Nina Reilly is a tough, tenderhearted, and unpredictable Lake Tahoe attorney with a one-woman practice, a young son, a genuine sense of humor, and an interesting love life. Now, in Breach of Promise, Nina takes on the biggest case of her career, a high-profile, high-stakes palimony suit that could make her millions or ruin her financially. Little does she suspect that it will place her dead center in a bizarre and perplexing murder investigation

It was a miserable day in August in the 87th Precinct. Detective Steve Carella was hot and tired and his shirt was sticking to his back, and now this dumpy little man named Roger Grimm was sitting across from him in the squadroom demanding to know if they were going to catch the arsonist who had burned down his warehouse. “We’ll see what we can do,” Carella sighed. In the next few days Carella and his partner, Cotton Hawes, find themselves in the middle of an astonishing case, one which quickly proves to contain not one, but two arsons — and two murders. Assisted by a rather unfortunate personality named “Fat Ollie” Weeks of the 83rd precinct coarse, bigoted, and given to terrible W.C. Fields imitations, but, they have to admit, first-rate cop — Carella and Hawes roam across the city from the waterfront to the heart of the black ghetto, following a deadly trail of greed and violence. Their path leads them directly to a gallery of very unpleasant suspects and to a most unusual afternoon poker game,complete with high stakes, fast company — and a wild card

The Staff of Life suddenly and disconcertingly sprouted wings — and mankind had to eat crow!

In this groundbreaking work of ecstatic criticism, Carole Maso shows why she has risen, over the past fifteen years, as one of the brightest stars in the literary firmament. Ever refusing to be marginalized or categorized by genre, Maso is an incisive, compassionate writer who deems herself daughter of William Carlos Williams, a pioneer in combining poetry and fiction with criticism, journalism, and the visual arts. She is daughter, too, of Allen Ginsberg, who also came from Paterson, New Jersey. Known for her audacity, whether exploring language and memory or the development of the artistic soul, Maso here gives us a form-challenging collection, intelligent, and persuasive

Blood ties can mean trouble, chains and fatal obligation. Champion steeplechase jockey Kit Fielding, snared by bonds reaching back into history, discovers this to be only too true when he finds he cannot escape from an intensely dangerous situation. Direct, forceful and inventive, he goes to the defence of his twin sister whose husband faces ruin when a spiteful newspaper campaign sets out to wreck his career as a racehorse trainer. Kit’s courage succeeds beyond the point of drawing the fire upon himself so that he in turn becomes a target. Break In is about family relationships, about love, hatred and obsession; it is about the use and abuse of power by the gutter press, who will go to any lengths to get the information they seek and then use that information in any way they choose; and throughout it is about the day-to-day life of a top-flight horseman, for whom race-riding is the most demanding, the most rewarding love of all. Break In is vintage Francis, with pulsating descriptions of the races themselves at which he himself was champion A first-class thriller written by the acknowledged master of his field

An irreverent and deeply moving comedy about friendship, fertility, and fighting for one’s sanity in a toxic workplace. Jen has reached her early thirties and has all but abandoned a once-promising painting career when, spurred by the 2008 economic crisis, she takes a poorly defined job at a feminist nonprofit. The foundation’s ostensible aim is to empower women, but staffers spend all their time devising acronyms for imaginary programs, ruthlessly undermining one another, and stroking the ego of their boss, the larger-than-life celebrity philanthropist Leora Infinitas. Jen’s complicity in this passive-aggressive hellscape only intensifies her feelings of inferiority compared to her two best friends — one a wealthy attorney with a picture-perfect family, the other a passionately committed artist — and so does Jen’s apparent inability to have a baby, a source of existential panic that begins to affect her marriage and her already precarious status at the office. As Break in Case of Emergency unfolds, a fateful art exhibition, a surreal boondoggle adventure in Belize, and a devastating personal loss conspire to force Jen to reckon with some hard truths about herself and the people she loves most. Jessica Winter’s ferociously intelligent debut novel is a wry satire of celebrity do-goodism as well as an exploration of the difficulty of navigating friendships as they shift to accommodate marriage and family, and the unspoken tensions that can strain even the strongest bonds

The thirty-four stories in this seminal collection powerfully display what have become Lydia Davis’s trademarks — dexterity, brevity, understatement, and surprise. Although the certainty of her prose suggests a world of almost clinical reason and clarity, her characters show us that life, thought, and language are full of disorder. Break It Down is Davis at her best. In the words of Jonathan Franzen, she is “a magician of self-consciousness.”

