Gringos

Gringos

Charles Portis

Literature & Fiction

Jimmy Burns "in grass-green golfing trousers" is an expat American idler in Mexico, who unearths pre-Colombian artifacts, does small trucking jobs, and finds missing persons. Louise, a 90-pound stalker, hippies led by a murderous ex-con, and illegal Mayan excavators disrupt his laid-back lifestyle.
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Summer of Night

Summer of Night

Dan Simmons

Science Fiction / Fantasy

It's the summer of 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois, and five 12-year old boys are forming the bonds that a lifetime of changes will never erase. But then a dark cloud threatens the bright promise of summer vacation: on the last day of school, their classmate Tubby Cooke vanishes. Soon, the group discovers stories of other children who once disappeared from Elm Haven. And there are other strange things happening in town: unexplained holes in the ground, a stranger dressed as a World War I soldier, and a rendering-plant truck that seems to be following the five boys. The friends realize that there is a terrible evil lurking in Elm Haven...and they must be the ones to stop it.
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A Cool Breeze on the Underground

A Cool Breeze on the Underground

Don Winslow

Mystery & Thrillers

Neal Carey is not your usual private eye. A graduate student at Columbia University, he grew up on the streets of New York, usually on the wrong side of the law. Then he met Joe Graham, a one-armed P.I. who introduced him to the Bank, an exclusive New England institution with a sideline in keeping its wealthy clients happy and out of trouble. They pay Neal's college tuition, and Neal gets an education that can't be found in any textbook-- from learning how to trail a suspect to mastering the proper way to search a room. Now it's payback time. The Bank wants Neal to put his skills to work in finding Allie Chase, the rebellious teenage daughter of a prominent senator. The problem: Allie has gone underground in London, and to get her back, Neal has to follow her into the punk scene, a violent netherworld where drugs run rampant and rage is the name of the game. Up against punk junkies, antique book thieves, and murderous betrayal, Neal has his work cut out for him to save Allie-- and get back above ground for good.
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Saint Maybe

Saint Maybe

Anne Tyler

Literature & Fiction / Contemporary / Young Adult

Saint Maybe is the rich and absorbing story of a young man's guilt over his brother's death and his struggle to atone for the wrong he feels he has done. On a quiet street in Baltimore in 1965, seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe lives with his family in an "ideal, apple-pie household," enjoying the comfort of family traditions and indulging in all the usual dreams of the future. Until one night, when Ian's stinging words to his brother bring tragedy -- and from that careless moment on nothing can ever be the same. Anne Tyler takes us along Ian's painful and poignant quest for forgiveness, from the Church of the Second Chance to Ian's gratifying, solitary work as a carpenter. Raising the three children that are thrust on him, he finds himself amazed, drowning in family and duty. Then, out of the very heart of the domestic clutter, a light begins to flash. From the Hardcover edition.
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Scales of Gold: The Fourth Book of the House of Niccolo

Scales of Gold: The Fourth Book of the House of Niccolo

Dorothy Dunnett

Historical Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers

With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett, grande dame of the historical novel, presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire. The year 1464 finds Nicholas back in Venice. Plagued by enemies bent on dissolving his assets and smearing his character, he sets sail for Africa, legendary location of the Fountain of Youth, home to a descendant of Sheba and Solomon, and the source of gold in such abundance that men prefer to barter in shells. He will learn firsthand the brutality and grandeur of the Dark Continent, from the horror of the slave trade to the austere nobility of Islamic Timbuktu. He will discover, too, the charms of the beautiful Gelis van Borselen--a woman whose passion for Nicholas is rivaled only by her desire to punish him for his role in her sister s death. Erotic and lush with detail, Scales of Gold embraces the complexity of the Renaissance, where mercantile adventure couples with more personal quests behind the silken curtains of the Age of Discovery. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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The Sapphire Rose

The Sapphire Rose

David Eddings

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Book Three of the ELENIUM is fantasy on a truly epic scale, in which the Pandion Knight Sparhawk must finally use the power of the jewel. Sparhawk and his band of companions have recovered the magical jewel – the Sapphire Rose – from the cave of the troll-dwarf Ghwerig. Now they have the power to wake and cure Ehlana, the young Queen of Elenia. But while they were away from the kingdom, great forces of evil moved into the power vacuum left behind. An unholy alliance between Otha, degenerate sorcerer-king of the Zemochs, the renegade Pandion Knight Martel, and Annias, traitorous Primate of Cimmura, threatens to overrun all of Eosia. In returning to wake Ehlana, Sparhawk risks delivering the Sapphire Rose into the hands of his enemies, who will use it to give the evil god Azash dominion over the whole world. To stop them they may have to unleash the full power of the jewel, but no one can predict whether the world itself will survive such an event. THE SAPPHIRE ROSE is the gripping, brilliant conclusion to THE ELENIUM, a panoramic tale of a conflict between good and evil that envelops an entire continent.
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The Revenge of the Rose

