万本电子书0元读

万本电子书0元读

The Importance of Being Kennedy
The Importance of Being Kennedy
Laurie Graham
¥57.09
A brilliant novel by Laurie Graham set in wartime London, which follows Kick Kennedy, sister of future US President JFK, as she takes London society by storm. Nora Brennan is a country girl from Westmeath. When she lands herself a position as nursery maid to a family in Brookline, Massachusetts, she little thinks it will place her at the heart of American history. But it's the Kennedy family. In 1917 Joseph Kennedy is on his way to his first million and he has plans to found a dynasty and ensure that his baby son, Joe Junior, will be the first Catholic President of the United States. As nursemaid to all nine Kennedy children, Nora witnesses every moment, public and private. She sees the boys coached at their father's knee to believe everything they'll ever want in life can be bought. She sees the girls trained by their mother to be good Catholic wives. World War II changes everything. At the outbreak of war the Kennedys are living the high life in London, where Joseph Kennedy is the American ambassador. His reaction is to send the entire household back across the Atlantic to safety, but Nora, surprised by midlife love, chooses to stay in England and do her bit. Separated from her Kennedys by an ocean she nevertheless remains the warm, approachable sun around which the older children orbit: Joe, Jack, Rosemary, and in particular Kick, who throws the first spanner in the Kennedy works by marrying an English Protestant. Laurie Graham's poignant new novel views the Kennedys from below stairs, with the humour and candour that only an ex-nursemaid dare employ.
Who Killed Change?
Who Killed Change?
Ken Blanchard
¥66.22
By the bestselling author of The One Minute Manager, a business parable that teaches organizations to cope successfully with change. Every day organizations around the world launch change initiatives – often big, expensive ones - designed to improve the status quo. Yet 50 to 70 percent of these change efforts fail. A few perish suddenly, but many die painful, protracted deaths that drain the organization's resources, energy and morale. So, Who or what is killing change? That's what you'll find out in this delightful whodunit. The story features a Columbo-style detective named Agent who's investigating the murder of yet another Change. One by one, Agent interviews thirteen prime suspects, including a myopic leader named Vision; a chronically tardy manager named Urgency; an executive named Communication whose laryngitis makes communication all but impossible; and several other dubious characters. The suspects are sure to sound familiar, and you're bound to relate them to your own workplace. In the end, Agent solves the case in a way that will inspire you to become an effective Change Agent in your own organization.
Fragment
Fragment
Warren Fahy
¥47.77
Jurassic Park meets Lost in this electrifying new adventure thriller. When the cast and crew of reality TV show ‘SeaLife’ land on picturesque, unexplored Henders Island it’s a ratings bonanza. But they’re blissfully unaware that the decisions they make there will shape the fate of mankind … if they can only survive. For they quickly discover that the island is seething with danger. Having evolved in total isolation from the rest of the planet for millennia, Henders is home to host of vicious and exotic predators, terrifying creatures who live in a lightning fast blur of kill or be killed. A team of crack scientists is sent in to assess the situation and they are astounded by what they find. It soon becomes clear that if even the smallest bug ever made it off Henders island, life on earth as we know it would change very quickly indeed. The President is faced with the toughest decision of his career: take the risk of letting one of these creatures escape so that further research can be done, or nuke the island to protect the rest of planet Earth? Just when it seems the stakes couldn't get any higher, the scientists make a surprise discovery that changes everything…
Crash
Crash
J. G. Ballard,Zadie Smith
¥66.22
The definitive cult, post-modern novel – a shocking blend of violence, transgression and eroticism. When Ballard, our narrator, smashes his car into another and watches a man die in front of him, his sense of sexual possibilities in the world around him becomes detached. As he begins an affair with the dead man's wife, he finds himself drawn with increasing intensity to the mangled impacts of car crashes. Then he encounters Robert Vaughan, a former TV scientist turned nightmare angel of the expressway, who has gathered around him a collection of alienated crash victims and experiments with a series of auto-erotic atrocities, each more sinister than the last. But Vaughan craves the ultimate crash – a head-on collision of blood, semen, engine coolant and iconic celebrity. First published in 1973 Crash remains one of the most shocking novels of the second half of the twentieth century and was made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenberg. Ballard’s autobiography Miracles of Life was published in 2008 and Extreme Metaphors, a collection of interviews with the author, is due out in 2012.
