Alex Mason is back again, this time to go out of school! He is going to see some crazy, but true, things. He is going to ride on the back of a dragon and a giant eagle! This time hunting for a man and his deadly silver whistle, which could kill thousands of people in seconds...This is an 11 page short story:Steven just witnessed his beloved dog tear out the throats of his two best friends. It gets even more surreal when the dog explains to him why he did it.

When an oil company sends a scientific team to investigate one of dozens of huge holes that have mysteriously appeared overnight in the tundra of the North Slope of Alaska, they discover a far worse danger lurking below, one that threatens to destroy us all...It’s August in Alaska, and geology professor Jack Oswald prepares for the new school year. But when hundreds of huge holes mysteriously appear overnight in the frozen tundra north of the Arctic Circle, Jack receives an unexpected phone call. An oil company exec hires Jack to investigate, and he picks his climatologist wife and two of their graduate students as his team. Uncharacteristically, Jack also lets Aileen O’Shannon, a bewitchingly beautiful young photojournalist, talk him into coming along as their photographer. When they arrive in the remote oil town of Deadhorse, the exec and a biologist to protect them from wild animals complete the team. Their task: to assess the risk of more holes opening under the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the wells and pipelines that feed it. But they discover a far worse danger lurks below. When it emerges, it threatens to shatter Jack’s unshakable faith in science. And destroy us all…Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/embed/amXuTAlKoX0"I couldn’t put this book down! I started it just after breakfast and finished it around eleven that same night! I loved the way Mr. Firesmith combined science and a bit of paranormal to tell his story. James Rollins watch out!"Lori Beasley Bradley, Author of The Legend of the Swamp Witch and The Ruby Queen: Book 1 of The Soiled Dove Sagas"I enjoyed my time in Firesmith’s world. I did not want to leave. I really got a kick out of it, and would happily come back for more. Recommended.”MJ Kobernus, author of The Guardian: Blood in the Sand“This book rocks.”Barton Paul Levenson, author of Dark Gods of Alter Telluria“a quick, enjoyable read. Full of action and fraught with danger”Dave Robertson, author of Strange Hunting, Strange Hunting II, and The Brave and The Dead“The book is an easy and quick read and an action-filled one that you’ll imagine as a TV series or a movie with no difficulty.”Olga Núñez Miret, author of Escaping Psychiatry

Nothing is going to stop Lisa from visiting her beloved Jupiter, the horse she was forced to sell, neither her unsympathetic father nor the cruel nephew of Jupiter’s new owner. Then a crime is committed that shakes Lisa to her core, and the police suspect Jupiter.When Lisa’s family was forced to sell their house and horses, life became hard enough – but then her dad finds out Lisa is going everyday to visit the horse that was once hers, her beloved Jupiter, and forbids her to go again. But nothing is going to stop Lisa, not even the new owner’s nephew who threatens her. And now the final blow, the nephew is abusing Jupiter! Lisa feels helpless and outnumbered. Only one thing is for certain: she will not abandon the horse she loves. She just has to find a way to solve all the problems. And then the very bad situation becomes infinitely worse.

Former cowboy Lester falls for more than his horse in New in the Neighbourhood - Volume 1, part of the Neighbours Series 1, a contemporary Christian romance.Lester Tibbett has to leave his farm in Southern Alberta for the big city. It means starting over in an unfamiliar environment - a heavy burden for the guardian of a teenage sister full of angst. The apartment complex to which they relocate is a far cry from their spacious farmhouse and offers little anonymity for a man used to doing things his own way. During the process, he pushes his own loneliness aside in favour of looking after his sister. As Lester struggles to find a church that will meet both their spiritual needs, he quickly learns that neighbours come in many forms, some of them quite meddlesome. Still, he is happy to accept help from an overtly friendly neighbour named Jed who also happens to work for the same construction company. The two soon become friends, despite Jed’s habit of trying to set Lester up with every available single female, and end up frequenting a local pub where Lester is surprised to discover an ‘old school’ mechanical bull just waiting to be ridden. The former rodeo cowboy in him rises up, but not before he meets a mysterious woman who is out of his reach.

