"Zephyr, Alabama, has been an idyllic home for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson ... a place where monsters swim in the belly of the river, and friends are forever. Then, on a cold spring morning in 1964, as Cory accompanies his father on his milk route, they see a car plunge into a lake some say is bottomless."--Page 4 of cover
Into the screaming inferno of the Russian Front the Tank Battalions of Hitler's Penal Regiments were thrown. That was no surprise: these soldiers were pure cannon fodder to the German High Command men whose lives were considered expendable. And because they were treated like animals, they also learned to live like animals. They stole and cheated in the manner of beasts, and died brutally and bloodily, fighting not only the enemy, but each other. Bestselling author Sven Hassel, whose World War II themed novels have sold more than 52 million copies, tells the gripping story of the soldiers sacrificed in the Fuhrer's Russian Offensive.
Sven Hassel's famous war novel based on the Battle for Warsaw, now relaunched with a stunning new look.
Dan Simmons vzdává hold detektivkám americké drsné školy a daří se mu to na jedničku. Nijak nepolevuje v tempu a svého hrdinu skutečně nenechá ani na chvíli vydechnout. Joe Kurtz býval soukromý detektiv – než se rozhodl vzít spravedlnost do vlastních rukou a brutálně pomstít vraždu své partnerky. Když se po jedenácti letech vězení vrací do Buffala, nemůže být o obnovení licence ani řeč, přesto se najdou jistí lidé, kteří jsou ochotní ho najmout a využívat jeho služeb načerno…
In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft -- and his life. By midyear, a widely reported accident jeopardized the survival of both. And in his months of recovery, the link between writing and living became more crucial than ever. Rarely has a book on writing been so clear, so useful, and so revealing. On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his uncannily early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid memories from adolescence, college, and the struggling years that led up to his first novel, Carrie, will afford readers a fresh and often very funny perspective on the formation of a writer. King next turns to the basic tools of his trade -- how to sharpen and multiply them through use, and how the writer must always have them close at hand. He takes the reader through crucial aspects of the writer's art and life, offering practical and inspiring advice on everything from plot and character development to work habits and rejection. Serialized in the New Yorker to vivid acclaim, On Writing culminates with a profoundly moving account of how King's overwhelming need to write spurred him toward recovery, and brought him back to his life. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower--and entertain--everyone who reads it.
Fascinující výprava rámovaná otázkami, na které možná nikdy nenajdeme odpověď, ale které jsou o to naléhavější. Brian Greene nás svým typickým přístupným stylem a krásným jazykem provází na dlouhé cestě, jež začíná Velkým třeskem a ústí do konce prostoru a času. Při tom si autor všímá formování těch nejmenších i těch největších fyzikálních struktur, vzniku života, zrodu vědomí, povahy lidského myšlení, představivosti, tvořivosti či způsobů, kterými se člověk potýká se svou existencí, jako jsou mýty, náboženství, filozofie a věda. Prchavým okamžikem lidské existence tato cesta přirozeně nekončí, nýbrž vede ke scénářům dalšího vývoje člověka, poznání, myšlení – a celého vesmíru. Greene nám pomáhá porozumět tomu, jak jsme vznikli, v jakém stavu se nachází vesmír dnes a kam směřuje.
"Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice - leave the scene as he found it, or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything. And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?" -- back cover.
Paulina, die Tochter des britischen Gesandten am Hof des Herzogtums Altauss, begleitet die Tochter des Herzogs, Prinzessin Margarita, an den Zarenhof nach Petersburg. Hier soll die Prinzessin, den Gepflogenheiten der zeit entsprechend, mit einem russischen Grossfürsten vermählt werden. In Petersburg lern Paulina Prinz Maximus, Margaritas Bruder, kennen und lieben. Der Prinz erwidert ihre Gefühle. Doch ihre Träume von einer gemeinsamen Zukunft drohen an der Heiratspolitik des Zaren zu scheitern.
"Based on a set of unfinished Mark Twain notes for a children's story, this is the tale of Johnny, a young boy with a magical ability to speak to animals who sets off to rescue a stolen prince"-- Provided by publisher
Detective Sergeant Denny Malone leads an elite unit to fight gangs, drugs and guns in New York. For eighteen years he's been on the front lines, doing whatever it takes to survive in a city built by ambition and corruption, where no one is clean. What only a few know is that Denny Malone himself is dirty : he and his partners have stolen millions of dollars in drugs and cash. Now he's caught in a trap and being squeezed by the FBI. He must walk a thin line of betrayal, while the city teeters on the brink of a racial conflagration that could destroy them all.
Staatschef "Major" organisiert zur allgemeinen Belustigung einen "Todesmarsch", einen Marathon auf Leben und Tod, an dem 100 Jugendliche teilnehmen. Nur einer kann siegen, und die Überlebenschancen stehen 1:100. Die Verlierer erwartet der Tod.
