WINNER 2015 — Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel
London, 1665. A serial killer stalks his prey, scalpel in his hand and God's vengeance in his heart.
Five years after his restoration to the throne, Charles II leads his citizens by example, enjoying every excess. Londoners have slipped the shackles of puritanism and now flock to the cockpits, brothels and, especially, the theatres, where for the first time women are allowed to perform alongside the men.
But not everyone is swept up in the excitement. Some see this liberated age as the new Babylon, and murder victims pile up in the streets, making no distinction in class between a royalist member of parliament and a Cheapside whore. But they have a few things in common: the victims are found with gemstones in their mouths. And they have not just been murdered; they've been . . . sacrificed.
Now the plague is returning to the city with full force, attacking indiscriminately . . . and murder has found a new friend.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 855
Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is piqued when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the young woman to murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. At the same time, he struggles with his disorientation transitioning from a soldier's life to the civilian world, redefining his role with his former commanding officer, and making new friends--from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden. Book 1 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries. This is a full-length novel. Views: 855
Four passports of four vanished girls. The one who found them is missing too.A dead man's diary may contain the vital key. A search begins in Australia and across the worldFour passports are found of girls who vanished in Australia. The girl who found them has disappeared too. Who are these girls? Where have they gone?A diary and search in Australia and across the world give tiny glimpses and fragments, but their stories remain elusive. The police search, friends and families search and grieve in alternate measure, but five girls remain gone, their fate unknown.Anne is wracked by guilt at her failure to save her friend, Susan, who vanished one night soon after her release from jail. The evidence suggests she has returned to the place where she and her lover parted, she chose him and the crocodiles over life. She was in advanced pregnancy with twins and so three people are gone.Anne has her friend's story, her voice on a tape is the last fragment left to her of a vanished existence. She must tell this story so that the world can know of this lovely brave girl who seems forever lost. And the families of the other four girls want their stories told too. She has the man's diary, which tells parts, but there is much that makes no sense. It reveals another shadowy girl who may have gone too. She travels to the places from where they have come and were last seen in search of answers. She faithfully records each story, five or even six lost girls, each girl gone, nobody knows where. As she searches patterns emerge which help to explain the why and some of the how, but not where they are now. Almost certainly some are dead, but could some still survive..She is determined not to surrender all hope that at least one or two may yet be found alive. After a year nothing has been found. She must put it behind her and try to get on with her own life, but guilt and hope keep driving her on, searching still. Views: 855
Flora Mackie was twelve when she first crossed the Arctic Circle on her father's whaling ship. Now she is returning to the frozen seas as the head of her own exploration expedition. Jakob de Beyn was raised in Manhattan, but his yearning for new horizons leads him to the Arctic as part of a rival expedition. When he and Flora meet, all thoughts of science and exploration give way before a sudden, all-consuming love.
The affair survives the growing tensions between the two groups, but then, after one more glorious summer on the Greenland coast, Jakob joins his leader on an extended trip into the interior, with devastating results.
The stark beauty of the Arctic ocean, where pack ice can crush a ship like an eggshell, and the empty sweep of the tundra, alternately a snow-muffled wasteland and an unexpectedly gentle meadow, are vividly evoked. Against this backdrop Penney weaves an irresistible love story, a compelling look at the dark side of the golden age of exploration, and a mystery that Flora, returning one last time to the North Pole as an old woman, will finally lay to rest. Views: 855
Inventing the Enemy covers a wide range of topics on which Umberto Eco has written and lectured for the past ten years, from a disquisition on the theme that runs through his most recent novel, The Prague Cemetery—every country needs an enemy, and if it doesn’t have one, must invent it—to a discussion of ideas that have inspired his earlier novels. Along the way, he takes us on an exploration of lost islands, mythical realms, and the medieval world. Eco also sheds light on the indignant reviews of James Joyce’s Ulysses by fascist journalists of the 1920s and 1930s, and provides a lively examination of Saint Thomas Aquinas’s notions about the soul of an unborn child, censorship, violence, and WikiLeaks. These are essays full of passion, curiosity, and obsessions by one of the world’s most esteemed scholars and critically acclaimed, best-selling novelists. Views: 855
**It’s the book FALLEN fans have been waiting for: Cam’s story, the brooding, bad-boy dark angel readers love.**
High school can be hell.
