Marabou Stork Nightmares is a daring and audacious novel by the acclaimed author Irvine Welsh, known for his cult classics like Trainspotting and The Acid House. This novel plunges readers into the mind of Roy Strang, a man trapped in a coma, whose hallucinatory adventures unravel the path that led him there.
Roy's surreal quest involves eradicating the malevolent marabou stork, a predator-scavenger, in an imaginary South Africa, while being constantly interrupted by vivid and disturbing memories of his dysfunctional family and tumultuous upbringing in a Scottish housing scheme.
As the boundaries between reality and hallucination blur, Welsh crafts a lethally funny cocktail of pathos, violence, and outrageous hilarity, showcasing his unique ability to blend dark humor with deep psychological insights.
A Monstrous Regiment of Women continues Mary Russell's adventures as a worthy student of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and as an ever more skilled sleuth in her own right. Looking for respite in London after a stupefying visit from relatives, Mary encounters a friend from Oxford. The young woman introduces Mary to her current enthusiasm, a strange and enigmatic woman named Margery Childe, who leads something called "The New Temple of God."
It seems to be a charismatic sect involved in the post-World War I suffrage movement, with a feminist slant on Christianity. Mary is curious about the woman and intrigued. Is the New Temple a front for something more sinister?
When a series of murders claims members of the movement's wealthy young female volunteers and principal contributors, Mary, with Holmes in the background, begins to investigate. Things become more desperate than either of them expected as Mary's search plunges her into the worst danger she has yet faced.
A magnificent romantic/historical/adventure novel set in India at the time of mutiny. The Far Pavilions is a story of 19th Century India, when the thin patina of English rule held down dangerously turbulent undercurrents. It is a story about an English man - Ashton Pelham-Martyn - brought up as a Hindu and his passionate, but dangerous love for an Indian princess. It's a story of divided loyalties, of tender camaraderie, of greedy imperialism and of the clash between east and west.
To the burning plains and snow-capped mountains of this great, humming continent, M.M. Kaye brings her quite exceptional gift of immediacy and meticulous historical accuracy, plus her insight into the human heart.
Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth. Patrick Lewis arrives in Toronto in the 1920s and earns his living searching for a vanished millionaire and tunneling beneath Lake Ontario.
In the course of his adventures, Patrick's life intersects with those of characters who reappear in Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning The English Patient.
This is a haunting tale of passion, privilege, and biting physical labour, of men and women moved by compassion and driven by the power of dreams—sometimes even to murder.
The twin jet plane en route to Denver from Hong Kong is merely a green radar blip half an hour off the California coast when the call comes through to air traffic control: 'Socal Approach, this is TransPacific 545. We have an emergency.' The pilot requests priority clearance to land - then comes the bombshell - he needs forty ambulances on the runway.
But nothing prepares the rescue workers for the carnage they witness when they enter the plane. Ninety-four passengers are injured. Three dead. The interior cabin is virtually destroyed. What happened on board Flight TPA 545?
Join Casey Singleton, a quality assurance vice president at the fictional aerospace manufacturer Norton Aircraft, as she investigates this in-flight accident. Her journey is filled with intrigue, danger, and unexpected revelations as she attempts to uncover the truth behind the disaster.
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.
So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey, which Jasper Griffin in The New York Times Review of Books hails as "a distinguished achievement." If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey through life.
Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces, during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance. In the myths and legends that are retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.
Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb introduction and textual commentary provide new insights and background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles' translation.
This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the public at large, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.
The Song of Power opened the gateway to the Realm of the Sidhe, allowing young Michael Perrin to slip through. Now Michael faces years of captivity and deadly struggles for the future of the Realm and of Earth—leading finally to a terrible confrontation on the streets of Los Angeles, with the soul of humanity at stake.
Weaving the power of music, poetry, and myth into a headlong narrative of nearly overwhelming intensity, Song of Earth and Power is one of the most original fantasy epics of our time, a vast tapestry of relentless suspense, terrible beauty, and brilliant imagination.