It's the second-to-last day of archaeological field school. Dr Temperance Brennan's students are working on a site of prehistoric graves on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina, when a decomposing body is uncovered in a shallow grave off a lonely beach… The skeleton is articulated, the bone fresh and the vertebrae still connected by soft-tissue; the remains are encased in rotted fabric and topped by wisps of pale, blond hair – a recent burial, and a case Tempe must take. Dental remains and skeletal gender and race indicators suggest that the deceased is a middle-aged white male – but who was he? Why was he buried in a clandestine grave? And what does the unusual vertical hairline fracture of the sixth cervical vertebrae signify? While Tempe is trying to piece together the evidence, her personal life is thrown into turmoil. When a bullet – intended, perhaps, for her – puts Tempe 's estranged husband Pete in hospital, her unexpectedly emotional response complicates her on-off relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan… But before long, another body is discovered – and Tempe finds herself drawn deeper into a shocking and chilling investigation, set to challenge her entire view of humanity…

As the city that produces the most selium - that precious gas that elevates airships and powers strange magic - Hond Steading is a jewel worth stealing. To shore up the city’s defenses, Detan promises his aunt that he’ll recover Nouli, the infamous engineer who built the century gates that protect the imperial capital of Valathea. But Nouli is imprisoned on the Remnant Isles, an impervious island prison run by the empire, and it’s Detan’s fault. Detan doesn’t dare approach Nouli himself, so his companions volunteer to get themselves locked up to make contact with Nouli and convince him to help. Now Detan has to break them all out of prison, and he’s going to need the help of a half-mad doppel to do it

Jason and Remi want the same thing—no-strings-attached, screw-their-brains-out, burn-the-sheets-up fun. Pro hockey player Jason just broke up with his girlfriend because she got too serious. Schoolteacher Remi just saw the last of the younger siblings she raised leave the nest. Jace isn’t ready for responsibility. Remi’s had enough responsibility. They’re perfect playmates. But fun and sexy games get complicated when emotions get involved. Then responsibility and commitment crash the party when Jason’s past comes back to haunt him. Like it or not, Jason and Remi both have to figure out what they really want

Hockey star Ben Kelly has retreated to his mountain cabin in the ski town of Cascade, BC, to recuperate from a season-ending knee injury and contemplate his future in the NHL. He never expects to run into the one woman who got away. Nine years may have passed, but nothing has dulled the explosive chemistry between them. Now he wants more than just one night. Hailey Eriksson had Olympic-sized dreams until an accidental pregnancy from a one-night stand halted her ambitions. Her life was shattered when her son died. Nothing will keep her from fulfilling her promise to him to make the Olympic team, especially not the charming Ben Kelly. Unfortunately, he’s out to sweep her off her feet this time, and she finds him harder and harder to resist with each passionate kiss. But when he learns about the child he never knew, will their rekindled romance be on thin ice?

Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware meets beautiful and emotionally fragile TV actress Zelda Chase when called upon to evaluate her five-year-old son, Ovid. Years later, Alex is unexpectedly reunited with Zelda when she is involuntarily committed after a bizarre psychotic episode. Shortly after Zelda’s release, an already sad situation turns tragic when she is discovered dead on the grounds of a palatial Bel Air estate. Having experienced more than enough of L.A.’s dark side to recognize the scent of evil, Alex turns to his friend LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis for help in finding out who ended Zelda’s broken life. At the same time, Alex is caught up in another quest: the search for Zelda’s missing son. And when other victims vanish from the same upscale neighborhood, worry turns to terror. As Alex struggles to piece together the brief rise and steep fall of a gorgeous, talented actress, he and Milo unveil shattered dreams, the corruption of a family, and a grotesque betrayal of innocence. With each devastating revelation and damning clue, Alex’s brilliant mind is challenged as never before — and his determination grows to see a killer caged and the truth set free

An influenza plague decimates humanity… A man loses his wife and baby daughter… Six years after a pandemic devastates the human population, former rock star Chris Price finally makes it from New York to Britain to reunite with his brother. His passage leaves him scarred, in body and mind, by exposure to humankind at its most desperate and dangerous. But another ordeal awaits him beyond the urban ruins, in an idyllic country refuge where Chris meets a woman, Pauline, who is largely untouched by the world’s horrors. Together, Chris and Pauline undertake the most difficult facet of Chris’s journey: confronting grief, violence, and the man Chris has become. They will discover whether the human spirit is capable of surviving and loving again in this darker, harder world

Holly Golightly is generally up all night drinking cocktails and breaking hearts. She hasn't got a past. She doesn't want to belong to anything or anyone, not even to her one-eyed rag-bag pirate of a cat. One day Holly might find somewhere she belongs

In Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth

Повесть-документ `Breakfast зимой в пять утра` вобрала в себя впечатления автора от поездки по Северной Америке - от Нью-Йорка до Калифорнии. На страницах книги описаны встречи с пассажирами поезда американской компании `Амтрак`, переплетенные с эпизодами из личной жизни автора, а также рассказывается об удивительных судьбах эмигрантов из России. В наши дни, когда россияне обрели свободу передвижения, эмиграция стала острой проблемой. Возможно, непростые судьбы эмигрантов, описанные в этой книге, многим читателям покажутся не только занимательными, но и поучительными

A train is barreling through a blizzard across the desolate Nevada territory of hostile Paiute Indians toward Fort Humboldt in 1873. Nevada’s Governor, the fort commander’s daughter, and a US marshal escorting an outlaw are onboard. No one is telling the truth, and at least one person is capable of murder. Who will make it to their destination?

A train is barreling through a blizzard across the desolate Nevada territory of hostile Paiute Indians toward Fort Humboldt in 1873. Nevada's Governor, the fort commander's daughter, and a US marshal escorting an outlaw are onboard. No one is telling the truth, and at least one person is capable of murder. Who will make it to their destination?

A book about violence and redemption, Joy Williams' new fiction tells the story of two drifters who break into Florida vacation homes while their owners are away, live there a while, then move on

Breaking Bad: Critical Essays on the Contexts, Politics, Style, and Reception of the Television Series, edited by David P. Pierson, explores the contexts, politics, and style of AMC’s original series Breaking Bad. The book’s first section locates and addresses the series from several contemporary social contexts, including neo-liberalism, its discourses and policies, the cultural obsession with the economy of time and its manipulation, and the epistemological principles and assumptions of Walter White’s criminal alias Heisenberg. Section two investigates how the series characterizes and intersects with current cultural politics, such as male angst and the re-emergence of hegemonic masculinity, the complex portrayal of Latinos, and the depiction of physical and mental impairment and disability. The final section takes a close look at the series’ distinctive visual, aural, and narrative stylistics. Under examination are Breaking Bad’s unique visual style whereby image dominates sound, the distinct role and use of beginning teaser segments to disorient and enlighten audiences, the representation of geographic space and place, the position of narrative songs to complicate viewer identification, and the integral part that emotions play as a form of dramatic action in the series

