Now retired from the British Secret Service, former spy George Smiley agrees to do a favor for an old friend and investigates the mysterious demise of the wife of an assistant master at the distinguished Carne School. But Smiley gets more than he bargains for and is plunged headlong into a labyrinth of skeletons and hatreds.
The first of his peerless novels of Cold War espionage and international intrigue, Call for the Dead is also the debut of John le Carré's masterful creation George Smiley. "Go back to Whitehall and look for more spies on your drawing boards." George Smiley is no one's idea of a spy—which is perhaps why he's such a natural. But Smiley apparently made a mistake. After a routine security interview, he concluded that the affable Samuel Fennan had nothing to hide. Why, then, did the man from the Foreign Office shoot himself in the head only hours later? Or did he? The heart-stopping tale of intrigue that launched both novelist and spy, Call for the Dead is an essential introduction to le Carré's chillingly amoral universe.
The Blue Ridge Mountains, fun historical tidbits, a hint of the supernatural, and a taste of romance—this bookish cozy mystery series debut about a crime-solving librarian is “one of the best” (New York Journal of Books). Librarian Amy Webber must archive overdue crimes and deadly rumors before a killer strikes again in small-town Virginia . . . Fleeing a disastrous love affair, university librarian Amy Webber moves in with her aunt in a quiet, historic mountain town in Virginia. She quickly busies herself with managing a charming public library that requires all her attention with its severe lack of funds and overabundance of eccentric patrons. The last thing she needs is a new, available neighbor whose charm lures her into trouble. Dancer-turned-teacher and choreographer Richard Muir inherited the farmhouse next door from his great-uncle, Paul Dassin. But town folklore claims the house’s original owner was poisoned by his wife, who was an outsider. It quickly became water under the bridge, until she vanished after her sensational 1925 murder trial. Determined to clear the name of the woman his great-uncle loved, Richard implores Amy to help him investigate the case. Amy is skeptical until their research raises questions about the culpability of the town’s leading families . . . including her own. When inexplicable murders plunge the quiet town into chaos, Amy and Richard must crack open the books to reveal a cruel conspiracy and lay a turbulent past to rest in A Murder for the Books, the first installment of Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge Library mysteries.
Torchlight flickers on the elegant marble walls. The sound of a mob echoes in the street. The year is 52 B.C. and the naked body of Publius Clodius is about to be carried through the teaming streets of Rome. Clodius, a rich man turned rabble-rouser, was slain on the most splendid road in the world, the Appian Way. Now Clodius's rival, Milo, is being targeted for revenge and the city teeters on the verge of chaos. An explosive trial will feature the best oration of Cicero and Marc Antony, while Gordianus the Finder has been charged by Pompey the Great himself to look further into the murder. With the Senate House already in ashes, and his own life very much in danger, Gordianus must return to a desrted stretch of the Appian Way - to find the truth that can save a city drunk on power, rent by fear, and filled with the madness and glory of Rome.
Charlie is a promiscuous, unsuccessful English actress in her twenties. Intrigued by a handsome, solitary stranger, she finds herself lured into the “theatre of the real.” For the mysterious man is Kurtz, an embattled Israeli intelligence officer out to stop the bombing of Jews in Europe. Forced to play her most challenging role, Charlie is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap set to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist … and soon proves herself a double agent of the highest order.
Eduardo Mendoza's classic novel about the birth of Barcelona as a world city, embodied in the rise of the ambitious and unscrupulous Onofre Bouvila "Though historical in subject matter, this story of Catalonian enterprise and Barcelonan ambition is thoroughly contemporary in spirit" Jonathan Franzen Stung by the realisation that his father is a fraud and a failure, Onofre Bouvila leaves a life of rural poverty to seek his fortune in Barcelona. The year is 1888, and the Catalan capital is about to emerge from provincial obscurity to take its place amongst the great cities of the world, thanks to the upcoming Universal Exhibition. Thanks to a tip-off from his landlord's daughter, Onofre gets his big break distributing anarchist leaflets to workers preparing for the World Fair. From these humble beginnings, he branches out as a hair-tonic salesman, a burglar, a filmmaker, an arms smuggler and a political dealmaker, in a multifaceted career that brings him wealth and influence beyond his wildest dreams. But, just as Barcelona's rise makes it a haven for gangsters, crooks and spivs, vice begins to fester in Onofre's heart. And the climax to his remarkable story will come just as a second World Fair in 1929 marks the city's apotheosis. Translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Legacy of Spies. "Fielding and Jebedee were dead, Steed-Asprey vanished. Smiley—where was he?" John le Carré's second novel, A Murder of Quality, offers an exquisite, satirical look at an elite private school as it chronicles the early development of George Smiley. Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs. Stella Rode, saying that she fears her husband—an assistant master at Carne School—is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley. Unfortunately, it's too late. Mrs. Rode has just been murdered. As Smiley takes up the investigation, he realizes that in life—as in espionage—nothing is quite what it appears.
Decker Roberts is back, and he always knows when you’re telling the truth. David Rotenberg first introduced Decker Roberts and his unique gifts in the critically acclaimed thriller The Placebo Effect. Since Decker’s last run-in with the NSA, he’s been trying to remain off the radar, searching for his estranged son, Seth. Decker’s synaesthetic abilities, once a lucrative gift, are increasingly becoming a liability. When a vicious attack wipes out the best and brightest of America’s young minds, devastating the country’s future, Decker is forced to step out of the shadows and help track down the killer. And as the hunt brings him in contact with other people of “his kind,” Decker begins to realize that there may be depths to his gifts that he had never even imagined. Meanwhile, several parties are secretly tracking the progress of Decker’s son, trying to determine if Seth has the same powerful gift as his father. Decker is determined to go to any lengths to find his son, but along the way he will have to face down enemies, both old and new, as well as struggle with whether Seth even wants to be found. David Rotenberg’s thrilling sequel to The Placebo Effect is full of suspense and will challenge what you think you know about people who have special “gifts.” From rural Africa to downtown Toronto, the paths of Rotenberg’s colourful characters intertwine as they move toward a conclusion that none of them can see coming.
"Looking for an entertaining book filled with the miscellany of the publishing world? Look no further! You'll find everything from the meager to the important in this book, part readers' advisory and part commentary on the world of books and literature, good and not so good." "Filled with humor and occasional defiance of the conventional, The Back Page delights readers with anecdotes, stories, quizzes (which are almost impossible to answer without cheating), and a host of insights into what makes books what they are - those wonderful and magical sources of great thoughts. A compendium of Bill Ott's Booklist column, published in the magazine since 1991, the volume includes essays about books and authors, genre fiction, life at Booklist, and much more." --Book Jacket.