their lives as they grow into adulthood.After ten years of silence between the sisters, Marnie is called back to the South Carolina Lowcountry by Diana's ex-husband, Quinn. His young son has returned from a sailing trip with his emotionally unstable mother, and he is refusing to speak. In order to help the traumatized boy, Marnie must reopen old wounds and bring the darkest memories of their past to the surface. And she must confront Diana, before they all go under.From Publishers WeeklyThe enduring ties between two estranged sisters drive the darkly engaging latest from White (Learning to Breathe). Marnie Maitland, an Arizona school teacher, returns to her South Carolina Lowcountry hometown after a 10-year absence at the request of Quinn, the ex-husband of Marnie's sister, Diana. Quinn believes Marnie can help Gil, the nine-year-old nephew she's never met, who has refused to speak since a sailing accident almost claimed Gil and Diana's lives. As Marnie begins to bond with Gil (and with Quinn), she instinctively senses that Diana's simmering anger toward her is tied to the childhood sailing accident that killed their mother but spared the two girls. Marnie remembers little of the accident, which is cloaked in mystery, as is Diana's obsession with the Maitland curse (related to a murky blasphemy from previous generations) and the mental illness that runs in the family. As Marnie tries to get at the truth, the first-person narrative is tersely handed among the four leads. Careful plotting, richly flawed characters and a surprising conclusion mark this absorbing melodrama. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistMarnie Maitland returns to the South Carolina Lowcountry after years of self-imposed exile. As children, she and her sister, Diana, were deeply damaged when their mother took them sailing in a storm and drowned. Now Diana’s son is left mute after an eerily similar accident. Marnie, a special-needs teacher, has come to help her nephew recover. Faced with the evidence that her sister has inherited their mother’s self-destructive illness, Marnie is forced to remember that terrifying night and to reconcile the rift their mother created. In this moving novel, White explores the bond between sisters, the link between artistic genius and mental illness, and the keen hold a place can have on a person. She vividly describes the lush Lowcountry and the pull of the sea. A chilling revelation, a love story, and a bittersweet ending add to this gripping tale. --Aleksandra Walker Views: 133
Nothing makes Portland detective Archie Sheridan happier than knowing that Gretchen Lowell—the serial killer whose stunning beauty is belied by the gruesome murders she's committed—is locked away in a psych ward. Archie can finally heal from the near-fatal physical and emotional wounds she's inflicted on him and start moving on with his life.
To this end, Archie throws himself into the latest case to come across his desk: A cyclist has discovered a corpse in Mount Tabor Park on the eastern side of Portland. The man was gagged, skinned, and found hanging by his wrists from a tree. It's the work of a killer bold and clever enough to torture his victim for hours on a sunny summer morning in a big public park and yet leave no trace.
And then Archie gets a message he can't ignore—Gretchen claims to have inside knowledge about this grisly murder. Archie finally agrees to visit Gretchen, because he can't risk losing his only lead in the case. At least, that's what he tells himself . . . but the ties between Archie and Gretchen have always been stronger, deeper, and more complex than he's willing to admit, even to himself. What game is she playing this time? And even more frightening, what long-hidden secrets from Gretchen's past have been dredged up that someone would kill to protect?
At once terrifying and magnetic, "Beauty Killer" Gretchen Lowell returns with a vengeance in Kill You Twice, Chelsea Cain's latest razor-sharp psychological thriller. Views: 133
