In the spring of 1797 Richard Bolitho brings the 100-gun Euryalus home to Falmouth to be flagship of the hastily formed squadron which has been chosen to make the first British re-entry to the Mediterranean for nearly a year. As flag captain, Bolitho is made to contend with the unyielding attitudes of his new admiral, as well as the devious requirements of the squadron's civilian advisor. England is still stunned by the naval mutiny at Spithead, in which Bolitho's admiral was personally involved, and as the squadron sets sail the air is already alive with rumour of an even greater uprising in the ships at the Nore. Only when the squadron is drawn to a bloody embrace with the enemy does the admiral see the strength in Bolitho's trust and care for his men – but by then it is almost too late for any of them

Charles L. Harness was born in West Texas in 1915. He has a BS in chemistry, and an LLB, and he is a member of the Maryland and DC bars. “Before I retired, I was a senior attorney in the patent department of a large chemical manufacturer. I’ve published about ten novels and several dozen shorter items, all SF. Major loves: my wife, our children, our grandchildren, music, chess.” The magical tale that follows is his first story for Asimov’s

In The Flame Alphabet, the most maniacally gifted writer of our generation delivers a work of heartbreak and horror, a novel about how far we will go, and the sorrows we will endure, in order to protect our families. A terrible epidemic has struck the country and the sound of children’s speech has become lethal. Radio transmissions from strange sources indicate that people are going into hiding. All Sam and Claire need to do is look around the neighborhood: In the park, parents wither beneath the powerful screams of their children. At night, suburban side streets become routes of shameful escape for fathers trying to get outside the radius of affliction. With Claire nearing collapse, it seems their only means of survival is to flee from their daughter, Esther, who laughs at her parents’ sickness, unaware that in just a few years she, too, will be susceptible to the language toxicity. But Sam and Claire find it isn’t so easy to leave the daughter they still love, even as they waste away from her malevolent speech. On the eve of their departure, Claire mysteriously disappears, and Sam, determined to find a cure for this new toxic language, presses on alone into a world beyond recognition. The Flame Alphabet invites the question: What is left of civilization when we lose the ability to communicate with those we love? Both morally engaged and wickedly entertaining, a gripping page-turner as strange as it is moving, this intellectual horror story ensures Ben Marcus’s position in the first rank of American novelists

Historical Mysteries Collection #2 Perfect for fans of CJ Sansom, SW Perry, SJ Parris and SG Maclean … “An understanding of medieval life that hints that the knowledge comes from reincarnation or – as I safely suspect – impeccable research.” An arranged marriage… 1484. Emeline knows she has no voice in her marriage, so counts herself fortunate when her betrothed turns out to be a charming man with a heart of gold. But before the wedding, flames consume everything, and the murdered body of Emeline’s fiancé is discovered. Sparks fly when Emeline finds herself marrying the younger brother… Nicholas is tired of living in his brother’s shadow. Forced to marry a woman who would rather he fill his brother’s coffin isn’t helping. But just when he thinks his wedding day couldn’t get worse, fire ravages once more. It becomes apparent that the murderer’s rampage is far from over. Can an unlikely couple find their way on a trail of political intrigue and a murderous conspiracy? As murder and mayhem plagues their lives, Nicholas must hide a secret mission behind his actions… even from his own wife. But when Emeline embarks on her own investigation, he realises he has underestimated the fiery beauty. Determined to unmask the murderous culprit, Emeline naively takes on the sleuth’s role and finds there may be more to her husband than meets the eye. England’s fate hangs in the balance… An enthralling historical mystery with multifaceted characters, fast-paced twists and turns, and apple codlings to die for in this rich tapestry of life in the 15th century

