Juana Brett's hapless father has dragged her to England from her beloved home in Portugal. In Portuguese, she is not hindered by the stutter that plagues her when she speaks in English, and she is not at the mercy of her teasing stepsisters and icy stepmother. When Gair Varlow fixed his political machinations on her, he never expected to fall in love with her too. Pulling strings to get her an invitation back to Portugal, he knows he is sending her into danger. For Juana, nothing could be better than going home. But as the threat of invasion by France hangs over her return, she has no idea how completely the political intrigue has taken hold of her Castle home, and soon finds herself amidst terrorists and spies. Juana can trust no one, which is made all the more difficult when she is caught between the persistent courtship of her handsome cousin, and the draw she feels towards Gair Varlow. But all this is dimmed by the mystery and terror of the winding stair... Views: 65
Once you start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there's no turning back. This debut thriller – the first in a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson – is a serious page – turner rivaling the best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch – and there's always a catch – is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. Views: 65
In a sensational breach-of-promise suit, two wealthy social climbers are suing on behalf of their beautiful daughter, Zillah. The defendant is Zillah's alleged fiancé, brilliant young architect Killian Melville, who adamantly declares that he will not,cannot, marry her. Utterly baffled by his client's refusal, Melville's counsel, Sir Oliver Rathbone, turns to his old comrades in crime--William Monk and nurse Hester Latterly. But even as they scout London for clues, the case suddenly and tragically ends, in an outcome that no one--except a ruthless murderer--could have foreseen. Views: 65
Sixty-eight years old; a smoker of Sweet Aftons, a dedicated drinker of Aviateur cocktails, and the owner of a charismatic cat named Turbo, Gerhard Self is an unconventional private detective. When Self is summoned by his long-time friend and rival Korten to investigate several incidents of computer-hacking at a chemicals company, he finds himself dealing with an unfamiliar kind of crime that throws up many challenges. But in his search for the hacker, Self stumbles upon something far more sinister. His investigation eventually unearths dark secrets that have been hidden for decades, and forces Self to confront his own demons. Views: 65
Marian is in her mid-thirties, and trying to get over the shock of her eighteen-year-old twins leaving her to live with their father in the USA. As a distraction she takes a job looking after a younger woman, Stella, on a coach tour to Greece. It seems to be the answer to all her worries - financial and otherwise - although there is some mystery surrounding Stella's background.As the tour gets underway, strange things begin happen, including some serious accidents. People become suspicious, and nobody is at all sure whom they can trust. Marion becomes increasingly worried, both for her own sake and for Stella's, and at the same time tries to resist her increasing attraction to a friendly classics professor who is also on the tour.A suspenseful thriller, tense and concise, that builds interesting characters with ease. Views: 65
Since the time of the ancient Greeks we have been fascinated by accounts of the Amazons, an elusive tribe of hard-fighting, horse-riding female warriors. Equal to men in battle, legends claimed they cut off their right breasts to improve their archery skills and routinely killed their male children to purify their ranks.For centuries people believed in their existence and attempted to trace their origins. Artists and poets celebrated their battles and wrote of Amazonia. Spanish explorers, carrying these tales to South America, thought they lived in the forests of the world's greatest river, and named it after them.In the absence of evidence, we eventually reasoned away their existence, concluding that these powerful, sexually liberated female soldiers must have been the fantastical invention of Greek myth and storytelling. Until now.Following decades of new research and a series of groundbreaking archeological discoveries, we now know these powerful warrior... Views: 65
#1 New York Times bestselling author Arthur Hailey unveils the inner workings of a grand hotel and brings to life the nonstop human drama that rages behind the scenes During five sultry days, the lives of the guests, the management, and the workers at New Orleans' largest and most luxurious hotel converge in an explosive human drama of round-the-clock excitement. The owner has four days to raise the money to save his financially ailing property. The general manager, once blacklisted from the hospitality business, struggles with one crisis after another. A rebellious heiress will do anything to attain her secret desires. The duke and the duchess in the lavish presidential suite are covering up a crime. Also staying at the hotel is a professional thief.Filled with memorable characters and authentic detail about the inner machinery and secrets of a five-star hotel, this gripping novel became a successful film and an international television series. Views: 65
