Featuring soap made from human fat, waiters at high-class restaurants who do unmentionable things to soup and an underground organization dedicated to inflicting a violent anarchy upon the land, Palahniuk's apocalyptic first novel is clearly not for the faint of heart. The unnamed (and extremely unreliable) narrator, who makes his living investigating accidents for a car company in order to assess their liability, is combating insomnia and a general sense of anomie by attending a steady series of support-group meetings for the grievously ill, at one of which (testicular cancer) he meets a young woman named Marla. She and the narrator get into a love triangle of sorts with Tyler Durden, a mysterious and gleefully destructive young man with whom the narrator starts a fight club, a secret society that offers young professionals the chance to beat one another to a bloody pulp. Mayhem ensues, beginning with the narrator's condo exploding and culminating with a terrorist attack on the world's tallest building. Writing in an ironic deadpan and including something to offend everyone, Palahniuk is a risky writer who takes chances galore, especially with a particularly bizarre plot twist he throws in late in the book. Caustic, outrageous, bleakly funny, violent and always unsettling, Palahniuk's utterly original creation will make even the most jaded reader sit up and take notice. Movie rights to Fox 2000

As a prepper, Grayson Rowan was prepared for almost anything; anything other than being totally alone when the sh*t hits the fan. While he sat back and watched the United States rattle swords with Korea, play chicken with Russia, and strong-arm China, he felt sure if the lights went out, that he and his family would be ready and safe—whether it was due to a natural disaster or a man-made event. They had everything they needed at their homestead. What he wasn’t prepared for, was his family not being home if it ever happened. Olivia Rowan is with her sisters, Gabby and Emma, on a girls-only trip to Myrtle Beach. When chaos erupts and there’s no gas, their journey home is a nightmare, filled with predators and danger—and apparently, Olivia hadn’t learned a thing her husband tried to teach her. When your neighbors run out of food and water, and turn on each other, what will you do? Jake, a country boy mechanic, never believed in TEOTWAWKI, but he’d heard his brother-in-law preach about it many times. He knew what to do; but he didn’t prepare. He lazily left it all up to Grayson—he was the prepper after all. When catastrophe strikes, will he continue to keep his head stuck in the sand while his clueless neighbors destroy each other, and his wife is stuck out on the road; or will he stand up and fight like a man? And if you’re alone? Bug in or Bug out? Graysie Rowan, a freshman at University, just wants to go home. When no word comes from the government, and the state capital is overrun with looters, chaos and mayhem, the college administration puts the students on lock-down. But her dad, Grayson, had prepared her for this. Now, if she can only remember what it was he said to do… If they want to survive this post-apocalyptic event, they’ll all have to learn to fight like a man. The end came not with boots on the ground, nuclear weapons or an EMP. It snuck in with a quiet clatter at the back door and flipped the switch, covering the states in darkness and sending this family on three divergent paths that ultimately lead home. When they collide in this surreal and gripping family drama, it won’t be without bullets and bloodshed

When his bicycle is intentionally run off the road by a neighbor's SUV, something snaps in Bob Coffen. Modern suburban life has been getting him down and this is the last straw. To avoid following in his own father’s missteps, Bob is suddenly desperate to reconnect with his wife and his distant, distracted children. And he's looking for any guidance he can get. Bob Coffen soon learns that the wisest words come from the most unexpected places, from characters that are always more than what they appear to be: a magician/marriage counselor, a fast-food drive-thru attendant/phone-sex operator, and a janitor/guitarist of a French KISS cover band. Can these disparate voices inspire Bob to fight for his family? To fight for his place in the world? A call-to-arms for those who have ever felt beaten down by life, Fight Song is a quest for happiness in a world in which we are increasingly losing control. It is the exciting new novel by one of the most surprising and original writers of his generation

Майк Бьорнстад Хаген, хоть и имел в своей родословной скандинавские корни, был так же похож на викинга, как чихуахуа на дога. «Плакса Майки», «Малыш Майки», «Доходяга Майки» и даже просто «Эй, ты, членосос!» — как его только не называли, но никогда «мистер Хаген». Хаген, как и Филипп Панфилов, получил интерфейс дополненной реальности. Вот только его любимой игрой был не World of Warcraft, а файтинг боев без правил. Как изменится интерфейс? Сможет ли Хаген распорядиться им правильно?

Sometimes, when it’s goal and seconds to go, a bruised and battered eleven who’ve been playing by the coach’s charts have got to throw away every play — and gamble for paydirt on the one called heart!

Jindai High School was a relatively safe place, right up until Sousuke Sagaka transferred there. A total nut, he wreaks havoc on the school's student body and gets into a world of trouble with the teachers! But there's more to Sousuke than meets the eye--not just a hell-raising student, he's actually a member of an elite military unit, on an undercover mission to protect the beautiful schoolgirl Kaname Chidori from the KGB

Jindai High School was a relatively safe place, right up until Sousuke Sagaka transferred there. A total nut, he wreaks havoc on the school's student body and gets into a world of trouble with the teachers! But there's more to Sousuke than meets the eye--not just a hell-raising student, he's actually a member of an elite military unit, on an undercover mission to protect the beautiful schoolgirl Kaname Chidori from the KGB

Ella Webber has spent years uncomfortable around the opposite sex... But as soon as she meets handsome Declan Stone, she is smitten. Quickly they become friends, finding frequent reasons to see each other around the office, and Ella longs for even more. So-with a little help from her friends-Ella resorts to performing a little seduction. One that Declan will never be able to resist. Burdened by emotional baggage from his time in the army, Declan refuses to believe he's the right man for sweet Ella. Even if she makes him long for normal things, like marriage and family....But in his attempts to close off his heart from her love, could he have underestimated Ella's powers of persuasion?

