Hide and Seek
by Rankin, Ian

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of
Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was
supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus
novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into
thirty-six languages and are bestsellers worldwide.Ian Rankin has been elected a
Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award.
He is the recipient of four Crime Writers#39; Association Dagger Awards
including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America#39;s
celebrated Edgar Award for Resurrection Men. He has also been shortlisted for
the Anthony Award in the USA, won Denmark#39;s Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the
French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also
the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews,
Edinburgh, Hull and the Open University.A contributor to BBC2#39;s Newsnight
Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin#39;s Evil Thoughts.
Rankin is a number one bestseller in the UK and has received the OBE for
services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of
Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

True Colors
by Valerie Roosa

True Colors by Valerie Roosa, is historical nautical fiction at its finest. In
this book Valerie has achieved an intriguing blend of history and fiction. (You
may also visit her website at www.daystarartstudios.com ). The main character
Henry Stapleton has been press-ganged into the British Navy at the onset of the
war of 1812. He is torn away from his wife and family in opposition to British
law. As a Methodist minister he is supposed to be exempt from such outrageous
practice. But it is too late! Being in the wrong place at the wrong time Henry
finds himself on board a British frigate, and forced to serve his country by
participating in war at sea, along with twelve other men who have also been
captured. Britain is at war with France during the Napoleonic wars, and all of
Europe is ablaze with war. Life for Henry soon becomes one of hardship and
suffering along with the rigid discipline that accompanies war at sea during the
nineteenth century. Henry makes numerous friends amongst his shipmates, but also
encounters some vicious enemies along the way. Within days on board, his ship is
engaged in action, and the stark reality of sudden death and destruction around
him brings him into a full awareness of what his life will be like from now on.
True Colors will fill every reader's desire to step back into history and be
part of Henry Stapleton's life on the cruel seas. Share his dreams, his
disappointments, his personal grief and his courage as he faces the possibility
of death on a daily basis. Will he survive this war? Get out your telescope;
hoist your mainsail, and find out as you sail through the pages of this book.
The second of the series is Shadow on the Water. Customer Reviews from Barnes
and Noble Tom Leach, Sales Manager., 10/13/2006 I am now sold on Nautical
Fiction As a new reader to nautical fiction I wasn't sure how I would enjoy this
type of book. I am now sold on True Colors and its exciting story so much, that
I am anxiously waiting for 'Shadow on the Water' the next in the series to be
published! Tom Leach, Middlebury, Indiana. Angel Boyle, Oscoda, MI, A nationwide
business traveller, 10/11/2006 A feel for life on a Tall Ship I really enjoyed
TRUE COLORS. Usually, I stay away from historical fiction, but I would highly
recommend the book to anyone with an interest in seafaring. I found Captain
Weatherby and Henry Stapleton to have great depth of character, and empathy for
their fellow shipmates. Having recently viewed a square rigged tall ship, I
could actually feel what it must have been like living and fighting onboard from
the colorful description of the ship's contstruction and riggings. The artwork
on the front cover is wonderful, and portrays the impending peril at such close
range. I am looking forward to SHADOW ON THE WATER the next book in this series,
as soon as it is released. Rodney Schmidt, A Commodore of large sailing club !,
10/10/2006 src="http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnob

The Hinterlands : A Mountain Tale in Three Parts
by Morgan, Robert

First order of business for the pioneer was finding their way. After that came
marking, then clearing, and finally paving that way. Axing wilderness inroads
inch-by-inch, linking settlement with settlement--this was the challenge. "The
Hinterlands" is the story of a famly who found, marked, and paved their way into
America's eastern frontier. Unfolding the voices of three generations of
mountaineer storytellers who specialize in keeping listeners on the edge of
their seats, this is fiction that plunks us down right into the thick of pioneer
life.

Crazy Heart
by Cobb, Thomas

At the age of fifty-seven, Bad Blake is on his last legs. His weight, his
ticker, his liver, even his pick-up truck are all giving him trouble. A renowned
songwriter and "picker" who hasn't recorded in five years, Bad now travels the
countryside on gigs that take him mostly to motels and bowling alleys. Enter Ms.
Right. Can Bad stop living the life of a country-western song and tie a rope
around his crazy heart?

The Monkey Wrench Gang
by Abbey, Edward

Audacious, controversial and hilarious, The Monkey Wrench Gang is Edward Abbey's
masterpiece - a big, boisterous and unforgettable novel about freedom and
commitment that ignited the flames of environmental activism. Throughout the
vast American West, nature is being vicitimized by a Big Government / Big
Business conspiracy of bridges, dams and concrete. But a motley gang of
individuals has decided that enough is enough. A burnt-out veteran, a mad doctor
and a polygamist join forces in a noble cause: to dismantle the machinery of
progress through peaceful means, or otherwise.