|
Showing 1 - 11 of
11 matches in All Departments
We will lie, cheat, steal, fight, sin... Whatever it takes to
survive. The bombing of Rome in 1943 leaves fourteen-year-old
Massimo orphaned and with no choice but to set out on a journey to
discover any remaining relatives in Naples. A chance meeting with
the mysterious and charismatic Pietro Houdini will deliver both of
them to the doors of the abbey of Monte Cassino, a centuries-old
haven of contemplation, learning and art. But war has no time for
such niceties and before long the abbey is threatened by the
relentless Allied advance. In the face of the coming cataclysm,
Pietro and Massimo must do what they can to save the monastery's
priceless art from oblivion. To do so, they must learn to
dissemble, to disguise, to outwit, all skills that evidently Pietro
has in spades, but as their cherished haven edges ever closer to
war, it becomes clear that Massimo is not without a surprise or two
either... The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a sweeping tale of
resilience, hope and survival which is at once an action-packed
adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history and
a philosophical coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of All the
Light We Cannot See, City of Lies and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
From the Dagger Award-winning author of Norwegian by Night comes a
vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale
where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child
learns what it means to become an adult--for fans of All the Light
We Cannot See. August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all
alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the
American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked
by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the
Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey's shadow that a
charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the
self-proclaimed "Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,"
rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his
assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery
walls. But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly
when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When
it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front
line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to
smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the
mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a
café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier,
and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari.
Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their
way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the
Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold
they have rescued from the "safe keeping" of the Germans.
Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of City of
Thieves by David Benioff, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of
storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an
imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical
coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most
enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to
tell the tale.
We will lie, cheat, steal, fight, sin... Whatever it takes to
survive. The bombing of Rome in 1943 leaves fourteen-year-old
Massimo orphaned and with no choice but to set out on a journey to
discover any remaining relatives in Naples. A chance meeting with
the mysterious and charismatic Pietro Houdini will deliver both of
them to the doors of the abbey of Monte Cassino, a centuries-old
haven of contemplation, learning and art. But war has no time for
such niceties and before long the abbey is threatened by the
relentless Allied advance. In the face of the coming cataclysm,
Pietro and Massimo must do what they can to save the monastery's
priceless art from oblivion. To do so, they must learn to
dissemble, to disguise, to outwit, all skills that evidently Pietro
has in spades, but as their cherished haven edges ever closer to
war, it becomes clear that Massimo is not without a surprise or two
either... The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a sweeping tale of
resilience, hope and survival which is at once an action-packed
adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history and
a philosophical coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of All the
Light We Cannot See, City of Lies and A Thousand Splendid Suns
Crime Writers Association John Creasey Dagger Award winner An
ECONOMIST TOP FICTION TITLE OF THE YEAR
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLER OF THE YEAR
A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
"A soulful, humane, and sparklingly funny novel. Spend some time
with Sheldon and company in the Scandinavian wilderness and you
just might make peace with your god, your ghosts, and yourself." --
Gary Shteyngart, author of "Super Sad True Love Story"
Sheldon Horowitz--widowed, impatient, impertinent--has grudgingly
agreed to leave New York and move in with his granddaughter, Rhea,
and her new husband, Lars, in Norway--a country of blue and ice
with one thousand Jews, not one of them a former Marine sniper in
the Korean War turned watch repairman. Not until now, anyway.
Home alone one morning, Sheldon witnesses a dispute between the
woman who lives upstairs and an aggressive stranger. When events
turn dire, Sheldon seizes and shields the neighbor's young son from
the violence, and they flee the scene. As Sheldon and the boy look
for a safe haven in an alien world, past and present weave
together, forcing them ever forward to a wrenching moment of truth.
"This is one of the best books of the season, of any genre." --"
Buffalo News"
"Miller joins the ranks of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Jo
Nesbo, the holy trinity of Scandinavian crime novelists." --
"Booklist "(starred review)
AN INDIE NEXT SELECTION
From the award-winning author of Norwegian by Night, a novel about
two men on a misbegotten quest to save the girl they failed to save
decades before. 1991: One hundred miles from the Kuwaiti border,
Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist
who reports from war zones in part to avoid his lackluster marriage
and a daughter he loves but cannot connect with; Arwood is an
American private who might be an insufferable ignoramus or might be
a genuine lunatic with a death wish--it's hard to tell. Desert
Storm is over, peace has been declared, but as they argue about
whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of an
ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a
young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to
protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But
something has cracked for them both. Twenty-two years later, in
another place, in another war, they meet again and are offered an
unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in
green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she?
“A compelling combination of literate storytelling and
action-packed thriller laced with humor." -- Library Journal
(starred review)
A gripping and timely novel that follows Sigrid--the dry-witted
detective from Derek B. Miller's best-selling debut Norwegian by
Night--from Oslo to the United States on a quest to find her
missing brother. She knew it was a weird place. She'd heard the
stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief
Inspector Sigrid Odegard has to leave her native Norway and
actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her
missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a
prominent African American academic--America. Sigrid is plunged
into a United States where race and identity, politics and promise,
reverberate in every aspect of daily life. Working with--or, if
necessary, against--the police, she must negotiate the local
political minefields and navigate the backwoods of the Adirondacks
to uncover the truth before events escalate further. Refreshingly
funny, slyly perceptive, American by Day is "a superb novel on all
levels" (Times, UK). "Ingenious. Humorous. Wonderful."--Lee Child
'Has the brains of a literary novel and the body of a thriller' The
New York Times 'Miller joins the ranks of Stieg Larsson, Henning
Mankell, and Jo Nesbo, the holy trinity of Scandinavian crime
novelists.' Booklist ______________________________________________
A former Marine sniper and a newly orphaned boy race across the
Norwegian wilderness, fleeing demons both real and imagined.
