Repackaged in a new tie-in edition to coincide with the Netflix film produced and directed by Angelina Jolie, a moving story of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her triumphant spirit as she survived the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot’s brutal regime.
Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. While her beautiful mother worried that Loung was a troublemaker—that she stomped around like a thirsty cow—her beloved father knew Loung was a clever girl.
When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung’s family fled their home and moved from village to village to hide their identity, their education, their former life of privilege. Eventually, the family dispersed in order to survive. Loung trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, while other siblings were sent to labor camps. As the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia, destroying the Khmer Rouge, Loung and her surviving siblings were slowly reunited.
Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother, the courage and sacrifices of the rest of her family—and sustained by her sister’s gentle kindness amid brutality—Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life. Harrowing yet hopeful, insightful and compelling, this story is truly unforgettable. Views: 494
What's left of a place when you take the ground away?
Answer: The Zero.
Brian Remy has no idea how he got here. It's been only five days since his city was attacked, and Remy is experiencing gaps in his life--as if he were a stone skipping across water. He has a self-inflicted gunshot wound he doesn't remember inflicting. His son wears a black armband and refuses to acknowledge that Remy is still alive. He seems to be going blind. He has a beautiful new girlfriend whose name he doesn't know. And his old partner in the police department, who may well be the only person crazier than Remy, has just gotten his picture on a box of First Responder cereal.
And these are the good things in Brian Remy's life. While smoke still hangs over the city, Remy is recruited by a mysterious government agency that is assigned to gather all of the paper that was scattered in the attacks. As he slowly begins to realize that he's working for a shadowy operation, Remy stumbles across a dangerous plot, and soon realizes he's got to track down the most elusive target of them all--himself. And the only way to do that is to return to that place where everything started falling apart. Views: 494
A True Portrait of One of the World's Most Chaotic and Beautiful Regions That Explains Why Violence Has Always Occurred There--And Why It May Continue For Years To Come
The vast and mountainous area that makes up the Balkans is rife with discord, both cultural and topographical. And, as Simon Winchester superbly demonstrates in this intimate portrait of the region, much of the political strife of the past century can be traced to its inherent contrasts. With the aid of a guide and linguist, Winchester traveled deep into the region's most troublesome areas--including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Turkey--just as the war was tearing these countries apart. The result is a book not just about war but also about how war affects the living. Both timeless and current, The Fracture Zone goes behind the headlines to offer a true picture of a region that has always been on the brink. Winchester's remarkable journey puts all the elements together--the faults, the fractures, and the chaos--to make sense out of a seemingly senseless place. Views: 493
The true story of white European slaves in eighteenth century Algiers, Tunis, and MoroccoIn the summer of 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and fifty-one of his comrades were captured at sea by the Barbary corsairs. Their captors--Ali Hakem and his network of Islamic slave traders--had declared war on the whole of Christendom. France, Spain, England and Italy had suffered a series of devastating attacks. Thousands of Europeans had been snatched from their homes and taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis and Salé in Morocco. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco, Moulay Ismail, who was constructing an imperial palace of such scale and grandeur that it would surpass every other building in the world, a palace built entirely by Christian slave labor.Resourceful, resilient, and quick-thinking, Pellow was selected by Moulay Ismail for special treatment, and was one of the... Views: 493
From the pen of a masterful storyteller comes a touching and inspirational story of love, loss, and the true meaning of Christmas that will take its place beside Richard Paul Evans' "Christmas Box Trilogy," as a timeless classic that will be passed from generation to generation.When the Pullman family lost their eldest son Ernie to an unexpected illness just before Christmas, 1938, it was devastating to all of them, but especially to young Suzanna, their four-year-old daughter who shared a special bond with her big brother. A strangely gifted child, Zanna loved to draw, but Ernie was the only one who was able to see the pictures in the curious patterns she made. And he did not live to see her last gift, a Christmas painting she had made just for him.This is the story of that gift, and how it inspired her and her whole family, generation to generation, to keep alive the spirit of imagination, hope, and love, for Christmases to come.Zanna grew up to be a famous artist, but in the hearts of her children and grandchildren, her nieces and nephews, that first painting, the Gift, was truly her most important work. Christmas after Christmas, as the long decades pass up to the present day, Scott Richards allows us to share in the warmth of a family bound together by the transcendent miracle of love.Zanna's life, told in Christmases, will inspire you to keep alive your own family traditions, to share those loving moments with your children and grandchildren for years to come.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. Views: 493
