Whisper Her Name

Whisper Her Name

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

In a quiet college town in New Jersey five million dollars in cashiers' checks were hidden in the dead man's house, and whoever finds the checks gets to keep it all. Two brothers of the deceased, his sister, and the son of another brother have four weeks before the house and its contents become the property of a small college. Two deaths by drowning in the past and another clear case of murder in the present tend to complicate matters. It takes the combined skills of a superbly-trained homicide detective, Charlie, and those of an equally well-trained psychologist, Constance, to unravel the mystery of the Bainbridge curse, and expose a killer.
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[Barbara Holloway 02] - The Best Defense

[Barbara Holloway 02] - The Best Defense

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

The neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon, is blue-collar; the cafe holds only three tables and four booths. But it's the only place attorney Barbara Holloway feels both productive and peaceful. Laptop computer on the table, coffee refilled regularly by the cook, Barbara gets her work done and wants for nothing more...certainly not another explosive, emotionally devastating courtroom case. Until a woman comes to Barbara with a case she cannot refuse. The sister of "Baby Killer" Kennerman, the tale she tells is so terrifying that Barbara must act. What she unearths is a corrupt conspiracy that will allow a killer to walk away free. And when she finds herself up against a smear campaign of unimaginable proportions, Barbara Holloway realizes that even the best defense may not be enough.... ""ENGROSSING...Wilhelm provides suspense and excitement while adeptly portraying Barbara [Holloway] as a wily and sympathetic heroine."--Publishers Weekly Better than any [courtroom dramas] I've read in years...Wilhelm has created an appealing and believable character in Barbara Holloway....The courtroom scenes are excellent, and narrative tension is maintained throughout the story."--Mystery News
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Juniper Time

Juniper Time

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

Man reached for the stars - and failed to keep the Earth in his grasp. With the western United States devastated by drought, the survivors huddle in squalid concentration camps in the east. And still the dream won't go away. In high orbit, an artefact is found that may be man's first contact with aliens. The only woman who can decode it has found her future in the past, in the remote Indian territories of the Pacific Northwest. But in which direction does the planet's survival lie?
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A Flush of Shadows

A Flush of Shadows

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

With Thimbles, With Forks and Hope Hugo Award Nominee 1982 In this gripping story, the duo begins investigating what appears to be a simple insurance scam, but quickly find themselves caught up in a desperate match of wits against a strange woman who seems to have deadly powers. The Gorgon Fields What is Ramón’s hold on Carl Wyandot, one of the richest men in the country? Carl’s daughter hires Constance and Charlie to find out why her father intends to give a hidden valley in Colorado to him. In the valley there is the mammoth formation called the Gorgon Field, red sandstone pillars that are unscalable, cover an area a mile and a half from front to back, and reach nearly two hundred feet in height. Why is Constance entranced by them? Why are others so afraid of them? All For One Charlie didn't want this case, working for three young people, all under twenty-five, who he suspected were setting him up. With one mother and two fathers, the trio had bonded with one another and presented a solid front when Sam, one of the fathers, was killed, but had they carefully plotted the murder in advance with their defense prearranged? Sister Angel Wanda believed her murdered husband was communicating with her, using Brother Amos as a go-between. Brother Amos and his daughter Sister Angel were moving into her life, into her home. Charlie and Constance were hired to expose him as a charlatan. The result of their investigation leads to explosive violence that threatens their relationship, their sanity, and even their lives. A computerized cat is the catalyst that starts the action. Torch Song Charlie is being framed as a serial arsonist, fires that have resulted in five deaths so far. Their search settles on Peter Eisenbeis as the arsonist, a recently released convict that Charlie was responsible for convicting. Also, Charlie was part of the chase that caused massive brain injury to the man’s infant son. Marla, the child’s mother, has cared for the hopelessly bedridden boy for thirteen years with love and devotion. Only she can lead Charlie and Constance to Peter before another fire is ignited or before Charlie is arrested, whichever comes first.
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The Best Defense

The Best Defense

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

"ENGROSSING...Wilhelm provides suspense and excitement while adeptly portraying Barbara [Holloway] as a wily and sympathetic heroine."--Publishers WeeklyThe neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon, is blue-collar; the cafe holds only three tables and four booths. But it's the only place attorney Barbara Holloway feels both productive and peaceful. Laptop computer on the table, coffee refilled regularly by the cook, Barbara gets her work done and wants for nothing more...certainly not another explosive, emotionally devastating courtroom case.Until a woman comes to Barbara with a case she cannot refuse. The sister of "Baby Killer" Kennerman, the tale she tells is so terrifying that Barbara must act. What she unearths is a corrupt conspiracy that will allow a killer to walk away free. And when she finds herself up against a smear campaign of unimaginable proportions, Barbara Holloway realizes that even the best defense may not be enough...."Better than any [courtroom dramas] I've read in years...Wilhelm has created an appealing and believable character in Barbara Holloway....The courtroom scenes are excellent, and narrative tension is maintained throughout the story."--Mystery News**
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The Killer Thing

The Killer Thing

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

PROGRAMMED FOR DESTRUCTION In a way, they were the same, the man and the machine. Both had been ordered to do one thing - kill. The robot had been created to wreak revenge on the humans who had brutally conquered its planet. The man was the product of years of training by an Earth that had set out to take over the Universe. Now the two faced each other in the icy reaches of the galaxy. The robot, with its calculating machine of a brain, its impenetrable force shield, its deadly laser beam. The man, with the kind of nerve that refused to admit the odds against survival…
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Let the Fire Fall

Let the Fire Fall

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

THE VOICE OF GOD The first man to reach the spaceship was Obie Cox. Until then Obie had been known only for the possession of one of the most beautiful male bodies in creation. After the spaceship, Obie Cox became known throughout the world. Obie was touched by the hand of God, and that hand lay heavy on him. But he knew his duty was to carry the message placed in his hands to the world… the strong message, the truthful message… the message of hate!
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Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm

Massive environmental changes and global disease, attributed to large-scale pollution, cause the collapse of civilization around the world. One large, well-to-do extended family sets up an isolated community. However, as the death toll mounts (due to a variety of causes) the family begins cloning themselves to survive. This is due to universal infertility. It is assumed that as time passes, fertility will return and sexual reproduction will be possible once again. However, when the clones come of age, they reject the idea of sexual reproduction in favor of further cloning. The original members of the community, too old and outnumbered by the clones to resist, are forced to accept the new social order. As time passes, the new generations of clones are weaker (physically and mentally) than their predecessors. Since they are cloned in groups of 4–10 individuals, they grow to depend on each other enormously, and lose all sense of individuality. They become afraid of being alone in any way, and eventually lose all sense of creativity. In one part of the novel, a snowman is made, and the clones are unable to identify it as a man, seeing only snow. Towards the end, the community is found to have been wiped out entirely due to natural disasters, but mainly by the destruction to the mill, which had been the energy source the community had depended on to survive. Only a few select people had survived, and among them was a man named Mark, who had foreseen the death of the community and had prepared for it. Won Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1977 Nominated for Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1977
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