John is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between two women. One is the beautiful Jillian, who makes him feel alive like never before. The other is a shadow from his nightmares that haunts him when he sleeps. Soon there comes a final showdown when all is revealed.The terror that comes in the night has a name. What is Twine? Unravel the mystery.John is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between two women. One is the beautiful Jillian, who makes him feel alive like never before. The other is a shadow from his nightmares that haunts him when he sleeps. Soon there comes a final showdown when all is revealed. Don't sleep.

Two years have passed since Jacob met Jedi Salvitor in Chicago and began his Jedi training. Their mission took them to New York City, where a prominent United Nations official has caught the attention of the Jedi and the Sith!Two years have passed since Jacob met Jedi Salvitor in Chicago and began his Jedi training. Their mission took them to New York City, where a prominent United Nations official has caught the attention of the Jedi and the Sith!For she is a latent-Forcer in a powerful position that will either help the plight of the Jedi Order on Earth, or is utilized by the Sith Order.

Confessions of a Mad Man is the first in a series of ongoing short fiction entitled The Crusaders: Justice Above All. This serves as an introduction into their world.The year is 2030 and one of the world's most notorious criminals, Nathaniel David Hamilton has finally been captured. CIA Agents Deacons and Jennings undertake the daunting task of securing his confession of a life of corruption and chaos. Over the course of the interrogation they learn how a child prodigy from small town Illinois became one of the most powerful men in a world populated by superheroes and billionaire weapons tycoons.Confessions of a Mad Man is the first in a series of ongoing short fiction entitled The Crusaders: Justice Above All. This serves as an introduction into their world.

Thirteen-year-old Christy, a figure skater, is lured into the world of Hene, an icy, cold place of harsh realities and disbelief. Her only friend is her newest acquaintance, a pale boy named Ice-Ghost. Her figure skating dreams are put on hold when she encounters the ice dwarf, Gloo, the ice witch’s henchman. Trapped in this icy world, her eyes are opened to one of life’s harshest lessons.Thirteen-year-old Christy, a figure skater, is lured into the world of Hene, an icy, cold place of harsh realities and disbelief. Her only friend is her newest acquaintance, a pale boy named Ice-Ghost. Her figure skating dreams are put on hold when she encounters the ice dwarf, Gloo, the ice witch’s henchman. Trapped in this icy world, her eyes are opened to one of life’s harshest lessons: “Things are not always what they seem.”

A nefarious gang of pirates challenges the advanced defenses of an ancient orbital space platform. Recently promoted, Captain Jason Drake inadvertently flies his brand new ship and fresh crew into the center of a pirate vendetta.Looking to escape the carnage of a galactic war, biomechanical beings are tricked into performing a perilous mission that could end the slaughter in their home galaxy.A nefarious gang of pirates challenges the advanced defenses of an ancient orbital space platform. Recently promoted, Captain Jason Drake inadvertently flies his brand new ship and fresh crew into the center of a pirate vendetta.Looking to escape the carnage of a galactic war, biomechanical beings are tricked into performing a perilous mission that could end the slaughter in their home galaxy.Three powerful forces meet in the orbit of Neptune to seal the fate of humanity.

