New York Times–Bestselling Author: A British MP and an intelligence agent suspect a vast conglomerate of drug crimes—but must live long enough to prove it . . . In the jungles of northern Burma, land has been cleared and construction of a large, luxurious resort is well underway. At the same time, Burmese heroin has suddenly started pouring into Western nations. British agent Patrick Hyde suspects it isn’t a coincidence. Is the worldwide hotel chain that’s building the resort using its casinos to launder drug money? How is the Chinese government involved? And is there any connection to the recent murder of a Burmese man—a constituent of British MP Marion Pyott? Hyde must follow the tangled threads and keep both himself and Marion alive in this gripping novel of passion, politics, and espionage from the renowned author of Firefox and A Different War. “When it comes to keeping the story moving and stoking up the excitement, Mr. Thomas knows his business.” —The New York Times

Growing up in a Chicago ghetto, seventeen-year-old Donald “Don-Don” Haskill has nothing but time on his hands–time he rarely spends in school, choosing instead to smoke weed and hang out with friends. As a child, he witnessed his father’s suicide, and today Don-Don’s relationship with his mother, a worn-down cop trying to keep the family together is tenuous at best. Then Don-Don meets a girl with a taste for crack–and his delinquent life turns violently criminal. Consumed with chasing his next hit, alienating even his best friends, Don-Don works the streets like a pro. In pursuit of the demon, no deal is too shady. But when a huge drug transaction goes terribly awry, a bloody chain of events is set off, as Don-Don becomes a moving target, not just for the Chicago police force but for the ghetto’s most hardened thugs. . . .

A Punk Lolita fighter-pilot rescues Tokyo from a marauding art installation. A young architect’s life is derailed by an inquisitive girl who happens to be a ghost. Loyalty to a favorite product can be addictive when it gets under your skin. In her edgy and satiric debut collection, award-winning South African author Lauren Beukes (The Shining Girls) never holds back. Ranging from Johannesburg to outer space, Beukes is a fierce and captivating presence in the literary landscape.

In the tradition of Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence, here is Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s ode to his personal paradise–his adopted home, New Zealand. After living in California, why did Masson settle– out of all the places on earth–in such a faraway land? It turns out that while visiting a beautiful sandy beach just fifteen minutes from bustling Auckland, Masson and his family were utterly seduced by the exotic locale. There was little deliberation. This place, surrounded by lush forest on a bay dotted with volcanic islands, would be their new home. Masson takes readers on a remarkable journey to another world, as he and his family “slip into” the paradise that is New Zealand. For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding utopia, Masson reveals a country where neighbors talk to one another and provide a sense of real community–rarely, outside of the big cities, locking their doors–and where politics are as mellow as the weather. New Zealand is also a land of spectacular scenery, made even more famous for being the shooting location for the Lord of the Rings films. The flora is plentiful. Mangroves, banana plants, papaya trees, and more than ten thousand species of ferns grow wild and freely. The fauna is benign. There are no snakes, tarantulas, or scorpions. Children can walk to school barefoot without a care– there is nothing to sting them, bite them, or give them a rash. In the blue waters near the lush coastline, dolphins and orcas abound. While describing his love affair with the country and his affinity for its citizens, Masson reflects on the meaning of home, the importance of acting on intuition, and what happens when we lose our connection to the place we live in. Responding to an impulse, Masson reveals, he realized a dream. Featuring a its glossary of phrases used by New Zealanders and important Maori words, as well as the author’s recommended travel itinerary, Slipping into Paradise is ideal for anyone planning a visit to this exquisite land. Full of photographs, delightful anecdotes, and little-known facts (jogging, for example, was invented in New Zealand), Slipping into Paradise is also a book for those who fantasize about dramatically changing their lives–and who imagine something better for themselves. Jeffrey Masson’s message: New Zealand awaits.

DIVDIVWhen a twenty-year-old murder case comes back to life, a detective must race against his failing sight to unravel the mystery/divDIV /divDIVWhen Allison Wallis was beaten to death, Detective Francis X. Loughlin found the killer—Julian Vega, a teenager with a crush on the murdered girl. Using his natural sense of empathy, he cozied up to young Julian, convincing him to give a confession that would put him away until he was thirty-six./divDIV /divDIVTwenty years later, Julian is finally out of jail, attempting to remember how to live in a world without bars, and Detective Loughlin is still on the job, his sight fading, though his instincts are still sharp. But when Allison’s blood appears at a new crime scene, everything he thought he knew about that long-ago murder is called into question. Was it really Allison they buried? Was Julian actually the killer? And if he wasn’t, who else is in danger now?/divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Peter Blauner including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection./div /div

My story will start in 2000. Im a funeral director by profession, and I was employed with a prominent funeral home in San Francisco, for several years. I had a nice home, money, nice vehicle, and all the trimmings. I worked very hard for the position that I had with a funeral home in San Francisco. The year was especially hard for me as the owner, Mrs. Williams, had lung cancer and did not have long to live. We had grown to love each other, and she took me as a daughter as she did not have any children, and no one in their family was interested in the business. Mrs. Williams trusted me to supervise her business. She always said to me that when she turned sixty-five, I would take over the business.