An Impartial WitnessWorld War I nurse Bess Crawford, introduced in A Duty to the Dead, returns in an exciting new mystery in which a murder draws her inexorably into the sights of a cunning killer
It is the early summer of 1917. Bess Crawford has returned to England from the trenches of France with a convoy of severely wounded men. One of her patients is a young pilot who has been burned beyond recognition, and who clings to life and the photo of his wife that is pinned to his tunic.
While passing through a London train station, Bess notices a woman bidding an emotional farewell to an officer, her grief heart-wrenching. And then Bess realizes that she seems familiar. In fact, she's the woman in the pilot's photo, but the man she is seeing off is not her husband.
Back on duty in France, Bess discovers a newspaper with a drawing of the woman's face on the front page. Accompanying the drawing is a plea from Scotland Yard seeking information from anyone who has seen her. For it appears that the woman was murdered on the very day Bess encountered her at the station.
Granted leave to speak with Scotland Yard, Bess becomes entangled in the case. Though an arrest is made, she must delve into the depths of her very soul to decide if the police will hang an innocent man or a vicious killer. Exposing the truth is dangerous—and will put her own life on the line.
The Waters RisingShe is "one of sf's most distinctive voices" (Locus); a writer who "excels at surprises" (Oklahoma City Oklahoman) and "takes the mental risks that are the lifeblood of science fiction and all imaginative fiction" (Ursula K. Le Guin). The extraordinary Sheri S. Tepper creates bold tales, set in future societies, that offer provocative insights into our own world. The Waters Rising is her most ambitious and imaginative novel to date, a compelling saga of magic and science, intrigue and turmoil, war and peace, survival and extinction.
Long ago was the Big Kill, a time when the slaughterers walked the earth unseen, killing, departing, returning to kill again and again. Since then mountains have risen, deserts have fallen, the last of humankind has scattered; myth, superstition, and legend have replaced knowledge; and the great waters rising are changing the world.
In the west, the people of Norland live in small kingdoms, unaware that a hideous evil from ages past has been revived. Powers are being used. Curses are being laid . . . and the waters are rising as never before.
As forests drown, swamps become lakes, and roads disappear, houses—whole towns—are hitched to teams of oxen and moved upward. Misery is compounded when the Sea King declares war. No ships may sail on the new, growing oceans, and refugees from sunken islands continue to arrive.
And in Norland a cursed princess fights death, awaiting the one who can save not her, but perhaps humanity. She is tended by one fearful young girl, her servant and soul carrier, Xulai, a child of her own kind from the mystical kingdom of Tingawa. Upon her mistress's death, Xulai must return to their homeland to fulfill a sacred mission.
Accompanied by her protectors, Great Bear and Precious Wind, and guided by the mysterious wanderer Abasio and his talking horse, Big Blue, the band begins a journey to this land across the western sea where the waters' rising has long been expected. Their odyssey, fraught with peril and wonder, is long enough for plans to be made that are so strange, so audacious, that they are instantly dismissed; plans so potentially successful that an ancient killer must be awakened to stop their fulfillment.
Deeply original in scope and vision, The Waters Rising is a daring and remarkable work of fiction from a master of the craft.
"A Good Appetite," Melissa Clark's weekly feature in the New York Times Dining Section, is about dishes that are easy to cook and that speak to everyone, either stirring a memory or creating one. Now, Clark takes the same freewheeling yet well-informed approach that has won her countless fans and applies it to one hundred and fifty delicious, simply sophisticated recipes.
Clark prefaces each recipe with the story of its creation--the missteps as well as the strokes of genius--to inspire improvisation in her readers. So when discussing her recipe for Crisp Chicken Schnitzel, she offers plenty of tried-and-true tips learned from an Austrian chef; and in My Mother's Lemon Pot Roast, she gives the same high-quality advice, but culled from her own family's kitchen.
Memorable chapters reflect the way so many of us like to eat: Things with Cheese (think Baked Camembert with Walnut Crumble and Ginger Marmalade), The Farmers' Market and Me (Roasted Spiced Cauliflower and Almonds), It Tastes Like Chicken (Garlic and Thyme-Roasted Chicken with Crispy Drippings Croutons), and many more delectable but not overly complicated dishes.
