Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its...  more

Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path. One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece.

In this provocative new book, Andrew Bacevich warns of a dangerous dual obsession that has taken hold of Americans, conservatives and liberals alike. It is a marriage of militarism and utopian ideology--of unprecedented military might wed to a blind faith in the universality of American values. ...  more

In this provocative new book, Andrew Bacevich warns of a dangerous dual obsession that has taken hold of Americans, conservatives and liberals alike. It is a marriage of militarism and utopian ideology--of unprecedented military might wed to a blind faith in the universality of American values. This perilous union, Bacevich argues, commits Americans to a futile enterprise, turning the US into a crusader state with a self-proclaimed mission of driving history to its final destination: the world-wide embrace of the American way of life. This mindset invites endless war and the ever-deepening militarization of US policy. It promises not to perfect but to pervert American ideals and to accelerate the hollowing out of American democracy. As it alienates others, it will leave the United States increasingly isolated. It will end in bankruptcy, moral as well as economic, and in abject failure. The New American Militarism examines the origins and implications of this misguided enterprise. The author shows how American militarism emerged as a reaction to the Vietnam War. Various groups in American society--soldiers, politicians on the make, intellectuals, strategists, Christian evangelicals, even purveyors of pop culture--came to see the revival of military power and the celebration of military values as the antidote to all the ills besetting the country as a consequence of Vietnam and the 1960s. The upshot, acutely evident in the aftermath of 9/11, has been a revival of vast ambitions and certainty, this time married to a pronounced affinity for the sword. Bacevich urges us to restore a sense of realism and a sense of proportion to US policy. He proposes, in short, to bring American purposes and American methods--especially with regard to the role of the military--back into harmony with the nation's founding ideals.

The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a little harmless flirting. Harmless, that is, until the blonde leans forward and says, "I poisoned your...  more

The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a little harmless flirting. Harmless, that is, until the blonde leans forward and says, "I poisoned your drink." She tells Jack that unless she can keep someone within ten feet of her at all times, she'll die. And if he wants the antidote, he'll have to take her back to his hotel room and promise to stay by her side. Jack thinks: psycho. But as the violent night wears on, and he encounters a relentless government assassin, a threatening voice on a cell phone, a deadly waitress, dirty cops, and shady cab drivers... He begins to believe her.

In the years since Anthony Holden wrote his classic memoir Big Deal, the poker world has changed beyond recognition. In Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom, Holden takes his game on the worldwide tournament circuit to chronicle how the rise of online gaming has completely transformed the...  more

In the years since Anthony Holden wrote his classic memoir Big Deal, the poker world has changed beyond recognition. In Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom, Holden takes his game on the worldwide tournament circuit to chronicle how the rise of online gaming has completely transformed the world of poker.

Meeting an anonymous client late on a sizzling  summer night is asking for trouble. But trouble is Chicago private eye V.I. Warshwski's specialty.   Her client says he's the prominent banker, John Thayer. Turns out he's not. He says his...  more

Meeting an anonymous client late on a sizzling  summer night is asking for trouble. But trouble is Chicago private eye V.I. Warshwski's specialty.   Her client says he's the prominent banker, John Thayer. Turns out he's not. He says his son's  girlfriend, Anita Hill, is missing. Turns out that's  not her real name. V.I.'s search turns up someone  soon enough -- the real John Thayer's son, and  he's dead. Who's V.I.'s client? Why has she been  set up and sent out on a wild-goose chase? By the  time she's got it figured, things are hotter --  and deadlier -- than Chicago in July. V.I.'s in a desperate race against time. At stake: a young woman's life.

An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, Blood Meridian brilliantly subverts the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the "wild west." Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s,...  more

An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, Blood Meridian brilliantly subverts the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the "wild west." Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.

