The author attempts to capture the personalities of rural America, shaped by poverty, cruelty and an odd compassion.

    It's really an avoidable mistake." Mentius is a character in The Methuselah Enzyme (1970), one of a score of novels by Fred Mustard Stewart (9/17/32-2/7/07) who, dead at 75, did not avail himself of the DNA modifications plausibly set out in that brisk shocker. Stewart came to be best known for his intercontinental sagas. Year in, year out, the 600-page mark didn't daunt him, a far cry as this was from early hopes as life as a concert pianist, something which had inspired his 1st novel The Mephisto Waltz (1968) which also began his lucrative connection with the film industry. Born in Anderson, IN, he was the son of a banker &, after the Lawrenceville school, near Princeton, NJ, he studied history at Princeton University & later piano at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. By the 1960s, he realised he wasn't going to succeed as a pianist & with marriage to a literary agent, Joan Richardson, in 1967, he began to write, & found immediate success with The Mephisto Waltz. With The Methuselah Enzyme, Stewart showed wit, but it was clear that it wasn't Henry James. There was, however, a certain charm to Six Weeks (1976), told by a married aspirant for a Democratic senatorial nomination who becomes infatuated with a cold-cream heiress, largely at the behest of her 11-year-old, would-be nymphet daughter who, beset by cancer, has less than two months to live. Nabokov it isn't, but certainly better than the 1982 film with Dudley Moore & Mary Tyler Moore.--Christopher Hawtree, The Guardian (edited)

    

    With Grace as his bride, Dylan finds new artistic inspiration, until he is called to war and Grace vanishes.

    Within these pages you will find chilling evidence of some of the very best crime novels and thrillers published from now until Christmas.Be it fascinating forensics or heart-stopping suspense, crime overseas or race-against the clock thriller, in this sampler there is a tantalising extract to tempt every reader.So make sure the lights are on and your front door is locked, and enjoy your own private investigation into the hottest crime books of the moment . .

    A collection of fifteen blue-collar stories, period and contemporary—1866 through the present.

    . . I couldn't tell him about the light in November. When it's easy not to notice the first signs of dusk. When shapes suddenly lose their edges and a girl moving quickly from behind a stationary bus, moving in the fading light, in the rain, in the November gloom, may be a ghost, a spirit, something from the Underworld, a phantom from out of my own mind."On a quiet road just outside London, in the blue half-light of dusk, a fatal car accident takes the life of thirteen-year-old Laura Jenkins, and her death changes the lives of two families forever. For Jack Philips, a married police officer with two small daughters, the consequences of that evening behind the wheel will force him to reassess everything he loves and to confront long-buried secrets from his past. For Lisa Jenkins, the loss of her daughter seems unbearable. As she struggles to find the courage to rebuild her life, her husband grows ever more reclusive, and Laura's presence continues to haunt her. Eventually, Lisa's and Jack's paths cross in surprising and shocking ways.In this heartbreaking and redemptive novel, Elizabeth Diamond explores the ripple effects of a single moment of tragedy--the journey from guilt to peace, from vengeance to forgiveness, from sorrow to hope--and even, ultimately, to joy. An Accidental Light is a tender and deeply affecting story that is not easily forgotten.

    She becomes intrigued by a 1908 safari and the British nobleman who died mysteriously. The further she probes, the more deeply she is drawn into past lives and ancient, mysterious forces of violence.

    Even the arrest of a suspect and Ingrid's newly established relationship with Zoë's father isn't enough to stop the nightmare from which there is no wakingEnslaved in her underground tomb, deprived of food and light and water, the girl Zoe once was steadily begins to disappear. Allowed to see and hear only what Thurman permits, she lives in a world that is all about his needs and wants being met...But over time Thurman will grow tired of the rapidly maturing Zoë. And when he decides it is time to get rid of her, Zoë must finally make her bid for freedom.Forgetting Zoë is a moving, epic tale of courage, survival, horror and loss, that explores how a bond of affection and intimacy can develop between captive and captor.

