A Dream of Kings

A Dream of Kings

Harry Mark Petrakis

Harry Mark Petrakis

At the heart of this New York Times best-selling novel, we find Leonidas Matsoukas, operator of the Pindar Counseling Service (solutions provided for all problems of life and love); proponent of wildly creative get-rich-quick schemes; passionately loving husband and father, equally passionate lover of the beautiful bakeshop proprietor Anthoula; inveterate gambler, mighty fighter... Leonidas Matsoukas, heels run down cuffs shabby, collar frayed, is the hero of "A Dreams of Kings."Hero. That is the word. The gods have chosen you for eternal disaster, "his friend Cicero, the gambling-house dealer tells Matsoukas, "but you take every act that has been prepared for your punishment and turn it into some kind of triumph."Every act but one - the tragedy that has befallen his only son, Stavros. And even that Matsoukas is determined to reverse.For Stavros, Matsoukas pits himself against Fate, in the classic Greek sin of hubris. This is the story of that conflict - Matsoukas...
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Alternate Heroes

Alternate Heroes

Gregory Benford

Gregory Benford

What would have happened if history had been different-if the major events that shaped our times had occurred in a different way-or not at all? From a Confederacy that won the Civil War to a Europe converted to Viking paganism, these bold excursions in time depict bizarre new worlds--oddly familiar, disturbingly different--a glimpse of WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. "A Sleep and a Forgetting" (Robert Silverberg) "The Old Man and C" (Sheila Finch) "The Last Article" (Harry Turtledove) "Mules in Horses' Harness" (Michael Cassutt) "Lenin in Odessa" (George Zebrowski) "Abe Lincoln in McDonald's" (James Morrow) "Another Goddamned Showboat" (Barry N. Malzberg) "Loose Cannon" (Susan Shwartz) "A Letter from the Pope" (Harry Harrison and Tom Shippey) "Roncesvalles" (Judith Tarr) "His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes" (Marc Laidlaw) "Departures" (Harry Turtledove) "Instability" (Rudy Rucker and Paul Di Filippo) "No Spot of Ground" (Walter Jon Williams)
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Race of Scorpions

Race of Scorpions

Dorothy Dunnett

Historical Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers

With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire.       In 1462, Nicholas is a wealthy 21-year-old. His beloved wife has died. His stepchildren have locked him out of the family business. He and his private army are the target of multiple conspiracies. And both contenders for the throne of Cyprus, the brilliant Queen Carlotta and her charismatic, sexually ambivalent brother James, are demanding his support. Walking a tightrope of intrigue, Dunnett's hero juggles adversaries and allies, from the delectable courtesan Primaflora to the Mameluke commander Tzani-Bey al Ablak, a man of undiluted evil. Masterfully paced, alive with sensual delights, Race of Scorpions confirms Dorothy Dunnett as the grande dame of the genre. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Fourth Grade Rats

Fourth Grade Rats

Jerry Spinelli

Literature & Fiction

A fast, fun, friendship read from the Newbery-award winning author of Maniac Magee.Fourth graders are tough. They aren't afraid of spiders. They say no to their moms. They push first graders off the swings. And they never, ever cry.Suds knows that now that he's in fourth grade, he's supposed to be a rat. But whenever he tries to act like one, something goes wrong. Can Suds's friend Joey teach him to toughen up...or will Suds remain a fourth grade wimp?
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Jack, the Giant-Killer

Jack, the Giant-Killer

Charles de Lint

Fantasy / Young Adult

SUMMARY: Behind the everyday streets of the ordinary world lies a Faerie world, where trolls and goblins lurk. Jacky Rowan didn't believe in trolls and goblins, but she has been marked for destruction--and sent on a quest that only a fool would dare take in order to save both the human and the Faerie worlds from a nightmarish demise.
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Dearly Beloved

Dearly Beloved

Mary Jo Putney

Romance / Science Fiction & Fantasy

Now, fans of the "New York Times bestselling author can revisit her award-winning debut historical romance after several years of its being out of print. It is the breathtaking story of Diana Lindsay--the most desirable and sought-after woman in London--who wants only one man: a haunted lord with mysterious secrets as deep as hers...
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Murder in the Dog Days