Bill Maynard is a card mechanic (cheater) who took a beating in Chicago and now is in serious need of some dental work. He finds it in an unnamed burg on the road to New York, and he also finds a nice little poker game. But who wanders into the game but one of the player's wives -- who just...  more

Bill Maynard is a card mechanic (cheater) who took a beating in Chicago and now is in serious need of some dental work. He finds it in an unnamed burg on the road to New York, and he also finds a nice little poker game. But who wanders into the game but one of the player's wives -- who just happens to know a mechanic when she sees one. Soon enough Maynard and the wife are plotting to skip town with the husband's money, but, of course, the plan goes awry -- in part because the square's life starts to feel good to our card shark. Hard Case Crime

"A Master Thriller" Time Magazine-- "It must be his heart. He couldn't stand the excitement" "I'm afraid not," Dr. Forester said, "he has been murdered". "Impossible. The door was locked." "It's a pity," Dr. Forester said, "but there's a very simple explanation of that. One of us did it."...  more

"A Master Thriller" Time Magazine-- "It must be his heart. He couldn't stand the excitement" "I'm afraid not," Dr. Forester said, "he has been murdered". "Impossible. The door was locked." "It's a pity," Dr. Forester said, "but there's a very simple explanation of that. One of us did it." "But we were all...." Then they all looked at Rowe. Rowe--innocent object of a bizarre manhunt, grief stricken victim of a sinister plot who was desperately trying to hold on to the last shred of sanity. The brilliantly chilling novel by the author of The Third Man

Spenser has gone to London -- and not to see the Queen. He's gone to track down a bunch of bombers who've blown away his client's wife and kids. His job is to catch them. Or kill them. His client isn't choosy. But there are nine killers to one Spenser -- long odds. Hawk helps...  more

Spenser has gone to London -- and not to see the Queen. He's gone to track down a bunch of bombers who've blown away his client's wife and kids. His job is to catch them. Or kill them. His client isn't choosy. But there are nine killers to one Spenser -- long odds. Hawk helps balance the equation. The rest depends on a wild plan. Spenser will get one of the terrorists to play Judas Goat -- to lead him to others. Trouble is, he hasn't counted on her being very blond, very beautiful and very dangerous.

MY NAME IS KATNISS EYERDEEN. WHY AM I NOT DEAD? I SHOULD BE DEAD. Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are...  more

MY NAME IS KATNISS EYERDEEN. WHY AM I NOT DEAD? I SHOULD BE DEAD. Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss. The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost.

Las Cruces wasn’t a place most travelers would think to stop. But after Lew Archer plays the good samaritan and picks up a bloodied hitchhiker, he finds himself in town for a few days awaiting a murder inquest. A hijacked truck full of liquor and an evidence box full of marijuana, $20,000...  more

Las Cruces wasn’t a place most travelers would think to stop. But after Lew Archer plays the good samaritan and picks up a bloodied hitchhiker, he finds himself in town for a few days awaiting a murder inquest. A hijacked truck full of liquor and an evidence box full of marijuana, $20,000 from a big time bank heist by a small time crook, corruption, adultery, incest, prodigal daughters and abused wives all make the little town seem a lot more interesting than any guide book ever could. And as the murder rate rises, Archer finds himself caught up in mystery where everyone is a suspect and everyone’s a victim.

A comedy of manners, a mystery thriller, and a sardonic satire whose deliciously unscrupulous narrator claims that everything he did regarding his victims was “market-led,” Dirty Tricks is pure entertainment from one of the most inventive writers around.When the nameless narrator...  more

A comedy of manners, a mystery thriller, and a sardonic satire whose deliciously unscrupulous narrator claims that everything he did regarding his victims was “market-led,” Dirty Tricks is pure entertainment from one of the most inventive writers around.When the nameless narrator embarks upon an affair with Karen, a seemingly vapid P.E. teacher married to a boring accountant, he does not know her fetish is for adultery while her husband is in the room or loitering nearby. But once he finds out, he doesn’t care. He has been abroad for twenty years, and since his return to merry old England he’s been startlingly uninhibited by morals or a conscience. Which is not only why he eventually gets involved with blackmail, a kidnapping, and two murders, but also how, with hilariously syllogistic logic, he’s able to justify his role in all of it.

