It was easy to fall into Karabas, as easy as falling down a hole, but it was hard, to put it bluntly, to get out again. Never mind the zeks, even the soldiers were exiled ...' Deep in the desolate steppe, Captain Khabarov waits out his service at a camp where the news arrives in bundles of last year's papers and rations turn up rotting in their trucks. The captain hopes for nothing more from life than a meagre pension and a state-owned flat. Until, one Spring, he decides to plant a field of potatoes to feed his half-starved men ...This blackly comic novel shows the unsettling consequences of thinking for yourself under the Soviet system. Oleg Pavlov's first novel, published when he was only 24, Captain of the Steppe was immediately praised for its chilling but humane and hilarious depiction of the Soviet Empire's last years. The first in a trilogy, this novel already confirms Pavlov as a worthy successor to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Jake Striker is a tall, handsome lawyer, with light brown hair and storm gray eyes. His wife, Mei, is stunningly beautiful, Mongolian with Chinese ancestry. Both are tied to the secret Changjai Lamasery by an invisible umbilical cord. Jake, who owns a successful law firm in Los Angeles, represents the Lamasery in their dealings in the United States. He also represents the Tu Tung, an ancient order of Chinses assassins. Mei’s best friend is Yanjil, the mother of the child Grand Lama. The Grand Regent has summoned Jake and Mei to the secret Lamasery for an important mission. A Mongolian General is killing people in an attempt to locate the source of his former friend’s gold. His friend is no longer among the living, after having attempted to blackmail the Lamasery for more gold. Unbeknownst to the General, his friend had been sent into the next life by Jake’s former wife, Mei’s sister, who was as fearless as she was beautiful. Jake and Mei, with two Lamasery soldiers, do battle with the General and six of his soldiers while, the Grand Regent spins prayer wheels for them as they’re heavily outnumbered….
Exiled to Siberia In June 1942, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are "capitalists -- enemies of the people." Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia. For five years, Ester and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Cutler Walker is on a roll. He just graduated from Air Force pilot training and earned a coveted assignment to train as a fighter pilot, when disaster strikes. He and two others are involved in a horrendous accident, with life changing consequences. His early life could not have foretold this. The second son of an Army officer, his early years were unexceptional in every way. He flourished in college, though he faced a scurrilous attack on his honor, and suffered a falling-out with his father as a result. The accident changed the trajectory of his life and spurred him on his march to manhood. With the Lord as his copilot, Walker overcomes his injuries and faces his future with unbound optimism, and a newfound empathy for others who have had more than One Hard Day.
Famous for his enormously influential poetry and plays, Alexander Pushkin is also beloved for his short stories. This collection showcases his tremendous range, which enabled him to portray the Russian people through romance, drama, and satire. The sparkling humor of the five “Tales of Belkin” contrasts with a dark fable of gambling and obsessive greed in “The Queen of Spades” and the masterful historical novella, “The Captain’s Daughter,” a story of love and betrayal set during a rebellion in the time of Catherine the Great. Translated by Natalie Duddington and T. Keane
Cause; a murder in Los Angeles. Effect; A summons from the Grand Regent. Jake Striker felt he needed to return to Mongolia to tell his in-laws how their daughter died. His wife, Chandaa, was killed by a drunk driver who ran a red light. The 911 Porsche was broadsided and his wife died instantly at an intersection in Beverly Hills. She had been with him when he finally located the mysterious Chang Jai Lamasery, high on Mt. Bayaskhulangtu. They had been searching for a child that was born at the exact instant the ancient Chang Lai Lama died. The Lamas believed the child was the reincarnation of their revered Grand Lama and were returning him to his rightful home. The parents of the child saw it as kidnapping. Chandaa’s parents live far out on the rolling steppes, where only personal communication is possible. Jake is tall, six feet, three inches, handsome with light brown hair and storm gray eyes. He had originally been hired by the parents to locate their child. Now he is back in Mongolia, comforting grieving in-laws. Chanda’s sister, Mei, a stunningly beautiful Mongolian woman, with Chinese ancestors, is with Jake in her parent’s ger when Lama Namsray arrives and tells Jake that the Grand Regent is in need of his services. Contacting the Grand Regent will require an arduous trek by horseback up into the sacred mountains, where only a privileged few are permitted. A steppe soldier is traveling with Lama Namsray, to protect him; armed with an AK47. Jake is a policeman turned lawyer and has the ear of the Grand Regent. One of the young men who was born in the mysterious valley has gone rogue and become a drug dealer and murderer in Southern California. He needs to be stopped and the Grand Regent is about to give Jake the assignment. Mei, who is twenty-five, with almond eyes and raven hair that hangs to her waist, informs Jake and Lama Namsray that she is going with them. The Lama tells her that will be impossible, outsiders are not allowed into the secret Lamasery. She informs him, “I’m going.” Lama Namsray, the second most powerful lama in the sacred dzong, explains that the Grand Regent would never permit it. Mei says, “I know about the gold mine, I know about the child Grand Lama and I know about the secret entrance into the valley. I’m going.” Jake sides with Mei and she accompanies him on the dangerous journey into the mountains. She also accompanies him to Southern California where they do battle with the drug lord and his thugs. Events become so dangerous they have to call upon the ancient Order of the Tu Tung. A mysterious Lamasery, a handsome lawyer, a beautiful Mongolian woman and a clandestine order of assassins, wrapped tightly together with dragon-emblazoned fabric from the Great Silk Road.
"The Captain's Daughter" (also known as "The Daughter of the Commandant" or "Marie: A Story of Russian Love") is regarded as Pushkin's best prose work. It was first published in 1836 in the literary journal Sovremennik. This historical novel is dedicated to the events of the Pugachev's Rebellion in Russia in 1773-1775. It tells the story of a 17-years-old officer, Peter Grineff, sent by his father into military service. Peter was assigned to a small fortress of Belogorsk, where he fell in love with Maria, the daughter of the commandant... This edition includes explanatory notes and illustrations of artists of the 18-19th centuries.
