Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you're the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood, so to speak.... In this third installment of the Stoker and Holmes series, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes have reluctantly agreed to act as social chaperones and undercover bodyguards for Princess Lurelia of Betrovia, who has arrived in London to deliver a letter that details the secret location of an ancient chess queen that's been missing for centuries. But when the letter—which will heal a centuries-old rift between England and the Betrovians—is stolen out from under Evaline and Mina's watchful eyes, the two girls are forced into a high-stakes race to ensure they find the chess queen before anyone else does.
Want a sneak peek? Download this free sample of The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason. Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes have reluctantly agreed to act as social chaperones and undercover bodyguards for Princess Lurelia of Betrovia, who has arrived in London to deliver a letter that details the secret location of an ancient chess queen that's been missing for centuries. But when the letter—which will heal a centuries-old rift between England and the Betrovians—is stolen out from under Evaline and Mina's watchful eyes, the two girls are forced into a high-stakes race to ensure they find the chess queen before anyone else does. The Stoker and Holmes series is as culturally popular and compulsively readable as the Sherlock Holmes stories and Dracula were in the Victorian era.
Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you're the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood, so to speak. After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa appear lunatic using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, there are no coincidences. It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay... “This book has it all…the vivid setting and the finely drawn, compelling heroines make this a fine choice for readers who like their stories with steampunk spice and smart, strong women.” –School Library Journal “The mishmash of popular tropes (steampunk! Vampires! Sherlock Holmes!) will bring readers in, but it’s the friendship between the two girls that will keep them.” –Kirkus Reviews “The author’s writing exudes energy, romance, and humor, and she gives her heroines strong, vibrant personalities as they puzzle out the expansive mystery unfolding before them.” –Publishers Weekly “If Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sherlock Holmes ever met, this book would be the result. If you loved ‘Nancy Drew’ or ‘The Hardy Boys’ as a kid, you’re going to love this sci-fi/fantasy mystery series.” —SLJ Teen
Sherlock’s niece and Bram’s sister in their fifth and final adventure! “Gleason has vamped up the familiar world of Holmes and Watson…to paranormally exhilarating effect!”–The New York Times It’s a cold, blustery day in January of 1890 when Mina Holmes receives an invitation to Evaline Stoker’s wedding. The two young women—partners and occasionally friends—haven’t spoken for nearly two months, since the events at the Carnelian Crow. Shocked, Mina is still looking at the invitation when constables from Scotland Yard begin pounding on her front door. They’ve arrived to arrest her for the murder of a man she’s never even heard of. Meanwhile, Evaline has her hands full with wedding plans (boring) and an overbearing sister who wants to manage her every move—including a dizzying array of social activities. In the midst of all this, she receives an invitation to visit Lady Isabella Cosgrove-Pitt, a most villainous woman. With Pix in jail, Mina being hunted by Scotland Yard, and Evaline dining with the murderous Lady Isabella what more can possibly go wrong? Plenty. And when the mysterious black zeppelin appears once again in the night sky, things are about to get even more dangerous for Miss Stoker and Miss Holmes.
Sex is as fascinating to scientists as it is to the rest of us. A vast pool of knowledge, therefore, has been gleaned from research into the nature of sex, from the contentious problem of why the wasteful reproductive process exists at all, to how individuals choose their mates and what traits they find attractive. This fascinating book explores those findings, and their implications for the sexual behaviour of our own species. It uses the Red Queen from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ – who has to run at full speed to stay where she is – as a metaphor for a whole range of sexual behaviours. The book was shortlisted for the 1994 Rhone-Poulenc Prize for Science Books. ‘Animals and plants evolved sex to fend off parasitic infection. Now look where it has got us. Men want BMWs, power and money in order to pair-bond with women who are blonde, youthful and narrow-waisted ... a brilliant examination of the scientific debates on the hows and whys of sex and evolution’ Independent.
