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The Body Library

Jeff Noon returns with a staggering hallucinogenic sequel to A Man of Shadows, taking hapless investigator John Nyquist into a city where reality is contaminated by the imagination of its citizens In a city dissolving into an infected sprawl of ideas, where words come to life and reality is contaminated by stories, John Nyquist wakes up in a room with a dead body... The dead man's impossible whispers plunge him into a murder investigation like no other. Clues point him deeper into an unfolding story infesting its participants as reality blurs between place and genre. Only one man can hope to put it all back together into some kind of order, enough that lives can be saved... That man is Nyquist, and he is lost.
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High Heat

Annabeth Albert's Hotshots series continues—the emotions and intensity of Chicago Fire with the raw, natural elements of Man vs. Wild.Smoke jumping is Garrick Nelson's life. Nothing, not severe injuries nor the brutal physical therapy that follows, is going to stop him from getting back with his crew. But when a lost dog shows up on his front porch, he can't turn her away, and he can't take care of her on his own. Thankfully, help comes in the form of his new sexy, dog-loving neighbor. As they work together, trying to re-home their little princess, Garrick can't resist his growing attraction for the other man, even though he knows this guy isn't the staying type.Rain Fisher doesn't take anything too seriously. He dances through life, one adventure at a time, never settling in one place for too long. When his hot, conveniently buff, neighbor shows up on his doorstep, dog in tow,...
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Dark Watch

The author of the bestselling NUMA and Dirk Pitt series returns with an all-new novel of adventure and intrigue featuring his unbeatable hero of the high seas-Juan Cabrillo. Cabrillo and his motley crew aboard the clandestine spy ship Oregon have made a very comfortable and very dangerous living working for high-powered Western interests. But their newest clients have come from the Far East to ask for Cabrillo's special brand of assistance: a consortium of Japanese shipping magnates whose fortunes are being threatened by brutal pirates trolling the waters of Southeast Asia. Normally, such attacks on the high seas are limited to smaller ships and foreign-owned yachts-easy targets on the open ocean. Now, however, giant commercial freighters are disappearing. But when Cabrillo confronts the enemy, he learns that the pirates' predations hide a deadly international conspiracy-a scheme of death and slavery that Juan Cabrillo is going to blow out of the water.
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The Cracks in Our Armor

In this collection of short stories, all written in the first person, Anna Gavalda paints the lives of seven people. An ode to those who confront their vulnerabilities and admit their weaknesses, these pieces illustrate the importance of love, friendship and family despite the wounds of the past.From the trucker who puts his dog to sleep following the death of his son to the alcoholic widow who befriends a stranger raised in a strict military family, readers will find the Gavaldian universe on full display in these stories of suffering and salvation.
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Prison Noir

"Reading the fifteen stories in Prison Noir is a sobering experience. Unlike most claimants to that much-abused term, this is the real thing...The power of this collection comes from the voices of these authors, voices suffused with rage ("3 Block From Hell," by Bryan K. Palmer), despair ("There Will Be Seeds for Next Year," by Zeke Caligiuri), and madness ("Shuffle," by Christopher M. Stephen)." -- New York Times Book Review "These are stories that resonate with authenticity and verve and pain and truth. Any collection edited by the National Book Award-winning author Oates (them; Blonde, Rape: A Love Story) deserves attention, but the contributors are deft and confident, and great writers without her imprimatur....Authentic, powerful, visceral, moving, great writing." -- Library Journal , Starred review "A remarkable anthology of stories written by inmates of correctional institutions across America...Most importantly, this landmark volume amplifies the voices of the incarcerated." -- Publishers Weekly , Starred review One of BookRiot's Must-Read Books from Indie Presses for 2014 "I gobbled it up. The voice in each piece is authentic...A fascinating read." -- subTerrain Magazine "A strong compilation of prison literature, varied, well-written and not always what might be expected." --Reviewing the Evidence "No matter what side of the bars you live on, Prison Noir is worth doing time with." -- Killeen Daily Herald "Readers will soak up every line...There is no doubt that readers from all walks of life, especially those less knowledgeable about life in prison, will appreciate Prison Noir." --Killer Nashville "This is a collection of stories that you will want to take your time with, savor, and probably reread a few times." --Jenn's Review Blog "There is an intensity and melancholy that shines through these fifteen short stories, all written by prison inmates incarcerated throughout the US, and edited by the inestimable Joyce Carol Oates." --A Lit Chick "Affecting, powerfully written and arresting literature. Well worth seeking out." --BRSBKBLOG Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective geographic range of the book. This anthology, with stories set in different prisons across the US, presents an absolutely new perspective on prison literature. From the introduction by Joyce Carol Oates: "The blood jet is poetry--these words of Sylvia Plath have reverberated through my experience of reading and rereading the stories of Prison Noir. In this case the blood jet is prose, though sometimes poetic prose; if we go a little deeper, in some chilling instances, the blood jet is exactly that: blood. For these stories are not "literary" exercises--though some are exceptionally well-written by any formalist standards, and artfully structured as narratives; with a single exception the stories are stark, somber, emotionally driven cris de coeur...We may feel revulsion for some of the acts described in these stories, but we are likely to feel a startled, even stunned sympathy for the perpetrators. And in several stories, including even murderers' confessions, we are likely to feel a profound and unsettling identification...There is no need for fantasy-horror in a place in which matter-of-fact horror is the norm, and mental illness is epidemic. Vividly rendered realism is the predominant literary strategy, as in a riveting documentary film." Featuring brand-new stories by: Christopher M. Stephen, Sin Soracco, Scott Gutches, Eric Boyd, Ali F. Sareini, Stephen Geez, B.M. Dolarman, Zeke Caligiuri, Marco Verdoni, Kenneth R. Brydon, Linda Michelle Marquardt, Andre White, Timothy Pauley, Bryan K. Palmer, and William Van Poyck.
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The Brown Study

