Twenty-fourth century scoundrel Jaf Daskal takes an honest look back on the adventure that started his unlikely climb to 'hero'.Stumbling on the 'lost planet' of Caliuga, he and his criminal crew try to engage in harmless fraud, but end up experimenting with a new drug and founding a new religion. Oh, and a war breaks out, with Jaf and crew trying their best to survive and profit from it all.Okay, here goes. When Jaf Daskal betrays the sinister fellow who paid him to recover a mysterious ‘treasure,’ he feels like he’s being pursued by the Valkyries of Andromeda as he and his little band are launched into a bizarre adventure of fraud, power, sex, drugs, and religion that culminates in a battle for planet-wide freedom.Valkyries of Andromeda is a science fiction adventure story that begins the saga of Jaf Daskal,an orphan brought up by a poor elderly woman on the afterthought planet Kipple. From her he learned some appreciation of universal feminine attributes; from the city he learned to adapt and fit in, to be everybody’s friend, and to bend ethics in order to survive. He goes into free-lance work, doing whatever pays, contracting to recover a mysterious treasure on the desert planet of Mobahey. There he signs on two drifters, one oh-so-sharp and one oh-so-peculiar, and the three head out on a hunt. But first, Jaf also arranges with the original discoverer of the treasure map, an eccentric old sort, to betray Jaf’s sponsor so the two can make off with the treasure themselves. Once the ‘treasure’ (two big rubbery balls) is brought back to town the sponsor figures out what’s up and comes after them like the ‘Valkyries of Andromeda’, and they make a hasty uncharted escape to equally uncharted Caliuga, a planet settled by wayward travelers over the past couple centuries. There they are mistaken for the Empire’s Inspector General, Caliuga’s first contact with the Empire ever, bringing joy that the planet of castaways will soon be re-connected to civilization, and all its blessings.The Caliugan settlements have mostly prospered peacefully, but the latest arrivals (before Jaf and crew) are trying to consolidate and gain power over the others by forming a Planetary Union and coercing other colonies into joining; it is into this vortex that Jaf and his crew are drawn. Fraud, confusion, intrigue, schemes and plots ensue as Jaf is sucked into the politics of Caliuga, and it all culminates with battles and bloodshed.Valkyries of Andromeda is the first in a series of stories told by Jaf Daskal, a man of the 24th century who has been many things in his life, often mistaken for noble or heroic. Here he takes a shameless look back at his hundred-year career that made him famous enough that people would care about his life, and candid enough that they would enjoy his account.

Two reporters interview a strange humpbacked man in a house where previous owners conducted gruesome experiments. This story is a selection from Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror-Volume 4. Hark! This is a story for readers who enjoy a good scare. If limbs being hacked off make you queasy, don't read it. Otherwise, enjoy the horror.Alex and Mia, two reporters from the Daily Chronicle, need a final article for tomorrow's edition. Mia is hellbent to interview a strange humpbacked man the neighborhood kids nicknamed "Creepy" after he came to town in a hearse. The strange recluse had recently taken up residence in an infamous house unoccupied for many years where a mad doctor conducted gruesome experiments on homeless people over a forty-year period. This story is a selection from Scary Stories: A Collection of Horror-Volume 4. Hark! This is a story for readers who enjoy a good scare. If limbs being hacked off make you queasy, don't read this story. Otherwise, enjoy the horror.

Kabir -- a private eye -- is grappling with a conundrum. His wife has left him only three days after the wedding. A client asks him to track down a missing cat called Luna. When Kabir sets out in the cat's pursuit, he hits upon a startling revelation about life and love.There are some questions that even a private detective cannot answer. Why doesn't my wife talk to me? Why does she spend all her time following the Arab Spring on the Internet? And did she leave me only three days after the wedding? Kabir -- Lucknow's most successful sleuth -- is grappling with all of these questions, when a client asks him to track down a missing cat called Luna. When Kabir sets out in the cat's pursuit, he hits upon a startling revelation about life and love.

After the sun turned, Madelyn fled north to escape the riots and the encroaching glaciers. As long as the world was ending, she wanted to live her final days in the one place she had always been happy—her grandmother's cabin. She survived the Roamers, the scavengers, and the wildlife, but she can't escape her fear of dying alone.After the sun turned, Madelyn fled north to escape the riots and the encroaching glaciers. As long as the world was ending, she wanted to live her final days in the one place she had always been happy—her grandmother's cabin. She survived the Roamers, the scavengers, and the wildlife, but she can't escape her fear of dying alone.She left behind this note:"Gather my bones, if you find them. If a bear hasn’t dragged them off, or a wolf cracked them for my marrow. My skull goes on the wall with the others. Any other remains can be planted near Sacrifice Rock. That’s where my grandfather is buried, and where I dug up the skull of my beloved grandmother.Her sweet eyes were still wise and kind, even when I only imagined them from their hollow sockets. She taught us so many things—how to hunt, trap, and fish. She should have taught me how to live alone. I never learned the trick of scaring away the ghosts. They won’t shut up and leave me in peace. I guess it's time to join them."—MadelynThis series is continued in "Madelyn's Mistake" and "Madelyn's Last Dance".

