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The Organ Grinder's Monkey (The Allerton Avenue Precinct Novels #3)
by Richard FliegelLowenkopf and Greeley are called in on a gruesome murder in a psychiatric facility in the Bronx, where the victim has had an internal organ removed and damaged, like other victims of the same killer. Lowenkopf goes undercover in the hospital and learns that a patient in a locked ward is taking credit for the crimes, sending out his spirit to avenge an old injury from a past life. Unwilling to believe his incredible story, but confronted with details only the killer should know, Lowenkopf and Greeley investigate the people around the boasting patient—his doctor, a social worker, and the staff of the hospital. But none of the candidates could possibly have committed the crimes, and Lowenkopf must solve a locked-room puzzle with a madman insisting on his guilt. The Organ Grinder&’s Monkey is the 3rd book in the Allerton Avenue Precinct Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Warriors of the Night (The Medal #4)
by Kerry NewcombIn the Texas desert, a soldier fights Rangers, Indians, and the woman he lovesDoña Anabel Cordero gallops across the moonlit desert, a tribe of Comanche warriors at her heels. She is the daughter of the country&’s greatest bandit, who was cut down by the Texas Rangers against whom Doña Anabel has sworn vengeance, and the Comanche do not scare her. But when a well-meaning soldier, Ben McQueen, mistakes her for a damsel on a runaway horse and slows her mount, the warriors surround them. With McQueen&’s help, Doña Anabel escapes the Comanche . . . but their fight is just beginning.A savage cult roams the moonlit desert, exacting terrible vengeance on all who cross their path. With the help of a fearless Ranger named Snake Eye, McQueen sets out to bring order to the frontier. But when Doña Anabel&’s cause runs up against his own, McQueen will have to choose between his country and the woman he loves.
Clemente!
by Kal WagenheimRoberto Clemente, one of history's greatest and most memorable Hispanic baseball stars, led a remarkable professional and personal life, until he met an untimely death in 1972 in a plane crash while on a mission of mercy to the site of a disastrous earthquake in Nicaragua. The first Latin American player to be recognized by the Baseball Hall of Fame, Clemente is honored once again in this book that illustrates his dramatic life from his childhood in Puerto Rico to his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Four Shakespearean Period Pieces
by Margreta de GraziaIn the study of Shakespeare since the eighteenth century, four key concepts have served to situate Shakespeare in history: chronology, periodization, secularization, and anachronism. Yet recent theoretical work has called for their reappraisal. Anachronisms, previously condemned as errors in the order of time, are being hailed as alternatives to that order. Conversely chronology and periods, its mainstays, are now charged with having distorted the past they have been entrusted to represent, and secularization, once considered the driving force of the modern era, no longer holds sway over the past or the present. In light of this reappraisal, can Shakespeare studies continue unshaken? This is the question Four Shakespearean Period Pieces takes up, devoting a chapter to each term: on the rise of anachronism, the chronologizing of the canon, the staging of plays “in period,” and the use of Shakespeare in modernity’s secularizing project. To read these chapters is to come away newly alert to how these fraught concepts have served to regulate the canon’s afterlife. Margreta de Grazia does not entirely abandon them but deftly works around and against them to offer fresh insights on the reading, editing, and staging of the author at the heart of our literary canon.
A Cry for Self-Help (The Kate Jasper Mysteries #8)
by Jaqueline GirdnerKate Jasper, Marin County, California&’s own organically grown amateur sleuth, returns in this eighth mystery in the series.In A Cry for Self-Help, Kate Jasper and her sweetie take the plunge and join a Wedding Ritual Class, hoping to find inspiration for their own possible nuptials. On a field trip to observe a scuba‑diving marriage ceremony, Sam Skyler, the man who has become a living legend as a human‑potential guru, is not propelled into marriage, but is instead pushed over an oceanside cliff to his death. Sam Skyler practiced finger puppet therapy at the Skyler Institute for Essential Manifestation. He was purported to be a man of psychic sensitivity and personal genius. So how come he did not notice the person who pushed him? Kate is once again wedded to an inconvenient murder rather than to her sweetie. Can she get a simple annulment from the case . . . or will it be a fatal one?
