A fascinating novel of the friendship and creative partnership between two of Hollywood's earliest female legends—screenwriter Frances Marion and superstar Mary Pickford—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator's Wife It is 1914, and twenty-five-year-old Frances Marion has left her (second) husband and her Northern California home for the lure of Los Angeles, where she is determined to live independently as an artist. But the word on everyone's lips these days is "flickers"—the silent moving pictures enthralling theatergoers. Turn any corner in this burgeoning town and you'll find made-up actors running around, as a movie camera captures it all. In this fledgling industry, Frances finds her true calling: writing stories for this wondrous new medium. She also makes the acquaintance of actress Mary Pickford, whose signature golden curls and lively spirit have given her the title...

To turn her life around, she’ll have to stand the heat. To fulfill his dreams, he’ll have to get Lucky. Despite her name, Lucky Pierce has always felt a little cursed. Refusing to settle for less or settle down, she changes jobs as often as she changes boyfriends. When her celebrity chef mother challenges her to finish something, Lucky agrees to help her launch Boston’s next hot restaurant, The Star. Even if it means working with the infuriating, egotistical, and undeniably sexy head chef. James loves being known as Boston’s hottest bad boy in the kitchen, but if he wants to build a reputation as a serious chef, he has to make this restaurant work and keep his scandalous past out of the headlines. Getting involved with his boss’s spoiled, sharp-tongued daughter is definitely not on the menu. As the launch of The Star looms and the tension and chemistry heat up in the kitchen, they’re going to need more than a little luck to keep everything from boiling over.

The essential read for all fans of Kurt Wallander.When Kurt Wallander first appeared in Faceless Killers back in 1990, he was a senior police officer, just turned forty, with his life in a mess. His wife had left him, his father barely acknowledged him; he ate badly and drank alone at night. The Pyramid chronicles the events that led him to such a place. We see him in the early years, doing hours on the beat whilst trying to solve a murder off-duty; witness the beginnings of his fragile relationship with Mona, the woman he has his heart set on marrying; and learn the reason behind his difficulties with his father. These thrilling tales provide a fascinating insight into Wallander's character, and demand to be read in one sitting. From the stabbing of a neighbour in 1969 to a light aircraft accident in 1989, every story is a vital piece of the Wallander series, showing Mankell at the top of his game. Featuring an introduction from the author, The Pyramid...

At the height of the Civil Rights movement, a young girl's murder stirs racialtensions in Birmingham, Alabama The grave on the football field is shallow, and easy to spot from a distance. It would have been found sooner, had most of the residents in the black half of Birmingham not been downtown, marching, singing, and being arrested alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. Police detective Ben Wellman is among them when he gets the call about the fresh grave. Under the loosely packed dirt, he finds a young black girl, her innocence taken and her life along with it. His sergeant orders Wellman to investigate, but instructs him not to try too hard. In the summer of 1963, Birmingham is tense enough without a manhunt for the killers of a black child. Wellman digs for the truth in spite of skepticism from the black community and scorn from his fellow officers. What he finds is a secret that men from both sides of town would prefer stayed buried.

Hypochondria, insomnia, restlessness, and yearning are the lame muses of these brief pages. I would have liked to call them Extravaganzas . . . because many of them wander about in a strange outside that has no inside, like drifting splinters. . . . Alien to any orbit, I have the impression they navigate in familiar spaces whose geometry nevertheless remains a mystery; let's say domestic thickets: the interstitial zones of our daily having to be, or bumps on the surface of existence . . . In them, in the form of quasi-stories, are the murmurings and mutterings that have accompanied and still accompany me: outbursts, moods, little ecstasies, real or presumed emotions, grudges, and regrets. --Antonio Tabucchi on The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico

Logan West’s life is anything but ideal. Mindless sex, tedious business ventures, and the occasional poker game keep him occupied, but he only lives for one thing: fatherhood. Oliver, Logan’s three-year-old son, is his entire world. Raising him alone, Logan finds his only joy in spending time giving Oliver the childhood he deserves. But every other weekend, he allows himself the chance to live as a man—a man with deeper desires. Logan knows what he likes, what he wants, and what he needs. He has no interest in dating and believes there’s no risk worth taking for romance, but his casual sexual escapes rarely leave him satisfied. It takes an unexpected decision from his sister Julia and a road trip to the small town of Harmony with his best friend, Caleb, to open Logan’s eyes to new opportunities outside his programmed world. Its not what he expects, but Logan’s always looking to indulge. This novella can be read as the first in the Harmony series to better understand Logan or anytime during the series. It is not a mandatory read to enjoy the series, simply a companion. This is Logan's story of how he ended up living in Harmony and right next door to the woman that would forever change his life. Book 1, Inevitable on sale now Book 2, Irreplaceable available now Book 3, Indestructible, the conclusion, available Spring 2014 Contains adult content and is for readers over 18.

Can a nerd and a golden girl ever be best friends? Always Mackenzie is the bittersweet story of the intense friendship between two girls - the story of what happens when Jem Martinic meets Mackenzie Woodrow and they swear to be enemies forever.I solemnly swear that I will never, ever be friends with Mackenzie Woodrow as long as we both shall live,' said Jem. 'Excellent,' said Mackenzie.Jem is a nerd, smart and forthright. Mackenzie is a golden girl, excelling at schoolwork, sport and drama, and popular with everyone. One night, at the Year 10 camp, Jem and Mackenzie strike up an unlikely friendship and are soon spending all their time together. But when camp ends, can Mackenzie and Jem maintain their bond at school, with all its unspoken rules, fierce cliques and easy misunderstandings? A lively and poignant story about the intensity of true friendship.'Intensely felt, funny, compassionate ... a truly remarkable novel.' - Isabella, 17

"Don Francisco wants you home, and in double-quick time, too. We must leave tomorrow at dawn . . ." Felix's heart sinks at Pedro's words. What can be wrong? Is his beloved grandfather ill? Dashing and loyal, he speeds towards Villaverde - and a rescue mission. Donna Conchita's children are kidnapped and Felix may be reunited with the feisty Juana, if he agrees to help. Despite warnings of a conspiracy and his own suspicions of a trap, Felix fearlessly plunges into a plot thick with intrigue and danger. His grandfather said it was a matter of life and death - but whose?

