Author:Richard North Patterson
The setting is Steelton, a struggling Midwestern town trying to save its decaying inner city by building a major league baseball stadium. Dark Lady introduces Assistant County Prosecutor Stella Marz, who has escaped her alcoholic father and working class background to become head of the Prosecutor's homicide unit. Her ambition is to become County Prosecutor. But this ambition, indeed her very survival, is threatened when her ex-lover Jack Kovak, a drug lawyer, is murdered, and Stella leads the investigation. There are more deaths and revelations about Jack Kovak's dealings with the city's crime lord, and a trail of wrong-doing, that implicates officers in law enforcement, possibly within her own office. As her inquiry draws her into a re-examination of her own complex past, her certainty that she is being watched and followed, leads her to fear for her own future.
The Jane Austen of our time
—— Harpers and QueenAmis can out-sentence practically anyone. The firecracker returns of phrase are not just audacious, they're also accurate... Like Nabokov, Amis makes writing seem fun, serious fun
—— Geoff Dyer , GuardianAmis is as talented a journalist as he is a novelist, but these essays all manifest an unusual extra quality, one that is not unlike friendship. He makes an effort; he makes readers feel that they are the only person there
—— Rachel Cusk , The TimesA superb journalist... It is Amis's jaunty, appalled and always avid watchfulness that makes in this collection true and truly enjoayable... Visiting Mrs Nabokov is a suitcase full of treats
—— John Banville , Irish TimesSabbath explodes some mad genie out of his bottle... Sabbath's Theater has more firestorming prose than any other novel I have read this year
—— ObserverA work of near-heroic vitality and cunning
—— Sunday TelegraphAbsolutely filthy book with one of the most unpleasantly priapic and desperate anti-heroes in modern literature. A delight
—— Nigel Lindsay , Daily ExpressThis is the first of Roth’s late masterworks, and the most powerful
—— Orlando Figes , The Week[American Pastoral] is gorgeously written with passages of breathtaking beauty filled with wisdom and pathos
—— Sarfraz Manzoor , WeekA simple beautiful ending to a deeply sombre book
—— Scotland on SundayThere is enough plot for several novels here (enough sex for dozens), all vividly conveyed in the author's excitable style... Her many fans will not be disappointed
—— Literary ReviewHarris does it again with this brilliantly told tale.
—— THE SUNVoluptuous helpings of magic, mystery, love and, of course, mouthwatering discriptions of her favourite chocolates, combine to make a rich, satisfying story that should keep you riveted to your sun lounger page after page
—— SHE magazineThe Lollipop Shoes is a sensory fantasy, Harris writes with an original and satisfying poetic flair.
—— DAILY TELEGRAPH...the magic still enchants
—— MAIL ON SUNDAY...a sumptuous treat.
—— HEAT Magazine, May 2007...a sensory fantasy, Harris writes with an original and satisfying poetic flair. Harris is a delicious treat.
—— DAILY TELEGRAPHThis novel has the richness of the best quality dark chocolate.
—— INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYSparkling black comedy
—— PlayPearson is a hilarious author who captures the guilt and the exhaustion of the working mother's life perfectly
—— Dublin DailyIt's the incisive details and Pearson's vivid writing that propel the story
—— New York Times BooksSmart book...great fun
—— New York TimesPearson is insightful, witty and full of fun
—— Daily TelegraphWonderfully warm, witty and intelligent
—— Sunday independentA Bible for the working woman
—— Oprah WinfreyHer social observation is unerringly accurate...so beautifully written that it brought tears to my eyes, as well as a wry smile
—— Daily TelegraphPearson...to write a novel...that has already sold a gazillion copies and is going to become a film. Hats off to you, madam!
—— Ok MagazineShe will...make you laugh
—— Culture, Sunday TimesPearson...has made it all fresh again
—— TimeEntertaining, compulsively readable, and brilliantly written
—— Daily CandyHilarious and...poignant
—— Publisher's WeeklyThis terrific novel is alternately hilarious and sad
—— UpfrontIt may change your life
—— The ObserverPearson is a very witty and moving writer. Her prose is spare and skilful...waspish truisms and spot-on social observations
—— Daily ExpressIntelligent, witty and of-the-moment, it mixes sassy, brittle perceptions with barefaced sentimentality
—— The Herald, GlasgowBrilliantly captures and defines the mood of the moment...sparkling wit and razor sharp insights
—— XW MagazineSharply observed and frequently funny
—— Evening Standard