The Craft of Light (Night-Threads #4)
by Ru EmersonThree unsuspecting visitors arrive in a world of magical adventure, only to discover an ancient Thread-wielder has summoned them. For this sorceress, shapeshifter, and soldier, each is destined to play a vital role in restoring peace to the throne of the duke, Aletto, the rightful heir of Zelharri. But secret powers are at work, and for Lialla, the outcast duchess, intrigue and peril finds her at every turn. And while her powers are fierce and fearsome, the magic known as Hell-Light has an uncanny way of determining your fate. What had seemed a time of peace has suddenly erupted into something far more dangerous than any could have foresaw. Don't miss the entire "Night-Threads" Series: The Calling of the Three, The Two in Hiding, One Land One Duke, The Craft of Light, The Art of the Sword, and The Science of Power
Make No Bones: Curses!, Icy Clutches, And Make No Bones (The Gideon Oliver Mysteries #7)
by Aaron ElkinsThe forensic anthropologist wonders who would steal the bones of a deceased colleague—and why: &“A likable, down-to-earth, cerebral sleuth.&” —Chicago Tribune There is not much left of the irascible Albert Evan Jasper, &“dean of American forensic anthropologists,&” after his demise in a fiery car crash. But in accord with his wishes, his remains—a few charred bits of bone—are installed in an Oregon museum to create a fascinating if macabre exhibit. All agree that it is a fitting end for a great forensic scientist—until what is left of him disappears in the midst of the biannual meeting (a.k.a., the &“bone bash and weenie roast&”) of the august WAFA—the Western Association of Forensic Anthropologists—in nearby Bend, Oregon. Like his fellow attendees, Gideon Oliver—the Skeleton Detective—is baffled. Only the WAFA attendees could possibly have made off with the remains, but who in the world would steal something like that? And why? All had an opportunity, but who had a motive? Soon enough, the discovery of another body in a nearby shallow grave will bring to the fore a deeper, more urgent mystery, and when one of the current attendees is found dead in his cabin, all hell breaks loose. Gideon Oliver is now faced with the most difficult challenge of his career—unmasking a dangerous, brilliant killer who knows every bit as much about forensic science as he does. Or almost. Make No Bones is the 7th book in the Gideon Oliver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
The Kennedy Momentum: The Kennedy Imperative, The Kennedy Momentum, And The Kennedy Revelation (The Kennedy Trilogy #2)
by Leon BergerCuba, 1962: The Cold War reaches its zenith with the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba threatening the United States. While JFK and his brother face deep divisions in trying to defuse the apocalyptic crisis, young CIA agent Philip Marsden is sent on a mission to the island where he is betrayed by a joint CIA-Mafia operation.
Soma Blues (Hob Draconian #3)
by Robert SheckleyHob Draconian, American born but a two-decade resident of Ibiza and a tie-dyed-in-the-wool hippie philosopher, divides his time between Paris and Ibiza—and when Soma, a new drug, turns up in Paris in the hands of a murdered Ibizan drug dealer, it&’s time for the Alternative Detective Agency to spring into action and defeat the crime syndicate that has infiltrated his beloved expatriate community. From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was &“a precursor to Douglas Adams.&”
Sad Animal Facts
by Brooke BarkerNew York Times Bestseller!A delightful and quirky compendium of the Animal Kingdom’s more unfortunate truths, with over 150 hand-drawn illustrations.Ever wonder what a mayfly thinks of its one-day lifespan? (They’re curious what a sunset is.) Or how a jellyfish feels about not having a heart? (Sorry, but they’re not sorry.)This melancholy menagerie pairs the more unsavory facts of animal life with their hilarious thoughts and reactions. Sneakily informative, and wildly witty, SAD ANIMAL FACTS will have you crying with laughter.
