The unveiling of a set of priceless illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy at the Uffizi Gallery exposes the unsuspecting Professor Gabriel Emerson and his beloved wife, Julianne, to a mysterious and dangerous enemy.
Unbeknownst to the Professor, the illustrations he secretly acquired years ago were stolen a century earlier from the ruler of Florence’s underworld. Now one of the most dangerous beings in Italy is determined to reclaim his prized artwork and exact revenge on the Emersons, but not before he uncovers something disturbing about Julianne …
Set in the city of Florence, “The Prince” is a prequel novella to “The Raven,” which is the first book in the new Florentine Series Trilogy by Sylvain Reynard.
“The Prince” can be read as a standalone but readers of The Gabriel Series may be curious about the connection between The Professor’s world and the dark, secret underworld of “The Prince.” Views: 722
From the blockbuster bestselling author comes the dramatic conclusion to the saga that began with Emma Harte and A Woman of Substance.
Four women at a crossroads. A family in crisis. And an enemy planning for his long-awaited chance at revenge. Who will have their Just Rewards?
Linnet O'Neill, great-granddaughter of Emma Harte, finds herself following in the footsteps of the original woman of substance as she battles to modernize the family business. Returning from her honeymoon full of fresh ideas for bringing the Harte empire into the new century, Linnet locks horns with her mother, Paula, in a battle about the future. But due to unexpected circumstances, Linnet finds herself alone at the helm, just as her great-grandmother once was.
Tesse Fairly is ready to start a new life after an acrimonious divorce -- which might include rivaling her sister Linnet for the top spot in the Harte business.
India Standish, in the midst of planning her glamorous summer wedding in Ireland, is thrown off balance when her fianc�'s daughter Atlanta comes to live with them -- closely followed by his unstable ex-girlfriend, intent on trouble.
And Evan Hughes, their American cousin, unwittingly brings an enemy into their midst! Evan's sister Angharad, who tries to infiltrate the quartet of young women, meets Jonathan Ainsley, the deadly enemy of the Hartes. Together, they spin a web of vengeance whereby no Harte is safe. Just Rewards brings the story of Emma Harte and A Woman of Substance full circle. Views: 722
Bradbury presents 23 enthralling tales in which the wondrous and the unexpected are revealed in hidden facets of the real. A stunning collection of the kind of fiction that has only one source--the unparalleled Ray Bradbury. Views: 722
Bob Arctor is a dealer of the lethally addictive drug Substance D. Fred is the police agent assigned to tail and eventually bust him. To do so, Fred takes on the identity of a drug dealer named Bob Arctor. And since Substance D--which Arctor takes in massive doses--gradually splits the user's brain into two distinct, combative entities, Fred doesn't realize he is narcing on himself.
Caustically funny, eerily accurate in its depiction of junkies, scam artists, and the walking brain-dead, Philip K. Dick's industrial-grade stress test of identity is as unnerving as it is enthralling.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 722
"A great, fun, romping collection of stories." —San Francisco Book Review "This volume's diverse list of well-known and rising stars . . . makes it a welcome addition to the 'Best American' series." —Washington Post "A powerful collection that is worth your time, attention, and love." —Tor In its inaugural edition, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy featured a diverse array of authors, stories, and sources. John Joseph Adams scours the magazine racks and websites to find the very best stories, and this year's guest editor, Karen Joy Fowler, is sure to curate a collection that encompasses all corners of the genres. As the best-selling author of both The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Fowler knows firsthand just how different one author's writing can be from work to work, and she will bring that literary sensibility to her selections. However, she is... Views: 722
The bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing returns with the story of three best friends who vow to change their entire lives...and change them fast.
Emmy is newly single, and not by choice. She was this close to the ring and the baby she's wanted her whole life when her boyfriend left her for his twenty-three-year-old personal trainer -- whose fees are paid by Emmy. With her plans for the perfect white wedding in the trash, Emmy is now ordering takeout for one. Her friends insist an around-the-world sex-fueled adventure will solve all her problems -- could they be right?
Leigh, a young star in the publishing business, is within striking distance of landing her dream job as senior editor and marrying her dream guy. And to top it all off, she has just purchased her dream apartment. Only when Leigh begins to edit the enfant terrible of the literary world, the brilliant and brooding Jesse Chapman, does she start to notice some cracks in her perfect life...
