At last another full-length mystery story by Ellery Queen — his first in three years. Observe Queen, detective, as he realizes that a murder is to be committed, as he watches the supposed murderer before the crime, as be sees the death but even then isn’t sure of the who and the why. Follow the intensely dramatic trial scene, then unravel with Queen the solution which bring happiness to those who should be happy and punishment to those who deserve it. Of course, Ellery Queen didn’t want to get into all this trouble, for the went to the small town of Wrightsville under a pseudonym to write a novel. Neither did he intend to fall for Patricia nor did he want to get in the middle of malicious gossip with wicked results in a town turned topsy-turvy by a murder. “Calamity Town” has action, excitement, novelty, atmosphere. With some security, the publisher queries: “Will this be considered a minor classic in the field of the American mystery novel?”

At the ripe old age of twenty, girl genius Sabrina Masters was booted from the CIA for "willful insubordination." Now, ten years later, they want her back for a mission only she has the brains to complete-breaking a twisted code to flush out a terrorist. Too bad the mission comes with her former trainer and ex-lover-Quinlan-attached. With national security at risk, Sabrina doesn't have time for rules or distractions. Especially from Quinlan. A decade out of the spy game means the odds are against her-but they don't call her a genius for nothing…

When aliens land in Toronto, they present astounding evidence that their planet and Earth have experienced the same cataclysmic events — evidence that they claim proves the existence of God

The award-winning author Amit Chaudhuri has been widely praised for the beauty and subtle power of his writing and for the ways in which he makes “place” as complex a character as his men and women. Now he brings these gifts to a spellbinding amalgam of memoir, reportage, and history in this intimate, luminous portrait of Calcutta. Chaudhuri guides us through the city where he was born, the home he loved as a child, the setting of his acclaimed novels — a place he now finds captivating for all the ways it has, and, perhaps more powerfully, has not, changed. He shows us a city relatively untouched by the currents of globalization but possessed of a “self-renewing way of seeing, of inhabiting space, of apprehending life.” He takes us along vibrant avenues and derelict alleyways; introduces us to intellectuals, Marxists, members of the declining haute bourgeoisie, street vendors, domestic workers; brings to life the city’s sounds and smells, its architecture, its traditional shops and restaurants, new malls and hotels. And, using the historic elections of 2011 as a fulcrum, Chaudhuri looks back to the nineteenth century, when the city burst with a new vitality, and toward the politics of the present, finding a city “still not recovered from history” yet possessed of a singular modernity. Chaudhuri observes and writes about Calcutta with rare candor and clarity, making graspable the complex, ultimately ineluctable reasons for his passionate attachment to the place and its people

The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996) is a series of four science fantasy novels. A young priest Patera Silk tries to save his manteion (neighborhood church and school) from destruction by a ruthless crime lord. As he learns more about his world, a vast generation ship called the Whorl, he learns to distrust the gods he has worshiped and to revere the supposedly minor god known as The Outsider who has enlightened him. He becomes a revolutionary leader and prophet. It is a second book of series

Все очень просто. Мне нужен миллион долларов. Именно столько я должна заплатить за жизнь своего отца. Я готова исполнить роль шикарного эскорта для каждого, кто может позволить себе выложить $100,000 за месяц в моем обществе. В апреле меня ждет в Бостоне развратный бейсболист, желающий улучшить имидж. В мае я отправлюсь на Гавайи к самоанскому танцору с огненными ножами, а в июне – в Вашингтон к богатому папику, представителю американской элиты. Месяц за месяцем я буду жить по правилам этого бизнеса. Правило второе: «Всё имеет цену!»

