A definitive anthology of fiction by W. Somerset Maugham includes the complete texts of three novels--The Moon and Sixpence, The Painted Veil, and The Magician--as well as five short stories--Rain, The Letter, Alien Corn, The Pool, and Mackintosh. Original.

Aurora Huntley, free-spirited sister to the earl of Pembourne, lives under the dark shadow of the black diamond. The victim of threats from privateers who believe her brother possesses the precious stone, Aurora is a virtual prisoner in her own home. She now faces a fate worse than death: an arranged marriage to an uninspiring suitor. Craving adventure and freedom, Aurora has no choice but to do something shocking, something scandalous....For two hundred pounds, a handsome stranger agrees to help Aurora stage her own ruin. But her kiss stuns him, and her name shocks him. She is a Huntley, and he is Julian Bencroft, the new duke of Morland. For generations their families have been bitter enemies because of the black diamond. Now, joining forces to claim the treasure, Julian and Aurora discover a love that is far more precious than any jewel. But first, they must conquer the evil that surrounds them -- or surrender their newfound joy to the diamond's age-old legacy of betrayal.

A life can change in an instant... No one knows this better than Miss Cleopatra Hadley, who went from poverty to plenty when she discovered one of England's richest men was her true father who wanted her to share his wealth...if she married into the upper echelons of Society. A high price to pay for someone whose mother taught her just how dangerous a marriage could be. An imposing yet impoverished Scots nobleman, Lord Logan McKinney knows he must wed some vapid title-hunter with a substantial dowry in order to restore his once-thriving estate. Having the vibrant Cleo nearby, however, makes his task even more unpalatable—for she tempts him like no other woman...just as he's precisely the sort of man she most fears: exciting, unpredictable, fiercely passionate. But when attraction proves too powerful, they succumb to a kiss that quickly leads to lessons too scandalous for even the darkest nights.

A magnificent romantic/historical/adventure novel set in India at the time of mutiny. The Far Pavilions is a story of 19th Century India, when the thin patina of English rule held down dangerously turbulent undercurrents. It is a story about and English man - Ashton Pelham-Martyn - brought up as a Hindu and his passionate, but dangerous love for an Indian princess. It's a story of divided loyalties, of tender camaraderie, of greedy imperialism and of the clash between east and west. To the burning plains and snow-capped mountains of this great, humming continent, M.M. Kaye brings her quite exceptional gift of immediacy and meticulous historical accuracy, plus her insight into the human heart.

The New York Times-bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook offers a timely novel featuring his most fascinating character yet, a Vietnam vet embarking on a quixotic crusade to track down his nemesis from the war. After sixty-eight-year-old David Granger crashes his BMW, medical tests reveal a brain tumor that he readily attributes to his wartime Agent Orange exposure. He wakes up from surgery repeating a name no one in his civilian life has ever heard—that of a Native American soldier whom he was once ordered to discipline. David decides to return something precious he long ago stole from the man he now calls Clayton Fire Bear. It might be the only way to find closure in a world increasingly at odds with the one he served to protect. It might also help him finally recover from his wife’s untimely demise. As David confronts his past to salvage his present, a poignant portrait emerges: that of an opinionated and goodhearted American patriot fighting like hell to stay true to his red, white, and blue heart, even as the country he loves rapidly changes in ways he doesn’t always like or understand. Hanging in the balance are Granger’s distant art-dealing son, Hank; his adoring seven-year-old granddaughter, Ella; and his best friend, Sue, a Vietnamese-American who respects David’s fearless sincerity. Through the controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest David Granger, Matthew Quick offers a no-nonsense but ultimately hopeful view of America’s polarized psyche. By turns irascible and hilarious, insightful and inconvenient, David is a complex, wounded, honorable, and loving man. The Reason You’re Alive examines how the secrets and debts we carry from our past define us; it also challenges us to look beyond our own prejudices and search for the good in us all.

