“Markus has a remarkable ability to strip life down to its basics, to the point where the metaphors we manufacture as the looking-glass for our existence end up standing in for existence itself. Fish, mud, night and river come to stand in place of family connections as fathers and sons, by giving themselves to fishing give themselves over to a lone search and to loss.”—Brian Evenson, author of The Open Curtain. Peter Markus has published three story collections and lives in Michigan

In the summer of 1972, with a presidential crisis stirring in the United States and the cold war at a pivotal point, two men—the Soviet world chess champion Boris Spassky and his American challenger Bobby Fischer—met in the most notorious chess match of all time. Their showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, ultimatums, political intrigue, cliffhangers, and farce to rival a Marx Brothers film. Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow, authors of the national bestseller Wittgenstein’s Poker, have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine—a machine that had delivered the world title to the Kremlin for decades. Drawing upon unpublished Soviet and U.S. records, the authors reconstruct the full and incredible saga, one far more poignant and layered than hitherto believed. Against the backdrop of superpower politics, the authors recount the careers and personalities of Boris Spassky, the product of Stalin’s imperium, and Bobby Fischer, a child of post-World War II America, an era of economic boom at home and communist containment abroad. The two men had nothing in common but their gift for chess, and the disparity of their outlook and values conditioned the struggle over the board. Then there was the match itself, which produced both creative masterpieces and some of the most improbable gaffes in chess history. And finally, there was the dramatic and protracted off-the-board battle—in corridors and foyers, in back rooms and hotel suites, in Moscow offices and in the White House. The authors chronicle how Fischer, a manipulative, dysfunctional genius, risked all to seize control of the contest as the organizers maneuvered frantically to save it—under the eyes of the world’s press. They can now tell the inside story of Moscow’s response, and the bitter tensions within the Soviet camp as the anxious and frustrated apparatchiks strove to prop up Boris Spassky, the most un-Soviet of their champions—fun-loving, sensitive, and a free spirit. Edmonds and Eidinow follow this careering, behind-the-scenes confrontation to its climax: a clash that displayed the cultural differences between the dynamic, media-savvy representatives of the West and the baffled, impotent Soviets. Try as they might, even the KGB couldn’t help. A mesmerizing narrative of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair, Bobby Fischer Goes to War is a biting deconstruction of the Bobby Fischer myth, a nuanced study on the art of brinkmanship, and a revelatory cold war tragicomedy

¡Nunca una obligación había resultado tan maravillosa! Nikolai de Montez, abogado internacional, acababa de descubrir que era el heredero al trono de Alp de Montez. Pero para llegar a gobernar el pequeño país debía casarse con Rose. Rose McCray no era más que una veterinaria rural, pero su ascendencia real la convertía en la esposa perfecta para Nick… y Rose sabía que su obligación era casarse con él. La ceremonia fue suntuosa, pero después de tantas formalidades había llegado el momento de que los príncipes de Alp de Montez se conocieran como marido y mujer

Повість сучасної англійської письменниці про життя підлітків, про дружбу і готовність допомогти ровесникові, який потрапив у біду

Shayne isn't one to say no to a gorgeous, rich young doll who gets absolutely everything she wants — and what she wants is him. But he changes his tune when he finds her cold and lifeless body on his bed. The dead girl's stepfather is a slippery politician who'd be happy to watch Shayne fry — for a crime he didn't commit. Mike Shayne knows it's a frame-up. But what exactly is the game… and who's calling the plays?

Jeff has a secret he keeps from everyone, especially his wife. Jeff likes to spend time… special time… with women he meets on the streets. But Jeff’s secrets have a way of bleeding into his personal life and his sanity begins to peel as the truth insists on being confronted

The Russians have dropped two hundred of their crack Spetznaz commando troops in to Frankfurt. They attack communications centres, power plants and anything that will disrupt the city and bring it to its knees. Major Revells’ Special Combat Force joins the hunt for them, and a gruesome body count is maintained. A giant Russian transport aircraft evades Frankfurts anti-aircraft defences and drops two hundred paratroopers in to the city. They are Spetsnaz, the elite Russian commandos’. Falling behind the NATO frontline, catching the cities defenders by surprise, they attack communication centres, power stations and any target that will bring the city to its knees. Major Revells’ Special Combat Force has to throw itself into the effort to eliminate the deadly enemy. One by one they have to account for them, employing any tactics, any methods they can improvise. Hampered by the civilians who remain in the city the S.C.F. go after the Russian, hunting them down in a long and lethal game of hide and seek across the city. And all the time a count has to be kept, a body count. First NEL Paperback Edition August 1990 First IMPRINT Publication E-Book Edition May 2005 First Revision IMPRINT Publications E-Book Edition April 2007 Major Revell and his Special Combat Company, a new breed of super-warriors waging the war of the future in a land wasted by nuclear destruction, must reclaim the blood-soaked city of Frankfurt, but they find themselves outgunned by an insidious new force from inside the Zone