Grace Richmond was a 20th century American writer best known for the Red Pepper Burns novels.
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The Fugitive Factor

Aiden and Meg Falconer are now celebrities ... for all the wrong reasons. It's much harder to be on the run when the whole country's looking for you.... Aiden and Meg Falconer are out to find the evidence that will free their parents from a life sentence in prison. But in order to do that, they have to live undercover. Ever since they broke out of a juvenile detention facility, they've been chased by the FBI ... and by a strange killer they've nicknamed Hairless Joe. Now their story has hit the airwaves, and suddenly everyone is looking for the Falconer kids. They think they can hide with an old family friend ... but when she turns them in and Meg is put in jail, the danger and adventure only increase.
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How Shall I Know You?: A Short Story

"She looked up and smiled. She had a face of feral sweetness, its color yellow; her eyes were long and dark, her mouth a taut bow, her nostrils upturned as if she were scenting the wind." In "How Shall I Know You?," a melancholic and ailing writer reluctantly travels east of London to give a lecture before a literary society. Mr. Simister, the organization's secretary, lures the world-weary novelist turned biographer with promises of a modest stipend and lodging at a charming bed-and-breakfast for her trouble. Nevertheless, on that rainy day she meets Mr. Simister at the train station, she wonders why she ever agreed to come in the first place. Driving past steel-shuttered windows and Day-Glo banners, Mr. Simister takes the writer to her hotel for the evening, which turns out to be crumbling and isolated rather than picturesque. As she crosses the threshold into the dank stench of Eccles House she is faced with the feral porter, Louise, and suffers through an evening that may be more than she bargained for. From Hilary Mantel's brilliant and darkly comic collection of contemporary stories, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, comes a tale told with her distinctive blend of subversive wit and gimlet-eyed characterization. "How Shall I Know You?" showcases the extraordinary genius of Hilary Mantel, called one of our "greatest living novelists" (NPR).
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Sleep of Death

Oracles can see the future, but are sworn to never interfere. Charlotte Westing learned this lesson the hard way--but after a series of murders in her small town, she's beginning to wonder if she learned too well. Are there some futures Charlotte as a responsibility to change? When a new girl with strange powers shows up at school on the same day Charlotte has a vision of a grisly double homicide, Charlotte must decide whether the time has come to free herself from the rules of the Sisters of Delphi once and for all. But what will be the price? Book Two of the Charlotte Westing Chronicles!
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The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst

Long ago, the little Prince of Cloudburst was stolen from the seashore by a Water Sprite. Now, ten years later, the prince has found his way home. The King and Queen are planning the biggest party in their Kingdom's history to welcome him.Meanwhile, on the other side of the Kingdoms and Empires, Esther Mettlestone-Staranise is looking forward to another year at Katherine Valley Boarding School. But she arrives to find a number of strange and unsettling changes. For one, her new teacher is rumoured to be an Ogre. Two mysterious students have joined the school, and one of Esther's classmates is an undercover Spellbinder. Most disturbingly, the mountains surrounding the school - usually a delight of glaciers, teashops, lakes and Faeries - are now crowded with wicked Shadow Mages.As secrets and dangers escalate, Esther must find the answers to several puzzles. Why is her teacher behaving so oddly? Which of Esther's classmates is the Spellbinder, and can they really protect...
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Travels With Henry James

"To travel with James in these pages is to take an unhurried vacation with a thoroughly seasoned, supremely cultivated, acutely intelligent companion. Our guide is a curious, engaged observer not only of landscapes and streets and cathedrals but also of paintings and plays and the characteristics--national, social, and individual--of the people we encounter at his side. This is a book to be read slowly, the better to absorb its sights and sounds, its insights and reflections." --from the foreword by Hendrik Hertzberg Brimming with charm, wit, and biting criticism, this new collection of travel essays reintroduces the iconic novelist Henry James as a formidable travel companion. Whether for a trip to Lake George or an afternoon visit to an art exhibit in Paris, James will delight readers with his insights and make them feel nostalgic for places they've never been.
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The Alternative

A shrieking wind, thick with the sleety snow that knows no mercy nor feels remorse, beat vainly and with savage insolence against the staid windows in the lounging room of one of New York's most desirable clubs—one of those characteristic homes for college men who were up for membership on the day they were born, if one may speak so broadly of the virtue that links the early eighteenth-century graduate with his great-grandson of the class of 1908. Not to say, of course, that the eighteenth-century graduate was so carefully preserved from the biting snowstorm as the fellow of to-day, but that he got his learning in the ancient halls that now grind out his descendants by the hundred, one way or another. It is going much too far to assert that every member of this autocratic club had a colonial ancestor in college, but you'd think so if you didn't pin him down to an actual confession to the contrary. It is likely to be the way with college men who do not owe their degrees to certain mushroom institutions in the West, where electricity and mechanics are considered to be quite as necessary to a young man's equipment as the acquaintance, by tradition, with somebody's great-grandaddy, no matter how eminent he may have been in his primogenial day.
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