In this new ebook are the best short mystery stories of the year as selected from magazines and anthologies. Views: 61
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue — Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is — she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are — and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves. . or it might destroy her. Views: 61
Review"Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime....Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future." -- _Publishers Weekly "_A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn’t waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone’s throat." -- KirkusProduct DescriptionDrug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops . . . and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town. In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its champion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens. The Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his discovery of a murdered child down a dead-end street . . . setting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investigated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psychotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted. Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hungry for more. From the Hardcover edition. Views: 61
"How lucky I was, arriving in New York just as everything was about to go to hell."That would be in the autumn of 1972, when a very young and green James Wolcott arrived from Maryland, full of literary dreams, equipped with a letter of introduction from Norman Mailer, and having no idea what was about to hit him. Landing at a time of accelerating municipal squalor and, paradoxically, gathering cultural energy in all spheres as "Downtown" became a category of art and life unto itself, he embarked upon his sentimental education, seventies New York style. This portrait of a critic as a young man is also a rollicking, acutely observant portrait of a legendary time and place. Wolcott was taken up by fabled film critic Pauline Kael as one of her "Paulettes" and witnessed the immensely vital film culture of the period. He became an early observer-participant in the nascent punk scene at CBGB, mixing with Patti Smith, Lester Bangs, and Tom Verlaine. As a... Views: 61
CHRISTMAS CAME TO SHERIFF JOSH McCAIN'S HOUSE MORE THAN A FEW SURPRISES He'd been solitary for so long--his own man. Then suddenly a single father doing his best. But above all, the Montana lawman did what was right no matter the cost. Until he met Chrysie Atwater and her two girls. She had a fake name, a fake past and few details in between. And for some reason Josh found her totally irresistible. Was it the spirit of Christmas that had him breaking the rules, or his own loneliness? More likely it was the fierce determination he saw in Chrysie's eyes. She went to considerable trouble to protect her daughters, and Josh was resolved to find out why. But he'd do it on his terms before he'd reveal her secrets to the authorities, who he suspected were involved in setting her up. It would take a Christmas miracle and then some to do that and still celebrate Christmas as a family.... Views: 61
"Whaddya say you boys and me take five and poke around a bit?" "Poke around where?" I asked. "Around our new house. I'll bet if we look in every nook and cranny, we'll uncover a secret or two." "A secret?" asked Aaron. "What kind of secret?" "I don't know." Dad grinned as he struggled to get up from the tilting couch. "A house built with tilting floors has got to have secrets."Talking ratsGrowth potionsBuried treasureBrothers Josh and Aaron Peshik are about to discover that their new home with the tilting floors hides many mysteries. When the boys and their neighbor Lola discover the hidden diary of F.T. Tilton, the brilliant but deranged inventor who built the house, they learn a dark secret that may mean disaster for the Peshik family. Can the kids solve the riddles of the tilting house before time runs out?Mad science, mischief, and mishaps combine in the suspenseful and imaginative tale of... Views: 61
More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA Views: 61
Joanne Limburg thinks things she doesn't want to think, and does things she doesn't want to do. As a young woman, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours had come to completely dominate her life. She knew that something was wrong, but it would take many painful years of searching to find someone who could explain her symptoms. The Woman Who Thought Too Much is a vividly honest, beautifully told and darkly witty memoir about the quest to understand and manage a life with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Views: 61
