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Infidelities
Infidelities
Novakovich, Josip
¥84.16
Tragicomedy of the highest order, this stellar collection is Croatian writer Novakovich's best ever. Hailed as one of the best short story writers of the 1990s, Josip Novakovich was praised by the New York Times for writing fiction that has "the crackle of authenticity, like the bite of breaking glass." In his new collection, he explores a war–torn Balkan world in which a schoolchild's innocence evaporates in a puff of cannon smoke, lust replaces love, and the joy of survival overrides all other pleasures. As Serb, Croat, and Bosnian Muslim armies clash in the cities and countryside of the former Yugoslavia, it's hard to tell the front lines from the home front. The characters in Infidelities––soldiers and civilians alike––are caught in the ridiculous, often cruelly whimsical contradictions of war and the paranoia and folly of those who conduct it. In "Ribs," a Croatian woman whose husband has already been taken by the war will go to any length to keep her son out of the army, including sleeping with the draft officer, a tryst that leads to an unexpected, and disturbing, spiritual vision. A Buddhist soldier in the Bosnian Muslim military isly accused of being an informer to the enemy Serbs after his detachment ambushes itself in "Hail." A draft dodger is in the hospital for a transplant, in "A Purple Heart," when a high–ranking Croatian general steals the heart for himself (and dies) while the dodger suddenly discovers a new thirst for life. In "Spleen," a Bosnian émigré in America learns that even in the throes of passion she cannot find release from the haunting memories of her homeland. These stories cover a broad sweep of time, reaching back to the first shots of World War I in Sarajevo and forward to the plight of Balkan immigrants in contemporary America. Throughout, acts of compassion, gallows humour, even desire arise from a landscape devastated by tragedy.
Annette Vallon
Annette Vallon
Tipton, James
¥82.80
For fans of Tracy Chevalier and Sarah Dunant comes this vibrant, alluring debut novel of a compelling, independent woman who would inspire one of the world's greatest poets and survive a nation's bloody transformation.Set amid the terror and excitement of the French Revolution, James Tipton's evocative novel is the story of a woman who has for too long been relegated to the shadows of history: Annette Vallon, William Wordsworth's mistress and muse.Born into a world of wealth and pleasure, Annette enjoys the privileges of aristocracy, but a burning curiosity and headstrong independence set her apart. Spoiled by the novels of Rousseau, she refuses to be married unless it is for passion. Yet the love she finds with a young English poet will test Annette in unexpected ways, bringing great joy and danger in a time of terror and death. Told in sparking prose, Annette Vallon captures the courage and fearlessness of a woman whose dramatic story illuminates a turbulent and fascinating era.
The Burning Girl
The Burning Girl
Billingham, Mark
¥56.07
Some fires never go out ...X marks the spot -- and when that spot is a corpse's naked back and the X is carved in blood, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is in no doubt that the dead man is the latest victim of a particularly vicious contract killer. It's morbid and messy -- but it's a mystery with plenty of clues. This is turf warfare between North London gangs. Organized crime boss Billy Ryan is moving into someone else's territory, and that someone is ready to stand up for what he believes is his.Thorne's got plenty on his plate when he agrees to help out ex-DCI Carol Chamberlain rake through the ashes of an old case that has come back to haunt her. Schoolgirl Jessica Clarke was lit on fire twenty years ago. Now, Gordon Rooker, the man Chamberlain put away for the crime, is up for parole, and it seems there's a copycat on the prowl.Or perhaps it's someone trying to right a serious wrong: Jessica Clarke was the victim of mistaken identity. The intended target was the daughter of a gangland boss, a woman who would grow up to marry the current leader, Billy Ryan ...Thorne quickly identifies a tenuous link between the two crimes, and past and present fuse together to form a new, horrifying riddle. One that involves more killings, violence, greed, and a murderous family with no values -- except gain at any price.When an X is carved into his front door, Tom Thorne realizes that fires, once thought to be out, continue to burn.
