In Obsidian Butterfly, Anita travels to New Mexico to repay the favor that she promised Edward at the end of The Killing Dance. Edward wants Anita to assist in a set of apparently supernatural attacks that have left numerous victims dead, and has skinned alive many survivors. In the course of the investigation, Anita learns more about Edward''s personal life than she ever has before. She meets Donna, Edward''s fiancee (in his civilian identity of legal bounty hunter "Ted Forrester") and Donna''s children, Peter and Becca. She and Edward also come into conflict with a number of mercenaries who work for Edward''s former boss, "Van Cleef," allowing Anita to learn a few clues about Edward''s former life. Anita also comes into contact with a number of possible suspects and sources for information: the Aztec vampire and purported goddess Itzpapalotl; her priest and human servant Pinotl; local Ulfric, Roland, and Roland''s necromancer/vargamor and local tough guy Nicky Baco. Ultimately, Anita learns that a second Aztec vampire/god, Red Woman''s Husband, is awakening in New Mexico. After sleeping for centuries, Red Woman''s Husband began awakening when Riker, (Harold''s boss) raided his tomb, stealing several jade idols. In order to finish his awakening, Red Woman''s Husband''s priest and his animal servant have been skinning and killing the people who bought the idols stolen from his tomb, animating the skinned corpses as servants. Riker takes Becca and Peter hostage in an attempt to force Anita to protect him from Red Woman''s Husband, but Anita, Edward, and Edward''s associates Bernardo and Olaf rescue Edward''s family and kill everyone involved with their kidnapping. Anita is captured by Red Woman''s Husband, who plans to consume her life energy to complete his awakening, but with Itzpapalotl''s help, she is able to kill the vampire instead. Realizing that Edward loves his soon-to-be family in some way, Anita leaves them without interfering and returns to St. Louis to begin work on her own romantic relationships.

Obsidian Butterfly

A rigid man of fifty leads a solitary, apparently respectable life, as clerk and bookkeeper for a small business and part-time rent collector for his landlord. He has rented a flat in the building for twenty years because deep in its cellar, unbeknownst to anyone else, is a mannequin that he periodically "strangles" in order to satisfy his homicidal urges. The figure''s location in the cellar, the darkness, the furtiveness, all are essential to the solitary man''s satisfaction. The tenuous mental equilibrium he has been able to maintain is threatened when a young man, healthy in mind and body, a doctoral candidate in psychology, becomes a roomer in the house. Danger the older man senses from the moment the new tenant appears is horribly realized for him when the young man finds the mannequin and uses it as the figure in the bonfire at the Guy Fawkes Night celebration he has organized for the local children. The respectable fifty-year-old now must go back to the streets to find flesh more yielding than a mannequin''s...

