The Stormcaller

The Stormcaller
Author: Tom Lloyd
Publisher: Gollancz
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2009-12-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575096659

In a land ruled by prophecy and the whims of Gods, a young man finds himself at the heart of a war he barely understands, wielding powers he may never be able to control Isak is a white-eye, feared and despised in equal measure. Trapped in a life of poverty, hated and abused by his father, Isak dreams of escape, but when his chance comes, it isn't to a place in the army as he'd expected. Instead, the Gods have marked him out as heir-elect to the brooding Lord Bahl, the Lord of the Fahlan. Lord Bahl is also a white-eye, a genetic rarity that produces men stronger, more savage and more charismatic than their normal counterparts. Their magnetic charm and brute strength both inspires and oppresses others. Now is the time for revenge, and the forging of empires. With mounting envy and malice, the men who would themselves be kings watch Isak, chosen by Gods as flawed as the humans who serve them, as he is shaped and moulded to fulfil the prophecies that are encircling him like scavenger birds. The various factions jostle for the upper hand, and that means violence, but the Gods have been silent too long and that violence is about to spill over and paint the world the colour of spilled blood and guts and pain and anguish ...

Blaze Me a Sun

Blaze Me a Sun
Author: Christoffer Carlsson
Publisher: Hogarth
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2023-11-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593449371

One of the New York Times’s Best Crime Novels of the Year • A Good Morning America Buzz Pick #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A serial killer in a small Swedish town commits his first murder the same night the prime minister is assassinated—a “thrilling and profoundly poignant” (Angie Kim) novel by one of the country’s top criminologists, hailed as “the finest crime writer we have in Sweden” (David Lagercrantz, author of The Girl in the Spider’s Web and other novels in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series) “Christoffer Carlsson is to the police procedural what Cormac McCarthy is to the Western.”—Anthony Marra, author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena A CRIMEREADS AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In February 1986, the Halland police receive a call from a man who claims to have attacked his first victim. I’m going to do it again, he says before the line cuts off. By the time police officer Sven Jörgensson reaches the crime scene, the woman is taking her last breath. For Sven, this will prove a decisive moment. On the same night, Sweden plunges into a state of shock after the murder of the prime minister. Could there possibly be a connection? As Sven becomes obsessed with the case, two more fall victim. For years, Sven remains haunted by the murders he cannot solve, fearing the killer will strike again. Having failed to catch him, Sven retires from the police, passing his obsession to his son, who has joined the force to be closer to his father. Decades later, the case unexpectedly resurfaces when a novelist returns home to Halland amid a failed marriage and a sputtering career. The writer befriends the retired police officer, who helps the novelist—our narrator—unspool the many strands of this engrossing tale about a community confronting its shames and legacies. A #1 bestseller in Sweden, Blaze Me a Sun marks the American debut of the youngest winner of the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year award, the top prize for Swedish crime writers whose past winners include Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell.

Roots & the Remittance Man

Roots & the Remittance Man
Author: Jean Busby
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2024-08-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

In Roots & the Remittance Man, a captivating historical fiction, we follow a diverse family tree as its branches converge in the Carrot River Valley of the Northwest Territories in 1902. From Sweden, Muskoka, and Iowa, these intrepid settlers make their way to homestead near Melfort, Saskatchewan. A Scottish family, burdened by loss from an epidemic, travels by wagon train, finding salvation in a Cree chief. In Sweden, tragedy strikes, and a widowed wife and her daughters board a cattle ship for Halifax. They arrive in Winnipeg, accept a cook position at a Melfort hotel, and embark on a grueling journey through forest and muskeg. A young Norwegian man walks 700 miles to the United States-Canadian border, immerses himself in Indigenous history, and follows a freight swing to his homestead. Settlers and Indigenous peoples unite against prairie fires, forging bonds that transcend their differences. Through decades, the family experiences joys and sorrows, weathering the storms of two World Wars, prohibition, swamp fever, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Great Depression. As technology advances, women gain the right to vote and become legally recognized as persons. At the outset of World War II, a remittance man from Scotland enters the picture, his life becoming significantly entwined with the descendants of these resilient pioneers. Roots & the Remittance Man is a sweeping tale of perseverance, unity, and the indomitable human spirit that shaped the Canadian frontier.

