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Hachette Livre
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«From the start, Patterson's Women's Murder Club series (1st to Die; Second Chance) has felt like high-concept TV with a smart edge, featuring an appealing and reliable cast of four female crime busters (a cop, a prosecutor, a medical examiner, a reporter) who race along byzantine plot lines humming with blood and sex, romance and heartbreak. But Patterson is an author who will detonate readers' presumptions for the sake of story, and in the series' third installment, the prolific author, working with frequent collaborator Gross (The Jester, etc.), defies expectations in a shocking way. Readers will love him for it. San Francisco Homicide lieutenant Lindsay Boxer, who narrates most of the action, is jogging with assistant DA Jill Barnhardt when Lindsay notices two things: first, bruises on Jill's shoulder; then the explosion of a nearby townhouse, into which Lindsay rushes to save a child. With the juxtaposition of these two plotlines, Patterson jumpstarts this enjoyably convoluted tale. The townhouse, home to a greedy CEO and his family, was destroyed by members of a terrorist group calling itself «August Spies»; Lindsay's chase after the group, which commits further killings, brings her into close proximity to what promises to be a new series regular, Joe Molinari, deputy director of the Office of Homeland Security. Love blooms for Lindsay but, meanwhile, love has curdled at Jill's house, where Jill's husband is abusing her. Then comes the big surprise, and the story's remainder plays out at high emotion and warp speed. There's a calculated feel to all that happens, but clever manipulation of an audience serves Patterson as well as it served Hitchcock: his fans will only clamor for more.» |
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Desperate for any kind of a job as a wizard, Gerald, a Third Grade wizard born outside the Wizarding class, takes the position as royal court wizard to Lionel, the spoiled young king of New Ottosland, only to find himself coping with a kingdom moving ever closer to war and with strangely increasing magical abilities. Original. |
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Bestseller Meltzer (The Book of Fate) deserves credit for an audacious conceit—wedding the biblical fratricide of Abel by his brother Cain with the unsolved 1932 homicide of the father of Jerry Siegel, the creator of iconic comic book hero Superman—but the results are less than convincing. A highly tenuous link between the two murders revolves around the mysterious weapon Cain (the world's greatest villain) used to kill his brother. One of numerous theories is that the weapon was a divine book containing the secrets of immortality. After coming to the aid of a shooting victim, Calvin Harper, a homeless volunteer working in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., soon finds himself hopelessly caught up in a life-and-death quest for the ancient artifact that includes the obligatory secret societies, Nazi conspiracies, enigmatic villains and cryptographic riddles à la The Da Vinci Code. A glut of two-dimensional characters and a plot riddled with coincidences don't help. |
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If all that Tom Rob Smith had done was to re-create Stalinist Russia, with all its double-speak hypocrisy, he would have written a worthwhile novel. He did so much more than that in Child 44, a frightening, chilling, almost unbelievable horror story about the very worst that Stalin's henchmen could manage. In this worker's paradise, superior in every way to the decadent West, the citizen's needs are met: health care, food, shelter, security. All one must offer in exchange are work and loyalty to the State. Leo Demidov is a believer, a former war hero who loves his country and wants only to serve it well. He puts contradictions out of his mind and carries on. Until something happens that he cannot ignore. A serial killer of children is on the loose, and the State cannot admit it. To admit that such a murderer is committing these crimes is itself a crime against the State. Instead of coming to terms with it, the State's official position is that it is merely coincidental that children have been found dead, perhaps from accidents near the railroad tracks, perhaps from a person deemed insane, or, worse still, homosexual. But why does each victim have his or her stomach excised, a string around the ankle, and a mouth full of dirt? Coincidence? Leo, in disgrace and exiled to a country village, doesn't think so. How can he prove it when he is being pursued like a common criminal himself? He and his wife, Raisa, set out to find the killer. The revelations that follow are jaw-dropping and the suspense doesn't let up. This is a debut novel worth reading. |
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«When a sheriff's detective shows up on former FBI man Terry McCaleb's Catalina Island doorstep and requests his help in analyzing photographs of a crime scene, McCaleb at first demurs. He's newly married (to Graciela, who herself dragged him from retirement into a case in Blood Work), has a new baby daughter, and is finally strong again after a heart transplant. But once a bloodhound, always a bloodhound. One look at the video of Edward Gunn's trussed and strangled body puts McCaleb back on the investigative trail, hooked by two details: the small statue of an owl that watches over the murder scene and the Latin words «Cave Cave Dus Videt», meaning «Beware, beware, God sees», on the tape binding the victim's mouth. Gunn was a small-time criminal who had been questioned repeatedly by LAPD Detective Harry Bosch in the unsolved murder of a prostitute, most recently on the night he was killed. McCaleb knows the tense, cranky Bosch (Michael Connelly's series star--see The Black Echo, The Black Ice, et al.) and decides to start by talking to him. But Bosch has time only for a brief chat. He's a prosecution witness in the high-profile trial of David Storey, a film