Originally published years ago in two parts, it now returns in a new edition rewritten by the author and published in a single volume as he originally intended.
Cordelia Naismith captains a throwaway ship of the Betan Expeditionary Force on a daring mission to destroy an enemy armada. As she navigates deception within deception and treachery within treachery, she is forced into a separate peace with her chief opponent, Lord Aral Vorkosigan—known as "The Butcher of Komarr"—leading her to become an outcast on her own planet and the Lady Vorkosigan on his.
Sick of combat and betrayal, Cordelia longs for a quiet life, interrupted only by the ceremonial duties of the Lady Vorkosigan. However, the sudden death of the Emperor thrusts Aral into the role of guardian for the infant heir to the imperial throne of Barrayar. Now, both Aral and Cordelia are targets of high-tech assassins in a dynastic civil war reminiscent of Earth's Middle Ages but fought with cutting-edge biowar technology.
Neither Aral nor Cordelia could foresee the pivotal role their cell-damaged unborn son would play in Barrayar's bloody legacy. Join them on a journey filled with epic battles, heroic journeys, and unexpected alliances.
Endymion is a brilliant continuation of Dan Simmons's acclaimed Hyperion Cantos series. In this installment, the multiple-award-winning science fiction master returns to the universe that is his greatest triumph—the world of Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion.
This novel weaves a tale of love and memory, of triumph and terror, in a narrative even more magnificent than its predecessors. Immerse yourself in a richly imagined world filled with technological achievement, excitement, wonder, and fear.
Join us as we delve deeper into a story that challenges the boundaries of imagination and explores the essence of what it means to be human in a vast and unpredictable universe.
The king’s scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king’s prison. The magus is interested only in the thief’s abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone’s guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.
Megan Whalen Turner weaves Gen’s stories and Gen’s story together with style and verve in a novel that is filled with intrigue, adventure, and surprise.
Enemy of God is a masterful retelling of the Arthurian legend. The balance of King Arthur's unified kingdom is threatened by Merlin's quest for the last of Britain's 13 Treasures. This quest is set against the backdrop of the conflict between the ancient religion and the new Christianity, and Britain's ongoing war with the Saxons.
Bernard Cornwell, a master storyteller, continues to weave a tale where myth and history blend seamlessly. Arthur, a man battling for his vision of the future in a brutal age, is surrounded by intrigue and dependent on his skill at war and genius for leadership. Can Arthur hold back the Saxons threatening the country, or will those closest to him be moved to betray him?
Join Merlin on his divisive quest and dive into an epic saga filled with thrilling battlefield action and legendary quests. Enemy of God brilliantly combines myth, history, and adventure to bring Arthur and his world to vivid life.
Joan of Arc is a historical novel that showcases Mark Twain's unrestrained admiration for the French heroine's nobility of character. This book, purportedly written by Joan's longtime friend, Sieur Louis de Conte, takes readers on an inspirational journey through her life.
Mark Twain once said, "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well." This sentiment reflects the depth of research and passion Twain invested in writing this novel, which took twelve years of preparation and two years of writing.
Joan of Arc is not just a tale of a young girl leading an army; it's a story of bravery, faith, and the enduring spirit of a woman who became a saint. Twain's portrayal of Joan is filled with respect and admiration, bringing her story to life for generations of readers.
Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake--and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure. Brian had been distraught over his parents' impending divorce and the secret he carries about his mother, but now he is truly desolate and alone. Exhausted, terrified, and hungry, Brian struggles to find food and make a shelter for himself. He has no special knowledge of the woods, and he must find a new kind of awareness and patience as he meets each day's challenges. Is the water safe to drink? Are the berries he finds poisonous? Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage--an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane. Most of all, Brian leaves behind the self-pity he has felt about his predicament as he summons the courage to stay alive. A story of survival and of transformation, this riveting book has sparked many a reader's interest in venturing into the wild.
