Neil Smith

"One minute, Oliver 'Boo' Dalrymple is next to his locker at school reciting the periodic table from heart; the next he finds himself in 'Town,' an afterlife exclusively for thirteen-year-olds. As Boo works to acclimate himself to his new home, another boy from his hometown--Johnny--appears, seemingly a victim of the same school shooter. A social outcast back in America, Boo quickly finds the friendship and joy that he never knew in life, but as he...

Power Thinking What You Need to Know...about thinking your way to a happy and successful life. We've all heard this phrase before: 'think positively.' Often, it's at times where we really don't feel positive. Although it may seem purely like a cliché, behind the apparent glibness of it lies a lot of power, indeed scientifically backed power. That's right, thinking positively really can make a difference in many aspects of our lives. Before we get...

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. "War, what is it good for?" The Vietnam War: History in an Hour gives a gripping account of the most important Cold War-era conflict, fought between the United States and the Viet Cong, the Vietnam People's Army and their Communist allies. It was one of the most traumatic military conflicts America has ever been involved in - and provoked a backlash of anti-war protests at home. Here are the key...

The first book-length study in English of composer Mathias Spahlinger, one of Germany's leading practitioners of contemporary music. One of the most stimulating and provocative figures on the new music scene on Germany, he has long been a touchstone for leftist, 'critical' composition there, yet his work has received very little attention in Anglophone scholarship until now. Born in 1944, Spahlinger has risen only gradually to prominence in his native...

"From the internationally acclaimed author of the Harry Hole novels--a new, electrifying stand-alone thriller set in Oslo in the 1970s: the story of an unusually complicated contract killer--the perfectly sympathetic antihero--that is, as well, an edgy, almost lyrical meditation on death and love. This is the story of Olav: an extremely talented "fixer" whose unexpected capacity for love is as far-reaching as his talent for murder. He works for Oslo's...

"Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a life far from the forest town, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake. Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there's something about this place...

Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers--including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages, and a plucky octogenarian--discover their unexpected common traits. Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that: a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage....

He calls himself Ulf -- as good a name as any, he thinks -- and the only thing he's looking for is a place where he won't be found by Oslo's most notorious drug lord: the Fisherman. He was once the Fisherman's fixer, but after betraying him, Ulf is now the one his former boss needs fixed, which may not be a problem for a man whose criminal reach is boundless. When Ulf gets off the bus in Kåsund, on Norway's far northeastern border, he sees a flat,...

"The latest installment in the internationally best-selling Joona Linna series sees the Swedish detective on the trail of the worst serial killer he's seen yet. Across the continent, someone is brutally murdering Europe's worst criminals. Who can object to taking out rapists, arsonists, human traffickers? But when two of the victims have a direct connection to detective Joona Linna, it's clear to him that somebody's trying to send him a message. His...

"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beartown and A Man Called Ove, hailed as "a writer of astonishing depth [with] the remarkable ability to make you understand the feelings of each of a dozen different characters" (The Washington Times), a heart-wrenching story of how loyalty, friendship, and love carry a town through its darkest days. After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow...