Cutting-edge technology and personal greed converge in this spine-tingling novel of medicine run amok. Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, students and close friends, spot a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic on Boston's North Shore is looking for donors. Deborah and Joanna figure they can perform a good deed in helping infertle couples, while earning some money for themselves. Although rumours Surface of a fellow donor's unexplained disappearance, they remain undeterred. The procedures seem to go smoothly, but second thoughts and curiosity prompt the two women discover more, Stymied by the clinic's veil of secrecy, Deborah and Joanna obtain employment there to continue their probe. Working under aliases, they soon discover the horrifying true aims of Dr Windgate's research, immediately putting their lives – and their sanity – irrevocably at risk

This is the story of Terry Regan, radio and T.V. salesman, who falls in love with Gilda, the wife of a hard drinking bully who spends his life in a wheel-chair. Because of Gilda’s fatal fascination, Regan decides to get rid of her husband so that he himself can marry her; and he hits on an ingenious murder plan. The murderer is to be the television set that stands in the husband’s lounge. But ingenious murder plans have habit of backfiring, and this one is no exception. Once again James Hadley Chase lives up to his reputation for sustained suspense, graphic and economical writing, and on the last page, a complete surprise

Dirk Pitt is sent to investigate a lethal new way of speeding up diamond excavation, discovered by the head of a major diamond mining corporation. A fast-paced adventure begins in which Pitt has to dodge a volcano eruption and a sea serpent, amongst other dangers, in order to save the day

"Enormously entertaining and enormously authentic." – John Sandford “BORN IS THE REAL THING.”-Elmore Leonard “A NEW STAR.”-W. E. B. Griffin “Born owns not only the know-how to spin a good story but also has the stylistic chops to back it up. By turns funny and suspenseful.”- Chicago Sun-Times “Born shows his skill at mixing quirky characters and wry humor into a serious plot in his second novel… Once again, Born excels at blending the police procedural with the caper novel.”- Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel “Born’s latest novel bombards us with a constant blitz of Die Hard action and some good laughs, too… Readers will be riveted as they follow Tasker racing against the tick-tock of clocks attached to bombs throughout downtown Miami. It’s easy to lose track of time until you get to the end of Born’s memorable second book. Let’s hope he keeps ’em coming.” -The Miami Herald “Born masterfully combines dark humor and suspense in his explosively creative crime novel. The combination of fast pacing, strong characterization, and a vividly cinematic ending makes this a tough book to put down.” – Lansing State Journal “A winning protagonist… The plot of Shock Wave is tremendously entertaining, combining edge-of-your-seat action and suspense, an intriguing game of cat and mouse, and occasional passages of laugh-out-loud humor… Born is the best thing to happen to Florida crime writing since Elmore Leonard hit the Sunshine State. This guy is the real deal.” -Mystery Ink “Tough as bulletproof glass… top thrill work, with a Jerry Bruckheimer ending, much welcome humor, and the Bureau as Born’s tackling dummy.”-Kirkus Reviews Florida lawman James Born follows one of the most highly praised crime debuts of the year with a literally explosive novel of hunter and hunted. FDLE agent Bill Tasker, still smarting from a run-in with the FBI that almost got him killed, reluctantly teams up with the bureau again on a case involving a stolen Stinger missile. The op goes smoothly enough (though the feds take all the credit-what else is new?), but something about the whole setup just doesn't feel right to him. Tasker pokes around a bit-and stirs up more trouble than a nest of rattlesnakes: with his boss, with the FBI, with the ATF, and, worst of all, with a certain gentleman who loves to see things blow up… bigger and bigger things,as it turns out. The bomber hasn't killed anybody yet, but if this FDLE agent keeps interfering-well, there's always a first time, isn't there?

