Bøger af John Xiros Cooper

A dead body in the stacks of the National Library of Greece, a beautiful librarian, an Albanian assassin, and an ancient letter lost for two thousand years, all threaten the stability of Christendom. More murders follow. Captain Panos Akritas finds himself pulled into a case that could shake the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant churches to the core. The hunt for the lost letter exposes Akritas and his partner to dangers they've never faced before. At one point Akritas is hunted by killers with machine guns among the ruins of an ancient temple complex in the mountains north of Athens. The investigation is hindered by the machinations of church officials, politicians, and even his superiors in the Hellenic Police who do not want the lost letter to be made public. Danger lurks everywhere as Akritas doggedly pursues the truth.A compelling narrative, sharply drawn characters, and a careful evocation of the Greek background make Pillar of Faith a novel that will remain in your memory well after you've finished reading it.

Why would anyone want to kill some old men? Six have been murdered already when Police Captain Panos Akritas is put on the case. At first it seems the straightforward business of theft. The old men were rich and defenceless. Easy pickings, it seems. But there are small anomalies that baffle Akritas and as he investigates they begin to multiply. The case grows more complicated and disturbing. He becomes a target of the killers and from that point on the case threatens to spin out of control. The investigation takes him into a dark underworld of vengeance, greed, and violence. As the bodies pile up, Akritas realises that the case has its roots in the darkest episodes of modern Greek history, going back over sixty years to civil war and dictatorship. Against a background of economic and political crisis, the sunny, friendly Greece that tourists love to visit has another side, sinister and deadly. The story takes the reader on a thrilling ride through a modern Athens that tourists never see. With a compelling plot, a careful eye for detail, and unforgettable characters Death in Athens adds a new voice to the Mediterranean noir that Andrea Camilleri, Manuel Montalban, Michael Dibden, Donna Leon, and Maurizio De Giovanni have made popular.

A famous chef is stabbed to death in his own kitchen. Could an argument over how to bake stuffed tomatoes lead to murder? This is Greece, so anything is possible. John Xiros Cooper has set the table for Captain Panos Akritas and his partner Lieutenant Valia Sternatia to catch the perpetrator who's cooked up this mystery. The youngest of the chef's three daughters is accused of carving up her Michelin-starred father. She insists she's innocent. But the evidence points to her guilt. Xiros Cooper has served up a spicy recipe of simmering excitement. The story has many twists and turns, memorable characters, several more corpses, and a gangster with the head that resembles a lizard. There's also a love story that turns sour. The surprising finale, when the wrongdoers get their just desserts, completes this feast of a tale. Enjoy!

What benefits are there in studying the liberal arts or humanities? In an age of technology, commerce, and materialism, the liberal arts often find themselves beleaguered by the dominant idea that all education should constitute a form of training for the job market, that it be instrumental in making each of us an economic unit in the interests only of wealth accumulation and production. The resulting cultural deficits cannot be quantified, but they are not negligible. This collection of essays, speeches, talks, and other occasional writings begins by trying to answer the question. But there's more here than the opening piece. The collection encompasses other subjects as well, some public and cultural, and others that are the private experience of the author, including a series of pieces that describe his impressions of returning to the land of his birth after an absence of more than sixty years. John Xiros Cooper spent over thirty-five years as a university professor of English literature. He is a scholar, teacher, and writer and this collection of mainly unpublished works supplement his published scholarship in books, articles, and chapters. Personal reflection, public utterance, and open engagement with the issues of this world make this a collection that will make you think. Some of the pieces may also touch your heart.

First Published in 2000. Nearly everyone who addresses T. S. Eliot's imaginative and critical work must acknowledge the importance of music in thematic and formal terms. This collection of original essays thoroughly explores this aspect of his work from a number of perspectives.

This collection of original essays thoroughly explores the importance of music in thematic and formal terms, both in Eliot's imaginative and critical work.