In this fresh and funny teen mystery, seventeen-year-old Millie joins forces with her classmate, gorgeous but mysterious Chase Albright, to try to find out who murdered Coach Killdare. Putting the dead in deadline To Bee or not to Bee? When the widely disliked Honeywell Stingers football coach is found murdered, 17-year-old Millie is determined to investigate. She is chasing a lead for the school newspaper - and looking to clear her father, the assistant coach, and prime suspect. Millie's partner is gorgeous, smart-and keeping secrets Millie joins forces with her mysterious classmate Chase who seems to want to help her even while covering up secrets of his own. She's starting to get a reputation…without any of the benefits. Drama-and bodies-pile up around Millie and she chases clues, snuggles Baxter the so-ugly-he's-adorable bassett hound, and storms out of the world's most awkward school dance/memorial mash-up. At least she gets to eat a lot of pie. Best-selling author Beth Fantaskey's funny, fast-paced blend of Clueless and Nancy Drew is a suspenseful page-turner that is the best time a reader can have with buried weapons, chicken clocks, and a boy who only watches gloomy movies…but somehow makes Millie smile. Bee-lieve it. Pair with Fantaskey's best-selling Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side.

Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? opens with the line: "The person you love is 72.8% water, and it hasn’t rained for weeks." From there, Brage Award–winning author and playwright Johan Harstad’s debut—previously published to great success in eleven countries and now making its first English-language appearance—tells the story of Mattias, a thirty-something gardener living in Stavanger, Norway, whose idol is Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon: the man who was willing to stand in Neil Armstrong’s shadow in order to work, diligently and humbly, for the success of the Apollo 11 mission. Following a series of personal and professional disasters, Mattias finds himself lying on a rain-soaked road in the desolate, treeless Faroe Islands, population only a few thousand, a wad of bills in his pocket and no memory of how he had come to be there—that’s when a truck approaches him, driven by a troubled, fantastic man with an offer that will shortly change Mattias’s life. And so, surrounded by a vivid and memorable cast of characters—aspiring pop musicians, Caribbean-obsessed psychologists, death-haunted photographers, girls who dream of anonymous men falling in love with them on bus trips, and even Buzz Aldrin himself—launches Buzz Aldrin, What Happened To You In All The Confusion?, the epic story of Mattias’s pop-saturated odyssey through the world of unconventional psychiatry, souvenir sheep-making, the Cardigans, and space: the space between himself and other people, a journey maybe as remote and personally dangerous as the trip to the moon itself.

WAITING FOR AL ~~~A JOB FOR FRANKIE ~~~RESCUED ~~~A SPECIAL PROM DATEWAITING FOR AL You’re standing on the corner waiting for Al, then decide to step inside Jerry’s bar and hoist a brew while keeping an eye out for Al. You watch this kid trying to come inside, but always, at the last minute, he hesitates, then walks away. You wonder, what’s his problem?A JOB FOR FRANKIE Helen Walker is apprehensive about carrying the locked bag containing a rattlesnake. Usually she carried money to the bank in the bag. But today was different. Her husband, Frankie, was on her mind. Their marriage was shaky. If only he’d get a job things would be different. He said he was making a big score today. A job? Maybe?RESCUED Badly injured in a fall, George Carlson painfully struggled through snowdrifts using dead reckoning in trying to get back to his ranch. An airplane circled above him. Quickly he stamped out a huge SOS in a large patch of snow. He had to be rescued. Turning, he saw people emerging from the edge of the forest; a rescue team? And then he saw the crashed transport airplane.A SPECIAL PROM DATE In her new gown, Amy Martin preened in front of the mirror. Sixteen and going to the senior prom with Jim Roberts, the most handsome boy in the class. She was on cloud nine. The phone call shattered her: Jim broke out with chicken pox! Go to the dance with her dad? Never! Then grandpa called; he has a date for her, nice young fellow. He’ll be right over. Amy groaned.

