Master storyteller Diana Wynne Jones presents a riveting collection of unpredictable tales, including: A cat tells how the kindhearted wizard she owns is suddenly called upon to defeat a horrific Beast. When Anne has mumps, her drawings come to life, and she must protect her home from them Four children become involved in the intrigue surrounding an innocent prince, an evil count, and a brave outlaw. These fifteen stories and one novella will enchant, startle, and surprise!

They knew us before we began to walk upright. Shamans called them guardians, mythmakers called them tricksters, pagans called them gods, churchmen called them demons, folklorists called them shape-shifters. They’ve obligingly taken any role we’ve assigned them, and, while needing nothing from us, have accepted whatever we thought was their due – love, hate, fear, worship, condemnation, neglect, oblivion.  Even in modern times, when their existence is doubted or denied, they continue to extend invitations to those who would travel a different road, a road not found on any of our cultural maps. But now, perceiving us as a threat to life itself, they issue their invitations with a dark purpose of their own. In this dazzling metaphysical thriller, four who put themselves in the hands of these all-but-forgotten Others venture across a sinister American landscape hidden from normal view, finding their way to interlocking destinies of death, terror, transcendental rapture, and shattering enlightenment. From the Trade Paperback edition.

When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment. As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. With the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors--one welcome, the other decidedly less so--the girls are confronted with both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows. With Shannon Hale's lyrical language, this little-known classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

After being warped back to ancient China, Joe, Fred, and Anna are faced with some big tasks. They must rescue General Li Shimin from prison so he can defeat the awful ruler, Wang. Then they must figure out how to free Sam, who is trapped in . . . The Book. Join the Time Warp Trio as they learn kung fu, scale the Great Wall of China, and learn to stop time itself!

"Home of the Gentry" is a novel by Ivan Turgenev published in the January 1859 issue of "Sovremennik". It was enthusiastically received by the Russian society and remained his least controversial and most widely-read novel until the end of the 19th century. It was turned into a movie by Andrey Konchalovsky in 1969. The novel's protagonist is Fyodor Ivanych Lavretsky, a nobleman who shares many traits with Turgenev. The child of a distant, Anglophile father and a serf mother who dies when he is very young, Lavretsky is brought up at his family's country estate home by a severe maiden aunt, often thought to be based on Turgenev's own mother who was known for her cruelty.

IN BOSTON, THERE'S A KILLER ON THE LOOSE... A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on them before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician - a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them. But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful doctor with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and shot her attacker dead. Now the man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her...

It starts when Cal gets off the train at the wrong stop in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. He's stranded. Following a muddy path leads him to a castle that appears to be deserted. But inside is Corbenic, a magnificent hotel filled with rich people preparing for a banquet and Cal is their guest of honor. During the meal, he experiences a disturbing vision, but when he is asked to talk about what he has seen, he denies it. What if he's becoming crazy, like his mother? When Cal wakes the next morning, the elegant castle turns out to be nothing more than an abandoned ruin. But something inside him has changed he now knows he needs to right the wrongs in his life. It will be a difficult journey, and if Cal achieves his goal, it will not be without cost. The first step he must return to Corbenic.

Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population two thousand outside of tourist season. And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling. Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works. For a time. But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust. Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?

Nancy and her friends are faced with another chilling mystery in this twelfth book of the Nancy Drew Diaries, a fresh approach to the classic mystery series. When Bess asks Nancy and George to be counselors at her old camp, they’re a little wary. After all, running around after a bunch of little kids doesn’t exactly sound like fun! But Bess promises that the girls will get to enjoy nature, relax by the lake, and play some sports. Plus, it will give Nancy a much-needed break from solving mysteries. But trouble always finds Nancy Drew! After hearing the disturbing tale about a camper who had drowned in the lake years ago, Nancy dismisses it as a ghost story. But then something pulls her under water during a swim lesson—something eerily human, with long, silvery hair. And the next night her entire cabin's sleeping bags disappear—only to show up at the lake, soaked. Now Nancy isn’t so sure if she believes in ghosts! All she knows is she has to do everything within her power to make sure her campers—and her friends—are safe. Which means she’d better get to the bottom of what’s happening at Camp Cedarbark.

