Marriage can be a real killer. One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn. On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet? With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Best Books of the Month, June 2012: On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick’s wife Amy disappears. There are signs of struggle in the house, and Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. It doesn’t help that Nick hasn’t been completely honest with the police, and, as Amy’s case drags out for weeks, more and more vilifying evidence appears against him--but Nick maintains his innocence. Alternating points of view between Nick and Amy, Gillian Flynn creates an untrustworthy world that changes from chapter to chapter. Calling Gone Girl a psychological thriller is an understatement. As revelation after revelation unfolds, it becomes clear that the truth does not exist in the middle of Nick and Amy’s points of view; it is far darker, more twisted, and creepier than you can imagine. Gone Girl is masterfully plotted, and the suspense doesn’t waver for a single page. It’s one of those books you will feel the need to discuss as soon as you finish it, because the ending doesn’t just come--it punches you in the gut. --Caley AndersonFrom Author Gillian FlynnYou might say I specialize in difficult characters. Damaged, disturbed, or downright nasty. Personally, I love each and every one of the misfits, losers, and outcasts in my three novels. My supporting characters are meth tweakers, truck-stop strippers, backwoods grifters ...But it's my narrators who are the real challenge.In Sharp Objects, Camille Preaker is a mediocre journalist fresh from a stay at a psychiatric hospital. She's an alcoholic. She's got impulse issues. She's also incredibly lonely. Her best friend is her boss. When she returns to her hometown to investigate a child murder, she parks down the street from her mother's house "so as to seem less obtrusive." She has no sense of whom to trust, and this leads to disaster.Camille is cut off from the world but would rather not be. In Dark Places, narrator Libby Day is aggressively lonely. She cultivates her isolation. She lives off a trust fund established for her as a child when her family was massacred; she isn't particularly grateful for it. She's a liar, a manipulator, a kleptomaniac. "I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ," she warns. "Draw a picture of my soul and it'd be a scribble with fangs." If Camille is overly grateful when people want to befriend her, Libby's first instinct is to kick them in their shins.In those first two novels, I explored the geography of loneliness--and the devastation it can lead to. With Gone Girl, I wanted to go the opposite direction: what happens when two people intertwine their lives completely.I wanted to explore the geography of intimacy--and the devastation it can lead to. Marriage gone toxic.Gone Girl opens on the occasion of Amy and Nick Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. (How romantic.) Amy disappears under very disturbing circumstances. (Less romantic.) Nick and Amy Dunne were the golden couple when they first began their courtship. Soul mates. They could complete each other's sentences, guess each other's reactions. They could push each other's buttons. They are smart, charming, gorgeous, and also narcissistic, selfish, and cruel.They complete each other--in a very dangerous way.Review"Ice-pick-sharp... Spectacularly sneaky... Impressively cagey... "Gone Girl" is Ms. Flynn's dazzling breakthrough. It is wily, mercurial, subtly layered and populated by characters so well imagined that they're hard to part with -- even if, as in Amy's case, they are already departed. And if you have any doubts about whether Ms. Flynn measures up to Patricia Highsmith's level of discreet malice, go back and look at the small details. Whatever you raced past on a first reading will look completely different the second time around." --Janet Maslin, "New York Times ""An ingenious and viperish thriller... It's going to make Gillian Flynn a star... The first half of "Gone Girl" is a nimble, caustic riff on our Nancy Grace culture and the way in which ''The butler did it'' has morphed into ''The husband did it.'' The second half is the real stunner, though. Now I really am going to shut up before I spoil what instantly shifts into a great, breathless read. Even as "Gone Girl" grows truly twisted and wild, it says smart things about how tenuous power relations are between men and women, and how often couples are at the mercy of forces beyond their control. As if that weren't enough, Flynn has created a genuinely creepy villain you don't see coming. People love to talk about the banality of evil. You're about to meet a maniac you could fall in love with. A" "--"Jeff Giles, "Entertainment Weekly""An irresistible summer thriller with a twisting plot worthy of Alfred Hitchcock. Burrowing deep into the murkiest corners of the human psyche, this delectable summer read will give you the creeps and keep you on edge until the last page." "--People" (four stars) "[A] thoroughbred thriller about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships. "Gone Girl" begins as a whodunit, but by the end it will have you wondering whether there's any such thing as a who at all." "--"Lev Grossman, "Time" Views: 77