Pregnant women play key roles in this bone-chilling fourth novel in Gerritsen's edgy, suspenseful series of thrillers featuring Boston Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli. Both of the usually gritty crime fighters are uncharacteristically vulnerable. Rizzoli is carrying her first child, and Isles-divorced and alone at age 40 and suddenly, unsettlingly aware of her biological clock-is experiencing decidedly unspiritual feelings for her priest. As the novel begins, Isles-an adopted child who never knew the identity of her birth parents-is confronted by the corpse of a murdered woman who is apparently her identical twin. Another detective, Rick Ballard, comes forward to say that he knew the victim and is certain her killer is a powerful pharmaceutical baron known to have stalked her. Isles falls for the handsome Ballard, but she isn't convinced by his theory, and she launches an investigation into her sister's past, following the trail to a state correctional facility and a schizophrenic inmate who may be her mother. This opens the cobwebbed pages of a nightmarish family album and leads Isles to a remote cabin in Maine where the long-dead body of a pregnant woman is discovered buried in the woods. The killer, Isles discovers, has been murdering pregnant women for decades, making periodic sweeps of the country. Meanwhile, brief scenes chronicle the diabolical kidnapping of an affluent pregnant housewife who is kept buried in a crude coffin. An electric series of startling twists, the revelation of ghoulishly practical motives and a nail-biting finale make this Gerritsen's best to date

Night after night, Brianne Nelson has fantasized about the sexy stranger she met at the cafe where she works part-time. Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine that this tall drink of water would turn out to be a client. Thanks to his wealthy sister, injured detective Jake Lowell is the recipient of Brianne's next personal services as a physical therapist for the next month. Now, he's not in any hurry to return to the beat – but he has to find the guy who shot him first. Still, he does need therapy. But the "therapy" has evolved into something a little – uh – steamier. And before they know it, their nightly sessions have turned into a full-blown summer fling. Just what do you do when your wildest fantasies become an even wilder reality? A story guaranteed to raise your temperature!

During her years spent in New York City. Faith Fairchild was convinced she had seen pretty much everything. But the transplanted caterer/minister's wife was unprepared for the surprises awaiting her in the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford. And she is especially taken aback by the dead body of a pretty young thing she discovers stashed in the church's belfry. The victim, Cindy Shepherd. was well-known locally for her acid tongue and her jilted beaux, which created a lot of bad blood and more than a few possible perpetrators -- including her luckless fiance, who had neither an alibi nor a better way to break off the engagement. Faith thinks it's terribly unfair that the police have zeroed in on the hapless boyfriend, and so she sets out to uncover the truth. But digging too deeply into the sordid secrets of a small New England village tends to make the natives nervous. And an overly curious big city lady can become just another small town death statistic in very short order. From Publishers Weekly Page's first novel lacks professional polish and a likable heroine, flaws not compensated for by vivid evocations of a New England autumn in Aleford, Mass. This is home to Faith Fairchild, a native New Yorker, now the wife of the town minister, Tom, and mother of their baby Benjamin. Although she loves her husband and child, Faith belittles the stodgy townspeople, except for a few friends. Eager to help good neighbors Patricia and Robert Moore, the minister's wife throws herself into investigating the murder of their niece, Cindy Shepherd, whose body Faith discovers in the church belfry. Cindy had been an embarrassment to the Moores, her guardians after the death of her parents; a promiscuous young woman, she had upset virtually everyone, even her pathetic fiance, Dave Svenson. When the police arrest Dave, the logical suspect, Faith goes on sleuthing while Tom tries to help the youth and his family. The self-appointed detective pries into the affairs of numerous suspects, risking her life as well as the lives of Benjamin and another child. Perhaps Faith's continued adventures will find her less snobbish and almost as cute as she thinks she is. 