The year is 1975 and Reno — so-called because of the place of her birth — has come to New York intent on turning her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art. Her arrival coincides with an explosion of activity in the art world — artists have colonized a deserted and industrial SoHo, are staging actions in the East Village, and are blurring the line between life and art. Reno meets a group of dreamers and raconteurs who submit her to a sentimental education of sorts. Ardent, vulnerable, and bold, she begins an affair with an artist named Sandro Valera, the semi-estranged scion of an Italian tire and motorcycle empire. When they visit Sandro’s family home in Italy, Reno falls in with members of the radical movement that overtook Italy in the seventies. Betrayal sends her reeling into a clandestine undertow. The Flamethrowers is an intensely engaging exploration of the mystique of the feminine, the fake, the terrorist. At its center is Kushner’s brilliantly realized protagonist, a young woman on the verge. Thrilling and fearless, this is a major American novel from a writer of spectacular talent and imagination

In a Manhattan hotel room, the "Love Nest Killings of 1908" take place. But the mystery of who killed whom, and why, does not unravel until we explore the lives of Katrina Taylor and Edward Daughtery. He is a first-generation Irish American and a successful playwright. She is a high-born Protestant, a beautiful seductive woman with complex attitudes towards life. Their marriage is a passionate one, but a cataclysmic hotel fire changes it into something else altogether. Moving back and forth between the 1880s and 1912, The Flaming Corsage follows Katrina and Edward as other lives impact upon theirs-their socially opposed families; Edward's flirtatious actress paramour, Melissa Spencer; the physician Giles Fitzroy, and his wife; and Edward's friend, the cynical journalist Thomas Maginn. The Flaming Corsage evocatively portrays through the lens of Albany's robust Irishtown and English-Dutch aristocracy the seething, contradictory impulses of our humanity, lusts and furies that know no bounds of time or place

In the painting, the Duke of Flanders and his knight are locked in a game of chess, and a dark lady lurks mysteriously in the background. Julia is determined to solve the five-hundred-year-old murder, but as she begins to look for clues, several of her friends in the art world are brutally murdered in quick succession. Messages left with the bodies suggest a crucial connection between the chess game in the painting, the knight's murder, the sordid underside of the contemporary art world, and the latest deaths. Just when all of the players in the mystery seem to be pawns themselves, events race toward a shocking conclusion. A thriller like no other, The Flanders Panel presents a tantalizing puzzle for any connoisseur of mystery, chess, art, and history

Tiffy and Leon share a flat Tiffy and Leon share a bed Tiffy and Leon have never met… Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time. But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window… 

The Flaxborough Crab was first published in 1969, although its title in the US was Just What the Doctor Ordered, and is the sixth novel in the Flaxborough series. H. R. F. Keating, in his critical study Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books, praised the 'solidity of Watson's Flaxborough saga.' Watson, Keating said, 'created in his imaginary Flaxborough a place it is not preposterous to compare with the creation of Arnold Bennett in his classic Five Towns novels, or even perhaps with William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County'. All twelve of Colin Watson's 'Flaxborough Chronicles' were set in this fictional town that could be found somewhere in the East of England and it is home to 15,000 inhabitants that appear, on the surface at least, to be bland and conservative, but as the novels show appearances can be deceiving... . . . Raising another flower - a lank, brownish-yellow affair - Miss Pollock deliberately avoided the leading contestant's eye and looked appealingly to the further part of her audience. 'Now, what about some of you other ladies? Wouldn't you like to have a try? ''Old Man's Vomit,' snapped the omniscient Mrs. Crunkinghorn. 'You don't want to hold that too near your dress, me dear

‘The Flesh of the Orchid’ is a continuation of that best seller, No Orchids for Miss Blandish (over 500,000 copies sold) which needs no introduction. It is the story of Carol Blandish, daughter of Miss Blandish by the homicidal maniac, Slim Grisson. Committed to a sanitarium for the insane as a suspected homicidal lunatic, Carol inherits the vast fortune left her by her grandfather, John Blandish. She escapes and while endeavouring to prove her sanity falls victim of two professional murderers, the Sullivan brothers. This is perhaps the most exciting novel to be written by Hadley Chase. Incident piles on incident and the story moves at a tremendous pace

