His Perilous Throne

      Mark Swain
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A young man is wrongly imprisoned for the manslaughter of his kindly employer. Michael has mild learning difficulties and was raised in a children's home. Unable to explain to the court that the death was an accident, he is incarcerated with a sadistic killer, who forces him to become his butler and becomes progressively deluded that he is a member of the aristocracy. Revenge lurks in the shaddowsMichael is imprisoned at a young age for the manslaughter of his employer, a lonely gentleman who enjoyed Michael's childlike view of life. Michael has mild learning difficulties and was raised in a children's home. Unable to explain to the court that Mr Tim's death was the result of a tragic accident, he finds himself in prison, where he is taunted, humiliated and forced to act as a butler to Monk, his deluded older cellmate. Desperate and reclusive, Michael plots his revenge as Monk, grows evermore brazen in his belief that he has joined the hallowed ranks of the English aristocracy.

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    Minimum Wage & Economics: An Essay

      Edward E. Rochon
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A suggestion for reconciling business interests with interests of laborers on the matter of minimum wage. Some comments on economics are included.Some comments on economics and its effects upon society precede a suggestion for dealing with the topic of minimum wage. I suggest that the state guarantee minimum wage without imposing it upon businesses. This most likely would guarantee full employment. Full employment should cover the cost of the subsidy. Moreover, unemployment creates social problems that cost society both directly and indirectly. The state sets the base wage and business offers whatever it wishes for low income positions. High income jobs require no subsidy and the high income earner will deal with the employer directly.

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    Linehan's Ordeal

      Bryan Murphy
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Sean Linehan brings over his dead boss to Hong Kong to open Asia’s finest sports venue. Captivated by the alluring Hypatia, Sean gets kidnapped by Maoist guerrillas. His government will not pay a ransom. Can he stay alive long enough to fulfil his quest to become good? Dark humour and subtle satire enrich this tale of our all-too-near future.The third story in the Sean Linehan series, set in the year 2021. Linehan brings over his dead boss to Hong Kong to open Asia’s finest sports venue, the SplattaDome. Captivated by the alluring Hypatia, Sean gets kidnapped by Maoist guerrillas and help prisoner in a safe house. His government will not pay a ransom. Can he stay alive long enough to fulfil his quest to give up the perks of his job – money, girls and dodgy antiques - and become good? Or even long enough to see Hypatia again? Will his policeman friend, Wayne, rescue him? Dark humour and subtle satire enrich this short tale of our all-too-near future.

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    The Colossal Crutch

      Karlis Kadegis
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The imprisoned assassin Albert is introduced to a problem by a returning inmate. Someone has been purposefuly vandalising cars that are parked in the inmate's neighborhood, but nobody seems to understand why... Nor can anyone catch the vandal.Peace of a nice, quiet neighborhood is interrupted by a vandal, who goes to great lengths to demolish other people's cars. Nobody feels safe and everyone suspects one another. Who does it? And why? Inmate Albert is looking to find that out as he chats with one of the victims - a small-time thief nicknamed 'The Crutch.'This is the second short story of the 'assassin Albert' collection.

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    What Hurts The Most

      Cheyenne Barnett
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Nick Vaughn and Caroline Woods were high school sweethearts. Two weeks after their high school graduation, Nick enlisted in the Army and was sent off to war in Afghanistan. After being gone for a year, he was sent home for a month. It was then that he asked her to marry him once he served his time. A month before Nick was scheduled to leave the Army, he was killed. What will happen to Caroline?Nick Vaughn and Caroline Woods were high school sweethearts and had been dating since the 9th grade. Two weeks after their high school graduation, Nick enlisted in the Army and was sent off to war in Afghanistan. After being gone for a year, he was sent home for a month. It was then that he asked Caroline to marry him once he served his time. However, bad luck struck and a month before Nick was scheduled to leave the Army for good, he was killed. How will Caroline deal with this mess all by herself? Will someone be there to help her through it?

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    G-TRAX Devo's-Relationships: Parents are People Too

      Ron Fast
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Ever get the feeling that you and your parents don’t live in the same world or maybe even the same planet as you do? Maybe God created parents out of moon dust instead of earth dust and that’s why they seem to be really out of this world. Why do you suppose that God created parents in the first place? Did He create them just to make your lives miserable?Ever get the feeling that you and your parents don’t live in the same world or maybe even the same planet as you do? Maybe God created parents out of moon dust instead of earth dust and that’s why they seem to be really out of this world. Why do you suppose that God created parents in the first place? Did He create them just to make your lives miserable? Maybe He was on vacation when parents were created and He just left it up to His angelic assistants to do it.For the next couple of weeks we are going to look at the relationships that are important to us. This week's G-TRAX is on parents. First thing I want to make absolutely clear is that this is not going to be a parent-bashing session. In fact, I want each of you to know that I think that parents are the coolest thing since sliced bread. Yes, Parents are people too and God created them just like He created you and me. In fact, uh. . . I’m not sure I should tell you this, but there is this really big secret that I’d like to share with you. Are you ready for this?

