Tsukiko, thirty-eight, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, Sensei” in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him Sensei” (Teacher”). He is thirty years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationshiptraced by Kawakami’s gentle hints at the changing seasonsdevelops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to an enjoyable sense of companionship, and finally into a deeply sentimental love affair.As Tsukiko and Sensei grow to know and love one another, time’s passing comes across through the seasons and the food and beverages they consume together. From warm sake to chilled beer, from the buds on the trees to the blooming of the cherry blossoms, the reader is enveloped by a keen sense of pathos and both characters’ keen loneliness. Views: 15
Alexandra Contreras continues the struggle after her trials within the gates of Eden. Separated from her love and still hunted by the forces of Hell, she is once again pressed into sevice. This time a dark city bids her and challenges her to fulfill her destiny. Views: 15
A stunning debut reminiscent of the beloved novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town For a curious boy like Jess Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grown-ups. Adventurous and precocious, Jess is enormously protective of his older brother, Christopher, a mute whom everyone calls Stump. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can't help sneaking a look at something he's not supposed to—an act that will have catastrophic repercussions, shattering both his world and Jess's. It's a wrenching event that thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he's not prepared. While there is much about the world that still confuses him, he now knows that a new understanding can bring not only a growing danger and evil—but also the possibility of freedom and deliverance as well. Told by three resonant and evocative characters—Jess; Adelaide Lyle, the town midwife and moral conscience; and Clem Barefield, a sheriff with his own painful past—A Land More Kind Than Home is a haunting tale of courage in the face of cruelty and the power of love to overcome the darkness that lives in us all. These are masterful portrayals, written with assurance and truth, and they show us the extraordinary promise of this remarkable first novel. Review“Mesmerizing . . . only Jess knows why his autistic older brother died on the very day he was taken into the church, and it’s his voice that we carry away from this intensely felt and beautifully told story.” (New York Times Book Review )“Cash adeptly captures the rhythms of Appalachian speech, narrating his atmospheric novel in the voices of three characters . . . The story has elements of a thriller, but Cash is ultimately interested in how unscrupulous individuals can bend decent people to their own dark ends.” (Washington Post )“Absorbing . . . Cash uses well-placed flashbacks to flesh out his characters . . . and to illuminate a familiar truth of Southern lit: Many are the ways that fathers fail their sons.” (Entertainment Weekly )“Wiley Cash makes his debut with this fine, engaging novel, proving yet again that the South is an inexhaustible motherlode of literature. I’m sure he’ll garner comparisons to Harper Lee, perhaps even to Faulkner or Flannery O’Connor, but Wiley Cash is Wiley Cash—a new, strong Southern voice in American fiction.” (John Lawton, author of A Lily of the Field )“As lyrical, beautiful, and uncomplicated as the classic ballads of Appalachia, Cash’s first novel is a tragic story of misplaced faith and love gone wrong . . . In a style reminiscent of Tom Franklin and John Hart, Cash captures the reader’s imagination.” (Library Journal (starred review) )“This book will knock your socks off. It’s so good to read a first novel that sings with talent. Wiley Cash has a beautifully written hit on his hands.” (Clyde Edgerton, author of The Night Train )“A riveting story! The writing is bold, daring, graceful, and engrossing.” (Bobbie Ann Mason, author of In Country )“I try to state the truth and dislike flinging superlatives about with mad abandon, but I have been so deeply impressed by this novel that only superlatives can convey the tenor of my thought: this is one of the most powerful novels I have ever read.” (Fred Chappell, author of Brighten the Corner Where You Are )“Whew! Wiley Cash is the real deal and his first novel is an atmospheric crossroads filled with characters who long for better, but know that their best will never be good enough, is dense with stories intersecting like the branches in a laurel hell.” (Nancy Peacock, author of Life Without Water )“Cinematic and symphonic: this is a compelling story revealed in a sequence of voices that are as pitch-perfect as they are irresistible. This is a wonderfully impressive debut: tender, muscled and unforgettable.” (Rikki Ducornet, author of The Fan Maker's Inquisition )“This novel has great cumulative power. Before I knew it I was grabbed by the ankle and pulled down into a full-blown Greek tragedy.” (Gail Godwin, author of Evensong )“The first thing that struck me about Wiley’s novel is the beautiful prose: the narrative is strong, clean, direct and economical. . . . I think this could be the beginning of a long, fruitful career.” (Ernest J. Gaines, author of A Lesson Before Dying )“Cash’s debut novel explores Faulkner-O’Connor country . . . As lean and spare as a mountain ballad, Cash’s novel resonates perfectly, so much so that it could easily have been expanded to epic proportions. An evocative work about love, fate and redemption.” (Kirkus Reviews )“A chilling descent into the world of religious frenzy in small town North Carolina . . . The languid atmosphere seduces, and Cash’s fine first effort pulls the reader into a shadowy, tormented world where wolves prowl in the guise of sheep.” (Publishers Weekly )“A Land More Kind Than Home is a powerfully moving debut that reads as if Cormac McCarthy decided to rewrite Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch )“Cash’s debut about a town gripped by a menacing preacher has the timeless qualities of the Old Testament. . . . [a] very good book.” (The Daily Beast )“A lyrical, poignant debut . . . In the mode of John Hart, Tom Franklin, and early Pat Conroy, A Land More Kind Than Home explores the power of forgiveness [and] the strength of family bonds.” (Florida Sun-Sentinel )“Good old-fashioned storytelling. . . . With murder, religion, infidelity, domestic abuse, guns, whiskey and snake handling, Land is rich in unstable relationships and beautiful tragedy.” (Ploughshares )“Wiley Cash’s novel embeds a tender coming-of-age story within a suspense-filled thriller. . . . [A] clear-sighted, graceful debut.