Sinister forces draw together a cast of desperate characters in this eerie and absorbing novel from Yoko Ogawa.

An aspiring writer moves into a new apartment and discovers that her landlady has murdered her husband. Years later, the writer’s stepson reflects upon his stepmother and the strange stories she used to tell him. Meanwhile, a surgeon’s lover vows to kill him if he does not leave his wife. Before she can follow-through on her crime of passion, though, the surgeon will cross paths with another remarkable woman, a cabaret singer whose heart beats delicately outside of her body. But when the surgeon promises to repair her condition, he sparks the jealousy of another man who would like to preserve the heart in a custom tailored bag. Murderers and mourners, mothers and children, lovers and innocent bystanders—their fates converge in a darkly beautiful web that they are each powerless to escape.

Macabre, fiendishly clever, and with a touch of the supernatural, Yoko Ogawa’s Revenge creates a haunting tapestry of death—and the afterlife of the living.

A collection of stories

The first major English translation of one of contemporary Japan's bestselling and most celebrated authors

From Akutagawa Prize – winning author Yoko Ogawa comes a trio of novellas about love, motherhood, fertility, obsession, and how even the most innocent gestures contain a hairline crack of cruel intent. A lonely teenaged girl falls in love with her foster brother as she watches him leap from a high diving board into a pool-a peculiar infatuation that sends unexpected ripples through her life. A young woman records the daily moods of her pregnant sister in a diary, taking meticulous note of a pregnancy which may or may not be a hallucination-but whose hallucination is it, hers or her sister's? A woman nostalgically visits her old college dormitory on the outskirts of Tokyo, a boarding house run by a mysterious triple amputee with one leg. Hauntingly spare, beautiful, and twisted, The Diving Pool is a disquieting and at times darkly humorous collection of novellas about normal people who suddenly discover their own dark possibilities.

"Highly original. Infinitely charming. And ever so touching." – Paul Auster

A publishing phenomenon in Japan and a heartwarming story that will change the way we all see math, baseball, memory, and each other She is a housekeeper by trade, a single mom by choice, shy, brilliant, and starting a new tour of duty in the home of an aging professor. He is the professor, a mathematical genius, capable of limitless kindness and intuitive affection, but the victim of a mysterious accident that has rendered him unable to remember anything for longer than eighty minutes. Root, the housekeepers ten-year-old son, combines his mothers sympathy with a sensitive curiosity all his own. Over the course of a few months in 1992, these three develop a profoundly affecting friendship, based on a shared love of mathematics and baseball, that will change each of their lives permanently. Chosen as the most popular book in Japan by readers and booksellers alike, The Gift of Numbers is Yoko Ogawas first novel to be published in English, and in the U.S.

Weston Ochse's SEAL Team 666 follows Cadet Jack Walker. Halfway through SEAL training, he's still green but showing incredible promise when he's whisked away to join four SEALs—and their dog—for a special ops mission. Walker soon finds himself in a whirlwind of otherworldly creatures and events as he finds out the true nature of this “special ops” team: SEAL Team 666. Battling demons, possessed humans, mass-murdering cults, and evil in its most dark and primeval form, SEAL Team 666 has their work cut out for them. And it’s not long before they realize that the threat isn’t just directed against the U.S.—an ancient and deadly cult has bigger plans, and Walker is at the center of a supernatural conflict with the entire world at stake.

Review

Monster Librarian: Ochse's pacing is fast, and gives the reader a real sense of Walker's experience of being thrown into an operation, and quickly getting whisked away on mission after mission, with very little downtime between them.Highly recommended.

Horror World: "A thrilling, fun ride that will not disappoint."

Praise for SEAL Team 666:

“SEAL Team 6, the real-life elite team that killed Osama bin Laden, has never seen the kinds of things that confront its fictional counterpart.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“A fan of Tom Clancy-ish military thrillers would be as engrossed in this book as a fan of Jim Butcher’s novels about Harry Dresden.”

—CriminalElement.com

"Even the supernatural has its own division of terrorist. Thank goodness we have our defenders - SEAL Team 666."

—Joe R. Lansdale

With an keen eye for the dark side of human nature, an amazing ear for dialogue, and a necessary sense of irony, Flannery O’Conner exposes the underside of life in the rural south of the United States. One of the powers in her writing lies in her ability to make the vulnerability of one into that of many; another is her mastery of shifting “control” from character to character, making the outcome uncertain. Sexual and racial attitudes, poverty and riches, adolescence, old age, and being thirty-four which “wasn’t any age at all” are only some of the issues touched on in this collection. When Ruby has to walk up the “steeple steps… [that] …reared up” as she climbed to her fourth floor apartment, we feel her pain as she “gripped the banister rail fiercely and heaved herself up another step…” Flannery O’Conner, a 1972 National Book Award winner, reminds us that none of the roles in our lives is stagnant and that wearing blinders takes away more than just a view. Through her stories we see that what we blind ourselves to is bound to appear again and again.

