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Good Behavior: A Dortmunder Novel (The Dortmunder Novels #6)
by Donald E. WestlakeA hapless thief is drafted by a gang of nuns in need, in a novel by an Edgar Award winner who &“has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists&” (San Francisco Chronicle). It was supposed to be a simple caviar heist. Dortmunder is almost in the building when the alarm sounds, forcing him up the fire escape and onto the roof. He leaps onto the next building, smashing his ankle and landing in the den of the worst kind of creature he can imagine: nuns. Although decades removed from his Catholic orphanage, Dortmunder still trembles before the sisters&’ habits. But these nuns are kinder than the ones he grew up with. They bandage his wound, let him rest, and don&’t call the cops—for a price. The father of the youngest member of their order, disgusted by their vow of silence, has kidnapped his daughter, locked her in a tightly guarded penthouse apartment, and is attempting to convince her to renounce her faith. The nuns ask Dortmunder to rescue the girl. It&’s an impossible assignment—but one he cannot refuse.
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
by James GleickNew York Times Bestseller: This life story of the quirky physicist is &“a thorough and masterful portrait of one of the great minds of the century&” (The New York Review of Books). Raised in Depression-era Rockaway Beach, physicist Richard Feynman was irreverent, eccentric, and childishly enthusiastic—a new kind of scientist in a field that was in its infancy. His quick mastery of quantum mechanics earned him a place at Los Alamos working on the Manhattan Project under J. Robert Oppenheimer, where the giddy young man held his own among the nation&’s greatest minds. There, Feynman turned theory into practice, culminating in the Trinity test, on July 16, 1945, when the Atomic Age was born. He was only twenty-seven. And he was just getting started. In this sweeping biography, James Gleick captures the forceful personality of a great man, integrating Feynman&’s work and life in a way that is accessible to laymen and fascinating for the scientists who follow in his footsteps.
Easy Meat (The Charlie Resnick Mysteries #8)
by John HarveyA teenage thug&’s apparent suicide reveals a vicious cycle of violence: &“No one does the British police procedural better&” (Manchester Evening News). Nicky Snape likes robbing old people. The fifteen-year-old snatches shirts from stores, purses from his teachers, and as much money as he can lift from his mother. But for an easy score he knows no better target than the elderly. When he sneaks into the home of Eric and Doris Netherfield, his footsteps wake the old couple. With a piece of steel railing he keeps by the bed for protection, Eric attempts to defend his home. He fails. Nicky fights back, battering them both to within an inch of their lives. Nottingham police inspector Charlie Resnick knows Nicky Snape, and doesn&’t hesitate to arrest him. But what should be the end of the crime is only the beginning, as Snape&’s arrest sparks a chain reaction of rape, suicide, and murder.
The Wisdom of the Koran: The Wisdom Of The Torah, The Wisdom Of The Talmud, The Wisdom Of The Koran, The Wisdom Of Muhammad, And The Wisdom Of Buddha (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesDiscover the beliefs and lessons of Islam&’s sacred textThe Koran, the sacred text at the heart of the second-largest religion in the world, is regarded by Muslims as the exact word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammad. Representing the ultimate authority on almost every issue related to Muslim life, the Koran&’s lessons and parables offer the faithful moral and spiritual guidance. In The Wisdom of the Koran, readers will discover a selection of key chapters such as &“The Night Journey&” and &“The Cave,&” footnotes to convey context and meaning, as well as several stories from Judeo-Christian history. This invaluable anthology is an excellent step toward greater understanding of one of the finest pieces of Arabic prose and the Muslim faith.
