From Publishers WeeklyAt 85, Fast has lost none of his storytelling skills, and one of the pleasures of reading his fast-paced later novels is to note how they are trimmed of excess. This outing, his latest after Redemption, is set in the wealthy Connecticut town of the book's title, where Fast has lived for many years, and as usual shows many traces of Fast's lifelong populist leftism. Richard Castle, a successful Wall Street hustler, was once an assistant secretary of state who gave the orders for a massacre of nuns and priests in El Salvador. Now word of possible American involvement in the murders is beginning to leak out, and higher-ups in Washington are determined to silence him, if necessary with "extreme prejudice." Richard, meanwhile, married to beautiful and sweetly innocent trophy wife Sally, is trying to ascertain, through a local Jesuit monsignor and a nun who was in El Salvador, just how much is known about his role. These two are guests, along with a representative selection of Greenwich citizens, at a dinner party at the Castles' home, through which Fast portrays the social and political currents of the town. Among the people who play roles in his tale are a self-sacrificing doctor, a successful author, an embittered academic, a plumber tortured by memories of Vietnam, an open-eyed nurse and a black chef to the wealthy. Their juxtapositions are a bit schematic, and they have more value as symbols than as breathing characters, but there is no denying the aplomb with which Fast manipulates his large cast and has them face up to the issues that interest him: common guilt for horrors committed in our nation's name, racial and religious intolerance, the elusive comforts of faith, the corrupting effect of too much money. This novel may not be the last word in sophistication, but it's an exhilaratingly rapid read that deals with some far from negligible ideas. (May) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalDinner is at 7:30 p.m. on a rainy night in a luxurious home in the best section of tony Greenwich, CT. Eight people are expected--the host and hostess, the priest, the nun, the author (his wife declines at the last minute), the professor and his wife, and the neighbor (who has had an affair with the host), standing in for the author's wife. It is a disparate group, unaware of the thread of murders, past and future, that touches each of them. In this tightly woven novel, not only the characters but the readers must consider each person's impact, including the part each may play in others' deaths. The message is individual responsibility; the question is how each individual responds. Fast's faithful readers anticipate each new novel, and Greenwich meets all expectations. Recommended for all fiction collections.---Annelle R. Huggins, Univ. of Memphis Libs. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Spartacus, a fictionalization of a slave revolt in ancient Rome in 71 B.C., is well known today partly because of the 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. It was originally published in 1951 by the author himself, after being turned down by every mainstream publisher of the day because of Fast's blacklisting for his Communist Party sympathies. The story of Spartacus, born a slave, trained as a gladiator, who led a slave revolt that was eventually put down by Crassus, was immensely popular, has sold millions of copies, and has gone through nearly a hundred editions. The appearance of this title brings back into print a book that many regard as a classic, and is enhanced with a new introduction by the author.

Product DescriptionA dog’s murder leads detective Masuto to a most unusual poisoning caseIn Beverly Hills, murder has suddenly gone out of style. For five weeks, the head of the city’s tiny homicide squad, Zen detective Masao Masuto, has worked only robbery investigations. But after more than a month without a corpse, this dry spell is about to end.The dead woman is Ana Fortez, a Chicana whose death was originally classified as terminal food poisoning brought on by a feast of botulism-infested éclairs. But because botulism can only grow in an airtight space, the medical examiner warns Masuto that the fatal bacteria must have been purposefully injected into the pastry. When a wealthy housewife’s dog drops dead after munching on premium chocolates, Masuto finds that her bonbons have been laced with the same toxin. He begins a search for a killer targeting the sweet tooth of Beverly Hills—proof that crime in Southern California never stays boring for long.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author’s estate.

On the eve of the American Revolution, one battle changes a boy's life—and a nation's history—forever On April 18, 1775, musket shots ring out over Lexington, Massachusetts. As the sun rises over the battlefield, fifteen-year-old Adam Cooper stands among the outmatched patriots, facing a line of British troops. Determined to defend his home and prove his worth to his disapproving father, Cooper is about to embark on the most significant day of his lifetime. The Battle of Lexington and Concord will be the starting point of the American Revolution—and the moment that Cooper becomes a man. Sweeping in scope and masterful in execution, April Morning is a classic of American literature and an unforgettable story of one community's fateful struggle for freedom. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author's estate.

Born to enormous wealth and social standing, Barbara Lavette leaves her sumptuous home on San Francisco's Nob Hill to lead a life of adventure that takes her from the depression to the darkest days of World War II.Troubled by the conflicts of her dual inheritance and scornful of her mother's social world, Barbara sets out to build her own life in her own way, leading her to a Europe on the brink of Nazi terror. Along the way she falls deeply in love with a man of ardent passions and loyalties who risks his life to preserve the memories of the Jews who died in the concentration camps. How they survive a heartless tragedy set on destroying them is the surprise conclusion of this relentless, page turning novel.