Random House Inc.

Julia Child single handedly awakened America to the pleasures of «good «cooking with her cookbook «Mastering the Art of French Cooking» and her television show «The French Chef», but as she reveals in this bestselling memoir, she didn't know the first thing about cooking when she landed in France. Indeed, when she first arrived in 1948 with her husband, Paul, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever. Julia's unforgettable story unfolds with the spirit so key to her success as a cook and teacher and writer, brilliantly capturing one of the most endearing American personalities of the last fifty years.

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated. «Into Thin Air» is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller «Into the Wild». On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996. Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people — including himself — to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.

In the fabulous new installment in the best-selling adventures of Isabel Dalhousie, Isabel is asked to help a doctor who has been disgraced by allegations of scientific fraud concerning a newly marketed drug. Our ever-curious moral philosopher finds her interest piqued. Would a doctor with a stellar reputation make such a simple but grave mistake? If not, what explains the tragic accident that resulted in the death of a patient? Clearly, an investigation is in order, especially since a man's reputation is in jeopardy. Could he be the victim of someone else's mistake? Or perhaps he has been willfully deceived by a pharmaceutical company with a great deal to gain. Not every problem prompts an investigation (take, for example, her ongoing struggle with her housekeeper, Grace, over the care of Isabel's infant son, Charlie), but, as we've seen, whatever the case, whatever the solution, Isabel's combination of spirit, smarts, empathy, and unabashed nosiness guarantees a delightful adventure.

In the days when powerful witches used their magic to shield humanity from demons, their allies and guardians were a group of men gifted with preternatural abilities of their own – the witch guardians. But when a band of witches traded their humanity for demonic power, the ancient bond was broken, and the guardians became the hunters. Darcy MacAlister knows nothing of demons or magic. But this beautiful young woman is about to discover the truth about her past... and her future. For she is a witch – not just any witch, but the key to breaking the curse that has plagued witches and the men who hunt them. For if a hunter kills an innocent witch by mistake, the price is no less than a piece of his soul. Axel Locke, gorgeous leader of the Wing Slayer Hunters, has sworn never to shed the blood of the earth witches who have resisted the temptation of demonic power. But when his sister is cursed by a demon witch, he discovers that Darcy MacAlister may hold the cure – if she can master her newfound powers in time. When the chase begins and Axel and Darcy come face-to-face, this hunter must weigh his soul against his honor – and against his heart.

The #1 bestselling author Conn Iggulden, coauthor of the international sensation The Dangerous Book for Boys, delivers a masterful novel of the mighty Mongol conqueror—as Genghis Khan sets out to unify an entire continent under his rule. For centuries, Mongol tribes had warred with one another. But now, under Genghis Khan, they have united as one nation, setting their sights on a common enemy: the great, slumbering walled empire of the Chin. Genghis will lead his warriors across the Gobi Desert and into a realm his people had never seen before—with gleaming cities, soaring walls, and canals. Laying siege to one fortress after another, he will crush each enemy in a different way—until his army faces the ultimate test of all. In the city of Yenking—modern-day Beijing—the Chin will make their final stand, setting a trap for the Mongol raiders, confident behind their towering walls. But Genghis will strike with breathtaking audacity, never ceasing until the Emperor himself is forced to kneel.

Against the scandal and seduction of Regency England, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh introduces an extraordinary family—the fiery, sensual Huxtables. Vanessa is the second daughter, proud and daring, a young widow who has her own reason for pursuing the most eligible bachelor in London. One that has nothing to do with love. Or does it? The arrival of Elliott Wallace, the irresistibly eligible Viscount Lyngate, has thrown the country village of Throckbridge into a tizzy. Desperate to rescue her eldest sister from a loveless union, Vanessa Huxtable Dew offers herself instead. In need of a wife, Elliott takes the audacious widow up on her unconventional proposal while he pursues an urgent mission of his own. But a strange thing happens on the way to the wedding night. Two strangers with absolutely nothing in common can’t keep their hands off each other. Now, as intrigue swirls around a past secret—one with a stunning connection to the Huxtables—Elliott and Vanessa are uncovering the glorious pleasures of the marriage bed…and discovering that when it comes to wedded bliss, love can’t be far behind.

