This includes selections where animals are clearly recognizable mundance animals. They may talk or think like humans, but do not wear clothes, walk upright, or exhibit physical humanlike traits. All anthropomorphic attributes are stictly mental.
Four of mystery's reigning matriarchs have joined together to concoct a delectable stew of clues, corpses, and felonious hijinks -- all spectacularly seasoned with a mother's loving touch! In this witty and winning quartet of all-new mysteries, the incomparable MARY DAHEIM gives harried mom Cousin Renie from the bestselling "Bed-and-Breakfast" series a triple dose of the murderous wedding bell blues; the inimitable award-winner CAROLYN HART of "Death on Demand" fame lets madcap mother-in-law Laurel Darling take a turn at the investigative chores; the remarkable JANE ISENBERG sets menopausal mother Bel Barrett loose to solve a dastardly case of nanny-cide; and the fabulous SHIRLEY ROUSSEAU MURPHY -- whose "Joe Grey" mysteries are the cat's meow -- enchants once again, as a delightful duo of feline mamas sinks their clawsinto a murder investigation.
This murderously entertaining collection assembles 16 purr-fect tales of crime and cats by some of today's best mystery writers: Lilian Jackson Braun, Ruth Rendell, Patricia Highsmith, Patricia Moyes, Edgar Allen Poe, Hugh B. Cave, Fred Hamlin, and others.
A lyrical, engrossing tale, by the author of WATERSHIP DOWN, Richard Adams creates a lyrical and engrossing tale, a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes, Snitter and Rowf, fugitives from the horrors of an animal research center who escape into the isolation--and terror--of the wilderness.
In this brilliant second novel, the author of Watership Down unfolds a powerful sage of suffering, fire and war, as Shardik, the giant bear brings truth to the land of the Ortelgans.
The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come
First published in 1960 and closely followed by a hit movie of the same name, Joy Adamson's now classic memoir Born Free continues to introduce countless young people to the wildlife of Africa. Adamson recounts her adventures as the surrogate mother of an orphaned lion cub named Elsa (with parenting duties shared by her husband George and by a delightfully imperturbable rock hyrax named Pati), whom she raised as a welcome member of her human and animal family while painstakingly teaching Elsa the skills she would need to survive in the wild. Her teaching, against all odds, was effective: three years later, the Adamsons took Elsa to a place near that of her birth and set her loose, hoping that she would find her "real pride" among other lions of the Kenya grasslands--as she soon did.
Long targeted to preteen readers, Born Free is in fact a sophisticated work of environmental consciousness-raising, for Joy Adamson believed that any relationship between humans and wild animals had to be conditioned by an attitude "of absolute equality quite different from that between a dog and his master." Although Elsa's story had an ultimately tragic ending--the young lioness died of disease and, in separate incidents, Joy and George Adamson were both murdered--Joy Adamson's book continues to instruct and entertain readers of all ages
Knot, mutant-bred and exiled from mankind to serve on an alien world, has personal
reasons for opposing the Galactic Empire's omnipotent Coordinating Computer.
But Finesse, a sensuous, seductive imperial agent-aided by Hermine, a slyly
psychic weasel, and Mit, a telepathic hermit crab-lures Knot into serving the
Computer.
Their perilous odyssey takes them across time and space to a forbidding world
ruled by the renegade Piebald, who has harnessed the fearsome extrasensory forces
of his lobotomized minions ...has gained mastery over the Computer ...and who
now threatens the very future of humanity
Anthony's latest series (beginning with Virtual Mode, 1990) started life as a fantasy involving parental neglect and child abuse, but here it meanders off into standard reality-hopping adventure. Our heroes--abused 14-year-old Colene from Earth; Darius of the sympathetic magic; Seqiro the telepathic horse; and Provos, who remembers only the future--fall across the ``modes'' (realities) to magic-world Oria, where the highly magical Nona, the ninth child of a ninth child, hopes to overthrow the ``despots'' by transforming their male ``animus'' magic into female ``anima'' magic. To achieve this, Nona must journey to Earth (where Colene will save a friend from special abuse and torture) to learn about fractals--Oria, you see, is part of a fractal universe, and Nona must be able to orient herself in order to effectively wield her magic. Not too much more than a fantasy Time Tunnel--our heroes fall away into a new adventure at the end of each episode--displaying the usual Anthony rewards and drawbacks.
This is Book I of the Mode series. One of the main characters is a telepathic horse. This book may not be suitable for all readers, as one of the characters is a suicidal teenage girl, and contains scenes depicting some of her near attempts.
From the back cover:
Imagine w rold where the clouds are made of crystals that contantly change their
beautiful colors. Where joy is sacred. Where conjurers fly people from village
to village. Imagine, too, that this world and more exist simultaneously and
that it is possible to travel between them…
At first Colene didn't believe the strange man she found lying on the side of
the road. He spoke of a different world filled with wonder, was dressed in clothes
she had never seen before, and knew a language she had never heard. He said
that he loved her and wanted to take her back to his home. Colene suspected
he was crazy- until he vanished before her eyes. Well, if falling in love was
crazy, Colene was now fully prepared to say goodbye to reality- and hello to
an infinite world of dragons and monsters and impossible dreams…
From the back cover:
A landmark in children's literature, winner of the 1970 Newberry Medal, and
the basis of an acclaimed film, Sounder traces the keen sorrow and the abiding
faith of a poor African-American boy in the 19th-century South. The boy's father
is a sharecropper, struggling to feed his family in hard times. Night after
night, he and his great coon dog, Sounder, return to the cabin empty-handed.
Then, one morning, almost like a miracle, a sweet-smelling ham is cooking in
the family's kitchen. At last the family will have a good meal. But that night,
an angry sheriff and his deputies come, and the boy's life will never be the
same.
This book is out of print.
Front cover blurb reads: "An actor in the role of his life is playing a cat-and-mouse game with a murderer…
Back cover synopsis:
Murder and Meowhem
When Whinstanley Fortescue, titan of the English stage and a notorius tomcatter,
falls off a laddder onto the backstage cat Montmorency D. Mousa, man and feline
are catapulted into each other's body. Win prowls the theatre withj ears pricked-outraged
by the lutter box, eyeing Monty's furry felines fatales- white Monty, in Intensive
Care, lies cataleptic in Win's noble thespian frame.
