![]() ![]() But it is Sal who finds Adam’s body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles’ compound. The two outcasts developed a tender, trusting friendship that brought each of them hope in the wake of tragedy. A quiet, seemingly unremarkable man, he connected with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. By day’s end, when the body is identified as local math teacher Adam Merkel, a small Nevada town will be rocked to its core.Īdam Merkel left a university professorship in Reno to teach middle school in Lovelock seven months before he died. A middle school teacher worries when her colleague is late for work. A boy walks into a fire station, pale with the shock of discovery. "Powerful.a breathtaking read, with flawed and authentic characters who hit so close to home that at times it is impossible not to root for them." - San Francisco ChronicleĪ body burns in the high desert hills. Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel * Nominated for the ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult NovelĪ BookPage Best Book of the Year * A People Magazine Best Book of Summer * A Parade Best Book of Summer * A Crime Reads Most Anticipated Book of Summer ![]()
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![]() ![]() Four of my favorite recent releases follow -įriendship Forever by Inkee Wang occupies some bizarre middle ground between Simon Hanselmann and Austin English, with pliable, gelatinous, bulbous characters toiling away at a dark approximation of what, I guess, passes for “friendship.” But mostly they’re just assholes to each other because, hey, it relieves the tedium of droll, everyday existence. ![]() These are some of the most utterly unique comics on the planet (no exaggeration), and well worth your time and money. Orion Martin is doing some seriously extraordinary things with his Paradise Systems imprint, bringing the best in contemporary “alternative” cartooning from China to these shores is sumptuously-formatted and impeccably-designed packages. ![]() ![]() I wouldn't give R.A.S roleplaying XP for this.Īnd the Character Backstory Trilogy reaches its conclusion, where "conclusion" means a sequence of loosely connected events cobbled together as excuses for setting up everything Drizzt can do in the Icewind Dale trilogy. If you just want something to pleasantly spend your time not expecting anything special out of it, go for it. Overall I'd recommend this to any fantasy fan, even though I'd say it is more suited for younger ages rather than adults. ![]() Overall I found the interactions with the other races really great, along with the evolution of the character, his realizations, him seeking for a purpose and finding a god to follow. This book is the best in the trilogy, We see Drizzt struggling to become part of groups on the surface, trying to prove what he really is while everyone is being racist towards him, considering him evil because he is a Dark Elf. Story 7.5/10 Continuing the story for the previous two books in the trilogy Drizzt has left the underdark and is now trying to live on the surface. However I'd like a bit more "soul" to it, something extra to make it a bit more exciting and reaching to the listener, but overall it's really solid and well done. ![]() The voices do fit the characters, the speed is just right and overall it is well done. ![]() Narration 8/10 The narration is pretty solid. ![]() ![]() ![]() A sliver of moon winked at the world from behind straggler wisps of cloud, silhouetting the grim spires of Grendirft. The night was silent but for the clop of hooves on wet cobblestones. The newest novel of the Black Company, Port of Shadows, will be available on September 11th. However, Croaker doesn’t trust any ofthe Taken, especially not ones that look so much like The Lady and her sister… ![]() ![]() Now, he and the company are being asked to seek the aid of their newest member, Mischievous Rain, to break a rebel army. The one person who was taken into The Lady’s Tower and returned unchanged has earned the special interest of the court of sorcerers known as The Ten Who Were Taken. But being “The Lady’s favored” is attracting the wrong kind of attention and has put a target on their backs, and the Company’s historian, Croaker, has the biggest target of all. The soldiers of the Black Company don’t ask questions, they get paid. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Runaway Duke has issues including heavy plotting, an unbelievable false identity (no one would volunteer to be Irish at that time in British history), and the story does goes on a bit however, all of the elements that would develop into Long’s signature style are present: wonderful humour, clever writing, charming central characters, and, yes, the fact that maybe, sometimes, I don’t know, I’m just saying, she can be a skooch twee. I knew going in that this would not be of the current quality I expect of Julie Anne Long. I mentioned in a review of another author that I often find a writer and think that she shows promise only to discover that she has already published a lot of books. In The Runaway Duke, the two take it on the lam when the villain mistakenly compromises the wrong Tremaine sister, Rebecca, and she is going to be forced into a reputation saving marriage. Through a convenient and maguffiny series of Napoleonic War events, Conor Riordan, fifth Duke of Dunbrooke, has shucked off his title and is living incognito as an Irish groom at the home of the novel’s rather young heroine Rebecca Tremaine. ![]() ![]() The Runaway Duke is one of her earliest novels and I read it for back catalogue completion purposes only. ![]() Julie Anne Long has written a classic historical romance, What I Did for a Duke two excellent ones, A Notorious Countess Confesses and It Happened One Midnight a rather delightful novella, To Love a Thief and an assortment of very enjoyable books in her Pennyroyal Green series. ![]() |