Whether he is evoking the blind carnage of the Tet offensive, the theatrics of his fellow Americans, or the unraveling of his own illusions, Wolff brings to this work the same uncanny eye for detail, pitiless candor and mordant wit that made This Boy's Life a modern classic. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Catherine Jinks's follow-up to PAGAN'S CRUSADE is another tale with special appeal for boys -- filled with action, featuring a witty young narrator, and loaded with down-and-dirty details of medieval life. The year is 1188, and Jerusalem is in the hands of the Infidel. Upstanding Crusaders and their squires--like Lord Roland Roucy de Bram and Pagan Kidrouk--are returning to Europe, hoping to rally more knights to their cause. The sardonic young Pagan expects Lord Roland's family to be the picture of fortitude and good manners, but he is in for a rude awakening. Brutish and unfeeling, the de Bram clan cares nothing for the Crusades, or indeed for anything outside their neighborhood in France. Meanwhile, local unrest is brewing. Church authorities are duking it out with the de Brams over a group of "heretics" living nearby. And now Pagan and Roland, sworn to defend Christianity, are left to decide for themselves whom to stand by-and whom to trust.

Korean edition of NINE PARTS OF DESIRE - The Hidden World of Islamic Women by the Pulitzer prize winning journalist Geraldine Brooks. This captivating book analyzes how the religious oppression towards women in Islam culture has been distorted in many ways. Translated by Hwang Seong Won. In Korean. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

The Baby-sitters are all taking a class at SMS where they are assigned jobs at the Washington Mall. How cool - going to "school" at the mall! But soon Stacey learns that some pretty bad things are going on there. Besides the regular shoplifting problems, expensive things are being stolen, too. and then Stacey has a big scare when she's working at Toy Town. Is it safe to shop at Washington Mall anymore? The Baby-sitters aren't sure - but they're going to make sure this mystery is solved!

and i cried as much as when i read it the first time. is it just me. . . or was julian the hottest character?!? wow!!! why on earth did jenny choose tom over julian? tom was nice yeah, but he was kinda boring and plain. julian was so compelling and seductive, i wish he was real! forget about jenny, if he wanted a girl that could appreciate him. . . *S* i'm not obsessed with him or anything, and i know he's just fiction, but LJS has created a truly unforgettable character. the endind of this book was soooo sad! when julian died i was crying so much. at the beginning he was the typical "bad guy," but at the end he proved himself worthy. he actually gave up his existance (can't say life can i?) to save jenny. . .

    Mystery and suspense readers are in for a rare treat with The Black Mask Murders, a unique achievement in the art of sophisticated action entertainment. It is the first in a series featuring the three seminal authors of the American private eye novel-Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner-each, in turn, as himself, the detective-hero. In the first of this delightfully offbeat mystery series, "Dash" Hammett is the narrator, with the other two in subsidiary roles; their turns will come in subsequent books. The reader encounters high-stakes crime and corruption in a dazzling murder case in the chic glitter-world of Hollywood during its golden age. Colorful sequences extend from New York to San Francisco's Chinatown to Southern California's Big Bear Lake country.     Authentically recreated, the legendary masters of suspense fiction live again as they follow a complex, danger-filled blood trail in pursuit of a fabled jeweled treasure-the real-life inspiration for Hammett's classic novel. The Maltese Falcon.     Gritty and glamorous, fascinating and fast-paced, bold and brilliantly conceived, here is a compulsive read for those who seek the unusual in the best of mystery and suspense. There's never been a novel quite like The Black Mask Murders.      ***          From Publishers Weekly     Veteran author Nolan (Logan's Run) launches a series to be narrated by those crime writers he calls "The Black Mask Boys"-Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner. Hammett leads off this 1935 plot, jam-packed with movie stars and moguls, gangsters, blackmailers, nasty pre-Miranda cops and even a gem-encrusted human skull dating from the Crusades. Readers will be reminded less of The Maltese Falcon than of Hammett's early pulp fiction. This tale, featuring some incredibly daring sleuthing by all three writers-made-characters, moves along like a crumpled cocktail napkin caught up in the windstorm and seems to have about the same weight in the end. Cameo appearances include those by Scott Fitzgerald and Heinie Faust, who wrote as Max Brand (and other names). Nolan dredges up some pretty portentous prose in this plumbing of the past (an encounter with Fitzgerald leaves Dash ruminating: "All that talent-and all that booze. A bad combination."). Of interest as a period piece and for its insider allusions, this is no hard-boiled tale.      ***          From Booklist     Dashiell Hammett was a real-life detective as well as the author of several classic detective novels, including The Maltese Falcon. Now he's also a fictional character, the narrator of this series debut that also features two of Hammett's fellow contributors to Black Mask magazine, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler. The real author, William Nolan, is a scholar of Black Mask-era fiction and the author of Hammett: Life at the Edge (1987). Set in Hollywood shortly before the appearance of the Falcon movie, the story finds Hammett asked to deliver a jewel-encrusted ruby to a local mobster. A shootout occurs, and the bad guy gets the icon and the girl for which it was to serve as ransom. Hammett, Gardner, and Chandler work to recover both the jewel and the girl. Nolan mixes as many biographical facts into the narrative as possible, serving up a healthy portion of literary history along with the action. There's gunplay, humor, and just enough realism to humanize Hammett and his cronies. The premise may ultimately wear thin, but for now, it's perfectly good fun for the hard-boiled crowd.      ***          "A talented original."     -Ross MacDonald          "William F. Nolan is a hell of a writer! I have real admiration for his stories."     -Peter Straub          "I envy Bill Nolan's successful productivity, and I also envy the incredible spectrum of his work-fantasy, science fiction, mystery, suspense-Nolan is a fine writer."     -Richard Matheson          "Nolan's scholarship is impeccable, his organization of material flawless… his work belongs on every serious mystery reader's shelf."     -Joe Gores          "Mr. Nolan has considerable skills… His stories are bright and individual."     -The New York Times          "A gifted writer… intriguing and imaginative."     -The Los Angeles Times

