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J. D. Robb – Calculated in Death and Thankless in Death 2-in-1 Collection (In Death Series)

Two novels by #1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb

Calculated in Death
On Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a woman lies dead at the bottom of a brownstone’s basement steps, stripped of all her valuables. Most cops might call it a mugging gone wrong, but Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows better.

A well-off accountant and a beloved wife and mother, Marta Dickenson doesn’t seem the type to be on anyone’s hit list. But when Eve and her partner, Peabody, find blood inside the brownstone, she knows Marta’s murder is the work of a killer who’s trained, yet not professional or smart enough to remove all the evidence. Eve learns that on the day of her murder Marta was assigned to work on three audits, and begins to suspect that she was killed to cover up fraudulent activity. Eve is good at catching criminals, not crunching numbers, but luckily, she has her billionaire husband, Roarke, to figure out which companies in Marta’s files aren’t on the up-and-up.

When someone steals the files from Marta’s office, Eve must immerse herself in Roarke’s world of big business to figure out who’s cruel and callous enough to hire a hit on an innocent woman. And as the killer’s violent streak starts to escalate, Eve knows she has to draw him out, even if it means using herself as bait….

Thankless in Death
The year 2060 is drawing to a close, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It’s a time for loved ones to come together. But sometimes the deepest hatreds seethe within the closest relationships, and blood flows faster than water….

For Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD, the job is a useful reminder of what she has to be grateful for this season. Hosting Roarke’s big Irish family for the holiday may be challenging, but it’s a joyful improvement on her own dark childhood. Other couples aren’t as lucky as Eve and Roarke.

The Reinholds, for example, are lying on the floor of their Downing Street apartment, stabbed and bludgeoned almost beyond recognition. Those who knew them are stunned―and even more heartbroken by the overwhelming evidence that they were murdered by their own son. Twenty-six-year-old Jerry hadn’t exactly made a good impression on all the bosses who fired him or the girlfriend who dumped him―but they didn’t think he was capable of this. Turns out Jerry is not only capable of brutality but taking a liking to it. With the money he’s stolen from his parents, and a long list of grievances, he intends to finally make his mark on the world.

Eve and her team already know the who, how, and why of this murder. What they need to pinpoint is where Jerry’s going to strike next.

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C.S. Lewis: The Signature Classics Audio Collection: The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Mere Christianity

Using allegoric narrative, stinging satire, reasoned insight, and his signature wealth of compassion, C.S. Lewis wrote highly entertaining and deeply illuminating essays and books of popular theology that revealed the shared beliefs of Christianity and explored the nature of good and evil. This collection of four of his most imaginative and intelligent works displays a scintillating brilliance that remains strikingly fresh and confirms C.S. Lewis’s reputation as one of the leading writers and thinkers of our or any age.

Collection includes:

The Problem of Pain Read by James Simmons
The Screwtape Letters Read by Joss Ackland
The Great Divorce Read by Robert Whitfield
Mere Christianity Read by Geoffrey Howard

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J. D. Robb – Celebrity in Death and Delusion in Death 2-in-1 Collection: Celebrity in Death, Delusion in Death (In Death Series)

Two novels by #1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb

Celebrity in Death
Her career in homicide has taken her into the darkest depths of New York City’s underground―and sometimes Lieutenant Eve Dallas feels more comfortable in those kinds of places than in the high-rise, high-society world of her billionaire husband, Roarke.

But while she’s no party girl, she’s managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating the debut of The Icove Agenda. This time it’s Eve, not Roarke, who’s a guest of honor, since the film is based on one of her famous cases. Her partner, Peabody, is practically giddy over rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty. Eve, on the other hand, is more likely to roll her eyes than have stars in them. But she has to admit it’s a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin.

Not as unsettling, though, as seeing K. T. Harris, the actress who plays Peabody―drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director’s luxury building. Talented but rude, and widely disliked, K.T. had made an embarrassing scene during dinner. She clearly liked being the center of attention. Now she’s at the center of a crime scene―and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster, to step into the role she was born to play: cop.

Delusion in Death
It was just another after-work happy-hour bar downtown, where business professionals unwound with a few drinks, complained about the boss, maybe hooked up with someone for the night. Until something went terribly wrong.

At first it was just a friction in the air. The noise intensified. The crowd seemed oppressive. Some sharp words were exchanged, some pushing and shoving. Then the madness descended. And after twelve minutes of chaos and violence, eighty people lay dead.

Eve Dallas is trying to sort out the inexplicable events. Surviving witnesses talk about seeing things―monsters and swarms of bees. They describe sudden, overwhelming feelings of fear and rage and paranoia. When forensics makes its report, the mass delusions make more sense: it appears the bar patrons were exposed to a cocktail of chemicals and illegal drugs that could drive people into temporary insanity―if not kill them outright. But that doesn’t explain who would unleash such horror―or why. Eve’s husband, Roarke, happens to own the bar, yet he’s convinced the attack wasn’t directed at him. It’s bigger than that.