Follow the adventures of Buzz the Bumblebee! Buzz is an adventurous little bee. He finds himself always busy helping others!* Excellent for beginning and early readers* Great for reading aloud with friends and family* Cute short stories that are great for a quick bedtime story* Funny and hilarious jokes & illustrations for kidsAre you looking for a kid's or children's book that is highly entertaining, great for early readers, and is jam-packed with bedtime stories, jokes, games, and more? This children's storybook has it all!Follow the adventures of Buzz the Bumblebee! Buzz is an adventurous little bee. He finds himself always busy helping others! This is an excellent read for beginning and early readers. Each story is easy to read and exciting with cute and bright illustrations for younger readers!These stories are great for quick bedtime stories and cute tales to be read aloud with friends and family.* Excellent for beginning and early readers* Great for reading aloud with friends and family* Cute short stories that are great for a quick bedtime story* Funny and hilarious jokes & illustrations for kidsThis books is especially great for traveling, waiting rooms, and read aloud at home.Your child will be entertained for hours!

You’re standing on the corner waiting for Al, then decide to step inside Jerry’s bar and hoist a brew while keeping an eye out for Al. You watch this kid trying to come inside, but always, at the last minute, he hesitates, then walks away. You wonder, what’s his problem?The post apocalyptic world is both a hostile and beautiful place. Follow the adventures of nomadic clans, hidden worlds and the observing remains of a once untouchable technological threat. Both sides of every dilemna have answers for each other, but will they be able to overcome their fears of one another?Beautiful digital illustrations and dialogue woven by the master airbrush illustrator Paul Knipfer. CE Publishing's primary cover artist. This is his first big adventure into the sequential panel world.

David belongs to a race of immortals known as Rakum--bloodthirsty and the very epitome of what today's vampires would be if they existed. Walk in David's shoes as he does his best to work out the kinks of his life, mixing with voluntary blood donors and a gay benefactor, all the while resisting the urge to kill.David belongs to a race of immortals known as Rakum--bloodthirsty and the very epitome of what today's vampires would be if they existed. But David's race exists, and they remain under the radar as much as possible.In this short tale, walk in David's shoes as he does his best to work out the kinks of his life, mixing with voluntary blood donors and a gay benefactor, all the while resisting the urge to kill.The kill comes with an extra special buzz...and that experience is one with which David will become intimately familiar in "David and the Dying Buzz."David Walker is a main character in the bestselling novel trilogy beginning with RABBIT: CHASING BETH RIDER. In this short, get a peek into his backstory and motivation for the events in the novels. This story previously published in LOOSE RABBITS OF THE RABBIT TRILOGY with many other tales.

Space: Where discovery and danger are two sides of the same coin. 5 stars: 'For readers who love sci-fi space sagas such as The Expanse or Battlestar Galactica, Sparks in the Dark is a gem of a book.' - Pikasho Deka for Reader's Favorite ReviewsMeet Albert 'Buzz' Buchanan, a retired space marine now freelancing as a gun for hire, who finds himself accepting a deal too good to turn down, even if it's too good to be true.Meet Thomas Cutter, a star-ship engineer who's a lot more than what he first seems. He seeks knowledge and adventure, and the offer to team-up with the sexy space marine is just what Cutter's been waiting for.As our two heroes set out, they encounter more than they bargained for: a discovery of a lifetime, but only if they can escape with their lives. Will the galaxy reward them for their bravery, or will they fall victim to the great unknown?Join Buzz and Cutter in their very first episode as they journey across the galaxy, finding high adventure and untold dangers in the darkness of space ... along with discovering a friendship that promises so much more.