When frantic, dishevelled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity. Robin decides that the agency can't help with this - and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart. Robin and her business partner Cormoran Strike become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits - and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways . . . A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force.
Změna klimatu je skutečná, ale neznamená konec světa. Dokonce to není ani ten největší současný problém životního prostředí. Přestože řadě témat se média věnují už desítky let, mnozí z nás stále neznají základní fakta. Emise oxidu uhličitého dosáhly vrcholu už před více než deseti lety a od té doby klesají. Úmrtí následkem extrémního počasí, dokonce i v rozvojových zemích, klesla za posledních čtyřicet let o osmdesát procent. Co se doopravdy skrývá za tímto vzestupem apokalyptického environmentalismu? Jsou to silné finanční zájmy. Je to touha po postavení a moci. Ale především je to nutkání určité skupiny údajných ateistů nalézt duchovní naplnění. Takový spirituální impuls může být přirozený a zdravý. Jenže pokud toto nové náboženství hlásá strach bez lásky a vinu bez vykoupení, nedokáže uspokojit naše nejhlubší psychologické a existenciální potřeby.
Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, impostors and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and co-piloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a licence, passed himself off as a college sociology professor and cashed over $2.5 million in forged cheques, all before he was 21 years old.Known by the police of 26 foreign countries and all 50 US states as 'The Skywayman', Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the run - until the law finally caught up with him. Now recognized as America's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapes, including one from an aeroplane, make 'Catch Me if You Can' an irresistible tale of deceit.
Who could imagine…? In this brilliant collection of twenty-two stories, Stephen King takes readers down paths that only he could imagine…. A supermarket becomes the place where humanity makes its last stand against unholy destruction…a trip to the attic turns into a journey to hell…a woman driver finds a very scary shortcut to paradise…an idyllic lake harbors a bottomless evil…and a desert island is the scene of the most terrifying struggle for survival ever waged. Features the novella “The Mist”—Now a major motion picture
When faced with the reality of potential death, the concepts of courage and life itself become meaningless. The protagonist grapples with the futility of existence, questioning the significance of even the simplest observations, such as a tree. This sense of pointlessness extends beyond his personal experience, affecting everyone around him, and ultimately, when he ceases to exist, it will have been pointless all along. This profound exploration of war's impact on life and identity is at the heart of the narrative. The story unfolds through various perspectives within C-for-Charlie Company, including Capt. James Stein, his unstable first sergeant Eddie Welsh, and the young privates thrust into battle. The depiction of combat and its psychological toll is strikingly realistic, with dialogue reflecting the rawness of their experiences. This work transcends traditional combat fiction, offering a significant examination of male identity in American literature, positioning the author alongside literary giants like Herman Melville and Stephen Crane.
'Lehane writes convincingly, tensely... powerfully.' USA Today
BLITZFREEZE is a shocking insight into the realities of war, the conditions endured by ordinary soldiers and their unwavering solidarity, now relaunched with a stunning new look.
Pages of a weathered original sonata manuscript - the gift of a Czech immigrant living in Queens - come into the hands of Meta Taverner, a young musicologist whose concert piano career was cut short by an injury. The gift comes with the request that Meta find the manuscript's true owner - a Prague friend the old woman has not heard from since the Second World War forced them apart - and to make the three-part sonata whole again. Leaving New York behind for the land of Dvorák and Kafka, Meta sets out on an unforgettable search to locate the remaining movements of the sonata and uncover a story that has influenced the course of many lives, even as it becomes clear that she isn't the only one seeking the music's secrets.
"The author of the classic bestsellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly anticipated new novel. A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a friend's family and struggles to make sense of his new life. In the years that follow, he becomes entranced by one of the few things that reminds him of his mother: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the art underworld. Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America, and a drama of almost unbearable acuity and power. It is a story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the enormous power of art"--
Takes readers down a road less travelled, this title features dark tales. It also includes the story of LT who has a theory about pets which can make you stop and think before giving one as a present to a loved one.
