From the author of The Gustav SonataIn Rose Tremain's teasing and brilliant title story, Evangelista's Fan set in a disturbing dreamlike version of Regency London, a young italian clockmaker contrives a magical means, not only of repairing time, but also of unlocking the mechanism of sexual happiness. This collection demonstrates the enormous range of her talent and imagination. Here is history - Agincourt as seen by the herald who rides between the two camps - alongside such contemporary issues as mortgage debt and medical error. Here are stories set in Cornwall, Corsica, Nashville, Niagara and an unidentified city which conjures up any and every Western European capital. Here are the obstinate dreams of the old and the passionate struggles of the young; here is heartbreak and humour; and here, above all, is love in its many and varied forms.Over a million Rose Tremain books sold'A writer of exceptional talent ... Tremain is... Views: 29
The Eqbas have come, bringing justice, change, hope to some . . . and death to many.Seeking to punish the human gethes who caused the near destruction of an ocean-dwelling race in the distant Cavanagh’s Star system, the Eqbas have finally landed on Earth. But another, equally important obligation has drawn them across the galaxy: the salvation of this environmentally ravaged world, a mission that could entail the annihilation of billions of humans. Former police officer Shan Frankland has come as well—along with her two lifemates, one alien and one human—carrying in her blood the parasite that makes her virtually immortal. Though she once vowed never to let the powerful contagion reach the homeworld she left nearly a century ago, she feels compelled to play an active role in the unfolding drama—and to follow the catastrophic events that have devastated civilizations and defined her life to their shocking, inevitable end.About the AuthorKaren Traviss is a former defense correspondent and TV and newspaper journalist. She has worked in public relations for the police and local government, and has served in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service and the Territorial Army. The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of City of Pearl, Crossing the Line, The World Before, Matriarch, Star Wars-Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Triple Zero, and Star Wars-Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, she lives in Wiltshire, England. Views: 29
A brand-new and revised edition of the hilarious guide to the national anti-holiday made famous by Seinfeld, complete with never-before-seen material, photos, and illustrations on how to prepare and enjoy your very own Festivus. Views: 29
"I have found it." These words, uttered by the man who first discovered gold on the American River in 1848, triggered the most astonishing mass movement of peoples since the Crusades. California's gold drew fortune-seekers from the ends of the earth. It accelerated America's imperial expansion and exacerbated the tensions that exploded in the Civil War. And, as H. W. Brands makes clear in this spellbinding book, the Gold Rush inspired a new American dream--the "dream of instant wealth, won by audacity and good luck."Brands tells his epic story from multiple perspectives: of adventurers John and Jessie Fremont, entrepreneur Leland Stanford, and the wry observer Samuel Clemens--side by side with prospectors, soldiers, and scoundrels. He imparts a visceral sense of the distances they traveled, the suffering they endured, and the fortunes they made and lost. Impressive in its scholarship and overflowing with life, The Age of Gold is history in the grand traditions of... Views: 29
After a century of chaos following the nukes, Deathlands is forming pockets of civilization, aided by predark stockpiles of weapons, fuel and pieces of 21st-century knowledge. But these troves are hard to come by, and survival remains a blood quest. For Ryan Cawdor and his warrior survivalists, luck is sparse, chances slimmer, yet hope drives them onward.The sulphur-teeming Gulf of Mexico is the poisoned end of the earth, but loaded cargo ships ruined by skydark lure doomie and cutthroat alike. Here, Ryan and the others glean rumors of whole cities deep in South America that survived the blast intact. But as the companions contemplate a course of action that may divide them, a new horror approaches unseen on the horizon. The Lords of Death are Mexican pirates raiding stockpiles with a grim vengeance. When civilization hits rock bottom, a new stone age will emerge, with its own personal day of blood reckoning.In the Deathlands, the future could always be worse. Now it is.... Views: 29
Two murders have occurred on One One One, an artificial ecosystem created by the universe’s dominant AIs to house several engineered species, including a violent, sentient race of sloth-like creatures. Under order from the Diplomatic Corps, Counselor Andrea Cort has come to this cylinder world where an indentured human community hangs suspended high above a poisoned, acid atmosphere. Her assignment is to choose a suitable homicide suspect from among those who have sold their futures to escape existences even worse than this one. And no matter where the trail leads her she must do nothing to implicate the hosts, who hold the power to obliterate humankind in an instant. But Andrea Cort is not about to hold back in her hunt for a killer. For she has nothing to lose and harbors no love for her masters or fellow indentures. And she herself has felt the terrible exhilaration of taking life…. Views: 29
