A psychiatrist is sent to convince a young, painfully reclusive woman to leave her house, but soon comes to find that being a shut-in may be the least of her problems, as well as his.After Nathan is dumped by his girlfriend, he encounters a strange Taoist priest, and has many interesting debates throughout the night, but the next morning he finds that he has been transported fifteen years into the future. A revolutionary technology enables people to live and work in cyber space. People no longer want or need to drive cars, fly overseas, take drugs, smoke, eat junk food or worry about casual sex, because they can now do all of these things in a digital paradise. Nathan has a difficult time adjusting to the new world order. During a night out in a bar in cyber space a group of people attack a pretty girl and her mates. Nathan helps the girl fight off her attackers and discovers that he not only has super fighting skills but the girl he saved is Mary, the most wanted terrorist in the world. Now Nathan’s life is in turmoil. He has to decide whether to help the government destroy the terrorist organization that is responsible for the threat of global warming returning, or assist Mary in destroying the digital world that could ultimately lead to the end of humanity. The line between right and wrong is no longer clear and Nathan possesses the ultimate power to change the future. This story blends adventure, Kung-Fu and gun battles, and a heart-wrenching romance all mixed together in a new science fiction romance like you have never read before. Experience Nathan’s happiness, sadness, self-discovery and the struggle between life and death in this astonishing futuristic world.

2200 words Darby had made a fortune from mining artifacts to exploit their long-lost technology, but he had spent a lot of it trying to find the hiding place of a legendary ultimate weapon. He was sure she would find it at the bottom of this hole. Soon it would be in his grasp.'When Dawn Arises' reunites some of my best works so far. A celebration of people of all kind and their pursue for the lost wonder years of infancy. These are poems who evaluate human life in and outside a city lost in its own creation.---(Poems written between February and March 2015)

Marion is having a terrible day. A homeless boy stuck inside the artificial, multi-leveled confines of greater NYC, he does the one thing he knows not to do: sleeps late. Fleeing the rush hour panic he collides with Allison Rayel, a disaffected government temp, and together they embark on a journey that leads them to the highest levels of the Build, where history has been piled up and forgotten.Marion is having a truly terrible day. A homeless boy stuck inside the sealed confines of Greater New York City, he made the one mistake that he swore he would never make: he slept late. And with that single misstep his life is forever upended. Caught in the crush of rush hour subway traffic, Marion is launched upon a journey that will carry him from the streets of Manhattan to the highest reaches of the Build.From the lowest rung of New York’s multilevel edifice, Marion is pushed inexorably toward the unseen surface, thousands of meters overhead. Driven by forces seemingly beyond his control, he becomes embroiled in a growing riot, and soon finds himself thrown together with a beautiful, beguiling stranger named Allison Rayel. A GNYC native and perpetually disgruntled government contractor, Allison slams into Marion at the riot site, and finds her life unexpectedly intertwined with his. They are brought together to Corrections, where minor offenders are dispatched to the Garden, source of the city’s produce, and everyone else is incarcerated, sealed off in solitary confinement units that rarely see the artificial light of day.Following an unplanned (and wholly improvised) prison break, Marion and Allison move ever higher, riding atop a swift-moving Lift to reach the meticulously recreated Hamptons, where the fugitives are temporarily sheltered by Bernard Moody, a kindly minister who had befriended Marion in the city. Soon enough, however, the pair’s temporary respite ends, as Bernard’s brother Ian, a wealthy financier, begins to suspect their true identities.From that moment on, Marion and Allison have little choice but to run. Pursued by Ian Moody, a phalanx of corrections officers, and a powerful state government fixer named Vance Devereaux, they slowly advance from level to level, scaling heights — and discovering secrets — that few ever knew existed.With each stumbling step upward, the unlikely couple grow ever closer, their emotional connection forged in an escalating series of deadly challenges. Striving to escape, yet knowing full well that the world outside the Build is filled with merciless Brightlanders, Marion and Allison move toward the surface with both excitement and trepidation, unsure of what they might find. What they find, ultimately, is both nothing and everything — the mysterious wisps of an entirely different life.

These are twelve stories involving the supernatural. The titles of the books are Tomorrow, I Will Disappear Again, Seen Through My Grandfather's Eyes; Revelations of the Attesor Stone; The Mistrial; Thou Art A Witch; A Pleasant Journey; A Time Travel Journey To Schenectady; Time Needed To Sort Itself Out; The Ouija Board Lie Detector; The Thought Mailers; Go Directly To Your Sweetheart.As Nazi-occupied France collapsed under the Allied onslaught in 1944, Gela Pientka defiantly kept a bloody truth that could topple governments and destabilize world currencies. To protect her family, she took the frightening secret to her grave. Gala’s journal, however, exposes a stunning discovery - a corrupt “money train,” supported by murder and slavery, fueled by the foul stench of greed. Powerful international forces seek to destroy the last evidence of their treason by silencing everyone who discovers the secret. Truth is fighting back - fighting to reunite a family ripped apart by the Holocaust, fighting to restore honor - carrying the Cross of Fire as a weapon against the forces of evil.

