From Publishers WeeklyThe best thing about Collins's latest fictional foray (after Lady Boss ) is that despite its length, it doesn't take long to read: there's precious little in it. Two-dimensional characters, hilariously improbable situations, wooden dialogue and an impossible number of amazing coincidences all ensure that it will win stardom of its own. The story follows three young people from a small Midwestern town who overcome obstacles too numerous to mention on their way to superstardom in three different professions. Nick Angelo, abused son of a shiftless, alcoholic father, becomes Hollywood's most famous male actor. His black half-sister Cyndra finds fame as an international rock star after suffering through rape, incest, an abortion, a disastrous marriage and a murder charge. Poor little rich girl Lauren Roberts, who horrifies her socially ambitious parents by falling in love with the town pariah (Nick, of course), eventually becomes the world's most sought-after model--and she cooks, too. Collins has an effective way of dealing with characters who present obstacles to the minimal plot development; she simply kills them off in a highly dramatic fashion. Any mental effort by the reader is unnecessary and to be discouraged, as it would only prompt irritation with this lamentable effort, which will undoubtedly climb the bestseller lists nonetheless. Major ad/promo; 750,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; author tour. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsCollins (Lady Boss, etc.) returns to Hollywood (and New York and Kansas) in this perfunctory 20-year romantic saga between a small-town princess and a poor, rakish Italian-American stud- -nothing new from this author, but then who among her readers cares? Nick Angelo (think black hair, blue eyes, tight pants, dimpled chin) may have grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, but he's always been lucky when it comes to females--as demure Lauren Roberts discovers when Nick moves to Bosewell, Kansas, in the wake of his mother's death. Entering high school with plans to keep his head down and land the first girl willing to keep him warm, Nick is instead inexplicably smitten by prim, comely Lauren--who's unhappily engaged to the richest boy in town. A hot romance soon flares up, causing Lauren's outraged parents to lock her in her room and her would-be in-laws to see that Nick is expelled from school. Vowing to get rich quick and come back for Lauren, Nick takes off for Chicago, but a Kansas tornado, an unwanted pregnancy, and hard times in Chicago separate the couple until each is convinced that the other has given up on the affair. A decade later the two meet again in New York just as Nick Angelo (now Nick Angel, a film actor) is on the brink of success and Lauren, a New York businesswoman, is about to become an extremely well-paid model. This time Lauren's engagement to a wealthy older man and Nick's entanglement in a blackmail scheme stand in the star-crossed lovers' way, and it is many more years, romantic traumas, multimillion-dollar business deals, Beverly Hills parties, and Manhattan penthouse dinners before busy, thirtysomething Nick and Lauren find the time to fall into each other's arms once and for all. Standard fare told in plodding, unimaginative fashion--with the requisite sex scenes, career fantasies, and designer outfits all in place. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for June) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

With the scintillating sensuality and high-voltage thrills that distinguish all of her blockbusters of romantic suspense, Linda Howard grips the imagination and touches the heart as only she can, in her sixth dazzling New York Times bestseller. A talented painter in her early thirties, Paris Sweeney has achieved enviable success: her work sells at an exclusive New York City gallery, and her popularity is at an all-time high. Life is good, and Sweeney, as she prefers to be called, is content. But lately, Sweeney's dreams -- lush, vivid, and drenched in vibrant hues -- seem to echo a growing restlessness that has taken hold of her. Suddenly, impulsively, Sweeney falls into a night of intense passion with millionaire Richard Worth. Now, the true dangers of her all-consuming urges are about to be revealed where Sweeney least expects it: in her paintings. After a creative frenzy she can barely recall, Sweeney discovers she has rendered a disturbing image -- a graphic murder scene. Against her better instincts, she returns to the canvas time and again, filling out each chilling detail piece by piece. But when a shattering, real-life murder mirrors her creation, Sweeney falls under suspicion. With every stroke of her brush, she risks incriminating herself with her inexplicable knowledge of a deadly crime. And every desire -- including her hunger for Richard -- is loaded with uncertainty as Sweeney races to unmask a killer.

The next generation is here, and trouble is in their DNA. Jessie and Eric Ramsey have a family history of crime. Fighting back against heredity, each tried to make their way in the galaxy by respectable means. Jessie joined Earth Navy; Eric went to college for magic. But fate wasn't having it. Eric was expelled. Jessie went AWOL. Now, due to a magical mishap that wasn't entirely anyone's fault (we swear!), they're stranded 5 years in the future on a Mars that's no longer friendly territory. Caught behind enemy lines in a galactic civil war they didn't know about, the pair need every trick in their respective books to survive on Mars long enough to escape. Along the way, they'll meet old friends and make new foes, and if they're very lucky, manage to figure out where they belong in this new galactic order.And Mars is only the beginning. Time travel is a one-way trip, and the only way to stop is death. And Ramseys don't die easy....

