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万本电子书0元读

The Spoilers / Juggernaut
The Spoilers / Juggernaut
Desmond Bagley
¥61.51
Double action thrillers by the classic adventure writer set in the Middle East and Africa. THE SPOILERS When film tycoon Robert Hellier loses his daughter to heroin, he declares war on the drug pedlars, the faceless overlords whose greed supplies the world with its deadly pleasures. London drug specialist Nicholas Warren is called upon to organise an expedition to the Middle East to track down and destroy them - but with a hundred million dollars' worth of heroin at stake, Warren knows he will have to use methods as deadly as his prey… JUGGERNAUT It was no ordinary juggernaut. Longer than a football pitch, weighing 550 tons, and moving at just five miles per hour, its job - and that of troubleshooter Neil Mannix - is to move a giant transformer across an oil-rich African state. But when Nyala erupts in civil war, Mannix's juggernaut is at the centre of the conflict - a target of ambush and threat, with no way to run and nowhere to hide… Includes a unique bonus - The House of the Lions, a story written exclusively for Desmond Bagley's Christmas house guests in the 1960s.
Running Blind / The Freedom Trap
Running Blind / The Freedom Trap
Desmond Bagley
¥72.99
Double action thrillers by the classic adventure writer about a notorious Russian double agent, Slade, set in Iceland and Malta. RUNNING BLIND The assignment begins with a simple errand - a parcel to deliver. But to Alan Stewart, standing on a deserted road in Iceland with a murdered man at his feet, it looks anything but simple. The desolate terrain is obstacle enough. But when Stewart realises he has been double-crossed and that the opposition is gaining ground, his simple mission seems impossible… THE FREEDOM TRAP The Scarperers, a brilliantly organised gang which gets long-term inmates out of prison, spring a notorious Russian double agent. The trail leads Owen Stannard to Malta, and to the suave killer masterminding the gang. Face to face at last with his opponents, Stannard must try to outwit both men - who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by his death… Includes a unique bonus - A Matter of Months, a previously unpublished short story about a murder in a casino.
The Snow Tiger / Night of Error
The Snow Tiger / Night of Error
Desmond Bagley
¥65.16
Double action thrillers by the classic adventure writer set in New Zealand and the Pacific. THE SNOW TIGER Fifty-four people died in the avalanche that ripped apart a small New Zealand mining town. But the enquiry which follows unleashes more destructive power than the snowfall. As the survivors tell their stories, they reveal a community so divided that all warnings of danger went unheeded. At the centre of the storm is Ian Ballard, whose life depends upon being able to clear his name… NIGHT OF ERROR When Mark Trevelyan dies on a journey to a remote Pacific atoll, the verdict that it was natural causes doesn't convince his brother, Mike. The series of violent attacks that follows only adds to his suspicions. Just two clues - a notebook in code and a lump of rock - are enough to trigger off a hazardous expedition, and a violent confrontation far from civilization… Includes a unique bonus - Desmond Bagley's personal account of the writing of Snow Tiger.
Goodbye Mickey Mouse
Goodbye Mickey Mouse
Len Deighton
¥45.62
In Goodbye Mickey Mouse Len Deighton has written his best novel yet: a brilliant, multi-dimensional picture of what it is to be at war… and what it was to be in love in the England of 1944. Goodbye Mickey Mouse is Deighton’s fourteenth novel and a vivid evocation of wartime England, the story of a group of American fighter pilots flying escort missions over Germany in the winter of 1943-4. At the centre of the novel are two young men: the deeply reserved Captain Jamie Farebrother, estranged son of a deskbound colonel, and the cocky Lieutenant Mickey Morse, well on his way to becoming America’s Number One Flying Ace. Alike only in their courage, they forge a bond of friendship in battle with far-reaching consequences for themselves, and for the future of those they love.