Na pokładzie "Witezia" dowodzonego przez kpt. Olafa Nilsena płynie sztorman Pitt Hardful. Ten człowiek pragnie utrzymać się na "drodze uczciwego życia", chce swym postępowaniem zmusić wszystkich do zapomnienia o przeszłości odpokutowanej za murami więzienia. Tymczasem "Witeź" wozi kulomioty dla portugalskich rewolucjonistów. Ładunek leżący w rumie, ukryty pod innymi towarami jest lepiej opłacalny niż pszenica, mąka bądź węgiel. Ale kiepsko wróży Pittowi, który u progu nowego życia uczestniczy w zakazanym procederze… Akcja przygodowo-sensacyjnej powieści toczy się wartko, urzeka egzotyką.

Le 16 mars 1244, Montségur, dernier sanctuaire du catharisme, tombait après un siège de dix mois. Dans une Occitanie annexée à la couronne, il n'y eut plus de tentative de révolte religieuse ni nationale.

The Bunco Babes are a group of hip retirees who love to play bunco- and addictive game of luck. But someone's luck is about to run out… For good. When Claudia Connors returns from Vegas with a new husband, actor Lance Ledeaux, Kate McCall and the other Bunco Babes are shocked. To make matters worse, Lance has plans to direct, produce, and star in a play he has written-and he wants all the Babes to participate. When he's killed during rehearsal with a pistol, all eyes are on Claudia, who is literally holding the smoking gun. Anyone could have loaded the real bullets, but its up to Kate to prove Claudia's innocence-or her newly widowed friend will be throwing dice behind bars.

1988-ban kommentálva az 1984-et, a valóságos és jelképes évszám között tűnődőn botorkálva szükségszerű a kérdés: a történelmi rémképet illetően érvényes-e, érvényes maradt-e Orwell regénye? Nem és igen. Igen és nem. Nem, ha megkönnyebbülten nyugtázhatjuk, hogy az a totalitárius diktatúra, amely az 1984-ben megjelenik, a regény megírása óta nem valósult meg a valóságos történelemben, és a kommentár fogalmazása közben nincs jele - kopogjuk le, persze -, hogy a közeljövőben bármelyik nagyhatalom megvalósítani kívánná. Igen, ha a tegnapi történelem némely államalakzatára gondolunk. Nem a náci Németországra, nem a sztálini Szovjetunióra, hanem időben közelebbi képződményekre: Enver Hodzsa Albániájára, Pol Pot Kambodzsájára. Hogy a jelen idejű államképződményeket a diplomáciai illem okából ne említsük. Röviden elmerengve ennyit mondhatunk ma az 1984 történetfilozófiai érvényességéről. És a regény? Ünnepelték és kiátkozták a hidegháború hosszú évei során. A sorompótól balra ezért, a sorompótól jobbra azért. Jelképpé és jelszóvá lett. Sorompó arra kell, hogy két oldalán ugyanazt a szöveget kétféleképpen lehessen érteni és értelmezni. Regény azonban nem arra való, hogy jelkép és jelszó legyen. Regény arra való, hogy olvassák, hogy szabadon olvasható legyen. (Sükösd Mihály)

…Militant de gauche violemment opposé à la dictature soviétique, George Orwell s'est inspiré de Staline pour en faire son "Big Brother" et pour dépeindre la société totalitaire ultime…

George Orwell, Animal Farm, 1945 Авторизований переклад з анґлійської мови.

Wielki Brat Patrzy — to właśnie napisy tej treści, w antyutopii Orwella krzyczące z plakatów rozlepionych po całym Londynie, natchnęły twórców telewizyjnego show „Big Brother”. Czyżby wraz z upadkiem komunizmu wielka, oskarżycielska powieść straciła swoją rację bytu, stając się zaledwie inspiracją programu rozrywkowego? Nie. Bo ukazuje świat, który zawsze może powrócić. Świat pustych sklepów, permanentnej wojny, jednej wiary. Klaustrofobiczny świat Wielkiego Brata, w którym każda sekunda ludzkiego życia znajduje się pod kontrolą, a dominującym uczuciem jest strach. Świat, w którym ludzie czują się bezradni i samotni, miłość uchodzi za zbrodnię, a takie pojęcie jak „wolność” i „sprawiedliwość” nie istnieją. Na kuli ziemskiej są miejsca, gdzie ten świat wciąż trwa. I zawsze znajdą się cudotwórcy gotowi obiecywać stworzenie nowego, który od wizji Orwella dzieli tylko krok. Niestety, piekło wybrukowane jest dobrymi chęciami. A dwa plus dwa wcale nie musi się równać cztery.