EPIC Award WinnerIf you live in the Pacific Northwest, get ready to run for your life...In the face of a massive earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Northwest, a respected geologist must make two gut-wrenching decisions. One could cost him his reputation, the other, his life.Is the Northwest overdue for a huge quake and tsunami, or will the region remain safe for hundreds of years yet to come? No one knows... or does someone?Dr. Rob Elwood, a geologist whose specialty is earthquakes and tsunamis, is having nightmares of "the big one" that are way too real to disregard. His friend, a counselor and retired reverend, does not think Rob is going nuts. To the contrary, he believes the dreams are premonitions to be taken seriously. No one else does, however, even after a press conference.Some live to regret it, most don't.Rob's drama becomes intertwined with others—a retired fighter pilot trying to make amends to a woman he jilted decades ago and a quixotic retir

"An all-too-believable nightmare tale." —Tom Young, author of The Mullah's Storm, Silent Enemy, and The RenegadesIf his attack succeeds, Atlanta will become the next Ground Zero."Fans of the late Michael Crichton should check out Buzz Bernard's Plague. This bioterrorism thriller is a real page-turner." —Cheryl Norman, author of Rebuild My WorldIn only a matter of days, 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers will be rivaled by a lone-wolf terrorist attack on America. Atlanta is targeted as Ground Zero for the most horrifying plague in modern times.Deep in the secret recesses of a Cold War lab, the Russians created tons of deadly bio-weapons. Now, decades later, a protégé of that Russian research is about to release weaponized Ebola into the heart of the South's most iconic city: Atlanta, where the symbols of American "decadence" range from a happily diverse population to the Coca-Cola museum and CNN building.A preliminary test...

They'll pay him a fortune to find a killer tornado for their movie. He knows the risks all too well, but he never imagined just how dangerous the perfect storm could be. Chuck Rittenburg was one of the most intrepid storm chasers in the country until a bad decision resulted in the death of a young couple who'd paid to ride along. A decade later—broke, divorced, and estranged from his college-age children—he's got nothing left to lose. When a film producer offers Chuck one-million dollars to help find and photograph a deadly tornado in Oklahoma, Chuck sees a chance to earn his kids' respect again—and maybe his own. The situation quickly becomes about more than tracking a monster tornado for Hollywood. FBI Agent Gabi Medeiros insists on riding along. A burglary ring is targeting tornado-ravaged neighborhoods, and their tactics now include murder. With the stage set for a major heist, a deadly supercell, and a confrontation between Man and Nature on an epic...

This is my second book, "Twins". I will offer another book, "Revenge" shortly. "Twins" has all the characters of "Hold Me Not Through The Night", who are now more aware of the magic that surrounds them. As Tales of the Echo Forest evolve, the battles or paths to the battles become more magical.Twins will stretch the boundaries of the characters minds,it will also explore the beginning of Loanna.Beyond the Words is the second anthology published by Scripting Change, a community writing initiative that aims to make a positive social difference. All of the work required to bring together this anthology was volunteered. This year's project highlights the importance of literacy and will support the nonprofits Read for Literacy, in Ohio; Literacy Action, in Georgia; and Page Ahead, in Washington, all of which foster literacy in their communities. 100% of proceeds* from this (and every) Scripting Change book are donated!*Proceeds = (Cost of book) — (% taken by distributor)Editors: Anya Kagan and Kristyn F. BrunsonCover design by: Lynsay FlyntContributors: Faith Breisblatt, Kristyn F. Brunson, Kathy DeFlane, Aria Glazki, Aaron Jackson, Alison LeBlanc, Celena McDonnell, Austin D. Nichols, Margit Sage, Nada Adel Sobhi, Seker Solis, Dave M. Strom

Destiny is a word that implies the future is already written. Yet Destiny often has roadblocks to make a traveler decide which way to turn. Destiny can be a trickster also, hiding the right path in a dream. Dreams, sleep's dessert, normally fleeting and then forgotten. Forgotten. No, Destiny's design is not always clear and sometimes it takes a child's gift to light the way.We have conclusive proof in this issue that the May issue was more than just a fluke because we have yet another month's worth of fantastic science fiction and fantasy stories to deliver. This issue has some great surprises, too. While some seem to fit into traditional genres, such as alien invasion, fairy grove visitation, and haunting ghosts, there are also a few that defy description. For instance, what genre covers a botanist who finds more than he bargains for while searching for Ghost Orchids? There's a story that seems to be a general dystopia until you realize it's dealing with the most dystopic medium of all: reality television. And of course, how do you classify a story where the language changes as the story progresses?Now perhaps you can see why we're so proud of these stories.Of course, being the narcissistic sociopaths (say that ten times while drunk) that we are, we couldn't just let the fiction writers have all the fun, so you'll also see a few writing tips from me and the Editor-in Chief, Mike Cluff, near the end of this issue. They involve vehicular manslaughter and malicious fairy hit squads, so at least they should be interesting.Fiction Vortex publishes science fiction and fantasy short stories from writers around the world. All stories in this issue appeared on the FictionVortex.com site during the month of June 2013.

