Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, Nicholson Baker has established himself as one of our most brilliant observers of everyday experience. With his keen perception, flawless prose, and endless wit, he has composed both fiction and nonfiction that has become an essential part of our literature.Vintage Baker contains generous selections from the novels Vox, The Fermata, The Mezzanine, and A Box of Matches; essays from The Size of Thoughts; and portions of the NBCC award winner Doublefold. Vintage Readers are a perfect introduction to some of the great modern writers, presented in attractive, affordable paperback editions.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Kelly Rae Cooper - Romantic TimesA superb urban fantasy, The Last Hot Time is a walk on the wild side with elves and humans somewhat co-existing in pockets of civilization. Danny's life is transformed when he treats a woman injured in a drive-by shooting. He becomes Doc Hallownight and the house medic for Mr. Patrise, a powerful leader in the shadowlands of Chicago. John M. Ford has a refreshing, unique writing style that vibrates with energy. He introduces a large company of players and skillfully weaves his complex plot into a fascinating account of what happens when the fay of old meets contemporary humanity. Publisher's WeeklyBrilliant is as brilliant does, and Ford's first excursion into enigmatic, offbeat speculative fiction in seven years bids fair to win him yet another World Fantasy Award, as did The Dragon Waiting. In this mesmerizing near-future scenario, most of Earth's technology--man's "magic"--has been destroyed by the immortal Elves who once coexisted with primitive hominids, then vanished back into the parallel universe of Elfland. When the Elves return a generation after JFK's assassination, they witness, horrified, what man has become, and they strike out in panic, blasting most of Chicago. Young paramedic Danny Holman, heading toward Chicago's Elf-gang-ridden heart, saves the life of a young woman wounded severely in a drive-by shooting. The mysterious Mr. Patrise rewards Danny with a new identity--"Doc Hollownight"--and a job as house medic to Patrise's web of underground nightclubs. Danny also gets involved in Patrise's clandestine operations against Whisper-Who-Dares, the loathsome Elf who fuels his insatiable lust for power by flaying humans alive, feeding off their unspeakable agonies. Whether human, minor Elf nobility (the Ellyon) or Highborn Urthas Elves, Ford's generous cast of characters continually surprises, intrigues and pulses with life, a tribute to his power as a storyteller. Haunting, puzzling, even unsettling and deliberately obscure, this improvisatory jazzlike riff of good and evil in the context of a most unusual growing-up story is bittersweet as first love and loss, a minor-key elegy for the death of youth and innocence. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.VOYAThis fantasy is set in the near future in a part of Chicago that has become a buffer between the land of the elves and the world of humans. In this zone of shadows dwell humans, elves, half-breeds, and Vamps-those humans who have been infected with elf blood and have grown dependent on it as a narcotic. It is a region of nightly life-and-death struggles, with drugs and illegal gambling and extravagant parties designed to be a respite from life on the Levee. Because no one keeps his true name here, the protagonist becomes Doc Hallownight upon his arrival. His training as a paramedic proves invaluable from the onset, and he is taken under the protection of one of the most powerful men in Chicago. The terror that awaits him as he embarks on his journey of discovery and self-discovery forms the core of the book. Written for adults, this novel's extreme violence and immorality will be disturbing to most teenage readers. The story is well written except for some confusing gaps that seem designed intentionally to keep the reader off balance and firmly in place as an outsider looking in. Fans of Ford's work and mature fantasy buffs in the upper high school grades will find this novel appealing. Library JournalWhen he stops to administer first aid to a gunshot victim, paramedic Danny Holman steps out of his old life and into a bizarre underworld of fast-talking, magic-wielding elves who dub him Doc Hallows and promise him a future beyond his wildest dreams. Ford depicts a modern-day world inhabited by supernatural creatures who enjoy fast cars, hard liquor, and the sound of money even as they keep alive the old traditions of fairy curses and otherworldly magic. By turns violent and funny, the latest novel by the author of The Dragon Waiting delivers a rapid-fire modern fantasy suitable for most libraries. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Quinn McGrath's Irish grandmother always said he'd know "the one." Only, the well-meaning matriarch hadn't cautioned that the perfect woman would literally fall from overhead into his arms--or hate him desperately the moment she learned who he was.Resort owner Nicole Whitaker was as wild and unpredictable as the storm that destined their meeting. But whereas Quinn saw the beach beauty as a fated lover, she viewed him as the six-figure-earning enemy who'd come to destroy her dream.She was right.But that was before he discovered the meaning of paradise...and something worth fighting for in Nicole.

Influential feminist writer and intellectual Germaine Greer tracks the life of her father, an Australian intelligence officer during World War II, who died in her childhood. A secretive man, Reg Greer took pains to hide his working-class roots. As she painstakingly assembles the jigsaw pieces of his life, Germaine discovers surprising secrets about her father, her family, and herself.Obsessed with family history, Greer is chasing not just her father's life story, but the parental love she always felt deprived of. Brimming with emotion, loss, regret, fury, and the intense depth of love, this book offers a moving climax—as well as sharp observations about Australian culture during the war.

Agent Maggie O'Dell and Assistant Director Cunningham believe they're responding to a threat made at Quantico. Instead they walk into a trap. Before they realize it, they've both been exposed to a killer who can strike at anyone, at any time, and no one can predict who might be next…until it's too late. The killer's tactics suggest he's an aficionado of criminal minds. He uses bits and pieces from those he admires: a phrase from the Beltway Snipers, a clue from the Unabomber, a delivery method similar to the Anthrax Killer. His weapon is a deadly virus, virtually invisible and totally unexpected. His victims appear to be random but, in fact, they are chosen with a revengeful precision. The vaccine is limited and untested. Maggie knows dangerous minds�from hauntingly perverse child predators to cunningly twisted serial killers. Now she faces a new opponent from inside an isolation ward at a biosafety containment hospital. Maggie must help Agent R. J. Tully find clues to catch the killer�while waiting to see if the deadly strain is already multiplying in her body. With every new exposure there's the potential for an epidemic. And Maggie knows she and Cunningham may not live long enough to discover who is the deadliest, most intelligent killer they've ever profiled.

Set in the 1930's, the new novel from bestselling author Lesley Pearse tells the story of one girl's struggle against cruelty and, her quest for love.Adele Talbot is twelve when her younger sister is killed in a road accident in London's Kings Cross, and her mother Rose – so devastated by the loss – begins to abuse her.Adele is sent to a children's home in Tunbridge Wells, but soon runs away to trace her grandmother- Honour who she has discovered lives in Sussex. But Honour is a bitter, eccentric woman who is not best pleased to see her granddaughter.Eventually the two forge some sort of bond and Honour allows Adele to stay. When Adele meets Michael Bailey on the marshes two years later and real love and friendship enter her life, she feels she can finally put her hurtful past behind her.But then war breaks out and as if that wasn't upheaval enough, Rose decides to rear her ugly head again. And she has a few unpleasant surprises for Adele...

The New York Times bestselling author of The Man With the Golden Torc delivers..."RAPID-FI RE PARANORMAL SUSPENSE."(Monsters and Critics)

In a desperate search for silence in the closing chapters of Synergy Charlie battled her ultimate fear and left the only sanctuary she has ever known. She has paid a devastating price for that fateful move. She lost her foundation.