George Orwell’s payment book for 20 December 1943 records the sum of pounds 5.5.0 for a special article of 2,000 words for Tribune. This has never been traced in Tribune under Orwell’s name but it now seems certain that an essay, entitled “Can Socialists Be Happy?” by “John Freeman” is what is referred to. The name Freeman would have appealed to Orwell as a pseudonym, and the article has many social, political and literary links with Orwell, such as the relation of Lenin to Dickens (the fact that Lenin read A Christmas Carol on his deathbed also appears in the second paragraph of Orwell’s 1939 essay, “Charles Dickens”). A “real” John Freeman, later editor of the New Statesman, has confirmed that he did not write the article. The reason why Orwell chose to write as “John Freeman” he never used this pseudonym again is not clear. It may be that Tribune did not want its literary editor to be seen to be associated with its political pages. Possibly it was a device that allowed Orwell to be paid a special fee. Or it may be that he simply wished to see how far Tribune would let him go with his opinions. In any case, the article appeared in the Christmas issue and provoked much debate in the issues that followed. The “lost essay” is included in the Collected Works and printed here for the first time under Orwell’s name.

Профессор Дамблдор решает ввести в школе новый предмет — Магическую живопись и приглашает на должность преподавателя художницу, уже тринадцать лет живущую среди маглов. Кто она такая? Зачем ему это? Не все в школе будут довольны нововведением, да и дети не понимают для чего это нужно… Рейтинг: R (Restricted) — фанфики, в которых присутствуют секс и насилие, ругательства. Жанр: Romance

Продолжение фика "Чаша Терзаний" Рейтинг: R (Restricted) — фанфики, в которых присутствуют секс и насилие, ругательства. Жанр: Romance

The bodies are found in towns and cities around Kitsap County, Washington. The victims had nothing in common – except the agony of their final moments. But somebody carefully chose them to stalk, capture, and torture – a depraved killer whose cunning is matched only by the depth of his bloodlust. But the dying has only just begun. And next victim will be the most shocking of all!

Cuando Sebastián Mareco se entera por televisión de que en un inquilinato de mala muerte han asesinado a un viejo amigo, la tentación de olvidar inmediatamente la noticia tiene los sólidos fundamentos del sentido común y el instinto de supervivencia. El Chivo Robirosa nunca fue un inocente, aunque licuadas en el tercer o cuarto whisky de la madrugada las entrañables imágenes del pasado acarician la memoria de Mareco. La tentación de volver a quien no hace tanto tiempo triunfó en Italia corriendo detrás de una absurda pelota ovalada, de abrazarse por lo menos a su cadáver, regresa mezclada con otros recuerdos y otras nostalgias bastante más inquietantes que la sencilla y alguna vez profunda amistad que los unió. Por la vida de El Chivo circularon todo tipo de personajes, desde los que le amaron hasta los que se aprovecharon de cada uno de sus gestos y que no encuentran divertido a ese amigo curioso que ha venido desde el pasado olvidado a remover historias que El Chivo se llevó a la tumba. Y aunque la investigación va volviéndose cada vez más peligrosa, para Mareco es, en el fondo, una forma de huir de la desesperanza y de enfrentarse al fin a sus propios fantasmas. Retrato despiadado de la última década de la Argentina, Sueños de perro traslada al lector a un Buenos Aires abatido pero todavía vivo y de la mano de un narrador que no se da nunca por vencido, le lleva a través de las calles de una ciudad donde los crímenes y los amores no tienen razón ni castigo.

An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica -- an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale. These lands, Bert claims, can be traveled to in his ship the Indigo Dragon, one of only seven vessels that is able to cross the Frontier between worlds into the Archipelago of Dreams. Pursued by strange and terrifying creatures, the companions flee London aboard the Dragonship. Traveling to the very realm of the imagination itself, they must learn to overcome their fears and trust in one another if they are to defeat the dark forces that threaten the destiny of two worlds. And in the process, they will share a great adventure filled with clues that lead readers to the surprise revelation of the legendary storytellers these men will one day become. An extraordinary journey of myth, magic, and mystery, Here, There Be Dragons introduces James A. Owen as a formidable new talent.

In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, when Marianne Dashwood marries Colonel Brandon, she puts her heartbreak over dashing scoundrel John Willoughby in the past. Three years later, Willoughby's return throws Marianne into a tizzy of painful memories and exquisite feelings of uncertainty. Willoughby is as charming, as roguish, and as much in love with her as ever. And the timing couldn't be worse—with Colonel Brandon away and Willoughby determined to win her back, will Marianne find the strength to save her marriage, or will the temptation of a previous love be too powerful to resist?