She stared into the speckled mirror, wondering how she had come to this. How could she, Holly Love, apple of her parents’ eye, competent manipulator of invoices in Gorgon Office Supplies, have ended up alone and starving in a dead man’s flat? How indeed? Most reluctant heroines would throw in the towel at this point. But Holly Love is made of sterner stuff. She’s sworn to track down the cheating swine who ripped her life apart, and make him pay. But as she tries to keep her head in the face of a bizarre mystery, a gloomy old house, a hearse-driving Elvis impersonator and a gang of vengeful thugs – not to mention a garrulous and possibly possessed parrot – Holly is forced to come to terms with a great truth. However bad things seem, they can always get worse.
"Fans of quirky mysteries and skillful suspense will find much to enjoy."—Publishers Weekly She stared into the speckled mirror, wondering how she had come to this. How could she, Holly Love, apple of her parents' eye, competent manipulator of invoices in Gorgon Office Supplies, have ended up alone and starving in a dead man's flat? How indeed? Most reluctant heroines would throw in the towel at this point. But Holly Love is made of sterner stuff. She's sworn to track down the cheating swine who ripped her life apart, and make him pay. But as she tries to keep her head in the face of a bizarre mystery, a gloomy old house, a hearse-driving Elvis impersonator and a gang of vengeful thugs, not to mention a garrulous and possibly possessed parrot, Holly is forced to come to terms with a great truth. However bad things seem, they can always get worse.
Medal of Honor Reg O "Brien dreamed of being a Navy Pilot. He achieved his dream and flew directly into the Vietnam War, in his Phantom F-4B fighter. Shot down over North Vietnam by a Surface to Air Missile S.A.M., he fights for survival in the jungle while aiding his wounded Radar Intercept Officer. Will they survive or die in a fight to the death? In the Vietnam War, young men went to the other side of the world to fight in a small county most Americans had never heard of before the daily news started to report American soldiers killed in battle. Those that survived came back either physically or mentally scarred for life. The Medal of Honor is a portrayal of ordinary Americans, doing their duty, under extraordinary circumstances; some survive. The description of the intense horror of their experiences and unflinching courage to duty, for both their country and their fellow man is outstanding.Sample random paragraphs follow: SMAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY! Saber Tooth hit! Right wing damaged! Fire indicator is on! Feet wet in Halong Bay, ETA twelve minutes!" Chuck transmitted continuously in a clear calm voice that did not exemplify his true inner turmoil. SEJECT, EJECT! shouted Reg. He waited for Chuck to clear the plane. He gripped his ejection seat handle and pulled. Everything happened in a flash as the canopy flew off. The seat shot up the rail. At that speed, the force threw his body back into the seat. The screaming air blocked out all other sounds. His eyes bulged! His vision blurred as he tried hard to focus. Dizzy, from a momentary blackout, he had trouble isolating a focal point.Reg climbed the tree, secured Chuck "s chute with his own harness; he then cut Chuck "s parachute cords with his survival knife. The combined chute harnesses allowed him to lower the semiconscious Chuck from the tree. Chuck had a slash across his cheek through the eye area into the scalp. Flies gathered around the wound area; seeing that made Reg nauseous. Blood from the face injuries had solidified into a scab, which would help protect the wound. Reg "s main concern was Chuck "s eye. He applied first aid bandages from his first aid kit.The Indianapolis "s mission was secret; therefore, no one knew that she had gone down. Nine hundred men went into the water, most of them with only life jackets; many were nude not having time to put on their clothing. They floated for five days locking arms together in a square. Every few hours each man had to work his way to the outer edge of the square to act as shark bait.The Tiger sharks had a weeklong feast. One hundred and eighty men survived but none of them would ever forget the horrors they went through. Every sailor gets the chills when you mention the sinking of USS Indianapolis in 1945, and how the sharks disseminated the crew piece by piece. Reg felt he was going to die as he looked into the barrel of the rifle, seeing the abyss of death, just as a blurred image caught his peripheral vision, hitting the soldier from behind, knocking him off balance, as his finger pulled the trigger. The bullet creased Reg "s forehead, causing him to drop his weapon and fall backward onto the deck. Reg then saw a young, black pajama clad adolescent, who was on all fours beside him. He heard the soldier cursing the kid. It had been the youngster who had rushed the soldier a moment before.The soldier turned his gun toward Reg, just as Chuck screamed from between the two boats. The VC soldier looked down for a split second, giving Reg the opportunity to reach for his Colt. The soldier saw Reg move and pointed the rifle at him. Reg "s reaction was a split second faster as he shot the Vietcong soldier pointblank in the face. Part of the face disappeared in a gruesome spray of bloody grey matter that flew from the top of the soldier "s head.
Everyone facing death--their own or a loved one's--benefits from this love story and practical guide in one. As a hospice doctor, Bob cared daily for dying patients. At home, his wife, Jen, listened to the stories of patients and families, layering her understanding of death with the early losses of her own brother and mother. Then, the man who had spent a 40-year career caregiving was diagnosed with advanced, metastatic cancer. An insightful blend of art and compassion, patience and endearing honesty, this book comprises Jen's digital art journal, which chronicles this time in their marriage. What began as a visceral, self-care compulsion within days of diagnosis became notes, collages, and images revealing the raw, luminescent reflections of a caregiver-turned-widow. Beyond the practical guidance and solace offered by an insider, Jen's journal reminds us how to live presently during our darkest hours, honor grief, and discover--even after devastating loss--ways to forge forward.
The staggering story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical's deadly secret of Love Canal—exposing one of America’s most devastating toxic waste disasters and sparking the modern environmental movement as we know it today. “Propulsive...A mighty work of historical journalism...A glorious quotidian thriller about people forced to find and use their inner strength.” —The Boston Globe Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. But in the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn’t take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly sweet smell of chemicals. In this propulsive work of narrative storytelling, NYT journalist Keith O’Brien uncovers how Gibbs and Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal—Love Canal, it was called—that Hooker Chemical, the city’s largest employer, had quietly filled with twenty thousand tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick. O’Brien braids together previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical’s deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn’t; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the EPA, the White House, and even President Jimmy Carter. By the time it was over, they would capture America’s imagination. Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare the dauntless efforts of a few women who—years before Erin Brockovich took up the mantle— fought to rescue their community and their lives from the effects of corporate pollution and laid foundation for the modern environmental movement as we know it today.
A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE THINGS THEY CARRIED In this wildly funny, brilliantly inventive novel, Tim O'Brien has created the ultimate character for our times. Thomas Chippering, a 6'6" professor of linguistics, is a man torn between two obsessions: the desperate need to win back his former wife, the faithless Lorna Sue, and a craving to test his erotic charms on every woman he meets. But there are complications, including Lorna Sue's brother, Herbie, with whom she has an all-too-close relationship, and the considerable charms of Chippering's new love, the attractive, and of course already married, Mrs. Robert Kooshof, who may at last satisfy Chippering's longing for intimacy. In Tomcat in Love, Tim O'Brien takes on the battle of the sexes with astonishing results. By turns hilarious, outrageous, romantic, and deeply moving, this is one of the most talked about novels in years: a novel for this and every age.
