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Selections from Fragile Things, Volume Four
Selections from Fragile Things, Volume Four
Gaiman, Neil
¥10.86
The marvelous creations found in Fragile Things showcase the unparalleled invention and storytelling brilliance—as well as the terrifyingly dark and entertaining sense of humor—of the incomparable Neil Gaiman. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most original writers of our time.In Selections from Fragile Things, Volume 4 you will find the following stories and poems, sure to thrill and amaze.Harlequin ValentineA Harlequin’s heart may be easily given, but how will the object of his affection treat his delicate organ?LocksIn Gaiman’s poem a man attempts to tell his daughter the tale of Goldilocks despite her interjections.The Problem of SusanA student interviews a professor of children’s fiction for a scholarly article, but when the discussion lands on C. S. Lewis’ Narnia the conversation becomes quite personal.InstructionsReal life advice, in poetry form, on what to do if you find yourself in the middle of a fairy tale.How Do You Think It FeelsAn affair with a younger woman leaves a man so despondent that he goes to extraordinary measures to protect his heart from future pain.My LifeThe monologue of a rather mangled sock monkey telling the story of his life, egged on by a couple of beers chased with whiskey.Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire TarotScenes inspired by a supernatural tarot deck whose cards betray surreal and somewhat blood-thirsty characters.Feeders and EatersAt a greasy all-night café a man runs into an old acquaintance, now a shriveled version of his once-handsome self. The man cannot escape the gruesome story of his friend’s deterioration involving a cat and an old woman with unnaturally long hair.Diseasemaker’s CroupAn imaginary disease in which the afflicted create imaginary diseases, Diseasemaker’s Croup takes hypochondria to a new level.
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.
Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
Fountain, Ben
¥94.10
The well-intentioned protagonists of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara are caught -- to both disastrous and hilarious effect -- in the maelstrom of political and social upheaval surrounding them. In "Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera," an ornithologist being held hostage in the Colombian rain forest finds that he respects his captors for their commitment to a cause, until he realizes that the Revolution looks a lot like big business. In "The Good Ones Are Already Taken," the wife of a Special Forces officer battles a Haitian voodoo goddess with whom her husband is carrying on a not-entirely-spiritual relationship. And in "The Lion's Mouth," a disillusioned aid worker makes a Faustian bargain to become a diamond smuggler for the greater good. With masterful pacing and a robust sense of the absurd, each story in Brief Encounters with Che Guevara is a self-contained adventure, steeped in the heady mix of tragedy and danger, excitement and hope, that characterizes countries in transition.Through Fountain's rounded and novelistic prose, these intelligent and keenly observed stories are painted in provocative and vibrant detail across a global canvas. Brief Encounters with Che Guevara marks the arrival of a striking and resonant new voice that speaks adeptly to the intimate connection between the foreign, the familiar, and the inescapably human.
Vi Agra Falls
Vi Agra Falls
Daheim, Mary
¥55.31
Innkeeper and amateur sleuth Judith McMonigle Flynn's worst nightmare comes true when Vivian Flynn—husband Joe's first wife—moves back into the neighborhood. Vivian, who has become mysteriously wealthy, plans to build a big, bad condoon their idyllic cul-de-sac. Outraged, Judith and her neighbors vow to fight the project to the death.Vivian isn't the only newcomer to the area. Frankie Buss, son of another of Vivian's ex-husbands, has arrived at Hillside Manor with his wife. Vivian was married to his father for what seemed like minutes before she inherited his vast wealth—and ran off with his other son. Now Frankie's dying for his share of the pot of gold.Vivian's got more than one mortal enemy—but which one ended up dead in her back yardIf she wants her home sweet home to stay happy, Judith will have to find out.
Abarat: Absolute Midnight
Abarat: Absolute Midnight
Barker, Clive
¥61.52
Clive Barker, author of The Thief of Always, delivers an epic battle filled with fantasy and adventure that readers won't want to put down!Candy Quackenbush, her allies, and her enemies are back in Abarat: Absolute Midnight, the third book in Clive Barker's New York Times bestselling Abarat series."The waiting is over. Tomorrow there will be no dawn. Only midnight, absolute and eternal." Mater Motley, the Old Mother of Darkness herself—following the events of Abarat and Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War—has crafted a scheme that may destroy the Abarat, a vast archipelago where every hour is an island in one eternal day.When Candy discovers Mater Motley's secret plot, she realizes that only she can bring an end to the destruction. Only she can stop the complete darkness threatening to abolish all hope and happiness from the Abarat.
