Desolate, she nursed her stricken neighbors. But the few who would survive the sickness were doomed anyway. Every survivor would be cursed, and each would become outcast, for the curses were more deadly than the plague itself. Some survivors would gain powers of healing--and equally the power to inflict disease at the merest touch. Some would see the future--and it would drive them mad. And some curses were even worse . . . Under the law, no one could shelter the Cursed, but Gwin took in a young girl. Who could predict that her simple act of outlaw kindness would change her life--and her world--forever?THE CURSED is an epic tale of mortals swept up in the maelstrom of destiny, of unforgiving fate, and of new beginnings. Journey with Dave Duncan into the world of THE CURSED.

    Buchan’s resourceful, German-speaking spy is partly based on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, an espionage operative during the Second Boer War. The Richard Hannay Collection – The 39 Steps, Greenmantle and Mr Standfast presents the first and best three Richard Hannay adventures: The Thirty Nine StepsHannay arrives in London on the eve of World War I, where he meets an American agent seeking help in stopping a political assassination. Before long, Hannay finds himself in possession of a little black book that holds the key to the conspiracy — and on the run from both the police and members of a mysterious organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden.Greenmantle Hannay is called in to investigate rumors of an uprising in the Muslim world, and undertakes a perilous journey through enemy territory to meet his friend Sandy in Constantinople. Once there, he and his friends must thwart the Germans' plans to use religion to help them win the war, climaxing at the battle of Erzurum.Mr StandfastRecalled from duty on the Western Front by spymaster Sir Walter Bullivant, Hannay goes undercover as a pacifist, working to outwit a dangerous German spy and his agents. Guided by his contact—and love interest—Mary Lamington, Hannay tracks his enemy from London to Glasgow to the Scottish Highlands, eventually confronting him in a dramatic climax above the battlefields of Europe. The title refers to a character in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, to which there are many other references in the novel; Hannay uses a copy of Pilgrim's Progress to decipher coded messages from his contacts, and letters from his friend Peter Pienaar.This digital edition of The Richard Hannay Collection – The 39 Steps, Greenmantle and Mr Standfast includes an image gallery.

    After eight years in juvenile detention and an escape from the Landers School for Boys, Flint returns home to the one person he loves and trust, his sister Cecile. Together they rob and terrorize a local doctor, steal their mother’s car, and strike out alone on a desperate journey south to the Crow Indian Reservation their ancestors once lived upon. But is Cecile Flint’s accomplice or his hostage? No one knows. Only Marie Zimmer, the children’s deaf aunt, understands the strange logic of their crimes, desires, fears, and devotion to each other. Marie has stories to tell, and though she will not speak, she is the only one bold enough to share the tale of Flint and Cecile. In this devastatingly passionate story, the tales of a silent woman struggling to unravel the web of generational family violence are revealed through the celebration of life in the midst of sorrow. In the fierce light of her imagination, Marie interweaves the past and the present, inventing a language of signs subtle enough to illuminate the mysterious ways we are all connected.

    The author of the award-winning Blue Angel now offers the trenchant, bitingly funny adventures of a Haitian au pair in an eccentric upper-class Hudson Valley household.

    Set in New Orleans at the turn of the 21st century, this continuation of the highly acclaimed Night People provides a stark, eccentric, and wholly original plunge into the dark and grimy world of just revenge, as it vividly tracks the lives of individuals intent on making a profound difference in the world before they are willingly or forcibly removed from it.

    And in the great glass tower of Eldorado TV they are getting ready to cut and edit a major series that will outshine "Brideshead" and "The Jewel in the Crown".

    They illuminate the gritty idiosyncrasies of immigrant life in urban barrios spanning Los Angeles to Chicago to Harlem. Rodríguez lends powerful voices to those struggling to keep the gas on, to find work, and to keep love.  Populated by a vibrant cast of characters, ranging from the drugged, to the eccentric, to the heartbroken, Rodríguez’s poems protest capitalism, violence, and exploitation while reveling in the potential of compassion.