It was a good dump, Rory the kangaroo rat decided, altho he had no intention of staying long. Just a few days rest, and then he'd be off. But that was before he found the model airplane with its motor still pretty much intact. Ever since he'd spent a winter at an airfield and listened to the pilots and mechanics talk, he'd longed to fly. But before he could hide the plane and then begin to work on it, Charlie Gribble came along--a boy as interested in the plane as Rory. Charlie was in the dump looking for a safe place for his pet lemming, Crispin, which the housekeeper had just thrown out of the house. Together, the three of them made a good team. What one couldn't do, the other could. And the plane soon became a real plane--one that could fly on its own, with controls inside it. The only problem was a huge flock of starlings that had recently descended on the garbage part of the dump. They were a nuisance for the whole town, but they were a real menace to Rory, Charlie and Crispin every step of the way. How the Fox was rebuilt, how the three unlikely collaborators did their work, the attempts of the town to drive aaway the starlings and the final victory of the Fox and its crew add up to a book that blends technology, fantasy and real problems in new and interesting ways

Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services is a fixture in San Francisco at the dawn of a new century. While the future is unclear, Sabina and John know one thing for certain; they will protect their clients from flimflammers, thieves, and murderers, and do whatever it takes to run these dregs of society into the arms of the law. Sometimes, that requires a subtle touch. Professor A. Vargas, self-styled medium extraordinaire, and his partner Annabelle, use guile and trickery to swindle bereaved men and women eager to contact the spirits of deceased loved ones. John and Sabina must not only unmask these charlatans, but also solve the riddle of an impossible murder in the midst of a séance. Other cases involve brute force and personal danger. Such as the theft of a burglarproof safe mysteriously emptied of gold bullion. And John’s pursuit of a ruthless gang of counterfeiters, whose leader appears to be a man from John’s past in the Secret Service — a man thought long dead. Adding spice to these exploits is Sabina and John’s personal relationship, which is rapidly progressing to an exciting new level

Francois Besson listens to a tape recording of a girl contemplating suicide. Drifting through the days in a provincial city, he thoughtlessly starts a fire in his apartment, attends confession, and examines, with great intentness but without affection, a naked woman he wakes beside

The action of The Flood, a first novel by Ian Rankin, takes place over a period of twenty years in the life and slow death of a File mining community. At the heart of the novel are Mary Miller is an outcast, believed by some to have occult powers, and her bastard son, Sandy. Mary finds herself caught up in a faltering affair with a local schoolteacher, while Sandy falls in love with a strange gypsy girl. As the action moves towards a tense and unexpected climax, both mother and son are forced to come to terms with the past, in the growing knowledge that their small dramas are being played out against a much larger drama, a drama glimpsed only in symbols and flickering images — images of decay and regrowth, of fire and water, of the flood

The Human-Covenant War, a desperate struggle for humankind’s very survival, has reached its boiling point on the mysterious, ring world called Halo. But the fierce Covenant warriors, the mightiest alien military force known, are not the only peril lying in wait. As the fortress world of Reach and its brave defenders were bombarded to rubble, a single cruiser fled the carnage with the battle’s only human survivors – Captain Keyes, his crew of a few hundred Marines, and the last remaining SPARTAN super-soldier, the Master Chief. With the cruiser’s artificial intelligence, Cortana, concealed in his battle armor, the Master Chief crash lands on Halo in the midst of a massive Covenant occupation. Curiously, the alien soldiers appear to be searching for something hidden on the ring. Built by a long-dead race, Halo harbors many deadly secrets, but one overshadows them all. Now the Master Chief must lead the scattered troops in a brutal race to unravel Halo’s darkest mystery – and unleash its greatest source of power