And if Eve can’t figure it out fast, it could happen again, anytime, anywhere. Because it’s airborne….

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Ruminations From The Rabbit Hole: A Collection of Quotes From the Minds of the Masters

“Ruminations From The Rabbit Hole: A Collection of Quotes From the Minds of the Masters” is a rudimentary look into the minds of some of the most fascinating figures in history. Featured here are the words of inventors, spiritual channels, enlightened masters and ancient warriors, all with some very mind-bending things to say in regards to the management of both our inner and outer worlds.

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Thirty: A Collection of Personal Quotes, Advice, and Lessons

Thirty is a collection of more than two hundred and thirty quotes, advice, and lessons composed by writer, philosopher Emily Maroutian. The majority of the work was written within her thirtieth year and is packed with reflective wisdom and observations gathered over decades. With topics ranging from relationships, the nature of reality, beliefs, purpose, life, and much more, every reader is bound to find some value from this collection. The book is designed to be highlighted, bookmarked, and shared. Feel free to rip out its pages and put them up where they can better serve you.

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Nora Roberts CD Collection 2: Hidden Riches, True Betrayals, Homeport, The Reef

Hidden Riches

When Dora Conroy purchases a curious selection of auction items she unknowingly becomes the deadly focus of an international smuggler. She seeks help from her intriguing upstairs tenant, former cop Jed Skimmerhorn.

True Betrayals

Kelsey Byden grew up believing her mother had died when she was three. Now twenty-six, she receives a letter from her mother explaining that she is alive. But there are more secrets to be found out and Kelsey decides to stay at her mother’s splendid horse farm, where she falls in love with handsome gambler Gabe Slater.

Homeport

Dr. Miranda Jones welcomed the distraction offered by a summons to Italy to verify the authenticity of a Renaissance bronze. However, her professional judgment is called into question when the bronze is declared a hoax. Miranda turns to Ryan Boldari, a seductive—and supposedly reformed—art thief.

The Reef

Tate Beaumont and Matthew Lassiter share the dream of finding Anguelique’s Curse, a jeweled amulet surrounded by legend. Tate soon learns that her arrogant but attractive fellow diver holds as many secrets as the sea itself.

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Prairie Home Companion 40th Anniversary Collection

Since A Prairie Home Companion first went on air, July 6, 1974, a steady stream of great musicians has crossed its stage — The Steele Sisters, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Peter Ostroushko, The Wailin Jennys, Robin and Linda Williams Iris DeMent, Howard Levy — plus the radio detective Guy Noir, the Cowboys Dusty and Lefty, the librarian Ruth Harrison, Duane and his Mother, and the good people if Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. An all-star roster of favorite performers joined to celebrate the anniversary on the lawn of Macalester, College in St. Paul, a stone’s throw from the hall where the first broadcast was made. Some highlights from that show are presented here, interwoven with archival performances by Doc Watson, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Helen Schneyer, Chet Atkins, Bill Hinkley & Judy Larson, Soupy Schindler, and Tom Keith, With a memory-filled souvenir booklet. It’s been 25 years since Garrison Keillor first began charming audiences with the goings-on of the strong women, good-looking men, and above-average children in his mythical Minnesota town. Keiller’s storytelling alchemy (part literary orchestra, part gossip), gentle humor, and deadpan (or is that just Midwestern?) delivery are what have made Prairie Home Companion a stalwart of public radio. This collection commemorates the quarter century of the program’s continuing success with 15 monologues (7 of which have not previously been available) and 33 of the most (in)famous songs and jingles, including “Cowpies,” Keiller’s tribute to the brains behind the impeachment trial; “Gospel Birds”; and “The Secret Lutherans.” (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) –Natasha Senjanovic

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Flash Wisdom: A Curated Collection of Mind-Blowing, Perspective-Changing Quotes

The right quotation can change your life. That compressed idea–expressed in just a few words, a sentence or two–can shift your thinking, trigger an epiphany, alter your way of seeing the world. The wisest, most experienced, and most thoughtful people in history have left us these little thought-bombs. And this book collects them: surprising, jolting, discomforting, and comforting insights into living a full, unbridled life, questioning authority and reality, relating to fellow humans, creating, risking, loving, living with uncertainty, and staying sane in an insane world.

Poets, philosophers, scientists, musicians, artists, presidents, mystics, activists, academics, and others rub shoulders, giving us the benefit of their hard-earned wisdom, breakthroughs, breakdowns, bad choices, sudden illuminations, and lightning wit. Sharing some of life’s most important lessons are William Blake and Bruce Lee, Abraham Lincoln and Lorrie Moore, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Terence McKenna, René Magritte and St. Teresa of Avila, Zelda Fitzgerald and James Baldwin, and hundreds more.

Neatly arranged into topics we wonder about, Flash Wisdom’s rousing insights and challenging thoughts will appeal to anyone who is searching, anyone who doesn’t fit in, anyone who questions the way things are…which is to say, all of us.