Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
Longshot
by Francis, Dick
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- VG+/VG+/VG+
- ISBN 10
- 0718134478
- ISBN 13
- 9780718134471
- Seller
-
Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
HARDBACK SHIPPED FROM THE UK* Edition: 1st. * Impression: 2nd.* Date of Publication: 1990* Publisher: Michael Joseph.* Binding and cover condition: Black cloth, gilt title to spine. No bumps or rubs, absolutely minimal spine lean. VG++* Jacket condition: Colour illustrative dust wrapper. Neatly price clipped. Minimal shelf wear to top & bottom edges. VG+* Contents condition: PRIVATE COPY NOT EX-LIBRARY. Clean, crisp, tight and bright with little if any reading wear, small and neat dedication to fep. otherwise no visible faults. VG+* Illustrations: None.* Pages: 277 pp. text.* Description: John Kendall is a writer with six guide books on survival in jungle and desert to his credit. However, the beckoning starvation line encourages him to accept a commission to write the biography of a National Hunt racehorse trainer, a decision which brings him up against hidden dangers.* A NEAR FINE copy with NO MAJOR FAULTS. Price clipping and dedication reduce it to VG+*
Synopsis
To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself-to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed-and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe. In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign-and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions-and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers-one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful-and utterly unforgettable.
Reviews
On Jan 17 2007, Fict said:
Riding a bit on the coat tails of the Da Vinci Code and awfully similar in theme, but at least much better written with something approaching real-life dialogue.
On Dec 16 2005, Raabe said:
Excellent fictional account of the mystery of Vlad Tepes.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Cocksparrow Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1999
- Title
- Longshot
- Author
- Francis, Dick
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - VG+/VG+/VG+
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0718134478
- ISBN 13
- 9780718134471
- Publisher
- Michael Joseph Ltd
- Place of Publication
- London Uk 288
- This edition first published
- September 17, 1990
- Size
- 20.8 x 14.5 x 2.3 cm
Terms of Sale
Cocksparrow Books
We offer a 30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs. This applies for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives mis-described or damaged.
About the Seller
Cocksparrow Books
Biblio member since 2019
Salisbury, Wiltshire
About Cocksparrow Books
Cocksparrow Books have been selling high quality books for over thirty years, now solely on-line. We concentrate on non-fiction items and early edition fiction (including some soft-backs). Our book condition descriptions are fully detailed to give our customers the best information possible and we are always pleased to provide further information upon request.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Price Clipped
- When a book is described as price-clipped, it indicates that the portion of the dust jacket flap that has the publisher's...
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Bumps
- Indicates that the affected part of the book has been impacted in such a way so as to cause a flattening, indention, or light...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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