This memoir from the bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge and Wishful Drinking gives readers an intimate, gossip-filled look at what it’s like to be the daughter of Hollywood royalty. Told with the same intimate style, brutal honesty, and uproarious wisdom that locked Wishful Drinking on the New York Times bestseller list for months, Shockaholic is the juicy account of Carrie Fisher’s life. Covering a broad range of topics—from never-before-heard tales of Hollywood gossip to outrageous moments of celebrity desperation; from alcoholism to illegal drug use; from the familial relationships of Hollywood royalty to scandalous run-ins with noteworthy politicians; from shock therapy to talk therapy—Carrie Fisher gives an intimate portrait of herself, and she’s one of the most indelible and powerful forces in culture at large today. Just as she has said of playing Princess Leia—“It isn’t all sweetness and light sabers”—Fisher takes readers on a no-holds-barred narrative adventure, both laugh-out-loud funny and poignant

A smart dresser needs smart shoes, right? But one does need to tread carefully

Shogun is one of those rare books that you wish would go on forever. Indeed, I know people who re-read it every year. The story follows the adventures of marooned English sailor John Blackthorne in late medieval Japan during the tumultuous years when Tokugawa Ieyasu (here called Toranaga) was uniting all of Japan under his rule by any means necessary. It's truly an epic tale of war, honor, trechery, masterful manipulations, tragic heroism, and star-crossed love

Shogun is one of those rare books that you wish would go on forever. Indeed, I know people who re-read it every year. The story follows the adventures of marooned English sailor John Blackthorne in late medieval Japan during the tumultuous years when Tokugawa Ieyasu (here called Toranaga) was uniting all of Japan under his rule by any means necessary. It's truly an epic tale of war, honor, trechery, masterful manipulations, tragic heroism, and star-crossed love

The Faded Sun Triology Book 2

There are two things people like to do with a new phenomenon; understand it and use it. Sometimes it’s not wise to be too particular about the order…

The thought of working with a hot-shot producer and her TV crew is about as appealing to Abby as sticking her hand in a bucket of leeches. But "Reality Check" is a program that claims to turn American dreams into the real thing, and Abby figures that if anyone deserves that kind of bonanza, it's Emma Lopez, who has been raising her three younger siblings since her mother disappeared. Abby is determined to help Emma realize her dream of a reunion-even when it becomes clear that someone out there doesn't believe in happy endings

In the newest addition to the bestselling series, Stone Barrington and Holly Barker pursue a master spy and murderer in a tropical paradise where very little is as it seems. Teddy Fay, a rogue agent last seen escaping an imploding building in Iron Orchid, has been considered dead for some time now. But President Will Lee thinks Teddy may still be alive. In a top-secret Oval Office meeting, Stone learns that he and his cohorts, Holly Barker and Dino Baldachetti, are being sent to the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Marks, courtesy of the CIA, to track down Teddy once and for all. St. Marks is a vacationer’s paradise, but its luxurious beach clubs and secluded mountain villas are home to corrupt local politicians and more than a few American ex-pats with murky personal histories. Stone and Holly soon discover that in St. Marks, everyone is hiding something, and Teddy Fay may just be hiding in plain sight

WANTED - DEAD OR ALIVE! John Cardinal - gray eyes, red hair, six foot tall, 175 pounds.... and "vicious with a fast gun!" One Thousand Dollars Reward! For the cold-blooded murder of a U.S. Marshal! For bank-robbery! Cattle-rustling! Stagecoach holdup! Horse-thieving! And for every other kind of skulduggery known! But for John Cardinal himself, there was one terrible irony - he was innocent of all of those things, but determined to follow a fugitive's trail to a showdown with the false law of a passel of pistol-toting pursuers

The sequel to the 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 led them home. When the family is finally reunited in this surreal and gripping family drama, it wasn't without bullets and bloodshed. It wasn't without loss of life. And now that they're home, the real nightmare begins

Recent almost-college-grad Fred Kitchen and his eccentric six-foot-four pal, Wheaty, pay off a poker debt with a prank — showing their stuff in the then-current fad of streaking. Soon they are under arrest and in jail, killing time by playing cards with a couple of hardened criminals, unwittingly racking up a new debt... one that can only be paid off by participating in a bank robbery during a small-town festival. Written as a tribute to the comic novels of his mentor Donald E. Westlake, Shoot the Moon is a fast, funny crime novel written early in his career by Max Allan Collins

The Autobiography of the Top-ranked Marine Sniper A non fiction book With more than sixty confirmed kills, Jack Coughlin is the Marine Corps' top-ranked sniper. Shooter is his harrowing first-person account of a sniper's life on and off the modern battlefield.Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin is a divorced father of two who grew up in a wealthy Boston suburb. At the age of nineteen, although he had never even held a gun, he joined the Marines and would spend the next twenty years behind the scope of a long-range precision rifle as a sniper.In that time he accumulated one of the most successful sniper records in the Corps, ranging through many of the world's hotspots. During Operation Iraqi Freedom alone, he recorded at least thirty-six kills, thirteen of them in a single twenty-four-hour period.Now Coughlin has written a highly personal story about his deadly craft, taking readers deep inside an invisible society that is off-limits to outsiders. This is not a heroic battlefield memoir, but the careful study of an exceptional man who must keep his sanity while carrying forward one of the deadliest legacies in the U.S. military today

