Mekong Dawn

      Bill Swiggs
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In post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, where the ghosts of the past are far from buried and forgotten, one man will battle his inner-demons to save his wife and help destroy a monster spawned in the blood-soaked grounds of the infamous Killing Fields.In post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia there are many wounds still open and the ghosts of the past are far from forgotten. Into this world stumble Scott and Nancy Morris, on a holiday of healing following a deadly helicopter crash that leaves Scott psychologically scarred and addicted to his medication. Their peaceful voyage down the Mekong River aboard the Mekong Dawn becomes a living nightmare when terrorists, led by a brutal Khmer Rouge executioner, board the boat, kill the officers and ransom the passengers’ lives.Hidden away in the remote swamps of Boeng Tonle Chhma the passengers learn that their governments have refused to negotiate with the terrorists. Their only hope lies with the tenacity of Sinh Ang, a Cambodian police officer who works tirelessly to unravel the flimsy thread of clues that will lead him to the Mekong Dawn.As the trail unfolds, the passengers have only each other to turn to in a desperate race to ensure their survival, a race in which Scott must face the demons of his past if he is to save Nancy and give Ang a chance to settle a score originating in the Killing Fields of Cambodia’s bloody past.

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    Imperial Woman

      Pearl S. Buck
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Pearl S. Buck’s remarkable account of the life of Tzu Hsi, the magnetic and fierce-minded woman from humble origins who became China’s last empress. In Imperial Woman, Pearl S. Buck brings to life the amazing story of Tzu Hsi, who rose from concubine status to become the working head of the Qing Dynasty. Born from a humble background, Tzu Hsi falls in love with her cousin Jung Lu, a handsome guard—but while still a teenager she is selected, along with her sister and hundreds of other girls, for relocation to the Forbidden City. Already set apart on account of her beauty, she’s determined to be the emperor’s favorite, and devotes all of her talent and cunning to the task. When the emperor dies, she finds herself in a role of supreme power, one she’ll command for nearly fifty years. Much has been written about Tzu Hsi, but no other novel recreates her life—the extraordinary personality, together with the world of court intrigue and the period of national turmoil with which she dealt—as well as Imperial Woman. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author’s estate.

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    Archer's Goon

      Diana Wynne Jones
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The trouble started when Howard Sykes came home from school and found the "goon" sitting in the kitchen. He said he'd been sent by Archer. But who was Archer? It had to do with the 2,000 words that Howard's author father had failed to deliver. It soon became clear not only that Archer wanted those words, but that his wizard siblings, Hathaway, Dillian, Shine, Torquil, Erskine, and Venturus, would also go to any lengths to get them. Although each wizard ruled a section of the town, he or she was a prisoner in it. Each suspected that one of them held the secret behind the words, and that secret was the key to their freedom. Which one of them was it? The Sykes family become pawns in the wizards' fight to win their freedom, wrest control from one another, and fan out to rule the world. Diana Wynne Jones skillfully guides the reader through a riveting, twisty plot, with satisfying surprises at every amazing turn. An exciting science fiction adventure where, happily, nothing is what it first seems to be.

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    Day Shift

      Charlaine Harris
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*DON’T MISS THE SECOND SEASON OF MIDNIGHT, TEXAS*, THE NBC TV SERIES BASED ON CHARLAINE HARRIS’S BESTSELLING NOVELS! The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels returns to the one-stoplight town of Midnight, Texas, a place where no one is quite what they seem…  ** There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, where the residents like to keep to themselves. When psychic Manfred Bernardo finds himself embroiled in a scandal and hounded by the press after one of his regular clients dies during a reading, he turns to enigmatic, beautiful, and dangerous Olivia Charity for help. Somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight... Includes an excerpt of* Night Shift* **Review Praise for Charlaine Harris and her Novels of Midnight, Texas “The Mark Twain of things that live under your bed”—Houston Press “[An] out-of-the-ordinary mystery.”—Publishers Weekly “Fun but creepy...A very quirky mystery that reveals more fascinating details about the varied denizens of this little town.”—Locus “A little magic, a little mystery, and a lot of imagination make for a story that is both fun and edgy.”—Kirkus Reviews “As intimate and deep as the Stackhouse novels.”—Library Journal “Move over Bon Temps, Midnight Texas has arrived.”—Fresh Fiction About the Author Charlaine Harris is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

