The Athena Project by Brad Thor
Blurb: The world's most elite counterterrorism unit has just taken its game to an entirely new level. And not a moment too soon . . .From behind the rows of razor wire, a new breed of counterterrorism operator has emerged.'Just as skilled, just as fearsome, and just as deadly as their colleagues, Delta Force's newest members have only one thing setting them apart'their gender. Part of a top-secret, all-female program codenamed'The Athena Project, four of Delta's best and brightest women are about to undertake one of the nation's deadliest assignments.'When a terrorist attack in Rome kills more than twenty Americans, Athena Team members Gretchen Casey, Julie Ericsson, Megan Rhodes, and Alex Cooper are tasked with hunting down the Venetian arms dealer responsible for providing the explosives. But there is more to the story than anyone knows.'In the jungles of South America, a young U.S. intelligence officer has made a grisly discovery. Surrounded by monoliths covered with Runic symbols, one of America's greatest fears appears to have come true. Simultaneously in Colorado, a foreign spy is close to penetrating the mysterious secret the U.S. government has hidden beneath Denver International Airport.'As Casey, Ericsson, Rhodes, and Cooper close in on their target, they will soon learn that another attack'one of unimaginable proportions'has already been set in motion, and the greatest threat they face may be the secrets kept by their own government.
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The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Blurb: The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane biography of cancer'from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologists precision, a historians perspective, and a biographers passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with'and perished from'for more than five thousand years. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out war against cancer. The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist.'From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjees own leukemia patient, Carla,'The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive'and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease.
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The Weight by Andrew Vachss
Blurb: Sugar is that rarest of commodities: an old-school professional thief, as tough and loyal as a pit bull, packing 255 pounds of muscle. When he's picked out of a photo array in a vicious rape case, the cops find his apartment empty. A stakeout catches Sugar when he returns . . . carrying a loaded pistol. The sex-crime cops get nothing from their interrogation, but a streetwise detective figures out why Sugar offers no alibi: at the time of the rape, a holiday-weekend break-in job was being pulled at a jewelry store. The DA offers Sugar two options: give up his partners in the jewelry heist and walk, or plead to the rape he didn't commit'and he'll toss in the gun charge. For Sugar, that's not two options; he takes the weight.'When Sugar finishes his time, his money is waiting for him, held by Solly, the mastermind behind the jewelry heist. But Solly tells Sugar that one of the heist crew was actually sent by another planner'and that planner has just died. In Sugar's world, all loose threads must be cut. He suspects that there's more to this job than what Solly is telling him. But nothing he suspects or imagines can prepare him for what he finds . . .
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I Still Dream About You: A Novel by Fannie Flagg
Blurb: Meet Maggie Fortenberry. To others, her life seems pretty much perfect shes beautiful, charming and successful, just as youd expect of a former Miss Alabama. But, in fact, Maggie is perfectly miserable. By now she should have been living in one of the elegant houses on Red Mountain with the adoring husband and 2.5 children. Instead, she makes a living selling that dream to others through her estate agency Red Mountain Realty, where lately business has been going from bad to worse. But just as Maggie is about to give up hope, she comes up with the perfect plan. And thats when strange things start happening. As Maggie finds herself catapulted into one surprising discovery after another, she learns valuable lessons about the nature of friendship, the challenges of modern life and the dangers of impossible dreams. She also learns that everybody, dead or alive, has at least one little secret
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House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Blurb: Jacob Hunt is a teen with Aspergers syndrome. Hes hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject'forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and hes always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And hes usually right.'But when Jacobs small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacobs behaviors are hallmark Aspergers, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacobs mother, Emma, its a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, its another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?
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A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch
Blurb: Returning from a continental honeymoon with his lifelong friend and new wife, Lady Jane Grey, Charles Lenox is asked by a colleague in Parliament to consult in the murder of a footman, bludgeoned to death with a brick. His investigation uncovers both unsettling facts about the family he served and a strange, second identity that the footman himself cultivated.'Going into the boxing clubs and public houses, the Mayfair mansions and servants' quarter of Victorian London, Lenox gradually realizes that an old friend may be implicated in the footman's death. Soon a suspect is arrested, but Lenox has his doubts. Desperately trying to balance the opening of Parliament and what he feels sure is a dark secret, he soon discovers that the killer is someone shockingly innocuous'who may be prepared to spill blood again, even a detective's.'In Detective Lenox, Lady Grey, and their circle of close associates, Charles Finch has created a cast of inviting, flesh-andblood characters. His evolving series, with its keen eye for period detail and razor-sharp plotting, offers readers an unparalleled brand of charm, sophistication, and suspense.
