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The acclaimed novel by the author of The Why of Things tackles “the Deep South during the Gothic worst of Jim Crow times . . . truly a bravura performance” (Geoffrey Wolff). “One of the finest writers of her generation,” and author of three previously acclaimed novels, Elizabeth H. Winthrop delivers a brave new book that will launch her distinguished career anew (Brad Watson). On the eve of his execution, eighteen-year-old Willie Jones sits in his cell in New Iberia awaiting his end. Across the state, a truck driven by a convict and his keeper carries the executioner’s chair closer. On a nearby highway, Willie’s father Frank lugs a gravestone on the back of his fading, old mule. In his office the DA who prosecuted Willie reckons with his sentencing, while at their gas station at the crossroads outside of town, married couple Ora and Dale grapple with their grief and their secrets. As various members of the township consider and reflect on what Willie’s execution means, an intricately layered and complex portrait of a Jim Crow era Southern community emerges. Moving from voice to voice, Winthrop elegantly brings to stark light the story of a town, its people, and its injustices. The Mercy Seat is a brutally incisive and tender novel from one of our most acute literary observers. “Artful and succinctly poetic . . . A worthy novel that gathers great power as it rolls on propelled by its many voices.”—The New York Times Book Review “A miracle of a novel, with rapid-fire sentences that grab you and propel you to the next page . . . It’s a breakout. It’s a wonder.”—Dallas Morning News
'Mesmerising, macabre and magnificent. The Mercy Chair is truly terrifying, laugh-out-loud funny, and impossibly clever. Poe and Tilly are unstoppable' Chris Whitaker 'Washington Poe is a brilliant creation, from one of the finest and most inventive crime writers of today' Peter James ---- Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . . Washington Poe has a story to tell. And he needs you to listen. You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . . He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family. And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . . Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . . ---- 'Craven renders the darkness of the human condition with immense skill, ratcheting the tension to a nails-on-chalkboard pitch. Don't turn out the lights.' Vaseem Khan MORE PRAISE FOR MW CRAVEN: 'The kind of novel that inspired me to write fiction in the first place. A guaranteed great time.' Chris Brookmyre 'Darkly entertaining' The Telegraph 'If you haven't read any M.W. Craven yet, fix that immediately' S. A. Cosby 'I've been following M.W. Craven's Poe/Tilly series from the very beginning, and it just gets better and better' Peter Robinson 'Poe and Tilly books are a joy' Steve Cavanagh 'In Tilly and Poe, M.W. Craven has created a stand-out duo who are two of the most compelling characters in crime fiction in recent years' Fiona Cummins 'Darkly comic . . . Thrilling' The Independent 'Clever, sophisticated, utterly gripping thriller from one of the best writers around' Mari Hannah 'Craven has unleashed Ben Koenig into the thriller world. Long may he raise hell in the pages. A superb thriller that will have everyone talking, and gasping.' David Baldacci 'Paging Lee and Andrew Child: you've got company' The Times
Set on September 12, 2001, THE MERCY SEAT continues Neil LaBute's unflinching fascination with the often-brutal realities of the war between the sexes. In a time of national tragedy, the world changes overnight. A man and a woman explore the choices now available to them in an existence different from the one they had lived just the day before. Can one be opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness? "There is no playwright on the planet these days who is writing better than Neil LaBute ... THE MERCY SEAT is ... the work of a master." --John Lahr, The New Yorker "An intelligent and thought-provoking drama that casts a less-than-glowing light on man's dark side in the face of disaster ... The play's energy lies in LaBute's trademark scathing dialogue." --Robert Dominguez, Daily News "Though set in the cold, gray light of morning in a downtown loft with inescapable views of the vacuum left by the twin towers, THE MERCY SEAT really occurs in one of those feverish nights of the soul in which men and women lock in vicious sexual combat, as in Strindberg's DANCE OF DEATH and Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?" --Ben Brantley, The New York Times "[A] powerful drama ... LaBute shows a true master's hand in gliding us amid the shoals and reefs of a mined relationship." --Donald Lyons, New York Post "Uncomfortable yet fascinating ... THE MERCY SEAT makes for provocative theater -- sharp, compelling and more than a little chilling." --Michael Kuchwara, Newsday "LaBute's intriguing [new play] is most compelling when it is