The O’Roarke Affair


Book Description

In dazzling Regency London, married spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch find their most challenging investigation may be uncovering the secrets of the cunning spymaster who shaped both their destinies. Spymaster. Revolutionary. Master of disguise. Raoul O’Roarke remains an enigma even to those closest to him. By the age of three, Malcolm Rannoch knew enough of Raoul's life that he wondered if every goodbye would be their last. Thirty years later, Malcolm, now a spy himself, understands a great deal more, but in many ways Raoul is still a mystery. Malcolm’s wife and fellow agent Mélanie has her own complicated relationship with Raoul, who was once her spymaster. When a contact at a dockside tavern warns the Rannochs that powerful forces want Raoul dead, Malcolm and Mélanie are shaken to the core. They’ve barely had time to absorb the revelation when a nearby ship explodes. Rushing to help fight the ensuing fire, the Rannochs find the body of the powerful Duke of Bamford amid the charred wreckage. Bamford, a Tory diplomat and Raoul, a revolutionary, knew each other far better than anyone realized. Their unlikely alliance leads from the French Revolution through Napoleon and Josephine’s glamorous court to the glittering Congress of Vienna, and the horrors of Waterloo. The clues from their past hold the key to Bamford’s murder. As Malcolm and Mélanie connect the pieces, they find as many questions as answers. Raoul has even more secrets than either of them guessed—secrets they need to uncover to prevent his meeting the same fate as the duke. But the process may shake their relationships with him to the core. And their next goodbye could be their final parting.




Innocent In Death


Book Description

Lieutenant Eve Dallas hunts for the killer of a seemingly ordinary history teacher—and uncovers some extraordinary surprises—in this thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series. Eve Dallas doesn’t like to see innocent people murdered. And the death of history teacher Craig Foster is clearly a murder case. The lunch that his wife lovingly packed was tainted with deadly ricin. And Mr. Foster’s colleagues, shocked as they may be, have some shocking secrets of their own. It’s Eve’s job to get a feel for all the potential suspects—and find out why someone would have done this to a man who seemed so inoffensive, so pleasant...so innocent. Someone Eve could easily picture dead is an old flame of her billionaire husband Roarke, who has turned up in New York and manipulated herself back into his life. Consumed by her jealousy—and Roarke’s indifference to it—Eve finds it hard to focus on the Foster case. But when another man turns up dead, she’ll have to keep in mind that both innocence and guilt can be facades...




Thrown Under the Omnibus


Book Description

An essential collection of career-spanning writings by the political satirist and #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Parliament of Whores. From his early pieces for the National Lampoon, through his classic reporting as Rolling Stone’s International Affairs editor in the 1980s and 1990s, and his brilliant, inimitable political journalism and analysis, P. J. O’Rourke has been entertaining and provoking readers with high octane prose, a gonzo Republican attitude, and a rare ability to make you laugh out loud. Christopher Buckley once described his work as “S. J. Perelman on acid.” Thrown Under the Omnibus brings together his funniest, most outrageous, most controversial, and most loved pieces in the definitive O’Rourke reader. Handpicked and introduced by the humorist himself, Thrown Under the Omnibus is the essential O’Rourke anthology. “The funniest writer in America.” —The Wall Street Journal




The Long Goodbye


Book Description

"Anguished, beautifully written... The Long Goodbye is an elegiac depiction of drama as old as life." -- The New York Times Book Review From one of America's foremost young literary voices, a transcendent portrait of the unbearable anguish of grief and the enduring power of familial love. What does it mean to mourn today, in a culture that has largely set aside rituals that acknowledge grief? After her mother died of cancer at the age of fifty-five, Meghan O'Rourke found that nothing had prepared her for the intensity of her sorrow. In the first anguished days, she began to create a record of her interior life as a mourner, trying to capture the paradox of grief-its monumental agony and microscopic intimacies-an endeavor that ultimately bloomed into a profound look at how caring for her mother during her illness changed and strengthened their bond. O'Rourke's story is one of a life gone off the rails, of how watching her mother's illness-and separating from her husband-left her fundamentally altered. But it is also one of resilience, as she observes her family persevere even in the face of immeasurable loss. With lyricism and unswerving candor, The Long Goodbye conveys the fleeting moments of joy that make up a life, and the way memory can lead us out of the jagged darkness of loss. Effortlessly blending research and reflection, the personal and the universal, it is not only an exceptional memoir, but a necessary one.




Portrait in Death


Book Description

In this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas faces a serial killer who offers his victims eternal youth by taking their life… After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn't a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered. Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who's a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim's every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman's innocence, to capture her youth and vitality—in one fateful shot...




