Bluff

Bluff

Author: Michael Kardos

Publisher: Grove Press

Published: 2018-04-03

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0802165672

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A down-on-her-luck female magician is drawn into a dangerous criminal scheme in this “hopelessly addictive” thriller (Megan Abbott, Edgar Award–winning author of Give Me Your Hand). At twenty-seven, magician Natalie Webb is already a has-been. A card-trick prodigy, she took first place at the World of Magic competition at eighteen and has never again reached such heights. Now she lives alone in a New Jersey apartment with her pigeons and a pile of overdue bills. In a desperate ploy for extra cash, she follows up on an old offer to write for a glossy magazine and pitches the editor a seductive topic: the art of cheating at cards. But when Natalie meets the perfect subject for her piece—a poker cheat who dazzles at sleight of hand—what begins as a journalistic gamble soon leads her into a dangerous proposition with the highest of stakes . . . “Truly gasp-worthy.” —Library Journal, starred review “[A] delightfully surprising thriller.” —The Florida Times-Union “If you haven’t read Kardos yet, Bluff is the perfect place to start!” —Lisa Scottoline, New York Times–bestselling author of Someone Knows


Blackstar Theory

Blackstar Theory

Author: Leah Kardos

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2021-12-16

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1501365398

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Blackstar Theory takes a close look at David Bowie's ambitious last works: his surprise 'comeback' project The Next Day (2013), the off-Broadway musical Lazarus (2015) and the album that preceded the artist's death in 2016 by two days, Blackstar. The book explores the swirl of themes that orbit and entangle these projects from a starting point in musical analysis and features new interviews with key collaborators from the period: producer Tony Visconti, graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook, musical director Henry Hey, saxophonist Donny McCaslin and assistant sound engineer Erin Tonkon. These works tackle the biggest of ideas: identity, creativity, chaos, transience and immortality. They enact a process of individuation for the Bowie meta-persona and invite us to consider what happens when a star dies. In our universe, dying stars do not disappear - they transform into new stellar objects, remnants and gravitational forces. The radical potential of the Blackstar is demonstrated in the rock star supernova that creates a singularity resulting in cultural iconicity. It is how a man approaching his own death can create art that illuminates the immortal potential of all matter in the known universe.


The Three-Day Affair

The Three-Day Affair

Author: Michael Kardos

Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0802194397

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This twisting crime novel “does what great books should—makes you resent time spent away from it” (The Newark Star Ledger). An Esquire Best Book of the Year and a Miami Herald Best Crime Fiction Book of the Year Will, Jeffrey, and Nolan have been friends since their undergrad days at Princeton. Now, nine years after graduation, Will is a failed musician still reeling from the death of a bandmate. Jeffrey got lucky and then rich from the dot-com boom, and Nolan is a state senator with national aspirations. Through it all, their bond with each other has managed to survive—until one shocking event changes everything. One night on the road, they make a routine stop at a convenience store. Moments after entering the store, a manic Jeffrey emerges, dragging a young woman with him. He shoves her into Will’s car and shouts a single word: “Drive!” Shaken and confused, Will obeys. Suddenly these three men find themselves completely out of their element, holding a frightened young girl hostage without the slightest idea of what to do next. They’re already guilty of kidnapping and robbery; it’s only a matter of time before they find out what else they might be guilty of . . . “Will keep readers on the edge of their seats . . . As you read, you think you know which way the author is driving the narrative, only to have it swerve several times before the fascinating conclusion.” —Library Journal, starred review “A carefully calibrated study of how even the most highly evolved members of our species can become feral under pressure.” —The New York Times “Absolutely first-rate.” —John Lescroart


The Art and Craft of Fiction

The Art and Craft of Fiction

Author: Michael Kardos

Publisher: Macmillan Higher Education

Published: 2016-09-30

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1319032931

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Brief, practical, and affordable, The Art and Craft of Fiction gives aspiring writers all they need, in a friendly voice that students love. Michael Kardos focuses on technique and presents fiction writing as a teachable (and learnable) art. With an organization built on methods and process rather than traditional literary elements, Kardos helps students begin their stories, write strong scenes, use images and research detail, revise for aesthetics and mechanics, and finish and polish their own stories. Instructors trust The Art and Craft of Fiction to help structure their course, and reinforce and complement their teaching points with examples and exercises. A brief fiction anthology at the back of the book includes 15 selections that instructors praise for their usefulness in the creative writing classroom.