    Wheels spin within wheels in Spark’s comedy of betrayals and terrorism, set in her beloved Venice.Layers of intrigue; triangulating love affairs; murders; international spy-craft; adultery; parental interference; the sweet careless rapture of youth; unmarked graves — Territorial Rights claims much ground and Muriel Spark enjoys a wicked dance on it.

    For eleven cents—all the money in his pocket—he buys a soda bottle’s worth of moonshine. Farther down the road, he takes two turnips and a handful of string beans from a kitchen garden and beds down for the night in a haystack. It is still dark out when he wakes up to a dog licking his forehead and a man pointing a pistol in his face. Despite the awkward introduction, Music and Regus Bone are soon friends. Bone is a guard at Hardcastle Coal Co., whose owner will do anything to keep his employees from unionizing. For the irresistible wage of three dollars a day, Music—outfitted with an ancient, misfiring revolver and a holster made from a feed sack—hires on as a watchman despite his queasy feelings about the job. His attraction to the young widow of a miner killed by a former guard only deepens his discomfort, and when he and Bone catch a pair of union organizers, they make a decision that will change their lives and Switch County forever. Inspired by real events, Hardcastle is a stirring tribute to the power of friendship and family in a time and place in which the price of integrity is more than a man on his own can bear.

    TALKING WITH GODIn Don Camillo's Little World, where the Cold War is fought on the very doorstep of life, the hot-headed Catholic priest and the equally pugnacious Communist mayor, Peppone, confront one another in riotous and often hilarious manner.But when Don Camillo unburdens himself in the village church a voice from the cross above the high altar responds and his conversations with Il Cristo begin. We watch and listen, as with fascinating insights and gentle humour the prejudices of the stubborn priest are undermined, a resolution to conflict emerges, and the situation is transformed to the benefit of the community.It is then that we see that the ideas and values of Don Camillo's Little World are true for all times, the world over...Inimitable, delicious, full of pure fun THE OBSERVERIn this brand new, authorised edition of Giovanni Guareschi's enchanting classic, nineteen stories never before translated into English are published for the first time. Set in an isolated village amidst the sultry beauty of Italy s Lower Plain, The Little World of Don Camillo has been enjoyed by countless folk from 10 to 100, not only in book form, but also on film, TV and radio, and most recently as an audio-book.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Rudolfo Anaya returns to the deeply spiritual themes of his hugely popular Bless Me, Ultima with this insightful tale of a prophet and his message to save humankind from itself.

    Cynical, ne'er-do-well New Yorker John Wiley, seeking to get away from it all, meets up with a self-destructive young heiress and earns the disfavor of the South American syndicate which controls the black market in Colombian emeralds.

    In fact, he has made it a personal quest to dispel all unhappiness from his life. But it's harder than it sounds: he's approaching thirty, a downmarket DJ by day (and a struggling writer by night), living in a cramped Manhattan apartment. His friends are always there for him -- or are they Annie, his closest friend, is getting married to a man David dubs "Rat Boy"; Dustin and Cameron, David's cohorts in the city, are doing the unthinkable and settling down; and Zach, David's model of cool, as aloof and evasive as a wisp of smoke, is harboring a secret that could capsize the whole crew. On top of everything, David finds himself falling in love with Jane, a younger woman whose wit and charm are matched only by her instability.The Big Happy asks the big questions: Can love and happiness coexist? Are we doomed to live out the mistakes of our youth? Do friendships ripen, or rot, as we age? For David, the prospect of happiness has never been quite so depressing.

    Little writes about the world he used to inhabit, a place filled with drugs, crime and danger at every turn. His electrifying prose brings to life the rough, raw, and seedy life of Boston's underworld where corruption lies at the heart of every deception.Bobbie is a young criminal prodigy. Living in Boston he's approached by a mysterious Greek on behalf of an anonymous shipping tycoon, who wants to commission a theft. The Fogg museum is the target; a collection of ancient Greek coins the score. Everything goes fine with the burglary, but with easy street just around the corner Bobbie's life takes an unexpected twist and his big score evaporates. With his life on the line, Bobbie must learn who he can trust when trusting anyone can make you lose everything. Steel Toes is as close to reality as fiction can get. Little draws you in with his knife sharp writing, his authentic and unflinching characters and plot as tight and strong as the hold of addiction.