Ordinary Mayhem

Faye Blakemore is a photojournalist for a major New York newspaper. Faye has been taking photos since she was a small child, taught by her photographer grandfather, after spending hours in the strange blood-red light of his darkroom. Now Faye specializes in what one reviewer calls, “blood-and-guts journalism.” Her first book of photos is as celebrated as it is controversial—and as harrowing. Faye convinces her editor to send her to Afghanistan and the Congo to report on the acid burnings, the machete attacks, and the women survivors. Yet that series of assignments—each darker and more dangerous than the next—brings Faye closer to her both her own demons and to the family secrets that still haunt her and threaten to destroy her and the woman she loves.

Tara’s musical career continues in its’ upward trajectory, and Reginald has a significant question to ask of his beloved, but has to seek Meadow’s advice as to how to go about it. Michael, Elin and Victoria have plans regarding Nathaniel and Henry, but must use subterfuge to see it done. Sandra and Barrington continue their quest to find a way to be together, and a new gardener at the Manor House is something of interest to Abigail, and is perhaps a way for her to express a part of herself which she feels is in need of expression. Rebecca has news to impart to Victoria, which she knows will have a devastating effect upon her, so should she tell her, or keep the secrets of the witches, and Rebecca herself must find a place to hide with her daughter, to escape real and encroaching danger. May Thomas has an idea, which rather to her surprise comes to fruition, and which will have a profound effect upon the residents of the Manor House, in both positive and negative ways. Megan makes her final choice, which leaves Sharon alone in her quest to seek vengeance for the wrong which she considers has been done to her, and Percival receives a series of cryptic notes from the most powerful witch of all, but should he trust her, thereby putting himself at the mercy of the sect, or should he hold to his own council?

Ozzy at 75 celebrates the anniversary of the gonzo rock icon’s birth with a beautifully produced retrospective of 75 key achievements and life events.

TV shows that retain their popularity over the years do so for obvious reasons: good production values, good acting, and compelling storylines. But detective stories in particular also endure because they appeal to the gumshoe in all of us. America is obsessed with crime solving. Nancy Grace on CNN Headline News, Greta Van Susteren on Fox, and the seemingly annual recurrence of the courtroom sensation all testify to this fact. And these people and cases are able to reach their phenomenal status not simply because of the media-the media only demonstrates the enormous national appetite for this material. Rather, Cold Case, CSI, and Law & Order have achieved their current popularity because they all respond to the same national craving for crime, and do so with great skill and creativity. Round Up the Usual Suspects provides a comparison of the crime fighting models and justice proceedings of each of these TV series. Each series has its own special crime-fighting niche, and each approaches its job with a different set of values and different paradigms of discovery and proof. Their separate approaches are each firmly grounded in different components of human nature — analytical reasoning, for instance, in CSI, memory in Cold Case, and teamwork in Law & Order. After examining each of the individual series in depth, Ruble goes on to investigate some of the historical antecedents in classical TV detective series such as The FBI and Dragnet. It is interesting to note that these crime fighting methodologies are extensions of the way we all process information about the world. Ray Ruble here aims to increase our appreciation for the ingenious manner in which fictional cases are broken and convictions convincingly secured, and also illuminates the deeper human elements that lie under a more implicit spotlight in these runaway hits.

Science fiction for blokes – that’s what you get. If you’re a bloke and you want action and adventure and the odd joke to liven things up this series is designed to keep you entertained as it follows a group of enhanced humans and aliens through various adventures; all entities are represented as normal people doing reasonably normal things at one moment and travelling through dimensions, Time and galaxies the next.

A powerful new collection from an award-winning poet. At the heart of Robert Wrigley's new book are the fears that find us at the darkest times and the hopes we rise to each morning. These poems explore that point where the sacred and the profane come together, that place of beauty inside the grotesque and the grotesque inside what is beautiful. The laws of nature, the commandments of capitalism, and the rules of war are transformed into songs of longing, patriotism, and dissent; we are also reminded of the grace residing in the glimpse of a horse under a full moon or the preserved lock of a lover's hair. Elegiac and lyrical, playful and angry, Beautiful Country offers a vision of a country that is unflinching, demanding, and generous.