Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. A chance encounter leads a man to spend the afternoon with an older woman, now a widow, who escaped him fifteen years earlier. Neither of them doubts that the day will end in disgust, but for one intimate moment each finds a way to overcome mortality.Written in 1969, before Milan Kundera was known to English-speaking readers, this story renders male and female characters painful equals, and prompted Philip Roth to admire its 'detached Chekhovian tenderness'. Views: 197
The timeless, bestselling four-part epic that began with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove takes readers into the lives of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, two tough-as-nails Texas Rangers in the heyday of the Old West.Dead Man’s WalkAs young Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call--"Gus" and "Call" for short--have much to learn about survival in a land fraught with perils: not only the blazing heat and raging tornadoes, roiling rivers and merciless Indians, but also the deadly whims of soldiers. On their first expeditions--led by incompetent officers and accompanied by the robust, dauntless whore known as the Great Western--they will face death at the hands of the cunning Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump and the silent Apache Gomez. They will be astonished by the Mexican army. And Gus will meet the love of his life. Comanche MoonTexas Rangers August McCrae and Woodrow Call, now in their middle years, are still figuring out how to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life--Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe, and Call with Maggie Tilton, the young whore who loves him--when they sign up to pursue the Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf into Mexico. On this mission their captain, Inish Scull, is captured by the brutally cruel Mexican bandit Ahumado, and Gus and Call must come to the rescue, with the aid of new friends including Joshua Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker, as well as the renowned Kickapoo tracker, Famous Shoes. Lonesome DoveGus and Call, now retired from the Texas Rangers and settled in the border town of Lonesome Dove running the Hat Creek Cattle Company, are visited by their old friend Jake Spoon, who convinces Gus and Call to gather a herd of cattle and drive them north to Montana in order to start a cattle ranch in untouched territory. Gus is further motivated by a desire to see the love of his life, Clara Allen (nee Forsythe), who now lives with her children and comatose horse-trader husband in Ogallala, Nebraska. On the way to Montana they travel through wild country full of thieves, murderers, and a lifetime's worth of unforgettable adventure. Streets of LaredoWoodrow Call is back in Texas, a Ranger once again and a general gun-for-hire, but increasingly a relic as the westward sprawl of the railroads rapidly settles the once lawless frontier. Hired by a railroad tycoon to hunt down a dangerous bandit named Joey Garza, Call sets out once again with a hapless Yankee named Ned Brookshire who works for the railroad company that hired Call. Call's old friend Pea Eye Parker--who initially refused to join the expedition because of his family--sets off with the Kickapoo tracker Famous Shoes to try to catch up with Call, until he runs into troubles of his own. The long pursuit of Garza leads them all across the last wild stretches of the West into a hellhole known as Crow Town and, finally, into the vast, relentless plains of the Texas frontier. Views: 197
At the age of 18, James Brandon's life is set fair: he is in love with his father's ward Eliza, and he is looking forward to a lifetime of happiness with her. But his world is shattered when Eliza is forced to marry his brother and James joins the army in despair. Views: 197
FROM LIKING TO LOVEIt was graying to the edge of dark upon one of the evenings towards the end of April, in the year 1688, when Walter Gordon, of Lochinvar in Galloway, and now for some time private in the Prince of Orange\'s Douglas regiment of dragoons, strode up the stairs of his cousin Will\'s lodging in the ancient Dutch city of Amersfort. The young man had come straight from duty at the palace, and his humor was not exactly gracious.But Wat Gordon could not long remain vexed in spirit in the presence of his cousin Will\'s wife, Maisie Lennox. Her still, sweet smile killed enmity, even as spring sunshine kills the bite of frost. The little, low-roofed Dutch room, panelled with oak, had its windows open towards the sun-setting, and there in the glow of the west two girls were sitting. At sight of them Walter Gordon stopped suddenly in the doorway as he came bursting in. He had been expecting to see but one—his cousin\'s young wife, into whose pretty ear of patientest sympathy he might pour his fretful boyish disappointments and much-baffled aspirations.Mistress Maisie Lennox, now for half a year Will Gordon of Earlstoun\'s wife (for by her maiden name she was still used to be called, and so she signed herself, since it