    I should have swooned. Instead, I walked toward him quite calmly, or I thought I was calm. Yet I do remember wondering if I had combed my hair that morning. I do remember being glad I had worn a bra and wishing it were not so plain and businesslike. And I remember thinking of one more thing to add to my 'before I die' list - not the list I'd written out of things a person can actually arrange on purpose, but the mental list of things I would most likely die without: passion. It is a measure of how dazzled I was that I completely failed to see any significance in such a thought at that particular moment." And so begins The Falconer, a stunning love story set in the Sierra Nevada mountains, about two ordinary people whose lives are transformed by love. India Blake realizes that she has let her life pass in dutiful commitments, without living fully, without achieving her dream of adventure and love. And then she meets Rhodri, a master falconer who teaches her how to fly falcons - and with whom she discovers the passion and deep connection she has been missing.

    The once successful LA swimsuit model returns to her small upstate New York town to buy back the foreclosed trailer she once called home. Her menagerie of rescue animals travel with her.She doesn’t expect to see her former high school sweetheart, the athletic, ever-popular, and decisive Fernando Brandt.Sparks fly when she realizes that the teenage hockey star is now a successful Realtor who is also interested in her dilapidated trailer for reasons of his own.But can she resist the handsome, charismatic Prince Charming a second time?And can she surrender her insecurities and accept the true gift of Christmas, finally feeling worthy of unconditional love?

    in communications, reluctantly joins the other seven scholars at the insistence of his father-in-law, a prominent televangelist. Anney, Stephen's wife, who bears an old grudge against the Mormons, fears that he has been thrust into a study that may influence his protestant beliefs. As Stephen absorbs the truths of the Book of Mormon, a wedge is driven between them that could ultimately destroy their marriage.This extraordinary novel rivets the reader's interest on several different levels--intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Will Peter Polk, the project coordinator, be able to carry off this study? Will his scholarly conclave reach any substantial conclusions about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon? And will Stephen risk losing his wife and family if he embraces a new faith?

    . . A brutal blue norther is battering Wind River Valley just in time for Christmas when retired Marine Travis Grant spies a driver spinning out of control on black ice. It’s probably a tourist who doesn’t understand the deadly conditions, and Travis knows he has to help. The last person he expects to find behind the wheel is his childhood sweetheart, Kassie Murphy. She’s injured, but alive. And now, for Travis and Kassie, this snowy silent night will be one last chance to put the painful past behind them—and treat the wounds only love can heal.  Praise for Lindsay McKenna’s Wind River Rancher “Moving and real . . . impossible to put down.”—Publisher’s Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

    Her boyfriend, Rob, can't understand why she's spending so much time at work, but for Laura, the animals aren't just a job - they're her life. She needs a partner who understands that - doesn't she?As the December snow falls, Laura encounters nine people, all of whom need a little love in their lives and find it in new pets. Everyone needs somebody to curl up with at Christmas, and when the handsome Aaron walks in, he takes not just Felicia, but Laura's heart too...A heart-warming tale about loneliness, love, and the importance of furry friends - perfect to snuggle up with this Christmas.

    How To Be A Public Author will take the debate to another level. It will get everyone talking – and laughing – even more about Britain’s biggest annual book bonanza.Francis Plug is a troubled and often drunk misfit who causes chaos and confusion wherever he goes – and where he most likes to go is to real author events, collecting signatures from the likes of Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Eleanor Catton.As he adds to this collection of signed Booker first editions, Francis – a wannabe author himself – is also helpfully writing a self-help manual. This is devised with the novice writer in mind, and full of sage wisdom and useful tidbits to help ease freshly published novelists into the demands and rigors of author events, readings, and general life in the public eye.So, “If you’re provided with a hands-free mic, clipped to your lapel, don’t forget to turn it off when you visit the toilet, or if you need to vomit before your event.” Likewise, it’s always good to be wary of the germs of fans – and “considering the use of elbow-length dishwashing gloves at book signings, and a large, easy-wipe kitchen apron.” And so too, cultivating a photographic ‘look’ for the many publicity shots you will be subjected to is also a good idea – Francis’s personal choice being that of Macaulay McCulkin in Home Alone.With advice like this, and Francis’ warm and deranged personality, How To Be A Public Author will prove ESSENTIAL reading for anyone with an interest in the literary world.How To Be A Public Author is a brilliant slapstick comedy, blurring fact and fantasy to astonishing effect, and it is also a surprising and touching meditation on loneliness and finding a place in the world. The Man Booker Prize becomes a springboard to explore what it means to be an author – and a human being – in the twenty-first century.