Forced to abandon his undercover role as leader of the Dendarii Mercenaries, Miles Vorkosigan persuades Emperor Gregor to appoint him Imperial Auditor so he can penetrate Barrayar’s intelligence and security operations (ImpSec). Simon Illyan, head of ImpSec and Miles’ former boss, is failing physically and mentally, and Miles sets out to find out why -- and who, if anyone, is behind Illyan’s rapid decline.
Miles is one of the genre’s most enterprising and engaging heroes, embarking on a journey filled with mystery and intrigue. This novel is a Hugo and Nebula Award finalist, showcasing Bujold's exceptional talent in weaving complex plots and deep emotional narratives.
In the first novel of C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction trilogy, Dr. Ransom, a Cambridge academic, is abducted and taken on a spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra, which he knows as Mars. His captors are plotting to plunder the planet's treasures and plan to offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the creatures who live there. Ransom discovers he has come from the 'silent planet' – Earth – whose tragic story is known throughout the universe.
As Ransom explores the strange and often beautiful world of Malacandra, he uncovers information about the larger universe and Earth's place in it, suggesting that he has as much to discover about his home planet as he does about the alien Malacandra. His adventures reveal the complexities and wonders of the universe, making him question his understanding of humanity and the cosmos.
New Egypt is a village somewhere in the south of England. A village that nobody has ever left. Peach, the sadistic chief of police, makes sure of that.
Then, one misty morning, a young couple secretly set their baby son Moses afloat on the river, in a basket made of rushes.
Years later, Moses is living above a nightclub, mixing with drug-dealers, thieves and topless waitresses. He knows nothing about his past - but it is catching up with him nevertheless, and it threatens to put his life in danger.
Terror, magic and farce all have a part to play as the worlds of Peach and Moses slowly converge.
Susan Thorton awakens in a hospital, after a near-fatal car crash, to see four men lurking outside her door—men who exactly resemble those who killed her boyfriend years before. Can these be the same men?
As she tries to uncover the identities of those stalking her, Susan enters a terrifying nightmare—one from which she may never escape.
Brazil is a tale of love that transcends societal boundaries and takes readers on an enthralling journey through the vibrant landscapes of South America. In the dream-Brazil of John Updike's imagining, almost anything is possible if you are young and in love.
When Tristão Raposo, a black nineteen-year-old from the Rio slums, and Isabel Leme, an eighteen-year-old upper-class white girl, meet on Copacabana Beach, their flight from family and into marriage takes them to the farthest reaches of Brazil’s phantasmagoric western frontier. Privation, violence, captivity, and reversals of fortune afflict them, yet this latter-day Tristan and Iseult cling to the faith that each is the other's fate for life.
Spanning twenty-two years, from the sixties through the eighties, Brazil surprises with its celebration of passion, loyalty, romance, and New World innocence.
Love, death, coming of age, and Native American spiritual beliefs flow together with the forces of nature in this engrossing novel. It is a story of loss and redemption, family and community, the western panorama, and the landscape of the heart.
This is a moving family portrait etched in the rugged terrain of a small town in Oregon. The lives of young Culver, his twice-married mother, and his charismatic uncle Jake have always been overshadowed by the death of Culver's father in a fishing accident. When a suspicious fire destroys the town mill and three murders occur, Culver is engulfed by the dangers he finds lurking in the place he'd come to call home.
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. To the south, the king's powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne.
At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself. Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
Unearthly Beauty
There's something strange about the new girls in town. Briar Creek, Oregon, has never seen anything like the supernatural grace of Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade, three sisters who move into the dilapidated old house next to Mark and Mary-Lynnette Carter. Mark is obsessed with Jade, but she and her sisters have a secret.