Все очень просто. Мне нужен был миллион долларов. Именно столько у меня требовали за жизнь моего отца. Девять месяцев подряд я исполняла роль эскорта для тех, у кого в кармане были лишние $100,000. Но откуда ни возьмись пришла помощь, и долг выплачен заранее. Меня ждет новый вызов: я закручу роман с телевидением и попытаюсь стать звездой шоу-бизнеса. Личная жизнь тоже не даст расслабиться: мне придется спасать любимого от кошмарных воспоминаний и я встречусь с матерью, бросившей мою семью пятнадцать лет назад. Как не дать прошлому сбить меня с пути?

«…Мажордом равнодушно водрузил мою сумку на обитую тканью скамью перед чудовищных размеров кроватью, развернулся и испарился. И вот тут я услышала звук льющейся воды. Кто-то принимал душ. Черт. Черт. Черт. Последнее, что мне сейчас было нужно, – это повстречаться с новым клиентом, когда он в чем мать родила. Я уже сжала руку на ремне сумочки и собралась поспешно удалиться, когда дверь распахнулась. Из стены пара выдвинулась мощная фигура. Освещение так подчеркивало его силуэт, что создавало совершенно сверхъестественный образ, уместно смотревшийся бы на большом экране. Я замерла на месте, сраженная наповал…»

«Огромные двери открылись. Баньян поднял решетку и вытолкнул меня в помещение, больше всего смахивающее на обширный склад. Балки и ничем не прикрытые трубы виднелись не менее чем в семи метрах над бетонным полом. Повсюду сновали люди, причем половина из них была голой. Во что, черт возьми, я впуталась?..»

Все очень просто. Мне нужны деньги. Много денег. Миллион долларов, если быть точной. Именно такую цену я должна заплатить за жизнь своего отца. Нет денег. Нет жизни. Через год, первого января, я обязана полностью расплатиться или моего отца убьют. Когда перед тобой встает такой выбор, ты делаешь то, что должен делать. И я пошла работать. Я готова исполнить роль шикарного эскорта для каждого, кто может позволить себе заплатить $100 000 за месяц в моем обществе. Секс в перечень услуг не входит, но при желании (моем) может принести мне на 20 % больше. Месяц за месяцем я буду жить по правилам этого бизнеса. Правило первое: «Никогда не влюбляйся!»

January Janus, the god of two faces, and a college alumni class introduce Ellery to a secret society... February Ellery wrestles with the ghost of a President of the United States to solve a buried coin mystery... March A stolen income-tax form, a kleptomaniac, a bookie, and an artist become the ingredients of a murder... April Ellery unravels an old crime with the help of the Roman Emperor, Caligula, and a pair of dice... May A battle-scarred bugle and three Civil War veterans almost baffle Ellery... June The goddess Juno, shades of the Borgias, and a modern Helen of Troy play havoc with a June wedding... July A stone gargoyle, falling from a gloomy, Gothiclike tower, nearly causes sudden death... August In the moonstone month, Ellery hunts for buried treasure... September A Missouri professor, interested in Edgar Allen Poe, leads Ellery to a frightening conclusion... October A Halloween party turns out to be more grim than expected... November Ellery and Nikki deliver Thanksgiving baskets to the needy and discover a dangerous secret... December The famous jewel thief, Comus, nearly outwits Ellery in a Christmas mystery of dolls, danger and deception

Calendar of Regrets is a wildly inventive and visually rich collage of twelve interconnected narratives, one for each month of the year, all pertaining to notions of travel — through time, space, narrative, and death. The poisoning of the painter Hieronymus Bosch; anchorman Dan Rather’s mysterious mugging on Park Avenue as he strolls home alone one October evening; a series of postcard meditations on the idea of travel from a young American journalist visiting Burma; a husband-and-wife team of fundamentalist Christian suicide bombers; the myth of Iphigenia from Agamemnon’s daughter’s point of view — these and other stories form a mosaic, connected through a pattern of musical motifs, transposed scenes, and recurring characters. It is a narrative about narrativity itself, the human obsession with telling ourselves and our worlds over and over again in an attempt to stabilize a truth that, as Nabokov once said, should only exist within quotation marks

