Stella is married, she has a child and a fulfilling job. She lives with her young family in a house in the suburbs. Her life is happy and unremarkable, but she is a little lonely - her husband travels a lot for work and so she is often alone in the house with only her daughter for company. One day a stranger appears at her door, a man Stella's never seen before. He says he just wants to talk to her, nothing more. She refuses. The next day he comes again. And then the day after that. He will not leave her in peace. When Stella works out that he lives up the road, and tries to confront him, it makes no difference. This is the beginning of a nightmare that slowly and remorselessly escalates. Where Love Begins is a delicately wrought, deeply sinister novel about how easily the comfortable lives we construct for ourselves can be shattered. Views: 25
When Phil and Cara Winslow learn that the daughter they thought had died in infancy is still alive, their life of status and ease is turned upside down. With the help of a private detective, they find the girl, now twenty years old, who turns out to be rough and vulgar. When they try to bring Grace into their family, their grown children are horrified, and only Kevin, a terribly scarred recluse, reaches out to her. When Grace bolts, Kevin leaves his self-made prison to search for her...only to find her in an actual prison. Together this reunited brother and sister find grace and acceptance. Will each find love as well? Book 34 in the bestselling The House of Winslow series. Views: 25
An Inspector Alvarez MysteryInspector Alvarez is just considering whether he can surreptitiously leave work early when a colleague calls to tell him that an Englishman has been found dead in his car in his garage, the engine on and the tank empty. Alvarez, chafing over the prospect of an evening on the job, proceeds to the scene, but his hopes of a quick and easy case are dashed—for while the man was found in a car full of fumes, it appears the cause of death was not carbon-monoxide poisoning... Views: 25
DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF WHAT MAKES A MEGA-BESTSELLER IN THIS ENTERTAINING, REVELATORY GUIDE What do Michael Corleone, Jack Ryan, and Scout Finch have in common? Creative writing professor and thriller writer James W. Hall knows. Now, in this entertaining, revelatory book, he reveals how bestsellers work, using twelve twentieth-century blockbusters as case studies—including The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Jaws. From tempting glimpses inside secret societies, such as submariners in The Hunt for Red October, and Opus Dei in The Da Vinci Code, to vivid representations of the American Dream and its opposite—the American Nightmare—in novels like The Firm and The Dead Zone, Hall identifies the common features of mega-bestsellers. Including fascinating and little-known facts about some of the most beloved books of the last century, Hit Lit is a must-read for fiction lovers and aspiring writers alike, and makes us think anew about why we love the books we love.Review“Passionately and thoroughly entertaining....Hall examines 12 of the most successful novels of the 20th century and ‘reverse-engineer[s]’ them, mining their separate defining qualities and their comparative appeal to readers…Referential and cleverly elucidated, the book raises many good points about the precise methodology of bestselling novels.”--Kirkus Reviews“Fascinating. Every would-be writer, and every knowledgeable reader, should read this book. It brings a valid understanding to publishing phenomena that seemingly were unexplainable. With this book, you see the forest and the trees.”--MICHAEL CONNELLY“I learned more about fashioning a bestseller from Hit Lit than from any other book, or any experience, I’ve encountered in my thirty-five years as an editor and publisher. Even established and successful authors need this guide.”--OTTO PENZLERAbout the AuthorJames W. Hall is the author of seventeen novels, four books of poetry, two short-story collections, and a book of essays. He’s also the winner of the Edgar and Shamus awards. Views: 25
No one knows who he is, where he came, or why he's roaming the streets of Kansas City killing two to three vampires a night. They have called on some of the best assassins money can buy, but everyone one of them has either turned up dead or missing. Now it's Elizabeth Jacobson's turn, a 150 year old vampire with a reputation for getting the job done, but this time the target might be even more than she can handle.From the AuthorShe was turned on the east coast of America and brought to Kansas City to be taught how to be a proper vampire. 150 years later, she's back for a job that might be more than she baragained for. This is the first of a series of Elizabeth Jacobson stories that will be published throughout the remainder of the year. Views: 25