"I love this sad, beautiful, hopeful book." --Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces and How to Make Friends With the Dark For fans of Nina LaCour and Jennifer Niven, a richly layered novel that's both uplifting and heartbreaking, about piecing yourself together after loss and the dark truths we choose to keep from each other and ourselves. San Francisco. New Year's Eve. A tragic accident after the party of the year. Cara survives. Her best friend, G, doesn't. Nine months later, Cara is still struggling, consumed by grief and a dark secret she'd rather forget. In the hopes of offering a fresh start, her mother sends her to boarding school in Switzerland, a place where no one knows what happened--and where they never will, if Cara can help it. But her new classmates Ren and Hector won't let her close herself off. They are determined to break down the walls she has so carefully built up. And maybe Cara wants them to . . . especially Hector, who seems to understand her like no one else does. The problem is that the closer Cara gets to Hector, the more G slips away. If moving on means letting go of the past--and admitting what she did that night--Cara's not sure how. But a second chance awaits, if she can only find the strength within herself. "A poignant exploration of grief, guilt, and forgiveness." --Sophie Kinsella, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Audrey and the Shopaholic series "Transportive and redemptive, this is a gentle story about the universality of grief, the beauty of self-forgiveness, and how new friendship can help heal old wounds."--Ashley Woodfolk, author of The Beauty That Remains and When You Were Everything "Atmospheric....this is a delicious read."-Irish Times "A good choice for readers who enjoyed Stephanie Perkins's Anna and the French Kiss and Gayle Forman's If I Stay."--SLJ
Nobody doubts that intuition in chess exists. It is part of the arsenal of every chess player, next to well-known weapons such as tactical skills, the ability to calculate variations and endgame technique. But how does intuition in chess work, and where does it take us? Intuition is by far the vaguest and hardest to grasp subject in chess, and consequently the least studied. Acclaimed author and experienced chess trainer Valeri Beim takes the bull by the horns and explains, with hundreds of well explained examples, when intuition comes into play, why some players have better intuition than others, what the functions of intuition are, how it differs from pattern recognition, and why your intuition gets weaker as you get older. Valeri Beim deeply analyses and dissects how chess players think and demonstrates that each of us has the power of making intuitive decisions. You will learn how you can train and develop this human gift. Beim uses plain language and illustrates his findings with sparkling tales about Fischer, Carlsen, Tal and other greats in chess as well as with instructive examples of practical play. A thought-provoking, yet highly accessible work.
“Chuky, you’re a genius.” Leading grandmasters have been heard to whisper these words, impressed with yet another brilliancy of Vassily Ivanchuk. The Ukrainian wizard, immensely popular with pros and amateurs alike, has been a member of the world elite for more than twenty years and is one of the most active players on the international circuit. Ivanchuk has finished first in all major tournaments in the world, at times with astonishing supremacy and always with deeply creative chess. He has won the Junior World Championship, the Blitz World Championship and reached the number two spot in the world rankings. Four times he was a member of the team that won the Chess Olympiad, once also claiming the individual gold medal on first board. The question why Ivanchuk, with his phenomenal talent and uncompromising passion for the game, has never become World Champion is something of a mystery. The inability to handle stress has been suggested and he himself has pointed at periods of ‘black moods’ or ‘psychological crises’. Still, despite occasional erratic results, he has always maintained his position among the very best. For this book Correspondence Grandmaster and chess author Nikolay Kalinichenko has selected 100 of Vassily Ivanchuk’s best and most instructive games, explaining his moves and plans for club players. The result is a fascinating and rewarding journey to ‘Planet Ivanchuk’, the extraterrestrial location where the sphinx from Lvov is said to receive his best brainwaves. ,
Any man in the street knows how to increase his physical strength, but among most chess players confusion reigns when it comes to improving their playing strength. Axel Smith's training methods have guided his friends, teammates and pupils to grandmaster norms and titles. Hard work will be required, but Axel Smith knows how you can Pump Up Your Rating.Every area of chess is covered - opening preparation, through middlegame play, to endgame technique. Smith delves into both the technical and psychological sides of chess, and shows how best to practise and improve.
