Midnight on the River Grey


Abigail Wilson - 2019
    Lewis Browning—known by the locals as the Midnight Devil and by Rebecca as her new guardian.Summoned to his reclusive country estate to await her London season, Rebecca plans her own secret investigation among the darkened corridors of the mysterious Greybourne Hall. Yet Lewis Browning is not as she once imagined, and his motivation is horribly unclear. Recurrent nightmares and Rebecca’s restless feelings are further complicated by the shadow of her mother’s prior descent into madness and wondering if she, too, will follow the same heartbreaking path.Even as midnight rides, strange injuries, and further murders lead back to Mr. Browning, Rebecca can’t ignore the subtle turn of her heart. Has she fallen for the man she swore would pay for her brother’s death? And moreover, can she trust him with her uncertain future?Praise for Abigail Wilson:“In the Shadow of Croft Towers is everything I love in a novel: a classic gothic feel, a regency setting, a mysterious hero . . . and secrets abounding!” —Dawn Crandall, award-winning author of the Everstone Chronicles series“Shades of Gothic romance in a portrait of Regency England . . . if Jane Austen ever met Jane Eyre, it would be at Croft Towers!” —Kristy Cambron, author of Castle on the Rise, of In the Shadow of Croft Towers"Blending the unputdownable Regency flair of Georgette Heyer with the intricate plotting of Julie Klassen, Wilson not only places herself competently amidst beloved authors but carves out a unique place of her own." —Rachel McMillan, author of the Van Buren and DeLuca Mysteries"Beautifully written, suspenseful, and satisfyingly romantic." —Jennifer Beckstrand, author of Home on Huckleberry Hill “Murder is far from no one’s thoughts in this delicious new romantic mystery from Abigail Wilson. With scandal dodging every turn of the page, mystery hiding behind the visage of each character, and a romance brewing with an English rake of the worse—and best—sorts, readers will find nothing lacking! I was entranced, mesmerized, addlepated, and not a little bit bewildered as I wandered the halls of Middlecrest Abbey.” —Jaime Jo Wright, author of the Christy Award–winning novel, The House on Foster HillFull-length Regency romance with a murder mystery (c. 90,000 words)Perfect for fans of Sarah Ladd, Deanna Raybourn, Julie Klassen, Tasha Alexander, and Lauren WilligAlso by Abigail Wilson:In the Shadow of Croft TowersMasquerade at Middlecrest AbbeyThe Vanishing at Loxby Manor (available January 2021)Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Killing God


Kevin Brooks - 2009
    She doesn't fit in and she couldn't care less. Dawn has other things on her mind. Her dad disappeared two years ago and it's all God's fault.When Dawn's dad found God, it was the worst time ever. He thought he'd found the answer to everything. But that wasn't the end of it . . .

Rhinoceros and Other Plays


Eugène Ionesco - 1959
    A rhinoceros suddely apears in a small town, tramping through its peaceful streets. Soon there are two, then three, until the "movement" is universal: a transformation of average citizens into beasts, as they learn to "move with the times." Finally, only one man remains. "I'm the last man left, and I'm staying that way until the end. I'm not capitulating!" Rhinoceros is a commentary on the absurdity of the human condition made tolerable only by self-delusion. It shows us the struggle of the individual to maintain integrity and identity alone in a world where all others have succumbed to the "beauty" of brute force, natural energy and mindlessness.

Dirty Business


Monica Kaye - 2009
    It wasn't long before he had his hands -and mouth- all over her. After one incredible night of sex, he awakens to find she’s disappeared, but it's not long before he finds her again. At his new office: she's his Executive Assistant! He can't allow himself to be distracted. He has come to Denver on a mission, to find the person trying to swindle him. Sean always gets his man. But keeping his distance from his newest employee is not going to be easy.Chloe Walters had no idea that the handsome stranger she slept with the night before would be her new boss. Or that she’d be the number one suspect in his corporate espionage investigation. She's on a hunt of her own to uncover the scammer. But Sean’s idea of cat-and-mouse has higher stakes than just her job.Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable. Spanking.

