By the writer Milan Kundera called Czechoslovakia's greatest contemporary writer comes a novel (now in English for the first time) peopled with eccentric, unforgettable inhabitants of a home for the elderly who reminisce about their lives and their changing country. Written with a keen eye for the absurd and sprinkled with dialogue that captures the poignancy of the everyday, this novel allows us into the mind of an elderly woman coming to terms with the passing of time. Praise for Too Loud a Solitude: "Short, sharp and eccentric. Sophisticated, thought-provoking and pithy." --Spectator "Unmissable, combines extremes of comedy and seriousness, plus pathos, slapstick, sex and violence all stirred into one delicious brew." --The Guardian "In imaginative riches and sheer exhilaration it offers more than most books twice its size. At once tender and scatological, playful and sombre, moving and irresistibly funny." --The Independent on Sunday Praise for I Served the King of England: "A joyful, picaresque story, which begins with Baron Munchausen-like adventures and ends in tears and solitude." -- James Wood, The London Review of Books "A comic novel of great inventiveness ... charming, wise, and sad--and an unexpectedly good laugh." --The Philadelphia Inquirer "An extraordinary and subtly tragicomic novel." --The New York Times "Dancing Lessons unfurls as a single, sometimes maddening sentence. The gambit works. Something about that slab of wordage carries the eye forward, promising an intensity simply unattainable by your regularly punctuated novel." --Ed Park, The New York Times Book Review

Thomas Berger’s modern hero Carlo Reinhart is thrust into the strangest chapter of his life yet Carlo Reinhart’s life has taken many turns. From his idealistic youth in Crazy in Berlin, to his entrance into adulthood in Reinhart in Love, through his uneasy tumble into middle age in Vital Parts, Reinhart has never lost his philosophical and even-minded disposition.  Reinhart’s Women finds Reinhart divorced and living with his daughter, Winona, a successful model. His newest hobby is cooking, and he has become surprisingly accomplished for an amateur. But when he asks a woman over for a homemade lunch, Reinhart’s idyll is shattered. Adventures and misadventures conspire to put his nascent cooking skills to the test—and turn him into a postmodern celebrity. With Reinhart, Berger has created one of the great comic characters of the twentieth century—a man who beautifully represents, and parodies, his moment. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Thomas Berger including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

“Constant action and top-notch writing.” —New York Times A Palm Beach playboy who amuses himself with murder finds himself on a collision course with a vacationing Motown cop in Elmore Leonard’s Split Images—a gripping and electrifying example of noir gold from “the coolest, hottest writer in America” (Chicago Tribune).  Split Images is Grand Master Leonard at the top of his game, a bravura example of how exemplary crime fiction is done by a writer who stands tall among the all-time mystery greats: John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, et al. The brilliant creator of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (of TV’s Justified) now brings us a cast of vivid and unforgettable characters on both sides of the law, in a twisting masterwork of unrelenting suspense that the Washington Post calls, “Brilliant...impressive...superb.”

“SF writing of a rare quality” lifts this collection of stories from the renowned author of The Hustler and The Man Who Fell to Earth – Time Out The author of the competitive pool thriller “The Hustler” and the groundbreaking sci-fi novel “The Man Who Fell to Earth”, Walter Tevis was also a master of the short story. His work was published in Playboy, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and many other magazines. This anthology collects some of his best short work. Full of wit, surprise, dark humor, and deep emotion, these stories pack a punch – and are ideal for fans of his longer work or those looking for an introduction to one of America’s most iconic sci-fi writers. “The poetic imprints of a fine writer’s trail.” – The Times (London) Contents PART ONE: CLOSE TO HOME 1. Rent Control (1979) 2. A Visit From Mother (1981) 3. Daddy (1981) 4. The Apotheosis of Myra (1980) 5. Out of Luck (1980) 6. Echo (1980) 7. Sitting in Limbo (1981) PART TWO: FAR FROM HOME 8. The Other End of the Line (1961) 9. The Big Bounce (1958) 10. The Goldbrick (1957) 11. The Ifth of Oofth (1957) 12. The Scholar’s Disciple (1969) 13. Far From Home (1958)

A Northern lawyer in a Southern town risks his life to bring a killer to justice in this suspenseful legal thriller by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author. A Yankee through and through, Adam Shaw never felt at ease among the upper crust of the Deep South. An attorney to some of the most powerful people in Alabama, he is close with only two of them. When Adam's best friend, Henry Cantwell, disappears after his wife is murdered, Adam starts asking questions, delving beneath the town's tranquil facade. While the police hunt for the killer, Adam risks everything—his professional standing, his marriage, and his very life to save Henry from the electric chair and bring the right man to justice.

The stories in Liars in Love are concerned with troubled relations and the elusive nature of truth. Whether it be in the depiction of the complications of divorced families, grown-up daughters, estranged sisters, office friendships or fleeting love affairs, the pieces in this collection showcase Richard Yates's extraordinary gift for observation and his understanding of human frailty.

