During the late 1970s and early 80s tension in Europe, between east and west, had grown until it appeared that war was virtually unavoidable. Soviet armies massed behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ that stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In the west, Allied forces, British, American, and armies from virtually all the western countries, raised the levels of their training and readiness. A senior British army officer, General Sir John Hackett, had written a book of the likely strategies of the Allied forces if a war actually took place and, shortly after its publication, he suggested to his publisher Futura that it might be interesting to produce a novel based on the Third World War but from the point of view of the soldier on the ground. Bob Forrest-Webb, an author and ex-serviceman who had written several best-selling novels, was commissioned to write the book. As modern warfare tends to be extremely mobile, and as a worldwide event would surely include the threat of atomic weapons, it was decided that the book would mainly feature the armoured divisions already stationed in Germany facing the growing number of Soviet tanks and armoured artillery. With the assistance of the Ministry of Defence, Forrest-Webb undertook extensive research that included visits to various armoured regiments in the UK and Germany, and a large number of interviews with veteran members of the Armoured Corps, men who had experienced actual battle conditions in their vehicles from mined D-Day beaches under heavy fire, to warfare in more recent conflicts. It helped that Forrest-Webb’s father-in-law, Bill Waterson, was an ex-Armoured Corps man with thirty years of service; including six years of war combat experience. He’s still remembered at Bovington, Dorset, still an Armoured Corps base, and also home to the best tank museum in the world. Forrest-Webb believes in realism; realism in speech, and in action. The characters in his book behave as the men in actual tanks and in actual combat behave. You can smell the oil fumes and the sweat and gun-smoke in his writing. Armour is the spearhead of the army; it has to be hard, and sharp. The book is reputed to be the best novel ever written about tank warfare and is being re-published because that’s what the guys in the tanks today have requested. When first published, the colonel of one of the armoured regiments stationed in Germany gave a copy to Princess Anne when she visited their base. When read by General Sir John Hackett, he stated: “A dramatic and authentic account”, and that’s what ‘Chieftains’ is.

This is the first volume of the Helliconia Trilogy— a monumental sage which goes beyond anything yet created by this master among today’s imaginative writers. An entire solar system is revealed, and with it a world disturbingly reflecting our own, Helliconia: an Earth-like planet where dynasties change with the seasons. Events and characters and animals stream across the pages of this gigantic novel. Cosmic in scope, it keeps an eye lovingly on the humans involved. So the 5,000 inhabitants of the Earth’s observation station above Helliconia keep their eyes trained on the events of Oldorando and may long to intervene though the dangers are too great. So we on Earth have them all in our vision in one of the most consuming and magnificent novels of scientific romance. Won BSFA Award for Best Novel in 1982. Won John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1983. Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1983. Note: British spelling.

WITH SUMMER'S SWIFT PASSION, THEY MET AND LOVED...Beautiful fashion buyer Kathleen Haley was determined to resist Erik Gudjonsen, the magnetic blond photographer on assignment at the camp where she was a volunteer counselor. But soon she was swept into the tide of an uncontrollable desire--deeply in love with a man she hardly knew.Then Kathleen made a shocking discovery: Erik would never be free to love her. So she fled to San Francisco to start a new life with dark, gentle department store magnate Seth Kirchoff--only to learn she was carrying Erik's child.But even as the kindly Seth gave her son his own name, Kathleen knew she could never forget the man she still loved with an aching need: Erik, the one man she must never possess!

She was an honored guest in a palatial country home. Aunt Mabel, the lovelorn columnist of Home Chats magazine, had been summoned to prevent the Duchess of Dartware's son, Paul, from a marriage that others believed a fate worse than death. Who would have guessed that behind Aunt Mabel's acid pen and ageless wisdom lurked the real eighteen-year-old Sally Blane, determined to make the handsome marquess her own! But how could she compete, wearing false wrinkles and a white wig? It was a challenge worthy of Sally herself: to conquer the upper-class of Dartware and bewitch her newfound Prince Charming without giving away the real secret of who Aunt Mabel really was.

Some men were digging for gold. Some men were digging graves. And someone was getting away with murder... You went through a rugged paradise to reach Virginia City, Montana. Then you came to hell: a ramshackle town where fifty-six men have been killed, dozens of stagecoaches have been robbed, and a fanatical vigilante leader is threatening to blow the town sky-high. In Denver, Luke Starbuck was hired to stop the epidemic. But when he gets to Virginia City, he finds a tough sheriff already hanging outlaws as fast as he can, a mystery swirling around a young woman's murder, and a whole lot of people with blood on their hands. Working undercover with the help of a beautiful stage star, Starbuck soon discovers that the chaos of Virginia City is really a well-oiled and murderous crime machine. To take it apart, the West's most legendary detective has to find the Judas lurking behind every violent crime-and then he has to kill him...

