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The Mustachioed Woman of Shanghai
Isham Cook - 2020
American expat author Isham Cook has disappeared. His last known history is chronicled by an exotic woman who seems right out of 1930s Shanghai herself, Marguerite, a mustachioed Afghan-American who weaves Persian rugs and deals in psychedelics. As she tells it, Isham's story all began with Luna, a beguiling but troubled Chinese woman who happens to have a mustache herself. Also vying for Isham's affection is the charismatic Kitty, who conspires to entrap him in a cyberweb of obsession and betrayal.Fans of Cook's fiction will recognize in this psychological thriller set in modern China his signature world of startling plot turns in an unsettling yet compelling landscape of ideas.
The Commuter
Patrick Oster - 2014
After Barnaby Gilbert got laid off with a nice severance, his boss suggested he take up a new hobby to fill up his free time. On his regular commuter train, Barnaby got an idea what that hobby would be. He decided to satisfy a curiosity he’d long had. An avid birder, he began tracking some regular passengers — people he’d always wondered about — to see where they went and what they did. In following a Chinese man, a schoolgirl, and a sexy woman, he used the same techniques he had to add hawks and herons to his life list. But in this quirky, tongue-in-cheek thriller, he found out pretty fast that humans were a much more dangerous species.
Brownout - 666: or the Real Meaning of the Swastika
John Richard Spencer - 2012
Rick Daly has established a business in the exotic surroundings of the Philippines, while simultaneously discovering Marilyn Delgado, the woman of his dreams. However, a clash of cultures and his own naiveté lead to disaster. Falsely accused of a sexual crime, Rick loses both his freedom and his business. To add insult to injury, a prison escape merely amounts to switching jails. In a world where the rich prosper, honest individuals are forced to the wall, and a cynical disregard for all but the dollar is destroying society from within, crime soon follows punishment for Rick. Close to losing his soul, will Rick's ultimate success in drug and arms dealing finally lead him to face up to reality? Difficult to put down and including erotic scenes, this is a high octane adventure, which will take the reader into a sea of cultural and ethical flashpoints, while exposing huge cracks in the world’s political and social order.
Western Song
Leigh Podgorski - 2017
The day after the accident, while going through Cod’s papers, lawyer Wynona Vasquez discovers that he had been secretly engaged to a Thai immigrant who is arriving by train that evening. Elected by unanimous decision to be the welcoming committee, Weston arrives at the train station prepared for anything but the lovely forlorn creature he finds waiting in the rain. Though appearing waif-like, Song Phan-Rang is anything but fragile. Her mettle quickly rises to the surface in her determination to remain in Y-oh-ming. Forced together by their circumstances, Weston and Song are explosive. Used to solitude, Weston is driven crazy by the obliging Song. But as Song shows her prowess not only as a housekeeper and cook, but as a rider and rancher as well, Weston discovers that against his best efforts (and damned if he'll ever admit it) -- he's falling in love. The morning after the Christmas Cotillion, where cowboys by the dozen lined up for a dance with the exotic Song, and Weston wrangled the last one, she discovers her visa has expired. Pledging her Uncle Thieu's farm in Thailand as a dowry, Song asks Weston to marry her. Swearing that this is not a good idea at all -- he does. Song blossoms in America. Weston's sister Olive, a schoolteacher, helps Song with her English, and introduces her to the ideas of the Founding Fathers, most notably Tom Paine. Firebrand and activist Wynona employs Song in her office. Her first assignment is working with Shoshone shaman MAD BULL and Bull's young assistant, Jack Deerstalker as they fight a referendum that would allow gambling on their reservation. As winter melts into spring, Song and Weston continue to profess their marriage is simply one of convenience, though it is obvious to everybody that the two are in love. Obvious to everyone that is, but Jack Deerstalker who has fallen for her himself. One night as Weston returns earlier than expected from a rodeo, he finds Jack in his living room, alone with Song. Enraged, Weston explodes, throwing Jack out of the house. That night a fierce winter storm blows. The creek rises and floods, endangering thirty head of cattle caught on the other side. Song springs into action, riding side by side with Weston. When a baby calf slips into the icy creek, Song plunges in after it. Together, Weston and Song pull the animal free. Weston is knocked speechless by her bravery. Later, as he warms her by a roaring fire, Song and Weston make love for the first time. A few days later, Wynona and Song are introduced to the case of illegal immigrant Thai workers, forced to toil as slaves in the garment industry in El Segundo, California. Song becomes deeply involved with the workers and their plight – the search for a desperate promise of freedom. With her work, she discovers the power true freedom holds. But her work and growing sense of the true power of freedom begins to tear at the budding love between Weston and Song. Meanwhile, the referendum Jack, Wynona, and Song fought so hard against has been defeated. There