A Demon in My View

The book centers on a boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, who is neglected by his father (who has sunken into despair after his wife''s death) and is bullied by his schoolmates. Whilst running from some of them, Bastian bursts into the antique book store of Carl Conrad Coreander. Bastian steals a book from the store called The Neverending Story which Coreander has been reading; he hides in his school''s attic, where he proceeds to read the story through the rest of the day and the night, not realizing that he has effectively become a part of it. After a while of reading he is magically transfixed and is brought into the book. The book begins in Fantastica, when a "will-o''-the-wisp" goes to ask the Childlike Empress for help against the Nothing, which is spreading over the land. The Empress is ill, which is believed to be the cause of the Nothing (or vice versa); she sends the only person that can stop the Nothing, a boy warrior named Atreyu, to find a cure for her. Atreyu is a brave person, being considered a warrior even though he is a young boy of Bastian''s age. While on his quest, Atreyu meets characters such as Morla the Aged One, the incorporeal oracle Uyulala, and the gnomes Urgl and Engywook. Atreyu also meets Falkor, the luckdragon, who helps him along the way. After Atreyu and Falkor get in the way of a fight of the Wind Giants, Atreyu gets thrown off Falkor''s back and ends up in Spook City, Atreyu meets Gmork the werewolf, who has been following Atreyu since the early days of his quest, intending to kill him. In the course of his quest, Atreyu learns about the true nature of Fantastica and the Nothing: Fantastica is a representation of the dreams and fantasies of the real world; the Nothing and the sickness of the Childlike Empress are the effects of the lies humans use in their greed for power; it is the denial of dreams and fantasy which is destroying Fantastica. The only thing that can save Fantastica is a human child, who must give the Childlike Empress a new name to start again the cycle of life in Fantastica. Falkor and Atreyu return to the Ivory Tower, where the Childlike Empress lives. But since Bastian, in his lack of confidence, hesitates to take the step into Fantastica, the Childlike Empress confronts him with the fact that whatever he may think, he has already become part of the Neverending Story, and he must carry out his part in it. And Bastian does so by crying out the name he has chosen for the Empress: ''Moonchild''. Bastian comes to Fantastica and meets the Empress; she asks him to help re-build Fantastica with his imagination, and he subsequently has many adventures of his own in his new world. With the help of AURYN, a medallion that links him to the Empress, that gives him power over all the inhabitants of Fantastica and grants all of the boy''s wishes, Bastian explores the Desert of Colors, battles the evil witch Xayide, and meets the three Deep Thinkers. Bastian and Atreyu become friends. However, due to Bastian''s continuous wishing with the The Gem - which costs a memory each time - he begins to lose his true self, to wit, Atreyu becomes increasingly more worried about him. Xayide exploits the growing tension between the two, driving Bastian to a lust for power and eventually having himself crowned as Childlike Emperor. Atreyu leads a rebellion against Bastian, but narrowly escapes with his life. Upon pursuing Atreyu, Bastian stumbled on a colony of humans who were trapped in Fantastica - having lost all their memories as they had recklessly indulged in the power of Auryn - and realizes what has nearly become of himself. Bastian sets out to find the only thing he can wish for without losing himself: his own true wish. After Bastian loses his remaining memories, he is aided by Atreyu in fulfilling his one true wish, and manages to cure his father at the same time. After returning from Fantastica, he decides to return the book to its rightful owner, Carl Conrad Coreander, but the book has gone missing upon his return to the human world. However, Mr. Coreander reveals he has also been to Fantastica once, and the two readily agree to see each other soon and talk about their respective experiences. But as Coreander surmises, this is not the true end of the story, as Bastian is now likely to lead others onto their way to Fantastica in order to preserve both worlds.

The Neverending Story

After Uther Pendragon’s death, Merlin the druid forms a stone, and in it, a sword. On this sword, it is written that anyone who can pull it out of the stone will become the new king of England. After many years, the young Arthur, (secretly the son of Pendragon), pulls this magical sword out of the stone, and becomes king. Together with Merlin, he constructs a round table, where only the best knights of England may sit. More and more knights come to join the brotherhood of the Round Table, and each has his own adventures. After many years, The holy knight Sir Galahad, the son of Sir Lancelot, comes to the court of Arthur. With his coming, all knights ride throughout Europe for the search of the Holy Grail of Jesus Christ. Only four knights see the Grail: Sir Lancelot, Sir Percival, Sir Bors de Gaunnes and Sir Galahad. After the Grail is found, the last battle of the Round Table is close-at-hand. In this battle, many knights die and with them, King Arthur, his nephew Sir Gawain, and also, Mordred, the wicked son of King Arthur and his half-sister Morgana le Fay. King Arthur is buried at Avalon, the secret island of the druids and damsels.

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Donna, the book''s protagonist, goes on the run with her daughter Sandy when she learns that her ex-husband, who molested Sandy for years, has been released from prison. After a car accident leaves them stranded in the small California coastal town of Malcasa Point, Donna and Sandy cross paths with Judge, a mercenary hired to track down and kill the murderous creature that supposedly haunts a local tourist attraction, the Beast House. Judge''s employer, Larry, is an elderly man who had a traumatic encounter with the Beast as a child. Meanwhile, Donna''s ex-husband, Roy, follows Donna to Malcasa Point after killing Donna''s sister and brother-in-law. Along the way, he also abducts and repeatedly rapes a nine-year-old girl and murders the girl''s parents. In the end, Roy, Larry and Judge fall victim to the carnivorous Beasts, several of which roam the underground tunnels beneath the Beast House at night, and Donna and Sandy become prisoners of the murderous Kutch family, the owners of Beast House.

