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Staff Picks for November
Featured author-- Andrew Vachss
Andrew's Staff Picks
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
" 'Jitterbug Perfume' is an epic. which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn't conclude until nine o'clock tonight YParis time?. It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle. The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god. If the liquid in the bottle is actually is the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon becaused it is leaking and there is only a drop of two left."
$14.00
The Baroque Cycle #3: The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
" 'Tis done.
The world is a most confused and unsteady place -- especially London, center of finance, innovation, and conspiracy -- in the year 1714, when Daniel Waterhouse makes his less-than-triumphant return to England's shores. Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, confidant of the high and mighty and contemporary of the most brilliant minds of the age, he has braved the merciless sea and an assault by the infamous pirate Blackbeard to help mend the rift between two adversarial geniuses at a princess's behest. But while much has changed outwardly, the duplicity and danger that once drove Daniel to the American Colonies is still coin of the British realm.
No sooner has Daniel set foot on his homeland when he is embroiled in a dark conflict that has been raging in the shadows for decades. It is a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist Isaac Newton and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner, a.k.a. Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more volatile level, as Half-Cocked Jack plots a daring assault on the Tower itself, aiming for nothing less than the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system.
Unbeknownst to all, it is love that set the Coiner on his traitorous course; the desperate need to protect the woman of his heart -- the remarkable Eliza, Duchess of Arcachon-Qwghlm -- from those who would destroy her should he fail. Meanwhile, Daniel Waterhouse and his Clubb of unlikely cronies comb city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with Infernal Devices -- as political factions jockeyfor position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen; as the "holy grail" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton, yet is closer than he ever imagined; as the greatest technological innovation in history slowly takes shape in Waterhouse's manufactory.
Everything that was will be changed forever ..."
$27.95 prior to 25% new hardcover discount
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler
"When private detective Philip Marlowe's latest client, Orfamay Quest, hires him to find her missing brother for the paltry sum of twenty dollars, Marlowe discovers that it's far from a simple missing persons case. Not when it involves mobsters, blackmail, beautiful women ... and murders."
$12.00
Reborn by F. Paul Wilson
"In 1968 Jim Stevens is 26 years old, an aspiring writer with, it should be noted, hair on the palms of his hands. Adopted in infancy, he is now driven to locate his biological parents. When he inherits the estate of scientist Roderick Hanley, he rejoices, believing he has discovered the identity of his father. But in perusing Hanley's notebooks, Jim learns he was cloned from Hanley's cells in a secret wartime experiment. Literally, he has no parents. Feeling freakish, tormented--more so when his story becomes public--he becomes careless in his misery and dies in an accident. Days later his widow finds out she is pregnant, and is immediately plagued by a cult of religious fanatics accusing her of carrying the Anti-Christ, the child of a soulless man. As death and destruction dog her every step, she begins to believe their claims may be true."---Publishers Weekly
$5.99
Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
"An eco-terrorist with a trust fund, Twilly Spree, is tailing a litterbug in a purple Range Rover with plates that read "cojones". Before he knows it, Spree is up to his cojones in corrupt Florida politicos and some very sick puppies, including a Republicans-only hooker and a millionaire developer with a fetish for Barbies. But when Spree learns that the fate of an unspoiled island is at stake, he refuses to be intimidated. While defending the land and its indigenous toads, he'll steal a man's wife, gouge out the eyes of big game trophies, and even risk his life two or three times in the most outrageous Hiaasen novel yet!"
$7.99
Lelia's Staff Picks
Humans by Robert J. Sawyer
"In this sequel to 'Hominids,' Neanderthal physicist Ponder Boddit returns to his relationship with geneticist Mary Vaughn, as cultural exchanges between the two Earths begin. Sawyer, the bestselling writer, hits the peak of his powers in this trilogy about the world and a parallel one in which Neanderthals became the dominant intelligent species. This powerful idea allows Sawyer to examine some of the deeply rooted assumptions of contemporary human civilization dramatically, by confronting us with another civilization, just as morally valid, that has made other choices."
$6.99
The Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves
"Since she bought her rambling old fixer-upper of a house, Jacobia Tiptree has gotten used to finding things broken. But her latest problem isn't so easily repaired. Along with the rotting floor joists and sagging support beams, there's the little matter of the dead man in Jake's storeroom, an ice pick firmly planted in his cranium.
