Resting actress Vena Burford is far from idle: shes found work as an interior decorator refurbishing a stately home recently occupied by Hollywood bad boy Toby Frensham now taking a lead role with the RSC in nearby Stratford-upon-Avon. Not everyone loves Toby as much as she does however
- & maybe someone hates him. Vena also works part-time for her estate agent brother showing potential buyers around upmarket Warwickshire country houses. Shes done this so often she smells a rat when couples who dont fit the usual client profile begin to visit the properties. Vena is initially curious then indignant & finally alarmed. Why should these curiously unnerving characters who patently have no intention of buying demand to explore every nook & cranny of the houses? It would have been better not to ask questions. When someone starts to tail Venas car leaving some silent but deeply threatening messages its clear that a very modern crime is being played out against the idyllic background of Shakespeares picturesque county.
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In a poor district on the outskirts of Cape Town Grace lives with her adoptive mother Martha. Of mixed race Grace dreams about what her unknown natural mother might be like fantasizes about finding her & is plagued by an intense sense of dislocation. Rebelling against her adoptive mother's smothering influence Grace turns to close friend Shardonnay & her sister Crystal. In contrast Crystal is a teenage mum & has had to drop out of school bitter that her future has been decided by one mistake. Tired of being the responsible example Grace hits the nightclubs with the younger mixed-up pop-idols crazy Shardonnay. All the while though she keeps a protective eye on Crystal. Is the baby Ricardo the reason Crystal suffers black moods & anger? Or is there a deeper problem? In the wake of searing tragedy Grace finally comes to understand the qualities that make a caring & decent mother. Stained is a real page-turner. Gritty honest & hard-hitting it is packed with drama & emotion from one page to the next. Prior to being developed for the Cutting Edge series it was short-listed for the Sanlam Award for Youth Literature in South Africa. Cutting Edge is a highly contemporary fiction series for young adults. The series features fast-paced quick reads. Each book focuses on difficult topics & situations that many teenagers will have experienced first-hand or through friends. Cutting Edge is ideal for readers aged 14+ with a reading age of 12+. ...

The best stained glass windows are masterpieces of colour & narrative. They tell Biblical & didactic tales display images of saints & armorial crests memorialise the dead & enhance the devotional ambience of Englands churches & cathedrals. Roger Rosewell here traces the history of stained glass from the rare extant Anglo-Saxon works through to some major examples from the last fifty years exploring the various styles & contexts & affording the reader fascinating insights into how medieval people saw stained glass. Illustrated with a hundred breathtaking photographs & a helpful gazetteer of outstanding examples this book is indispensable reading for anyone interested in church or art history. ...

This book is the worlds first scholarly account of any regions nineteenth & twentieth-century stained glass & is written by one of the few specialists trained in the field. The author presents a comprehensive catalogue of the 711 ecclesiastical stained glass windows in Canterbury many of which are of international significance. She shows the shift from imported to local work the development of New Zealand imagery & how stained glass windows can be powerful social indicators. She argues that stained glass in Canterbury not only represents the most important regional collection of windows in New Zealand but that the exportation of nineteenth & twentieth-century stained glass from Britain is represented in microcosm in Canterbury thus necessitating a reappraisal of the history of British stained glass. The book also presents much new information about British stained glass artists & is of great relevance to any country with glass from Britain. ...

A bullet shot through the window of Weldon Sonniers house propels Dave Robicheaux back into the lives of a family hes not sure he wants to be reacquainted with.. . Weldon Sonniers CIA-influenced past has led to dangerous connections & commitments including debts to local mob boss Joey Meatballs Gouza. As Weldon puts himself in the line of fire Lyle Sonnier television evangelist & faith healer reveals to Dave a violent family history that intersects menacingly with Daves own. But overshadowing the manoeuvres of Gouzas gang is the spectre of racial politics & it is former Klansman Bobby Earl who will prove to be Dave Robicheauxs most elusive enemy. ...

Since earliest times humanity has pondered the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe life...and the afterlife. Was there somewhere on Earth where after death mortal man could join the immortal Gods? Where was this place? By whom was it established? & does it still exist today? After years of painstaking research--combining recent archaeological discoveries with ancient texts & artifacts--noted scholar Zecharia Sitchin has identified the legendary Land of the Gods & provided astounding new revelations about the Great Pyramids the Sphinx & other mysterious monuments whose true meanings & purposes have been lost for eons. Since earliest times humanity has pondered the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe life & the afterlife. In The Stairway to Heaven the second book of Zecharia Sitchins Earth Chronicles series the author answers these fundamental questions: Was there somewhere on Earth where after death mortal man could join the immortal Gods? Where was this place? By whom was it established? & does it still exist today? The Earth Chronicles deal with the history & prehistory of Earth & humankind. Each book in the series is based upon information written on clay tablets by the ancient civilizations of the Near East. For the first time the entire Earth Chronicles series is now available in a hardcover collectors edition. ...

The overwhelming response of readers to Lorna Byrne
- regardless of religious beliefs
- is that she gives them back hope helping

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In an abandoned hotel in a California ghost town horror writer Larry & his friends make a chilling discovery. By chance they stumble across a naked woman in a coffin with a stake driven through her heart. Was she a vampire or the victim of a gruesome murder? ...

A funny super-girly story with a vampire bite to it. Sink your teeth into Olivia & Ivy's twelfth fright-time adventure. ' We're on a mission!' Ivy & Olivia are together again
- & not a moment too soon. The whole vampire community is in a flap. Can the twins discover the identity of the mystery blogger who's determined to expose Franklin Grove's biggest secret? Hold on to your fangs vamp fans. It's time to go undercover! A killer story to sink your teeth into!
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This title is a best-seller. It is an explosive expose of how British military intelligence really works from the inside. The stories of two undercover agents
- Brian Nelson who worked for the Force Research Unit (FRU) aiding loyalist terrorists & murderers in their bloody work; & the man known as Stakeknife deputy head of the IRAs infamous Nutting Squad the internal security force which tortured & killed suspected informers.
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