Deadman Switch

Deadman Switch

Timothy Zahn

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Society has come to terms with a mining operation that requires the sacrifice of death-row inmates. But what happens when one inmate turns out to be innocent? Only the recently dead can helm the “deadman switch” to pilot a ship through the Cloud, a mysterious solar entity that shields the Solitaire solar system and its valuable heavy metals. Two convicted murderers are routinely sacrificed for this task—one to enter the system, one to exit. Gilead Raca Benedar is a Watcher, employed by the wealthy head of an intergalactic mining company as a human lie detector of sorts. When Benedar is sent to Solitaire, with its metal-rich moons, to assist with the acquisition of its valuable mining rights, he and the crew are able to make it to Solitaire safely, and all goes well. That is, until Benedar’s Watcher powers show him that the second convict they are traveling with—the one meant to helm the deadman switch on their return journey—is innocent.
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The Charm School

The Charm School

Nelson DeMille

Mystery / Thriller

Something very strange -- and sinister -- is going on in the Russian woods at Borodino. In a place called Mrs. Ivanova's Charm School, young KGB agents are being taught by American POW's how to be model citizens of the USA. The Soviet goal -- to infiltrate the United States undetected. When an unsuspecting American tourist stumbles upon this secret, he sets in motion a CIA investigation that will reveal horrifying police state savagery and superpower treachery.
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The Lost Father

The Lost Father

Marina Warner

Marina Warner

Like Visconti's film The Leopard, this magnificent novel paints in sensuous colours the story of a family. It brings to new life the ancient disparaged south of the Italian peninsula, weakened by emigration, silenced by fascism. According to family legend, David Pittagora died as a result of a duel. His death is the mysterious pivot around which his grand- daughter, an independent modern woman, constructs an imaginary memoir of her mother's background and life. She follows the family as they emigrate to New York -- where they find only humiliation and poverty -- and after their return to Italy in the early 1920's. As she is drawn by the passions and prejudices of her own imagination, we see how family memory, like folk memory, weaves its own dream.
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The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1936) – Mason gets a telephone call from a man who identifies himself as Anglican Bishop William Mallory, recently returned from many years in Australia, and tells Mason that he will testify on the behalf of Mason's client, if Mason can find him. But Mason observes that a bishop who has delivered many sermons is unlikely to stutter.When a stuttering bishop comes to Perry Mason's office for help, Mason becomes involved in a battle of wills with a woman and the long-lost daughter she believes to be a fraud. The key to the puzzle lies in the bishop--who, unfortunately, has disappeared.
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All of Us: The Collected Poems

All of Us: The Collected Poems

Raymond Carver

Literature & Fiction / Poetry

This prodigiously rich collection suggests that Raymond Carver was not only America’s finest writer of short fiction, but also one of its most large-hearted and affecting poets. Like Carver’s stories, the more than 300 poems in All of Us are marked by a keen attention to the physical world; an uncanny ability to compress vast feeling into discreet moments; a voice of conversational intimacy, and an unstinting sympathy. This complete edition brings together all the poems of Carver’s five previous books, from Fires to the posthumously published No Heroics, Please.  It also contains bibliographical and textual notes on individual poems; a chronology of Carver’s life and work; and a moving introduction by Carver’s widow, the poet Tess Gallagher. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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The Hermit of Eyton Forest

The Hermit of Eyton Forest

Ellis Peters

Ellis Peters

In the Autumn of 1142, a holy man living as a hermit is found dead. His murder coincides with the arrival at the Abbey of Shrewsbury of the new Lord of Eaton. Brother Cadfael suspects a connection, but the new lord is only ten years old – who can have been acting in his interests?
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Breathing Lessons

Breathing Lessons

Anne Tyler

Literature & Fiction / Contemporary / Young Adult

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Anne Tyler's *The Beginner's Goodbye.* Maggie and Ira Moran have been married for twenty-eight years–and it shows: in their quarrels, in their routines, in their ability to tolerate with affection each other’ s eccentricities. Maggie, a kooky, lovable meddler and an irrepressible optimist, wants nothing more than to fix her son’s broken marriage. Ira is infuriatingly practical, a man “who should have married Ann Landers.” And what begins as a day trip to a funeral becomes an adventure in the unexpected. As Maggie and Ira navigate the riotous twists and turns, they intersect with an assorted cast of eccentrics–and rediscover the magic of the road called life and the joy of having somebody next to you to share the ride . . . bumps and all.
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Hapgood: A Play

