Showing results by author "Michael McDowell" in All Categories

When a bloody raid in Libya turns up nothing but a camp of terrorists who know nothing about any bombs, the elite American fighters find themselves ordered to Portugal to follow up a new lead. Once there, they learn every undercover agent from every country working in Portugal has been taken out of play, leaving the door wide open for staging an apocalyptic attack. If the Black Berets fail to locate the bombs and take out the merciless cabal that stole them, it could mean the end of the world as they know it. For these five warriors, the stakes have never been higher.

To the average citizen, the Lion of Salvador was a national hero, a military general of such renown that his accolades spanned two continents. To those in the know, however, the man was the cruelest of drug lords, a savage despot building an unstoppable empire that ranged from the Central American jungle to the bustling streets of New York.

Letting a struggling Chicano gas company run its pipeline across their Louisiana land struck the Black Berets as a good idea—especially once Cowboy got an eyeball on Isabella Cifuentes, its stunning, sultry president. But the contract, it seemed, contained some very fine and lethal print. A Texas oil magnate allied with a fanatical right-wing cult had made an unholy alliance to keep the territory free of Mexicans and competition—even if it meant taking his grievance to the people next door.

In the arms race against Russia, the United States has eked ahead with their superior advancements in computer technology. All that changes when Russia recruits some of Japan’s finest scientific minds to build their greatest weapon yet: a supercomputer capable of annihilating the US’s formidable Star Wars defense system. Destined for the land of the Samurai, the Black Berets know just how much is riding on this latest mission. If Russia succeeds in its quest for world domination, the future of the warriors’ countrymen—and their loved ones—is bleak indeed.

In Mesa County, Nevada, the tide of history was about to change. A tiny tribe of Indigenous Americans had just beaten the white man in his own court—and won title to some of the richest land in America. But some people were poor losers. And if they couldn’t hold on to the land … they’d simply eliminate its rightful owners. With a handful of poorly armed Native Americans facing a lynch mob led by the county sheriff and backed by corporate millions, Mesa County might be the setting for another Wounded Knee. Until the Black Berets get in on the action and show how professionals handle a massacre.

The Black Berets had to hand it to Parkes, their former CIA case officer. First he’d sent them on a suicide mission to Vietnam. Then he’d sent some CIA hitmen to finish them off when the enemy couldn’t. And the moment they set foot stateside, the world’s meanest mercenaries found that Parkes had arranged another lethal welcome. Well, they’d never liked Parkes much. But how were they going to tell him? First they had to find him, and that would take Beeker, Rosie, Cowboy, Harry, and Marty, from the bayous of Louisiana to an academy of terror in the Libyan desert.

Tel un organisme vivant, le clan Caskey se développe et se transforme. Certains font face à la mort, d'autres accueillent la vie. Entre rapprochements inattendus, haines sourdes et séparations inévitables, les relations évoluent. Miriam, désormais à la tête de la scierie et noyau dur de la famille, ne cesse de faire croître la richesse. Suite à une découverte surprenante et miraculeuse – sauf pour une personne –, c'est bientôt la ville entière qui va prospérer. Mais cette soudaine fortune suffira-t-elle, alors que la nature commence à réclamer son dû ?

Une nouvelle ère s'ouvre pour le clan Caskey : les années d'acharnement d'Elinor vont enfin porter leurs fruits ; les ennemies d'hier sont sur le point de devenir les amies de demain ; et des changements surgissent d'où personne ne les attendait. Le conflit en Europe a fait affluer du sang neuf jusqu'à Perdido. Désormais les hommes vont et viennent comme des marionnettes sur la propriété des Caskey, sans se douter que, peut-être, leur vie ne tient qu'à un fil.

Si le clan Caskey accuse le poids des ans, il est loin de s'être assagi : révélations écrasantes, unions insolites et réceptions fastueuses rythment leur vie dans une insouciance bienheureuse. Mais quelque chose surplombe Perdido, ses habitants et ses rivières. Le temps des prophéties est enfin venu.