Fate is a Moreno Brothers spinoff series. He ruled out attachments years ago. Then one day he crosses paths with a beautiful but pampered daddy's little princess. History has taught him one thing about women like her—steer clear. She was starting over. She moved back to her home town, took a new job assignment, and left her past behind. For the first time in over eighteen months, she's even intrigued by a man—a sexy but cold and indifferent drill sergeant. Despite feeling drawn to him, she has no time to figure out his inexplicable aversion to her. Then Fate steps in one night, forcing them together. There's a connection neither can refute, and they both consider giving into the undeniable attraction. Fate however can also be cruel. Just when they surrender to their heart's desires, past demons resurface in the most unexpected way, threatening the happiness neither realized they so desperately needed

Treachery begins at home Back in London after a gruelling operation in Paris, Liz Carlyle has been posted to MI5’s counter-espionage desk. Her bosses hope the new position will give her some breathing space, but they haven’t counted on the fallout from Putin’s incursions into the Ukraine. Discovering that an elusive Russian spy has entered the UK, Liz needs to track him down before he completes his fatal mission – and plunges Britain back into the fraught days of the Cold War. Meanwhile, following the revelations of whistle-blower Edward Snowden, the intelligence services are in the spotlight. In response to the debate raging around privacy and security, they hire Jasminder Kapoor, a young and controversial civil rights lawyer, to explain the issues to the public. But in this new world of shadowy motives and secret identities, Jasminder must be extra-careful about whom she can trust… Gripping, nail-bitingly tense and drawn from her own experience as Head of MI5, Stella Rimington's latest thriller brings the new Cold War vividly to life

Per Bella Swan essere innamorata di un vampiro è allo stesso tempo un sogno a occhi aperti e il peggiore degli incubi, un intreccio di sensazioni che si alternano e le lacerano l’anima. La passione per Edward Cullen la spinge verso un destino soprannaturale, mentre il profondo legame con Jacob Black la riporta invece indietro, nel mondo terreno. Bella ha alle spalle un anno difficile, pieno di perdite, di conflitti, di tentazioni contraddittorie. Ora è al bivio decisivo: entrare nello sconosciuto mondo degli immortali, o continuare a condurre un’esistenza umana. Dalla sua scelta, dipenderà l’esito del conflitto tra il clan dei vampiri e quello dei licantropi. Eppure, ora che Bella ha preso la sua decisione, sta per scatenarsi una sorprendente catena di eventi che cambieranno per sempre la vita di tutti coloro che la circondano

Beth must yield to become aroused, but she's too scared to give up control. The last thing she wants is a ruthless, powerful Dom. But that's just what she gets, and exactly what she needs… A sadistic husband left Beth scarred, inside and out. Only at the Shadowlands BDSM club does she feel like a woman. But her fears limit her to Doms who won't overwhelm her-the very ones who cannot arouse her. The Master of the Shadowlands gives her an ultimatum: accept the Dom he assigns or lose her membership. The last thing Beth wants is a ruthless, powerful Dom, but that's just what she gets. Asked to take on a problem sub, Nolan sees the issue immediately-although truly submissive, the little redhead is too scared to relinquish control and her Doms have let her get away with it. That will change right now. As Master Nolan takes Beth under command, compelling her submission, she's terrified, but the experienced Dom brings her pleasure, not pain. His only demand is that she never lie to him. Under his capable hands, her body comes alive, and she begins to heal. As he pushes her limits, she learns to trust…and then to love. And she realizes he is beginning to care for her in return. But now her cruel husband has found her, and Master Nolan discovers she's been lying and lying and lying… Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, BDSM theme and elements (including/not limited to bondage, caning, domination, restraint, paddling, spanking, submission, tethering); exhibitionism, ménage, violence

In a land impoverished by a war that started before she was born, Kiena has provided for her mother and brother by becoming one of the best hunters in the kingdom. But when a lifelong friend with connections recommends her to the king to track down a runaway princess, her life gets turned upside down. Finding the princess is easy. Deciding what to do in a conflicting mess of politics and emotions… not so much