The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 3)
The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 3)
C. S. Lewis
¥51.50
Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full colour on a full colour ebook device, and in rich black and white on all other devices. Narnia . . . where horses talk . . . where treachery is brewing . . . where destiny awaits. On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself. The Horse and His Boy is the third book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a novel that stands on its own, but if you would like to return to Narnia, read Prince Caspian, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 5)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 5)
C. S. Lewis
¥44.15
Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full colour on a full colour ebook device, and in rich black and white on all other devices. Narnia . . . where a dragon awakens . . . where stars walk the earth . . . where anything can happen. A king and some unexpected companions embark on a voyage that will take them beyond all known lands. As they sail farther and farther from charted waters, they discover that their quest is more than they imagined and that the world's end is only the beginning. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the fifth book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a novel that stands on its own, but if you would like to continue to the journey, read The Silver Chair, the sixth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Mummy Knew
Mummy Knew
Lisa James
¥63.77
Four-year-old Lisa's world turned upside down when her step-father moved in. Most of the time he was just violent but then he started making her do things to him she knew were wrong. Soon he was visiting her at night. Lisa begged her mother for help but she just shrugged, telling Lisa he would have his way. It was the greatest betrayal of all. At first Lisa's step-father would just make her stroke and massage his feet, hitting her if she stopped, but he soon wanted more. Much more. By the time she was 12 he was regularly abusing her. One day, when Lisa turned 16, she came home to discover that her mother had swapped bedrooms with her. 'You're my girlfriend now', her step-father told her. Lisa turned to her mother for help, but was met with a shrug. She wouldn't hear a word against her husband. 'Don't blame me,' she said. Her step-father's abuse was horrific but what completely tore her apart was knowing her mother knew and encouraged it. Trapped and increasingly desperate, Lisa tried to find a way out. But her isolation was complete. A few months later her mother told her she'd arranged for Lisa and her step-father to move into a flat together down the road. It was too much for Lisa to bear. 'Please don't make me, please,' she sobbed. But her mother just ignored her. Lisa was marched around to the flat with her possessions and her nightmare was complete. Alone with her step-father, Lisa's life became even more unbearable. Then one day, finally, she got the chance she'd been looking for to escape. Lisa bravely struck out on her own, petrified her mother would find her and hand her back into the waiting arms of her step-father. But Lisa's mother had no idea how determined she was to break away…
Wilfred Thesiger in Africa
Wilfred Thesiger in Africa
Alexander Maitland
¥184.23
A unique collection of essays accompany Wilfred Thesiger’s own personal photographs of the Africa he experienced as one of the world’s most celebrated explorers. While Wilfred Thesiger’s own classic writings (including ‘The Marsh Arabs’, ‘Arabian Sands’, ‘Desert’, Marsh and Mountain’, ‘The Life of My Choice’ and ‘My Kenya Days’) comprehensively cover his classic journeys amongst the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq, or across the Empty Quarter in Arabia, they fail conspicuously to shed light on his character and motives, which have remained an enigma. Maitland’s biography had Thesiger’s support before he died in 2003, and has been written with full access, granted to no one else, to the rich Thesiger archive – vivid, intimate family correspondence, and his own letters, diaries and notebooks which are far more confiding than his scrupulously edited published accounts. Maitland investigates in depth Thesiger’s parents and family influences; his wartime experiences and the ethos of conflict; his philosophy as a hunter and conservationist; his development as a writer and photographer; his close friendships with the Arabs and Africans amongst whom he lived; and his sexuality. In all, this major biography of a great and unusual man will take its place on the shelf of outstanding lives of the great explorers.
