Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Lassoed, knocked down, face planted in the dirt -- best thing to happen to Frank Bowen in years. When wife Liz went missing in the wilds of Belize, the constables of San Ignacio could find no trace. Years later, on a pilgrimage to her remote 'grave,' Frank is abducted and whisked away to a place he can't identify, by people whose motives and origins baffle him. Could this be what happened to Liz?Two lightly intertwined stories of strangers lost in strange lands.Lassoed, knocked down, face planted in the dirt -- best thing to happen to Frank Bowen in years. When wife Liz went missing in the wilds of Belize, the constables of San Ignacio could find no trace. Years later, on a pilgrimage to her remote 'grave,' Frank is abducted and whisked away to a place he can't identify, by people whose motives and origins baffle him. Could this be what happened to Liz? Meanwhile, at a relay site in a New England mill town, a band of scouts from that world awaits passage home. In the wrong place at the wrong time, they discover dealings that would give access to Earth to their enemies. The only way to stop this conspiracy is to destroy the 'xenoliths' that regulate convergences between the worlds. Can they find their way home and prevent their war from spreading to a new battleground called Earth?

“His Second Chance” is the first of four full-length inspirational romance novels in Emily Josephine’s series “Choices and Chances.” Download your copy today, and be entertained with romantic suspense…and encouraged toward positive change.The last thing any parent wants to receive is a phone call telling them that their child has fallen seriously ill from an unknown cause. When the child is an only child and ends up in a coma, matters grow even more serious.This is exactly the situation Cynthia Redman faces with her daughter. And while Melissa recovers, other students in the St. Peter district aren’t so lucky. Cynthia determines to get to the bottom of the outbreak of sickness that suddenly begins to occur after children consume school lunches. She soon finds an ally in Preston Brenner, a handsome businessman who encourages her to fight for what she believes. But when their relationship goes beyond friendship, Preston must make a choice: to reveal to Cynthia exactly which business he is in, or leave his successful career to please the woman he is falling for. Because she is now anti-processed food, and has every reason to believe that he may have been wooing her for all the wrong reasons.In the meantime, schoolchildren continue to fall sick and Cynthia and her new friends begin to suspect foul play. Preston hopes to use his position of power to solve the mystery, but is rendered helpless when he discovers that he, too, is being targeted by a malefactor. Both their worlds are falling apart. Only by forgiving and reuniting will they be able to uncover the truth….“His Second Chance” is the first of four full-length inspirational romance novels in Emily Josephine’s series “Choices and Chances.” Download your copy today, and be entertained with romantic suspense…and encouraged toward positive change.

What would you do if a secret government agency came to you and asked you to help them beat back the paranormal creatures encroaching on our world? You'd laugh in their faces, right? So did Will and Emily. At first...This is a collection of two full-sizes books. Each book is the start of its own series, and they have several things in common:2 strong heroines, 2 sexy heroes, dogs and cats, and stories that make you care deeply.STARDUST MIRACLE (Miracle Interrupted)A miracle is going to happenBecky Diedrich is the cheesemaker’s daughter.The minister’s wife.The good sister.What she’s not is her own woman.What she can’t be is a mother.And then she catches her husband with another woman.And she moves in with her sister.And she starts to see sparkles.And this is just the beginning…* * *HEARTS IN MOTION – (Rescued Hearts, book 1)Take two cats, a dog, and a determined woman...Animal lover Abby Pimm isn’t looking for love. With two rescue cats, one rescue dog, a struggling business, and her fourteen-year-old sister to raise, she’s got her hands full. What she needs is an angel – though she’ll settle for the devil if he’ll invest in her fledgling company and keep it afloat.Add a six-year-old girl...Wealthy businessman Holden Ramsay is no devil. He’s doing all the right things, and when he’s forced to care for his ex’s six-year-old daughter, he ends up hiring Abby as a temporary sitter – a woman who lights up his damaged heart, and perks up other organs as well. A woman who might be his redemption...or his downfall.Who’s rescuing who?The animals that Abby rescued think maybe it’s time they do a little rescue work of their own—because sometimes humans in love can be so dense...