Ex-cop Dave Robicheaux: his wife has been murdered and now they're after his little girl. From the Louisiana bayou to Montana's tribal lands, he's running from the bottle, a homicide rap, a professional killer... and the demons of his past. Dave Robicheaux's friend, Dixie Lee...  more

Ex-cop Dave Robicheaux: his wife has been murdered and now they're after his little girl. From the Louisiana bayou to Montana's tribal lands, he's running from the bottle, a homicide rap, a professional killer... and the demons of his past. Dave Robicheaux's friend, Dixie Lee Pugh, needs his help. Robicheaux's former roommate went from country western star to drunk driver, and is currently a struggling ex-con being framed for a crime he swears he didn't commit. Reluctantly, Robicheaux agrees to help Pugh because, if he doesn't, it looks like no one else will.

Documentary filmmaker Dara Barr is at the top of her game and looking for bigger challenges. That?s why she?s come to Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, with her right-hand man, six-foot-six, seventy-two-year-old African American seafarer Xavier LeBo, to film modern-day pirates hijacking merchant...  more

Documentary filmmaker Dara Barr is at the top of her game and looking for bigger challenges. That?s why she?s come to Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, with her right-hand man, six-foot-six, seventy-two-year-old African American seafarer Xavier LeBo, to film modern-day pirates hijacking merchant ships. But almost no one here is who he seems to be. Dijibouti?s most successful, Mercedes-driving pirate seems to be a good guy, while his pal, a cultured Saudi diplomat, has dubious connections. Texas billionaire Billy Wynn plays mysterious roles as the mood strikes him, especially when dealing with his nifty fashion model girlfriend, Helene. And then there?s Jama Raisuli, a black al Qaeda terrorist from Miami, who?s vowed to blow up something big.

The statue wore white and grieved. Parker wasnt interested in its sentimental value. The thief cared more about retrieving a certain gun that came with it, the one he had used in a previous crime that could incriminate him. By the time Parker comes face to face with the 16-inch-tall alabaster...  more

The statue wore white and grieved. Parker wasnt interested in its sentimental value. The thief cared more about retrieving a certain gun that came with it, the one he had used in a previous crime that could incriminate him. By the time Parker comes face to face with the 16-inch-tall alabaster figurine called The Mourner, he knows that stealing it for a rich man and his beautiful, amoral daughter is the least of his worries. New players are coming in every minute. Now in a deadly, treacherous endgame, Parker will find out who intends to bury whomand why no one will be crying over his grave.

In 1996, a brassy young team of experts produced a guide to baseball statistics. Printed on a photocopier, its distribution, which was in the low 300s, was limited to friends, family, and die-hard stat-heads. Fifteen years later, the Baseball Prospectus annual regularly hits the NY Times...  more

In 1996, a brassy young team of experts produced a guide to baseball statistics. Printed on a photocopier, its distribution, which was in the low 300s, was limited to friends, family, and die-hard stat-heads. Fifteen years later, the Baseball Prospectus annual regularly hits the NY Times best-seller list and has become an indispensable guide for the serious fan. In their new volume of essays, Extra Innings, the team at Baseball Prospectus integrates statistics, interviews, and analysis to deliver 20 arguments about today's game. In the tradition of their seminal book, Baseball Between the Numbers, they take on everything from steroids to the amateur draft. They probe the impact of managers on the game. They explain the critical art of building a bullpen. They weigh in on the question of when should stars like Jeter and Pujols retire. In an era when statistics matter more than ever, Extra Innings analyzes and interprets the numbers side of the game better than any other book. The authors never lose sight of the value of leadership and performance under pressure as they help explain the beauty and logic behind America's pastime.

Detective John Rebus. His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders, and he isn't just a cop trying to catch a killer -- he's the man who holds all of the pieces of the puzzle.

