Ready to follow Nick Hornsby and Helen Fielding as the next big thing from Cool Britannia to hit America is Ben Elton. Already known to a wide public television audience as the funnyman behind Blackadder, The Young Ones, and The Thin Blue Line, Elton, author of Popcorn , lights up the literary sky with Blast from the Past . Part noir thriller, part hilarious send-up of the politics of extremism, Blast from the Past is the new novel from English comedy phenomenon (stand-up, playwright, television writer, and author) Ben Elton--a name soon to be known in all circles once Joel Schumacher's film of his book Popcorn reaches the silver screen. In the early 80s, when Polly was a seventeen-year-old ideological peace protestor and Jack was a U.S. Army captain stationed at England's Greenham Common, the two had a secret and very unlikely affair. No two people could have had more to argue about, save that they couldn't live without each other, yet one day Jack came to the conclusion that he loved soldiering more than Polly and sacrificed their love to be a career army man. Now, sixteen years later, Polly is a lonely thirty-something social services employee and Jack is a four-star general who has returned to Britain to find her, his only true love. With only one night to resolve their differences, and a knife-wielding stalker lurking in the shadows, for everyone concerned this will be a night like no other. From the Hardcover edition.

Cal Bradley's marriage is the stuff of romance. For fifteen year,, he has shared his life with Marie, a woman he passionately adores. In an idyllic corner of New England that has been home to his family for generations, Cal has become one of the most respected men in town: a father, churchgoer and a talented psychiatrist who runs a family clinic. Life is good. Then one night, a nineteen-year-old boy named Peter Blue sets a local church on fire and is sent to Cal for treatment For the patient, it's a last chance at redemption. For Cal, it's a journey into fear, deception, and murder. Because somehow Peter Blue's inner life is connected to Cal', reality...and to his wife's hidden past. And before Cal can hunt down the truth he is going to have to choose between everything he believes is right, and everything he loves.

Lucy Derrick is a young woman of good breeding and poor finances. After the death of her beloved father, she is forced to maintain a shabby dignity as the unwanted boarder of her tyrannical uncle, fending off marriage to a local mill owner. But just as she is on the cusp of accepting a life of misery, events take a stunning turn when a handsome stranger--the poet and notorious rake Lord Byron--arrives at her house, stricken by what seems to be a curse, and with a cryptic message for Lucy. Suddenly her unfortunate circumstances are transformed in ways at once astonishing and seemingly impossible. With the world undergoing an industrial transformation, and with England on the cusp of revolution, Lucy is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy in which her life, and her country's future, are in the balance. Inexplicably finding herself at the center of cataclysmic events, Lucy is awakened to a world once unknown to her: where magic and mortals collide, and the forces of ancient nature and modern progress are at war for the soul of England . . . and the world. The key to victory may be connected to a cryptic volume whose powers of enchantment are unbounded. Now, challenged by ruthless enemies with ancient powers at their command, Lucy must harness newfound mystical skills to prevent catastrophe and preserve humanity's future. And enthralled by two exceptional men with designs on her heart, she must master her own desires to claim the destiny she deserves. " The Twelfth Enchantment" is the most captivating work to date of a master literary conjurer. "From the Hardcover edition."

Grace Sorentino has never known the good life: from childhood hardships, to a marriage that began with lofty dreams and ended with all hopes shattered. Dealt bad hand after bad hand. Grace and Jackie, her rebellious teenage daughter, are now stuck in Florida, on the verge of poverty. Grace is underpaid and under appreciated cosmetician at Saks Fifth Avenue, and Jackie-when she is not spending her time with questionable boys-balances school and two jobs. Just when Grace things couldn't get any worse, Grace is fired after accidentally insulting a snobby customer. However, it is a blessing in disguise. As she walks out the door, her boss offers her an invaluable piece of advice: don't look for a new job, but a vulnerable old rich widower who has just lost his wife; comfort him, and once his guard is down, seduce him. The keys to success and fortune are not a name tag and uniform, but a new last name and a ring on your finger. Marriage should be the number-one priority. At first Grace is appalled by the idea, but as rent, car payments, and credit card bills pile up, her despair turns to desperation. She begins looking through the obituaries for her last chance at a good life-after all, isn't that something everyone deserves?

Surrender is in the tradition of best-selling psychological thrillers and cozy novels. It promises to engage your mind with its plot twists and turns; ignite your sense of humor with the realities of life that make you laugh; and tug at your heart with a hope filled spiritual thread. Psychiatrist Morgan Jane Winters moved back south to her beloved hometown of New Orleans to help those in need of mental and emotional care. Never in Morgan's wildest dreams could she have imagined that helping those in need would lead to being asked to aid in solving crimes with the New Orleans Police Department, but it did. When Commander Jackson Slade, Head of Special Investigations, calls on Morgan to lend a hand in solving the murders of four people, the darkest and deadliest of secrets within the political elite of New Orleans become unearthed. As they sift through what seems to be a massive cover up, they are led down a complex and dangerously lurid path of deception, intrigue, passion, murder, and redemption.

