From Publishers WeeklyThe creator of the Dungeons & Dragons based Forgotten Realms series (Elminster, etc.) offers conventional heroic fantasy fare in this third and probably final volume in the Band of Four series. The warrior Hawkril, the thief Craer, the healer-wizard Sarasper and the sorceress Lady Embra Silvertree continue to entertain as well-drawn, if sometimes slightly tongue-in-cheek, archetypes. They have their work cut out for them when they discover that giving the kingless land of Aglirta a "Risen King" has not quashed ambitious barons who desire the throne for themselves, enemies who want vengeance on the Four personally, or the scheming, literally scaly priests who wish to bring back the Serpent and rule or ruin the world. As the stakes rise, the Four rapidly lose their sense of humor and the action becomes genuinely gripping, as well as fast and bloody. The cast of characters at the back is essential to avoid confusion, even if one has read the two previous books, The Kingless Land (2000) and The Vacant Throne (2001). After the fall of Flowfoam Castle and the confrontation between the Dragon and the Serpent, not everybody the reader has come to care for is left standing, while the role of the shape-changing Koglaur as deus ex machina remains a puzzle. Game-oriented fantasy fans and new converts to the genre through the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring should be satisfied, but those hoping to find another Terry Pratchett would do best to seek elsewhere. (Mar. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From BooklistThe title of the third volume of the Band of Four saga refers to the advance and near-triumph of the servants of the Serpent. In addition to those, the formerly kingless land of Aglirta now faces usurpation and tyranny at the hands of a powerful warlord, whose challenge divides resistance to the minions of the Serpent at the worst possible time. Enter the Band of Four--Hawkril the warrior, Craer the thief, Sarasper the healer, and Lady Embra Silvertree the sorceress--to oppose Serpent and warlord, highly if not unexpectedly successfully. Yet the end of this book leaves room for further volumes by Greenwood, whose previous work has included plenty of game-related fiction. The originality and wit he displayed in that work is even more evident in this saga, and indeed there is little that is generic about any aspect of either this book or the series of which it is a part. Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Hunter and Morgan join together with a surprising new ally to fight for the people they love. In this struggle of good versus evil, who will survive to tell the tale?

Just as Masters and Johnson were pioneers in the study of human sexuality, so Dr. John Gottman has revolutionized the study of marriage. As a professor of psychology at the University of Washington and the founder and director of the Seattle Marital and Family Institute, he has studied the habits of married couples in unprecedented detail over the course of many years. His findings, and his heavily attended workshops, have already turned around thousands of faltering marriages.        This book is the culmination of his life's work: the seven principles that guide couples on the path toward a harmonious and long-lasting relationship. Straightforward in their approach, yet profound in their effect, these principles teach partners new and startling strategies for making their marriage work. Gottman helps couples focus on each other, on paying attention to the small day-to-day moments that, strung...

Gripping and poignant tale of psychic possession concerns Arthur Lawford, who appears to have been possessed by the spirit of a long-dead 18th-century pirate. One of de la Mare's finest occult stories, the novel also deals with domestic trauma, unrequited love and philosophical reflection. New introduction by S. T. Joshi.

The Golden Age is 10,000 years in the future in our solar system, an interplanetary utopian society filled with immortal humans. Phaethon, of Radamanthus House, is attending a glorious party at his family mansion celebrating the thousand-year anniversary of the High Transcendence. There he meets an old man who accuses him of being an imposter, and then a being from Neptune who claims to be an old friend. The Neptunian tells him that essential parts of his memory were removed and stored by the very government that Phaethon believes to be wholly honorable. It shakes his faith. Is he indeed an exile from himself? He can't resist investigating, even though to do so could mean the loss of his inheritance, his very place in society. His quest must be to regain his true identity and fulfill the destiny he chose for himself. The Golden Age is just the beginning of Phaethon's story, which will continue in The Phoenix Exultant, forthcoming from Tor.

Morgan has been so involved in the world of magick that her parents are furious with her for neglecting school. And now the members of her coven are being persecuted. Morgan is falling to pieces. How can she find the strength she so desperately needs?

She was a "Jane Doe," an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department, but the detectives had little to go on. The woman was young, her hands were bound with a length of wire, there were multiple stab wounds, and her throat had been slashed. After months of investigation, the murder remained unsolved. That was eighteen years ago. Now the two men who found the body, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case. Old and ill, they need someone to help with their legwork and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. They will, they tell her, find closure if they can just identify the victim. Kinsey is intrigued and agrees to the job. But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe's real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her killer. "Q" is for Quarry is based on an unsolved homicide that occurred in 1969, and Grafton's interest in the case has generated renewed police efforts. During the past year, the body was exhumed and a nationally known forensic artist did the facial reconstruction that appears in the closing pages of "Q" is for Quarry. Both Grafton and the dedicated members of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department are hoping the photograph will trigger memories that may lead to a positive identification. On the day Jane Doe was reburied, many officers were at the gravesite. "It's eerie," Grafton writes, "to think about the power this woman still has. Here we are, thirty-three years later, and she still wants to go home."

Kathy Pettingill is a name that's both respected and feared, not only by Australia's criminal underworld, but by many in the Victorian police force. As the matriarch at the head of the most notorious and violent family of habitual offenders in Australian criminal history, her life has revolved around murder, drugs, prison, prostitution and bent coppers – and the intrigue and horror that surround such crimes. Her eldest son, Dennis Allen, was a mass murderer and a $70,000-a-week drug dealer who dismembered a Hell's Angel with a chainsaw. Two younger sons were acquitted of the Walsh Street murders, the cold-blooded assassination of two police officers that changed the face of crime in Melbourne forever. One of the two, Victor, was gunned down himself in the street 14 years later, becoming the third son Kathy has buried. In this revised and updated authorised edition of Adrian Tame's bestselling The Matriarch, Kathy Pettingill reveals the chilling truth behind...

The Unraveling Strangeness represents the record of a man in the middle of his life who comes back to his home after being away for twenty-five years. It is a moving reflection on the deep and abiding connections to place, family, and old friends.

"Eyvind can think of no more glorious future than becoming a Wolfskin, a warrior devoted to the service of the mighty war god Thor. His closest friend, Somerled, a strange and lonely boy, has his own very different ambitions - yet a childhood oath, sworn in blood, binds these two in lifelong loyalty. Meanwhile, far away across the water, on the Light Isles, the king's niece Nessa is beginning to learn the ways of the mysteries - though neither the young priestess nor her people can realize what lies ahead for them." "Eyvind and Somerled seem set to follow very different paths: one becoming a fearless servant of the Warfather, the other a scholarly courtier. Then a voyage of discovery, led by Somerled's brother Ulf, brings the two friends together again in accompanying a group of settlers to some beautiful islands rumoured to lie across the western sea. However, their good spirits are dampened by a tragedy on board, which Eyvind begins to suspect may not have been an accident." Ulf's new settlement begins in harmony with the native islanders, led by King Engus. But one day, on a trip to a holy place of the Folk, a brutal murder occurs and that peace is shattered. It is now that Eyvind begins to feel the restraining ties of his boyhood oath...and to realize what sort of future Somerled had in mind for himself all those years ago.