Lost River (Cooper and Fry Crime Series, Book 10)
Lost River (Cooper and Fry Crime Series, Book 10)
Stephen Booth
¥21.58
An atmospheric new Fry and Cooper thriller for fans of Peter Robinson and Reginald Hill A May Bank Holiday in the Peak District is ruined by the tragic drowning of an eight-year-old girl in picturesque Dovedale. For Detective Constable Ben Cooper, a helpless witness to the tragedy, the incident is not only traumatic, but leads him to become involved in the tangled lives of the Neilds, the dead girl's family. As he gets to know them, Cooper begins to suspect that one of them is harbouring a secret - a secret that the whole family might be willing to cover up. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Diane Fry has a journey of her own to make - a journey back to her roots. As she finds herself drawn into an investigation of her own among the inner-city streets of Birmingham, Fry realises there is only one person she can rely on to provide the help she needs. But that man is Ben Cooper, and he's back in Derbyshire, where his suspicions are leading him towards a shocking discovery on the banks of another Peak District river.
The Dead Place (Cooper and Fry Crime Series, Book 6)
The Dead Place (Cooper and Fry Crime Series, Book 6)
Stephen Booth
¥21.58
Bones where there should be none and a chilling warning of an imminent killing challenge Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry in their sixth novel. "This death will be a model of perfection. The details will be precise, the conception immaculate, the execution flawless…" When a caller taunts the police with talk of a 'dead place' and the threat of an imminent killing, most think it's a sick hoax. But Detective Diane Fry is sure there's a murderer at work. And when the voice calmly invites them to meet the 'flesh eater', Fry fears it may be too late. Meanwhile, her colleague DC Ben Cooper is investigating Derbyshire's first case of body snatching, entering the macabre world of those whose lives revolve around the deceased and their disposal. But does an obsession with death make for a killer? And what horrors will greet them when they finally find the dead place?
The Khufra Run
The Khufra Run
Jack Higgins
¥34.14
Classic Jack Higgins for a new generation When a treasure is priceless, men will die for it… When a naked girl runs out into the lights of Jack Nelson’s jeep, the freelance pilot finds himself submerged in the most perilous treasure hunt ever. On his side are the girl, Claire Bouvier and his best buddy Harry Turk, a tough fighter still scarred by the nightmare of the Vietnam war. Waiting for them in the trackless wastes of the Khufra marshes are the ruthless Colonel Taleb of the local security police and his murderous Husa Horsemen. Only time will tell who will survive in the deadliest adventure of all.
Relentless
Relentless
Dean Koontz
¥54.74
A must-read thriller from Dean Koontz – the worldwide bestseller of over 400 million copies. RELENTLESS is a pulse-pounding, page-turning race to the finish. It looked like just a bad review. But perhaps it was a death threat… Being a writer is a dangerous business. When Cubby Greenwich receives a scathing review for his latest bestseller by the feared and therefore revered critic Shearman Waxx, he is determined to take no notice of it. But Fate carries him right into Waxx’s path. What began as an innocent and unexpected encounter is about to trigger an inferno of violence. For Shearman Waxx is not merely a ferocious literary enemy, but a ruthless sociopath, and now he is intent on destroying Cubby and everything he holds dear: his home, his wife, his young son, and every hope he had in the world. The terror has only just begun, and it will be relentless…
The Death of Eli Gold
The Death of Eli Gold
David Baddiel
¥73.58
The new novel from David Baddiel, comedian, columnist and author of the critically-praised The Secret Purposes. In New York's Mt. Sinai hospital, the world's greatest living writer, Eli Gold, is dying. Witnessing his death are his precocious 8-year-old daughter by his present (fifth) wife, his anxiety-ridden 44-year-old son from his third marriage, and his 89-year-old first wife, watching on TV from a care home in London. And also, secretly, his fourth wife's fundamentalist Mormon brother, who has never got over his sister's death in a suicide pact with Eli, a suicide pact that Eli survived. The Death of Eli Gold is a comedy, a thriller, and a meditation on love, death, aging, sex, fame, and the idea - the dying idea - of The Great Man.