Faith Fairchild is momentarily shocked to find her husband, the Reverend Thomas Fairchild, embracing Lora Deane -- and relieved to discover the distraught nursery school teacher is merely seeking solace and advice. Lora has been receiving threatening phone calls. And she's not the only resident of tiny Aleford, Massachusetts, who is being terrorized. Ever since local environmentalists have begun protesting the proposed housing development that will destroy Beecher's Bog, the more vocal opponents have become targets of a vicious campaign of intimidation-which is more than enough reason for Faith to launch into some clandestine sleuthing. But when a body turns up in the charred ruins of a very suspicious house fire, Faith is suddenly investigating a murder -- and in serious danger of getting bogged down in a very lethal mess indeed! From Publishers Weekly The cozy village of Alesford, Mass., may seem an unlikely spot for murder, but such crimes gravitate toward Faith Fairchild, the local minister's wife and self-employed caterer. In her seventh case (after The Body in the Kelp), the sleuthing mother of two and her husband, Tom, find themselves in the middle of a town controversy over the proposed development of Beecher's Bog, a popular nature spot. The disagreement turns nasty when opponents of the planned luxury housing begin receiving poison pen letters. An arson fire and a corpse later, the town's residents are enraged and fearful as they plan the annual Patriots' Day celebrations. Faith keeps an eagle eye out for the murderer, whom she eventually encounters in her own company kitchen. While Page's pacing lacks crispness, some unusual characters-a preschool teacher who has an apparent double life and the feisty town historian who heads up POW! (Preserve Our Wetlands!)-and Faith's good nature generally compensate in this New England mystery, which is accompanied by five recipes, including one for Faith's Yankee Pot Roast. 

An omnibus of novels One murder. Three city agencies. Three powerful romances! No one keeps secrets from Death in this bold new collection by bestselling authors. JOAN ELLIOTT PICKART JUSTINE DAVIS JACKIE MERRITT a powerful man is murdered in his home, and not even his wealth and privilege can hide the trail of scandal he left behind. A scandal that is about to be unmasked by Chicago's top agencies… – Reunited over a corpse, forensics detective Josh Benton and medical examiner Maggie Sutter discovered foul play – and a simmering attraction underlying their long-term alliance… – Darien Wilson was made for marriage – not murder investigations. But since Detective Colin Waters was forced to accept her as his partner, he was also forced to accept that she was a damn good detective. And one hell of a lover… – Jennifer Anderson shared one passion-filled night with district attorney Evan Stone. Little did she know he'd be her next assignment, or that she would be following the sexy prosecutor all the way to the final verdict – of father-to-be

It should have been just another routine call for Rye and Claire Anderson, owners of Mad Dash Ambulance Service. But when the DOA they deliver to the hospital goes missing, their routine turns deadly. Greedy doctors involved in black market organ harvesting. Innocent girls lured into the dangerous world of xxx-rated films. Sex, murder and deception in a small, Oregon town. It’s all here in Body Parts, Kit Crumb’s latest “Rye and Claire” adventure

The enigmatic performer known as the Body Artist takes the stage at Chicago's Club Gouge and allows her audience to use her naked body as a canvas for their impromptu illustrations. V. I. Warshawski watches as people step forward, some meek, some bold, to make their mark. The evening takes a strange turn when one woman's sketch triggers a violent outburst from a man at a nearby table. Quickly subdued, the man – an Iraqi war vet – leaves the club. Days later, the woman is shot outside the club. She dies in V.I.'s arms, and the police move quickly to arrest the angry vet. A shooting in Chicago is nothing new, certainly not to V.I., who is hired by the vet's family to clear his name. As V.I. seeks answers, her investigation will take her from the North Side of Chicago to the far reaches of the Gulf War

Она — дочь знаменитого политика, он — отставной морпех. Они живут разными идеями и мирами. Он сполна сыт реальностью защиты своей страны и нерадужными картинами войны, пытаясь похоронить призраков прошлого и спрятать своего зверя внутрь, отчаявшись его искоренить. Она же живёт в своё удовольствие, легко и свободно относясь к жизни и людям, смотря на всех сквозь розовые очки. Однажды они встречаются. Одно событие — и всё, чем они жили становиться иным. Их взгляды, устои и ценности станут иными. Он не для неё и она не для него, но что, если в беде они одно целое? «Я Макс Кинг, и я спас сумасшедшую девчонку, которая поменяла мою жизнь раз и навсегда». Возрастное ограничение 18+

