Since the publication of her first novel in 1920, more than two billion copies of Agatha Christie's books have been sold around the globe. Now, for the first time ever, the guardians of her legacy have approved a brand-new novel featuring Dame Agatha's most beloved creation, Hercule Poirot.Internationally bestselling author Sophie Hannah breathes new life into the incomparable detective. In this thrilling tale, Poirot plunges into a mystery set in 1920s London—a diabolically clever puzzle that will test his brilliant skills and baffle and delight longtime Christie fans and new generations of readers discovering him for the first time. Authorized by Christie's family, and featuring the most iconic detective of all time, this instant Christie classic is sure to be celebrated by mystery lovers the world over.Amazon.com ReviewS.J. Watson Interviews Sophie HannahS.J. Watson is the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep.SJ: In The Monogram Murders, you channeled the voice of the legendary Hercule Poirot. How was writing a longstanding character invented by someone else different from writing your own? Sophie: Not as different as you might think. I know Poirot so well, from reading all the Christie Poirot novels lots of times. In a way, writing this book felt similar to writing about a real person I was very familiar with. It was a bit like writing an episode in the biography of someone I greatly admire. SJ: What is your all-time favorite Agatha Christie mystery? Sophie: That’s a tough one. Currently, Sparkling Cyanide - so clever and surprising - but I change my mind all the time. My favorite Poirot novel is After The Funeral.SJ: What kind of research did you do prior to sitting down and writing The Monogram Murders?Sophie: I reread all the Christie Poirots, and I booked a week's holiday at Greenway, Agatha Christie's former holiday home in Devon. I hoped that inspiration would strike if I went there, and it did. On the first night there, I propped myself up in bed with my laptop, about five metres away from an enormous portrait of Agatha, and starting putting together my plot. By the time I left at the end of the week, I had the whole story in my mind and on my computer - every last detail. If I were a superstitious person, I would say that Agatha helped me...but of course I'm far too sensible and rational to suggest that! (Or am I?) SJ: What do you think are some of the quintessential traits of an Agatha Christie mystery? Did you try to incorporate any into The Monogram Murders?Sophie: I tried to incorporate what I think of as all the crucial ingredients of a Christie/Poirot novel: a gleeful delight in storytelling; an outlandish/apparently impossible opening scenario that is later revealed to be eminently possible; the perfect combination of ease and pleasure for the reader with a challenging intellectual puzzle; a profound intelligence that at no point makes the reader feel stupid or condescended to; the centrality of motive and psychology; the combination of a light/feel-good experience for readers with a sophisticated awareness of the dark depravity of human beings. Christie, more than any other crime writer, is able to include polar opposites in her novels - light-dark, easy-difficult - without either ever detracting from the other. SJ: Do you think Agatha Christie would have been pleased with The Monogram Murders?Sophie: I can't speak for her. I fervently hope so! Wherever she is, I hope she's pleased! Review“Equal parts charming and ingenious, dark and quirky and utterly engaging…I was thrilled to see Poirot in such very, very good hands. Reading The Monogram Murders was like returning to a favorite room of a long-lost home.” (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl)“Perfect...a pure treat for Agatha Christie fans.” (Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Place)“Sophie Hannah’s The Monogram Murders does Christie proud. Our favorite detective is back and in impeccable form!” (Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of An Unwilling Accomplice)“Sophie Hannah is a prodigious talent. I can’t wait to see what she does next.” (Laura Lippman)“Sophie Hannah’s idea for a plot line was so compelling and her passion for my grandmother’s work so strong, that we felt that the time was right for a new Christie to be written.” (Matthew Prichard, grandson of Agatha Christie) Views: 55
Kelly Rae Cooper - Romantic TimesA superb urban fantasy, The Last Hot Time is a walk on the wild side with elves and humans somewhat co-existing in pockets of civilization. Danny's life is transformed when he treats a woman injured in a drive-by shooting. He becomes Doc Hallownight and the house medic for Mr. Patrise, a powerful leader in the shadowlands of Chicago. John M. Ford has a refreshing, unique writing style that vibrates with energy. He introduces a large company of players and skillfully weaves his complex plot into a fascinating account of what happens when the fay of old meets contemporary humanity. Publisher's WeeklyBrilliant is as brilliant does, and Ford's first excursion into enigmatic, offbeat speculative fiction in seven years bids fair to win him yet another World Fantasy Award, as did The Dragon Waiting. In this mesmerizing near-future scenario, most of Earth's technology--man's "magic"--has been destroyed by the immortal Elves who once coexisted with primitive hominids, then vanished back into the parallel universe of Elfland. When the Elves return a generation after JFK's assassination, they witness, horrified, what man has become, and they strike out in panic, blasting most of Chicago. Young paramedic Danny Holman, heading toward Chicago's Elf-gang-ridden heart, saves the life of a young woman wounded severely in a drive-by shooting. The mysterious Mr. Patrise rewards Danny with a new identity--"Doc Hollownight"--and a job as house medic to Patrise's web of underground nightclubs. Danny also gets involved in Patrise's clandestine operations against Whisper-Who-Dares, the loathsome Elf who fuels his insatiable lust for power by flaying humans alive, feeding off their unspeakable agonies. Whether human, minor Elf nobility (the Ellyon) or Highborn Urthas Elves, Ford's generous cast of characters continually surprises, intrigues and pulses with life, a tribute to his power as a storyteller. Haunting, puzzling, even unsettling and deliberately obscure, this improvisatory jazzlike riff of good and evil in the context of a most unusual growing-up story is bittersweet as first love and loss, a minor-key elegy for the death of youth and innocence. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.VOYAThis fantasy is set in the near future in a part of Chicago that has become a buffer between the land of the elves and the world of humans. In this zone of shadows dwell humans, elves, half-breeds, and Vamps-those humans who have been infected with elf blood and have grown dependent on it as a narcotic. It is a region of nightly life-and-death struggles, with drugs and illegal gambling and extravagant parties designed to be a respite from life on the Levee. Because no one keeps his true name here, the protagonist becomes Doc Hallownight upon his arrival. His training as a paramedic proves invaluable from the onset, and he is taken under the protection of one of the most powerful men in Chicago. The terror that awaits him as he embarks on his journey of discovery and self-discovery forms the core of the book. Written for adults, this novel's extreme violence and immorality will be disturbing to most teenage readers. The story is well written except for some confusing gaps that seem designed intentionally to keep the reader off balance and firmly in place as an outsider looking in. Fans of Ford's work and mature fantasy buffs in the upper high school grades will find this novel appealing. Library JournalWhen he stops to administer first aid to a gunshot victim, paramedic Danny Holman steps out of his old life and into a bizarre underworld of fast-talking, magic-wielding elves who dub him Doc Hallows and promise him a future beyond his wildest dreams. Ford depicts a modern-day world inhabited by supernatural creatures who enjoy fast cars, hard liquor, and the sound of money even as they keep alive the old traditions of fairy curses and otherworldly magic. By turns violent and funny, the latest novel by the author of The Dragon Waiting delivers a rapid-fire modern fantasy suitable for most libraries. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. Views: 55
An election is held at the abbey of Crewe and the new lady abbess takes up her high office with implacable serenity.This is a satirical fantasy about ecclesiastical and other kinds of politics. The author has also written The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Girls of Slender Means. Views: 55
THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK To all persons to whom these presents may come greeting be it known that JAMES AGEE has been awarded THE PULITZER PRIZE IN LETTERS FICTION for A DEATH IN THE FAMILY in accordance with the provisions of the statutes of the University governing such award. In witness whereof we have caused this certificate to be signed by the President of the University and our corporate seal to be hereto affixed in the City of New York on the fifth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty eight. Grayson Kirk PRESIDENT James Agee’s novel A Death in the Family is a classic American story, chronicling just a few days in 1915 during which a husband and father is called out of town to be with his own father, who has had a heart attack, and while returning is killed in a car accident. Agee patterned the story closely after his own life, focusing on a boy who is the same age that he was when his father died. The narrative shifts from one perspective to another, including the young widow and her two children and her atheistic father and the dead man’s alcoholic brother, to name just a few, in an attempt to capture the ways in which one person’s loss immediately and powerfully affects everyone around. The book was published in 1957 by McDowell, Obolensky, two years after Agee’s death from heart failure at the age of 46, and was awarded the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Although Agee had worked on it for almost a decade, he had not produced a definitive final draft, and so his publishers had to put the book together in a way that they believed would make the most sense. They have indicated places where they added materials that come from outside of the flow of the story, such as the opening section “ Knoxville: Summer, 1915,” which was first published in the 1940s. Critics agree that the end product is a consistent novel, one of the most moving works ever written about one of the most traumatic experiences a child could ever face. Views: 54
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. When Paris falls in love with legendary beauty Helen of Troy, the devastating effects of their affair on their families and fellow citizens are unimaginable. Battle lines are drawn, alliances are forged, and as the Greeks and Trojans march into battle, the resilience and humanity of all will be tested. In his epic story of divine ego, human frailty, and the ravages of war, Homer created an unforgettable cast of characters, whose moral dilemmas and heroic deeds will stay with readers long past the final pages of this book. Samuel Butler's famous prose translation of Homer's original brings the epic to an entirely new generation of readers. Views: 54
