There’s no doubt that Charlie Poole was a completely innocuous, lazy, ambitionless young man until the night two of his uncle’s friends came to murder him. Charlie tended bar in his uncle’s Brooklyn saloon and was perfectly happy to do so. There weren’t many customers, but his uncle didn’t seem to care. Uncle, as a matter of fact, had very good connections with the Syndicate, so Charlie passed messages and mysterious packages about whose contents he never asked questions. He simply didn’t care. He lived above the saloon in a small apartment and read most of the day. Nothing uplifting, mind you, just time-killing. This, then, was his happy life until it was rudely interrupted the night that two of the Syndicate’s enforcers came to enforce him out of the world. Charlie simply wouldn’t believe it at first; some mistake had been made. He had done nothing. He never had done anything. He would get to his uncle in Manhattan and find him and clear the whole thing up. His uncle would call somebody, and the two thugs downstairs would be redirected. Charlie suddenly realized that the two thugs were no longer downstairs. They were definitely clumping their way upstairs to the apartment where Charlie had run when he realized they actually meant to kill him. He then did probably the most energetic thing thus far in his twenty-odd years of life. He jumped out of the window. What happens from then on, and the way Charlie runs, his encounters with his uncle who very specifically does not help him escape, his own growing astonishment at the menace all around him, his encounters with the higher-ups in the Syndicate, his encounters with the police, and finally his encounter with Chloe, add up to a breathlessly fast-paced and very amusing mystery, with a rare antic quality. All in all, THE FUGITIVE PIGEON is a delight, and Charlie Poole is a living doll.

Wudu, Ltd. is not exactly a private investigation agency, and the overhead's too high for con men. It's "a closely held limited liability company that does for others what they cannot do for themselves." says Arthur Case Wu — ex-carny, pretender to the Chinese Emperor’s throne, and chief executive officer of Wudu, Ltd. In other words, they solve big problems for big bucks. When German entrepreneur Enno Glimm, who insists upon pronouncing the company name as “Voodoo," arrives in London to strike a deal with Quincy Durant, the arrangement comes just in time to move Wudu's accounts into the black. Glimm's problem: two kinky British hypnotists have vanished, leaving his client, actress-director lone Gamble, in the lurch. Only the hypnotists can prove that the star did not gun down her loathsome billionaire ex-fiancé in his $13-milllon Malibu “beach shack." For Durant and Wu, it means enlisting the help of some old cronies, like the dubious Otherguy Overby, terrorism expert Dr. Booth Stallings, and the overtly sensual Georgia Blue. Together, they must weave a bit of their black magic in the world of excess bounded by Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Malibu. But the stakes double when a whole lot of illicit cash starts flashing in the California sun. And with some of the most dangerous people in the world gathered in such close proximity, Wudu, Ltd. may just start needing some protection... from one of its own.

Сборник ультракоротких (и не очень) фантастических (но не только) рассказов, многие годы печатавшихся на последних (когда и не совсем) страницах популярного советского журнала «Вокруг света».

Когда ржавые скрепы рассыпались и подлый мир канул в небытие, его вчерашние хозяева и их верные слуги шустро расползлись по всему глобусу и забились в глубокие щели. Они сменили имена, паспорта, номера банковских счетов и понадеялись на юридические увертки, а еще больше — на короткую память обывателей и великодушие победителей. Как будто они оказались правы: шли месяцы, а родина официально не преследовала сбежавших ворюг и кровопийц… Но значило ли это, что о них забыли совсем?

Professional go-between Philip St. Ives finds himself in a London jail even before he has accepted an offer from Ned and Norbert Nitry to recover the fabulous Sword of St. Louis which as (or has it?) been stolen from them and is being ransomed. When Philip does accept the offer, he becomes involved in a deadly game of deception and murder with a bizarre group of characters that includes two professional con men (highbinders). Readers of previous Oliver Bleeck books will found the action, suspense, wit and great dialogue they’ve come to expect from an acknowledged master of the suspense novel.

Несколько лет назад команда под руководством физика Сергеевского и инженерши Шишкиной наладила отношения с Дореволюционной Землёй. С тех пор важные шишки из обоих временных пластов творят альтернативную историю и используют её в своих целях.

Гражданин Сергеевский основал в Москве учреждение для исследования всяческих событий на Альтернативной Земле. На ней порою случаются вещи, в которые в обычной истории никто бы не поверил.

Власть имущие по-прежнему занимались своими делами. В результате один из нынешних мировых лидеров оставил следы на новейшей истории. Вскоре обнаружилась другая альтернативная Земля, на этот раз с античной эпохой и за пределами Солнечной системы. Подчинённые Сергеевского не по своей воле проигнорировали текущий уровень науки и техники, очутившись на экзопланете. Пришлось им выяснять, откуда растут ноги у последних событий.

There’s no doubt that Charlie Poole was a completely innocuous, lazy, ambitionless young man until the night two of his uncle’s friends came to murder him. Charlie tended bar in his uncle’s Brooklyn saloon and was perfectly happy to do so. There weren’t many customers, but his uncle didn’t seem to care. Uncle, as a matter of fact, had very good connections with the Syndicate, so Charlie passed messages and mysterious packages about whose contents he never asked questions. He simply didn’t care. He lived above the saloon in a small apartment and read most of the day. Nothing uplifting, mind you, just time-killing. This, then, was his happy life until it was rudely interrupted the night that two of the Syndicate’s enforcers came to enforce him out of the world. Charlie simply wouldn’t believe it at first; some mistake had been made. He had done nothing. He never had done anything. He would get to his uncle in Manhattan and find him and clear the whole thing up. His uncle would call somebody, and the two thugs downstairs would be redirected. Charlie suddenly realized that the two thugs were no longer downstairs. They were definitely clumping their way upstairs to the apartment where Charlie had run when he realized they actually meant to kill him. He then did probably the most energetic thing thus far in his twenty-odd years of life. He jumped out of the window. What happens from then on, and the way Charlie runs, his encounters with his uncle who very specifically does not help him escape, his own growing astonishment at the menace all around him, his encounters with the higher-ups in the Syndicate, his encounters with the police, and finally his encounter with Chloe, add up to a breathlessly fast-paced and very amusing mystery, with a rare antic quality. All in all, THE FUGITIVE PIGEON is a delight, and Charlie Poole is a living doll.

Wudu, Ltd. is not exactly a private investigation agency, and the overhead's too high for con men. It's "a closely held limited liability company that does for others what they cannot do for themselves." says Arthur Case Wu — ex-carny, pretender to the Chinese Emperor’s throne, and chief executive officer of Wudu, Ltd. In other words, they solve big problems for big bucks. When German entrepreneur Enno Glimm, who insists upon pronouncing the company name as “Voodoo," arrives in London to strike a deal with Quincy Durant, the arrangement comes just in time to move Wudu's accounts into the black. Glimm's problem: two kinky British hypnotists have vanished, leaving his client, actress-director lone Gamble, in the lurch. Only the hypnotists can prove that the star did not gun down her loathsome billionaire ex-fiancé in his $13-milllon Malibu “beach shack." For Durant and Wu, it means enlisting the help of some old cronies, like the dubious Otherguy Overby, terrorism expert Dr. Booth Stallings, and the overtly sensual Georgia Blue. Together, they must weave a bit of their black magic in the world of excess bounded by Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Malibu. But the stakes double when a whole lot of illicit cash starts flashing in the California sun. And with some of the most dangerous people in the world gathered in such close proximity, Wudu, Ltd. may just start needing some protection... from one of its own.

Сборник ультракоротких (и не очень) фантастических (но не только) рассказов, многие годы печатавшихся на последних (когда и не совсем) страницах популярного советского журнала «Вокруг света».

Когда ржавые скрепы рассыпались и подлый мир канул в небытие, его вчерашние хозяева и их верные слуги шустро расползлись по всему глобусу и забились в глубокие щели. Они сменили имена, паспорта, номера банковских счетов и понадеялись на юридические увертки, а еще больше — на короткую память обывателей и великодушие победителей. Как будто они оказались правы: шли месяцы, а родина официально не преследовала сбежавших ворюг и кровопийц… Но значило ли это, что о них забыли совсем?

Professional go-between Philip St. Ives finds himself in a London jail even before he has accepted an offer from Ned and Norbert Nitry to recover the fabulous Sword of St. Louis which as (or has it?) been stolen from them and is being ransomed. When Philip does accept the offer, he becomes involved in a deadly game of deception and murder with a bizarre group of characters that includes two professional con men (highbinders). Readers of previous Oliver Bleeck books will found the action, suspense, wit and great dialogue they’ve come to expect from an acknowledged master of the suspense novel.

Несколько лет назад команда под руководством физика Сергеевского и инженерши Шишкиной наладила отношения с Дореволюционной Землёй. С тех пор важные шишки из обоих временных пластов творят альтернативную историю и используют её в своих целях.

Гражданин Сергеевский основал в Москве учреждение для исследования всяческих событий на Альтернативной Земле. На ней порою случаются вещи, в которые в обычной истории никто бы не поверил.

Власть имущие по-прежнему занимались своими делами. В результате один из нынешних мировых лидеров оставил следы на новейшей истории. Вскоре обнаружилась другая альтернативная Земля, на этот раз с античной эпохой и за пределами Солнечной системы. Подчинённые Сергеевского не по своей воле проигнорировали текущий уровень науки и техники, очутившись на экзопланете. Пришлось им выяснять, откуда растут ноги у последних событий.