For the poor, hardworking citizens of the Confederacy's fringe worlds, the Guild Wars have exacted a huge toll. Swayed by the promise of financial rewards, a new batch of recruits joins the fight alongside a slew of mysteriously docile criminals — and a few dubious military leaders. Eighteen-year-old Jim Raynor, full of testosterone and eager to make things right at home, ships off to boot camp and finds his footing on the battlefield, but he soon discovers that the official mission is not what he's really fighting for. For the first time ever, StarCraft enthusiasts will learn the origins of the enduring friendship between the young upstart Jim Raynor and the streetwise soldier Tychus Findlay. Watch as they battle on the front lines of a fierce interplanetary war and bear witness to the Confederacy's rank corruption — corruption so reprehensible that it rains immeasurable death and destruction upon the government's own people. Views: 25
Summer's finally here, and Derek Fallon is looking forward to pelting the UPS truck with water balloons, climbing onto the garage roof, and conducting silly investigations. But when his parents decide to send him to Learning Camp, Derek's dreams of fun come to an end. Ever since he's been labeled a "reluctant reader," his mom has pushed him to read "real" books—something other than his beloved Calvin & Hobbes. As Derek forges unexpected friendships and uncovers a family secret involving himself (in diapers! no less), he realizes that adventures and surprises are around the corner, complete with curve balls.My Life as a Book is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year. Views: 25
For best friends Tara and Abena, an invitation to stay on a luxury yacht in St Tropez is a chance to indulge in riotous hedonism and reckless adventure. For Latvian model Natalya, it is a long-awaited opportunity. Dazzlingly beautiful but haunted by her childhood, she wants to find an oligarch who can fund her future - and help her forget her past. But when Abena becomes embroiled in a passionate and dangerous affair, Tara's partying spirals out of control, and Natalya discovers the dark consequences of getting what you wish for, the jet-set lifestyle starts to look a lot less glamorous...Review'A satisfyingly guilty read' Independent 'A blast of sun, string bikinis and glinting rolexes' Daily Mirror 'Thrilling and scandalous' Closer 'Dark, dangerous and delicious - Money, intrigue, sex, hedonism and even a little bit of a conscience - it's all here - Go on, you are worth it!' Lovereading.com About the AuthorWhile studying at Oxford University, Aita Ighodaro took a year out to work as a fashion model in Europe. Since graduating, she has worked for a leading documentary film distributor and producer and also written for a number of publications including Independent and the Sunday Express. This is her first novel. Views: 25
A Selection of the Military and History Book ClubsA startling new analysis of one of America's most glorious battles . . .Contrary to movie and legend, we now know that the defenders of the Alamo in the war for Texan independence-including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William B. Travis-did not die under brilliant sunlight, defending their positions against hordes of Mexican infantry. Instead the Mexicans launched a predawn attack, surmounting the walls in darkness, forcing a wild melee inside the fort before many of its defenders had even awoken.In this book, Dr. Tucker, after deep research into recently discovered Mexican accounts and the forensic evidence, informs us that the traditional myth of the Alamo is even more off-base: most of the Alamo's defenders died in breakouts from the fort, cut down by Santa Anna's cavalry that had been pre-positioned to intercept the escapees.To be clear, a number of the Alamo's defenders hung on inside the fort, fighting back every way they could. Captain Dickinson, with cannon atop the chapel (in which his wife hid), fired repeatedly into the Mexican throng of enemy cavalry until he was finally cut down. The controversy on Crockett still remains, though the recently authenticated diary of the Mexican de la Pena offers evidence that he surrendered.The most startling aspect of this book is that most of the Texans, in two gallantly led groups, broke out of the fort after the enemy had broken in, and the primary fights took place on the plain outside. Still fighting desperately, the Texans' retreat was halted by cavalry, and afterward Mexican lancers plied their trade with bloodcurdling charges into the midst of the remaining resisters.Notoriously, Santa Anna burned the bodies of the Texans who had dared stand against him. As this book proves in thorough detail, the funeral pyres were well outside the fort-that is, where the two separate groups of escapers fell on the plain, rather than in the Alamo itself.PHILLIP THOMAS TUCKER earned his Ph.D. in American History from St. Louis University in 1990. The author or editor of more than 20 books on military history, several of which have won national and state awards for scholarship, he has worked as a U.S. Air Force Historian for nearly two decades in Washington, DC. REVIEWS "As Tucker provides long-overdue corrections to the Alamo story unknown to most readers, this should be read by scholars and lay readers alike. . . ."