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    Vixen in Velvet

      Loretta Chase
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From the Diary of Leonie Noirot: *The perfect corset should invite its undoing . . .* Lethally charming Simon Fairfax, Marquess of Lisburne, has reluctantly returned to London for one reason only: a family obligation. Still, he might make time for the seduction of a certain redheaded dressmaker—but Leonie Noirot hasn't time for him. She's obsessed with transforming his cousin, the dowdy Lady Gladys, into a swan. Leonie's skills can coax curves—and profits—from thin air, but his criminally handsome lordship is too busy trying to seduce her to appreciate her genius. He badly needs to learn a lesson, and the wager she provokes ought to teach him, once and for all. A great plan, in theory—but Lisburne's become a serious distraction, and Leonie's usual logic is in danger of slipping away as easily as a silk chemise. Could the Season's greatest transformation be her own?

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    Iron Gold

      Pierce Brown
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They call him father, liberator, warlord, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the pale blue planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-second of his life. A decade ago, Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society. But the Rising has shattered everything: Instead of peace and freedom, it has brought endless war. Now he must risk everything he has fought for on one last desperate mission. Darrow still believes he can save everyone, but can he save himself? And throughout the worlds, other destinies entwine with Darrow’s to change his fate forever: A young Red girl flees tragedy in her refugee camp and achieves for herself a new life she could never have imagined. An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life. And Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes. Red Rising was the story of the end of one universe, and Iron Gold is the story of the creation of a new one. Witness the beginning of a stunning new saga of tragedy and triumph from masterly New York Times bestselling author Pierce Brown.

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    The Kill

      Emile Zola
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Here is a true publishing event–the first modern translation of a lost masterpiece by one of fiction’s giants. Censored upon publication in 1871, out of print since the 1950s, and untranslated for a century, Zola’s The Kill (La Curée) emerges as an unheralded classic of naturalism. Second in the author’s twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart saga, it is a riveting story of family transgression, heedless desire, and societal greed. The incestuous affair of Renée Saccard and her stepson, Maxime, is set against the frenzied speculation of Renée’s financier husband, Aristide, in a Paris becoming a modern metropolis and “the capital of the nineteenth century.” In the end, setting and story merge in actions that leave a woman’s spirit and a city’s soul ravaged beyond repair. As vividly rendered by Arthur Goldhammer, one of the world’s premier translators from the French, The Kill contains all the qualities of the school of fiction marked, as Henry James wrote, by “infernal intelligence.” In this new incarnation, The Kill joins Nana and Germinal on the shelf of Zola classics, works by an immortal author who–explicit, pitiless, wise, and unrelenting–always goes in for the kill. From the Hardcover edition.

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    Quintana of Charyn

      Melina Marchetta
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There's a babe in my belly that whispers the valley, Froi. I follow the whispers and come to the road . . . Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi must travel through Charyn to search for Quintana, the mother of Charyn's unborn king, and protect her against those who will do anything to gain power. But what happens when loyalty to family and country conflict? When the forces marshalled in Charyn's war gather and threaten to involve the whole of the land, including Lumatere, only Froi can set things right, with the help of those he loves.