The Havana Room


Colin Harrison - 2004
    Then a tragic accident claims everything he has: his family, his fortune, his career. But this is Manhattan, and Bill has much further to fall. His downward spiral lands him at the table of Allison Sparks, the dangerously alluring owner of a midtown steakhouse. She needs a personal favor of him--to engineer a midnight trade-off in a shady multimillion-dollar real estate deal. For a man with nothing left to lose, the set-up is too lucrative to refuse, and like Allison, too forbidden to resist. But her favor draws him deeper into a web of sex, deception, and murder--and to a secret place at the back of her restaurant, the Havana Room, where a man might find both evil and redemption.

Sign of the Crescent


Debbie Federici - 2005
    One night, seventeen-year-old Taryn nearly becomes one of them when a revolting, unearthly creature attacks her. The touch of a Zumar warrior should render her unconscious, but Taryn has the strength to fight until a young man with a sword comes to her rescue. This is how Taryn, an orphan with Meniere's disease, meets Erick, a Haro Knight from another world. His job is fighting the Zumar who are kidnapping and enslaving oldworlders (Earth people). It is forbidden for Erick to socialize with oldworlders, but he can't ignore the strong attraction between them . . . and Taryn seems different from other Earth people. When she's abducted by the Zumar and taken to their evil sorcerer leader, Taryn is confronted with shocking truths that explain her strange dreams and special powers.

Thursday's Child


Sonya Hartnett - 2000
    While their family struggles to survive in a bleak landscape during the Great Depression, the silent and elusive little Tin - "born on a Thursday and so fated to his wanderings" - begins to escape underground, tunneling beneath their tiny shanty. As time passes, Tin becomes a wild thing, leaving his family further and further behind. With exquisite prose, richly drawn characters, and a touch of magical realism, Sonya Hartnett tells a breathtakingly original coming-of-age story through the clear eyes of an observant child. It’s an unsentimental portrait of a loving family faced with poverty and heartbreak, entwined with a surreal vision of the enigmatic Tin, disappearing into a mysterious labyrinth that reaches unimaginably far, yet remains hauntingly near.

Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West


John Ralston Saul - 1992
    

Timeless Seeds of Advice: The Sayings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ , Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn al-Jawzi and Other Prominent Scholars in Bringing Comfort and Hope to the Soul


B.B. Abdulla - 2019
    This book is designed to serve as a source of hope and strength for those going through difficult times, while providing numerous important pieces of knowledge and guidance for all readers and all times.

The Devil's Banker


Christopher Reich - 2003
    In this ingeniously crafted thriller, the bestselling author of Numbered Account and The First Billion introduces his most complex and engaging hero yet: forensic accountant Adam Chapel--and paints a frightening scenario where terrorism is big business and money is the ultimate weapon of war…The explosion that shatters the smart Parisian apartment reverberates around the globe. In an instant, a suspected terrorist is dead and half a million dollars has vanished. Within days, the CIA is certain it has found a connection between the dead man and a planned terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Determined to avert another 9/11, they have assembled an elite counterterrorist task force, code name: Blood Money. Its mission: to follow the money trail. Its secret weapon: forensic accountant Adam Chapel. A man who trusts numbers more than people, Chapel has his own reasons for wanting to get the job done-- four of his colleagues were killed in the Paris blast. Now Chapel is thrust back into the line of fire when he teams up with British intelligence agent Sarah Churchill. The two are assigned to hunt down a shadowy mastermind who is moving vast sums of money from country to country, from bank to bank, leaving no tracks--as he prepares for an Armaggedon of his own devising. As Chapel follows a disappearing money trail from Paris to Munich to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Sarah uses her elite training to stalk the “shadow” and his elusive network. Meanwhile, their quarry is auditing their every move, laying a twisting trail of false clues and shocking surprises. With the clock ticking down, soon Chapel and Sarah have only days, hours, minutes to avert disaster as a master terrorist plots to unleash the first strike in a brilliantly orchestrated conspiracy--with an almost unimaginable goal. Hurtling us from the winding alleys of Pakistan to the elite banking houses of Europe, The Devil’s Banker creates an adrenaline-fueled world where following the money has never been more dangerous, and evil has never been harder to unmask.From the Hardcover edition.