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution )“So beautifully written that you’ll be torn about how fast to read it. This is great, gothic Southern fiction.” (NPR ) About the AuthorWiley Cash is from western North Carolina. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and teaches English at Bethany College. He lives with his wife in West Virginia. This is his first novel. Views: 15
A Christmas e-special from the CWA Dagger Award nominated author of White Heat and The Boy in the Snow Days before Christmas in the vast Arctic landscape of Ellesmere Island and the sun hasn't come up for nearly two months. A hunter comes upon a body in the snow: head crusted with frozen blood, bruised fists, half dead. What others might have dismissed as a case of drunken misadventure, sometime-detective Edie Kiglatuk sees as a fight turned fatal. When the battered victim doesn't pull through, the alleged culprit goes into hiding and the victim's three-year-old daughter goes missing with him. Since Edie has strong personal ties to the killer, it's up to her to find him before a rifle-slinging search party beats her to it, taking justice into their own hands. A stunning short mystery with a magical and heart-rending twist, Edie Kiglatuk's Christmas includes excerpts from the first two novels in the series, White Heat and... Views: 15
In this exciting collection, bestselling authors Meg Cabot ("How to Be Popular"), Kim Harrison ("A Fistful of Charms"), Michele Jaffe ("Bad Kitty"), Stephenie Meyer ("Twilight"), and Lauren Myracle ("ttyl") take bad prom nights to a whole new level--a paranormally bad level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper--and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.
From angels fighting demons to a creepy take on getting what you wish for, these five stories will entertain better than any DJ in a bad tux. No corsage or limo rental necessary. Just good, scary fun. Views: 15
Now that Montana Blake and her two sisters, Savannah and Asia, have found their father's killer, Montana feels like she can truly heal from his death. Unfortunately, that peace doesn't last long.Just when life is getting comfortable for Montana, her sister Savannah is kidnapped along with Troy Bridges, her fiancé.Asia doesn't want to wait on the authorities to rescue their sister. Montana won't allow Asia to try to catch the kidnappers on her own, so once again the sisters find themselves in a dangerous situation. Sean Patterson thrives on danger. He's a confirmed bachelor who never wanted a steady woman in his life—until he laid eyes on Montana. He's been dreaming about her ever since their first encounter. Now their lives are thrown back together again as he leads his team to rescue Troy and Savannah from one of his arch enemies. When his past collides with the present, the result might cost him the only woman he's ever loved.Montana's Way is another... Views: 15
She can have any man or woman she pleases but what about her own husband?When Julie's first beau proposes marriage at a young age, she knows she needs to set out on her own to discover what life has to offer.She finds companionship and financial stability when she meets a madame, her first big city friend. It doesn't take long for her to realise she possesses a kinky mind and is capable of bringing even the toughest men to their knees.One day she meets a kindred spirit, a man as kinky as she is who offers her a new life. He isn't after her sexually as he is more interested in men but he is amused by her and they genuinely connect. She helps him to realise his fantasies with men. She marries him for money. He marries her for citizenship.To the outside world, they appear glitzy and collected but behind their glamourous veneers, each one embarks on their own sexual adventure. But as the intimacy of sharing their fantasy lives with each other strengthens and grows,... Views: 15
Sometimes the only choice is an escape to perdition. Prague 2015. Herbert Biely, aged hero of the Prague Spring, stands on the brink of an historic victory, poised to reunite the Czech and Slovak Republics twenty-six years after the Velvet Revolution. The imminent Czech elections are the final stage in realising his dream of reunification, but other parties have their own agendas and plans for the fate of the region. A shadowy collective, masked as an innocuous European Union Institute, will do anything to preserve the status quo. The mission of Institute operative Peter Lowes is to prevent reunification by the most drastic of measures. Yet Peter is not all that he seems a deeply troubled man, desperate to escape the past, his resentment towards himself, his assignment and his superiors deepens as he questions not just the cause, but his growing feelings for the mission target. As alliances shift and the election countdown begins, Prague becomes the focal point... Views: 15
Alice in Bed is a free dramatic fantasy which merges the life of Alice James, the brilliant sister of William and Henry James, with the heroine of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It is a play about the anguish and grief and rage of women; and about the triumphs and limitations of the imagination. Views: 15