Not much happens in her tiny Maine town, but that's about to change. Jake's unknown guest turns out to be a world-famous corporate raider, local boy turned billionaire Threnody McIlwaine. When Jake's best friend, quiet and dependable Ellie White, readily confesses to the murder, cops and journalists swarm into snowbound Eastport.
Jake smells a cover-up, and begins poking into past history between McIlwaine and Ellie's family. But someone doesn't like nosy neighbors...and Jake's rustic refuge may become her final resting place."
$6.99
Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan
"Young Henry Atherton, troubled by the impending disintegration of his parents' marriage, stumbles upon the discovery of a lifetime when he saves a Faerie, Pyrgus Malvae, from the clutches of a cat that mistook him for a butterfly. Pyrgus teaches Henry about the portals that connect the land of Faeries with the human world. As heir to the throne of the Faerie realm, Pyrgus must hide from the agents of the Faeries of the Night, the sinister element of the magical kingdom. And if Pyrgus didn't have enough problems with Lord Hairstreak, leader of the "Nighters," the evil Silas Brimstone is also after him. Brimstone may be one of the nastiest villains in recent memory-the success of his glue factory, for example, is due to a secret ingredient: kittens. Brennan adeptly uses the fish-out-of-water element to make political and social commentary (e.g., Pyrgus is an ardent animal rights activist whose arguments echo many that readers will recognize); he also gently handles some difficult topics (Henry's parents are on the rocks because his mother is having a lesbian affair). Less militaristic and more artistic than Eoin Colfer's wildly successful Artemis Fowl books, this will still bring much pleasure to fans of that series, and to fantasy readers in general." ---Publisher's Weekly
$7.95
The Face by Dean Koontz
"He's Hollywood's most dazzling star, whose flawless countenance inspires the worship of millions and fires the hatred of one twisted soul. His perfectly ordered existence is under siege as a series of terrifying, enigmatic "messages" breaches the exquisitely calibrated security systems of his legendary Bel Air estate.
The boxes arrive mysteriously, one by one, at Channing Manheim's fortified compound. The threat implicit in their bizarre, disturbing contents seems to escalate with each new delivery. Manheim's security chief, ex-cop Ethan Truman, is used to looking beneath the surface of things. But until he entered the orbit of a Hollywood icon, he had no idea just how slippery reality could be. Now this good man is all that stands in the way of an insidious killer--and forces that eclipse the most fevered fantasies of a city where dreams and nightmares are the stuff of daily life. As a seemingly endless and ominous rain falls over southern California, Ethan will test the limits of perception and endurance in a world where the truth is as thin as celluloid andanswers can be found only in the illusory intersection of shadow and light.
Enter a world of marvelous invention, enchantment, and implacable intent, populated by murderous actors and the walking dead, hit men and heroes, long-buried dreams and never-dying hope. Here a magnificent mansion is presided over by a Scottish force of nature known as Mrs. McBee, before whom all men tremble. A mad French chef concocts feasts for the mighty and the malicious. Ming du Lac, spiritual adviser to the stars, has a direct line to the dead. An aptly named cop called Hazard will become Ethan's ally, an anarchist will sow discord and despair, and a young boy named Fric, imprisoned by celebrity and loneliness, will hear a voice telling him of the approach of something unimaginably evil. Traversing this extraordinary landscape, Ethan will face the secrets of his own tragic past and the unmistakable premonition of his impending violent death as he races against time to solve the macabre riddles of a modern-day beast."
$7.99
In Death's Shadow by Marcia Talley
"Hannah Ives struggled bravely through the ravages of illness, and fellow patient Valerie Stone was at her side. As cancer survivors they have a lot to celebrate when they meet again, but their reunion is short-lived. Soon Valerie is dead, and a suspicious Hannah must sift through a mountain of clues trying to uncover the cause of her friend's untimely death. But there are those in the big business of living and dying who think she's becoming too curious ... and it's high time her questions were silenced.
Hannah Ives knows what it means to be a survivor. Now she's about to discover what it means to be a target."
$6.99