Soon Whinstanley Fortescue, cat, hears enough to know the fall was no accident.
Who pushed him? His long suffering wife, his looney ex, his catty journalist
mistress, or the critic who chewed up his last play? Twitching his tail, Win
scats over to the hospital to sniff out the would-be killer and save his own
body, which is serving as host to Monty's bewildered soul. After all, how many
lives could Monty's cat body have left?
From the back cover:
Intriguing tales, timeless poetry, enchanting songs…Beguiling characters like
Barrington Bunny…Joggi, the porcupine…Lena, the witch…Joshua, the boy who lost
his magic… and the great silver wolf- majestic, ever-present, mysterious… A
book that will inspire you to consider and celebrate such things as love, forgiveness,
acceptance, salvation and commitment.
The Uplift War-a deep-future conflict that spans both galaxies and centuries-continues in this rich middle volume (after Brightness Reef) of Brin's second Uplift trilogy. On the planet Jijo, the painfully developed cooperation among six sapient races (humans included) is rapidly crumbling under the impact of contact from space. The visitors include the dolphin crew of the ship Streaker and the Rothen, the race who may have "uplifted" to intelligence most of the races of Jijo, except the humans, who because of their unique status are in greater peril than ever. The ensuing tale is well paced, immensely complex, highly literate-and a daunting read, particularly for those new to the series. On full display here is Brin's extraordinary capacity to handle a wide-ranging narrative and to create convincingly complex alien races that not only differ from humanity but also variegate internally. By novel's end, Jijo is irremediably altered, its status as a world of refugees from the political chicanery of the Five Galaxies likely gone forever.
This is book II of the Uplift series.
From the back cover:
The Terran exploration vessel Streaker has crashed on the uncharted water-world
of Kithrup, bearing one of the most important discoveries in galactic history.
Above, in space, armadas of alien races clash in a titanic struggle to claim
her. Below, a handful of her human and dolphin crew battles armed rebellion
and a hostile planet to safeguard her secret - the fate of the Preogenitors,
the fabled First Race who seeded wisdom throughout the stars.
David Brin's epic Startide Rising swept the Nebula, Hugo and Locus Awards.
Now this master storyteller returns us to this extraordinary, wonder-filled
world. Drawing on the startling events of Startide, he tells a tale of courage,
survival and discovery.
As galactic armadas clash in quest of the ancient fleet of the Progenitors,
a brutal alien race seizes the dying planet of Garth. The various Uplifted inhabitants
of Garth must battle their overlords or face ultimate extinction. At stake is
the existence of Terran society and Earth, and the fate of the entire Five Galaxies.
Sweeping, brilliantly crafted, inventive and dramatic, The Uplift War is an
unforgettable story of adventure and wonder from the pen of one of today's science
fiction greats.
The animals in Crozet, Virginia, are a lot smarter than the humans, which will come as no surprise to the devoted fans of Rita Mae Brown's mysteries featuring Mrs. Murphy the tiger cat, the luxury-loving feline known as Pewter, and Tee Tucker, a curious corgi. In their seventh outing, they're leaps and bounds ahead of Harry Haristeen, the spunky postmistress they call Mom. Long before anyone else knows what's going on, they've figured out the connection between the shot fired at wealthy Sir Henry Vane-Tempest during the reenactment of a Civil War battle and a missing airplane hidden in Tally Urquhart's barn. They're better at finding evidence trampled underfoot at a crime scene than any detective is, and they know just whose lap to drop it in. While they might not understand exactly why county commissioner Archie Ingram is so exercised about Vane-Tempest's plans for development in Albemarle County--particularly when it promises to make him as wealthy as the husband of the woman he loves--they've sniffed out the sexual shenanigans that threaten to derail the private pact between Crozet's leading citizens. If Harry and her friends knew what the animals know, there'd be no mystery about it; there'd only be a charming and lighthearted story of chicanery in the new Old South with plenty of local color, the scent of lilacs wafting through every page, and the deft prose of a writer on top of her game. But then, there'd be no raison d'etre for the liveliest scene in the book, wherein Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee take a turbo-charged Porsche for a breakneck ride through Virginia's verdant hills and dales. By the end of the book, the only mystery is whether Harry and Fair, her favorite ex-husband, will manage to get back together again in the next installment--or the one after that--of this popular series.
Springtime, romance and murder all visit the peaceful little town of Crozet, Va. home of Mary Minor Hairsteen ("Harry"), her trio of feline and canine sleuths, a cast of familiar supporting characters and, of course, a few new ones. Brown's cozy formula, honed over nine previous books in the series (Claws and Effect, etc.), includes Southern traditions, romantic rivalries and gentle humor typified by the talking animals, whose commentary on human foibles provides much amusement. While the Crozet social whirl revolves around the upcoming Dogwood Festival, the theft of some unusual hubcaps sets in motion an escalating series of crimes that, inevitably, catches the interest of Harry. And Harry's old rival, BoomBoom Craycroft, does Harry the peculiar favor of fixing her up with a very handsome diplomat from Uruguay. While Harry juggles her duties as postmistress of Crozet, her farm chores and the romantic attentions of ex-husband "Fair" Hairsteen and the suave Diego Aybar, her pets the comfort-seeking, fat cat Pewter; the brave little Welsh corgi, Tee Tucker; and the wise and cunning Mrs. Murphy, a gray tiger cat apply their various talents to protect "Mom," as they call Harry. Brown's proven brand of murder and mayhem played out against a background of Virginia gentility and idealized animals is once again up to scratch.
Back cover synopsis:
Mrs. Murphy digs into Virginia history…and gets her paws on a killer.
The most popular citizen of Virginia has been dead for nearly 170 years. That
hasn't stopped the good people of tiny Crozet, Virginia, from taking pride in
every aspect of Thomas Jefferson's life. But when an archaeological dig of the
slave quarters at Jefferson's home, Monticello, uncovers a shocking secret,
emotions in Crozet run high- dangerously high.