In Death in the Fifth Position, dashing P.R. man Peter Sargent is hired by a ballet company on the eve of a major upcoming performance.   Handling the press seems to be no problem, but when a rising star in the company is killed during the performance—dropped from thirty feet above the stage, crashing to her death in a perfect fifth position—Sargent has a real case on his hands.  As he ingratiates himself with the players behind the scenes (especially one lovely young ballerina), he finds that this seemingly graceful ballet company is performing their most dramatic acts behind the curtain.  There are sharp rivalries, sordid affairs, and shady characters.  Sargent, though, has no trouble staying on point and proving that the ballerina killer is no match for his keen eye and raffish charm. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Demure lady's companion Emma Chegwidden avoids defying society's rules. Until the night she runs right into the arms of the seductive Reaper--a man who rides the night-shadowed countryside and conceals his identity behind a mask. His goal is justice... or is it vengeance? Only one thing is certain: Nothing will stop him from his dark purpose. Michael Durant, long-lost heir to the duke of Nevitt, has a score to settle. Cynical, dangerous and ruthless, Michael is the last man on earth that sensible Emma should defy. But some challenges are too tempting to resist ... and some passions too fierce to ignore. Soon Michael discovers in Emma the woman he has always longed for: a woman whose beauty and courage reach through to his tortured soul. And he will defy anything, even fate itself, to claim her...

The first book in an urban fantasy series about loyalty, power, and the rules of survival. Vampires are the only guardians Vance Ehecatl has ever known since he was abandoned by his shapeshifter family. He is grateful to them for generously providing for all of his needs and for offering him a home in the powerful empire of Midnight. But when an act of violence forces Vance from his sheltered life, he’s startled to meet Malachi Obsidian, a fellow shapeshifter with conflicting ideas about Midnight and its leader, Mistress Jeshickah.  Malachi claims Vance is a bloodwitch, who Jeshickah and her trainers, Jaguar and Taro, are trying to control. Vance doesn't know anything about the rare and destructive magic Malachi says he possesses, and he can't believe Jeshickah would use it to hurt others. But when his friends begin falling ill, Vance starts to realize his perfect world may not be as flawless as it seems. Now Vance must decide who to trust—the vampires he's always relied upon, or the shapeshifters who despise them. Praise for Bloodwitch, Book 1 in the Maeve’ra trilogy:  "Edgy world building, with cultures and societies based loosely on real history, is compelling. This book is highly recommended for Atwater-Rhodes fans and urban fantasy or alternate reality readers." — VOYA "A satisfying read." — SLJ  "Plenty of fun ahead for the author’s many fans." — Kirkus    "Atwater-Rhodes made a splash with her first novel, In the Forests of the Night (1999). Since then she has continued writing lush fantasies of fully realized, well conceived worlds, and the first volume in the new Maeve’ra series is no exception." — Booklist  From the Hardcover edition.

The reputation of Rainer Maria Rilke has grown steadily since his death in 1926; today he is widely considered to be the greatest poet of the twentieth century. This Modern Library edition presents Stephen Mitchell’s acclaimed translations of Rilke, which have won praise for their re-creation of the poet’s rich formal music and depth of thought. “If Rilke had written in English,” Denis Donoghue wrote in The New York Times Book Review, “he would have written in this English.” Ahead of All Parting is an abundant selection of Rilke’s lifework. It contains representative poems from his early collections The Book of Hours and The Book of Pictures; many selections from the revolutionary New Poems, which drew inspiration from Rodin and Cezanne; the hitherto little-known “Requiem for a Friend”; and a generous selection of the late uncollected poems, which constitute some of his finest work. Included too are passages from Rilke’s influential novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, and nine of his brilliant uncollected prose pieces. Finally, the book presents the poet’s two greatest masterpieces in their entirety: the Duino Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus. “Rilke’s voice, with its extraordinary combination of formality, power, speed and lightness, can be heard in Mr. Mitchell’s versions more clearly than in any others,” said W. S. Merwin. “His work is masterful.”