The books of Anastasia Novykh are phenomenous for the fact that every person sees as if in the mirror something of his or her own, purely personal. This book discloses the inner world of a sixteen-year-old girl, who suddenly encounters death face to face. This pushes her to reconsideration of her own life and search of answers to the everlasting questions: “What is the sense of life?"This is a short story. It is not a full length book or novella. William Hampton, Viscount Worthe, prefers the remote stability and predictability of the stars to the perplexing changeability of people. An astronomer, he’s fashioned for himself a focused, industrious, simple life. He leaves his quiet retreat, however, when his mathematical computations, included in an article on orbital variations, are questioned. Miss Jane Tillney is volunteering at Half Moon House when Lord Worthe finds her. The Viscount is handsome and charming, but unfortunately his entire outlook is miscalculated, not just his astronomical equations. Lord Worthe is intrigued by Jane, her generous spirit and her unusual freckles, but can he find a way to open his heart and let her shine her light on his life?

Holidays with the Hancocks: too many presents, too much booze, a lot of tears. Youngest son Carson, now a filmmaker, explores the history of Christmas by filming holiday visits to his family. Along the way he finds the dying cult of Mithras, Yulegoats in Rio, anarchists and squatters, evangelocalism, a costume solstice party, sleighs of reindeer bones, lapsed monks and their secular monastery.Holidays with the Hancocks of Beverly Hills: too many presents, too much booze, a lot of tears. Youngest son Carson, now a documentary filmmaker, recalls those times with survivor's fascination, curiosity and some obsession: what is it with Christmas? The result: a documentary on the history and the current state of Christmas, by way of visits to his surviving family members. When his film goes nowhere, it's up to a friend to not only describe but retell the film frame by frame. "The Holly King" is truly the book of the movie, and a sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes satirical look not only at the holiday season, but also at the emblems and excesses of our culture today and its place in history.What starts out as a jackass mockumentary, "Why Do You Hate Christmas?" becomes a wildly sprawling exploration of the Christmas holiday itself, how it's celebrated today and how his mother, his sister and his brother are living out theeevents and choices in their lives. After an animated segment on the the early church and its holidays, reminiscent of Terry Gilliam and Michael Moore, Carson visits his mother Dianne, once a successful caterer to the stars, now retired to the gated community Hosanna Hills, a wealthy Southern Californian enclave built and developed according to the next wave in evangelical mega-church luxury, evangelocalism, a cross between DIY craftmaking, Shaker communities and Whole Foods.The next year, it's on to a visit to his sister, Shannon, the one time rrriot girl and soft porn photographic muse once known as Tillie Harm. Having retired from a life of wasted glamor, Shannon now lives on a rural farm, making cheese and holding costumed solstice parties with her Neo-Iron Age earth-sculptor husband Ken. This years party intends to unveil Ken's latest eco-installment, the Solstice Alidade, a North American Stonehenge. Never mind the overcast weather: tractor lights will work.Finally, a trip to see his brother, Humphrey, the oldest. A runaway when Carson was younger, Humphrey lived on the streets in Seattle among anarchists and squatters, angry and revolutionary. When a tragedy strikes in the squatters camp, he goes to Peter, the innovative priest who ministered to the street kids. When Peter dies, however, Humphrey has no place to go with his grief but the neo-monastic order, Mashipan. Founded by the radical Father Archibald Solano as a sanctuary for lapsing priests, Humphrey is invited not as a believer but as the true non-believer, the questioner of faith, the holly king. His affect on the brothers – and sisters – of Mashipan leads to the complete reawakening of the monastery and its mission of engagement with the world. Carson's visit with his brother is a step-by-step retelling of his brother's remarkable journey.The Holly King is not the usual Christmas story. It is a surprisimg, funny, unexpected tale that covers a lot of ground: the dying cult of Mithras, the TV Christmas special of reality show/Jersey Shore-like star Pootie, the hallucinatory Wilde Jagd, Yule goats in Rio, Monty Python-like animated sequences, anarchists and squatters, gated Christian communities, Neo-Iron Age earth-sculptures, sleighs made of reindeer bones, Industrial Revolution couture, theorboes, devotional art lend-lease programs with the Vatican, lapsed monks and their secular monastery. In the satiric vein of Catch 22, David Foster Wallace, Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Leyner, "The Holly King" asks the question, Why is there Christmas?

Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny once lived on their own in a boxcar . . . It’s spring, and all the baby animals are being born—a perfect time to visit the zoo. The Aldens and their friends are taking pictures there for a photo contest. But when cameras go missing and a girl is accused of cheating, the Boxcar Children must find out just who is monkeying with the contest!

Josh and Madison are the perfect couple, but even true love can change like the seasons. A shattered dream causes their marriage to take an unexpected plunge toward a silent grave. Can they manage to pull it back from the precipice? Find out in this tale of love, heartache and miracles.Sometimes when hope is lost, it is hard to get it back... but even in our darkest hour, there is always a chance that it will shine its light back into our hearts...Josh and Madison are the perfect couple, but even true love can change like the seasons. A shattered dream causes their marriage to take an unexpected plunge toward a silent grave. Can they manage to pull it back from the precipice? Find out in this tale of love, heartache and miracles.

A short story about somewhat misfit 8th grader, her father, a summer reading assignment to read the Diary of Anne Frank, and the events of 9/11Joan becomes involved in a war that will change her life forever. She discovers that the world holds many secrets, even magic beyond her wildest dreams. The existence of immortality drove humanity to the edge. Humans are hunting Joan's kind to extinction. Circumstances force her to act. She wishes to put an end to the slaughter of innocent Tainted Beings. Only she has the courage to step up. How far can a hero fall before they became a villain? The road of revenge is a dangerous and slippery path. That doesn't stop Joan from making the ultimate decision of becoming an assassin. Her true test is to prevail and not become consumed by darkness. Will she succeed or will she turn into the monster she was trying to destroy?

A meteor falls to Earth, exploding high in the atmosphere and wreaking havoc on the ground. An amateur rock hunter discovers a piece of the interstellar visitor and cashes in on the find, only to learn that it is much more than just a rock...To think that there are no other sentient beings in the universe borders on vanity.-To think that other sentient beings would be any less prone to violence and war than humans borders on naivety.-Collateral damage is a reality with any conflict.-What if there is undelivered ordinance... stray bullets... from distant, cosmic conflicts floating through space like wandering asteroids or long-period comets?-What if bystander Earth was the victim of one of these... errant shots?

Seasons change, and so does the world. A restless, ancient people have come from our distant past to live among modern man. And with them they bring their age old quarrels."Tears for Atlantis" is a short story about Jack Grey's parents, Thomas and Eleanor. It is a prequel to the events that take place in "Dark Tide Rising".Seasons change, and so does the world. A restless, ancient people have come from our distant past to live among modern man. And with them they bring their age old quarrels.The Crown of Dreams lays buried beneath the seas of the world, lost forever. However, there is one man left who remembers where it fell. And his mere memory of its location has made Thomas a target for power-hungry men..."Tears for Atlantis" is a short story about Jack Grey's parents, Thomas and Eleanor. It is a prequel to the events that take place in "Dark Tide Rising".

The gods can be generous with their gifts, but they will choose who gets them and who doesn’t. And sometimes the gift belongs to the person you would least expect.In her first professional sale to Tales of the Talisman magazine in Summer of 2008, Ms. Sonnier provided a small tale of wonder and magic.The gods can be generous with their gifts, but they will choose who gets them and who doesn’t. And sometimes the gift belongs to the person you would least expect.