daring to look into [a] character's heart to explore the way self-interest, given the opportunity, can swamp all our nobler instincts." --Charles Isherwood, Variety "In THE MERCY SEAT ... LaBute has given us his most compelling portrait of male inner turmoil." --Brendan Lemon, Financial Times "LaBute [is] the dark shining star of stage and film morality." --Linda Winer, Newsday "Sharply funny and incisive SEAT is not a response to September 11, but a response to the response to September 11 -- an emotionally jarring consideration of the self-serving exploitation of tragedy for personal gain ... Perhaps it's time we stop thinking of LaBute as a mere provocateur, a label that condescends to an artist of grand ambition and a nimble facility with language. With this gripping ... new drama, he probes deeper than he ever has before." --Jason Zinoman, Time Out New York "A nihilistic yet brutally honest work ... As complex and unfathomable as human motivations ... THE MERCY SEAT is haunting." --David A. Rosenberg, Backstage "LaBute risks offending contemporary sensibilities by using a historic tragedy as his turning point for a drama regarding a morally empty American ... [THE MERCY SEAT is] controversial and compelling." --Michael Sommers, The Star-Ledger "LaBute ... is holding up a pitiless mirror to ourselves. We may not like what we see, but we can't deny that -- if only in some dark corner of our soul -- it is there." --Jacques le Sourd, The Journal News
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart weaves together a story of a privileged youth on trial for murder and an entire city on the brink of panic in this suspensful and stylish Dismas Hardy legal thriller. Although he appears to have reached the top, Dismas Hardy, rainmaker and managing partner of his thriving San Francisco law firm, has lost his faith in the justice system. When his young associate, Amy Wu, brings in a high profile, controversial double murder case, he decides to sit second chair—in defense of a wealthy, privileged young man even he has trouble believing. At the same time, Hardy’s friend Abe Glitsky has just been promoted to deputy chief of the Investigations Bureau, and has trouble of his own. Hounded by a hostile media, distanced from day-to-day police work, Glitsky must struggle against a wave of violence that has put the city on the verge of panic. As the tension builds around them, Hardy and Amy’s search for the truth will take them down a perilous path, and force Hardy to face his own demons in order to clear his client—and save himself.
Have you ever wondered where rocking chairs came from, or why cheap plastic chairs are suddenly everywhere? In Now I Sit Me Down, the distinguished architect and writer Witold Rybczynski chronicles the history of the chair from the folding stools of pharaonic Egypt to the ubiquitous stackable monobloc chairs of today. He tells the stories of the inventor of the bentwood chair, Michael Thonet, and of the creators of the first molded-plywood chair, Charles and Ray Eames. He reveals the history of chairs to be a social history--of different ways of sitting, of changing manners and attitudes, and of varying tastes. The history of chairs is the history of who we are. We learn how the ancient Chinese switched from sitting on the floor to sitting in a chair, and how the iconic chair of Middle America--the Barcalounger--traces its roots back to the Bauhaus. Rybczynski weaves a rich tapestry that draws on art and design history, personal experience, and historical accounts. And he pairs these stories with his own delightful hand-drawn illustrations: colonial rockers and English cabrioles, languorous chaise longues, and no-nonsense ergonomic task chairs--they're all here. The famous Danish furniture designer Hans Wegner once remarked, "A chair is only finished when someone sits in it." As Rybczynski tells it, the way we choose to sit and what we choose to sit on speak volumes about our values, our tastes, and the things we hold dear.
When Jesus asked us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and visit the imprisoned, he didn’t mean it literally, right? Kerry Weber, a modern, young, single woman in New York City sets out to see if she can practice the Corporal Works of Mercy in an authentic, personal, meaningful manner while maintaining a full, robust, regular life. Weber, a lay Catholic, explores the Works of Mercy in the real world, with a gut-level honesty and transparency that people of urban, country, and suburban locales alike can relate to. Mercy in the City is for anyone who is struggling to live in a meaningful, merciful way amid the pressures of “real life.” For those who feel they are already overscheduled and too busy, for those who assume that they are not “religious enough” to practice the Works of Mercy, for those who worry that they are alone in their efforts to live an authentic life, Mercy in the City proves that by living as people for others, we learn to connect as people of faith.
