James Alliston, a famous New York writer, is struggling with his arrival in Los Angeles. After being left by his wife, and with a small child, he will try to rebuild a new life in the city where he grew up, under the advice of his best friend and literary agent, Andy Jackson. Despite being more than willing to put his head in order once and for all, he immediately finds himself in unseemly scenarios that make him lose some of his credibility and seriousness as a writer. His arrival in Los Angeles will be impetuous and although he does not want to be immediately recognized by the literary and film scene, his fame, and that of his agent, precede them, but not in a positive way. In the meantime, his agent will have to deal with his small flaws of lust, all under the watchful eyes of his wife. Old acquaintances will present themselves and he will have to deal with them, while, struggling with a real contract for his new novel, he will have to settle in the warm metropolis full of... Views: 59
A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher New England, the 1890s. A man calling himself Doctor John Shepherd arrives at an isolated women's mental hospital to begin work as assistant to the owner Dr Morgan. As Shepherd struggles to conceal his own dark secrets, he finds the asylum has plenty of its own. Who is the woman who wanders the corridors by night with murderous intent? Why does the chief nurse hate him? And why is he not allowed to visit the hospital's top floor? Shocked by Morgan's harsh treatment of the patients, and intrigued by one of them, Jane Dove, a strange amnesiac girl who is fascinated by books but cannot read, Shepherd embarks upon an experiment to help her. As he attempts to solve the mystery of Jane's past his own troubled history begins to catch up with him and she becomes his only hope of escape, as he is hers. In this chilling literary thriller everyone has something to... Views: 59
In the powerful and heartwarming conclusion to her bestselling Lowcountry Summer trilogy, New York Times author Mary Alice Monroe brings her readers back to the charm and sultry beauty of Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, to reveal how the pull of family bonds and true love is as strong and steady as the tides.It is summer’s end and Sea Breeze, the family’s beloved estate on Sullivan’s Island, must be sold. It is an emotional time of transition as Mamaw and the three sisters each must face loss and find a new place in the world. Harper, the youngest sister, arrived at Sea Breeze intending to stay only a weekend, but a rift with her wealthy, influential mother left her without direction or a home. During this remarkable summer, free from her mother’s tyranny and with the help of her half sisters, Harper discovered her talents and independent spirit. But summer is ending, and the fate of Sea Breeze hinges on Harper’s... Views: 59
THE WOMAN HE COULDN'T REMEMBER Not
long ago, Justin Hallwood had been a hard-driving, big-city executive.
Now he was inexplicably drawn to the little village of Haven—especially
to Sarah Conroy, a lovely single mother with an adorable baby son. What
hold did she have on him? THE MAN SHE SHOULDN'T FORGET Once,
Sarah thought that she and Justin would be together always. Then she'd
announced her pregnancy, and he was gone. Two years later he was
back—with no memory of their shared past. Sarah knew that Justin was so
close to remembering—but if he did, would it mean that Justin would be
lost to her again…this time forever? Views: 59
In the charming small town of Cherico, Mississippi, the Cherry Cola Book Club meets to discuss classic Southern literature, sample favorite dishes--and share their unique stories. . .Two wonderful new chapters are unfolding for Maura Beth Mayhew, Cherico's librarian. Thanks to her persistence, a new, cutting-edge library is being built on the shores of beautiful Lake Cherico. And come September, Maura Beth will marry Jeremy McShay at his aunt and uncle's stunning home. Yet in life, as in fiction, happy endings are hard-won. . . A local politician is trying to divert library funds, while Maura Beth's socialite parents insist on a lavish New Orleans wedding. Maura Beth invites them to Cherico to experience the town's laidback appeal--and the book club's delicious potluck fare. Sadly, not even Voncille Nettle's famous biscuits can placate Mrs. Mayhew once the discussion turns from Eudora Welty's The Robber Bridegroom to real-life marriage. To get the wedding and... Views: 59
It was a "million-dollar bullet," a sniper shot delivered from over a mile away. Its victim was no ordinary mark: he was a United States citizen, targeted by the United States government, and assassinated in the Bahamas.The nation's most renowned investigator and forensics expert, Lincoln Rhyme, is drafted to investigate. While his partner, Amelia Sachs, traces the victim's steps in Manhattan, Rhyme leaves the city to pursue the sniper himself. As details of the case start to emerge, the pair discovers that not all is what it seems.When a deadly, knife-wielding assassin begins systematically eliminating all evidence-including the witnesses-Lincoln's investigation turns into a chilling battle of wits against a cold-blooded killer.ReviewPraise for THE BURNING WIRE -- : 'Deaver can be relied on to deliver high tension - in this case it comes in every sense of the expression.' -- The Times Jeffery Deaver is something of a summer tradition for thriller fans, and a Lincoln Rhyme novel makes for a bumper year ... Deaver's pacy prose is addictive enough to result in dreadful sunburn if read on the beach, so approach