Wu Ming 1 Poradie kníh (chronologicky)

Agli inizi degli anni Quaranta, il maggiore delle SS Hans Lichtblau viene messo alla guida di un programma di ricerca che utilizza i prigionieri dei campi di concentramento come cavie, ma anche come assistenti, inquadrati nel Kommando Gardenia. Sullo sfondo degli esperimenti, la “soluzione finale del problema ebraico”, l’avanzata nazista in Russia e la colonizzazione dei territori dell’Est, poi, inaspettata, la disfatta e la caduta di Berlino. Del Kommando fanno parte Shlomo Libowitz, nato in uno shtetl polacco e convertitosi al sionismo nel Lager, e Anton Epstein, ebreo assimilato della borghesia praghese, convinto che l’unica risposta possibile alla barbarie sia il socialismo. Shlomo e Anton sopravvivono alla guerra e al trattamento di Lichtblau, testimoni scomodi di un mondo passato, eppure ancora capace di influire sul presente. A distanza di quarant’anni, per conto di mandanti diversi e in apparenza inconciliabili, i due reduci si mettono sulle tracce di Lichtblau, il quale, in America Centrale, combatte i sandinisti per conto della CIA, razzia villaggi e smercia droga. Quella di Anton e Shlomo è una vendetta tardiva, in una corsa contro il tempo, perché la vita potrebbe essere troppo breve per saldare tutti i conti. Una spy story in bilico tra due continenti e due epoche, un romanzo corale su una civiltà al tramonto.

Bezhviezdna tma je zbierka štyroch noviel – 1922, Veľký šofér, Férové predĺženie, Dobré manželstvo –, záhadných, temných, s prvkami hororu, dokumentujúcich autorovo majstrovstvo aj v tomto žánri. Je v nich však viac ako len štedrá dávka hrôzy... Prečo sa farmár, ktorého svet v roku 1922 stojí na pokraji zatiaľ netušenej krízy, rozhodne brutálne zavraždiť manželku? Prečo donúti svojho nedospelého syna, aby mu pri vražde pomáhal? Prečo sa nenápadná Tess, spisovateľka, ktorej knihy prinášajú slušné, ale nie prehnane luxusné živobytie, stane obeťou znásilnenia? Prečo je muž, ktorého život má ukončiť rakovina, odrazu zdravý, šťastný a úspešný? Prečo je manželstvo dvoch ľudí aj po dvadsiatich siedmich rokoch spolužitia stále postavené na lži? A čo sa stane, až túto zverskú a tragickú lož manželka náhle odhalí? Alebo ešte inak: Prečo je ľudské srdce schopné zla i nekonečného sebaobetovania? Otázka, ktorú si položil Stephen King, otvorila v jeho predstavivosti nové temné zdroje inšpirácie. Čítajte, nazrite do očí zlu a držte palce tým zvyškom dobra, ktoré sa proti nemu odvážia postaviť! A ešte jedna autorova rada čitateľom: „Ak pôjdete na veľmi tmavé miesto – napríklad do domu farmára Wilfa Jamesa v Nebraske v poviedke 1922 –, mali by ste si so sebou vziať ostré svetlo a všetko si ním osvetliť. Ak nič nechcete vidieť, tak prečo, preboha, sa vôbec odvažujete vstúpiť do tmy?“

He used to be on the bomb squad, but it's not until he transfers out that Chris Mankowski really begins juggling with dynamite. Rape and revenge are just the tip of the iceberg in a twisty tale that brings Detroit's denizens to life -- and occasional death -- in all their seedy glory. Electrifying, explosive, and unexpected, this is Elmore Leonard at his suspenseful best.

Roommates Kelly and Chloe are enjoying their lives and their loft just fine, thank you, working as a Victoria's Secret catalogue model and an escort, respectively. But then Chloe decides to ditch her calling in favour of a steady gig as girlfriend to 84-year-old retired lawyer Tony Paradiso, aka Mr. Paradise. Tony is a die-hard Michigan football fan, and his greatest pleasure is watching tapes of old games - with Chloe in attendance, of course, Michigan cheerleader uniform and all. One night Chloe convinces Kelly to join in the fun, along with Montez Taylor, Tony's smooth-talking right-hand man. But things go awry, and before the end of the evening there will be two corpses, two angry hit men, one switch of identity, a safe-deposit box full of loot up for grabs and, fast on the scene, recently widowed detective Frank Delsa, who now has another double homicide - and this one with a beautiful, wilful witness - to add to his already heavy caseload.

The last time Florida motel owner George Moran was in the Dominican Republic he was in a uniform and people were shooting at him. Years later he's back looking for a girl he lost -- and finding one he'd be better off without. But that doesn't matter to George while he's sleeping with beautiful Mary de Boya -- only when he discovers his lover is the wife of a former death squad general in exile with solid mob connections. Now George is bringing big trouble back with him to the Sunshine State -- as his nostalgic trip down memory lane has tangled him up in a cat's cradle of drug deals, swindles, vengeance and murder . . . and a love that's not only blind but lethal.

Daredevil Dennis Lenahan has brought his act to the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi -- diving off an eighty-foot ladder into nine feet of water for the amusement of gamblers, gangsters, and luscious belles. His riskiest feat, however, was witnessing a Dixie-style mob execution while atop his diving platform. Robert Taylor saw the hit also. A blues-loving Detroit hustler touring the Southland in a black Jaguar, Taylor's got his own secret agenda re the "Cornbread Cosa Nostra," and he wants Dennis in on the game. But there's a lot more in Robert Taylor's pocket than a photo of his lynched great-grandfather. And high-diver Dennis could be about to take a long, fatal fall -- right into a mess of hoop skirts, Civil War play-acting ... and more trouble than he ever dreamed possible.