Past midnight, Chyna Shepherd, twenty- six, gazed out a moonlitwindow, unable to sleep on her first night in the Napa Valley homeof her best friend's family. Instinct proves reliable. A murderoussociopath, Edgler Forman Vess, has entered the house, intent onkilling everyone inside. A self-proclaimed "homicidal adventure,"Vess lives only to satisfy all appetites as they arise, to immensehimself in sensation, to live without fear, remorse or limits, tolive with intensity. Chyna is trapped in his deadly orbit. Chyna is a survivor, toughened by a lifelong struggle for safetyand self-respect. Now she will be tested as never before. At firsther sole aim is to get out alive-until, by chance, she learns theidentity of Vess's next intended victim, a faraway innocent onlyshe can save. Driven by a newly discovered thirst for meaningbeyond mere self-preservation, Chyna musters every inner resourceshe has to save an endangered girl—as moment by moment, theterrifying threat Edgler Foreman Vess intensifies.
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
Book De*ion Dean Koontz’s uniquetalent for writing terrifying thrillers with a heart and soul isnowhere more evident than in this latest suspense masterpiece thatpits one man against the ultimate deadline. If there were speedlimits for the sheer pulse-racing excitement allowed in one novel,Velocity would break them all. Get ready for the ride of yourlife. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. A diabolic killer plays a harrowing game of catand mouse with a reclusive bartender in Koontz's latest grippingsuspense thriller. Billy Wiles, a 30-something bartender and formerwriter, is content with his solitary Napa County existencelistening to "beer-based psychoanalysis" from tavern regulars;visiting his hospitalized, comatose fiancée, Barbara; and carvingwood sculptures. But the simple life gets mighty complicated whenhe finds a note with a deadly, time-sensitive ultimatum: he mustchoose between the death of a young schoolteacher or an elderlyhumanitarian in six hours. Reluctant local s
Passionate and perceptive, the three short novels that make upBalzac's "History of the Thirteen" are concerned in part with theactivities of a rich, powerful, sinister and unscrupulous secretsociety in nineteenth-century France. While the deeds of "TheThirteen" remain frequently in the background, however, theindividual novels are concerned with exploring various forms ofdesire. A tragic love story, Ferragus depicts a marriage destroyedby suspicion, revelation and misunderstanding. The Duchess deLangeais explores the anguish that results when a society coquettetries to seduce a heroic ex-soldier, while "The Girl with theGolden Eyes" offers a frank consideration of desire and sexuality.Together, these works provide a firm and fascinating foundation forBalzac's many later portrayals of Parisian life in his greatnovel-cycle "The Human Comedy".
Tertuliano Maximo Afonso is a divorced, depressed historyteacher. To lift his spirits, a colleague suggests he rent acertain video. Tertuliano watches the film, unimpressed. But duringthe night, when he is awakened by noises in his apartment, he goesinto the living room to find that the VCR is replaying the video.He watches in astonishment as a man who looks exactly like him-or,more specifically, exactly like he did five years before,mustachioed and fuller in the face-appears on the screen. He sleepsbadly. Against his better judgment, Tertuliano decides to pursuehis double. As he roots out the man's identity, what begins as awhimsical story becomes a "wonderfully twisted meditation onidentity and individuality" (The Boston Globe). Saramago displayshis remarkable talent in this haunting tale of appearance versusreality.
Nothing is quite as it seems. Expect the unexpected in this veritable treasure trove of enthralling, witty, dark tales that could only come from the imagination of the greatest storyteller of our time. In this eerie, enchanting compilation, Stephen King takes readers down a road less travelled (for good reason) in the blockbuster e-book 'Riding the Bullet'. Terror becomes deja vu all over again when you get 'That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French'. 'LT's Theory of Pets' will make you stop and think before giving a dog to a loved one. And there are eleven more stories that will keep you awake until dawn.
Luther and Nora Krank are fed up with the chaos of Christmas.The endless shopping lists, the frenzied dashes through the mall,the hassle of decorating the tree... where has all the joy gone?This year, celebrating seems like too much effort. With their onlychild off in Peru, they decide that just this once, they'll skipthe holidays. They spend their Christmas budget on a Caribbeancruise set to sail on December 25, and happily settle in for arestful holiday season free of rooftop snowmen and festiveparties. But the Kranks soon learn that their vacation from Christmasisn't much of a vacation at all, and that skipping the holidays hasconsequences they didn't bargain for... A modern Christmas classic, Skipping Christmas is a charmingand hilarious look at the mayhem and madness that have becomeingrained in our holiday tradition. Luther and Nora Krank are fedup with the chaos of Christmas. The endless shopping lists, thefrenzied dashes through the mall, the hassle of decorating thetree... where
Matagorda Tap Duvarney lost his innocence in the War Between theStates, then tested his skills in the frontier army. Now he'ssettled on the Texas coast, working a ranch as the partner of hisold friend Tom Kittery--and finding himself in the middle of a feudbetween Kittery and a neighboring family. But the danger fromoutside is nothing compared to the threat within, as Duvarneysuspects Kittery's woman isn't all she appears to be. Tap may haveto go to war again. But this time will it be with his closestfriend? The First Fast Draw East Texas wasn't much of a home forCullen Baker. Few liked him, and some even tried to kill him. Yetafter three years of wandering, he's back to farm the land that isrightfully his. But Cullen's neighbors have long memories, and hisworst adversary has teamed up with a vicious outlaw. With enemiesclosing in on all sides and threatening the woman he loves, Cullenwill have to be faster than lightning--and twice as deadly--just tosurvive.