A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of fiction’s greatest detectives. In this pair of classic Nero Wolfe mysteries, Stout is at his unparalleled best as the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth and his trusty man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, are served two lethally appetizing cases. Too Many Cooks Everyone knows that too many cooks spoil the broth, but you’d hardly expect it to lead to murder. But that’s exactly what’s on the menu at a five-star gathering of the world’s greatest chefs. As guest of honor, Wolfe was lured from his brownstone to a posh southern spa to deliver the keynote address. He never expected that between courses of haute cuisine he and Archie would be compelled to detect a killer with a poison touch—a killer preparing to serve the great detective his last supper. Champgne for One Faith Usher talked about taking her own life and even kept cyanide in her purse. So when she died from a lethal champagne cocktail in the middle of a high society dinner party, everyone called it suicide—including the police. But Nero Wolfe isn’t convinced—and neither is Archie. Especially when Wolfe is warned by four men against taking the case. Deception, blackmail, and a killer who may have pulled off the perfect crime…it’s a challenge Nero Wolfe can’t resist.

It’s autumn in cozy, idyllic Crozet, Virginia — a time for golden days, crisp nights…and murder. Mrs. Carla Paulson is one of the diamond-encrusted “come-here” set who has descended on Crozet with plenty of wealth and no feeling for country ways. She’s determined to make her new house the envy of all her well-heeled friends — and enemies — and she’s hired architect Tazio Chappers to build it. From the start, the project — and Mrs. Paulson — are a major headache for all involved. But no one could foresee that it would end with Mrs. Paulson stabbed to death at a gala fund-raiser with Harry’s friend Tazio standing over her, holding the knife. Now Harry must solve what seems to everyone else an open-and-shut case. Her four-legged partners — sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker — see it Harry’s way. But will they have to choose between catching the purrfect killer and saving Harry?

Come into my parlor... For FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy it starts with a pregnant hooker. The story Delilah Rose tells Kimberly is too horrifying to be true. But prostitutes are disappearing, leaving behind no bodies and no explanations —except one only Kimberly, herself four months pregnant, is willing to believe. Could a sadist be hunting the streets for vulnerable young girls and using spiders to do his dirty work? Said the spider to the fly... Either a serial killer has found the key to the perfect murder or Kimberly is following clues to a crime that never happened. In fact, Kimberly’s caught in a web more lethal than any spider’s, and the more she fights for answers, the more tightly she’s trapped. She’s already close — too close — to a psychopath who makes women’s nightmares come alive. And like her mother and sister before her, both victims of a serial killer, it won’t be long before it’s Kimberly’s time to say goodbye with her dying breath...

Each time he struck, he took two victims. Day after day, he waited for the first body to be discovered—a body containing all the clues the investigators needed to find the second victim, who waited...prey to a slow but certain death. The clock ticked—salvation was possible. The police were never in time. Years have passed; but for this killer, time has stood still. As a heat wave of epic proportions descends, the game begins again. Two girls have disappeared...and the clock is ticking. Rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quincy knows the killer’s deadline can be met. But she’ll have to break some rules to beat an exactingly vicious criminal at a game he’s had time to perfect. For the Killing Hour has arrived....

In «Putin’s Labyrinth», acclaimed journalist Steve LeVine, who lived in and reported from the former Soviet Union for more than a decade, provides a gripping account of modern Russia. President Dmitri Medvedev and the country’s real power, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, are posing a resolute challenge to the West. In a penetrating narrative that recounts the lives and deaths of six Russians, LeVine portrays the growth of a “culture of death”—from targeted assassinations of the state’s enemies to the Kremlin’s indifference when innocent hostages are slaughtered. Interviews with eyewitnesses and the families and friends of these victims reveal how Russians manage to negotiate their way around the ever-present danger of violence and the emotional toll that this lethal maze is exacting on ordinary people. The result is a fresh way of assessing the forces that are driving this major new confrontation with the West.

From the reign of Tsar Nicholas II to the brutal cult of Stalin to the ebullient, uncertain days of perestroika, nowhere has the inextricable relationship between politics and culture been more starkly illustrated than in twentieth-century Russia. In the first book to fully examine the intricate and often deadly interconnection between Russian rulers and Russian artists, cultural historian Solomon Volkov brings to life the experiences that inspired artists like Tolstoy, Stravinsky, Akhmatova, Nijinsky, Nabokov, and Eisenstein to create some of the greatest masterpieces of our time. Epic in scope and intimate in detail, «The Magical Chorus» is the definitive account of a remarkable era in Russia's complex cultural life.

Liebe hat nie ein Drehbuch ... Es ist nicht leicht, ein Star mit dem Image einer mutigen, romantischen Heldin zu sein, wenn man vor den Trümmern seiner Ehe und seiner Filmkarriere steht. Aber was hat sich Georgie York nur dabei gedacht, in Las Vegas spontan Bram Shepard, ihren grässlichen Filmpartner zu heiraten? Die schlimmste Fehlbesetzung ihres Lebens! Und es gibt nicht mal ein Drehbuch, an das sich Georgie jetzt halten kann. Oder entpuppt sich der Mann mit den strahlend blauen Augen und dem teuflisch schwarzen Herzen doch als versteckter Traummann?