When California declares independence, their dreams of socialist diversity become nightmares for many from the high Sierras to the Central Valley. Follow the lives of those who must decide whether to stand their ground, or flee! In San Diego, the commander of Naval Special Warfare Group One finds his hands tied by red tape, even as protesters storm the base and attack dependents. In Los Angeles, an airline mechanic must beg, borrow, or bribe to get his family on the plane out before the last flight out. Elsewhere, a couple seeks out the new underground railroad after being forced to confess to crimes they didn’t commit. In the new state of Jefferson, farmers must defend themselves against carpetbaggers and border raiders. And in the high Sierras, a woman must make the decision to walk out alone… Featuring all-new stories set after Calexit from JL Curtis, Bob Poole, Cedar Sanderson, Tom Rogneby, Alma Boykin, B Opperman, L B Johnson, Eaton Rapids Joe, Lawdog, and Kimball O’Hara

Кто ты на самом деле? Принцесса, внучка Бога Воды или пиратка, которой нужны новые миры, измерения, приключения, ветер играющий волосами и любовь?

A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball…Whatever happened to Calico Joe? It began quietly enough with a pulled hamstring. The first baseman for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Wichita went down as he rounded third and headed for home. The next day, Jim Hickman, the first baseman for the Cubs, injured his back. The team suddenly needed someone to play first, so they reached down to their AA club in Midland, Texas, and called up a twenty-one-year-old named Joe Castle. He was the hottest player in AA and creating a buzz. In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records. Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his Dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever… In John Grisham’s new novel the baseball is thrilling, but it’s what happens off the field that makes CALICO JOE a classic

A different world then, a different world now… California in the 1960s, and the winds of change are raging. Orange groves uprooted for tract houses, people flooding into Orange County, strange new ideas in the air about war, music, sex, and drugs, and new influences, ranging from Richard Nixon to Timothy Leary. For the Becker brothers, however, the past is always present – and it comes crashing back full force when the body of the lovely and mysterious Janelle Vonn is discovered in an abandoned orange-packing plant. The Beckers and the Vonns have a history, beginning years ago in high school with a rumble between the brothers of each clan. But boys grow up. Now one Becker brother is a cop on his first homicide case. One's a minister yearning to perform just one miracle. One is a reporter drunk with ambition. And all three are about to collide with the changing world of 1968 as each brother, in his own unique way, tries to find Janelle's killer. As suspects multiply and secrets are exposed, the three Becker brothers are drawn further into the case, deeper into the past, and closer to danger

The sunny Golden Gate city finds out what the Executioner is all about when he explodes into their midst, hot on the trail of the inner enemy and "Mr. King," the behind-the-scenes boss of all that moves and breathes in the western states. Bolans assault blazes a wide swath, zeroing in on the kingpins home base. A deadly Chinese Communist cell, some misled ecology freaks and a group of militant leftists all find themselves in danger of being burned by the swiftly racing torch of the Executioner. No one is going to stop him this time. No way

The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they've left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable despite the isolation and hardships they face. Consumed by fear of the future and mourning for a past they can't reclaim, they seek comfort and solace in one other. But the tentative existence they've built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she's pregnant. Terrified of the unknown but unsure of their ability to raise a child alone, Cal and Frida set out for the nearest settlement, a guarded and paranoid community with dark secrets. These people can offer them security, but Cal and Frida soon realize this community poses its own dangers. In this unfamiliar world, where everything and everyone can be perceived as a threat, the couple must quickly decide whom to trust. A gripping and provocative debut novel by a stunning new talent, California imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind's dark nature and irrepressible resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love