Promposal


Rhonda Helms - 2015
    However, when she's asked to prom by an irritating casual acquaintance--wearing a fancy tux and standing in front of a news crew--she's forced to say yes. Yet all hope's not lost. A timely school project gives Camilla a chance to get closer to Benjamin...and it seems like the chemistry between them is crackling. But is she reading into something that isn't there?Joshua, Camilla's bestie, has been secretly in love with his gay best friend, Ethan, since middle school. Just as he decides to bite the bullet and ask Ethan if he'll go to prom with him, even if just as friends, he gets a shocking surprise: Ethan asks Joshua for help crafting the perfect promposal--for another guy. Now Joshua has to suppress his love and try to fake enthusiasm as he watches his dreams fall apart...unless he can make Ethan see that love has been right in front of his eyes the whole time.The road to the perfect promposal isn't easy to navigate. But one thing's certain--prom season is going to be memorable.

The Secret Wedding Dress


Ally Blake - 2013
    But one bridal sale later, Paige is left clutching her own champagne chiffon wedding dress! Clearly she needs to end her self-imposed dating drought.... Enter ruggedly sexy neighbor Gabe Hamilton. He wants Paige in his bed and nothing more--no promises made, no promises broken. But will this big, bad adventurer stick around when he discovers not only skeletons--but the wedding dress--in her closet?

Cleansed


Sarah Kane - 1998
    Kane's first play Blasted caused major controversy, furore and acclaim amongst critics and throughout the theatre world

Down Home with the Neelys: A Southern Family Cookbook


Patrick Neely - 2009
    It has also won them millions of viewers on the Food Network. Simply put, the Neelys are all about good food and good times. In this, their eagerly awaited debut cookbook, the Neelys share the delicious food they have been cooking up for years both at home and in their restaurants.Pat and Gina hail from families with a boundless love of cooking and bedrock traditions of sharing meals. At the Neelys’, mealtime is family time, and that means no stinting on “the sauce.” Indeed, that’s one of the Neely secrets: the liberal application of barbeque sauce to almost anything—spaghetti, nachos, salad, you name it. Of course, there are other secrets as well, and you will find them all in the pages of Down Home with the Neelys, along with more than 120 mouthwatering recipes.Here are the tried-and-true southern recipes that have been passed down from one Neely generation to the next, including many of their signature dishes, such as Barbeque Deviled Eggs, Florida Coast Pickled Shrimp, Pat’s Wings of Fire, Gina’s Collard Greens, Grandma Jean’s Potato Salad, Nana’s Southern Gumbo, Memphis-sized Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slaw, Get Yo’ Man Chicken, and Sock-It-to-Me Cake. Certainly, no self-respecting southerner would dream of offering a meal to a guest without a proper drink, so Pat and Gina have included some of their favorite libations here, too.The Neelys work, laugh, love, and play harder than any family you’ll ever meet. Their love for good food is infectious, and in Down Home with the Neelys, they bring their heavenly inspired cooking down to earth for all to share.

The Ipcress File


Len Deighton - 1962
    Len Deighton’s classic first novel, whose protagonist is a nameless spy – later christened Harry Palmer and made famous worldwide in the iconic 1960s film starring Michael Caine.The Ipcress File was not only Len Deighton’s first novel, it was his first bestseller and the book that broke the mould of thriller writing.For the working class narrator, an apparently straightforward mission to find a missing biochemist becomes a journey to the heart of a dark and deadly conspiracy.The film of The Ipcress File gave Michael Caine one of his first and still most celebrated starring roles, while the novel itself has become a classic.