had not yet become the custom for a women to take among her intimates the style of her husband\'s surname), sat on a high-backed chair by the oriel window. She had the kind of sunny hair which it is a pleasure to look upon, and the ripples of it made crisp tendrils about her brow. Her face underneath was already sweetening and gaining in reposefulness, with that look of matronhood which comes early to patient, gracious women, who would yet venture much for the man they love. And not once nor yet twice had Maisie Lennox dared all for those whom she loved—as has, indeed, elsewhere been told.CONTENTSForeword to the TaleFrom Liking to LoveWhy Kate Hated LochinvarThe Bull, the Calf, and the KillerThe Duel at the Inn of BrederodeHaxo the Bull InterferesThe Prince of OrangeMistress Maisie Lennox, DiplomatistThe Street of the ButcheryMy Lord of BarraThe Descent of AvernusThe Hearts of WomenThe Prison of AmersfortMy Lord of Barra\'s VowMaisie\'s Night QuestA Night of StormThe Breaking of the PrisonJack Scarlett Calls Himself a FoolA Perilous MeetingThe Battle of the DunesCaptain, My CaptainThe Good Ship Sea UnicornWise Jan PettigrewWise Jan Waxes WiserMadcap MehitabelTrue Love and PignutsA Boat in Sight at SuliscannaThe Tide-race of SuliscannaJohn Scarlett Comes AshoreWat\'s Isle of RefugeWat Swims the Water CavernBess Landsborough\'s CatechismThe Surrender of the BelovedAn Ancient Love AffairCaptor and CaptiveSkirting the BreakersPassage PerilousThe Isle of BlissMisfortunate ColinSatan Spies out ParadiseSerpent\'s EggsLove that Thinketh no EvilThe Fiery CrossColl o\' the CowsGreat DundeeKilliekrankieThe Leaguer of DunkeldThe Golden HeartThe Master Comes HomeThe Curate of DalryLochinvar Keeps TrystThe Bride\'s Loving-cupCatch Them Who Can!Within the King\'s MercyEpilogue of SupererogationILLUSTRATIONSWAT\'S HAND MOSTLY ON HIS SWEETHEART\'S SHOULDER\'I WILL TAKE MY OWN LOVE-TOKEN\'SCARLETT THUNDERED ON THE PANELS WITH THE HILT OF HIS SWORDTHE GENTLEMAN INSTANTLY ATTACKED THEM FURIOUSLYTHE MAN CARRIED HER EASILY THROUGH THE SURFA COUPLE OF PISTOL-SHOTS RANG OUT LOUDLYTHE SELF-SATISFACTION FLICKERED OUT OF HIS FACETHEN THE SWIRLING TIDE-RACE TOOK HOLD OF HERA GIGANTIC HIGHLANDER WITH A NAKED CLAYMORE BY HIS SIDEWAT PUSHED OFF IN THE SMALLER BOATSTRIDING FORWARD FRANKLY AND GIVING A HAND TO EACHHE FELL INWARD AMONG THE WOUNDEDWITH HIS LOVE BETWEEN HIS ARMS Views: 197
Grace Richmond's "Twenty-Fourth of June" is rich with romance, suspense and a deep love for the home. To prove himself worthy to Roberta, Richard Kendrick undertakes the greatest challenge of his life—one that makes this novel almost impossible to put down. Views: 197
A sweeping tale of old loves and festering hatreds, this story will plunge you into the glittering world of Jazz Age Harlem, from the wealthy salons of its movers and shakers to the crowded tenements of its poor.Years earlier, David McKay, an attorney from a prominent Strivers' Row family, mysteriously disappeared while on a covert mission in the South. Now, he's back, drawn home by the news of his sister's suicide. The deeper he probes into Lilian's death, the more he risks revelations of his own dark secret one that could destroy him or redeem him.(Previously titled: Harlem Redux)"A murder mystery set among the black bourgeoisie, it is also the heady tale of a bygone era ... compelling family intrigue and a full, vibrant portrait of that storied era when Harlem's pulse was the rhythm of black America." —The Boston Globe"As much a story of lies, deceit and murder as it is a commentary on race and class..."—Chicago Tribune Views: 197
"A stunning follow-up to the best-seller Angelology. . . Part historical novel, fantasy, love story, thriller, and mystery. . . It's a must-read."
—Booklist (starred review)
A New York Times bestseller and global sensation, Angelology unfurled a brilliant tapestry of myth and biblical lore on our present-day world and plunged two star-crossed heroes into an ancient battle against mankind’s greatest enemy: the fatally attractive angel-human hybrids known as the Nephilim. With Angelopolis, the conflict deepens into an inferno of danger and passion unbound.
A decade has passed since Verlaine saw Evangeline alight from the Brooklyn Bridge, the sight of her new wings a betrayal that haunts him still. Now an elite angel hunter for the Society of Angelology, he pursues his mission with single-minded devotion: to capture, imprison, and eliminate her kind.
But when Evangeline suddenly appears on a twilit Paris street, Verlaine finds her nature to be unlike any of the other creatures he so mercilessly pursues, casting him into a spiral of doubt and confusion that only grows when she is abducted before his eyes by a creature who has topped the society’s most-wanted list for more than a century. The ensuing chase drives Verlaine and his fellow angelologists from the shadows of the Eiffel Tower to the palaces of St. Petersburg and deep into the provinces of Siberia and the Black Sea coast, where the truth of Evangeline’s origins—as well as forces that could restore or annihilate them all—lie in wait.