(Bantam Books 1991)Publisher’s Weekly “Hoover’s characters double-deal their way through settings ranging from the Acropolis to the inside of a superplane that skims the edge of space –- the ultimate in death-dealing. A secret agreement between the Russian military and the Yakuza, Japanese crime lords, threatens to shift the balance of world power.”Retired agent Michael Vance is approached for help on the same day by an old KGB adversary and a brilliant and beautiful NSA code breaker. While their problems seem at first glance to be different, Vance soon learns he’s got a potentially lethal tiger by the tail -– a Japanese tiger. A secret agreement between a breakaway wing of the Russian military and the Yakuza, the Japanese crime lords, bears the potential to shift the balance or world power. The catalyst is a superplane that skims the edge of space –- the ultimate in death-dealing potential. In a desperate union with an international force of intelligence mavericks, with megabillions and global supremacy at stake, Vance has only a few days to bring down a conspiracy that threatens to ignite nuclear Armageddon.Publisher’s Weekly“Hoover’s adept handling of convincing detail enhances this entertaining thriller as his characters deal and double-deal their way through settings ranging from the Acropolis to the inside of a spacecraft. Michael Vance, formerly of the CIA, is on his way to an archeological dig when some old friends show up. First comes KGB agent Alex Novosty, caught laundering money that the KGB claims was embezzled – and he wants Michael to take charge of the hot funds. Then National Security Agency cryptographer Eva Borodin (who is Michael’s ex-lover) appears with an undecipherable but dangerous computer file: the co-worker who gave her the file has since vanished. Heavies from a Japanese crime syndicate attack Michael and Eva, who are rescued by Alex, but it looks like Alex and the syndicate aren’t complete strangers. Moreover, the mysterious Daedalus Corporation seems to be a link between Alex’s money and Eva’s file. As Michael is drawn into this deadly web, he realizes there is a secret agreement between the Russians and the Japanese – and it has nothing to do with tea-brewing customs.Tags: Hypersonic, Superplane, Edge of Space, thermonuclear warhead, Supersonic, Space Plane, Crete, Minos, Palace of Minos, Greece, Greek Islands Views: 493
Kate Ames is a young widow grieving the loss of her father, and finds herself dating a lawyer who reminds her of her father. When her house is broken into, Kate fears someone is following her and her questions of faith increase. She meets Mark, a committed Christian, who is determined to draw her back to her faith...but will he...before it's too late?Kate Ames is a young widow and a single mother, mourning the death of her father, with whom she and her son, Jason, had lived before his death. Her attorney, Lyle Montgomery, reminds Kate of her late husband, Tony, which she imagines is at least part of the reason that she dates him, though she resists his attempts to deepen the relationship. Kate suspects that someone is following her, but when her home is broken into, her fears deepen, as do her questions about her faith. It is on her way between her home in Cedar City, Utah, and her father’s cabin in the mountains that she meets Mark Thomas, the owner of the local Bible bookstore and a committed Christian who seems determined to draw Kate back to her faith. Caught in a web of danger as well as a relationship triangle, Kate must face her doubts and fears head on…before it’s too late. Views: 492
1 New York Times bestselling author and Queen of True Crime Ann Rule delivers another gripping true-crime story; this time a shattering case of Christmastime murder off the coast of Washington State, with a shocking amount of drama, greed, sex, and scandal and no shortage of suspects.
With more than 50 million copies of her thirty-four books in print, from The Stranger Beside Me, her chilling personal account of knowing Ted Bundy, to fourteen hardcover books, including Small Sacrifices; Green River, Running Red, Too Late to Say Goodbye and sixteen collections in her #1 bestselling Crime Files series, "Ann Rule is without a doubt America's best true-crime writer" (Kirkus Reviews). In Practice to Deceive, her first book-length investigative chronicle since In the Still of the Night, Rule unravels a shattering case of Christmastime murder off the coast of Washington State. presented with the clarity, authority, and emotional depth that Rule's readers expect. It's a case with enough drama, greed, sex, and scandal to be called "The Real Housewives of Whidbey Island"; but this was not reality television. This was murder: pure, cruel, ugly, and senseless. And someone had to pay the price.