The Waitress
The Waitress
Nathan, Melissa
¥78.55
The AppetizerKatie has lofty career aspirations that seem to change almost hourly: writer, film director, teacher, educational psychiatrist. In the meantime, she's waiting tables and waiting for "Mr. Right" to arrive out of the blue -- which seems unlikely, considering her romantic track record is as pitiful as her job history.The Main CourseStill, a girl can dream, even when she's rushing a hot plate of linguini over to the nasty customer at table six. So when gorgeous, sensitive, perfect Dan Crichton asks her out, Katie's over the moon. But once again, commitment phobia rears its ugly head and dinner turns into the Great First Date Disaster -- and Katie's ideal romance is over before the goodnight kiss.The Just DessertsThings are tough when a woman wants it all and will not settle -- and has a little trouble making up her mind. But it's about to get really complicated for the Queen of Complications.The BillNot only is Dan coming back -- as her new boss and engaged to someone else -- but persistent Ex-Boyfriend #3 Hugh's back too, with a vengeance. And suddenly there's a lot more on her tray than even the most able food service professional could safely handle ...
Liberating Paris
Liberating Paris
Thomason, Linda Bloodworth
¥77.26
Woodrow McIlmore is leading the perfect life in Paris, Arkansas: married to his high school sweetheart, he has two wonderful children and a warm circle of family and friends. When Wood's daughter announces that she wants to marry a college classmate, Wood is stunned. But that's just the tip of the iceberg -- her intended is the son of the woman who left Wood twenty years earlier, the free-spirited Duff. And so begins a tumultuous year in Paris, as Duff returns and familiar sparks fly with her old flame. Their rekindled passion affects not only Wood and Duff but also their good friends, as they must now all decide what in their lives is worth keeping and what needs to be thrown away.
Borrower of the Night
Borrower of the Night
Peters, Elizabeth
¥69.16
Meet art historian Vicky Bliss, She is as beautiful as she is brainy--with unassailable courage, insatiable curiosity, and an expertise in lost museum treasures that often leads her into the most dangerous of situations.A missing masterwork in wood, the last creation of a master carver who died in the violent tumult of the sixteenth century, may be hidden in a medieval German castle in the town of Rothenburg. The prize has called to Vicky Bliss, drawing her and an arrogant male colleague into the forbidding citadel and its dark secrets. But the treasure hunt soon turns deadly. Here, where the blood of the long forgotten damned stains ancient stones, Vicky must face two equally perilous possibilities. Either a powerful supernatural evil inhabits this place. . .or someone frighteningly real is willing to kill for what Vicky is determined to find.
The Murder Notebook
The Murder Notebook
Santlofer, Jonathan
¥90.77
Jonathan Santlofer once again combines his extraordinary talents as both a writer and an artist in this second chilling thriller featuring NYPD forensic sketch artist Nate Rodriguez. Though plagued by the death of his father years ago, Rodriguez has little time to dwell on the past. A rash of seemingly unrelated murders holds New York City in a gridlock of terror, and with his reputation for having a sixth sense—an uncanny ability to draw things he hasn't even seen—Rodriguez lands a spot on the task force investigating the crimes. But with his mind's eye clouded, he's forced to search for an answer the old-fashioned way: by hitting the streets.Rodriguez begins to suspect a common thread between the victims, confirmed when more bodies turn up—those of the killers themselves. As the slayings continue, the link between the crimes comes into focus and Rodriguez must convince the NYPD that they are up against something bigger—and more heinous—than anyone ever suspected.The Murder Notebook is a smart, innovative suspense novel with a terrifying, ripped-from-the-headlines urgency. Where is the line between advancement and criminality in matters of manipulating the human psycheWhat would happen if someone were no longer able to feel fearWith his unique blend of gripping prose and original sketches, Jonathan Santlofer has crafted a tale of morality and duty, love and justice, that is as shocking as it is timely.
Tell My Horse
Tell My Horse
Hurston, Zora Neale
¥88.56
As a first-hand account of the weird mysteries and horrors of voodoo, Tell My Horse is an invaluable resource and fascinating guide. Based on Zora Neale Hurston's personal experiences in Haiti and Jamaica, where she participated as an initiate rather than just an observer of voodoo practices during her visits in the 1930s, this travelogue into a dark world paints a vividly authentic picture of ceremonies and customs and superstitions of great cultural interest.