The Revenge of the Rose

Michael Moorcock

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Historical Fiction / Literature & Fiction

The Revenge of the Rose is Michael Moorcock's newest, most captivating novel of Elric, the mad albino warrior with the vampire Black Sword. Now, Elric returns on the wings of a dragon to the ruined place of his birth, the Dreaming City. There, in the catacombs of his ancestors, he hears the tortured voice of his dead father. But to save his father's soul from eternal suffering, Elric must battle the princes of Hell itself - and put his faith in the hands of a woman. A woman called the Rose...
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Miracle Cure

Miracle Cure

Harlan Coben

Mystery / Suspense / Young Adult

A stunning, controversial, nonstop thriller that careens through the inner halls of high-stakes medical research, the upper echelons of Washington politics, and the steamy streets of Bangkok, on the trail of a dangerous and deadly cure for AIDS. A husband and wife race to find a cure for the disease that has inspired a serial killer to terrorize Manhattan in this classic medical thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.They’re one of the country’s most telegenic couples: beloved TV journalist Sara Lowell and New York’s hottest basketball star, Michael Silverman. Their family and social connections tie them to the highest echelons of the political, medical, and sports worlds—threads that will tangle them up in one of the most controversial and deadly issues of our time.In a clinic on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a doctor has dedicated his life to eradicating a divisive and devastating disease. One by one, his patients are getting well. One by one, they’re being targeted by a serial killer. And now Michael has been diagnosed with the disease. There’s only one cure, but many ways to die...
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Remember

Remember

Barbara Taylor Bradford

Literature & Fiction / Historical Fiction

Nicky Wells is a driven and successful television correspondent who will go anywhere to get her story, even into treacherous war zones. But Nicky isn't as fearless as she seems. The love of her life, her fiancé Charles Devereaux, died in a drowning incident believed to be a suicide. Three years later, Nicky is still haunted by his death. Clee Donovan is a successful photographic journalist, and a man who harbors an undeniable attraction to Nicky. Amidst the protests in Tiananmen Square, the two come together in sizzling passion. Following Clee to Provence, Nicky finally lets herself believe in a life after Charles. But while watching a television news report of a fatal shooting in Rome, Nicky spots a familiar face in the crowd--Charles. Consumed by the belief that her fiancé may still be alive, she pursues a series of enigmatic clues across Europe, relying on every journalistic skill she has to get to the bottom of a dangerous mystery.
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Candle in the Window: Castles #1

Candle in the Window: Castles #1

Christina Dodd

Thriller / Suspense / Romance

Lady Saura of Roget lives a lonely life of servitude—her fortune controlled by her cruel, unscrupulous stepfather. Yet it is she who has been called upon to brighten the days of Sir William of Miraval, a proud and noble knight who once swore to live or perish by the sword . . . until his world was engulfed in agonizing darkness. Summoned to Sir William's castle, the raven-haired innocent is soon overcome by desire and love for the magnificent, golden warrior who has quickly laid siege to her heart. But there is grave danger awaiting them both just beyond the castle walls . . . and a dear and deadly price to be paid for surrendering to a fiery, all-consuming love.
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Morning, Noon and Night

Morning, Noon and Night

Sidney Sheldon

Literature & Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Children's Books

Cruising on his yacht, Harry Stanford, one of the world's wealthiest men, drowns under mysterious circumstances. Now, a young woman appears at the family gathering following the funeral claiming to be his daughter and heir. As the respected Stanford family seeks to learn whether she is genuine or an imposter, a hidden web of blackmail, drugs and murder emerges from behind the facade.
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London Observed

London Observed

Doris Lessing

Fiction

Published in America as The Real Thing: Stories and Sketches. Across eighteen short stories, Lessing dissects London and its inhabitants with the power for truth and compassion to be expected of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007. 'During that first year in England, I had a vision of London I cannot recall now … it was a nightmare city that I lived in for a year. Then, one evening, walking across the park, the light welded buildings, trees and scarlet buses into something familiar and beautiful, and I knew myself to be at home.' Lessing’s vision of London – a place of nightmares and wonder – underpins this brilliantly multifaceted collection of stories about the city, seen from a cafe table, a hospital bed, the back seat of a taxi, a hospital casualty department; seen, as always, unflinchingly, and compellingly depicted.
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Karen's Doll

Karen's Doll

Ann M. Martin

Children's Books / Young Adult

The bix mix-up Karen has a new doll. And it's not just any old doll. Karen's baby doll came all the way from London, England. She was very expensive. Karen has to be extra careful with her. When Karen's best friend Nancy gets sick, Karen has a great idea. She gives her doll to Nancy until she feels better. But Nancy thinks the doll is for keeps! What will Karen do?
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