(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) The three classic novelspublished here in one volume are rich with the crisp prose, subtlecharacters, and intricate plots that made Dashiell Hammett one ofthe most admired writers of the twentieth century. A one-timedetective and a master of deft understatement, Hammett virtuallyinvented the hard-boiled crime novel. In "The Maltese Falcon," SamSpade, a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics, tangleswith a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at thedrop of a dime. "The Thin Man" introduces Hammett's wittiestcreations, Nick and Nora Charles, who solve homicides in betweenwisecracks and martinis. And in "Red Harvest," Hammett's anonymoustough-guy detective, the Continental Op, takes on the entire townof Poisonville in a deadly war against corruption. "DashiellHammett is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hellof a writer."--"Boston Globe" "Hammett was spare, hard-boiled, buthe did over and over what only the best writers can ever do.

Frank, no ordinary sixteen-year-old, lives with his fatheroutsIde a remote Scottish village. Their life is, to say the least,unconventional. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elderbrother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his fathermeasures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank hasturned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In thebizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes ofEric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground forhis brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes themysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly. Iain Banks'celebrated first novel is a work of extraordinary originality,imagination and horrifying compulsion: horrifying, because itenters a mind whose realities are not our own, whose values of lifeand death are alien to our society; and compulsive, because thehumour and compassion of that mind reach out to us all.

Kate Daniels cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wantsto deal with-especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshiftingcommunity. And now there's a new player in town-a foe that may be too much foreven Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Becausethis time, Kate will be taking on family.

For her exciting debut in hardcover, New York Timesbestselling author Karen Rose delivers a heart-stopping suspensenovel that picks up where DIE FOR ME left off, with a detectivedetermined to track down a brutal murderer. Special Agent Daniel Vartanian has sworn to find theperpetrator of multiple killings that mimic a 13-year-old murderlinked to a collection of photographs that belonged to his brother,Simon, the ruthless serial killer who met his demise in DIE FOR ME.Daniel is certain that someone even more depraved than his brothercommitted these crimes, and he's determined to bring the currentmurderer to justice and solve the mysterious crime from yearsago. With only a handful of images as a lead, Daniel's search willlead him back through the dark past of his own family, and into therealm of a mind more sinister than he could ever imagine. But hisquest will also draw him to Alex Fallon, a beautiful nurse whosetroubled past reflects his own. As Daniel becomes attached to Alex,he discover

The phenomenal #1 bestseller is now a major motion picture:"Startling and addictive. . . . An epic story of love, family, andloyalty." - USA Today Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that takes over theminds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. ButWanderer, the invading "soul" who occupies Melanie's body, findsits former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of hermind. As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, ahuman who lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she'snever met. Soon Wanderer and Melanie-reluctant allies-set off tosearch for the man they both love. Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about thepersistence of love and the essence of what it means to behuman. THE HOST movie opens in theaters on March 29, 2013.

In the twenty-third century pioneers have escaped the crowdedearth for life in self-sustaining orbital colonies. One of thecolonies, Rotor, has broken away from the solar system to createits own renegade utopia around an unknown red star two light-yearsfrom Earth: a star named Nemesis. Now a fifteen-year-old Rotoriangirl has learned of the dire threat that nemesis poses to Earth'speople--but she is prevented from warning them. Soon she willrealize that Nemesis endangers Rotor as well. And so it will be upto her alone to save both Earth and Rotor as--drawn inexorably byNemesis, the death star--they hurtle toward certain disaster.

Here, collected in one volume, are all four full-length novelsand 56 short stories chronicling the colorful adventures ofSherlock Holmes--every word Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote aboutBaker Street's most famous resident.

#1 "New York Times" bestselling author Nora Roberts invitesreaders to the wedding event of the year #1 "New York Times"bestselling author Nora Roberts presents her first trade original-anovel of love, friendship, and family-Book One in the BrideQuartet. Wedding photographer Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most athome behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments beforean important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into thebride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeingstars. A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitelynot Mac's type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs totake her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turninto something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have toturn to her three best friends-and business partners-to see her wayto her own happy ending.

Who's testing whom? When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planetSolaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he is forced toconfront a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in theliving physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining theplanet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed andnewly corporeal memories. Scientists speculate that the Solarisocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories,its purpose in doing so unknown.The first of Lem's novels to bepublished in America and now considered a classic, SOLARIS raises aquestion: Can we truly understand the universe around us withoutfirst understanding what lies within?

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

Filled with exciting tales of the frontier, the chronicle ofthe Sackett family is perhaps the crowning achievement of one ofour greatest storytellers. In Treasure Mountain Louis L’Amourdelivers a robust story of two brothers searching to learn the fateof their missing father — and finding themselves in a struggle justto stay alive. Orrin and Tell Sackett had come to exotic New Orleans looking foranswers to their father’s disappearance twenty years before. Touncover the truth, the brothers enlisted the aid of a trailwisegypsy and a mysterious voodoo priest as they sought to re-createtheir father’s last trek. But Louisiana is a dangerous land, and with one misstep thebrothers could disappear in the bayous before they even set foot onthe trail that led to whatever legacy their father had left behind... and a secret worth killing for.

From "the funniest important writer in America" (Miami Herald)comes a tale that is gleefully zany and incisively sharp and nowavailable in trade paperback for the first time.