After a fight, some warriors seek to return home. Others seek revenge. The battle of Akhlaur's Swamp is over, and its heroes part ways. One becomes a wizard's apprentice and tries to unravel her mysterios lineage. Another hero returns to his queen, only to find that all is not as it was. Hidden from them both, the Magehound broods. She cannot forgive those who drove her from power, and she will stop at nothing to be avenged. Her bitterness ensures that Akhlaur's Swamp was only the beginning for them all

It all begins in the Stone Age, when a talking fish is caught by a fisherman at the very spot where millennia later Grass's home town, Danzig, will arise. Like the fish, the fisherman is immortal, and down through the ages they move together. As Grass blends his ingredients into a powerful brew, he shows himself at the peak of his linguistic inventiveness

An Ekaterin Vorkosigan novella. Still new to her duties as Lady Vorkosigan, Ekaterin is working together with expatriate scientist Enrique Borgos on a radical scheme to recover the lands of the Vashnoi exclusion zone, lingering radioactive legacy of the Cetagandan invasion of the planet Barrayar. When Enrique’s experimental bioengineered creatures go missing, the pair discover that the zone still conceals deadly old secrets

It is December 1937 and the Japanese Imperial Army has just entered Nanking. Unable to reach the Safety Zone in Pokou, a group of schoolgirls are hiding out in the compound of the St. Mary Magdalene mission. They are looked after by Father Engelmann, an American priest who has made China his home for many years. The church is supposed to be neutral ground in the war between China and Japan, but eyewitness reports from the outside make it clear the Japanese are not obeying the international rules of engagement. As the soldiers pour through the streets of Nanking, committing unspeakable atrocities on civilians, thirteen Chinese courtesans from a nearby brothel climb over the church compound's walls seeking refuge. Their presence further jeopardizes the children's safety and what happens next will change all of their lives. A haunting, passionate story inspired by true life events during the Nanking Massacre, this novel shows how war challenges our prejudices and that love can flourish amidst death and destruction. The Flowers of War is an unforgettable journey through the depths of the human heart. “I have long been a fan of Geling Yan’s fiction for its power to disturb us out of our ordinary worlds… The Flowers of War is [a] riveting tale that touches us at the center of our being.” “I will never forget some of the characters in this short novel for their amazing acceptance of their destiny and their dignity throughout. That [Yan] was able to convey this with so much authority, yet so simply, is testament to [her] splendid talent.”

Experience is the best teacher— but not the gentlest!

Throughout history there have been several thousand different strains of influenza. Each year hundreds are active. Chances are, this year, you will catch one of those strains. You will cough, sneeze, and your body will ache. Without a second thought, you’ll take a double dose of green liquid, go to bed, and swear you’ll feel better in the morning. Not this time. In 1918 forty million people succumbed to a particular strain of swine flu. It appeared out of nowhere, and just as quickly as it surfaced, the Spanish Flu vanished. Gone for good. Or so we thought. Though mankind has anticipated its resurfacing for some time, mankind is ill prepared. Mutated and with a vengeance, the Spanish Flu returns. In a world blackened with plague, a glimmer of light exists in the small town of Lodi, Ohio. They shine as a sanctuary because they are ‘flu-free.’ In the wake of the reality that they are spared, the spirit and strength of Lodi is tested. It becomes a fight against what is morally right or wrong in an increasingly difficult battle to stay healthy and alive until the flu has run its course. Amazon.com and GoodReads reader praise for THE FLU: “Another excellent apocalyptic story…” “One of the BEST pandemic novels I've read!” “I highly recommend THE FLU!”