The Cellar

American Memory note: Bowles, editor of the The Republican (Springfield), was one of a party that traveled across the Continent in the summers of 1865 and 1866 to explore the Western United States. Several books resulted from the trips. The detailed subtitle of Bowles''s book shows clearly how at the time interests in natural and man-made wonders and in exploitable resources were combined. Bowles sees the railroads as the key that will unlock the region. In addition to his enthusiasm for the West, Bowles urges the preservation of Niagara Falls (probably influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted, whom he met in Yosemite Valley) and of regions of the Adirondacks and Maine (pp. 384-85). West, The--Description and travel--1860-1880. American Memory note: Bowles, editor of the The Republican (Springfield), was one of a party that traveled across the Continent in the summers of 1865 and 1866 to explore the Western United States. Several books resulted from the trips. The detailed subtitle of Bowles''s book shows clearly how at the time interests in natural and man-made wonders and in exploitable resources were combined. Bowles sees the railroads as the key that will unlock the region. In addition to his enthusiasm for the West, Bowles urges the preservation of Niagara Falls (probably influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted, whom he met in Yosemite Valley) and of regions of the Adirondacks and Maine (pp. 384-85).

Our New West. Records of Travel between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean

The main character in this novel is Melissa Fuller, but "You can call me Mel", as she says. Mel is a gossip columnist for the New York Journal and has just broken up with her longtime boyfriend, Aaron Spender. Her best friend, Nadine Wilcock, a food critic, is getting married to her boyfriend, Tony Salerno, who is a chef at the popular restaurant Fresche. Melissa also has many coworkers, including Dolly Vargas, an outlandish Style Editor who has her eyes on quite a few men. The book starts with Melissa being late to work after finding her neighbour, Mrs. Helen Friedlander, facedown on the carpet of her apartment after a brutal attack. Mel gets her to the hospital but has yet to solve the problem of walking Paco, Mrs. Friedlander''s Great Dane. She calls upon Mrs. Friedlander''s nephew, Max Friedlander, to come and take care of Paco and the two cats Tweedledum and Mr. Peepers. Max, who is on vacation with the supermodel Vivica, calls upon his millionaire friend John Trent, who is a crime reporter for the New York Chronicle, the Journals top competitor. John impersonates Max and moves into Max''s Aunt Helen''s apartment. John and Melissa get off to a good start after sharing mutual affections for not only each other, but other things as well. They go on a date but are stopped by Tweedledum''s hospitalization. Afterwards, John kisses Mel over Chinese food, and gets mixed reactions from her as she jumps off to her apartment. John is troubled over whether he should sleep with Mel. He asks for advice from his family, including his grandmother, Genevieve Randolph Trent, his rich brother Jason Trent, and his sister-in-law, Stacy Trent. They each feel that he should go for it. He does, in fact, take Mel out for dinner and afterward, they have sex. They express their love for each other. Max''s ex-girlfriend, Vivica the supermodel, later spoils their love by telling Mel the big secret. Mel lashes out at John and they split up. Meanwhile, Max replaces John in the apartment and takes over the pet jobs. It is expressed that he is interested in the thought of insulin injection killing his aunt (his aunt would bequeath him $12 million upon her death), which worries Mel and prompts her to forgive John and ask him for his help in saving Max''s aunt. They wire John and catch Max with a murder intent. The book ends with John proposing to Mel, and she agreeing to marry him.