Andrew Jonah Peters has an addiction. An addiction to life-threatening thrills. An addiction to ensuring no regrets. An addiction that he cannot give up. The life of an average teenager hides this addiction but once the secret is exposed, Andrew will face the ultimate choice: To live through the difficult life or to take cover in the soothing embrace of death.It's all about making the right choice.Andrew Jonah Peters has spent all his life making choices. Some of them as trivial as which candy to buy while some of them as life-changing as choosing which parent to live with after their divorce. Every moment has been filled with the fear of losing oneself because of the bad choices. Of regretting not taking what the heart desired for. And then came 'he'.In one encounter with 'him', Andrew was forever changed. There was a way to figure out his heart's desire: through fear. And so started the fall into the addiction of the thrill. The thrill of planning. The thrill of anticipation. The thrill of a successful execution. But there must always be a price. The addiction grows all-consuming within him.And when the secret he hides behind his 'normal teenager' life is exposed to the world, everything changes. Nothing is the same and Andrew has to face it all with the addiction demanding satisfaction as well. And so in the darkest moments of his life, a question arises from within: Should I live in this harsh world or should I escape into the soothing death?

Amber Collins has a magic key that can open any door and create a portal between doors. Such a valuable key has made her and anyone she bumps into a target. The Dark Men, a mysterious league of assassins, is after her, James Rook, and the key. Together James and Amber must destroy the key before it falls into the wrong hands.James Rook was having an ordinary day when an old school friend, Amber Collins, came crashing through a closet door. She quickly leaves James to continue his boring day, but the Dark Men have other plans. A strange, dark, sinister man follows James to his room and almost kills him, but luckily for him Amber is there to save the day. Amber reveals to him the magic key that can create a portal between any two doors in the world. She also reveals the great evil league, the Dark Men, that are willing to kill anyone to get the key. James decides to help Amber destroy the key before anyone else gets killed and before it falls into the wrong hands.

Laura is injured and unconscious. Abiku has come to devour Connor's living soul. What's more, the demon hasn't come alone.Connor stepped back a pace as Abiku flowed down from the bed with a cat-like grace. Connor looked around his room desperately searching for something he could use as a weapon but there was nothing that would inflict any harm; just books on computer programming; DVD’s of Maximum Impact performances; programs from Sheffield United’s recent matches. Instead he turned inwards and opened his psychic doorway onto the future. If he could see what Abiku would do before she did it he would have at least some chance to getting out of this. But instead of opening onto the future his door was already ajar, exposing his vulnerable mind to the other world. In the eerie pale light from that terrible realm Connor could see shadows moving. Silhouettes dancing like Chinese theatre puppets. It wasn’t just one but several - dozens in fact.

Seven flash fiction stories, published over the last few years by a variety of on-line journals, are collected here in one volume. Running the gamut of subjects from a love affair that will never happen to what might well be the end of the world; from friendships to family; and a little bit of weirdness, you will find humor and drama alike.Seven flash fiction stories, previously published in various on-line journals, are gathered here in one volume, and include tales about:-- a good-hearted neighbor -- some surprisingly helpful family members-- a night that might possibly be the end of the world-- an ill-advised dietary choice -- a romance that is doomed before it starts-- memories of loss-- a chance to interrupt a family patternSome humor, some drama, some pathos, these stories are short and pithy, and will leave you wanting more.

Lucy, a Lynx kitten, escapes from her wildlife refuge with her best friend Penny the Puffin. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her Aunt Maude, who lives in the wilds of Alaska. Lucy discovers that that life in an urban environment is not the same as living in the fields and mountains. This story is about wild animals trying to adapt to a new environment.Lucy, a lynx kitten, lives at the Green Ark Sanctuary with her family. Lucy’s mother’s stories of her Aunt Maude’s travels into the wilds of Alaska, fire her imagination. She dreams of having her own adventures with Penny the Puffin, her best friend. The two escape from the Sanctuary, into the big, urban world. City living is not what Lucy had imagined. Can the two adapt to this new world? Lucy not only faces challenges, but she also learns something new about, her friend, Penny the Puffin. This is a journey, of discovery, for the young and the young-at-heart.

