Secrets and Lies - Harry's Secret

      R L Stephens
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Everybody has secret and everybody tells lie, but in case of Harry Wright these are both bigger than he had originally intended. What started out as a bit of fun, a distraction from his otherwise boring life that could come back and bite him on the ass if he isn’t careful. If being found isn’t enough there are other worries for Harry.Everybody has secret and everybody tells lie, but in case of Harry Wright these are both bigger than he had originally intended. What started out as a bit of fun, a distraction from his otherwise boring life that could come back and bite him on the ass if he isn’t careful. If being found isn’t enough there are other worries for Harry. First there's the disappearance of Emily Baxter a woman who seems to have no connection to Harry Wright, except that he's got the keys to her house. Then there's the mystery of why Harry is getting cheques from an insurance company that are intended for Emily Baxter. Has he done her in for the money or has he squirreled her away somewhere so that he can force more money out of her? Detective Inspector Peters certainly thinks that Harry Wright has killed Emily Baxter and is now fraudulently cashing her cheques. But if he has done so there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of a body, or even of a struggle at her house that seems to be as tidy and pristine as when she left. If she isn’t dead then where is she? And what has Harry Wright done with her?Revelations of Harry Wrights true identity could lead to the unlocking of this mystery, but will it lead to his downfall or to his imprisonment?

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  • 594

    Sweet Dreams, Not!

      Skye Lotus
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Sweet Dreams, Not! is the first in the Starry Wings Series by a new young author, Skye Lotus.This book begins a new adventure for 5 young pixies who are about to discover more about themselves than they had expected.Will the world ever be the same again? Not for these five pixies!Sweet Dreams, Not! is the beginning of a fast paced adventure that is going to take these pixies from their 'normal' life and change them forever.With this first installment in the series, we meet the pixies and find out about their hidden selves, and how they are to save the universe from a menacing evil threatening everything they know.Look forward to more from the fresh new author as the pixies adventure continues.

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  • 594

    Old Tanya Gillock (A Short Story)

      C.M. Blackwood
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The story of an impoverished old woman who is paid a nighttime visit by the devil himself, who offers her a life of luxury in exchange for her soul.Old Tanya Gillock is a seventy-year-old woman from a small town. When her father died, he left her his farm, but shortly afterwards it became barren. So Tanya and her partner, Betty, turned to tailoring as a way to make a living. But still, they’re very poor.Then, one night – a mysterious man arrives with the promise to provide Tanya with a wealthy, easy life. There’s just one catch. He wants her soul in return.

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  • 594

    Vampire Mafia: Santa Cruz

      Jackson Stein
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Mild mannered, UC Santa Cruz professor, John Stanic wakes up early one morning and walks out into the pre-dawn mist for an invigorating jog. But instead, he finds himself running for his life. Thrown together with the FBI’s Tommy Valentine, Stanic is suddenly thrust into a seedy underworld he never could have imagined existed. An ancient text leads to the truth about vampires living in Santa Cruz.Mild mannered, UC Santa Cruz professor, John Stanic wakes up early one morning and walks out into the pre-dawn mist for an invigorating jog. But instead, he finds himself running for his life. Thrown together with the FBI’s Tommy Valentine, Stanic is suddenly thrust into a seedy underworld he never could have imagined existed. An ancient text leads to the truth about the Santa Cruz mafia, and the blood thirsty creatures who have been attacking young women on the city’s coastline. The supernatural collides with the gritty world of organized crime, and now it’s up to Stanic’s academic knowledge of the occult to save himself… and those he cares about the most.

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  • 594

    The Pick-Up Game

      J Alan Montrose
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Not all scars a soldier brings home from war can be seen. A short story about the trauma and damage of war.We're ending the year strong with a surprisingly wide variety of story types. But they all center around some significant, and usually life-changing realizations about life, no matter how fantastical it is. And that's why we love science fiction and fantasy: Even though the narrative elements aren't real in our lives, the sentiments, interactions, and life lessons are. It gives us a window in to the human soul, even when the window is decidedly non-human.Fiction Vortex publishes science fiction and fantasy stories every month. Check out FictionVortex.com for more great stories.