"I loved this book! Tubati Alexander is a writer to watch!" —Emily Giffin"A sparkling debut about grief, love, family and the road not taken." —Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author of The Rewind and Cleo McDougal Regrets NothingIn this spectacularly enjoyable and serendipitous adventure, a chance romantic encounter during a wild night at a Mardi Gras bachelorette party sends strait-laced Serena Khan's carefully constructed life into chaos.A wretched maid of honor. A hangover from hell. Raucous Mardi Gras crowds. There isn't much Serena Khan is enjoying about this four-day New Orleans destination bachelorette party for her semi-estranged cousin, the bride-to-be.UNTIL sparks fly with a handsome stranger, who—like her—is also from Seattle, at the ladies' last stop of the evening, a Bourbon Street bar. After their conversation is cut short,...

The heart knows best… Jen Alexander is intent on fulfilling a promise to her mother. She’s heading back to school to finish her education, but a remote-controlled vibrator shoves her on a detour. For Wayne Garrett the night of Jen’s party is a revelation. His strict rule of no sex with employees has blinded him to Jen’s charms, but now that she no longer works for him he plans on seduction big time—a private party for three. Divorced and depressed, Sebastian Lang refuses the idea of a threesome, worried his uncomfortable feelings for his best friend Wayne will pop into the open and spoil their friendship. Wayne wants Jen. Sebastian wants Wayne. Jen doesn’t want any man since her boyfriend ditched her by text minutes before her leaving party. What is the best way to solve this dilemma? Laughter, fun and hot seduction helps the trio to decide exactly what they want and how to maneuver past jealousy and preconceptions to achieve the ideal solution. Warning: contains helpful friends, a bitchy ex-wife, school cliques and assignments, small town noisiness and the usual relationship ups and downs times three.

A powerful and harrowing look into the world of reservists— as seen through one man’s transformation from weekend warrior to combat MarineIn 1990 Buzz Williams walked into a Marine recruiting office to follow in the footsteps of the deceased older brother he grew up idolizing, and signed up to join the reserves. Buzz had thought that he would need to sacrifice only one weekend a month and two weeks a year for training to earn the money that would help pay for his college tuition. He had no idea that even the newest reservists could find themselves on the battlefield in a matter of weeks.Spare Parts recounts Williams’s harrowing deployment to the Persian Gulf after only four weeks of combat training. Enduring both the condescension of full-time Marines and the danger of his limited preparation, he manages to form a core group that struggles to gain respect from a military machine that views them as mere "spare parts." In gripping, you-are-there detail, Spare Parts articulates the grueling physical and emotional trials that Williams and his comrades face on the killing fields of Kuwait.A compelling portrait, Spare Parts adds a moving new perspective to the literature of war.