A Silent Ocean Away
A Silent Ocean Away
Gantt, DeVa
¥78.32
Charmaine Ryan knows only poverty and pain growing up. In the wake of a horrifying tragedy, she seeks a new life, and fate leads her into the private world of the wealthy Duvoisin clan. At first, it seems as if nothing terrible could touch this seemingly charmed family. But an ill wind blows through the halls and chambers of the Duvoisins' sprawling island retreat, carrying betrayal, deceit, and ominous peril.Quickly, Charmaine is caught up in the secrets and mystique swirling around the enigmatic family. At the center are shipping tycoon Frederic Duvoisin and his youthful wife, Colette. And there is Paul Duvoisin, a dashing seducer and Frederic's bastard son, who stirs a dangerous fascination in the two women; the scheming Agatha Ward, who will not rest until she's taken Colette's place in Frederic's heart as well as in his bed; and exiled son, John, who reenters the family fold, stoking the turmoil as he unveils truths best kept hidden. Ultimately, Charmaine chooses to stand with Colette against formidable enemies, but has she made the right decision?A sweeping, remarkable blend of adventure, romance, intrigue, and suspense, A Silent Ocean Away heralds the arrival of a glorious new voice on the historical fiction scene.
Burn Factor
Burn Factor
Mills, Kyle
¥56.07
Bright, young, and ambitious, Quinn Barry desperately wants to be an FBI agent, even as she programs databases in the basement of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. But Quinn's career—and her life—are about to change wildly. Testing a new program, Quinn's computer savvy turns up a mysterious DNA link among five gruesome murders. A link that the old FBI system had been carefully programmed to miss. A link that nearly costs Quinn her job, and soon, her life...Pitted against a conspiracy of unimaginable proportions, Quinn will match wits against powerful government forces that will use any means necessary to keep their dirty secrets hidden—secrets that will land her in the clutches of a sadistic, brilliant madman who holds the key to it all.
Raphael and the Noble Task
Raphael and the Noble Task
Salton, Catherine
¥112.28
Raphael is a griffin, one of the ferocious stone creatures sworn to guard the Cathedral from harm. Yet Raphael feels a mysterious longing for something more -- a Noble Task, one that will bring meaning to his life.When a baby is abandoned at the Cathedral door, Raphael believes he's found his Noble Task at last. But Raphael soon learns that caring for the child brings danger and sacrifice as well as love. And when the baby's mother returns, only to find that her child is missing, Raphael must set things right by performing an act of enormous courage: an act that depends not only on a legend kept secret for generations but that will demand of him all of his heart and soul to prevail.More than twenty illustrations bring the characters of the Cathedral to life in this unforgettable adventure, destined to be cherished as an enduring Christmas classic.
Stay with Me
Stay with Me
Barron, Sandra Rodriguez
¥84.16
In 1979, five toddlers were found alone in a luxury boat tied to a dock in Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane. No one knew who they were or where they came from. Raised by different families, they remained connected by a special bond—always considering themselves siblings, despite their unknown blood relations.Now adults, Taina, Holly, Adrian, and Raymond have been summoned by the fifth, David, to an island off the coast of Connecticut and the family home of David's ex-girlfriend, Julia. But along with the joy of reuniting comes the exposure of raw places, jealousy, and childhood sorrows. Having been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer—and experiencing flashbacks to the time before the hurricane—David believes that healing his relationship with Julia and discovering his origins will strengthen his ability to endure and survive. David pushes the people he loves the most to their emotional breaking points in order to uncover the truth about the mystery that both unites and divides them.Intensely gripping and lyrically written, Stay with Me is a magnificent blend of romance, suspense, atmosphere, and intrigue that brilliantly explores the true meaning of family and the remarkable ways a personal history can paint a future.
Stuff It!
Stuff It!
Brody, Lora & Max
¥68.09
Stuffed foods are homey, quick, fun to make and delicious to eat. Over 75 recipes for all types of stuff ed food are offered here, including Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza, Crab Stuffed Sole, Cream Filled Cupcakes and Stuffed Blintzes with Blueberry Sauce.
