An Air That Still Kills

Schneider and McCumber reveal how the asbestos poisoning of Libby, Montana, uncovered a national scandal.

An Air That Still Kills is the alarming and still-unfolding story of the deadliest environmental disaster in the United States. The catastrophe began in Libby, Montana, where hundreds of people died and thousands more were sickened from the asbestos that contaminated a vermiculite mine. But mine owner W.R. Grace spread the danger across North America when it exported the lethal vermiculite, which still lurks in as many as 50 million homes, businesses and schools. First authored by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber, this updated book includes frightening new disclosures by Schneider about the growing threat from Libby's uniquely potent form of asbestos. The latest studies by some of the nation's foremost experts say that Libby asbestos - with even minimal exposure - can sicken and kill at rates thousands of times greater than previously thought. But few people know the danger that hides in their attics and walls, because regulators have repeatedly failed to warn the public effectively. No one is tracking how many people have died from asbestos contamination, or where, or how many more will die. The only certainty is that the toll will continue to rise. An Air That Still Kills is a haunting, meticulously reported account that will introduce you to the courageous miner's daughter and the cowboy crooner who took on one of the nation's most powerful corporations, and to the government team who at first refused to believe the duo. That team now continues to risk careers by fighting uncaring bureaucrats to help prove the town's residents right. The greed, power and politics that claimed so many lives will make you furious. The stories of tireless perseverance against all odds will astonish you. And the ongoing risk of a horrifying death faced by millions should make you mad as hell.

Mark Langworthy has just returned home after a stint as a colonial administrator in India. Once a promising writer, his dreams and idealism have been extinguished, and he returns stricken with malaria and fatigued in both body and spirit. When he meets his nephew, Paul, an ingenuous orphan of eighteen and an aspiring writer, Mark sees in the boy a chance for redemption. Over the course of an English summer they form a close though sometimes difficult friendship, but when Paul begins a love affair with one of his uncle's former acquaintances, Anne, things begin to unravel. A series of circumstances threatens the bond they have developed, and when Anne suggests that Mark's interest in Paul may not be what it seems, both Mark and Paul will have to come to terms with their feelings and discover the true nature of love and friendship. Published in 1948, An Air That Kills is the third of Francis King's more than thirty novels. Widely acclaimed as one of the finest novelists of his generation, King displays in this early work all the imaginative energy and ardour of a young writer dealing with a theme which he clearly felt profoundly. This 60th anniversary edition includes a new introduction by the author.

'Andrew Taylor is a master story-teller' Daily Telegraph From the No.1 bestselling author of The Ashes of London and Fire of Court, this is the first instalment in the acclaimed Lydmouth series Workmen in the small market town of Lydmouth are demolishing an old cottage. A sledgehammer smashes into what looks like a solid wall. Instead, layers of wallpaper conceal the door of a locked cupboard which holds a box - and in the box is the skeleton of a young baby. Items within the box suggest that the baby was entombed early in the nineteenth century, but when another man is also found dead, the evidence suggests that the baby's death is more recent and that a killer is on the loose. For Journalist Jill Francis, newly arrived from London, this looks like her first story to chase ... 'The most under-rated crime writer in Britain today' Val McDermid 'Captures perfectly the drab atmosphere and cloying morality of the 1950s . . . Taylor is an excellent writer. He plots with care and intelligence and the solution to the mystery is satisfyingly chilling'The Times 'There is no denying Taylor's talent, his prose exudes a quality uncommon among his contemporaries' Time Out 'Andrew Taylor is a master story-teller' Daily Telegraph

‘I don’t like killing, but I’m good at it. Murder isn’t so bad from a distance, just shapes popping up in my scope. Close-up work though – a garrotte around a target’s neck or a knife in their heart – it’s not for me. Too much empathy, that’s my problem. Usually. But not today. Today is different . . . ‘ The year is 1955 and something is very wrong with the world. It is fourteen years since Churchill died and the Second World War ended. In occupied Europe, Britain fights a cold war against a nuclear-armed Nazi Germany. In Berlin the Gestapo is on the trail of a beautiful young resistance fighter, and the head of the SS is plotting to dispose of an ailing Adolf Hitler and restart the war against Britain and her empire. Meanwhile, in a secret bunker hidden deep beneath the German countryside, scientists are experimenting with a force far beyond their understanding. Into this arena steps a nameless British assassin, on the run from a sinister cabal within his own government, and planning a private war against the Nazis. And now the fate of the world rests on a single kill in the morning . . .

Paul Vanderman could be at any normal high school where bullies, girls, and annoying teachers are just part of life. But “normal” doesn’t apply when it comes to the school’s biggest bully, Roth—a twisted and threatening thug with an evil agenda. When Paul ends up delivering a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a nearby school, it fuels a rivalry with immediate consequences. Paul attempts to distance himself from the feud, but somehow Roth keeps finding reasons for him to stick around. Then one day Roth hands him a knife. And even though Paul is scared, he has never felt so powerful.

In To Kill Nations, Edward Kaplan traces the evolution of American strategic airpower and preparation for nuclear war from this early air-atomic era to a later period (1950–1965) in which the Soviet Union's atomic capability, accelerated by thermonuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, made American strategic assets vulnerable and gradually undermined air-atomic strategy. Kaplan throws into question both the inevitability and preferability of the strategic doctrine of MAD. He looks at the process by which cultural, institutional, and strategic ideas about MAD took shape and makes insightful use of the comparison between generals who thought they could win a nuclear war and the cold institutional logic of the suicide pact that was MAD. Kaplan also offers a reappraisal of Eisenhower's nuclear strategy and diplomacy to make a case for the marginal viability of air-atomic military power even in an era of ballistic missiles.

The New York Times–bestselling debut story of four superfan friends whose devotion to their favorite band has darkly comical and deadly results. Just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near them. That’s why we got a room in the hotel where they were staying. We were not planning to kidnap one of them. Especially not the most useless one. But we had him—his room key, his cell phone, and his secrets. We were not planning on what happened next. We swear. Praise for Kill the Boy Band “Moldavsky’s sharp, shocking debut is like no other.” —Entertainment Weekly “Fiercely entertaining . . . One of the smartest YA releases of the year.” —New York Daily News “Misery for the Belieber generation.” —Observer.com “Boy bands gets the Heathers treatment in this madcap macabre . . . A sendup of the artificiality of the fame-making machine from both sides, the novel’s humor is mercilessly black, and no one comes up smelling like roses.” —Kirkus Reviews “Wickedly funny.” —NPR.org “Bitingly satirical.” —Publishers Weekly “[For] anyone who’s ever had the fortune-or misfortune-of being a fan.” —Booklist “Hilarious . . . A must-have.” —School Library Journal