The stunning discovery at Monticello hints at hidden passions and age-old scandals.
As postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen and some of Crizet's Very Best
People try to learn the identity of a centuries-old skeleton- and the reason
behiond the murder- Harry's tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, and her canine and feline
friends attempt to sniff out a modern-day killer. Mrs. Murphy and corgi Tee
Tucker will stick their paws into the darker mysteries of human nature to solves
murders old and new- before curiosity can kill the cat….and Harry Haristeen.
In their sixth collaboration, Brown and her tiger cat Sneaky Pie move locale from historic Virginia sites, such as Monticello and Montpelier, to St. Elizabeth's, the exclusive private school in Crozet where philandering headmaster Roscoe Fletcher hopes to establish a new film department with financial assistance from director Maury McKinchie. When fake obituaries of the two are followed by their actual demise, it's up to Crozet's postmistress Mary Minor ("Harry") Haristeen and her fellow, four-footed amateur detectives--tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, fat cat Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker--to sniff out what's rotten in St. Elizabeth's.
The annual steeplechase races are the high point in the social calendar of the horse-mad Virginians of cozy Crozet. But when one of the jockeys is found murdered in the main barn, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen finds herself in a desperate race of her own-to trap the killer. Luckily for her, she has on experienced ally: her sage tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy. Utilizing her feline genius to plumb the depths of human depravity, Mrs. Murphy finds herself on a trail that leads to the shocking truth behind the murder. But will her human companion catch on in time to beat the killer to the gruesome finish line?
Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her intrepid trio of animal sleuths are back for an eighth--and winsome--adventure (following Cat on the Scent). Harry, postmistress of seemingly bucolic Crozet, Va., and her classmates are excited about their upcoming 20th high school reunion. They share bittersweet memories of that time when everything seemed possible, as preparations proceed to welcome back far-flung classmates. But it quickly becomes apparent that one person's memories are only bitter: weeks before the celebration, each classmate receives an anonymous letter reading, "You'll never get old." The class Casanova then gets a bullet between the eyes; more threatening letters follow. While the humans involved argue, dither and try to figure out what's behind the murderous rage turning their reunion into a killing ground, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tee Tucker (Harry's sage tiger cat, plump gray cat and Welsh corgi, respectively) conduct their own investigation. Brown's appealing sense of humor, well-constructed setting and competent plotting carry the day. Her talking, thinking animals are funny and, for those who like this sort of thing, even adorable.
The residents of tiny Crozet, Virginia, thrive on gossip, especially in the post office, where Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen presides with her tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy. So when a belligerent Hell's Angel crashes Crozet, demanding to see his girlfriend, the leather-clad interloper quickly becomes the chief topic of conversation. Then the biker is found murdered, and everyone is baffled. Well, almost everyone...Mrs. Murphy and her friends, Welsh corgi Tee Tucker and overweight feline Pewter, haven't been slinking through alleys for nothing. But can they dig up the truth in time to save their humans from a ruthless killer?
Mystery fans who dote on their pets will welcome this second tale of murder co-authored by Brown and her cat, Sneaky Pie. A follow-up to the duo's Wish You Were Here, it reintroduces characters and settings in the tiny town of Crozet, Va. Central to the tale are postmistress and knowledgeable farmhand Mary Minor Haristeen (Harry), her cat Mrs. Murphy and her Welsh corgi Tee Tucker. Mrs. Murphy, as it happens, "bears an uncanny resemblance to authoress Sneaky Pie," and virtually every reference to her is amusingly flattering. Other key Crozet denizens include the nosy, well-meaning widow Mrs. Hoggendobber; the haughty, monied Sanburne family; Harry's ex-husband and his new love interest, a woman nicknamed "Boom Boom." Gossip is at a low ebb in Crozet until male model Blair Bainbridge moves to the farm bordering Harry's. Matchmakers start to buzz, but they are rudely interrupted when assorted parts of a dismembered body are found on Blair's land. The animals, whose speech is italicized in the text and generally misunderstood by humans, form their own hypotheses about the murder, and naturally have a hand/paw in solving the crime. The Browns expertly depict small-town life, detailing holiday parties, a fox hunt and Harry's chores during a bucolic winter. Although talking, sleuthing animals may seem cloying to serious folk, this is in actuality a spooky, baffling tale complete with (Rita Mae) Brown's trademark surprise ending.
Back cover synopsis:
Curisosity just might be the death of Mrs. Murphy- and her human companion,
"Harry" Haristeen
Small towns are like families: Everyone lives very close together….and everyone
keeps secrets. Crozet, Virginia, is a typical small town- until its secrets
explode into murder.
Crozet's thirty-something postmistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, has a
tiger cat (Mrs. Murphy) and a Welsh Corgi (Tee Tucker), a pending divorce, and
a bad habit of reading postcards not addressed to her. When Crozet's citizens
start turning up murdered, Harry remembers that each received a card with a
tomstone on the front and the message "wish you were here" on the back.
Intent on protecting their human friend, Mrs. Murphy and Tucker begin to scent
out clues. Meanwhile, Harry is conducting her own investigation, unaware her
pets are one step ahead of her. If only Mrs. Murphy could alert her somehow,
Harry could uncover the culprit before another murder occurs- and before Harry
finds herself on the killer's mailing list.
This book is out of print.
front cover comment reads: "To save the world, a pig sometimes has to break the rules."
Back cover synopsis:
"Trapped in the land of the dead Famine grips the realm. Warlords are poised
for battle on their borders. From the Fleshless Land, the evil hand of the Queen
of the Dead sows havoc and hatred across the Nine Kingdoms. And all the faity
pigs have been cruelly imprisoned by the dread Fungus Folk...except one. He
has no magical powers with which to confront the forces of terror that enslave
his world. Yet this rotund, comfort-loving young warrioir must venture into
dark and terrible places to rescue his people, restore the peace, eliminate
the evil pestilence...and, if he's lucky, find time for a bite to eat."
Rider at the Gate is the first in a two-book series chronicling the existence of human colonists stranded on a planet whose only native life forms are linked by telepathy, sending sensory images to one another enhanced by powerful emotions. One of these species, the "nighthorse," befriends the humans, and together they form a bond of mutual protection--the nighthorses guard their riders against the planet's mind-clouding predators, while the humans provide them with food and shelter. Once matched, the two experience a companionship more profound than either has ever known before.
