-Luke, father of Martin. is joined by Trimp the Hedgehog, Dinny Foremole, and Gonff--the ever-mischievous Prince of Mousethieves. Martin hopes to discover the truth of a legend when he embarks on a perilous journey to the northland shore, where his father abandoned him as a child. There, within the carcass of a great red ship--broken in half and wedged high up between pillars of stone--he finally uncovers what he has been searching for: the true story of the evil pirate stoat, Vilu Daskar, and the valiant warrior who pursued him relentlessly over the high seas, seeking to destroy Vilu at all costs, even if it meant deserting his only son. Views: 255
There are a lot of things a person can discover about themselves on the open road.They can discover that...You can forget your past.Find happiness and peace.Maybe even a little love along the way.Author's Note - I wanted to do something nice for all the wonderful, loyal and supportive fans of mine who have been patiently waiting for my books. You have no idea how much I appreciate your devotion. Thanks so much. Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart ~Lauren Hammond~*Inspired by true events*There are a lot of things a person can discover about themselves on the open road.They can discover that...You can forget your past.Find happiness and peace.Maybe even a little love along the way.I’ve got a ten hour drive ahead of me.I’ve got a lot on my mind to keep me occupied.I’ve got a full tank of gas. A caramel macchiato from Starbucks. A bottle of water for later. Some snacks. An iPod full of sweet tunes. A few twisted thoughts. Not to mention a broken heart. All of which will accompany me while I drive.All of which will accompany me while I travel on the long road home. Views: 255
The hilarious writing of James Thurber, author of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty', collected in this classic anthology.This collection brings together the best of James Thurber's brilliantly funny, eccentric and anarchic writings. It includes his most famous work, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, in which an ordinary man's fantasies have a more powerful hold on him than reality, as well as essays, poetry and cartoons gathered from all of Thurber's collections. Making fun of his own weaknesses and those of other people (and dogs) - the English teacher who looked only at figures of speech, the Airedale who refused to include him in the family, the botany lecturer who despaired of him totally - James Thurber is a true original, whose off-beat imagination shows us everyday life from a different angle.James Thurber was born in 1894 at Columbus, Ohio, where, as he once said, so many awful things happened to him. After... Views: 255
Amazon.com ReviewA fool and his money are soon parted--and nowhere so quickly as in the stock market, it would seem. In David Liss's ambitious first novel, A Conspiracy of Paper, the year is 1719 and the place London, where human greed, apparently, operated then in much the same manner as it does today. Liss focuses his intricate tale of murder, money, and conspiracy on Benjamin Weaver, ex-boxer, self-described "protector, guardian, bailiff, constable-for-hire, and thief-taker," and son of a Portuguese Jewish "stock-jobber." Weaver's father, from whom he has been estranged, has recently died, the victim of a horse-drawn carriage hit and run. Though his uncle has suggested that the accident wasn't quite so accidental, Benjamin doesn't give the idea much credence: I blush to own I rewarded his efforts to seek my opinion with only a formal reply in which I dismissed his ideas as nonsensical. I did so in part because I did not wish to involve myself with my family and in part because I knew that my uncle, for reasons that eluded me, had loved my father and could not accept the senselessness of so random a death. But then Benjamin is hired by two different men to solve two seemingly unrelated cases. One client, Mr. Balfour, claims his own father's unexpected death "was made to look like self-murder so that a villain or villains could take his money with impunity," and even suggests there might be a link between Balfour senior's death and that of Weaver's father. His next customer is Sir Owen Nettleton, an aristocrat who is keen to recover some highly confidential papers that were stolen from him while he cavorted with a prostitute. Weaver takes on the first case with some reluctance, the second with more enthusiasm. In the end, both converge, leading him back to his family even as they take him deep into the underbelly of London's financial markets. Liss seems right at home in the world he's created, whether describing the company manners of wealthy Jewish merchants at home or the inner workings of Exchange Alley--the 18th-century version of Wall Street. His London is a dank and filthy place, almost lawless but for the scant protection offered by such rogues as Jonathan Wilde, the sinister head of a gang of thieves who profits by selling back to their owners items stolen by his own men. Though better connected socially, the investors involved with the shady South Sea Company have equally larcenous hearts, and Liss does an admirable job of leading the reader through the intricacies of stock trading, bond selling, and insider trading with