Mathew Tenoch Harrison (Matty to his friends) a student at UMass Amherst,finds himself in the postion to be "Humanity's Last Hope".The old cowboy sat in his chair on the porch of the new cabin. He watched the rim of the desert. How many more days would there be? He knew this was his last hurrah.The hired hand didn't understand, but it didn't matter anymore. It was almost over.Today...thought the old man, it has to be today, I feel it in my bones.He sat on the porch and looked at the sky: the hired hand told him there would be no ride today, bad weather coming.As he watched, the clouds were bizarre, all piled up, shouldering one another for the best place, the big ones black and lowering. The pink air thick but so clear, you could almost see tomorrow."My gawd!" the old man cried as he gazed at the sky, "it's the end of the world!"He wanted to sit on the porch and watch but the hired hand hustled him inside the cabin. The rain turned to hail the size of golf balls. So big they could kill a new born calf.The storm finally passed and the sun came out. The old man, the hired hand and the Indian housekeeper went out and sat on the porch and looked at the fresh new world.The edge of the desert grew hazy; the cloud of dust on the horizon grew bigger. "There they are," shouted the old cowboy, "here they come!"The water crazed herd of range cattle drove for the bloated arroyo, the smell of water making them mad. The bawling cattle elbowing and pushing their way passed the porch. They stamped and bellowed and the dust filled the old man's nostrils and he thought it the sweetest smell.Life coursed through his old bones and he stood and swung his old Stetson in the air and whooped and swore, pleasure flowed through him, and he was young again.But soon they were gone.The old man sat down heavily, age settled back on his shoulders, "I'll finish tomorrow, Ramona," he said to the old Indian housekeeper, "it'll be O.K.".The hired hand watched with foreboding, what will be finished tomorrow? Views: 677
“I WISH I COULD TURN BACK TIME!” Jake screamed, wishing he could go back and save his wife and two young sons. Jake’s pained yell into the night sky changed something. Jake awoke the next day to find time moving backwards a day at a time. He now had the chance to save his family, and in doing so he uncovers and vows to destroy a sinister chain of criminal activity in his home town.If someone had told Jake Hingham two weeks ago that time travel was real he would have laughed in their face. If they had then told him that he’d be pointing a gun at a policeman to save hundreds of lives, he would have had them committed.Yet, there he stands in a shoot-out, and with the pull of a trigger he can change his destiny after over a week of being hunted, strangled, shot at, imprisoned and probably even killed. It all sounds crazy to Jake, but his life was turned upside-down when he wished for the chance to save his dead family a week and a half in the future.You probably wouldn't believe his story. He wouldn't blame you. If he hadn’t lived through it then he would probably not believe it. That doesn’t change the fact that he's standing there with a fifty-fifty chance of surviving for another minute. One shot, one chance. It’s time for Jake's moment of truth. Views: 677
Chosen by author Elizabeth Gilbert as one of her ten favorite books, Daniel Ladinsky's extraordinary renderings of 250 unforgettable lyrical poems by Hafiz, one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time More than any other Persian poet—even Rumi—Hafiz expanded the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. Because his poems were often ecstatic love songs from God to his beloved world, many have called Hafiz the "Invisible Tongue." Indeed, Daniel Ladinsky has said that his work with Hafiz is an attempt to do the impossible: to render Light into words—to make the Luminous Resonance of God tangible to our finite senses. I am a hole in a flute that the Christ's breath moves through— listen to this music! With this stunning collection of Hafiz's most intimate poems, Ladinsky has succeeded brilliantly in presenting the essence of one of Islam's... Views: 676
A sighting of the rare frangipani fruit fly sends Lilly's scientist parents off in search of the fabled Shipwreck Islands. In this Smithsonian's Notable Book for Children, Lilly awaits their return at the home of her great-uncle Ernest, the chief librarian of Mundelaine, a town that seems to have more than its share of piratical-looking characters lurking about. When news comes that her parents' ship has wrecked, she must overcome her fear of the sea, find the hidden island, and outsmart a bunch of treasure-hungry pirates to save the day. Views: 676
On a rainy day which had canceled out a glider training flight, the time was spent investigating an odd rectangle in the desert vegetation off the edge of an old runway. What they found there brought memories of WWII-era tale that enlivened nights around the campfire at the ranch long ago.Any scientific expedition to the Arctic expects plenty of risk. However, Dr. Welham of Miskatonic University's survey uncovers far more than the usual geologic and ethnographic samples. In the severe, rock-scouring blizzards of the far north, the team comes across a hideous object from an elder age. A relic that brings earth shattering terror in its wake... This story is loosely inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's short story, Polaris, which was written in 1918. In that story, a modern man is troubled by recurring dreams, gaining in intensity. During these visions, he assumes the role of a sentry guarding the pass against the invading Inutos people from the west. However, under the malign influence of the pole star, the watcher falls asleep. This time, when he awakes, screaming, the sentry wakes as a modern man and realises that he has failed the marble city of Olathoe in the lost land of Lomar. Views: 676
Thomas Gordon's life was going just fine, until a chain of inexplicable mishaps results in Thomas getting fired. Fed up, he starts the search for a better life. Along the way, he meets a group of scientists with an intriguing escape route: human cryogenic preservation. Thomas and his 2 companions emerge in the 23rd century, and quickly discover it isn't exactly the "better world" they expected...Abby refuses to marry the monster to whom she is betrothed. As she flees, she meets a mysterious stranger at a wayside inn. His startling proposition will either save her, or leave her mired in scandal. Views: 676
A rookie paramedic pulls a young woman alive from her totaled car, a first rescue that begins a lifelong tangle of love and wreckage. Sheila Arsenault is a gorgeous enigma--streetwise and tough-talking, with haunted eyes, fierce desires, and a never-look-back determination. Peter Webster, as straight an arrow as they come, falls for her instantly and entirely. Soon Sheila and Peter are embroiled in an intense love affair, married, and parents to a baby daughter. Like the crash that brought them together, it all happened so fast.