And now, from the great folks who brought you Pearl Harbor... Nemuro Nishitsu remembered Pearl Harbor. He also remembered the rest of World War II and Japan's humiliating defeat. Nishitsu had been a humble soldier then. He was Japan's number one industrialist now. And he had the money, the power, and the madness to script a sneak attack that made Pearl Harbor look like a childish prank...made in the U.S.A. a pitiful helpless giant...and made Remo and Chiun the country's last vanishing hope...as the flag of foreign conquest was planted in the American heartland, and the Destroyer was X-ed out of the action

Author's 4th novel. As a former RAF pilot, a former Air Correspondent for The Sunday Times, Lyall certainly knows about flying.Combining his expertise with fast-paced, well-written plots has made him one of the most popular writers of action thrillers. An adventure story, influenced by the works of Hammett and Chandler. In this one, Keith Carr, piloting cargo around the Carribean, finds himself mixed up with potentially lethal local politics

The gun trained on his chest left him with no choice… Turning Caitlyn in to the police was the right thing to do, the law-abiding thing. So why did it have to hurt so bad…and cost her so much? Caitlyn Brown had never expected C. J. Starr to walk back into her life after all they'd endured. Never imagined she'd draw strength from his voice, the memory of his smile, the gentle touch of his hand. She could allow him to protect her from a danger she could no longer see, but she could never forget that he'd sworn to uphold the law, and – as long as there were innocent victims in need of her help – that she had vowed to break it

Becky’s life is blooming! She's working at London’s newest fashion store, The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)… and she’s pregnant! She couldn’t be more overjoyed — especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery… to the latest, coolest pram… to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble. She’s shopping for two… but are there three in her marriage?

Rebecca Bloomwood is now happily married to Luke Brandon, and all her problems seem to be at an end. But suddenly into her life steps… a sister, of whose existence Becky had hitherto been completely unaware. Becky is only too anxious to welcome her into the bosom of the family. But there is only one snag — she HATES shopping. She is the antithesis of the shopaholic. It all makes for some very difficult family relationships…

“This expensive, glossy world is where I’ve been headed all along. Limos and flowers; waxed eyebrows and designer clothes from Barneys. These are my people; this is where I'm meant to be.” — Becky Bloomwood Universally beloved by readers, Sophie Kinsella’s national bestseller, Confessions of a Shopaholic, introduced the irrepressible one-woman shopping phenomenon, Becky Bloomwood. Now, in this hilarious follow-up, Becky and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic…. With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky’s biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to “pack light.” But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he's moving to New York for business — and he asks Becky to go with him! Before you can say “Prada sample sale,” Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury department stores. Surely it’s only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky’s bills miles away in London. But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line! Shopaholic Takes Manhattan — but will she have to return it?

Rebecca Bloomwood has the dream job. She's a personal shopper, so is able to spend other people’s money all day instead of her own. And she gets paid for doing it. The perfect job, the perfect man — gorgeous Luke Brandon — and now… the perfect wedding. Yes, Luke has proposed and wedding bells are in sight. No excuses are needed to start the shopping trip of all time. And Becky’s parents are just assuming that the wedding will be at home — a marquee in the garden and Becky in her mum’s wedding dress, which she’s been saving specially for the occasion. But Luke’s mother has very different ideas — a huge affair in New York in a forest glade setting — or perhaps a Venetian Ball, or a fin de siecle extravagance? Now Becky’s getting confused. She doesn't want to say ‘no’ to anyone. The plans are going ahead, and soon it will be too late to turn back — from either wedding…