We each experience and envision our own version of Topeka. In these stories, 18 writers twist the past and future to explore alternate possibilities for our community. These stories will make you question what you know about the past and frighten you about what the future could hold. What if....? Read this collection from the 2016 Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Community Novel Project.We each experience and envision our own version of Topeka. In these stories, 18 writers twist the past and future to explore alternate possibilities for our community. These stories will make you question what you know about the past and frighten you about what the future could hold. What if....? Read this collection from the 2016 Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Community Novel Project and don't miss the exclusive author interviews at the end of the book to discover memorable moments, inspiration behind the stories, writing process, and what real-life twists for Topeka the authors fear. ADVANCE PRAISE FOR TWISTING TOPEKA“A rich collection of talent and imagination. The diversity of the stories is stunning, but they share one thing in common--each one will make you think.”—R.L. Naquin, author of the Monster Haven series“An eclectic collection of stories that will be entertaining for fans of short form literature.”—James Young, author of Acts of War“TWISTING TOPEKA—time travel, tricks / turbulent & terrifying times / tunnels / tragedy, treasure, triumphs / trysts & twists—NOT your typical Topeka tales.”—L.J. Williams, author of The Crystal Egg“The 18 short stories in this book twist the past and warp the future, challenging the reader to imagine ‘what if?’”—Angel Edenburn, author of Night Blind“Welcome to a world where nothing is as it seems. The stories, characters, and prose flow from each story like interwoven chains. Authors turn Kansas history upside down and inside out, giving us alternate timelines and new spins on the ordinary. Fellow Topekans, watch out! History is about to get twisted.”—Romualdo R. Chavez, author of El VampiroContents include:1.What Fate Ordains by Diana MarshWhat if the Apollo moon landing ended differently?2.Native Son by Marian RakestrawWhat if John Steuart Curry had stayed to finish his Capitol murals?3.The Printed Word by Miranda Ericsson KendallWhat if the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library made the decision to go bookless in 2026?4.Tovarishch O’Sullivan by Craig PaschangWhat if the Soviets had won the cold war by winning the hearts and minds of the people of America’s heartland?5.Test Year by Jamie CrispinWhat if parallel worlds did exist? 6.Proclaim the New Name by Duane L. HerrmannWhat if you had to travel to Chicago to gain inspiration for action in Topeka?7.Cleansing Waters by C.R. KennedyWhat if a vivacious young woman showed compassion to a distraught stranger in the rock garden at Gage Park?8.As Mercy Would Have It by Annette Hope BillingsWhat if the death of a little girl did not mean the end of her life?9.Underground Ark by Reaona HemmingwayWhat if a nuclear holocaust made the surface of Earth toxic, and a group of Kansans survived in a bunker underground?10.Shake, Rattle and Roll by Roxanna NameyWhat if the earth shook?11.Black Blizzard by Vernon NeffWhat if an extended drought turned a future Topeka into a perpetual twilight of dust and grit?12.A Library for Every Kid by S. R. ThompsonWhat if there was a library on almost every corner in Topeka and it didn’t cost the people of Shawnee County one red cent?13.The Jesse Owens Effect by Ian HallWhat if Alf Landon beat Teddy Roosevelt in the 1936 Presidential election?14.Happiness is a Cold Pistol by Paul SwearingenWhat if she had decided to shoot?15.Psychic Shift by Annabelle CorrickWhat if two errant children surprised a psychiatric patient into sanity?16.Tunnels by Leah SewellWhat if the Topeka State Hospital was destroyed?17.Love and Friendship by Lissa StaleyWhat if online public school was the only option for Kansas teens?18.Dance with the Devil by Aimee L. GrossWhat if the WW II headquarters of the OSS was actually Menninger Clinic, recruiting locals to catch an enemy spy ring in Topeka?

Hah and Grr were abandoned in the wood as babies and raised by Mother Wolf. They are happy, but they are the weakest of the pack and they are often hungry. One day, when they are following in the tracks of their lupine family, they smell something wonderful on the wind and follow their noses to a strange den in the woods. A short story of 5,100 words for middle grade readers.Hah and Grr were abandoned in the wood as babies and raised by Mother Wolf. They are happy, but they are the weakest of the pack and they are often hungry. One day, when they are following in the tracks of their lupine family, they smell something wonderful on the wind and follow their noses to a strange den in the woods, where they find delicious foods that fill their bellies. In the confusion that follows, Hah and Grr must decide whether their future lies with Man or Wolf. A short story of 5, 100 words for middle grade readers.

Collected Stories brings together many of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's spellbinding short stories, each brimming with a blend of the surreal, the magical, and the everyday that Nobel-Prize-winner and author of One Hundred Years of Solitude Marquez is known for. Sweeping through crumbling towns, travelling fairs and windswept ports, Gabriel Garcia Marquez introduces a host of extraordinary characters and communities in his mesmerizing tales of everyday life: smugglers, bagpipers, the President and Pope at the funeral of Macondo's revered matriarch; a every old angel with enormous wings, stranded in a young couple's back garden; a town plagued by dying birds that fall from the sky and an awestruck village captivated by a beautiful drowned sailor. Teeming with the magical oddities for which his novels are loved, Marquez's stories are a delight. 'These stories abound with love affairs, ruined beauty, and magical women. It is essence of Marquez' Guardian 'Of all the living authors known to me, only one is undoubtedly touched by genius: Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Sunday Telegraph 'It becomes more and more fun to read. It shows what "fabulous" really means' Time Out