When Mark and Mary-Lynnette follow them into the woods one night, they are plunged into a nightmare beyond their imagination. The sisters are fugitives from the Night World, and their brother Ash is hot on their trail. He's ruthless, gorgeous, and has orders to bring the girls back at all costs. When he sees Mary-Lynnette, he decides to take her too...
When young Alec of Kerry is taken prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit, he is certain that his life is at an end. But one thing he never expected was his cellmate. Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things–none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them.
Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine, and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec’s new mentor, and this time there just might be…Luck in the Shadows.
Sorrow and trouble and bitterness will bound you and yours and the children of yours... Some said the dying words of Nial Lynn, murdered by his own son, were a wicked curse. To others, it was a winter's tale spun by firelight on cold, dark nights. But when Corbet Lynn came to rebuild his family estate, memories of his grandfather's curse were rekindled by young and old - and rumours filled the heavy air of summer.
In the woods that border Lynn Hall, free-spirited Rois Melior roams wild and barefooted in search of healing herbs. She is as hopelessly unbridled - and unsuited for marriage - as her betrothed sister Laurel is domestic. In Corbet's pale green eyes, Rois senses a desperate longing. In her restless dreams, mixed with the heady warmth of harvest wine, she hears him beckon. And as autumn gold fades, Rois is consumed with Corbet Lynn, obsessed with his secret past - until, across the frozen countryside and in flight from her own imagination, truth and dreams become inseparable...
Fred Scully is eagerly waiting at the airport to reunite with his wife and daughter after two years of traveling through Europe. He envisions a new life for them, filled with stability and hope, in a cottage that he has lovingly renovated in the Irish countryside.
However, as the flight lands and the airport doors hiss open, only his seven-year-old daughter, Billie, steps out. Scully's world shatters as he discovers his wife is missing, leaving behind no note or explanation. This unexpected turn of events thrusts him into a desperate search across Europe, trying to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
The Riders is a haunting and beautifully written tale that delves into the complexities of love, marriage, and the bonds between a father and his daughter. It explores the deep-rooted fears and challenges in relationships, and the resilience needed to move forward despite life's uncertainties.
Join Scully on this gripping odyssey, as he navigates through emotional turmoil and the shadows of his past, in a poignant story that captures the essence of human resilience and the enduring power of family ties.
Bestselling authors David and Leigh Eddings welcome readers back to the time before The Belgariad and The Malloreon series. Join them as they chronicle that fateful conflict between two mortally opposed Destinies, in a monumental war of men, kings, and Gods.
When the world was young and Gods still walked among their mortal children, a headstrong orphan boy set out to explore the world. Thus began the extraordinary adventures that would mold that youthful vagabond into a man, and the man into the finely honed instrument of Prophecy known to all the world as Belgarath the Sorcerer.
Then came the dark day when the Dark God Torak split the world asunder, and the God Aldur and his disciples began their monumental labor to set Destiny aright. Foremost among their number was Belgarath. His ceaseless devotion was foredoomed to cost him that which he held most dear—even as his loyal service would extend through echoing centuries of loss, of struggle, and of ultimate triumph.
The Old Man and the Sea is a modern classic that tells the tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses. Told with superb simplicity, it is a tale of an old fisherman's endurance against the elements and the high seas.
Ernest Hemingway's last novel published in his lifetime, this novella confirmed Hemingway's power and presence in the literary world and was a significant factor in his award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
Henderson the Rain King is a captivating tale of a middle-aged American millionaire who embarks on a spiritual safari in Africa. His journey is not just a physical one, but also a quest for deeper meaning and truth in his life.
Henderson becomes an almost god-like figure among the tribes due to his remarkable feats of strength and his uncanny ability to bring rain, earning him adoration and respect. This story beautifully blends humor, adventure, and philosophical musings, making it a timeless classic.
Saul Bellow masterfully crafts a narrative that is as much about the inner journey as it is about the external adventures. Henderson the Rain King is a novel that explores themes of self-discovery, cultural encounters, and the universal search for meaning.
