Product DescriptionCold Hand in Mine was first published in the UK in 1975 and in the US in 1977. The story 'Pages from a Young Girl's Journal' won the Aickman World Fantasy Award in 1975. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1973 before appearing in this collection. Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full, being more ambiguous than standard ghost stories. Throughout the stories the reader is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ('Pages from a Young Girl's Journal') but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing. 'Of all the authors of uncanny tales, Aickman is the best ever . . . His tales literally haunt me; his plots and his turns of phrase run through my head at the most unlikely moments.' Russell Kirk About the AuthorRobert Fordyce Aickman was born in 1914 in London. He was married to Edith Ray Gregorson from 1941 to 1957. In 1946 the couple, along with Tom and Angela Rolt, set up the Inland Waterways Association to preserve the canals of Britain. It was in 1951 that Aickman, along with Elizabeth Jane Howard, published his first ghost stories entitled We are the Dark. Aickman went on to publish eleven more volumes of horror stories as well as two fantasy novels and two volumes of autobiography. He also edited the first eight volumes of The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories. He died in February 1981. Product DescriptionCold Hand in Mine was first published in the UK in 1975 and in the US in 1977. The story 'Pages from a Young Girl's Journal' won the Aickman World Fantasy Award in 1975. It was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1973 before appearing in this collection. Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full, being more ambiguous than standard ghost stories. Throughout the stories the reader is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ('Pages from a Young Girl's Journal') but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing. 'Of all the authors of uncanny tales, Aickman is the best ever . . . His tales literally haunt me; his plots and his turns of phrase run through my head at the most unlikely moments.' Russell Kirk About the AuthorRobert Fordyce Aickman was born in 1914 in London. He was married to Edith Ray Gregorson from 1941 to 1957. In 1946 the couple, along with Tom and Angela Rolt, set up the Inland Waterways Association to preserve the canals of Britain. It was in 1951 that Aickman, along with Elizabeth Jane Howard, published his first ghost stories entitled We are the Dark. Aickman went on to publish eleven more volumes of horror stories as well as two fantasy novels and two volumes of autobiography. He also edited the first eight volumes of The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories. He died in February 1981. Views: 17
Driven by greed, a group of U.N. peacekeeping soldiers becomes involved in activities on the wrong side of the law. When their tour of duty ends, the mayhem begins. Calling themselves the "Keepers," the rogue soldiers — outfitted with stolen U.N. arms and ammunition — devise a shocking scheme to get the world's attention… Meanwhile, Op-Center head Paul Hood has cleared out his desk. But his retirement is short-lived. Demanding one hundred million dollars in ransom, the Keepers have taken over the U.N. — where ambassadors from ten nations have gathered for a gala function at which Hood's daughter will perform. This time the Keepers have made it personal. And the Op-Center forces will strike with deadly vengeance… Views: 17
The Misfits are back and now they are international. Trigga, Diamond, and the crew are in London. Dame is dead and everything should be perfect, but when a plan works too perfectly, there is bound to be some unfinished business. Secrets are bound to be exposed. Diamond has learned the game, and now she must continue to embrace a life she was not meant to live, while coming to terms with the truth of her own past. Trigga thought he was going to be able to give his new family peace, but when ghosts from the past appear in London, the new gang starts to unravel. Can Trigga keep Diamond safe, and can he trust those around him if he doesn't truly know them? Every Nigga Gotta Agenda was once just a motto;now it is a way of life. Travel through the streets of London, England and meet some new misfits, as a battle royal begins and eventually takes them back to the streets of Atlanta for a final showdown. Views: 17
For more than fifty years, Wendell Berry has been telling us stories about Port William, a mythical town on the banks of the Kentucky River, populated over the years by a cast of unforgettable characters living in a single place over a long time. In this new collection, the author's first piece of new fiction since the publication of Andy Catlett in 2006, the stories date's range from 1864, when Rebecca Dawe finds herself in her own reflection at the end of the Civil War, to one from 1991 when Grover Gibbs' widow, Beulah, attends the auction as her home place is offered for sale.It feels as if the entire membership, all the Catletts, Burley Coulter, Elton Penn, the Rowanberrys, Laura Milby, the preacher's wife, Kate Helen Branch, Andy's dog, Mike, nearly everyone returns with a story or two, to fill in the gaps in this long tale. Those just now joining the Membership will be charmed. Those who've attended before will be enriched.The story of the community of Port William... Views: 17
A special reissue of a powerful and haunting Australian classic from award-winning author Anthony Eaton You let your sister burn. When Vinnie's sister is killed, he runs away from the accusing eyes of his father to the isolation of the bush. There, he must answer a question ... was it his fault? In 1941, German soldier Erich is sent miles away from his family after being captured and interned in an Australian prisoner-of-war camp. Despite everything he's grown up believing, Erich must learn to co-exist with his sworn enemy and, in doing so, question his father's expectations that have defined his existence. Amid the rain soaked forests of South Western Australia, these two young men's lives collide across the years, changing them both as they struggle to escape their painful memories of fireshadow. Some battles are imposed on us, some fought within. Views: 17