Isaac and Nora haven't seen each other in five years, yet whenNora phones Isaac late one night, he knows who it is before she'sspoken a word. Isaac, a photographer, is relinquishing his artisticcareer, while Nora, a writer, is seeking to rededicate herself tohers. Fueled by their rediscovered love, Nora is soon on fire withthe best work she's ever done, until she realizes that the storyshe's writing has turned into a fictionalized portrait of Isaac,exposing his frailties and compromises and sure to be viewed by himas a betrayal. How do we remain faithful to our calling if itestranges us from the people we love? How do we remain in loveafter we have seen the very worst of our loved ones? These are someof the questions explored in a novel that critics are calling "anabsolute pleasure" (The Seattle Times).
Kenneth Trachtenberg, the witty and eccentric narrator of"More Die of Heartbreak," has left his native Paris for theMidwest. He has come to be near his beloved uncle, theworld-renowned botanist Benn Crader, self-described aplantvisionary.a While his studies take him around the world, Benn, arestless spirit, has not been able to satisfy his longings afterhis first marriage and lives from affair to affair and from ablissto breakdown.a Imagining that a settled existence will end hisanguish, Benn ties the knot again, opening the door to a flood ofnew torments. As Kenneth grapples with his own problems involvinghis unusual lady-friend Treckie, the two men try to figure out whygifted and intelligent people invariably find themselves aknee-deepin the garbage of a personal life.a
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 legend, you know only half the truth. Here is themystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of… Dean Koontz's City of the Night They are stronger, heal better, and think faster than any humansever created—and they must be destroyed. But not even VictorHelios—once Frankenstein—can stop the engineered killers he’s setloose on a reign of terror through modern-day New Orleans. Now theonly hope rests in a one-time “monster” and his all-too-humanpartners, Detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison.Deucalion’s centuries-old hi
A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me aboat. The king's house had many other doors, but this was the doorfor petitions. Since the king spent all his time sitting at thedoor for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand),whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, hewould pretend not to hear . . ." Why the petitioner required aboat, where he was bound for, and who volunteered to crew for him,the reader will discover in this delightful fable, a philosophiclove story worthy of Swift or Voltaire.
In this, her first collection of nonfiction, Alice Walkerspeaks out as a black woman, writer, mother, and feminist inthirty-six pieces ranging from the personal to the political. Amongthe contents are essays about other writers, accounts of the civilrights movement of the 1960s and the antinuclear movement of the1980s, and a vivid memoir of a scarring childhood injury and herdaughters healing words.
Set during the Napoleonic wars at a time of national economicstruggles, Shirley is an unsentimental yet passionatedepiction of conflict among classes, sexes, and generations.Struggling manufacturer Robert Moore considers marriage to thewealthy and independent Shirley Keeldar, yet his heart lies withhis cousin Caroline. Shirley, meanwhile, is in love with Robert’sbrother, an impoverished tutor. As industrial unrest builds to apotentially fatal pitch, can the four be reconciled?
Nicholas Nickleby,a gentleman's son fallen upon hard times,must set out to make his way in the world.Along the way various older,money-grubbing villains attempt to injure him.Eventually,with the assistance of kind patrons,he and his family achieve economic security and a happy home.Sounds rather trite,doesn't it? Not with characters written by Dickens(Hard Times,Audio Reviews,LJ 5/1/98).Schoolmaster Squeers would make a fine poster boy for child abusers.Ralph Nickleby's initial desire to injure Nicholas gradually develops into a full-blown obsession.Then there are the kind Cheeryble brothers,the gentle,much-abused Smike,and a host of other friends who provide comic relief.Martin Jarvis does an outstanding job of reading this book.His ingenues sound young(a frequent problem area for male readers)while his villains are deliciously evil.The only problems are with the abridgment.In several places,choppy editing has left brief,disconnected scenes and/or character cameos without relevance to the abridged tale.Still