Thrill hoch 10! — Worte können lügen. Knochen nicht Das vermisste Mädchen hat Tempe Brennan nie vergessen. Auch wenn es damals noch kein Fall für sie war. Tempe war 13 Jahre alt, als ihre beste Freundin Evangéline ohne Abschied spurlos verschwand. Nun liegen Jahre alte Knochen eines weiblichen Teenagers zur forensischen Untersuchung vor Tempe und reißen alte Wunden auf. Hängt dieser Skelettfund mit Evangélines Verschwinden zusammen? Haben die Parallelen zu einer Reihe von Mädchen, die in den letzten Jahren in Quebec verschwanden, etwas zu bedeuten? War Evangéline das erste Opfer eines Serientäters? Tempe findet unerwartete Antworten an unerwarteter Stelle: in einem besonders dunklen Kapitel der Geschichte Kanadas …

Mörderische Provence ... Peter Simon, geschätzt als erfolgreicher Geschäftsmann und geliebt als fürsorglicher Ehemann und Vater, verschwindet spurlos auf einer Reise in der Provence. Als seine junge Frau Laura verzweifelt vor Ort recherchiert, stößt sie nicht nur auf eigenartige Widersprüche, sondern muss schließlich erkennen, dass ihr Mann nicht der war, für den sie ihn hielt. Und dass die Wahrheit mit tödlicher Gefahr verbunden ist ...

Ein ermordetes Mädchen. Eine Hütte im Wald. Eine Stadt in Angst Als die Lehrerin Sandy Crosbie gemeinsam mit ihrem Mann Ian und ihren Kindern nach Torrance in South Florida zieht, kann sie nicht ahnen, welch verhängnisvolle Ereignisse ihr bevorstehen. Denn kurz nach ihrer Ankunft verschwindet an der örtlichen High School ein Mädchen spurlos – und wird nach Tagen verzweifelter Suche tot aufgefunden. Doch während die Polizei sich noch bemüht, eine erste Spur ausfindig zu machen, hat der Täter sein nächstes Opfer bereits im Visier – und er ist entschlossen, sein grausames Werk so lange zu verrichten, bis sein Blutdurst gestillt ist …

Harlan Cobens bislang beklemmendster Thriller! Der Teenager Spencer Hill ist tot: Selbstmord. Oder doch Mord? Als sein engster Freund Adam Baye verschwindet, befürchten dessen Eltern Mike und Tia das Schlimmste. In der Sorge um ihren Sohn haben sie heimlich ein Spionageprogramm auf Adams Computer installiert, das schon bald eine bedrohliche E-Mail zu Tage fördert. Alarmiert und schockiert macht sich nun Mike selbst auf, um seinen Sohn nach Hause zu holen – koste es, was es wolle. Doch er und seine Frau sind nicht die einzigen, die andere ausspionieren ... Virtuos durchkonstruiert und psychologisch perfekt!

Ein wunderbarer Roman über neue Liebe und alte Feinde. Violet kann ihr Glück kaum fassen: Ihr neuer Freund Sol ist nicht nur der absolute Traummann, jetzt macht er ihr auch noch einen Heiratsantrag! Sols Eltern möchten ihre Schwiegertochter in spe so bald wie möglich kennenlernen und laden die Verlobten zu sich ein. Doch zu ihrem großen Schreck entdeckt Violet im Haus von Sols Eltern auf einem Familienfoto ausgerechnet Pippa Langford. Denn das Mädchen, das Violets Schulzeit zum absoluten Alptraum gemacht hat, ist Sol’s Halbschwester … Romantisch, warmherzig und witzig!

Wie weit darf Liebe gehen? An die große Liebe glaubt Travis Parker nicht. Er hat sich seine Welt bestens eingerichtet: ein guter Job, nette Freunde, ab und an eine kleine Affäre. Doch dann lernt der überzeugte Junggeselle Gabby Holland kennen, die sein Herz im Sturm erobert. Gegen viele Widerstände gelingt es ihm, sie für sich zu gewinnen. Er ahnt nicht, dass seine härteste Prüfung noch bevorsteht.

