RCMP detective Jack Taggart has avenged the murders of his niece and nephew, but the consequences linger. His deal with Damien, leader of the Satans Wrath motorcycle gang, has put him in a bind and has jeopardized an informant in the gang. Meanwhile, other members of the gang, led by a mysterious figure known only as "The Boss", have been working to eliminate Taggart by destroying the lives of anyone with connections to him.And if the bad guys aren't enough of an obstacle, there are problems to be found on the force itself. Assistant Commisioner Isaac is becoming more and more suspicious that Jack may have been responsible for the death of a corrupt Crown prosecutor. With Jack's life and career on the line, Above Ground is a tough and gritty follow-up that will more than satisfy readers who were pulled into the dark Vancouver underworld by Loose Ends, the first Jack Taggart mystery. Views: 37
The Romeo and Juliet of the streets are still struggling to find their way back to each other after fate has cruelly separated them.In order to move up in rank on the streets of Flint, Michigan, Malek knows that he's going to have to deal with some jealous players in the game, but when he's forced to go up against players on his own team, the rules change.Halleigh, on the other hand, learns that everything isn't always how it seems. Those who she thought had a foot on her neck, keeping her held down and imprisoned in a life she didn't freely choose for herself, are, in fact, the same ones who might be able to help her escape.In Flint Book 3, will Halleigh and Malek end up on the same team? But more importantly, will it be the winning team? Views: 37
Amazon.com ReviewThe Hero's Walk, the second novel by Anita Rau Badami, is a big, intimate book, the kind that seldom strays beyond the doors of a single residence. Set in the sweltering streets of Toturpuram, a small city on the Bay of Bengal, The Hero's Walk, which won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize for best book in Canada and the Caribbean, explores the troubled life of Sripathi Rao, an unremarkable, middle-aged family man and advertising copywriter.As The Hero's Walk opens, Sripathi's life is already in a state of thorough disrepair. His mother, a domineering, half-senile octogenarian, sits like a tyrant at the top of his household, frightening off his sister's suitors, chastising him for not having become a doctor, and brandishing her hypochondria and paranoia with sinister abandon. It is Sripathi's children, however, who pose the biggest problems: Arun, his son, is becoming dangerously involved in political activism, and Maya, his daughter, broke off her arranged engagement to a local man in order to wed a white Canadian. Sripathi's troubles come to a head when Maya and her husband are killed in an automobile accident, leaving their 7- year-old daughter, Nandana, without Canadian kin. Sripathi travels to Canada and brings his granddaughter home, while his family is shaken by a series of calamities that may, eventually, bring peace to their lives. --Jack IllingworthFrom Publishers WeeklyThe flowering of young writers of Indian origin continues with Badami's deeply resonant debut novel, which places her in the ranks of writers like Jhumpa Lahiri, Akhil Sharma and Manil Suri. The scion of a once wealthy, now down-at-the-heels Brahmin family, Sripathi Rao lives in the crumbling family manse in a small city on the Bay of Bengal. At 57, Sripathi is ill-tempered, emotionally constipated and a domestic tyrant a man riding for a fall. He struggles at a mediocre job to support his dragon of a mother, unmarried but lovelorn 44-year-old sister, subservient wife and layabout son. It's the perfect setup for a domestic comedy, until fate intervenes with the sudden deaths of his daughter, Maya, and her husband, in Vancouver. Guilt-ridden for having refused to communicate with Maya because she humiliated him by marrying out of her caste and race, Sripathi brings his seven-year-old orphaned granddaughter, Nandana, back to India. Badami's portrait of a bereft and bewildered child is both restrained and heartrending; Nandana has remained mute since her parents died, believing that they will someday return. In his own way, Sripathi is also mute, unable to express his grief and longing for his dead daughter. This poignant motif is perfectly balanced by Badami's eye for the ridiculous and her witty, pointed depiction of the contradictions of Indian society. She also writes candidly about the woes of underdevelopment the "stench of fish, human beings, diesel oil, food frying," poor drains, chaotic traffic and pervasive corruption. In the course of the narrative, everyone in Sripathi's family undergoes a life change, and in the moving denouement, reconciliation grows out of tragedy, and Sripathi understands "the chanciness of existence, and the hope and the loss that always accompanied life." A bestseller in Canada, where it was a Kiriyamaa Pacific Rim Book Award finalist, Badami's novel will delight those on the lookout for works by writers on the crest of the Indian wave. Author tour. (Apr. 27) Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 37