A Place That Matters Yet: John Gubbins's MuseumAfrica in the Postcolonial World
by Sara ByalaA Place That Matters Yet unearths the little-known story of Johannesburg’s MuseumAfrica, a South African history museum that embodies one of the most dynamic and fraught stories of colonialism and postcolonialism, its life spanning the eras before, during, and after apartheid. Sara Byala, in examining this story, sheds new light not only on racism and its institutionalization in South Africa but also on the problems facing any museum that is charged with navigating colonial history from a postcolonial perspective. Drawing on thirty years of personal letters and public writings by museum founder John Gubbins, Byala paints a picture of a uniquely progressive colonist, focusing on his philosophical notion of “three-dimensional thinking,” which aimed to transcend binaries and thus—quite explicitly—racism. Unfortunately, Gubbins died within weeks of the museum’s opening, and his hopes would go unrealized as the museum fell in line with emergent apartheid politics. Following the museum through this transformation and on to its 1994 reconfiguration as a post-apartheid institution, Byala showcases it as a rich—and problematic—archive of both material culture and the ideas that surround that culture, arguing for its continued importance in the establishment of a unified South Africa.
The Isles of the Blest
by Morgan LlywelynThe mighty Connla is weary from the tiresome and bloody battle fought in the name of his father, Conn, and his land, Erin. Willingly, he lets himself become intoxicated by the surreal beauty of a fairy-woman who offers to take him to a faraway, forbidden land where all his desires will be fulfilled. He welcomes the opportunity to be away from the gruesome war that has consumed his life for so long, but what price will the warrior pay to be in a land void of death, loss and pain? Does the pleasure of the company of the stunning stranger outweigh the price he must pay to remain in THE ISLES OF THE BLEST?
Vagabonds of Gor (Gorean Saga #24)
by John NormanSwords, slaves, and spies bring a Counter-Earth to vivid life in the cult classic series that&’s &“a legend in speculative fantasy&” (Boing Boing). Cabot and his friend Marcus, of Ar&’s Station, who have been spying for Ar in the Cosian encampments, now seek the long-inert forces of Ar to report acquired intelligence to their commander, Saphronicus, who proves to be of the treasonous party of Ar. Cabot and Marcus are placed under arrest, as spies. Primary forces of Ar, largely inactive in recent months, are now to pursue Cosian forces withdrawing from Ar&’s Station, through the vast Vosk delta to the sea. The Cosian forces, however, have avoided the delta, and the delta campaign is a ruse to decimate the armed might of Ar, to use as a weapon the marshes and swamps of the delta itself, their treacherous, trackless wildernesses and wastes, the quicksand, the insects, the serpents and reptiles, the local populations, to deliver a final decisive blow to what was once the unchallenged splendor and power of Gor&’s finest infantry. Rediscover this brilliantly imagined world where men are masters and women live to serve their every desire. Vagabonds of Gor is the 24th book in the Gorean Saga, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Tea with the Black Dragon (Black Dragon #1)
by R. A. MacAvoyIn this &“astonishing fantasy debut,&” a mother and a mysterious Chinese man—who is more than he appears—search for her missing daughter in San Francisco (Locus). Offering &“a deft blend of the oldest of magicks in a dragon, and the newest of sorceries in computers&” (Anne McCaffrey), this is the incomparable novel that garnered Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and Philip K. Dick Award nominations, and earned its author the John W. Campbell Best New Writer award. Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter, Elizabeth, is in trouble—she just doesn&’t know what kind. Mysterious phone calls from San Francisco at odd hours of the night are the only contact they've had for years. Now, Elizabeth has sent her mother a plane ticket and reserved a room for her at the city&’s most luxurious hotel. Yet, since Martha checked in, she still hasn&’t been contacted by her daughter, and is feeling lonely, confused, and a little bit worried. But Martha meets someone else at the hotel: Mayland Long, a distinguished-looking and wealthy Chinese man who is drawn to Martha&’s good character and ability to pinpoint the truth of a matter. They become close quickly, and he promises to help her find Elizabeth. Before he can solve the mystery, though, Martha herself disappears—and Mayland realizes that he&’s in love with her. Now, a man whose true nature and identity is unknown to those around him will embark on a potentially dangerous adventure in a city on the verge of exploding with its own sort of magic as technology spreads through the region that will become known as Silicon Valley. An elegant, delightful, and unusual novel that blends ancient myth with modern wizardry, Tea with the Black Dragon is &“a small masterpiece, setting a fantasy story against a contemporary background&” (Booklist).