Emerald Germs Of Ireland
Emerald Germs Of Ireland
McCabe, Patrick
¥83.92
"There is something special about the relationship we all have with our mothers . . . "Meet Pat McNab, forty-five years old, and about to embark on a homicidal rampage sparked by matricide. Or is he?Pat spent endless hours chain-smoking and propping up the counter of Sullivan's Select Bar (not that Mrs. McNab knew anything about it—she and Timmy the barman didn't get along at all) or sitting on his mother's knee singing away together like some ridiculous two-headed human jukebox. But that was all before the story really began—Emerald Germs of Ireland is in essence Pat McNab's post-matricide year.Pat, who now spends many of his waking hours sitting by the window in his old dark house, watching videos and nibbling abstractedly on pieces of toast, reflects on those long-gone days with Mommy, while fending off the persistent interferences of his small-town neighbors: the puritanical Mrs. Tubridy; that irascible seller of turf, the Turf Man; Sgt. "Kojak" Foley, and other unwanted snoops who could soon come to regret their inquisitive, nose-poking ways.This is Patrick McCabe at his fiendish best. Dark, emotionally powerful, and surreal, Emerald Germs of Ireland is also his funniest work to date, masterfully displaying the anarchic twists and turns that are the hallmarks of his comic genius.
Twice Dying
Twice Dying
McMahon, Neil
¥49.57
Outside San Francisco, a sting of NGI's--violent sociopaths found not guilty by reason of insanity--have been sent back into society, and, one by one, mysteriously disappeared....Beautiful psychologist Alison Chapley wants to know why and sets off on a search for answers that lures her and her former lover, medical examiner Carroll Monks, into a menacing and increasingly macabre dance with a brilliant psychopath known only as Naia....Naia's perverse and carefully chosen clues--plaster masks, a snuff videotape, a deadly cobra--draw Alison into a psychological seduction she's powerless to resist. Running out of time, Monks's only chance to save Alison is to outwit this twisted mastermind in a deranged and deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Free Fall
Free Fall
Mills, Kyle
¥52.63
It's bold. It's dangerous. It's the kind of maverick operation that has made Mark Beamon both the FBI's best agent and its least-likely-to-succeed screw-up.A top-secret FBI file -- buried in an anonymous government warehouse since J. Edgar Hoover's death -- is missing. The unlucky grad student who uncovered it is dead, and now his ex-girlfriend is on the run, accused of the murder. The only man everyone agrees can find the young woman and turn up the explosive document is "off-duty," suspended and under the threat of prosecution by the bureau itself.Beamon knows better than anyone that this is his last shot to save his career -- and his country. Tracking the young woman down, though, will be the hardest assignment he's ever tackled, for she's a gutsy world-class rock-climber who can drop out of sight anywhere in the world. And even if he finds her and the file, who can he trust when the FBI itself is under suspicionBeamon has no room for wrong guesses -- or moves. If he blows this one, he'll free fall straight out of the bureau -- and straight into prison....
Whistle
Whistle
Daugharty, Janice
¥78.60
Just out of prison after serving time on a drug charge, Roper Rackard comes across a woman's body while mowing the tall grass at the far end of his new boss's property, and although he is innocent of her death, Roper panics. Terrified that he will be charged with murdering a white woman and sent back to jail, he decides to hide the body where it won't be found. As days and then weeks pass, and the search for the missing woman continues, Roper begins to doubt himself. Did he do the right thingWhy didn't he call for helpWill anybody believe he is innocent and, most important, how can he possibly come forward now?
The Man with the Silver Oar
The Man with the Silver Oar
Moore, Robin
¥43.55
Stowaway...In the year 1718, Daniel Collins, a well-brought-up young Philadelphian, can only dream of exchanging his orderly existence as a shipyard apprentice for a life at sea. Daniel is certain he'll never find a way to make his dreams a reality, especially since there's a chance he'll inherit his uncle's successful shipping business one day. When the opportunity arises, Daniel is surprised to find that he has the courage to stow away on a ship bound for southern waters; a ship in search of the pirates who are terrorizing merchant vessels all up and down the Atlantic coast. The Sea Turtle may look docile, but hidden beneath her decks is an arsenal of weapons, and her crew's assignment is to bring down pirates by any means. As a Quaker, Daniel has sworn not to take up weapons against any man. But it's possible that the most dangerous enemy of the Sea Turtle may be someone Daniel knows all too well. Will he cast aside his Quaker principles in order to help defeat the most notorious pirate of his time?Robin Moore deftly weaves a tale of treachery on the high seas in this coming-of-age adventure that is as exciting as the era in which it is set.