with caution. -- Independent on Sunday 'Ingenious plotting is combined with ample helpings of information, about both New York's infrastructure and the hero's disability' -- The Sunday Times 'Brilliant ... it's easy to get swept up in the sheer velocity of the action' -- Scotsman 'The art of writing blockbuster thrillers is not easily mastered but Deaver has it at his fingertips. One of his specialities is the out-of-left-field revelation and THE BURNING WIRE is brimming with them.' -- Daily Express 'With 26 novels to his name Deaver is an old hand at delivering the goods ... he still does it better than most, whacking his readers with a neat one-two plot twist as they enter the final straight.' -- Observer Thriller of the Month 'Deaver is a master of misdirection and the plot will keep you guessing to the end. A powerful read indeed.' -- Evening Standard About the AuthorJeffery Deaver is the creator of Lincoln Rhyme, and the award-winning author of 29 internationally bestselling thrillers, including the new James Bond novel CARTE BLANCHE. He lives in North Carolina. Views: 59
Readers know what they are going to get when they pick up an unfamiliar Alice Munro collection, and yet almost every page carries a bounty of unexpected action, feeling, language, and detail. Her stories are always unique, blazing an invigorating originality out of her seemingly commonplace subjects. Each collection develops her oeuvre in increments, subtly expanding her range.Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage is, of course, no exception. It is a fairly conservative collection of nine stories, none of which move far beyond Munro's favored settings: the tiny towns and burgeoning cities of southern Ontario and British Columbia. There are glimpses of youth here--in the title story, an epistolary prank by two teenage girls leads to a one-sided cross country elopement and, seemingly, a happy marriage, and in "Nettles," disrupted childhood affection fleetingly returns through a chance meeting--but most of these pieces are stories of aging women and men, confronting the twin travails of death and late love. As is always the case with Munro, their plots are too elegantly elaborate to summarize, and their unsentimental power is a given; baroque praise would be futile. Read these stories--it is the only way to really understand the miracles that Munro so regularly performs. --Jack IllingworthFrom Publishers WeeklyA writer of Munro's ilk hardly needs a hook like the intriguing title of her 10th collection to pull readers into her orbit. Serving as a teasing introduction to these nine brilliantly executed tales, the range of mentioned relationships merely suggests a few of the nuances of human behavior that Munro evokes with the skill of a psychological magician. Johanna Parry, the protagonist of the title story, stands alone among her fictional sisters in achieving her goal by force of will. A rough, uneducated country girl, blatantly plain ("her teeth were crowded into the front of her mouth as if they were ready for an argument"), she seems doomed to heartbreak because of a teenager's trick, but the bracingly ironic denouement turns the reader's dire expectations into glee. The women in the other stories generally cannot control their fate. Having finally been reunited with the soul mate of her youth, the narrator of "Nettles" discovers that apparently benevolent fate can be cruel. In a similar moment of perception that signals the end of hope, Lorna in "Post and Beam" realizes that she is condemned to a life of submission to her overbearing, supercilious husband; ironically, her frowsy country cousin envies Lorna's luck in escaping their common origin. In nearly every story, there's a contrast between the behavior and expectations of country people and those who have made it to Toronto or Vancouver. Regardless of situation, however, the basics of survival are endured in stoic sorrow. Only the institutionalized wife of a philanderer in "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" manages to outwit her husband, and she has to lose her sanity to do it. All of the stories share Munro's characteristic style, looping gracefully from the present to the past, interpolating vignettes that seem extraneous and bringing the strands together in a deceptively gentle windup whose impact takes the breath away. Munro has few peers in her understanding of the bargains women make with life and the measureless price they pay. (Nov.)Forecast: Munro's collections are true modern classics, as the 75,000 first printing of her latest attests. Expect vigorous sales.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Views: 59
From Leacock finalist Ali Bryan, a witty and immensely fun dramedy about a family's memorial trip to the City of Love, where chaos ensues at every turn.It's been ten years since Claudia's mother died after a tragic collision with a banana boat. Her kids are now teenagers, her brother's wife has left him, and her ex has had a spiritual awakening that has him hinting at reconciliation — all things she can handle.But when her septuagenarian father decides to remarry after a brief courtship with a woman who is decidedly different than their mother, the entire family is thrown off course, and plans a long overdue memorial trip to the only place their mother ever dreamed of going: Paris. However, minutes after take-off, the trip takes an unpredictable turn and sets off a chain of events that threatens to derail the closure the family desperately seeks.Chance meetings, poolside confessions, run-ins with mimes, climate protests, and a man with a... Views: 59