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  • 594

    Another Day, Another Curse(d Item)

      Alpert L Pine
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Magnus is an adventuring warrior with a penchant for accumulating cursed items. In fact, he has so many, some cancel out the effects of others. He keeps the cursed objects because he can't stand to get rid of any loot, but this most recent find could be the end of him! A fun fantasy tale of 2000 words.Magnus is an adventuring warrior. As such, there are two things he loves more than anything: wenches, ale, and loot. Okay, three things.Unfortunately, the warrior has been having some bad luck lately. He keeps finding cursed items. Strange and rare and oftentimes dangerous artifacts with effects ranging from the merely annoying to the dreadfully debilitating. Magnus loves loot, hates to get rid of anything, and now he's collected so many cursed items, their effects are beginning to cancel one another out.Only this time, he's stumbled across his deadliest cursed item yet (a dagger imploring him to kill—everyone!), and so he has journeyed far to visit his magic-user friend, Andre. Can the mage assist Magnus? Will this be the end for the adventuring warrior, or will Andre be able to help him? Preferably by pointing the way to another item to cancel out this most recent, troublesome artifact. Magnus loves loot, and it is a very fine dagger . . .A humorous tale of the fantastic. Approximately 2000 words.

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  • 594

    Dirty Danny - The Bizarre Experiences of Andrew Sullivan - Case 2

      Rajkumar Andrew
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Dirty Danny is the case 2 of the book series "'The Bizarre Experiences of Andrew Sullivan".Dirty Danny is the case 2 of the book series "'The Bizarre Experiences of Andrew Sullivan". IPS officer Andrew Sullivan experiences another bizarre event in his life, this time a psychic killer. The previous case "stolen corpse" dealt with a doctor who was a master in mummifying dead bodies. This case is one of the several Bizarre experiences of Andrew Sullivan.more cases will evolve.

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  • 594

    The Soul Mate

      Sachin Saparia
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A beautifull and romantic short story of soul mate............The Pirate Queen is forced into a deal by the powerful Wraith King to find a fabled soul-controlling pendant to barter for her sister’s life. Acantha must settle as the pawn to ensure the protection of her family’s secrets, which could lead to their annihilation…. She undertakes a way to save her sister’s life, protect their secrets, and keep the Wraith King from enslaving the souls of mankind, plunging the world into darkness. She chooses an even more dangerous road that grants the power over life, death, and reveals her destiny. If you love fast-paced adventure enveloped in a dangerous and visceral fantasy world, you’ll love The Dark Eve: A New Recruit. And, for a limited time, you can get an exclusive copy for free. To get yours, just click SIGN UP now.

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  • 594

    Horror in Vault Hill

      Reginaldo Borges, Sr
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Strange murderers happen at city of Vaul Hill,very people died attacked per a unknow creature,and the more curious is that it happen only in night of full moon!Poems symbolizing the immortality of love and at times its fickleness. Parekh takes the reader through a paradise naturally embellished with the ingredients of eternal romance and its sporadic failures. As they say life and death are two sides of the coin, similarly with every true anecdote of love there also comes fretful divorce—a thing which has been most sensitively described throughout this great collection of poems for the heart. Written and dipped in each ingredient of his passionate blood, Parekh comes out with startling revelations about the truest of love stories and their failures. Each verse has been delicately intertwined with a boundless aspects of relationships, romance, cheating, betrayal and goes on to prove that Immortal Love towers over every shattered heart. A start to finish with some of the most heart-rendering love poems ever, this makes a great collection for ever true lover breathing and desiring to be loved on earth and beyond. This collection of poems aims at perpetually uniting every heart on this Universe in the spirit of Immortal love and friendship. Because these are the two quintessential ingredients to lead life till its last breath. Irrespective of whatever color, faith or religion, it is only the rainbow of love which can transform the ghastliest monsters and perpetrators of humanity into peaceful lovers. Therefore this book inexhaustibly endeavors to speak and preach the language of love even after its last embossed alphabet.

