The Master of Petersburg

The Master of Petersburg

J. M. Coetzee

Literature & Fiction

In the fall of 1869 Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, lately a resident of Germany, is summoned back to St. Petersburg by the sudden death of his stepson, Pavel. Half crazed with grief, stricken by epileptic seizures, and erotically obsessed with his stepson's landlady, Dostoevsky is nevertheless intent on unraveling the enigma of Pavel's life. Was the boy a suicide or a murder victim? Did he love his stepfather or despise him? Was he a disciple of the revolutionary Nechaev, who even now is somewhere in St. Petersburg pursuing a dream of apocalyptic violence? As he follows his stepson's ghost—and becomes enmeshed in the same demonic conspiracies that claimed the boy—Dostoevsky emerges as a figure of unfathomable contradictions: naive and calculating, compassionate and cruel, pious and unspeakably perverse.
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Eaters of the Dead

Eaters of the Dead

Michael Crichton

Mystery / Thriller / Science Fiction

The year is A. D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Bagdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs -- the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness . . . their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: He has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them -- a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh . . .
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Red Diamond Rustlers

Red Diamond Rustlers

Will DuRey

Will DuRey

Law was a rare commodity on the vast cattle ranges and a man had to fight if he meant to hold on to what he owned. A rancher dispensed his owned justice when he caught those who stole his livestock, but Titus Sawyer lost more than cattle when rustlers raided his Red Diamond spread. Men were killed, too, slaughtered in a dreadful ambush, so, when he summoned his nephew Frank to track down the killers his desire to punish the culprits was deeper than justice; it was revenge.
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Fear

Fear

Ronald Kelly

Ronald Kelly

It was a legend in Fear County... a hideous, flesh-eating creature - part snake, part earthbound demon - that feasted on the blood of innocent children in the cold black heart of the Tennessee backwoods.But ten-year-old Jeb Sweeny knows the horrible stories are true. His best friend Mandy just up and disappeared. He also knows that no one has ever had the courage to go after the monster and put an end to its raging, bestial hunger. Until now.But Evil is well guarded. And for young Jeb Sweeny, who is about to cross over into the forbidden land of Fear County and the lair of the unknown, passage through the gates of Hell comes with a terrible price. Everlasting...FEAR!
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The Dancing Bear

The Dancing Bear

Michael Morpurgo

Children's Books / Poetry / Historical Fiction

A gentle and deeply moving story of a young girl and her bear, told with great charm by a master storyteller.High in the mountains, in a tiny village, an abandoned bear cub is adopted by a lonely orphan child. Soon they are inseparable, beloved by the whole village – safe, until the arrival of a glamorous film crew who need a dancing bear…
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The Dedalus Book of Dutch Fantasy

The Dedalus Book of Dutch Fantasy

Richard Huijing (ed)

Richard Huijing (ed)

The Dedalus Book of Dutch Fantasy is the most ambitious and wide-ranging anthology of Dutch fiction ever to appear in English, and reads like the Who's Who of Dutch Literature, with stories by the undisputed contemporary masters such as Gerard Reve and Harry Mulisch, and classic authors such as Couperus, Van Schendel and Vestdijk, as well as many of the rising stars of the younger generation; Frans Kellendonk, A.F.TH. Van Der Heijden and P.F. Thomese. The stereotype of the Dutch that most immediately springs to mind is that of a clean, orderly, and down-to-earth people. Richard Huijing reveals the other side of this society; that of a dark netherworld of the macabre, the weird, the perverted, the violent and the fancifully impossible conjured up by a host of the finest writers in the Dutch language of the last hundred years.contentsINTRODUCTION 9STORIESArnold Aletrino In the Dark 15Jan Arends Breakfast 24Maarten Asscher The Secret of Dr Raoul Sarrazin 38Belcampo Funeral Rites 49Huub Beurskens Highest Honours 63J. M. A. Biesheuvel Biker at Sea 74Willem Brakman The Gospel According to Chabot 78Remco Campert The Disappearance of Bertje S. 97Louis Couperus Bluebeard's Daughter 100The Son of Don Juan 106Johan Andreas Der The Sacred Butterfly 112MouwLodewijk van Deyssel Curious Things on the Plain 118Inez van Dullemen After the Hurricane 120Jacob Israel de Haan Concerning the Experiences of Helens Marie Golesco 130Fritzi Harmsen van Beek The Taxi Pig 139Marcus Heeresma Dumping Ground 142A. F. Th. van der Pompeii Funebri 155HeijdenJan Hofker Rustler 169Frans Kellendonk Death and Life of Thomas Chatterton 171Anton Koolhaas Baldur D. Quorg, Spider 183Frans Kusters The Full Diagnosis 198Harry Mulisch Decorated Man 202Caret van Nievelt Souls Errant 218Helene Nolthenius Looking Back: the Weapon 228Gerard Reve Werther Nieland 232Arthur van Schendel The White Woman 283Willem Schurmann The Unbalanced King 288Jan Siebelink Affection 309P. F. Thomese Leviathan 319Simon Vestdijk The Stone Face 350Jan Wolkers Feathered Friends 359NOTES ON THE AUTHORS 373About the AuthorHuijing is a well known Dutch author
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Green River Rising