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A Dead Man's Tale by James D Doss
Blurb: Charlie Moon, Ute rancher and investigator, isn't afraid to throw the dice even when a man's life is at stake, but when that man is betting against himself and Moon's ability to save him, that makes for some awfully high stakes. Hard times have come to Colorado, and Moon's ranch is feeling the pinch. Investor Samuel Reed has never had that problem. He seems to have a special intuition when it comes to picking stocks and claims to be able to remember the future, which gives him quite a leg up on Wall Street. So it's no surprise that Reed is confident when he makes a wager with Moon's best friend, Granite City Chief of Police Scott Parish, that Parish can't keep him alive. Even when Reed doesn't give them any details beyond the date and time of his impending demise, that's more than enough information for Moon who wants in on the action and is just as confident that he's well on the way to saving his ranch. But Moon's best plans go awry when instead of one homicide on his hands, he ends up with two.
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Empress of Eternity by LE Modesitt
Blurb: In the far future, an indestructible and massive canal more than 2,000 miles long spans the mid-continent of Earth. Nothing can mar it, move it, or affect it in any fashion. At its western end, where it meets the sea, is an equally indestructible structure comprising three levels of seemingly empty chambers.'Scientists from three different civilizations, separated in time by hundreds of thousands of years, are investigating the canal. In the most distant of these civilizations, religious rebellion is brewing. A plot is hatched to overthrow the world government of the Vanir, using a weapon that can destroy anything-except the canal. If used at full power it might literally unravel the universe and destroy all life forever. The lives and fates of all three civilizations become intertwined as the forces behind the canal react to the threat, and all three teams of scientists find their lives changed beyond belief.
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The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante
Blurb: Julia just graduated as her high school valedictorian, has a full ride to college in the fall and a coveted summer internship clerking for a federal judge. But when her older sister, Sophie, shows up at the graduation determined to reveal some long buried secrets, Julias carefully constructed plans come to a halt. Instead of the summer she had painstakingly laid out, Julia follows Sophie back to Vermont, where Sophie is opening a bakery'and struggling with some secrets of her own. What follows is a summer of revelations'some heartwarming, some heartbreaking, and all slowly pointing Julia toward a new understanding of both herself and of the sister she never really knew.
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Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
Blurb: Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. Sage has been homeschooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won't tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she's actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.
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The Fortune of Carmen Navarro by Jen Bryant
Blurb: Carmen Navarro rings up customers at the Quikmart, bored to tears. It's a job, and she needs it. But Carmen's true love is music: she dropped out of high school to sing with the Gypsy Lovers and land a recording contract, someday.'Just a few miles away, Ryan Sweeney hunches over his books, a studious cadet with his eye on West Point. There's not a single girl at the Valley Forge Military Academy, and that's fine by him.'But when Ryan, on a day pass from campus, spots Carmen, with her shining black hair and snake tattoo, his pulse quickens. Carmen, who normally rolls her eyes at the stiff Academy'soldados, can tell this one is different. She slips him a note: 'Come hear my band.' A romance begins, unlikely, passionate . . . and quickly imbalanced. In an enthralling narrative of obsessive love, the novel builds to a stunning close.'Inspired by the novella and opera'Carmen, Jen Bryant creates a strong-minded and alluring heroine in this contemporary tale of tragic love.
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Wish by Joseph Monninger
Blurb: Bee's brother, Tommy, knows everything there is to know about sharks. He also knows that his life will be cut short by cystic fibrosis. And so does Bee.'That's why she wants to make his wish-foundation-sponsored trip to swim with a great white shark an unforgettable memory.'But wishes don't always come true. At least, not as expected. Only when Bee takes Tommy to meet a famous shark attack survivor and hard-core surfer does Tommy have the chance to live one day to the fullest.'And in the sun-kissed ocean off a California beach, Bee discovers that she has a few secret wishes of her own. . . .
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Metagame by Sam Landstrom
Blurb: Life is a game, literally. Winners earn immortality, while losers are condemned to aging and death. D_Light, a gifted player, knows this all too well and he's willing to do anything to win'even kill. It is no wonder then that when given the chance to enter a MetaGame'an exclusive, high-stakes, anything goes contest'he's quick to jump at the opportunity. The MetaGame starts out well enough for D_Light, the first quest being to hunt down a dangerous fugitive, but through his own ambition, the tables turn and D_Light finds himself the renegade. Now, D_Light pits himself against his world to find the truth behind 'The Game' and must decide between winning it and saving what's left of his humanity.