Love Always
Love Always
Harriet Evans
¥45.62
A compelling and heartbreaking tale of lost love, family secrets and those little moments that can change your life for ever. Returning to the wild Cornish coast for the funeral of her beloved grandmother, Natasha has no idea of how things are about to change. This trip reunites her with her large and complicated family for perhaps the last time: Summercove, her grandparents' beautiful house by the sea, is being sold. With it go a generation of memories and the key to the death, many years ago, of fifteen-year-old Cecily, her aunt, a tragedy that no one ever discusses. When she finds the opening pages of Cecily's diary, written the summer she died, Natasha discovers the family she idealised has secrets that have long been buried. But where is the rest of the diary? Back in London, trying to rebuild her own life, Natasha is haunted by Cecily's writing and the tragic tale of love, rivalry and heartbreak promised in those scant pages. She has to know what happened, the summer her aunt died. And so she makes some life-changing decisions – and in the process finds out that a second chance at love might be possible…
Unlocking the Masonic Code: The Secrets of the Solomon Key
Unlocking the Masonic Code: The Secrets of the Solomon Key
Ian Gittins
¥37.96
Explores all aspects of the most talked about secret society in the world, from its most famous members to its infamous history. For centuries the Freemasonry has been the subject of rumour and intrigue. From its obscure origins to the suspicion that it exercises huge influence on government and multinational corporations, there has always been more than a whiff of controversy about the organisation. Unlocking the Masonic Code reveals the truth behind the myths, sifts the facts from the fiction, and unveils the mysterious rites and ceremonies. Ian Gittins delves deep into the true origins of the society, its philosophy and practices, describes the rituals, and profiles a number of key figures. Along the way, he also shows where fact and fiction have fought, and fiction has won the battle.
Selfish Whining Monkeys: How we Ended Up Greedy, Narcissistic and Unhappy
Selfish Whining Monkeys: How we Ended Up Greedy, Narcissistic and Unhappy
Rod Liddle
¥66.22
With a sharp eye for the magnificently absurd, Rod Liddle sets light to modern-day Britain. ‘One of Britain’s funniest, most daring columnists. If he weren’t so offensive you’d almost call him a national treasure’ Mail on Sunday ‘I, and my generation, seem feckless and irresponsible, endlessly selfish, whining, avaricious, self-deluding, self-obsessed, spoiled and corrupt and ill.’ What is it that has transformed the British who in living memory were admired for their unassuming, stiff-upper-lipped capacity for `muddling through' into the feckless, obese, self-deluding, avaricious and self-obsessed whingers we have become? Savagely funny and relentlessly contrary, yet with a poignant sense of all that we have lost, Rod Liddle mercilessly exposes the absurdity, cant and humbuggery of the way we live now.
Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game
Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game
Sidney Sheldon,Tilly Bagshawe
¥58.47
The spellbinding sequel to Sidney Sheldon’s MASTER OF THE GAME, one of the most glamorous and suspenseful tales ever told… It began with Jamie MacGregor, stealing diamonds in Africa. It continued with his daughter, the powerful Kate Blackwell, who grew her father’s company into a world wide conglomerate. Now the story passes to the next generation. Spanning the decades and picking up exactly where Sidney Sheldon’s bestselling Master of the Game finished, Mistress of the Game follows the Blackwell family as they love, lose, scheme and murder through the 80s up until the present day. Heart–stopping and glamorous, tense and provocative, Mistress of the Game is the sequel that Sheldon fans have been waiting for…
Mathilda Savitch
Mathilda Savitch
Victor Lodato
¥58.86
A fiercely funny and touching debut novel about a girl with a sharp and mischievous voice of her own – and her quest to discover the truth about her sister’s death ‘I want to be awful. I want to do awful things and why not? Dull is dull is dull is my life. Like now, it’s night, not yet time for bed but too late to be outside, and the two of them reading reading reading with their eyes moving like the lights inside a copy machine. When I was helping put the dishes in the washer tonight, I broke a plate. I said sorry Ma it slipped. But it didn’t slip, that’s how I am sometimes, and I want to be worse. Awful is easy if you make it your one and only.’ Fear doesn't come naturally to Mathilda Savitch. She prefers to look right at the things nobody else can bring themselves to mention: for example, the fact that her beloved older sister is dead, pushed in front of a train by a man who is still on the loose. Still, after a year of spying and provocations, she's no closer to the truth about her sister's death than the day it happened. When Mathilda finally cracks her email password, a secret life opens up, one that swiftly draws her into a world of clouded motives and strange emotion. Somewhere in it lies the key to waking her family up from their dream of grief. To cross into that underworld and see what her sister saw, she has to risk everything that matters to her. Mathilda Savitch is furiously funny, awkward and tender; a compelling page-turner, and the debut of an extraordinary novelistic talent.