Covert Regime Change


Book Description

O'Rourke's book offers a onestop shop for understanding foreignimposed regime change. Covert Regime Change is an impressive book and required reading for anyone interested in understanding hidden power in world politics.― Political Science Quarterly States seldom resort to war to overthrow their adversaries. They are more likely to attempt to covertly change the opposing regime, by assassinating a foreign leader, sponsoring a coup d'état, meddling in a democratic election, or secretly aiding foreign dissident groups. In Covert Regime Change, Lindsey A. O'Rourke shows us how states really act when trying to overthrow another state. She argues that conventional focus on overt cases misses the basic causes of regime change. O'Rourke provides substantive evidence of types of security interests that drive states to intervene. Offensive operations aim to overthrow a current military rival or break up a rival alliance. Preventive operations seek to stop a state from taking certain actions, such as joining a rival alliance, that may make them a future security threat. Hegemonic operations try to maintain a hierarchical relationship between the intervening state and the target government. Despite the prevalence of covert attempts at regime change, most operations fail to remain covert and spark blowback in unanticipated ways. Covert Regime Change assembles an original dataset of all American regime change operations during the Cold War. This fund of information shows the United States was ten times more likely to try covert rather than overt regime change during the Cold War. Her dataset allows O'Rourke to address three foundational questions: What motivates states to attempt foreign regime change? Why do states prefer to conduct these operations covertly rather than overtly? How successful are such missions in achieving their foreign policy goals?




The Invisible Kingdom


Book Description

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION Named one of the BEST BOOKS OF 2022 by NPR, The New Yorker, Time, and Vogue “Remarkable.” –Andrew Solomon, The New York Times Book Review "At once a rigorous work of scholarship and a radical act of empathy.”—Esquire "A ray of light into those isolated cocoons of darkness that, at one time or another, may afflict us all.” —The Wall Street Journal "Essential."—The Boston Globe A landmark exploration of one of the most consequential and mysterious issues of our time: the rise of chronic illness and autoimmune diseases A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: these are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. Renowned writer Meghan O’Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of “invisible” illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long COVID, synthesizing the personal and the universal to help all of us through this new frontier. Drawing on her own medical experiences as well as a decade of interviews with doctors, patients, researchers, and public health experts, O’Rourke traces the history of Western definitions of illness, and reveals how inherited ideas of cause, diagnosis, and treatment have led us to ignore a host of hard-to-understand medical conditions, ones that resist easy description or simple cures. And as America faces this health crisis of extraordinary proportions, the populations most likely to be neglected by our institutions include women, the working class, and people of color. Blending lyricism and erudition, candor and empathy, O’Rourke brings together her deep and disparate talents and roles as critic, journalist, poet, teacher, and patient, synthesizing the personal and universal into one monumental project arguing for a seismic shift in our approach to disease. The Invisible Kingdom offers hope for the sick, solace and insight for their loved ones, and a radical new understanding of our bodies and our health.




Eat the Rich


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller: “The funniest writer in America” takes on the global economy (The Wall Street Journal). In this book, renowned political humorist P. J. O’Rourke, author of Parliament of Whores and How the Hell Did This Happen? leads us on a hysterical whirlwind world tour from the “good capitalism” of Wall Street to the “bad socialism” of Cuba in search of the answer to an age-old question: “Why do some places prosper and thrive, while others just suck?” With stops in Albania, Sweden, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Tanzania, O’Rourke takes a look at the complexities of economics with a big dose of the incomparable wit that has made him one of today’s most refreshing commentators. “O’Rourke has done the unthinkable: he’s made money funny.” —Forbes FYI “[O’Rourke is] witty, smart and—though he hides it under a tough coat of cynicism—a fine reporter . . . Delightful.” —The New York Times Book Review




Judgment in Death


Book Description

When a cop killer cuts loose in a club called Purgatory, New York Detective Eve Dallas descends into an underground criminal hell in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series. In an uptown strip joint, a cop is found bludgeoned to death. The weapon's a baseball bat. The motive's a mystery. It's a case of serious overkill that pushes Eve Dallas straight into overdrive. Her investigation uncovers a private club that's more than a hot spot. Purgatory's a last chance for atonement where everyone is judged. Where your ultimate fate depends on your most intimate sins. And where one cop's hidden secrets are about to plunge innocent souls into vice-ridden damnation...




Apprentice in Death


Book Description

Lieutenant Eve Dallas returns in a fast-paced new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb. Nature versus nurture... The shots came quickly, silently, and with deadly accuracy. Within seconds, three people were dead at Central Park's ice-skating rink. The victims: a talented young skater, a doctor, and a teacher. As random as random can be. Eve Dallas has seen a lot of killers during her time with the NYPSD but never one like this. A review of the security videos reveals that the victims were killed with a tactical laser rifle fired by a sniper, who could have been miles away when the trigger was pulled. And though the list of locations where the shooter could have set up seems endless, the number of people with that particular skill set is finite: police, military, professional killer. Eve's husband, Roarke, has unlimited resources--and genius--at his disposal. And when his computer program leads Eve to the location of the sniper, she learns a shocking fact: There were two--one older, one younger. Someone is being trained by an expert in the science of killing, and they have an agenda. Central Park was just a warm-up. And as another sniper attack shakes the city to its core, Eve realizes that though we're all shaped by the people around us, there are those who are just born evil...