Who could you trust if society fell? Winter is in full force. Freezing temperatures and heavy snow present new threats. But there’s more to surviving than just weathering the elements. Out alone, James spots a man he recognizes from the compound. Does it mean they’re being hunted down? Or is it mere coincidence? Max knows his group is a target. There are people who want them dead merely for revenge. Others want their radios, their guns, and their supplies. He thought they were hidden, but he should have known better. John and Cynthia were hoping that Max’s group would give them the security they’ve been craving. Now, with certain danger approaching, do they make a final stand with their new group? Or do they strike out on their own through the treacherous conditions? Fighting Rough is book 5 of The EMP, a post-apocalyptic survival thriller series. It deals with real people fighting for their survival every inch of the way

Attempting to save his girl friend from a Gorean slave trap, Jason Marshall found himself kidnapped to that legendary counter-Earth planet. And as such found himself the first "civilized" Earth male to become enslaved in the ruthless chains of Gorean society. Jason Marshall's startling adventures make constantly fascinating reading as he is made to be the slave of a haughty woman, then into her fighting champion, and finally amid the turmoil of primitive warfare to seek his liberty in order to search for his lost love amid the slave marts of that alien and turbulent planet

Every fighter is drawn to the violence, the release that a perfect hit can bring. But very few are drawn to the pain. Rex Carter lives behind a wall of indifference. The demons from his childhood act as an anesthetic, keeping him distant from emotional connections. Only the ache from a knock to the jaw, the sting of a tattoo needle, or the heat from a piercing can jolt him back from the numbness. The fiery pain is all he can feel, and nothing compares to the burn. Or so he thought. Working in a Las Vegas bar isn't Georgia McIntyre's dream. But she hopes it'll be an end to the nightmare. She's watched him, followed him and kept tabs, all in preparation for this moment: to make amends and share the secret she’s been carrying since she was a kid. But she didn't count on the feelings that seeing him again would stir up, the vacant look in his stormy-blue eyes, and his perfect body now mutilated by ink and metal. And she knows why. She's lived his pain every single day, since the day he left. Changed by time, Rex doesn't remember the girl from his past. If only she could do the same. Will she get the absolution she's spent her life seeking? Or will he continueFighting to Forget?

What do you do when everything you avoid, turns out to be exactly what you need? Easy and predictable, just the way he likes it, Blake Daniels flies through life the way he burns through women: on his terms, no regrets. With his fighting career in full swing, he's on the threshold of title contention. But when his training is compromised by injury, the stakes grow impossibly higher. The rage that fuels his punches also chips away at his focus, and he risks losing everything he cares about. He won’t let that happen. Not again. Layla’s through with men. After a marriage that never should’ve happened, she hopes to reclaim the pieces of the woman she lost years ago. Emotional abuse has left her insecure and terrified. A master at faking what she’s not feeling, she masks her self-doubt in false confidence. She’ll never let another man hurt her. Not again. Chased by shadows of the past, Blake and Layla know what they don’t want, but their hearts have a different plan. As a web of lies and betrayal threatens to destroy them, they’re forced to make a choice. Is love enough to heal even the deepest wounds? Or will they be left Fighting to Forgive?

Premio Nebula per il miglior racconto apparso nel 1984, questo «Figlio del Mattino» è un’ulteriore riprova della bravura di Gardner Dozois. La tecnologia avanza molto più rapidamente del solito in tempo di guerra e quindi, nonostante le nostre aspettative, la Terza Guerra Mondiale, se mai dovesse scoppiare, probabilmente ci sorprenderebbe con armi imprevedibili e fantastiche come quella che Dozois ci presenta in questo piccolo e toccante capolavoro

From the moment Lee Dedrick, husband of the fourth richest woman in the world, disappears, believed kidnapped, Vic Malloy of Universal Services is snarled up in a vicious vortex of murder, glamorous women and violent non-stop action. The curtain goes up on the sprawled, lifeless body of Dedrick’s chauffeur, shot to death by an unknown hand. A frightened and lovely brunette flits across the scene, but vanishes almost immediately, shooting from a well-turned hip. Five hundred thousand dollars ransom is paid over to the invisible kidnappers, but Lee Dedrick is not returned. The whole of the country as far north as San Francisco and as far south as Los Angeles joins in the hunt for the kidnappers. Nick Perelli, gambler, is framed for the kidnapping and is arrested. Determined to save him and to find the real kidnappers, Vic Malloy, with his aides Paula Bensinger and Jack Kerman, takes a header into this mystery and intrigue which finally lands him in a situation of unparalleled danger and horror. Then, after the most gruesome and exciting experience of his already turbulent career, Malloy finds the key to the riddle of Dedrick’s kidnapping

A Crowner John Mystery #9 Coroner Sir John investigates the murder of a man with too many enemies to count in this pacey, twisty instalment in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in twelfth-century England. Exeter, 1195. High-spirited young knights, drunken squires, pickpockets and horse thieves are pouring into the city for an exciting one-day jousting tournament. Not even a serious altercation between Sir Hugo Peverel, a manor lord from nearby Tiverton, and a mysterious Frenchman, Reginald de Charterai, can spoil the fun. Two days later, however, Sir Hugo’s body is found in a barn, stabbed in the back. De Charterai seems the obvious culprit, but the county coroner, Sir John de Wolfe, soon discovers there’s no shortage of people who wished the almost universally hated Hugo dead. All three of his brothers have a motive: two for his title, and one for Hugo’s attractive young wife, Beatrice. Mistreated Beatrice had good reason herself to despatch her cheating husband – as did several prominent villagers whose lives Hugo ruined. With so many suspects to choose from, Sir John is confronted with one of the most difficult cases of his distinguished career