Supping With Panthers

In 1888 Dr John Eliot returns to London haunted by the memory of a terrible expedition to a remote Himalayan kingdom, where he had uncovered horrors far beyond the frontiers of science. Yet Eliot's faith in reason is to be tested even further when the body of a friend, drained white of blood, is dragged up from the Thames, and another associate goes missing. Eliot's quest to uncover the mystery reveals a deadly conspiracy, but then, in the lair of an enigmatic Eastern adventuress, he glimpses hints of a truth yet more extraordinary, of dark and terrible pleasures, of a whole new world ... Vampires and immortals walk the gas-lit streets of Victorian London, mingling with Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Lord Byron, and Tom Holland meshes fact with fiction in this brilliantly imaginative novel of passion and suspense.

This Pivot examines a body of contemporary neo-Victorian novels whose uneasy relationship with the past can be theorised in terms of aggressive eating, including cannibalism. Not only is the imagery of eating repeatedly used by critics to comprehend neo-Victorian literature, the theme of cannibalism itself also appears overtly or implicitly in a number of the novels and their Victorian prototypes, thereby mirroring the cannibalistic relationship between the contemporary and the Victorian. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho argues that aggressive eating or cannibalism can be seen as a pathological and defining characteristic of neo-Victorian fiction, demonstrating how cannibalism provides a framework for understanding the genre’s origin, its conflicted, ambivalent and violent relationship with its Victorian predecessors and the grotesque and gothic effects that it generates in its fiction.

From Simon & Schuster, Slave of My Thirst is Tom Holland's novel following the aftermath of an investigation of a vampire attack. Dr. John Eliot's search for a missing friend leads him to the seductive Lilah--who will not rest until she has coaxed Eliot's most monstrous impulses out into the open--in this mesmerizing tale set in the back streets of 19th-century London.

Egypt, 1922: the Valley of the Kings. After years of fruitless labour, the archaeologist Howard Carter discovers a mysterious tomb, sealed and marked with a terrible curse. But what is the nature of the tomb's deadly secret? And what is the web of strange connections spreading back through millennia, to the very heart of Egypt's fabulous past? In a glorious Arabian Nightmare of lost cities, treacherous priests and daring archaeologists, an ancient civilisation shimmers into life; colourful, magical, and unutterably strange. 'True adventure stories are all too scarce nowadays. And adventure stories that have the capacity to make the reader think and wonder are an even rarer commodity. Tom Holland's latest novel manages both with tremendous verve ... a galloping page-turner' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Infamous poet Lord Byron comes to life with incendiary brilliance in this spellbinding blend of gothic imagination and documented fact. Wandering in the mountains of Greece, the supreme sensualist is drawn to the beauty of a mysterious fugitive slave; soon he is utterly entranced, and his fate is sealed. He embarks on a life of adventure even his genius could not have foreseen; chosen to enjoy powers beyond those any vampire has ever known, Byron traverses the centuries and enters a dark, intoxicating world of long-lost secrets, ancient arts and scorching excesses of evil. But Byron's gift is also his torment: an all-consuming thirst that withers life at the root, damning all those he loves. With its impeccable scholarship and breathtaking storytelling, THE VAMPYRE is a wonderful combination of fact and fantasy.

What can you do when your home is invaded by two of your ex-mothers-in-law in spirit form, you suspect your ex-husband of selling his soul to a demon, your colleague has been attacked by a werewolf and, worst of all, you have a job as a supply teacher at the comprehensive school from hell? Single mother Dora Harker hopes that the charming elderly gentleman she's met in a strangely gothic pub can provide some answers to these perplexing questions. Unfortunately, Lord Ralph Dunglass de Marney, otherwise known as Bobbity, is harbouring a dark and Wildean secret of his own... The Practical Woman's Guide to Living with the Undead is a scintillating romantic comedy with a paranormal twist; prepare to meet vampires, ghosts and demons, and face the real horrors that reside in an inner-city classroom.

This compact volume offers a compelling introduction to a group once deemed the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States, the Black Panther Party. In a time when African Americans' widespread tactic of direct, nonviolent protest was seen as the most effective way to fight for racial justice, the Black Panthers' confrontational style and critiques of local law enforcement throughout the nation defied both civil rights orthodoxy and white authority. The Black Panther Party: A Guide to an American Subculture situates the Black Panther Party within the shifting political terrain of the African American freedom struggle of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In an era when African Americans were assumed to have secured their basic constitutional rights, the Black Panther Party stood firm to remind black people and the nation that despite the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, social, economic, and political equality had not been achieved for large segments of African Americans, and that more needed to be done locally and nationally. Organized geographically, the book examines Black Panther Party chapters and affiliates throughout the United States. It covers the Panthers' most important developments and challenges, paying particular attention to local realities as they varied throughout the nation—from Oakland, California to New Haven, Connecticut.

When the first field study of the Florida panther took place in 1973, so little was known about the animal that many scientists believed it was already extinct. During more extensive research conducted from 1981 to 1986, panthers were proven to exist, but the handful of senile, anemic, and parasite-infested specimens that were captured indicated a grim future. During those early years a remarkably enduring image of the panther was born, and despite voluminous data gathered over the next decade that showed the panther to be healthy, long-lived, and reproducing, that earlier image has yet to be dispelled. For nine years, biologist David S. Maehr served as project leader of the Florida Panther Study Project, helping to gather much of the later, surprisingly positive data. In The Florida Panther, he presents the first detailed portrait of the animal -- its biology, natural history, and current status -- and a realistic assessment of its prospects for survival. Maehr also provides an intriguing look at the life and work of a field biologist: how captures are made, the intricacies of radio-telemetry tracking, the roles of various team members. He describes the devastating intrusion of politics into scientific work, as he discusses the widespread problems caused by the failure of remote and ill-informed managers to provide needed support and to communicate effectively to the public the goals and accomplishments of the scientists. He examines controversial efforts to establish a captive breeding program and to manipulate the Florida panther's genetic stock with the introduction of relatives from west Texas. Protection of high-quality habitat, much of it in the hands of private landowners, is the key to the long-term survival of the Florida panther. Unless agency decisionmakers and the public are aware of the panther's true situation, little can be done to save it. This book will play a vital role in correcting widespread misconceptions about the panther's current condition and threats to its survival.