The Big Kiss Off

Cade Cain was back in town after two years in a Communist prison camp. His first night home he’d been beaten by a sadistic hoodlum and warned to get out of town fast. Now someone had planted a bullet-riddled corpse on his doorstep. Three people in town hated him - his greedy ex-wife, her wheeler-dealer boyfriend, and the big muscle man in the local mafia. But which of them ordered murder - and signed Cade’s name to the tab?

Searching for a chorus girl’s stag film, Jack LeVine stumbles on a sinister political plot Like all chorus girls, Kerry Lane yearns to get her name on the marquee. After years of high-kicking, she lands a bit part in a Broadway smash hit which should lead to better things. The only thing holding her back is her past: specifically a series of stag films from her days as a struggling wannabe film starlet. When a blackmailer demands a payoff to keep them out of the public eye, Kerry comes to Jack LeVine. Stocky, sweaty, and bald, LeVine is a Jewish private detective who makes a living by being polite. But underneath his smile lies a bulldog. Lured by long legs and a roll of crisp twenties, LeVine takes Kerry’s case. But before he can speak to the blackmailer, the crook turns up dead. As LeVine hunts for Kerry’s pictures, he finds that the heart of this case is even uglier than greed, lust, or murder. It’s politics.

In the secluded guesthouse of a lavish California estate, Whitney Marshall has finally found a refuge…a place to heal after the painful end of her marriage. Until her newfound peace is shattered by the arrival of the property's distractingly handsome heir, Adam Hunter—and she finds herself drawn into a deadly game of danger and desire. Adam Hunter needs Whitney's help to prove that his uncle—Hunter needs Whitney's help to prove that his uncle—the the estate's original owner—was murdered. But as the two estate's original owner—was murdered. But as the two begin begin to unearth the truth about Cal Hunter's shadowy past, to unearth the truth about Cal Hunter's shadowy past, it's it's Whitney's own life that is suddenly on the line. Because Whitney's own life that is suddenly on the line. Because someone someone nearby thinks she knows too much…

The Kiss of a Vampire By: Kenny Killian This is the story of an 18-year-old boy named Kevin Drexell and his girlfriend, Katie Master, as the encounter a vampire who will stop at nothing to destroy them both. To Kevin’s surprise, Katie has already encountered vampires in the past and is a semi-retired vampire slayer. See how Kevin comes to joining the very secret, elite group of vampire hunters known simply as The Slayers, the most top-secret government organization in the world.

Booklist Top of the List Reference Source The heir and successor to Eric Partridge's brilliant magnum opus, The Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, this two-volume New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is the definitive record of post WWII slang. Containing over 60,000 entries, this new edition of the authoritative work on slang details the slang and unconventional English of the English-speaking world since 1945, and through the first decade of the new millennium, with the same thorough, intense, and lively scholarship that characterized Partridge's own work. Unique, exciting and, at times, hilariously shocking, key features include: unprecedented coverage of World English, with equal prominence given to American and British English slang, and entries included from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Ireland, and the Caribbean emphasis on post-World War II slang and unconventional English published sources given for each entry, often including an early or significant example of the term’s use in print. hundreds of thousands of citations from popular literature, newspapers, magazines, movies, and songs illustrating usage of the headwords dating information for each headword in the tradition of Partridge, commentary on the term’s origins and meaning New to this edition: A new preface noting slang trends of the last five years Over 1,000 new entries from the US, UK and Australia New terms from the language of social networking Many entries now revised to include new dating, new citations from written sources and new glosses The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a spectacular resource infused with humour and learning – it’s rude, it’s delightful, and it’s a prize for anyone with a love of language.

From tiny ants to enormous elephants, there’s a kiss for everyone in this warm and cozy feel-good story. Includes audio! Find out if worms kiss underground, with the soil all around, or if fish kiss with a splash and a splish in this eBook with audio. With an irresistible text that begs to be read aloud and adorable illustrations, parents and grandparents will love sharing this collection of affection with the youngest of readers.

Entry includes attestations of the head word's or phrase's usage, usually in the form of a quotation. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The hard-boiled private detective is among the most recognizable characters in popular fiction since the 1920s--a tough product of a violent world, in which police forces are inadequate and people with money can choose private help when facing threatening circumstances. Though a relatively recent arrival, the hard-boiled detective has undergone steady development and assumed diverse forms. This critical study analyzes the character of the hard-boiled detective, from literary antecedents through the early 21st century. It follows change in the novels through three main periods: the Early (roughly 1927-1955), during which the character was defined by such writers as Carroll John Daly, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler; the Transitional, evident by 1964 in the works of John D. MacDonald and Michael Collins, and continuing to around 1977 via Joseph Hansen, Bill Pronzini and others; and the Modern, since the late 1970s, during which such writers as Loren D. Estleman, Liza Cody, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton and many others have expanded the genre and the detective character. Themes such as violence, love and sexuality, friendship, space and place, and work are examined throughout the text. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.