In addition, Clark writes with Laurie Colwin-esque warmth and humor about the relationship that we have with our favorite foods, about the satisfaction of cooking a meal where everyone wants seconds, and about the pleasures of eating. From stories of trips to France with her parents, growing up (where she and her sister were required to sit on unwieldy tuna Nicoise sandwiches to make them more manageable), to bribing a fellow customer for the last piece of dessert at the farmers' market, Melissa's stories will delight any reader who starts thinking about what's for dinner as soon as breakfast is cleared away. This is a cookbook to read, to savor, and most important, to cook delicious, rewarding meals from.
Coming very soon:
Trail of BloodSeventy-five years ago, a madman nicknamed the Torso Killer terrorized Cleveland. His horrific spree lasted four years and crisscrossed the entire city. Overall, he was credited with more than a dozen murders. And he was never caught.
Today, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean is called to an abandoned building where a desiccated, decapitated body has been found in a room that's been sealed off for years. Although there's no immediate proof, everyone assumes the same thing: that the newly discovered corpse was a Torso Killer victim. The body has decayed beyond recognition, leaving few forensic clues, but Theresa sees this as an opportunity to shed some light on a big piece of Cleveland's past that until now has been shrouded in mystery.
But then another body—this one recently deceased—turns up, and all signs at the scene seem to indicate the work of a new Torso Killer. Suddenly, Theresa's investigation takes on a whole new meaning. Her examination of the old body has opened a door to the past—a door someone wanted to keep closed—and she shifts her focus from solving a historical puzzle to catching a very dangerous, present-day psychopath.
But as the body count rises, Theresa finds herself nearer to danger than she ever imagined. For the killer is keeping a watchful eye on Theresa, and she begins to feel his presence everywhere. Each step brings them closer and closer to each other—at one point separated by no more than a speeding train in a railroad switchyard—as Theresa scours the city in her hunt for a murderous lunatic intent on reliving a terrifying past.
Breaking NightThis Publisher’s Pick from Hyperion also gets a starred review from PW: “From runaway to Harvard student, Murray tells an engaging, powerfully motivational story about turning her life around after growing up the neglected child of drug addicts. When Murray was born in 1980, her former beatnik father was in jail for illegally trafficking in prescription painkillers, and her mother, a cokehead since age 13, had just barely missed losing custody of their year-old daughter, Lisa. Murray and her sister grew up in a Bronx apartment that gradually went to seed, living off government programs and whatever was left after the parents indulged their drug binges; Murray writes that drugs were the ‘wrecking ball’ that destroyed her family-- prompting her mother's frequent institutionalization for drug-induced mental illness and leading to her parents inviting in sexual molesters. By age 15, with the help of her best friend Sam and an elusive hustler, Carlos, she took permanently to the streets, relying on friends, sadly, for shelter. With the death of her mother, her runaway world came to an end, and she began her step-by-step plan to attend an alternative high school, which eventually led to a New York Times scholarship and acceptance to Harvard. In this incredible story of true grit, Murray went from feeling like ‘the world was filled with people who were repulsed by me’ to learning to receive the bountiful generosity of strangers who truly cared.”
Fever in the BoneScottish writer Val McDermid is one of the most respected authors at the scene of the crime, and Fever of the Bone offers a bravura display of her exceptional storytelling talents. Criminal profiler Tony Hill and his ally Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan are back in this terrifying psychological thriller, tracking down a brutal killer who’s targeting a group of young people through a social networking site. A winner of the Gold Dagger Award, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and an Edgar® Award nominee—a New York Times Notable author whose writing Entertainment Weekly calls, “smooth, confident, deeply satisfying,”—Val McDermid is a crime fiction force of nature. And Fever of the Bone is among her best.
He is psychologist and criminal profiler Dr. Tony Hill’s worst nightmare—a killer driven by the most perverted hungers and unmoved by youth and innocence, a killer with a long shopping list of victims who leaves no trail. The murder-mutilation of teenager Jennifer Maidment is horrific enough on its own, but Hill quickly realizes that it’s just the beginning of a chilling campaign targeting an apparently unconnected group of young people—victims that the monster has been grooming through a social networking site.
It is a case that is reawakening ghosts of Tony Hill’s past. And the longer it takes to uncover a motive and a maniac, the more innocent youth will die.
No comments:
Post a Comment