Sandy Huntington-Ackerman's life becomes increasingly complicated when his bungling, moneygrubbing uncles try to shanghai the family fortune by poisoning a birthday cake. Luckily, those conniving uncles prove yet again that they can't do anything right. Instead of bumping off the whole family, they put Sandy's mom and dad and their pet chicken into mysterious comas. Sandy joins forces with his loyal butler and a wise and wacky nurse to save his parents and squelch his uncles' felonious high jinks.

As the Majipoor Cycle continues, Prestimion, the new Coronal Lord of Majipoor, has finally earned the Starburst Crown, after a bloody civil war no one remembers. In his hour of triumph, Pestimion will face a threat to his kingdom far more insidious than war--a twisted madness that cannot be controlled.

Mature Content. Glen Chase is a pseudonym used by Gardner F Fox, Rochelle Larkin, and Leonard Levinson. Originally printed in 1972. My name is Cherry Delight. I am just what the name implies, a delightful redhead. I work for N.Y.M.P.H.O. (The New York Mafia Prosecution and Harassment Organization) N.Y.M.P.H.O. is the secret organization dedicated to the wiping out of crime in general and the Mafia in particular. Its most effective executioner is a gorgeous red-headed sexpot named CHERRY DELIGHT! Cherry is a crack-shot. A black belt in judo. A Sherlock Holmes in detection. But her most effective weapon is SEX. If she can't blow out their brains, she can blow their minds.

For more than a century, Strahd von Zarovich has ruled Barovia with an iron hand, feeding on the blood of his vassals and fearing no one. In all the years of his tortured rule, none have dared defy him.

The company chairman lay dead in the woods, his orange hunting jacket punctured by a bullet at close range. Around him stood the four executives with whom he had been hunting, each with a reason not to be sorry about the man's death. A classic murder mystery, it would seem: the kind where the detective gathers everyone together at the end and solves the case. But Lucas Davenport knows it's not going to be that easy. There are currents running through this group, hints and whispers of something much greater than the murder of a single man. Some time soon, unless he could stop it, there would be other deaths - and Davenport can't help but wonder if maybe the final death might be his own ...

The phenomenal Russian bestseller. A vampire novel set in a richly realized post-Soviet Moscow, The Night Watch has sold across Europe and to 20th Century Fox for huge advances. In The Night Watch, the first of a quartet, and reminiscent of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials in its ambitions and achievement, the setting is contemporary Moscow. A small number of Muscovites with supernatural powers – those who are Other, owing allegiance either to the Dark or the Light – co-exist in an uneasy truce, each side keeping a close eye on the other’s activities around the city. Anton, an Other on the side of the Light, is a night-watchman, patrolling the streets and Metro of the city as he protects ordinary people from the vampires of the Dark. On his rounds, Anton comes across a young woman, Svetlana, whom he realizes is under a curse that threatens the entire city, and a boy, Igor, a young Other, as yet unaware of his own enormous power. Partnered by Olga, an Other who is in the form of an owl, he struggles to remove the curse and thereby save the city, while at the same time prevent Igor from falling into the clutches of the Dark. The Night Watch explores the nature of good and evil and the tensions between the individual and the collective in a gripping narrative that owes as much to The Master and Margarita as it is does to the richly realized worlds of Philip Pullman and Tolkien. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Ben is devastated by the sudden death of his wife, and her son, Jacob, is a joy to him despite his autism. But while cleaning out his wife's cupboards, Ben finds proof that Jacob was never her child. Horrified, he sets out to find Jacob's real family - and is drawn into an deadly obsession.

Love, like fire, is a chain reaction.Boys with Matches is a collection of short stories from Flint and Tinder. It includes the following:"Heat"Jim visits Emmett at the psychiatric hospital. This story is a prequel and takes place before Ember Boys."Sparks"A series of vignettes leading up to Valentine's Day. This story takes place between Ember Boys and Queer Fires."Fuel"Jim and Emmett go to the beach."Oxygen"Jim and Emmett explore new territory in their relationship. This story takes place between Queer Fires and The Whole World Tinder."Boys with Matches"Jim and Emmett go on a road trip to check out prospective colleges. This story is set after The Whole World Tinder. Please note that the first four stories were distributed previously in various formats."Boys with Matches" is exclusively available in this collection.