A mediados de los cuarenta, Ringo es un chiquillo de quince años que pasa las horas muertas en el bar de la señora Paquita, moviendo los dedos sobre la mesa, como si repasara las lecciones de piano que su familia ya no puede pagarle.En esa taberna del barrio de Gracia, el chaval es testigo de la historia de amor de Vicky Mir y el señor Alonso: ella, una mujer entrada en años y en carnes, masajista de profesión, ingenua y enamoradiza; él, un cincuentón apuesto que ha acabado instalándose en su casa. Allí viven junto a Violeta, la hija de la señora Mir, hasta que sucede algo inesperado: un domingo por la tarde, Vicky se echa a las vías muertas de un tranvía intentando un suicidio imposible y patético, y el señor Alonso desaparece para no volver. Lo único que queda de él es una carta que prometió escribir y que Vicky estará esperando y deseando hasta la locura, mientras Violeta mueve sus espléndidas caderas por el barrio, hosca e indiferente a los halagos.La vida entera discurre por el bar de la señora Paquita y bajo la mirada de Ringo, que escucha, lee y finalmente empezará a escribir, llenando de luz la triste caligrafía de toda una generación que alimentó sus sueños en los cines de barrio y en las calles grises de una ciudad donde el futuro parecía algo improbable.Espléndido relato de iniciación al deseo y a la escritura, Caligrafía de los sueños es la primera novela que Juan Marsé publica tras la concesión del Premio Cervantes en 2009

The infamous emperor Caligula ruled Rome from A.D. 37 to 41 as a tyrant who ultimately became a monster. An exceptionally smart and cruelly witty man, Caligula made his contemporaries worship him as a god. He drank pearls dissolved in vinegar and ate food covered in gold leaf. He forced men and women of high rank to have sex with him, turned part of his palace into a brothel, and committed incest with his sisters. He wanted to make his horse a consul. Torture and executions were the order of the day. Both modern and ancient interpretations have concluded from this alleged evidence that Caligula was insane. But was he? This biography tells a different story of the well-known emperor. In a deft account written for a general audience, Aloys Winterling opens a new perspective on the man and his times. Basing Caligula on a thorough new assessment of the ancient sources, he sets the emperor's story into the context of the political system and the changing relations between the…

Книга посвящена вопросам практической эксплуатации Call Center. Как рассчитать численность персонала на этапе внедрения колл-центра и затем, в ходе его дальнейшей эксплуатации? Как определить число соединительных линий? Как лучше организовать очередь и бороться с перегрузками? Когда оправданно применение системы IVR для самообслуживания абонентов и каковы этапы ее внедрения? Что такое коэффициент автоматизации и как он влияет на численность персонала? Что означает интегрированный показатель качества ЦОВ? В чем отличие Call Center от Contact Center? Как эффективнее организовать работу персонала и как лучше построить программу его мотивации? Как организовать продажи через ЦОВ? На все эти вопросы автор дает ответы, причем в легкой и доступной для восприятия форме. Это не научный труд, а настольная книга для специалистов операторского центра

A young Miami insurance executive can’t remember whether or not he’s a killer. He remembers a red-headed man who once said, “Murder is my business.” That’s how Mike Shayne gets into the case of amnesia, alibis, and anguish in Miami Beach and the Florida Keys

John le Carré classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him — and his hero, British Secret Service Agent George Smiley, who is introduced in this, his first novel — unprecedented worldwide acclaim.  George Smiley had liked Samuel Fennan, and now Fennan was dead from an apparent suicide. But why? Fennan, a Foreign Office man, had been under investigation for alleged Communist Party activities, but Smiley had made it clear that the investigation — little more than a routine security check — was over and that the file on Fennan could be closed. The very next day, Fennan was found dead with a note by his body saying his career was finished and he couldn't go on. Smiley was puzzled

In these two novellas, crooked charity collectors and bent boxing promoters attract the Saint's attention... and will wish they hadn't

