Hamish MacBeth is a stubborn, silent, gloomy Scotsman who's also kindhearted, intelligent, and intuitive. A Lochdubh native, he knows his village, the surrounding countryside, and the local folk like the back of his hand. His life is satisfyingly settled - he's engaged to the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, and there have been no serious crimes in Lochdubh for months.
Then incredibly handsome Peter Hynd comes to town, charms all the women, antagonizes all the men, and generally turns the town on its ear. Hamish senses trouble brewing, but when a body is discovered, it's not Hynd after all - at least, the first body isn't. Other coppers might be baffled by the case, but not laconic, methodical, determined Hamish, who persists until he unravels the puzzling mystery.
Beaton's low-key police procedural doesn't offer white-knuckle suspense, blood and gore, fast-paced action, or stunning climaxes. What it does offer is an intimate look at life in a small Scottish village, striking insights into human nature, carefully detailed, highly accurate descriptions of police work, splendid dry humor, and a story that's as satisfying as a cozy cup of tea.
Hamish MacBeth is a stubborn, silent, gloomy Scotsman who's also kindhearted, intelligent, and intuitive. A Lochdubh native, he knows his village, the surrounding countryside, and…
A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother Andrew whose evening was interrupted by a visit from Addison, a hip young DJ he knows from the hotel bar where he works. She was drunk, bloody, and hysterical, but she wouldn’t say what was wrong. After using his phone, she left as quickly as she appeared, and Andrew is worried. That’s when he calls Roxane.
But another late-night call occurs as well: Addison’s father calls the police after getting a panicked voicemail from his daughter. The only thing he could understand is the address she gave in the message—Andrew’s. Before long, the police are asking Andrew all about why there’s blood in his apartment and what he did to Addison. Meanwhile, another cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff—which includes Addison—has suddenly gone AWOL.
A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother Andrew whose evening was interrupted by a visit from Addison, a hip…
Dorothy Hare, the dutiful daughter of a rector in Suffolk, spends her days performing good works and cultivating good thoughts, pricking her arm with a pin when a bad thought arises. She does her best to reconcile her father’s fanciful view of his position in the world with such realities as the butcher’s bill. But even Dorothy’s strength has its limits, and one night, as she works feverishly on costumes for the church-school play, she blacks out. When she comes to, she finds herself on a London street, clad in a sleazy dress and unaware of her identity.
After a series of degrading adventures - picking hops in Kent, sleeping among the down-and-outers in Trafalgar Square, spending a night in jail, and teaching in a grubby day school for girls - she is rescued. But although she regains her life as a clergyman’s daughter, she has lost her faith.
Dorothy Hare, the dutiful daughter of a rector in Suffolk, spends her days performing good works and cultivating good thoughts, pricking her arm with a pin when a bad thought…
Why are you attracted to a certain "type?" Why are you a morning person? Why do you vote the way you do? From a witty new voice in popular science comes a life-changing look at what makes you.
"I can't believe I just said that." "What possessed me to do that?" "What's wrong with me?" We're constantly seeking answers to these fundamental human questions, and now, science has the answers. Clever, relatable, and revealing, this eye-opening narrative from Indiana University School of Medicine professor Bill Sullivan explores why we do the things we do through the lens of genetics, microbiology, psychology, neurology, and family history. From what we love (and hate) to eat and who we vote for in political elections to when we lose our virginity and why some people find drugs so addicting, this illuminating book uses the latest scientific research to unveil the secrets of what makes us tick. Filled with fascinating insights--including how experiences that haunted our grandparents echo in our DNA, why the bacteria in our guts mess with our minds, and whether there really is a "murder gene"--this revolutionary book explains the hidden forces shaping who we are, pointing us on a path to how we might become our best selves.
Why are you attracted to a certain "type?" Why are you a morning person? Why do you vote the way you do? From a witty new voice in popular science comes a life-changing look at…
The men in the tan-and-cream Chrysler came with guns blazing. When Ray woke up in the hospital a month later, he was missing an eye, and his father was dead.Then things started to get bad...
From the incomparable Donald E. Westlake comes a devastating story of betrayal and revenge, exploring the limits of family loyalty and how far a man will go when everything he loves is taken from him.
The men in the tan-and-cream Chrysler came with guns blazing. When Ray woke up in the hospital a month later, he was missing an eye, and his father was dead.Then things started to…
Encamped in the Holy Land, the crusaders are torn by the dissensions and jealousies of their leaders. The army's impotence is accentuated by the illness of their chief, Richard I of England. Meanwhile, a poor but doughty Scottish crusader known as Sir Kenneth, on a mission far from the camp, encounters a Saracen Emir. After an inconclusive combat, he strikes up a friendship with the Emir, who turns out to be Saladin himself. His alliance with the Moor will save him from more than one misfortune. Carrying a mystical talisman, Saladin enters the camp of the crusaders in disguise and cures Richard. When Sir Kenneth is later falsely dishonored, Saladin is in a position to intervene in his execution and receive him as his slave. Presenting the knight with the talisman, Saladin then arranges a plot for Sir Kenneth's vindication.