Cleo Coyle writes "a foodie's delight...and a satisfyingly rich mystery" (Kirkus), and now the national bestselling author of  A BREW TO A KILL serves up a yuletide treat in her new Coffeehouse Mystery HOLIDAY BUZZ. Holiday time is party time in New York City, but after a sparkling winter bash ends with a murder, Village Blend coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi vows to put the killer on ice... At the Great New York Cookie Swap, pastry chefs bake up their very best for charity. Clare is in charge of the beverage service, and her famous Fa-la-la-la Lattes make the gathering even merrier. But her high spirits come crashing down to earth when she discovers the battered body of a hard-working baker's assistant. Police suspect a serial attacker whose escalating crimes have become known as "The Christmas Stalkings." Clare's boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, finds reason to believe even more sinister forces are involved. Clare isn't so sure, until she finds a second bludgeoned baker and becomes a target herself. Now Clare must investigate "Saint Nick," crash a pro-hockey party, and dodge a pair of reality TV divas--because she's not going to rest until justice is served.Includes holiday and cookie recipes!*ReviewPraise for Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse mysteries:“Coyle’s Coffeehouse books are superb examples of the cozy genre because of their intelligent cast of characters, their subtle wit, and their knowledge of the coffee industry.”—Library Journal (starred review)"Packed with believable characters and topped with serious coffee lore and holiday recipes. This one will keep your cup piping hot."—*Kirkus Reviews*“[A] frothy cast of lovable eccentrics."—Publishers Weekly“Like a great cup of coffee, I can’t get enough of Cleo Coyle’s coffeehouse mysteries.”-*Cozy Corner "Clare and company are some of the most vibrant characters I've ever read."—Mystery Scene Magazine"What a pleasure to read a book by this author."—*Portland Book ReviewAbout the AuthorCleo Coyle is the pen name for a multipublished author who collaborates with her husband to write the nationally bestselling Coffeehouse Mysteries. Although they did not meet until adulthood, Cleo and her husband had very similar upbringings. Both were children of food-loving Italian immigrants, and both grew up in working-class neighborhoods outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before moving to the Big Apple to begin their postcollege careers: Cleo as a journalist and children’s book and media tie-in author; and her husband as a magazine editor and writer. After finally meeting and falling in love, they married at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas. Now they live and work in New York City, where they each write books independently and together, cook like crazy, haunt local coffeehouses, and drink a lot of joe. Among their many coauthored projects are the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, written under the pen name Alice Kimberly.Cleo enjoys hearing from readers. Visit her virtual Village Blend coffeehouse, where she also posts recipes and coffee industry news…

In 1990, Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights became an acclaimed bestseller and national sensation, igniting immediate debate about the role of high school football in small-town Texas. Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist does for big cities what he did for small towns in this epic story of one remarkable politician's efforts to save a dying American City.Mayor Edward Rendell will do almost anything for Philadelphia. He will clean the bathrooms in City Hall, endure a joint appearance with Mickey Mouse, and personally lobby President Clinton to keep jobs in the city. He is that rare politician who is larger than life in his ambitions, compassion, and flaws--a man wise enough to see the comic absurdity of his job, yet crazy enough to think he can actually revive his declining city.To succeed, Rendell must negotiate a tough new contract with city workers who are threatening to strike and wreak havoc on the city. He must allay African-American...

A remarkable memoir from the best-selling author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August.Buzz Bissinger's twins were born three minutes—and a world—apart. Gerry, the older one, is a graduate student at Penn, preparing to become a teacher. His brother Zach has spent his life attending special schools. He'll never drive a car, or kiss a girl, or live by himself. He is a savant, challenged by serious intellectual deficits but also blessed with rare talents: an astonishing memory, a dazzling knack for navigation, and a reflexive honesty that can make him both socially awkward and surprisingly wise.Buzz realized that while he had always been an attentive father, he didn't really understand what it was like to be Zach. So one summer night Buzz and Zach hit the road to revisit all the places they have lived together during Zach's twenty-four years. Zach revels in his memories, and Buzz hopes this journey into their shared past will bring them closer and...

