### From Publishers Weekly Shamus-winner Gorman's niftily titled new novel opens on a warm summer night in 1961 in Black River Falls, Iowa. Soon after a girl turns up dead at a class reunion party, her drag-racing boyfriend slams into a clay wall at 90 miles an hour. An obvious accident-but then the police find his brake line had been cut. Reluctantly, McCain enters the investigation, which involves jilted girlfriends, unfaithful spouses and a clever, resourceful killer. Besides being a competent, suspenseful mystery with more than a few surprises, this fifth in the series (Save the Last Dance for Me, etc.) is a fascinating time machine, recalling the arcana of a more innocent time (sick jokes, the Maverick TV series, teenagers using the phrase "Daddy-O"). Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. ### From Booklist Every burg, large or small, is driven by the same human emotions of passion, jealousy, greed, and ambition. These are the hard lessons young lawyer Sam McCain has absorbed since he returned to his hometown, Black River Falls, Iowa, in 1961 to eke out a meager living as a lawyer and part-time investigator. When young Sara Griffin, troubled daughter of a prominent family, is murdered at a party, Sam is hired to defend the primary suspect, local bad boy David Egan. Corrupt Sheriff Cliffie Sykes pins the Griffin murder on Egan; then Egan dies under mysterious circumstances while drag racing. McCain feels obligated to clear Egan's name. It's apparent he's unearthed a link to the real killer when a third victim is discovered. The fifth McCain mystery builds on its predecessors as Sam's optimistic naivete is ceaselessly challenged by brutal acts perpetrated in the name of love. But love isn't the real motive; it's trumped by ego and self-preservation. Another fine entry in a wonderful series that deserves a much wider audience. *Wes Lukowsky* *Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved*

Christian Queghan is a myth technologist and a highly respected scientist on the planet known as Earth IVn, a planet created to be as much like Old Earth as possible, although Old Earth itself is now the stuff of myth and legend.Now, a machine has been developed that will project a researcher into one of the infinite number of possible futures of Earth IVn, and Christian Queghan would be the ideal subject. He cannot resist the idea of going where no man has gone before; despite the fact there's only a 50% chance that the machine will bring him back again.

Contrary Pleasure, one of many classic novels from John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.Sin casts a long shadow . . . and touches the innocent along with the guilty in this powerful, probing novel. For generations the Delevan family has reflected only the best of everything: wealth, position, influence, the kind of good looks that only money can buy. No one would dare suspect that their glittering facade and cherished privacy mask forbidden lusts, furtive pleasures, and twisted dreams. But it's only a matter of time before the dark secrets the Delevans have been hiding from the world - and from each other - erupt with a fury. And when they do, the aftermath could destroy them all. Features a new Introduction by Dean KoontzPraise for John D. MacDonald"The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." - Stephen King"My favorite novelist of all time." - Dean Koontz"To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen." - Kurt Vonnegut"A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about thebest." - Mary Higgins Clark

The ingenious little monkey who left the jungle to live with the man in the yellow hat is at it again. What happens when he sets off on his new bicycle to deliver newspapers is enough to make heads spin. He builds a whole navy of paper boats, lands in a traveling circus as a daring bicycle rider, gets an ostrich into trouble, and rescues a runaway bear.

One of the great original classics of modern SF returns! An all-time classic space saga, The Voyage of the Space Beagle is one of the pinnacles of Golden Age SF, an influence on generations of stories. An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery. They encounter several terrifying alien species, including the Ix, who lay their eggs in human bodies, which then devour the humans from within when they hatch. This is one of the most entertaining and gripping stories in all of classic SF. The first third of this novel, “Black Destroyer,” appeared in the July 1939 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION as Van Vogt’s first science fiction story. It was the basis of the Sigourney Weaver film, Alien . Alfred Elton van Vogt (1912–2000) was a Canadian-born science fiction author who was one of the most prolific, yet complex, writers of the mid-twentieth century “Golden Age” of the genre. Many fans of that era would have named van Vogt, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov as the three greatest science fiction writers. * * * The Voyage of the Space Beagle, as the immense rocket leaps from galaxy to galaxy, vertiginously hurtling ever deeper into space, is one of the most enthralling ‘outward bound’ stories ever written. On some planets they find traces of long vanished alien civilisations. On other worlds the aliens have by no means vanished!And one terrifying race they come upon needs no planet: it exists and lives after its fashion in space itself.But the final aliens that van Vogt brilliantly and disturbingly conjures up are discovered in the rocket — Man himself. The Voyage of the Space Beagle is an SF classic. Back cover: INTERGALACTIC QUEST Into the awesome depths of intergalactic space hurtled the Space Beagle, travelling on Man’s most ambitious expedition to the far reaches of the universe. From galaxy to galaxy, the crew explored the remains of past races and civilizations on desolate planets and found weird life forms floating in space itself. But the explorers not only had to contend with danger from the outside: within their own ship they carried one of the deadliest menaces in all creation… A. E. van Vogt is one of the foremost masters of adventurous science fiction. The Voyage of the Space Beagle is one of his all-time classic space sagas, an action-packed narrative that carries the reader out among far stars into new dimensions of SF excitement.