SIN AND DANGER COLLIDE WHEN THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SECRET AGENTS COMPETE FOR THE PRIZE EVERYONE'S LUSTING AFTER… No one's ever seen it. Everybody wants it. That's why the government has just unleashed its secret weapon. Drop-dead-gorgeous art dealer Suzi Toussi has been tapped for the toughest mission of her career: to locate the Memphis Sphinx, an ancient artifact rumored to possess otherworldly powers. Tracking it to Paraguay means going up against Dax Killian, the sexy special ops agent who's planning to snatch the coveted relic right out of her hot little hands. If he can find it first. Dax first spotted her outside a seedy bar – in three-inch heels and a too-tight dress. He'd know those curves anywhere. But what was Suzi doing in a hellhole like Ciudad del Este? Dax knows the answer: the Sphinx. Suddenly the game is on – and only one of them will walk away with the prize. With the Sphinx surfacing and passion taking Suzi and Dax under, they're headed for a showdown that could reveal the secrets of the ages.or expose them to the hottest danger of all

The second installment in Kristen Simmons’s fast-paced, gripping YA dystopian series. After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed. Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper’s true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion…. Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself. Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways. With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding… or fight back?

The New York Times bestselling series hailed as “gripping” (People magazine) and “compelling” (USA Today) returns with Police Chief Kate Burkholder called to the scene of a horrific tragedy on a peaceful Amish farm. The Slabaugh family are model Amish farmers, prosperous and hardworking, with four children and a happy extended family. When the parents and an uncle are found dead in their barn, it appears to be a gruesome accident: methane gas asphyxiation caused by a poorly ventilated cesspit. But in the course of a routine autopsy, the coroner discovers that one of the victims suffered a head wound before death—clearly, foul play was involved. But who would want to make orphans of the Slabaughs’ children? And is this murder somehow related to a recent string of shocking hate crimes against the Amish? Having grown up Amish, Kate is determined to bring the killer to justice. Because the other series of attacks are designated hate crimes, the state sends in agent John Tomasetti, with whom Kate has a long and complex relationship. Together, they search for the link between the crimes—and uncover a dark secret at work beneath the placid surface of this idyllic Amish community. Chock full of twists and chills and set against the unusual world of the Amish, this series “will delight fans of Chelsea Cain and Thomas Harris” (USA Today)

Marital infidelity, murder, and the threat of nuclear holocaust hangs over the heartland in the sixth installment of the popular Sam McCain mystery series. Certainly not dull is October 1962, not with Russian Premier Nikita Krushchev promising to launch Soviet nuclear weaponry from Cuba if the U.S. attempts to invade the island. For seven taut days, since the 22nd, the Kennedy White House has been facing down the Soviets with an ultimatum to dismantle their Cuban missile bases at once. Meanwhile, in Black River Falls, Iowa, private investigator Sam McCain has been dealing with a crisis of different sort. Candy Sykes is no dream client. Not only is she brassy, loud, and boorish, but she's also the daughter of McCain's longtime nemesis, the incompetent local police chief Cliffie Sykes. Nor does anyone, except Cliffie, doubt she could have killed her faithless husband. And taking no nyet for an answer, Cliffie is demanding that Sam prove him right, the town wrong, and Candy innocent. Or else

A friend in need is a friend indeed. And no one is a better friend than hitman-for-hire Lex Harper. When a mate from his past ends up in a Bolivian prison, Harper doesn’t think twice about going to his aid. Beatings, rapes and murders are an everyday occurrence in the prison – and that’s just the guards. But the only way to break his friend out is for Harper to put his own life on the line, in a place where death comes quickly and only the strong survive. Getting into the prison is easy enough – but can Harper get out? And how many people will he have to kill to make it back?