When Henry Roth published Call It Sleep, his first novel, in 1934, it was greeted with critical acclaim. But in that dark Depression year, books were hard to sell, and the novel quickly dropped out of sight, as did its twenty-eight-year-old author. Only with its paperback publication in 1964 did the novel receive the recognition it deserves. Call It Sleep was the first paperback ever to be reviewed on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, and it proceeded to sell millions of copies both in the United States and around the world. Call It Sleep is the magnificent story of David Schearl, the “dangerously imaginative” child coming of age in the slums of New York

In 1977, one of the world’s finest crime novelists turned his pen to suspense of a very different sort — and the results have never been published, until now. Fans of mystery fiction have often pondered whether it would be possible to write a suspense novel without any crime at all, and in CALL ME A CAB the masterful Donald E. Westlake answered the question in his inimitable style. You won’t find any crime in these pages — but what you will find is a wonderful suspense story, about a New York City taxi driver hired to drive a beautiful woman all the way across America, from Manhattan to Los Angeles, where the biggest decision of her life is waiting to be made. It’s Westlake at his witty, thought-provoking best, and it proves that a page-turner doesn’t need to have a bomb set to go off at the end of it in order to keep sparks flying every step of the way

Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman's frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable

RSVP TO THE MOST RIOTOUS WEDDING OF THE YEAR! Lucy Jorik is the daughter of the former President of the United States. Meg Koranda is the offspring of legends. One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible—Ted Beaudine—the favorite son of Wynette, Texas. The other is not happy about it. Not happy at all.... But even though Meg knows breaking up her best friend’s wedding is the right thing to do, no one else seems to agree. Faster than Lucy can say, “I don’t,” Meg becomes the most hated woman in town. A town where she’s stuck with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom. Broke, stranded, and without her famous parents at her back, Meg is sure she can survive on her own wits. What’s the worst that can happen? Lose her heart to the one and only Mr. Irresistible? Not likely. Not likely at all

From #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Debbie Macomber – Mrs. Miracle on 34th Street! While working in the toy department of a family-run department store in NYC, Mrs. Miracle seizes the opportunity to connect Holly, who is searching for the perfect robot for her nephew, with Jake, the owner's son

The novel published as This Immortal first appeared under the title …And Call Me Conrad. It won Roger his first Hugo. In the following tale, Robert Silverberg’s Titan discovers, as did Conrad, that nothing ever goes quite as one plans

An unforgettable story of the joy of motherhood, the bravery of a community, and the hope of one extraordinary woman At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in post war London's East End slums. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies all over London-from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives to the woman with twenty-four children who can't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city's seedier side-illuminate a fascinating time in history. Beautifully written and utterly moving, The Midwife will touch the hearts of anyone who is, and everyone who has, a mother

Alexander Faustin has always wanted to be human. Even though he comes from a family of powerful vampires, he's fascinated with the daylight world. Maybe that's why destiny gave him a human mate. It's not like Helena to make out with a stranger on her front porch, much less invite him into her bed. Somehow Alex makes her feel safe, even while he's dismantling her defenses. But in the wake of a terrifying accident, her faith in him is shattered. Alex must regain Helena's trust and persuade her it's possible to love a monster. To do this, Alex must first learn to embrace his true nature. Unfortunately, he has to make this voyage of self-discovery while dodging the sheriff's department, the Rocky Mountain sunshine, and one very pissed off elk. But there's no turning back, because if Alex can't convince Helena to love him, he'll never love again

En un barrio de viviendas protegidas de Edimburgo aparece asesinado un sin papeles. ¿Se trata de una agresión racista o de algo muy distinto? Es un caso que, sin duda, interesa a Rebus, que se encuentra en ese momento rodeado de problemas: han cerrado su antigua comisaría y sus jefes querrían que se retirara. Pero Rebus es más terco que nadie. Durante las indagaciones visita un centro de detención para inmigrantes, trata con el sórdido mundo del hampa de Edimburgo y probablemente acabe enamorándose. Siobhan, por otra parte, tiene sus propios problemas. Una joven de dieciocho años ha desaparecido de casa y ella se siente obligada a ayudar a los padres, lo que implica acercarse más de lo debido a un violador convicto. Está además involucrada en otro caso, el de los dos esqueletos de mujer y de niño enterrados bajo el suelo de cemento de un sótano en el callejón Fleshmarket, un asunto que alguien quiere que salte a los medios, pero ¿quién y por qué? ¿Existe alguna relación entre este caso y el del barrio de pisos baratos de Knoxland? Callejón Fleshmarket indaga el proceso interno de una sociedad que ha perdido sus buenas costumbres y se ve inmersa en lo peor de la naturaleza humana: la codicia, la desconfianza, la violencia y la explotación

