"Once upon a time a little girl woke up in the dark and thought to herself, 'I seem to have forgotten something.'" And so Anna's quest for what she has forgotten begins... 'Anna' is a short, dark fable that can be enjoyed by all ages."Once upon a time a little girl woke up in the dark and thought to herself, 'I seem to have forgotten something.'The shine from her night-light stretched long shadows across the floor and the walls, but she hardly noticed those as she climbed down from her bed. The cold floor made her squeeze in her toes and stumble on her heels over to her slippers.'Oh Rus, I seem to have forgotten something.'Rus, rather, Russel T. Brown, was a grizzled, old, one-eyed bear. He slept, most nights, on the floor under a corner of the bed: not quite under it, but not quite in the open. When he spoke, he spoke with a soft murmur. It was all his stitches would allow.'Why Anna, what could you have forgotten?'”And so Anna's quest for what she has forgotten begins...'Anna' is a short, dark fable that can be enjoyed by all ages. Views: 466
Can Kit’s super-weird superpower save her world? Twelve-year-old kit-with-a-small-k likes shopping at the flea market with her best friend, Clem, roller-skating, climbing to the roof to look at the stars, and volunteering at an animal shelter. Until suddenly she has a really big, really strange secret that makes life more complicated than she’s prepared for: Sometimes, without warning, she turns into a tiny naked mole rat. It first happened as kit watched Clem fall and get hurt during a performance with her acrobatic-troupe family on TV. Since then, the transformations keep coming. Kit can’t tell Clem, because Clem hasn’t been herself after the accident. She’s mad and gloomy and keeping a secret of her own: the real reason she fell. Months later, kit and Clem still haven’t figured out how to deal with all the ways they have changed—both inside and out. Somehow, kit has to save the day. But she’s no hero, and... Views: 466
Mr. Lewisham, a young and highly ambitious schoolmaster, falls in love with Ethel Henderson, a young lady visiting his Sussex village. When Ethel returns to London they promise to keep in touch but as time passes their letters go astray. A few years later, we are re-introduced to Mr. Lewisham, now a student at the Normal School of Science in London. Having searched in vain for Ethel, his life revolves around study and a flirtation with fellow student Alice. But just as things are all set with Alice, he runs into Ethel at a séance he has attended out of curiosity. There he realises that Ethel is the niece of a charlatan 'medium', and closely involved in his dealings. His memories of their time in Sussex wrestle in his mind with his feelings of disgust for all things spiritual, as his love for Ethel forces him to reconsider his political and scientific beliefs. Views: 466
You can cover up the truth but it won’t stay buried forever.
A man is found bludgeoned to death in woodland by the village of Canwick, and the close-knit community is sent into shock. Detective Karen Hart, still haunted by the tragic loss of her husband and daughter nearby, is brought in to investigate the horrific murder.
It soon becomes clear that dark secrets lie behind Canwick’s unspoiled appearance. When Hart begins to suspect that a modern-day slavery ring has been hiding in plain sight among the villagers, she faces a race to find proof before the culprits slip from her grasp. But when key witnesses start disappearing, it’s obvious that there’s a deep-rooted conspiracy to keep prying eyes away from the truth.
But in a village where everyone knows everyone, who knows more than they are letting on—and who can Hart really trust? She’s in deep and she’s never been more alone. She must confront the tragedy of her own past if she wants to catch the killers before it’s too late. Because one thing’s for certain—there’s no turning back… Views: 466
A MONUMENTAL COLLECTION OF SHORT FICTION FROM ACCLAIMED MASTER OF HORROR AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR PETER STRAUB
“Peter Straub brilliantly defies and blurs literary genres.” —LORRIE MOORE
An American icon renowned for his bestselling novels, Peter Straub displays his full and stunning range in this crowning collection. He has consistently subverted the boundaries of genre for years, transcending horror and suspense to unlock the dark, unsettling, and troubling dissonances that exist on the edges of our perception. Straub’s fiction cracks the foundation of reality and opens our eyes to an unblinking experience of true horror, told in his inimitable and lush style with skill, wit, and impeccable craft.
