G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, the real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite...

Alice Mattison was the 1997 recipient of a New York Times Notable Book Award. Like Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye, The Book Borrower delicately but powerfully explores the truths behind women's friendships. In 1975 the young, timid Toby Ruben begins a life-long bond with the dynamic, boisterous Deborah Laidlaw.

The Russians are furious with the English establishment's indifference to the anarchist threat gripping the rest of Europe. So Verloc, a Russian spy, is assigned a mission: blow up the Greenwich Observatory and make it look like a terrorist attack to provoke a crackdown. Should he fail, Verloc's real identity as a spy could be exposed to his vicious comrades.

"You damn bitch of an anarchist, I wish I could get at you. I would tear your heart out and feed it to my dog." This was one of the less obscene messages received by Emma Goldman (1869-1940), while in jail on suspicion of complicity in the assassination of McKinley. The most notorious woman of her day, she was bitterly hated by millions and equally revered by millions. The strong feelings she aroused are understandable. She was an alien, a practicing...

"In modern day Los Angeles, a shadowy faction led by the Governor of California develops the arcane art of combat linguistics, planting the seeds of a future totalitarian empire in Scott Moore's Battle of the Linguist Mages. Isobel is the Queen of the medieval rave-themed VR game Sparkle Dungeon. Her prowess in the game makes her an ideal candidate to learn the secrets of "power morphemes" -- unnaturally dense units of meaning that warp perception...

When an explosion kills wealthy industrialist Gregory Van Dyke, police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt presumes that anarchists are responsible and personally asks detective sergeant Frank Malloy to track them down. Malloy is up to the task, but he faces a different kind of challenge when he encounters Sarah Brandt paying a condolence call on the Van Dykes. Faced with the impossibility of ever expressing his true feelings for Sarah, Frank had vowed never...

"Praxedis G. Guerrero was born into a wealthy family in Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1882. While still a young man, he renounced his inheritance, claiming that he would rather earn his meals through manual labor than secure them by exploiting his fellow human beings. Within less than a decade, he was a central figure in the transnational revolutionary network established by the Organizational Council of the Mexican Liberal Party (PLM), which was dedicated...