When a world renowned scientist is found brutally murdered in a Swiss research facility, a Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man's chest. His baffling conclusion: that it is the work of the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years - reborn to continue their bitter vendetta against their most hated enemy, the Catholic church.In Rome, the college of cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Yet somewhere within the walls of the Vatican, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. While the minutes tick away, Langdon joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to decipher the labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome to the long-forgotten Illuminati lair -- a secret refuge wherein lies the only hope for the Vatican.But, with each revelation comes another twist, another turn in the... Views: 22
Half-breed bounty hunter Trevarr is gone, captured by the Ghehera Tribunal and in the hands of a resentful former companion who will stop at nothing to extract the name of his clandestine partner: Lisa "Garrie" McGarrity, Southwest Reckoner. Garrie hunts Trevarr with grim intent, determined to find him in spite of the danger. But reckoner teammates Quinn, Drew, and Lucia want her focused on the rising ethereal threats at home, any one of which spells disaster of the cataclysmic kind. Garrie knows in her heart what her team doesn't—that Trevarr barely survives, that he needs help—and that they all need him just as much as she does, if they're to have any chance of stopping the massive invader hunkered invisibly over the mountain beside Garrie's New Mexico home—trapped, wounded, and infinitely more dangerous than it ought to be. If only Ghehera doesn't find them all first. Views: 22
Well, shabba me whiskers! Mr Gum's back! But what's he up to this time? Oh, dreadful things my friends, dreadful things indeed. Seems he's found himself a brand new treat - rancid kebabs just dripping with dirty grey sauce. And he just can't get enough of them. He's gotta have more! More! LESS! I mean, MORE! But not everyone's too happy about Mr Gum's new dinnertime arrangements and soon the town of Lamonic Bibber is gearing up for war. Can Polly and her friends save the town from being torn apart? Will Mr Gum's hunger ever be satisfied? And who on earth is Thora Gruntwinkle? Views: 22
Beautiful Detective Faith Julies sets out to find the killer of her parents after fourteen years. Falling in love with her partner Trey Branson seemed so natural to both of them. Faith and Trey love with a passion like no other. Their hot sexy games of love somehow always brings the best out in both of them. Views: 22
He’s only been surviving. Her magic can show him how to live. Red Rock Pass, Book 3 After a decade under a corrupt alpha’s thumb, Dylan Gennaro is still reeling from the changes in his life: a new home, a new alpha, a pack at war. Even normal things like an ending relationship. Still, when he’s asked to work with an outcast witch, he agrees without hesitation. Maybe by protecting her, he’ll rediscover his own inner strength. If, indeed, it exists. Sasha Wallace lost her mentor in a vicious attack that left her scarred in spirit as well as body. While she’s grateful for the refuge offered by the Red Rock alpha, it’s tough living with the pack’s suspicion. Even though—or maybe because—she’s willing to use her powers to help them fight their war. Except for Dylan. When she’s finally free to find a new home, he’ll be the only one she regrets leaving behind. Their attraction is a balm to their wounded hearts, until their journey for knowledge brings them face to face with a terrifying vampire. Neither has the strength for this fight—but if they can let go of their pasts and trust each other, they might just be able to do it. Together. Warning: Contains dangerous magical binding spells, a flannel-wearing vampire lumberjack, paranormal road-trip hijinks and a quietly brilliant werewolf willing to defy his society and his past to protect the witch he loves. Views: 22
Amazon.com ReviewProduct Description Joseph Finder introduced Nick Heller, a “private spy” who finds out things powerful people want to keep hidden, to widespread acclaim from the critics and wild enthusiasm from the readers, in the New York Times bestselling novel Vanished. Now, in Buried Secrets, Nick Heller returns, finding himself in the middle of a life-or-death situation that’s both high-profile and intensely personal. Nick has returned to his old home town of Boston to set up his own shop. There he’s urgently summoned by an old family friend. Hedge fund titan Marshall Marcus desperately needs Nick’s help. His teenaged daughter, Alexa, has just been kidnapped. Her abduction was clearly a sophisticated professional