The Missing
The Missing
Langan, Sarah
¥48.39
A remote and affluent Maine community, Corpus Christi was untouched by the environmental catastrophe that destroyed the neighboring blue-collar town of Bedford. But all that will change in a heartbeat . . .The nightmare is awakened when third-grade schoolteacher Lois Larkin takes the children on a field trip to Bedford. There in the abandoned woods, a small, cruel boy unearths an ancient horror—a contagious plague that transforms its victims into something violent, hungry . . . and inhuman.The long, dark night is just beginning. And all hope must die as the contagion feeds—for the malevolence will not rest until it has devoured every living soul in Corpus Christi . . . and beyond.
Even the Wicked
Even the Wicked
Block, Lawrence
¥56.07
Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die. He calls himself "The Will of the People"—an ingenious serial killer who announces his specific murderous intentions to the media before carrying through on his threats. A child molester, a Mafia don, a violent anti-abortionist—even the protected and untouchable are being ruthlessly erased by New York's latest celebrity avenger.Scudder knows that no one is innocent—but who among us has the right to play GodIt is a question that will haunt the licensed p.i. on his journey through the bleak city grays, as he searches for the sanity in urban madness. . .and for a frighteningly efficient killer who can do the impossible.
Fallout
Fallout
Huston, James W.
¥55.31
Devastated at being reprimanded for a midair collision, TOPGUN instructor Luke Henry quits the Navy to start a private aerial combat school in the Nevada desert, where he and a number of his buddies, all former TOPGUN fliers -- part of the Old Bro network -- train fighter pilots for the U.S. government. Prior to leaving the Navy, Luke discovers that the United States has purchased twenty MiG-29s -- Russia's front-line fighter -- from Moldova, of the former Soviet Union. These are the very planes he wants to use for his own school, flying the Russian MiGs from an abandoned Air Force base.But Luke's lucrative contract with the U.S. government comes with a caveat: among his students are a group of Pakistani Air Force pilots -- handpicked by the Department of Defense -- whom he must instruct. Luke is hesitant to train fighters from another country in the skills he learned at TOPGUN, but he won't be allowed to start the school without agreeing. The school opens, but the closer he gets to these students, the more he suspects that they may have an entirely different, and malicious, agenda in mind. They have a bone to pick with the United States and may be using Luke's school as their Trojan Horse to get into the country and launch an attack that would cause more damage than that sustained at Pearl Harbor. It falls to Luke to discover their plan and to stop it before it spirals out of control.With Fallout James W. Huston scores big with his most riveting and thought-provoking thriller yet. Filled with exciting twists and turns and characters whose motivations will keep readers guessing until the startling conclusion, Fallout is a story of domestic terrorism that is as realistic as it is terrifying.
The Truth
The Truth
Pratchett, Terry
¥70.10
The denizens of Ankh-Morpork fancy they've seen just about everything. But then comes the Ankh-Morpork Times, struggling scribe William de Worde's upper-crust, newsletter turned Discworld's first paper of record.An ethical joulnalist, de Worde has a proclivity for investigating stories -- a nasty habit that soon creates powerful enemies eager to stop his presses. And what better way than to start the Inquirer, a titillating (well, what else would it be?) tabloid that conveniently interchanges what's real for what sells.But de Worde's got an inside line on the hot story concerning Ankh-Morpork's leading patrician Lord Vetinari. The facts say Vetinari is guilty. But as William de Worde learns, facts don't always tell the whole story. There's that pesky little thing called the truth ...