Sherlockians especially will enjoy Conant's latest dog mystery (after Animal Appetite, 1997) featuring journalist Holly Winter in her most intricate case yet. Holly and her champion Alaskan malamute, Rowdy, who has earned his Rx.D. as a certified therapy dog, regularly visit a Cambridge, Mass., nursing home. There they meet Althea Battlefield and her two elderly admirers, Hugh and Robert, all three of whom are fanatic fans of Sherlock Holmes. Holly also meets Althea's wealthy younger sister, Ceci, who is actively mourning the death of her favorite dog. When Althea's grandnephew is found dead in the backyard of Ceci's home, Hugh and Robert jump at the chance to put Sherlockian technique to the test. Ceci, like many bereaved Cambridge animal lovers, has been swindled by an unscrupulous psychic. Even Holly finds herself reluctantly impressed by the psychic's apparent abilities until the fog parts during a late-night stakeout in Ceci's yard with her elderly cohorts. Conant cleverly incorporates Holmes and Watson lore into her plot and writes eloquently of what it is like to lose a beloved pet. Her story is further enhanced by her sensitive depictions of the residents of the nursing home Holly and Rowdy visit. Though their faculties may be failing, the elders' simple enjoyment of an animal's touch speaks volumes about the good a therapy dog can accomplish.
Most people who regain consciousness after falling down a mountain would think to call a doctor, but not Holly Winter, the bumptious heroine of Conant's 13th Dog Lover's mystery (after Evil Breeding). Of course, since Holly is suffering from amnesia, figuring out who she is initially occupies all her energies. Then she has to concentrate on appearing normal at a clambake given by wealthy socialite Gabbi Beamon, who has invited the intrepid journalist and her two Alaskan malamutes, Kimi and Rowdy, to Maine's Mount Desert Island. At the clambake, guests lament the passing of curmudgeon Norman Axelrod, who fell to his death while hiking the same trail Holly was on around the time of her "accident." Gabbi's guests are all investors--as was Norman--in the Pine Tree Foundation, a philanthropic organization that seeks to combine charity with high returns. Those returns, however, are suspiciously high. And why was Norman, notorious for his disinterest in exercise, climbing a mountain in Acadia National Park in the first place? Conant keeps plot to a minimum; the corpse and any medical or police authorities remain offstage. Such economy allows ample room for this lighthearted romp's real stars to shine--Holly's dogs, who are rivaled in the personality department only by her mooselike father, Buck Winter, whose antipathy to land developers brings the action to a head. Dog lovers will cheer Kimi and Rowdy as they help expose the killer, and even those not partial to canines will want to bark with pleasure at a good animal mystery in which the animals aren't portrayed as humans with fur.
To Pete, the end of the world is beginning to look like a very good thing. And all the better if it comes before Monday -- before the test and before the substitute teacher blames him for that incident with the aquarium or for stealing back his big, black, overly-friendly dog, Mishmash. How Pete solves his problems with Mishmash and the substitute teacher is a story that will tickle any young reader who has ever had difficulties with tests, teachers, or dogs
In the rugged Rocky Mountains of 1885 British Columbia, meet:
Thor- the mighty grizzly, a dignified ruler and fierce protector of his kingdom, not above scratching his back on trees, being grouchy or lazy or playful, but always respecting his instincts for survival.
Muskwa- the endearing bear cub, who loses his mother and needs protection. He feels lonely; he feels sympathy for the wounded Thor; he feels the thrill of companionship, whether for frogs, butterflies, bears or men.
The Hunters- they burst into Thor's world and immediately turn it upside down. There's bruce, the wise trapper and guide, the bears' worst enemy, and Jim, the enthusiastic searcher who becomes transformed from a killer to a friend of bears.
back cover synopsis
Midnight Louie, toughcat extraordinaire, and his human partner in crime-solving,
petite red-headed publicist Temple Barr, are once again in the thick of things
as they try to discover just who is trying to wreck the annual Las Vegas Cat
Show. When people start dying and the cats are placed in mortal danger, it's
up to Louie to set things right. He'll do his best to foil the fiendish plot
against the cats of Las Vegas…and save his best friend Temple from a very human
killer.
From the dust jacket
Las Vegas in Louie's playground, and he's the first in line for anything, be
it a tasty carp from a casino's fishpond- or a freshcrime scene. Louie condescends
to share his life with his companion Temple Barr - a petite, redheaded public
relations expert who has a high heel shoe fetish and a nose for troublee- and
when a case comes their way, the sparks (and fur) always fly.
And what a case they've landed this time. Temple agrees to do an image makeover
for the Crystal Phoenix Casino as part of las Vegas's quest to turn the old
Sin City into America's Family Entertainment Central, and it isn't long before
she and Louie are up to their paws in theft, missing treasure, and the mystery
of a ghostly murder from Las Vegas's dark past. As usual it's up to Louie to
set things right.
And save Temple from an all-too-real killer.
From the dust jacket
This Christmas season there's more than meriment on Midnight Louie's list- there's
a mruder to be solved, and Louie's on the move. Las Vegas's feline superlseuth
isn't home for the holidays, though,; he and his charming chorot, redheaded
publicist Temple Barr, are visiting the Madison Avenue ad agency that may make
Louie a star.
But when the agency's head honcho forgoes his traditional Santa suit for a company
party and hires an actor instead, someone puts the substitue in permanent deep
freeze. Now Louie and temple need to find out not who's been kissing
Santa Claus, but who's been killing the jolly old elf.
Manwhile, Midnight Louie has his paws full with private matters as well as murder
most merry. His ladylove, the Divine Yvette, has been unfairly fired as a spokescat
for violating a morals clause in her contract, and Maurice, his rival for Yvette's
paw, is still trying to turn him into kitty litter. And while Temple's curent
boyfriend ends a manhunt in Las vegas, her ex-lover, Mystifying Max the Magicain,
is not about to let the holidays pass without making a surprise entrance and
a breathtaking proposal. Can one little kitty aprehend the perpetrator, play
Cupid, and make everyone's Christmas bright?