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    Betray the Bear

      T. S. Joyce
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On the verge of war, Chase Hale has no time to think about anything other than preparing his clan to battle the savage Long Claws, who are intent on annihilating Bear Valley. But when a supposed mate of the enemy shows up, he can’t help but be intrigued by the unsettling mysteries that swirl around the beautiful bear shifter. Anya Bure is the first mate of the ruthless alpha of the Long Claw Clan…or at least, that's what she's been told. But when he sends her to gather information on the enemy clan of Bear Valley, she learns a hard lesson in just how deeply she’s been manipulated. When she meets Chase, Anya knows he suspects her motives. The more time she spends with him though, the more she thinks Chase might be what her heart has been searching for, and spying on Bear Valley is tearing her in two. Stuck in the middle of escalating tension between the two clans, Anya is beginning to discover herself under Chase’s patient encouragement, but she can’t walk the line forever. Eventually, she’s going to have to decide which clan to betray, and whether to fight for love or duty. Content Warning: explicit love scenes and language.

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    Consumed

      Suzanne Wright
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Sventé vampire Ava Sanchez has a difficult decision to make: should she accept the invitation of the Grand High Master Vampires and join their legion? It will mean leaving behind her brother and her home. It will also mean working with Pagori vampire, Salem McCauley. Unlike the majority of vampirekind, she doesn’t fear Mr. Tall, Blond, and Dauntless…even if he does have some psychopathic traits. In fact, he has a raw sexuality that tempts her to drop her ‘no relationships’ rule and give him exactly what he wants from her – everything. Salem McCauley doesn’t like anything cute, or sweet, or cheery. Yet he wants Ava with a desperation that’s bordering on obsession. And shockingly, she doesn’t look at him like others do – you know, like they fear he’ll rip out their spinal cord for fun. Now that the legion will be busy hunting the players involved in the creation of an illegal vampiric brothel, there’s no time for pursuing Ava. But Salem makes time, because he never denies himself what he wants and he always holds tight to what’s his. And that’s exactly what Ava is, whether she knows it or not: His. Warning: Contains bad words, dirty talk, and scenes of a steamy nature.

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    To Green Angel Tower

      Tad Williams
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As the evil minions of the undead Sithi Storm King prepare for the kingdom-shattering culmination of their dark sorceries and King Elias is drawn ever deeper into their nightmarish, spell spun world, the loyal allies of Prince Josua desperately struggle to rally their forces at the Stone of Farewell. And with time running out, the remaining members of the now devastated League of the Scroll have also gathered there to unravel mysteries from the forgotten past in an attempt to find something to strike down their unslayable foe. But whether or not they are successful, the call of battle will lead the valiant followers of Josua Lackhand on a memorable trek to the haunted halls of Asu'a itself - the Sithi's greatest stronghold.

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    The Strangler

      William Landay
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Boston, 1963. A city on edge. On street corners, newsboys hawk the shocking headline: Kennedy is Dead . In the city' s underworld, a mob war rages. But what terrifies Bostonians most is the mysterious killer who has already claimed a dozen victims, a murderer whose name is indelibly linked to their city: the Boston Strangler. For the three Daley brothers, sons of a Boston cop, crime is the family business. They are simply on different sides of it. Joe is the eldest, a tough-talking cop whose gambling habits - fast women, slow horses - drag him down into the city's gangland. Michael is the middle son; a Harvard-educated lawyer working for an ambitious attorney general, he finds himself assigned to the embattled Strangler task force. And Ricky, the devil-may-care youngest son, floats above the fray as an expert burglar - until the Strangler strikes too close to home. As Joe' s mob debts close in around him...and Michael becomes snarled in a murder investigation gone very wrong...and Ricky is hunted by both sides of the law, the three brothers - and the women who love them - are forced to make difficult choices. Now each must look deeper into a killer's murderous rage, into their family's own lethal secrets, and into the one death that has changed them forever. As William Landay's complex, compassionate, and terrifying novel builds to a climax, two mysteries will collide - and a shattering truth will be revealed.