John Mortenson, a poor student at an Ivy League university trying to make some easy money gets trapped in a bizarre psychological experiment. (This story was inspired by the true story of Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, and the mind control experiments he was subjected to as a young Harvard student.)John Mortenson is a highly intelligent but poor student at an Ivy League university. One day, when he returns to his dorm, he sees a note taped up to his door. It's an invitation to a philosophical discussion. Participants will be paid! Being in dire need of funds and a lover of philosophy, he decides to go. This may turn out to be the worst decision he's ever made.(This story was inspired by the true story of Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, and the mind control experiments he was subjected to as a young Harvard student.)

Sarah’s childhood is plagued with family tragedies, so when the love of her life appears, she radically changes her life. Years later, she realizes that for some people life is not all roses. Envious of her one and only friend, she daydreams, which results in her making the worst mistake in her life.Two events moved me to write this story. The first event occurred in the summer of 2011. That summer I was visiting the emergency room at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center (I had dropped a steel beam on my foot and wasn’t sure if I had broken anything, but that’s another story). While I was in the waiting room, a man came in and walked up to the reception counter, not 10 feet from where I sat. He pulled a pistol from the waistband of his shorts and pointed it at his head. A USAF staff sergeant had just come into the area behind the otherwise empty reception desk. He was shocked and tried to get the man to calm down. The man with the gun told the staff sergeant, “I have PTSD and can’t take it anymore.” Then the man with the gun pulled the trigger.Fortunately, I think self-preservation kicked in at the last second and his hand wavered. The bullet missed his head by a fraction of an inch, and he was eventually talked out of committing suicide. I found out later that this wasn’t some kid just back from Iraq or Afghanistan—this was a senior soldier whose demons still haunted him.I believe many Americans don't understand how prevalent injuries are among our returning warriors—both obvious injuries and ”hidden” injuries such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) —or how devastating both the obvious and hidden injuries can be.The second event that motivated me to write this story was a celebration we hold at the Dayton Dragons baseball field (Fifth Third Field). The Dragons are a Cincinnati Reds farm team, and the company I work for sponsors a pair of events, in coordination with the Dragons, to honor our military. During the game we welcome airmen returning from overseas, facilitate a video greeting from a deployed warrior to his family, and stand proud as a group of youngsters take their oath of enlistment. This, to me, is a very moving experience as the local community honors our heroes.I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you are like me, and you get choked up when you hear the National Anthem or watch Old Glory pass by in a parade, I think you’ll love it.I’m donating fifty percent of my revenue from this book to military-friendly charities. You can help me decide which charities to support. See how at the end of the book. I look forward to your input.Joe G.

Three short novels show Golding at his subtle, ironic, mysterious best. The Scorpion God depicts a challenge to primal authority as the god-ruler of an ancient civilization lingers near death. Clonk Clonk is a graphic account of a crippled youth's triumph over his tormentors in a primitive matriarchal society. Envoy Extraordinary is a tale of Imperial Rome where the emperor loves his illegitimate son more than his own arrogant, loutish heir.

He was wise, strong, and brave. His destiny was to be king. She was young, beautiful, a warrior princess. Her destiny was to love him. But when first they met, it was not as princess and king -- it was as man and woman only, consumed by a passion so sudden, so deep that the very world exploded with one kiss. Only later, with his touch still burning on her lips, did Jura discover that the knight of her secret tryst had been none other than the hated Prince Rowan! Rowan, who had returned from far-away England to usurp her brother's throne... Rowan, who vowed to unite the wild clans under his rule. Furious, Jura swore her enmity to the golden-haired prince whose glorious visage tormented her days and haunted her nights. But nothing would stop Rowan from ruling over the warring tribes... and nothing would stop him from winning the fierce and lovely Jura as his bride, his Queen, his love....

