“Do you believe in magic, miracles and guardian angels? If so, you’ll enjoy Ballard’s third cozy to feature ethereal Augusta Goodnight.” —Publishers Weekly After the sudden death of her husband, Minda Hobbs returns to Angel Heights, S.C., the home of her forebears, to seek peace and purpose in her life. Instead, she finds her n’er-do-well cousin Otto as cold and stiff as yesterday’s grits in the ladies’ room at the historic Minerva Academy. Shocked by her cousin’s murder and still grieving over the loss of her husband, Minda has mixed emotions when she’s greeted by her guardian angel, Augusta Goodnight. Shimmering with church window radiance, and smelling of strawberry jam, Augusta is a temp who’s come on a double mission-to help Minda solve Otto’s murder and to take care of unfinished business from an assignment in 1916. Even though Otto could be unbearable at times, an annoying laugh is hardly cause for murder. Minda’s only lead is a tiny gold pin, found wedged in a Minerva Academy bathroom stall, and its connection to a club called the Mystic Six. Together, Minda and Augusta trace the descendants of this secret society, piecing together clues that lead to a special quilt and the mystery behind Cousin Otto’s unfortunate demise.
The debut thriller in the internationally acclaimed series? available for the first time in the United States A long-time number one bestseller in his native Sweden, Åke Edwardson?s profile was conspicuously raised when his novel Frozen Tracks was chosen as a finalist for a 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Until now, however, the novel that launched Edwardson?s critically acclaimed Erik Winter series has never been available in the United States. With a new series translator who fully captures Edwardson?s signature atmospheric style, Death Angels is America?s introduction to Sweden?s youngest Chief Inspector as he teams up with Scotland Yard to solve the mysterious parallel killings of young British and Swedish tourists. Richly evocative of mid-nineties South London and Gothenburg, Sweden, Death Angels is a brilliant opening to a mesmerizing series that has become a phenomenon in international crime fiction.
Since the beginning of time, the archangels have longed to know true love. When four female angels were created for the four archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Azrael, a chaos spurred by jealousy erupted, and the archesses were secreted away to Earth. The four favored archangels followed, prompting a search that has lasted millennia... As the Angel of Death, Azrael could never be like his brothers. While the others fell to Earth in human form, Azrael descended as a vampire. Today, as the lead singer of a popular rock band, he keeps his true nature hidden--a powerful darkness constantly at odds with his angelic self. Beneath his mask, Azrael holds onto the hope that he will one day find the archess who will complete him. At his brother Gabriel's wedding, Azrael set his golden eyes on Sophie Bryce, the maid of honor. He is certain she is his destined mate, and will do anything to make her his. But Sophie is unaware of her archess identity, and is haunted by unspeakable demons of her own. When supernatural forces emerge from the shadows, threatening Sophie, Azrael is the only one who can protect her. But to do it, he must reveal his true, savage self.
From NYT bestselling author Brent Weeks comes the first novel in his breakout fantasy trilogy in which a young boy trains under the city's most legendary and feared assassin, Durzo Blint. For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art -- and he is the city's most accomplished artist. For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly -- and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint. But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics -- and cultivate a flair for death.
“You people are angels!” This is how many respond to those who work in palliative care. How hospice care professionals manage the emotional tension of being surrounded by sick, dying, and grief-stricken people is unfathomable. Over her 20 years of work as a hospice counsellor, author Dr. Breiddal, has collected stories of how ordinary people face death and dying. In this living body of work she reveals the skills needed, along with the struggles and rewards of providing hospice care. Bridging memoir and creative nonfiction, she weaves together theory and practice in the service of the dying and their families. Breiddal aims to make the often-strange reality of death accessible through an intimate, raw, and realistic portrayal of the art of providing loving end-of-life care. Admittedly, being called to this work is to be pulled out of everyday life which requires a willingness to have one’s sense of safety and familiarity challenged: to be off-balance, to surrender to uncertainty, change, discomfort and growth. Encouraging a relational way to encounter mortality, she offers hope that caring for the dying and bereaved is a paradoxical opportunity to open up to life. By entwining her personal and professional experiences, the author presents a timely primer for readers who are facing the death of their loved ones, their own death, or are bereaved. Additionally, both those currently working in the field or considering a career in palliative care will find In the shadow of angels: Intimate stories from a hospice counsellor a fascinating read.
The New York Times bestseller “The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.” —Entertainment Weekly (Editor's Choice) “One gorgeous read.” —Stephen King Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.
The first time I died was November 1st, 1945. That might've been the first time, but it certainly wasn't the last. My name is Veil, and my life has been far from normal. Everything I thought I knew about myself had been a lie. Every single thing. Turns out, I had been in the care of a cult dedicated to a King in Hell and fallen archangel. But after learning the truth of who-or what-I was, I devoted my life to stopping them and everyone like them.Which is why when I learned that Boston was under siege from an occult society who was slaughtering innocents, I had no choice but to come and stop them. Even if it meant it would take me piece by piece through that past I'd spent seventy years trying to avoid-and right into the presence of the archdemon I'd been running from for so very long. Asmodeus.Just when I thought things could not get worse, I realized once more that I had no clue what was coming next...
“A deep and mysterious novel full of people that feel real. . . .An enthralling read and a must-have for your library. Zafón focuses on the emotion of the reader and doesn’t let go.” — Seattle Post-Intelligencer Internationally acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge, set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them. Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past. His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco's dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love, and will ultimately transform their lives.
Where once the mighty Kane has passed, no one who lives forgets. Now, down the trail of past battles, Kane travels again. To the ruins of a devastated city peopled only with half-men and the waif they call their queen. To the half-burnt tavern where a woman Kane wronged long ago holds his child in keeping for the Devil. To the cave kingdom of the giants where glory and its aftermath await discovery. To the house of death itself where Kane retrieves a woman in love. The past, the future, the present - all these are one for Kane as he travels through the centuries. Contents: "Undertow" "Two Suns Setting" "The Dark Muse" "Raven's Eyrie" "Lynortis Reprise" "Sing a Last Song of Valdese"