A short guide to the works in The Ostraka Plays collection. Here you will find some thoughts and observations behind the plays.The following Companion outlines in some detail the works collected together as The Ostraka Plays, together with some observations behind the writing process and a larger overview of the theatre these plays occupy. Each play is discussed in some detail and all are grouped together under the rubric of the ostracised: those people and characters who are ejected or abandoned from the social body.

A civilization of unknown creatures battle for scraps, living in humanity’s shadow, when their leader is fatally wounded on one of her dangerous expeditions. Kyzudo must prove herself as a warrior or her society may fall into chaos as traditions, that benefit the people, are abandoned. Kyzudo seeks a solution within the world of humans, seeing our familiar world with new eyes.Fractime’s story tells of key times surrounding the Universal War, a conflict pitting humanity against machine and itself throughout time.John Mackinac learns that the creation of a space-time rip during their attack on the ancient machine ship threatens the multiverse with increasing instabilities, dangerous paradox loops and disastrous changes to the Family’s past and future. Scott and John must travel over a billion years into the past to the center of the Milky Way, and a ship built by the first enemy of the machines to discover the truth behind the legend, stop the impending rip and restore the Family’s timeline. (ver 2.0)

In "The Bamboozling of Bazalob", Derry and Jude are carried in a giant travelling pot to rescue their cousin Katie, from Bazalob, a gross mix of beast, bird and fish.In "The Flying Shoes" Sissy and Sam find two giant shoes in a field, in which they fly to the horrible home of Slobsky, a child-eating giant. Will they be able to rescue Milly and Moll, the giant's daughters and prisoner, Wendy?In “The Bamboozling of Bazalob", Derry and Jude are carried in a giant travelling pot to rescue their cousin Katie, from Bazalob, a gross concoction of beast, bird and fish. The children are guided by Mikono, the spirit of the pot and en route they enlist the help of bouncing Blodder, weird Gingali and reluctant Sydney, before finding Katie, who luckily was not to Bazalob’s taste!In “The Flying Shoes” Sissy and Sam find two giant shoes in a field and when they climb in, fly to the horrible home of Slobsky, a child-eating giant. There they find Milly and Moll, his unhappy daughters and Wendy, trapped in a wheel. Will they escape with the girls before Slobsky seizes them for supper?

It was the ultimate cold case. The murders occurred on Mars twenty years ago, so how can Detective Inspector Richardson, a local policeman from Melbourne, Australia, track down the murderer – and why is he being asked to?It was the ultimate cold case. The murders occurred on Mars twenty years ago, so how can Detective Inspector Richardson, a local policeman from Melbourne, Australia, track down the murderer – and why is he being asked to?Twenty years ago, the Prometheus landed in the Hellas Basin on Mars and all the crew died from unknown causes. When an historic site survey crew arrive, they find that the circumstances of the deaths weird and inexplicable. Yet secret coded instructions from the UN space agency HQ on Earth indicates that these circumstances were somehow known in advance. This is murder and Detective Inspector Richardson, a local detective from Melbourne, is called in to solve the case. There are only four people with means and opportunity, all of them are highly focused, very intelligent and none of them, apparently, has a convincing motive. Richardson must sort out their stories to find the guilty, all the time wondering why he was given this job at all.Joseph H.J. Liaigh started out studying the polar ice caps on Mars. Since then he has worked as a government scientist, an Air Force intelligence officer and an academic. He has studied everything from the methane streams on Titan to the flat topped volcanoes of Venus. Through all this, he has been an avid devotee of detective fiction. In The Prometheus Incident, he brings these two worlds together in a unique way to create an unusual and intriguing mystery.

All Eva wants is to disappear into the busy day to day of the circus she ran away to--but a dangerous mask falls into her hands and drives her into death defying acts.In The Hanged Man's Ghost, Fynn met the ghost of a circus performer named Eva. The Girl with Two Faces tells the story of fourteen-year-old Eva's encounter with a cursed mask that drives her to seek fame with more and more dangerous feats of tightrope walking.Eva will have to find the strength to break free of the mask's influence and make peace with the father she's hated her whole life.Prequel to The Hanged Man's Ghost.