Books published by publisher Avon

Get Shorty’s Chili Palmer is back in Be Cool, a classic novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard. But this time it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy.After a smash hit and a flop, B-movie-producer Chili Palmer is looking for another score. Lunching with a record company executive, Chili's exploring a hot new idea—until the exec, a former "associate" from Chili's Brooklyn days, gets whacked.Segue from real life to reel life. Chili's found his plot. It's a slam-bang opener: the rubout of a record company mogul. Cut to an ambitious wannabe singer named Linda Moon. She has attitude and a band. She's perfect. Zoom in to reality. Linda's manager thinks Chili's poaching and he's out to get even, with the help of his switch-hitting Samoan bodyguard.But somebody else beat them to the punch, as Chili discovers when he gets home and finds a corpse at his desk. Somebody made a mistake...

Bill Fitzhugh's widely acclaimed novel Pest Control (among a torrent of nationwide praise, People called it "stingingly funny") signaled the arrival of a unique young conjuror of comic suspense. Now Fitzhugh trains his satirical eye on the merging of medical science and big business -- with hilarious and outrageous results. Paul Symon is an environmentalist who's out to make the world a better place, but he faces too much disjointed information, public apathy and self-serving talk. Not to mention greedy despoiler Jerry Landis, venture capitalist dying of a rare disease that accelerates the aging process. Landis cares only about making more money and finding a way to arrest his medical condition. That brings him and his fortune to the wild frontier of biotechnology, where his people are illegally experimenting with cross-species organ transplantation in California while breeding genetically altered primates at a secret site in the piney woods of south central Mississippi. There's also an eco-terrorist on the loose, bent on teaching hard lessons to people who think the Earth and its creatures are theirs to destroy. These forces collide in an explosion of laughter and wonder that Bill Fitzhugh's growing league of admirers is coming to recognize as his very own.

Looking for a great piece to work on in your scene study class? For an audition? You want something fresh, juicy, well-written -- something you haven't seen in every scene book. Give Chekov a rest and turn to memorable characters and scenes from the silver screen.This remarkable anthology offers an incredible range of contemporary dialogues from the pens of the industry's finest talents -- scenes that pulsate with emotional life, scenes that live on their own, out of context. Blistering drama and caustic comedy are excerpted from the classic screenplays of James L. Brooks and Oliver Stone, and there are cutting-edge scenes from the Coen Brothers, Kevin Smith and Spike Lee. These are the scenes of today's films, a wealth of material to motivate any actor -- great scenes that will inspire and challenge you.Within these pages, actors will find emotionally charged scenes from big studio megahits and small gems from acclaimed independent films. Featuring characters ranging from the larger-than-life to low-key introverts, 99 Film Scenes for Actors is a cornucopia of cinematic classics for actors eager for their close-up.

In a time before time at the top of the world -; in a harsh and unforgiving age of ice -; courage will sustain three remarkable souls through trials as bitter as the chill winds of the eternal winter.Claimed by a brutal, despised enemy, Kiin must sacrifice her love for the sake of her tribe and the safety of her children. Left widowed and helpless amongthe Whale Hunters, Kukutux now faces the impossible challenge of surviving alone. While Samiq, wounded and a hunter no more, must take up the mantle of leadership and guide a devastated people abandoned by their gods.At the dawn of humanity, their extraordinary destinies intertwine. And throughhardship and adventure, they endure -; confronting the cruelty of man, fate and nature with the indomitable strength of heart and spirit.

An educator, top-ranked college ball player and Green Beret who served in Vietnam, Earl Woods reveals the instruction and training secrets that went into raising a child who might be the greatest golfer ever. His teaching method starts with the simplest swings: Putting, chipping and pitching, and doesn't introduce the full swing until the basics have been mastered. The book includes dozens of games and competitions to make golf fun and interesting, teaches mental toughness and emphasizes skills, posture, balance, set-up and grip. There are also some subtler points for parents to consider: when and how to introduce golf (or any sport) to their child; how to lay the groundwork for open communication; and how to cultivate the right attitude toward competition. Through an intelligent mix of instruction, humor and common sense, Training a Tiger helps parents everywhere lead their kids to love the game, and to play it with confidence, patience, proficiency and passion.

