What is the future of the monarchy in Canada?A strong republican movement in Canada stresses that the monarchy is archaic and anti-democratic, an embarrassing vestige of our colonial past. An equally vibrant monarchist movement, however, defends its loyalty to royalty, asserting that the Queen is a living link to a political and constitutional tradition dating back over a thousand years. But is the monarchy worth keeping?Battle Royal answers this question and many more: What does the Queen really do? What are the powers of the governor general? Has the Crown strengthened or weakened Canadian democracy? If we abolish the monarchy, what do we replace it with? And will we have to re-open the constitution?Charles will soon become King of Canada, but a Canada highly ambivalent to his reign. This presents the representatives of the Crown with the opportunity to build a better monarchy in both Britain and Canada, one relevant to the twenty-first century. Views: 68
You think it's easy being a moose? Think again! Even though I'm big, I'm just a baby. I love my mother and my friends. Like Dudley, the beaver, who named me. And Snow, the little wolf, who loves to play tag. His family's another matter. What really scares me is people. Mother said they're the most dangerous creatures in the forest. I certainly didn't want to meet them.... Snow and I are young, so naturally we're curious. One day we were playing tag...and ran into a schoolyard by mistake! (Okay...we didn't run — we fell!) Right smack in the middle of all these strange animals, weird buildings, and terrifying machines. Yoweeee! Did we ever learn a lesson there.... Views: 68
Lord Robert Templeton is adamant that the responsibilities of his newly inherited Earldom are not for him. Leaving his family home, Ledbury Hall, in the capable hands of his younger brother, Alec, he plunges headfirst into the heady delights of London nightlife.But his carousel of gambling, drinking and selfish pleasure is cut short and he is forced to return to home. Disenchanted by the society beauties that relentlessly pursue his handsome face and title, and willfully ignoring the attentions of an attractive but overbearing widow, the Earl swears that he will never marry.Feeling doomed to a life in the country, the Earl is delighted by his timely reacquaintance with Miranda Whitby, a childhood friend who once saved his life. Beautiful, capable and determined, Miranda inspires the Earl to plan for the future of his estate. As their friendship deepens and the Earl eagerly shoulders the responsibilities he once shirked, he is reminded of a promise he made Miranda many... Views: 68
June 11, 1940 – where is Winston Churchill?A private aircraft takes off from a small town in central France, while Adolf Hitler, the would-be conqueror of Europe, prepares for a clandestine meeting near the Belgian border.For more than forty years the events of this day have been Britain’s most closely guarded secret. Anyone who learns of them must die - with their file stamped:XPD - expedient demiseReview‘A stunning spy story… Deighton remains the incomparable entertainer’ The Guardian‘Exciting and well made.’ Daily Telegraph‘Deighton in top form… the best kind of action entertainment’ Publishers Weekly‘Deliciously sharp and flawlessly accurate dialogue, breathtakingly clever plotting, confident character drawing… a splendidly strongly told story’ The Times‘A master of fictional espionage.’ Daily Mail‘The poet of the spy story.’ Sunday Times‘For sheer readability he has no peer’ The StandardReview'A stunning spy story... Deighton remains the incomparable entertainer, The Guardian 'Exciting and well made., Daily Telegraph 'Deighton in top form... the best kind of action entertainment, Publishers Weekly 'Deliciously sharp and flawlessly accurate dialogue, breathtakingly clever plotting, confident character drawing... a splendidly strongly told story, The Times 'A master of fictional espionage., Daily Mail 'The poet of the spy story., Sunday Times 'For sheer readability he has no peer, The Standard Views: 68
Product DescriptionRafferty Powell has resolved to destroy his hated arch-nemesis, Magnus Montmorency. The pair have exchanged challenge coins, and their next battle will be their last. But Rafferty never expected to meet a woman whose desire for Magnus's end matches his own-and whose soul sparks the firestorm within him... Views: 68
RetailIt's August 1969 in the sleepy college town of Holloman, Connecticut, and police Captain Carmine Delmonico is away on vacation. Back at home, first one, then two anonymous male corpses turn up-emaciated and emasculated. After connecting the victims to four other bodies, Sergeant Delia Carstairs and Lieutenant Abe Goldberg realize that Holloman has a psychopathic killer on the loose. Luckily, Carmine decides to come back from vacation early.Carmine's team begins to circle a trio of eccentrics, who readily admit to knowing all the victims, but their stories keep changing. They share family ties, painful memories, and a dark past. One of them is a new friend of Carmine's invaluable sergeant, Delia Carstairs, as is the respected head of the mental hospital, who has been doing groundbreaking work rehabilitating one very difficult patient who is now her trusted assistant. When another vicious murder rocks Holloman, Carmine faces the revelation that two killers are at large... Views: 68
