Empfehlungen basierend auf "Mad & Marvelous"

Random Family tells the American outlaw saga lurking behind the headlines of gangsta glamour, gold-drenched drug dealers, and street-corner society. With an immediacy made possible only after ten years of reporting, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc immerses the reader in the mind-boggling intricacies of the little-known ghetto world. She charts the tumultuous cycle of the generations, as girls become mothers, mothers become grandmothers, boys become criminals, and hope struggles against deprivation.Two romances thread through Random Family: the sexually charismatic nineteen-year-old Jessica's dizzying infatuation with a hugely successful young heroin dealer, Boy George, and fourteen-year-old Coco's first love with Jessica's little brother, Cesar, an aspiring thug. Fleeing from family problems, the young couples try to outrun their destinies. Chauffeurs whisk them to getaways in the Poconos and to nightclubs. They cruise the streets in Lamborghinis and customized James Bond cars. Jessica and Boy George ride the wild adventure between riches and ruin, while Coco and Cesar stick closer to the street, all four caught in a precarious dance between life and death. Friends get murdered; the DEA and FBI investigate Boy George's business activities; Cesar becomes a fugitive; Jessica and Coco endure homelessness, betrayal, the heartbreaking separation of prison, and throughout it all, the insidious damage of poverty. Together, then apart, the teenagers make family where they find it. Girls look for excitement and find trouble; boys, searching for adventure, join crews and prison gangs. Coco moves upstate to dodge the hazards of the Bronx; Jessica seeks solace in romance. Both find that love is the only place to go.A gifted prose stylist and a profoundly compassionate observer, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc has slipped behind the cold statistics and sensationalism surrounding inner-city life and come back with a riveting, haunting, and true urban soap opera that reveals the clenched grip of the streets. Random Family is a compulsive read and an important journalistic achievement, sure to take its place beside the classics of the genre.

At forty, Lan Davis is looking for his damned picket fence and 2.5 kids. What he doesn't expect is instead of a wife in the picture, his mind keeps conjuring up images of two men. One, his partner in the force, who is as straight as they came, the other an ex, who he'd hurt but never forgot.After an incident leaves Lan injured, the two men rally around him... only maybe they shouldn't have. It seems a medicated Lan is a truthful one.Parker Wilding is pissed at the world. His anger builds when his partner refuses medical care after an attack. Instead, Lan entrusts his neighbour to take care of him--a guy Parker doesn't trust. While he's aware they share a history,when the past is revealed, the truth shocks the hell out of him.Being emotionally crushed ten years ago, Easton Ravel hoped he would never have to see the man who broke him again. Hope is a fickle b*itch. And now he's not sure how to handle being face-to-face with the man he once loved. Add in the mix the annoying, testy Parker, and Easton finds his limits are pushed.Just not in the way he thought they would be.What happens next sure does come out of the blue.

Like the game of baseball, life is quirky and unpredictable, as Shane Hunter discovers in the spring of his sophomore year. Suddenly and without warning his life of privilege is turned upside down. And just as suddenly, life begins to seem utterly without fairness or purpose to him. Exciting, well-written sports scenes transport readers right into the stands while complex issues engage their hearts and minds. For here is a novel of loss, of morality, and of the rare, redemptive power of baseball. Can speaking the truth really determine lives? Just how does one accept, move on, and begin doing the right thing?

Last Dance by Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene When the local prom queen is found murdered in the high school parking lot, Sheriff Sharyn Howard gets a double shock. The crime scene, complete with the victim laid out in pristine fashion, is eerily similar to another prom-night murder that occurred ten years before. Sharyn's father was sheriff at the time and caught the perp, who's now on death row awaiting his execution -- just days away. Is there a copycat killer on the loose or is an innocent man about to die for the crime? Facing pressure from her mother not to destroy her late father's reputation, Sharyn looks into both murders. Soon she has proof that the real killer was never caught. Now she must race against the clock to stop an execution and catch a killer, before more innocent blood is spilled.