Nestled in Puget Sound, Whidbey Island is a gem of the Pacific Northwest. Accessible only by ferry and the soaring Deception Pass Bridge, it is known for its artistic communities and stunning natural beauty. Life there is low-key, insular, and the island's year-round residents tend to know one another's business. But when the blood-drenched body of Russel Douglas was discovered the day after Christmas in his SUV in a hidden driveway near Whidbey's most exclusive mansions, the whole island was shocked. A single bullet between his eyes was the cause of death, but no one could imagine who among them could plot such a devious, cold-blooded crime. At first, police suspected suicide, tragically common at the height of the holiday season. But when they found no gun in or near the SUV, Russel's manner of death became homicide. Like a cast of characters from a classic mystery novel, a host of Whidbey residents fell under suspicion.
Brenna Douglas was Russel's estranged and soon-to-be-ex wife, who allowed him to come home for a Christmas visit with their children. The couple owned the popular Just B's salon. Brenna's good friend Peggy Sue Thomas worked there, and Brenna complained often to her that Russel was physically and emotionally abusive. Peggy Sue's own life has been one of extremes. Married three times, hers is a rags-to-riches-and-back-again tale in which she's played many roles: aircraft mechanic, basketball coach, the "drop-dead gorgeous vamp"; beauty queen as a former Ms. Washington, Las Vegas limousine driver, million-dollar horse breeder, wealthy divorcee. But in 2003, her love affair with married guitarist Jim Huden led the two Whidbey Island natives to pursue their ultimate dreams of wealth and privilege;even at the expense of human life.
Unravel the tangled web woven by Russel Douglas's murder in Practice to Deceive, the newest heart pounding true-crime tour de force from Ann Rule. Views: 491
John Anthony Burgess Wilson (1917–93) was an industrious writer. He published over fifty books, thousands of essays, and numerous drafts and fragments survive. He predicted many of the struggles and challenges of his own and the following century. His most famous book is A Clockwork Orange (1962), later adapted into a controversial film by Stanley Kubrick. The linguistic innovations of that novel, the strict formal devices used to contain them, and its range of themes are all to be found too in Burgess's poetry, an area of his work where he was at once most free and most experimental. It is his least exposed and most complex and eloquent area of achievement, now revealed at last in all its richness. His flair for words, formal discipline, experimentalism, and fondness for variousness mark every page. Views: 491
Pliny the Younger hoped to improve relations with his unpleasant wife and her mother by investing in a warehouse on the Tiber with them. Now the building has collapsed due to heavy rains. Pliny discovers several dead people inside, including a man with a narrow red “equestrian” stripe on his tunic, indicating aristocracy. He wasn’t killed by the cave-in, however, but by a knife wound in his back. When Pliny gives the body a forensic examination, he finds two more puzzling things: a circumcision (unusual in Rome), and thirty pieces of silver in his sewn-closed mouth. To further complicate matters, Pliny’s servant and lover, Aurora, finds a live baby in the wreckage. What connection does the funeral of a consul have with these events? Queen Berenice of Judaea, the mistress of the late emperor Titus, soon enters the story with her sons—one of whom is an assassin, a member of the Sicarii. He’s determined to avenge the defeat of his people and the destruction of their temple—no matter who might get in the way.... Views: 490
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE PEN NAME "INDIA INK"The fairest of them all...Lydia Wang is the newly crowned winner of a local beauty pageant—and the queen of mean. Used to getting what she wants, she ends up in a fight with Persia over the store's newest acquisition: the Mirror of Aphrodite. Reflecting only the most beautiful aspects of the person looking into it, the mirror is a huge draw and definitely not for sale—no matter how much Lydia is willing to pay. Persia arrives at the shop the next morning to find Lydia dead, the mirror missing, and one of the shop's treasured employees the prime suspect. Trevor's arrest is a blemish on the reflection of the shop, so Persia decides to take matters by the nose. To clear his name, she must sniff out the signature scent of a killer. Views: 490
Grand Canary is a novel by author A. J. Cronin, initially published in 1933. It tells the story of Dr. Harvey Leith, an English physician who is wrongfully blamed for the deaths of three patients and leaves his country in disgrace, ultimately finding redemption when thrust into the middle of a yellow fever epidemic in the Canary Islands. Views: 489
