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Book Gold Bloody Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : James Westgate Snell
  • Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Release : 2017-01-29
  • ISBN : 9781540729569
  • Pages : 304 pages

Download or read book Gold Bloody Gold written by James Westgate Snell and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-01-29 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I just finished "Gold Bloody Gold" and I am very impressed. Drawing the reader through a decades-long personal journey, Snell has opened up his fascinating family past in the hopes of personal catharsis and the long overdue service of justice. From the snows of Alaska to the streets of Vancouver, the rivers of B.C. to the sands of Mali to the rains of London, Snell takes the reader through the pivotal events of his and his father's lives. These include so much more than the average geological mapping trip! Near-death wilderness adventures, plane crashes, assassination attempts, and explosions keep the pace moving, and the stories are peppered throughout with animated characters, including the many unscrupulous people who flood the ranks of the mining industry. The fall-out from this unmitigated greed and lack of recognition exacerbated the mental illness in his father, and led to the dissolution of Snell's family. The stunning injustice perpetrated on Snell's father (and highlighted by his tragic suicide) ultimately formed the nucleus around which Snell, infused with renewed purpose, crafted his amazing narrative. A personal and poignant memoir full of vivid descriptions of family and foe, and battles with both corruption with mental health, "Gold Bloody Gold" is an incredulous yet true story of the real discovery of the richest gold mine in the world. It is the story of how the men surrounding its discovery manipulated and conned their way to riches, all at the expense of the true genius who found it. Finally, it is the story of the author's struggle with coming to terms with his own mental issues and his father's complicated legacy. Inspiring, exciting, and revealing - it is a must read for any adventure enthusiast, explorer, traveler, and geologist. I even want to try hang gliding after reading Snell's life-like descriptions of rising thousands of feet skyward..."up, up the long delirious burning blue." Jonathon Perrin

Book Blood And Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : Anne Rice
  • Publisher : Random House
  • Release : 2008-12-02
  • ISBN : 1409036685
  • Pages : 752 pages

Download or read book Blood And Gold written by Anne Rice and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-12-02 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SHOW, FROM THE NETWORK BEHIND THE WALKING DEAD '[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes '[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon The 8th novel in Anne Rice's internationally bestselling Vampire Chronicles Here is the glorious and sinister life of Marius: patrician by birth, scholar by choice and one of the oldest vampires of them all. From his genesis in ancient Rome, to his present day we follow the story of this aristocratic and powerful killer. His is a tale that spans the breadth of time. When the Visigoths sack his city, Marius is there; with the resurgence of the glory of Rome, he is there, still searching for his lost love Pandora. So prevalent is Marius that it is he who gives the dark gift to the illustrious vampire Armand. Intertwined with the stories of a magnificent Pantheon of the undead this account of Marius is the most wondrous and mind-blowing of them all.

Book Blood  Fire   Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : Estelle Paranque
  • Publisher : Hachette Books
  • Release : 2022-12-06
  • ISBN : 0306830531
  • Pages : 354 pages

Download or read book Blood Fire Gold written by Estelle Paranque and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2022-12-06 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, "10 BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF 2022"** **HISTORY TODAY, "BOOKS OF THE YEAR (2022)"** A brilliant and beautifully written deep dive into the complicated relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici, two of the most powerful women in Renaissance Europe who shaped each other as profoundly as they shaped the course of history. Sixteenth-century Europe was a hostile world dominated by court politics and patriarchal structures, and yet against all odds, two women rose to power: Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. One a young Virgin Queen who ruled her kingdom alone, and the other a more experienced and clandestine leader who used her children to shape the dynasties of Europe, much has been written about these shrewd and strategic sovereigns. But though their individual legacies have been heavily scrutinized, nothing has been said of their complicated relationship—thirty years of camaraderie, competition, and conflict that forever changed the face of Europe. In Blood, Fire, and Gold, historian Estelle Paranque offers a new way of looking at two of history's most powerful women: through the eyes of the other. Drawing on their private correspondence and brand-new research, Paranque shows how Elizabeth and Catherine navigated through uncharted waters that both united and divided their kingdoms, maneuvering between opposing political, religious, and social objectives—all while maintaining unprecedented power over their respective domains. Though different in myriad ways, their fates and lives remained intertwined of the course of three decades, even as the European geo-politics repeatedly set them against one another. Whether engaged in bloody battles or peaceful accords, Elizabeth and Catherine admired the force and resilience of the other, while never forgetting that they were, first and foremost, each other's true rival. This is a story of two remarkable visionaries: a story of blood, fire, and gold. It is also a tale of ceaseless calculation, of love and rivalry, of war and wisdom, and—above all else—of the courage and sacrifice it takes to secure and sustain power as a woman in a male-dominated world. A Times' "Book of the Week"

