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

When a recently widowed woman returns to her home town, will resuming a love affair with a high-school sweetheart bring back her joy? Shattered by the loss of her husband, Maggie struggled each day to put her grief behind her— to face life again and to be there for her teenaged daughter. When she returned to her Wisconsin hometown, she never expected to feel a spark of longing for her old high school sweetheart.

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 aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, an inevitable conflagration could set the whole world aflame. A desperate gamble by the President of the United States could postpone the outbreak of World War. Or could it hasten its arrival?

This rare compilation includes memorable speeches delivered by celebrated African American women from both the past and present. Spanning decades and elucidating the fight for equality, these speeches not only represent important moments of Black history but reveal the struggle from a female perspective. The live recordings in this captivating collection are preceded by a short biography that introduces each speaker.

In his writings, Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran weaves Christian, Moslem, and Buddhist ideals into a spiritual tapestry that transcends cultural barriers. This collection of his lesser-known writings reveals the author's insights on youth, love, marriage, and truth, and delves into nationalism, religion, and spiritual growth.

Henry Miller's gifts of profundity, humor, and spiritual sensitivity as well as his joy of living are well displayed in this collection of his insights into the human character. The pieces range from the delightfully raucous to the metaphysically illuminating, and include portraits of the famous and less-than-famous people in Miller's life. All human beings become real to the listener under Miller's penetrating mind and loving eye.

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.

Washington Irving's tales of romance, travel, biographical discourse, and literary musing introduced such classic fictional figures as Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horsemen of Sleepy Hollow. A sage, storyteller, and wit, Irving earned his preeminence in early American literature with these masterpieces in miniature.

Jacob Ericson, a shy, enigmatic, and somewhat inept ranch hand learns that his hands possess the mysterious gift of healing: a gift he uses to cure animals and Sharon, the woman he adores. His gift is quickly exploited and the boundaries of his charm and naïveté begin to stretch. Following Sharon to Los Angeles, Jacob offers his healing powers for free at a church in Los Angeles, and then at a seedy stage show where his beloved Sharon also works.

Rear Admiral Jake Grafton, the hero of Flight of the Intruder, returns as the United States and Cuba engage in a terrifying game of brinkmanship, a gamble that could break the last military taboo and destroy both countries. In Cuba, an ailing Fidel Castro lies dying. Across the Straits of Florida, an anxious U.S. awaits the inevitable power struggle, determined to have a say in who controls this strategically invaluable island.

In vignettes both comic and sexy, the owner of a coffee shop recalls the day his first wife seemed to achieve a moment of simple perfection, while she remembers the women's softball game during which she was stricken by the beauty of the shortstop. A young couple spends hours at the coffee shop fueling the idea of their fierce love. A professor of philosophy, stopping by for a cup of coffee, makes a valiant attempt to explain what he knows to be the inexplicable workings of the human heart.

This sixth volume of The Greatest Mysteries of All Time offers a variety of works by some of the most lauded writers in the field of suspense and literature.

The Fall of the Sparrow is the story of a family's struggle to heal itself after the violent death of its oldest daughter. At the heart is Alan "Woody" Woodhall, a classics professor at a small mid-western college, whose beloved oldest daughter, Cookie, is killed during a terrorist bombing. Woody finds himself standing in the cemetery where Cookie is buried, convinced that life has taught him all the lessons he has to learn.

It is 1947 when Joseph Burke, ex-Marine, ex-husband, ex-somebody–is hired as a bodyguard to protect Lauren Roach, 25 and spoiled rotten. The unlikely duo becomes entangled with Burke’s boyhood hero, color-barrier breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson, in a story that is both thrilling and engaging. It is in the historical character Jackie Robinson that Mr. Parker finds inspiration and Joseph Burke may find his redemption. This is a work of fiction about a real man. Most of what I’ve written I’ve made up. I have, however, attempted to render Jackie Robinson accurately. As he was, or as I imagined him to be, in 1947, when I was turning 15, and he was changing the world. The rest is altogether fiction. It may be more Burke’s story then Jackie’s story. But, without Jackie, Burke would have had no story. And neither would I. Robert B Parker.

In this classic, romantic ghost story, a governess on a remote country estate begins to believe her charges are possessed by the spirits of 2 dead former servants. Are her perceptions simply the fruit of her neuroses - or could they possibly be valid? A foray into the very heart of evil, Henry James's masterful novel is also remarkable for its psychological acuity and evocation of mood.

Mark Kurlansky, winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing, leads us on a mouthwatering culinary tour around the world and through history and culture from the fifth century B.C. to the present day. This wonderful collection contains essays by Plato on the art of cooking, Pablo Neruda on french fries, and many other writers on the passions of cuisine.

The disastrous banjo-playing of Bertram "Bertie" Wooster has driven the otherwise steadfast gentleman's gentleman Jeeves to give notice—because even butlers have limits. In anger, Bertie disappears to the country with his new valet Brinkley as a guest of Lord “Chuffy” Chuffnell, who has employed the services of the recently resigned Jeeves. Bertie soon finds himself in no shortage of trouble as he encounters his ex-fiancée Pauline, her formidable father, and the eminent looney-doctor Sir Roderick Glossop.

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.

Penniless and downtrodden at the loss of his wife and one of his daughters, Samuel Clemens turned to writing. The short stories and essays in Letters from the Earth find Clemens—under the pseudonym of Mark Twain—at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever. Written as diary entries, Twain penned a series of letters from the point of view of a dejected angel on Earth who observes the many curious natures of man. These pieces, gathered by Twain's literary executor, feature sharp takes on the inconsistencies of Christianity and farcical criticisms of American life.