Shifters Unbound - 2.5 Elizabeth Chapman is saved from an armed robber by a giant Kodiak bear who shifts into a large, well-muscled, and fully bare human. But when it's revealed that the robber is the brother of a dangerous criminal, Elizabeth finds herself the target of a vendetta. Ronan, the Bear Shifter, takes her to Shiftertown, where she finds that mateless Ronan takes care of Shifters who have no families or clans of their own. Having grown up in foster care herself, Elizabeth can only admire how protective Ronan is, even while she chafes at the confinement

In a futuristic world of fast-growing technology, corporate expansion in oute space, and plenty of violence, a carefully trained bodyguard whose human memories have been blocked by a metal plate offers perfect protection for a high price

Она дочь знаменитого политика, он отставной морпех. Они живут разными идеями и мирами. Он сполна «сыт» реальностью защиты своей страны и нерадужными картинами войны, пытаясь похоронить призраков прошлого и спрятать своего зверя внутрь, отчаявшись его искоренить. Она же живёт в своё удовольствие, легко и свободно относясь к жизни и людям, смотря на всех сквозь «розовые очки». Однажды они встречаются. Одно событие и всё, чем они жили становиться иным. Их взгляды, устои и ценности станут иными. Он не для неё и она не для него, но что если в беде они одно целое? «Я Макс Кинг, и я спас сумасшедшую девчонку, которая поменяла мою жизнь раз и навсегда». 

Named one of the best books of 1999 by the Los Angeles Times, Gordon's novel takes on the difficult subject of a young girl coming of age and falling in love with an older woman, her psychiatrist

Coś nowego pojawiło się między starożytnymi miastami Ankh-Morpork i Al-Khali. Dosłownie. To wyspa, wynurzająca się z dna Okrągłego Morza Dysku. Ponieważ jest niezamieszkana i oba miasta roszczą sobie do niej prawa, komendant Vimes ze swymi wiernymi strażnikami staje wobec zbrodni tak wielkiej, że żadne prawa jej nie obejmują

With more lives at stake and games in motion, Ellie, Camden and Javier form an uneasy alliance that will take them from the treacherous streets of inner-city Mexico to the wilds of the Honduran jungles in order to find their freedom. But with liberty just on the horizon, the cost might come at their own redemption

Aníbal iturralde es un delincuente sin escrúpulos. Víctor, su hijo, un muchacho de carácter débil que necesita protección, y para eso está Olsen, un pistolero temerario y con buena puntería, a quien le repugna matar. Olsen es también un macho de arrebatada sexualidad y a la vez un individuo taciturno con problemas de conciencia. Un hombre traicionado que planea vengarse, un mañoso ladrón de automóviles y un amante susceptible. Y aún así, todas estas características no acaban de definirlo: su origen es incierto, tanto como sus instintos y designios. En el umbral de la madurez, Olsen descubre en su ser una realidad que lo sorprende y desconcierta. Bolero es novela negra y novela de amor, pero sobre todo una indagación sobre la amistad y el destino

“Bolos. For a millennium and a half, they have been humanity’s warriors. They have fought Man’s battles, died in Man’s wars, battled to save Man’s children, even from his own kind. They have guarded Man’s worlds … and avenged Man’s defeats.” “Tireless, infinitely patient, infinitely deadly, Bolos are the most fearsome fighting machines ever developed. The most lethal artificial intelligences in history. Yet they are more than that. They are not merely the weapons of their Human commanders, but their comrades. Brothers and sisters in arms, who all too often die together.” But Bolos and their commanders do not die easily. Mankind’s enemies have learned the price of a Bolo’s death. And if Bolos and their commanders do not always die in victory, this much has always been true. They do not surrender. And they never-ever-quit

When Kit Fielding, champion steeplechase jockey, finds that Princess Casilia, his chief patron, is facing serious trouble, he goes unhesitatingly to her aid. Neither realises that his instinctive support is the first step to a frightening battle involving violent risk, with the honour of the princess’s family as the prize and Kit’s own destruction as the forfeit. Beset by other problems, not least his troubled romance with Danielle, the princess’s niece, Kit knows that while steering through deadly outside dangers and riding at breakneck speed in races, he must also contend with the long-term hatred of his own family’s enemy. Many of the characters from Break In, Dick Francis’s previous bestseller, reappear in Bolt, but the story ends here — and it’s a story which will keep every reader on the very edge of his seat until the last page is turned

