Winner of the 1973 National Book Award In Augustus, the third of his great novels, John Williams took on an entirely new challenge, a historical novel set in classical Rome, exploring the life of the founder of the Roman Empire, whose greatness was matched by his brutality. To tell the story, Williams also turned to a genre, the epistolary novel, that was new to him, transforming and transcending it just as he did the western in Butcher's Crossing and the campus novel in Stoner. Augustus is the final triumph of a writer who has come to be recognized around the world as an American master. "[In Augustus,] John Williams re-creates the Roman Empire from the death of Julius Caesar to the last days of Augustus, the machinations of the court, the Senate, and the people, from the sickly boy to the sickly man who almost dies during expeditions to what would seem to be the ruthless ruler. He uses an epistolary, polylogic format, and in the end all these voices, like a collage, meld together around the main character. Monologue becomes action, but action never becomes character. Instead, an image of brutality questions its own origins. Read it in conjunction with Robert Graves's more flamboyant Claudius and Claudius the God, Hermann Broch's * The Death of Virgil, and Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian*." —Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation

A deadly truth… When Victor Holland comes flying out of the night, he runs straight into the path of Catherine Weaver’s car. Having uncovered a terrifying secret which leads all the way to Washington, Victor is running for his life – and from the men who will go to any lengths to silence him. Victor’s story sounds like the ravings of a madman, but the haunted look in his eyes – and the bullet hole in his shoulder – tell a different story. As each hour brings pursuers ever closer, Cathy has to wonder, is she giving her trust to a man in danger or trusting her life to a dangerous man? “Gerritsen has enough in the locker to seriously worry Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben and even the great Denis Lehane. Brilliant. ” Crimetime “Gerritsen is tops in her genre. ” USA Today “Tess Gerritsen writes some of the smartest, most compelling thrillers around. ” Bookreporter

The women of Stepford are not all that they seem... All the beautiful people live in idyllic Stepford, Connecticut, an affluent, suburban Eden populated with successful, satisfied hubbies and beautiful, dutiful wives. For Joanna Eberhart, newly arrived with her husband and two children, it all seems too good to be true -- from the sweet Welcome Wagon lady to all those cheerful, friendly faces in the supermarket checkout lines. But just beneath the town's flawless surface, something is sordid and wrong -- something abominable with roots in the local Men's Association. And it may already be too late for Joanna to save herself from being devoured by Stepford's hideous perfection.

James Ellroy is an American original of the most profane order. The bestselling author of the noir classics L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia, and The Cold Six Thousand, he has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the best writers of our era." A self-proclaimed Luddite, Ellroy is turning to technology for the first time with the publication of Shakedown, a novella released by the digital publisher Byliner. In it, Ellroy is as frenetically depraved as ever, minting an antihero who is a cad for the ages. Meet Freddy Otash: a corrupt cop turned sleaze hustler, extortionist, pimp, and an actual historical figure who made the 1950s magazine Confidential the go-to source for the sins of the rich and famous. In his prime, Freddy raised hell, and in the pages of Shakedown he finds himself stuck in purgatory—-literally—-waiting for a transfer to heaven. Will he make it there, or will fate keep him down below? Promised redemption if he confesses his past sins and transgressions, Freddy writes a tell-all peopled by Hollywood greats like Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, and James Dean (to name a few) who are up to all sorts of wrong. Threesomes, foursomes, you name it—-anything goes in this licentious world. Shakedown explodes the postwar America of June and Ward Cleaver, breathing randy new life into the man who whetted our national appetite for sex and scandal. Freddy's lack of scruples—-and lack of morality—-make today's gossip culture seem almost innocent. What's true and what's fiction? Ellroy's certainly not telling.

On their trip to Oregon, the Aldens are excited to find out that Watch has the right skills to be a search and rescue dog! When they start training him in the woods one of the first things he “rescues” is a backpack filled with valuable jewelry—and it fell out of a plane! How could that have happened? When the children try to return the backpack to its owner, the mystery becomes even deeper!

“America’s funniest science writer” (Washington Post) takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: the questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis? In Gulp we meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks of—or has the courage to ask. We go on location to a pet-food taste-test lab, a fecal transplant, and into a live stomach to observe the fate of a meal. With Roach at our side, we travel the world, meeting murderers and mad scientists, Eskimos and exorcists (who have occasionally administered holy water rectally), rabbis and terrorists—who, it turns out, for practical reasons do not conceal bombs in their digestive tracts. Like all of Roach’s books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies.

When young, pretty Catherine Bailey meets Lee Brightman, she can't believe her luck. Gorgeous, charismatic, and a bit mysterious, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. But what begins as flattering attention and spontaneous, passionate sex transforms into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon discovers that Lee's dazzling blue eyes and blond good looks hide a dark, violent nature. Disturbed by his increasingly erratic, controlling behavior, she tries to break it off; turning to her friends for support, she's stunned to find they don't believe her. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape. Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—is trying to build a new life in a new city. Though her body has healed, the trauma of the past still haunts her. Then Stuart Richardson, her attractive new neighbor, moves in. Encouraging her to confront her fears, he sparks unexpected hope and the possibility of love and a normal life. Until the day the phone rings . . .