One warm Texas night three young girls stood in front of a downtown building. It was dark. It was scary and they had to go in.The Floyd Sisters Mysteries is a series about Lynda, Cheri and Sinda, the Floyd sisters. They seem to find themselves in unpredictable situations that call for them to become amateur detectives. Lynda is 13, Cheri is 11 and Sinda is 8. Their Siamese cat Ty-Ling occasionally makes an appearance to help or hinder, usually Sinda. In Danger in Dallas, the girls and their mother Jean have moved to the Dallas area after Jean and Larry, the girls' father, have divorced. Danger in Dallas finds the girls trying to help their mother find some virtual reality software that has been stolen from her company. Her job could be threatened if that software is not found.

Book two of the Chronicles of Amon. This continues the life of the first man on earth, Amon, and how he befriends Pharaoh Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, and how together they defeat the Kushites and preserve civilization.Anne Jones -- ordinary name of an ordinary person starting an ordinary office job. Was it her, or was every one of her colleagues completely insane? Was it her?

The grandmother mentioned here, Dear Reader, was my beloved stepmother, and the story, in essence, is true. Yet painting a picture faithful to her person and personality meant applying a little poetic licence (so to speak), an indulgence I hope you will understand and appreciate.Twenty three days have passed since the Burning Sky disaster shook the world to its core, twenty three days since the disintegration of the seven American city-stations that had once been in orbit around the Earth. Brought down at the hands of a terrorist organization named the Free Mars Society, a group working to liberate their home planet from the oppressive governments that lorded over it, the incident spurred every nation on the globe into heightened state of alert. Anti-terrorism units from around the globe were put on call, units like the one Mai Tsukino commanded. Rushing into the heart of a Free Mars Society cell operating within Tokyo she’d soon discover there was more to Burning Sky than the world had been told.

In this short story, Waylee Freid, a young reporter in a near-future Baltimore, uncovers evidence that a powerful corporation called MediaCorp secretly co-opted the government to take control of nearly everything people see and hear. Can she get her evidence out and reverse the process before it's too late? Or will her editors succumb to outside pressure and bury her story?In this short story, Waylee Freid, a young reporter in a near-future Baltimore, uncovers evidence that a powerful corporation called MediaCorp secretly co-opted the government to take control of nearly everything people see and hear. Can she get her evidence out and reverse the process before it's too late? Or will her editors succumb to outside pressure and bury her story? And if her evidence was obtained illegally, who's in the right? This ebook also includes the first scene of Sleep State Interrupt, a novel which takes place after the events of The Story. In this scene, an independent news organization takes on MediaCorp and finds itself under siege from riot police with experimental weapons.

They went through terrorists in the Philippines, terrorists in Afghanistan and human traffickers but God brought them to His treasure for their lives.Arthur, Marci, Taylor and Ramon had spent six years at the feet of their mentor, Tom Dandridge. They learned from him a deep and abiding faith in God and His Word. The day they celebrated Tom's home going, they sensed his mantle settling on them somewhat like Elisha did when Elijah was taken up to Heaven. Arthur left for the Philippines. Tom had trained him in spiritual things, Diego had trained him in martial arts. He would need both when he came face to face with the leader of the latest terrorist group. This group favored the traditional method of caning as the manner of dealing with those who opposed them. Their leader's cane was razor laced and deadly. Marci had decided to continue to pursue her college education to become a research physicist. It is at her college that she met Brian. Their paths seem to be crossing in a common manner. Was he the one that God meant for her to marry? Could he save her from a human trafficker disguised as a college professor? Taylor and Ramon had become close friends during Junior and Senior High School. This was unusual because Taylor had professed her hatred for men because of her drunken and abusive father. They joined the Army National Guard hoping to become snipers. It seemed that the Army's rules against female snipers was iron clad. However, a Brigadier General whom Tom had befriended showed up the day of Tom's home going and changed everything. The opportunity came with a price. The duo would have to become the sniper bait that would draw the terrorists out into the open. The four of them would have to work through heartache, uncertainty and danger like they had never seen. Their faith in God and His Word brought them through it all. In the end, God honored His faithful servants and brought His treasure into their lives.