Before He Finds Her

Before He Finds Her

Author: Michael Kardos

Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Published: 2015-02-03

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 0802191614

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A girl in witness protection hunts for her fugitive father in this thriller with “an ending you don’t see coming” (The New York Times Book Review). Everyone in the quiet Jersey Shore town of Silver Bay knows the story. One day in the early 1990s, Ramsey Miller threw a blowout block party—then murdered his beautiful wife and three-year-old daughter. But everyone is wrong. The daughter got away. Under another name, she has spent the last fifteen years in small-town West Virginia as part of the witness protection program. She has never been allowed to travel, go to a school dance, or even get onto the internet at home. Precautions must be taken at every turn, because Ramsey Miller was never caught and might still be looking for his daughter. But now she has a pressing reason to defy her guardians and take matters into her own hands. Returning to Silver Bay, she hopes to do what the authorities have failed to do: find her father before he finds her . . . “A compelling story about sad truths, loss, and resilience . . . should make fantastic fodder for book-group discussions.” —Booklist “[An] outstanding crime thriller.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Read the first page and kiss the next 24 hours goodbye.” —Jeffery Deaver


The Amulet

The Amulet

Author: E. G. Kardos

Publisher: Elias Chronicles

Published: 2022-11-16

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781639840977

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

HANDS SWEATING AND HEART RACING... ...only a three-headed dragon stands in his way. Elias' only chance to find his answer is through the serpent. Mystery, marvel, and magic take Elias on a journey of self-discovery. A boy on the verge of adulthood, Elias is forced to make a difficult decision, but he must go on a journey to find his answers. His grandmother prepares him for his quest that will take him from a poor Hungarian village into a supernatural world where he faces powers and mystical beings. There he must find Zoltan, a sorcerer, who can help him make sense of the omens along the path-like a three-headed shape-shifting dragon that plagues him at every move. Is this path a way to his heart-a way to his dream-the way to truth?


One Last Good Time

One Last Good Time

Author: Michael Kardos

Publisher:

Published: 2010-12

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 9781935708100

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Michael Kardos's soulful stories take place in that hard-luck corner of New Jersey where rock and roll dreams crash into blue-collar reality. One Last Good Time is a remarkable debut collection, full of stories that are funny and melancholy at the same time." - Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and The Abstinence Teacher. "One Last Good Time is one of the sharpest, funniest, and most compassionate debuts you will ever have the good fortune to read. Without a doubt, Michael Kardos is a truly gifted writer and a vibrant new voice in American letters." - Donald Ray Pollock, author of Knockemstiff


Relationship Agreements

Relationship Agreements

Author: Eri Kardos

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-11-12

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 9781540338488

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book will inspire you to fall more deeply in love with your partner, yourself, and your relationship! Internationally renowned relationship coach Eri Kardos presents what people around the world have been waiting for: a simple and effective guide to using RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENTS - a beautiful tool that unpacks the spoken and unspoken understandings that hold a relationship together so that each aspect can be articulated, understood, and explored. With her unique ability to create a space that is warm, inviting, and fun, Eri effortlessly breaks down this highly effective tool into simple and sensible sections while sharing advice, activities, self-reflections, and exercises that provide partners with step-by-step methods to successfully navigate potentially challenging topics while building more intimacy and connection through the process. With years of experience and expertise in this area, Eri boldly takes readers beyond the traditional constructs of what relationships have been and brilliantly paints a new perspective of what relationships can become: a living and breathing experience that grows as you grow! Eri Kardos is one of the most highly referred relationship coaches in the Pacific Northwest and worldwide. Eri works globally with her clients: from the U.S. to Japan, from Argentina to India, from South Africa to Germany - Eri has delivered hundreds of self-development presentations, workshops, unconferences, and private coaching sessions. She regularly partners with corporations, universities, business groups, and community organizations to bring light to how communication and connection is inherently tied to success. She is passionate about applying her years of experience and understanding to help people in all stages of their relationship - whether intimately dating, newly married, at the brink of divorce, or partnered for over 40 years. Eri inspires people to fall in love more deeply with their partners, themselves, and their relationship!


Optimize Your Productivity

Optimize Your Productivity

Author: Lisa Kardos

Publisher: Lisa Kardos, Ph.D. via PublishDrive

Published: 2019-01-27

Total Pages: 89

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Optimize Your Productivity is the go-to guide for getting more done in less time, especially if other productivity systems have failed you in the past. Lisa Kardos, Ph.D., an engineer, bestselling author, speaker, and consultant, has authored another title in the spirit of applying engineering best practices as a logical approach to improve our lives. Optimize Your Productivity will not only help you get to the root of your productivity issues, but it will also provide an interesting and unique approach to the formidable subject, including a "quickstart" guide to aid you immediately. If you know you could be more productive, or need some motivation to improve your productivity, this book will not disappoint!


The Auschwitz Journal

The Auschwitz Journal

Author: Klara Kardos

Publisher: Paraclete Press

Published: 2020-01-21

Total Pages: 67

ISBN-13: 1640604898

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944 violent persecution of the Jews began, including taking hundreds of thousands to concentration camps. It did not help Klara Kardos that she was Catholic: because of her Jewish background, she was also taken to Auschwitz in June of 1944 at the age of 24. At the camp, younger women were not killed; they were taken to ammunition factories to do forced labor. Klara survived the horror of death camps and was liberated in May 1945. Years after her return to Hungary, at the request of her friends, she wrote down her camp experiences in a small book in the Hungarian language. This is her story.