Conceived against an astonishing fresh tableau of history and science, Angelopolis plumbs Russia’s imperial past, modern genetics, and ancient depictions of that most potent angelic appearance—the Annunciation of Gabriel—in a high-octane tale of abduction, treasure seeking, and divine warfare as the fate of humanity once again hangs in the balance. Views: 197
An experimental work exploring ideas of thinking, emotion, and artificial intelligence.An Ancient Alien artifact falls into the hands of a sociopathic Nazi bent on world domination. To find the source of its power he must follow the clues left behind by a long dead legendary explorer. Callously cruel and depraved he will stop at nothing to reach his goal. Jack Cage is equally determined to stop him and in doing so rescue the women he loves and avenge the death of his mentor. To accomplish this task he must first survive demonic cannibalistic Indians, cut throat bandits, ferocious beasts, and the lethal Amazon jungle. In this epic battle of good and evil neither side can imagine the horrifying truths they will discover at the end of their journey. Chasing El Dorado is a thrilling ride. Its unique characters discover ancient mythical cities hiding truths that will change humanity forever. Follow along as they also discover personal truths that forever mold their future. Views: 197
“Every decent friendship comes with a drop of hatred. But that hatred is like honey in the tea. It makes it addictive.” Charismatic Marie Antoine is the daughter of the richest man in 19th century Montreal. She has everything she wants, except for a best friend—until clever, scheming Sadie Arnett moves to the neighborhood. Immediately united by their passion and intensity, Marie and Sadie attract and repel each other in ways that thrill them both. Their games soon become tinged with risk, even violence. Forced to separate by the adults around them, they spend years engaged in acts of alternating innocence and depravity. And when a singular event brings them back together, the dizzying effects will upend the city. Traveling from a repressive finishing school to a vibrant brothel, taking readers firsthand into the brutality of factory life and the opulent lives of Montreal’s wealthy, When We Lost Our Heads dazzlingly... Views: 197
The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space. “One of [Mandel’s] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet”—The New York TimesEdwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book... Views: 197
A taut and unique unicorn fable from the Middle-East
In ancient Persia, there was an era when magical beasts such as dragons were nearly extinct. Young Heydari, the son of an elephant driver, discovers an injured beast bleeding in a cave. It is a rare type of unicorn known as a karkadann: a terrible horned demon the size of a Greek bull, with double hooves, a tails like a lion, and a hide like thick leather plates.
Despite his better judgment, kind Heydari tends to the terrifying animal’s injuries and nurses the fearsome creature back to health. The young man returns day after day, treating and binding the creature’s wounds, bringing it food and water, reciting prayers. If the karkadann recovers, it will become increasingly more dangerous to Heydari and everyone he loves.... Views: 197
Compared by critics to Borges, Nabokov, and Kafka, contemporary fantasist Jeff VanderMeer continues to amaze with this surreal, innovative, and absurdist gathering of award-winning short fiction. Exotic beasts and improbable travelers roam restlessly through these darkly diverting and finely honed tales.
In “The Situation,” a beleaguered office worker creates a child-swallowing manta-ray to be used for educational purposes (once described as Dilbert meets Gormenghast). In “Three Days in a Border Town,” a sharpshooter seeks the truth about her husband in an elusive floating city beyond a far-future horizon; “Errata” follows an oddly familiar writer who has marshaled a penguin, a shaman, and two pearl-handled pistols with which to plot the end of the world. Also included are two stories original to this collection, including “The Quickening,” in which a lonely child is torn between familial obligation and loyalty to a maligned talking rabbit.
Chimerical and hypnotic, VanderMeer leads readers through the postmodern into a new literature of the imagination. Views: 197
What if you discovered your husband was a serial killer? Megan Miller is an ordinary woman with a young family — until a shocking discovery shatters her perfect world. When two young boys are brutally murdered in their tight-knit village community, Megan slowly begins to realise the signs all point to the lovable local primary school teacher — her husband. But when she begins to delve deeper into her husband's secret life, she makes discoveries that will make her question everything she knows — and make her fear for her young daughter's life. Facing an impossible decision, she is desperate to uncover the truth. But once you know something, it can't be unknown. And the more she learns, the more she wishes she never knew anything at all... A 'sensation' — The Guardian 'A real success story ... incredible' — BBC News 'Croft has... Views: 197
During one of her many excursions exploring the palace, Cara Truman discovers a vast underground chamber that turns out to be the perfect place for her next invention. Soon, her dream of building the ultimate playground for the Dragonlings is a reality.
When Abby laughingly mentions the new ‘playground’ looked like the perfect place to have a Halloween party, Cara goes into high gear to create the perfect Haunted House adventure for the babies. The fun kicks into high gear when the men discover what Cara has been up to and decide to ‘test’ the playground first!
Cara has no idea that her new project would create a sense of panic, wonder, or hilarious consequences in the palace when she unveils it. Discover what happens when another Earth holiday is unveiled, with the help from a couple of mischievous Goddesses, the symbiots, and Dragonlings in A Dragonlings’ Haunted Halloween. Views: 197