Trouble seems to follow Chief Superintendent George Gently even on a French vacation. While day-dreaming by the quaint old harbour in Honfleur, violence strikes. First he is thrown into the water, then shortly afterwards someone tries to shoot him, narrowly missing him on two occasions. Gently is mystified, as are the Honfleur police. He knows of no enemies, French or English, or of any reason why anyone should be after him. Local police think he may have upset the plans of a thief stalking the Antiques Fair just opening in Honfleur, but senior officials from Paris have a much graver theory. In company with the charming Gabrielle Orbec - who may or may not be an accomplice of Gently's attacker - Gently plays the role of decoy. Apparently just a sightseer on the beaches of Normandy and in the sunlit, cobbled market squares, Gently, with the French Surete close behind, lays a trap for a very much wanted man. **

Out of print for 20 years, this first novel written by New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper includes a bonus novella, Masquerade, which originally appeared in the anthology Hearts of Gold.

These four last prose fictions by Samuel Beckett were originally published individually, and their composition spanned the final decade of his life. In Company a solitary hearer lying in blackness calls up images from the far-off past. Ill Seen Ill Said meditates upon an old woman living out her last days alone in an isolated snow-bound cottage, watched over by twelve mysterious sentinels. In Worstward Ho, a breathless speaker unravels the sense of things, acting out the unending injunction to ‘Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ And Stirrings Still, published in the Guardian a few months before Beckett’s death in 1989, is the last prose work and testament of ‘this great soothsayer of the age, and of the aged’ (Christopher Ricks). The present edition includes several short prose texts (Heard in the Dark I & II, One Evening, The Way, Ceiling) which represent work in progress or works ancillary to the composition of these late masterpieces. Edited by Dirk Van Hulle.

Long out of print, this novel by one of the major voices in contemporary science fiction and fantasy will enthrall you, charm you, and make you care deeply about two of the most engaging characters you're ever likely to meet between the two covers of a book.'Smile a lot, yes, and then weep a little, and hold your breath, and wonder at the wisdom and the whimsy of it ...depending on how much you bring to it, the book is metaphor, it is fable; it makes a statement, has a moral, looks back at you, from time to time, like a mirror.' — Theodore Sturgeon, Twilight Zone'A lively and entertaining fairy tale.'—Publisher's Weekly'The bittersweet climax not only surprised me, it choked me up a little.'—Peter Stampfel, The Village Voice'Anyone who has ever doubted the psychological link between fantasy and life will be quickly corrected by this insightful and highly recommended novel.'—Roger C. Schlobin, Fantasy Newsletter'A depth and freshness of observation that is uncommonly astute and...

In this collection of nine short stories Findley gives us a three-tiered look at life in the eighties as he explores the realities of contemporary relationships, offers imaginative visions of urban life, and examines the divisive and destructive acts played out on the personal battlegrounds of family life. In Stones, Findley exposes the sharp changes in the traditional institutions of love, marriage, and family through a vivid terrain of images and insightful stories. Reflecting our changing times with stunning clarity, the tales reveal the menacing and enigmatic aspects of our daily lives.

Louis Pinell, the recently apprehended "Icepick Prowler," freely admits to having slain seven young women nine years ago -- but be swears it was a copycat who killed Barbara Ettinger Matthew Scudder believes him. But the trail to Ettinger's true murderer is twisted, dark and dangerous. . . and even colder than the almost decade-old corpse the p. i. is determined to avenge.

*Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] * ACE #1 In the midst of an international crisis, Heidi Milligan, a beautiful, brilliant American naval commander, accidentally discovers an obscure reference to the long-buried North American Treaty, a precedent-shattering secret pact between the United States and Great Britain. The President believes that the treaty offers the single shot at salvation for an energy-starved, economically devastated nation, but the only two copies plummeted into the watery depths of the Atlantic in twin disasters long ago. The original document must be found—and the one American who can do the job is Dirk Pitt. But in London, a daring counterplot is being orchestrated to see that the treaty is never implemented. Brian Shaw, a master spy who has often worked hand in hand with American agents, now confronts his most challenging command. Pitt’s mission: Raise the North American Treaty. Shaw’s mission: Stop Pitt.   Praise for Night Probe! and the Dirk Pitt® novels   “A rich tale . . . an absorbing, carefully told mystery with plenty of surprises.”—*Los Angeles Times *  “Dirk Pitt is a combination James Bond and Jacques Cousteau.”—New York Daily News**

Terry Kovak is chosen for an elite squad of soldiers so deadly its own country cannot acknowledge its existence. As a member of the Dog Team, Kovak becomes the most feared soldier of his time--until he is no longer needed. Now, he's forced to fight a war of his own.