job, done with extraordinary precision. Alexa, whom Nick has known since she was young, is now buried alive, held prisoner in an underground crypt, a camera trained on her, her suffering streaming live over the internet. She’s been left with a limited supply of food and water and, if her father doesn’t meet the demands of her shadowy kidnappers, she’ll die. And as Nick begins to probe, he discovers that all is not quite right with Marshall Marcus’s business. He’s being investigated by the FBI, he has a lot of shady investors, his fund is in danger and now he has a lot of powerful enemies who may have the motivation to go after Marcus’s daughter. But to find out who’s holding Alexa Marcus hostage, Nick has to find out why. Once he does, he uncovers an astonishing conspiracy that reaches far beyond anything he could have imagined. And if he’s going to find Alexa in time, he will have to flush out and confront some of his deadliest opponents ever. Amazon Exclusive: Reacher and Heller by Lee Child, author of the bestselling Jack Reacher seriesSome say it was Virginia and some say it was North Carolina but all agree it was a bar. Everyone was drinking domestic beer, except Reacher, who was drinking coffee, and inevitably after an hour the talk turned to guys people knew. Reacher sat quiet, not really part of the group, content to ignore the war stories and the tall tales, until the name Nick Heller came up. Someone said Heller had been one of General Hood's boys, and was therefore suspect, because everyone knew Hood was as bent as a nine dollar bill. Reacher shook his head and spoke for the first time in an hour."No," he said. "Heller worked for Hood, but he was never one of the boys. In fact the smart money said Heller was the guy who would take Hood down one day.""You know Heller?" someone asked."No," Reacher said again. "But I met a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy. And I heard things.""And?""I made a mental note, that's all. Heller's OK.""As good as us?""Better.""Than you too?"Reacher smiled. "He's in the rear view mirror. A little closer than some." "What's he like?""He drives a Land Rover. A thing called a Defender. British. Like a Willys jeep without the frills. That's about all you need to know, right there.""So he's a caveman, like you.""No, that's where it gets complicated. He's very smart with technology. I heard he did a couple of years in D.C. with one of those hi-tech Beltway firms. Like the CIA, but private. Better paid. And more efficient, obviously.""I heard he's in Boston," someone said.Reacher nodded. "There was an issue.""What kind?""Ethical, probably. Heller's got a backbone. Guys like that have problems in D.C.""His dad was a crook.""Financial," Reacher said. "They're all crooks. But Heller's OK.""Would you trust him? You?""Probably," Reacher said. "He's a stand-up guy. Apparently he went to bat for his brother a year or so ago. No reason to, but he did. It was a bad situation, too. But he came out ahead. Some very nice moves. There's a nephew, they say. Weird kid, but Heller does his best. And his mother is still on the scene. Someone once told me a guy who gets along with his mother can't be all bad.""Who told you that?""My mother.""What's he doing in Boston? Private eye?""Not exactly," Reacher said. "More like a private spy. He put together a crew up there. They do the CIA stuff in the office, and then he goes and does the black ops stuff himself. One stop shopping.""Is he a Red Sox fan?""I hope not.""Still, Boston. Quiet up there.""Not very," Reacher said. "Guy I met was talking about a kidnapping. Some rich girl taken out of a night club. Billionaire father, and so on and so forth. Some serious Russians involved. I mean, serious as lung cancer. But it turned out OK.""That was Heller?""Lips are sealed, but I don't see who else it could have been. It was done about ninety percent the same way I would have done it. Which means it had to be Heller. There's no one else that good up there.""You've got competition," someone said.Reacher smiled again. "Human nature," he said. "There are always new guys. Law of averages says some of them will be good.""Would you call him? If you were in trouble in Boston?""I don't have a phone," Reacher said. "But I'd be happy enough if he happened to show up. We could do some damage together, that's for damn sure."Review"A total wow of a read...this is the kind of book you have to look up from, every once in a while, just to collect yourself....Great tension....About as perfectly plotted and suspenseful as possible, this is a tremendous high-wire act." - Booklist (starred review) on Buried Secrets"Crisp, clipped chapters and numerous cliff-hangers propel the action at a breakneck pace. Finder's outstanding writing and engrossing plot twists embellish a captivating summer read." - Library Journal (starred review) on Buried Secrets__"Compulsively readable...opens fast and never slows down....Self-effacing, wry, and ridiculously competent, Heller makes a reasonably engaging protagonist, but this thriller's real star is the suspenseful, expertly paced plot. - Publishers Weekly on Buried Secrets Views: 22