Green River Rising

Tim Willocks

Historical / Historical Fiction / Fiction

On the day Dr. Ray Klein wins his parole, the disciplinary perfection of Green River Penitentiary in Texas is torn apart by riot - more a tribal war - of unimaginable ferocity. As the inmates take over, the River sucks all inside further toward the abyss. Klein must choose. He must either claim his freedom and abandon his friends and the woman he loves to die, or he must risk all and fight. "Green River Rising" is a thriller that grabs you at the outset and imprisons you in the iron grip of its headlong plot until the final page. It is also an intelligent, literate, philosophical novel about choice, courage, and love - the dark, violent, sexy story of one man's moral choices in the amoral maelstrom.
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A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

Jack Canfield

Nonfiction / Self Help / Inspirational

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Bestselling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen present another joyful collection of stories for your reading pleasure. Within the pages of A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul you will find shining examples of the best qualities we all share as human beings: compassion, grace, forgiveness, hope, courage, dedication, generosity and faith. Stories may be the most powerful teaching tool available to us, especially when the lessons being taught are love, necessary losses, respect and values. In this volume of Chicken Soup for the Soul, the authors share more collected wisdom on love, parenting, teaching, learning, death, attitude and overcoming obstacles. This book will warm your heart, brighten your darkest day and put a smile on your face that will last a lifetime.
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Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan

Science / Nonfiction / Philosophy

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan traces our exploration of space and suggests that our very survival may depend on the wise use of other worlds. This stirring book reveals how scientific discovery has altered our perception of who we are and where we stand, and challenges us to weigh what we will do with that knowledge. Photos, many in color.
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The Gap Into Madness: Chaos and Order

The Gap Into Madness: Chaos and Order

Stephen R. Donaldson

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Mystery & Thrillers / Nonfiction

As the planetoid Thanatos Minor explodes into atoms, a specially-fitted cruiser escapes the mass destruction and hurtles into space only a step ahead of hostile pursuit. On board Trumpet are a handful of bedraggled fugitives from an outlaw world - old enemies suddenly and violently thrown together in a desperate bid for survival. Among this unlikely crew of allies are Morn Hyland, once a UMC cop, now a prisoner to the electrodes implanted in her brain; her son, Davies, "force-grown" to adulthood by the alien Amnion and struggling to understand his true identity; the amoral space buccaneer Nick Succorso, whose most daring act of piracy could be his last; and Angus Thermopyle, unstoppable cyborg struggling to wrest control of his own mind from his UMC programmers. From the Paperback edition.
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Patriot's Dream

Patriot's Dream

Barbara Michaels

Barbara Michaels

Jan Wilde's much-needed vacation in Williamsburg, Virginia, is anything but restful. Here in this historic restored colonial village, her sleep is invaded by strangers from two centuries in the past. They seem so close, so real—and when Jan awakens in the morning, their lives and loves and the secret they share shadow her very existence. The only way Jan can ever be free is to seek the truth . . . in her dreams.
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A Necessary End

A Necessary End

Nick Taylor

Nick Taylor

A touching and beautifully written story of Nick Taylor's journey with his parents to the end of their lives. Millions of children are taking similar journeys which is why the Washington Post called A NECESSARY END "one of the key stories of our time."
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