Selden Edwards, apparently, took 35 years to write this dismal piece of drivel. He started writing at age 25, but I suspect that he conceived the idea at the age of 15. How else to explain the wholly un-ironic adoption of the puerile schoolboy nickname for the main character's guru - the Venerable Haze, a.k.a. the Haze - throughout the book? On page 6, Mr Edwards employs the word 'momentarily' to mean 'in a moment' - when in fact it means 'for a moment'. I would say that if it is English teaching that he has recently retired from, then it is just as well that he has retired. Time travel, I can (only just) live with, but the plot is contrived, and the story wholly devoid of humour, takes itself far too seriously, and employs tortured coincidences to allow the hero to make his way through life in 19th Century 'fin de siecle' (he loves that term!) Vienna. I managed 36 pages of this rubbish, and then gave up in disgust. I trust that Mr Edwards, if he ever does write another novel, will again take 35 years t

PTA meetings at Tarver Elementary School can get prettyheated. But after parent Sam Helmstetter is strangled in his carfollowing a meeting, mom and PTA secretary Beth Kennedy and herbest friend Marina fear there may be a cold-blooded killer in thegroup. Meanwhile, rumors spread that Beth's newest employee at erchildren's bookstore is the murderer. Yvonne served time for asimilar crime, but DNA evidence eventually proved her innocent. Asthe new PTA vice president organizes a boycott of the bookstore andthe real killer roams the streets of Rynwood, Wisconsin, Bethrealizes she'll need to stick her own neck out to catch an elusivestrangler...

In the 8th century AD Ibn al′Arabi, the Moorish governor of Barcelona, bestowed a magnificent gift upon Charlemagne, Holy Emperor of half of the known world: a chess set with the power to transform the course of history. New York City, 1970. Catherine ′Cat′ Velis, a computer expert working for one of the world′s largest accountancy firms, is sent on a dangerous assignment to retrieve an object of immeasurable value from somewhere in the remote reaches of Algeria. Montglane Abbey, France 1790, Mireille de Remy and her cousin Valentine are young novices at the fortress-like Montglane Abbey. With France aflame in revolution, the two girls burn to rebel against constricted convent life - and their means of escape is at hand. Buried deep within the abbey are pieces of the Montglane Chess Service, once owned by Charlemagne. Whoever reassembles the pieces can play a game of unlimited power. But to keep the game a secret from those who would abuse it, the two young women must scatter the pieces throughout t

World-renowned Harvard symboligist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization - the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on earth . . . the long-forgotten Illuminati lair. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague.Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you wereyoung and searching, helped you see the world as a more profoundplace, gave you sound advice to help you make your way throughit. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his collegeprofessor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made yourway, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn'tyou like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions thatstill haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the wayyou once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in thelast months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrievisited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used toback in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final"class": lessons in how to live. Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their t

A sharp, witty and hugely entertaining debut novel, The DevilWears Prada is The Nanny Diaries set in the world of high fashion.Welcome to the dollhouse, baby! When Andrea first sets foot in theplush Manhattan offices of Runway she knows nothing. She's neverheard of the world's most fashionable magazine, or its feared andfawned-over editor, Miranda Priestly. But she's going to beMiranda's assistant, a job millions of girls would die for. A yearlater, she knows altogether too much: That it's a sacking offenceto wear anything lower than a three-inch heel to work. But thatthere's always a fresh pair of Manolos for you in the accessoriescupboard. That Miranda believes Hermes scarves are disposable, andyou must keep a life-time supply on hand at all times. That eightstone is fat. That you can charge cars, manicures, anything at allto the Runway account, but you must never, ever, leave your desk,or let Miranda's coffee get cold. And that at 3 a.m. on a Sunday,when your boyfriend's dumping you because you're always

For years, readers wrote asking if Richard Bachman was really world-bestselling Stephen King writing under another name. Now the secret is out - and so, brought together in one volume, are these three spellbinding stories of future shock and suspense. The Long Walk: A chilling look at the ultra-conservative America of the future where a gruelling 450-mile marathon is the ultimate sports competition. Roadwork: An immovable man refuses to surrender to the irresistible force of progress. The Running Man: TV's future-favourite game show, where contestants are hunted to death in the attempt to win a $1 billion jackpot.

Humbert Humbert——scholar,aesthete and romantic——has fallencompletely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze，his landlady'sgum—snapping，silkv-skinned twelve—year—old daughter．Reluctantlyagreeing to marry Mrs Haze justtO be close to Lohta，Humbert suffersviciously in thepursuit of romance；but when Lo herself startslook—ing for attention elsewhere，he will carry her off on adesperate cross—country misadventure，all in the name ofLove．Savagely hilarious，flamboyant，heart—breakingand full ofingenious word play,Lolita is an immaculate，unforgettablemasterpiece of obsession，delusion and lust．

In this literary tour de force, novelist Arthur Golden enters a remote and shimmeringly exotic world. For the protagonist of this peerlessly observant first novel is Sayuri, one of Japan's most celebrated geisha, a woman who is both performer and courtesan, slave and goddess. We follow Sayuri from her childhood in an impoverished fishing village, where in 1929, she is sold to a representative of a geisha house, who is drawn by the child's unusual blue-grey eyes. From there she is taken to Gion, the pleasure district of Kyoto. She is nine years old. In the years that follow, as she works to pay back the price of her purchase, Sayuri will be schooled in music and dance, learn to apply the geisha's elaborate makeup, wear elaborate kimono, and care for a coiffure so fragile that it requires a special pillow. She will also acquire a magnanimous tutor and a venomous rival. Surviving the intrigues of her trade and the upheavals of war, the resourceful Sayuri is a romantic heroine on the order of Jane Eyre and