Morph, My Story, is a short story about a girl from Oklahoma. On a trip to the Florida Keys sponsored by Make a Wish, she gets the chance to swim with dolphins, both wild and captured. It's a week of new experiences for a girl that never saw the ocean before and this magical trip marks the start of a new chance at life.Morph, My Story, is a short story about a girl from Oklahoma. On a trip to the Florida Keys sponsored by Make a Wish, she gets the chance to swim with dolphins, both wild and captured. It's a week of new experiences for a girl that never saw the ocean before, and the start of a whole new life that nobody imagined (except for maybe her surprisingly wise grandma). The story is told from the point of view of Kara, a teenager facing more challenges than the typical girl. A disease has hardened and deformed her skin making her the subject of unwanted stares when in public. As she competes against her increasingly inflexible exterior the simple act of smiling hurts. She lives her life within a very real shell and in the Florida Keys she gets the chance to break out in a fantastic way.

A tale of the apocalypse or a tale of personal tragedy and psychological collapse? Originally published in Murky Depths magazine, then republished in Best Tales of the Apocalypse from Permuted Press.There are days when Abigail doesn’t think about them at all, the Luminissmus, days when windows are windows and bottles are bottles, when glass is just glass. On those days, she cooks, cleans, shops, sends out job applications by the truckload and spends the remaining daylight hours in the cemetery. Those days are the exception. Today is not one of those days. Today, she is thinking about the Luminissmus. It’s all she can think about...

I never knew what the consequences would be. I say that like it’s a defense, an excuse. It’s not. It’s simply the truth. I never knew what he would become to me. Through everything, he’s become everything. My rock, my air, my love. My everything. And then…. Things changed. Because it was wrong. Because sometimes, our sons must pay for the sins of their fathers. Or their mothers. I’m afraid that I’m lost, that I’m damned. After you read this, you’ll probably agree. Really, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I save him. Because he shouldn’t pay for my sin. Judge me if you like. But keep reading. This is our beginning. This is where the darkness truly starts. This is a NOCTE Trilogy novella, with a preview of LUX at the end. Series reading order: Nocte Verum Initium Lux

This anthology contains four of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's most brilliant works: Summer and Smoke, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer and Period of Adjustment. "The innocent and the damned, the lonely and the frustrated, the hopeful and the hopeless . . . (Williams) brings them all into focus with an earthy, irreverently comic passion."--Newsweek.

Two opponents must confront the cause of their obsessive fury in the latest Novel of the Elder Races… As a harpy, Sentinel Aryal is accustomed to dealing with hate, but Sentinel Quentin Caeravorn manages to inspire in her a burning ire unlike anything she’s ever known. Aryal believes the new Sentinel to be a criminal, and vows to take him out as soon as the opportunity arises. But the harpy’s incessant wrath has pushed Quentin to the limit, and forces him to make a deadly vow of his own. To put an end to the conflict, Dragos, Lord of the Wyr, sends them on a reconnaissance mission to the Elven land of Numenlaur. Forced to work together, Aryal and Quentin’s mutual antagonism escalates. Each fight draws forth more passion—culminating in an explosively sexual confrontation. But when their quest reveals real danger, Aryal and Quentin must resolve their differences in ways beyond the physical, before the entire Wyr is threatened.

Three true tales of Civil War combat, as recounted by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The acclaimed historian of the American West turns his attention to the country’s bloody civil conflict, chronicling the exploits of extraordinary soldiers who served in unexpected ways at a pivotal moment in the nation’s history. Grierson’s Raid: The definitive work on one of the most astonishing missions of the Civil War’s early days. For two weeks in the spring of 1862, Col. Benjamin Grierson, a former music teacher, led 1,700 Union cavalry troops on a raid from Tennessee to Louisiana. The improbably successful mission diverted Confederate attention from Grant’s crossing of the Mississippi and set the stage for the Siege of Vicksburg. General Sherman called it “the most brilliant expedition of the war.” The Bold Cavaliers: In 1861, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his brother-in-law Basil Duke put together a group of formidable horsemen, and set to violent work. Morgan’s Raiders began in their home state, staging attacks, recruiting new soldiers, and intercepting Union telegraphs. Most were imprisoned after unsuccessful incursions into Ohio and Indiana years later, but some Raiders would escape, regroup, and fight again in different conflicts. “Accurate and frequently exciting” (Kirkus Reviews). The Galvanized Yankees: The little-known and awe-inspiring true story of a group of captured Confederate soldiers who chose to serve in the Union Army rather than endure the grim conditions of prisoner of war camps. “An accurate, interesting, and sometimes thrilling account of an unusual group of men who rendered a valuable service to the nation in a time of great need” (The New York Times Book Review).