DEVIL IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING KIKI SWINSON Karlie Houston hasn't seen a raise in forever, but the payday loan office she manages is raking in the cash. So why not get what she's rightfully owed by masterminding a heist? Once her lover Sidney's boys hit all the company's locations at one time, there's a fortune to split. But suddenly bodies start dropping—and Karlie better devise the perfect plan to survive... TWISTED DECEPTION SAUNDRA Raised by a ruthless mother, Yazz Armstrong lives by "scheme or die." So she's cool with helping her man, Kevon, take control of head dealer Caesar's territory. And when the fallout racks up unexpected casualties, Yazz finds Caesar's bed a refuge—and his empire hers to help rule. Too bad someone with an even more lethal agenda won't stop 'til Yazz and her dreams crash and burn for good..."Kiki captures the heat of the streets."—Wahida... Views: 37
Alain Mabanckou’s riotous new novel centers on the patrons of a run-down bar in the Congo. In a country that appears to have forgotten the importance of remembering, a former schoolteacher and bar regular nicknamed Broken Glass has been elected to record their stories for posterity. But Broken Glass fails spectacularly at staying out of trouble as one denizen after another wants to rewrite history in an attempt at making sure his portrayal will properly reflect their exciting and dynamic lives. Despondent over this apparent triumph of self-delusion over self-awareness, Broken Glass drowns his sorrows in red wine and riffs on the great books of Africa and the West. Brimming with life, death, and literary allusions, Broken Glass is Mabanckou’s finest novel a mocking satire of the dangers of artistic integrity. Views: 37
After Marion’s mother is murdered, she feels doomed in life and in love. And just when happiness seems within reach, her new husband, Sam, reveals a secret that leaves her feeling limp, betrayed . . . but still in love. Hailed as “remarkable and uplifting” by The Globe and Mail and published to equally glowing acclaim around the world, Barbara Gowdy’s groundbreaking collection of stories, We So Seldom Look on Love, pushes past the limits of convention into lives that are fantastic and heartbreakingly real. HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library. Views: 36
A stirring novel of coming of age within a dysfunctional familySweetly funny and deeply perceptive, this novel follows teenager Maya Devine's search for her mother, her father, and above all, herself, offering a fresh take on what it is to grow up and to be part of a family. Maya's mother Marigold is desperate for enlightenment: she drags Maya to library lectures on making money and gardening as part of her home schooling, attends AA meetings even though she never has more than two drinks at a time, and conscripts Maya for the very personal crusade of spreading the words of the Bhagavad Gita from street corners. When Marigold is diagnosed with cancer and vows to spend her final days in the tepee she's set up in the backyard, 11-year-old Maya starts hearing people's thoughts as neighbors and strangers, believing the dying Marigold to be a prophet, camp out on the family's front yard. As her father grows ever more distant, Maya finds solace in the music of Corey Hart, but when... Views: 36
What's left of us when we're gone? In When I Was Young and In My Prime, a young woman watches her grandparents begin to decline. As she sorts through the couple's belongings, she reflects on the untold stories and unsung bonds that make up our lives. Meanwhile, modern urban life places strains on her own marriage and on her sense of what, ultimately, we owe each other.Weaving together voices, diary entries, poems, conversations and lists, When I Was Young and In My Prime cuts to the heart of our search for intimacy and family, for what makes life meaningful and love real. The result is a smart, moving novel about personal and cultural decline, dignity and work, the urban and the rural, the old and the new, and the search for something ageless. Views: 36
President Stephen C. Jefferson is back to shake things up once more. Now that his mistress has been put on ice, he and First Lady Raynetta Jefferson seem to be back on track. She has managed to hurdle over her husband's affairs, but her mother-in-law continues to be the real thorn in her side. The two women want the president to choose whose side he's on, but President Jefferson has his mind on his job. Sweeping gun-control legislation has been passed, and terrorism is being dealt with in a major way. The president is riding high from his multiple accomplishments, until he's told about a son he never knew he had, a son who has been classified as a dangerous terrorist. The shocking news brings the president to his knees. His trials and tribulations are more difficult than any he could have ever imagined. His world is crumbling right before his eyes, and a lonely, vengeful first lady is not the one he needs by his side. Neither is the Secret Service, and when an agent... Views: 36