Hapgood: A Play

Tom Stoppard

Theatre

With his characteristically brilliant wordplay and extraordinary scope, Tom Stoppard has in Hapgood devised a play that "spins an end-of-the-cold-war tale of intrigue and betrayal, interspersed with explanations of the quixotic behavior of the electron and the puzzling properties of light" (David Richards, The New York Times). It falls to Hapgood, an extraordinary British intelligence officer, to try to unravel the mystery of who is passing along top-secret scientific discoveries to the Soviets, but as she does so, the web of personal and professional betrayals—doubles and triples and possibly quadruples—continues to multiply.
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The Sea and the Sand

The Sea and the Sand

Christopher Nicole

Historical Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers / Romance

The Caribbean, 1800. The spirit of Harry McGann lives on in his son Toby. Protecting Yankee shores from rogue French ships, he’s seen more action in his nineteen years than his father ever saw in a lifetime. But his destiny is set to diverge from his father’s in more ways than one. A chance meeting with the beautiful Felicity Crown, daughter of British navy-Captain, sets him on a path of reuniting the family with his father’s old foe. Times have changed, however, and a new threat to American interests stalks the seas. Barbary pirates operating out of Tripoli have cast their net wide over the Mediterranean, disrupting trade, plundering merchant ships and placing men and women into captivity. When Felicity’s ship is over-run and Felicity herself sold off to harems across North Africa, the war with these pirates becomes deeply personal for Toby. He believes Felicity is alive and he is prepared to cross the sea and the sand to find her. But Felicity’s cruel masters will not relinquish her without a fight. The Sea and the Sand is the epic sequel in the McGann saga. Praise for Christopher Nicole: ‘A sensual, passion-packed saga!’ – Publishers Weekly ‘Sex and violence… fast-paced, entertaining, appealing!’ – Library Journal Christopher Nicole was born and brought up in British Guyana and the West Indies. His output of books has been prolific and many of his novels are historical with a Caribbean background. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now. **
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Angel Fire

Angel Fire

Andrew M. Greeley

Mystery & Thrillers / Literature & Fiction / Religion & Spirituality

From Publishers WeeklyGreeley (Lord of the Dance) has now written a murky "romantic mystery/fantasy" about a Nobel laureate who is astounded when a lissome guardian angel in couture garb comes to earth to protect him. Sean Desmond, a theoretical biologist, hasn't been luckyhis wife left him to go into "femtherapy" and then remarried. Professionally, Sean achieves glory by observing "sudden evolutionary leaps" in fruit flies, resulting in a new breed of hardy "superflies." In New York, which he visits en route to claiming the Nobel in Stockholm, gunmen nearly kill him before the angel Gabriella intervenes, posing as Sean's assistant. Greeley explains, somewhat ambiguously, that the assailants want to produce supermen and see Sean as an obstacle. Among his other foes are members of Project Archangel, a private English company trying to accelerate evolution for sinister purposes. Sean, predictably, adores Gabriella, and Greeley includes several endearing scenes between this unlikely twosome. Unfortunately, he also clutters the story with less engaging topics, such as the theory that angels are a species superior to humans in the evolutionary process. Gabriella voices startling sentiments for an angel, especially when she denounces the "despicable" Kennedys as "satyrs." Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalThe prolific Fr. Greeley continues his apostolate in this transparent and often trite fantasy novel. The story deals with Professor Sean Seamus Desmond, biologist at the University of Cook County, his trip to Stockholm to accept a Nobel Prize, and his alternate brushes with death and a beautiful angel. For reasons unknown to him, Desmond is targeted by numerous thugs intent on liquidating him. He is repeatedly rescued by the beautiful Gabriella Light who has extraordinary (angelic) powers. Romantically attracted to her, Desmond flirts mawkishly, employing sentimental "Irish" expressions. Though clearly intended to deliver a reassuring message, this modern-day fantasy is too "lite" to be recommended. Save your budget. William C. McCully, Park Ridge P.L., Ill.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Claudia and the New Girl

Claudia and the New Girl

Ann M. Martin

Children's Books / Young Adult

Claudia has always been the most outrageous girl in her class...until Ashley Wyeth comes along. Ashey's really different - she dresses in hippie clothes, wears six earrings, and is the most fantastic artist Claudia has ever met. Ashey says Claudia has artistic talent, too. She thinks Claudia should spend more time on her "calling" and forget about the Baby-sitter's Club: It's just a waste of time. The Baby-sitters are sick of Ashley Wyeth, and they think Claudia's a traitor. Claudia's got to decide: either the Baby-sitter's Club or the new girl - one of them's got to know.
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In Praise of the Stepmother

In Praise of the Stepmother

Mario Vargas Llosa

Literature & Fiction

Mario Vargas Llosa, the internationally acclaimed author of The Storyteller, adds his own finely-tuned poetic polish to this erotic exploration of carnality in one family. He turns the proverbial romantic triangle on its ear to create this New York Times bestselling erotic novel. French flaps and six full-color pages of classic artworks.
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