The Red Horseman (Jake Grafton #4)
by Stephen CoontsAs the USSR collapses, thousands of nuclear warheads may end up in the wrong hands in this thriller from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of War. Jake Grafton has been promoted to deputy director of a new US intelligence agency—and the stakes of his commission are higher than ever before. With the Soviet Union on the brink of dissolution, a vast nuclear arsenal is suddenly ripe for the taking by mercenaries, rogue nations, and insane Russian nationalists. Grafton must stop them, and he may have to do it alone—because not everyone supposedly on his side wants him to succeed. From the &“masterful storyteller&” whose blockbuster tales of international suspense include Flight of the Intruder and Liars & Thieves, The Red Horseman is a startling vision of the apocalyptic danger that emerged at the end of the Cold War, a threat that still exists wherever weapons of mass destruction remain poorly secured.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
Nevermore: A Novel
by William HjortsbergSir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini team up to search for a literary-minded killerIt is 1923 and a beautiful young woman has just been found outside a tenement, bones crushed, head ripped from her shoulders. A few stories above, her squalid apartment has been ransacked, and twenty-dollar gold pieces litter the floor. The window frame is smashed. She seems to have been hurled from the building by a beast of impossible strength, and the only witness claims to have seen a long-armed ape fleeing the scene. The police are baffled, but one reporter recognizes the author of the bloody crime: the long-dead Edgar Allan Poe. A psychopath is haunting New York City, imitating the murders that made Poe&’s stories so famous. To Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the killing spree is of purely academic interest. But when Poe&’s ghost appears in Doyle&’s hotel room, the writer and the magician begin to suspect that the murders may hold a clue to understanding death itself. This ebook features an illustrated biography of William Hjortsberg including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
The Scarred Man
by Andrew KlavanA ghost story forces a man to confront the darkest secret of his pastChristmas is lonely for a man with no family, and Mike North is grateful when his boss invites him to spend the holiday at his cabin upstate. But as a blizzard descends and conversation dries up, Mike regrets leaving New York City. Only the arrival of Susannah, his boss&’s daughter, saves him from going mad with boredom. She is quick-witted and beautiful, a perfect antidote to snow-bound tedium, and he begins to fall in love. For Christmas night entertainment, Mike invents a ghost story. It goes all right until Susannah starts to scream. Something in his half-baked melodrama about a Chicago serial killer haunted by a man with a scarred face has touched a nerve. Unknowingly, Mike described a scene that matches Susannah&’s nightmares. Soon, what had been a dream begins to intrude into reality. To understand her terror, Mike digs into his own memory, hoping to unearth the secret that gave birth to the scarred man.
The Innocent Flower (The MacDougal Duff Mysteries #3)
by Charlotte ArmstrongMacDougal Duff falls in with a strange family—and senses murderA sudden cloudburst forces MacDougal Duff to stop his car in front of the home of Mary Moriarty. The history professor turned detective is reclining in his seat, waiting out the torrential rainstorm, when Mary knocks on the car window holding a feverish child and jabbering about a dead woman. After years investigating murders, Mac Duff is not fazed by a dead body, but the sick child moves his heart. He speeds to the hospital, and while the doctor is seeing to the child, he asks Mary about the dead woman. Her name was Brownie, Mary says, and she was poisoned. Unable to resist an interesting death, Mac Duff moves in with the family, pretending to be a distant relation. To his delight, he finds a home corrupted by secrets, whose residents do not hesitate to kill.
The Bridesmaid: To Fear A Painted Devil
by Ruth RendellFrom the New York Times–bestselling author of A Dark-Adapted Eye: A unique psychological thriller about a gentle young man tempted to kill for love. Philip Wardman is disgusted by murder. He cannot tolerate violent films or the local news, and when his friends discuss such things he often leaves the room. At his sister&’s wedding, Philip becomes infatuated with a strange, silver-haired woman named Senta Pelham. They sleep together after the reception, and Philip finds himself falling headfirst into obsessive, all-consuming love. He wants to marry Senta and live an ordinary life—but before they can, she has a murderous idea. To prove the unconventionality of their love, Senta proposes that each of them commit a murder. Shocked by the idea, but unable to resist his beloved, Philip is drawn into a maze of violence and deceit—and is horrified to find that he feels quite at home. &“Subdued tones, stultifying atmosphere, and omniscient narration mark this telling depiction of mutual psychological obsession,&” writes Library Journal. Ruth Rendell was one of the twentieth century&’s finest thriller writers, and The Bridesmaid is one of her most chilling.
Kolchak's Gold
by Brian GarfieldOn the hunt for long-lost gold, a historian attracts murderous attentionTwenty-five million people died during the Russian Civil War. It was a clash between Tsarist loyalists and the new Soviet order, and when the imperialist forces saw defeat in sight, their thoughts turned to their future. Under the command of Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, they loaded the entire Tsarist treasury onto a train, packing millions of worthless banknotes alongside platinum, jewels, and over five hundred tons of gold bullion. As Kolchak retreated, the train disappeared, and the fortune vanished. America&’s foremost historian of Russia, Harry Bristow, is researching a new biography of Kolchak when an ancient veteran of the Russian Civil War gives him a clue to the gold&’s whereabouts. Bristow would like to find the treasure for the sake of historical research, but where gold goes, greed follows—and death is not far behind.
