 At the core of this book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this "divinely inspired" crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief. Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some forty-thousand Mormon fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five "plural wives," several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents. Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear-eyed look at Mormonism's violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.
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 It is January, and Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about managing and understanding wolves, as her home base of Rocky Mountain National Park might soon have its own pack of the magnificent, much-maligned animals. She's lodging in the island's bunkhouse with the famed wolf study team, along with two scientists from Homeland Security, who are assessing the study with an eye to opening the park in the winters - an act that would effectively bring an end to the 50-year project - so that the area can be manned to secure the scrap of border with Canada. Soon after Anna's arrival, the wolf packs under observation begin to behave in peculiar ways. Giant wolf prints are found, and Anna spies the form of a great wolf from a surveillance plane. The discovery of wolf scat containing alien DNA leads the group to believe that perhaps a wolf/dog hybrid has been introduced to the island. When a female member of the team is savaged, Anna is convinced she is being stalked, and what was once a beautiful, idyllic refuge becomes a place of unnatural occurrences and danger beyond the ordinary. Alone on an island without electricity or running water, with temperatures hovering around zero both day and night, Anna fights not only for the wolves but for her own survival as well.
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 Surviving murderous thieves, a nerve-racking sea voyage, and the deadly sands of Egypt with Napoleon's army, American adventurer Ethan Gage solved a 5,000-year-old riddle with the help of a mysterious medallion. But the danger is only beginning. Gage finds himself hurled into the Holy Land in dogged pursuit of an ancient Egyptian scroll imbued with magic, even as Bonaparte launches his 1799 invasion of Israel, which will climax at the epic siege of Acre. Pursuing Napoleon to France, where the general hopes ancient secrets will catapult him to power, the wily and inventive Gage faces old enemies with unlikely new friends, and must use wit, humor, derring-do, and an archaeological key to prevent dark powers from seizing control of the world. Entertaining and vividly evocative, The Rosetta Key is William Dietrich at his fast-paced, cliff-hanger best. For lovers of stirring historical adventure laden with intriguing mystery and puzzles galore, The Rosetta Key is a terrific thrill ride not to be missed.
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 Six years after her ex-husband is sentenced to death for a series of gruesome murders, Leigh Wren has almost succeeded in putting her past to rest. But the new life she has created for herself and her young son is shattered when the father of one of her ex-husband's victims begins stalking her and publicly exposes her past. Her assumed identity quickly unravels, and she becomes increasingly isolated, while friends and neighbors leave her to confront the savage history of her prior relationship on her own. As Leigh grapples with memories of her marriage to a man whom she exposed to the world as a deviant serial killer, a more deadly game of cat and mouse begins. A new killer emerges, one whose methods are frighteningly similar to those used by her ex-husband, who is on death row thousands of miles away. And Leigh and her son appear to be in the stalker's scope. Assisted only by a married couple of private investigators, Leigh delves into the mysteries her ex-husband left behind, the danger multiplying as each new revelation brings the threat closer to home. With the clock ticking down and the victims of a new, unknown killer mounting, Leigh forces herself to probe the dark corridors of her past to save her life and her son's. When the identity of the new killer is finally exposed, the truth turns out to be as twisted as it is devastating. Psychological suspense and harrowing insights drive this readable, highly entertaining thriller from a major new voice in mystery and suspense.
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 An explosion rips through New York City's Grand Central Station one morning, destroying the train Karen Friedman's husband, a successful hedge-fund manager, is riding in to work. Days later, with many bodies still unidentifiable, Karen resigns herself to the awful truth: her husband of 18 years is dead. On that same day, a suspicious hit-and-run accident leaves a young man dead in Karen's hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut. Ty Hauck, a detective, becomes emotionally caught up in the case and finds a clue that shockingly connects the two seemingly unrelated events. Months later, two men show up at Karen's home digging into Charles's business dealings. Hundreds of millions of dollars are missing - and the trail points squarely to Charles. With doubt suddenly cast on everything she has ever known, Karen, with Hauck, steps into a widening storm of hedge-fund losses, international scams, and murder. And as the investigations converge, these two strangers touched by tragedy are pulled into a deepening relationship and unwittingly open the door to a twisted - and deadly - conspiracy. With its breakneck pacing, plentiful twists, compelling characters, and abundant heart, The Dark Tide confirms Andrew Gross' place as a master storyteller at the top of his game.