Harry Roth is the bane of Alison shandling’s existence. He’s obnoxious and rude, and thinks nothing of taunting brainy Alison or making comments about her autistic twin brother. Alison tries to ignore him, but since she sees him at school and at synagogue, he’s hard to avoid. then Harry is injured in a diving accident and winds up in a wheelchair. Now Harry is vulnerable, too, and Alison finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. initially cautious, these unlikely companions begin to understand each other, and their relationship grows first into a friendship and then into something more. . . .

Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year. * The author of The New York Times bestseller The Stuff of Thought* offers a controversial history of violence. Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened? This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.

After Rory Sinclair suffered a brutal attack, she fell into the arms of Millionaire, Ian Braxton. He took her in, healed her, and they both gave each other something they never had: love. My name is Rory Sinclair, and for the first time in my life I’m truly happy. I’ve found the love of my life, my soul mate, and my best friend. We were the missing pieces in each other’s lives, and now that we’re together our bond is stronger than ever. We’re building our future together; a future I never believed I would have. Then it happened. My name is Ian Braxton, and for the first time in my life I feel complete. A woman named Rory Sinclair did that to me. She breathed life into me and gave me hope. Money didn’t matter to me anymore, and I would’ve given it all up for her. She’s my dream and I never want to wake up. Then it happened. Ian and Rory found their happily ever after in Lie Next To Me (A Millionaire’s Love). Will it continue? Or will something that happens unexpectedly tear them apart?

In this original eBook novella by the New York Times bestselling author of The King’s Deception, globetrotting intelligence agent Cotton Malone is lured into dangerous intrigue surrounding the world’s most famous royals—and uncovers a murderous conspiracy of terrorists and traitors, all born from an ancient tale of Saxon history. “In Malone, [Steve] Berry has created a classic, complex hero.”—*USA Today  * In England to participate in the trial of suspected international terrorists, Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is mysteriously summoned to an audience with the Queen of England. A cryptic call has warned of looming danger to the ailing queen’s son and grandson—the next two heirs in line for the throne. And when the source of that ominous information, a notorious tabloid publisher, dies mysteriously, the royal family has reason to fear a genuine conspiracy. But they also suspect that the enemy lies within—and no one at Buckingham Palace, or even the nation’s own Secret Intelligence Service, can be trusted. Now it’s up to Malone to discover the truth. Matching wits with a power-mad politician and a vicious royal blue blood, he must race against time through the streets of London to the forbidden reaches of Iceland, all to stop a monstrous plot to seize the monarchy—one that stretches back to the time of Arthur. Praise for Steve Berry and his Cotton Malone series   “Malone, a hero with a personal stake in the proceedings, is a welcome respite from the cold, calculating superspies who litter the genre.”—Entertainment Weekly   “Steve Berry gets better and better with each new book.”—The Huffington Post “Savvy readers . . . cannot go wrong with Cotton Malone.”—Library Journal “Berry raises this genre’s stakes.”—The New York Times   “I love this guy.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child

The war that is tearing apart the ancient Empire of Saramyr is reaching its apocalyptic conclusion. The Weavers have stepped from the shadows and have taken control, the Emperor not even their puppet anymore. New, terrifying demons, immune to everything but magic have been unleashed on the cities and armies of the resistance movement. As the madness of the weavers takes grip their tactics become even more crazed and bloody and thousands are dying on both sides. Someone must stop the weavers, someone must discover the secrets of what lies at the bottom of the massive pits they have dug across Saramyr. This is the final volume of what has proved to be one of the most original, exotic and exciting epic fantasies of the 21st century. Chris Wooding melds an extraordinary imagination to deft characterisation and flair for gripping plots.

Their love led to a lie Their truth led to the end Brigs McGregor is crawling out from the ashes. After losing his wife and son in a car accident and his job from his subsequent downward spiral, he's finally moving forward, getting a prestigious teaching position at the University of London and a new life in the city. Slowly, but surely, he's pushing past the guilt and putting his tragic past behind him. Until he sees her. Natasha Trudeau once loved a man so much she thought she'd die without him. But their love was wrong, doomed from the start, and when their world crashed around them, Natasha was nearly buried in the rubble. It took years of moving on to forget him, and now that she's in London, she's ready to start again. Until she sees him. Because some loves are too dangerous to ever indulge. And some loves are far too powerful to ignore. Their love just might be the life and the death of them.

Many years ago a slighted fairy placed a curse on a beautiful young princess--a curse that caused her and all her female descendants to turn into mean, ugly witches if they ever touched a flower after turning sixteen. Now, Princess Emma, who is about to turn sixteen herself, is determined to break the spell once and for all. Emma travels back in time to the day the curse was placed on her ancestor in the hope of preventing the curse from being cast. Unfortunately she isn't successful in her efforts, but she does learn how to break it. Armed with this knowledge, Emma returns to her own time full of hope. But disaster ensues and Emma is about to give up completely--until true love shows itself in the most unexpected place of all. With a bit of courage, a pinch of luck, and of course, a healthy dose of magic, Princess Emma charms her way through the third hilarious adventure in the Tales of the Frog Princess series.