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    The Importance of Being Earnest: And Other Plays

      Oscar Wilde
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Oscar Wilde created his final and most lasting play, comic masterpieces of all time, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, in 1895. Considered one of the greatest THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a farce, playing with love, religion, and truth as it tells the tale of two men. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who bend the truth in order to add excitement to their lives. Jack invents an imaginary brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull country home and gallavant in town. Meanwhile, Algernon follows Jack's scam, but his imaginary friend, Bumbury, provides a convenient method of adventuring in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits. Hailed as the first modern comedy in England, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is Wilde's most famous work. This collection also features two other plays that Wilde penned earlier in his career, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, that also display his ability to convey warmth and wit through his hilarious characters and their outlandish situations.

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    The Girl in a Swing

      Richard Adams
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A shy young man meets a beautiful woman in the company of a young girl. He finds himself swept off of his feet and married to her, bringing her with him to live in his family home. She is his erotic dream come true; she does everything she can to bind him to her and join him in his comfortable life. Soon, however, odd things begin to happen. Things in the house are strangely damp with what looks like seawater, bodies appear under the water that aren't really there. It all winds up to a horrifying conclusion.

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  • 594

    Nohow On

      Samuel Beckett
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Collected here in one volume, Samuel Beckett’s three novels, which are among the most beautiful and disquieting of his later prose works, come together with the powerful resonance of his famous Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable. In Company, a voice comes to “one on his back in the dark” and speaks to him, describing significant moments in life, and yet we are told it is all a fable, memories or figments devised or imagined for the sake of company. Ill Seen Ill Said focuses attention on an old woman in a cabin who is part of the objects, landscape, rhythms, and movements of an incomprehensible universe. And in Worstward Ho, Beckett explores a tentative, uncertain existence in a world devoid of rational meaning and purpose. Here is language pared down to its most expressive, confirming Beckett’s position as one of the great writers of our time.

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  • 594

    Officers and Gentlemen

      Evelyn Waugh
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Fueled by idealism and eagerness to contribute to the war effort, Guy Crouchback becomes attached to a commando unit undergoing training on the Hebridean isle of Mugg, where the whisky flows freely and respect must be paid to the laird. But the comedy of Mugg is soon followed by the bitterness of Crete, where chaos reigns and a difficult evacuation must be accomplished. Officers and Gentlemen is the second novel in Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy recording the tumultuous wartime adventures of Guy Crouchback, which also comprises Men at Arms and Unconditional Surrender.

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  • 594

    Sylvia's Lovers Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

      Elizabeth Gaskell
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The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the background of the practice of impressment during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives happily with her parents on a farm, and is passionately loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. When Kinraid goes back to his ship, he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin. This act is primarily prompted out of gratefulness for Philip's assistance during a difficult time following her father's imprisonment and subsequent execution for leading a revengeful raid on press-gang collaborators. They have a daughter. Inevitably, Kinraid returns to claim Sylvia and she discovers that Philip knew all the time that he was still alive. Philip leaves her in despair at her subsequent rage and rejection, but she refuses to live with Kinraid because of her child.

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  • 594

    Hawk Fae

      Terry Spear
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Sometimes doing a good deed can prove to be a disaster, Ena, dragon shifter fae, discovers as she must flee her home. But her staff chooses to go with her and deal with the dangers to reach the safety of the hawk fae kingdom, if the king there welcomes them. The human, Brett, promises to help her escape the marriage to the despicable dragon fae prince, rather than return home to his Earth world. And now all the dragon shifter fae are at risk of having to face the dragon fae king's wrath. Esmeralda, the hawk fae king's sister has been imprisoned by the griffin on their island for half of her life and she finally makes her escape, only she gets herself into even more trouble. Against her wishes, Ena must forsake Brett on the journey, and he finds his world is turned upside down once again and now he has to survive the life or death trials of the phantom fae kingdom.

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  • 594

    A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living

      Joseph Campbell
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The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are—Joseph Campbell One of Joseph Campbell's most popular, most quoted works, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration, thought-provoking in its depth, poetic in its scope. Drawn from a month-long workshop at the world-famous Esalen Institute held in celebration of the scholar's eightieth birthday, the Companion captures Campbell at his best: wise, funny, intelligent and inspiring.