Sheldon Horowitz-widowed, impatient, impertinent-has grudgingly
agreed to leave New York and move in with his granddaughter, Rhea,
and her new husband, Lars, in Norway-a country of blue and ice, not
the place for a former Marine sniper in the Korean War turned watch
repairman. Not until now, anyway. Home alone one morning, Sheldon
witnesses a dispute between the woman who lives upstairs and an
aggressive stranger. When events turn dire, Sheldon seizes and
shields the neighbor's young son from the violence, and they flee
the scene. As Sheldon and the boy look for a safe haven in an alien
world, past and present weave together, forcing them ever forward
to a wrenching moment of truth. ______________________________
Acclaim for Norwegian by Night Best New Crime Writer of the Year,
Crime Writers Association Best of 2013, The Guardian Best of 2013,
Financial Times Best of 2013, The Economist Best of Crime 2013,
Kirkus
Radio Life: a gripping adventure and a riveting political thriller:
The Commonwealth, a post-apocalyptic civilisation on the rise, is
locked in a clash of ideas with the Keepers . . . a fight which
threatens to destroy the world . . . again. When Lilly was first
Chief Engineer at The Commonwealth, nearly fifty years ago, the
Central Archive wasn't yet the greatest repository of knowledge in
the known world, protected by scribes copying every piece of found
material - books, maps, even scraps of paper - and disseminating
them by Archive Runners to hidden off-site locations for safe
keeping. Back then, there was no Order of Silence to create and
maintain secret routes deep into the sand-covered towers of the Old
World or into the northern forests beyond Sea Glass Lake. Back
then, the world was still quiet, because Lilly hadn't yet found the
Harrington Box. But times change. Recently, the Keepers have
started gathering to the east of Yellow Ridge - thousands upon
thousands of them - and every one of them determined to burn the
Central Archives to the ground, no matter the cost, possessed by an
irrational fear that bringing back the ancient knowledge will
destroy the world all over again. To prevent that, they will do
anything. Fourteen days ago the Keepers chased sixteen-year-old
Archive Runner Elimisha into a forbidden Old World Tower and
brought the entire thing down on her. Instead of being killed,
though, she slipped into an ancient unmapped bomb shelter where she
has discovered a cache of food and fresh water, a two-way radio
like the one Lilly's been working on for years . . . and something
else. Something that calls itself 'the internet' . . .
'Compelling and deeply satisfying.' Booklist '[A] terrific
coming-of-age story . . . Readers will root for Sheldon, a
memorable survivor, every step of the way.' Publishers Weekly
'Miller juggles each element effortlessly. His character portraits
are indelible, often heartbreaking. At times this novel moved me to
tears' The New York Times ____________________________ It's 1936,
war is brewing, tempers are running high, and by his thirteenth
birthday, Sheldon Horowitz has been orphaned - twice. While a
terrible accident took his mother, Sheldon is convinced that his
father was murdered. But no-one else thinks so, least of all the
police. Determined to track down the culprit, and leaving behind
his only friend Lenny, Sheldon moves to Hartford, Connecticut to
live with his uncle. He is told to keep his head down and forget
the past. But that just isn't his style. Fired up by his
politically-minded cousin Abe (and quite possibly in love with
other cousin Mirabelle), he sets out on a quest to discover the
truth that will take him from industrial Hartford to a ritzy hotel
in the Catskills, back to his childhood home and finally on to New
York. Sheldon quickly discovers that it's a jungle out there, and
to survive, he will have to learn to make his own luck.
Fortunately, that's one thing he's very good at... A tragic-comic
coming of age story like no other, for fans of All The Light We
Cannot See, and Michael Chabon's The Adventures of Kavalier and
Clay.
It's 1936, war is brewing, tempers are running high, and by his
thirteenth birthday, Sheldon Horowitz has been orphaned - twice.
While a terrible accident took his mother, Sheldon is convinced
that his father was murdered. But no-one else thinks so, least of
all the police. Determined to track down the culprit, and leaving
behind his only friend Lenny, Sheldon moves to Hartford,
Connecticut to live with his uncle. He is told to keep his head
down and forget the past. But that just isn't his style. Fired up
by his politically-minded cousin Abe (and quite possibly in love
with other cousin Mirabelle), he sets out on a quest to discover
the truth that will take him from industrial Hartford to a ritzy
hotel in the Catskills, back to his childhood home and finally on
to New York. Sheldon quickly discovers that it's a jungle out
there, and to survive, he will have to learn to make his own luck.
Fortunately, that's one thing he's very good at...
'This book reminds me of the things that crime fiction can do when
it works well ... Miller isn't afraid to write characters who are
opinionated. They don't hold their tongue about what they believe
in, they let rip. People are angry, people are passionate. I love
the unorthodoxy of it, I suppose. It's not what you expect it to
be." Val McDermid She knew it was a weird place. She'd heard the
stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief
Inspector Sigrid Odegard has to leave her native Norway and
actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her
missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a
prominent African-American academic. America. And not someplace
interesting, either: upstate New York. Plunged into a United States
where race and identity, politics and promise, reverberate in every
aspect of daily life. To find her older brother, she needs the help
of the local police who appear to have already made up their minds
about the case. Working with - or, if necessary, against - someone
actually named Sheriff Irving 'Irv' Wylie, she must negotiate the
local political minefields and navigate the back woods of the
Adirondacks to uncover the truth before it's too late...
Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2019
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|