Available as an ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, & iBooks/iTunes. Also available in paperback on Amazon. Senior Max Sanchez has it all. He's the star pitcher for Port Fare High's baseball team. He's dating the head cheerleader, Emma McKay, and he has a great group of friends. Junior JD Miller's life is Not So Easy. Unlike Max, JD struggles with making friends. He's a social misfit, and he's being bullied at every turn. He's also barely surviving.  A tragic accident changes everything, merging their lives together, and Max soon learns that life is not so easy for everyone. Max works to the point of exhaustion trying to help JD survive the chaos that is his life, and his eyes are opened to a world he had no idea even existed. Not so Easy * is a story about hope, surviving, and never giving up. (Not So Easy is book one of the Souls in Peril series) Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvtwj...

W. Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965) was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. Born in the British Embassy in Paris, where his father worked, Maugham was an orphan by the age of ten. He was raised by an uncle, who tried to persuade the youngster to become an accountant or parson; Maugham instead trained as a doctor, although he never practised professionally, as his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, was published the same year he qualified. By the time of his death in 1965 Maugham was widely judged to be one of the most commercially successful and gifted writers of the twentieth century. The Times obituarist called Maugham "the most assured English writer of his time", and wrote that "no writer of his generation ... graced the world of English letters with more complete or more polished assurance" The Making of a Saint THESE are the memoirs of the Beato Giuliano, brother of the Order of St Francis of Assisi, known in his worldly life as Filippo Brandolini; of which family I, Giulo Brandolini, am the last descendant. On the death of Fra Giuliano the manuscript was given to his nephew Leonello, on whom the estates devolved; and has since been handed down from father to son, as the relic of a member of the family whose piety and good works still shed lustre on the name of Brandolini.

A delusional human trafficker, a paraplegic Nazi-hunter, and drug dealing terrorists are just some of the characters our hero will meet on his night trip home to confront his cheating girlfriend.A delusional human trafficker, a paraplegic Nazi-hunter, and drug dealing terrorists are just some of the characters our hero will meet on his night trip home to confront his cheating girlfriend.Along the way he will tell his tale of misery to the strangers he meets and ask them to cast a vote: should he punish or forgive his girlfriend? Her fate will be their decision, and it will be life or death.But this long, surreal night will prove to be full of crazies, and our hero will find that he stands to lose more than just his lover. Can he hold onto his sanity long enough to save his girlfriend, as well as the lives of hundreds of innocent people?

Shelley Frakes didn't intend to spend her morning sweeping up broken glass and investigating an open basement door, but the real estate business had taken such a hit in the last year these were the least of her concerns. The real problem would be getting the secluded property to sell. Unless...someone has already moved in.As if being the firm's junior realtor wasn't difficult enough, Shelley is in charge of the worst listing in the county; a quickly-deteriorating house just remote enough to be a pain in the ass. Shelley has a chance to unload it on a buyer who's meeting her in the morning--but that broken window in the den won't be much of a selling point. Shelley will have to at least clean up the glass if she wants a sale, and worry about what caused it later. Then again; there's no time like the present.

Despondent over the futility of life in the South, black tenant farmer Grange Copeland leaves his wife and son in Georgia to head North. After meeting an equally humiliating existence there, he returns to Georgia, years later, to find his son, Brownfield, imprisoned for the murder of his wife. As the guardian of the couple's youngest daughter, Grange Copeland is looking at his third -- and final -- chance to free himself from spiritual and social enslavement.

** With U.S. intelligence agencies wracked by internal power struggles and paralyzed by bureaucracy, the president was forced to establish his own clandestine group--Covert-One. It is activated only as a last resort, when the threat is on a global scale and time is running out. **It begins with a terrorist attack. Covert-One operative Colonel Jon Smith is attending a conference in The Hague on infectious diseases, together with leading scientists and political figures from around the world. Without warning, the conference hotel is consumed in a bloodbath. Smith is caught in the crossfire and barely escapes . . . but not before discovering a picture of himself and two other targets in the pocket of one of the shooters. But the hotel is not the only location under attack in The Hague. Bombs are going off at the train station, the airport, and the International Criminal Court, where Pakistani warlord Oman Dattar is being held while he's tried for crimes against humanity. In the resulting chaos, the prisoner escapes. Dattar nurses a special hatred for the United States and its allies. With his freedom, and access to a mysterious new weapon, Dattar puts in motion a murderous, ambitious plot to exact his revenge and bring down the West once and for all--unless Covert-One can stop him.

Arthur Miller’s penultimate play, Resurrection Blues, is a darkly comic satirical allegory that poses the question: What would happen if Christ were to appear in the world today? In an unidentified Latin American country, General Felix Barriaux has captured an elusive revolutionary leader. The rebel, known by various names, is rumored to have performed miracles throughout the countryside. The General plans to crucify the mysterious man, and the exclusive television rights to the twenty-four-hour reality-TV event have been sold to an American network for $25 million. An allegory that asserts the interconnectedness of our actions and each person’s culpability in world events, Resurrection Blues is a comedic and tragic satire of precarious morals in our media-saturated age.