ALEX LOVELL MAKES PEOPLE DISAPPEAR. TURNS OUT, SHE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE. Private investigator Alexandra Lovell uses computer skills and cunning to help clients drop off the radar and begin new lives in safety. Melanie Bess, desperate to escape her abusive cop husband, was one of those clients. But when Melanie vanishes for real, Alex fears the worst, and sets out to discover what happened. Using every resource she can get her hands on -- including an elite team of forensic scientists known as the Tracers, and a jaded, sexy Austin PD detective -- Alex embarks on a mission to uncover the truth. As far as homicide cop Nathan Deveraux is concerned, no body means no case. But as much as he wants to believe that Alex's hunch about Melanie's murder is wrong, his instincts -- and their visceral attraction -- won't let him walk away. As a grim picture of what really happened begins to emerge, Nathan realizes this investigation runs deeper than they could ever have guessed. And each step nearer the truth puts Alex in danger of being the next to disappear.... Views: 19
RetailThe author of The Back of Beyond continues the chronicle of his odyssey into some of the farthest corners of the world, from the Mountains of the Moon in Zaire, to wilderness Tasmania, to the unknown regions of New Guinea.From Library JournalYeadon, a Yorkshire-born American resident who writes frequently for the Washington Post , National Geographic , and National Geographic Traveler , has found a niche writing about lesser-known places. Here is a somewhat random collection of pieces about places far off the tourist track: Zaire, jungle Panama and Venezuela, the Australian Outback, the southern tips of Chile and Tasmania, and Fiji. No dauntless explorer, Yeadon comes off as an ordinary sort of traveler who sometimes underestimates the rigors of his ventures. Thus, we get plenty of bad weather, leeches, blisters, a corrupt official, some loneliness leading to introspection, and unappetizing food. But through it all, Yeadon's basically cheerful nature, his eye for local characters and ear for their dialog, and his concern for the environment and for native cultures make him one of us--and thus an agreeable travel companion. He also provides charming sketches. Only the maps are substandard: this kind of book requires something much better. This work is recommended for public libraries.- Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon State Coll. Lib., AshlandCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsMore rollicking end-of-the-road adventures from Yeadon. Yeadon (The Back of Beyond, 1991, etc.), who calls himself your average happy traveler,'' now explores ninelost worlds,'' blurry regions on the map, where nature still reigns and man is at best a tolerated interloper. First up--and most entrancing--is the Mountains of the Moon, a remote chain of peaks rising from the rain forests of Zaire. Invariably, getting there is half the fun, as Yeadon cruises on an African barge--a floating city, really, with its own government, economy, and teeming masses--smokes pot with Pygmies in the primeval jungle, and feasts on roasted caterpillar. Then on to Venezuela, where he fishes for piranha with llano cowboys, symbol of Latin machismo. In the Venezuelan highlands, he discovers a Catholic hermit and his little hand-built church, the pure white architecture of which brings Yeadon a dash of spiritual awakening. On to Barbuda, an untouristed sliver of land in the Caribbean; to Panama, where he wanders the jungly Darien Gap with Cuna Indians; to the fjords of Chile, which he sails in an orgy of funny self-remonstration (``sailing is for suicidal nuts''); then halfway around the world to Australia's Bungle Bungle, filled with giant termite mounds and otherworldly rock formations, where the author has a brush with death as he nearly drowns in the coral reefs; Tasmania, where he fights leeches in the rain forest; and, finally, the blissful beaches of Fiji, where he dreams of settling down at last. Filled with Yeadon's trademark good humor, contagious love of wandering, and--a new and sometimes awkward element--heavy doses of ecomysticism, sincere but ripe with clich‚. Our advice: Stick to the sights--they're mind-boggling enough. (Line drawings, maps) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Views: 19
In When the Nines Roll Over, David Benioff uses humor and rich characterizations to explore the sometimes thrilling, sometimes pathetic emotional lives of a diverse set of characters. Over the course of eight stories, we are introduced to a host of young people on the cusp of discovery and loss. As he evokes the various states of agony and pleasure—humiliation, rebellion, camaraderie, and desire—Benioff displays a profound understanding of the transformative power of a single moment and how sadness can be illuminated by a humorous flip side. When the Nines Roll Over confirms the promise of a gifted writer emerging as a storytelling force. Views: 19
Maureen, a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed dork-a-saurus, is totally addicted to cupcakes and hot dogs and thinks that her body looks like a baked potato. Allergy-plagued Alice can't touch a mango without breaking out in a rash, and if she eats wheat, her vision goes blurry. Klutzy to the extreme, Barbara is a beanpole who often embarrasses herself in front of the whole school. These outcasts don't have much in common—other than the fact that they are often targets of the ThreePees: the Pretty, Popular, Perfect girls who rule the school. Views: 19
Roughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization.Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding.The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries--the source of the Indo-European languages and English--and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.From Publishers WeeklyIn this study of language, archeology and culture, Hartwick College anthropology professor Anthony hypothesizes that a proto-Indo-European culture emerged in the Ponto-Caspian steppes 4,000 years ago, speaking an ur-language ancestor to the Romance, German and Slavic family of languages, Sanskrit and modern English. Citing discoveries in the Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan made possible only after the fall of the Iron Curtain brought together Soviet and western scientists, Anthony combines evidence from radioactive dating, demographic analysis of migration patterns, linguistic analysis and the study of epics such as the Iliad and the Rig Veda to substantiate his contention. Central to his thesis is the role of the horse, originally domesticated for food and first ridden to manage herds; only later, with the development of the chariot, were they ridden during combat. Anthony provides a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of his subject, complete with a history of relevant research over the past two centuries (including evidence and opinion that counter his own, such as the now-discredited Aryan race hypothesis). A thorough look at the cutting edge of anthropology, Anthony's book is a fascinating look into the origins of modern man. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewDavid W. Anthony argues that we speak English not just because our parents taught it to us but because wild horses used to roam the steppes of central Eurasia, because steppedwellers invented the spoked wheel and because poetry once had real power. . . . Anthony is not the first scholar to make the case that Proto-Indo-European came from this region [Ukraine/Russia], but given the immense array of evidence he presents, he may be the last one who has to.... The Horse, the Wheel, and Language brings together the work of historical linguists and archaeologists, researchers who have traditionally been suspicious of each other's methods. [The book] lays out in intricate detail the complicated genealogy of history's most successful language. (Christine Kenneally The New York Times Book Review )[A]uthoritative . . . (John Noble Wilford New York Times )A thorough look at the cutting edge of anthropology, Anthony's book is a fascinating look into the origins of modern man. (Publishers Weekly )In the age of Borat it may come as a surprise to learn that the grasslands between Ukraine and Kazakhstan were once regarded as an early crucible of civilisation. This idea is revisited in a major new study by David Anthony. (Times Higher Education )Starting with a history of research on Proto-Indo-Europeans and exploring how this field for obvious reasons assumed an ethno-political dimension early on, leading PIE scholar Anthony moves on to established facts . . . then shifts his focus to the interrelation of the three essential elements of horse, chariot, and language and how the first and second provided the means for the spread of Indo-European languages from India to Ireland. The bulk of the book contains the factual evidence, mainly archaeological, to support this argument. But a strength of the book is its rich historical linguistic approach. The combination of the two provides a remarkable work that should appeal to everyone with an interest not just in Indo-Europeans, but in the history of humanity in general. (Abdi, Dartmouth College, for "CHOICE )David Anthony's book is a masterpiece. A professor of anthropology, Anthony brings together archaeology, linguistics, and rare knowledge of Russian scholarship and the history of climate change to recast our understanding of the formation of early human society. (Martin Walker Wilson Quarterly )The Horse, the Wheel, and Language brings together the work of historical linguists and archaeologists, researchers who have traditionally been suspicious of each other's methods. Though parts of the book will be penetrable only by scholars, it lays out in intricate detail the complicated genealogy of history's most successful language. (Christine Kenneally International Herald Tribune )The Horse, the Wheel and Language maps the early geography of the Russian steppes to re-create the lost world of Indo-European culture that is as fascinating as any mystery novel. (Arthur Krim Geographical Reviews )In its integration of language and archaeology, this book represents an outstanding synthesis of what today can be known with some certainty about the origin and early history of the Indo-European languages. In my view, it supersedes all previous attempts on the subject. (Kristian Kristiansen Antiquity ) Views: 19
SUMMARY:
A New Era of Forgotten Realms(R) Adventure!When pirates threaten his home, Geran is elected by the city council to track the blood-thirsty pirates to their hidden base, infiltrate them, and find a way to stop them before it's too late. But the pirates are motivated by more than greed. Kin to his enemies, they seek a deeper revenge, one Geran only begins to glimpse when they kidnap the woman he loves. Views: 19
Petty Potts has been kidnapped! Josh and Danny have to find her before it's too late. While investigating, the boys come across Petty's latest S.W.I.T.C.H. spray that can turn them into alligators. Josh and Danny soon have a date with destiny... Views: 19
EDITORIAL REVIEW: Lord Dominic Landsowne, a notorious society rake, is tormented by the presence of a new woman in his household--Juliet Lockwood. Will he make her his wife? Views: 19
Bea Abbot is back - Bea Abbot runs a domestic agency that doesn't 'do' murder. There's nothing sinister about charity-worker Zander's request for her to join him on a visit to his former boss Denzil's widow. But Zander had exposed the financial scam Denzil was running - after which Denzil had, unexpectedly, died. Now the dead man's widow is out for Zander's blood, and the paperwork that proves Denzil's guilt is missing. Denzil's computer could provide the answers, but then another death occurs . . . Views: 19
