The problems responsibilities & ultimately the meaning of our lives have long been concerns of philosophers poets artists
- indeed
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Building work in an expanding Reykjavik uncovers a shallow grave. Years before this part of the city was all open hills & Erlendur & his team hope this is a typical Icelandic missing person scenario; perhaps someone once lost in the snow who has lain peacefully buried for decades. Things are never that simple. Whilst Erlendur struggles to hold together the crumbling fragments of his own family his case unearths many other tales of family pain. The hills have more than one tragic story to tell: tales of failed relationships & heartbreak; of anger domestic violence & fear; & of family loyalty & family shame. Few people are still alive who can tell the story but even secrets taken to the grave cannot remain hidden forever. ...

A powerful sequel to Love Without Conditions. John Bradshaw says: with deep insight & sparkling clarity this book demonstrates that the roots of all abuse are to be found in our own self-betrayal. Paul Ferrini leads us skilfully & courageously beyond shame blame & attachment to our wounds into the depths of self-forgiveness...a must read for all people who are ready to take responsibility for their own healing"." ...

An FBI trainee. A psychopath locked up for unspeakable crimes. & a serial killer getting ever closer to his latest victim...FBI rookie Clarice Starling turns to Dr. Hannibal Lecter monster cannibal held in a hospital for the criminally insane for insight into the deadly madman she must find. As Dr. Lecter invites her into the darkest chambers of his mind he forces her to confront her own childhood demons as the price of understanding an unspeakable tuition he exacts to teach her how the monster thinks. & time is running out... ...

Susans mother Lucy Fowler nee Smetana was a Viennese Jew who fled to Nottingham England in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution. She lost most of her immediate family but spoke little of her experiences for decades. In 1995 Susan learned for the first time of other members of the extended family who had survived & were now scattered around the world. Thus began an 18-year search for her mothers family & for the story of what had happened to them during that dreadful era. She also travelled back two hundred years into her familys past uncovering in the process an oral family history claiming descent from the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. Just as she was completing her research Susan was the astonished recipient of some 3 000 pages of Nazi documents sent by the Austrian State Archives from which she learnt the fate of several family members. Still her search was not over. Days before publication & after attending a conference in Paris she finally learned the horrific details of the arrest of her grandmother & aunt in France & their deportation to Auschwitz. Richly illustrated with archive photographs & rare historical documents this biography & family history spanning eight generations is an extraordinary story of one familys struggle to deal with the impact & the legacy of the Holocaust. It is also a Holocaust memoir which offers a unique insight into the inner workings of the Nazi regime in Austria. ...

Professional cleaner Jonathan Quinn has a new client & a strange job: find & remove the remains of a body hidden twenty years ago inside the walls of a London building before the building is demolished. But Quinn & his team are being watched. Suddenly caught in the crossfire between two dangerous rivals Quinn must unravel the identity of the body & why it still poses so great a threat even in death. Because a plot stretching from the former Soviet Union to Hong Kong from Paris to London from Los Angeles to Maine is rapidly falling apart. & Quinn hasnt just been hired to tie up loose ends
- he is one.
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The fatwa against Salman Rushdie & the 2005 Danish cartoon fracas awakened many people to the potency of blasphemy accusations in the Muslim world. Accusations & charges such as blasphemy " "apostasy " "insulting Islam " or "hurting Muslims religious feelings" pose a far greater danger than censorship of irreverent caricatures of Mohammad: they are increasingly used as key tools by authoritarian governments & extremist forces in the Muslim world to acquire & consolidate power. These charges which draw on disputed interpretations of Islamic law & carry a traditional punishment of death have proved effective in crushing or intimidating not only converts & heterodox groups but also political & religious reformers. In fact one reason for the recent growth of more repressive forms of Islam is their use of accusations of blasphemy apostasy & related charges to intimidate & silence their religious opponents & make any criticism of their own actions & ideas religiously suspect. The effect of such laws thus goes far beyond what might narrowly be called religious matters. This volume provides the first world survey of the range & effects of apostasy & blasphemy accusations in the contemporary Muslim world in international organizations & in the West. The authors argue that we need to understand the context history impact & mechanics of the blasphemy phenomenon in modern Muslim societies & guidance on how to effectively respond. The book covers the persecution of Muslims who convert to another religion or decide that they have become agnostic or atheists as well as heretics: those who are accused of claiming a prophet after Mohammed such as Bahais & Ahmadis. It also documents the political effects in Muslim societies of blasphemy & apostasy laws as well as non-governmental fatwas & vigilante violence. It describes the cases of hundreds of victims including political dissidents religious reformers journalists writers artists movie makers & religious minorities throughout the Muslim world. Finally it addresses the legal evolution toward new blasphemy laws in the West; the increasing use of laws on "toleration" in the West which may become surrogate blasphemy laws; increasing pressure by Muslim governments to make Western countries & international organizations enforce laws to restrict speech; & the increasing use of violence to stifle expression in the West even in the absence of law. Its foreword is by Indonesias late President Abdurrahman Wahid." ...

Thomas Merton's life especially once he had become a writer was to a great extent one of dialogue with people who were distant both geographically & historically. In these probing & perceptive studies Rowan Williams looks closely at the key intellectual & spiritual relationships that emerge in Merton's writings exploring the impact on him of thinkers as diverse as Hannah Arendt Karl Barth William Blake Dietrich Bonhoeffer Olivier Clement Fyodor Dostoevsky Paul Evdokimov Gerard Manley Hopkins Vladimir Lossky John Henry Newman Boris Pasternak & St John of the Cross. ...

The powerful second psychological thriller featuring Javier Falcon the complex detective from ' The Blind Man of Seville'. At seven years old Mario Vega faces a terrible tragedy
- his parents are dead in an apparent suicide pact. But Inspector Javier Falcon has his doubts. In the brutal heat of a Seville summer he dissects the disturbing life of the boy's father Rafael Vega. His investigation draws threats from the Russian mafia whose corruption reaches deep into the city. He questions a creative American couple with a destructive past & uncovers the misery of a famous actor whose only son is in prison for an appalling crime. More suicides follow & one of them is a senior policeman. As a forest fire rages through the hills above the city Falcon must sweat out the truth that connects it all
- & find the final secret in the dark heart of Vega's life.

...

Here at last is the book his legions of fans have been waiting for. Kevin Smith the legendary independent film-maker columnist & cultural commentator launches himself on an unsuspecting world with a series of hilarious rants on the absurdity of just about everything. Unlike his unforthcoming screen alter-ego Silent Bob Smith is ready to let rip at maximum volume whether it be on the madness of Hollywood The Unholy Tale of Greasy Reese Witherspoon his bloodcurdling hatred of Britney Spears or the highly-sexed comics industry. Along the way we get a shocking insight into the making of Smiths movies & learn far more than is necessary about his bathroom habits. ...