Mr Nastase: The Autobiography
Mr Nastase: The Autobiography
Ilie Nastase
¥56.11
The amazing life story of the enfant terrible of tennis in the 1970s and 80s – winner of two Grand Slam titles, three Grand Slam doubles titles and twice a Wimbledon finalist. It is not an overstatement to say that Ilie Nastase was in part responsible for the explosion of interest in tennis in the seventies. Thanks to his success, his lifestyle, his sex appeal and the controversy that continually surrounded him, Nastase's name was recognisable far beyond the confines of tennis. Yet, he also had a dark side and he regularly got himself into trouble with umpires and spectators alike. His court-side tantrums and manic questioning of line calls could spiral out of control and, all too often, he found himself fined and disqualified – and making the next day's front pages. Bjorn Borg had great difficulty adjusting to life after retirement and lost vast amounts of money, while the late Vitas Gerulaitis had a major cocaine problem. Ilie reveals how he helped both of them at a time when their problems were taking a huge toll on their personal lives. He also provides opinions and anecdotes on a host of other characters, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe, Henri Leconte, Yannick Noah, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. As a result of his celebrity status, Nastase moved amongst the beautiful people. His book recalls some of his more memorable encounters and experiences, including dancing the night away in New York's Studio 54 and Castel in Paris with the likes of Bianca Jagger and Claudia Cardinale, and bedding some of the world's most desirable women (an Italian countess and a former Miss UK are among his conquests). For the many sports fans who followed tennis and followed his career, his stories behind the varied headline-grabbing outbursts will prove fascinating and irresistible.
I, Houdini (First Modern Classics)
I, Houdini (First Modern Classics)
Lynne Reid Banks
¥40.02
Houdini is no ordinary hamster. He is an escapologist with an exceptional talent for getting out of cages and urge to escape leads him to all kinds of adventures… New edition published into the First Modern Classics list, fantastic stories for young readers. He may look like a small, furry pet, but really he is a Wild Creature – a freedom-loving hamster with a life-long passion for escape and a yearning for the Great Outside, leaving chaos and destruction as he goes. He tells his hilarious adventures with great intelligence and no modesty – for the world beyond carpets and floorboards can be a terrifying place…
The Garden in the Clouds: From Derelict Smallholding to Mountain Paradise
The Garden in the Clouds: From Derelict Smallholding to Mountain Paradise
Antony Woodward
¥66.22
A warm, witty memoir of one man’s escape from the city in an unlikely quest to create out of a mountainous Welsh landscape a garden fit for inclusion in the prestigious Yellow Book – the ‘Gardens of England and Wales Open for Charity’ guide – in just one year. It was a derelict smallholding so high up in the Black Mountains of Wales it was routinely lost in cloud. But to Antony Woodward, Tair-Ffynnon was the most beautiful place in the world. Equally ill-at-ease in town and country after too long in London’s ad-land, Woodward bought Tair-Ffynnon because he yearned to reconnect with the countryside he never felt part of as a child. But what excuse could he invent to move there permanently? The solution, he decided, was a garden. In just a year he’d create a garden so special it would be selected for the prestigious Yellow Book – the famous National Gardens Scheme guide to gardens open to the public for charity. It’s an unlikely ambition to entertain in this most unlikely of settings, and one that soon sees Woodward driven by odder and odder compulsions – from hauling a 20-tonne railway carriage up the mountain to making hay with hopelessly antiquated machinery. The path to Woodward’s elusive sense of belonging turns out to be a rocky and winding one, taking in childhood haunts, children’s books and Proustian nostalgia trips. As the family battles gales, mud and Welsh mountain sheep of marble-eyed cunning, not to mention the notoriously fastidious NGS County Organiser, it remains deeply uncertain whether the ‘Not Garden’ and the ‘infinity vegetable patch’ (that grows only stones) will ever make the grade… Warm, thought-provoking and brilliantly funny, this is a memoir of a hopeless romantic with a grandly ludicrous ambition – an ambition to which anyone who’s ever dropped into a garden centre, or opened a packet of seeds, has already succumbed.