Night Watch
Night Watch
Pratchett, Terry
¥70.10
One moment, Sir Sam Vimes is in his old patrolman form, chasing a sweet-talking psychopath across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork. The next, he's lying naked in the street, having been sent back thirty years courtesy of a group of time-manipulating monks who won't leave well enough alone. This Discworld is a darker place that Vimes remembers too well, three decades before his title, fortune, beloved wife, and impending first child. Worse still, the murderer he's pursuing has been transported back also. Worst of all, it's the eve of a fabled street rebellion that needlessly destroyed more than a few good (and not so good) men. Sam Vimes knows his duty, and by changing history he might just save some worthwhile necks—though it could cost him his own personal future. Plus there's a chance to steer a novice watchman straight and teach him a valuable thing or three about policing, an impressionable young copper named Sam Vimes.
Paragon Lost
Paragon Lost
Duncan, Dave
¥55.91
Many legends have emerged from the shadows of Ironhall, yet surely none can surpass the greatness and glory predestined for Sir Beaumont—possessor of the purest and strongest of hearts, and a mind as quick, keen, and accurate as his sword. But the day he sets out in the service of the elderly Lord Wassail turns to a black one, and young Beau's journey ends in horror and blood . . . and disgrace. Banished from the King's Blades, he now faces a grim future as a homeless pariah, a creature to be shunned and despised. But redemption can come from unexpected directions and in unrecognizable guises. Approached in secret by the legendary Durendal, now Grand Master of the Order, the dishonored paragon is offered one last chance to win back his weapon and his place among his brothers in arms. But to do so, Beau must ride alone back through the icy gates of Hell . . . and do battle with the Devil himself.
We Disappear
We Disappear
Heim, Scott
¥88.56
The body of a teenage boy is discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna—a recent widow battling cancer—calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her past. Hoping to discover more about "disappeared" people, she turns to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on—though the chance to help his mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some small salvation.But what he finds is a boy named Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly deteriorating, he must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's unsettling connections to other missing teens . . . and, ultimately, to Scott himself.
HarperCollins e-books
HarperCollins e-books
Perry, Steve
¥129.12
Annabelle Donohoe, the CEO of World Tech, is mad as hell. Her dreams of world domination died the day Zac Robillard discovered her evil plans and fled World Tech, taking his greatest creation, his beloved I-Bots, and all his research, with him. (Read about their origins in Isaac Asimov's History of I-Bots!) More than super-machines, more than robots, the I-Bots are eerilyhuman in appearance, but not in abilities. Their genetic components--based on human DNA--and mechanical infrastructures give them pshyical strength and powers humans can only imagine, and a measure of free will impossible in robots. Annabelle wants them back and will stop at nothing to get her way, including hiring the world's deadliest assassin to find Zac, and his I-Bots--the beautiful Radiant and Killaine, clever Itazura, Psy-4, and Stonewall--and bring them in...or kill them. For if Annabelle cannot have the I-Bots she vows that no one else can either. But Janus, the ruthless killer, is not the only hunter they must elude...Surrounded by enemies, Zac and the I-Bots can find no safe place, not even the streets. In the year 2013, the Silver Metal Stompers, a neo-Nazi gang, roam the nation's cities wreaking havoc on robots, especially Scrappers, outmoded homeless robots who huddle in hobo camps, rusting away unless they are repaired by a mysterious humanitarian and robotarian called DocScrap. In an unlucky twist of fate, the Stompers discover DocScrap is none other than Zac Robillard and that the I-Bots aren't exactly human...and vow to crush Zac and the I-Bots into wreckage. Based on an original concept by Isaac Asimov, Time Was is a nonstop action adventure combining all the excitement of Golden Age SF with the technological wonders of modern cybernetics and quantum science. This remarkable collaboration between the greatest science fiction genius of all time and a team of brilliant young writers is a major publishing event. Only the Grand Master himself could have foreseen the awesome wonders depicted in Isaac Asimov's I-Bots. And only today's finest storytellers could have brought them so vividly to life.