We missed the movie, but the book struck us as more about Lonnie than Hud. Told from a 17-year-old's point of view, Hud emerges as ruthless, cold and mean. He is the kind of fellow we love to hate. A McMurtry book is very special. HORSEMAN, PASS BY won overwhelming acclaim, and subsequent...  more

We missed the movie, but the book struck us as more about Lonnie than Hud. Told from a 17-year-old's point of view, Hud emerges as ruthless, cold and mean. He is the kind of fellow we love to hate. A McMurtry book is very special. HORSEMAN, PASS BY won overwhelming acclaim, and subsequent novels have established the author as one of our most brilliant contemporary novelists.

Travis McGee is too busy with his houseboat to pay attention to the little old man with the missing postage stamps. Except these are no ordinary stamps. They are rare stamps. Four hundred thousand dollars worth of rare. And if McGee doesn't recognize their value, perhaps Mary Alice McDermit...  more

Travis McGee is too busy with his houseboat to pay attention to the little old man with the missing postage stamps. Except these are no ordinary stamps. They are rare stamps. Four hundred thousand dollars worth of rare. And if McGee doesn't recognize their value, perhaps Mary Alice McDermit does, a six-foot knockout who knows all the ways to a boat bum's heart. Only it's not McGee's heart that's in danger. Because a syndicate killer has put a contract on McGee. A killer who knows something about stamps...and even more about McGee

A lively, wide-ranging meditation on human development that offers surprising lessons for the future of modern individualism, The Rule of the Clan examines the constitutional principles and cultural institutions of kin-based societies from medieval Iceland to modern Pakistan.  Mark Weiner, an...  more

A lively, wide-ranging meditation on human development that offers surprising lessons for the future of modern individualism, The Rule of the Clan examines the constitutional principles and cultural institutions of kin-based societies from medieval Iceland to modern Pakistan.  Mark Weiner, an expert in constitutional law and legal history, shows us that true individual freedom depends on the existence of a robust state dedicated to the public interest. In the absence of a healthy state, he explains, humans naturally tend to create legal structures centered not on individuals but rather on extended family groups. The modern liberal state makes individualism possible by keeping this powerful drive in check?and we ignore its continued threat to liberal values and institutions at our peril. At the same time, for modern individualism to survive, liberals must also acknowledge the profound social and psychological benefits the rule of the clan provides and recognize the loss humanity sustains in its transition to modernity.  Masterfully argued and filled with rich historical detail,Weiner?s investigation speaks both to modern liberal societies and to developing nations riven by ?clannism,? including Muslim nations in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Paul Christopher, at the height of his powers as a secret agent, believes he knows who arranged the assassination and why. His theory is so destructive of the legend of the dead president, though, and so dangerous to the survival of foreign policy that he is ordered to desist from investigating....  more

Paul Christopher, at the height of his powers as a secret agent, believes he knows who arranged the assassination and why. His theory is so destructive of the legend of the dead president, though, and so dangerous to the survival of foreign policy that he is ordered to desist from investigating. But Christopher is a man who lives by and for the truth, and his internal compunctions force him to the heart of the matter. He resigns from the Agency and embarks on a tour of investigation that takes him from Paris to Rome, Zurich, the Congo, and Saigon. Threatened by Kennedy's assassins and by his own government, Christopher follows the scent of his suspicion -- one breath behind the truth, one step ahead of discovery and death.

The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane magnificently evokes the dignity and savagery of working-class Boston in this terrifying tale of darkness and redemption. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro's latest client is a prominent Boston psychiatrist running scared from a vengeful Irish...  more

The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane magnificently evokes the dignity and savagery of working-class Boston in this terrifying tale of darkness and redemption. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro's latest client is a prominent Boston psychiatrist running scared from a vengeful Irish mob. The private investigators know something about cold-blooded retribution. Born and bred on the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they've seen the darkness that lives in the hearts of the unfortunate. But an evil for which even they are unprepared is about to strike as secrets long-dormant erupt, setting off a chain of violent murders that will stain everything -- including the truth.