A Song for Arbonne
A Song for Arbonne
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥63.18
Based on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world. The matriarchal, cultured land of Arbonne is rent by a feud between its two most powerful dukes, the noble troubador Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval, over long-dead Aelis, lover of one, wife of the other and once heir to the country's throne. To the north lies militaristic Gorhaut, whose inhabitants worship the militant god Corannos and are ruled by corrupt, womanizing King Ademar. His chief advisor, the high priest of Corannos, is determined to irradicate the worship of a female deity, whose followers live to the south. Into this cauldron of brewing disaster comes the mysterious Gorhaut mercenary Blaise, who takes service with Bertran and averts an attempt on his life. The revelation of Blaise's lineage and a claim for sanctuary by his sister-in-law sets the stage for a brutal clash between the two cultures. Intertwined is the tale of a young woman troubadour whose role suggests the sweep of the drama to come.
The Water Children
The Water Children
Anne Berry
¥45.62
Four lives. Four defining moments which will bring them together. Owen Abingdon is haunted by nightmares of the Merfolk. He believes they have stolen his little sister who vanished while he was meant to be minding her on the beach, but he was only a child himself. Is it fair for his mother to blame him? Catherine Hoyle's perfect Christmas with her cousin from America was blighted when they went skating on thin ice and Rosalyn nearly died. Somehow, instead of being praised for raising the alarm, Catherine gets blamed. Sean Madigan grew up on a farm in Ireland. Learning to swim in the Shannon was his way of escaping the bitter poverty of his childhood, but it also incurred his father's wrath. He flees to England, but his heart belongs to the Shannon and her pulling power is evernear… Unlike the other three, Naomi Seddon didn't fear the sea. She'd been orphaned and placed in a children's home in Sheffield and cruelly abused. The sea offered her a way out and she revelled in its cruel power. The "water children" meet in London in the searing hot summer of 1976 and Naomi uses her siren's charm to lure Owen,Catherine and Sean into her tangled web of sexual charm and dangerous passion. A holiday in the Tuscan mountains with a flooded reservoir and its legend of the beautiful Teodora who drowned there brings this emotional drama to a powerful climax. Will the power of family, love and redemption finally help the water children conquer their fears and triumph over their childhood traumas?
The Last Light of the Sun
The Last Light of the Sun
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥86.23
From the multiple award-winning author of Ysabel, Tigana and A Song for Arbonne, this powerful, moving saga evokes the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse cultures of a thousand years ago. There is nothing soft or silken about the north. The lives of men and women are as challenging as the climate and lands in which they dwell. For generations, the Erlings of Vinmark have taken their dragon-prowed ships across the seas, raiding the lands of the Cyngael and Anglcyn peoples, leaving fire and death behind. But times change, even in the north, and in a tale woven with consummate artistry, people of all three cultures find the threads of their lives unexpectedly brought together… Bern Thorkellson, punished for his father's sins, commits an act of vengeance and desperation that brings him face-to-face, across the sea, with a past he's been trying to leave behind. In the Anglcyn lands of King Aeldred, the shrewd king, battling inner demons all the while, shores up his defenses with alliances and diplomacy-and with swords and arrows-while his exceptional, unpredictable sons and daughters pursue their own desires when battle comes and darkness falls in the woods. And in the valleys and shrouded hills of the Cyngael, whose voices carry music even as they feud and raid amongst each other, violence and love become deeply interwoven when the dragon ships come and Alun ab Owyn, chasing an enemy in the night, glimpses strange lights gleaming above forest pools.
