Oscar is a sweet but overweight sci-fi obsessed introvert who — from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister — dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R.Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fuku — a curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, following them on their epic journey from New Jersey to Washington Heights and back to Santo Domingo. Encapsulating Dominican American history, Oscar's story opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere — and risk it all-in the name of love.

The history of the Second World War, with its horrible twists and turns, is so well known that the major events and their outcomes have taken on a sort of inevitability. Ian Kershaw's extraordinarily though-provoking and gripping new book, Fateful Choices, demolishes any such sense of inevitability. It dramatises brilliantly and distressingly events that between them could have resulted in disaster or victory — either for the Allies or for the Axis.

1995, Scotland — The prison of Cornton Vale. Laura Brannigan is in jail for murder. For two years she's been battling for justic — insisting that she didn't kill her best friend, Jackie. Yet with her spirits at their lowest ebb, she receives a letter that takes her back to a different time and memory of an old love ...Twenty years ago was a heady time for Laura: she'd escaped an abusive home and together with new best friend Jackie she'd made a fresh start. The pair had sworn to be sisters for ever. And Stuart had come into their lives — giving Laura a brilliant summer of love. So what went wrong in the intervening years? And why is Stuart writing to Laura now? Does he have faith in her innocence? And can he help free Laura from prison — and her past?

Drawing on a huge range of sources — letters, memoirs, conversations — Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. The Whisperers recreates the sort of maze in which Russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn could either destroy a family or, perversely, later save it: a society in which everyone spoke in whispers — whether to protect themselves, their families, neighbours or friends — or to inform on them.

«This is William Boyd's third volume of short stories following his acclaimed collections «On the Yankee Station» (1981) and «The Destiny of Nathalie X» (1995). Described as «the finest storyteller of his generation», Boyd shows his mastery of the form as these stories range widely through time and space. In a brilliant array of styles and narratives we move from 1930s Germany to Los Angeles in the Second World War, from contemporary Oxford to 19th century Russia. Whether in London or Amsterdam. Eastbourne or a Normandy village these stories explore and expose the fraught, funny, absurd, poignant and lovelorn lives of their many and varied characters.»

Guy Crouchback is now attached to a commando unit undergoing training on the Hebridean isle of Mugg, where the whisky flows freely and HM forces have to show respect for the laird. But the comedy of Mugg is followed by the bitterness of Crete.

A man of devilish charm and enterprising spirit, Dougal Douglas is employed to revitalize the ailing firm of Meadows, Meade & Grindley. He succeeds, but not quite in the way his employer intended. Strange things begin to happen as Dougal exerts an uncanny influence on the inhabitants of Peckham Rye and brings lies, tears, blackmail and even murder into the lives of all he meets, from Miss Merle Coverdale, head of the typing pool, to Beauty, the resident femme fatale, and even Mr Druce, the unsuspecting Managing Director himself.

Full grown with a long, smoke-coloured beard, requiring the services of a cane and fonder of cigars than warm milk, Benjamin Button is a very curious baby indeed. And, as Benjamin becomes increasingly youthful with the passing years, his family wonders why he persists in the embarrassing folly of living in reverse. In this imaginative fable of ageing and the other stories collected here – including ‘The Cut-Glass Bowl’ in which an ill-meant gift haunts a family’s misfortunes, ‘The Four Fists’ where a man’s life shaped by a series of punches to his face, and the revelry, mobs and anguish of ‘May Day’ – F. Scott Fitzgerald displays his unmatched gift as a writer of short stories.

Imagine, if you will, New York City, 1899... Society's elite: the glamour, the grandeur, the glittering parties, the most handsome beaus, the most beautiful debutantes... the rich girl, the humble boy, the forbidden love, the hushed whispers, the stolen glances, the whispers, the scandal, the mystery, the revenge... You are cordially invited to step into The Luxe, where the secrets are dark and the sins are delicious... R.S.V.P.

«When the sheepish Wuhses are taken advantage of by the overbearing Pervects, Skeeve teams up with Zol Icty — self-help expert and bestselling author of «Imps Are from Imper», «Deveels Are from Deva» — on a mythion in personal empowerment.»

Someone is collecting animated treasures and keeping them from their heroic destinies. Reunited with the lovely Trollop Tananda, Aahz the Pervect must help out a sword called Ersatz, and embark on a quest that just may restore his lost magical powers.

Betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse must now not only deal with a possible new man in her life—the oh-so-handsome shapeshifter Quinn—but also contend with a long-planned vampire summit. With her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans, the local vampire queen is vulnerable to those hungry for a takeover. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.

For years, Charlaine Harris has delighted fans with her mystery series featuring small-town waitress-turned-paranormal sleuth Sookie Stackhouse. Now, we are pleased to offer her first novel in the series in a special hardcover edition. And with HBO launching an all-new show, True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire novels, the demand for Charlaine Harris and Sookie Stackhouse will be bigger than ever.

Kids will love to eat through 16 different types of food with the very hungry caterpillar! With giant stickers that are perfect for little hands, this book is the perfect choice for kids just learning their numbers. Counting has never made you hungrier!

From the exquisite lyric “To Helen”, to the immortal masterpieces “Annabel Lee”, “The Bells”, and “The Raven”, The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates the author’s gift for the form.

«Belinda is the ultimate fantasy: a golden-haired object of desire, fresh and uninhibited. But to Jeremy Walker, a handsome and famous 44-year-old illustrator of children's books, this incredibly seductive woman is a forbidden passion...because Belinda is only 16. «Who was she?» That was the first thought that came into my mind when I saw her in the bookstore. Who was she really? She's Belinda. She's sixteen years old. She's the object of one man's ultimate fantasy. And she's one of the most «uniquely sensual and provocative» heroines to emerge from the «fearless» imagination of New York Times bestselling author Anne Rice.»

«April 1950: The rusting hulk of a steam locomotive is raised from a Montana lake. Inside are the remains of three men who died forty-four years before... 1906: For two years, the western states of America have endured a string of bank robberies by a single man who cold-bloodedly murders any and all witnesses, and then vanishes withouth a trace. Fed up by the depredations of the «Butcher Bandit», the U.S. government brings in the best man they can find — a tall, lean, no-nonsense detective named Isaac Bell. From Arizone to Colorado to the streets of San Francisco during its calamitous earthquake and fire, Bell pursues the sharpest and deadliest criminal mind he has ever encountered using science, deduction, and intuition. But his quarry is getting angry, and plans to turn the chase back to Bell. And it will take all of Isaac Bell's skills not to merely prevail...but to survive.»

On an impulse, schoolteacher Jim Ironheart flies to Portland, Oregon without understanding why. There he saves a boy from being killed by a drunk driver and is observed by Holly Thorne. She tracks Jim to California, and their lives intertwine on one of Jim's lifesaving missions. Surviving a plane crash, terrifying monsters that materialize from Holly's nightmares, and an uncannily powerful adversary, they search for the source of Jim's psychic power.

Harry Lyon was a rational man, a cop who refused to let his job harden his soul. His partner urged him to surrender to the chaos of life. But Harry believed in order and reason. Then one fateful day, he was forced to shoot a man—and a homeless stranger with bloodshot eyes uttered the haunting words that challenged Harry Lyon's sanity… “Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours...Dead by dawn.”

«This newest addition to the Kurt Austin series (after Blue Gold) has the men from NUMA ([National] Underwater & Marine Agency) team up with former KGB spies to face down a Russian mobster with czarist aspirations and a zealot's hatred for the «corruption and materialism» of the Western lifestyle. The NUMA research vessel Argo is in the Black Sea for a PR jaunt when Austin spots the overdue TV crew being chased down an island beach by mounted Cossacks. Austin learns from his old KGB Cold War adversary Vladimir Petrov that the island is a mothballed submarine base commandeered by paranoid mobster Mikhail Razov (employer of the Cossacks), a billionaire who built Ataman Industries by taking over utilities and mines sold by the state. Razov claims descent from the Romanovs and is plotting to assume the throne. Meanwhile, when a U.S. Navy sub goes missing and a mysterious tidal wave swamps a Maine coastal town, the NUMA team figures out that Ataman is mining «fire ice» unstable and explosive solid methane in the high-pressure deep-sea bottom. Austin and his oceanographic team join forces with Petrov and set out to foil Razov's plot. Cussler is in top form here, working in a role for Old Ironsides and Czar Nicholas II's crown while throwing in enough derring-do and eco-lore to leave his fans breathless. Coauthor Kemprecos (Blue Gold, with Cussler) adds his oceanographic expertise to the mix.»