Lost Horizon by James Hilton is an international bestseller that tells the story of Hugh Conway, a British diplomat. Conway, having seen humanity at its worst during the First World War, finds himself once again amidst conflict while serving in Afghanistan. Forced to flee due to a civil conflict, Conway's escape plan takes an unexpected turn when his plane crashes high in the Himalayas.
Conway and the other survivors are then led by a mysterious guide to a breathtaking discovery: the hidden valley of Shangri-La. This secret paradise, kept hidden from the world for over two hundred years, is a place of peace and harmony where its inhabitants live for centuries in a fertile valley. But when the leader of the Shangri-La monastery falls ill, Conway and his companions are faced with the daunting prospect of returning to a world on the brink of war.
Thrilling and timeless, Lost Horizon is a masterpiece of modern fiction and stands as one of the most enduring classics of the twentieth century.
In the tradition of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye, Russell Banks’s quintessential novel tells the story of a disaffected homeless youth living on the edge of society. Rule of the Bone introduces us to Chappie, a punked-out teenager navigating a harsh world.
Chappie lives with his mother and abusive stepfather in an upstate New York trailer park. As he slips into drugs and petty crime, he becomes a permanent outsider, adopting a new identity as "Bone" and marking his transformation with a crossed-bones tattoo.
His journey takes him from dangerous biker-thieves to the refuge of an abandoned school bus, where he meets Rose, a child he rescues, and I-Man, an exiled Rastafarian. Together, they embark on a remarkable adventure from Middle America to the ganja-growing mountains of Jamaica—a journey of self-discovery through a world of magic, violence, betrayal, and redemption.
With a compelling and off-beat protagonist, evocative of Holden Caulfield and Quentin Coldwater, and a narrative voice that masterfully captures modern vernacular, Rule of the Bone is a haunting and powerful novel, an indisputable and unforgettable modern classic.
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal—including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.
Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want—but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.
A masterwork of storytelling and suspense, Philip Pullman's award-winning The Golden Compass is the first in the His Dark Materials series, which continues with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
For 4,000 years, the lavish crypt of the Pharaoh Mamose has never been found... until the Seventh Scroll, a cryptic message written by the slave Taita, gives the beautiful Egyptologist Royan Al Simma a tantalizing clue to its location.
But this is a treasure cache others would kill to possess. Only one step ahead of assassins, Royan runs for her life and into the arms of the only man she can trust, Sir Nicholas Quenton-Harper—a daring man who will stake his fortune and his life to join her hunt for the king's tomb.
Together, they will embark on a breathtaking journey to the most exotic locale on earth, where the greatest mystery of ancient Egypt, a chilling danger, and an explosive passion are waiting.
Steeped in ancient mystery, drama, and action, The Seventh Scroll is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers.
Could the story of mankind be far older than we have previously believed? Using tools as varied as archaeo-astronomy, geology, and computer analysis of ancient myths, Graham Hancock presents a compelling case to suggest that it is.
In Fingerprints of the Gods, Hancock embarks on a worldwide quest to put together all the pieces of the vast and fascinating jigsaw of mankind’s hidden past. In ancient monuments as far apart as Egypt’s Great Sphinx, the strange Andean ruins of Tihuanaco, and Mexico’s awe-inspiring Temples of the Sun and Moon, he reveals not only the clear fingerprints of an as-yet-unidentified civilization of remote antiquity, but also startling evidence of its vast sophistication, technological advancement, and evolved scientific knowledge.
Fingerprints of the Gods contains the makings of an intellectual revolution, a dramatic and irreversible change in the way that we understand our past—and so our future. As we recover the truth about prehistory, and discover the real meaning of ancient myths and monuments, it becomes apparent that a warning has been handed down to us, a warning of terrible cataclysm that afflicts the Earth in great cycles at irregular intervals of time—a cataclysm that may be about to recur.