A refreshingly original debut collection of short stories that grapple with the self-alienation and self-discovery that make us human.For fans of Souvankham Thammavongsa, Lynn Coady, and Lisa Moore comes a striking debut collection of short stories that explore bodies both human and animal: our fascination with their strange effluences, growths, and protrusions, and the dangerous ways we play with their power to inflict harm on ourselves and on others. Throughout The Whole Animal, flawed characters wrestle with the complexities of relationships with partners, parents, children, and friends as they struggle to find identity, belonging, and autonomy. Bodies are divided, often elusive, even grotesque. In "Porcelain Legs," a pre-teen fixes on the long, thick hair growing from her mother's eyelid. In "Wolf-Boy Saturday," a linguist grasps for connection with a young boy whose negligent upbringing has left him unable to speak. In...

From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this now-classic thriller, he and fellow author J. Frederick George tell a shocking tale with an all-too plausible premise. **There's no way William A. Cozzano can lose the upcoming presidential election. He's a likable midwestern governor with one insidious advantage—an advantage provided by a shadowy group of backers. A biochip implanted in his head hardwires him to a computerized polling system. The mood of the electorate is channeled directly into his brain. Forget issues. Forget policy. Cozzano is more than the perfect candidate. He's a special effect. “Complex, entertaining, frequently funny."—Publishers Weekly “Qualifies as the sleeper of the year, the rare kind of science-fiction thriller that evokes genuine laughter while simultaneously keeping the level of suspense cranked to the max."— San Diego Union-Tribune* “A Manchurian Candidate for the computer age.” —Seattle Weekly * * From the Trade Paperback edition.

This fourth book about the Hatford brothers and the Malloy sisters begins shortly before Christmas, three months after the Malloys move to Buckman, WV. As the holiday season approaches, the boys and girls continue to play pranks on one another and begin to learn the consequences of their actions. Caroline Malloy and Wally Hatford are partners for their fourth-grade December project and discover that, instead of annoying one another, they need to learn how to work together in order to receive a passing grade. Told in their alternating viewpoints, the story moves quickly, continuing the mischief and humor of the previous novels. Readers will be especially taken with precocious and dramatic Caroline, who will stop at nothing for revenge. While it is not necessary to read the first three books, fans of the series will enjoy references to the characters' past pranks and will delight in the promise of future additions to this ongoing battle between these rivals. From the Trade Paperback edition.

While reading a magazine, Claudia comes up with the idea of starting a personals column in her school paper. She helps others, but will she ever find the perfect boy for her?

Three cassettes 3 hours Read by Judy Kaye Kinsey's skills are about to be sorely tested. She is about to meet her duplicitous match in a couple of world-class prevaricators who quite literally take her for the ride of her life. L is for Lawless: Call it Kinsey Millhone in bad company. Call it a mystery without a murder, a treasure hunt without a map, a quest novel with truly mixed-up motives. Call it the return of Kinsey as a bad girl - quick-witted and quicksilvery - poking her nose into everybody's dirty laundry as she joins up with a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde in an Our Gang comedy that will take her halfway across the country and leave her with a major headache and an empty bank balance. America's favorite borderline delinquent is back with her one-liners on tape and her energy level on high, romping through her fastest and funniest adventure in this, her twelfth foray into the alphabet of crime.

** WALDENBOOKS BOOK OF THE WEEK **** LOCUS RECOMMENDED READING LIST **An alien armada from the center of Orion makes its deadly way through the galaxy, destroying all human life in the process, and only Marine Corporal Kenneth Jonson and the Aggressor Six team can stop the onslaught.REVIEWS:"An intense and satisfying novel."—Walter Jon Williams"Wil McCarthy brings thought and insight to the realm of fast-paced, action science fiction. AGGRESSOR SIX is a taut, vivid adventure that never rests. A splendid debut for a bright light on the SF horizon."—David Brin"A fine novel... from a writer who's going to be around for a very long time. This one is a calling card."—Daniel Keys Moran"I enjoyed it... Wil McCarthy is a writer to watch."—Vernor Vinge"A neat, action-filled novel. What starts out like Heinlein ends up looking a lot more like Haldeman. AGGRESSOR SIX is a satisfying debut."—Gary K. Wolfe, Locus"An exciting debut... an exciting start to a promising career."—Fred Cleaver, The...

Ted Wallace is an old, sour, womanising, cantankerous, whisky-sodden beast of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too. Fired from his newspaper, months behind on his alimony payments and disgusted with a world that undervalues him, Ted seeks a few months repose and free drink at Swafford Hall, the country mansion of his old friend Lord Logan. But strange things have been going on at Swafford.  Miracles, Healings, Phenomena beyond the comprehension of a mud-caked hippopotamus like Ted...

Grace Rossi is starting over after a divorce, and a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But she doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect ardor in the court in the form of an affair with the chief judge. Then Grace finds herself investigating a murder, unearthing a secret bank account and following a trail of bribery and judicial corruption that's stumped even the FBI. In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.