Encamped in the Holy Land, the crusaders are torn by the dissensions and jealousies of their leaders. The army's impotence is accentuated by the illness of their chief, Richard I…
One of the most beloved novels of our time, Watership Down is an epic journey, a stirring tale of adventure, courage, and survival.
Fiver could sense danger. Something terrible was going to happen to the warren; he felt sure of it. They had to leave immediately. So begins a long and perilous journey of survival for a small band of rabbits.
As the rabbits skirt danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band, its humorous characters, and its compelling culture, complete with its own folk history and mythos. Fiver’s vision finally leads them to Watership Down, an upland meadow. But here they face their most difficult challenges of all.
A stirring epic of courage and survival against the odds, Watership Down has become a beloved classic for all ages. Both an exciting adventure story and an involving allegory about freedom, ethics, and human nature, it has delighted generations with its unique and charming world, winning many awards and being adapted to film, television, and theater.
One of the most beloved novels of our time, Watership Down is an epic journey, a stirring tale of adventure, courage, and survival.
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universeEvery physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin. And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics.What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universeEvery physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific…
In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich "Puertopians" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, The New York Times best-selling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a just recovery.
In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich "Puertopians" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling…
Brody O'Donnel doesn't believe in happily ever afters - at least, not for himself. But he wants the best for his vivacious, beautiful friend Gwen Danes, and he's tired of watching her pine for a clueless man. Figuring a little bit of jealousy will motivate the guy, Brody proposes a fake relationship. It's an outrageous plan, but Gwen figures there's no harm in it - until they share a passionate kiss she never saw coming.
Suddenly, Gwen's fighting a growing attraction to a man she knows she can't have. After all, he's just faking it...isn't he?
Fake relationship. Real feelings. Big problems.
Brody O'Donnel doesn't believe in happily ever afters - at least, not for himself. But he wants the best for his vivacious,…
Sean Wyse III, heir to the Wyse Hotel chain, understands there's a time and a place for everything. His public persona is clean-cut, polite, and polished to the extreme. But behind closed doors, when it's just his buddies and best friend Molly - Sean's a totally different man...one Molly secretly fell for more than a decade ago.
Working three jobs and with only a high school degree, Molly Brandt doesn't have the kind of pedigree Sean's been looking for in a wife since the time they met. They're best friends, and that's enough for her, at least until Sean decides to move into her apartment for a few months. Suddenly, she's face-to-face with Sean in all her favorite (sweaty, just back from the gym) and most forbidden (shirtless, straight out of the shower) forms.
It's only a matter of time before Sean realizes there's more than friendship behind Molly's smiles and that maybe he wants a different life than the one he had planned.
Sean Wyse III, heir to the Wyse Hotel chain, understands there's a time and a place for everything. His public persona is clean-cut, polite, and polished to the extreme. But…
An essay collection exploring his education as a man, writer, and activist—and how we form our identities in life and in art.
As a novelist, Alexander Chee has been described as “masterful” by Roxane Gay, “incendiary” by the New York Times, and “brilliant” by the Washington Post. With How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, his first collection of nonfiction, he is sure to secure his place as one of the finest essayists of his generation as well.
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is the author’s manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation’s history, including his father’s death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing—Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley—the writing of his first novel, Edinburgh, and the election of Donald Trump.
By turns commanding, heartbreaking, and wry, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel asks questions about how we create ourselves in life and in art and how to fight when our dearest truths are under attack.
An essay collection exploring his education as a man, writer, and activist—and how we form our identities in life and in art.
When an exquisitely crafted, authentic imperial Faberge egg mysteriously shows up at Laurel Swann's home studio, she knows it can only be from one person - her father, who has drifted in and out of her life for as long as she can remember. But this time Jamie Swann leaves her something too many people will kill for. Out of her league and desperate, Laurel is forced to accept help from the very man who is trying to ensnare her father in his own web of double crosses. Cruz Rowan can help her stay alive, but will he do the same for her father?
When an exquisitely crafted, authentic imperial Faberge egg mysteriously shows up at Laurel Swann's home studio, she knows it can only be from one person - her father, who has…
The New York Times best-selling author of Einstein's Dreams presents a collection of essays, written over the past 20 years, that displays his genius for bringing literary and scientific concerns into ringing harmony. Sometimes provocative, sometimes fanciful, always elegantly conceived and written, these meditations offer listeners a fascinating look into the creative compulsions shared by the scientist and the artist.
