As Fred the Mermaid tries to fit in with her own kind, she finds herself hooked on both Artur, the High Prince of the undersea realm, and Thomas, a hunky marine biologist. She's also caught between two factions of merfolk: those happy with swimming under the radar-and those who want to bring their existence to the surface. Views: 457
It’s December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers sift through the gruesome remains of the victims, they discover that these attacks aren’t random: the tiger is apparently engaged in a vendetta. Injured, starving, and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.
As he re-creates these extraordinary events, John Vaillant gives us an unforgettable portrait of this spectacularly beautiful and mysterious region. We meet the native tribes who for centuries have worshipped and lived alongside tigers, even sharing their kills with them. We witness the arrival of Russian settlers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, soldiers and hunters who greatly diminished the tiger populations. And we come to know their descendants, who, crushed by poverty, have turned to poaching and further upset the natural balance of the region.
This ancient, tenuous relationship between man and predator is at the very heart of this remarkable book. Throughout we encounter surprising theories of how humans and tigers may have evolved to coexist, how we may have developed as scavengers rather than hunters, and how early Homo sapiens may have fit seamlessly into the tiger’s ecosystem. Above all, we come to understand the endangered Siberian tiger, a highly intelligent super-predator that can grow to ten feet long, weigh more than six hundred pounds, and range daily over vast territories of forest and mountain.
Beautifully written and deeply informative, The Tiger circles around three main characters: Vladimir Markov, a poacher killed by the tiger; Yuri Trush, the lead tracker; and the tiger himself. It is an absolutely gripping tale of man and nature that leads inexorably to a final showdown in a clearing deep in the taiga. Views: 456
Metal Fatigue is an anthology of stories relating to prison, incarceration, hopelessness and hope. These are largely first person accounts of survival behind bars and give a visceral look at what it means to do time. The stories present a critical look at the prison system and the stats for those held behind bars. A child lost to the system, a father’s plea for reconnection.Metal Fatigue is an anthology of stories relating to prison, incarceration, hopelessness and hope. These are largely first person accounts of survival behind bars and give a visceral look at what it means to do time. The stories present a critical look at the prison system and the stats for those held behind bars. A child lost to the system, a father’s plea for reconnection.EXCERPT:Jimmy passed his eighteenth birthday locked inside a cold, stinky cell in the obsolete old city jail. The toilet obviously didn’t work, an issue probably for several years… running.He thoughtfully reflected on his dry-humor pun. Besides, no one locked up ever flushes the motherfucking john. Never. Revoltingly putrid fecal matter, left in desperation by prisoners with nowhere else to go, overflowed and formed a vile puddle at a low spot in the frigid concrete floor. The prison smelled like shit. Smelled worse than shit. His own more recent addition was beginning to decay.If Jimmy had been home for his birthday, no doubt his father would’ve treated him to a steak dinner at The Outback; and perhaps a ballgame at the stadium afterword. Instead, Jimmy celebrated with foul-tasting water—grey water reprocessed from sewer waste—and several slices of stale bread upon which a near-microscopic dab of something resembling peanut-butter could be found sticking near the center—if one studied it closely, of course. The rancid bread was always stale in this place, just like the air, thick with mildew and the smell of unwashed bodies. It all mixed with the reeking toilet to produce an odor more disgusting than sweaty armpit pubes set on a smoldering fire.Tonight, for the most part, a stifling quiet lingered throughout the cellblock. The only sounds being the incidental shout of a guard, the muffled moan from a prisoner, or the occasional fart from either. Every so often, a cell door clanked open, followed by scuffling noises signaling a new prisoner’s arrival.Two weeks forever, he’d sat there in solitary now. But he still wasn’t so desperate as other prisoners on the cellblock who would actually shit themselves just for a laugh. Two weeks plus three lonely days, he reminded himself, marking off another day on the wall with the sharp edge of a small stone, chipped away from a section of rotting-old concrete. He made the mark with an awkward jab of his left hand. His right arm hung broken, suspended in a dirty sling he’d torn from an old rag.Sinking down onto the cold concrete slab that served as a bed, Jimmy leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes. He figured it might be nine o’clock… or thereabout, although he really couldn’t be sure. Maybe ten. His watch had disappeared on intake at R&D receiving the first day, along with all his other personal effects… confiscated for “purposes of security” by the prison R&D guards. Problem was, they’d never listed his expensive Rolex watch on that property receipt they’d forced him to sign under the threat of tossing him in solitary stripped naked.Any questions about time, or anything, for that matter, brought only taunts and trouble from the guards. Especially the big one called ‘Boiler Bob’—so named by the prisoners for those angry-looking boils in evidence on the back and both sides of his incredibly thick neck.“What’s time to a prison roach?” Boiler Bob would mock, his furry broken teeth bared in a cruel laugh. “Hah, I know! I bet you’re impatient for your next fine meal… is that it?” Invariably he and the other guards goaded the prisoners about the food: food so foul even the cockroaches all passed around it in wide arcs. Views: 456