Hangman (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Crime Thrillers)
Hangman (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Crime Thrillers)
Faye Kellerman
¥54.15
Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus face a familiar sociopath in this electrifying new tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman When LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker reluctantly agrees to do a big favour for old friend Teresa McLaughlin, he knows that his involvement will bring her sociopathic husband, Chris Donatti, back into his life. But then Terry goes missing and Donatti disappears, leaving their 14-year-old son Gabe behind. Meanwhile Adrianna Blanc, a party-loving nurse, is found swinging from the rafters of a house in a wealthy suburban area. Her last phone call announced she was breaking up with her philandering boyfriend and Decker questions whether it was in fact suicide. With lives hanging in the balance, Decker and his team need to find answers fast. At home matters are just as precarious: while Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus want to look after young Gabe, with Donatti on the loose, no one is really ever safe…
Jack Cloudie
Jack Cloudie
Stephen Hunt
¥60.23
A tale of high adventure and derring-do set in the same Victorian-style world as the acclaimed The Court of the Air and The Secrets of the Fire Sea. Thanks to his father's gambling debts, young Jack Keats finds himself on the streets and trying to survive as a pickpocket, desperate to graft enough coins to keep him and his two younger brothers fed. Following a daring bank robbery gone badly awry, Jack narrowly escapes the scaffold, only to be pressed into Royal Aerostatical Navy. Assigned to the most useless airship in the fleet, serving under a captain who is most probably mad, Jack seems to be bound for almost certain death in the far-away deserts of Cassarabia. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Omar ibn Barir, the slave of a rich merchant lord finds his life turned upside down when his master's religious sect is banned. Unexpectedly freed, he survives the destruction of his home to enter into the service of the Caliph's military forces – just as war is brewing. Two very similar young men prepare to face each other across a senseless field of war. But is Omar the enemy, or is Jack's true nemesis the sickness at the heart of the Caliph's court? A cult that hides the deadly secret to the origins of the gas being used to float Cassarabia's new aerial navy. If Jack and his shipmates can discover what Cassarabia's aggressive new regime is trying to conceal, he might survive the most horrific of wars and clear his family's name. If not…
From the Deep of the Dark
From the Deep of the Dark
Stephen Hunt
¥59.15
The sixth marvellous tale of high adventure and derring-do from the master of steampunk literature, set in the world of The Court of the Air A daring underwater chase ends in a battle for the Kingdom itself… The streets of Middlesteel are under attack by an unseen enemy, leaving bloodless corpses in its trail. The newssheets scream vampire, but the truth is even more deadly than anyone knows. Charlotte Shades, Mistress of Mesmerism, is a thief – and a darned good one at that. When two mysterious men ask her to steal King Jude’s Sceptre from the Parliament vaults, the challenge (and reward) is too great to pass up. After all, Charlotte’s natural charm and the magic of the gem she wears – the mysterious Eye of Fate – have never failed her before. Only consulting detective Jethro Daunt and his steamman companion Boxiron know there’s more to these two men than meets the eye. Yet even as they rescue Charlotte from a fate worse than death, they are thrown into a plot thicker than even they realize. They escape beneath the waves in an ancient submarine led by Commodore Jethro Black, where they encounter stiff resistance from the strange people who inhabit the vast underwater kingdoms. But man, woman, seanore and gillneck alike must band together if they are to defeat a danger that might not even be from this world…
Every Which Way But Dead
Every Which Way But Dead
Kim Harrison
¥53.76
From New York Times best-selling author, Kim Harrison, comes the third book in her brilliant series, The Hollows; packed with vampires, werewolves and witches - don’t miss out on this sexy urban fantasy. If you make a deal with the devil, can you still save your soul? To avoid becoming the love-slave of a depraved criminal vampire, bounty-hunter and witch, Rachel Morgan, is cornered into a deal that could promise her an eternity of suffering. But eternal damnation is not Rachel's only worry. Her vampire roommate, Ivy, has rediscovered her taste for blood and is struggling to keep their relationship platonic, her boyfriend, Nick, has disappeared – perhaps indefinitely, and she's being stalked by an irate pack of werewolves. And then there's also the small matter of the turf war raging in Cincinnati's underworld; one that Rachel began and will have to finish before she has the smallest hope of preserving her own future.