Her new client was devilishly handsome, superbly charming...and absolutely hiding something. Why else would a man as rich and powerful as Cristo Verón have any interest in the cleaning services of lowly Isabelle Browne? Her suspicions were confirmed when she discovered his real reason for hiring her. And suddenly, she was agreeing to a preposterous proposition....Cristo would protect his family at any cost--and keeping Isabelle close was key to his plan. Having her pose as his make-believe mistress was step one. But he hadn't counted on wanting to make the pretense a reality. Views: 22
Introduced by Douglas Gifford. Mr Alfred is an elderly schoolteacher dogged by a sense of failure. The rejection of his poetry and his nightly escape to the pub all contribute to his malaise. Perhaps most harrowing is his innocent but obsessive love for Rose, one of his pupils. This ‘affair’ is maliciously reported and he is torn from his familiar job and transferred to an even rougher school. Against a nightmarish background of gang warfare and public desecration the story reaches a frightening climax. This novel provides significant observation of a critical period in the saga of modern, urban youth. But its most striking achievement is in its portrait of Mr Alfred whose values and sensitive nature are so tragically at odds with his environment. ‘A bright book, full of perceptions.’ The Times ‘Skillfully done . . . the strange totemism of city gangs is used to great effect.’ TLS ‘This book has a rough and gutsy authenticity; it is entertaining... Views: 22
The monotony of farm work is killing Julian. Between his boring life and his demanding father, Julian is losing his passion for music and his hope for a life of travel. When he escapes work for a day in the woods, he stumbles upon a beautiful dryad and finds the beginnings of the life he's always wanted. But the dryad's magic runs deeper than he understands, and Julian must leave with her before his newly rekindled dreams are torn from him.This is a short story of approximately 10,000 words.Note: This story contains content intended for mature audiences. Views: 22
There are guides to every aspect and every angle of parenthood-from prenatal to post-college-yet none tells us what couples really and truly feel once confronted with the awesome power of Nature's Course. The Three of Us does.Seasoned travelers, successful professionals, Joanna Coles and Peter Godwin arrived in Manhattan ready to make it their oyster-she to be the New York correspondent for a major British newspaper, he to pursue his prize-winning career as a writer and journalist. Of course they were self-absorbed; why come to New York, if not to explore every avenue of self-interest? The news that Joanna is pregnant, however, causes a massive shift in paradigm. Suddenly they are launched unsteadily but irrevocably toward an altogether new New World.Like a series of mental ultrasounds, The Three of Us consists of alternating diary entries in which, day by day and month by month, Peter and Joanna navigate the uncharted waters of impending parenthood.... Views: 22
Thirteen-year-old Ben is visiting Central America when he stumbles into an ancient mystery. He is determined to solve the trials of El Dorado and find treasure. But along the way Ben learns important things about friendship—and realises that treasure might not be all there is to find. Another rip-roaring action adventure from Ruth Eastham. Views: 22
Sixteen-year-old Spencer loves his job at the local racing stable, but when he becomes convinced that someone is drugging the racehorse Lord of the Flies, no one believes him. In an effort to find out who is behind a dangerous race-fixing scheme, he takes on some of the most unsavory members of the track community. By refusing to turn a blind eye, Spencer risks losing those he cares most about, including Em, the stableowner's niece. Views: 22
Tom Hansom had always been gay. Oh, he liked women well enough. As the saying went, they were some of his best friends. But guys? Oh yeah, they really rang his chimes. Jack Sweet, on the other hand, had never doubted he was straight. He loved women in all their many varieties, even going so far as to marry, not once but twice. In spite of their diverse sexual orientations, in spite of time and distance, the two men were best friends. Now, that friendship will be tested, as Tom makes a request, and Jack seriously considers it. Views: 22