24.0
24.0
Cerasini, Marc
¥101.00
Last season, CIA agent Jack Bauer, played by Golden Globe award-winning actor Keifer Sutherland, had us glued to our TVs and cursing the time clock as he uncovered a plot to assassinate presidential nominee, David Palmer. With just 24 hours to identify the killer, Bauer also had to deal with the kidnapping of his wife and daughter and the existence of a mole at the agency. This season he's at it again, helping President David Palmer save Los Angeles from nuclear ravage. Lest you think Jack had some down time between life-altering experiences, check out 24: The House Special Subcommittees Findings at CTU. It's a new book providing a riveting account of Jack's grueling appearance before our government's most inquiring minds during their probe into alleged wrongdoings at CTU that first fateful 24 hour period. The testimony from these closed hearings was leaked to investigative journalist Marc Cerasini, who then ran with it to publisher HarperCollins. With some of the finest reporting seen since Woodward's coverage of the Pentagon Papers, this book contains: Jack Bauer's complete Grand Jury Testimony Press statements from President-elect David Palmer Transcribed debriefings with other key CTU agents Previously sealed files on Bauer's related undercover act6ivities The arrest, detainment and transport records for Victor Drazen Teri Bauer's medical records Autopsy reports Campaign finance records Commentary from the Beltway's most celebrated political pundits Theories as to how and why key players within CTU turned.
The Night Visitor
The Night Visitor
Doss, James D.
¥49.05
The morning after the aged Ute shaman receives a perplexing visits from a silent, disheveled matukach "magician," daisy's neighbor Nathan McFain discovers something astonishing buried in the dirt on his foundering Colorado dude ranch: the bones of gargantuan beast from a prehistoric age. It is a find of enormous scientific importance that attracts the attention of a wide variety of individual: noted paleontologist Moses Silver and his archaeologist daughter Delia; pillars of the scientific community Robert Newton and Cordell York; an Arkansas sharpie named Flye, an overly interested local antiques dealer.. and Charlie Moon of the Southern Ute Police Department. At the McFain spread primarily to keep an eye on the disreputable Flye, Moon is curious about the strange old bones ....and wary as well. For things this ancient and rare have been known to inspire evil deeds in the past, including avarice, mendacity, and murder. And when one of the prime players in this timeless drama vanishes without a trace, Charlie worries that his greatest fears have been realized. But while Charlie investigates the unexplained disappearance --and a very suspicious death that follows soon after--using rational and accepted police methods, his aunt Daisy is being drawn by forces preternatural into a grimly related mystery. For craven murder is not the exclusive domain of contemporary Man--and a cry for justice from the past has reached Daisy Perika and tow extraordinary young girls in her care, ensnaring them all in something old, dark, and dangerous.
Hotter Than Hell
Hotter Than Hell
Harrison, Kim
¥55.31
Beyond the boundaries of the everyday is an unseen realm where anything you imagine is possible. Your demon lover is waiting for you in the shadows, ready to fulfill your secret wishes and most dangerous fantasies. Here passion has a face and form both titillating and terrifying—and love has teeth and claws. Get ready to give in to your craving for something exquisitely dark . . . and different.Hotter Than Hell gathers together a baker's dozen of today's boldest and best authors of supernatural fiction and paranormal romance in a breathtaking anthology that blends black magic with red-hot desire. From the tantalizing tale of a conflicted psychic vampire driven by a powerful, savage love to the strange saga of a Greek warrior woman battling to save the world, these are stories outside the limits, as hypnotic as the full moon . . . and hotter than the sun.
Shadow Rider: Ghost Warrior
Shadow Rider: Ghost Warrior
Sherman, Jory
¥42.03
A rebellion is brewing in the New Mexico territories. An Indian who rides with white men—a Navajo renegade using the name of a legendary fallen warrior—is stirring up fear and rage and bloodlust. Under orders from President Grant, Zak Cody—the enigmatic enforcer they call "Shadow Rider"—heads into the unknown to confront the killer and make things right. But on bloody ground where, without motive or warning, an Indian raiding party has set upon defenseless victims, things are not what they seem. Cody senses that a snare is being set—and many more, guilty and innocent alike, will die if he cannot avert the slaughter. His only hope is to spring the trap himself, and if the Shadow Rider's death is the consequence . . . so be it.
Summer People
Summer People
Groh, Brian
¥94.10
Nathan Empson has just accepted the most unusual summer job of his life. In exchange for serving as a "caretaker” for Ellen Broderick, the eccentric matriarch of an exclusive coastal community, he'll earn a generous paycheck and gain access to one of the last bastions of old New England wealth. But not everyone in town is welcoming—or even civil. And while he discovers companionship with a philosophical, ex-punk Episcopalian pastor, and more than companionship with the alluring nanny to the pastor's children, Nathan finds it increasingly difficult to ignore his employer's unnerving behavior. With each escalating mishap, a new aspect of Ellen's colorful past comes to light, exposing the secret lives of her old friends, flames, and enemies, as well as the story behind a scandalous incident Nathan must prevent her from repeating. Yet to sound the alarm about her condition would mean leaving his beachside oasis and the romance that may well change him forever.