The Daylight War (The Demon Cycle, Book 3)
The Daylight War (The Demon Cycle, Book 3)
Peter V. Brett
¥37.08
The Daylight War, the eagerly anticipated third volume in Brett’s internationally bestselling Demon Cycle, continues the epic tale of humanity’s last stand against an army of demons. ON THE NIGHT OF A NEW MOON ALL SHADOWS DEEPEN AND THE DEMONS RISE. Arlen Bales understands the threat better than anyone. Resisting the coreling plague has shaped him into a weapon so powerful he has attracted enemies both above and below ground. But as Arlen prepares his people for battle, a daylight war approaches from the south. Out of the desert rides an army led by a man who believes his destiny is to unite humanity against the demons, willingly or not. Once, Ahmann Jardir and Arlen were like brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals, and Jardir’s ambition is matched only by the magic wielded by his first wife, Inevera, a powerful priestess. The corelings will attack in thirty nights, and the only men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all: those that lurk in the human heart.
Tyrant’s Blood: Book Two of the Valisar Trilogy
Tyrant’s Blood: Book Two of the Valisar Trilogy
Fiona McIntosh
¥58.86
The second instalment of Fiona McIntosh’s gripping epic fantasy, set in a world torn by revenge, love and ancient magic. Ten years have passed since Loethar, the barbarian warlord from the Likurian steppes, devoured the Devona Set with his army of mercenaries, decimating their ruling families and settling in their primary kingdom of Penraven. Believing the Valisar heirs of Penraven to be dead, he has styled himself as emperor and continues his efforts to integrate his people into the native population. But abandoning his more violent methods of persuasion hasn't quelled the undercurrent of rebellion; for the Valisar heirs do live. Hidden from the barbarian's wrath by loyal allies who risk everything for the future of their kingdom, they are bound to return and seek a tyrant's blood for the havoc he has wreaked.
Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick
Coming Back To Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
¥72.40
A true-life sporting memoir of one of the best batsman in the game who stunned the cricket world when he prematurely ended his own England career. Trescothick’s brave and soul-baring account of his mental frailties opens the way to a better understanding of the unique pressures experienced by modern-day professional sportsmen. At 29, Marcus Trescothick was widely regarded as one of the batting greats. With more than 5,000 Test runs to his name and a 2005 Ashes hero, some were predicting this gentle West Country cricket nut might even surpass Graham Gooch's record to become England's highest ever Test run scorer. But the next time Trescothick hit the headlines it was for reasons no one but a handful of close friends and colleagues could have foreseen. On Saturday 25 February 2006, four days before leading England into the first Test against India in place of the injured captain Vaughan, Trescothick was out for 32 in the second innings of the final warm-up match. As he walked from the field he fought to calm the emotional storm that was raging inside him, at least to hide it from prying eyes. In the dressing room he broke down in tears, overwhelmed by a blur of anguish, uncertainty and sadness he had been keeping at bay for longer than he knew. Within hours England's best batsman was on the next flight home. His departure was kept secret until after close of play when coach Duncan Fletcher told the stunned media his acting captain had quit the tour for 'personal, family reasons.' Until now, the full, extraordinary story of what happened that day and why, of what preceded his breakdown has never been told. He reveals for the first time that he almost flew home from the 2004 tour to South Africa – of what caused it and of what followed – his comeback to the England side and a second crushing breakdown nine months later that left him unable to continue the 2006-07 Ashes tour down under. Coming Back to Me will replace the myths and rumours with the truth as Trescothick talks with engaging openness and enthusiasm about his rise to the top of international cricket; and describes with equal frankness his tortured descent into private despair.
The Last Highlander
The Last Highlander
Sarah Fraser
¥73.58
Fans of Outlander must read this Saltire Society Literary Awards Scottish First Book of the Year – a great non-fiction adventure about Scotland’s most notorious clan chief. Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was the last of the great Scottish chiefs – and the last nobleman executed for treason. Determined to seek his fortune with the exiled Jacobite king in France, Fraser acted as a spy for both the Stuarts and the Hanoverians; claimed to be both Protestant and Roman Catholic. In July 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie launched his last attempt to seize back the throne, supported by Fraser and his clans. They were defeated at Culloden. Fraser was found hiding in a tree. This swashbuckling spy story recreates an extraordinary period of history in its retelling of Fraser’s life. He is surely one of Scotland’s most notorious and romantic figures, a cunning and ambitious soldier who died a martyr for his country and an independent Scotland.