"Colonising space is essential for the long term survival of the human race, and Buzz Aldrin's book shows us how." --Stephen Hawking Legendary "space statesman" Buzz Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. As a pioneering astronaut who first set foot on the moon during mankind's first landing of Apollo 11--and as an aerospace engineer who designed an orbital rendezvous technique critical to future planetary landings--Aldrin has a vision, and in this book he plots out the path he proposes, taking humans to Mars by 2035.Foreword by Andrew Aldrin Chapter 1: The View from Air Force One Chapter 2: Time for Decision-making Chapter 3: Your Space: Building the Business Case Chapter 4: Dreams of My Moon Chapter 5: Voyage to Armageddon Chapter 6: The March to Mars Chapter 7: Homesteading the Red Planet Chapter 8: The Clarion Call

Murder is such a buzz kill. . . . It’s been four months since HP Pettersson was dragged into a ruthless Alternate Reality Game that nearly cost him his life. Although he now has everything he ever wished for—freedom, money, and no responsibilities—he isn’t satisfied. He’s plagued by insomnia and paranoia, and misses the adrenaline rush of the Game. He misses the attention. At times, he even hopes the Game Master will find him. And when HP catches the eye of a rich and powerful CEO for all the wrong reasons, he may get his wish. But he quickly learns that sometimes, you have to be careful what you wish for . . .**

A CONSERVATIONIST'S DEEPLY PERSONAL AND FASCINATING REFLECTION ON OWNING AND REVITALIZING A FARM IN RURAL FRANCEA Sting in the Tale, Dave Goulson's account of a lifetime studying bees, was a powerful call to arms for nature lovers everywhere. Brilliantly reviewed, it was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for the best nonfiction book of the year, and debuted the already renowned conservationist's ability to charm and educate, and tell an absorbing story. In A Buzz in the Meadow, Goulson returns to tell the tale of how he bought a derelict farm in the heart of rural France. Over the course of a decade, on thirty-three acres of meadow, he created a place for his beloved bumblebees to thrive. But other creatures live there too, myriad insects of every kind, many of which Goulson had studied before in his career as a biologist. You'll learn how a deathwatch beetle finds its mate, why butterflies have spots on their wings, and see how a real...