Sequel to the New York Times bestselling Faith of the Fallen New York Times bestselling author Terry Goodkind has created his most lavish adventure yet. Tormented her entire life by inhuman voices, a young woman named Lauren seeks to end her intolerable agony. She at last discovers a way to silence the voices. For everyone else, the torment is about to begin. With winter descending and the paralyzing dread of an army of annihilation occupying their homeland, Richard Rahl and his wife Kahlan must venture deep into a strange and desolate land. Their quest turns to terror when they find themselves the helpless prey of a tireless hunter. Meanwhile, Lauren finds herself drawn into the center of a struggle for conquest and revenge. Worse yet, she finds her will seized by forces more abhorrent than anything she ever envisioned. Only then does she come to realize that the voices were real. Staggered by loss and increasingly isolated, Richard and Kahlan must stop the relentless, unearthly threat which has come out of the darkest night of the human soul. To do so, Richard will be called upon to face the demons stalking among the Pillars of Creation. Discover breathtaking adventure and true nobility of spirit. Find out why millions of readers the world over have elevated Terry Goodkind to the ranks of legend.

Tom Stoppard’s magnificent trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, was the most keenly awaited and successful drama of 2007. Now “Stoppard’s crowning achievement” (David Cote, Time Out New York) has been collected in one volume, with an introduction by the author, and includes the definitive text used during Lincoln Center’s recent celebrated run. The Coast of Utopia comprises three sequential plays that chronicle the story of a group of friends who come of age under the Tsarist autocracy of Nicholas I, and for whom the term “intelligentsia” was coined. Among them are the anarchist Michael Bakunin, who was to challenge Marx for the soul of the masses; Ivan Turgenev, author of some of the most enduring works in Russian literature; the brilliant, erratic young critic Vissarion Belinsky; and Alexander Herzen, a nobleman's son and the first self-proclaimed socialist in Russia, who becomes the main focus of this drama of politics, love, loss, and betrayal. In The Coast of Utopia, Stoppard presents an inspired examination of the struggle between romantic anarchy, utopian idealism, and practical reformation in what The New York Times calls “brilliant, sprawling . . . a rich pageant.”

Sebastian Malheur is the most dangerous sort of rake: an educated one. When he's not scandalizing ladies in the bedchamber, he's outraging proper society with his scientific theories. He's desired, reviled, acclaimed, and despised—and he laughs through it all. Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, on the other hand, is entirely respectable, and she’d like to stay that way. But Violet has a secret that is beyond ruinous, one that ties her irrevocably to England's most infamous scoundrel: Sebastian's theories aren't his. They're hers. So when Sebastian threatens to dissolve their years-long conspiracy, she'll do anything to save their partnership...even if it means opening her vulnerable heart to the rake who could destroy it for good..

In the hopeful 1950s, Frank and April Wheeler appear to be a model couple: bright, beautiful, talented, with two young children and a starter home in the suburbs. Perhaps they married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank's job is dull. And April never saw herself as a housewife. Yet they have always lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. But now that certainty is about to crumble.With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves. From the Trade Paperback edition.

They are the very best America has to offer --- the few and the proud. The Marine Corps has served our nation with distinction, and achieved an almost mythical status among America's defenders. Now, Tom Clancy tells us the real story of the men and women who serves in this most hallowed branch of the Armed Forces. With the same compelling style and eye for detail that marked his bestselling nonfiction works Submarine, Armored Cav, and Fighter Wing, Clancy paints fascinating picture of the Corps as only he could.

This wide-eyed, magical tale by distinguished author Alice Hoffman reflects the pale blue hue of two 12-year-old friends about to be parted at summer's end. Hailey and Claire have lived next door to each other and have been best friends all their lives, but now Claire's family is going to move away to Florida. The two hang out at the neighborhood beach club in the blistering heat, dreading the end of things. The Capri Beach Club, too, is coming to an end--neglected and shabby, due to be bulldozed at the end of the season. Despite the girls' fear of change, everything shifts with a summer storm. At the beach club the next morning, Hailey and Claire find that the storm has left its mark, filling the cloudy waters of the swimming pool with jellyfish and seaweed. Hailey boldly dives in and discovers that the waves have also brought a delicate blue and white mermaid who is extremely grouchy at her predicament. The girls scheme to return the fish-woman to the sea, but she obstinately refuses to leave the vicinity of Raymond, the handsome boy who runs the gift shop. Alarmed at the mermaid's growing weakness, Hailey and Claire extract her promise to go back to the sea in exchange for one evening with Raymond. They set up a blind date, dress her in a long blue dress to hide her tail, and take her to the rendezvous in a wheelchair. But the next morning the dying mermaid is in love, and the patio is full of partygoers. Can the girls sneak her past all those eyes to save her life? And will she let them? Young teens will be entranced by the strange dreaminess of this poignant little story about love and loss. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

The arrival of Federico Lampo and his travelling circus brings a new threat to Drabville when the children are kidnapped and transported to the grim world of the Conjuors' Realm. Lord Aldor, assisted by Ringmaster Lampo and the vicious Contessa Bombasta, is plotting to conquer the fairy province of Mirth. . The children embark on a quest to warn the Queen of Mirth, encountering some fearsome obstacles, not least the ferocious Grin Bandits and their tooth–extracting apparatus. As the day of battle draws near, Milli and Ernest realise that if Lord Aldor defeats them, theirs won't be the only lives at stake...