as little fuss, muss, and confusion as possible. What really makes the book come alive, however, are the details of 18th-century life--from the boxing matches our hero once participated in to the coffee houses, gin joints, and brothels where he trolls for clues. And then there is the matter of Weaver's Jewishness, the prejudices of the society he lives in, and his struggle to come to terms with his own ethnicity. A Conspiracy of Paper weaves all these themes together in a manner reminiscent of the long, gossipy novels of Henry Fielding and Laurence Stern. Indeed, Liss manages to suggest the prose style of those authors while keeping his own, less convoluted style. This is one conspiracy guaranteed to succeed. --Alix WilberFrom Publishers WeeklyThis remarkably accomplished first novel, by a young man still completing his doctoral dissertation at Columbia, has a great deal going on. It is at once a penetrating study of the beginnings of stock speculation and the retreat from a mineral-based currency in early 18th-century London, a sympathetic look at the life of a Jew in that time and place and a vision of the struggle between the Bank of England and the upstart South Sea Company to become the repository of the nation's fiscal faith. If all that sounds daunting, it is above all a headlong adventure yarn full of dastardly villains, brawls, wenches and as commanding a hero as has graced a novel in some time. He is Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish former boxer who had once abandoned his family, and virtually his faith, too, for a life on the fringes of criminal society as a kind of freelance bailiff who brings debtors to book for their creditors. When his uncherished father dies suddenly, however, and he has reason to suspect the apparent accident was actually murder, he plunges himself into a hunt for those responsible, and in the process changes his life. With his native cunning and his brawling skills, he soon finds himself deeply embroiled with the villainous Jonathan Wild, thief-taker par excellence, who has institutionalized criminal mayhem. He also becomes the pawn of some powerful financial giants lurking in the shadows (much like the corporate villains in contemporary thrillers), comes to suspect his glamorous cousin Miriam of actions unbecoming a lady and employs the wiles of his philosophical Scottish friend Elias to decode the mysterious ways of finance and the laws of probability. The period detail is authentic but never obtrusive; the dialogue is a marvel of courtly locution masking murderous bluntness; and the plot, though devious in the extreme, never becomes opaque. It seems clear that Weaver is being set up as a series hero, which can only be good news for lovers of the best in dashing historical fiction. Agent, Liz Darhansoff. (Feb.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 255
Lincoln Marshall has failed. The Godslayer is trapped in her worst nightmares. His only chance of repairing the timeline is dead. He's stuck a decade in the past with Sophie Keyes, and the world is falling apart.
Held captive by the Union, Lincoln and Sophie must fight to repair a timeline rapidly unraveling.
James Faulkner has survived, but he's not whole. He's divided into angel and demon--his ambition and obsession severed from his power and passion. His angel side wants to rescue Elise. His demon side wants to rescue the world, at any cost--even if it means letting Elise die. Between their brilliant minds, they've conceived a plan that can repair the timeline. The only price is their lives. Views: 255
Melina Franklin was barely sixteen when she and her grandfather were kidnapped from their small farm in Georgia by an alien trader and sold to an Antrox mining asteroid in deep space. Mistaken for a young boy, she lives in fear of being found out and sold. Her only companionship for the next four years is her grandfather and the Pactors, the large creatures used for hauling the mining ore, that she takes care of. She dreams of the day when she and her grandfather will somehow escape and return home to the rolling green hills of their farm.
Calo and Cree Aryeh have been secured as the personal guards for Creon Reykill’s mate, Carmen Walker. The twin brothers are a rare species of dragon known for their fierceness in battle. Born to the mystic dragon clan of the Northern Mountains, they have given their allegiance to the Dragon Lords vowing to serve and protect the royal family and their new true mates. The brothers know they will never be able to have a true mate of their own. Never in the history of their clan have twin dragons been able to find a mate capable of handling two male dragons. They can only hope that they die in battle so they are not destined to be caged when the loneliness eventually drives their dragons insane.
The twin dragons are confused when two humans are discovered on an abandoned asteroid mine. The old man and his grandson appear normal enough, but their dragons and their symbiots are driving them crazy, insisting the boy is their true mate. Neither knows how to handle the other two parts of themselves or their need to remain close to the boy. On top of that, the young human male refuses to have anything to do with either of them. He hides and avoids them every time they get near him.