Ella no estaba dispuesta a ser una víctima… A pesar del cariño y los cuidados de Eve y Joe, Jane no ha tenido una infancia como las demás. Siempre ha sido más inteligente y madura que muchos de los adultos que la rodean. Por eso, cuando comienzan los sueños, reacciona con cautela. Sabe que las pesadillas la conectan con alguien que vivió hace mucho tiempo, una joven que sufrió y murió pero que de alguna manera sigue viva en ella. Y pronto descubre que no es la única, que existe otra persona que vive obsesionada con aquellos remotos sucesos: un cazador de mujeres para el que Jane representa la presa definitiva. Ni la policía, ni sus queridos padres adoptivos, pueden protegerla. Quizá ni siquiera Trevor, el misterioso extraño que se cuela en su vida en el momento más peligroso, provocando en ella sentimientos a los que creía ser inmune. … Pero se había convertido en el cebo perfecto. Brillante como un científico, seductor como una estrella de cine, y letal como el más curtido mercenario, Trevor ha empeñado toda su vida en la captura de un hombre que destrozó sus sueños y que siembra el terror allí donde va. Hasta el momento, el asesino ha ido siempre un paso por delante suyo, pero ahora Trevor ha encontrado la presa perfecta. Un cebo al que el cazador no puede dar la espalda, pero que amenaza con trastocar el bien trazado plan. Porque Jane es una muchacha excepcional, alguien a quien Trevor no puede limitarse a utilizar. Alguien con quien siente, al igual que el asesino, una extraña conexión que se remonta a un pasado lejano. Pero para profundizar en ella y explorar sus sentimientos en el futuro, primero tiene que conseguir que Jane sobreviva al presente…

With Lou Kelly dead, the powerful people behind Sensory Resources are scrambling to find a new Agency Director. So far they can only agree on one thing: it can’t be Donovan Creed. Unfortunately for them, he’s the only game in town. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Willow Breeland, the world’s most ambitious eighteen-year-old, hatches a plan to gain control of mob boss Carmine Porello’s strip club. But her plan depends on gaining the trust and support of Callie Carpenter’s live-in lover, Gwen Peters, and Donovan Creed’s daughter, Maybe Taylor. Against this backdrop, Donovan and his top assassin, Callie Carpenter, have fallen in love. But if things don’t work out for them as a couple, they’ve already privately chosen their next conquest: a breathtakingly beautiful private detective named Dani Ripper, who seems to find both killers equally fascinating. Callie’s Last Dance is vintage Locke. Enjoy the ride! Preliminary Reviewer Comments: “From the very first page of Callie’s Last Dance I got the same feelings I always get when reading a John Locke novel: I’m on a wild ride with my best friend, we’re going to have a wonderful time together, and there’s no place on earth I’d rather be!” “The extended cold shower I had to take after reading a particular section of Callie’s Last Dance saved me enough electricity to pay for the book!” “Callie’s Last Dance is a treasure trove of laughter, shock, and good times. So much to love, here is yet another John Locke book you won’t be able to put down. Long-time readers will be thrilled to finally meet the members of Lou Kelly’s Geek Squad.” “Everyone at my office knows when John Locke brings out a new book. Not because I tell them, but because I call in sick so I can devour it from cover to cover in one sitting. Callie’s Last Dance is no exception. Either call in sick or stay up all night reading it.”