Under the Sea Wind
by Rachel CarsonThis New York Times bestseller by the author of the environmental classic Silent Spring beautifully details the coastal ecosystem of birds and the sea. In her first book, preeminent nature writer Rachel Carson tells the story of the sea creatures and birds that dwell in and around the waters along North America&’s eastern coast—and the delicately balanced ecosystem that sustains them. Following the life cycles of a pair of sanderlings, a mackerel, and an eel, Carson gracefully weaves scientific observation with imaginative prose to educate and inspire, creating one of the finest wildlife narratives in American literature. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rachel Carson including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
The Kremlin Conspiracy
by Brian FreemantleIn the throes of the Cold War, the Soviet Union engineers the financial collapse of the West. The world financial market has become unbalanced. Nations in South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe are trillions of dollars in debt, and a default by any one of them could start a domino effect that would eventually topple the economies of America and Europe. Across the Western hemisphere, economists such as Tom Pike are devising a brilliant plan to head off the collapse. The situation is dire, but with transatlantic cooperation there should be time to stave off disaster. But something is not as it seems. Before long, Tom realizes that the economic turmoil was deliberately created. The culprits are in Moscow, where a plot is in motion to totally destabilize the Western economy. Now Tom must stop the scheme before the dollar collapses. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
The Wisdom of Buddha: The Wisdom Of The Torah, The Wisdom Of The Talmud, The Wisdom Of The Koran, The Wisdom Of Muhammad, And The Wisdom Of Buddha (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesDiscover the origins of Buddhism and its tenets from the seminal texts Drawn from the sacred books of Buddhism, this collection reveals the insights and beliefs at the heart of the world&’s fourth-largest religion. Siddhartha Guatama, a sixth-century Hindu warrior prince, renounced the world in his search for the meaning of life and became the Buddha, or &“Enlightened One,&” while meditating at Bodh Gaya. From that moment forward the Buddha sought to share his own enlightenment with all of mankind. Through the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha taught followers to let go of desire and worldly attachments in order to alleviate suffering while embracing practices of meditation, mindfulness, and right conduct. Covering the birth and death of the Buddha, as well as the major tenets of Buddhism, including karma and the middle doctrine, The Wisdom of Buddha offers a profound view of the Buddhist religion and its founder.
The Spiritual Journals of Warren Felt Evans: From Methodism to Mind Cure (Religion in North America)
by Warren Felt EvansWarren Felt Evans (1817–1889) converted to Methodism while at Dartmouth College, became a minister, and spent his Methodist years as a spiritual seeker. His two extant journals, edited and annotated by Catherine L. Albanese, appear in print for the first time and reveal the inner journey of a leading American spiritual pilgrim at a critical period in his religious search. A voracious reader, he recorded accounts of intense religious experience in his journals. He moved from the Oberlin perfectionism he embraced early on, through the French quietism of Madame J. Guyon and Archbishop Fénelon, then into Swedenborgianism, spiritualism, and mind cure with distinct theosophical overtones. His carefully documented journey is suggestive of the similar journeys of the religious seekers who made their way into the burgeoning metaphysical movement at the end of the 19th century—and may shed light too on today's spirituality.
The Resurrection
by John GardnerA passionate portrait of a family&’s attempts to understand the meaning behind personal tragedy When Professor James Chandler learns he is dying from leukemia, he moves his family to his childhood home in Batavia, New York. There, surrounded by loved ones—both new and old—the immediacy of Chandler&’s illness strikes them with new force, and the limitations of his mortality become painfully clear. Rich and moving, and imbued with insight, The Resurrection is a poignant story of love in the face of the ultimate tragedy. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of John Gardner, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Gardner family and the University of Rochester Archives.
The Franchise
by Peter GentA corrupt football team fights to become the sport&’s dominant franchiseThe Texas Pistols never should have been. The league had no business awarding a team to dying Park City, but it only took a little pressure—financial and otherwise—to bring the expansion franchise to town. At first, they&’re worthless, playing in an empty stadium for slack-jawed fans, but the owners have a plan. Five years to financial security. Five years to complete domination of the sport. Five years to the Super Bowl. And it starts with Taylor Rusk. But Rusk, the finest college quarterback of his generation, is no fool, and he realizes quickly that all is not honest in Park City. He doesn&’t want to stop the corruption; he wants a piece of it, and for a price he will lead his new team to glory. In Texas, football is life. But in Park City, it can mean death, too.