Things become clearer when they discover Mel is really Melina. Unfortunately, finding out their true mate is really a woman does little to change her feelings toward them. She is even more determined to return to her world. When her wish comes true, the brothers know they have no choice but to kidnap her and hide her away. Can they convince her to give them a chance at happiness or will she seek protection from the royal family they have vowed to serve? If that is not bad enough, there is another who has his eye on their mate and will do whatever is necessary to keep her – including killing the twin dragons who have claimed her first. Views: 255
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. Views: 255
Harry Leon Wilson was an early 20th century American novelist who wrote several acclaimed Westerns like Ruggles of Red Gap, but his depictions of 20th century America also helped define the Jazz Age. He even popularized the term "flapper." Views: 255
European and Arab versions of the Crusades have little in common. For Arabs, the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were years of strenuous efforts to repel a brutal and destructive invasion by barbarian hordes. Under Saladin, an unstoppable Muslim army inspired by prophets and poets finally succeeded in destroying the most powerful Crusader kingdoms. The memory of this greatest and most enduring victory ever won by a non-European society against the West still lives in the minds of millions of Arabs today. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. He retraces two critical centuries of Middle Eastern history, and offers fascinating insights into some of the forces that shape Arab and Islamic consciousness today. 'Well-researched and highly readable.' Guardian 'A useful and important analysis adding much to existing western histories ... worth recommending to George Bush.' London Review of Books 'Maalouf tells an inspiring story ... very readable ... warmly recommended.' Times Literary Supplement 'A wide readership should enjoy this vivid narrative of stirring events.' The Bookseller 'Very well done indeed ... Should be put in the hands of anyone who asks what lies behind the Middle East's present conflicts.' Middle East International Views: 254
Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive collection. As part of our on-going commitment to delivering value to the reader, we have also provided you with a link to a website, where you may download a digital version of this work for free. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. Whilst the books in this collection have not been hand curated, an aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature. As a result of this book being first published many decades ago, it may have occasional imperfections. These imperfections may include poor picture quality, blurred or missing text. While some of these imperfections may have appeared in the original work, others may have resulted from the scanning process that has been applied. However, our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. While some publishers have applied optical character recognition (OCR), this approach has its own drawbacks, which include formatting errors, misspelt words, or the presence of inappropriate characters. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with an experience that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic book, and that the occasional imperfection that it might contain will not detract from the experience. Views: 254
A series of brutal killings leads a former FBI profiler to confront his haunted past. A man is brutally attacked and then disappears. His wife calls an old flame, Wallace Mack, a former FBI profiler. As Mack looks into the man's disappearance, a brutal set of murders leads him in a whole new direction. As Mack races to prevent even more killings, he must face the fact that he might still be in love with he woman whose husband he's trying to find. "Ames is a sensation among Kindle readers who love fast-paced thrillers." -bookiio "Nail-biting suspense." -Goodreads.com "Ames is a sensation." -Mystery Tribune "Now that is what I call suspense - I was up all night." -Goodreads.com "Wallace Mack is a great character, and the plot is super-charged." -Amazon.com Views: 254
A lonely old woman awakes one morning to find that the butcher has climbed into her tree. A quirky little love story.Ms. Wellington's Oak Tree is a collection of short works spanning a variety of genres. Enjoy!A young man returns from a trip to Amsterdam and has an unexpected encounter with customs.In Renaissance Italy, the chance arrival of a devious merchant at an embittered village brings about unexpected renewal.A lonely old woman awakes one morning to find that the butcher has climbed into her tree.The dark, disturbing visions that presage mental illness.A stubborn nanny with progressive ideas challenges her charge's strict, traditional father.When their oracles fall inexplicably silent, the people of Miridia send two emissaries out into the world to seek out the gods.A fat man gets stuck in his neighbor's window and has a surprisingly pleasant evening.In a distant future dominated by corporations, a tiny but fierce light in the skysmudge is ignored at humanity's peril.A distraught man sues everyone because he is miserable.Ms. Wellington's Oak Tree is a collection of short works spanning a variety of genres. Enjoy! Views: 254