1928 à Perdido. Alors que le clan Caskey se déchire dans la guerre intestine et sans merci que se livrent Mary-Love et sa belle-fille, et tandis que d'autres crises - conjugales, économiques, existentielles - aux répercussions défiant l'imagination se profilent, dans les recoins sombres de la maison d'Elinor, la plus grande de la ville, les mauvais souvenirs rôdent et tissent, implacables, leurs toiles mortelles.

Pâques 1919, alors que les flots menaçant Perdido submergent cette petite ville du nord de l'Alabama, un clan de riches propriétaires terriens, les Caskey, doivent faire face aux avaries de leurs scieries, à la perte de leur bois et aux incalculables dégâts provoqués par l'implacable crue de la rivière Blackwater.

Tandis que la ville se remet à peine d'une crue dévastatrice, le chantier d'une digue censée la protéger charrie son lot de conséquences : main d'œuvre incontrôlable, courants capricieux, disparitions inquiétantes.

Pendant ce temps, dans le clan Caskey, Mary-Love, la matriarche, voit ses machinations se heurter à celles d'Elinor, son étrange belle-fille, mais la lutte ne fait que commencer.

Dans le New York de la fin du XIXe siècle coexistent deux mondes que tout oppose. D’un côté, l’opulence et le faste. De l’autre, le vice monnayé et l’alcool frelaté. C’est à leur frontière, au coeur de l’infâme Triangle Noir, qu’une famille fortunée va chercher à asseoir sa notoriété en faisant mine de débarrasser la ville de sa corruption.

"But come back soon", the sign said. Obviously it was a lie. The people in the grocery store just wanted to make sure he couldn't buy the spice he needed to make the recipe he'd selected for that night (recipes must be followed exactly). Obviously they wanted him to eat out...to meet the waitress, Marta, to see her horrible, unspeakable, unbearable ugliness. It was obvious to him: her maimed, twisted face was the living desire to be dead. He had to help Marta be dead.

Seducing a proper Bostonian was easy. Making him die of a heart attack a week after the wedding was hardly any trouble at all. Now she has money, social status, everything she has cunningly schemed to get since she was a poor little girl. Everything except the Brookline mansion and the multi-million dollar trust fund left to the three children. But what wicked stepmother couldn't get rid of three children?

Alabama, 1958. A família Caskey, mais rica e poderosa do que jamais imaginou, vive cercada por festas luxuosas e recepções elegantes. Mas o passado não foi esquecido e uma presença sombria ameaça a cidade de Perdido. Neste eletrizante desfecho da saga, os Caskeys pagarão o preço de suas escolhas e uma profecia finalmente se cumprirá.

Nove anos se passaram desde a enchente em Perdido, mas a tensão entre Elinor e Mary-Love continua cada vez mais forte, afetando todo o clã Caskey. Miriam e Frances, as duas filhas de Elinor, são criadas como rivais, em casas diferentes. E é na residência de Frances que se encontra algo sombrio e implacável, à espreita de sua próxima vítima...

Alabama, 1946. Os Caskeys já enfrentaram diversas provações, alianças inesperadas se formaram, conflitos amargos se instalaram. Miriam agora está à frente dos negócios da família, sempre buscando aumentar a riqueza deles, até que faz uma descoberta surpreendente, que vai lhes dar ainda mais dinheiro. Mas essa fortuna repentina será suficiente para conter os fantasmas do passado? E quanto tempo eles terão até a natureza cobrar seu preço?

Uma nova era se inicia para os Caskeys. Com sua determinação inabalável, Elinor começa a ver os frutos de anos de luta. A família nunca esteve tão unida, mesmo com os ventos da guerra se aproximando. O conflito na Europa transforma Perdido, trazendo sangue novo para a cidade. Enquanto alguns encontram o amor, outros descobrem segredos obscuros dentro de si mesmos...

In un unico cofanetto tutti e sei i romanzi della saga di Blackwater. 1919. Le acque nere e minacciose del fiume sommergono la cittadina di Perdido, nel sud dell'Alabama. I ricchissimi Caskey devono fronteggiare il disastro. Ma il clan, capeggiato dalla potente matriarca Mary-Love e dal figlio Oscar, dovrà fare i conti anche con un'apparizione sconvolgente: dalle viscere della citta sommersa compare Elinor Dammert, con un passato misterioso e un oscuro disegno.