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    The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton

      Jane Smiley
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See the difference, read #1 bestselling author Jane Smiley in Large Print About Large Print All Random House Large Print editions are published in a 16-point typeface Six years after her Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller, A Thousand Acres, and three years after her witty, acclaimed, and best-selling novel of academe, Moo, Jane Smiley once again demonstrates her extraordinary range and brilliance. Her new novel, set in the 1850s, speaks to us in a splendidly quirky voice--the strong, wry, no-nonsense voice of Lidie Harkness of Quincy, Illinois, a young woman of courage, good sense, and good heart. It carries us into an America so violently torn apart by the question of slavery that it makes our current political battlegrounds seem a peaceable kingdom. Lidie is hard to scare. She is almost shockingly alive--a tall, plain girl who rides and shoots and speaks her mind, and whose straightforward ways paradoxically amount to a kind of glamour. We see her at twenty, making a good marriage--to Thomas Newton, a steady, sweet-tempered Yankee who passes through her hometown on a dangerous mission. He belongs to a group of rashly brave New England abolitionists who dedicate themselves to settling the Kansas Territory with like-minded folk to ensure its entering the Union as a Free State. Lidie packs up and goes with him. And the novel races alongside them into the Territory, into the maelstrom of "Bloody Kansas," where slaveholding Missourians constantly and viciously clash with Free Staters, where wandering youths kill you as soon as look at you--where Lidie becomes even more fervently abolitionist than her husband as the young couple again and again barely escape entrapment in webs of atrocity on both sides of the great question. And when, suddenly, cold-blooded murder invades her own intimate circle, Lidie doesn't falter. She cuts off her hair, disguises herself as a boy, and rides into Missouri in search of the killers--a woman in a fiercely male world, an abolitionist spy in slave territory. On the run, her life threatened, her wits sharpened, she takes on yet another identity--and, in the very midst of her masquerade, discovers herself. Lidie grows increasingly important to us as we follow her travels and adventures on the feverish eve of the War Between the States. With its crackling portrayal of a totally individual and wonderfully articulate woman, its storytelling drive, and its powerful recapturing of an almost forgotten part of the American story, this is Jane Smiley at her enthralling and enriching best. From the Trade Paperback edition.

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    His Purrfect Mate

      Laurann Dohner
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Shannon is a quarter puma but can't shift. She's just a human with a few extra genes. But she knows how dangerous shifters are and now she's their prey, captured by a group of werewolves for a deadly hunt. Then she's rescued by the biggest werewolf of them all. He's the sexiest male she's ever seen-jet-black hair, muscular body, piercing dark eyes and a growl that heats her blood. Anton's body responds fervently to Shannon and he vows to protect her with his life-only to discover she's the enemy. As the future alpha of his pack, Anton knows a cat will never be accepted. There'll be hell to pay. But it's mating heat, and he's about to lose all control to that driving sexual need. His wolf wants her, can smell her desire. There's no way to stop it now-his animal won't be denied. Reader Advisory: This book contains a violent, graphic near-rape scene that is not for the faint of heart.

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    The Secret

      K. A. Applegate
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There's something pretty weird going on in the woods behind Cassie's house. The place where Ax and Tobias call home. It seems the Yeerks have figured out one very important thing: Andalites cannot survive without a feeding ground. Visser Three knows the "Andalite bandits" don't feed where he does, so there can only be one other place. Now Cassie, Marco, Jake, Rachel, Tobias, and Ax have to figure out a way to stop a bogus logging camp. Because if Visser Three finds Ax in the woods, nothing will stop him from finding the Animorphs...

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    Alice in Lace

      Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
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Alice suddenly finds herself married! Well, sort of. In an eighth grade health class, she and her friends are each given a hypothetical situation to help them learn to make good decisions. It's all great fun until one of the students creates a problem that could have serious consequences for the whole class. The first semester of eighth grade is both exciting and complicated as Alice learns something about last year's English teacher, Miss Summers, who is dating her father, and when one of her brother's old girlfriends makes a startling announcement. Then there is the problem of how to afford a wedding and honeymoon, the pranks with Pamela's pillow, a harrowing ride in a used car, Elizabeth's confession, Patrick's embarrassing request, and finally, a new person arrives on the scene. As usual, Alice has questions, but sometimes no one has the answers.