In the latest Shannara trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks revisits one of the most popular eras in the legendary epic fantasy series that has spellbound readers for more than three decades. A perfect jumping-off point for new readers that's sure to delight dedicated fans, the entire Dark Legacy Shannara adventure is now available in one thrilling eBook bundle: WARDS OF FAERIE BLOODFIRE QUEST WITCH WRAITHAlso includes the Paladins of Shannara short stories: "Allanon's Quest," "The Weapons Master's Choice," and "The Black Irix"! When the world was young, the power of magic ruled--and the Elfstones warded the race of Elves and their lands, keeping evil at bay. But when an Elven girl fell hopelessly in love with a Darkling boy of the Void, he carried away more than her heart. Thousands of years later, tumultuous times are upon the world now known as the Four Lands. Users of magic are in conflict... Views: 65
The bestselling author of Turtle Moon and Practical Magic tells her most seductive and mesmerizing tale yet--the story of March Murray, who returns to her small Massachusetts hometown after nineteen years, encountering her childhood sweetheart...and discovering the heartbreaking and complex truth about their reckless and romantic love. Views: 65
International bestselling author Douglas Coupland delivers a real-time, five-hour story set in an airport cocktail lounge during a global disaster. Five disparate people are trapped inside: Karen, a single mother waiting for her online date; Rick, the down-on-his-luck airport lounge bartender; Luke, a pastor on the run; Rachel, a cool Hitchcock blonde incapable of true human contact; and finally a mysterious voice known as Player One. Slowly, each reveals the truth about themselves while the world as they know it comes to an end.In the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut and J. G. Ballard, Coupland explores the modern crises of time, human identity, society, religion, and the afterlife. The book asks as many questions as it answers, and readers will leave the story with no doubt that we are in a new phase of existence as a species — and that there is no turning back. From Publishers WeeklyIn Coupland's real-time near-apocalyptic novel, a recovering alcoholic, a divorcée, a church-fund embezzler, a beautiful android-like woman, and a man who is distinguished by his prickly demeanor converge in an airport cocktail lounge at the precise moment when oil prices begin to rise and society begins to unravel around them. Such an intriguing premise could have lead to explorations of the nature of chaos and human resilience, but the author relies instead on cursory philosophizing, allowing his characters to ramble. The players emerge as near-caricatures who are forced to contend with each other's weaknesses and a small cast of strangers, from a sniper to a "false prophet" selling the Leslie Freemont Power Dynamics program. In one man's brusque assessment, the others are "a depressing grab bag of pop culture influences and cancelled emotions, driven by the sputtering engine of the most banal form of capitalism," words which reveal both the book's vivid style and an apt critique of modern consciousness. Though the book at times feels more like television than a richly conceived world, painting aspects of adults in crisis perhaps too broadly, it is redeemed an ending that allows some of them to survive. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. FromThe past, present, and future blend together like paint on a canvas in Coupland’s kaleidoscopic novel, which transpires over the course of five real-time hours. At the onset of a worldwide catastrophe, four strangers, each trying to escape a dire reality, become trapped together in a Toronto airport cocktail lounge. Lonely single-mother Karen has flown in to meet an online acquaintance. Rick the bartender, a reformed alcoholic, gives his savings away to an infomercial hack in the hope of buying a better life. Luke is a minister who recently lost his faith and ran away with his church’s renovation fund. And the beautiful but automaton-like blond, Rachel, simply craves personal connection. As each restless soul unfolds his or her thoughts on God, faith, personality, and human emotion, their alternating stories increasingly reveal the mysteries of interaction and coincidence. And then there’s the elusive Player One, whose omniscient commentary seems to govern everyone’s actions. A taut and scintillating exploration of time, Coupland’s tale is both smart and suspenseful while simultaneously questioning the meaning of narration. --Jonathan Fullmer Views: 65
The story of a hunt of Grummgar in the Ithor jungle. Views: 65