It's the trip of a lifetime. Betsy Ray, 21 years old, is heading off for a solo tour of Europe. From the moment she casts off, her journey is filled with adventure. Whether she's waltzing at the captain's ball, bartering for beads in Madeira, or sipping coffee at a bohemian café in Munich, Betsy's experiences are unforgettable.
Betsy returns from Europe to marry Joe Willard—and soon learns that beloved friend Tacy is expecting a baby! It's wartime in America, but Betsy, Joe, and their wonderful circle of friends brave their hardships together.
Youth in Revolt is the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist. Over the course of six months, Nick faces the trials and tribulations of teenage life, including high school struggles, divorced parents, and the quest to lose his virginity.
Nick's transformation from an unassuming fourteen-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt is both hilarious and poignant. As his family splinters and worlds collide, Nick must navigate economic deprivation, homelessness, and the challenges of public school. With a competitive Type-A father and murderous canines (in triplicate), his life is anything but ordinary.
All the while, Nick ardently vies for the affections of the beautiful Sheeni Saunders, a teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad. This rollercoaster of teenage angst is a satirical take on adolescence, filled with witty humor and unexpected adventures.
In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.
So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.
Double the fun! Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is still learning the ropes at her cousin Vinnie's bail bond office. When she sets out on the trail of Kenny Mancuso—a suspiciously wealthy, working-class Trenton boy who has just shot his best friend—the stakes are higher than ever. That Mancuso is distantly related to vice cop Joe Morelli—who is trying to beat Stephanie to the punch—only makes the hunt more thrilling...
Taking pointers from her bounty hunter pal, Ranger, and using her pistol-packing Grandma Mazur as a decoy, Stephanie is soon closing in on her mark. But Morelli and his libido are worthy foes. And a more sinister kind of enemy has made his first move... and his next move might be Stephanie's last.
Madeline is one of the best-loved characters in children's literature. Set in picturesque Paris, this tale of a brave little girl's trip to the hospital captures the hearts of readers young and old. The story follows Madeline, the smallest and naughtiest of the twelve little charges of Miss Clavel, who wakes up one night with an attack of appendicitis.
The combination of a spirited heroine, timelessly appealing art, cheerful humor, and rhythmic text makes Madeline a perennial favorite with children of all ages.
Pongo and Missis had a lovely life. With their human owners, the Dearlys, to look after them, they lived in a comfortable home in London with their 15 adorable Dalmatian puppies, loved and admired by all.
Especially the Dearlys' neighbor, Cruella de Vil, a fur-fancying fashion plate with designs on the Dalmatians' spotted coats! So, when the puppies are stolen from the Dearly home, and even Scotland Yard is unable to find them, Pongo and Missis know they must take matters into their own paws!
This delightful children's classic has been adapted twice for popular Disney productions.
Axel Heyst, a dreamer and a restless drifter, believes he can avoid suffering by cutting himself off from others. Then he becomes involved in the operation of a coal company on a remote island in the Malay Archipelago, and when it fails he turns his back on humanity once more. But his life alters when he rescues a young English girl, Lena, from Zangiacomo's Ladies' Orchestra and the evil innkeeper Schomberg, taking her to his island retreat. The affair between Heyst and Lena begins with her release, but the relationship shifts as Lena struggles to save Heyst from the detachment and isolation that have inhibited and influenced his life.
Marked by a violent and tragic conclusion, Victory is both a tale of rescue and adventure and a perceptive study of a complex relationship and of the power of love.
Red Earth and Pouring Rain combines Indian myths, epic history, and the story of three college kids in search of America. This captivating narrative includes the monkey's story of an Indian poet and warrior and an American road novel of college students driving cross-country.
An Indian student, home from college in the U.S., shoots a monkey who turns out to be the reincarnation of a poet. Subsequently, the two take turns telling their stories. The poet recalls epic deeds of glory in fighting the British Raj, while the student narrates tales of materialism and boredom in America.
