Rete Bibliotecaria della Provincia di Como

Abstract: La leggenda della casa dei Baskerville narra che un demonio, sotto l'aspetto di un cane, compare dinanzi al membro della famiglia che sta per morire. La morte improvvisa di Sir Charles e gli ululati che si odono riaccendono la leggenda. Enrico, nipote del morto, minacciato, ingaggia Holmes che riesce, con l'aiuto del fedele Watson, a scoprire l'inganno, che sottostà all'intera vicenda.

Abstract: John Buchan wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps while he was seriously ill at the beginning of the First World War. In it he introduces his most famous hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an `ordinary fellow', is caught up in the dramatic race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. Hannay is hunted across the Scottish moors by police and spy-ring alike, and must outwit his intelligent and pitiless enemy in the corridors of Whitehall and, finally, at the site of the mysterious thirty-nine steps. The best-known of Buchan's thrillers, The Thirty-Nine Steps has been continuously in print since first publication and has been filmed three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935. In this, the only critical edition, Christopher Harvie's introduction interweaves the writing of the tale with the equally fascinating story of how John Buchan, publisher and lawyer, came in from the cold and, via The Thirty-Nine Steps, ended the war as spy-master and propaganda chief. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Abstract: In POP GOES THE WEASEL, James Patterson has created a formidable villain every reader will see in the shadows when the lights are out, a tender love story, a plot powered by relentless suspense and psychological thrills kicked up to an all-time high. 'It's all just a game, darling. I play with three other men. Their names are FAMINE, WAR and CONQUEROR. My name is DEATH. You're a very lucky girl - I'm the best player of all.' Geoffrey Shafter: a man who never loses, he is prepared to play the game of games for the highest stakes of all. Alex Cross: senior Washington, DC homicide detective, he is determined, whatever the consequences, to unmask the man he has nicknamed the weasel, the prime suspect for a spate of killings that Cross has been forbidden to investigate.

Abstract: Michael Brock è uno degli avvocati più in vista dello studio Drake & Sweeney, a Washington, dove lavorano ottocento legali. Un giorno irrompe nello studio uno homeless che si barrica in una stanza tenendo Brock e altri otto avvocati in ostaggio. Non si sa che cosa voglia, ma l'uccisione di quell'uomo da parte della polizia lascia Michael sconvolto. Comincia così a indagare fino a scoprire qualcosa di molto segreto...

Abstract: On the face of it, there was no reason to believe that Hannah and Humphrey Drayton were not happy and content in their marriage. However, all was not as it appeared on the surface, and after years of tyranny and loneliness Hannah finally decided that she could no longer bear this stuffy City broker. The only relief she had from his overbearing company was his absence on a Thursday evening, when he played bridge with a group of acquaintances, and at most weekends, which he told her he spent with elderly relatives who had brought him up after his parents died. In despair, and despite Humphrey's ridicule, Hannah had taken refuge in her writing, and it was a visit to the office of a publisher that was to change her life. There she met David Craventon, a man she was soon to think of as her Thursday friend. Taking advantage of Humphrey's absences, she and David would meet and talk and visit the theatre or the cinema, activities she had never enjoyed with her husband. At first Humphrey knew nothing of Hannah's 'other life', being preoccupied with protecting what he regarded as his future interests. And even when he became aware that she was seeing someone else, his thoughts of revenge were hamstrung by a secret of his own. Then an event occurred that was to destroy, at a stroke, all his prospects, causing him to plan a bitter retaliation for what he regarded as his wife's betrayal. As for Hannah, her Thursday friend was to become the saviour of her very existence - but would he manage to resolve his own not inconsiderable personal difficulties and offer Hannah the happiness she craved? With its deceptively simple theme, The Thursday Friend is a remarkable novel, one which displays Catherine Cookson's consummate ability to explore human relationships.

Abstract: Ad aprire la nuova avventura investigativa di Marco Didio Falco, l'infallibile e scapestrato informatore di Vespasiano, è una richiesta d'aiuto davvero insolita: Gaia Lelia, una bambina di soli sei anni, si rivolge a lui terrorizzata perché qualcuno avrebbe intenzione di ucciderla. Gaia appartiene a un'illustre famiglia romana e lei stessa è candidata a entrare a far parte dell'ambito collegio delle vergini vestali. Nessuno crede alla storia della bambina, a cominciare da Falco, che, reduce dalla sua ultima indagine in terra africana, è completamente assorbito da ben altri pensieri. Per premiare i suoi servigi, l'imperatore lo ha infatti investito di una carica cerimoniale che lo eleva alla tanto agognata classe media. Peccato che la carica in questione sia quella di Procuratore del Sacro Pollame, responsabile delle oche sacre del Campidoglio. Falco sta ancora riflettendo sul presunto carattere onorifico delle sue nuove mansioni bucoliche, quando gli eventi precipitano: Gaia Lelia scompare misteriosamente e il suo caso è forse collegato a un enigmatico omicidio con occultamento di cadavere che ha luogo nel bosco sacro dei fratelli arvali. In preda ai sensi di colpa, l'investigatore è presto chiamato a gettare luce sulla vicenda, che questa volta gli svela i retroscena degli impenetrabili ambienti sacerdotali. Ma ritrovare Gaia si rivelerà una delicata lotta contro il tempo e una pericolosa partita con l'ignoto, che condurrà Falco a mettere a repentaglio la sua stessa vita.

Abstract: Un pugno di ragazzi a Edimburgo e dintorni: il sesso, lo sballo, la rabbia, il vuoto delle giornate. Sono i dannati di un modernissimo inferno "chimico", con la loro vita sfilacciata e senza scampo. Alla ricerca di un riscatto, di un senso da dare alla propria esistenza - che non sia il vicolo cieco fatto di casa, famiglia e impiego ordinario - trovano nella droga e nella violenza l'unica risposta possibile