The Boy Next Door

At the end of New Found Land, Simon and Brad are in North America where they are captured by sailors from the Far East. When they awaken after losing consciousness during the capture, they find themselves aboard a Chinese junk crossing the Pacific Ocean. The junk is a paddle steamer that sails without human intervention. The crew have apparently put themselves into hibernation, indicating that they are accustomed to the trip and are expecting an uneventful journey. On their arrival in China they are taken to the Imperial Court, where the boys display their knowledge of modern technology. There, Brad becomes besotted with the Dowager Regent and became estranged from Simon. Unlike the other civilizations that they have encountered, which remain at a pre-Dark Ages technological level, the Chinese have continued their technological innovations and have come up with new inventions, even though their social development has stagnated. Simon is sent to the north to serve the general of the powerful Northern Army in charge of resisting nomadic barbarians. The arrival of the boys catalyses the ongoing court intrigue between the dowager regent and court officials. A series of bad news arrives in the north from the capital this implies that the young emperor is being held incommunicado, or has been secretly deposed and killed by the dowager regent. The general of the Northern Army, the most powerful army in the empire publicly declares that the dowager regent as a usurper, and mobilises his army to rescue the emperor, whose fate is unknown. He candidly admits to Simon that should the emperor be dead, that he the general would be the most likely to succeed to the throne. Simon attempts to help the general by the introduction of armoured tanks, but lacks detailed knowledge. Nonetheless Chinese engineers in the service of the general were able to build on the concept to produce some prototypes. The Chinese themselves use flying kites to give the appearance that dragons are aiding their military. However, the expedition becomes a disaster at the gates of the capital. Simon discovers that Brad has introduced airplanes to the dowager regent''s forces. While the airplanes work, Simon''s tanks do not. Having rid herself of all opposition, the dowager regent callously discards Brad and attempts to have him killed. The two boys manage to escape once again, only to encounter another fireball similar to the one which brought them into this world. Though he is given the option to go home, Simon follows Brad when the latter refuses to go home and instead decides to try for better luck in a new realm.

Dragon Dance

The book''s story centers around Chili Palmer, a small-time shylock (or loanshark) based in Miami, who is sent after Leo Devoe, who has scammed an airline out of $300,000 in life insurance by faking his own death. Leo had been aboard a plane whose flight was delayed, prompting Leo to disembark and go drinking in the airport bar. Leo misses the plane''s actual takeoff, and when it crashes, his "widow" receives a check for $300,000, money which Leo takes to Las Vegas. His trail leads Chili to Las Vegas, where the loanshark finds a more interesting assignment: the casino is looking to collect from Harry Zimm, a horror film producer based in Los Angeles. Palmer, himself very interested in the movie industry, takes the extra assignment and heads for Los Angeles. Palmer lets his interest in the movie industry overshadow his collection job. He sneaks into the house of Karen Flores (Zimm''s friend) in the middle of the night, startling both Zimm and Flores, and after he tells Zimm he has to pay his Las Vegas markers, he then explains that he has an idea for a movie. Zimm is immediately taken in by Palmer''s charm and his movie idea, although Flores is still skeptical. Palmer recounts Leo Devoe''s story in the third person, and recalls chasing Leo to Las Vegas as if it were an incomplete work of fiction. Flores is smart, and points out that the story clearly isn''t fictional, she saw the plane crash in the news in the past week, and Palmer is obviously the shylock mentioned in the story. The next morning, Zimm asks for Chili''s help in dealing with a good script he wants to buy. Zimm tells Chili that this script, Mr. Lovejoy, could be Academy Award worthy material. "It''ll be my Driving Miss Daisy," Zimm assures Palmer. There are, however, two problems: Zimm doesn''t own the script, his writer''s widow Doris Saffron does, and she wants $500,000 for it; and he guaranteed a $200,000 investment from Bo Catlett, a local limo driver and drug dealer, to make another movie called Freaks. (Zimm gambled Catlett''s $200,000 away in Vegas in hopes of making the $500,000 he needed for Mr. Lovejoy). In a meeting with Catlett and his sidekick Ronnie Wingate, Zimm and Palmer tell them that, while their investment in Freaks is sound, they are making another movie first. Catlett tells them to move the money into this new picture; Zimm says he cannot, as the new movie deal is "structured." Meanwhile, Catlett is involved in a Mexican drug deal which doesn''t go through. He has left the payment in a locker at the L.A. airport, but the Colombian sent to receive the money, Yayo Portillo (Catlett keeps calling him Yahoo), doesn''t feel safe unlocking the locker with so many DEA agents staked out nearby. Catlett later meets Yayo back at his home, and after Yayo threatens to tell the DEA who Bo is, Bo shoots him. Catlett soon offers the locker money to Zimm as an investment, telling him to send Palmer to get the money. Palmer senses something wrong, signs out a nearby locker as a test, and sure enough is taken for questioning by drug officials when he tries to open it. Palmer and Flores are meanwhile seeking the interests of Michael Weir, a top-tier Hollywood actor to whom Flores was once married, to play the lead in Zimm''s film. The loose ends are tied up when Ray Barboni comes to Los Angeles looking for the money Palmer collected from Leo Devoe, only to find the key to the locker from the failed drug deal in one of Palmer''s pockets. Thinking Palmer has stashed his cash in a locker, he goes to the airport and is busted by drug officials. In a final showdown with Catlett, Catlett is double-crossed by his partner, Bear. The novel ends with Zimm, Palmer and Flores having visited a few production studios and wondering why writing the ending of a story was always the hardest part.