Steve Martin's first foray into fiction is as assured as it is surprising. Set in Los Angeles, its fascination with the surreal body fascism of the upper classes feels like the comedian's familiar territory, but the shopgirl of the book's title may surprise his fans. Mirabelle works in the glove department of Neiman's, "selling things that nobody buys any more." Spending her days waiting for customers to appear, Mirabelle "looks like a puppy standing on its hind legs, and the two brown dots of her eyes, set in the china plate of her face, make her seem very cute and noticeable." Lonely and vulnerable, she passes her evenings taking prescription drugs and drawing "dead things," while pursuing an on-off relationship with the hopeless Jeremy, who possesses "a slouch so extreme that he appears to have left his skeleton at home." Then Mr. Ray Porter steps into Mirabelle's life. He is much older, rich, successful, divorced, and selfish, desiring her "without obligation." Complicating the picture is Mirabelle's voracious rival, her fellow Neiman's employee Lisa, who uses sex "for attracting and discarding men." The mutual incomprehension, psychological damage, and sheer vacuity practiced by all four of Martin's characters sees Shopgirl veer rather uncomfortably between a comedy of manners and a much darker work. There are some startling passages of description and interior monologue, but the characters are often rather hazy types. Martin tries too hard in his attempt to write a psychologically intense novel about West Coast anomie, but Shopgirl is still an enjoyable, if rather light, read

Set mostly in Manhattan — although also featuring Atlantic City, Brooklyn, GMail Chat, and Gainsville, Florida — this autobiographical novella, spanning two years in the life of a young writer with a cultish following, has been described by the author as “A shoplifting book about vague relationships,” “2 parts shoplifting arrest, 5 parts vague relationship issues,” and “An ultimately life-affirming book about how the unidirectional nature of time renders everything beautiful and sad.” From VIP rooms in hip New York City clubs to central booking in Chinatown, from New York University’s Bobst Library to a bus in someone’s backyard in a college-town in Florida, from Bret Easton Ellis to Lorrie Moore, and from Moby to Ghost Mice, it explores class, culture, and the arts in all their American forms through the funny, journalistic, and existentially-minded narrative of someone trying to both “not be a bad person” and “find some kind of happiness or something,” while he is driven by his failures and successes at managing his art, morals, finances, relationships, loneliness, confusion, boredom, future, and depression

Эмили и Кристиан живут в полуразрушенном покинутом городе. Она регулярно ходит искать съестное — в разоренные магазины, по брошенным домам. Но в городе они не одни: есть еще «те, другие». Может, стоит попробовать встретиться с ними?

From Peter James, #1 bestselling author of Perfect People and the Roy Grace series, comes an unforgettable collection of nine short stories. From a woman intent on revenge to a restaurant critic with a fear of the number thirteen, and from an unusual Italian aphrodisiac to a story of ghostly terror, these are darkly humorous tales of murderous lovers, duplicitous dealings and urban domesticity turned on its head. Funny, sad, but always shocking, each tale carries a twist that will haunt readers for days after they turn the final page

In this second short story collection from number one bestseller Peter James, some of our darkest dreams and deepest fears are brought chillingly to life. From a couple plagued by medieval spectres, a philandering cad caught with his trousers around his ankles, and the author’s own deeply personal experience of a haunted house, to the first ever case of his best-loved Detective, Roy Grace, James exposes the Achilles heels of each of his characters, and makes us question how well we can trust ourselves, and each other

Short stories by Agatha Christie have been published in many collections, lots of them duplicating each other. For example, The Harlequin Tea Set contains almost all the same stories as While the Light Lasts. But a little sorting out has revealed that there are just 15 collections comprising ALL short stories by Agatha Christie without any omission or duplicating

В сборник вошли рассказы Уильяма Сидни Портера (1862–1910), известного читателям как О’Генри. До сих пор вызывают интерес стиль и особенности языка американского классика, мастера юмора и иронии, умевшего подметить комичное в людях и в их поведении. Стилистические и языковые средства, которые применяет О’Генри, чрезвычайно разнообразны. Писатель вводит неологизмы, латинские, французские, испанские фразы, жаргонные слова, местные диалекты, его герои могут как подняться в заоблачные выси, так и опуститься на самое дно, и тогда неправильное употребление грамматических форм ярко характеризует самих персонажей. Иногда для пущего комического эффекта автор вкладывает в уста бродяг мысли, облеченные в слова, которые больше подошли бы университетским профессорам. Речь часто идет о мошенничествах разного рода, поэтому в рассказах встречается и много вымышленных слов