Noční můry a snové výjevy. Povídky z konce osmdesátých a začátku devadesátých let jsou opětovným důkazem Kingova vypravěčského umění a netradičních nápadů. Najdete zde jak klasické hororové kousky, tak i neméně zajímavé příspěvky k tvorbě A. C. Doylea nebo R. Chandlera a dokonce jeden televizní scénář. Povídky uveřejněné v této knize jsou druhou polovinou rozsáhlého povídkového souboru, který na začátku devadesátých let v USA vyšel pod názvem Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Reedice první poloviny vyšla v nakladatelství Beta pod názvem Dolanův cadillac. Reedice rozšířená o nově přeloženou povídku
Sunday Times #1 Bestseller New York Times #1 Bestseller The latest novel featuring Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, begins at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, where he is set to witness a groundbreaking discovery that promises to transform science. The event is hosted by his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a tech mogul known for his controversial innovations and predictions. Kirsch's revelation aims to challenge the very foundations of human existence. However, the evening takes a dramatic turn when chaos erupts before Kirsch can unveil his discovery. With his life in danger, Langdon, along with the museum's director, Ambra Vidal, embarks on a frantic escape to Barcelona. Their mission is to find a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch's secret. As they evade a relentless adversary, Langdon and Vidal navigate a maze of hidden history and ancient beliefs, following a trail marked by mysterious symbols and modern art. Their journey leads them to uncover a world-shaking truth that has remained concealed—until now. Praised for its engaging narrative and intellectual depth, this novel promises to captivate fans and newcomers alike.
*NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING TOM HANKS AND FELICITY JONES* Robert Langdon wakes up in a Florence hospital with no clue how he got there. Another attack on his life makes it very clear - someone wants him dead. And fast. To survive, Langdon must work out who it is. And then he must answer the next question - why? 'Jam-packed with tricks . . . A book length scavenger hunt Mr Brown creates so energetically' New York Times
From real-life flight attendant T. J. Newman, who wrote this book at 35,000 feet while crisscrossing the country on redeye flights when her passengers were asleep, FALLING is a high-concept thriller built around a chilling question Newman would ask pilots, only to watch their faces go pale with fear: What would you do if before a flight, terrorists kidnapped your family and told you that if you did not crash the plane, your family would be killed?
The basis for Steve McQueen's upcoming major motion picture, WIDOWS is a fast- paced heist thriller with an all female cast you won't forget
What was lost will be found...Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object - gruesomely encoded with five symbols - is discovered at the epicenter of the Rotunda. It is, he recognizes, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom.When Langdon's revered mentor, Peter Solomon - philanthropist and prominent mason - is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons and follow wherever it leads him.Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America's most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.A brilliantly composed tapestry of veiled histories, arcane icons and enigmatic codes, The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced thriller that offers surprises at every turn. For, as Robert Langdon will discover, there is nothing more extraordinary or shocking than the secret which hides in plain sight...
In these uncollected writings Jack Kerouac portrays himself in his life. He hitches a ride to San Francisco with a blonde, goes on the road with photographer Robert Frank, rides bus through the Northwest and Montana, records the blues of an old Negro hobo, talks about the Beats and how it all began, gives his "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" and defends his novel The Subterraneans, compares Shakespeare and James Joyce, describes the cafeterias and subways of Manhattan, goes to a ballgame and a prize fight, and reflects on Céline, on Christmas in New England, on Murnau's Nosferatu, on jazz & bop, and tells us what he's thinking about. And in the closing piece "cityCityCITY," we're treated to Jack's science fiction vision of the future."Table of Contents Robert Creeley: Thinking of Jack: A Preface On the Road On the Beats On Writing Observations On Sports Last Words cityCityCITY Editor's Note
Za každou vraždou stojí anonymní mistr, který pracuje ve stínech. Tito nájemní vrazi řídí nejnebezpečnější činnosti městských zločinců, ale jejich existenci není možné dokázat. Jsou pouhou legendou. Co jsou zač? Co chtějí? Reseng je jedním z vrahů – dělníků. Poslouchá nevrlého vraha jménem Old Racoon, který je členem kriminální skupiny „Knihovna“. Reseng se nikdy na nic neptal. Kam má jít, koho má zabít, nebo proč je jeho domov plný knih, které nikdo nikdy nebude číst. Ale jednoho dne Reseng vystoupí ze stínu své práce a převrátí pečlivě vytvořené plány. A když odhalí mimořádné schéma, které je dílem výstředního tria mladých žen – úřednice, její postižené sestry a knihovnice – Reseng se musí rozhodnout, jestli zůstane pěšcem, nebo se konečně stane členem zápletky.
You can erase the memory. But you cannot erase the crime. Jenny's wounds have healed. An experimental treatment has removed the memory of a horrific and degrading attack. She is moving on with her life. That was the plan. Except it's not working out. Something has gone. The light in the eyes. And something was left behind. A scar. On her lower back. Which she can't stop touching. And she's getting worse. Not to mention the fact that her father is obsessed with finding her attacker and her mother is in toxic denial. It may be that the only way to uncover what's wrong is to help Jenny recover her memory. But even if it can be done, pulling at the threads of her suppressed experience will unravel much more than the truth about her attack. And that could destroy as much as it heals.
A collection of seven short stories, all of them having to do with the sea and/or water, from the celebrated author of the epoch-making 'Ring' and 'Spiral'.