Get Shorty

Princess Taramis of Shadizar promises to bring Conan''s lost love Valeria back to life if the Cimmerian will procure two magical items that she hopes will gain her ultimate power, a wizard''s gem and a horn that can awaken the dreaming god Dagoth. He undertakes the quest together with his thief partner Malak and Taramis'' niece Jehnna and henchman Bombaata. On their journey they are joined by two additional allies whom Conan saves from dire fates; the magician Akiro and the female warrior Zula. At their goal, the castle of the wizard Amon-Rama, Jehnna is kidnapped. Thanks to Akiro''s magic she is located in Amon-Rama''s lair and a way in is discovered. Inside, Conan is separated from the others and forced to battle a Man-Ape in a hall of mirrors, which he is only able to defeat by destroying the mirrors. He also mortally wounds the wizard, who is hiding behind one of them. Jehnna, who is the only person who can safely handle the wizard''s gem, retrieves the first magical item. Afterwards the group beats off an attack by Corinthian soldiers, and continues on to the fortress that holds the horn. It is retrieved at the cost of a battle with its Dagoth-worshipping keepers, whose leader Akiro defeats in a sorcerous duel. Bombaata and Jehnna escape through a tunnel, which the former closes to the others by starting a landslide. Back at Taramis'' palace, the queen conducts a ritual to awaken Dagoth that entails the placing of the horn on the forehead of the sleeping deity, and ultimately the sacrifice of Jehnna. Conan, Akiro and Zula, having survived the landslide, interrupt the proceedings. Conan fights and defeats Bombaata while Zula rescues Jehnna. In the absence of the sacrifice, Dagoth is an uncontrollable monster on his revival, eating Taramis and threatening the destruction of everything else. On the advice of Akiro, Conan rips the horn from Dagoth''s forehead, and the creature finally falls. In the aftermath, Jehnna succeeds to the throne of Shadazar and takes Zula, Akiro, and Malak as advisors. She offers Conan her hand and a place at her side as king, but the Cimmerian prefers to win his own kingdom.