Under the Storm

Under the Storm
Author: Christoffer Carlsson
Publisher: Hogarth
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2024-02-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 059344938X

THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR (SO FAR) • A farmhouse mysteriously goes up in flames with someone trapped inside and a community is never the same in the aftermath—both a page-turning whodunit and a deeply touching coming-of-age story by one of Sweden’s top criminologists “When the body of a young woman is discovered in an incinerated farmhouse, resolution was swift: It was murder, her boyfriend did it, case closed. But for the boyfriend’s nephew, Isak; the arresting officer, Vidar Jörgensson; and the entire community of Marbäck, closure is a myth about to be shattered—spectacularly.”—The New York Times On a cold November night, a farmhouse burns to the ground. Inside a young woman is found dead—not from the fire but murdered. To the people in the rural community of Marbäck, this becomes a reference point: a before and after. For ten-year-old Isak Nyqvist, it sets in motion something he cannot control, igniting his future into an unpredictable inferno. The police focus their attention on Edvard Christensson, the boyfriend of the murdered woman and Isak’s beloved uncle. After a quick investigation, Edvard is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison and Marbäck believes it can return to its innocence. Vidar Jörgensson, the rookie officer who first responded to the fire, prides himself on helping solved the murder. Little does he know this will become the defining case of his career and that it will drive him to the brink of professional and personal disaster—and link his fate to young Isak's. A celebrated author and professor of criminology, Christoffer Carlsson digs deep into the psyches of ordinary people and shows how one crime can haunt a community for decades. A modern classic of Scandinavian crime fiction, Under the Storm demonstrates why many regard Carlsson as one of the great crime writers of his generation.

More Than You Know

More Than You Know
Author: Nan Rossiter
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2013-05-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758283903

“A gripping story of three sisters, of love lost and found and a family’s journey from grief to triumph” from the New York Times bestselling author (Debbie Macomber). Losing her father on the night she was born could have torn Beryl Graham’s family apart. Instead, it knitted them together. Under their mother’s steady guidance, Beryl and her older sisters, Isak and Rumer, shared a childhood filled with happiness. But now Mia Graham has passed away after battling Alzheimer’s, and her three daughters return to their New Hampshire home to say goodbye. Swept up in memories and funeral preparations, the sisters catch up on each other’s lives. Surprising revelations abound, especially when they uncover Mia’s handwritten memoir. In it are secrets they never guessed at—clandestine romance, passionate dreams, joy and guilt. And as Beryl, Rumer, and Isak face a future without her, they realize it’s never too late to heed a mother’s lessons—about taking chances, keeping faith, and loving in spite of the risks . . . “Nostalgic and tender . . . summons the pain of loss, the balm of sisterhood, and the unbreakable bonds of family that help us survive both.”—Marie Bostwick, New York Times bestselling author Praise for the novels of Nan Rossiter “Eloquent and surprising . . . I love this story of faith, love, and the lasting bonds of family.”—Ann Leary, New York Times bestselling author on The Gin & Chowder Club “A multi-leveled, beautifully written story that will glow in readers’ hearts long after the last page is turned.”—Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author on Promises of the Heart

The Grave Thief

The Grave Thief
Author: Tom Lloyd
Publisher: Gollancz
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2009-12-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575087773

For Isak, the time for heartless decisions and ruthless action has come if he is to save the Land from its oppressors ... Scree has been wiped from the face of the Land in a brutal demonstration of intent. While those responsible scatter to work on the next step in their plan, the stakes are raised - all the way to the heavens - as the Gods themselves enter the fray. Returning home to a nation divided by fanaticism, Lord Isak is haunted both by the consequences of his actions in Scree and by visions of his own impending death. As the full extent of Azaer's schemes become clearer, he realises prophecy and zealotry must play their part in his battle-plans if there is to be any chance of surviving the coming years. As a white-eye, Isak has had to embrace the darker parts of his own soul, but now the savage religious fervour sweeping his nation must also be accepted and turned to purpose, in the name of survival. With the battle lines vague and allegiances uncertain, the time for heartless decisions and ruthless action has come. Two figures oppose Isak and his allies: the greatest warrior in history, who dreams of empire and Godhood, and a newborn baby whose dreams have no limit.