Once upon a time, in the haunted city of Derry (site of Stephen King's IT and INSOMNIA), four young boys stood together and did a brave thing; something that changed them in ways they hardly understand. A quarter-century later, the boys are men who have gone their separate ways although they still get together once a year, to go hunting in the north woods of Maine. But this time a man comes stumbling into their camp, lost, disoriented and muttering about lights in the sky. Before long, these old friends will be plunged into the most remarkable events of their lives and a terrible struggle with a creature from another world. Their only chance of survival is locked in their past and in the boy they once rescued as a child.
'A screamingly funny genre-defying feat. sublime' Maggie O'Farrell, Daily Telegraph
In a New York City made phantasmagorical by the events of 9/11, Hans--a banker originally from the Netherlands--finds himself marooned among the strange occupants of the Chelsea Hotel after his English wife and son return to London. Alone and untethered, feeling lost in the country he had come to regard as home, Hans stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country.--From publisher description.
A sharp, funny and deftly observed debut about a wonderfully dysfunctional New York family, The Plumbs, and the three grown-up siblings fighting to save the family money pot - the 'nest' - as their oldest brother threatens to lose it all. Perfect for fans of The Middlesteins and The Vacationers. When Leo Plumb drives off drunk from a party in a sports car with a nineteen-year-old waitress in tow, to the moral and legal fallout must be added the horrible inconvenience to his brother and sisters. Leo's rehab costs have severely depleted 'the nest' - the family's joint trust fund that would have cut them loose from their myriad financial issues. For Melody, a suburban wife and mother, it was to cover both an unwieldy mortgage and her daughters' college tuition. Antiques dealer Jack has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband. And Beatrice, a once-promising short story writer, can't seem to finish her overdue novel. Brought together as never before, the Plumb siblings must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledging the choices they have made in their own lives. Ferociously astute, warm and funny, The Nest is a brilliant debut chronicling the hilarity and savagery of family life.
Her favourite tales are those that conjure ancient worlds - of angry gods and heroic mortals, one of whom will some day come to her rescue.Soon, she will forget where the page ends and her mind begins. 'A full-throttle blast of storytelling mastery' Max Porter
Tragédie se dějí pořád, i tehdy, když se hned vedle odehrává komedie. Můžete jet na výlet a v první vesnici za městem přejet kočku, v tu chvíli káně na louce sezobne krtka a za zatáčkou to do vás napálí SUV. Tedy ne do vás, ale do paní Hollinghurstové, takže z Jamese Hollinghursta je vdovec. Netuší, kam jeho žena jela, ale velmi se diví, že si s sebou vzala střevíce na jehlovém podpatku. A má starosti s pohřbem. Jak se takový pohřeb vlastně dělá? A co když vás vaše sekretářka chce speciálně utěšit a nedá si to vymluvit?.
I am Anna Verco. I am no ordinary researcher. My task is to hunt a medieval manuscript, a book of alchemy and witchcraft. It was lost for centuries, hidden - or stolen. But I have found a clue. In Barcelona, just ten years ago, a trail of women were muted and mutilated to keep it secret. They have been silenced. But in a way, I hear them. Their message is meant for me. ***With new book club questions and special features***
Tajemství zednářů neumírají. Osmý případ Cormorana Strika a Robin Ellacottové. Ve skladu londýnského stříbrnictví je nalezeno zohavené tělo. Policie oběť rychle identifikuje jako známého zločince – jenže Decima Mullinsová tomu nevěří. Je přesvědčená, že mrtvý je její zmizelý partner. Proto se obrátí na Cormorana Strika, který se spolu s Robin Ellacottovou pouští do vyšetřování podivného případu. Ten je zavede až do světa zednářů, dávných tajemství a několika nevysvětlených zmizení. Nebezpečí sílí – a stejně tak vzájemné city, které už Strike a Robin nemohou přehlížet.
Prehistorické vážky o velikosti jestřába. Hovniválové, co se orientují podle hvězd. Komáři, kteří mění běh lidských dějin. Představte si, co by se stalo, kdyby ze světa zmizeli lidé a opuštěná města ovládli mravenci, cikády, včely a motýli. V komiksu, který je současně vizuální podívanou i fantastickým přírodopisným vyprávěním, obrací Peter Kuper ekologickou apokalypsu naruby. Originální komiksový román Insectopolis vykresluje nejen strhující příběh maličkých členovců, kteří se v autorově imaginaci nastěhovali do Newyorské veřejné knihovny, ale také entomologů a jejich průkopnického výzkumu. Mezi hrdiny knihy tak najdeme milovníka motýlů Vladimira Nabokova, Charlese Henryho Turnera, afroamerického učence, jenž popsal inteligenci mravencu a švábů, i bioložku Rachel Carsonovou, díky níž bylo zakázáno používání DDT. Opulentní a barvitá exkurze vás provede 400 miliony ler existence hmyzu a jeho lidí a navždy změní váš pohled na svět kolem.