While parked at a gas station, Rhonda sees something so incongruously surreal that at first she hardly recognizes it as a crime in progress. She watches, unmoving, as someone dressed in a rabbit costume kidnaps a young girl. Devastated over having done nothing, Rhonda joins the investigation. But the closer she comes to identifying the abductor, the nearer she gets to the troubling truth about another missing child: her best friend, Lizzy, who vanished years before.From the author of the acclaimed Promise Not to Tell comes a chilling and mesmerizing tale of shattered innocence, guilt, and ultimate redemption.From Publishers WeeklyAt the start of McMahon's haunting second novel (after Promise Not to Tell), recent college grad Rhonda Farr witnesses a child abduction in front of a convenience store in Pike's Crossing, Vt. Ernestine Ernie Florucci willingly leaves her mother's car because her six-foot-tall abductor is wearing a rabbit suit. Rhonda remembers her best friend Lizzy's father entertaining her and Lizzy in a rabbit costume in 1993, and vanishing soon after. Three years later, Lizzy disappeared en route to high school. Guilt over her inability to stop Ernie's abduction spurs Rhonda to join the search for the girl. She recalls the summer that Lizzy's older brother, Peter, had them all perform Peter Pan, which was a great success, but there were dark secrets beneath the makeshift stage. McMahon expertly shifts between pivotal events in the past and present-day action, building tension to a resolution both poignant and shattering. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistAs in her assured debut novel, Promise Not to Tell (2007), McMahon offers a moving if bittersweet portrait of childhood. When a person dressed up in a rabbit costume abducts a little girl out of her car, the lone witness, Rhonda, is too stunned to act. As the small rural town mobilizes a search for the missing child, Rhonda, reeling with guilt, is reminded of another girl who went missing—her closest friend from childhood, Lizzy. Joyful memories of their youth spent putting on plays and exploring the woods alternate with darker moments: losing the love of her life, Lizzy’s brother, Peter, and the year an increasingly disheveled and moody Lizzy stopped talking to her or anyone else. Past and present merge as Rhonda closes in on the costumed abductor and also on the dark family secrets that tore their perfect childhood apart. McMahon spends a good deal of time setting the stage; however, once the pieces of the intricate plot are in place, readers will be hooked on both the mystery element and the coming-of-age aspects of this atmospheric novel. --Joanne Wilkinson Views: 29
Will one night in Sin City equal a lifetime of regret? On his way to be best man at his friend’s wedding, Caleb Daniels has high hopes that his run of bad relationships has come to an end. He can’t wait to lay eyes—and hands—on the funny and intelligent maid of honor. They’ve never met, but she’s been charming him for weeks over the internet. At first Lara Sinclair’s cyberspace chats with Cal centered around the preparations for her sister’s extravagant wedding, but it quickly blossomed into an intense online affair. Now she’s more than ready to meet him face to face, and have his fingers stroke more than just the keyboard. But before she can even say hello to the sexy groomsman, her trouble-come-hither, look-alike sister bursts her bubble with a bona-fide, happily-every-after emergency. And Lara finds herself faced with a heartbreaking choice. Let her sister solve her own problems, or risk her budding relationship with Cal to help save the wedding—by pretending to be someone she’s not. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, mistaken identities, hot sex in a boathouse, and proof that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas! Views: 29
The Grand Ole Opry has been home to the greatest legends of country music for over eighty years, and in that time it has seen some of conutry music's most dramatic stories unfold. We'll hear of the great love stories ranging from Johnny Cash and June Carter in the 1960s to Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who married in 2005. We'll get the truth of the tragedies that led to the loss of three stars all in the same month, starting the rumor of the "Opry Curse." We'll learn how after being stabbed, shot, and maimed, Trace Adkins calls his early honky-tonk years "combat country," and we'll find inspiration from DeFord Bailey, an African American harmonica player in 1927 crippled by childhood polio who rose to fame as one of the first Opry stars. Our hearts will break for Willie Nelson, who lost his only son on Christmas Day, and soar for Amy Grant and Vince Gill, who found true love. Based on over 150 firsthand interviews with the stars of The Grand Ole Opry, these are stories that tell the heart of country-the lives that are lived and inspire the songs we love. Views: 29
The gorgeous hunk of cowboy fl esh had a name— Hank Monroe—and just about every woman in Whitehorse dreamed of being his match. So why would the newcomer want to date plain ol' Arlene Evans? His arrival was enough to flip her world upside down—leaving no time at all to get her hair done—but could he also set it right? When Arlene's pregnant daughter disappears, Hank's got the connections to close the case. But with his own past catching up—heck, nobody's perfect!—Arlene will do anything to get to the bottom of one tall, masculine, Montana mystery. Their lives are on the line, but nothing in this rough and tumble world can tear Hank and Arlene apart. Views: 29
