What Jesse James was to the United States, Lampião was to Brazil, and then some. With a band that at times numbered a hundred or more, this notorious bandit confronted state armies on more than equal terms and cowed political bosses, virtually dominating large sections of his native northeastern backlands during the 1920s and 1930s. Although Lampião was often brutal and merciless, his occasional acts of compassion, together with his exploits, have made him a folk figure in Brazil. Based on contemporary news accounts, archival materials, and extensive interviews by the author, this book presents the first systematic and reliable account of the famed desperado. Examining Lampião's career from his boyhood in Pernambuco to his death at Angicos, Chandler sorts fact from fiction and places the bandit in the context of the backlands, where in the early part of this century becoming a cangaceiro (bandit) was as natural and attractive to the son of a tenant or small farmer as taking a degree in law or medicine was for the sons of the Recife or Salvador elite. Chandler sees Lampião and other cangaceiros as the inevitable products of a lawless society in which frontier conditions reminiscent of the American West persisted far into the twentieth century.

Tristan d'Arcenne is what he always wished to be -- Vianne di Rocancheil's Consort. But Vianne is no more a noblewoman, she is the Queen of Arquitaine, faced with treachery, invasion, war, and a Consort whose secrets may well shatter their marriage. For before Tristan was hers, he belonged to a King. . .and that King died by Tristan's hand. Arquitaine needs them both. The country is locked in a deadly game whose rules change by the moment. The Queen is an adept player, but hardly ruthless enough. The contest requires a man who has nothing to lose, a man who has already done the worst and will continue to do so for his wife, his country, and his own salvation. The Bandit King approaches. . .

Journalist Casey McConnell went to Sicily to interview outlaw-turned-hero Antonio "Toto" Butera. But when she got there, it was Rico, the old bandit's son, who stole her heart. Dark, exotic and muy macho, Rico's touch was gentler than the Mediterranean breeze. But they lived world's apart, and Casey feared that the most thrilling love of her life was destined to become a memory.

South Austin redneck meets Mayan surrealism. Disillusioned by the complacency of modern American society and generally bored, Dylan King and his traveling companion, Sam ODonnel head for Mexico seeking adventure and fortune. Through a sequence of events that is being choreographed by ancient deities through dreams, the travelers become deeply involved in a violent revolution in Mexico that eventually alters the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere forever. Kings association with the mysterious and beautiful Marcella Springs, who is actually the embodiment of a pre-Columbian goddess, and Alvarez, her chosen warrior, provide the backdrop for a tale that shakes our traditional world views and explores the world of metaphysics and separate realities from a perspective refreshed by recent discoveries in the field of quantum physics and laced with an ample supply of down home sex and humor.

A young girl's midnight seance awakens a long-slumbering malevolent spirit . . . A band of runaway orphans allies with an underground collective of saboteurs and plans a daring rescue of their friends imprisoned in the belly of an industrial wasteland . . . Two old friends draw closer to their goal of bringing together a pair of exiled toy makers in order to reanimate a mechanical boy prince . . . As the fate of Wildwood hangs in the balance. The third book in the Wildwood Chronicles is a rich, moving, and dazzling story, by turns funny and profound. Both Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis are at the height of their gifts with Wildwood Imperium.

Jing, King of Bandits, and his avian sidekick Kir, embark on an electrifying adventure after stealing a map of Fuzzy Navel.

“This spellbinding fantasy begs for a cozy chair and several hours of uninterrupted reading time.” —The Washington Post When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Across the forest that borders Ned’s village, Áine, the daughter of the Bandit King, is haunted by her mother’s last words: “The wrong boy will save your life, and you will save his.” When the Bandit King comes to steal the magic Ned’s mother, a witch, is meant to protect, Áine and Ned meet. Can they trust each other long enough to cross a dangerous enchanted forest and stop the war about to boil over between their two kingdoms? “Barnhill is a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune “[The Witch’s Boy] should open young readers’ eyes to something that is all around them in the very world we live in: the magic of words.” —The New York Times “This is a book to treasure.” —Nerdy Book Club A Washington Post Best Book of 2014 A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2014 A Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Book of 2014 A Chicago Public Library “Best of the Best” 2014