A masterful, enthralling debut novel about fate, family secrets, and the stories our bodies tell.Magdalena has an unsettling gift. She sees the truth about people written on their skin—names, dates, details both banal and profound—and her only relief from the onslaught of information is to take off her glasses and let the world recede. Mercifully, her own skin is blank. When she meets Neil, she is intrigued to see her name on his cheek. He's in Paris for the summer, studying a medieval pilgrimage to the coast of Spain, where the body of Saint Jacques is said to have washed ashore, covered in scallop shells. Magdalena, desperate to make things right after her best friend dies—a tragedy she might have prevented—embarks on her own pilgrimage, but not before Neil falls for her, captivated by her pale eyes, charming Eastern European accent, and aura of heartbreak. Neil's father, Richard, is also in Paris, searching for... Views: 54
'A terrific collection,' - The Times'. Her black humour and piercing observation bear comparison with the work of Muriel Spark,' - Guardian'. It's almost impossible to pick up this substantial collection and find anything more worthwhile to do for the rest of the day than read it cover to cover,'- Rosemary Goring, The Herald. 'The woman is a genius,' - Daily Mail. 'Essential reading. It is Agnes Owens at her subtle, concise best - truthful, humane and quite brilliant' - Times Literary Supplement. 'Her stories...carry the emotional clout of a knockout punch,' - Observer'. Owens is a rare treasure,' - Allan Massie, The Scotsman. 'Acerbic, wicked, utterly honest, sly, gothic, brilliantly black deadpan funny,' - Liz Lochead, Sunday Herald. The complete life work of Agnes Owens in short stories - everything from Gentlemen of the West, Lean Tales, People Like That and 14 brand new unpublished stories. Witty and dark, Owens' spare prose shocks and delights. Her talent for pithy,... Views: 54
Ghosts range — fearsome figures in gleaming armor, spirits of the conquistadores — are striking terror into the herdsmen of Texas' Matagorda Bay country.... But maybe, a skeptical Slade told himself, they're not ghosts — just smart owlhoots wrapped in tin plate.... So the Ranger ace went "ghost"-hunting — with hot lead and fighting fury!But Slade didn't know how close he himself would come to being made a ghost.... Views: 54
It is 1902. Emily is sixteen years of age and blissfully in love with
John, two years her senior. Together they are secretly planning a life,
when they are violently driven apart. Denied the man she loves, and
dominated by a brutally possessive uncle, Emily is devastated when she
is cruelly taken advantage of. When a child is born, her life is in
tatters. And she cannot reveal the identity of the father to anyone, or
there will be a terrible price to pay. Trapped and ashamed, she seeks
solace in her daughter, Cathleen, but there is little consolation. As
time passes, and still there is no sign of the man she loved, Emily
resigns herself to the fact that he may never return, and her life
begins to take another direction. However, John is never far from her
mind. Is her love still waiting for her?But when history threatens to
repeat itself and the father of her child once again preys on her, she
must put all thoughts of John aside and find a way to safeguard her
daughter. Views: 54
Switching seamlessly between the chaos and bloodshed of 1940s India and the multicultural mÉlange of twenty-first-century Britain, Glen Duncan's sublime new novel finds love in both. Ross Monroe is a boxing railwayman with a weakness for get-rich-quick schemes. Kate Lyle is a headstrong young woman desperate to escape a sexually predatory household. Both are Anglo-Indians, members of a race that helped turn the wheels of Empire for years. But Empire days are numbered, and as India sheds its colonial skin, the young lovers must face their own tryst with destiny.In twenty-first-century England, Owen Monroe is writing this story of his parents' lives in an effort to avoid the problems in his own: lost love, relentless libido, dreams of death, and a world full of headlines he can't understand and doesn't want to. But keeping past and present apart isn't as easy as it seems, and before long Owen is deep in the one story he never wanted to... Views: 54
DANGEROUSLY GOOD. DISTINCTIVELY DEAVER.Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs return to New York City to confront a killer terrorizing couples at their happiest-and most vulnerable.In the early hours of a quiet, weekend morning in Manhattan's Diamond District, a brutal triple murder shocks the city. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs quickly take the case. Curiously, the killer has left behind a half-million dollars' worth of gems at the murder scene, a jewelry store on 47th street. As more crimes follow, it becomes clear that the killer's target is not gems, but engaged couples themselves.The Promisor vows to take the lives of men and women during their most precious moments-midway through the purchase of an engagement ring, after a meeting with a wedding planner, trying on the perfect gown for a day that will never come. The Promisor arrives silently, armed with knife or gun, and a time of bliss is transformed, in an instant, to one of... Views: 54
Cadence Lewis has been dancing since she could walk. Living in New York with her parents she has the chance to go to the best dance school in the country, but when her father does the unthinkable she's forced to leave her dreams behind and move to a small southern town with her mom. Cadence is having a hard time adjusting to her new life when she meets Jade Carpenter. Jade starts to show Cadence that small-town life isn't so bad, but when Cadence has a chance to go back to New York she is on the next flight and will do anything to get her old life back.**Preorder Sale Price! Price will go up after release!**~Full synopsis will be added~ Views: 54
A disturbing mix of tragedy, comedy, politics and sexuality, Chronicle in Stone is a fascinating early masterpiece from the winner of the inaugural Man Booker International Prize.WWII is about to start, but life for a young boy in small town Albania is still a game. Yet, as the country falls to the Italians, then the Greeks, then eventually to the Nazis, and is mercilessly bombed by the British, the boy grows up.In a seamless mosaic of dreams and games, Kadare's young narrator both reflects and distorts events as his ancient, magical home town and his own innocence and sense of wonder are lost forever in the madness and brutality of the war.'A thoroughly enchanting novel-sophisticated and accomplished in its poetic prose and narrative deftness, yet drawing resonance from its roots in one of Europe's most primitive societies.' John Updike, The New Yorker Views: 54
Before Jack Kerouac expressed the spirit of a generation in his 1957 classic, On the Road, he spent years figuring out how he wanted to live and, above all, learning how to write. Atop an Underwood brings together more than sixty previously unpublished works that Kerouac wrote before he was twenty-two, ranging from stories and poems to plays and parts of novels, including an excerpt from his 1943 merchant marine novel, The Sea Is My Brother. These writings reveal what Kerouac was thinking, doing, and dreaming during his formative years, and reflect his primary literary influences. Readers will also find in these works the source of Kerouac's spontaneous prose style.Uncovering a fascinating missing link in Kerouac's development as a writer, Atop an Underwood is essential reading for Kerouac fans, scholars, and critics. Views: 54
Finn wants to be a Viking warrior, and seek adventure and glory in far-off lands, not become chieftan of a farming village like his father. But then, when his father has been summoned away to another island, Finn is left in charge, and danger strikes. With the village under siege and only Finn and his friends to protect it, can he save the day and learn what it really means to have the blood of a Viking? Views: 54