From the dust jacket
It all begins when Midnight Louie's longtime human partner, public relations
woman Temple Barr, learns something strange about on of her accounts. It seems
that ghost sightings are holding up the remodelling of the Crystal Phoenix hotel.
But that's not the strange part - what's strange is that the workman swear the
ghost is none other than the (supposedly) deceased King of Rock 'N' Roll, Elvis
Presley. Coulf the ghost be an uninvited visitor from the Kingdome, a nearby
Elvis-themed attraction - or is he a more otherwordly visitor?
Meanwhile, the daughter of Temple's professional enemy, a lovely seventeen-year-old
who bears a striking resemblance to Priscilla Presley, is in trouble. A series
of death threats culminate in a razor-tattoo attack, leaving her with the letter
"E" carved into her neck. And Temple's neighbor and former suitor Matt Devine
has been receiving some unusual calls to his midnight radio hotline: the caller
has a thick Memphis accent and sounds remarkably like…well, guess who.
When a dead Elvis is found, the question is not only whodunit, but why, and
who the dead man really is. Could the King himself have been hiding behind the
guise of his own imitators, or is he really dead again, or for the first time…or
not at all? Louie, with the aid of an off-the-wall animal assistant, Temple
and Matt must use all their separate and combined wits to solve the larger than
life riddle that was, and may still be, Elvis Presley, the once and future King.
From the dust jacket
At the Blue Dahlia, the forties-style music club where hard-boiled homicide
lieutenant Carmen Molina moonlights secretly as a torch singer, things are not
as easygoing as the seem. When her gig ends, she can't miss the dead body lying
next to her car in the moonlit asphalt of the parking lot, with the words "she
left" spray-painted neaby. Soon, another anonymous woman found in a parking
lot across town joins the unidentified woman in death.
Is a serial killer at work in Molina's backyard? And will the tough lieutenant
have to bite her tongue and resort to the despised help of amateur sleuth Temple
Barr to crack the case? Maybe the wily police lieutenant has more devious plans
in mind. Certainly neither of Temple's two love interests, hotline counselor
Matt Devine and the magician-cum-iundercover man Max Kinsella, is far from committing
crimes of the heart- or of homicide - as the double-murder case unfolds.
Meanwhile, Louie reluctantly finds himself walking on the wild side in partnership
with his feisty if disapproving daughter, Midnight Louise, when a glamorous
feline client seeks his help in finding her missing boyfriend. Can both Midnight
and Temple reconcile themselves to working with others soon enough to solve
their respective cases - and keep themselves from ending up the same way?
It's Halloween in Las Vegas, the glitzy site of Douglas's mysteries starring black-cat-about-town Midnight Louie, last seen in Cat in a Diamond Dazzle. Against her better judgment, Temple Barr, Louie's human companion, has agreed to participate in a seance at the Hell-o-Ween Haunted Homestead, where mediums are hoping to raise the spirit of Harry Houdini. The seance takes place in a glass enclosure in the center of a tram in full view of eager tourists swirling through the miasma of goblins, spider webs and ghosts. Temple is not surprised when no spirits are raised that she can see, although Louie, who has spirited himself out of a locked condo and into the seance, observes Elvis, Mae West and Amelia Earhart. All are astonished, however, when the medium whose hand Temple had held throughout the session, is dead when the lights come up. The victim was a debunker of false psychic phenomena, and any one of the mediums present might have had reason to fear him. Temple's investigation turns up some surprising links between the dead man and her own erstwhile amour, the magician Mystifying Max. Louie, whose probing solves the case, makes amazing discoveries about his lineage when a cat with emerald eyes informs him that one of his ancestors was King Tut's bodyguard. Laced with good humor and Louie's acerbic observations, this new adventure gives Louie's fans something to purr about.
Why would the killer of detestable publisher Chester Royal, after dispatching him with a knitting needle at the American Booksellers' convention in Las Vegas, tag him with a note reading ``STET,'' and then, for good measure, kidnap a pair of cats, the corporate mascots of rival imprint Baker & Taylor? Clearly no-nonsense Lt. R. C. Molina, one unsympathetic female, isn't interested, so it's up to PR frontwoman Temple Barr, still smarting from the recent disappearance of her magician lover, to dig up the motive from Chester's client/victims and old friends (ha)--aided at crucial moments by Midnight Louie, a big black tomcat who fancies himself another Philip Marlowe but who writes (yes, those interpolated chapters are written in his voice) like a pulp novelist who's been force-fed a dictionary. Reassuringly predictable feminine flutters and detection (``I didn't expect to be found out,'' the killer obligingly announces on being unmasked)--but Midnight Louie adds a fatal dose of the cutes.
This book is out of print. This is book II of the Gandalara Cycle.
From the back cover:
On the trail of the assassin
For Ricadro Carillo, taking over the life of the swordsman Markasset on the
desert world of Gandalara had its compensations: a strong, young body, a beautiful
fiancee, and a mighty telapathic war-cat named Keeshah, who obeyed his every
command. It also had its problems. Markasset had many enemies, and one was out
for blood. So Ricardo and Keeshah left Raithskar to join the Sharith - the warrioir
brotherhood of sha'um cat-riders. But trouble followed, and he soon found himself
in the company of a jealous lieutenant and a lovely but trecherous illusionist,
on the track of a murderer who has stolen Gandalara's most precious jewel.
Welcome to Atlanton Earth
You are invited to enter a universe unto itself... a vast realm of forest and
river, mountain and cave, town and castle ...a place of peril where the forces
of light and forces of darkness meet in inexorable, immemorial combat using
all the deadly weapons of armed might and all the sinister spells of
eerie enchantment that wizard and witch, mortal and immortal can command. In
this fabulously exciting climactic saga of CIRCLE OF LIGHT, terror and treachery
stand on the brink of infernal triumph. Can the combined magic and might of
Greyfax Grimwald, Faragon Fairingay, Dwarf, Otter and Bear defend the Lady of
Light from the perverse potency and insidious impersonations of the Dark Queen
and her cohorts?
