Vu Tran has written a thrilling and cinematic work of sophisticated suspense and haunting lyricism set in motion by characters who can neither trust each other nor themselves. Dragonfish is a remarkable debut, a noir page-turner. Robert's ex-wife has disappeared and her new husband is blackmailing Robert into finding her for him. His search leads him to learn more about his ex-wife than he ever did in their marriage. As Robert starts illuminating the dark corners of her life, the legacy of her sins threatens to immolate them all.
WINNER OF THE 2017 NASW SCIENCE IN SOCIETY JOURNALISM AWARD A FINALIST FOR THE 2017 PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR “[A] curiously edifying book.” —The New York Times Book Review “With the taut suspense of a spy novel, Voigt paints a vivid world of murder, black market deals, and habitat destruction surrounding a fish that's considered, ironically, to be a good-luck charm.” —Discover “[An] immensely satisfying story, full of surprises and suspense....Things get weird fast.” —The Wall Street Journal An intrepid journalist’s quest to find a wild Asian arowana—the world’s most expensive aquarium fish—takes her on a global tour in this “engaging tale of obsession and perseverance…and an enthralling look at the intersection of science, commercialism, and conservationism” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). A young man is murdered for his pet fish. An Asian tycoon buys a single specimen for $150,000. Meanwhile, a pet detective chases smugglers through the streets of New York. With “the taut suspense of a spy novel” (Discover) The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other. Treasured as a status symbol believed to bring good luck, the Asian arowana, or “dragon fish,” is a dramatic example of a modern paradox: the mass-produced endangered species. While hundreds of thousands are bred in captivity, the wild fish as become a near-mythical creature. From the South Bronx to Borneo and beyond, journalist Emily Voigt follows the trail of the arowana to learn its fate in nature. “A fresh, lively look at an obsessive desire to own a piece of the wild” (Kirkus Reviews), The Dragon Behind the Glass traces our fascination with aquarium fish back to the era of exploration when naturalists stood on the cutting edge of modern science. In an age when freshwater fish now comprise one of the most rapidly vanishing groups of animals, Voigt unearths a surprising truth behind the arowana’s rise to fame—one that calls into question how we protect the world’s rarest species. “Not since Candace Millard published The River of Doubt has the world of the Amazon, Borneo, Myanmar, and other exotic locations been so colorfully portrayed as it is now in Emily Voigt’s The Dragon Behind the Glass…a must-read” (Library Journal, starred review).
". . . Facts, conservation success stories, and profiles of people working hard to find and protect the rarest of . . . species"--Provided by publisher.
From the ocean depths to river rapids, aquatic life can be found in all climates and settings. Geared toward young students, this set is packed with information, naturalistic artwork, helpful maps, and full-colour photography intended to illustrate key life-science principles.
The New York Times bestseller by the author of the forthcoming novel Alice & Oliver | Winner of the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters | A New York Times Notable Book “One word: bravo.”—The New York Times Book Review “Truly powerful . . . Beautiful Children dazzles its readers on almost every page. . . . [Charles Bock] knows how to tug at your heart, and he knows how to make you laugh out loud, often on the same page, sometimes in the same sentence.”—Newsweek One Saturday night in Las Vegas, twelve-year-old Newell Ewing goes out with a friend and doesn’t come home. In the aftermath of his disappearance, his mother, Lorraine, makes daily pilgrimages to her son’s room and tortures herself with memories. Equally distraught, the boy’s father, Lincoln, finds himself wanting to comfort his wife even as he yearns for solace, a loving touch, any kind of intimacy. As the Ewings navigate the mystery of what’s become of their son, the circumstances surrounding Newell’s vanishing and other events on that same night reverberate through the lives of seemingly disconnected strangers: a comic book illustrator in town for a weekend of debauchery; a painfully shy and possibly disturbed young artist; a stripper who imagines moments from her life as if they were movie scenes; a bubbly teenage wiccan anarchist; a dangerous and scheming gutter punk; a band of misfit runaways. The people of Beautiful Children are “urban nomads,” each with a past to hide and a pain to nurture, every one of them searching for salvation and barreling toward destruction, weaving their way through a neon underworld of sex, drugs, and the spinning wheels of chance. In this masterly debut novel, Charles Bock mixes incandescent prose with devious humor to capture Las Vegas with unprecedented scope and nuance and to provide a glimpse into a microcosm of modern America. Beautiful Children is an odyssey of heartache and redemption heralding the arrival of a major new writer. Praise for Beautiful Children “Exceptional . . . This novel deserves to be read more than once because of the extraordinary importance of its subject matter.”—The Washington Post Book World “Magnificent . . . a hugely ambitious novel that succeeds . . . Beautiful Children manages to feel completely of its moment while remaining unaffected by literary trends. . . . Charles Bock is the real thing.”—The New Republic “A wildly satisfying and disturbing literary journey, led by an author of blazing talent.”—The Dallas Morning News “Wholly original—dirty, fast, and hypnotic. The sentences flicker and skip and whirl.”—Esquire “An anxious, angry, honest first novel filled with compassion and clarity . . . The language has a rhythm wholly its own—at moments it is stunning, near genius.”—A. M. Homes “From start to finish, Bock never stops tantalizing the reader.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Rich and compelling . . . captures the hallucinogenic setting like a fever dream.”—Los Angeles Times