will be no gambling on the reservation. Jack organizes a rodeo to raise money for an investment deal for the reservation. Weston agrees to ride – on one condition. Jack gets the bull, Baby Face that killed Cody.The night before the rodeo, Weston finds a letter Song has written to the garment workers she is helping. “We are, every one of us, entitled to a life with dignity. To life with honor. There are those who would attempt to steal our dignity, to seize our honor. But it is only when we allow this deepest core of our being to be ripped from us that we become enslaved. Remember, you, too, have been touched by God.”The next morning, Weston leaves for the rodeo without her. At the rodeo, in an eerie replay of Cody’s accident, the bull throws Weston. Song nurses Weston back to health, but still torn between freedom's power and her growing love, Song knows she must ultimately choose. Several weeks later, with Weston well on his way to mending, Song and Olive host a dinner party at Snowy Moon to celebrate Weston’s recovery. Along with Zeb, Jack Deerstalker and Mad Bull are there to join in the festivities. But in the middle of the revelry, the phone rings: it’s Jenny Chang and it’s about the case of the immigrant workers.Song knows she must go.The next day, Weston drives her to the train station.Returning to the ranch, Weston, still suffering from his injuries, limps painfully to the corral, and saddles up his horse. He rides across the rolling plains to the waterfall where he and Song had spent so much time in happier times now long gone by. Watching the water tumble by like his lost hope, suddenly, Weston picks up a stone, and fires it into the tumultuous fall. He whistles for his horse, and throws himself into the saddle.Across the plains, the train continues to roll. Inside, an uproar arises among the passengers. Song forces her way to the window. Outside, riding like hell, is Weston.Song’s heart begins to pound.And suddenly, she knows….Finally, she knows.Song grabs her suitcase, and elbows her way through the crowd.Before the train fully stops, she is bounding from the platform…and rushing into Weston’s arms.
Quantum Roots
Kyle Keyes - 2012
Author Kyle Keyes uses characters from two previous novels, to promote a theory that particle energy formats with a quantum root system, that can bypass time and space. Keyes believes that such fiction could turn to fact as we move into the age of quantum mechanics. Adventure fans everywhere should delight in this fast paced action story, that brings yesterday's gun play back to settle cyber-age injustice. Synopsis: Jesse Joe Jacks was born sometime during the snow blizzard of 1923. The Lower Elk County, game warden died from a lightning strike on July 23, 1959, while wearing a sheriff's star. Olan Chapman came to life in August of 1974 and found a computer career with a center city, electronics firm. Chapman drinks heavy and is haunted by flashbacks of an older sister, lost to an unsolved case of gang rape and murder. Jacks loved nature and lived to protect wildlife. He stood tall and fought to uphold justice. Jacks was also a crack shot with a firearm - any firearm. Chapman attends the theatre, plays piano and at one time led a march against the National Rifle Association. Both men have the same fingerprints, much to the chagrin of Lt General Alexis Grumman who heads the federal department for para-normal activities. Working with special agent, Jeremy Wade, Grumman breaks open the case when Chapman's fingerprints also match those of the vigilante.
When the Side Nigga His Brother
Cherlina Works - 2016
The power of their charm takes them on a journey that leaves a trail of broken hearts and random cuddy buddies. They lived by the laws of “do not tell them that you love them and never ever sleep over”. However, that all changed the day they both met Tyla. The brothers engage in a bitter battle to win her heart and suddenly blood didn’t matter. Rules were made to be broken, right? When Tyla falls in love with one and disregards the other, it breaks the bonds between Tyri and Tyrease; neither of them saw it coming. Tyla was beautifully tempting, and women like her didn’t come around too often. Nevertheless, to fall in love with your brother’s girl is the ultimate betrayal, or is it? Will the love for one woman forever break their brotherly bond, or will they learn to accept what cards they were dealt? When the Side Nigga His Brother, the fight to be with the one you love, could very well cost you the love of another.
Teenagers War: Vietnam 1969
Michael Zboray - 2019
The buses pull out of the holding station every hour. They are headed for Travis Air force base just north of the city, filled with a seemingly endless supply of young men who are themselves filled with doubts and fears. Of course, the doubt and fear is not allowed out in the open. It is instead tucked neatly away in a very private place. A place it can hide and grow, like a virus, as the journey continues.
The Sight of Demons
Darin C. Brown - 2017
The terrifying shadows engulf him and everyone he knows—yet nobody else notices their presence.Hunter can’t escape them, so he sets out to understand them. Why do they follow him? What are they trying to tell him?In this first installment of the Master of Perceptions series, pre-teen Hunter discovers that every sensation the demons produce—whether it be sight, sound, texture, flavor, or smell—has a different meaning, and that by breaking this code, he just might be able to harness their power.