When Donald E. Westlake is funny, he is very, very funny. And when Westlake is Richard Stark, he is very, very bad... Now the creator of the ultimate career criminal — a man known only as Parker — returns with a new experience in noir. This time, Parker gets caught red-handed. And for Parker, once is never enough. In a drab, hulking warehouse in a hulking, drab city in the center of an empty state, Parker is caught moving pharmaceuticals into a waiting truck. Led into a joint called Stoneveldt — from which no one has ever escaped — Parker has to find a way out, before his whole violent past catches up with him. And getting out of Stoneveldt means taking on the only partners he can find, including one who is already planning his next job. For Parker and his fellow jailbreakers, freedom is just another word for committing their next felony. They pull off the perfect jailbreak and then start the perfect heist. But things go south in a hurry — leaving three men dead and Parker and his fellow escape artists scratching, clawing, and running for their lives. Suddenly, the big, drab city in the big, empty Midwestern state has become a prison. A cast of cops, busybodies, snitches, and weak links have turned into jailers. And for Parker, the ultimate jailbreak is about to begin. A taut, twisting, perfectly timed ballet of bad intentions, blind alleys, and bad luck, BREAKOUT is Richard Stark par excellence. Because when it comes to getting into places where he shouldn’t be, and out of places where he should be, Parker is the best bad man in town

Stalingrad, November 1942. Lieutenant Breuer dreams of returning home for Christmas. Since August, the Germans have been fighting the Soviets for control of the city on the Volga. Next spring, when battle resumes, the struggle will surely be decided in Germany’s favour. Between 19 and 23 November, however, a Soviet counterattack encircles the Sixth Army. Some 300,000 German troops will endure a hellish winter on the freezing steppe, decimated by Soviet incursions, disease and starvation. When Field Marshal Paulus surrenders on 2 February 1943, just 91,000 German soldiers remain alive. A remarkable portrayal of the horrors of war, Breakout at Stalingrad also has an extraordinary story behind it. Its author, Heinrich Gerlach, fought at Stalingrad and was imprisoned by the Soviets. In captivity, he wrote a novel based on his experiences, which the Soviets confiscated before releasing him. Gerlach resorted to hypnosis to remember his narrative, and in 1957 it was published as The Forsaken Army. Fifty-five years later Carsten Gansel, an academic, came across the original manuscript of Gerlach’s novel in a Moscow archive. This first translation into English of Breakout at Stalingrad includes the story of Gansel’s sensational discovery. Written when the battle was fresh in its author’s mind, Breakout at Stalingrad offers a raw and unvarnished portrayal of humanity in extremis, allied to a sympathetic depiction of soldierly comradeship. After seventy years, a classic of twentieth-century war literature can at last be enjoyed in its original version

The second book in the Red Gambit Series. Starting on the 13th August 1945, ‘Breakthrough’ follows the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of both sides in the struggle for supremacy in Europe. From Irish waters to the freezing Barents Sea, a hotel in Spain to a school house in Germany, a gutter fight in Eggenthal to true horror on the banks of the Veerse River, and from Mongolia to Nova Scotia, and into the Parliament of the United Kingdom, ‘Breakthrough’ will continue the journey through the events that became known as World War Three. [The ‘Red Gambit Series’ novels are works of fiction, and deal with fictional events. Most of the characters therein are a figment of the author’s imagination. Without exception, those characters that are historical figures of fact or based upon historical figures of fact are used fictitiously, and their actions, demeanour, conversations, and characters are similarly all figments of the author’s imagination.]

An idyllic cottage. An unlikely suicide. A conspiracy that could blow the lid off the Department of Justice. Three months ago Quinn Harlowe left the high-pressure hallways of the Justice Department to become an independent consultant and have more control over her life – maybe even have a life. But the nirvana of her new gig is short-lived when Quinn discovers her friend and former colleague Alicia Morrow dead outside Quinn's bayside cottage. Suicide? Quinn is doubtful. Investigating on her own, she soon discovers that someone is following her every move. Huck McCabe claims he's a bodyguard at Breakwater, a high-security compound near Quinn's cottage. But Quinn suspects he's lying, never imagining the truth: McCabe is an undercover agent trying to penetrate a violent network of vigilantes – the same people Quinn has identified. Joined by a common goal, Quinn and McCabe must fight the bastion of law and order… a fight they know could lead to disaster