An Gambling based ebook that will reveal the secret strategy for immediate profits.Advantages of this ebook:*Short and free ebook*Including strategy that is very easy for learning and use*Making money instantly after reading*Winning proof includedThe bandaged man is a literary novella about a young, parentless brother and sister who find a mysterious bandaged man upon their dry and dying land. The man is near to death and carries with him a bloodstained shotgun. With no neighbours nor family, the siblings take the bandaged man into their home and, despite him being unable to walk or talk, they attempt to nurse him back to health.As the days pass and the man does little more than breath and take the water and food they give him, memories of their dead father come back to haunt them.Then one day the man speaks, calling for a bag before trying to force his way out of the house. Weak and still terribly injured, the man collapses but both the boy and girl think of his words, of the bag he was so anxious to recover.As their dreams find form in what they think the bag contains, the bandaged man's secrets slowly emerge.

We’ve been told that dogs’ partnership with Man took thousands of years to germinate and solidify. Perhaps it did...but that doesn’t mean that a different sort of inter-species bond would take that long, especially if Bruno the Newf were one of the participants.Bismillah“No, please don’t! Please! No! Please don’t! I’ll do what you want! I’ll do whatever you want! Please! Please!”He screams more.“Please, no! I don’t like snakes! Please!Not the snakes! Please. Stop. Stop!”“Please stop!”As Allah wills

Nuclear war has made it so that no person is able to live above ground. This caused humanity to all live beneath the earth’s surface, down in the tunnels built in preparation for a nuclear attack. The men who used to call themselves Americans find the existence difficult but bearable. Their predicament has them yearning for other possibilities. Will they find them?Nuclear war has made it so that no person is able to live above ground. This caused humanity to all live beneath the earth’s surface, down in the tunnels built in preparation for a nuclear attack. The men who used to call themselves Americans find the existence difficult but bearable. Their predicament has them yearning for other possibilities. Will they find them? Or will they be doomed to live in tunnels forever?

Twelve short stories - one for each month. The year is measured out in familiar festivals. All the stories are set in Scotland - but not in an overly parochial way!Two of the stories appeared in a previous anthology (Fistful of Rain - now withdrawn) - and another "A Glasgow New Year" was previously available as a standalone short story (also now withdrawn)Twelve short stories - one for each month. The year is measured out in familiar festivals. All the stories are set in Scotland - but not in an overly parochial way!Two of the stories appeared in a previous anthology (Fistful of Rain - now withdrawn) - and another "A Glasgow New Year" is currently available as a standalone short story.

The lost stories of Daphne du Maurier, collected in one volume for the first time. Before she wrote Rebecca, the novel that would cement her reputation as a twentieth-century literary giant, a young Daphne du Maurier penned short fiction in which she explored the images, themes, and concerns that informed her later work. Originally published in periodicals during the early 1930s, many of these stories never found their way into print again . . . until now. Tales of human frailty and obsession, and of romance gone tragically awry, the thirteen stories in The Doll showcase an exciting budding talent before she went on to write one of the most beloved novels of all time. In these pages, a waterlogged notebook washes ashore revealing a dark story of jealousy and obsession, a vicar coaches a young couple divided by class issues, and an older man falls perilously in love with a much younger woman—with each tale demonstrating du Maurier’s extraordinary storytelling gifts and her deep understanding of human nature.

A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now. Paris, 1490.  A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look. In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told.

Hu-bots – robots that humans created as perfect versions of themselves – now control the world. They seized power in a war that almost wiped humankind off the face of the earth. The humans that remain are forced to either work as servants or live in prison camps. But one teenage girl, Six, has a device that could change everything. Her Q-comp, a computer onto which the memories of her murdered family have been downloaded, contains information that could save humankind. Six is unaware of the power she holds, but the ruling hu-bots are not. Forced to flee from those sent to kill her, can Six discover the secret that could save her life, and the future of the human race?

Billionaire businessman Michael Dubrovnik has never lost a negotiation. He's used to getting his way and those who go up against him quickly learn why he's called "The Whirlwind." When Michael wants something, there's no force in the world that can stop him...until he meets Laura de Kelsey Winston, the owner of the only building standing between him and Dubrovnik Plaza, the project that will be his legacy. Laura doesn't care about Dubrovnik Plaza. She's only interested in protecting the architectural landmark that her grandfather gave his life for. The head of a modeling agency, Laura has learned to be tough, determined and every bit as stubborn as Michael Dubrovnik. He's gorgeous, tempting, and her worst enemy. How can she resist? Michael is in for a fight, but it's not just the property at stake. Can he win the Glass House and still hold onto his heart?

Okay, life has been tough recently. Dr. Amanda Jacobs is finally ready to admit that—and do something about it. Stateside again, she's focused on reestablishing her medical career. Sure, it's not the stop-your-heart stress of working in war-torn countries. But right now she needs a little less stress. And that means she doesn't need the distraction of Simon Hart. The way Amanda sees it, their on-again-off-again relationship can stay off. Even though he's more charming than ever, is there too much between them to get over? Still, a part of her wonders if this is their chance to be together…forever.