director accused of killing a young actress during rough sex. By chance, however, McCaleb discovers an abstruse but concrete link between the scene of Gunn's murder and Harry Bosch's name: «This last guy's work is supposedly replete with owls all over the place. I can't pronounce his first name. It's spelled H-I-E-R-O-N-Y-M-U-S. He was Netherlandish, part of the northern renaissance. I guess owls were big up there.» McCaleb looked at the paper in front of him. The name she had just spelled seemed familiar to him. «You forgot his last name. What's his last name?» «Oh, sorry. It's Bosch. Like the spark plugs.» Bosch fits McCaleb's profile of the killer, and McCaleb is both thunderstruck and afraid--thunderstruck that a cop he respects might have committed a horrendous murder and afraid that Bosch may just be good enough to get away with it. And when Bosch finds out (via a mysterious leak to tabloid reporter Jack McEvoy, late of Connelly's The Poet) that he's being investigated for murder, he's furious, knowing that Storey's defense attorney may use the information to help get his extravagantly guilty client off scot-free. It's the kind of plot that used to make great Westerns: two old gunslingers circling each other warily, each of them wondering if the other's gone bad. But there's more than one black hat in them thar hills, and Connelly masterfully joins the plot lines in a climax and denouement that will leave readers gasping but satisfied.» |
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«Dark fantasy has a new heroine.» -SFX When the dead call, she answers. Bounty hunting is a helluva job, but it pays the bills. And it lets Necromance Dante Valentine forget her issues-like struggling with her half-demon side and the memory of her lover's death. Now psychics all over the city are being savagely murdered-and a piece of the past Dante thought she'd buried is stalking the night with a vengeance. Too bad she's got no way to tell which fiend--or friend--to trust. Or that her most horrifying nightmares are gathering to take one kick-ass bounty hunter down for the count. But that's only the beginning. The Devil just called. He's looking for Dante's lover--the one he killed...» |
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Dante Valentine, the necromancing, half-demon bounty hunter, returns for a third installment in this entertaining series from Saintcrow. This time out Dante is summoned, along with her demon lover Japhrimel, by Lucifer himself, who makes her an offer she can't refuse: it seems that four demons have escaped from hell, and Lucifer wants Dante to track them down and return them to his dark domain. Though there isn't much negotiating room when dealing with the Devil, Dante strikes a bargain and accepts the assignment. With the help of Japhrimel, she recruits a posse of supernatural beings and sets out to accomplish the Devil's dangerous mission. Of course, not all is what it seems-the Devil isn't called the Prince of Lies for nothing-and soon she and her crew find that their souls are at stake. Saintcrow's distinctive heroine is a tough, sarcastic, deadly swordswoman cursed with a vulnerable heart; she makes a sharp and likable lead. Though it's slow to take off, and Valentine spends too much time musing over events from previous books, readers will find the wait worthwhile once the story kicks into high-octane gear. |
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«Boys don't keep diaries — or do they? The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to. It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary. In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion. Author/illustrator Jeff Kinney recalls the growing pains of school life and introduces a new kind of hero who epitomizes the challenges of being a kid. As Greg says in his diary, «Just don't expect me to be all 'Dear Diary' this and 'Dear Diary' that.» Luckily for us, what Greg Heffley says he won't do and what he actually does are two very different things.» |
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Whatever you do, don't ask Greg Heffley how he spent his summer vacation, because he definitely doesn't want to talk about it. As Greg enters the new school year, he's eager to put the past three months behind him...and one event in particular. Unfortunately for Greg, his older brother, Rodrick, knows all about the incident Greg wants to keep under wraps. But secrets have a way of getting out...especially when a diary is involved. |
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«Let's face it: Greg Heffley will never change his wimpy ways. Somebody just needs to explain that to Greg's father. You see, Frank actually thinks he can get his son to toughen up, and he enlists Greg in organized sports and other «manly» endeavors. Of course, Greg is easily able to sidestep his father's efforts to change him when Greg's dad threatens to send him to military academy, Greg realized he has to shape up... or get shipped out.» |
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«Felix Castor has reluctantly returned to exorcism after a successful case convinces him that he really can do some good with his abilities-»good», of course, being a relative term when dealing with the undead. His friend Rafi is still possessed, the succubus Ajulutsikael (Juliet to her friends) still technically has a contract on him, and he's still dirt poor. Doing some consulting for the local cops helps pay the bills, but Castor needs a big private job to really fill the hole in his bank account. That's what he needs. What he gets is a seemingly insignificant «missing ghost» case that inexorably drags him and his loved ones into the middle of a horrific plot to raise one of hell's fiercest demons. When satanists, stolen spirits, sacrifice farms, and haunted churches all appear on the same police report, the name Felix Castor can't be too far behind...» |
