Big Joe Merklos was the first of them. He appeared at the Wide Bend National Bank one day, cash in hand. The charm of him, his flashing smile, the easy strength in his big body, were persuasive recommendations. But the bank’s appraisal scarcely got that far. Wasn’t he the first buyer in fifteen years for that bone-yard of lonely dreams, Dark Valley? Views: 597
Bella is the new girl in school and just wants to fit in. When a group of teens welcomes her into their group, she's relieved not to be sitting alone at lunch anymore. But these strange kids seems to have it out for each other. Bella's suspicions grow~ as does her attraction for the gorgeous guy named Sey.Bella is the new girl in school and just wants to fit in. When a group of teens welcomes her into their group, she's relieved not to be sitting alone at lunch anymore. But these strange kids seems to have it out for each other. They throw insults, fake bugs, and gags at each other in order to torment one another. All they seem to care about is scaring each other to record a video that will make them go viral. Bella's suspicions of these teens grow~ as does her attraction for the gorgeous guy named Sey.And it's that attraction to Sey that will get her scared to death. Views: 595
From the master of Western storytelling comes a collection of six action-packed tales sure to please Louis L'Amour's legion of fans.In "Trap of Gold," Wetherton has been three months out of Horsehead when he finds his first color in a crumbling granite upthrust. The granite is slashed with a vein of quartz that is literally laced with gold! The problem is that the granite upthrust is unstable, and taking out the quartz might just bring the whole thing tumbling down.In "Keep Travelin', Rider," Tack Gentry has been away for a year when he returns to the familiar buildings of his uncle's G Bar ranch. To his amazement, the ranch has a new owner, who is unimpressed when Tack explains that his uncle was a Quaker who never carried a gun. His advice to Tack is to make tracks—but Tack has other plans.In "Big Medicine," old Billy Dunbar has discovered the best gold-bearing gravel he's seen in a year—but a small band of Apaches may ruin his day. If they notice him,... Views: 593
Two teenage boys dare their friend to break into the basement of the Bailey House, where it's rumored that a monster is being kept. Scotty decides to do so, but what he finds is not what he expected. Not at all. --This story is not horror, as it sounds. It's a heart-warming, coming of age drama intended for all audiences.Satina is a goodmother who uses her magic to grant wishes. Marten is a Skinner, a magical trickster who challenges everything she thinks she knows about their kind.When a magic-hungry gang moves into town, Satina and Marten must become unlikely allies.It will take all the power they can summon to keep Westwood's secrets from falling into the wrong hands, to keep one wide-eyed girl from following the wrong man, and to keep Satina herself from falling in love with the only person in the world who knows how much of a fraud she really is. Views: 593
A unique entry in the Böll library, Irish Journal records an eccentric tour of Ireland in the 1950's. An epilogue written fourteen years later reflects on the enormous changes to the country and the people that Böll loved. Irish Journal is a time capsule of a land and a way of life that has disappeared.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 592
Children Of The Alley, by Mahfouz, Naguib
The history of a Cairo alley through several generations. Successive heroes struggle to restore the rights of the people to the trust fund set up by their ancestor Gebelaawi, usurped by embezzlers and tyrants. Mahfouz creates in all its detail a world on the frontier between the real and the imaginary. At a deeper level, the book is an allegory whose heroes relive the lives of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed. Their appearance in a modern context invites the reader to see them as human beings relevant to the present day, not as remote sacred figures - to the consternation of some traditionalists. Most controversial is the significance of Gebelaawi, the immensely long-lived patriarch. Mahfouz himself has said that his character represents 'not God, but a certain idea of God that men have made', standing for the god of those who forget the absolute transcendence of God affirmed by Islam. Views: 592
Three scientists open up a doorway to pocket universes for exploration, but also start what could be the beginning of the end for all life.The first of a six episode Serial Novel. 16 pagesThree scientists have discovered a theory that could possibly unify all forces, much as Einstein had wanted to do.They put their theory to the test and create aportal called a "Convolution," which opens them to pocket universes where reality takes on as many forms as there are concepts of it.Richard, the first one to explore the Convolution, barely makes it back alive from his first foray into the unknown. Soon afterwards Richard, his girlfriend, Nancy and the Professor, his mentor and best friend find themselves thrust into a scenario where they could quite possibly have triggered the end of our world.This is a Serial Novel, a series of six episodes that unfolds to a conclusion through cliff hanger endings, much in the vein of the old Republic Serials like Flash Gordon, Batman, Superman and many other golden tales of early Hollywood. On the edge of your seat, nail biting action that just doesn't quit! Views: 591
Cuando el doctor Humberto Huberman, médico homeópata y hombre dado a los placeres menores, llegó al moderno, cúbico y ligeramente siniestro hotel de Bosque del Mar, no sospechaba que se internaría en un laberinto de amor, de venganza y de muerte.
Esta novela riquísima trata de asesinatos por envenenamiento; de veleros que el mar arroja sobre las playas; de enamorados cuyo alfabeto amoroso está compuesto de crímenes; de personas aisladas durante cuatro días y cuatro noches, por una tormenta de viento, por las arenas, por el mar y por el cangrejal ominoso, con un asesino secreto y diligente.