Bruce Pike, or 'Pikelet', has lived all his short life in a tiny sawmilling town from where the thundering sea can be heard at night. He longs to be down there on the beach, amidst the pounding waves, but for some reason his parents forbid him. It's only when he befriends Loonie, the local wild boy, that he finally defies them. Intoxicated by the treacherous power of the sea and by their own youthful endurance, the two boys spurn all limits and rules, and fall into the company of adult mentors whose own addictions to risk take them to places they could never have imagined. Caught up in love and friendship and an erotic current he cannot resist, Pikelet faces challenges whose effects will far outlast his adolescence. "Breath" is the story of lost youth recollected: its attractions, its compulsions, its moments of heartbreak and of madness. A young man learns what it is to be extraordinary, how to push himself, mind and body, to the limit in terrible fear and exhilaration, and how to mask the emptiness of leaving such intensity — in love and in life — behind. Told with the immediacy and grace so characteristic of Tim Winton, " Breath" is a mesmeric novel by a writer at the height of his powers

Everyone in Navronne seems to be after Valen. There is the fanatical Harrower priestess, Sila Diaglou, who wants to raze the kingdom. The Bastard Prince Osriel, who steals dead men's eyes. And the Pureblood Registry, determined to keep every pureblood sorcerer in thrall. Even beings out of myth, the Danae guardians, whose dancing nurtures the earth and whose attention could prove the most costly of all. As Navronne sinks deeper into civil war and perilous winter, Valen finds himself a bargaining chip in a deadly standoff. Doomed to madness by his addiction to the doulon, and bound by oaths he refuses to abandon, the young sorcerer risks body and soul to rescue one child, seek justice for another, and bring the ailing land its righteous king. Yet no one is who they seem, and Valen's search for healing grace leads him from Harrower dungeons to the very heart of the world. In the twilight of a legend, he at last discovers the hard truth of the coming dark age and the glorious, terrible price of the land's redemption...and his own

When her mother leaves Haiti to find work in the US, Sophie is raised by her aunt. Their parting, years later, when her mother sends for her, is as wrenching as the reunion in New York. Though she barely knows her mother they both carry secrets from their homeland that will haunt them forever

Isabel Favor is a life-style coach whose life is falling apart. Her accountant has run off with her money, her reputation is in tatters and her fiance has just dumped her for an older woman. Isabel needs to escape so she heads for Tuscany determined to find a little perspective – breathing room – and start over. Instead she ends up in a hotel room with Hollywood bad boy Lorenzo Gage. He makes his living killing people…on the screen at least. Ren's reputation is blacker than black. But when you're everyone's favourite villain, it goes with the territory. Isabel's always prided herself on her neatly ordered life. But look where being good has got her. Maybe it's time to live a little…?

Grady Adams lives a simple, solitary life deep in the Colorado mountains. Here the thirty-five-year-old carpenter works out of a converted barn, crafting exquisite one-of-a-kind furniture. There's little about this strong yet gentle man to suggest the experiences that have alienated him from the contemporary world. But that is about to change. One day, while hiking, Grady spots a pair of stunningly beautiful furred animals unlike anything he's ever seen. They flee the instant they detect his presence, but the mystery of that brief encounter remains. In the days ahead, Grady will approach the creatures again, gaining their trust but coming no closer to solving their mystery. For this he enlists the help of an old friend, veterinarian Camellia 'Cammy' Rivers, who, in turn, is stunned – and enchanted – by Grady's new 'pets.' But while Grady and Cammy carefully observe these enigmatic animals for clues to their origin, they, too, are being watched. Soon Grady's home and hundreds of square miles of surrounding wilderness will be placed under quarantine by Homeland Security. And Grady, Cammy, and the two creatures they've come to feel they must protect at all costs find themselves virtual prisoners – and the unwilling focus of an army of biologists, naturalists, and research scientists. But it's a stunning event no one could have foreseen that convinces Grady and Cammy to do the unthinkable: to escape with the two creatures on a riveting race for freedom

First published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, edited by Gardner R. Dozois, May 2002