Can you ever really save another person? Eighteen years later, Sheila is long gone and Peter is raising their daughter, Rowan, alone. But Rowan is veering dangerously off track, and for the first time in their ordered existence together, Webster fears for her future. His work shows him daily every danger the world contains, how wrong everything can go in a second. All the love a father can give a daughter is suddenly not enough.
Sheila's sudden return may be a godsend--or it may be exactly the wrong moment for a lifetime of questions and anger and longing to surface anew. What tore a young family apart? Is there even worse damage ahead? The questions lifted up in Anita Shreve's utterly enthralling new novel are deep and lasting, and this is a novel that could only have been written by a master of the human heart. Views: 676
“Brilliant!”
—John Lescroart on *Abandon *
For Will Innis and his daughter, Devlin, the loss was catastrophic. Will’s wife, Devlin’s mother, vanished one night during an electrical storm on a lonely desert highway and, suspected of her death, Will took his daughter and fled. Then one night, a hardedged FBI agent appears on their doorstep and says, “I know you’re innocent, because Rachael wasn’t the first…or the last.” Views: 676
The first full-length biography of Sarah Winchester, the subject of the movie Winchester starring Helen Mirren.Since her death in 1922, Sarah Winchester has been perceived as a mysterious, haunted figure. After inheriting a vast fortune upon the death of her husband in 1881, Sarah purchased a simple farmhouse in San José, California. She began building additions to the house and continued construction on it for the next twenty years. A hostile press cast Sarah as the conscience of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company—a widow shouldering responsibility for the many deaths caused by the rifle that brought her riches. She was accused of being a ghost-obsessed spiritualist, and to this day it is largely believed that the extensive construction she executed on her San José house was done to appease the ghouls around her.But was she really as guilt-ridden and superstitious as history remembers her? When Winchester's home was purchased after her... Views: 675
Cade Shepherd is on top of the world as this year's Ultimate Fighting Champion. He doesn't even remember his life as Gage Dempsey, a Shadow Walker with the ability to magically transport himself from shadow to shadow. In fact, he can't remember anything before waking up in a cheap motel room ten years ago with mysterious burns on his hands--not even the woman he almost died for.
Embry Hollister has picked up the pieces of her life, learned to control her ability to generate flame, and now works an enforcer for the Council of Races. But when her father is captured by the human military and the Council refuses mount a rescue mission, Embry has no choice but to go rogue. All she has to is find the man with the new name and new life who was completely wronged by her people, give him back the memories they stole, convince him to join her on what's probably a suicide mission, and hope that after ten years of living as a regular guy he still remembers what her father taught him.
And after that, she just has to leave him. Again. Views: 675
Verbena Colter knows she's bad news.
Trouble from the get-go. How could she not be, with parents like hers? Her mother practically pickled her before she was even born, leaving Verbie to struggle with the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. And her father was just plain mean. Verbie wishes she could be somebody, anybody other than who she is. Enter Pooch, a flatlander boy visiting for the summer. When Pooch and his mom rent the house next door, Verbie takes the opportunity to be someone else entirely. And what starts out as a game leads Verbie into a surprising and heartwarming journey of self-discovery.
Another gem from the author of So B. It. Views: 675
"Lost in Glory" is a parody of heroic fantasy literature. A Hero sets out on a journey to destroy the Evil Empire. What's so evil about it? It doesn't matter.But if there's a Hero, there must also be villains. An assassin, who stabs people. Because they were alive and he had a knife. A sorceress, who puts things on fire. Because they weren't on fire before...Being a Hero is not a job. Being a Hero is a way of life. Quest is the only thing that matters. Failure? No such thing. Reason? Purely optional. Wisdom? A little wouldn't hurt...Arthaxiom the Paladin is a Hero. His quest is to destroy the Evil Empire, so that's what he's going to do. What's so evil about it? It doesn't matter. A Hero does not argue with his quests. Nor does he argue with fate. A randomly encountered dwarf? Perfect choice for a sidekick. A village girl in distress? Must be a princess.But if there's a Hero, there must also be villains. An assassin, who stabs people. Because they were alive and he had a knife. A sorceress, who puts things on fire. Because they weren't on fire before. And there would be the Emperor himself, if he hadn't ended up dead in a moat full of lions. A bunch of quarrelsome High Lords is to choose his replacement. It will surely go well. Views: 675