In this astonishing tale, the gods Hanuman, Ganesha, and Yama descend on a house in an Indian city to vie for the soul of a wounded monkey. A bargain is struck: the monkey must tell a story, and if he can keep his audience entertained, he shall live. The result is a tale of nineteenth-century India: of Sanjay, a poet, and Sikander, a warrior; of hoofbeats thundering through the streets of Calcutta and the birth of a luminous child; of great wars and love affairs and a city gone 'mad with poetry'.
Woven into this tapestry of stories is a second, totally modern narrative, the adventures of a young Indian criss-crossing America in a car with his friends and his eventual return to his homeland.
In the three novels that make up the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy collected in this omnibus edition (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road), five University of Toronto students find themselves transported to a magical land to do battle with the forces of evil. At a Celtic conference, Kimberley, Kevin, Jennifer, Dave, and Paul meet wizard Loren Silvercloak. Returning with him to the magical kingdom of Fionavar to attend a festival, they soon discover that they are being drawn into the conflict between the dark and the light as Unraveller Rakoth Maugrim breaks free of his mountain prison and threatens the continued existence of Fionavar. They join mages, elves, dwarves, and the forces of the High King of Brennin to do battle with Maugrim, where Kay's imaginative powers as a world-builder come to the fore. He stunningly weaves Arthurian legends into the fluid mix of Celtic, Nordic, and Teutonic, creating a grand fantasy that sweeps readers into a heroic struggle that the author makes all the more memorable because of the tributes he pays to past masters.
The trilogy is a grand homage to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, but while the echoes of Tolkien's masterwork are very real, the books offer the wonderful taste of a new fantasy writer cutting his teeth at the foot of a master. Kay has a very real connection to Tolkien--as Christopher Tolkien's assistant, Kay was invaluable in helping to wrestle Tolkien's posthumous The Silmarillion into shape for publication. Kay is undoubtedly one of the Canadian masters of high fantasy, and The Fionavar Tapestry is one of his most enduring works.
The ideal introduction to the genius of Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories contains ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction.
Selected from Winner Take Nothing, Men Without Women, and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, this collection includes "The Killers," the first of Hemingway's mature stories to be accepted by an American periodical; the autobiographical "Fathers and Sons," which alludes, for the first time in Hemingway's career, to his father's suicide; and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," a brilliant fusion of personal observation, hearsay and invention.
Beautiful in their simplicity, startling in their originality, and unsurpassed in their craftsmanship, the stories in this volume highlight one of America's master storytellers at the top of his form.
Verne's classic novel of global voyaging One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand - whether train or elephant - overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
She thinks more highly of snow and ice than she does of love. She lives in a world of numbers, science and memories--a dark, exotic stranger in a strange land. And now Smilla Jaspersen is convinced she has uncovered a shattering crime...
It happened in the Copenhagen snow. A six-year-old boy, a Greenlander like Smilla, fell to his death from the top of his apartment building. While the boy's body is still warm, the police pronounce his death an accident. But Smilla knows her young neighbor didn't fall from the roof on his own. Soon she is following a path of clues as clear to her as footsteps in the snow. For her dead neighbor, and for herself, she must embark on a harrowing journey of lies, revelation and violence that will take her back to the world of ice and snow from which she comes, where an explosive secret waits beneath the ice....
It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end – the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, the island indefinitely closed to the public.
There are rumors that something has survived....
The suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into revelation after revelation: a Mafia-like organization called Odessa, a real-life fugitive known as the "Butcher of Riga", and a young German journalist turned obsessed avenger. Ultimately, this leads to a brilliant, ruthless plot to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass murderers and to carry out Hitler's chilling "Final Solution".
Set in 1963, this gripping thriller unfolds against a background of international arms deals and Nazi war crimes. As the story leads to its final dramatic confrontation on a bleak winter's hilltop, readers are left questioning: Can this be fiction?