SUMMARY:
High above the planet Florinia, the Squires of Sark live in unimaginable wealth and comfort. Down in the eternal spring of the planet, however, the native Florinians labor ceaselessly to produce the precious kyrt that brings prosperity to their Sarkite masters. Rebellion is unthinkable and impossible. Not only do the Florinians no longer have a concept of freedom, any disruption of the vital kyrt trade would cause other planets to rise in protest, ultimately destabilizing trade and resulting in a galactic war. So the Trantorian Empire, whose grand plan is to unite all humanity in peace, prosperity, and freedom, has stood aside and allowed the oppression to continue. Living among the workers of Florinia, Rik is a man without a memory or a past. He has been abducted and brainwashed. Barely able to speak or care for himself when he was found, Rik is widely regarded as a simpleton by the worker community where he lives. But as his memories begin to return, Rik finds himself driven by a cryptic message he is determined to deliver: Everyone on Florinia is doomed . . . the Currents of Space are bringing destruction. But if the planet is evacuated, the power of Sark will end--so some would finish the job and would kill the messenger. The fate of the Galaxy hangs in the balance. Views: 49
After hundreds of interviews, celebrity biography J. Randy Taraborrelli tackes the rujors andinnendo that hover over the extraordinarily popular and talented family from Gary, Indiana. He traces the real story behind Michael's extensive plastic surgery; his bizarre publicity stunts; the mini-Disneyland built for his private use; the exciting Motown days of chart-busting records and tours; the henomenal solo success that has brought Michael undreamed-of wealth and also great personal pain, and much more. It's the whole Jackson Family saga, and it's all in here Views: 49
Tamar is admitted to Lime Grove, a psychiatric ward for teenagers, where the psychologists ask her endless questions. How did the self-harming start? Will you tell us what happened? How do you feel, on a scale of one to ten? But there's one question Tamar can't – won't – answer: What happened to her friend Iris? A uniquely powerful, devastating novel of friendship, fragility and forgiveness. Contains scenes of suicide and self-harm that some readers may find upsetting. Views: 49
A field of corpses, laid out in a macabre display… A serial killer who confounds even the most seasoned profilers… A doctor whose life has been shattered by crime—plunged into the heart of a shocking investigation… In this masterful new novel by Simon Beckett, #1 internationally bestselling author of Written in Bone and The Chemistry of Death , forensic anthropologist David Hunter is thrust into his first murder investigation on U.S. soil—and his most devastating case yet. In the heat of a Tennessee summer, Dr. Hunter has come to Knoxville’s legendary “Body Farm”—the infamous field laboratory where law enforcement personnel study real corpses—to escape London and the violence that nearly destroyed his life. He’s also here to find out if he’s still up to the job of sorting through death in all its strange and terrible forms…. Hunter will soon find his answer when he’s called to a crime scene in a remote Smoky Mountain cabin—a scene as grisly as it is bizarre. The body is taped to a table. Everything about the crime scene—the wounds, the decomposition, the microscopic evidence—quickly short-circuits the tools and methods of forensic experts. Within days, Hunter knows he’s dealing with a serial killer, someone intimately familiar with the intricacies of forensics. All around him, egos and hierarchies clash—from the boasts of a renowned criminal profiler to the dogged work of a young female investigator—but fate keeps pushing Hunter further into the heart of the manhunt. And the killer keeps coming up with surprises: booby-trapping corpses, faking times of death, swapping bodies—finally turning his sights on after Hunter himself…. An electrifying race against time, a fascinating journey into the world of forensic science, and a terrifying portrait of a killer in love with death itself, Whispers of the Dead is a thriller of the highest order. Views: 49
Flora Harper isn't amused when her faery "gift" transports her in the middle of a self-induced orgasm to a professional football locker room after practice. The fact that it's the team she works for, and their new quarterback, Ian Tate, wants to finish what she's started, flies in the face of the non-fraternization policy. Ian has been traded to a rival city so he catch a blackmailer red-handed. Time is against him, as are the number of injuries he's had in his career. It sounds like a great deal, except filming the Public Relations specialist in a sexually compromising position leaves a sour taste in his mouth. When he discovers that the PR person is emotionally distant, hard-on inducing Flora, getting a whole lot closer to her feels so incredibly right… until she finds out why he's really on the team. Views: 49
New in the Harper Perennial Modern Chinese Classics series, Border Town is a classic Chinese novel—banned by Mao's regime—that captures the ideals of rural China through the moving story of a young woman and her grandfather. Originally published in 1934 by author Shen Congwen, this beautifully written novel tells the story of Cuicui, a young country girl who is coming of age in rural China in the tumultuous time before the communist revolution. Views: 49
From Publishers WeeklyThe early, relatively heroic days of the conflict in Afghanistan are memorialized in this engrossing if glamorized war saga. Blehm (The Last Season, a B&N Discover Award winner) follows the exploits of Capt. Jason Amerine's Special Forces team Alpha 574, which choppered into Afghanistan in November 2001 to help future Afghan president Hamid Karzai organize anti-Taliban insurgents in the south. The team's mission—to turn chaotic and perpetually stoned Pashtun tribesmen into effective soldiers—seems impossible and, ultimately, proved unnecessary. Indeed, according to Blehm's account, the Green Berets' worst enemies were other Americans: meddling CIA honchos and army brass, a do-nothing Marine officer, and the air force spotter who mistakenly called in an air strike on 574's position, with ghastly results. The author overplays the comradely bond between Karzai and Amerine, who come off as a latter-day Washington and Lafayette, but doesn't quite succeed in wringing a military epic out of what was essentially a turkey shoot. Still, Blehm's warts-and-all account of the U.S. military machine in action is full of tension, color, and real pathos. 16 pages of b&w photos. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“Eric Blehm has written a literary masterpiece about modern war. The whole witches’ brew is here: valor, honor, heroism, cowardice, incompetence, stupidity, triumph, blood, death and despair. That America has soldiers like these should fill every American heart with pride. Read this book!” (Stephen Coonts, bestselling author of Flight of the Intruder and The Disciple )“The greatest story of a small unit’s battle through an untamed land since Lawrence of Arabia.” (Adam Makos, editor of Valor Magazine )“The Only Thing Worth Dying For is not only brilliant, it’s the one book you must read if you have any hope of understanding what our fine American soldiers are up against in Afghanistan.” (Former Congressman Charlie Wilson )“A skillfully reported and masterfully written account of one of the most crucial moments of the War Against Terror. Blehm reminds us of the perils, the triumphs and the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.” (Bob Woodruff, ABC News correspondent )“No other book has gone to such depths in research, nor been so descriptive in recounting this critical mission during the earliest days after 9/11 when the US Army Special Forces successfully waged unconventional warfare in Afghanistan.” (Sergeant Major Billy Waugh, author of Hunting The Jackal and Isaac Camacho, An American Hero )“Through careful reporting and crisp narrative pacing, Eric Blehm has given us a thrilling, forgotten drama from the opening chapter of the war in Afghanistan. The Only Thing Worth Dying For will become an enduring classic of this extraordinary theater, where so much hangs in the balance.” (Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder )“A captivating account of our heroic warriors-a remarkable U.S. Army Special Forces unit’s hard-fought success against incredible odds. It reads with the thrill of fiction-but this is the damned deadly real deal.” (W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV, best-selling authors of The Traffickers and The Honor of Spies )“Blehm provides powerful and unflinching insight into a real-life mission that ended in tragedy but left an indelible mark on history. From the comic moments to the bleakest hour, it’s a testament to how a small team of well-trained men can shape a nation’s destiny.” (Stephen Grey, award-winning author of Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA's Torture Program and Operation Snakebite: The Story of an Afghan Desert Siege ) Views: 49
She'd changed miraculously... A bullet wound had put Laura Hudson into a coma. Awakening with amnesia, she was told that the police still didn't know who'd shot her or why. Even worse, she was headed toward a slow recovery on a cattle ranch -- with a husband and daughter who apparently hated her. To Ryder Hudson, Laura seemed like a brand-new woman. Even little Abby warmed to her. But Ryder had to stay on guard. Because he was falling in love with his wife again -- even as he began to suspect that she wasn't Laura at all...but a potentially dangerous stranger! Views: 49
Glenn Marlett is determined to make his brother Paul, who is developmentally disabled, a decent basketball player. Views: 49
Mary Ellis follows her captivating Widow’s Hope with a new story from the heart of Holmes County, Ohio. In Never Far From Home, fifteen–year–old Emma Miller finishes school, starts her own wool business, and is longing for someone to court. When the object of her affection is a handsome English sheep farmer, with a fast truck and modern methods, her deacon father, Simon, knows he has more than the farm alliance to worry about.Emma isn’t the only one with longings in Holmes County. Her aunt Hannah wants a baby and her uncle Seth hopes he’ll reap financial rewards when he takes a risk with his harvest. But are these the dreams God has for this Amish family? With engaging interactions and thoughtful characters, Ellis weaves a story about waiting for God’s timing and discovering that the dreams planted close to home can grow a lasting harvest of hope and love.About the AuthorMary Ellis is the author of many books, including A Widow's Hope, Sarah's Christmas Miracle, and A Marriage for Meghan. She and her husband live in central Ohio, where they try to live a simpler style of life. Views: 49
If you thought Las Vegas was where "what happens" stays, you have not been to homecoming at a historically black college or university, which means you have missed out. Until now, that is. Curtis Bunn's novel, Homecoming Weekend, provides readers a provocative, engrossing and humorous journey to an HBCU campus for those two days of reminiscing, partying, sex, romance, laughs and even tears. There is nothing quite like homecoming. It is a combination of a massive family reunion and festival, a sentimental and reaffirming annual experience that is laced with rekindled romances from years gone by, weekend flings and surprising revelations. Bunn paints high-definition images of the events as he takes you on the odyssey of five sets of friends back at their alma mater seeking satisfaction in different fashions. And while they arrive anticipating one thing, they end up with realities that place them in moral and ethical dilemmas--and the resolutions are as satisfying as... Views: 49
Beauty and her beast . . . Viscount Nicholas Stoneworth is infamous—even being mentioned in the same breath with him is enough to ruin a lady's reputation. Why, the man's spent years in London's underworld pursuing every sort of vice while parlaying his hard muscled body into fame and fortune as a fighter! With his brother's untimely death, Nicholas must assume the title and relearn the civilized ways of the ton . . . and proper Jane Fenton is more than willing to teach him everything she knows. Circumstances may have forced Jane into the role of ladies' companion, but she knows the danger of associating with a notorious man like Nicholas, a man who could tempt any woman into certain scandal. But her brother disappeared into the same underworld four long years ago, and if she transforms the libertine into a gentleman, he will use his connections to find him. Still, Jane will not—cannot—lose control. She must ignore the promise of sinful pleasure in his eyes . . . and her own wild desires desperate to break free. About the AuthorTwo of Jenna Petersen's childhood dreams were to be a ballerina and a baseball player. Those didn't work out, but she's pleased to be following another childhood dream, writing books for a living. And what better than romance, where dreams come true on every page? Jenna lives in central Illinois with her high school sweetheart husband and two taskmaster cats. She loves to hear from readers. Views: 49
