Island of Dead Gods


Book Description

An island in the Mediterranean, a traveler's dream destination, and a nightmare for those involved in a deep-rooted crime. Philine, interpreter, single mother, and bankrupt, is forced to sell her one asset, her beloved cottage on Ibiza, when she runs into even more problems: her best friend has disappeared, a fire breaks out-and, on top of all, she is confronted with Adam, a man she, for good reason, never wanted to see again. He'd flown in from Texas to bury his sister, who supposedly committed suicide on the island, though he suspects she was murdered. When a connection between her death, Phil's disappeared friend, and more fatalities are revealed, the two ex-lovers reluctantly collaborate. "Verena Mahlow's Island of Dead Gods combines a meticulously constructed international thriller with her extensive personal exploration of Ibiza, long a magnet for bohemians, speculators and sybarites of all nationalities. Mahlow's intelligently devised, twisting plot includes much local color-cuisine, ancient sites, modern ambience-and diverse characters, an arcane coterie of goddess-worshipping proto-feminists and men treating themselves to easy, sleazy sex. Mahlow deftly moves these players toward an unexpected, explosive climax." Barbara Bamberger Scott, A Woman's Write




City of Stairs


Book Description

An atmospheric and intrigue-filled novel of dead gods, buried histories, and a mysterious, protean city--from one of America's most acclaimed young fantasy writers. The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.




Three Parts Dead


Book Description

A tale of intrigue, a murdered god, and the business of necromancy: an urban fantasy set in an alternate reality




Buyan


Book Description

Set in the midst of the Mongolian invasion of medieval Russia, Buyan tells a powerful story of love and loss as one man embarks on a dangerous quest, fighting his way through soldiers, spirits, and even ancient gods in a desperate attempt to be reunited with his wife. The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, and his Golden Horde have just begun a ruthless march across Siberia. Batu intends to spread his Mongolian empire all the way to Europe and to conquer the great city of Novgorod. Meanwhile, the Teutonic Knights of Europe spread the Crusades eastward, burning cities one by one in their unstoppable advance. But in the midst of all this fighting, a small village in Nenetsia is attacked, and a simple hunter named Maansi tragically loses the love of his life. Determined to be reunited with his wife, Maansi travels toward the sea in search of the mythical island of the dead—Buyan. But the path to Buyan is fraught with not only bloodthirsty warriors and religious zealots, but also ancient spirits who have been angered by the war as well as the unforgiving gods of old. Still, desperate to see his wife’s face again, Maansi will not let anything stand in the way of his quest to find Buyan.




Rebel Island


Book Description

Triple-crown winner of mystery’s most coveted awards—the Edgar, the Anthony, and the Shamus—Rick Riordan and his Texas-style take on the crime novel have never been bigger or darker than in this latest Tres Navarre thriller. This time Navarre faces a killer as unstoppable as a force of nature. Tres Navarre had given up private investigation—and with it a violent past that had buried too many friends. Newly married, with a baby on the way, it was time to find a safer line of work. He and Maia had come to Rebel Island to celebrate their honeymoon and a new future. But no sooner had they arrived than a reminder of the past showed up in the form of a corpse shot dead in room 12. Just like that Tres finds himself flashing back on the memory of a grim childhood summer spent on the island—a summer that changed everything in his life. A summer he could never forget but never entirely remember either. And when a second corpse turns up, it’s clear to Tres that the past is not dead and buried after all, but is stalking Rebel Island with unfinished business of its own. What really happened that long-ago summer, what dark secrets were kept, and who has come back to avenge them…these are the questions Tres, his brother Garrett, and the very pregnant Maia must answer—and time is running out. For a monster hurricane is about to hit Rebel Island, cutting them off from the mainland and leaving them trapped on a flooding island with the hotel’s remaining guests brutally dying one by one. Tres knows better than anyone that the bloodlines of South Texas are as twisted as barbed wire. This time they’re guarding a revelation that can turn his dreams of happily ever after into the ultimate nightmare.




Island of Dead Gods


Book Description




Deeplight


Book Description

“Equal parts dazzling fantasy, swashbuckling adventure, and tender coming-of-age tale” from the author of the Costa Book of the Year, The Lie Tree (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The gods are dead. Fifty years ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. Now, even coin-sized scraps of dead god are worth a fortune because of the strange powers they’re said to possess. But few are brave enough to dive and search for them. When fifteen-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of one of these deities, he’ll risk everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, scientists, and cults who would kill for its power. Because Hark needs the heart if he wants to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But the power of a god was not meant for human hands. With the heart, Jelt begins to eerily transform, and Hark will have to decide if he can stay loyal to his friend—or what he’s willing to sacrifice to save him. “Hardinge is assured and sophisticated in her exploration of the dark temptations of power.” —The Wall Street Journal “Monsters and mortals collide in this fantasy adventure that explores the hypnotic allure of fear, the adamant grip of the past, and the redeeming power of stories . . . Thrilling.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Glorious thematic complexity inhabits a wildly inventive world, with the menacing roils of a dangerous sea threatening the archipelago and touches of steampunk rounding out the fantastical elements . . . Readers will be thrilled to be pulled into the alluring expanse of her work.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)




Dead in Vineyard Sand


Book Description

When the body of a radical environmentalist is discovered in a golf course sandtrap, J. W. Jackson finds himself named a prime suspect and sets about identifying the killer from among a horde of developers, golfers, and other potential culprits.




American Gods


Book Description

Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident. Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible. He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever he the same...




River of Gods


Book Description

As Mother India approaches her centenary, nine people are going about their business — a gangster, a cop, his wife, a politician, a stand-up comic, a set designer, a journalist, a scientist, and a dropout. And so is Aj — the waif, the mind-reader, the prophet — when she one day finds a man who wants to stay hidden. In the next few weeks, they will all be swept together to decide the fate of the nation. River of Gods teems with the life of a country choked with peoples and cultures — one and a half billion people, twelve semi-independent nations, nine million gods. Ian McDonald has written the great Indian novel of the new millennium, in which a war is fought, a love betrayed, a message from a different world decoded, as the great river Ganges flows on.