Calligraphy Lesson is the first English-language collection of short stories by Mikhail Shishkin, the most acclaimed contemporary author in Russia. Spanning his entire writing career, from his first published story, “Calligraphy Lesson,” which heralded an entirely new voice in post-Soviet Russian literature and won him Russia’s prestigious Debut Prize in 1993, to creative essays reflecting on the transcendent importance of language, to the newest story, “Nabokov’s Inkblot,” written in 2013 for dramatic adaptation by a theater in Zurich. A master prose writer and unique stylist, Shishkin is heir to the greatest Russian writers, such as Tolstoy, Bunin, and Pasternak, and is the living embodiment of the combination of style and content that has made Russian literature so unique and universally popular for over two centuries. Shishkin’s breathtakingly beautiful writing style comes across perfectly in these stories, where he experiments with the forms and ideas that are worked into his grand novels while exploring entirely new literary territory in the space between fiction and creative nonfiction as he reflects on the most important and universal themes in life: love, happiness, art, death, resurrection…

Those wicked wizards are back – and they've become very smart. (Sort of.) They intend to take over the Enchanted Forest once and for all . . . unless Cimorene finds a way to stop them. And some people think being queen is easy

Dagger Awards (nominee) Inspector Konrad Sejer returns on the trail of a violent killer in small-town Norway. Gunder Jomann, a quiet, middle-aged man from a peaceful Norwegian town, thinks that his life is made complete when he returns from a trip to India a married man. But on the day his Indian bride is due to join him, he is called to the hospital to his sister's bedside. The local taxi driver sent to meet the Indian bride at the airport comes back without her. Then the town is shocked by the news of an Indian woman found bludgeoned to death in a nearby meadow. Inspector Sejer and his colleague Skarre head the murder inquiry, cross-examining the townsfolk and planting seeds of suspicion in a community which has always believed itself to be simple, safe and trusting. For what can only have been an unpremeditated and motiveless act of violence, everyone is guilty until proven innocent

A huge ship was trapped in the ice — the greatest disaster since the loss of the Titanic. This is the strange story of what happened after all messages ceased, except the shrill, insistent signal, Calling the Southern Cross! An eight-part adventure in the Antarctic, as told by one of the survivors

Kate Mitchell’s in the process of kicking her heroin addiction — with the help of alcohol — when a letter arrives informing her that her aunt in Ireland has passed away and bequeathed her a home near the ocean. This could be the start of a new and better life for Kate, far away from Brooklyn, where she and her surviving brothers are each struggling with their own dark pasts. But Aunt Mary didn’t die peacefully — quite the opposite. The pair of thugs responsible for her murder had plans for her house: namely, turning it into a lovely seaside meth lab. One of Mary’s killers, however, finds his focus shifting when he spots a photo of the dead woman’s American niece, who bears a striking resemblance to the late opera singer Maria Callas, the beloved object of his obsession. When Kate and her brothers arrive to claim her inheritance, they’re going to find something other than a piece of paradise

Calloustown, the seventh collection from master raconteur George Singleton, who’s been praised by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as the “unchallenged king of the comic Southern short story,” finds the author at the absolute top of his game as he traces the unlikely inhabitants of the titular Calloustown in all their humanity. Whether exploring family, religion, politics or the true meaning of home, these stories range from deeply affecting to wildly absurd and back again, all in the blink of an eye

WARNING: This novel is NOT “faint of heart” This story is very controversial and in fact someone would say politically incorrect. The USA defaults on the astronomical debts owed to foreign nations. “Printing money” is longer an option. Citizens watch as the government falls. The timid sheep people will not escape from conceited marauders. This is a saga of a medical doctor who gets trapped in the chaotic riots in the deep South. Can the doctor first save himself? He must in order to rescue his patients from the violence and causalities around them. Read the tragedy to find out who lives and who dies