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    Extremophiles

      William Petersen
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An advanced species emerges from the depths of a gas giant to take its first steps towards space exploration. On a small, rocky moon covered in ices and dotted with lakes of methane, the discovery that life is not unique in their solar system is overshadowed by its implications.Sentient beings venture out to explore one of the many moons orbiting their home planet, searching for knowledge and life beyond their world,only to discover that life is more strange and terrifying than any of their race could imagine, and it's more advanced. Will initial fears and lack of understanding prevent contact, or will it ensure it?

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    Redoubt

      Alex Janaway
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A hard-boiled, epic fantasy tale of war and heroism. A beleaguered band of soldiers, slaves and trappers, hold an old fort against a barbarian foe. In so doing they hope to buy time and stall an invasion that would see their friends and comrades destroyed. Redoubt is a gripping , darkly witty riff on the age-old story of men fighting against the odds.After a short and bloody war on foreign soil, the Expeditionary Army of Ashkent is preparing to return home. Captain Jon Forge and his company, however, are assigned one more task – to oversee a workforce of enslaved Bantusai tribesmen as rebuild a remote and long-abandoned bridge. With construction already underway, a band of fleeing trappers brings news of a fast-approaching barbarian horde and the Captain quickly realises that his de facto commander, the devious Duke Burns, has sent him and his men into a deadly trap.

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  • 394

    You die; I die - Love Poems - Part 13

      Nikhil Parekh
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This Book which has 40 differently titled Poems is actually Part 13 of the Book titled – You die; I die – Love Poems ( 1600 pages ) .Poems symbolizing the immortality of love and at times its fickleness. Parekh takes the reader through a paradise naturally embellished with the ingredients of eternal romance and its sporadic failures. As they say life and death are two sides of the coin, similarly with every true anecdote of love there also comes fretful divorce—a thing which has been most sensitively described throughout this great collection of poems for the heart. Written and dipped in each ingredient of his passionate blood, Parekh comes out with startling revelations about the truest of love stories and their failures. Each verse has been delicately intertwined with a boundless aspects of relationships, romance, cheating, betrayal and goes on to prove that Immortal Love towers over every shattered heart. A start to finish with some of the most heart-rendering love poems ever, this makes a great collection for ever true lover breathing and desiring to be loved on earth and beyond. This collection of poems aims at perpetually uniting every heart on this Universe in the spirit of Immortal love and friendship. Because these are the two quintessential ingredients to lead life till its last breath. Irrespective of whatever color, faith or religion, it is only the rainbow of love which can transform the ghastliest monsters and perpetrators of humanity into peaceful lovers. Therefore this book inexhaustibly endeavors to speak and preach the language of love even after its last embossed alphabet.

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    The Subterraneans

      Jack Kerouac
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Jack Kerouac, one of the great voices of the Beat generation and author of the classic On the Road, here continues his peregrinations in postwar, underground San Francisco. "The subterraneans" come alive at night, travel along dark alleyways, and live in a world filled with paint, poetry, music, smoke, and sex. Simmering in the center of it all is the brief affair between Leo Percepied, a writer, and Mardou Fox, a black woman ten years younger. Just at the moment when she is coolly leaving him, Leo realizes his passion for passion, his inability to function without it, and the puzzling futility of seeking redemption and fulfillment through writing.

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    Escape From Shangri-La

      Michael Morpurgo
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When the strange man who has been watching their house turns out to be the grandfather she has never seen, eleven-year-old Cessie couldn't be happier -- at first sight. But then he has a stroke and actually has to come live with them. Popsicle, as she calls him, is impossible to live with: moody, forgetful, clumsy. Only Cessie loves him and believes in him. So when he is sent off to a home for the elderly, she helps him escape. And plays first mate to him on a dramatic nighttime boat trip across the English channel to unravel a secret only the two of them know. This Morpurgo story makes the reader want to cheer -- young people, the elderly, and courage at any age.

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    The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales

      Kate Mosse
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A wonderfully atmospheric collection of stories from one of our most captivating writers, inspired by ghost stories, traditional folk tales and country legends from England and France. These tales are richly populated by spirits and ghosts seeking revenge; by grief-stricken women and haunted men coming to terms with their destiny - all rooted deep in the elemental landscapes of Sussex, Brittany and the Languedoc. The collection will include The Mistletoe Bride, La Fille de Melisande, Red Letter Day, The Lending Library, The House on the Hill...

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  • 394

    A Wedding in December

      Anita Shreve
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At an inn in the Berkshire Mountains, seven former schoolmates gather to celebrate a wedding--a reunion that becomes the occasion of astonishing revelations as the friends collectively recall a long-ago night that indelibly marked each of their lives. Written with the fluent narrative artistry that distinguishes all of Anita Shreve's bestselling novels, A Wedding in December acutely probes the mysteries of the human heart and the endless allure of paths not taken.