A collection of classic, yet shockingly contemporary, short stories set in the vibrant world of mid-century Bombay, from one of India’s greatest writers. Arriving in 1930s Bombay, Saadat Hasan Manto discovered a city like no other. A metropolis for all, and an exhilarating hub of license and liberty, bursting with both creative energy and helpless despondency. A journalist, screenwriter, and editor, Manto is best known as a master of the short story, and Bombay was his lifelong muse. Vividly bringing to life the city’s seedy underbelly — the prostitutes, pimps, and gangsters that filled its streets — as well as the aspiring writers and actors who arrived looking for fame, here are all of Manto’s Bombay-based stories, together in English for the very first time. By turns humorous and fantastical, Manto’s tales are the provocative and unflinching lives of those forgotten by humanity

“Congratulations,” said Dr Chawla. “You are having the malaria.” And so begins Russell McGilton’s comic adventure as he attempts to cycle from Bombay to Beijing in the quest of writing his travel opus. Pedalling furiously for China, McGilton’s tour de force rides the audience through an honest handlebar view on the absurdities and fragile wonders of travel from the saddle. He rides, he falls, he gets chased by wild dogs, eats things he shouldn’t, battles tropical hallucinations and finds himself at the hands of the curious Dr Chawla. Not quite the Lonely Planet guide to sun and sex

The new novel from Wales’ best-selling author—Swansea, 1941. Meryl Jones is evacuated to Carmarthen, where she falls for half-German Michael—but Michael seems to like her sister, Hari, better. Then the military police come for Michael. Meryl helps him escape, and their relationship blossoms. But, as the war ends, Meryl knows that the man she loves will have to make a fateful choice between her and her sister…

The story of a combat pilot who wouldn't stay down

Five Star authors (and husband and wife Barbara and Max Allan Collins team up again on the novel Bombshell, about a star-crossed meeting between a man who held the fate of the world in his hand, and the woman who became America's most unlikely diplomat, in a history mystery that just might have happened. September 1959 — the height of the Cold War. As American school children "duck and cover" in classroom drills, Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev suddenly announces he wants to visit the United States. President Eisenhower, eager to defuse the mounting tension — and show the communist ruler the advantages of capitalism — agrees to the history-making trip. Khrushchev has only two demands: he wants to see Disneyland… and Marilyn Monroe. He was, for security reasons, refused his first request; the second request, a meeting with Hollywood's blonde bombshell, was arranged… This much is historical fact. According to the authors of Bombshell, “The events mat transpired on the cool autumn evening that Khrushchev met Marilyn were never reported by the media; only the CIA and KGB really knew what had happened during those early morning hours. Now, with recent government declassifications, the rest of the world can... and will... know." Marilyn, aware of an attempt to assassinate Khrushchev at the Beverly Hills Hotel, has only hours to convince Jack Harrigan—a stubborn State Department agent in charge of the premier—of the covert plot which would unquestionably launch the two superpowers into World War III. When Harrigan at first refuses to take her seriously, the sex goddess takes it upon herself to rescue the famous Russian, spiriting him away for a midnight visit to the theme park he longs to see. At once an historical novel, espionage thriller, and comic mystery, Bombshell accomplishes something few if any of the scores of books on these two icons of the 20th century manage: to bring to life the great movie star and the Russian dictator as real people... human, flawed, and, in their own individual ways, heroic

Three Fates. Three Sisters. Hotheaded succubus Willow Bellum doesn’t take kindly to being given to the Alpha of the shapeshifters. When the will from her dead father puts Willow under the Alpha’s protection, she runs. Yet no matter how hard or fast she runs, he always seems to catch her. And with each stolen moment together, Willow finds herself relenting to his quick smile and passionate kisses more and more. When the Alpha finally captures his feisty succubus, he proceeds with a full-on seduction meant to weaken her defenses. Alpha Lyonis Keelan hasn’t made his way to position of Alpha lightly and Willow’s defiance to his touch only makes him more determined to win her. Because whether she wants it or not, Willow is his mate and he plans to keep her no matter what. As their love struggles to take hold, an ancient demon stalks Willow. Unable to rest until it sees her dead, Willow and Lyonis must stand together or risk losing everything

Max Shannon is a good cop, one of the best in New York Enforcement. Born with a natural shield that protects him against Psy mental invasions, he knows he has little chance of advancement within the Psy-dominated power structure. The last case he expects to be assigned to is that of a murderer targeting a Psy Councilor's closest advisors. And the last woman he expects to compel him in the most sensual of ways is a Psy on the verge of catastrophic mental fracture