— I wonder, said Hermes, what it would be like if animals had human intelligence.— I'll wager a year's servitude, answered Apollo, that animals – any animal you like – would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they were given human intelligence.And so it begins: a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto vet­erinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into their newly unfamiliar world, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks.André Alexis's contemporary take...

“Features some of the liveliest characters that one is apt to meet in a contemporary novel. Vividly described.”—Publishers Weekly“Extremely vivid. . . . Any number of novels have been written about unhappy childhoods and bizarre families, but this one surpasses many.”—Kirkus ReviewsJoe Meno limns a near-fantastical world of trailer park floozies, broken-down ’76 Impalas, lost glass eyes, and the daily experiences of two boys trying to make sense of their random, sharp lives.Joe Meno is the author of the novels Hairstyles of the Damned, The Boy Detective Fails,and How the Hula Girl Sings. He was the winner of the 2003 Nelson Algren Award for short fiction and is a professor of creative writing at Columbia College Chicago.From Publishers WeeklyA trailer park in the Plains town of Tenderloin is the setting of this crusty coming-of-age debut, which features some of the liveliest characters just this side of believable that one is apt to meet in a contemporary novel. The first-person narrator is a moral but susceptible 11-year-old called Dough, who lusts after his fifth-grade teacher and idolizes his trouble-making older brother, Pill-Bug. The boys, who are new to the town and shamed by the stigma of living in a trailer, were named by a father who wanted them to remain tough and who ended up dying while smuggling cigarettes along a Texas highway. Their mother and her new boyfriend, French, are low-life swingers, allowing the siblings to spend nights with Val, who entertains a slew of men but whom Dough worships as a virginal Madonna. Dough's own adoring friend is Lottie, a slightly deranged girl who offers Dough a gift of one of her taxidermist father's specimens; meanwhile, Pill-Bug earns a special affection from Lunna, a high school's floozy. Each character is vividly described (sometimes exhaustingly so) in one vignette or several, as are Chief, the Native American gas station owner who sells Dough cigarettes and tells a story of male initiation; Shilo, the fight-scarred dog with three legs and one eye; and El Rey del Perdito, the "King of the Tango," who dances all night to avoid mourning his dead wife. Often charming if sometimes overwritten, the novel is full of labyrinthine explanations and bizarre details delivered in poetic language. Meno's passionate new voice makes him a writer to watch. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsA rambling and oddly good-natured debut describing a childhood spent on the wrong side of the tracks. Any number of novels have been written about unhappy childhoods and bizarre families, but this one surpasses manyat least on the weirdo scale. Narrated by Dough Lunt, its a recollection of his first years in the aptly named western town of Tenderloin, where he and his brother Pill were moved when their mothers boyfriend found work at the local meat-packing factory. The Lunt boys, having grown up in Duluth, are not quite prepared for life among the rednecks, and the trailer park where their mother deposits them doesnt exactly introduce them to the cream of Tenderloin society. French, their mothers pothead boyfriend, moves in with them, and soon he and Mrs. Lunt are hosting swingers parties every Friday, while Dough and Pill find themselves in school with the kind of backwoods girls who can perform sex acts long before they know what menstruation is. Still fairly innocent at the age of 11, Dough is nevertheless well accustomed to the sight of grownups copulating on sofas and pulling knives on their girlfriendsand, eventually, he takes up religion in a half-hearted attempt to put order and a modicum of decency into his life. Meno arranges his tale episodically, concentrating on specific characters or incidents in each chapter (the tango dancer who moves into the trailer next door, or the birthday party spoiled by bickering relatives). Although extremely vivid, it suffers badly from this arrangement, which provides no central narrative to make its parts cohere. The final effect is somewhat pointless. Less than the sum of its parts, Menos story would have made a few good sketches. As a novel, though, it has the stilted, heavy feel of a wingless bird trying to fly. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Moll, a young nun, lies in the infirmary of St Mary’s Priory, Belstone, having been bled to cure a migraine. Left to rest, she is just falling into a doze, smiling as she dreams of her beloved Virgin Mary, when she suddenly awakes, realising in terror that she can’t breathe. But she is too weak to fight for her life… It’s 1321 and Lady Elizabeth of Topsham, prioress of St Mary’s, is struggling to retain her position in the face of devastating opposition. Not only is St Mary’s in the worst possible state of disrepair due to lack of funds, but Sister Margherita, her treasurer, has accused her of lascivious disregard, claiming that, instead of paying for a new roof, Elizabeth has given money to the new vicar, a man she often sees alone – at night. Many of the nuns are convinced that Margherita would make a better prioress – especially now it has been confirmed that Moll was murdered on her sickbed. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, together with his old friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, are summoned immediately by the Bishop of Exeter’s representative to investigate. There is no doubt that the threefold vows of obedience, chastity and poverty are being broken with alarming frequency. When a second nun is murdered, they face their most difficult case yet. The path to the truth twists and turns with the sinister forces of primitive passions and secret ambitions, finally leading them to a dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing.

What makes a man a gentleman? Naomi Sullivan is sure it's a handsome face, an exciting career, and impeccable manners. Rancher Ethan Garrett has different ideas, but wonders if Naomi will change her mind before she's swept off her feet.Naomi has a difficult choice to make. Should she give her heart to the dashing Cavalry officer or the ordinary cowboy who lives next door?

The hugely popular Sleepover Club series is back with a gorgeous new look. Meet Frankie, Kenny, Fliss, Rosie and Lyndz – five best friends who just want to have fun! Baby Morgan needs a babysitter urgently and the Sleepover Club girls agree to take charge. After all, what can be so difficult about looking after a baby? But things are never quite that simple for Frankie and friends.. As well as a great story this book has tips on how to have your own brilliant sleepover party for you and your friends. Pack up those nappies and toddle on over!

'A novel of heartbreak told with intellectual rigor. It gripped me from first page to last. Fantastic!'Alice SeboldWhen Ester Nilsson meets the actor Olof Sten, she falls madly in love.Olof makes no secret of being married, but he and Ester nevertheless start to meet regularly and begin to conduct a strange dance of courtship. Olof insists he doesn't plan to leave his wife, but he doesn't object to this new situation either . . . it's far too much fun.Ester, on the other hand, is convinced that things might change. But as their relationship continues over repeated summers of distance, and winters of heated meetings in bars, she is forced to realize the truth: Ester Nilsson has become a mistress.To read Acts of Infidelity is to dive inside the mind of a brilliant, infuriating friend - Ester's and Olof's entanglements and arguments are the stuff of relationship nightmares. Cutting, often cruel, and written with...

A brutal hit-and-run killing opens the path to another 25-year-old crime  A young couple are mown down in a hit-and-run incident. The girl is badly injured, the boy dies on the way to hospital. According to the sole witness the boy was in the middle of the road giving the approaching car the finger. Operation Melody is launched with DI Faraday at the helm. It reveals a mother driven to desperation by the attacks on her son—and a link to a terrible crime from the early 1980s that the victim does not want investigated. The investigation will rip apart a happy family, but the high-ups are desperate for their cold cases to be cleared up, whatever the cost. And round it all circles ex-DC Paul Winter, who has his own reasons for keeping the lid on an old crime.