Tsia had dreamed all her life of becominga guide, attuned to her world through
a telepathic gate to another lifeform. And now, after years of preparation,
she had at last taken the guide virus that would mutate her body to create the
gate she so desperately craved.
But the longed-for gate brought Tsia only pain. For the lifeform her virus had
chosen for her was the one lifeform that was forbidden-the felines, who had
scouted the planet for the First Droppers and, in exchange, been promised their
freedom forever from human domination. Tsia could hear the cats, and sense them
telepathically-but by the laws of the Guide Guild and the First-Landing Pact,
she could never call to the cats, never speak with them, never approach them.
But then capture and imprisonment, torture and slavery took the place of an
empty future. Suddenly Tsia's only hope lay with her gate-and once she had touched
the cats, there would be no turning back...
From the back cover:
On Risthmus, the Landing Pact was law: felines were off limits. And for ten
years Tsia, the rogue guide, had tried to honor that Pact and ignore the irresistible
pull of her forbidden link to the cats.
For ten years she had hidden among the mercenaries. But now her latest mission
was going awry. A crash landing was followed by one deadly mishap after another.
The cougar cub Tsia had rescued from a storm refused to leave her- even when
she tried to send it away.
Tsia could save the mission- if she deliberately broke the Landing Pact to enter
the mind of the cat and command his help. But is she was found out, punishment
would be the loss of her biogate, her telepathic link with the felines. Her
past was about to catch up with her, and only if she faced it- and used it-
could she hope to forge a new future… with the cats!
From the back cover:
Rezsia was a city girl, unequipped to face the dangers of the wilderness. Although
she was woldwalker, her telepathic link with the wolves was too new to give
her the strength and experience she needed to survive the forest. Then the elders
asked her to investigate a series of strange deaths, and what started out as
a straightforward task became a desperate struggle between a hidden evil and
the fledgling bond between one wolf cub and a woman.
The odd, older wolfwalker, Coale, could teach Rezsia to join in the packsong
and run with the wolves. The scouts assigned to escort her could instruct her
in forest survival skills. But when the packsong held secrets, there was no
one she dared trust fully. If she hoped to survive she would ultimately have
to search her soul, sift through the memories of the wolves, and bet her life
on an inner strength she had never tested.
Back cover synopsis:
Linked by an unbrekable telepathic bond, Dion and her wolf, Gray Hishn, were
an unbeatable team. Together they could scout a trail better than any single
human, and their unique healing talent had saved the lives of their companions
during their desperate flight through the mountains to warn their people of
inpending war.
Now enemy agents scoured the countryside looking for the group that included
a young healer and her wolf. And suddenly the very strengths that Dion's friebds
had come to rely on could mean the downfall of them all."
This book is out of print.
Back cover synopis:
Dion was a healer and a wolfwalker, and the unique telepathic bond that she
shared with the wolf Gray Hishn sometimes seemed to amplify her sensitivity
to her patients. But she never guessed how strong that bond could be, or what
kind of power it could wield, until she found herself lost in the wilderness,
with angry slavers at her heels and war on the horizon. Suddenly she and her
fellow travelers were fighter for their lives in the snowy wastes, where the
wolves were their only guides, the greatest scret of the ancients their only
salvation…and Dion their only hope to survive!
In West of Eden and Winter in Eden, master novelist Harry Harrison broke new ground with his most ambitious project to date. He brought to vivid life the world as it might have been, where dinosaurs survived, where their intelligent descendants, the Yilane, challenged humans for mastery of the Earth, and where the human Kerrick, a young hunter of the Tanu tribe, grew among the dinosaurs and rose to become their most feared enemy. Working in collaboration with an international team of scientific experts, Harrison created a believable, richly detailed world rivaling Frank Herbert's Dune and Jean Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear in the majesty of its scope and conception.
Now, in Retum to Eden, Harrison brings the epic trilogy to a stunning conclusion. After Kerrick rescues his people from the warlike Yilane, they find a safe haven on an island and there begin to rebuild their shattered lives. But with fierce predators stalking the forests, how long can these unarmed human outcasts hope to survive? The small band of humans have no choice but to confront their fate head on. And, of course, Kerrick cannot forget Vainte, his implacable Yilane enemy. She's been cast out from her kind, under sentence of death, but how long will her banishment last? For her strange attraction to Kerrick has turned into a hatred even more powerful than her instincts-an obsession that compels her to hunt down Kerrick and kill him.
From a master of imaginative storytelling comes an epic tale of the world
as it might have been, a world where the age of dinosaurs never ended, and their
descendents clashed with the clan of humans in a tragic war for survival.
It is the tale of Kerrick, a young hunter who grows to manhood among the dinosaurs,
escaping at last to rejoin his own kind. His knowledge of their strange customs
makes him the humans' leader, the dinosaurs most feared enemy.
Vault into the cold, clear air across a frozen fabulous time of love and laughter with peter Lake, master thief, and his flying white horse. Thunder towards the 21st century, leading lunatics, lovers, rascals and dreamers over snowdrifts, through raging storms, furious battles, walls of ice and pillars of fire to the golden city of our glorious future.
This book is out of print.
Back cover synopsis:
A memory was clawing its way to the surface
He was a poor lost mutt, wandering the streets of a great city, driven by ravenous
hunger, and hunting a quarry he could no define.
But he was more.
Something in the depths of his conciousness was tormenting him, refusing to
let him rest.
Was it the memory of what he had once been?
A man…?
FLUKE
Is he a dog who thinks he's a man…or a man who thinks he's a dog…?
This book is out of print.
back cover reads:
Cuillin- last of the great sea eagles of Skye. For her there will be
many bitter years of exile, sustained only by a belief that one day her offspring
will return to her abandoned homeland.
James Macaskill Stonor- a lonely, bewildered child growing up in a storm-racked
English coastal town…but destined to be one of the greatest and best loved artists
of this century.
'The Stonor Eagles' - his beautiful and haunting sculptures, whose creation
and final unveiling are recounted in this deeply moving saga of life, suffering,
and the courage to love…of dreams that die, and dreams that can come true.
Front cover blurb: "Met Harold the dog, Chester the cat, and a vampire bunny
named Bunnicula."