With uncanny precision, Straub writes of the city and of the Midwest, of the depraved and of the righteous, of the working class and of the wealthy—nothing and no one is safe from the ever-present darkness that he understands so well. “Blue Rose” follows the cycles of violence and power through the most innocent among us, leading to a conclusion that is audacious and devastating. In the darkly satirical masterpiece “Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff,” a stern estate lawyer known as the Deacon hires a pair of “Private Detectives Extraordinaire” to investigate and seek revenge on his unfaithful wife. “The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine” follows a man and his much younger lover as they explore their decadent and increasingly sinister fantasies aboard a luxurious yacht on the remotest stretch of the Amazon River.
Interior Darkness brings together sixteen stories from twenty-five years of dazzling excellence. It is a thrilling, highly entertaining, and terrifying testament to the prodigious talent of Peter Straub.
From the Hardcover edition. Views: 466
On the hot Texas army base she calls home, Katie spends the lazy days of her summer waiting: waiting to grow up; waiting for Dickie Mack to fall in love with her; waiting for her breasts to blossom; waiting for the beatings to stop. Since their mother died, Katie and her older sister, Diane, have struggled to understand their increasingly distant, often violent father. While Diane escapes into the arms of her boyfriend, Katie hides in her room or escapes to her best friend’s house—until Katie’s admiration for her strong-willed sister leads her on an adventure that transforms her life.
Written with an unerring ability to capture the sadness of growth, the pain of change, the nearly visible vibrations that connect people, this beautiful novel by the bestselling author of Open House reminds us how wonderful—and wounding—a deeper understanding of life can be.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 466
Bob Slocum was living the American dream. He had a beautiful wife, three lovely children, a nice house...and all the mistresses he desired. He had it all -- all, that is, but happiness. Slocum was discontent. Inevitably, inexorably, his discontent deteriorated into desolation until...something happened.
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Something Happened* is Joseph Heller's wonderfully inventive and controversial second novel satirizing business life and American culture. The story is told as if the reader was overhearing the patter of Bob Slocum's brain -- recording what is going on at the office, as well as his fantasies and memories that complete the story of his life. The result is a novel as original and memorable as his *Catch-22.* Views: 466
They are sent to the world's hot spots-on covert missions fraught with danger. They are called on to perform at the peak of their physical and mental capabilities, primed for combat and surveillance, yet ready to pitch in with disaster relief operations. They are the Army's Special Forces Groups. Now follow Tom Clancy as he delves into the training and tools, missions and mindset of these elite operatives.
Special Forces includes:
The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training
A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises
Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear
Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention
Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams
Plus: an interview with General Hugh Shelton, USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and the former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM) Views: 466
Roland Deschain and his *ka-tet* are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World on their quest for the Dark Tower. Their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. But beyond the tranquil farm town, the ground rises to the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is stealing the town's soul. The wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to. Their guns, however, will not be enough....
Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, the Dark Tower series is unlike anything you have ever read. Here is the fifth installment. Views: 466
Celebrating her birthday, seventy-two-year-old Andrea Falstaff receives an unexpected visitor, her first lover from five decades ago. Yet Thom Sugerman is still thirty-two years old, the same age as when Andrea last saw him. Andrea struggles in accepting the love Thom still carries for her, while her family wonders just who this man is to their matriarch.Andrea Falstaff celebrates her seventy-second birthday with family, but an unexpected guest from her past disturbs the party. Yet how can Andrea’s first lover Thom Sugerman still be so young; the last time Andrea saw him, five decades before, he was already thirty-two years old.With no apparent reason for Thom’s odd reappearance, and no other place for him to go, Andrea allows him to sleep on the sofa, yet Thom wants to resume their previous relationship. Andrea struggles with feelings she never lost, while trying to explain to her adult grandchildren just who this man is, and what he means to her. Views: 465
The people of Central Europe cannot be separated from European history; they cannot exist outside it; but they represent the wrong side of this history; they are its victims and outsiders.In a moment of historic peril and uncertainty in mainland Europe, Milan Kundera makes the case for Central Europe as the nucleus of European values and as a lightning rod for its potential dangers.For the countries that make up this region where democracy is under continued threat from Russian oppression, language and culture play an active role in affirming national identity. And each of these countries - Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - has been historically overlooked by the major powers of Western Europe. But Kundera cautions that this blindness puts Europe's cultural and political independence at risk, a warning that feels increasingly relevant to our current moment, and our future. Views: 465