Review"[James Agee's words] are so indelibly etched someplace inside of me that I couldn't reach to rub them out even if I wanted to. And I never want to." -Steve Earle, from the Introduction "The work of a writer whose power with English words can make you gasp." -Alfred Kazin, "The New York Times Book Review"" It is, in the full sense, poetry. . . . The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet . . . remains in the mind."-"The New Republic"" Wonderfully alive." -"The New Yorker" From the PublisherJames Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Death In The Family is the powerful, moving story of a universal human situation. It tells of a loving and closely-knit family--and of their great courage when tragedy changes senselessly and suddenly the lives of those who are left behind."Maturely and masterfully, Agee accomplished a book which touches one deeply and which no reader will forget." -- New York Herald Tribune Book Review

What would you do if this were your last night on earth? The story won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1972.

Hailed by The Washington Post as "a definitive synthesis of the best editions" and by The Times of London as "a monument to Shakespearean scholarship," The Oxford Shakespeare is the ultimate anthology of the Bard's work: the most authoritative edition of the plays and poems ever published. Now, almost two decades after the original volume, Oxford is proud to announce a thoroughly updated second edition, including for the first time the texts of The Reign of Edward III and Sir Thomas More, recognizing these two plays officially as authentic works by Shakespeare. This beautiful collection is the product of years of full-time research by a team of British and American scholars and represents the most thorough examination ever undertaken of the nature and authority of Shakespeare's work. The editors reconsidered every detail of the text in the light of modern scholarship and they thoroughly re-examined the earliest printed versions of the plays, firmly establishing the canon and chronological order of composition. All stage directions have been reconsidered in light of original staging, and many new directions for essential action have been added. This superb volume also features a brief introduction to each work as well as an illuminating General Introduction. Finally, the editors have added a wealth of secondary material, including an essay on language, a list of contemporary allusions to Shakespeare, an index of Shakespearean characters, a glossary, a consolidated bibliography, and an index of first lines of the Sonnets. Compiled by the world's leading authorities, packed with information, and attractively designed, The Oxford Shakespeare is the gold standard of Shakespearean anthologies.**

REDACTIONELE BEOORDELING: When dancer Natalie Natal became too ill to carry out her latest engagement, she and her husband and partner, Nick, persuaded Lauren to take her place. Thrilled at the prospect of living and working in luxurious surroundings on the romantic Paradise Island, Lauren didn't foresee the difficulties which might arise . . . and arise they did.

When Mike Rodenska, a former journalist and recent widower, visits his old friend Troy Jamison in Florida, he's shocked at what he finds. For despite the parties, the shapely women, the devil-may-care air that surrounds Troy and his friends, Mike can see a life slowly coming apart. The only question is: why?Putting together the pieces of his friend's life - and downfall - turns an ordinary visit into a mystery that Mike Rodenska is compelled to solve . . . .

The Devil in a convent, by F. O. Mann.--The lunatics, by E. A. Poe.--Puritan passions, by N. Nawthorne.--Phantom of the opera, by G. Leroux.--The magician, by S. Maugham.--Freaks, by T. Robbins.--Most dangerous game, by R. Connell.--Dracula's daughter, by B. Stoker.--All that money can buy, by S. V. Bent.--The body snatcher, by R. L. Stevenson.--The beast with five fingers, by W. F. Harvey.--The beast from 20,000 fathoms, by R. Bradbury.--The fly, by G. Langelaan.--Black Sunday, by N. Gogol.--Incident at Owl Creek, by A. Bierce.--Monster of terror, by H. P. Lovecraft.--The skull, by R. Bloch.--The oblong box, by E. A. Poe