Diamonds Take Forever
Diamonds Take Forever
Jiji, Jessica
¥73.48
Hot for the rock . . .If her old-fashioned family had never left Morocco, Michelle Benamou would have been in big trouble, being almost thirty and nowhere near married. Luckily, in the hardy multicultural stew of New York City, she's been able to follow her other dreams, working her way up from broadcast news producer to on-air reporter. Still, there's something sparkly missing from the ring finger of her left hand. . .Michelle thinks maybe her sexy, ex-Marine boyfriend can provide it -- until Joe abruptly tells her adios. Her old friend Benny from the Bronx is an intriguing possibility -- but he's out in L.A. . . . and not quite divorced.It's tough for a sexy, very modern urban woman to follow the traditional calls of the marriage muezzins to matrimony -- especially when the rest of her life starts racing rapidly downhill. Suddenly in desperate need of an affordable new Manhattan apartment (an oxymoron), and quite possibly a new career (a catastrophe), Michelle's got other worries besides finding passionate love sealed with an "I do."But a diamond is just coal, after all, until it's forged by fire and time. And sometimes something precious, strong, dazzling, and enduring can turn up when you least expect it . . .
Witch Baby
Witch Baby
Block, Francesca Lia
¥21.73
Once upon a time in the city of Shangri-L.A., someone left a baby on a doorstep. She had wild, dark hair and purple eyes and looked at the world in a special way.The family that took her in called her Witch Baby and raised her as their own. But even though she tried to fit in, Witch Baby never felt as though she truly belonged.So one day she packed her bat-shaped backpack, put her black cowboy-boot roller skates, and went out into the real world to find out who she really was....
The Super Sluggers: Wall Ball
The Super Sluggers: Wall Ball
Markey, Kevin
¥33.63
Springtime in Rambletown means one thing—another season of Rounders baseball! Old Man Winter has delivered more snow than the post office has delivered mail! The only way the Rounders are getting to first base is with a snow shovel. As the team tries to "warm up" for the upcoming season, they welcome a new center fielder: Orlando Ramirez. He's fast as a cheetah and catches everything. Only one problem: those great catches end with him smashing into the outfield wall like a crash-test dummy. With the season opener against the hated Haymakers approaching, Orlando and the Rounders will need a miracle—or a really big shovel—to put the brakes on Orlando's collision course with the wall and this never-ending cold spell.
The Last Blue Mile
The Last Blue Mile
Ponders, Kim
¥140.08
18-year-old Brook Searcy has just begun her first year at the Air Force Academy. Abandoned by her mother and raised by a loving yet distant father, Brook has surprised her traditional East Coast family by deciding to enter a completely foreign world -- the military. At the Academy she encounters both friends and terrifying foes, and experiences both first love and terrible loss as her relationships with her fellow cadets grow. Commandant John Waller, a former fighter pilot, has made the Air Force his life for nearly twenty years. His career couldn-t be in better shape, but he finds himself drifting away from his wife and daughters. And when a new (and female) Superintendent who-s never flown a plane becomes Waller-s new boss, he worries that the institution that he-s shaped his life around might be slipping away as well.Over the course of two years, terrible scandals and heartbreaking tragedy touch both Brook and Waller-s lives -- forcing them to make wrenching decisions that will shape both their careers and their lives.
Tyrant's Blood
Tyrant's Blood
McIntosh, Fiona
¥55.31
The second book in the breathtaking epic fantasy of heritage, vengeance, and destinyA decade has passed since the barbarian Loethar brutally conquered the last remaining, most powerful realm in the Denova Set—though the coveted Valisar Enchantment, the irresistible ability to coerce and control, eludes him still. Ten years since the warlord butchered the Set's royals and feasted on their blood.But he did not kill them all.Having secretly escaped Loethar's wrath, the young Valisar prince Leonel has grown to manhood under the protection of the notorious highwayman Kilt Faris. Now the boy king wants more than his rightful throne of Penraven—he wants revenge. But not all of enslaved Penraven wishes for Leonel's rule; indeed, Loethar has spent the past ten years uniting the Set's realms into a peaceful, prosperous empire. And unbeknownst to all, the true inheritor of the Valisar Enchantment is awakening—and a dark threat, far more sinister than even the invasion of the barbarian horde a decade earlier, is poised to threaten the Crown and reveal the most shocking Valisar secret of all.