In haunting ways this wonderful, compelling novel prefigures Suite Francaise and some of the themes of Nemirovsky's great unfinished sequence of novels. All Our Worldly Goods, though, is complete, and exquisitely so — a perfect novel in its own right. First published in France in 1947, after the author's death, it is a gripping story of family life and starcrossed lovers, of money and greed, set against the backdrop of France from 1911 to 1940 between two terrible wars. Pierre and Agnes marry for love against the wishes of his parents and the family patriarch, the tyrannical industrialist Julien Hardelot, provoking a family feud which cascades down the generations.This is Balzac or The Forsyte Saga on a smaller, more intimate scale, the bourgeoisie observed close-up with Nemirovsky's characteristically sly humour and clear-eyed compassion. Full of drama and heartbreak, telling observation of the devastating effects of two wars on a small town and an industrial family, this is Nemirovsky at the height of her powers. The exodus and flow of refugee humanity through the town in both wars foreshadows Suite Francaise, but differently, because this is Northern France, near the Somme, and the town itself is twice razed. Taut, evocative and beautifully paced, the novel points up with heartbreaking detail and clarity how close were those two wars, how history repeated itself, tragically, shockingly...It opens in the Edwardian era, on a fashionable Normandy beach, and ends with a changed world, under Nazi occupation.

Present-day Russia is the setting for this stunning new novel from Robert Harris, author of the bestsellers Fatherland and Enigma, Archangel tells the story of four days in the life of Fluke Kelso, a dissipated, middle-aged former Oxford historian, who is in Moscow to attend a conference on the newly opened Soviet archives. One night, Kelso is visited in his hotel room by an old NKVD officer, a former bodyguard of the secret police chief Lavrenty Beria. The old man claims to have been at Stalin's dacha on the night Stalin had his fatal stroke, and to have helped Beria steal the dictator's private papers, among them a notebook. Kelso decides to use his last morning in Moscow to check out the old man's story. But what starts as an idle inquiry in the Lenin Library soon turns into a murderous chase across nighttime Moscow and up to northern Russia — to the vast forests near the White Sea port of Archangel, where the final secret of Josef Stalin has been hidden for almost half a century. Archangel combines the imaginative sweep and dark suspense of Fatherland with the meticulous historical detail of Enigma. The result is Robert Harris's most compelling novel yet. From the Paperback edition.

Wrongfully arrested following the Monmouth rebellion of 1685, Peter Blood, country physician and former soldier, escapes the hangman's noose only to be exiled to the tropical colonies. Sold into slavery to a cruel plantation owner, his moral fortitude and medical ability soon earn him the favour of the island's governor, and the attentions of Arabella, his master's niece. When the town is attacked by marauding Spanish buccaneers, Blood springs to the rescue, and with a motley yet loyal band of shipmates escapes to begin a life of noble piracy and adventure on the caribbean seas. A classic swashbuckling tale of piracy, romance and redemption, Captain Blood stands as one the greatest adventure novels of the 20th century. It features an introduction by Kate Mosse.

When Lehman Brothers bank went under, the world gasped. One of the world's biggest and most successful banks, its downfall was the event that sparked the slide of the world economy toward a Great Depression II. This is the gripping inside story of the dark characters who ruled Lehman, who refused to heed warnings that the company was headed for an iceberg: the world-class, mid-level people who valiantly fought to get Lehman off its disastrous course; the crash that didn't have to happen. A news-breaking explanation that answers the question everyone still asks: 'why did it happen?' Larry McDonald, a former vice-president at Lehman Brothers in charge of distressed debt trading and convertible securities, was right at the center of the meltdown of the company and gives an intimate look at the mad house that Lehman became. This book shows beyond a doubt that Richard Fuld, the long-time CEO of Lehman, and his top executives, were totally out to lunch, allowing Lehman's risk profile to reach gargantuan proportions. While the traders, like Larry McDonald, clearly predicated more than two years in advance that the market for packaged subprime mortgages and credit default swaps would evaporate, the high-flying Lehman bosses pushed hard on the gas pedal until the very end.

Now bereft of both youth and ambition, Detective Inspector Ray Lennox is recovering from a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a particularly horrifying child sex murder case back in Edinburgh. On vacation in Florida, his fiancee Trudi is only interested in planning their forthcoming wedding, and a bitter argument sees a deranged Lennox cast adrift in strip-mall Florida. He meets two women in a seedy bar, ending up at their apartment for a coke binge interrupted by two menacing strangers. After the ensuing brawl, Lennox finds himself alone with Tianna, the terrified ten-year-old daughter of one of the women, and a sheet of instructions that make him responsible for her immediate safety. Lennox takes her across the state to an exclusive marina on the Gulf of Mexico, and quickly suspects that he has stumbled into a hornet's nest: a gang of organized paedophiles, every bit as threatening as the monster that haunted him back in Edinburgh.His priority is to protect the abused girl, but can the edgy Lennox trust his own instincts? And can he negotiate her inappropriate sexuality, as well as his own mental fragility, while still trying to get to grips with the Edinburgh murder and the emotions it unleashes in him? A novel about the corruption and abuse of the human soul and the possibilities of redemption, «Crime» is a thrilling journey into the bright glamour of the Sunshine State and a seething underworld of utter darkness.