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  • 394

    The Atrocity Exhibition

      J. G. Ballard
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Easily one of the 20th century's most visionary writers, J. G. Ballard still lives far ahead of his time. Called his "prophetic masterpiece" by many, The Atrocity Exhibition practically lies outside of any literary tradition. Part science fiction, part eerie historical fiction, part pornography, its characters adhere to no rules of linearity or stability. This reissued edition features an introduction by William S. Burroughs, extensive text commentary by Ballard, and four additional stories. Of specific interest are the illustrations by underground cartoonist and professional medical illustrator Phoebe Gloeckner. Her ultrarealistic images of eroticism and destruction add an important dimension to Ballard's text.

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  • 394

    Skin Tight

      Carl Hiaasen
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New York Times bestselling author Carl Hiaasen serves up a humorous helping of "taut, fast-paced action...crisp and hot" After dispatching a pistol-packing intruder from his home with the help of a stuffed Marlin head, Mick Stranahan can't deny that someone is out to get him. His now-deceased intruder carries no I.D., and as a former Florida state investigator, Stranahan knows there are plenty of potential culprits. His long list of enemies includes an off point hit man, a personal injury lawyer of billboard fame, a notoriously irritating TV journalist, and a fumbling plastic surgeon.Now, if he wants to keep fishing into his golden years, Stranahan has no choice but to come out of retirement to close this one last case...

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  • 394

    Rock My Body

      Michelle A. Valentine
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Tyke Douglas is tired of being the glue that holds the hottest band in the world together. If the rest of the guys are out doing their own thing, then why shouldn’t he? He’s about to turn things up a notch and bring a whole new level of crazy into Black Falcon’s world. Francine Mead is putting her sordid past behind and is determined to help others overcome their demons along side her. The first step in her new life is taking a job as an addiction counselor, where she can mentor others through their struggles. Francine never expected to be lured back into temptation when her first sexy celebrity client, Tyke Douglas walks through her door. The moment she lays eyes on him, she’s in trouble. Both Tyke and Francine know a relationship between them would be a disaster, but with each session, things continue to heat up, making it impossible to deny the connection they share. Boundaries cross, attractions heighten and both of their willpowers will be tested to the very limit. Novel centers around Tyke Douglas, bassist of Black Falcon, and is final book in the series.

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    Shadowline

      Glen Cook
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Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here The vendetta in space had started centuries before "Mouse" Storm was born with his grandfather's raid on the planet Prefactlas, the blood bath that freed the human slaves from their Sangaree masters. But one Sangaree survived - the young Norborn heir, the man who swore vengeance on the Storm family and their soldiers, in a carefully mapped plot that would take generations to fulfill. Now Mouse's father Gneaus must fight for an El Dorado of wealth on the burning half of the planet Blackworld. As the great private armies of all space clash on the narrow Shadowline that divides inferno from life-sheltering shade, Gneaus' half- brother Michael plays his traitorous games, and a man called Deeth pulls the deadly strings that threaten to entrap them all - as the Starfishers Trilogy begins.

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  • 394

    Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

      L. Ron Hubbard
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"Nonstop and fast-paced. Every paragraph has a big bang-up adventure." —Kevin J. Anderson Suspense, thrills, action and adventure. Earth has been dominated for 1,000 years by an alien invader—and man is an endangered species. From the handful of surviving humans a courageous leader emerges—Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, who challenges the invincible might of the alien Psychlo empire in a battle of epic scale, danger and intrigue with the fate of the Earth and of the universe in the tenuous balance.

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  • 394

    White Jenna

      Jane Yolen
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World Fantasy Award for Best Novel ALA Best Books for Young Adults Book Two of the Great Alta Saga Jenna was the White Queen. Skada was the Dark Queen. She is bound to Jenna—the other half of Jenna’s self. Drawn out of a mirror by a rite of magic, a “dark sister” is confined to the dark. She vanishes in daylight. It is in this other world the dark sisters wait for moonlight or lamplight to call them forth again. This is their story: of myths turned real, ordinary people turned heroes, a land turned inside out by the coming of White Jenna.

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  • 394

    Quinn's Book

      William Kennedy
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From the moment he rescues the beautiful, passionate Maud Fallon from the icy waters of the Hudson one wintry day in 1849, Daniel Quinn is thrust into a bewildering, adventure-filled journey through the tumult of nineteenth-century America. As he quests after the beguiling and elusive Maud, Daniel will witness the rise and fall of great dynasties in upstate New York, epochal prize fights, exotic life in the theatre, visitations from spirits beyond the grave, horrific battles between Irish immigrants and the "Know-Nothings," vicious New York draft riots, heroic passages through the Underground Railroad, and the bloody despair of the Civil War. Filled with Dickensian characters, a vivid sense of history, and a marvellously inventive humor, Quinn's Book is an engaging delight by an acclaimed modern master.

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