Paul Sherman has been an agent at Interpol's Narcotics Bureau for a long time. Used to working alone, he has a lot of readjusting to do for his current assignment. He must fly to the Netherlands to break up a vicious drug ring and track down a dope king. The catch? He has the assistance of two attractive female agents. Views: 77
An ancient god on a destructive path of vengeance...Imprisoned by the Archangel Lucifer ages ago, Summit, the Dark God, wanted nothing less than equivalent retribution. After breaking free and successfully retaining some splintered shards of his sanity, Summit set out to confront Lucifer. The Archangel was nowhere to be found. He has, however, left behind his most coveted mortal bride. The Dark God stormed into Hell to capture Lucifer's one and only weakness, but inadvertently abducted the wrong female - his own.A reluctant heroine...As a mortal raised among the demons inside a floating castle in Hell, Amara's life is not exactly what you would call normal. When she finds herself abducted by a half-mad god, who mistook her for the woman who brought her up, Amara chooses to hide her identity to protect her foster mother at the risk of her own life.This is the second installment of The Dark God's Bride Trilogy. Views: 77
The Fairy Books, or "Coloured" Fairy Books is a collection of fairy tales divided into twelve books, each associated with a different colour. Collected together by Andrew Land they are sourced from a number of different countries and were translated by Lang's wife and other translators who also retold many of the tales. The collection has been incalculably important and, although he did not source the stories himself direct from the oral tradition he can make claim to the first English translation of many.First published in 1903, The Crimson Fairy Bookis the 8th volume in this series. Views: 77
India: The Tiger's Roar, is the follow-up to the successful and well received India: The Peacock's Call by Aline Dobbie. Aline Dobbie was born in and spent her childhood in India where her father, Colonel Frank Rose was an offcer in the Indian Army. Since returning to her native Scotland at the age of sixteen, Dobbie has re-visited India and written prolifically on the country and its people. From her infancy the author has been fascinated by that most magnificent and elusive of beasts, the tiger. India: The Tiger's Roar is a personal account of her pilgramage to India's great wildlife parks and tiger sanctuaries. Hewever, India: The Tiger's Roar is certainly not a travel guide, nor a guide to the wildlife of India, although it is an excellent source of information on both subjects. Instead it is a heady blend of travelogue and personal insight, cultural and political philosophy, anecdotes, cautionary tales, historical and religeous reference and a... Views: 77
On her boss's orders…For her entire life, pastry-chef Grace Blake has been the pinnacle of politeness. Yet less than a day into the contract with her enigmatic Argentinean boss, Cesar Navarro, all of her good manners—and her good sense!—have flown out of the window.Cesar's got his sexy little spitfire of a chef right where he wants her—in his penthouse, at his command! He knows his staff should be off-limits, but Grace has tantalized his jaded palate, and Cesar finds himself ordering something new from the menu—a taste of the forbidden.… Views: 77
Sora Fallcrest always dreamed of adventure, but as a member of the nobility, she learned the ways of a Lady instead. Now seventeen, she is expected to choose a husband and marry. She plots to run away, but just as she is stepping out the door, she runs into a mysterious man--and is kidnapped. Abducted from her manor, Sora is plunged into a world of magical races, arcane jewelry and forgotten lore. She finds herself at the mercy of a dangerous assassin, haunted by an even darker past. She yearns for freedom, but he won't let her go--not when her Cat's Eye necklace is the only thing that can save his life. But the necklace itself presents a problem. It is an ancient device from the long forgotten War of the Races, and its magic has the ability to steal souls. Can Sora learn to wield its power -- or will the power wield her? (Winner of the SKOW 2006 Best Fantasy Award) Views: 77
Since graduating from high school, Kurt's life has been one unmitigated disaster after another. But just as he's about to hit rock bottom, circumstances take a bizarre turn. He runs into Dean, an old buddy-turned-bitter enemy, at a soup kitchen. Dean has married Kurt's old high school flame. But rather than reopening old wounds, it's an opportunity for them to reconcile. But is Dean's offer of a helping hand a blessing or a curse? As old passions are reignited, will ancient wrongs be righted? Will their reunion give new meaning to the adage "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"?