Winner of the prestigious CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2022 Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022 'Heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp and shocking, Dead Ground is further proof that M.W. Craven never disappoints. Miss this series at your peril.' Chris Whitaker 'Dark and entertaining, this is top rank crime fiction.' Vaseem Khan, Author of the Malabar House series and the Baby Ganesh Agency series 'M. W. Craven is one of the best crime writers working today. Dead Ground is a cracking puzzle, beautifully written, with characters you'll be behind every step of the way. It's his best yet.' Stuart Turton 'Fantastic' Martina Cole 'Dark, sharp and compelling' Peter James 'You can taste the authenticity' Daily Mail Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused - he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp - but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows. As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene - and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . . Praise for Dead Ground: 'Unmissable' Sunday Express 'I've been following M.W. Craven's Poe/Tilly series from the very beginning, and it just gets better and better. Dead Ground is a fast-paced crime novel with as many twists and turns as a country lane. I can't wait for the next one.' Peter Robinson 'Dead Ground is both entertaining and engaging with great characters and storyline. I loved this first dip into the world of Tilly and Poe!' BA Paris Praise for M W Craven: 'A brutal and thrilling page turner' Natasha Harding, The Sun 'A thrilling curtain raiser for what looks set to be a great new series' Mick Herron 'One of the most engaging teams in crime fiction' Daily Mail 'A powerful thriller from an explosive new talent. Tightly plotted, and not for the faint hearted!' David Mark 'A gripping start to a much anticipated new series' Vaseem Khan 'Satisfyingly twisty and clever and the flashes of humour work well to offer the reader respite from the thrill of the read.' Michael J. Malone 'Nothing you've ever read will prepare you for the utterly unique Washington Poe' Keith Nixon 'Beware if you pick up a book by M.W. Craven. Your life will no longer belong to you. He will hold you spellbound.' Linda's Book Bag 'Craven's understanding of the criminal world is obvious in this cracking read' Woman's Weekly 'Breath-taking' Random Things Through My Letterbox '5 Stars... another fantastic literary experience and a welcome addition to the already brilliant Poe and Tilly series' Female First 'An explosive plot, slippery twists and my fave new crime-busting duo...Fantastic!' Peterborough Telegraph
The Works of Mercy introduces readers to the seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy, inviting readers to explore mercy in our everyday lives. James Keenan defines mercy as “the willingness to enter into the chaos of another,” and it is one of the central elements of the Christian faith. Over the centuries Christians have defined themselves by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick. The book explores the traditional works of mercy and also looks at how mercy enters into ordinary life, in the way we care for our families and the way we care for ourselves. The third edition features more inclusive language to resonate with readers of all backgrounds, new case studies and examples—from health care to the prison system, and new material on how Pope Francis and his papacy reflect mercy.
“A stylish whodunit . . . Lescroart [is] in his best form yet.”—People Once Dismas Hardy was a cop. Now he spends his days in a lawyer’s suit, billing hours to a corporate client in a downtown San Francisco office. Hardy’s wife and kids like it that way. Then one client changes everything. Graham Russo, a former baseball star, is charged with murdering his dying father. Was it suicide, the last desperate act of a dying man? Was it murder? Or mercy? Now, as a carnival of reporters, activists, cops, lovers, and families throng around the case, Dismas Hardy is going to trial with a client he doesn’t trust, a key witness he cannot believe, and a system that almost destroyed him once. For Dismas, this case will challenge everything he believes about the law, about his family, and about himself. Because a chilling truth is beginning to emerge about an old man’s lonely death. And what Dismas knows could put him next in line to die. . . . Praise for The Mercy Rule “Very entertaining . . . a large and emotionally sprawling novel.”—Chicago Tribune “As usual in a Lescroart novel, character dominates plot as the author proves, yet again, that resonant drama can be found in family.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “An edge-of-the-seat legal thriller that has it all—hot-button issues, deception, greed, corruption, and a labyrinthine plot that will keep you guessing until the very last page.”—Faye Kellerman
“Never underestimate the power of a group of women. Fierce, thoughtful and dramatic—this is a story of true courage." —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author She would stop at nothing to protect the women under her care. Inside a century-old row house in Brooklyn, renegade Sister Evelyn and her fellow nuns preside over a safe haven for the abused and abandoned. Gruff and indomitable on the surface, warm and wry underneath, little daunts Evelyn, until she receives word that Mercy House will be investigated by Bishop Hawkins, a man with whom she shares a dark history. In order to protect everything they’ve built, the nuns must conceal many of their methods, which are forbidden by the Catholic Church. Evelyn will go to great lengths to defend all that she loves. She confronts a gang member, defies the church, challenges her own beliefs, and faces her past. She is bolstered by the other nuns and the vibrant, diverse residents of the shelter—Lucia, Mei-Li, Desiree, Esther, and Katrina—whose differences are outweighed by what unites them: they’ve all been broken by men but are determined to rebuild. Amidst her fight, Evelyn discovers the extraordinary power of mercy and the grace it grants, not just to those who receive it, but to those strong enough to bestow it.