The Butterfly House

The Butterfly House
Author: Katrine Engberg
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2021-01-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1982127627

Detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner race to solve a series of sordid murders linked to some of the most vulnerable patients in a Danish hospital in this sequel to the #1 international bestseller The Tenant that is “brimming with personality, eccentric characters, and plenty of mystery and intrigue” (Crime by the Book). Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing. But in the coronary care unit at one of Copenhagen’s leading medical centers, a nurse fills a syringe with an overdose of heart medication and stealthily enters the room of an older male patient. Six days earlier, a paperboy on his route in central Copenhagen stumbles upon a macabre find: the naked body of a dead woman, lying in a fountain with arms marked with small incisions. Cause of death? Exsanguination—the draining of all the blood in her body. Copenhagen investigator Jeppe Kørner, recovering from a painful divorce and in the throes of a new relationship, takes on the case. His partner, Anette Werner, now on maternity leave after an unexpected pregnancy, is restless at home with a demanding newborn and an equally demanding husband. While Jeppe pounds the streets looking for answers, Anette decides to do a little freelance sleuthing. But operating on her own exposes her to dangers she can’t even begin to fathom. As the “thrillingly nerve-racking” (Shelf Awareness) investigation ventures into dark corners, it uncovers the shockingly depraved greed that festers beneath the surface of caregiving institutions—and what Jeppe and Anette discover will turn their blood as cold as ice…

The Twilight Herald

The Twilight Herald
Author: Tom Lloyd
Publisher: Gollancz
Total Pages: 572
Release: 2009-12-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0575087110

The sequel to the bestselling THE STORMCALLER After the shattering events of THE STORMCALLER, the eyes of the Land are on the minor city of Scree, which could soon be obliterated as the new Lord of the Farlan plots his revenge against Scree's rulers. Suffering under an unnatural summer drought and surrounded by volatile mercenary armies that may be its only salvation, the city is a strange sanctuary for a fugitive abbot to flee to, but he is only the first of many to be drawn there. Kings and princes, lords and monsters; all walk the sun-scorched streets while the evenings witness the performance of cruel and subversive plays that work their way into the hearts of the audience. Elite soldiers clash after dark and the city begins to tear itself apart as the sanity of its citizens crumbles, yet even chaos can be scripted. There is a malevolent will at work in Scree and one that has a lesson for the entire Land; nations can be manipulated, prophecies perverted, and Gods denied. Nothing lies beyond the reach of a shadow, and no matter how great a man's power, there some things he cannot be protected from.

Some of the Parts

Some of the Parts
Author: T Cooper
Publisher: Akashic Books
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2002-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781888451368

In sparse, evocative prose, Cooper tells the story of people: Isak, a 'gender freak' to the world at large; Taylor, simultaneously perfect yet useless, and paralysed; mother Arlene, lonely and pill-popping; and Arlene's brother Charlie, facing the unexpected prospect of being healthy with HIV. Four fractured lives lived in various forms of exile eventually join to re-forge a definition of family from the ashes.

The Chronicles of Tornor Trilogy

The Chronicles of Tornor Trilogy
Author: Elizabeth A. Lynn
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 797
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504048911

From a two-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, this epic trilogy is a “marvelous blend of fantasy [and] realism” (Marion Zimmer Bradley). Tornor is a land of warriors and lovers, a diverse place where devotion knows few bounds and honor stands strong in the face of adversity. Spread across generations, these three novels feature a trio of courageous heroes as they come of age in a magical world. In the World Fantasy Award–winning Watchtower, Tornor Keep is the legendary tower that protects the winter end of a summer land. But when Tornor is overrun by raiders, Prince Errel and the tenacious warrior Ryke must fight the usurpers to save their home. In The Dancers of Arun, a student must learn to control his gifts. As the scholar and scribe of Tornor, Kerris has been in training for the past seventeen years. But it’s not until his brother Kel—of the Cheari culture—teaches him the psychic art of patterning that the city of Elath comes under attack and Kerris must draw on his new talents to fight the dangers of psychic warfare. In the epic conclusion to this fantasy saga, The Northern Girl, a young servant must find her inner strength as she hides a magical talent. The visions begin when Sorren is only thirteen years old and she’s marked as a member of the White Clan of Arun. But this honor of being a witch frightens Sorren and she does not want to come within the Tanjo and serve. Instead, she’s determined to keep this gift a secret for as long as she can—whatever the cost may be. Elizabeth A. Lynn’s groundbreaking series was one of the first to feature same-sex relationships as an accepted part of a fantasy world. Filled with provocative ideas, haunting prose, and boundless imagination, the trilogy will captivate fantasy lovers both new and old.