Tock--your time is up Bennett enliststhe help of a former colleague, FBI Agent Emily Parker. As hisaffection for Emily grows into something stronger, his relationshipwith Mary Catherine takes an unexpected turn. All too soon, anotherappalling crime leads Bennett to a shocking discovery that exposesthe killer's pattern and the earth-shattering enormity of his plan.From the creator of the #1 New York detective series comes the mostvolatile and most explosive Michael Bennett novel ever.

"The third and fourth novel in John Updike's acclaimed quartetof Rabbit books-now in one marvelous volume."RABBIT IS RICHWinnerof the American Book Award andthe National Book Critics CircleAward "Dazzlingly reaffirms Updike's place as master chronicler ofthe spiritual maladies and very earthly pleasure of theMiddle-American male."-"Vogue ""A splendid achievement "-"The NewYork Times "RABBIT AT RESTWinner of the Pulitzer Prize andtheNational Book Critics Circle Award "Brilliant . . . It must beread. It is the best novel about America to come out of America fora very, very long time."-"The Washington Post Book World" "Powerful. . . John Updike with his precision's prose and his intimatelyattentive yet cold eye is a master."-"The New York Times BookReview"

With over eight million copies of her beloved books in print,Sophie Kinsella is a true phenomenon. Now Becky Brandon (neeBloomwood) is back, in a hilarious new" "Shopaholic novel Becky'slife is blooming She's working at London's newest big store, TheLook, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a ShoeRoom)...and she's pregnant She couldn't be moreoverjoyed--especially since discovering that shopping cures morningsickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from thedesigner nursery...to the latest, coolest pram...to the celebrity,must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turnsout to be Luke's glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky'sperfect world starts to crumble. She's shopping for two...but arethere three in her marriage?

Praise for A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE: 'In the grand epic fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best …tense, surging, insomnia-inflicting' Time Magazine ‘An absorbing, exciting read … Martin’s style is so vivid that youwill be hooked within a few pages’ The Times ‘The sheer mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasywriters away shaking their heads …Its ambition: to construct theTwelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous theycould eat the Borgias’ Guardian ‘Colossal, staggering … Martin captures all the intoxicatingcomplexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome in hisimaginary world … The writing is always powerful …' SFX

After having lost her family and the luxurious life she livedin beautiful Napa, California, Ava Winters finds herself on RebunIsland, Japan, the site of Satoshi Takeda's Revenge School. There,Ava meets Reena, Jon, Cruz, and Jane. At Revenge School, Ava alsomeets Emily Thorne who has recently returned to her training withTakeda. Emily shares her wisdom about Revenge and the importance oflooking for justice in a world where their enemies have thrived.Jon finds a file in Takeda's office detailing the connective tissuelinking the group currently at Revenge School. He presents Ava andthe others with the information, highlighting the looming May 1stdate of an annual gala in Napa where they will all have theopportunity to address their respective "revengendas." Althoughtheir training is not finished, the group feels the time is rightto set out on their mission. Assuming the delicious melodramatictone of the show, the book will reveal twists, turns, murder,collusion and deception. SCHOOLED IN REVENGE will also

Tommy Phan is a successful detective novelist living theAmerican Dream in southern California. One evening he comes home tofind a small rag doll on his doorstep. It's a simple doll, coveredentirely in white cloth, with crossed black stitches for the eyesand mouth, and another pair forming an X over the heart. Curious,he brings it inside. That night Tommy hears an odd popping soundand looks up to see the stitches breaking over the doll's heart.And in minutes the fabric of Tommy Phan's reality will be tornapart. Something terrifying emerges from the pristine white cloth,something that will follow Tommy wherever he goes. Something thathe can't destroy. It wants Tommy's life, and he doesn't know why.He has only one ally, a beautiful, strangely intuitive waitress hemeets by chance--or by a design far beyond his comprehension. Hehas too many questions, no answers, and very little time. Becausethe vicious and demonically clever doll has left this warning onTommy's computer screen: "The deadline is dawn."Tickt

Beautiful Chiara is smitten by the brilliant but pennilessdoctor Salvatore. Desiring the unwilling Salvatore as a futurehusband, she engages in a series of comic attempts to land herobject of affection, only to create a greater chasm between thestar-crossed would-be lovers.

Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republicof Iran, Azar Nafisi, a bold and inspired teacher, secretlygathered seven of her most committed female students to readforbidden Western classics. Some came from conservative andreligious families, others were progressive and secular; some hadspent time in jail. They were shy and uncomfortable at first,unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon theyremoved their veils and began to speak more freely–their storiesintertwining with the novels they were reading by Jane Austen, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. As Islamicmorality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, asfundamentalists seized hold of the universities and a blind censorstifled artistic expression, the women in Nafisi’s living roomspoke not only of the books they were reading but also aboutthemselves, their dreams and disappointments. Azar Nafisi’s luminous masterwork gives us a rare glimpse, fromthe inside, of women’s lives in rev

Many people among them Henry James) have considered Balzac tobe the greatest of all novelists. Eugenie Grandet, his spare,classical story of a girl whose life is blighted by her father'shysterical greed, goes a long way to justifying that opinion. Oneof the most magnificent of his tales of early nineteenth-centuryFrench provincial life, this novel is the work of a writer on whomnothing was lost, and who represents most fully the ability of thehuman animal to understand and illuminate its own condition. Translated By Ellen Marriage With An Introduction By Fredric R.Jameson Fredric R. Jameson is William A. Lane, Jr. Professor ofComparative Literature at Duke University in North Carolina. Hispublications include Sartre: The Origins of a Style, Signatures ofthe Visible, and Post-modernism, or, The Cultural Logic of LateCapitalism, with Aesthetics of the Geopolitical forthcoming. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.