An erotic murder mystery, set in rhyme. It is narrated by a lesbian PI searching for a missing girl. The locale is Sydney, Australia, and the protagonists include a seductive female poetry professor and two male poets, the girl's idols. A sample: "The girl is missing, her parents anxious; her professor smiling; her idols nervous. / The girl is dead; her parents shattered; her myth exploding; the killer waiting."

This is a story of how miracles DO happen. How courage and a never-give-up spirit can emerge victorious. How an engaging little monkey helped change a family's life. Ellen Rogers considered herself something of a tragedy snob. The single mother of five believed she could weather any storm, that she could keep her family from harm with fortitude and grace. But nothing could have prepared her for the June 2005 car accident that left her son, Ned--then 22 years old--fighting for his life. Ellen refused to give in to despair. We'll get through this, she told herself. We have to. But love and determination can only go so far, and the road home was fraught with obstacles. Ellen and Ned took comfort in family and friends. And they prayed for a miracle. Miracles happen to those who believe, the saying goes, but who would have believed that one family's "miracle" would weigh in at five pounds sopping wet? Then Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled provided Ned with an affectionate and intelligent service animal with a steadfast devotion to hierarchy, a longing for "spa days," and a craving for Gummi Bears. In other words, a diva. Life with Kasey was yet another challenge for this large and lively family, but they persevered as families do, and in time this wise and sensitive animal did more than help Ned cope with his disabilities--she turned the simple tasks of life into a life worth living. Kasey's astonishing intelligence and compassion brought hope and laughter back to a family facing its greatest challenge, and helped them see the world in a new way.

"Everyone intrigued by the verve of Dorothy Porter's life and work will love this book. The Monkey's Mask: Film, Poetry and the Female Voice is alive with responsiveness to both poetry and film, bringing the two into a rich, informed dialogue. Rebecca Louise introduces readers to Porter, the woman and the poet; to the fated and gutsy characters in her celebrated verse novel, The Monkey's Mask; and to Samantha Lang's sexy film adaptation. It's an astute, illuminating book, daring to seek a wide audience without sacrificing depth and reach. Exactly like Dorothy Porter and the ebullient legacy she left us." LYN MCCREDDEN DEAKIN UNIVERSITY "Thinking about the relationship between poetic language and film language is a challenge for writers and moviemakers alike. Rebecca Louise meets this challenge boldly and with passion, in the process opening up some valuable new perspectives on Australian cinema." JAKE WILSON "Rebecca Louise is well known for running fine women's poetry soirées in Melbourne. In The Monkey's Mask: Film, Poetry and the Female Voice she steps beyond the red velvet curtain to examine the relationship between 'the noir world' of Dorothy Porter's The Monkey's Mask (1994) and its controversial film adaptation by Samantha Lang (2000). Herself a captivating poet, Louise is well equipped to take us on this fascinating critical journey through Lang's filmic realisation of the Australian firebrand poet Porter's tour de force. The resultant poetic-feminine interplay of crime, sex, longing and loss is examined here with forensic care. Highly recommended." JEN JEWEL BROWN

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery. Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization. Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

The original novel that inspired the films! First published more than fifty years ago, Pierre Boulle’s chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history. In the not-too-distant future, three astronauts land on what appears to be a planet just like Earth, with lush forests, a temperate climate, and breathable air. But while it appears to be a paradise, nothing is what it seems. They soon discover the terrifying truth: On this world humans are savage beasts, and apes rule as their civilized masters. In an ironic novel of nonstop action and breathless intrigue, one man struggles to unlock the secret of a terrifying civilization, all the while wondering: Will he become the savior of the human race, or the final witness to its damnation? In a shocking climax that rivals that of the original movie, Boulle delivers the answer in a masterpiece of adventure, satire, and suspense.

A monkey decides to try to be something else but discovers that nothing is better than being yourself.