The “enormously entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) account of a shocking 1897 murder mystery that “artfully re-create[s] the era, the crime, and the newspaper wars it touched off” (The New York Times)AN EDGAR NOMINEE FOR BEST FACT CRIME • “Fascinating . . . won’t disappoint readers in search of a book like Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City.”—The Washington PostOn Long Island, a farmer finds a...

The remarkable true story of a turn-of-the-19th century murder and the trial that ensued—a showdown in which iconic political rivals Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr joined forces to make sure justice was served—from bestselling author of the Edgar finalist, Murder of the Century.In the closing days of 1799, the United States was still a young republic. Waging a fierce battle for its uncertain future were two political parties: the well-moneyed Federalist...

"Collins' ... debut novel ... is an extraordinary achievement in historical fiction that will transport readers through time while touching their hearts." —K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite ★★★★★"This is a history book, and a family saga wrapped in a novel and is an excellent read."—Lucinda E. Clarke, Readers' Favorite ★★★★★"Collins’ descriptions of his ancestors’ sufferings and the horrendous ‘coffin ships’ are harrowi...

Ming Lee - The Chinese Dragon - is the unbeaten, undisputed queen of virtual martial arts. Until she meets James Gong, fresh from his starring role in Ham Solo: Revenge of the Fist.Can their combined skill, grace and teamwork defeat everything the virtso world throws at them?Do they take down the mobsters?The bully?And just where does 'the gymnast' fit into all of this?

James Gong is training for his black belt in taekwondo. One night a camera crew turns up at training for an episode of My Life.James is sparring a white belt who gets carried away and hammers James' foot. Sparks fly in James' brain and he gasps – all caught on national TV. James responds with a jumping spinning sidekick which obliterates his opponent.This is the beginning of James' woes at the club, for he has disgraced Mr Cho, the head instructor.Hollywood Productio...

Clara lives in her balanced world where everything is perfect. Her glasshouse is free of bugs, her prized pumpkins free of blemishes. But then one day a boy walks into her life and slowly Clara realises that her world is not perfect at all. Her paranoia spreads and she loses all her customers. Finally, she must face up to the realisation that her world is not perfect, and she must make allowances and compromise if she is to survive.

"Hearteningly strange . . . Collins exhumes little-known figures [and] recounts their perversely inspiring battles against the more logical ways of the world." — The OnionHere are thirteen unforgettable portraits of forgotten people: men and women who might have claimed their share of renown but who, whether from ill timing, skullduggery, monomania, the tinge of madness, or plain bad luck—or perhaps some combination of them all—leapt straight from life into...

The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne's empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture's birth, of the emergence of our civilization into the light of day.The Birt...

"Sixpence House is the bookworm's answer to A Year in Provence." -Boston GlobePaul Collins and his family abandoned the hills of San Francisco to move to the Welsh countryside-to move, in fact, to the village of Hay-on-Wye, the "Town of Books" that boasts fifteen hundred inhabitants-and forty bookstores. Taking readers into a secluded sanctuary for book lovers, and guiding us through the creation of the author's own first book, Sixpence House bec...

"Collins elucidates, with great compassion, what it means to be 'normal' and what it means to be human." -Los Angeles TimesWhen Paul Collins's son Morgan was two years old, he could read, spell, and perform multiplication tables in his head...but not answer to his own name. A casual conversation-or any social interaction that the rest of us take for granted-will, for Morgan, always be a cryptogram that must be painstakingly decoded. He lives in a world of ...

The first complete collection of Shakespeare's plays was almost never printed. Only the machinations of several wealthy donors and publishers brought it into existence, and even then it was practically unnoticed. Many of the original 750 copies of Shakespeare's First Folio were gone before the turn of the 18th century. But a hundred years later, the greatest plays in English were rediscovered, revamped, and re-publicized, beginning the long and surprising process that secured the legacy of...

“Well-researched and beautifully written.…Collins knows how to build suspense.” —San Francisco ChronicleOn November 23rd of 1849, in the heart of Boston, one of the city’s richest men simply vanished. Dr. George Parkman, a Brahmin who owned much of Boston’s West End, was last seen that afternoon visiting his alma mater, Harvard Medical School. Police scoured city tenements and the harbor, and leads put the elusive Dr. Parkman at sea or hiding in Manhattan....