Conan the Destroyer

The book relates the outdoor adventures and play of two families of children. These involve sailing, camping, fishing exploration and piracy. The Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) are staying at a farm near a lake in the Lake District of England which is mostly a combination of Windermere and Coniston, during the school holidays. They sail a borrowed dinghy named Swallow and meet the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), who sail a dinghy named Amazon. The Walkers camp on an island in the lake while the Blacketts live in their house nearby. When the children meet, they agree to join forces against a common enemy - the Blacketts'' uncle James Turner whom they call "Captain Flint" (after the character in Treasure Island). Turner, normally an ally of his nieces, has withdrawn from their company in order to write his memoirs, and has become decidedly unfriendly. Furthermore when the Blacketts let off a firework on his houseboat roof, it is the Walkers who get the blame. He refuses even to listen when they try to pass on a warning to him about burglars in the area. In order to determine who should be the overall leader in their campaign against Captain Flint, the Blacketts and the Walkers have a contest to see which can capture the others'' boat. As part of their strategy the Walkers make a dangerous crossing of the lake by night, and John is later cautioned by his mother for this reckless act. The Walkers nevertheless win the contest - thanks to Titty who seizes the Amazon when the Blacketts come to Wild Cat Island. During the same night Titty hears suspicious voices coming from a different island, and in the morning it transpires that Turner''s houseboat has been burgled. Turner again blames the Walkers, but is finally convinced that he is mistaken and feels he was wrong to distance himself from his nieces'' adventures all summer. Titty and Roger investigate the other island, where they discover Turner''s stolen property hidden by the thieves. The following day there is a mock battle between Turner and the children, after which Turner is tried for his crimes and forced to walk the plank on his own houseboat. Afterwards the children present Turner with his recovered sea chest, which contains the memoirs on which he had been working. James Turner appears in some ways to be modelled on Ransome himself. The story, set in August 1929, includes a good deal of everyday Lakeland life from the farmers to charcoal burners working in the woods; corned beef, which the children fancifully refer to as pemmican, and ginger beer and lemonade, which they call grog, appear as regular food stuff for the campers; island life also allows for occasional references to the story of Robinson Crusoe.

Swallows and Amazons

The Man Who Japed is set in the year 2114. After a devastating twentieth century limited nuclear war, a South African ("Afrikaans Empire") military survivor named General Streiter launched a global revolution in 1985 that ushered in a totalitarian government. In providing one example of the carnage Dick has his protagonist Allen Purcell visit Japan''s northern island, Hokkaidō. The location is still a desolate wasteland that has not recovered from nuclear bombardment in 1972, the last year of the global war referred to within this book. This regime - Moral Reclamation ("Morec") - rules a post-apocalyptic world under its strict ideology. One of Streiter''s lineal descendants, Ida Pease Hoyt, is in charge. Morec has created an ultra-conservative and puritanical society that is oppressive and judgmental of its fellow citizens. Four examples of the innumerable punishable offenses include: mild public cursing, kissing a non-spouse, absenteeism from community meetings and, of all things, the commercial display of neon signs. A thriving black market exists, however, where one can purchase the Decameron, James Joyce''s Ulysses, chablis wine and pulp fiction detective novels from the twentieth century, albeit at vastly inflated prices. Earth people also occupy several alien planetary systems. There are human colonies on Belletrix (Gamma Orionis), Sirius 8 and 9, and "Orionus." On these worlds, intensive labour is required to provide agricultural and industrial products for survival. One of the planets is used as a "Refuge" for the rehabilitation of social misfits or "nooses". The "japery" alluded to in the title is Allen Purcell''s wanton destruction of a statue of General Streiter. But Purcell has only vague, distorted and disjointed memories of the act and can''t even understand his own motivation for doing it. The real irony lies in the fact that he is up for an appointment to a high-level position as a guardian of public ethics. But Purcell''s act of social treachery is insignificant in comparison to what comes next. And he does it in full consciousness with deliberation and complicity. He concocts a false history of General Streiter for a live televised broadcast that is matter-of-factly and even approvingly discussed by a small panel of co-conspirators. This bogus aspect of the military hero''s life is his alleged policy of having all of his enemies butchered and served up to him and his family as delectable gourmet meals. Ida Pease Hoyt is also included among those living descendants who practice the same brand of cannibalism as the opportunity arises. Purcell and his wife are just about to escape Morec justice when he has a change of heart and decides to remain on Earth and face the consequences of this unspeakably ghastly accusation. He promises his wife a trip to friend Myron Mavis''s planet when they both make it through to "the other side" of their punishment.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Obsidian Butterfly

By Laurell K. Hamilton

A Demon in My View

By Ruth Rendell

The Neverending Story

By Michael Ende

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

By Roger Lancelyn Green

The Cellar

By Richard Laymon

Our New West. Records of Travel between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean

No Author Listed

The Boy Next Door

By Sinclair Smith

Dragon Dance

By Samuel Youd

Get Shorty

By Elmore Leonard

Conan the Destroyer

By Robert Jordan

Swallows and Amazons

By Arthur Ransome

The Man Who Japed

By Philip K. Dick