For centuries, the Others and humans have lived side by side in uneasy peace. But when humankind oversteps its bounds, the Others will have to decide how much humanity they’re willing to tolerate—both within themselves and within their community... Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn, see the new, closer companionship as beneficial—both personally and practically. But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don’t realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others—and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs…

"The Queen of Spades" is one of the most famous tales in Russian literature, and inspired the eponymous opera by Tchaikovsky; in "The Stationmaster", from The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, Pushkin reworks the parable of the Prodigal Son; "Tsar Nikita and his Forty Daughters" is one of Pushkin’s bawdier early poems; and the narrative poem "The Bronze Horseman", inspired by a St Petersburg statue of Peter the Great, is one of Pushkin’s best-known and most influential works. The volume also includes a selection of Pushkin’s best lyric poetry. Contents: • Short Stories: The Queen of Spades; The Stationmaster • Drama: Extracts from Boris Godunov and Mozart and Salieri • The Bronze Horseman (narrative poem), Tsar Nikita and His Forty Daughters (folk poem) and 14 lyric poems • Novel in Verse: Extract from Yevgeny Onegin (novel in verse)

Seventeen-year-old Mana has found and rescued her mother, but her work isn't done yet. Her mother may be out of alien hands, but she's in a coma, unable to tell anyone what she knows. Mana is ready to take action. The only problem? Nobody will let her. Lyle, her best friend and almost-boyfriend (for a minute there, anyway), seems to want nothing to do with hunting aliens, despite his love of Doctor Who. Bestie Seppie is so desperate to stay out of it, she's actually leaving town. And her mom's hot but arrogant alien-hunting partner, China, is ignoring Mana's texts, cutting her out of the mission entirely. They all know the alien threat won't stay quiet for long. It's up to Mana to fight her way back in.

"Rescued," an e-short story related to the Missing series, will be available August 5. "Rescued" provides a bridge between RISKED and REVEALED Return to the world of The Missing with an original e-short story! Katherine and Jonah have just saved the Grand Duchesses Anastasia and Maria, as well as their brother the tsarevitch Alexei Romanov. Although the Romanovs are devastated that they lost the rest of their family, they are happy that they still have each other and are safe. But they weren't the only ones saved: Leonid, Alexei’s faithful servant and friend, was also whisked away to the time hollow. Will he be able to accept his fate?

For hundreds of years, the Ironship Trading Syndicate was fuelled by drake blood–and protected by the Blood-blessed, those few who could drink it and wield fearsome powers. But now the very thing that sustained the corporate world threatens to destroy it. A drake of unimaginable power has risen, and it commands an army of both beasts and men. Rogue Blood-blessed Claydon Torcreek, Syndicate agent Lizanne Lethridge, and Ironship captain Corrick Hilemore, spread to disparate corners of the world, must rely upon the new powers and knowledge they have gained at great price to halt its forces–or face the end of all they know.

For most, a plane crash means the end of life. For Dusti Dawson, it’s just the beginning… Dusti and her sister Batina survived the crash, thanks to a couple of brothers who are equal parts menacing and muscled. She’d be grateful…if they hadn’t turned out to be delusional kidnappers, who believe Dusti’s grandfather is some monstrous halfbreed creature bent on murder. Turns out Vampires, Lycans, and Gargoyles do exist— and they’ve been crossbreeding to form two hybrid races. Drantos, the man Dusti can’t stop lusting after, is one of the most dangerous of all. VampLycans Drantos and Kraven were sent to eliminate a threat to their clan. But when that threat turns out to be mostly human women, clueless of their lineage, plans change—especially after Drantos gets a taste of Dusti’s blood. Now, he’ll die to protect her. Even if that means walking away from everything he knows to keep her at his side. Is her strong desire for Drantos reason enough to endure danger coming from all sides? Or should Dusti cut and run the first chance she gets? Author Note: VLG stands for Vampires, Lycans, Gargoyles…and breeds in between. Living in Alaska’s harsh, pristine territories, these creatures live and love fiercely. These are their stories.

Set in the same world as Scarred and Kilt and Mine to Chase. Lacey hunts vampires—vile monsters who leave death and shattered lives in their wake. They murdered her sister and she wants revenge. Until she captures a big, sexy, blue-eyed vamp, and the strong attraction she feels contradicts everything she’s become. But she can’t resist getting closer. Just looking at him makes her mouth water and her thighs clench. Lethal can’t believe the little lass got the better of him. He’s been drugged and chained, but he’s more insulted than concerned. She’s bold, fearless, as she straddles his hips and threatens to use his body, teach him how it feels to be taken without consent. Now he’s intrigued and eager to get her out of her clothes. She swears he’s the enemy, but he’s determined to be her lover.

Coinman is one of life's victims, the receiver of subtle bullying in an office environment and thinly disguised control in his own home, but remains true to his desire to be polite and accepting of how he is treated by everyone. Then an incident at work changes all that. Huffington Post: One of the best literary fiction books of 2016 (Independently Published).