The Moonstone: Large Print (The\works Of Wilkie Collins #Vol. 6)
by Wilkie CollinsThe novel that T. S. Eliot called &“the first, the longest, and the best of the modern English detective novels&”Guarded by three Brahmin priests, the Moonstone is a religious relic, the centerpiece in a sacred statue of the Hindu god of the moon. It is also a giant yellow diamond of enormous value, and its temptation is irresistible to the corrupt John Herncastle, a colonel in the British Army in India. After murdering the three guardian priests and bringing the diamond back to England with him, Herncastle bequeaths it to his niece, Rachel, knowing full well that danger will follow. True to its enigmatic nature, the Moonstone disappears from Rachel&’s room on the night of her eighteenth birthday, igniting a mystery so intricate and thrilling it has set the standard for every crime novel of the past one hundred fifty years.Widely recognized, alongside the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, as establishing many of the most enduring conventions of detective fiction, The Moonstone is Wilkie Collins&’s masterwork and one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Married Men Make the Best Lovers
by Ruth DicksonIf you&’re going to adopt a philosophy to live by, make it one that gets your heart pumping and unleashes your spirit of adventure!Married Men Make the Best Lovers is a classic, smart, and sassy advice book from the 1960s, the heyday of the sexual revolution. As one of the most outspoken leaders of the movement, Ruth Dickson unleashes a wicked mind, a razor-edged wit, and the freewheeling attitude that made her one of the most popular writers of the day. After years of personal research, she offers pointed advice on becoming a happy and successful Other Woman, covering everything from the selection, capture, and care of a married lover to his ultimate release. She leaves no stone unturned, discussing every aspect of the affair, up to and including the problematic Wife. Wrapping things up with an informative Q&A, Married Men Make the Best Lovers is a must-read for any woman who treasures both her single status and the enjoyment of a rich, fulfilling sex life. And for those ladies (and gentlemen) who seek further enrichment, Dickson went on to author the definitive non-marriage manual, Now That You&’ve Got Me Here, What Are We Going to Do? Sexier than Helen Gurley Brown, wittier than Xaviera Hollander, Ruth Dickson tells the truth, makes you laugh, gives you innovative ideas and thoughtful advice on how to navigate the tricky waters of true freedom of choice. Other Woman status may not be for everybody but it&’s difficult to disregard Dickson's cleverly persuasive argument in defense of this provocative lifestyle.
War Path
by Kerry NewcombAs France and Britain wage battle over America, one man takes the war into his own handsTwo lines of Abenaki Indians stand between the settlers and freedom. Each holds a fearsome club, and each is eager to kill. Survive the gauntlet, and the white men are free to go. None but Johnny Stark is up to the task. A mountain of a man, used to spending months at a time in the untamed wilderness of North America, he beats the Indians at their own game, disarming one of the warriors and using his club to fight his way to survival. It is a miracle escape, one that the Abenaki will sing of for generations. This is only the start of the legend of Johnny Stark.When France and Britain go to war over their North American colonies, the Native American tribes are forced to choose sides. In the middle is Stark, who owes allegiance to no crown, but will do whatever it takes to ensure that the frontier remains free for as long as he draws breath.