Cam knows what it’s like to be haunted. He’s spent more time in Hell than any angel ever should. And his freshest Hell is high school, where Lilith, the girl he can’t stop loving, is serving out a punishment for his crimes.
Cam made a bet with Lucifer: he has fifteen days to convince the only girl who really matters to him to love him again. If he succeeds, Lilith will be allowed back into the world, and they can live their lives together. But if he fails…there’s a special place in Hell just for him.
Tick-tock.
Spread your wings and cry as bad boy dark angel Cam finally reveals his anguished heart in the epic new FALLEN novel, UNFORGIVEN. Views: 854
Young Hereward ("the Wake") finds out that a Norman castle is being built in Shropshire and rides with a group of rowdy boys to cause trouble. Set in the Dark Ages of Engla-lond, the "Last Tales of Mercia" are ten short stories featuring real historical figures and characters from the "Sons of Mercia" series. Though strongly connected to the series, they can be read independently.Warning: experimental translation (hybrid) A man with the body that dies and an unique brain, so much to be been able to move to a metallic giant. What would it happen to that mind, as would it evolve it having to manage such a different hardware? His history, in family and in the space, in the bath of crowd of the city and on the sands of Mars. Up to rediscover his best part: a load of essential humanity, a tutelar spirit to all round that will bring him to risk every thing reaching an unexpected prize: itself. Views: 854
Dax Pelletier is ready for a new life. The ex-Confederate general wants nothing more to do with confronting the tough truths of leadership—until her meets Rachel, the woman who’s captured his heart.Rachel Davenport possesses skills earned as a nurse in field hospitals during the Civil War—skills she’ll use to build a new life. Now, her feelings for one man threaten to change everything.“A heartwarming, passionate story of loss, forgiveness, and redemption set in the untamed frontier during the tumultuous years following the Civil War. Ms. Davies’ engaging and complex characters draw you in from the start, creating an exciting introduction to this new historical western romance series.”“Redemption’s Edge is a strong and engaging introduction to her new historical western romance series.”Dax Pelletier is ready to start a new life, far away from the one he left behind in Savannah following the South’s devastating defeat in the Civil War. The ex-Confederate general wants nothing more to do with commanding men and confronting the tough truths of leadership.Rachel Davenport possesses skills unlike those of her Boston socialite peers—skills acquired while working as a nurse in field hospitals during the Civil War. Eschewing her northeastern suitors and forever changed by the violence and death she’s seen, Rachel decides to accept her uncle’s invitation to assist him at his clinic in the wild frontier of Montana.Now a Texas Ranger, a promise made to a friend takes Dax and his brother, Luke, to the untamed territory of Montana. He’ll fulfill his oath and return to Austin.The small town of Splendor is exactly what Rachel needs after life in a large city. She’s grown to love the people as well as the majestic beauty of the sprawling frontier wilderness and embraces a new life unlike any she ever thought possible. Now, her feelings for one man threaten to change everything.Dax believes his battle days are over. However, dangers of a different kind stalk him. Confronting the vengeance of men from his past doesn’t alarm the hardened ex-soldier. The biggest threat, and the one he is least prepared to defend against, may come from Rachel, the woman who’s captured his heart.Can she break through his demons and help Dax overcome the nightmares which still haunt him? Will Dax be able to envision a future, one that includes Rachel, or will he continue to hide from his destiny? Views: 854
The definitive volume in Jakes’s bestselling series finds the Kent family reaching to finally embrace its legacy—and its future
In the final installment of the Kent Family Chronicles, the remaining Kents seek to fulfill Philip Kent’s original American dream. As Gideon Kent’s health deteriorates, he fears for the future of his family. Their dynasty, now in ruins, stands as a tarnished symbol of all the Kents have lost in the unstable years of war and expansion. It falls to young Will to bring the family together—a task of epic scope. Only expert storyteller John Jakes could craft such a gripping finale to this beloved family saga, bringing the Kents’ drama—and the nineteenth century in America—to its riveting conclusion. This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Jakes including rare images from the author’s personal collection. Views: 854
CAPTIVE OF LOVE
Spirited Rowena Belleme must produce an heir--or incur the dangerous wrath of a ruthless stepbrother, who stands to forfeit his ill-gotten wealth. And the magnificent Warrick deChaville is the perfect choice to sire her child--though it means imprisoning the handsome knight...and forcing him to bend to her amorous whims.