A brutal hijacker, A missing heiress, And a luxury liner racing toward disaster... In the quiet shallows of the Florida Keys, Thorn has made a home, tying fishing flies and trying to forget the violence of his past. Now Key Largo is his world. He fishes it, breathes it, makes love in it. Until a phone call from Miami changes everything plunging Thorn into the deep waters of madness and revenge... In Miami, Thorn's best friend, Sugarman, is fighting for his life. While working security for a luxury liner plagued by theft, Sugarman was attacked by a man with a knife in one hand and 400,000 volts of electricity in the other. And when the M.S. Eclipse sets sail for the Caribbean, both Thorn and Sugarman are swept into a voyage of terror...where a madman hijacks the Eclipse, killing off crew members one by one...where the cruise line owner's missing daughter reappears, igniting the killer's passions--and Thorn's battered heart...where hundreds of lives hang in the balance, as only Thorn stands between a madman's rage and the ultimate carnage at sea. Amazon.com ReviewJames Hall's novels about a gloomy Florida loner named Thorn are fine, dark reads. This one features an ace villain named Butler Jack who takes a giant cruise ship and its 2,000 passengers hostage, and then gives them lectures on history and language while Thorn tries to find a way to rescue them. Under Cover of Daylight, in which we're told about the source of all his angst, was Hall's first Thorn story. From Booklist Why does Florida bring out the twisted, surreal side of some of our finest crime writers? Perhaps it's a product of the state's schizophrenia: a sanitized, climate-controlled, theme-park paradise, on the one hand, and an art-deco jungle, on the other hand. In "Native Tongue" (1991), Carl Hiaasen imagined a kind of Armageddon set in a theme park, and now James W. Hall has turned a cruise ship into a floating nightmare. When Thorn, Hall's beach-bum hero perpetually in flight from the vacuousness of the American Dream, finds himself onboard a luxury cruise ship called the "Eclipse", you know the world is somehow off kilter. Intending to help out his pal Sugarman, head of the ship's security force, Thorn soon finds himself up against a techno-psycho intent on steering the "Eclipse" into the path of an oil tanker. With enough gadgetry to please Clancy fans, the gut-level narrative drive of a disaster novel, and the creepiest bad guy since Hannibal Lecter, Hall's latest has "breakout novel" written all over it. Fortunately, the more subtle pleasures of the Thorn series have not been completely obscured by the high-concept plot: there's some intriguingly detailed, Ross McDonaldlike rummaging through the psychological skeletons in a few familial closets; there's plenty of amusing interplay between the reclusive Thorn, who's never seen "Love Boat", and the talk-show-fanatic Sugarman; and, of course, there's a bizarre strain of black humor that's just right for a cruise from Hell. Thorn devotees may be reluctant to share their introverted hero with hordes of techno-thriller fans, but we'd best accept the inevitable: Hall's ship has come in. Bill Ott From Publishers WeeklyA poet as well as a thriller writer, Hall (Gone Wild, etc.) brings an ear for language and an eye for the evocative detail, for the surge of meaning within sound and surface, to his latest which features his customary hero, the moody, middle-aged Thorn. Reuniting with Thorn here is his old friend Sugarman (last seen in Mean High Tide). Bizarre family dysfunction and impending ecological disaster prove familiar but still effective Hall motifs as Sugar signs on as head of security for a billion-dollar Miami-based cruise ship line and Thorn encounters an unusually chilling adversary.Amazon.com ReviewThorn, a loner and gloomy sort of guy, is the hero of James W. Hall's thriller series. But in Buzz Cut, the real center of attention is Butler Jack, an erudite homicidal maniac with a brilliant and grandiose scheme. The plan is to hijack a $400 million cruise ship and hold its 2,000 passengers for ransom. Butler Jack has an obsession with etymology, and he is more than happy to lecture his hostages on the derivation of the word "hijack," which is descended from "Jack" which comes from the Middle English "Jakke," which meant "ordinary guy." Our Jack is an ordinary guy who just happens to have the mind of a genius and a passion for grisly killing. From Publishers WeeklyA poet as well as a thriller writer, Hall (Gone Wild, etc.) brings an ear for language and an eye for the evocative detail, for the surge of meaning within sound and surface, to his latest?which features his customary hero, the moody, middle-aged Thorn. Reuniting with Thorn here is his old friend Sugarman (last seen in Mean High Tide). Bizarre family dysfunction and impending ecological disaster prove familiar but still effective Hall motifs as Sugar signs on as head of security for a billion-dollar Miami-based cruise ship line and Thorn encounters an unusually chilling adversary. Sugar's task is to catch a chimerical murderer whose victims all have some relationship to the company's gambling flagship, the M.S. Eclipse, from which the criminal has been stealing $50,000 per month. Danger promptly surfaces, as Sugar is nearly killed by the psychopathic Butler Jack, who has stun-gun electrodes attached to his fingertips and who plans to hold the Eclipse and its passengers hostage for a king's ransom. Jack also has designs on Monica Sampson, the long-missing daughter of the cruise line's owner, but Thorn, who winds up aboard the ship along with Sugar, casts eyes toward this young beauty as well. Murder, techno-wizardry and plenty of sexual tension ignite into spectacular action as Jack sets the ship on a collision course toward an oil-laden supertanker off Miami's South Beach. The title is right on; this thriller will slice readers' sleep into slivers. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review• "Like Jonathan Safran Foer, Harstad combines formal play and linguistic ferocity with a searing emotional directness." --Dedi Felman, Words Without Borders• "The fact is that Johan Harstad has a wholly unique voice, simultaneously both concrete and soaring . . . to be able to write in this way, to conjure a situation and construct space and time around it with such linguistic fluency, cannot be learned. You are born with it. Harstad’s fellow countryman Knut Hamsun, who was able to do the same, must be rejoicing in his heaven or wherever he might be." --Jakob Levinsen, Jyllands-Posten review• "It doesn’t always have to be crime novels that come from Scandinavia. What 27 year-old Johan Harstad has written is quite plainly a work of genius. Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? is as poetic as it is alive." --Bucherwelt review Product DescriptionBuzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? opens with the line: "The person you love is 72.8% water, and it hasn’t rained for weeks." From there, Brage Award–winning author and playwright Johan Harstad’s debut—previously published to great success in eleven countries and now making its first English-language appearance—tells the story of Mattias, a thirty-something gardener living in Stavanger, Norway, whose idol is Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon: the man who was willing to stand in Neil Armstrong’s shadow in order to work, diligently and humbly, for the success of the Apollo 11 mission. Following a series of personal and professional disasters, Mattias finds himself lying on a rain-soaked road in the desolate, treeless Faroe Islands, population only a few thousand, a wad of bills in his pocket and no memory of how he had come to be there—that’s when a truck approaches him, driven by a troubled, fantastic man with an offer that will shortly change Mattias’s life. And so, surrounded by a vivid and memorable cast of characters—aspiring pop musicians, Caribbean-obsessed psychologists, death-haunted photographers, girls who dream of anonymous men falling in love with them on bus trips, and even Buzz Aldrin himself—launches Buzz Aldrin, What Happened To You In All The Confusion?, the epic story of Mattias’s pop-saturated odyssey through the world of unconventional psychiatry, souvenir sheep-making, the Cardigans, and space: the space between himself and other people, a journey maybe as remote and personally dangerous as the trip to the moon itself.