This is a tale of the sea, of two men and their wives on a sailboat, moving toward the heart of a great storm. It is an adventure story that carries four travelers on the yawl Harmony from Edgartown to Menemsha to Block Island and thence out into a huge, dark cone of uncertainty. In the modulating airs of the voyage four personalities emerge to work changes on each other. The two marriages seem to react to the barometer. As the drama of the storm gathers and breaks, themes are sounded of escape and confrontatoin, of illusion, of the "secret place" that every boat and every person harbors, of a meticulousness, a prudent attention to the details of life, which can blind a man to the whole of reality, and also of endurance, of instinctively courageous seamanship, and of strength that the strong may not know they possess even as they exert it. The skipper, a young doctor, follows his obsession to the terrible goal to which it must lead him at the moment wehn the calm eye of the... Views: 456
a collection of poems at the heart of which lies the observation that it is the small things in life - set-backs as well as pleasures - which define us as human beings, and that an appreciation of these is what ultimately gives life its meaning.1950’s Cold War tension. Anything can happen during the Atomic Summer. Amanda struggles with the era’s sexist restraints, her fugitive Russian Communist grandparents, and the appearance of a bizarre creature at Secret Pond. How are all these disturbing events related? Everything comes to light under the first ring rainbow. Book 2, "Time Before Color TV" series Views: 455
Some philosophies and phenomenons are considered sacrosanct. These elements of life are dealt with. Love, immortality, eternity, death and war inclusive. It also includes in it subjects relating to apocalyptic events and psychological matters. The poem takes you into the world of contemporary poetry. Read and be awaken!!!Reader, how far you have come.An epic clashing of fantastical worlds and dramatic prose files into a tale of such heart-wrenching disaster, that if you read, you will undoubtedly find yourself wishing you hadn't, and then reading on to the next scene, and the next, and to the last few, dribbling words. Only the first installment of this saga, we find ourselves thrust into a dying world where the darkness of a tainted heart has begun to creep into the realms. Here in Axis, where the Emperor's hefty arm crushes all beneath his reach, we are introduced to a select few souls that threaten to bend the rights of existence, not for them, but for you. Rorith's power wanes. Savill's spirit is to be overcome. And Aviin? What can be said of this poor, wretched man, for he is nothing, and yet everything to us. And into the past where we remember the long lost tales of an unfortunate boy that simply couldn't escape the Fate's grasp, squeezed between their grimy fingers for all he had.Perhaps some books were never meant to be read?Others, never to be written....You will not find disappointment, as it is sure to drag you on from bleeding page to bleeding page, but I cannot promise that you will be happy with your reward at the final remark, nor will you be glad that you must read on, for this story simply does not end. In all that is fantastical and mystic, though, there will be no equal. So read on, yes, read until your soul cries out and your lips pour out onto the paper alongside so many others. Views: 454
Two short stories and a sneak peak of the Novel Bayard's Will. The first story is about a retired soldier dealing with loss and the second is about an aspiring writer dealing with ruthless rejection by the one person who mattered most to her.Bayard's Will is a science fiction fantasy story set in a dark ages type world. This sneak peak is about 7,000 words long.Two short stories and a sneak peak of the Novel Bayard's Will. The first story is about a retired soldier dealing with loss and the second is about an aspiring writer dealing with ruthless rejection by the one person who mattered most to her.Bayard's Will is a science fiction fantasy story set in a dark ages type world. This sneak peak is about 7,000 words long and includes the entire prologue and first chapter. Psionic powers and abilities are not uncommon in the world of Bayard's Will. Views: 453
Treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo's search for a Romanov fortune brings them into perilous contact with an ambitious neo-Nazi clan, in the thrilling adventure from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.
In 1918, a ransom of enormous size was paid to free the Romanovs from the Bolsheviks, but, as history knows, the Romanovs died anyway. And the ransom? During World War II, the Nazis stole it from the Russians, and after that—it vanished. Until now.
When a modern-day kidnapping captures the attention of husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo, the couple soon learn that these long-lost riches may be back in play, held in trust by the descendants of a Nazi guerrilla faction called the Werewolves. It is their mission to establish the Fourth Reich, and their time is coming soon.
As the Fargos follow the trail across Europe, Northern Africa, and South America, they know only one thing. This quest is greater than anything they have ever done—it is their chance to make someone answer for unspeakable crimes, and to prevent them from happening again. Views: 453
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.Twenty-five years after its initial publication, The Making of the Atomic Bomb remains the seminal and complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly—or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than twenty-five years. What began as merely an interesting speculative problem in physics grew into the Manhattan Project, and then into the bomb, with frightening rapidity, while scientists known only to their peers—Szilard, Teller, Oppenheimer, Bohr, Meitner, Fermi, Lawrence, and von Neumann—stepped from their ivory towers into the limelight. Richard Rhodes gives... Views: 452