Book Blood and Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : Anne Rice
  • Publisher : Knopf
  • Release : 2001-10-16
  • ISBN : 0679454497
  • Pages : 480 pages

Download or read book Blood and Gold written by Anne Rice and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2001-10-16 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The Vampire Chronicles continue as the great vampire Marius returns. The golden-haired Marius, true Child of the Millennia, once mentor to The Vampire Lestat, always and forever the conscientious foe of the Evil Doer, reveals in his own intense yet inti- mate voice the secrets of his two-thousand-year existence. Once a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, kidnapped and made a “blood god” by the Druids, Marius becomes the embittered protector of Akasha and Enkil, Queen and King of the vampires, in whom the core of the supernatural race resides. We follow him through his heartbreaking abandonment of the vampire Pandora. Through him we see the fall of pagan Rome to the Emperor Constantine and the horrific sack of the Eternal City itself at the hands of the Visigoths. Bravely, Marius seeks a new civilization in the midst of glittering Constantinople, only to meet with the blood drinker Eudoxia. We see him ultimately returning to his beloved Italy, where after the horrors of the Black Death, he is restored by the beauty of the Renaissance. We see him become a painter living dangerously yet happily among mortals, giving his heart to the great Botticelli, to the bewitching courtesan Bianca, and to the mysterious young apprentice Armand. Moving from Rome to Florence, Venice, and Dresden, and to the English castle of the secret scholarly order of the Talamasca, the novel reaches its dramatic finale in our own time, deep in the jungle where Marius, having told his life story, seeks some measure of justice from the oldest vampires in the world.

Book Bloody Gold in Yellowstone

    Book Details:
  • Author : Raymond N. Kieft
  • Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
  • Release : 2017-11-16
  • ISBN : 1543464785
  • Pages : 204 pages

Download or read book Bloody Gold in Yellowstone written by Raymond N. Kieft and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A graduate student, conducting research on the Crow Reservation in Wyoming for her PhD, discovers a sketch on a piece of old birch bark that may show the location of gold hidden more than 100 years earlier by a Crow chief. When Beth Richardsons niece, who lives with the graduate student, goes missing, Parker Williams joins Beth in a desperate search throughout Yellowstone National Park to find her. The shooting of a Yellowstone security official and two murders in Yellowstone complicate the search and bring bizarre twists and turns that culminate in confronting a foundation of the American justice system with ethical and legal questions.

Book Iron Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pierce Brown
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2018-01-16
  • ISBN : 0425285928
  • Pages : 652 pages

Download or read book Iron Gold written by Pierce Brown and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the epic next chapter of the Red Rising Saga, the #1 bestselling author of Morning Star pushes the boundaries of one of the boldest series in fiction. “Mature science fiction existing within the frame of blazing space opera . . . done in a style [that] borders on Shakespearean.”—NPR (One of the Best Books of the Year) They call him father, liberator, warlord, Slave King, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the war-torn planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-third of his life. A decade ago Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society. But the Rising has shattered everything: Instead of peace and freedom, it has brought endless war. Now he must risk all he has fought for on one last desperate mission. Darrow still believes he can save everyone, but can he save himself? And throughout the worlds, other destinies entwine with Darrow’s to change his fate forever: A young Red girl flees tragedy in her refugee camp, and achieves for herself a new life she could never have imagined. An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life. And Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the Sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes. Red Rising was the story of the end of one universe. Iron Gold is the story of the creation of a new one. Witness the beginning of a stunning new saga of tragedy and triumph from masterly New York Times bestselling author Pierce Brown. Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER

Book Rivers of Blood  Rivers of Gold

Download or read book Rivers of Blood Rivers of Gold written by Mark Cocker and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the conquest of Mexico, the British onslaught on the Tasmanian Aborigines, the uprooting of the Apaches, and the German campaign against the tribes of southwest Africa, Cocker illuminates the fundamental experiences that underlie colonial expansion around the globe.

Book Red Rising

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pierce Brown
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2014-01-28
  • ISBN : 0345539796
  • Pages : 414 pages

Download or read book Red Rising written by Pierce Brown and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2014-01-28 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. “Red Rising ascends above a crowded dys­topian field.”—USA Today ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness “I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.” “I live for you,” I say sadly. Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.” Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so. Praise for Red Rising “[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”—Entertainment Weekly “Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler “Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER

Book The Bloody Book of Blood

    Book Details:
  • Author : Kelly Regan Barnhill
  • Publisher : Capstone
  • Release : 2009-07
  • ISBN : 1429633522
  • Pages : 33 pages

Download or read book The Bloody Book of Blood written by Kelly Regan Barnhill and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ouch! You scraped your knee and now gross blood is oozing out of the wound. What is that icky, sticky red stuff anyway? Look inside to learn all about blood, and how it keeps you healthy and strong.

