Both Barrels: Legends of the Monster Hunter I & II Views: 46
Into the paranormal world: A wounded heart is not easily mended, requiring a soothing, patient hand.
Matthew Beakman’s life just got turned upside down. His brother, Marty, stumbled across something strange and fascinating and amazing! Gargoyles exist! Matthew wants to know everything about them. First, though, he wants to find the gargoyle that saved his brother’s life and thank him. Their people’s leader, Maelgwn, points out a blood-red, behemoth of a gargoyle named Vane, then warns Matthew away from him. Never good at following orders—and because he can’t help but find himself intrigued by the huge creature across the room—Matthew tracks Vane down anyway. At first, he’s confused by the way his body responds every time Vane growls at him, until a conversation with Logan makes him suspect that he and Vane are mates. Unfortunately, he also learns Vane went through some extreme torture in the hands of humans. How can he convince the stubborn gargoyle that not all humans are the same? Views: 46
Years ago, a sacred ceremony at the Dragon's Moon Coven turned deadly. Son of the high priestess, Tristian Shandie's life changed forever. With a price on his head and revenge in his heart, he has no choice but to follow in his father's footsteps to a profession shrouded in secrets. Now his skills as an enforcer for the Demon Overlord are second to none. But dangerous secrets he harbors are a liability he can no longer afford. A chance meeting with a woman he finds irresistible flips Tristian's world upside down. Hannah is a cyber security specialist with secrets of her own. Bad boys never appealed to her until Tristian, who changes everything. In his darkest hours, she is dragged into his magical world. If they survive, is she strong enough to heal his heart and tame the warlock? Or will their secrets destroy them? Views: 46
Contents: Charlie's LawDagger of the MindThe Unreal McCoyBalance of TerrorThe
Naked TimeMiriThe Conscience of the King Views: 46
A career criminal with OCD tendencies and a savant-like genius for bringing order to his crime scenes, Martin considers himself one of the best in the biz. After all, he’s been able to steal from the same people for years on end—virtually undetected. Of course, this could also be attributed to his unique business model—he takes only items that will go unnoticed by the homeowner. After all, who in their right mind would miss a roll of toilet paper here, a half-used bottle of maple syrup there, or even a rarely used piece of china buried deep within a dusty cabinet?Even though he's never met these homeowners, he's spent hours in their houses, looking through their photo albums and reading their journals. In essence, Martin has developed a friendship of sorts with them and as such, he decides to interfere more in their lives—playing the part of a rather odd guardian angel—even though it means breaking many of his twitchy neurotic rules. Along the way Martin not only improves the lives of others, but he also discovers love and finds that his own life is much better lived on the edge (at least some of the time) in this hilarious, suspenseful and often profound novel about a man used to planning every second of his life, suddenly forced to confront chaos and spontaneity. From the Hardcover edition.Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Exclusive: Alan Bradley Reviews *Something Missing* Alan Bradley is the author of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first mystery in the Flavia de Luce series, and one of Amazon's Best of the Month picks. The next book in the series, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, will be published in 2010. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Something Missing: I once knew a man who thought in precisely the same way that Martin Railsback does. Even the drabbest of tasks, such as going for groceries, or putting out the trash, had to be planned with the utmost strategy and cunning. I found out later that my friend was a retired safecracker.Martin Railsback, Jr., if you haven’t already heard, is the protagonist of Matthew Dick’s first novel, Something Missing: the story of an obsessive-compulsive housebreaker whose every waking moment is jam-packed with finicky clockwork ritual--the kind of intense micro-planning that might have made even Napoleon back off.Martin’s only problem is that, after years of undetected crime, he’s recently begun to think of himself as a sort of guardian angel who watches over his victims, or “clients,” as he prefers to call them. Conscience rears its ugly head.Up until now, Martin has always played life as if it were a game of chess: by thinking a dozen moves ahead of everyone else, he will always come out ahead of the game.And so he does, until the day he accidentally knocks Sophie Pearl’s electric toothbrush into the toilet bowl while stealing a single one (don’t ask!) of her diamond earrings.Thus begins a series of events that play out like a cross between Raymond Chandler and a Keystone Cops two-reeler.Like Jeff Lindsay, whose Dexter series has so brilliantly explored the underside of the underside, Matthew Dicks has created an unforgettable character that will have you torn between wanting to throttle him--or adopt him.--Alan Bradley(Photo © Jeff Bassett) From Publishers WeeklyAn expert thief unexpectedly finds himself aiding his victims in Dicks's charming if rambling debut. During his hours off, barista Martin Railsback burgles the houses of folks he calls his clients, taking only what they won't notice is missing: for instance, three boxes of long grain rice... two rolls of toilet paper (in Martin's estimation, the Gallos had excellent taste in toilet paper), three cups of olive oil and, on occasion, something really valuable. The system works beautifully until the day Martin drops a client's toothbrush into the toilet and feels compelled to replace it. This act of simple decency sets him on an entirely different course, and pretty soon he's breaking into houses to improve the lives of their occupants. Martin's own life starts looking up, too, with the possibility of romance and a new avocation, but the specter of real peril looms. Dicks struggles with digression and repetition—Martin's obsessive allegiance to the rules of his pastime becomes exasperating—but he's created a winning hero in Martin, a crook with a heart of gold. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Views: 46
When Luke Manchett's estranged father dies unexpectedly, he leaves his son a dark inheritance: a collection of eight restless spirits, known as his Host, who want revenge for their long enslavement. Once they figure out that Luke has no clue how to manage them, they become increasingly belligerent, and eventually mutiny. Halloween (the night when ghosts reach the height of their power) is fast approaching, and Luke knows his Host is planning something far more trick than treat. Armed with only his father's indecipherable notes, a locked copy of The Book of Eight, and help from school outcast Elza Moss, Luke has just thirteen days to uncover the closely guarded secrets of black magic and send his unquiet spirits to their eternal rest—or join their ghostly ranks himself. Views: 46