A Little Less Than Kind
by Charlotte ArmstrongAfter his father&’s sudden death, a college student seeks revengeLadd Cunningham never felt comfortable in his father&’s office. After high school he went to Stanford University rather than enter the family business, and he planned never to return. But then his father became ill, dying a slow, painful death, and Ladd was forced to come back. Ladd&’s new stepfather David Crown presses him, trying to learn if Ladd plans to finish college or take the reins at Cunningham Company. Ladd says nothing, and Crown gives him a box of his father&’s effects. Inside the dead man&’s planner, Ladd finds a note implicating Crown in his father&’s death. Murder is too good for a criminal. Ladd wants vengeance—slow, calculated, and irreversible.
Cutting Edge (The Charlie Resnick Mysteries #3)
by John HarveyThe brooding British detective returns in this &“moody revenge tragedy . . . Harvey creates characters of astonishing psychological diversity&” (The New York Times Book Review). Karen Archer understands that women who date doctors should expect tardiness. The last time she invited Tim Fletcher over, he arrived from the emergency room exhausted, and barely had time to say hello before he passed out on her bed. Tonight her patience has run out. After a bottle of wine and too much television, she gives up on Fletcher and leaves the house to find her own fun—but instead she finds Fletcher, covered in blood, sprawled across the steps near her building. Karen runs to find the police, not sure if Fletcher is alive or dead. Despite his blood loss, Fletcher survives. Soon the attacker comes for other members of the hospital staff, and police inspector Charlie Resnick must race to find him before the slasher graduates from assault to murder.
The Case of the Sliding Pool (The Masao Masuto Mysteries #5)
by Howard FastA rare California deluge unearths a hidden body—and a decades-old crimeRain has spoiled Masao Masuto&’s vacation. For six days the storm has trapped the Zen Buddhist detective and his family inside their Los Angeles cottage. By the morning of his vacation&’s final day, he is so stir crazy that the call to come to work is a relief. Detective Masuto knows no better cure for boredom than a puzzling murder. Nothing remains of the deceased man but his bones. A mudslide caused by the long, punishing storm destroyed the terrace of a Beverly Hills mansion, dislodging the swimming pool and opening a grave which had been covered for three decades. The skeleton&’s deep stab wound suggests a professional&’s hand—possibly a World War II veteran with commando training. As Masuto pries into the past, the aged murderer takes deadly steps to cover up his long-forgotten crime. The detective finds himself locked in a game of cat and mouse with a brilliant and ruthless killer. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Talking to Strange Men
by Ruth RendellA lonely man stumbles into a dangerous game in this twisting novel of psychological suspense by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Crocodile Bird. In a desolate alley on the bank of the Thames, a spy slips through the shadows. Mungo is the Director General of English intelligence, and he knows Moscow Centre has been watching him for weeks, but there is no spy in London better at losing a tail. Satisfied he hasn&’t been followed, he drops off his message and disappears into the night. It&’s a classic scene of Cold War espionage, save for one detail: Mungo isn&’t a spy at all. He&’s a teenager, playing an epic game of make-believe. John Creevey, still reeling from the implosion of his marriage, is dreaming of taking revenge against his wife&’s lover when he discovers one of Mungo&’s coded signals. Unaware that the message is simply part of a child&’s game, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the rest of the spy network—a tragic misunderstanding that threatens to turn this imaginary war into something very real—and very deadly. &“Rendell has brilliantly interwoven these compelling strands into one masterful tale of suspense,&” writes Library Journal. Three-time Edgar Award winner Ruth Rendell was a master of psychological suspense, and Talking to Strange Men is one of the most unusual espionage stories in the history of the Cold War.