Adriana is the drop-dead-gorgeous daughter of a famous supermodel. She possesses the kind of feminine wiles made only in Brazil, and she never hesitates to use them. But she's about to turn thirty and -- as her mother keeps reminding her -- she won't have her pick of the men forever. Everyone knows beauty is ephemeral and there's always someone younger and prettier right around the corner. Suddenly she's wondering...does Mother know best?
These three very different girls have been best friends for a decade in the greatest city on earth. As they near thirty, they're looking toward their future...but despite all they've earned -- first-class travel, career promotions, invites to all the right parties, and luxuries small and large -- they're not quite sure they like what they see...
One Saturday night at the Waverly Inn, Adriana and Emmy make a pact: within a single year, each will drastically change her life. Leigh watches from the sidelines, not making any promises, but she'll soon discover she has the most to lose. Their friendship is forever, but everything else is on the table. Three best friends. Two resolutions. One year to pull it off. Views: 722
This e-book contains World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer's novella “Ghost Dancing with Manco Tupac” and four related short stories: “The Emperor’s Reply,” “The Compass of His Bones,” “La Siesta Del Muerte,” and “Flight Is For Those Who Have Not Yet Crossed Over.” Together, these stand-alone stories set in Latin America were to have formed the backbone of a never-completed mosaic novel addressing issues of colonialism, storytelling, appropriation, and myth. The author’s interest in Latin America derived from trips there as a child, including a visit to Machu Picchu in the 1970s. Subsequently he studied Latin American history as a minor at the University of Florida Views: 722
“How impossible it was to grasp that in the end something as fine as this could be ground into dust” (p. 213).
I Curse the River of Time, the new novel from the winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for Out Stealing Horses, is a mesmerizingly beautiful book about love, regret, family secrets and failed revolution.
The novel takes us through thirty-seven-year-old Arvid’s life and its descent towards a moment of terrible crisis. It traces his parents’ hesitant support when he gives up his place at college to work in a paper mill, like his father; his experiences as a fervent young Maoist in Norway in the 1960s; the death of his younger brother; the passionate, enveloping romance that led to marriage and children and, for a time, happiness; the failure of that relationship, and its transformation into a source of harrowing pain.
By 1989, everything that gave Arvid’s life meaning has melted into air. The collapse of the Berlin Wall mirrors the collapse of his marriage and his self-punishing alcoholism. When his mother is diagnosed with stomach cancer, Arvid sets off to their summer house in Denmark to be with her, meeting men and women from their past along the way. His despairing journey is also a quest for some kind of order in his life, perhaps even a new foundation. When Arvid finds his mother, and accompanies her in her illness, the novel turns to exploring the secrets that explain the distance between them – a distance that perhaps can never be crossed.
I Curse the River of Time describes the ways that the present and the past are always intertwined, and shows how the personal and political are one and the same. Written in a subdued and elegiac style, with flashes of devastating poetic beauty, it is an utterly absorbing experience, a book that displays wisdom of the kind that only profound loss can bring. Above all, it is a reminder of the power of great art to console us for life’s burdens, an example of the way our dreams may brighten our bleakest moments.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 722
Leah Nazir is an Insighter. Reincarnation is her business. But while her clients' pasts are a mess, Leah's is nothing short of tragedy. She's been murdered. A lot. If left to that bitch, destiny, it'll happen again. Leah wants to know who's been following her through time, and who's been stalking her in the present...
P.I. Archer Drake has been hired by Leah's mother to keep an eye on her. But the more time he spends watching, the more he finds himself infatuated. Before long, he even finds himself agreeing to help find the person who wants her dead. Over and over again.
Now going full-on "rewind," Leah hopes it can stave off the inevitable. After all, she's grown fond of this life - and even fonder of nerdy Archer. But changing her pattern means finding out who her killer is today. And as Leah fears, that could be anyone she has come to know and trust. Anyone. Views: 722
A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of fifty years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today's most renowned novelists and essayists, have teamed up with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence—an organization comprised of former Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories and saw firsthand the injustice there—and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories.