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  • 594

    Every You, Every Me

      David Levithan
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In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author. From the Hardcover edition.

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  • 594

    White Horses

      Alice Hoffman
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A powerful and haunting story about the seductive allure of fairy tales and the freedom that comes with waking up to reality When Teresa sleeps—sometimes for days at a time, the scent of roses surrounding her—she dreams of the Arias, outlaw riders on white steeds, who roam the desert at night. She was told about the dark-eyed horsemen by her mother, Dina, who left her own bedroom window open at night in the hopes that one would take her away from her parents’ house in Santa Fe. Teresa, who cannot find a cure for her mysterious sleeping sickness, has one true ally: her brother, Silver. Wild and handsome, Silver exerts an irresistible force over everyone he meets—women especially. He pursues a life of crime and danger, and the older he grows, the more reckless he becomes. Teresa wants to break free but is drawn back to her brother again and again, pulled by the belief that he is the night rider of her dreams. Only when she realizes that she has the strength to save herself will she finally be able to open her eyes and walk away. A lyrical blend of the mythical and the real, White Horses has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as a book that “will reverberate in readers’ imaginations for a long time.”

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  • 594

    Fangs

      Malorie Blackman
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Poor Fangs, the tarantula, is terribly lonely and bored with her life in the pet-shop. So when Nathan takes her home, she's more than excited about her new life. But before Nathan can introduce his new pet to his family, he's going to need her help to convince them that spiders aren't just creepy and crawly . . . They're beautiful and brave too! This funny story from the Children's Laureate, Malorie Blackman, is perfect for building confidence in young readers - whether reading aloud or reading alone.

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  • 594

    Host

      Robin Cook
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The explosive new thriller from New York Times–bestselling author and master of the medical thriller, Robin Cook. Lynn Peirce, a fourth-year medical student at South Carolina’s Mason-Dixon University, thinks she has her life figured out. But when her otherwise healthy boyfriend, Carl, enters the hospital for routine surgery, her neatly ordered life is thrown into total chaos. Carl fails to return to consciousness after the procedure, and an MRI confirms brain death. Devastated by Carl’s condition, Lynn searches for answers. Convinced there’s more to the story than what the authorities are willing to reveal, Lynn uses all her resources at Mason-Dixon—including her initially reluctant lab partner, Michael Pender—to hunt down evidence of medical error or malpractice. What she uncovers, however, is far more disturbing. Hospitals associated with Middleton Healthcare, including the Mason-Dixon Medical Center, have unnervingly high rates of unexplained anesthetic complications and patients contracting serious and terminal illness in the wake of routine hospital admissions. When Lynn and Michael begin to receive death threats, they know they’re into something bigger than either of them anticipated. They soon enter a desperate race against time for answers before shadowy forces behind Middleton Healthcare and their partner, Sidereal Pharmaceuticals, can put a stop to their efforts once and for all.

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  • 594

    Crisis

      Robin Cook
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When Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical malpractice, he's shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who works continuously in the service of others, he endured grueling years of training and is now a partner in an exclusive concierge medical practice. No longer forced to see more and more patients while spending less and less time with each one just to keep his office door open, he now provides the kind of medical care he is trained to do, lavishing twenty-four-hour availability and personalized attention on his handpicked patients. And at last, he is earning a significant income, no longer burdened by falling reimbursements from insurance companies.But this idyllic practice comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon-and gets much, much worse. Enter Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City and Bowman's brother-in-law: Jack's sister Alexis-now Craig's estranged wife-tearfully begs for his help as her husband's trial drags on. Jack agrees to travel to Boston to offer his forensic services and expert witness experience to Craig's beleaguered defense attorney. But when Jack's irreverent suggestion to exhume the corpse to disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora's box of trouble. As Craig Bowman's life and career are put on the line, Jack is on the verge of making a most unwelcome discovery of tremendous legal and medical significance-and there are people who will do anything to keep him from learning the truth.

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