Showing results by author "Anne" in All Categories

From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.

At the novel's center: the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, hero, leader, inspirer, irresistible force, irrepressible spirit, battling (and ultimately reconciling with) a strange otherworldly form that has somehow taken possession of Lestat's undead body and soul. This ancient and mysterious power and unearthly spirit of vampire lore has all the force, history, and insidious reach of the unknowable universe.

The joyful tranquility of a snowbound estate in the Lake District of England is overturned in a moment by a shocking murder. Renowned mathematician and inventor Henry Rathbone - long known to listeners of Perry's bestselling Victorian series featuring William Monk - must put his analytical and creative capacities to the test as he assumes the role of an amateur investigator. In this delightful Christmas tale, he rescues the holiday with a grace that would impress William Monk himself.

Barnaby Gaitlin was never a bad kid, but he was certainly doing his best to impersonate one. As a teenager, he developed a habit of breaking into other people’s houses. But he wasn’t interested in the valuable loot - he just liked to read people’s mail, peruse their family albums, and maybe pocket a few personal mementos. Now almost 30 and divorced, he finds himself working for Rent-aBack, which helps the elderly and infirm move furniture or take down their Christmas trees. It’s the perfect career for Barnaby.

What is the secret to praying prayers that really "work"? In this distilled adaptation of her best-selling book The Daniel Prayer, a plan for praying effective prayers that God answers is presented through unpacking the ancient prayer of the prophet Daniel, a prayer that moved heaven and changed a nation and one that even today can deliver on God's promises. The prayer that storms the gates of Heaven is not a run-of-the-mill type of prayer. It’s a commitment that perseveres over any and every obstacle until God’s promises have been claimed and His purposes fulfilled.

Often overlooked, there is mixed blood at the heart of America. And at the heart of Native life for centuries there were complex households using intermarriage to link disparate communities and create protective circles of kin. Beginning in the 17th century, Native peoples - Ojibwes, Otoes, Cheyennes, Chinooks, and others - formed new families with young French, English, Canadian, and American fur traders who spent months in smoky winter lodges or at boisterous summer rendezvous.

My best friend’s baby sister was the thing wet dreams were made of. Killer body, sexy personality, and the ability to win my daughter over with that disarming smile of hers....

The place, the rugged coast of Northern California. A bluff high above the Pacific. A grand mansion full of beauty and tantalizing history set against a towering redwood forest.

Aaron Peterson feels like he's trapped in a recurring nightmare. After moving halfway across the world to flee his father's latest theme park failure, yet another disaster has occurred: A roller coaster car jumps the tracks at the Golden Apple Amusement Park, resulting in the death of his friend, Lucy Yi.

The hottest restaurant in Hell's Kitchen, run by the 'Ice Queen', Avery Hart. She is a revolutionary in the culinary world, earning Michelin Stars and feeding presidents while starving her demons at the same time. Her life is in her kitchen. Where she controls every ingredient, every sear, every plate. Kane 'The Devil' Rhodes is chaos personified. He's famous for his death-defying stunts, for his medals, for his roguish charm. The moment he sees Avery Hart, he knows what he wants. He wants her. To unravel her. Melt the ice queen. Make her his.

I made the worst decision of my life when I left Denver three years ago. I broke his heart. I broke my family's hearts. And then I broke my own. It's taken three long years, but here I am, staring my past in the face. Only everything has changed. He isn't the boy I once knew. He's the Captain of the Denver Dragons. No longer a boy but a man—a man with a reputation made by his many achievements in the bedroom. I know I should stay away, but fate is written in the stars when it comes to Jaxon Payne.

In Murder Gets a Life, middle-aged sisters Mary Alice and Patricia Ann are sleuthing their way through a mystery that is hotter than Alabama in August. Mary Alice’s son has married Sunshine, a petite blond who is cute as a button. Her family, however, lives in a junk-filled trailer compound dotted with rusty engines and pit bulls. When Mary Alice and Patricia Ann pay a call on the family, the sisters hardly have time to meet Sunshine’s spirit-channeling grandmother before they stumble over a large corpse on her floor. The local sheriff just can’t seem to get moving in the summer heat.

There has never been a dragon quite like Ruth - he's small, agile, able to communicate with fire lizards and has an uncanny ability to know exactly when he is. His bond with the young Lord Holder Jaxom is uniquely strong thanks to their unlikely connection and the fact that nearly everybody else on Pern thought the diminutive dragon wouldn't survive to adulthood. With Jaxom set to inherit control of his Hold, the pair is banned from fighting Thread, their flying time strictly limited at the insistence of the Weyrleaders and Lord Holders.

Delilah Swanpoole, countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring”, is a lot more interesting - and perfidious - dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man. But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless.

When a maid in the upper class Ellison household is strangled, Inspector Pitt is called in to investigate. He finds a world ruled by strict manners and social customs, where the inhabitants of the Ellison's neighborhood appear to be more outraged by the thought of scandal than they are by murder. Inspector Pitt finds a most unlikely ally in Charlotte, the Ellison's spirited daughter. But as the murders continue, Charlotte and Pitt find themselves drawn together by more than the investigation.

Ten people gather together for an elegant London dinner party. By the end of the party, only nine are alive. Sometime after dinner, General Thaddeus Carlyon is brutally murdered in the hallway. Who had the strength - and motive - to murder the distinguished military hero? Nurse Latterly and Inspector Monk find the answers in a nightmarish legacy of evil.

Anne Rice continues her astonishing Vampire Chronicles in a new novel that begins where Blackwood Farm left off—and tells the story of Lestat’s quest for redemption, goodness, and the love of Rowan Mayfair.

A story of courage in the face of evil. The tense drama of Suzanne Spaak who risked and gave her life to save hundreds of Jewish children from deportation from Nazi Paris to Auschwitz. This is one of the untold stories of the Holocaust. Suzanne Spaak was born into the Belgian Catholic elite and married into the country's leading political family. Her brother-in-law was the Foreign Minister and her husband Claude was a playwright and patron of the painter Renee Magritte.

At a time when live comedy has never been harder to find you've come to absolutely the right place. Audible Presents: Australia's Funniest Stand-Up features six of our most awarded and best-loved Australian comedians doing what they do best, making people laugh in their own, unique ways. Originally recorded live at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, the stand-up specials are also available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

Cold-blooded murder. Do I have it in me? I’ve watched the people I love commit the worst kinds of crimes, and within the blink of an eye, I could be just like them. I feel the jagged glass beneath my fingers, but do I have the strength to follow this through? How much of my soul am I willing to sacrifice to make this right? Nic was supposed to be my rock. He was supposed to be my world until he showed me a side of himself that terrified me. He’s not the boy I once loved, he’s a man who’s quickly becoming the monster in my nightmare.