When the night came, he went to the meeting-place, and quietly let himself be blindfolded. Raw as Honoré de Balzac is famed to be, this daring novella—never before published as a stand-alone book—is perhaps the most outlandish thing he ever wrote. While still concerned with the depiction of the underside of Parisian life, as is most of Balzac’s oeuvre, The Girl with the Golden Eyes considers not the working lives of the poor, but the sex lives of the upper crust. In a nearly boroque rendering with erotically charged details as well as lush and extravagant language, The Girl with the Golden Eyes tells the story of a rich and ruthless young man in nineteenth century Paris caught up in an amorous entanglement with a mysterious beauty. His control slipping, incest, homosexuality, sexual slavery, and violence combine in what was then, and still remains, a shocking and taboo-breaking work. ** The Art of The Novella Series **Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Synopsis The Highlands, the center of Atherton, is sinking; Samuel and Isabel are trying to sneak into The House of Power to restore water to the world of Atherton; and Dr. Kincaid, Vincent and Edgar make their way towards the edge of the Highlands, intent on entering the secret underground refuge of Mead's Hollow and finding the key to unlocking Dr. Harding's brain. They must discover the solution to overcoming the threat of the deadly Cleaners, creatures now unleashed on the flattened land, before it's too late. But Mead's Hollow holds more secrets than any of them had ever imagined. In this tremendously satisfying continuation of the story of Atherton, readers will experience a world turned inside out; a spectacular flood; former enemies forced to work together in the name of survival; surprising histories concerning the creator of Atherton, Dr. Harding, and his partner Dr. Kincaid, and a shocking revelation about Edgar's own past. Best of all, the trip to Mead's Hollow leads to a dangerous-and extraordinary-expedition through the interior of Atherton that will titillate imaginations for a long time to come. With themes evocative of Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno, expect Rivers of Fire to give readers plenty to sink their teeth into.

Only one man could match a lady like this—scandal for scandal. Six years ago, eighteen-year-old Lady Isabella Scranton scandalized all of London by eloping the night of her come-out ball with the notorious rake, Lord Mac Mackenzie. After three turbulent years of marriage, she scandalized London once again—this time by leaving him. Now Mac has resurfaced, every bit as charismatic, and with one goal: to seduce Isabella back into his life and his bed even if it means acting like a real gentleman. But when Isabella rises to the challenge of posing nude for Mac's erotic paintings, her pent-up hunger for the decadent rake is exposed as well, and she finds herself unable to resist the smooth strokes of an artist at work. But someone's been watching them—dangerously close. This ingenious forger with designs on Mac's paintings also sets his sights on Isabella herself. Deciding to become Isabella's protector, Mac vows to never leave her side, whether his independent and proud lady likes it or not.

Slaying vampires is child’s play for skinwalker Jane Yellowrock. But handling the complicated politics of New Orleans’ supernatural players is another story... Jane is keeping the peace between visiting groups of witches and vamps in the city, but then trouble comes knocking on her doorstep. When her house is magically attacked, the wild chase to find her assailants unearths a mystery that has literally been buried deep. A missing master vampire, presumed long deceased, is found chained in a pit...undead, raving mad, and in the company of two human bodies. Now it’s up to Jane to find out who kept the vampire hidden for so long and why, because the incident could tip already high supernatural tensions to an all-out arcane war.

"My tendency to make up stories and lie compulsively for the sake of my own amusement takes up a good portion of my day and provides me with a peace of mind not easily attainable in this economic climate." Chelsea Handler It's no lie: Chelsea Handler loves to smoke out "dumbassness," the condition people suffer from that allows them to fall prey to her brand of complete and utter nonsense. Family, friends, and co-workers have all been tricked by Chelsea into believing stories of total foolishness and into behaving like total fools. Luckily, they've lived to tell the tales and, for the very first time, write about their humiliating experiences. It doesn't matter if you're minding your own business, busily working, or honeymooning thousands of miles away. No one is ever safe from Chelsea's fake emails and phony pregnancies, bogus smuggling schemes and made-up sports bets. Because whether it's premeditated or spur of the moment, Chelsea will do anything for a laugh. And that's the truth.

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. But all three have been given a second chance—to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history... A time wave has struck that alters the entire history of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln has followed Liam into the present from 1831and now the world is in a dangerous state of limbo... If the TimeRiders can’t return Lincoln to the past, the Civil War will never end. Can Maddy persuade two colonels on either side of no man’s land to cease fire long enough to save the future?