The FINAL shocking, heart-wrenching book in the jaw-droppingly stupendous Skulduggery Pleasant series Valkyrie. Darquesse. Stephanie. The world ain’t big enough for the three of them. The end will come… The War of the Sanctuaries has been won, but it was not without its casualties. Following the loss of Valkyrie Cain, Skulduggery Pleasant must use any and all means to track down and stop Darquesse before she turns the world into a charred, lifeless cinder. And so he draws together a team of soldiers, monster hunters, killers, criminals… and Valkyrie’s own murderous reflection. The war may be over, but the final battle is about to begin. And not everyone gets out of here alive…

The Main and Hazard families clash on and off the Civil War’s battlefields as they grapple with the violent realities of a divided nation America’s master storyteller continues his reign with Love and War, a story steeped in passion and betrayal. With the Confederate and Union armies furiously fighting, the once-steadfast bond between the Main and Hazard families continues to be tested. From opposite sides of the conflict, they face heartache and triumph on the frontlines as they fight for the future of the nation and their loved ones. With his impeccable research and unfailing devotion to the historical record, John Jakes offers his most enthralling and enduring tale yet.  This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Jakes including rare images from the author’s personal collection.

“The theme of this book is reincarnation, an attempt to show the interplay—the law of cause and effect, good and evil, among certain individual souls in two periods of English history.” Green Darkness is the story of a great love, a love in which mysticism, suspense, and mystery form a web of good and evil forces that stretches from Tudor England to the England of the twentieth century. The marriage of the Englishman Richard Marsdon and his young American wife, Celia, slowly turns tragic as Richard withdraws into himself and Celia suffers a debilitating emotional breakdown. A wise mystic realizes that Celia can escape her past only by reliving it. She journeys back four hundred years to her former life as the servant girl Celia de Bohun during the reign of Edward VI—and to her doomed love affair with the chaplain Stephen Marsdon. Although Celia and Stephen can’t escape the horrifying consequences of their love, fate (and time) offer them another chance for redemption.

(MMF) Gwen has a cheating ex, a paranoid best friend, crazy overprotective and ultra-religious parents…and is a successful erotica writer. Forced to overcome her fear of flying to search for their sister in Rapid City, Gwen doesn't expect to run into her internet buddy, Tim. Better yet, Tim's boyfriend, Jack, is a police detective. They welcome Gwen and her older brother, Liam, to stay with them during their search. Jack earned his "Stoneface" nickname after personal tragedy hardened his heart. He loves Tim, but Gwen stirs up painful memories that make Jack's feelings for her suspect in his own mind. It doesn't help that he falls in love with her. Unfortunately, finding their sister leads to more problems. Shattered trust, broken hearts, and Liam coming out to their parents in a defiant showdown make Gwen question her priorities. Can she risk her heart again trying to break through Jack's "Stoneface" façade?

F. Paul Wilson’s powerful World War II novel is an unforgettable saga of passion and terror, the ravages of war, the pain of betrayal, and the glory of love. At the heart of the story are four people torn between love and honor:  Matsuo Okumo, born in Japan, raised in America, and hated in both lands; Hiroki Okumo, his brother, a modern samurai sworn to serve a secret cult and the almighty Emperor; Meiko Satsuma, the woman they both love; and Frank Slater, the American who turned away when Matsuo needed him, and who now struggles to repay his debt of honor.

In his novels and stories, F. Paul Wilson has spent over four decades chronicling a Secret History of human civilization – the events, the conspiracies, the human and non-human forces that have shaped its course. A history of the world that remains undiscovered, unexplored, and unknown to most of humanity. Some of this Secret History has been revealed in his Adversary Cycle, some in his Repairman Jack novels, and bits and pieces in other, seemingly unconnected works. Taken together, even these millions of words barely scratch the surface of what has been going on behind the scenes, hidden from the workaday world. Running nearly 100,000 words, SCENES FROM THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WORLD acts as a sampler and organizer of the thirty plus novels and various short stories that form the huge mosaic Wilson has assembled. It includes unseen artwork and a new timeline available nowhere else.