Short Stories From Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies: Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world. These stories of heroism, hardship and dangerous hobbies profile two of the Harry Potter stories’ most courageous and iconic characters: Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin. J.K. Rowling also gives us a peek behind the closed curtains of Sybill Trelawney’s life, and you’ll encounter the reckless, magical-beast-loving Silvanus Kettleburn along the way

Short Stories From Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists: Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world. These stories of power, politics and pesky poltergeists give you a glimpse into the darker side of the wizarding world, revealing the ruthless roots of Professor Umbridge, the lowdown on the Ministers for Magic and the history of the wizarding prison Azkaban. You will also delve deeper into Horace Slughorn’s early years as Potions master at Hogwarts – and his acquaintance with one Tom Marvolo Riddle

Dostoyevsky’s short stories show him to be equally adept at the short story as with the novel. Exploring many of the same themes as in his longer works, these small masterpieces move from the tender and romantic White Nights, an archetypal nineteenth-century morality tale of pathos and loss, to the famous Notes from the Underground, a story of guilt, ineffectiveness, and uncompromising cynicism, and the first major work of existential literature. Among Dostoyevsky’s prototypical characters is Yemelyan in The Honest Thief, whose tragedy turns on an inability to resist crime

Volume 1 of Ed Gorman: Short Stories contains Fictionwise.com members favorites “En Famille” and “Favor and the Princess” and more excellent short mysteries

Featuring sixty-three stories spanning five decades, this superb  collection-including "Girls in Their Summer Dresses," "Sailor Off the  Bremen," and "The Eighty-Yard Run"-clearly illustrates why Shaw is considered one of America's finest short-story writers

Collected short stories by Andy Weir

Short Straw reintroduces Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle, who first appeared in Stuart Woods's 1992 thriller, Santa Fe Rules. In his first adventure, Ed fell in love with the seductive Barbara Kennerly, and married her-against his better judgment. Turns out that Ed should have listened to his intuition. Ed Eagle awakens the morning after his fortieth birthday to find that Barbara has vanished, and Ed's money-from his business, his bank, and his brokerage accounts-has been wired to the Cayman Islands. Barbara, it appears, had drugged his birthday wine, neatly cleaned him out and then fled to Mexico, from where she can't be extradited. And as if that weren't bad enough, when Ed arrives at work that morning he discovers that he's been assigned a new client who looks like nothing but trouble-Joe Big Bear, a part-time mechanic charged with a triple homicide. Ed hires two slightly shady investigators to search for his wife. But when they track Barbara down in Puerto Vallarta, they discover that Joe Big Bear may also be embroiled in Barbara's plot. Ed soon finds himself caught in a scheme that is much more far reaching-and deadly-than anyone would have expected

Most of the major cities in the nation have been totally destroyed by riots. Millions upon millions of refugees flee population centers in every direction, desperate to find some safe haven before the first snows of winter. Organized relief efforts are breaking down due to lack of resources, leaving relief workers stranded wherever they’ve ended up, in the same plight as the refugees around them. Trevor Smith and his cousin Lewis Halsson have lost most of what they’d prepared to weather the disaster, including the shelter they built, and are making for the mountains. There they’ll test their skills and ingenuity against far harsher conditions than they’d face in the valley below. Meanwhile their friend Matt Larson and his family, left behind in the small town of Aspen Hill, face their own worries. Thanks to Ferris and his soldiers the town’s insufficient food supplies are being shared out to the nearby refugee camp, threatening to leave everyone starving before winter even begins. The gang operating out of the refugee camp is also causing trouble, harboring a deep bitterness for the town that wouldn’t let them in. And over all other worries looms the approaching winter that few seem ready for. Those fortunate to survive it must then worry about planting crops and lasting until harvest, with potentially greater problems looming on the horizon

On 17 July 2014, Malaysian Airlines MH17 was shot out of the sky above Ukraine. Aboard were 298 people, 38 of whom were Australians. No one survived. Subsequently it was shown that the airliner was almost certainly hit by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian separatists aided by the Russian military. The debris from the plane’s disintegration mid-air was spread over 50 square kilometres, but for weeks rescue teams and investigators were denied access. The Russians have refused to take any responsibility for the deaths. This is the story of some of the people who boarded that fatal flight and the conflict below them that was doomed to destroy their lives and the happiness of the people they left behind. The fullest account yet published, it is also the story of a continuing clamour for justice. Unsettling, compelling and revealing, Shot Down will provoke both outrage that this criminal act could have happened and deep sadness for the lives lost. ‘A compelling account of one of the most appalling aviation atrocities of our time.’