-LIBRARY JOURNAL (3/2010)"Those convinced that the 1836 Alamo battle was a heroic last stand will hate this book. Readers open to new interpretations, however, will find compelling arguments within its well-researched pages. The author, a historian who has written or edited many books involving 19th-century military campaigns, believes the Alamo defenders were overwhelmed in a surprise night attack, not a daylight assault, and many of them died outside the fort while trying to escape through Mexican lines."-THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS 4/25/2010 "Reignites the never ending controversy over the last stand myth vs. the historical record, which indicates most defenders died after breaking out from Santa Anna's pre-dawn attack."--American History, 05/2010 "An eye opening reappraisal of what really happened during the Alamo siege, final assault and aftermath. . . . Tucker's well researched account dramatically rewrites long-accepted history and shatters some of the most cherished and enduring myths about the 1836 battle. "--Armchair General, 09/2010"It is refreshing for historians to challenge the conventions of history, even if their interpretations only contribute to the existing controversy."--ARMY Magazine, 06/2010"I disagree with many things in Exodus from the Alamo but it deserves a reading."-THE ALAMO JOURNAL Views: 25
One hundred and forty-nine days ago, Mimi's mam died. Everyone's given up. Dad keeps burning pizzas, and he doesn't smile anymore. Sally wears only black now and has a terrible secret. Conor plays the drums all night and keeps the neighbors awake. The dog, Sparkler, hasn't been walked in months. And that's not even counting how terrible things are at school. But Mimi isn't one to give up. In his solo novel debut, John Newman has crafted a story both touching and comic— a portrait of loss, compassion, and the power that comes from sticking together. Views: 25
Have you ever wondered what it would br like to be the confidante of a serial killer? Herman Martin had the odd fate of living next to Jeffrey Dahmer in prison. Dahmer killed 17 people but, when he moved in next to Martin, he became a neighbor, not a killer. Step inside the mind and the soul of a man the world called a monster; a killer so famous he received more mail than any other inmate in the history of the world. Those letter writers were seeking what Herman became privy to. They wanted to know anything they could about how the killer machine was built. They wanted to know if he was remorseful and whethr he had tried to stop. They wanted to know his worries as a human being. Herman Martin became confidante to all these answers as he crawled to the edge of an open vent that connected their cells. Patricia Lorenz is the spiritual writer who helped him make senses of it all and, 15 years later, reveal the answers Views: 25
"Self's Dorian subtitles itself "an imitation", and that it is exactly what it is, in the full Wildean sense. It flatters its original by taking both subject and style entirely seriously. The locations, characters, plot and epigrams are all transposed from the 1890s to the 1990s... Little is materially altered, but everything is reused - sharpened, blackened and intensified by Self's idiosyncratic remix of Wilde's combination of wit and rage, extravagant debauchery with clinical introspection...Self's reincarnation of Dorian has taken the fag ends of both an English century and an English myth and given them new, troubling and hugely entertaining life." Guardian Views: 25
Tender-hearted and lonely, Kya yearns for heritage and home. The staff and animals at the sanctuary where she works have become almost family, but it is not enough. She craves the stability and acceptance she hears in the voice of her dream lover and sees in the eyes of a wounded wildcat.Chosen to guard the royal heir, Ja claims his lost charge in a desperate attempt to save her from enemies she can not imagine or comprehend. At every turn desire and obligation clash as Kya tests his loyalty to the clan and his will to walk away. Touching her breaks the rules that he has pledged his life to uphold, but fulfilling his duty might destroy everything worth fighting for.Both must face the roles they were born to play. Hers to lead. His to protect. Can Hannah blindly accept her responsibility as queen or will she turn her back on the extended family she longs for in order to keep the one who destroys her loneliness? Does she even have a choice?Categories: Romance, Erotic, Paranormal, Werewolves & Shifters Words: 37,660 Views: 25
Meet Thomas. Thomas is having a rough go. His girl left him. He's alone on Thanksgiving. He's out of waffles. And now someone is trying to kill him.His love life in shambles, Thomas Prescott returns to Seattle, the very place he fled from after his parents' deaths nearly a decade earlier. Just as Thomas is getting settled in, he sees a body floating in the private cove behind his boyhood home. It is a woman. But not just any woman. The governor of Washington.As the suspense ratchets, and the twists unfold, Thomas is thrown into the middle of the biggest murder investigation in Washington state history. Prescott is forced to confront the demons from his past and unearths a new enemy, one that couldn't possibly be human, one that has haunted man since the dawn of time... Views: 25