The New York Times best-selling author of Einstein's Dreams presents a collection of essays, written over the past 20 years, that displays his genius for bringing literary and…
Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the best 100 English-language novels by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues to influence American writers, artists, and culture. Bob Dylan wrote the classic song "Day of the Locusts" in homage, and Matt Groening's Homer Simpson is named after one of its characters. No novel more perfectly captures the nuttier side of Hollywood. Here the lens is turned on its fringes-actors out of work, film extras with big dreams, and parents lining their children up for small roles. But it's the bit actress Faye Greener who steals the spotlight with her wildly convoluted dreams of stardom: "I'm going to be a star some day - if I'm not I'll commit suicide."
Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the best 100 English-language novels by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues…
A blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world's largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating expert Tony Valentine together with his son, Gerry, have been hired to find out how. DeMarco is tied to some dangerously desperate characters who will go to extremes-even cold-blooded murder-to ensure that the obnoxious DeMarco wins big. On opposite sides of a deadly game, father and son work their way through a colorful landscape of con men and hit men.
A blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world's largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating expert Tony Valentine together with his son, Gerry, have been…
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are widely considered the greatest of Russian science fiction masters, yet the novel they worked hardest on, the one that was their own favorite and that readers worldwide have acclaimed their magnum opus, has never before been published in English. The Doomed City was so politically risky that the Strugatskys kept its existence a secret even from their closest friends for sixteen years. It was only published in Russia during perestroika in the late 1980s, the last of their works to see publication.The Doomed City is set in an experimental city whose sun gets switched on in the morning and off at night, a city bordered by an abyss on one side and an impossibly high wall on the other. Its inhabitants are people plucked from twentieth-century history at various times and places and left to govern themselves under conditions established by Mentors whose purpose seems inscrutable.Andrei Voronin, a young astronomer taken from Leningrad in the 1950s, is a die-hard believer in the Experiment, even though his first job in the city is as a garbage collector. As increasingly nightmarish scenarios begin to affect the city, Voronin rises through the political hierarchy, with devastating effect.
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are widely considered the greatest of Russian science fiction masters, yet the novel they worked hardest on, the one that was their own favorite and…
Lieutenant Cora Harper joined the Systems Alliance to develop and enhance her powerful biotic talents. She was assigned to the asari commando unit Talein's Daughters, where she honed her abilities to become a skilled and deadly huntress.
Returning to Earth, Cora finds herself a stranger among other humans, and joins the Andromeda Initiative as Alec Ryder's second-in-command. The mission will send 100,000 colonists on a one-way, 600-year-long journey into the unknown. When essential - and dangerous - tech is stolen, Cora is assigned to recover it before it can be used against the Initiative, and end the mission before it can begin.
Lieutenant Cora Harper joined the Systems Alliance to develop and enhance her powerful biotic talents. She was assigned to the asari commando unit Talein's Daughters, where she…
From the author of the Inspector Montalbano series comes the remarkable account of an exceptional woman who rises to power in 17th-century Sicily and brings about sweeping changes that threaten the iron-fisted patriarchy, before being cast out in a coup after only 27 days.
Sicily, April 16, 1677. From his deathbed, Charles III's viceroy, don Angel de Guzmàn, marquis of Castel de Roderigo, names his wife, donna Eleonora, as his successor. Eleonora di Mora is a highly intelligent and capable woman who immediately applies her political acumen to heal the scarred soul of Palermo, a city afflicted by poverty, misery, and the frequent uprisings they entail.
The marquise implements measures that include lowering the price of bread, reducing taxes for large families, reopening women's care facilities, and establishing stipends for young couples wishing to marry - all measures that were considered seditious by the conservative city fathers and by the Church. The machinations of powerful men soon result as donna Eleonora, whom the Church sees as a dangerous revolutionary, is recalled to Spain. Her rule lasted 27 days - one cycle of the moon.
Based on a true story, Camilleri's gripping and richly imagined novel tells the story of a woman whose courage and political vision is tested at every step by misogyny and reactionary conservatism.
From the author of the Inspector Montalbano series comes the remarkable account of an exceptional woman who rises to power in 17th-century Sicily and brings about sweeping changes…
In the latest installment of the New York Times best-selling Inspector Montalbano mystery series, Montalbano investigates the death of wealthy accountant Cosimo Barletta in a case involving a string of mistresses and family secrets.
Inspector Montalbano enjoys simple pleasures - delicious food, walks along the water, the occasional smoke - yet these are just the backdrop to his duties as a detective. His latest case is the killing of the wealthy Cosimo Barletta. Thought to be a widower living out a quiet life by the sea, Cosimo's sudden death by gunshot to the neck opens up his past to scrutiny. What Montalbano uncovers is Cosimo's trove of salacious photographs, used to extort young women, and a history full of greed and corruption. Montalbano, though resolved to find the killer, muses on where justice lies - in his pursuit of a suspect, or with one of Cosimo's innumerable victims getting the revenge they deserved?
In the latest installment of the New York Times best-selling Inspector Montalbano mystery series, Montalbano investigates the death of wealthy accountant Cosimo Barletta in a case…