Kingdom of Olives and Ash includes contributions from several of today’s most esteemed storytellers including: Colum McCann, Jacqueline Woodson, Colm Toibin, Geraldine Brooks, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru, Raja Shehadeh, Mario Vargas Llosa and Assaf Gavron, as well as from editors Chabon and Waldman. Through these incisive, perceptive, and poignant essays, readers will gain unique insight into the narratives behind the litany of grim destruction broadcasted nightly on the news, as well as deeper understanding of the conflict as experienced by the people who live in the occupied territories. Together, these stories stand witness to the human cost of the occupation.**** Views: 722
From the beloved author of The House on Mango Street: a richly illustrated compilation of true stories and nonfiction pieces that, taken together, form a jigsaw autobiography: an intimate album of a literary legend's life and career.
From the Chicago neighborhoods where she grew up and set her groundbreaking The House on Mango Street to her abode in Mexico, in a region where "my ancestors lived for centuries," the places Sandra Cisneros has lived have provided inspiration for her now-classic works of fiction and poetry. But a house of her own, where she could truly take root, has eluded her. With this collection--spanning nearly three decades, and including never-before-published work--Cisneros has come home at last. Ranging from the private (her parents' loving and tempestuous marriage) to the political (a rallying cry for one woman's liberty in Sarajevo) to the literary (a tribute to Marguerite Duras), and written with her trademark sensitivity and honesty, these poignant, unforgettable pieces give us not only her most transformative memories but also a revelation of her artistic and intellectual influences. Here is an exuberant, deeply moving celebration of a life in writing lived to the fullest--an important milestone in a storied career. Views: 722
Tessa macFindlaech is sent to her uncle's castle to learn proper behavior, but events soon change her fate. Captured by an English spy, she's thrust into a different world, where she must stand up for herself and ignore her stubborn Highland heart.Tessa macFindlaech meets three witches on a Scottish hillside as she leaves her home to join the household of her uncle, Thane Macbeth. The weird women make predictions for her future, but Tessa sees no likelihood of truth in them. After all, the first crone claims Tessa is on her way to England, which is in the opposite direction.Surprises await that make her reconsider the prophecies. When Tessa discovers that Jeffrey Brixton, a guest in her uncle's castle, is a spy, he captures her and takes her to his home in England. There she must face the fact that her only asset is her beauty, her only friend the woman she believes to be Jeffrey's mistress.After a year in England, Tessa is married but not a wife, which the witches predicted. When Jeffrey is reported dead, she returns to Scotland. Her uncle's life has taken several ironic turns: he gained the throne he wanted so badly but lost everything he loves. Tessa does what she can for him, but by now Macbeth is his own worst enemy.Chased by murderous outlaws, trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who will not give her up, and alone except for an elderly but faithful servant, Tessa meets the witches once more and this time finds hope in their message. Now her quest is to find love, but love is not always wise. Does the man she loves return her affection, or will he plunge her into danger again, as he has done before?Set against the backdrop of Macbeth's rise and fall from power in Scotland, this historical novel provides both romance and adventure. Like her famous uncle, Macbeth's niece Tessa refuses to settle for an ordinary life, no matter how difficult the extraordinary becomes. Views: 721
Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find the Earth burning. Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earthquakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America's president on board. Now, with the U. S. on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean's surface. There devastating secrets await him — and a power an ancient civilization could not contain has been cast out into modern day. And it will forever alter a world that's already racing toward its own destruction. Views: 721
If Jane Cleveland and Prudence Bates seem an unlikely pair to be walking together at an Oxford reunion, neither of them are aware of it. They couldn't be more different: Jane is a rather incompetent vicar's wife, who always looks as if she is about to feed the chickens, while Prudence, a pristine hothouse flower, has the most unsuitable affairs. With the move to a rural parish, Jane is determined to find her friend the perfect man. She learns, that matchmaking has as many pitfalls as housewifery... Views: 721
Lawrence Foster Brickem finds himself standing on a cliff with no memories of how he got there. He dives into the water below and starts a journey through a strange land that changes all the time. He must remember his past and uncover the secrets of this new land in order to find a way home. Lawrence soon realizes that he is different than others, but he has no idea how different he really is.In the 1800s, a young man escapes a former gang by robbing them and running west to start a new life. Under an assumed alias, he poses as the town doctor and tries to fit in to the wild frontier. Soon enough, his old life catches up to him and he's forced to defend the towns folk who have taken him in as family against the old gang who wants to kill him and get their money back. Views: 721
