Leon Labuschagne's livelihood depends on death. At nineteen, he is a warder on Death Row: a shepherd who cares for the condemned – and a butcher who escorts them to the gallows. After a gruelling two-week stint in which thirty-two men were hanged, Leon loses control, with tragic results. And now he's the one facing the death penalty. Only the most precarious line of legal argument stands between Leon and the gallows. Chasing a defence, his advocate trawls the deepest recesses of life in the Pot – the twilight world of Death Row. A gripping courtroom drama steeped in the factual, Shepherds & Butchers begins in 1987, a year in which 164 people were executed. Two years later, the last man went to the gallows in Pretoria, after more than four thousand hangings that century. This novel portrays legal execution in unprecedented detail, revealing its devastating impact on all those involved. Views: 22
The discovery of a headless corpse jeopardises Queen Victoria's glittering Diamond Jubilee! In this second Lord Francis Powerscourt mystery, London is preparing for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee. But one morning a man's corpse with no head or hands is dragged out of the Thames. He is old, but not destitute. With no clues to his identity, the police ask for Powerscourt's assistance. His investigation leads to a mysterious mansion in Oxfordshire, with classical temples in the gardens and in the house a second corpse, killed in a fire. On the track of the murderer, Powerscourt soon realises that both he and his family are in great danger - and so is the Queen's Jubilee . . . Views: 22
Joy Avon's festive series debut featuring a book-themed tea party organizer will be tons of fun this Christmas for Lorna Barrett and Jenn McKinlay fans. In the run-up to Christmas Eve, organizer of book-themed tea parties Callie Aspen and her lovable Boston terrier will have to conquer threefold trouble—a mysterious will, a missing heirloom and a dead body—to restore the festive spirit to their small town.This Christmas, Callie Aspen returns to her childhood hideout Heart's Harbor, Maine where her great aunt runs Book Tea, a vintage tearoom where every sweet treat contains a bookish clue. Upon arrival in the fairy-tale snowy town, Callie is drawn into the preparations for a special tea party at Haywood Hall, the rambling house of Heart's Harbor's oldest resident, rich but lonely widow Dorothea Finster, who invited her estranged relatives, old friends and the elite of the town to make a mysterious announcement about her will. Believing they... Views: 22
Drew's a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, her dead dad's Book of Lists, an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mom's cheese shop, and a crush on Nick, the surf bum who works behind the counter. It's the summer before eighth grade and Drew's days seem like business as usual, until one night after closing time, when she meets a strange boy in the alley named Emmett Crane. Who he is, why he's there, where the cut on his cheek came from, and his bottomless knowledge of rats are all mysteries Drew will untangle as they are drawn closer together, and Drew enters into the first true friendship, and adventure, of her life.From the Hardcover edition. Views: 22
Reporter Julie Baker returns to her childhood village in Colombia's demilitarized zone to investigate the loss of U.S. military assets. As she looks for answers, Julie finds herself lost in the jungle, angry with a God who seems to have abandoned her. Guaranteed fiction! Views: 22
Something is trapped in the castle, and it wants to feed!The Sorrows, an island off the coast of northern California, and its castle have been uninhabited since a series of gruesome, unexplained murders in 1925. But its owner needs money, so he allows film composers Ben and Eddie and a couple of their female friends to stay a month in Castle Blackwood. Eddie is certain an eerie and reportedly haunted castle is just the setting Ben needs to find musical inspiration for a horror film.But what they find is more horrific than any movie. For something is waiting for them in the castle. A being, once worshipped, now imprisoned, has been trapped for nearly a century. And he's ready to feed. Views: 22
This Boston-based mystery stars smart and sassy Beantown Banner reporter Liz Higgins, who rails at being assigned only light news highlighted in front page teasers. She vows to change that by finding a missing mom and nailing front-page news in the process. Liz's quest takes her into Boston's lively Irish pub/Celtic music scene, the elegant Wellesley landscape, and as far as Fiji. Along the way, she courageously pursues a tangle of clues and falls for two very different men: the enigmatic forensics expert Dr. Cormack Kinnaird and the warmhearted Tom Horton, who pastes ads on the huge billboard that dwarfs Liz's tiny house on the edge of the Mass Pike. Views: 22
Award-winning storyteller Robert D. San Souci takes readers on a journey across America with his retellings of our country's folklore. From Native American origin myths to tales of the wild, wild West, San Souci's nine stories are sure to entertain and delight. Accompanied by colorful illustrations that bring the stories to life, kids will enjoy reading these tales as much as grown-ups will enjoy reading them aloud. All stories were originally published in the Parents' Choice Award–winning Faces magazine, the geography and world cultures magazine for kids ages 9-14. Views: 22
The son of dysfunctional and destitute parents secures employment as a member of the morning breakfast staff in Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel. The job affords the boy a respite from his father's profound apathy and his mother's obsession with religion. His father Paddy, an ex-British army soldier, considers his marriage to Molly to be a greater threat to his existence than his life and death struggles in the trenches during the Great War. Molly considers her life with the unemployed Paddy and ten children a crucifixion that will ensure her a place in Heaven among her favourite martyrs. In the Shelbourne, the boy encounters Margaret Burke Sheridan, a retired opera diva who in her prime sang at La Scala and Covent Garden. She was Puccini's favourite Madame Butterfly and a protégé of Marconi, the inventor of the radio. In her present sad and lonely retirement Maggie is considered just a thorn in the side of the hotel staff. But one morning, when the new breakfast boy attempts to... Views: 22
Don't miss the final books in the Left Behind: The Young Trib Force hardcover collection series!#11: Hunted contains Left Behind: The Kids books 35-37 and follows the background plots of Left Behind #11: Armageddon. The Young Trib Force is being pursued by bounty hunters and must confront more danger than they have ever seen while still endeavoring to tell others about Jesus.#12: Arrived contains Left Behind: The Kids books 38-40 and follows the background plots of Left Behind #12:Glorious Appearing. The Young Trib Force makes their final attempts to reach those not saved before meeting Christ face-to-face. Views: 22
The sudden reappearance of golden-haired, leggy Honor Bartholomew forces Johnny Starhawk to confront the betrayals and passions of a past he’s determined to leave behindIn Night of the Panther, the second installment of Suzanne Forster’s Stealth Commandos trilogy, world-renowned criminal lawyer Johnny Starhawk thought he had forgotten Honor Bartholomew. Honor—the only daughter of a wealthy mining family, and Johnny, a motherless Apache—were once best friends from opposite sides of the tracks. But after a bitter betrayal, Johnny did everything he could to erase the memory of her.Years later, a lawsuit threatens the White Mountain Reservation, and Johnny’s estranged grandfather begs Honor to bring Johnny back to defend his heritage. When she confronts Starhawk, resorting to womanly charms to reawaken his desire, he can’t deny the potency of his love for her. His feelings have always plagued him, no matter how fervently he sought to banish them. Honor, desperate for his forgiveness, haunts him in her determination to bring him back to White Mountain. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Suzanne Forster including rare photos from the author’s personal collection. Views: 22