Told in Silence
Told in Silence
Rebecca Connell
¥88.39
New novel from exciting young author Rebecca Connell From the outside, Violet seems to lead an ordinary and uneventful existence - single, working in a shop, and living with her parents in rural Kent - but her life has already been touched by tragedy. At 21, Violet is a young widow, and the couple she lives with, Harvey and Laura Blackwood, are not her own parents but those of her late husband, Jonathan. Rocked by grief, Violet has shut herself away from the world, but she soon finds that she cannot escape reality. When Max Croft, an old friend of Jonathan's, enters her life, she is faced not only with the possibility of a new attraction, but with the knowledge that there are secrets behind her husband’s death that she has not yet uncovered, and which threaten to shake her faith in everything she knows about their past life together. Told in Silence is a spellbinding and unforgettable novel of desire, deception and the lengths that we will go to for love.
Burning Secrets
Burning Secrets
Clare Chambers
¥51.50
An intense and thrilling teen mystery set on a tranquil island where all seems perfect… Daniel has dark secrets and a troubled past. So when his family move to the island of Wragge, a gentle backwater where local life remains undisturbed he feels he’s escaped. But outsiders aren’t always welcome and the more Daniel tries to conceal, the more he reveals about sinister goings on. Does this picture perfect community have something even greater to hide? An explosive thriller that tingles with brooding menace and ignites as the clues fall into place…
The Lions of Al-Rassan
The Lions of Al-Rassan
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥72.30
Hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, a deeply compelling story of love, adventure, divided loyalties, and what happens when beliefs begin to remake – or destroy – a world. The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan – poet, diplomat, soldier – until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever. Meanwhile, in the north, the conquered Jaddites' most celebrated – and feared – military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, driven into exile, leads his mercenary company south. In the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan, these two men from different worlds meet and serve – for a time – the same master. Tangled in their interwoven fate – and divided by her feelings – is Jehane, the accomplished court physician, whose skills may not be enough to heal the coming pain as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.
Tigana
Tigana
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥80.25
With this rich, masterfully written extravaganza of myth and magic, the internationally acclaimed author of THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY trilogy has created an epic that will forever change the boundaries of fantasy fiction. Set in a beleaguered land caught in a web of tyranny, Tigana is the deeply moving story of a people struggling to be free. A people so cursed by the dark sorceries of the tyrant King Brandin that even the very name of their once beautiful land cannot be spoken or remembered. But not everyone has forgotten. A handful of men and women, driven by love, hope and pride, set in motion the dangerous quest for freedom and bring back to the world the lost brightness of an obliterated name: Tigana.
Ysabel
Ysabel
Guy Gavriel Kay
¥63.18
In this exhilarating, moving novel set in modern and ancient Provence, Guy Gavriel Kay casts brilliant light on the ways in which history – whether of a culture or a family – refuses to be buried. Ned Marriner, fifteen years old, has accompanied his photographer father to Provence for a six-week “shoot” of images for a glossy coffee-table book. Gradually, Ned discovers a very old story playing itself out in this modern world of iPods, cellphones, and seven-seater vans whipping along roads walked by Celtic tribes and the Roman Legions. On one holy, haunted night of the ancient year, when the borders between the living and the dead are down and fires are lit upon the hills, Ned, his family, and his friends, are shockingly drawn into this tale, as dangerous, mythic figures from conflicts of long ago erupt into the present, claiming and changing lives.
Whatever it Takes: The Real Story of Gordon Brown and New Labour
Whatever it Takes: The Real Story of Gordon Brown and New Labour
Steve Richards
¥80.25
At the beginning of the financial crisis, in September 2008, Gordon Brown called an emergency press conference in which he declared, 'we will do whatever it takes to restore stability in the financial markets'. He was to repeated the phrase ‘whatever it takes’ constantly in the following weeks. As Shadow Chancellor Brown would do whatever it took to restore Labour's economic credibility. As leader-in-waiting he would do whatever it took to acquire the crown. As Prime Minister he would do whatever it took to buttress his enfeebled regime, going as far instigating a rapprochement with Peter Mandelson, a figure he had come to despise. Determined, wilful, multi-layered in his complexity, Brown would always do whatever it took to survive. New Labour, as a political force, rootless and defensive in its origins, would similarly do whatever it took to retain support in what its founders regarded as a conservative country. Written by one of the most influential political commentators in the UK, the Independent's chief political commentator, Steve Richards, this political expose examines Gordon Brown's wildly oscillating career and the ruthless and sometimes shallow pragmatism displayed by New Labour as a whole.