Melanie Landon and her half-sister share a unique bond. For her entire life, Melanie has hidden the fact that Ann is a shape-shifter. The never-ending deception is a heavy weight to bear, but Melanie is determined to keep Ann’s secret and protect her from a world that simply wouldn’t understand. For months, Melanie hasn’t seen or heard from Ann, in either of her forms. When a man shows up saying he’s there about her sister, Melanie fears the worst. But Brody Westerbrook doesn’t have information about Ann—he’s in search of it. A freelance writer, Brody intends to include Ann in a book he’s writing about the existence of shape-shifters. While Melanie is immediately drawn to the stranger on her doorstep, she denies his claims, knowing that trusting him isn’t an option. But when Ann finally appears looking thin and sick, Melanie realizes exposure is the least of their worries. Protecting her sister has always been such an enormous part of Melanie’s life, but as Ann’s health rapidly deteriorates, Melanie must come to grips with the fact that saving her may mean letting go…

Welcome to the world of the Instrumentalities of the Night, where imps, demons, and dark gods rule in the spaces surrounding upstart humanity. At the edges of the world stand walls of ice which push slowly forward to reclaim the land for the night. And at the world's center, in the Holy Land where two great religions were born, are the Wells of Ihrain, the source of the greatest magics. Over the last century the Patriarchs of the West have demanded crusades to claim the Wells from the Pramans, the followers of the Written. Now an uneasy truce extends between the Pramans and the West, waiting for a spark to start the conflict anew. Then, on a mission in the Holy Land, the young Praman warrior Else is attacked by a creature of the Dark-in effect, a minor god. Too ignorant to know that he can never prevail over such a thing, he fights it and wins, and in so doing, sets the terrors of the night against him. As a reward for his success, Else is sent as a spy to the heart of the Patriarchy to direct their attention away from further ventures into the Holy Lands. Dogged by hidden enemies and faithless allies, Else witnesses senseless butchery and surprising acts of faith as he penetrates to the very heart of the Patriarchy and rides alongside their armies in a new crusade against his own people. But the Night rides with him, too, sending two of its once-human agents from the far north to assassinate him. Submerged in his role, he begins to doubt his faith, his country, even his family. As his mission careens out of control, he faces unanswerable questions about his future. It is said that God will know his own, but can one who has slain gods ever know forgiveness? In The Tyranny of the Night, Glen Cook introduces a new fantasy epic for the ages.

On an autumn day in 2006, on the Isle of Wight, Jack Luxton—once a Devon farmer, now the proprietor of a seaside caravan park—receives the news that his brother, Tom, not seen for years, has been killed in combat in Iraq. For Jack and his wife, Ellie, this will have unexpected, far-reaching effects. For Jack in particular it means a crucial journey: to receive his brother’s remains and to confront his most secret, troubling memories. A hauntingly intimate, deeply compassionate story about things that touch and test our human core, Wish You Were Here also looks, inevitably, to a wider, afflicted world. Moving toward a fiercely suspenseful climax, it brilliantly transforms the stuff of headlines into heart-wrenching personal truth.

A captivating digital original companion novella to April Lindner's Love, Lucy. Jesse Palladino is used to moving on. As a street musician backpacking through Europe, he’s never in one place for long. Which is why it’s so surprising he can’t seem to move on from Lucy, the girl he fell for in Florence. They parted ways when Lucy returned home to start college, but every crowded piazza and winding cobblestone street reminds Jesse of the time they spent together. Now staying with a friend in Naples, he can’t help wondering if it’s time to pack up and move on again. But just when his mind is made up, something—or someone—might give him a reason to stay.

It’s like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Utopia is the brand-new frontier of theme parks, a fantastic collection of Worlds each so authentic it takes the average visitor’s breath away. Teeming with cutting-edge holographic and robotic technology, it has captured the nation’s imagination. But it has also attracted a group of ruthless criminals. After infiltrating the park and its computer systems, their leader—calling himself John Doe—sets the parameters: If their shocking demands are met, none of the visitors to the park that day will be harmed; if not, then all hell will rain down. Dr. Andrew Warne, the brilliant engineer who designed much of the park’s robotics, suddenly finds himself in a role he never imagined—trying to save the lives of thousands of innocent people . . . one of whom just happens to be his daughter. Praise for *Lethal Velocity “A beautifully crafted scare-fest . . . heaven for techno-thriller fans.”—People *(Page-turner of the Week) “Terrific . . . a sensational piece of popular entertainment . . . [Lincoln] Child has created a fictional wonderland that is both high-tech and nostalgic. . . . If you are looking for intelligent fun, it doesn’t get much better than this.”—The Washington Post Book World  * “[A] whiz-bang plot . . . springs to life from the opening pages . . . Child does an outstanding job of depicting the workings of this fantastic playground.”—San Francisco Chronicle  * “A riveting read . . . part mystery, part science-fiction, and all page-turner.”—Roanoke Times *  Previously published as *Utopia