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«Et voici la célèbre Maison du Temps, appelée aussi Maison aux 365 Fenêtres — une par jour! Elle possède 4 entrées pour les saisons et 52 appartements pour les semains. Quand tu regardes cette maison, tu regardes une année. Génial, non?» Collection LIRE EN FRANCAIS FACILE: Pour motiver les adolescents et les amener à lire en français, la collection Lire en français facile vous présente des histoires illustrées inédites, adaptées au niveau de langue des apprenants et proche de leurs goûts et de leur centres d'intérêt. A la fin de chaque récit, un dossier pédagogique propose: — des histoires variées proches des goûts et des centres d'intérêt des adolescents — des activités pour une exploitation ludique du texte; — un lexique monolingue pour la compréhension des mots et expressions difficiles.» |
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«Et voici la célèbre Maison du Temps, appelée aussi Maison aux 365 Fenêtres — une par jour! Elle possède 4 entrées pour les saisons et 52 appartements pour les semains. Quand tu regardes cette maison, tu regardes une année. Génial, non?» Collection LIRE EN FRANCAIS FACILE: Pour motiver les adolescents et les amener à lire en français, la collection Lire en français facile vous présente des histoires illustrées inédites, adaptées au niveau de langue des apprenants et proche de leurs goûts et de leur centres d'intérêt. A la fin de chaque récit, un dossier pédagogique propose: — des histoires variées proches des goûts et des centres d'intérêt des adolescents — des activités pour une exploitation ludique du texte; — un lexique monolingue pour la compréhension des mots et expressions difficiles.» |
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«Un apprentissage méthodique des sons du français avec 6 cassettes. Des exercices: — de sensibilisation et de discrimination — d'intonation et d'articulation — d'entraînement articulatoire. Un ensemble d'exercices et de textes permettant de travailler les principales caractéristiques du système phonétique français: — le cadre rythmique et mélodique de la langue — les particularités articulatoires des voyelles et semi-voyelles — le problème de la chute et du maintien du «e» — la liaison et l'enchaînement — le système consonantique. Des corrigés sont disponibles séparément.» |
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LES exercices de grammaire niveau B1 propose: — une démarche d'observation et de découverte de la règle associée à un entraînement intensif, — plus de 500 exercices avec des contenus conformes au référentiel du niveau B1 du Cadre européen commun de référence. Pour chaque chapitre: — des corpus accompagnés de questions simples pour faire découvrir la règle, — des illustrations pour faciliter la compréhension, — des exercices variés, progressifs et contextualisés, — un vocabulaire adapté au niveau des apprenants, — un bilan en fin de chapitre. En fin d'ouvrage: — un index des notions grammaticales, — une table renvoyant à la Nouvelle Grammaire du Français, cours de Civilisation Française de la sorbonne. |
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«Elle referma son dossier d'un coup sec et leva sur Manu des yeux furieux. «Emmanuel Bataille! encore vous!» Manu le connaissait par coeur, ce bureau. Et il savait d'avance ce qu'elle allait lui dire... Collection LIRE EN FRANCAIS FACILE: Pour motiver les adolescents et les amener à lire en français, la collection Lire en français facile vous présente des histoires illustrées inédites, adaptées au niveau de langue des apprenants et proche de leurs goûts et de leur centres d'intérêt. A la fin de chaque récit, un dossier pédagogique propose: — des activités pour une exploitation ludique du texte; — un lexique monolingue pour la compréhension des mots et expressions difficiles.» |
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La pluie tombe sur la base de lancement française de Kourou, en Guyane. Elle a fait partir beaucoup de journalistes venus filmer, pour les télévisions du monde entier, le lancement de la navette européenne Argos I... Collection LIRE EN FRANCAIS FACILE: Pour motiver les adolescents et les amener à lire en français, la collection Lire en français facile vous présente des histoires illustrées inédites, adaptées au niveau de langue des apprenants et proche de leurs goûts et de leur centres d'intérêt. A la fin de chaque récit, un dossier pédagogique propose: — des activités pour une exploitation ludique du texte; — un lexique monolingue pour la compréhension des mots et expressions difficiles. |
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Benjamin mon amour, le soleil se lève sur l'océan Atlantique. Tout est calme. Le navire avance doucement sur la mer. Dans quelques heures, la Marie-Galante arrivera à Fort de France... Collection LIRE EN FRANCAIS FACILE: Pour motiver les adolescents et les amener à lire en français, la collection Lire en français facile vous présente des histoires illustrées inédites, adaptées au niveau de langue des apprenants et proche de leurs goûts et de leur centres d'intérêt. A la fin de chaque récit, un dossier pédagogique propose: — des activités pour une exploitation ludique du texte; — un lexique monolingue pour la compréhension des mots et expressions difficiles. |
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Le signal réveille Daylï qui saute de son lit. A peine quatre heures du matin. Dehors, le vent souffle des milliards de grain de sable. Daylï rejoint les rangs qui se forment dans la cité d'Ygg. Déjà, les Maîtres commencent la distribution. Daylï avance au pas; sa main saisit l'outil qu'on lui tend. Il grimace. D'abord parce qu'il n'aperçoit pas Capricornus, son Maître. Ensuite parce qu'on lui a donné un tambour. Pour affronter le sable et battre le rythme de la bataille. Daylï est danseur. Un protecteur de la cité. Pour Lire en français Facile, le Club des jeunes lecteurs vous propose: des histoires variées proches des goûts et des centres d'intérêt des adolescents un dossier pédagogique avec des activités stimulantes pour contrôler la lecture du texte, réemployer le vocabulaire et aller plus loin, un lexique pour la compréhension des mots et des expressions difficiles. |
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