They were dead, the husband and wife. Both were shot in the face at close range with a shotgun. The husband, in fact, still had his finger on the trigger, the barrel pointing toward what used to be a significant portion of his head. It was clearly a suicide — or did it just look that way? For Detectives Steve Carella and Bert Kling, what seems to be the truth on the surface often reveals something far different underneath. A killer is murdering married women and their husbands. But setting up shop in the 87th Precinct was the wrong move. Carella and Kling don’t buy the suicide theory, and soon enough they are on the killer’s trail. The only trouble is the murderous crime wave ripping through the city has gathered momentum

How should the West deal with Putin’s Russia? For the U.S. and some European powers the answer is obvious: isolate Russia with punishing economic sanctions, remove it from global institutions such as the G8, and arm the nations directly threatened by Putin. In short, return to the Cold War doctrine that froze Soviet aggression in Europe and helped bring about the collapse of communist Russia. Others argue that such a policy is a dead end. Putin’s Russia has legitimate grievances against Western and NATO powers meddling in its sphere of influence. Instead of further antagonizing Putin and risking a dangerous escalation of the current conflict, the U.S. and Europe should seek common cause with Russia to address shared threats, from the Middle East to Asia to combatting terrorism. In the fifteenth semi-annual Munk Debate, acclaimed academic Stephen F. Cohen and veteran journalist and bestselling author Vladimir Pozner square off against internationally renowned expert on Russian history Anne Applebaum and Russian-born political dissident Garry Kasparov to debate the future of the West’s relationship with Russia

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, there has been much talk of a new Cold War between the West and Russia. Under Putin’s authoritarian leadership, Moscow is widely seen as volatile, belligerent and bent on using military force to get its way. In this incisive analysis, top Russian foreign and security policy analyst Dmitri Trenin explains why the Cold War analogy is misleading. Relations between the West and Russia are certainly bad and dangerous but – he argues – they are bad and dangerous in new ways; crucial differences which make the current rivalry between Russia, the EU and the US all the more fluid and unpredictable. Unpacking the dynamics of this increasingly strained relationship, Trenin makes a compelling case for handling Russia with pragmatism and care rather than simply giving into fear

The futuristic hardboiled noir that Lauren Beukes calls “sharp as a paper-cut” about a garbage man turned kill-for-hire. Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a blown-out shell of its former self. Now he’s a hitman. In a near-future New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to “tap in” to a sophisticated virtual reality, and those who are left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. His new job is not that different from his old one: waste disposal is waste disposal. He doesn’t ask questions, he works quickly, and he’s handy with a box cutter. But when his latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, his unadorned life is upended: his mark has a shocking secret and his client has a sordid agenda far beyond a simple kill. Spademan must navigate between these two worlds—the wasteland reality and the slick fantasy—to finish his job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground. Adam Sternbergh has written a dynamite debut: gritty, violent, funny, riveting, tender, and brilliant

This triumphant novel about the razzle-dazzle Hindi film industry confirms Shashi Tharoor’s reputation as one of India’s most important voices and a writer of world stature. His hero — or antihero — is Ashok Banjara, one of Bollywood’s mega-movie stars, a man of great ambition and dubious morals. Even as his star rises, his life becomes a melodrama of its own, with love affairs, Parliamentary appointments, framings, disgrace, and, in the end, sustaining a life-threatening injury on the set of a low-budget film. With irrepressible charm and a genius for satire, Tharoor positions the film world, with all its Hollywood glitz and glamour, egos, and double standards, as a metaphor for modern society

An anthology of stories These all-new short stories of movies, music, murder, and mayhem by today's brightest talents will take you from vaudeville to Vegas, and make it chillingly clear that in the world of entertainment, if you want to make it, you may have to step on some people-or over their dead bodies… Includes first-run stories from € Carolyn Wheat € John Lutz € Elaine Viets € Parnell Hall € Stuart M Kaminsky € Edward D Hoch € Annette Meyers € Angela Zeman € David Bart € Bob Shayne € Mark Terry € Gary Phillips € Suzanne Shaphren € Libby Fischer Hellman € Charles Ardai € Gregg Andrew Hurwitz € Steve Hockensmith € Shelley Freydont € Robert Lopresti € Mat Coward