Trauma surgeon Dr. Dallas Olson is too busy to date. Signing up with Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand service seems like a good plan, but his plans are sidelined when he’s nearly killed by a wolf attack. While still recovering and dealing with unexplainable side effects, he nevertheless agrees to meet the woman Madame Eve found for him. Looking forward to her 1Night Stand date, werewolf shifter Cara Johnson is disappointed when it’s canceled unexpectedly. When Madame Eve lets her know that the man she should have met has suffered a wolf attack, Cara fears he’ll become a rogue werewolf himself during the next full moon. Unless she finds him and brings him home to her pack before that happens, her Alpha will have no choice but to kill him. With only days left before the full moon, Cara and Dallas meet. He thinks it’s a one-night stand. She thinks it’s a mission to save his life. Madame Eve has other ideas.

With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett, grande dame of the historical novel, presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire. In 1461, Nicholas is in Florence. Backed by none other than Cosimo de' Medici, he will sail the Black Sea to Trebizond, last outpost of Byzantium, and the last jewel missing from the crown of the Ottoman Empire. But trouble lies ahead. Nicholas's stepdaughter--at the tender age of thirteen--has eloped with his rival in trade: a Machiavellian Genoese who races ahead of Nicholas, sowing disaster at every port. And time is of the essence: Trebizond may fall to the Turks at any moment. Crackling with wit, breathtakingly paced, The Spring of the Ram is a pyrotechnic blend of scholarship and narrative shimmering with the scents, sounds, colors, and combustible emotions of the 15th century. From the Trade Paperback edition.

HE IS A LETHAL WEAPON... One of an army of human soldiers injected with alien DNA, Michael is a legend within this new race, split between good and evil. Untamable, he has walked on the dark side and returned to the light. Feared and misunderstood, he leaves everything behind, including the one woman destined to be his mate. HE IS HER ENEMY...AND HER DESTINY... Cassandra holds the key to Michael's power, and his pain. With loyalties divided and against insurmountable odds, Cassandra's heart propels her to Michael's side-but can her love do anything but destroy him... No ordinary woman can control a creature such as Michael, and only one thing is clear-the world will never be the same... Originally published as The Legend of Michael by SourceBooks

It's been over a year since Omri discovered in The Indian in the Cupboard that, with the turn of a key, he could magically bring to life the three-inch-high Indian figure he placed inside his cupboard. Omri and his Indian, Little Bear, create a fantastic world together until one day, Omri realizes the terrible consequences if Little Bear ever got trapped in his "giant" world. Reluctantly, Omri sends the Indian back through the cupboard, giving his mother the magic key to wear around her neck so that he will never be tempted to bring Little Bear back to life. But one year later, full of exciting news, Omri gives way to temptation when he finds that his mother has left the magic key lying on the bathroom sink. A whole new series of adventures awaits Omri as he discovers that his Indian has been critically wounded during the French and Indian Wars and desperately needs Omri's help. Now, helplessly caught between his own life and his cupboard life of war and death, Omri must act decisively if he is to save Little Bear and his village from being completely destroyed. What began as a harmless game has tumed into a horrible nightmare, a nightmare in which Omri is irrevocably involved, and from which he may never escape. From the Hardcover edition.

The Fool's Progress, the "fat masterpiece" as Edward Abbey labeled it, is his most important piece of writing: it reveals the complete Ed Abbey, from the green grass of his memory as a child in Appalachia to his approaching death in Tuscon at age sixty two. When his third wife abandons him in Tucson, boozing, misanthropic anarchist Henry Holyoak Lightcap shoots his refrigerator and sets off in a battered pick-up truck for his ancestral home in West Virginia. Accompanied only by his dying dog and his memories, the irascible warhorse (a stand-in for the "real" Abbey) begins a bizarre cross-country odyssey—determined to make peace with his past—and to wage one last war against the ravages of "progress.""A profane, wildly funny, brash, overbearing, exquisite tour de force." — The Chicago Tribune

Cassandra Kline is taken in by Pyramid Corporation in the midst of global nuclear war. For the next five years, she lives safely inside a protective domed city. Working in The Program, a virtual reality simulation, she is confronted by her dead mother who tells Cassie she is in danger. After a shocking revelation about the people who she believed had saved her, the hologram of her mother leads her out of the dome and into a toxic, dead world. Rafe, the alpha of a mutant werewolf pack, takes her in and helps her come to terms with the new world they share. With zombie attacks, alien spaceships paroling the skies, and the ever-present struggle to survive, will Cassie and Rafe realize their budding attraction? Or will they be torn apart, body and soul.

Twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman's mom just died, and his fisherman dad is too depressed to drag himself off the couch and go to work. So these days Skiff has to take care of everything himself. But when his dad's boat sinks, Skiff discovers it will cost thousands to buy a new engine. Skiff's lobster traps won't earn him enough, but there are bigger fish in the sea -- bluefin tuna. If he can catch one of those monster fish, Skiff just might save the boat -- and his family

young adult romance no explicitness When my mother remarried after thirteen years of being a widow, I had to move to a new town and enroll in a new school. Suddenly thrust into an entirely different kind of life, I just wanted to go home. I didn’t want to meet new people, didn’t want to leave my old friends, didn’t want to become a third wheel to my mom and her husband….and I really didn’t want to see Ryder Yates again. Ugh, I still don’t know why I turned down that too-good-to-be-true boy who flirted with me when we were attending separate schools. But honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was worse. Who knew becoming lost in a new life could help a girl find her true colors?

When her widower father inherits a castlelike estate in the mountains of West Virginia, 12-year-old Jen is thrilled. It seems like a wish come true. But she quickly realizes that not all change is positive. Her dad has a mysterious new girlfriend, Moura, who slowly drives a wedge between Jen and her father. Furthermore, Moura has an unusually strong—almost obsessive—interest in the antiques that fill the mansion, especially a beautiful glass globe that Jen finds hanging in a window. When Jen’s cat accidentally breaks the globe, which Moura calls a “witch catcher,” strange things begin to happen. . . .    An odd-looking girl wearing a torn dress appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and Moura’s behavior becomes more sinister, leading Jen to believe that her father is a pawn in an evil scheme. Soon Jen finds herself caught in the midst of a supernatural war, with the fate of an enchanted race—and her family—at stake.    Inspired by the age-old legend of witch catchers, Mary Downing Hahn brings a magical cast of characters to life in this compelling fantasy adventure. Author’s note.

For generations, the noble polar bears have ruled the Northern Kingdoms. But now, their society is on the brink of collapse. A group of power-hungry bears has seized control, and darkness is creeping across the snow. Cubs First and Second don't know any of this. Although they're twins, they couldn't be more different. First loves imagining stories, while his daring sister, Second, wants to live them. When their mother is taken prisoner, the cubs' world falls apart. They know they have to rescue her, but how can two cubs who've barely learned to hunt survive a treacherous journey across the ice? Their only chance is to learn to trust each other and--even more important--trust themselves. But survival is only the beginning. And soon, these two unlikely heroes find themselves at the heart of a battle unlike anything Ga'hoole has ever seen.

In this exquisite, emotionally rich novel, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg offers a deeply satisfying story about the bonds of love and the balm of friendship. A young man named Jay lies in a coma after suffering a freak accident, and his wife, Lainey, is the only one who believes he will recover. She sits at his bedside, bringing him reminders of the ordinary life they shared: fragrant flowers, his children’s drawings, his own softly textured shirt. When Lainey’s faith in his recovery falters, she is sustained by two women, Alice and Evie, who teach her about the endurance of friendship—and the genuine power of hope. Filled with beautiful writing and truths about life, Range of Motion is hard to put down and impossible to forget. Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more. RandomHouseReadersCircle.com

'No woman shall succeed in Salique land' Louis X is dead, poisoned, murdered, by the hand of Mahaut d’Artois. Her plan is simple – to clear the path to the throne for her son-in-law Philippe. However, there is the small matter of Queen Clemence and her unborn child. As the country is thrown into turmoil, Philippe of Poitiers must use any means necessary to save his country from anarchy. However, how far is he willing to go to clear his path to the throne and become King in his own right?