“A classic. Its scope is astonishing, and it contains much wisdom and profound philosophy.” —Sir Arthur C. ClarkeA father and son go searching for the stars, but much more than gravity will hold them backBorn the year of the Moon landing, Chris Terence spends his life fighting to return humanity to that pinnacle. An engineering student with dreams of spaceflight, he finds upon graduation that the United States no longer has need for astronauts. Years of bureaucratic meddling have reduced the space program to a shell of itself, and it will take the greatest scientific find in history to send humanity skyward once more.After years battling budget hawks, Chris finally gets his chance to walk on the Moon. While there, he finds evidence of an ancient alien civilization, the Tiberians, who visited Earth’s satellite eight thousand years before. Understanding what happened to those long-forgotten travelers will define the lives of Chris and his son, as they fight against all odds to unlock the secrets of the universe.

The heart knows best… Jen Alexander is intent on fulfilling a promise to her mother. She’s heading back to school to finish her education, but a remote-controlled vibrator shoves her on a detour. For Wayne Garrett the night of Jen’s party is a revelation. His strict rule of no sex with employees has blinded him to Jen’s charms, but now that she no longer works for him he plans on seduction big time—a private party for three. Divorced and depressed, Sebastian Lang refuses the idea of a threesome, worried his uncomfortable feelings for his best friend Wayne will pop into the open and spoil their friendship. Wayne wants Jen. Sebastian wants Wayne. Jen doesn’t want any man since her boyfriend ditched her by text minutes before her leaving party. What is the best way to solve this dilemma? Laughter, fun and hot seduction helps the trio to decide exactly what they want and how to maneuver past jealousy and preconceptions to achieve the ideal solution. Warning: contains helpful friends, a bitchy ex-wife, school cliques and assignments, small town noisiness and the usual relationship ups and downs times three.

SUMMARY: Pucci Lewis was used to ferrying fighter planes and undercover work. But it's the dark hours of WWII, and Hollywood's biggest stars, studio moguls, and Washington bureaucrats are working hand-in-glove to merge entertainment and propaganda. Pucci has been dispatched to the First Motion Picture Unit, where a make-or-break documentary on the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) is underway. Pucci is stepping in for a sister-WASP, now hospitalized in critical condition after an all-too-deliberate plane crash. But who's the saboteur? Why the cover-up? Pucci is drawn into a high-profile homicide. A big-name director has been murdered, possibly by Nazi operatives. Military intelligence wants Pucci to learn what she can from her inside position. Bela Lugosi is a frequent visitor to the Beverly Hills mansion where Pucci is temporarily billeted. His "niece," a rising starlet and also the housekeeper, has a history with the Hungarian resistance. But Pucci doesn't trust the girl. Can Pucci steadfastly maneuver through movie land and its narcissistic denizens, finally unraveling the uncertainties to prove she has the right stuff?