Aquí el héroe no es, precisamente, el detective; aquí es Humberto Huberman, nada heroico y nada magnánimo, el amigo que espera a los lectores. Views: 590
The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes. Here in this land of howling wind and infernal sand, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost. Their father was a sand diver, one of the elite few who could travel deep beneath the desert floor and bring up the relics and scraps that keep their people alive. But their father is gone. And the world he left behind might be next. Welcome to the world of Sand, the first new novel from New York Times bestselling author Hugh Howey since his publication of the Silo Saga. Unrelated to those works, which looked at a dystopian world under totalitarian rule, Sand is an exploration of lawlessness. Here is a land ignored. Here is a people left to fend for themselves. Adjust your ker and take a last, deep breath before you enter. Views: 590
Seven “masterfully told” stories of suspense and nightmarish drama from the National Book Award–winning author of Them (The Guardian).
With the novella and six stories collected here, Joyce Carol Oates reaffirms her singular reputation for portraying the dark complexities of the human psyche. The title novella tells the story of Marissa, an eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. When she suddenly disappears, mounting evidence points to a local substitute teacher. Meanwhile, an older girl from Melissa’s school is giddy with her power to cause so much havoc unnoticed. And she intends to use that power to enact a terrifying ritual called The Corn Maiden.
In “Helping Hands,” published here for the first time, a widow meets an Iraq War veteran in a dingy charity shop, having no idea where the peculiar encounter is about to lead. In “Fossil-Figures,” a pair of twins—an artist and a congressman—never outgrow an ugly sibling rivalry. And in “A Hole in the Head,” a plastic surgeon gives in to an unusual and dangerous request.
Together, these seven tales offer “a virtuoso performance” of “probing, unsettling, intelligent” storytelling from one of the world’s greatest writers of suspense (The Guardian).
“The seven stories in this stellar collection from the prolific Oates may prompt the reader to turn on all the lights or jump at imagined noises. . . . This volume burnishes [her] reputation as a master of psychological dread.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“For horror stories to be truly horrific, the reader has to care. Oates feels this deeply in her writing, and delivers with style.” —The Independent
“Further confirmation of a unique writer’s restless, preternatural brilliance.” —The Guardian Views: 589
What do an unpublished author, a gorgeous strawberry blonde, an albino hit man, a professional gambler, an investment advisor, the federal witness protection program, and a telepathic St. Bernard all have in common? In Pine Valley, CO, just about everything! In the next 48 hours, their worlds will collide, in both a comedy of errors and predestined fate.Nicholas O’Fallon’s life is in a rut. A recent young widower in the sleepy town limits of Pine Valley, CO, he struggles to regenerate his creative muses and craft the next great American novel. Unfortunately, Nick’s achievements have culminated in a part-time bartending gig at the local brewery and writer’s block. But his mid-morning coffee cohort, Vincent, has the solution – get a dog. Reluctant at first, Nick acquiesces and finds, not only a St. Bernard, but also the new love of his life, Shauna. However, there’s a catch. Nick can hear the pooch talk. Compounding his fear of potential insanity, his parents are in route for an unprecedented visit, a mysterious stranger people call Blanco Diablo is lurking about, and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Witness Protection Program seems to be watching Nick’s every move. The next 48 hours will prove interesting, if not downright hilarious. Views: 589
Ilthan has been wronged, and he intends to take back what is his. (Short Story)Ilthan has been wronged, and he intends to take back what is his.Ilthan is an immensely talented sorcerer who has been forced into exile by those he meant to rule. Determined to have his revenge, he mounts a massive attack on the Sunswept Isles. Will he finally succeed in taking the isles by force?This short story features one elf’s tale of triumph over captivity. Views: 589
In 1962, the philosopher Richard Taylor used six commonly accepted presuppositions to imply that human beings have no control over the future. David Foster Wallace not only took issue with Taylor's method, which, according to him, scrambled the relations of logic, language, and the physical world, but also noted a semantic trick at the heart of Taylor's argument.
Fate, Time, and Language presents Wallace's brilliant critique of Taylor's work. Written long before the publication of his fiction and essays, Wallace's thesis reveals his great skepticism of abstract thinking made to function as a negation of something more genuine and real. He was especially suspicious of certain paradigms of thought-the cerebral aestheticism of modernism, the clever gimmickry of postmodernism-that abandoned "the very old traditional human verities that have to do with spirituality and emotion and community." As Wallace rises to meet the challenge to free will presented by Taylor, we witness the developing perspective of this major novelist, along with his struggle to establish solid logical ground for his convictions. This volume, edited by Steven M. Cahn and Maureen Eckert, reproduces Taylor's original article and other works on fatalism cited by Wallace. James Ryerson's introduction connects Wallace's early philosophical work to the themes and explorations of his later fiction, and Jay Garfield supplies a critical biographical epilogue. Views: 589
Teena Maguire should not have tried to shortcut her way home that Fourth of July. Not after midnight, not through Rocky Point Park. Not the way she was dressed in a tank top, denim cutoffs, and high-heeled sandals. Not with her twelve-year-old daughter Bethie. Not with packs of local guys running loose on hormones, rage, and alcohol. A victim of gang rape, left for dead in the park boathouse, the once vivacious Teena can now only regret that she has survived. At a relentlessly compelling pace punctuated by lonely cries in the night and the whisper of terror in the afternoon, Joyce Carol Oates unfolds the story of Teena and Bethie, their assailants, and their unexpected, silent champion, a man who knows the meaning of justice. And love. Views: 589