Purpose of Evasion
by Greg DinalloGreg Dinallo&’s blockbuster Rockets&’ Red Glare earned rave reviews for its ingenious use of the Cuban Missile Crisis and detailed knowledge of current military technology. Now, with Purpose of Evasion, Dinallo proves he&’s a master of the techno-thriller genre. Seven Americans languish in captivity somewhere in the Middle East. Soon they will begin to die. In desperation, CIA Director Bill Kiley authorizes the shadowy air force colonel Richard Larkin to carry out a shocking plan: Under the cover of a punitive air raid on Libya, Larkin will deliver two highly sophisticated F-111 bombers to Libyan dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi. The reason? Qaddafi claims that he knows where the hostages are and that he can deliver them safely into American hands. The catch? Larkin must kill two American pilots to make the plan work. In Beirut, a brilliant and handsome Saudi named Saddam Moncrieff, secretly working for the CIA, arranges a meeting with an old lover. She is Katifa, passionate, flawlessly beautiful, and completely committed to the vicious Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, who had hidden the hostages somewhere in the Middle East. For the sake of the hostages, Moncrieff must somehow turn Katifa against her master. As Larkin&’s cynical plot is executed, he makes one crucial mistake: Major Walter Shepherd, one of the American pilots marked for death, escapes. As long as Shepherd lives, the operation can be exposed. Kiley and Larkin make a decision: Shepherd must be found—and killed. A team of assassins is dispatched to locate and terminate the fiercely independent air force pilot. Shepherd sets out on a heart-stopping journey to save his honor and his life—unaware that, at the very same moment, a crack navy SEAL team has been sent on a mission to rescue the hostages. The tension mounts to unbearable levels as Nidal&’s deadline for killing the hostages draws near, and Shepherd finds himself caught in the violent madness that is the Middle East.Purpose of Evasion is a stunning triumph, an eerily plausible &“what if?&” techno-thriller set in a world where deception is a way of life and death haunts every moment.
Madame Blavatsky: The Woman Behind the Myth
by Marion MeadeThe life and times of Helena Blavatsky, the controversial religious guru who cofounded the Theosophical Society and kick-started the New Age movement. Recklessly brilliant, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky scandalized her 19th century world with a controversial new religion that tried to synthesize Eastern and Western philosophies. If her contemporaries saw her as a freak, a charlatan, and a snake oil salesman, she viewed herself as a special person born for great things. She firmly believed that it was her destiny to enlighten the world. Rebelliously breaking conventions, she was the antithesis of a pious religious leader. She cursed, smoked, overate, and needed to airbrush out certain inconvenient facts, like husbands, lovers, and a child. Marion Meade digs deep into Madame Blavatsky&’s life from her birth in Russia among the aristocracy to a penniless exile in Europe, across the Atlantic to New York where she became the first Russian woman naturalized as an American citizen, and finally moving on to India where she established the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society in 1882. As she chased from continent to continent, she left in her aftermath a trail of enthralled followers and the ideas of Theosophy that endure to this day. While dismissed as a female messiah, her efforts laid the groundwork for the New Age movement, which sought to reconcile Eastern traditions with Western occultism. Her teachings entered the mainstream by creating new respect for the cultures and religions of the East—for Buddhism and Hinduism—and interest in meditation, yoga, gurus, and reincarnation. Madame Blavatsky was one of a kind. Here is her richly bizarre story told with compassion, insight, and an attempt to plumb the truth behind those astonishing accomplishments.
Phthor (Aton Ser.)
by Piers AnthonyA young man and a woman from the planet Minion face violence and destruction on the subterranean world of Chthon in the bestselling author&’s early novel.Phthor is the sequel to Chthon, less intricately structured and less complicated in plot, but still quite dark and ugly in theme and detail. Rather than flashbacks and flash-forwards, it has a Y outline, with the stem the initial story and the ends alternate futures, neither of which is acceptable to Aton&’s son Arlo. Arlo has his own encounter with a Minionette, and naturally, destruction is upon him and all with whom he associates. Writer and editor Charles Platt was so impressed with the chthonic setting that he wrote two additional sequels, Plasm and Soma, which are even darker and grimmer.
The Far Shore
by Rear Admiral Edward EllsbergJune 6, 1944, D-Day: Allied forces took the beaches at Normandy—and the naval engineering genius of Edward Ellsberg would play a crucial part. Before World War II, Edward Ellsberg had already established himself as a true innovator and master naval engineer, revolutionizing the salvage and rescue of sunken vessels like no one before. Then, having served his country for over a decade, he retired to private life. But his work was not finished. Within hours of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the aging and physically ill Ellsberg was on a train to Washington, DC, to offer his services once again. And they would be needed for the greatest military invasion in human history. In The Far Shore, Rear Admiral Ellsberg describes in detail the meticulous preparation and efforts behind the Normandy Invasion—efforts that would keep the flow of men and materials streaming onto the beaches and into the heart of Europe. From dealing with the extremes of engineering possibilities to wrestling with the knowledge that countless lives would depend on the success of his intricate planning, Ellsberg would work himself into exhaustion to do his part. His achievements would eventually earn him the Distinguished Service Medal and lead to his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Vividly described by a man who saw firsthand the horrors of war and the cost of victory, The Far Shore takes readers through the brutal surf, onto the bloody beaches, and into the mind of one of World War II&’s little-known heroes.