He was a tall, cleanly attractive young man, the kind you'd like to have for a neighbor. Press the wrong button and he'd mow you down with the ruthlessness of a Sherman tank. His name was Daniel Port. He was a gangster, the brain and spirit behind the machine that milked the dirty pennies from the city. Now Port wanted out. He had a bellyful of corruption, a one-way ticket to New York, and a dark, shining girl to go along with it. The problem was to get there alive, because the one way out for Daniel Port was over his own freshly dug grave...

Vera Caspary, the famed author of Laura , gives us another gripping crime drama, told through shifting points of view. John Ansell, young and idealistic editor of Truth and Crime magazine, wants to breathe new life into the stale and formulaic publication. Instead of rehashing a story that's already been proven popular elsewhere, he finds a fresh one: the murder of Warren G. Wilson, famed figurehead of a correspondence course. The murder itself isn't too remarkable--just a bullet in the back--but the victim is another case, as it becomes apparent that despite having a household name, nothing is known about him. Perhaps even more peculiar is how Ansell's boss absolutely refuses to run the story and, soon thereafter, Ansell is poisoned. Caspary masterfully allows the truth to slowly untangle in this incredibly woven mystery, finally available as an ebook.

After sending her résumé to the CIA on a whim, New Yorker Selena Keller is contacted by an Agency recruiter, who asks her how she would feel about convincing another human being to commit treason. Despite her checkered past, Selena passes the background investigation and a battery of bizarre aptitude tests. Living under cover as a government budget analyst, she begins her education in espionage at the Farm, the CIA's covert facility. All CIA officers must survive a demanding training program, and it is there that Selena becomes romantically involved with Stan, a brilliant but darkly paranoid fellow student with presidential ambitions. What happens next is a fascinating inside portrait of the Agency--how spies are recruited, how they are trained, who they meet, where they go, and most important . . . what happens when they fall in love, and begin spying on one another.

Kenneth Makeer - intelligent, South African and black - travels to London to study law where he meets a fellow South African - a white girl - whom he eventually marries. Yet mixed marriages are outlawed in the Union, and so when they return home they come face to face with racial intolerance and hatred at its most brutal. This is a passionate, harrowing and dramatic story which hurtles towards its ugly and untimely conclusion.

The Great Prince Shan By E. Phillips Oppenheim

SECRETS & SOVEREIGNSE. Phillips Oppenheim was the prince of storytellers. In his lifetime he published over 150 books-novels, story collections, plays, travel books and autobiographical works. But a handful of his stories were never published in book form. They appeared in magazines like The Strand, Windsor Magazine and Cosmopolitan in the early 1900's, and have never been reprinted since. Editor Daniel Paul Morrison has scoured libraries and resource centers, and has put together the first new collection of Oppenheim material in over sixty years--nineteen stories of mystery and political intrigue, duplicity and romance. Oppenheim could always be counted on to tell a good story, and this collection is guaranteed to keep you entertained.Secrets and Sovereigns also features the most complete bibliography ever published of the works of E. Phillips Oppenheim. Morrison has thoroughly researched this project, checking publication dates against his vast Oppenheim collection as well as a wide array of book sources, and can honestly say that this is the definitive list, even better than the "official" Oppenheim bibliographies that appear in the Little, Brown editions. His introduction is chock full of information as well.Whether you are a reader or a collector, there is something here for everyone. So pull up an easy chair, and let the prince of storytellers tell you a tale.

In "A Daughter of Astrea," E. Phillips Oppenheim crafts a riveting thriller that intertwines political intrigue, romance, and moral dilemmas within a richly constructed narrative. Set against a tumultuous backdrop of early 20th-century societal shifts, the novel explores themes of loyalty and identity through the life of its fiercely independent protagonist. Oppenheim's engaging prose and adept character development invite readers into a world where personal ambition collides with the expectations of family and tradition, all while building suspense through masterfully executed plot twists and layers of deception. E. Phillips Oppenheim, often celebrated as one of the pioneers of the modern thriller, drew upon his extensive experiences in the glamorous yet perilous arena of early British politics and society. His background in journalism and firsthand encounters with influential figures provided a fertile ground for his storytelling. Oppenheim's writing often reflects the uncertainties of his time, as he sought to entertain readers while simultaneously providing insightful commentary on the nature of power and morality. For readers enthralled by intricate plots and dynamic characters, "A Daughter of Astrea" is an essential addition to any thriller aficionado's library. Oppenheim's exceptional ability to weave suspense with social commentary will leave readers captivated, provoking both thought and excitement long after the final page is turned.

Oppenheim featured on the cover of Time magazine on September 12, 1927, he was the self-styled "prince of storytellers." He composed some one hundred and fifty novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue nature, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. He was the earliest writer of spy fiction as understood today, and invented the "Rogue Male" school of adventure thrillers that was later exploited by John Buchan and Geoffrey Household. Much of Oppenheim's work possesses a unique escapist charm, featuring protagonists who delight in Epicurean meals, surroundings of intense luxury, and the relaxed pursuit of criminal practice, on either side of the law.