A perfect holiday novel about dogs, romance and starting over. If you loved Jacqueline Sheehan’s Lost and Found or Meg Donohue’s Dog Crazy, this is the book for you. He stood in the doorway, overweight, depressed, nearly homeless. He was a pug named Teddy Roosevelt, and he was Brydie Benson’s new full-time, four-legged housemate. True, Teddy was a bit gassy, a bit grumpy, but Brydie figured he was no worse than her ex-husband and probably more faithful. Plus, he was part of the deal: housesit Teddy and live in a lovely home rent-free.Navigating her newly single world wasn’t easy, but Brydie knew a few things: first, she was a darn good baker. Second, she wasn’t going to let circumstances get the better of her. So she began to rebuild her world—making new friends, like cute local vet Nathan Reid, and Teddy’s irascible owner, Pauline Newman. As Halloween turned to Christmastime, Brydie’s disdain for Teddy turned to a love. She realized that baking for Teddy could be just as satisfying as baking for humans—after all, dogs rarely complain. And somewhere, in between gluten free dog bones, crisp apple tarts, and Nate’s company, Brydie found the life she’d never known she always wanted.

Alice Rogers, an elderly widow, is dead, found murdered in the Arizona desert. It's easy enough to pin the killing on the teens caught driving her car across the Mexican border, but Sheriff Brady isn't about to let it go at that. Alice was something of a free spirit, with a penchant for Scotch, the glitter of Las Vegas, and a romance with a man twenty years her junior. Her hot-tempered daughter Susan suspects Mom's boyfriend -- her former handyman who moved in instead of moving on when he finished his handy work. Now Susan's furious at her brother Clete, the do-nothing mayor of Tombstone, blaming him for not protecting their inheritance by breaking up their mother's winter romance.Yet all is not as it appears to be, and Joanna is forced to put her personal life on hold to dig deeper into Alice's death, the lives of her greedy offspring, and the identity of her mysterious gentleman friend. And as the investigation gets sidetracked by ugly local land disputes, it takes some troublesome twists and turns, until Sheriff Brady finds herself wading through a murky morass of graft and corruption that may have given someone reason to kill -- and kill again.

Life is hectic enough for suburban single mom Jane Jeffrey this Christmas season--what with her having to survive cutthroat church bazaar politics and finish knitting the afghan from Hell at the same time. The last thing the harried homemaker needs is an unwelcome visit from old acquaintance Phyllis Wagner and her ill-mannered brat of a teenage son. And the Wagner picture becomes even more complicated when a dead body is woven into the design.Solving a murder, however, is a lot more interesting than knitting, so Jane's determined to sew the whole thing up. But with a plethora of suspects and the appearance of a second corpse, this deadly tapestry is getting quite complex indeed. And Jane has to be very careful not to get strangled herself by the twisted threads shes attempting to unravel.

A lawman with a hardy appetite for life and an unshakable faith in the explicable, Southern Ute Acting Chief of Police Charlie Moon is not prepared to accept a purely supernatural explanation for the recent strange events of April 1. Nevertheless, something carried off Tommy Tonompicket and his unlikely drinking companion, research scientist William Pizinski, in the black chill of the Colorado night. And something ripped the head off a man outside a lonely cabin in the mountains...and left two large, fanglike punctures in his chest. And though Charlie's eccentric old aunt, the shaman Daisy Perika, claims the gargantuan avenging arachnid Grandmother Spider has risen up from the depths of Navajo Lake, the hulking, good-natured tribal policeman feels in his gut that this is murder, pure if not simple, and most probably by human hands.