Murder in the Dog Days

P. M. Carlson

P. M. Carlson

On a sweltering summer day, reporter Olivia Kerr and her husband Jerry invite Olivia's colleague Dale Colby and his family to the beach. Accompanying them is a very pregnant Maggie Ryan, Jerry's sister, and her family. Dale's last-minute decision to remain at home to follow up on an important story results in a tragic discovery when the beach-goers return: Dale’s body in a pool of blood inside his locked office. Vietnam veteran turned police officer Holly Schreiner leads the investigation, battling Maggie—and demons of her own. This Mystery Company edition restores to print the sixth novel in the Maggie Ryan series, a 1992 Edgar Award nominee. “An ingeniously plotted, fair-play, locked-room mystery, one of the best we’ve encountered.” – Tom & Enid Schantz in The Denver Post
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A Cry of Shadows

A Cry of Shadows

Ed Gorman

Ed Gorman

Jack Dwyer is hired  to deal with "some problems" caused by residents of a homeless shelter located near a chic, downtown restaurant. Before Dwyer can even act on his orders from one restaurant owner, he is fired by a second.  Then, several days later, the first owner - a man named Coburn, is murdered, and his gorgeous, none-too-grieving widow re-hires Dwyer to locate the killer. Lots of people have a motive: Coburn was a womanizer and a snob. The restaurant staff hated him for being abusive and demanding; Anton, the second owner, hated him for sleeping with his teenaged daughter; the woman who runs the homeless shelter hated him for jilting her. Jack Dwyer remains one of the easiest mystery protagonists to like, and a very "real" character in this very entertaining addition to the Jack Dwyer series.
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The Cat Who Lived High

The Cat Who Lived High

Lilian Jackson Braun

Lilian Jackson Braun

From Publishers WeeklyWith this 11th entry, the popular Cat Who series ( The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts ) begins to flag, its charms growing tatty and listless for even the most steadfast cat-and-mystery lovers. Ex-newspaperman James "Qwill" Qwilleran and his Siamese Koko and Yum Yum leave Moose County for the big city Down Below to help old friends save the Casablanca, an aging and elegant apartment building threatened with demolition to make way for profitable development. Qwill decides to spend the winter in the Casablanca to determine if it might make a project for the philanthropic Klingenschoen Fund, which he controls. Ensconced in a 14th-floor penthouse, he discovers that its previous tenant, Dianne Bessinger, head of the group trying to save the building, was an art dealer ostensibly murdered by a jealous protegeok . Qwill also plays Scrabble with the building's owner, the eccentric and reclusive Countess; he teaches the game to Koko, who thereby provides him with clues in his investigation of the murder, which he suspects is tied to attempts against the Casablanca. Braun's latest pleases with its descriptions of gentrification and development, but the book ends abruptly, leaving too many loose ends, and central characters Koko and Yum Yum develop no further at all. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library JournalYA-- They're back--the noble Koko, the charmer YumYum--and their wealthy retired owner, Quill. Here, the benevolent benefactor of Moose County packs the Purple Plum--his small, energy-efficient car--with the two inquisitive and endearing Siamese and leaves his cozy home for the winter. This newest addition to the series is a delight that will enchant long-time followers of the irresistible trio as well as first-time readers.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Gentle Rogue

Gentle Rogue

Johanna Lindsey

Romance / Historical Fiction / Fantasy

*Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] * ACE #1 Heartsick and desperate to return home to America, Georgina Anderson boards the Maiden Anne disguised as a cabin boy, never dreaming she'll be forced into intimate servitude at the whim of the ship's irrepressible captain, James Mallory. The black sheep of a proud and tempestuous family, the handsome ex-pirate once swore no woman alive could entice him into matrimony. But on the high seas his resolve will be weakened by an unrestrained passion and by the high-spirited beauty whose love of freedom and adventure rivals his own.
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Shocker

Shocker

Randall Boyll

Randall Boyll

MASS MURDERER HORACE PINKER WAS ON THE LOOSE … and no one in Maryville, Ohio, slept soundly. They locked their windows. They bolted their doors. They prayed for their lives.Then on October 2, at 6:45 a.m., Horace Pinker was put to death in the electric chair.Now, he’s really mad. Wes Craven’s SHOCKERThe electrifying motion picture from Wes Craven, creator of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET—now a terrifying new novel by Randall Boyll.
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Lasting Impressions

Lasting Impressions

V. S. Pritchett

V. S. Pritchett

The essays in Lasting Impressions have never before appeared in book form and together they make up, in the author's own words, a journey through different countries and different generations. The subjects range from Bruce Chatwin and Salmon Rushdie to Simon de Beauvoir and Bernard Shaw, from Lorca and Flaubert to John Updike and Walker Percy, from P. G. Wodehouse and Molly Keane to Andre Malraux and Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Published in the year of 1990, V. S. Pritchett's 90th birthday, Lasting Impressions is a tribute to one of the greatest and best loved writers of our time.
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