Written by Antonio Tabucchi, author of Indian Nocturne, one of the most renowned voices in European literature and the foremost Italian writer of his generation, this sublimely questioning, superbly imaginative collection of fragments and quasi-stories moves from impression to association to conjecture. The reader meets a delicate flying creature of ambiguous species-replete with feathers in ochre, yellow, deep blue, and emerald green-in Fra Angelico's vegetable garden; and a revolutionary who is told her incredible future by Mademoiselle Lenormand, a fortune teller from the shadow world

They flew from Ceylon to Bombay — and with considerable mystery

Рассказ вошёл в сборники: The Golden Apples of the Sun (Золотые яблоки солнца) S Is For Space (К значит Космос) Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales (Сборник ста лучших рассказов)

Shoogar was on the warpath. The villagers wondered uneasily if they should pack. The last time their protector had done this he had blown the whole village to hell and they had all had to trek to find a new area. Still, he had proved his point. Shoogar was indeed a mighty witch doctor — and his flock took a kind of resigned pride in his power. After all, who knew what the new invader could do? Better the protector you know than the one you don’t. Had they but known the marvels and monstrosities that Shoogar in his rage would bring about they would have fled shrieking. Which of course they did — for a while. But Shoogar drew them back, for his power was great. And they didn’t really have any place else to go. No place, that is, that had as many interesting possibilities as Shoogar’s wild and woolly mind could conceive …

It is 1811 and Napoleon's French Empire dominates Europe. Desperate to stem the encroaching French tide and avert war with the emerging power of the United States, the Royal Navy orders Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater to the Chesapeake Bay to heal the rift between London and Washington. Quite by chance, on the banks of the Potomac, Drinkwater discovers the first clue to a bold plan by which the U.S. could defeat the Royal Navy, collapse the British government and utterly destroy the British cause. Amid personal crisis, Drinkwater takes command of a squadron sent against the Americans in the South Atlantic, audaciously risking his reputation and, in a climactic confrontation, coming face-to-face with the horror of an interminable war

"Min was stranded in her bed, hooked on the blue torpedoes and convinced that a million silver cars were closing in on her (I didn't know what Thebes meant either), Logan was in trouble at school, something about the disturbing stories he was writing, Thebes was pretending to be Min on the phone with his principal, the house was crumbling around them, the black screen door had blown off in the wind, a family of aggressive mice was living behind the piano, the neighbours were pissed off because of hatchets being thrown into their yard at night (again, confusing, something to do with Logan) … basically, things were out of control. And Thebes is only eleven." — from The Flying Troutmans Days after being dumped by her boyfriend Marc in Paris — "he was heading off to an ashram and said we could communicate telepathically" — Hattie hears her sister Min has been checked into a psychiatric hospital, and finds herself flying back to Winnipeg to take care of Thebes and Logan, her niece and nephew. Not knowing what else to do, she loads the kids, a cooler, and a pile of CDs into their van and they set out on a road trip in search of the children's long-lost father, Cherkis. In part because no one has any good idea where Cherkis is, the traveling matters more than the destination. On their wayward, eventful journey down to North Dakota and beyond, the Troutmans stay at scary motels, meet helpful hippies, and try to ignore the threatening noises coming from under the hood of their van. Eleven-year-old Thebes spends her time making huge novelty cheques with arts and crafts supplies in the back, and won't wash, no matter how wild and matted her purple hair gets; she forgot to pack any clothes. Four years older, Logan carves phrases like "Fear Yourself" into the dashboard, and repeatedly disappears in the middle of the night to play basketball; he's in love, he says, with New York Times columnist Deborah Solomon. Meanwhile, Min can't be reached at the hospital, and, more than once, Hattie calls Marc in tears. But though it might seem like an escape from crisis into chaos, this journey is also desperately necessary, a chance for an accidental family to accept, understand or at least find their way through overwhelming times. From interwoven memories and scenes from the past, we learn much more about them: how Min got so sick, why Cherkis left home, why Hattie went to Paris, and what made Thebes and Logan who they are today. In this completely captivating book, Miriam Toews has created some of the most engaging characters in Canadian literature: Hattie, Logan and Thebes are bewildered, hopeful, angry, and most of all, absolutely alive. Full of richly skewed, richly funny detail, The Flying Troutmans is a uniquely affecting novel