In a moment of madness, Ali Kingston, wife and mother of three, skips work to spend the day with Christian, a gorgeous street artist fifteen years her junior. Midlife crisis or whatever, it escalates when Ali's husband, Ed, equates her minor indiscretion with a major affair and kicks her out into the rainy night...and Christian's open arms. Soon thirty-eight-year-old Ali is ensconced in a Notting Hill love nest wondering how to introduce her children to the charismatic Christian, who could easily have been her teenage daughter's boyfriend rather than her own.Meanwhile back at the ranch house in suburban Richmond, Ed is also facing unanticipated temptations, as two younger women compete to console him for the loss of his wife, while family and friends attempt to reunite him with Ali...with deliciously droll results. Then a disconcerting event forces both Ed and Ali to decide what they really want--from themselves, from each other and from life itself.

As fast-paced and hard-edged as the Harlem streets it portrays*, Tuff* shows off all of the amazing skill that Paul Beatty showed off in his first novel, The White Boy Shuffle.Weighing in at 320 pounds, Winston “Tuffy” Foshay, is an East Harlem denizen who breaks jaws and shoots dogs and dreams of millions from his idea Cap’n Crunch: The Movie, starring Danny DeVito. His best friend is a disabled Muslim who wants to rob banks, his guiding light is an ex-hippie Asian woman who worked for Malcolm X, and his wife, Yolanda, he married from jail over the phone. Shrewdly comical as this dazzling novel is, it turns acerbically sublime when the frustrated Tuffy agrees to run for City Council. Smartly irreverent and edgily fierce, Tuff is a bona fide original.

The dead are up and walking, and the Gentleman is at the door...Featuring a kid hero, time travel, and otherworld portals in unexpected places (maybe there are monsters under your bed), The Dead Gentleman is a wild ride between parallel New York City timestreams--1901 and today. Eleven-year-old Tommy Learner is a street orphan and an unlikely protege to the Explorers, a secret group dedicated to exploring portals--the hidden doorways to other worlds. But while investigating an attercop (man-eating spider) in the basement of an old hotel, Tommy is betrayed--and trapped. And it's then that his world collides with that of modern-day Jezebel Lemon, who--until the day she decides to explore her building's basement--had no bigger worries than homework and boys. Now, Jezebel and Tommy must thwart the Dead Gentleman--a legendary villain whose last unconquered world is our own planet Earth, a realm where the dead stay dead. Until now. Can two kids put an end to this...

Salt Snake and Other Bloody Cuts is a collection of short horror fiction from Simon Clark, an acclaimed author of blood curdling novels—Blood Crazy, Darker, and The Night of the Triffids. Originally published in 1998 as a limited print run of just over 800 copies, Salt Snake is a real treat for any lover of weird fiction.

Sarah Jennings has the perfect quiet life, exactly what she wants, until one act of violence reminds her that safety and security are on illusion, but Mark Summors is no illusion. He promises to protect her, and that scares Sarah more than anything. When she agrees to let him help her, she doesn’t know just how important of a role he’ll play in her future or how her past will come back to threaten

Photographer Sierra Stratton views the world through a lens all her own. She has an uncanny sense about people, something that often causes her trouble. When she meets the sexy and brooding Evan Dorsey, her intuition tells her he’s suffering, and she wants to be the one to help him.   Evan isn’t open to help from anyone, however. His focus is on his Major League career and making himself as marketable as possible for his upcoming free agency. He plans to ride out the season in Atlanta and then sign with another team, away from the painful memories that haunt him.   Someone’s eager to send him on his way, too. Between anonymous threats and equipment sabotage, it’s clear he’s earned himself an enemy along the way. To him, it’s one more sign that he’s right to move on.   But Sierra threatens his conviction. Her contagious smile proves hard to resist, as does her kiss. She tempts him in ways he never anticipated, making him question his plans for the first time. If he’s not careful, she might just convince him that he’s meant for her.

Bestselling middle grade author Lisa Papademetriou is back with a playful, poignant story that will resonate with anyone who's ever had to learn that love means accepting people—even yourself—for who they really are.Callie never meant to let it go this far. Sure, she may have accidentally-on-purpose skipped a day at her fancy New York City prep school, but she never thought she'd skip the day after that! And the one after that . . . and . . . uh . . . the one after that.But when everything in your real life is going wrong (fighting parents! bullied little brother! girls at school who just. don't. get. it!) skipping school starts to look like a valid mental-health strategy. And when Callie runs into Cassius, a mysterious and prickly "unschooled" kid doing research at museums all across the city, it seems only natural for her to join him. Because museums are educational, which means they're as good as going to class. Right?Besides, school can...

“That looks like a challenge, Frank.” “It was well fired, at any rate, Bluff!” “I should say yes, because it knocked my hat clear off my head. Do we stand for that sort of thing, or shall we accept the dare?” “There are half a dozen and more of the enemy against four Outdoor Chums, but what of that? This is the first snow of the fall, with a real tang in the air. Say yes, Frank, and let’s get busy!”

The Rebels have taken the Imperial headquarters world of Coruscant, but their problems are far from over. A killer virus called Krytos is spreading among the population, and fomenting a counter-revolution, at the same time as the treason trial of Rebel hero Tycho Celchu.