Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Literature & Fiction

Murder for Love: Murder for Women is a collection of wickedly witty crime-of-passion short stories by some of the best women writers inside and out of the mystery field.

Heart of Darkness tells of the conflicting drives of two men—Charles Marlow, the captain of a steamboat, and Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious figure who oversees a trading post in Africa. After an arduous journey, Marlow finally encounters Kurtz, and the men come to grips with their differences—and their similarities.

Day by day the sentient planet of Petaybee is learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech. But few outsiders truly care for the feelings and intelligence of what they perceive to be a giant hunk of rock or a mere oddity—and the Petaybeans have their hands full trying to protect their beloved planet from the sudden influx of visitors. Some of Petaybee's staunchest champions are kidnapped and held for ransom, and the Petaybeans are faced with an impossible decision.

On icy Petaybee, the planet itself seems to be orchestrating its own evolution, but the planet is also rich in resources, and a ruthless company is poised to take advantage. Yana, an ex-company soldier with strong ties to the planet, tries to intervene. She and her friends must find a way to prove that Petaybee is more valuable to the company alive than dead.

Living in an abandoned apartment building in South-Central L.A., Socrates is one step away from the streets. He bags groceries at the supermarket, collects bottles and cans to recycle for pennies, and feels himself slipping toward invisibility - that is, until he meets 11-year-old Darryl, whose already committed murder and is perilously close to slipping into a life filled with only violence and bloodshed. Socrates' determination to fight for and save Darryl lights his own pathway to self-forgiveness.

Rich with unforgettable characters and history, intricately plotted and utterly absorbing, City of Dreams is a stirring saga of early Manhattan and the beginnings of medical science told by a master storyteller.

In 1930's China, the all-male Peking opera was luxurious entertainment for the privileged class—but only children from the poorest families were sent to opera schools to train as actors. Abandoned by his mother—a prostitute who can no longer care for him—Xiao Douzi is brought to an opera school. With seeds of bitterness in his soul, the nine-year-old boy endures hardships and misery to learn and perfect his craft.

Amidst the upheaval of the French Revolution, former aristocrat Charles Darnay becomes wrongly tangled in unfortunate events, endangering his freedom and family. Sidney Carton, a cynical lawyer who squandered his life away, seeks to redress his unhappiness through Darnay's beautiful wife, Lucie. A work of historical fiction by one of the world's greatest writers, A Tale of Two Cities is a story about love, chaos, sacrifice, and redemption.

The "web" has become our most powerful ecological image of the interconnectedness of all creatures, yet this image predates science, it is present in every culture's anthology. Chief Seattle said "Whatever man does to the web, he does to himself." Award-winning journalist Richard Louv explores the fragile network that connects people and the strands that make it up: nature, childhood, adulthood, spirit, purpose, and community.

When one of Dr. Rafael Neruda's patients commits a vicious murder and then kills himself, the psychiatrist is compelled to discover the root causes of the crime. Delving into his own painful childhood, he embarks on a desperate personal mission to confront the nature of evil itself. Endangering both his personal and professional future, Neruda devises the ultimate test for his cure for evil— a cure that becomes a shocking journey of eroticism, manipulation, and danger.

All he wanted was enough whiskey to forget. Ravaged by grief after a car crash killed his cherished wife and unborn child, Chase Tyler has abandoned his family business. He'd hit the rodeo circuit and the bars with equal disregard for his life, unwilling to face his pain and move on - until a bad-tempered bull and a lady from the past forced him to.... All she wanted was his love. Marcie Johns had known Chase all her life, and had been driving the car when it crashed.

It is 1757, the third year of the French and Indian War. Deep in the forests of New York State, the brave woodsman Hawkeye and his loyal Mohican friends become involved in the bloody French and Indian War. Hawkeye, a colonial scout, Chingachgook, the Mohican chief, and Uncas, his son, risk their lives to guide two English sisters through hostile territory and evade the evil Huron chief, Magua, who is determined to destroy them. The thrilling events that lead to the final tragic confrontation between rival war parties create an unforgettable, spine-tingling picture of life on the frontier.

Bella Ford, aged 19 and inexperienced, is seduced by an older, married man and becomes pregnant. Jilted by her unscrupulous lover, Bella plans revenge and journeys to the place he told her he was from —a lie— and loses the baby during the journey. She is taken in by a family of shoemakers who help her restore her faith in living—until a crisis of extreme tragedy puts her to the highest test.

This is the classic story of the young Theseus - Prince of Troizen, King of Eleusis and Athens, slayer of the Minotaur. Mary Renault's powerful novel captures the modern imagination by weaving myth, legend, history, and fiction into the story of a young hero's search for his destiny, or moira. If you like The King Must Die, try The Bull from the Sea.

Ah, the pleasures of Christmas: the hanging of lights, the traditional feasts, the gathering of families, and...a bit of murder, conspiracy, and theft. The holiday season seems to inspire the imagination of the best mystery writers, and their talents shine here in these delightful tales of Yuletide crime. In this busiest of seasons, seize a few hours to enjoy a sleigh—or slay—full of mysterious treasures, served with the finest of flair.

Huckleberry Finn—the casual rebel, the homeless waif, the sometime liar and thief, the boy nobody wanted—finds, for the first time in his life, a sense of responsibility, acceptance, and love when he befriends a runaway slave named Jim. Fleeing down the Mississippi on a raft, Huck courageously violates social convention rather than betray the person who needs him most.

For $2 million, scientist Alex McAuliff is hired by Dunstone, Ltd. to survey the geology of Jamaica's dark, mysterious interior. There is a catch: no one can know Dunstone is involved. When British Intelligence learns of Alex's mission, they let him in on a little secret: the last survey team never made it home. McAuliff's reception to the island is far from warm, and now Alex is a marked man. Someone wants him dead—but who? The only one clue to his survival is a single, mysterious word: Halidon.

In the summer of 1947, Kate Herrick, widowed by the war, returns to Rose Cottage, her childhood home. A tiny, thatched dwelling nestled in an idyllic country setting, Rose Cottage at first appears the picture of tranquility. But Kate soon discovers that someone has broken in, and valuable family papers have disappeared. The village seethes with gossip. How harmless are her elderly neighbors, who are suspected of witchcraft? And what is behind their reports of nighttime prowlers and ghosts in the cottage garden?

"One night I dreamed a dream. I was walking along the beach with my Lord." So begins "Footprints," a poem written in 1964 by a young woman named Margaret Fishback, who was searching for direction at the crossroads of her life.

Jalaluddin Rumi, a spiritual mystic of the Islamic world, is recognized as one of the most influential poets in history. His words are charged with an unequalled blend of literary genius and spiritual wisdom. No matter how often we listen to Rumi, each time is always the first time. Like This is a compilation of more than twenty of the beloved Persian poet's most beautiful verses. Narrator Coleman Barks' warm and sensitive reading combines with the world-renowned musicianship of Hamza El Din and Steve Coughlin to create an enthralling listening experience.