He called himself Alvin Limardo, and the job he had for Kinsey was cut-and-dried: locate a kid who'd done him a favor and pass on a check for $25,000. It was only later, after he'd stiffed her for her retainer, that Kinsey found out his name was Daggett. John Daggett. Ex-con. Inveterate liar....  more

He called himself Alvin Limardo, and the job he had for Kinsey was cut-and-dried: locate a kid who'd done him a favor and pass on a check for $25,000. It was only later, after he'd stiffed her for her retainer, that Kinsey found out his name was Daggett. John Daggett. Ex-con. Inveterate liar. Chronic drunk. And dead. The cops called it an accident -- death by drowning. Kinsey wasn't so sure. Pulled into the detritus of a dead man's life, Kinsey soon realizes that Daggett had an awful lot of enemies. There's the daughter who grew up with a cheating drunk for a father, and the wife who's become a religious nut in response to an intolerable marriage. There's the lady who thought she was Mrs. Daggett -- and has the bruises to prove it only to discover the legal Mrs. D. And there are the drug dealers out $25,000. But most of all, there are the families of the five people John Daggett killed, victims of his wild, drunken driving. The D.A. called it vehicular manslaughter and put him away for two years. The families called it murder and had very good reason to want John Daggett dead. Deft, cunning, and clever, this latest Millhone mystery also confronts some messy truths, for, as Kinsey herself says, "Some debts of the human soul are so enormous only life itself is sufficient forfeit" -- but as she'd be the first to admit, murder is not a socially acceptable solution.

"Right Ho, Jeeves" is P. G. Wodehouse's full-length novel featuring his most beloved character, Jeeves. At the outset we find Bertie Wooster returning from Cannes to discover that Gussie Fink-Nottle has been regularly visiting Jeeves to ask his advice in matters of the heart. Gussie is in love...  more

"Right Ho, Jeeves" is P. G. Wodehouse's full-length novel featuring his most beloved character, Jeeves. At the outset we find Bertie Wooster returning from Cannes to discover that Gussie Fink-Nottle has been regularly visiting Jeeves to ask his advice in matters of the heart. Gussie is in love with Madeline Bassett, the friend of Angela Travers who is the daughter of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia Travers, and is intent upon courting her. As one would expect with Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, all kinds of hilarious hi-jinks ensue.

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon -- Private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic...  more

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon -- Private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren't there. It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It's the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," except that this one usually leads to trouble. Undeniably one of the most influential writers at work today, Pynchon has penned another unforgettable book.

The bestselling annual baseball preview from the smartest analysts in the business The essential guide to the 2014 baseball season is on deck now, and whether you're a fan or fantasy player?or both?you won't be properly informed without it. Baseball Prospectus 2014 brings together an elite...  more

The bestselling annual baseball preview from the smartest analysts in the business The essential guide to the 2014 baseball season is on deck now, and whether you're a fan or fantasy player?or both?you won't be properly informed without it. Baseball Prospectus 2014 brings together an elite group of analysts to provide the definitive look at the upcoming season in critical essays and commentary on the thirty teams, their managers, and more than sixty players and prospects from each team. Contains critical essays on each of the thirty teams and player comments for some sixty players for each of those teams Projects each player's stats for the coming season using the groundbreaking PECOTA projection system, which has been called "perhaps the game's most accurate projection model" (Sports Illustrated) From Baseball Prospectus, America's leading provider of statistical analysis for baseball Now in its nineteenth edition, this New York Times bestselling insider's guide remains hands down the most authoritative and entertaining book of its kind.

The novel begins in England, in 2021, in a world where all human males have become sterile and no child can ever be born again. The final generation has turned twenty-five and civilization is giving way to strange faiths and cruelties, mass suicides, and despair. Theodore Faron, Oxford historian...  more

The novel begins in England, in 2021, in a world where all human males have become sterile and no child can ever be born again. The final generation has turned twenty-five and civilization is giving way to strange faiths and cruelties, mass suicides, and despair. Theodore Faron, Oxford historian and cousin to the omnipotent Warden of England, a dictator of great subtlety and total power, has nearly resigned himself to apathy and a future without a future. Then he meets Julian, a bright attractive woman who wants Theo to join her circle of unlikely revolutionaries, a move that may shatter his shell of passivity and maybe, just maybe, hold the key to survival for the race.