Jacquelyn Holmes

I often find myself in used books stores. This is probably not a surprise. Over the years, a lot of books and authors have filtered through those kinds of stores, and after a time you start recognizing them, even if you haven't read them yourself. A shelf stocked full of authors you recognize becomes a source of comfort. If you haven't read the books, you think to yourself, "I will, one day. When the time is right." For me, the name Andre Norton was one of those author names. I like to poke...

From the back of the book: A Gift From The Stars. As you choose in all matters, you have ultimate free choice, as long as you do not seriously interfere with the choices of other roving personalities... A superior alien intelligence rules over Earth with absolute benevolence and total control. It offers man a future with no seeming limit to time or space- or reality. Any man can have anything he is capable of wanting, forever. Does man really want absolute free will- and what will he do...

From the back of the book: "...Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father's "museum," alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River. The dashing...