Book Preview Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks – Contents A Gift from the Culture 1: Excuses And Accusations 2: Stranger Here Myself 3: Helpless In The Face Of Your Beauty 5: You Would If You Really Loved Me 7: Perfidy, Or, A Few Words … Read more
Book Preview This is the story of a man who went far away for a long time, just to play a game. The man is a game-player called ‘Gurgeh’. The story starts with a battle that is not a battle, and ends with a game that is not a game. Me? I’ll tell you about … Read more
Book Preview The ship didn’t even have a name. It had no human crew because the factory craft which constructed it had been evacuated long ago. It had no life-support or accommodation units for the same reason. It had no class number or fleet designation because it was a mongrel made from bits and pieces … Read more
Book Preview 1 Independent Deterrent 13 Sleep When I’m Dead Chapter 1 : INDEPENDENT DETERRENT file:///F|/rah/Iain%20Banks/Banks,_Iain_-_Complicity_(v2).html (1 of 213) [1/19/03 9:57:00 PM] You hear the car after an hour and a half. During that time you’ve been here in the darkness, sitting on the small telephone seat near the front door, waiting. You only moved … Read more
Book Preview Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Hisako Onoda, world famous cellist, refuses to fly. And so she travels through the Panama Canal as a passenger on a tanker bound for Europe. But Panama is a country whose politics are as volatile as the local freedom fighters. When Hisako’s ship is captured, it … Read more
Book Preview Iain M. Banks: Against a Dark Background v1.0 (17-mar-01) Scanning, layout and quick proofing by 4i Publications. She put her chin on the wood below the window. The wood was cold and shiny and smelled. She kneeled on the seat; it smelled too, but different. The seat was wide and red like the … Read more
Book Preview Iain Banks – A Song Of Stone Chapter One Winter always was my favourite season. Is this yet winter? I do not know. There is some technical definition, something based on calendars and the position of the sun, but I think one simply becomes aware that the tide of the seasons has irrevocably … Read more
Book Preview Annotation J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel “High Rise” contains all of the qualities we have come to expect from this author: alarming psychological insights, a study of the profoundly disturbing connections between technology and the human condition, and an intriguing plot masterfully executed. Ballard, who wrote the tremendously troubling “Crash,” really knows how to … Read more
Book Preview THE CLOUD OF COAL DUST driven deeply into his lungs nearly caused Howard Reed to pull his mail truck off the road and throw up onto the stunted, burnt grass. But he coughed and spat and tightened his gut. Reed worked the accelerator and raced past the haul roads where dump trucks lumbered … Read more
Book Preview Baldacci is writing what? That waspish question buzzed around publishing circles when Warner announced that the bestsel ing author of The Simple Truth, Absolute Power and other turbo-thril ers—an author general y esteemed more for his plots than for his characters or prose—was trying his hand at mainstream fiction, with a mid-century period … Read more
Book Preview HAL PARKER WAS RESOLUTELY closing in on his prey, and he felt his blood pressure amp up with every firm step he placed into the dirt. He could tell he was nearing his target by the frequency and volume of blood that had fallen onto the darkened ground, like dulled rubies scattered in … Read more
Book Preview Mason ‘Mace’ Perry was a maverick cop on the D. C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything – her career, her liberty – and spent two years in prison. Now back on the outside, Mace is trying to rebuild her life and track down the … Read more
Book Preview The apartment was smal , unattractive and possessed of an unsettling musty odor that suggested long neglect. However, the few furnishings and personal belongings were clean and wel organized; several of the chairs and a smal side table were clearly antiques of high quality. The largest occupant of the tiny living room was … Read more
Book Preview She is 20, beautiful, dirt-poor, and hoping for a better life for her infant daughter when LuAnn Tyler is offered the gift of a lifetime: a $100 mil ion lottery jackpot. Al she has to do is change her identity and leave the U. S. forever. It’s an offer she dares to refuse… … Read more
Book Preview Usual y a sophisticated plotter, bestsel er Baldacci (Absolute Power) offers a story line and vil ain on a par with an average James Bond film in what’s bil ed as his first international thril er. Nicholas Creel, the head of the Ares Corporation, a huge defense contractor, hires a perception management firm … Read more
Book Preview At this prison the doors are inches thick, steel; once factory smooth, they now carry multiple dents. Imprints of human faces, knees, elbows, teeth, residue of blood are harvested large on their gray surface. Prison hieroglyphics: pain, fear, death, al permanently recorded here, at least until a new slab of metal arrives. The … Read more
Book Preview To the memories of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, two brilliant lights taken from us far too soon. Â Â Â Â And to Vicki Gardner, whose courage and grace are inspiring testaments to the resiliency of the human spirit. To the memories of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, two brilliant lights taken from us far too … Read more
Book Preview IT SEEMED BOTH fitting and even absurdly poetic that, hitched together like links in a chain, the three of us would die together. But having jumped off a mile-high cliff while being pursued by murderous beasts didn’t leave us much choice in the matter. We had literally leapt for our lives. And now … Read more