Blue Peter Book Award winner Ali Sparkes sweeps you away in this fantastic tale of survival, friendship and fortune.The fate of Fortunestone rests in the hands of Nic and Rav, two former friends. But it's not until a freak act of nature throws them together that they realise their importance. They must survive, only then can they begin a journey that will end up scarring them both for life.Blue Peter Book Award winner Ali Sparkes sweeps you away in this fantastic tale of survival, friendship and fortune.This title is published by Franklin Watts EDGE, which produces a range of books to get children reading with confidence. EDGE - for books children want to read, and books children can read. Views: 123
A man wakes up on a Baltimore City bus with no memory of who he is, where he is going, or what has happened to him. His head is recently shaved. His clothes appear new. And written on the palm of one hand is an address...Passenger is a haunting journey of discovery, where the protagonist stumbles through Baltimore’s crumbling streets and a collection of strangely wonderful characters in search of his identity. Yet the more he tries to uncover the mystery of his past, the more he learns it has been hidden from him for a reason. Views: 122
In Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara carries us back 15 years before the momentous conflict he has so brilliantly chronicled, to a time when the Civil War's most familiar names are fighting for another cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War.In March 1847, 8,000 soldiers landed on the beaches of Vera Cruz, led by the army's commanding general, Winfield Scott-a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered, vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a forty year-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.In vivid prose that illuminates the dark psychology of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, Jeff Shaara brings to life the familiar characters, the stunning triumphs and soul-crushing defeats of this fascinating, long-forgotten war. Views: 122
The long-awaited sequel to Janni Lee Simner's breathtaking YA fantasy debut, Bones of Faerie.Liza is a summoner. She can draw life to herself, even from beyond the grave. And because magic works both ways, she can drive life away. Months ago, she used her powers to banish her dangerous father and to rescue her mother, lost in dreams, from the ruined land of Faerie.Born in the wake of the war between humanity and Faerie, Liza lived in a world where green things never slept, where trees sought to root in living flesh and bone. But now the forests have fallen silent. Even the evergreens' branches are bare. Winter crops won't grow, and the threat of starvation looms. And deep in the forest a dark, malevolent will is at work. To face it, Liza will have to find within herself something more powerful than magic alone.Here at last is the sequel to Bones of Faerie, for all those fans of dark fantasy and dystopian adventure who thrilled to Janni Lee... Views: 122
Few authors have understood the tender intricacies of relationships better than the incomparable Belva Plain. For three decades her deeply moving epics have captivated the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere. Now, in her final novel, she comes full circle with the themes she took up in her very first work, Evergreen, bringing us this unforgettable story of family and friendship, love and marriage, the challenges of life and the true secret of happiness.Though Iris Stern considers herself a modern woman, with a successful academic career and a happy marriage, she still holds steadfast to her old-fashioned sensibilities. But as the mother of three adult children, each with their own lives and burdens to bear, she often finds those sensibilities called into question when confronted with the choices her children have made. For one of Iris's daughters, it's the choice of a fresh start in New York City--and a last chance to save her troubled marriage.... Views: 122
Life in the Old World is a constant struggle for survival, especially for the nomadic strigany people, who wander the lands of the Empire. As reports of strange illnesses and disappearing bodies increase, the Elector Counts of Averland and Stirland decide to get rid of this menace once and for all, by driving the strigany out of the Empire forever. As the strigany are rounded up, a massive force of hard-bitten mercenaries is sent to intercept them, but would-be slaughterers find the tables turned when they discover the strigany have dark and ancient allies who rise to their defence. Views: 122
Legend says that whomever possesses the St. John talisman ring will find their one true love. Now that the ring rests in the pocket of renowned scoundrel Brandon St. John, the dashing rake must decide whether it is a blessing ... or a curse.Never has the irresistible rogue, Brandon St. John, pursued a woman with more fervor -- but his ardent suit of Lady Verena Westforth has a different purpose. The delectable blond lovely is indeed enticing, but Brandon suspects her of hiding a valuable missive that he has sworn to recover. With a sensuous kiss and a passionate caress he intends to lower Verena's guard ... and then discover where she's hidden "the goods."Without the missive, Verena stands to lose the one thing dearest to her heart. And now an extraordinary man has entered her life ... at the worst possible time! Vulnerable though she may be, Verena vows she will not be just another of Brandon's "conquests," even as she aches to melt in his arms. But is he a... Views: 122
A letter. A secret. A tragedy. David's mother told him his father died when he was born. His mother lied. David Eric Laine always believed his father had died in Vietnam before his birth. His mother remarried and he was adopted by his stepfather and grew up knowing Graham Laine as his only father. Forty years later, a letter arrives and David finds out everything he thought was a lie.His father, Joel Cameron, is alive and living in Bermuda where he came from back in 1968 to attend college. He met David's mother, at the time a much more rebellious child of the turbulent sixties. Following David's birth his mother fled back to the safety of her familiar, protected world and the lie was born. Rather than face her shame, David was told his father died a hero in Vietnam. Now the lies unravel and the newly married Chris and David embark on a journey to discover the truth. Views: 122
To get away from city life periodically, New Yorker Roger Locke purchases an abandoned farm house in rural Connecticut, and with the assistance of his cousin Phillida and her beau Ethan Vere, he sets about fixing up the place.
