The Cost Of Knowing

Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End in this gripping, evocative novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into the future, whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death, from the acclaimed author of SLAY. Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short. It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life. And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes. With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.

"What children's book changed the way you see the world?" Anita Silvey asked this question to more than one hundred of our most respected and admired leaders in society, and she learned about the books that shaped financiers, actors, singers, athletes, activists, artists, comic book creators, novelists, illustrators, teachers... The lessons they recall are inspiring, instructive, and illuminating. And the books they remember resonate as influential reading choices for families. EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A CHILDREN'S BOOK--with its full color excerpts of beloved children's books, is a treasury and a guide: a collection of fascinating essays and THE gift book of the year for families.

A medium offers a spiritual and psychological program that teaches readers how to better know their inner selves, understand their inherent worth, and define a purpose in life while eliminating the fears that prevent growth and success.

Realizing that her prestigious investment banking job is making her miserable, Bette Robinson impulsively quits and accepts an opportunity with a successful PR firm, a job that tests the boundary between her personal and professional lives.

The official prequel to Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales from Marvel and Insomniac Games, with an exclusive adventure that leads directly into the game itself. MILES MORALES has a lot going on, what with moving to a new neighborhood, dealing with the loss of his father, and the whole gaining super-powers thing. After a misunderstanding with the law, Miles questions what it means to be a hero when people are ready to believe the worst in you. Tempted by the power and freedom of his new abilities, Miles must decide what kind of Spider-Man he wants to be. When Vulture starts wreaking havoc across the city with his new accomplice Starling, Miles can't just sit back and watch. Teamed up with Peter Parker, the two Spider-Men must stop the winged duo before they can unleash experimental tech across the whole city. With lives at risk, can Miles step up and be a hero?

Sharon Cameron returns to the rich world of #1 New York Times bestseller The Forgetting with a companion novel as thrilling and intricately crafted as the first. Samara is one of the Knowing, and the Knowing do not forget. Hidden deep in the comfort and splendor of her underground city, a refuge from the menace of a coming Earth, Samara learns what she should have never known and creates a memory so terrible she cannot live with it. So she flees, to Canaan, the lost city of her ancestors, to Forget.Beckett has flown through the stars to find a dream: Canaan, the most infamous social experiment of Earth's antiquity. Beckett finds Samara in the ruins of the lost city, and uncovers so much more than he ever bargained for -- a challenge to all he's ever believed in or sworn to. When planets collide and memories clash, can Samara and Beckett save two worlds, and remember love in a place that has forgotten it?At once thought-provoking and utterly thrilling, this extraordinary companion novel to Sharon Cameron's #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling THE FORGETTING explores the truth and loss that lie within memory, and the bonds that hold us together.

A talisman that unmasks thoughts, desires, deepest secrets. The fate of kingdoms depends on mastering its power and protecting it... The untroubled world of young Thomas Stablehand is changed forever when he stumbles upon an unusual stone. With the thoughts and intents of others laid bare to him, he eagerly indulges his curiosity. But seeing into other minds isn’t like Thomas expected. And troubles are only beginning. Invaders attack the kingdom of Arvenon, and Thomas has nowhere to turn except to his friend Will Prentis, a gifted and ambitious leader who has risen rapidly in the ranks of the king’s army. Will is fearless, and where he leads men follow. With the kingdom on the brink, Will leads a small band on a perilous quest to thwart the invaders. Fearing his secret will be exposed, and hoping to help prevent catastrophe, Thomas flees with them. But dangerous enemies seek the stone for their own ends. As Will faces a relentless opponent whose true purpose remains hidden, Thomas must decide what price he's willing to pay to protect the stone and preserve the kingdom. If you enjoy epic fantasy with gripping action, relatable characters, and clean romance in a sweeping coming of age saga, then try the novels of The Stone Cycle now! Note:The Stone of Knowing is Book 1 of The Stone Cycle, a multi-part saga. The first part of the ongoing tale concludes in Book 2, The Cost of Knowing. The Stone Cycle reading order: - The Stone of Knowing (Book One) - The Cost of Knowing (Book Two) - The Stone of Authority (Book Three) - The Struggle for Authority (Book Four) - The Stone of Vitality (Book Five) - The Hope of Vitality (Book Six) Additional reading for The Stone Cycle: - The Seer: A Prequel to The Stone of Knowing is a complete story of novelette length that can be read independently of other books in the series. The recommended reading order is after The Cost of Knowing( Book 2) and before The Struggle for Authority (Book Four). - The Rending: A Prequel to The Cost of Knowing is a complete story of novelette length that can be read independently of other books in the series. The recommended reading order is after The Cost of Knowing (Book 2). Subscribe to my mailing list at allanpacker.com for a free copy of the ebook. Print and audiobook editions are available from a wide range of online stores.