This is what we dream of: to be so swept away, so poleaxed by a book that the breath is sucked right out of us. Brace yourselves.May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the knights' Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the knights as the "Hounds of Hell." The knights call themselves "The Religion."In Messina, Sicily, a French countess, Carla La Penautier, seeks passage to Malta in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth twelve years ago. The only man with the expertise and daring to help her is a Rabelaisian soldier of fortune, arms dealer, former janissary, and strapping Saxon adventurer by the name of Mattias Tannhauser. He agrees to accompany the lady to Malta, where, amid the most spectacular siege in military history, they must try to find the boy--whose name they do not know and whose face they have never seen--and pluck him from the jaws of Holy War.The Religion is the first book of the Tannhauser Trilogy, and from the first page of this epic account of the last great medieval conflict between East and West, it is clear we are in the hands of a master. Not since James Clavell has a novelist so powerfully and assuredly plunged readers headlong into another world and time. Anne Rice transformed the vampire novel. Stephen King reinvented horror. Now, in a spectacular tale of heroism, tragedy, and passion, Tim Willocks revivifies historical fiction.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Willocks, a novelist (Bad City Blues) and screenwriter (Sin), strikes gold with this epic account of the Turkish siege of Malta in 1565—the first of a planned trilogy featuring Mattias Tannhauser, the son of a Saxon blacksmith. Young Tannhauser is kidnapped by Muslim raiders and trained as a holy warrior before winning his release and settling in Sicily, where he becomes a prosperous arms dealer. His comfortable life is interrupted by the arrival of Contessa Carla La Penautier, a young widow who uses her considerable charms (and title) to recruit Tannhauser to help her find Orlandu, the bastard son she was forced to abandon at birth 12 years earlier. Arriving on Malta, where Carla believes her son is, Tannhauser and Carla get caught in the Turkish attack on the Christian enclave. Meanwhile, Orlandu's father, Ludovico Ludovici, a monk and feared inquisitor, has returned to Malta with hopes of bringing Malta under papal control. Tannhauser has to find Orlandu, unmask the scheming and unscrupulous Ludovici, survive vicious combat against the Turks, win Carla's heart and find a way to escape the "island of fanatics and fools." In Tannhauser, Willocks has created a dazzling hero whose debut will leave readers eager for the next installment. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks MagazineThe first in a projected trilogy, The Religion stirred excitement in some critics and distaste in others. Tim Willocks writes with visual detail (he's a screenwriter), but he also appeals to the other senses, creating what the Chicago Sun-Times described as "a thick stew of smells, colors, and sounds." Some reviewers, however, criticized florid writing, shallow characters, and a clichéd plot. Others found Willocks's prose cinematic, his characters complicated, and the plot thrilling. Fans of swashbuckling adventures will enjoy this work and undoubtedly overlook the book's flaws. But the novel is not for the faint at heart: all reviewers mentioned the blood and gore in every battle scene.Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. Views: 68
It then suddenly struck Arliva with a feeling of horror that maybe she would never find anyone who would love her for herself. She wanted the love her father and mother had had for each other which was why he had never married again, although at times he must have been very lonely. ‘I just want to be loved for myself,’ she thought. ‘I don’t want anyone who pretends to care for me because they want my money or anything else I possess.’ Yet she could not stop herself worrying that it was something she might never find. She felt as if her money was encircling her with tight cords that would prevent her from ever knowing the meaning of real love, the love that everyone wanted, the love of a man and a woman simply because he was the other half of herself. ‘That is what I want,’ Arliva said to herself, ‘but because I am so rich it is a gem I will never find. Even if I want to believe a man loves me I will be quite certain that he will be grasping for that great fortune which exists in my name. Oh, please God, what shall I do?’ The prayer came directly from her heart. Views: 68
“Do you really think that I would want to marry a man who is old enough to be my grandfather? The answer is quite simply ‘no’.” Cyril Warner sat back in his chair. “Are you really so stupid, Eleta, as to think that is your final word?” “Of course it’s my final word. Have him on your Board, which I am sure is a very wise move, but I have no intention of marrying an old man and certainly not one who is marrying me for my money!” There was silence for a moment and then he said, “You have forgotten one thing.” “What can that be?” Eleta asked suspiciously “That I am your Guardian by Law,” her stepfather replied, “and you have to obey me until you are twenty-one. That, as I ascertained this morning, does not happen for nine months and by then you will be on my instructions married to the Duke of Hazelware.” Eleta stared at him. “Do you really intend to force me up the aisle with someone I have no wish to marry, an old man who is marrying me for what I possess and not for myself?” Views: 68
The night she'll never forget...is a night he can't rememberAudrey Thomas can't forget the night of passion she shared with Lucas Slade, the man she's loved for years. But it seems the sexy, superrich rancher has no clue who warmed his bed!The mystery seductress at his Lake Tahoe retreat was Audrey? His best friend's off-limits kid sister? Now she's back at Sunset Ranch...and having his baby! Honor bound to do the right thing, Lucas never reckons she'll say I won't to his proposal--or that she'll settle for nothing less than all this cowboy has to give. Views: 68