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Seed Seeker by Pamela Sargeant
Blurb: Several hundred years ago, Ship, a sentient starship, settled humans on the planet Home before leaving to colonize other worlds, promising to return one day. Over time, the colony of Home pided into those who live in the original domed buildings of the colony, who maintain the library and technology of Ship, and those who live by the river, farming, and hunting to survive. The Dome Dwellers consider themselves the protectors of true humanity and the River People as contaminated, and the two sides interact solely through ritualized trade: food and goods from the River People in exchange for repairs and recharges by the Dome Dwellers. A new light appears in the night sky. The River People believe it might be Ship, keeping its promise to return, but the Dome Dwellers, who have a radio to communicate with Ship, are silent. So Bian, a seventeen-year-old girl from a small village, heads upriver to learn what they know. As she travels through the colony of Home, gaining companions and gathering news, Bian ponders why the Dome Dwellers have said nothing. Has Ship commanded them to be silent, in preparation of some judgment on the River People? Or are the Dome Dwellers lying to Ship, turning Ship against their rivals?
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Exley by Brock Clarke
Blurb: For ten-year-old Miller, who lives with his mother in Watertown, New York, life has become a struggle to make sense of his father's disappearance, for which he blames himself. Then, when he becomes convinced that he has found his father lying comatose in the local VA hospital, a victim of the war in Iraq, Miller begins a search for the one person he believes can save him, the famously reclusive'and, unfortunately, dead'Frederick Exley, a Watertown native and the author of his father's favourite book, the 'fictional memoir''A Fan's Notes. The story of Miller's search, told by both Miller himself and his somewhat flaky therapist, ultimately becomes an exploration of the difference between what we believe to be real and what is in fact real, and how challenging it can be to reconcile the two.
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Now the Killing Starts by Steve Cage
Blurb: A near-future Britain, in'the middle of a freezing cold winter. Michael Greenhalgh,'a flamboyant pro-hanging Tory MP, is brutally murdered in Manchester. DS David Kowalski, the young air cop assigned to investigate the case, is suspicious about the death. Hunter, a no-nonsense 32 year old TV journalist, is on the rebound from porce and the agony of losing his kids. Hes'shooting a BBC film'about the Greenhalgh killing and due to interview Kowalski. By the time he lands'in Manchester, the young cop is dead. At a press conference'Hunter locks horns with Driscoll, the citys'nasty chief of police.'Romance also beckons with Abigail, a mysterious beautiful woman'who drives a talking, computer-controlled, missile-loaded'44.'Something big and Bond-like is'going on but nobody can figure out the hell what. As he digs deeper, Hunter visits a state-of-the-art forensic lab and uncovers a piece of'evidence that threatens to expose those behind Greenhalghs killing. Now'a marked man, he narrowly escapes death in a spectacular, explosive attack and goes on the run in the blizzard-swept north. Theres sex, murder, and mayhem galore, until finally Hunter'' stark naked, covered in'blood, about to be slaughtered ''discovers the terrifying truth driving this rollercoaster ride of a story.
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Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham (Sophie Kinsella)
Blurb: Chloe needs a holiday. Shes sick of making wedding dresses and her partner Philip has trouble at work. Her wealthy friend Gerard has offered the loan of his luxury villa in Spain perfect. Hugh is not a happy man. His immaculate wife Amanda seems more interested in the granite for the new kitchen than in him, and he works so hard to pay for it all, he barely has time for his family. But his old schoolfriend Gerard has lent them a luxury villa in Spain perfect. Both families arrive at the villa and get a shock: Gerard has double-booked. An uneasy week of sharing begins, and tensions soon mount in the soaring heat. But theres also a secret history between the families and as tempers fray, an old passion begins to resurface
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Poppys War by Lily Baxter
August 1939: Thirteen-year-old Poppy Brown is evacuated to a village in Dorset. Tired and frightened, she arrives with nothing but her gas mask and a change of clothes to her name. Billeted at a grand country house, Poppy is received with cold indifference above stairs and gets little better treatment from the servants. Lonely and missing the family she left behind in London, Poppy is devastated when she hears that they have been killed in the Blitz. Circumstances soon force Poppy to move to the suburbs and into the company of strangers once more. Earning a meagre income as a hospital cleaner, as the war continues to rage, Poppy longs to do her duty. And as soon as she is able to, she starts her training as a nurse. While the man she loves is fighting in the skies above Europe, Poppy battles to survive the day-to-day hardships and dangers of wartime, wondering if shell ever see him again
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