The Jews: Story of a People
by Howard FastThe &“epic and stirring story&” of 4,000 years of Judaism—told by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author (Jewish Quarterly). From their nomadic beginnings and the rise of Moses to the kings David and Solomon through the Diaspora and the unthinkable horror of the Holocaust—and culminating in the founding of the state of Israel—this is the sweeping tale of the Jews. Howard Fast, author of the classic Spartacus, displays his gift for compelling narrative throughout this eminently readable and well-researched saga. In Fast&’s telling, truth is stranger, and more inspiring, than fiction. &“Here, I decided, was one of the most exciting and romantic adventures in all the history of mankind,&” he explains in his introduction. &“It had a continuity that spanned most of recorded history. It was filled with drama, passion, tragedy, and faith; and with all due reverence for the scholars, it pleaded for a storyteller to tell it as a story, indeed as the story of all stories.&” Fast&’s accomplishment is required reading not only for lovers of great literature but also for anyone interested in the march of civilization. Barry Holtz, the editor of The Schocken Guide to Jewish Books hails The Jews as &“an exciting and pleasurable [introduction] to a four-thousand-year epic.&” This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Three James Herriot Classics: All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful (All Creatures Great and Small)
by James HerriotThe beloved New York Times bestsellers that inspired the popular BBC series—from a Yorkshire veterinarian and a &“wise and wonderful writer&” (The Boston Globe). Perhaps better than any other writer, James Herriot reveals the ties that bind us to the natural world. Collected here are three of his masterpieces—All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful—which have been winning over animal lovers everywhere for almost fifty years. From his night visits to drafty barns during freezing northern England winters, to the beautiful vitality of rural life in the summertime, to the colorful menagerie of animals—and their owners—that pass through his office, Herriot vividly evokes the daily challenges and joys that come with being a veterinarian. Witty and heartwarming, this collection of whimsical, dramatic, and touching anecdotes reveals the ties that bind us to the animals in our lives. This edition features a new introduction from the author&’s son and bonus archival photos.
Now You See It (The Toby Peters Mysteries #24)
by Stuart M. KaminskyThe final Toby Peters Hollywood whodunit from the Edgar Award–winning author is &“a marvelous magic trick of a mystery&” featuring Harry Blackstone (Booklist, starred review). When an anonymous rival demands that master illusionist Harry Blackstone reveal his secrets on stage or die, the magician hires Toby Peters and his brother, ex-cop Phil Pevsner, to run security for his show at the famous Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Of course, Peters doesn&’t expect the job to include replacing a showgirl for Blackstone&’s show-stopping sawing-a-woman-in-half trick after the saboteur has stolen the blade. Peters&’s brief career in magic is only the first surprise as a blackmailing con man turns up shot in a dressing room backstage and one of Blackstone&’s competitors ends up dead at a testimonial dinner. With &“The Great Blackstone&” now a murder suspect, the sleuth will need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to solve this mystery . . .
The Wisdom of FDR (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesHow a great American president communicated a changing worldview What made Franklin Delano Roosevelt an effective leader? His policies and decisions changed our nation&’s and the world&’s history. But more than his skill as a savvy politician and progressive thinker, FDR&’s ability to directly and eloquently voice his thoughts on national concerns, social change, and humanity spoke to and reached the hearts of his people. In this selection of quotes drawn from his speeches and papers, FDR&’s observations and opinions cover everything from faith, war, and peace, to religion, freedom, and the very definition of what it is to be an American. Essays include &“The Four Freedoms,&” &“We Belong to Many Races,&” &“True Education,&” &“The Rights of the Common Man,&” &“Dynamic Democracy,&” and &“Government with a Soul.&”
Candy (Southern, Terry Ser.)
by Terry Southern Mason HoffenbergThe New York Times–bestselling parody of Voltaire&’s Candide that was banned in France and went on to become a salacious cult classic. Candy is a perfect, idealistic, innocent girl, born on Valentine&’s Day, which, her daddy says, is why she&’s so beautiful. At college in Racine, Wisconsin, she listens earnestly to Professor Mephisto&’s lecture on philosophy and how &“deep and aching are the needs of man&”—and takes his pronouncement to heart. She will dedicate the rest of her days to bringing the sweet balm of her warmth to all those lonely men on her arduous path to spiritual enlightenment—a hunchback, a crazed gynecologist in a bar bathroom, her father&’s lecherous twin brother, her guru at the nutty Cracker Foundation . . . It is in Tibet, during an earthquake, that Candy will finally find full . . . enlightenment. This rollicking tale, by a duo of authors including the legendary Dr. Strangelove screenwriter who also wrote for Saturday Night Live and toured with the Rolling Stones over the course of his colorful career, is, in the words of William Styron, &“wickedly funny to read and morally bracing as only good satire can be.&”This ebook features an illustrated biography of Terry Southern including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s estate and an extended biography of Mason Hoffenberg.