Since childhood, Sam Grandy and Roy Courtright have been best friends. They grew up in the same prosperous community, went to the same prep school, and later entered the same university. After Sam's father died, Roy's father looked after him. At one point Sam dated Roy's sister, Robin. As best friends, they share a close and loving bond, often stronger than the relationships other men share with their girlfriends, siblings, or wives. But in the twenty years since their friendship began, their fundamental differences have become more apparent and their relationship has grown strained. More and more often they realize they are opposites -- one a womanizer, the other a devoted husband; one careless with money, the other frugal; one independent, the other needy. Do these differences threaten their friendship -- or are the dissimilarities what make it possible? Can they escape the ties of their past, or are they intrinsically bound until death? When Sam's health begins to falter, he draws Roy into his life again -- and into a chain of deceit, sex, delusion, death, and love such as only a best friend could. Thomas Berger has enthralled millions of readers for almost fifty years with his psychologically complex, sharp-sighted storytelling. With exquisite wit and insidious wisdom, Best Friends weaves a powerful tale about friendship -- and the complex loyalties involved. Views: 17
For weeks, Derringer Westmoreland was haunted by memories of a woman whose face he could not recall. But he wanted—he needed—to share that intense passion again. Now. When he finally traced his mystery woman, he was met with a surprise. His fantastic one-night stand was Lucia Conyers, his sister-in-law's best friend. And Lucia wasn't about to become one of Derringer's women. For the first time in his charmed life, the ranch owner had some wooing to do. And if he wanted to win Lucia's heart, he'd better be ready to risk his own.... Views: 17
The perils of wartime add special urgency to latest mysteries being investigated by Nuala Anne McGrail and her adoring husband, Dermot Coyne. More than a little fey, Nuala has a well-deserved reputation for getting to the bottom of even the most tangled intrigues, even when they may be taking place on the other side of the world. Desmond Doolin, an idealistic young man from their West Side Chicago neighborhood, has gone missing in Iraq. Having flown off to the Middle East in the name of peace, he hasn't been heard of since. The U.S. government denies any knowledge of his whereabouts, and his grieving family has all but written him off as dead, but Nuala is convinced that there's more to the story . . . and herself won't stop asking questions until she finds out what has really become of Desmond, one way or another. Meanwhile, a parallel investigation uncovers the story of another young man abroad in dangerous times. Poking around in the past, Dermot... Views: 17
Fed up with the sarcastic, opinionated, and disrespectful women he comes across, Ellery Pierce decides his only choice is to build the perfect woman. A technician at an animatronics firm, Ellery has the experience and tools ready at his fingertips. After years of experiments and fine-tuning, Ellery feels he finally has created an artificial woman who can pass as real -- Phyllis. According to Ellery, Phyllis is the perfect wife, fulfilling his every wish, from gourmet meals to sexual pleasure. Unfortunately for Ellery, he may have made her too closely in his image for his own good: Phyllis leaves Ellery with dreams of Hollywood. Soon she's a bona fide box office sensation. But then Phyllis sets her sights on the ultimate goal -- presidency of the United States. It's no surprise when Phyllis wins the election, but Ellery rightly begins to wonder if this time she's gone too far.From Publishers WeeklyProlific novelist Berger (The Feud, Little Big Man) updates the Pygmalion myth with this witty, dark comedy: instead of a lovely Galatea, the protagonist's manufactured dream girl becomes a Frankenstein's monster through her ambition. Ellery Pierce, a twice-divorced animatronics technician, can't find a woman devoid of sarcasm and opinion, so he builds a companion from synthetic skin, batteries and bolts. But Phyllis, his near-perfect female replica, learns quickly and, absorbing the mass media ideal for beautiful young women, runs off to pursue a career in show business. Rising quickly above a stint as a stripper, a phone sex operator and a smalltown actress, Phyllis evolves into a cinema superstar. But when the action movieâ€"going public tires of Phyllis, and the depressed Ellery comes back into her life, she sets her sights on international fame through another venue: the presidency of the United States. With her alternately colloquial and overly formal diction, and her too-faithful adherence to society's ideals, Phyllis makes for an amusing critique of contemporary American society. In his 23rd novel, Berger skewers modern foibles from reality and daytime television to the cult of celebrity and presidents with voracious sexual appetites. But the brilliance of Berger's critique is in its levity, and his fanciful plot will keep readers laughing throughout. With few weaknesses, such as the unexplained existence of other robots, this book is the literary equivalent of cotton candy: not filling but fun to digest. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistIn his twenty-third novel, Berger (Little Big Man, 1964) crafts a satirical look at the American pursuit of perfection. Technician Ellery Pierce, unable to sustain a long-lasting relationship, puts his skills to use building a robot to be his perfect wife. However, Phyllis quickly outruns Ellery's limited ambitions, taking all of a day to become a gourmet cook. She leaves him for a job as a phone sex operator, where her literal-mindedness is her undoing. She then lands a starring role in a nude version of Macbeth, which launches her career in mainstream action films. Meanwhile, Ellery, bereft at her desertion, tracks her down, and the two engineer a plan for her to run for the White House. Berger is technically adept here and quite amusing, even scathing, in spots, about the hypocrisy of male-female relations and Hollywood avarice, but his story is overly familiar, echoing the plot of The Stepford Wives and both the real life and the film roles of Arnold Schwarzenegger. A hit-and-miss affair, but Berger's name will draw some interest. Joanne WilkinsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 17
When chic Parisian lawyer Catherine Lambert lands her dream job as intellectual property director for Christian Dior, she is on top of the world. She' s prepared to embark on the ride of her life in the world of fashion, fighting high-profile legal battles against international counterfeiters. She' ll also be reunited with colleague-turned-boyfriend Antoine in her beloved hometown.But Catherine' s visions of front-row seats at the couture shows and strolling the Champs-Élysées hand in hand with the love of her life are soon displaced by the realities of dingy police vans and threatening anonymous phone calls. The code of ethics that she knew from mergers and acquisitions does not seem to apply in the nefarious counterfeiting underworld, and Catherine finds her life turned upside-down by surprise meetings in dark alleys and an unexpected degree of notoriety among the criminal element. Will Catherine and her loyal assistant, Rikash, manage to outsmart even the most... Views: 17