The Silver Witch
by Sue RichA century-old legend draws a desperate man and a scarred woman into the steamy swamps of nineteenth-century Florida in this stunning paranormal romance. Ashlee Walker believes no man can love her after the blast that caused her disfigurement. Connor Westfield comes looking for a cure for malaria for his aunt. What neither of them count on is their intense passion for one another and the connection that ties them together magically. United by eerily familiar visions of a long dead couple, Ashlee and Connor transcend all barriers to their love and feel a growing urgency for each other, even as they journey deeper and deeper into the swamps and the legend of the Silver Witch. There they discover a long buried secret that demands retribution and a love so strong that it transcends time and space.
Touched by Fire
by Greg DinalloAmid the flames, a killer is waiting . . .Appearances are deceiving when it comes to Dr. Lilah Graham, a hardworking, uncompromising genetic researcher who is driven by uncontrollable impulses that even she can&’t understand. When she suddenly becomes the target of a deranged firebomber while studying the link between genetic makeup and violent behavior, her tough outer shell begins to crumble and those around her suspect that something is amiss. Dan Merrick, the lead arson investigator assigned to the case, begins to rule out suspects while also developing an interest in Graham, which eventually leads him to the discovery of a startling past she has never mentioned. When her parents&’ home is set on fire and her father is killed, Graham is forced to confront her repressed childhood memories of the death of her twin and her own sexual abuse.An inferno of sex and danger, action and desire, Touched by Fire is a taut, fast-paced thriller that races to a final, fiery climax.
Come and Join the Dance: A Novel
by Joyce JohnsonThe daring debut of the Beat Generation&’s first woman novelistIt&’s 1955. Seven days before her graduation from Barnard College, Susan Levitt asks herself, &“What if you lived your entire life without urgency?&” just before going out to make things happen to her that will shatter the mask of conformity concealing her feelings of alienation. If Susan continues to be &“good,&” marriage and security await her. But her hunger is rising for the self-discovery that comes from existential freedom. After breaking up with the Columbia boy she knows she could marry, Susan seeks out those she considers &“outlaws&”: the brave and fragile Kay, who has moved into a rundown hotel, in order to &“see more than fifty percent when I walk down the street&”; the vulnerable adolescent rebel Anthony; and Peter, the restless hipster graduate student who has become the object of Kay&’s unrequited devotion.This fascinating novel—which the author began writing a year before her encounter with Jack Kerouac—is a young woman&’s complex response to the liberating messages of the Beat Generation. In a subversive feminist move, Johnson gives her heroine all the freedom the male Beat writers reserved for men, to travel her own road.
The Calling of the Three (Night-Threads #1)
by Ru EmersonFirst in the Night-Threads series featuring a warrior, a shapshifter, and a sorceress who journey into an alternate world to fight a battle not their own. A duke dies and his evil brother usurps his throne. Who do you call? In master world builder Ru Emerson&’s spellbinding Night‑Threads fantasy series, the rightful heir summons a warrior, a shape‑shifter, and a sorceress from Earth. But not just anywhere on Earth—California! And if you do not think this trio has what it takes to harness the power of Night‑Threads, you do not know your Marina Del Rey from your Santa Rosa. The problem is, they are afraid to use their powers. These three have been chosen to fight in a dangerous battle of unbelievable magic—a magic they must believe in . . . or die. Do not miss the entire Night‑Threads series: The Calling of the Three, The Two in Hiding, One Land, One Duke, The Craft of Light, The Art of the Sword, and The Science of Power.