SLAVE OF PASSION
Vowing to resist but betrayed by his own virility, noble Warrick is intoxicated by Rowena's sapphire eyes and voluptuous beauty. Yet all the while he plans a fitting revenge--eagerly awaiting the time when his sensuous captor becomes his helpless captive ... and is made to suffer the same rapturous torment and exquisite ecstasy that he himself has endured. Views: 853
The next gripping Courtney family adventure from perennial bestseller and fan favourite Wilbur Smith.
In a triumphant return to his much-loved Courtney series, Wilbur Smith introduces us to the bravest new member of the famed family, Saffron Courtney.
Saffron grows up on a sprawling Kenyan estate, under the watchful eye of her father, prominent businessman and distinguished war veteran Leon Courtney. Her childhood is idyllic, until a family tragedy forces her to grow up much faster than necessary. As she grows into a spirited teenager, her thirst for knowledge and adventures leads her to England, where she finds herself inevitably drawn into the heart of the gathering storm in the lead-up to World War II.
Gerhard von Meerbach is the privileged and idealistic younger brother of Konrad von Meerbach, heir to an industrial fortune, and vocal supporter of the Nazi Party. Gerhard struggles to stay true to his principles in an increasingly cruel world. His friendship with a Jewish man places him in danger, and forces him to take a stand against the forces of evil that have overtaken his country and his family. But, unknown to him, he is caught in a trap that could cost him everything he holds dear.
As the Second World War looms over them all, Saffron and Gerhard's worlds collide – but will there be more to unite them than tear them apart?
A love story in the time of heroes, War Cry is the latest breathtaking episode in Wilbur Smith's epic account of one beloved family. Views: 853
Victorian class lines are crossed when cook Kat Holloway is drawn into a murder that reaches all the way to the throne.
Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered.
Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself. Views: 853
Summer knows that kouun means good luck" in Japanese, and this year her family has had none. Just when Summer thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japan, right before harvest season leaving Summer and her little brother, Jaz, in the care of their elderly grandparents, Obaachan and Jiichan.
Obaachan and Jiichan are old fashioned, very demanding, and easily disappointed. Between helping Obaachan cook for the workers and with all the other chores, and worrying about her little brother, who can't seem to make any friends, Summer has her hands full. But when a welcome distraction turns into a big mess, causing further disappointment, Summer realises she must try and make her own luck as it might be the only way to save her family. Views: 853
In the desert, an instant turns life into death and hate into love. In the desert, everything is different. Boundaries break down, and you find yourself doing things that you would never, ever have imagined.
Lilly Linton finds this out the hard way: in the shadow of the pyramids, she and her boss, cold, calculating Mr Ambrose, must face death and danger together. Is the desert's heat enough to melt the cold heart of Britain's richest financier?
Sequel to Robert Thier's #1 Hit 'Storm and Silence' Views: 853
In the year 1740, Commodore (later Admiral) George Anson embarked on a voyage that would become one of the most famous exploits in British naval history. Sailing through poorly charted waters, Anson and his men encountered disaster, disease, and astonishing success. They circumnavigated the globe and seized a nearly incalcuable sum of Spanish gold and silver, but only one of the five ships survived.
This is the background to the first novel Patrick O'Brian ever wrote about the sea, a precursor to the acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series that shares the excitement and rich humor of those books. The protagonist is Peter Palafox, son of a poor Irish parson, who signs on as a midshipman, never before having seen a ship. Together with his lifelong friend Sean, Peter sets out to seek his fortune, embarking upon a journey of danger, disappointment, foreign lands, and excitement.
Here is a tale certain to please not only admirers of O'Brian's work but also any reader with an adventurous soul. Views: 853