Patience knew she couldn't be more different from the sort of women Dutch surgeon Julius van der Beek seemed to attract. After all, she was a quiet country girl with a somewhat unique taste in clothes--and an assertive personality to match! Yet she was attracted to him. Not that she had any hope of him noticing her, particularly with the glamorous Sylvia van Teule already at his side.... Views: 25
The Limping Man, the third book of the Salt Trilogy, is a compelling fantasy adventure from one of New Zealand's finest writers. It was shortlisted in the LIANZA and the NZ Post Young Adult Awards, 2011. The Limping Man is small, wizened and cruel, but his subjects worship him, chanting as he arrives for the burning of the witches. He holds all who come near him in his psychic web, making them bow down and serve his will. And he is raising an army to destroy the humans and Dwellers. Hana escapes the Limping Man's henchmen as they come to take her mother. When she meets Ben, son of Lo, they set out on a dangerous quest to rid the world of the evil Limping Man. But first they must discover the secret of his power.The Limping Man completes the trilogy that began with Salt and Gool. Views: 25
For as long as there have been people, there has been a fear of the dark. Mothers tell their children there isn't anything in the shadows that isn't there in the light.They are wrong.The reason humanity is afraid of the dark is because that's when demons come out to play. The ghosts that fight them can't come out until the sun goes down, either. And Soul's Agents, like Navi? They're just normal, boring people until the moon claims the sky.And then they aren't.Death allows lost souls one last chance. Fight with the Agents against demons and darkness and evil and they won't spend eternity roasting on a spit. It seems like an easy enough choice, but apparently roasting is easy and requires little effort, and fighting, well...Fighting is hard.Twenty-two year old Navi is an Agent, and she is good at what she does. Her only distraction is the boy who broke her heart four years ago—especially when the demons she hunts start hunting him, and she's the only one who can keep him alive. Views: 25
Another Dead Republican is a mystery of familial destruction set in a world of violent intrigue and deadly ambition. A ringing phone in the middle of the night set Tom Mason and his lover, baseball player, Scott Carpenter on the trail of a vicious killer in a suburban enclave. Tom's brother-in-law has been murdered. Tom rushes to be with his beloved sister. The dead man was the son of the vicious Republican that runs a county. The ruling cabal will stop at nothing to destroy people and lives that get in their way of accumulating more useless wealth. Views: 25
Thelma wakes up and finds herself in a trunk in a different state, not knowing how she got there or why. Worse yet, she is in feline form and being called Gertie by the family who found her. Why is she there and how can she get back home? Suzanne and her plain of this world puppy Cooper, help her. Ghost Cat is a fun, fast read as a stand alone story. Part 2 of the Ghost series. Views: 25
Free Wulfsen learned early on to ride fast, hold on tight, and that rodeo relationships never last. After one wild weekend in Nevada, the barrel racer finds herself married to bull rider Zane Malone. She's all set to ask him for a divorce when she takes a fall—and finds out she'll have more to remember him by than a ring. Now it's up to Zane to convince Free that love can last after the rodeo's done, and that the real prize is a lifetime together. Views: 25
TIM is Tyrannosaurus Improved Model. He's a genetically modified dinosaur that the government have been growing in a secret bunker under Trafalgar Square. And he's on the loose, after the Prime Minister decides he's just too expensive to keep. He's huge and clumsy, and with just a few steps could crush much of central London. He tries to get away but something's calling him back... Professor Mallahide is very very clever. But also slightly crazy. He's developed an amazing new invention, where nanotechnology means that objects and even people can be taken apart, remodelled, changed and used for any purpose. It's an incredible tool - but also could be a very dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Unfortunately it's in the hands of a mad scientist... Chris and Anna are caught up in something very big and scary. Can these two kids help at all as TIM and Professor Mallahide do battle? A spectacular novel of goodies and baddies fighting it out in London,... Views: 25