"Locked up in a maximum-security prison, Romeo's highlight each week is a visit from Chad. Despite his friends, colleagues, and therapist all telling Chad to stop, he can't, and he becomes the only joy in Romeo's boring, bleak life.More than his need to kill, he needs Chad to live, but a Copycat killer has other ideas.At first flattered, Romeo relishes the new killer's triumphs, but as he countdown his victims, Romeo realizes the danger Chad's in, not only from the killer, but from his colleagues, and even more alarmingly, himself.Romeo must do something drastic to reunite the Monster and the Magpie, but the Copycat is closing in on Chad fast, and he's intent on doing the one thing Romeo couldn't, concluding his countdown, and claiming number one..." -- Provided by publisher.

When you are raised to believe that the person you are is unacceptable, you hide. And you stay hidden. If you are X-Men and Dance Academy star Tim Pocock, you become an expert at hiding - until you can't anymore. Tim Pocock was a born performer. At ten, he took to the stage as a professional opera singer. At twenty-two, he launched his acting career in the blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine and went on to star in the beloved series Dance Academy. But Tim's biggest role was one he never auditioned for - the role he played at home as a devout, straight son. Raised in a deeply conservative Catholic family and attending a school with links to Opus Dei, Tim knew that he would never be accepted for who he was. Being gay was out of the question. Tim was encouraged to become a priest and experienced gay conversion therapy to have his sexuality hypnotised out of him. This captivating memoir reveals shocking details of Tim's strict religious upbringing and the institutional harms he experienced. After his bid for freedom, Tim traversed the glitzy landscape of Los Angeles, navigated the pressures of the acting industry, and made chaotic forays into the gay dating scene - all while carrying immense trauma. With unflinching honesty, Tim reveals his journey toward healing, discovery and self-acceptance. In doing so, he offers hope for anyone who is still in hiding from the person they know they are and shows how we can set ourselves free.

Navajo policeman Ben Toomey was out of his element and knee-deep in something worse than Window Rock's usual chaos. Wealthy Eden Trevoy, the little visitor he'd once adored, was back on the reservation, all grown-up--and tangled in secrets about her lost heritage. She needed Ben's help, and somehow he just couldn't turn her away. But Ben's People said the outsider would never fit into his world, and Eden had her own doubts about her newfound heritage. Yet as Eden learned more about where she came from, she discovered where she truly belonged...with Ben.

Nathaniel "Nate" Thicke is a preaching prodigy. At only twenty-eight years old, he's the senior pastor of The Gospel Truth Church. In addition to carrying on the preaching tradition begun by his great-grandfather, Nate is also just plain carrying on, wherever the spirit--and the flesh--lead him. And when it leads him to three women from the same family, bickering and backstabbing follow. Content with having his pick of the flock, Nate is surprised to discover he's fallen head-over-heels in love, and decides to become a one-woman man. But the other ladies aren't about to give him up so easily. They're prepared to do whatever it takes to get their man back--even if it means adding a few more shocking sins to their list.

A man who once thrived on wickedness and counted on forgiveness, Curtis Black has changed his ways. Back in the heart of his congregation and his family, he will no longer stray from the beaten path. Or so he's promised his long-suffering wife, Charlotte. But the sins of the past have strange ways of coming to light. First, Curtis's former mistress shows up with their newborn baby daughter—named Curtina—and insists that Curtis be a part of their lives. Charlotte has forbidden her husband to have anything to do with them, but the trouble is, Curtis's newfound conscience is leading him to have uncomfortable thoughts of responsibility. Also, the interim pastor who took over while Curtis was on a book tour is threatening blackmail. He's gotten too used to life at the pulpit and will do everything in his power to stay there.Meanwhile, Charlotte has her own previous transgressions to deal with. The man who claims to be her son's biological father has turned up and wants to make amends for the past thirteen years. If Charlotte gives in to his increasing requests, she may lose the only child she has left. However, Curtis and Charlotte have been through too much together to give up now. They must work harder than ever—as a mother and a father, as husband and wife—to save their family, their marriage, and their souls.

Marshall only wanted to help his friends, to undo the pain of the past, but a few moments of thoughtless action changed everything. Altered Realities is the tale of a changed world. All bets are off. Nothing is as it was and what is to be is transformed too. Mark, Taylor, Ethan, Nathan, Brendan, Casper and nearly the entire cast of the Gay Youth Chronicles come together in a tapestry of tales as they all try to deal with the consequences of Marshall's actions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.