Volume 5 - Demon King’s Domination "This is a shortcut for cultivation, filled with slaughter and blood. But… I like it. I want chaos, the more chaos, the better!" A story of a villain, Fang Yuan who was reborn 500 years into the past with the Spring Autumn Cicada he painstakingly refined. With his profound wisdom, battle and life experiences, he seeks to overcome his foes with skill and wit! Ruthless and amoral, he has no need to hold back as he pursues his ultimate goals. In a world of cruelty where one cultivates using Gu - magical creatures of the world - Fang Yuan must rise up above all with his own power. Humans are clever in tens of thousands of ways, Gu are the true refined essences of Heaven and Earth. The Three Temples are unrighteous, the demon is reborn. Former days are but an old dream, an identical name is made anew. A story of a time traveler who keeps on being reborn. A unique world that grows, cultivates, and uses Gu. The Spring and Autumn Cicada, the Venomous Moonlight Gu, the Wine Insect, All-Encompassing Golden Light Insect, Slender Black Hair Gu, Gu of Hope… And a great demon of the world that does exactly as his heart pleases!
This comprehensive guide encompasses a total of 473 species of mesopelagic fishes (i.e. those fishes residing primarily between 200 and 1 000 m depth during daytime) that are known to occur in the western Indian Ocean. It aids in their accurate identification, offering dichotomous keys to all taxa. Species are treated in detail, with accounts including the scientific name, FAO common name in English (where available), other useful characters, size, a distribution map, and one or more illustrations. Captions and arrows enhance user-friendliness for to both specialists and non-specialists in the field of ichthyology. In the broader context of marine ecology, mesopelagic fishes hold a pivotal role as integral components of the marine food web, serving both as predators and prey for various species. This guide not only enriches our understanding of these fishes but also contributes to our knowledge of the western Indian Ocean's diverse ecosystem. Beyond species identification, it sheds light on the interconnectedness of marine life and underscores the importance of conservation efforts in safeguarding this delicate balance. This guide serves as an invaluable resource for in-depth exploration and research into these remarkable fishes, offering a comprehensive tool for studying their diverse characteristics, behaviours, and ecological significance, essential elements for sustainable management and conservation practices.
The Extreme Life of the Sea exposes the eternal darkness of the deepest undersea trenches to show how marine life thrives against the odds, describing how flying fish strain to escape their predators, how predatory deep-sea fish use red searchlights only they can see to find and attack food, and how, at the end of her life, a mother octopus dedicates herself to raising her batch of young.
'Scales's genuine appreciation and awe for fish are contagious.'- Science 'Delightful' - New Scientist Seventy per cent of the earth's surface is covered by water. This vast aquatic realm is inhabited by a multitude of strange creatures and reigning supreme among them are the fish. There are giants that live for centuries and thumb-sized tiddlers that survive only weeks; they can be pancake-flat or inflatable balloons; they can shout with colours or hide in plain sight, cheat and dance, remember and say sorry; some rarely budge while others travel the globe restlessly. And yet the mesmerising and complex lives of fish remain largely underrated and unseen, living hidden beneath the waterline, out of sight and out of mind. Helen Scales is our guide on an underwater journey, as we fathom the depths and watch these animals going about the glorious business of being fish. As well as the fish, we meet devoted fishwatchers past and present, from voodoo zombie potion hunters and scientists who taught fish how to walk to nonagenarian explorers of the deep sea. Woven throughout are vignettes of Helen's own aquatic explorations, from eerie nighttime dives with glowing fish and up-close encounters with giant manta rays, to floating in the middle of a swirling shoal being watched by thousands of inquisitive eyes. As well as being a rich and entertaining read, this book will inspire readers to think again about these animals and the seas they inhabit, and to go out and appreciate the wonders of fish, whether through the glass walls of an aquarium or, better still, by gazing into the fishes' wild world and swimming through it. 'Engaging and informative' The Economist