Book Witches Steeped in Gold

Download or read book Witches Steeped in Gold written by Ciannon Smart and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes. Divided by their order. United by their vengeance. Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom—and vengeance. Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power. Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain—except the lengths they will go to win this game. "A thundering waterfall of magic, vengeance and intrigue." —Samantha Shannon, New York Times & Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Bone Season.

Book Empress Crowned in Red

Download or read book Empress Crowned in Red written by Ciannon Smart and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Roseanne A. Brown, this highly anticipated sequel to Witches Steeped in Gold finds rival witches Jaz and Iraya in an alliance that hangs by a thread, with a brand-new enemy on the horizon. The Doyenne is dead, and the throne is empty. Iraya, her revenge taken and magic unfettered, turns her sights on a bigger goal: freeing Aiyca for the Obeah. But first she must shed the guise of the rogue warrior and become the Lost Empress her people need. Jazmyne’s mother has been overthrown, but her people aren’t ready to call her doyenne. She’s no stranger to a fight, though, and she’s prepared to go to extreme lengths—and court ruthless danger—to secure her title. But a new threat is awakening—an enemy with vicious intent and an army of nightmares from beyond the veil. An enemy who has waited a decade to strike, who would claim both Iraya’s birth right and Jazmyne’s bloody crown. Trust is scarce, and betrayal a breath away. And Iraya and Jazmine must once again turn to each other—after all, better the witch you know than the nightmare you don’t. The war has just begun.

Book A Bargain of Blood and Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : Kristin Jacques
  • Publisher :
  • Release : 2021-04-27
  • ISBN : 9781648980602
  • Pages : 280 pages

Download or read book A Bargain of Blood and Gold written by Kristin Jacques and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A novice hunter with a mission. A five-hundred-year-old vampire with a strong sense of irony. A town plagued by creatures in need of saving. When Johnathan Newman arrives in Cress Haven, the last thing he expects is for his life to be irrevocably changed. Sent by a clandestine league of vampire hunters to investigate a string of murders, signs point to a vampire lurking amid the townsfolk. Johnathan's attempt to enlist the locals leads him to an unlikely partnership with Vic, the town's most eligible, enigmatic bachelor. As the pair work to solve the mystery, Vic's secrets come back to bite him. Revealed, the vampire fights his attraction to a man trained to destroy him, while Johnathan's emotions land him in the middle of forbidden desires. Even if Vic isn't the murderer, how can Johnathan yearn for his natural enemy? As Vic leads Johnathan into encounters with terrifying beings straight from children's nightmares, Johnathan learns that not only is the world stranger than he knew, but that those he once trusted have far darker intentions that will place hunter and vampire at the center of a conflict between realms. Cress Haven holds more sinister secrets than its resident vampire, a secret so great, it could unleash Hell itself.

Book Golden Son

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pierce Brown
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2015-01-06
  • ISBN : 0345539826
  • Pages : 508 pages

Download or read book Golden Son written by Pierce Brown and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2015-01-06 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR, BUZZFEED, AND BOOKLIST • “Gripping . . . On virtually every level, this is a sequel that hates sequels—a perfect fit for a hero who already defies the tropes. [Grade:] A”—Entertainment Weekly As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within. A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people. He must live for more. Praise for Golden Son “Stirring . . . Comparisons to The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones series are inevitable, for this tale has elements of both.”—Kirkus Reviews “Brown writes layered, flawed characters . . . but plot is his most breathtaking strength. . . . Every action seems to flow into the next.”—NPR Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER

Book A Deadly Shade of Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : John D. MacDonald
  • Publisher : Random House
  • Release : 2013-01-08
  • ISBN : 030782666X
  • Pages : 418 pages

Download or read book A Deadly Shade of Gold written by John D. MacDonald and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “John D. MacDonald was the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King With an Introduction by Lee Child When Travis McGee picks up the phone and hears a voice from his past, he can’t help it: He has to meddle. Especially when he has the chance to reunite Sam Taggart, a reckless, restless man like himself, with the woman who’s still waiting for him. But what begins as a simple matchmaking scheme soon becomes a bloody chase that takes McGee to Mexico, a beautiful country from which he hopes to return alive. Deception. Betrayal. Heartbreak. When Sam left his girlfriend, Nora, and vanished from Fort Lauderdale, no one was surprised. But when he shows up three years later lying in a pool of his own blood, people start to ask questions. And his old friend Travis McGee is left to find answers. But all he has to go on are a gold Aztec idol and a very angry ex-girlfriend. Is that enough to find his friend’s killer? And when the truth is as terrifying as this, does he really want answers after all? Praise for A Deadly Shade of Gold “Travis McGee is the last of the great knights-errant: honorable, sensual, skillful, and tough. I can’t think of anyone who has replaced him. I can’t think of anyone who would dare.”—Donald Westlake “John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field.”—Mary Higgins Clark