Maxwell and King, D.C. PIs, step on the toes of everyone, including the FBI and the Secret Service. They even manage to bruise the ego of First Lady Jane Cox, who hires them after her 12-year-old niece is kidnapped following a birthday party at Camp David. Baldacci excels at making the improbable believable as one obsessed man, 62-year-old Sam Quarry, takes on the best security the U.S. can muster from his Alabama redoubt. Even more impressive than Quarry's determined campaign is the ingeniousness with which Baldacci manages to disguise both Quarry's precise motivation and aims. Meanwhile, Maxwell has to deal with her mother's death and a host of other personal issues. Baldacci's careful plotting and confidant depictions of national security procedures make this a thinking man's thriller.

Worldwide No.1 bestseller John Grisham takes you into the heart of America's Deep South with a collection of stories connected by the life and crimes of Ford County: a place of harsh beauty where broken dreams and final wishes converge. From a hard-drinking, downtrodden divorce lawyer looking for pay-dirt, to a manipulative death row inmate with one last plea, "Ford County" features a vivid cast of attorneys, crooks, hustlers, and convicts. Through their stories he paints a unique picture of lives lived and lost in Mississippi. Completely gripping, frequently moving and always entertaining, "Ford County" brims with the same page-turning quality and heart-stopping drama of his previous bestsellers, and is proof once more why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.

Welcome to Aunt Pat's barbecue restaurant, which serves upMemphis fun with a side order of murder. Recipes included. Named in honor of Lulu Taylor's great aunt, Aunt Pat's family-runMemphis restaurant is known for its ribs and spicy cornbread. Butnow the Taylor family will be known for murder... Rebecca Adrian came to Memphis to suss out the best local BBQ fora prominent Cooking Channel Show. Trouble is, a mystery ingredienthas killed her-and now all fingers are pointing to Aunt Pat'srestaurant. Horrified that her family is being accused of murder,Lulu fires up her investigative skills to solve the crime beforesomeone else gets skewered.

In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.

With several Hollywood Heinlein adaptations about to belaunched (including "Starship Troopers" by the director of "TotalRecall"), this SF superstar is shining brighter than ever. Tocelebrate his success, Del Rey is reissuing the author's classicworks back into the forefront, beginning with "The Door intoSummer", the story of a modern-day--and future-time--Rip VanWinkle.

“After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece. …Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined.” The New York Times Book Review A sleek, gripping novel of encounters set in Tokyo during the spooky hours between midnight and dawn, by an internationally renowned literary phenomenon. Murakami’s trademark humor, psychological insight, and grasp of spirit and morality are here distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery. Combining the pyrotechnical genius that made Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle international bestsellers, with a surprising infusion of heart, Murakami has produced one of his most enchanting fictions yet. “Murakami is masterful with symbolism.. . . Night. . . can’t blacken the ever-shifting shutter speeds of Murakami’s cockeyed Kodak.. . . It is straight- ahead jazz with a quiet grace.” The Los Angeles Times

The name on the computer screen is James BarbousMatlock. Vietnam veteran. Collegeprofessor. He's Washington's choice to stop afar-reaching conspiracy, an undercover assignment destined to putMatlock's neck against the razor's edge of danger. Andthe faceless men in Washington don't care if it means savaging thewomen Matlock loves, or trapping Matlock in a maze of unrelentingterror. They care about just one thing: that Matlock isthe perfect man for the job...for a reason that is disturbing,violent, and extremely deadly.

The Stephen King Amusement Park - an unnerving experience, with rides every which way to hell . . . and a few to glory. A solitary finger pokes out of a drain. Novelty teeth turn predatory. The Nevada desert swallows a Cadillac. Meanwhile, the legend of Castle Rock returns . . . and grows on you. What does it all mean? What else could it mean? Stephen King is here with a powerful collection of stories - a vast, many-chambered cave of a volume. The long reach of Stephen King's imagination will take you on a roller coaster to places you've never been before. You will lose sleep. But Stephen King, writing to beat the devil, will do your dreaming for you.

Book De*ion About Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Dean Koontz's Frankenstein is the collective title of a series ofnovels co-written by Dean Koontz. Though technically of the mysteryor thriller genres, the novels also feature the trappings ofhorror, fantasy, and science fiction. From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerfulreworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you thinkyou know the story, you know only half the truth. Get ready for themystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of… Dean Koontz's Prodigal Son Every city has secrets. But none as terrible as this. His name isDeucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, asleight-of-reality artist who’s traveled the centuries with asecret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks thestreets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for thehumanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O’Connor iscool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks

Intelligence: high. Body: hard. Mission: what no oneelse can do. It's been a year since ex-Navy SEALEthan Kelly saw his wife Rachel alive. Now he's received ananonymous phone call claiming Rachel is alive. To find her, Ethanwill have to doge bullets, cross a jungle, and risk falling captiveto a deadly drug cartel that threatens his own demise.