LONDON – the beginning While tracking down the relic hunters who murdered her cousin, Dr Emily Weiss and her husband Michael realise they are also seeking a dangerous artefact. This ancient key lies hidden in the Egyptian desert and could wreak havoc in the wrong hands. CHICAGO – the disaster Chicago's Magnificent Mile is about to go down in history. A dangerous sect is preparing for an explosive Independence Day parade. Yet their great aspirations can only be realized once they have obtained the key. And eliminated Emily and Michael. EGYPT – the culmination Soon Emily, Michael and the ruler of the sect are racing to Egypt. One party craves retribution, the other seeks spiritual ascendancy, and both sides will do whatever it takes to succeed. Views: 136
The Bunker Diary is award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?I can't believe I fell for it. It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was. A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.There are six little rooms along the main corridor.There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out.What's he going to do to me?What am I going to do? If I'm right, the lift will come down in five minutes. It did. Only this time it wasn't empty . . . Views: 136
On a river journey to Naniwa to unmask officials selling information to pirates, Akitada witnesses the recovery of a body. The image of the drowned child prostitute follows him as his own problems and disasters multiply. Someone is sabotaging his investigation. His young clerk disappears, Akitada is attacked by two thugs, and armed men brutalize his family in the capital. When Tora joins his master, they both fall into the hands of the pirates and must fight a battle to the death to escape. But ultimately it is the tragic story of the dead girl that will haunt Akitada most.About the AuthorI.J. Parker was born and educated in Europe and turned to mystery writing after an academic career in the U.S. She published her short stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, winning the short story Shamus award in 2000. The Akitada novels, a series about an eleventh century Japanese nobleman/detective, now consists of ten titles, with an eleventh to be released soon. The books are available in print, audio, and electronic formats. They have been translated into twelve languages. The short stories are available in electronic format. I.J. Parker is also the author of several historical novels set during the Heike Wars in twelfth century Japan, and of a historical thriller set in eighteenth century Europe. Views: 136
[unknown-8220]TRUST ME.[unknown-8221] The Last Chance bar was Veronica Lane's last hope. Desperate to find her missing brother, the sheltered computer programmer turned to Jasper Adams - the man she'd been warned to stay far away from. Veronica knew she was putting her life in the hands of the former Texas Ranger, who aroused desire she had to resist at all costs. Posing as a ruthless mercenary was a cover for what Jasper was really doing: hunting a killer. And Veronica was in the line of fire. The soldier-turned-elite-ops-agent knew he was playing a dangerous game - trying to win her trust while deceiving her about his true mission. What would happen once Veronica discovered that everything about him was a lie[unknown-8230]everything except his passion for her? Views: 136
In the brave new Japan of the 1870s, Taka and Nobu meet as children and fall in love; but their relationship will test the limits of society.
Unified after a bitter civil war, Japan is rapidly turning into a modern country with rickshaws, railways and schools for girls. Commoners can marry their children into any class, and the old hatred between north and south is over - or so it seems.
Taka is from the powerful southern Satsuma clan which now dominates the country, and her father, General Kitaoka, is a leader of the new government. Nobu, however, is from the northern Aizu clan, massacred by the Satsuma in the civil war. Defeated and reduced to poverty, his family has sworn revenge on the Satsuma.
Taka and Nobu's love is unacceptable to both their families and must be kept secret, but what they cannot foresee is how quickly the tables will turn. Many southern samurai become disillusioned with the new regime, which has deprived them of their swords, status and honour. Taka's father abruptly leaves Tokyo and returns to the southern island of Kyushu, where trouble is brewing.
When he and his clansmen rise in rebellion, the government sends its newly-created army to put them down. Nobu and his brothers have joined this army, and his brothers now see their chance of revenge on the Satsuma. But Nobu will have to fight and maybe kill Taka's father and brother, while Taka now has to make a terrible choice - between her family and the man she loves ...
**Review
"A magnificent, sweeping tale of love and war in nineteenth century Japan. No-one writes about Japan with more mastery of historical and cultural detail than Lesley Downer. I was enthralled by this wonderful novel." -- Katie Hickman "This tale of a forbidden love, set during the era of the Last Samurai, completely captivated me. I was swept along by Taka and Nobu's struggle to be together in the face of family opposition, social difference and, ultimately, war. The world of the book - 1870s Japan - is vividly evoked. But most of all this is a compelling and intensely romantic story, beautifully told." -- Isabel Wolff "Against the backdrop of civil war, Lesley Downer has created a rich epic of love, confusion and loyalty. Her deep knowledge, powers of description and meticulous attention to detail draws us into the hopes and fears of 19th Century Japan in such way that you will taste the food, watch the fashions, smell the streets and live through the personal tumult of a society on the edge of change. With Across a Bridge of Dreams, Ms Downer shows she is a writer at the very top of her game." -- Humphrey Hawksley "Like the era she describes, Downer has united two contradictory themes: love and war. Fans of period romance should be sure to pack Across A Bridge Of Dreams this summer, but those who prize blood over love in historical fiction will also find much to enjoy." Independent "An epic tale of love and war, full of colour." Choice, July 2012
About the Author
Lesley Downer's mother was Chinese and her father a professor of Chinese, so she grew up in a house full of books on Asia. But it was Japan, not China, that proved the more alluring, and she lived there for some fifteen years. She has written many books about the country and its culture, including Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World, and Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha who Seduced the West, and has presented television programmes on Japan for Channel 4, the BBC and NHK. She lives in London with her husband, the author Arthur I. Miller, and still makes sure she goes to Japan every year. Views: 136
People send their dreams and wishes floating down the Mae Ping River with the hope that those dreams will be captured, read and come true. It is a surprise what some wish for and why. One can never know what's inside someone's heart - what they really truly want, and those dreams sometimes reveal our true selves.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied. Views: 136
The Indian Chief: The Story of a Revolution Views: 135
“Nora, Nora! Where are you?” called a clear, girlish voice, and Cara Burt dashed headlong into a pretty bedroom all draped in white, where a tall girl was standing by an open window. “Nora!” she cried, “what are you doing up in your room at this hour, when we are all busy in the garden preparing our tableaux? Mrs Hazlitt says that she herself will recite ‘A Dream of Fair Women,’ and by unanimous consent you are to be Helen of Troy. Did any one ever suit the part so well? ‘Divinely tall, and most divinely fair.’ Views: 135
A collection of noir, surreal stories, comicbook asides, hardboiled moments, fantasy, dystopia, sci-fi, snapshots of Japanese culture, and the existentialism of contemporary experimental electronic music. This is Bergen's baptismal short story collection, bringing together recent short stories, never-before-seen older material, new comicbook art, and a range of incisive pop-culture articles written about music and Japan from 1999 to 2013. Views: 135