Trip around Miami is definitely cool, but classy automobile makes it even more exciting. So if you ask yourself a question “Are there any luxury car rentals near me”, you might be interested in checking out our review of BMW I8 Roadster. Such auto may clearly emphasize your status as well as luxury lifestyle. What should you know about BMW I8 Worldwide famous car producer has designed a model for those who admire comfort and safety. Such automobile represents some new direction on auto market. Beside gasoline motor, it’s also equipped with two electric ones. Inside racer everyone can observe amazing views around Miami City while enjoying tremendous speed.

The second adventure of Evan Michael Tanner -- back in print!"The Canceled Czech" finds the sleepless adventurer on a mission to Czechoslovakia to liberate a dying man, who turns out to be a Nazi. For his troubles, he finds himself leaping from a moving train, tangling with an amorous blonde, and playing the role of a neo-Nazi propagandist. Just another typical work day in the life of "the thief who couldn't sleep".

The Einstein See-Saw By Miles John Breuer. t is a classic Crime-Sci-Fi story that deals with robbery and fantastic machines, written at the start of the XX century. ABOUT AUTHOR: Miles John Breuer (January 3, 1889 – October 14, 1945) was an American physician and science fiction writer. He was part of the first generation of writers to appear regularly in the pulp science fiction magazines, publishing his first story, "The Man with the Strange Head", in the January 1927 issue of Amazing Stories. His best known works are "The Gostak and the Doshes" (1930) and two stories written jointly with Jack Williamson, "The Girl from Mars" (1929) and The Birth of a New Republic (1931).

Musaicum Press presents to you a Arthur Morrison collection, which has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Arthur Morrison (1863-1945) was an English author known for his detective stories, featuring the detective Martin Hewitt, realistic, lower class answer to Sherlock Holmes. Martin Hewitt stories are similar in style to those of Conan Doyle, cleverly plotted and very amusing, while the character himself is a bit less arrogant and a bit more charming than Holmes. Morrison is also known for his realistic novels and stories about working-class life in London's East End, A Child of the Jago being the best known. Table of Contents: Martin Hewitt Series: Martin Hewitt, Investigator The Lenton Croft Robberies The Loss of Sammy Crockett The Case of Mr. Foggatt The Case of the Dixon Torpedo The Quinton Jewel Affair The Stanway Cameo Mystery The Affair of the Tortoise Chronicles of Martin Hewitt The Ivy Cottage Mystery The Nicobar Bullion Case The Holford Will Case The Case of the Missing Hand The Case of Laker, Absconded The Case of the Lost Foreigner Adventures of Martin Hewitt The Affair of Mrs. Seton's Child The Case of Mr. Geldard's Elopement The Case of the Dead Skipper The Case of the "Flitterbat Lancers" The Case of the Late Mr. Rewse The Case of the Ward Lane Tabernacle The Red Triangle The Affair of Samuel's Diamonds The Case of Mr. Jacob Mason The Case of the Lever Key The Case of the Burnt Barn The Case of the Admiralty Code The Adventure of Channel Marsh Novels: A Child of the Jago To London Town Cunning Murrell The Hole in the Wall Short Stories: Tales of Mean Streets The Dorrington Deed Box The Green Eye of Goona (The Green Diamond) Divers Vanities Green Ginger Fiddle o' Dreams and More Uncollected Stories Other Works: The Shadows Around Us

One of the occasions when I experienced “that grand and glorious feeling” was when my law business had achieved proportions that justified my removal from my old office to new and more commodious quarters. I selected a somewhat pretentious building on Madison Avenue between Thirtieth and Fortieth Streets, and it was a red-letter day for me when I moved into my pleasant rooms on its top floor. The Puritan Trust Company occupied all of the ground floor and there were also some of the private offices of that institution on the top floor, as well as a few offices to be let. My rooms were well located and delightfully light, and I furnished them with care, selecting chairs and desks of a dignified type, and rugs of appropriately quiet coloring. I also selected my stenographer with care, and Norah MacCormack was a red-haired piece of perfection. If she had a weakness, it was for reading detective stories, but I condoned that, for in my hammocky moods I, too, dipped into the tangled-web school of fiction.