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 An ancient organization more powerful than the federal government has targeted Washington. They'll stop at nothing to destroy the republic and raise an empire. The adventure begins with a mysterious military burial at Arlington National Cemetery and a shocking legacy that has explosive implications for America's existence. Archaeologist Conrad Yeats discovers in his father's tombstone the key to a centuries-old warning built into the very design of Washington, D.C. Major monuments along the National Mall are astronomically aligned and are about to "lock" with the stars at a date foreseen by the Founding Fathers. Along with Serena Serghetti, a beautiful Vatican linguist with secrets of her own, Yeats explores the hidden world beneath the capital in a deadly race to save it. America has a date with destiny, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
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 An action-packed and all-too-realistic vision of nations navigating the minefield of international intrigue, Protect and Defend is Vince Flynn's most explosive political thriller yet. The action begins in the heart of Iran, where billions of dollars are being spent on the development of a nuclear program. No longer willing to wait for the international community to stop its neighboring enemy, Israel launches a creative and daring operation that leaves a radioactive tomb in the middle of Iran's second largest city. An outraged Iranian government publicly blames both Israel and the United States and demands retribution. Enter Mitch Rapp, America's top counterterrorism operative. Rapp convinces President Josh Alexander to sign off on a risky operation that will push Iran to the brink of revolution. But when Iran recruits Hezbollah master terrorist Imad Mukhtar, and a CIA effort goes disastrously wrong, Rapp and Mukhtar are set on a collision course that threatens to engulf the entire region in war. With the clock ticking, Rapp is given 24 hours, no questions asked, to do whatever it takes to stop Mukhtar, and avert an unthinkable catastrophe.
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 In a dusty trailer park on the far edge of the California dream, Michelina wants to change the direction of her troubled life but can't find her way. When a new family settles into the rental trailer next door, Micky meets the young girl who will change her forever. Despite her deformed left leg and withered left hand, nine-year-old Leilani Klonk radiates a buoyant and indomitable spirit that inspires Micky. Beneath Leilani's effervescence, however, Micky comes to sense a quiet desperation that the girl dares not express. Leilani's mother is little more than a child herself, and her stepfather, Preston Maddoc, is educated but threatening. Slowly, ever more troubling details emerge in Leilani's conversations with Micky. Most chilling is Micky's discovery that Leilani had an older brother, also disabled, who vanished after Maddoc took him into the woods one night and is now "gone to the stars". While the child-protection bureaucracy gives Micky the runaround, the Maddoc family slips away into the night. So Micky sets out across America to find them: for the first time living for something bigger than herself. One Door Away from Heaven is an incandescent mix of suspense and humor, fear and wonder, a story of redemption and timeless wisdom that will have listeners cheering.
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 Mike held his son's hand and told him to "hold tight", and he could feel the little hand dig into his. But the crush got bigger, and the little hand slipped from his - and Mike felt that horrible panic, as if a wave hit them at the beach and it was washing his baby out with the tide. The separation lasted only a few seconds, 10 at the most, but Mike would never forget the spike in his blood and the terror of those brief few moments. Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their 16-year-old son, Adam, has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate, Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: "Just stay quiet and all safe." Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death...and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range, but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?
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 Bartholomew Lampion is born on a day of tragedy and terror that will mark his family forever. All agree that his unusual eyes are the most beautiful they have ever seen. On this same day, a thousand miles away, a ruthless man learns that he has a mortal enemy named Bartholomew. He embarks on a relentless search to find this enemy, a search that will consume his life. And a girl is born from a brutal rape, her destiny mysteriously linked to Barty and the man who stalks him. At the age of three, Barty Lampion is blinded when surgeons remove his eyes to save him from a fast-spreading cancer. As he copes with his blindness and proves to be a prodigy, his mother counsels him that all things happen for a reason and that every person's life has an effect on every other person's, in often unknowable ways. At 13, Bartholomew regains his sight. How he regains it, why he regains it, and what happens as his amazing life unfolds and entwines with others results in a breathtaking journey of courage, heart-stopping suspense, and high adventure.
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