Which should be a good thing. But lately, thanks to her foul mood over breaking up with bestselling writer Seth Mortensen, she's been so wicked that Seattle's uber-demon Jerome, decides to "outsource" Georgina to a rival--and have her spy for him in the process. Being exiled to the frozen north--okay, Vancouver--and leaving Seth in the cozy clutches of his new girlfriend is unpleasant enough. Then Jerome is kidnapped, and all immortals under his control mysteriously lose their powers. One bright spot: with her life-sucking ability gone, there's nothing to keep Georgina from getting down and dirty with Seth--nothing apart from his girlfriend that is. Now, as the supernatural population starts turning on itself, a newly mortal Georgina must rescue her boss and figure out who's been playing them--or all hell will break loose. . .

Deals with the revolt of the Greeks in 1821 against Turkish oppression. Mr. Beveridge and his son Horace fit out a privateer, load it with military stores, and set sail for Greece. They rescue the Christians, relieve the captive Greeks, and fight the Turkish war vessels. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

A mysterious space craft lands on Earth. A scientific and military team rush to determine how to deal with an unknown and changing situation.A mysterious space craft lands on the Utah Salt Flats. A top scientific and military team rush to determine how to deal with a rapidly changing and perplexing situation that could threaten the world.

Anyone and everyone is at risk; young, old, rich, poor, boy, girl. This killer is an equal opportunity murderer.A small town has to come to grips with its first murder in over 50 years while the next and the next occur in rapid fashion.Jessi is astonished by the crime in her father’s (Chief of Police John Long) town.He’s desperate to keep his secret. She has questions only he can answer. Can they overcome the past to live their future?Sarah Alexander is ready to start her post-divorce life in Salem, Massachusetts. When she starts having vivid dreams about the town’s famous witch trials, she seeks out a widower who seems to know more than he lets on. James Wentworth has spent his lifetime hiding a secret. When a new woman in town reminds him of the wife he still grieves, he wonders if the connection runs deeper. When a modern-day witch hunt threatens to unravel James’ hidden knowledge, he’s faced with a choice: sacrifice himself for the woman he loves or lose everything all over again. Her Dear and Loving Husband is the first book in a series of literary paranormal romance novels. If you like rich, historical fiction, chilling suspense, and tales of enduring love, then you’ll love the first book in Meredith Allard’s Loving Husband Trilogy.Buy Her Dear and Loving Husband to be swept up in the timeless paranormal tale today!

From the Night Warriors series, comes this tale that shows what happens when the old stone lord dies before the young one is a sealed Soldat der Nacht. Will the stone be lost to the Warriors until the new lord matures? Will a child hold the gods' vessel? The answer just might surprise you. NOTE: Watch for the release of this story in MONSTERS OF MYTH from Mundania Press, summer of 2011.~Part of the USA Today Bestselling Series~ It’s summer in St. Louis and Mercy Watts is on vacation from her parents. The great detective and his nosy wife are on a cruise and Mercy thinks she’s off the hook for doing any investigating for them. But when a family friend has a fatal heart attack, Dad has one of his famous feelings and orders Mercy to look into it. Mercy tries not to get sucked in. She really does, but she’s her father’s daughter. Soon Gavin’s death leads to a more grisly one, the death of a bride on her wedding day. Can the two be connected? Was Gavin murdered? Now Mercy can’t stop. You do for family. That’s all there is to it.

The beautiful Leslie Ford has just started her freshman year at Millard Valley State. Not only is she beautiful, she’s also smart and has entered into the pre-med program. She’s totally devoted to her studies.However, the gorgeous bad boy Bobby Black, has just caught her eye. Love has always eluded Leslie, but could Bobby be the one that changes her luck?The beautiful Leslie Ford has just started her freshman year at Millard Valley State. Not only is she beautiful, she’s also smart and has entered into the pre-med program. She’s totally devoted to her studies.However, the gorgeous bad boy Bobby Black, has just caught her eye. Love has always eluded Leslie, but could Bobby be the one that changes her luck?But there are two questions yet to be answered. Can the bad boy be tamed by Leslie? And if he is tamed, will he be able to live with Leslie’s Secrets?