The Face

Acknowledged as “America’s most popular suspense novelist”(Rolling Stone ) and as one of today’s most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human. Now he delivers the page-turner of the season, an unforgettable journey to the heart of darkness and to the pinnacle of grace, at once chilling and wickedly funny, a brilliantly observed chronicle of good and evil in our time, of illusion and everlasting truth. He’s Hollywood’s most dazzling star, whose flawless countenance inspires the worship of millions and fires the hatred of one twisted soul. His perfectly ordered existence is under siege as a series of terrifying, enigmatic “messages” breaches the exquisitely calibrated security systems of his legendary Bel Air estate. The boxes arrive mysteriously, one by one, at Channing Manheim’s fortified compound. The threat implicit in their bizarre, disturbing contents seems to escalate with each new delivery. Manheim’s security chief, ex-cop Ethan Truman, is used to looking beneath the surface of things. But until he entered the orbit of a Hollywood icon, he had no idea just how slippery reality could be. Now this good man is all that stands in the way of an insidious killer—and forces that eclipse the most fevered fantasies of a city where dreams and nightmares are the stuff of daily life. As a seemingly endless and ominous rain falls over southern California, Ethan will test the limits of perception and endurance in a world where the truth is as thin as celluloid and answers can be found only in the illusory intersection of shadow and light. Enter a world of marvelous invention, enchantment, and implacable intent, populated by murderous actors and the walking dead, hit men and heroes, long-buried dreams and never-dying hope. Here a magnificent mansion is presided over by a Scottish force of nature known as Mrs. McBee, before whom all men tremble. A mad French chef concocts feasts for the mighty and the malicious. Ming du Lac, spiritual adviser to the stars, has a direct line to the dead. An aptly named cop called Hazard will become Ethan’s ally, an anarchist will sow discord and despair, and a young boy named Fric, imprisoned by celebrity and loneliness, will hear a voice telling him of the approach of something unimaginably evil. Traversing this extraordinary landscape, Ethan will face the secrets of his own tragic past and the unmistakable premonition of his impending violent death as he races against time to solve the macabre riddles of a modern-day beast. A riveting tour de force of suspense, mystery, and miraculous revelation, The Face is that rare novel that entertains, provokes, and uplifts at the same time. It will make you laugh. It will give you chills. It will fill you with hope. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City.

The world's preeminent word-of-mouth marketing experts demonstrate how in-person social networking, not online marketing, is the secret to soaring revenues.

A revelatory short memoir from the author and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki about how her face has shaped and been shaped by her life

There was a time in screen culture when the facial close-up was a spectacular and mysterious image... The constant bombardment of the super-enlarged, computer-enhanced faces of advertising, the endless 'talking heads' of television and the ever-changing array of film stars' faces have reduced the face to a banal image, while the dream of early film theorists that the 'giant severed heads' of the screen could reveal 'the soul of man' to the masses is long since dead. And yet the end of this dream opens up the possibility for a different view of the face on the screen. The aim of the book is to seize this opportunity to rethink the facial close-up in terms other than subjectivity and identity by shifting the focus to questions of death and recognition. In doing so, the book proposes a dialectical reversal or about-face. It suggests that we focus our attention on the places in contemporary media where the face becomes unrecognisable, for it is here that the facial close-up expresses the powers of death. Using Walter Benjamin's theory of the dialectical image as a critical tool, the book provides detailed studies of a wide range of media spectacles of faces becoming unrecognisable. It shows how the mode of recognition enabled by these faces is a shock experience that can open our eyes to the underside of the mask of self - the unrecognisable mortal face of self we spend our lives trying not to see. Turning on itself, so to speak, the face exposes the fragile relationship between social recognition and facial recognizability in the images-cultures of contemporary media.

A hilarious guessing game of facial reactions created by the author of bestselling This Is Not A Book Jean Jullien tickles the funnybone once again with a book of facial overreactions. Faces are presented first, allowing the reader to wager predictions of what may have prompted such an expression, before the dramatic answer is revealed. Why the face? reads the text alongside an agitated boy with eyes and nose scrunched up. Pick up the full-page flap to reveal a whole mess of smelly items, from stinky socks to an oozing trash can, and the text, Whoa, that stinks. Jullien masterfully provides enough clues for the reader to piece together the narrative, including both predictable and surprising scenarios. Based on young children's natural fascination with faces, this book encourages readers to practice empathy and build emotional intelligence, with cleverly simplified and humorously satisfying vignettes. A brilliant addition to Phaidon's growing Jean Jullien board book library. Ages 2-4

A landmark publication offering a definitive overview of one of the most influential transatlantic magazines produced in the 1980s and 1990s Launched by NME editor and Smash Hits creator Nick Logan in 1980, The Face became an icon of “style culture,” the benchmark for the latest trends in art, design, fashion, photography, film, and music being defined by a thriving youth culture. The Story of The Face tracks the exciting highs and calamitous lows of the life of the magazine in two parts. Part one focuses on the rise of the magazine in the 1980s, highlighting its striking visual identity—embodied by Neville Brody’s era-defining graphic designs, Nick Knight’s dramatic fashion photography, and the “Buffalo” styling of Ray Petr— and its unflinching approach to journalism. Contributors included a host of writers who subsequently made their impact in the wider world, from Julie Burchill, Robert Elms, Tony Parsons, and James Truman to Jon Savage, Richard Benson, and Sheryl Garratt. Part two shows how in the 1990s, after surviving a disastrous Jason Donovan libel suit, the magazine heralded the post-acid house era of Britpop and Brit Art. However, after the magazine had become the engine of the booming British magazine industry, the end of this decade also saw the eventual demise of The Face. Including an introduction by Dylan Jones, The Story of The Face is an engaging behind-the-scenes look at the rise and fall of one of the 80s and 90s’ most influential music and style publications.

Filled with breakthrough research, the book explains how to identify the facial expression of basic emotions and how to tell when people try to mask, simulate or neutralize their expression. Features practical exercises to help build skills.

A whirlwind personal history of modern Asia, as told through his Malaysian and Chinese heritage