Charley Partanna works as a hitman for the Prizzis, New York’s most dangerous crime family. Irene Walker does, too—an LA-based tax consultant, she moonlights as a hitwoman. And now she’s stolen a large sum of money for the mob—and it’s Charley’s job to find her. The catch? Charley is married to Irene. Faced with divided loyalties, he must make a choice—between the only family he’s ever known and the woman he loves. Prizzi’s Honor was made into an award-winning film in 1985 starring Jack Nicholson, Robert Loggia, Kathleen Turner, and Anjelica Huston, who won an Academy Award for her performance. A compelling page-turner fueled by rich characterization and fast-paced prose, this book is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Richard Condon (1915-1996) is a political novelist from New York who wrote over 26 satirical thrillers throughout a prolific career—dealing with themes of political corruption, greed, and abuse of power. Before his career as a novelist, Condon served in the US Merchant Marines and later became a Hollywood publicist, agent, and advertising writer. Condon’s best-selling works include The Manchurian Candidate and the Prizzi series, dealing with the life of a crime family in New York. The Manchurian Candidate was made into a movie twice, once in 1962 and again in 2004. The 1962 movie starred Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, who was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role.

The seven heroines of the Daring Debutantes Collection set out to conquer London's glittering high society and the marriage mart. These headstrong women cannot help but keep London society dangling on a string, but will they find a husband or lose themselves in the game? Immerse yourself in the Daring Debutantes world with this seven-volume series from #1 New York Times bestselling author M.C. Beaton.

From Publishers WeeklyKoontz ( Watchers , The Servants of Twilight ) has come up with an intriguing premise: Susan Thornton wakes up in a hospital after a serious car accident with an odd, selective amnesia. She can remember nothing of her job, yet she is stricken with fear when the company she works for is named. And that's not all. Thirteen years earlier, Susan had witnessed the murder of her boyfriend during a brutal fraternity hazing; her testimony sent one of the four men responsible to prison. Now she sees the same men, looking not a day older, walking the corridors of the hospital. Even worse, she has recurrent macabre hallucinations involving them and the decomposing corpse of her boyfriend. Susan doubts her sanity until she stumbles upon a bit of hard evidence right out of one of the "hallucinations." Koontz's resolution, involving a complex Soviet plot, transforms the story from a cozy chiller to political thriller and may not please readers tired of cold war paranoia and propaganda. Others, however, should find this tale satisfying from start to finish. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the AuthorDean Koontz was born into a very poor family and learned early on to escape into fiction. His novels have sold over 200 million copies worldwide and more than thirty have appeared on national and international bestseller lists. He lives in southern California with his wife, Gerda and a vivid imagination.

Murder Unprompted is another of Simon Brett's fascinating blend of crime and backstage drama. This time he provides what might be described as the biography of a play—from the cradle to the grave. Murder Unprompted takes you from the author, to an unscrupulous producer, to the theater itself, to director, to cast—including Mr. Brett's bit-player detective, Charles Paris. But trouble starts the first night. The star can't remember his lines, and worse—he's shot dead on stage. Paris takes on not only his usual role of detective, but lead of the play as well...a role that will lead him to the perpetrators of the crime. Murder Unprompted will delight theater buffs as well as all lovers of mystery.Author Bio: Simon Brett is a former radio and television comedy producer, who has been writing full-time for more than 20 years. Creator of the Charles Paris, Mrs. Pargeter and Fethering series of mysteries, Brett's psychological thriller, A Shock to the System, was filmed starring Michael Caine. Married with three children, he lives in an Agatha Christie-style village in West Sussex, England.

Why won't Uri Geller perform in front of professional magicians? Can he really bend spoons, keys, and nails with his "psychic" powers? Randi tells all in this examination of Geller's feats."A healthy antidote to charlatanism on all levels". -- Carl Sagan

The call to Mack Bolan is urgent, almost frantic. Rosario Blancanaless kid sister, Toni, has been raped and beaten — but at least she is still alive, unlike the five otehr victims whose throats were slashed by the Minneapolist maniac. In a raging search-and-destroy assault, Mack Bolan makes his presence felt throughout the Twin Cities, from the lowest mob hangouts to the police department and into the City Hall itself. A psychopathic killer is being protected by some powerful force. For Mack Bolan there will be no intermissions, no pardons, no excuses: he will be fighting for one of his closest friends. He is once again judge, jury... and Executioner.