"Open Wide" is a title from the horror collection SHORTING THE UNDEAD AND OTHER HORRORS: A MENAGERIE OF MACABRE MINI-FICTION.
Not recommended for readers under 16.
To find out more about Saul's writings, visit him at tanpepperwrites.com and sign up for a free four-book starter library.
**About the Author
eFiction magazine calls Saul an author armed with "a PhD and a whacked out sense of humor."
Saul spent his formative years in a leaky century-old house overlooking the Erie Canal in Upstate New York. His bedroom was a refurbished attic, which he shared with all manner of creatures, not all, he is convinced, flesh and blood.
After bouncing around the US and Europe for several years, he settled down to pursue a career in the sciences, opting to study the mysteries of human molecular genetics. But even positions as an experimental biologist, teacher, manager and biotech entrepreneur couldn't keep him from his true passion as a storyteller.
He now writes speculative fiction full time from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although his house is now attic-less and waterproof, he continues to be haunted by a variety of creatures, including a wife, kids, four dogs, three cats, six chickens, a wayward rooster, and one very grumpy possum. They are all flesh and blood.
Except, maybe, for the possum, which he's convinced is the reincarnated spirit of Jack Torrance.
Come visit him on Facebook and join the discussions on the GAMELAND fan page.
facebook.com/pages/Tanpepper-Titles/297188763682698 Views: 77
EIGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING A DRAGON"Deeply satisfying, delightfully swoon-inducing."—Publishers Weekly on Kerrelyn Sparks's Love at Stake seriesTRUTH—OR DARE?Gwennore is an Elf able to track down the cause of a certain illnessand heal it—a valuable asset to her people. But when she is thrust into therealm of the dragons, she discovers a haunted place of power, passion, and magic—one that is plagued by an ancient curse. When she meets the smoldering General Silas Dravenko, Gwen knows she's entered a whole new world of trouble. She's been raised never to trust a dragon. So why does making a deal with the devil feel so good?Silas has no way of saving the royal family he's served for years. But when a beautiful, innocent elf comes bursting into his world, Silas is awakened t odesire in a way he's never felt before. But how can he trust a sworn enemy. . .and how can he live without... Views: 77
The Carpenter's WifeA novel, print length 344 pages2003: Europe's Summer of Madness...Extreme heat.It plays tricks on people's minds and makes them do things they otherwise would not have done.It even gets to Tom Stark, who is used to it.Tom took part in the Gulf War as a mercenary.Now he is a Christian missionary in Germany.He lives outside a gritty town with a crime rate way too high for its size.Tom's world is about to unravel when seduction walks into his life in the form of Gina Delors, wife of the village carpenter.Gina has what Tom misses in Romy, his own wife...Will their love survive?A powerful story full of surprises that will leave you amazed, apalled, stirred, touched and inspired. It will entertain both men and women.Please be aware that this is not a stock genre romance! Views: 77
Castor Jenkins is a Welshman who tells stories that may (or may not) be true...but no matter how fantastic, no one can prove they never happened! In the tradition of Lord Dunsany's The Travel Tales of Mr. Joseph Jorkens and Arthur C. Clarke's Tales of the White Hart, here is a collection of club stories full of wonder and marvels, as only Rhys Hughes could have told them. Views: 76
A New York Review Books OriginalIn 1905 the young Swiss writer Robert Walser arrived in Berlin to join his older brother Karl, already an important stage set designer, and immediately threw himself into the vibrant social and cultural life of the city. Berlin Stories collects his alternately celebratory, droll, and satirical observations on every aspect of the bustling German capital, from its theaters, cabarets, painters' galleries, and literary salons, to the metropolitan street, markets, the Tiergarten, rapid-service restaurants, and the electric tram. Originally appearing in literary magazines as well as the feuilleton sections of newspapers including the Berliner Tageblatt, the Vossische Zeitung, and the Frankfurter Zeitung, the early stories are characterized by a joyous urgency and the generosity of an unconventional guide. Later pieces take the form of more personal reflections on the writing process, memories, and character studies. All are full of... Views: 76