Book Chasing Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : George M Taber
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2014-12-15
  • ISBN : 1605987115
  • Pages : 521 pages

Download or read book Chasing Gold written by George M Taber and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-12-15 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the entire history of human civilization, gold has enraptured people around the globe. The Nazis was no less enthralled by it, and felt that gold was the solution to funding Hitler's war machine. Gold was also on the mind of FDR across the Atlantic, as he worked with Europe's other leaders to bring the United States and the rest of the world out of a severe depression. FDF was hardly the first head of state to turn to gold in difficult times. Throughout history, it has been the refuge of both nations and people in trouble, working at times when nothing else does. Desperate people can buy a loaf of bread or bribe a border guard. Gold can get desperate nations oil to keep tanks running or munitions to fight a war. If the price is right, there is always someone somewhere willing to buy or sell gold. And it was to become the Nazi's most important medium of exchange during the war. Chasing Gold is the story of how the Nazis attempted to grab Europe’s gold to finance history’s bloodiest war. It is filled with high drama and close escapes, laying bare the palate of human emotions. Walking through the tale are giants of world history, as well as ordinary people called upon to undertake heroic action in an extraordinary time.

Book Green Fairy

    Book Details:
  • Author : Kyell Gold
  • Publisher : Kyell Gold
  • Release : 2012-07-15
  • ISBN : 0985777818
  • Pages : 255 pages

Download or read book Green Fairy written by Kyell Gold and published by Kyell Gold. This book was released on 2012-07-15 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If Sol can just survive his last year of high school, he can escape his homophobic small town and go live with his Internet boyfriend for the summer. But when he loses his starting spot on the baseball team and converts to vegetarianism--a wolf, giving up meat!--his father threatens him with a hot, muggy summer working in the peach cannery unless he gets his act together. His teammates, who suspect his sexuality already, won't make it easy for him. But even with nobody on his side but his best friend Meg (who is even less popular than he is), the teenager finds answers and solace in an unlikely place: a 1901 book about a tragic gay romance in the bohemian district of Lutece, around the famed Moulin Rouge. Inspired by the spirit of the era, Meg and Sol share a glass of absinthe, with startling effect: Sol begins to dream that he is a cabaret dancer named Niki, offered a chance to escape his difficult life through romance--at the price of his beloved art of dance. When the dreams seep into his waking life, Sol adds "going crazy" to his worries, and the problems of a couple that lived a hundred years ago to the ever-growing list of his own. To save both Niki and himself, Sol will have to learn the difference between reality and illusion, and discover what love and life mean to him.

Book Gold

    Book Details:
  • Author : Chris Cleave
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2012-07-03
  • ISBN : 1451672748
  • Pages : 372 pages

Download or read book Gold written by Chris Cleave and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-07-03 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on the tradition of Little Bee, Chris Cleave again writes with elegance, humor, and passion about friendship, marriage, parenthood, tragedy, and redemption. What would you sacrifice for the people you love? KATE AND ZOE met at nineteen when they both made the cut for the national training program in track cycling—a sport that demands intense focus, blinding exertion, and unwavering commitment. They are built to exploit the barest physical and psychological edge over equally skilled rivals, all of whom are fighting for the last one tenth of a second that separates triumph from despair. Now at thirty-two, the women are facing their last and biggest race: the 2012 Olympics. Each wants desperately to win gold, and each has more than a medal to lose. Kate is the more naturally gifted, but the demands of her life have a tendency to slow her down. Her eight-year-old daughter Sophie dreams of the Death Star and of battling alongside the Rebels as evil white blood cells ravage her personal galaxy—she is fighting a recurrence of the leukemia that nearly killed her three years ago. Sophie doesn’t want to stand in the way of her mum’s Olympic dreams, but each day the dark forces of the universe seem to be massing against her. Devoted and self-sacrificing Kate knows her daughter is fragile, but at the height of her last frenzied months of training, might she be blind to the most terrible prognosis? Intense, aloof Zoe has always hovered on the periphery of real human companionship, and her compulsive need to win at any cost has more than once threatened her friendship with Kate—and her own sanity. Will she allow her obsession, and the advantage she has over a harried, anguished mother, to sever the bond they have shared for more than a decade? Echoing the adrenaline-fueled rush of a race around the Velodrome track, Gold is a triumph of superbly paced, heart-in-throat storytelling. With great humanity and glorious prose, Chris Cleave examines the values that lie at the heart of our most intimate relationships, and the choices we make when lives are at stake and everything is on the line.