Brainwalker
Robyn Mundell - 2016
The only problem is that neither his school nor his ultra-rational physicist father appreciate his unique ideas. When he reacts to a stressful situation at school by mooning the class, his suspension sends him straight to his father’s workplace. After his frustrated father leaves him unattended, Bernard does what any teen would do: wander into the particle accelerator and accidentally get transported through a wormhole! It doesn’t take long for Bernard to realize he’s in deep trouble. Not only did the wormhole drop him in the middle of a civil war over a depleted resource, but the battle is actually taking place inside his father’s brain. Bernard has one chance to save the dying side of his father’s creative brain from the tyrannical left side. Can he use his outside-the-box thinking to save his father’s life?Brainwalker is a young adult sci-fi fantasy novel that turns the world of neuroscience on its head. If you like incredible fantasy worlds, fast-paced entertainment, and the human mind, then you’ll love Robyn Mundell and Stephan Lacast’s amazing journey inside the brain. Buy Brainwalker to help the mind survive today!
Shadows of Atlantis: Awakening
Mara Powers - 2018
Her sacred betrothal would renew the elemental function of the Crystal Grid that powers the ten kingdoms of Atlantis. But her people are attacked by a storm of shadows, and now she is running for her life. Upon her arrival in the ruling city, she meets D’Vinid, a dejected musician who lives the quintessential Atlantean lifestyle of revelry, escapism and apathy. Under the eclipse of a holy festival, they are swept into an attraction they cannot resist. Their union may protect humanity from its worst enemy - the shadows of Atlantis. But there is one problem, this man is not her betrothed. Brigitte discovers the Grid is corrupted by psychic parasites that feed off human suffering, an epidemic called “the madness”. The rituals required to charge the Grid with psychic emanations have been poorly attended, and this has caused the Grid to malfunction. But as nature always strives toward balance, the crystals have activated a genetic upgrade among the people. The youth have begun to express supernatural powers. Could it be that D’Vinid and Brigitte are meant to be leaders among the awakened? And if so, why does it seem impossible for them to be together? A mysterious tale of romance, seduction and betrayal that reaches just enough into the modern mind to ask - will we learn the lessons of Atlantis?
The Ultimate Religion
Gillian Dance - 2019
A story of the making and breaking of convictions and loyalties and the quest for actual truth.Quoting biblical scriptures to illuminate the characters’ mindsets, this book will resonate powerfully with those who have experience of such 'churches' or who wish to understand the mentality of people who lead and join such organisations.
Six Days of the Condor
James Grady - 1974
He contacts CIA headquarters for help but when an attempted rendezvous goes wrong, it quickly becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Malcolm disappears into the streets of Washington, hoping to evade the killers long enough to unravel the conspiracy—but will that be enough to save his life?
Pilgrims at the White Horizon
Michael Wyndham Thomas - 2013
That wasn’t Keith Huxtable, expert handyman, but since he’s just about the only person who remembers their world’s fleeting appearance in a 1950s comic strip, he’s the one they’ve got pegged! The unfinished bits are spreading. Eating away at Razalia. Beings are falling in and they don’t come out. Can Keith fix it? And get back home in time to save his comics collection and his marriage?A tribute to the magic of British annuals! A father and daughter in an intergalactic adventure beyond imagination! The story you weren’t expecting but will never forget!
The Brothers Silver
Marc Jampole
Downstairs in the basement, their mother is unconscious, having swallowed hundreds of Librium while the brothers were at Boy Scout camp, her latest suicide attempt. The food cupboards are empty. The phone doesn’t give a dial tone. As the sun goes down, the kitchen grows cold. The boys sit in silence, waiting for their mother to die. She doesn’t, but the guilt and anger they feel haunt the brothers for decades. The Brothers Silver follows Jules and Leon as they try to find their unanchored way through the cultural upheavals of the second half of the 20th century. The younger Leon lives on the drug-addled edges of society. The older brother, Jules, falls into a destructive relationship that parallels his past insecurities and chaos. What lies in store for the Silver brothers? Recovery or turmoil?The 12 chapters of The Brothers Silver unfold in ten voices, each of which has its own language and style, making the novel a tour de force of technique in the American tradition of accessible literary innovation established by Heller, Pynchon, and Wallace.
Arrangement in Black and White
Fred Misurella - 2014
But their conflicts are more than racial. Margy's from Iowa, an artist, the product of an abusive mother and neglectful father. Everet's from Connecticut, a civil rights lawyer on the rise toward greater recognition, and their lives take a tense turn when he decides to run for political office just as Margy moves forward in her own career. Arrangement in Black and White captures the conflicts that give edge and interest to all meaningful love stories, yet it does so with an eye toward modern women, interracial politics, and the human inability to balance passion with social, public life. It is a powerful story for contemporary readers.