Back cover:
Move over Dracula!
It looked like an ordinary bunny to Harold. But Harold was a dog by profession,
so his judgement wasn't reliable- as he was the first to admit. But Chester,
Harold's good friend and house-mate, was a very well-read cat and he knew there
was something strange about Bunnicula. For one thing, he seemed to have fangs.
And the odd markings on his back looked a little like a cape. But when Chester
started finding white vegetables, drained dry, with two fang marks in them,
he was sure Bunnicula was a vampire bunny.
So it was up to Chester- with Harold's help- to alert the members of their household
before another carror was lost. Because as Chester warned "today vegetables,
tomorrow the world!"
It is many generations now since-the Battle Owls, the Warhorses and the Border Runners answered the war trumpets of the kings of Elundium. The corruption of the Chancellors surrounding the throne has allowed Krulshards, Master of Darkness, to gather his forces in the caverns of the mountains beyond the land's edge. All Elundium is poised for destruction.
Once Nevian, enchanter-guardian of the realm, would have been war counselor to the aging king, but he has long vanished into shadow. Now, in the false daylight of Candlebane Hall, King Holbian sends the only messenger he has-a boy whose once-proud ancestry has become a laughingstock-in a bid to alert the border garrisons at distant Underfall. Untrained in the arts of war, Thane's chances of success seem slim indeed ...
This book is out of print.
From the back cover:
Science discovered it.
Tiny implants in the brain that enhanced intelligence and established mind-to-mind
links between species that had previously been isolated and mute. Dogs, monkey,
and man could communicate. Animals, and even severally retarded humans, could
be taught complex tasks. Jonathan was the first human subject.
Intertel seized it.
The giant consortium that had funded the research presented the discovery as
a boon for mankind...and secretly planned to use it to rule the world.
Jonathan and his friends used it.
With the mind enhancing power that made them think and act as one, they rebelled
and looked upward-toward the stars!
Mowgli, lost in the deep jungle as a child, is adopted into a family of wolves. Hunted by Shere Khan, the Bengal tiger, Mowgli is allowed to run with the wolf pack under the protection of Bagheera, the black pather, and of Baloo, the brown bear who teaches wold cubs the Law of the Jungle. Through many legendary adventures, Mowgli evolves from a vengeful member of the pack to a just and compassionate human being who at last returns to join- perhaps to lead- his own kind. Tales of Mowgli are intersperced with other jungle stories of equal imagination and significance.
Furry content involves sentient (but not talking) animals, and humans with animalistic traits, primarily mental.
From the back cover:
Christopher Snow is different from all the other residents of Moonlight Bay,
different from anyone you've ever met. For Christopher Snow has made his peace
with a very rare genetic disorder that leaves him dangerously vulnerable to
light. His life is filled with the fascinating rituals of one who must embrace
the dark. He knows the night as no one else can- its mystery, its beauty, its
terrors, and the eerie silken rhythms that seduce one into believing anything
- even freedom - is possible.
Until the night Christopher Snow witnesses a series of disturbing incidents
that sweep him into violent mystery only he can solve, a mystery that will force
him to rise above all fears and confront the many layered secrets of Moonlight
Bay and its strange inhabitants. A place, like all places, that looks a lot
different after dark.
This is the sequal to "Fear Nothing" but there's sufficient recap in the book that you don't have to read the first one. Furry content involves sentient (but not talking) animals, and humans with animalistic traits, primarily mental.
From the back cover:
At no time does Moonlight Bay look more beautiful than at night. Yet it is precisely
then the secluded little town reveals its menace. Now children are disappearing.
From their homes. From the streets. And there's nothing their families can do
about it. Because in Moonlight Bay, the police work their hardest to conceal
crimes and silence victims. No matter what happens at night, their job is to
ensure that nithing disturbs the peace and quiet on Moonlight Bay…
Christopher Snow isn't afraid of the dark. Forced to live in the shadows because
of a rare genetic disorder, he knows the night world better than anyone. He
believes the lost children are still alive and that their disappearance is connected
to the town's most carefully kept, most ominous secret- a secret only he can
uncover, a secret that will force him to confront an adversary at one with the
most dangerous darkness of all. The darkness inside the human heart.
From a top-secret government laboratory come two genetically altered life forms. One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence. The other, a hybrid monster of a brutally violent nature. And both are on the loose. Bestselling author Dean R. Koontz presents his most terrifying, dramatic and moving novel: The explosive story of a man and a woman, caught in a relentless storm of mankind's darkest creation.
In the spring of 1983, award-winning field biologist R. D. Lawrence traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to live among and observe a captive pack of untamed wolves. The result is an extraordinary, thought-provoking look inside the society of a much-maligned, much-persecuted animal.Here is a startling series of insights into the cautious, curious, shy, and mischievous creature. Here are its rituals of aggression and submission, its capacities for cruelty and affection. Here is the wolf in all its magnificence, mystery, and beauty.
The Call of the Wild is the story of Buck, a dog stolen from his home and thrust
into the merciless life of the Arctic north to endure hardship, bitter cold,
and the savage lawlessness of man and beast.
White Fang is the adventure of an animal- part dog, part wolf- turned vicious by cruel abuse, then transformed by the patience and affection of one man.
The cat leads a double life. No animal has developed such an intimate relationship
with mankind, while at the same time demanding and getting such independence
of movement and action. Cat-owners who have accidnetally come across their pet
out-of-doorsm when it is deeply involved in some feline soap opera of sex and
violence, will recognize this. The overgrown kitten which purrs in the lap of
its human pseudo-parents one instant , will switch to a fully adult, self-sufficient
wild creature wrapped up in an intense drama of courtship and status the next.
Desmond Morris developed the habit of catwatching at an early age, and it has
stayed with him for nearly half a century. As a zoologist, he has had in his
care most members of the cat family p from mighty Jaguar to beloved domestic
moggie. In this intriguing and engaging book he replies to many of the questions
with which people have confronted him over the years - and to some they never
thought to ask. For although most cat owners know their pets moods well and
care for them fastidiously, they may have only a vague understanding of the
complexities of their social life, sexual behavior, aggression or hunting skill.