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    Havana Storm

      Clive Cussler
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Dirk Pitt returns, in the thrilling new novel from the grand master of adventure and #1 New York Times–bestselling author. While investigating a toxic outbreak in the Caribbean Sea that may ultimately threaten the United States, Pitt unwittingly becomes involved in something even more dangerous—a post-Castro power struggle for the control of Cuba. Meanwhile, Pitt’s children, marine engineer Dirk and oceanographer Summer, are on an investigation of their own, chasing an Aztec stone that may reveal the whereabouts of a vast historical Aztec treasure. The problem is, that stone was believed to have been destroyed on the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898, which brings them both to Cuba as well—and squarely into harm’s way. The three of them have been in desperate situations before . . . but perhaps never quite as dire as the one facing them now.

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    Red Heart Tattoo

      Lurlene McDaniel
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At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Twenty-two suffer less severe injuries. And one is blinded. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand. Lurlene McDaniel's signature expertise and finesse in dealing with issues of violence, death, and physical as well as emotional trauma in the lives of teens is immediate and heartrending.

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    The Infinity Gate

      Sara Douglass
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“Sara Douglass has the breadth of vision necessary to create sweeping epics and the storyteller’s gift that makes readers love her.” —Locus Sara Douglas fans have been eagerly awaiting the third book of her epic DarkGlass Mountain fantasy trilogy…and now the dramatic conclusion is here! The Infinity Gate—a magnificent tale of love, magic, and betrayal set in the world of her bestselling Wayfarer Redemption—has the sweep, passion, and excitement of the best world-building efforts of Jacqueline Carey, Raymond E. Feist, Robin Hobb, and Lois McMaster Bujold, as it brings Douglas’s breathtaking fantasy saga to a powerful and extraordinarily satisfying end.

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    Foul Deeds Will Rise

      Greg Cox
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The USS Enterprise-A is on a vital peacekeeping mission in a remote solar system beyond the boundaries of the Federation, where two warring planets–Pavak and Oyolo–are attempting to end years of bitter conflict. Crucial peace talks are being conducted aboard the Enterprise, even as Starfleet weapons inspectors oversee the disarmament process. Losses and atrocities on both sides have left plenty of hard feelings behind, so Captain James T. Kirk has his work cut out for him, even as he unexpectedly runs into a disturbing figure from his past: Lenore Karidian. Twenty years ago, the deadly daughter of Kodos the Executioner tried to kill Kirk, but she has since been declared sane and rehabilitated. Kirk wants to give her the benefit of the doubt and a second chance at life, but when a mysterious assassination threatens the already-fragile peace process, all clues point toward Lenore –- and the future of two worlds hangs in the balance.

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    Treecat Wars

      David Weber
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New York Times and Publishers Weekly Best Selling Young Adult Series. Book Three by international writing phenomenon David Weber. Two young settlers on a pioneer planet seek to stop a war and to save the intelligent alien treecats from exploitation by unscrupulous humans. The fires are out, but the trouble’s just beginning for the treecats On pioneer planet Sphinx, ruined lands and the approach of winter force the now Landless Clan to seek new territory. They have one big problem—there’s nowhere to go. Worse, their efforts to find a new home awaken the enmity of the closest treecat clan—a stronger group who’s not giving up a single branch without a fight Stephanie Harrington, the treecats’ greatest advocate, is off to Manticore for extensive training—and up to her ears in challenges there. That leaves only Stephanie’s best friends, Jessica and Anders, to save the treecats from themselves. And now a group of xenoanthropologists is once again after the great secret of the treecats—that they are intelligent, empathic telepaths—and their agenda will lead to nothing less that treecat exploitation. Finally, Jessica and Anders face problems of their own, including their growing attraction to one another. It is an attraction that seems a betrayal of Stephanie Harrington, the best friend either of them have ever had.

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