Immediately however, an unseen mysterious woman begins giving him warnings during nocturnal visits to leave the house at once. Soon he begins hearing strange ominous sounds emanating from the tiny lake at the back of the house coupled with a permeation of sickly odors. An evil presence then begins to visit him during the witching hours of the late night, challenging him to a battle of wits from which there can be only one victor.
Is his mysterious female visitor there to help and encourage him to flee from the house, or is she working in tandem with The Thing From the Lake?
A gripping, occasionally frightening tale, Ms. Ingram wastes no time in grabbing the reader into the story and manages to weave a tale that will leave the reader guessing at every turn of events. (Summary by Roger Melin)(from Librivox) Views: 122
2012 MAN BOOKER PRIZE LONGLISTED. Swimming Home is a subversive page-turner, a merciless gaze at the insidious harm that depression can have on apparently stable, well-turned-out people. Set in a summer villa, the story is tautly structured, taking place over a single week in which a group of beautiful, flawed tourists in the French Riviera come loose at the seams. Deborah Levy's writing combines linguistic virtuosity, technical brilliance and a strong sense of what it means to be alive. Swimming Home represents a new direction for a major writer. In this book, the wildness and the danger are all the more powerful for resting just beneath the surface. With its deep psychology, biting humour and deceptively light surface, it wears its darkness lightly.Review'Deborah Levy's storytelling is allusive, elliptical and disturbing. Her touch is gentle, often funny and always acute - This is a prizewinner.' Julia Pascal, The Independent ---- A stealthily devastating book - Levy manipulates light and shadow with artfulness. She transfixes the reader - This is an intelligent, pulsating literary beast.' Philip Womack, The Daily Telegraph ---- 'Swimming Home is a statement on the power of the unsaid. Magisterial - Themes, phrases and images recur in rhythmic cycles through this fugal novel. Levy's cinematic clarity and momentum convey confusion with remarkable lucidity.' Abigail Deutsch, TLS ---- 'Deborah Levy has made something strange and new - spiky and unsettling. In Swimming Home, home is elusive, safety is unlikely, and the reader closes the book both satisfied and unnerved.' John Self, The Guardian ---- 'Swimming Home is as sharp as a wasp sting.' Christina Petrie, Sunday Times ---- 'A compact treasure.' Boyd Tonkin, in his round-up of the year's best fiction, The Independent ---- 'Dark, sometimes humorous, intriguing and tragic, Levy's tale held me captive from its dramatic beginning' Lucy Popescu, The Tablet ---- 'Levy's strength is her originality of thought and expression.' Jeanette Winterson ---- 'I made notes to read as much as I can find by Deborah Levy' Bookslut.com ---- 'She is one of the few contemporary British writers comfortable on a world stage.' New Statesman ---- 'The strange brilliance of her imagination' The Independent ---- 'Levy is an exciting writer, sharp and shocking as the knives her characters wield.' Sunday Times About the AuthorDeborah Levy writes fiction, plays and poetry. Her work has been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and she is the author of highly praised books including Beautiful Mutants, Swallowing Geography (both Jonathan Cape) and Billy and Girl (Bloomsbury). Views: 122
In the first book of the Nina Tanleven Mysteries, Nina investigates the ghost of a haunted auditorium Standing on the Grand Theater's storied stage, sixth-grader Nina Tanleven is about to audition for the latest local production. But as she launches into song, she sees a mysterious woman dressed all in white appearing out of nowhere. It isn't until later, after Nina has won a part in the play, that she learns the truth: Fifty years ago, on the Grand's famous stage, the beautiful actress Lily Larkin—known for her captivating white costumes—was killed by a falling chandelier. Ever since, rumors have swirled that the ghost of Lily Larkin haunts the Grand. When eerie events start disrupting the play's rehearsals, Nina knows that Lily is responsible. But what is Lily trying to tell her? Along with her best friend, Chris, Nina decides that the only way she can save the play is to get to the bottom of this decades-old murder mystery. Views: 121