Early Egyptian records show that the cat was already fully domesticated 3,500
years ago, and every single cat today carries with it an ancient inheritence
of amazing sensory capacities, vocal utterance, body language and territorial
displays which its human companions often find puzzling. This elegant, graceful
creature is full of surprises- as Desmond Morris here wonderfully demonstrates.
A RING-TAILED WONDER!
The adventures of a ring-tailed wonder named Rascal and his 11-year-old friend
is one of the most dearly loved stories of our time. The baby Rascal is brought
from the woods, and the bay and his animal friend share many hilari-ous adventures.
Over the country-side they swim, fish, and sleep together. There are many other
pets, but Rascal is a growing boy's best friend.
If Bob, beloved champion sheep dog wins the famous Shepherd's Trophy again- it will be his forever.
But Adam M'Adam, a bitter, lonely man, is determined that his dog- Red Wull- shall win the coveted prize.
How the trophy is won- and lost- and how the dogs and their masters are affected by the struggle, makes this an exceptional fine dog story.
In this classic work that Orwell himself titled "a fairy story" the animals of Manor Farm decide to overthrow their cruel human overlords and live collectively together in a fair and equitable manner, with each beast as an equal. Some animals, notably the pigs, quickly rise to the top however and become the leaders. They soon enough become like their former human masters. Animal Farm is generally considered to be a brilliant satire about the rise of Communism in the Soviet Union, and how it lost its way.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
A literary sensation when originally pub-lished fifty years ago, The Yearling
has gone on to become a classic work of Amer-ican literature. Marjorie Kinnan
Rawlings' timeless story of backwoods Florida and the tender relationship of
a young boy and his tame fawn has continued to delight and enthrall readers
of all ages.
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS (1896-1953) lived for twenty-five years in Cross Creek,
Florida, the area that is the setting for The Yearling, which was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize in 1939. She is the author of several earlier novels as well
as a memoir, Cross Creek, which inspired the acclaimed motion picture of the
same name.
Front cover reads: "When the bloodlust rises, the most savage beast is man…
Back cover synopis:
They came form the wilderness to the heart of the city…a man, a wolf, and
a woman- hungry for revenge
It began in the windswept Canadian tundra. A hunting party led by a man of unique
cruelty, a pack of wolves slaughter, a man and a wolf- survivors…
It turned into an odyssey of vengeance, in the seething jungle of the city.
Somewhere in the night, with the woman who shares their obsession, Dane and
the wolf are stalking the man who hunted them…the man who thirsts to fight them
to the limites of human savergery…
A string of mutilation murders has shocked New York City. Now nothing will stop
the killing. The black wolf has tasted blood…and the final hunt begins…
This book is out of print.
From the back cover:
THE HEAVENLY HORSE is the Dancer, a shining Appaloosa stallion, first of all
horses in the Army of One Hundred and Five and guardian of the Courts of the
Outermost West
ANOR THE EXECUTIONER, monstrous and fanged, is the servant of the Dark Horse.
He comes from the Gates of Death- and if he can, he will destroy the Dancer.
Between them stands DUCHESS, last true mare of the Appaloosa line. With the
Dancer, she runs away from the barns of men- but is stalked by Anor and his
Harrier Hounds/ If they can kill her and her foal, the Appaloosa breed will
be ended.
THE HEAVENLY HORSE is partly an adventure, partly a fable, and partly even a
love story. It is also a mesmerising evocation of the eternal battle between
good and evil.
This book is out of print.
Back cover reads: They can stare into our souls. They know the color of our fears, the hidden weakness of our bodies. In the darkness...they can see we are blind. They can tear the scream form your throat.
WANTED-KILLER WHALE (Orcinus orca)- will pay $100,000 for a killer whale
in good condition.
Jamie Tidd and his father have actually done it. They're trapped a killer whale
in a cove, and Jamie's already imagining how he'll spend his share of the money
the marine park if offering to pay.
But the press and environmental groups are all for saving the whale, and want
the Tidds to release it. Even Jamie's secret love, Angie, demands that Jamie
free "the hostage." If he doesn't, she will!
All Jamie wants to do is the right thing. But what's that?
This book is out of print. Illustrated with woodcuts by Robert Gibbings.
From the back cover:
These stories of animals and saints, taken from the Desert Fathers and the Celtic
saints, were first translated and made available by Helen Wadell more than half
a century ago. Esther de Waal now introduces these personages to a ne w audience
that will be equally beguiled by the world they evoke.
Readers meet a strange range of creatures, from lions and hyenas, otters and
hares, to a mouse, a fly, and a frog. All creatures, whether they be big or
small, beautiful or not, are given their own voices, and, inreading about their
relationships with saints such as Columba, Jerome, Cuthbert, and Simeon Stylites,
readers are taken back to the early days of the Christian heritage and the holistic
spirituality that belongs to the world - a world in which miracles are commonplace
and the Christian legend comes to life.
From "The Aboot Helenus and the Crocodile", "St. Columba and the Crane" and
"St. Godric and the Hunted Stag" to "St. Brendan and the White Birds", "St Kevin
and the Wild Boar", and "St. Colman and the Cock, the Mouse, and the Fly", these
stories will not only fire readers' imaginations, but also inspire them to recover
something of the wholeness of the Christian tradition that has been lost. Striking
woodcuts by Robert Gibbings add an iconic flavor to the entire work
A WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND-AND MOST LETHAL WEAPON
New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods delivers a riveting thriller that introduces an exciting addition to the pantheon of fictional sleuths. Forced into early retirement at thirty-seven, smart, attractive, and fiercely independent Major Holly Barker trades in her bars as a military cop for the badge of deputy chief of police in Orchid Beach, Florida. But below the sunny surface of this sleepy, well-to-do island town lies an evil that escalates into the cold-blooded murder of one of Holly's new colleagues. An outsider, Holly has little to go on for answers and no one to help her-except Daisy, a Doberman of exceptional intelligence and loyalty that becomes her companion and protector. The closer she gets to the truth, the more Holly knows that it'll take one smart dog with guts to sniff out this killer-before he can catch her first.