New Hard-Boiled Detective Series Uncovers Bones, Bodies and Murder! "A fiercely intelligent crime drama as emotionally sharp as it is historically inventive. Krishtalka's prose is powerfully versatile, alternating between the sort of terse, unsentimental phrasing that one would expect from a detective story and poetical elegance."~ Kirkus ReviewsPaleontologist turned private investigator, Harry Przewalski, excavates the dirty underbelly of people's lives, unearthing sexual betrayals, treachery, fraud and murder buried beneath the science of petrified shards, skin and bones. Ultimately, he must face a brutal killing in his own past, when he fled to a desert war and came back with a gun and a license to detect. A famous, 150-year-old museum diorama is vandalized--it depicts the ferocious attack by two lions on a North African courier crossing the Sahara on a Dromedary. The belly of the taxidermied camel has been sliced open and a bundle removed, shedding bits of flesh from a child. Harry is hired to investigate the macabre history of the exhibit. The taxidermist has a grisly past: a sexual affair, a lover's betrayal, a lurid trial, and graves in Botswana and Tunisia plundered for human dioramas. The camel driver's skull and skin are mounted under his clothing. In a Paris museum, a dead archaeologist, a bloodstained journal, and the theft of a Neanderthal child's skull and teeth lead Harry to the stolen bundle--a scientific bombshell worth killing for in a murderous race for fame.

When Miriam discovers the big city, she wants to find her spot in the action. She brought her beloved lute with her, but playing music feels insufficient. An unexpected friend teaches her to be a camel driver and opens up her world. But nothing ever stays the same. Miriam has to go further to search for what she needs. Must she in fact become a slave to have security? And how can she meet others' demands for camel drives, find time for her lute and stay true to herself? Answers can be very hard to find, and even harder to accept.

An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within.

Fiona Sweeney wants to do something that matters, and she chooses to make her mark in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya. By helping to start a traveling library, she hopes to bring the words of Homer, Hemingway, and Dr. Seuss to far-flung tiny communities where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease. Her intentions are honorable, and her rules are firm: due to the limited number of donated books, if any one of them is not returned, the bookmobile will not return. But, encumbered by her Western values, Fi does not understand the people she seeks to help. And in the impoverished small community of Mididima, she finds herself caught in the middle of a volatile local struggle when the bookmobile's presence sparks a dangerous feud between the proponents of modernization and those who fear the loss of traditional ways.

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER An essential companion to the inspirational classic The Alchemist, filled with timeless stories of reflection and rediscovery. From one of the greatest writers of our age comes a collection of stories and parables unlocking the mysteries of the human condition. Gathered from Paulo Coelho’s daily column of the same name, Maktub, meaning “it is written,” invites seekers on a journey of faith, self-reflection, and transformation. As Paulo Coelho explains, “Maktub is not a book of advice—but an exchange of experiences.” Each story offers an illuminated path to see life and the lives of our fellow people around the world in new ways, allowing us to tap into universal truths about our collective and individual humanity. As Coelho writes, “a man who seeks only the light, while shirking his responsibilities, will never find illumination. And one who keep his eyes fixed upon the sun . . . ends up blind.” These wise tales offer the perspective of talking snakes, old women climbing mountains, disciples querying their masters, Buddha in dialogue, mysterious hermits, and many saints addressing the mysteries of the universe. Following the path of his previous internationally bestselling works, this thoughtful collection of short, inspirational pieces, introduced in a foreword by the author and illustrated with black-and-white line art throughout, will engage seekers of all ages and backgrounds.

"These humans, who chase after the stars, are called poets."Mark Scheel's Star Chaser is "a creative burst exploring the relationships among ancient legend, the life cycle, the autobiographical and modern day angst." Star Chaser is divided into three sections: "Yesterday," "Today" and "Tomorrow." This division signifies the reality all of us must confront living our lives. Throughout the collection many of the poems are given an added richness and extended implication via the accomplished photography of Joseph Maino. Such is the scope and beauty of Star Chaser. While Mr. Scheel may still deem himself poetically a "star chaser," it is clear that, like the Northern Lights themselves, he has illuminated our horizon with a book of poetry that transcends the emotionally empty and hollow halls of academe and reaches out, longingly and lovingly, to grasp and finally catch those faraway stars. -Glen Enloe, author of When Cowboys Rode Away.

Mary Fanning finds the body on the bed in the house next door, poisoned. Smart, tough and inquisitive, she covers the murder trial as the first woman reporter for the Kansas Daily Tribune. Amid the upheaval of post-Civil War Lawrence, she unravels the diabolical plots and desperate lives that led to three dead bodies and a shocking last act.

In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives collide. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman, alone in a house abandoned by the men in her life. Lurie is a man haunted by ghosts--he sees lost souls who want something from him. The way in which Nora and Lurie's stories intertwine is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.ovel.