This is a collection of poetry written over a period of more than 15 years. The poetry is at times anecdotal, or even a bit silly. At other times it is a reflection of the struggles associated with life. The poetry discusses subjects related to war, religion, flowers, memories, travel and more.This is a collection of poetry written over a period of more than 15 years. The poetry is at times anecdotal, or even a bit silly. At other times it is a reflection of the struggles associated with life. The poetry discusses subjects related to war, religion, flowers, memories, travel and more.The images and concepts reflect the author's overall opinion of the world at certain points in his life. They are not steadfast opinions, and have been subject to change many times. There references to past events, and conclusions drawn about the future.The poetry doesn't always follow a rhyming scheme, and at times is more like prose in the fashion of story-telling. If you enjoy poetry now and again, you will enjoy this small volume of poetry.

Anarah's husband is so sure the world is going to end in 2012 that he convince her to avoid it by locking her into a pod.When Gwendolyn Grady gets the news that her cousin Ginny is missing, her family packs up and returns to Brighton—the town her father fled years ago after a brutal falling out with his brother. As they begin their search, the tension begins to mount between the brothers, leading Gwen and her brother Gabe to question what horrible events led to their fallout years ago. During the course of their search, Gwen encounters more than one mystery, like the ever present wolves that seem to haunt the Grady’s home and the mystery person Ginny was in contact with shortly before her disappearance. Secrets begin to collect, leaving Gwen uncertain how she and her brother and cousin fit into it all. All she knows is that her family is keeping secrets from her…dangerous ones that might spell disaster for them all.

If you like your detectives soft-boiled and your noir with a bit of froth on top, try this whimsical short mystery set in 1930's Italy, with the jazz-age sleuth, Edmund Mottley.Edmund Mottley, self-styled Specialist in Discreet Enquiries, just wants to enjoy a musical evening. Instead, he finds an international intrigue of dastardly deeds and derring-do. If you like your detectives soft-boiled and your noir with a bit of froth on top, try this Vintage Venetian adventure with the jazz-age sleuth, Edmund Mottley.This whimsical short mystery set in 1930's Italy is a prequel to the novella "Mister Mottley Gets His Man."

Paradise Road is long known to be a haunted stretch of forest near Jefferson in Wisconsin. But when Nicky asks Tracey to accompany her out to the desolate stretch of road to find their lost friend, they both get more than they bargained for.Evy is out with her horses, Rusty and Twilight, when she comes across a dead moose. Things only get worse when she discovers a very young, now orphaned calf standing over his mother’s body. She is determined to save the calf, but before she can, Twilight, her mustang filly, disappears. Evy sets out to rescue her, only to stumble upon even worse danger: illegal hunters who will do anything to keep their poaching a secret. Will Evy be one of their victims?

Haven: The Federation, The newest and possibly the last installment of the Haven novels about the inhabitants of a community living in a post Zombie apocalypse world. The residents are forced to form a federation to protect themselves.Haven: The Federation, The newest and possibly the last installment of the Haven novels about the inhabitants of a community living in a post Zombie apocalypse world. This is the story of Bill Mason's survival to meet up with his brother Ralph estranged since Bills childhood. The residents of the various communities must unite to withstand the various groups vying for control of the remains of civilization. After years of risking their lives for their communities and loved ones they find that they must expand their areas of influence to survive. They are forced to attack or be subjugated by outsiders. Suddenly the various settlements find themselves fighting the Zombies, hostile survivor groups and a group of well armed surviving military.horror, zombies, zombie, post apocalyptic, apocalyptic, survival

Includes three flash fictions authored by Josh Thor, "Stewing Hot Car," "The Rescue," and "Hero of the Wood." Genres range from modern realism (the first two) to fantasy (Hero of the Wood)."A Compilation" is simply a compilation of three flash/micro fiction stories by Josh Thor.The first flash fiction, "Stewing Hot Car," is modern realism. It deals with a married couple in Alabama, Jack and his wife Dianne, who just can't seem to communicate to their respective spouse how they're feeling.The second story, a micro fiction, is named "The Rescue" and it is also modern realism. This piece takes the form of an excerpt from the autobiography of a protagonist who was held captive for a year. He explains in his autobiography his contempt for his rescuers and those that cannot understand his contempt.The third piece, "Hero of the Wood," is fantasy, and is a reimagining of Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwocky" into prose form. Our protagonist is the young man noted in Carroll's original to have slain the Jabberwocky with the vorpal sword. Reading the original very short poem would be beneficial to anyone wanting to read Josh Thor's story, "Hero of the Wood."

Heaven's in an uproar. No one dies there, but that is what happened to singer Amy Winehouse. This creates a rift between the angels and citizens. With trust between the two groups now at an all time low, a newly arrived PI and his partner are tasked to interview the prime suspects of the 27 Club - Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin before Heaven is forced to close its doors forever.No one ever "re-dies" in Heaven; unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to singer Amy Winehouse. Her death, an unprecedented event in Heaven's history, has thrown a once docile world into unfortunate chaos. Because of the new, uneasy alliance between angels and citizens, a freshly-arrived detective in the rock & roll town has been tasked with investigating the prime suspects, the members of the 27 Club - Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. To make matters worse, a powerful angel from one of the upper levels of Heaven will soon arrive to make her ten-year inspection, a task that fills the other angels with dread since she has the power to banish anyone of them to the underworld. So, with time running out, the PI and his newly acquired sidekick, both aided by rock legends such as Eddie Cochran, Mama Cass, Kurt Cobain, Karen Carpenter and others, must quickly uncover the mystery that threatens not only to close Heaven’s doors forever, but promises to send a ripple effect through the entire universe that can rip it apart.

Peter Camenzind, a young man from a Swiss mountain village, leaves his home and eagerly takes to the road in search of new experience. Traveling through Italy and France, Camenzind is increasingly disillusioned by the suffering he discovers around him; after failed romances and a tragic friendship, his idealism fades into crushing hopelessness. He finds peace again only when he cares for Boppi, an invalid who renews Camenzind's love for humanity and inspires him once again to find joy in the smallest details of every life.

Redburn: His First Voyage, is the fourth book by the American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1849. The book is semi-autobiographical and recounts the adventures of a refined youth among coarse and brutal sailors and the seedier areas of Liverpool. Melville wrote Redburn in less than ten weeks. While one scholar describes it as "arguably his funniest work," Unable to find employment at home, young Wellingborough Redburn signs on the Highlander, a merchantman out of New York City bound for Liverpool, England. Representing himself as the "son of a gentleman" and expecting to be treated as such, he discovers that he is just a green hand, a "boy," the lowest rank on the ship, assigned all the duties no other sailor wants, like cleaning out the "pig-pen," a longboat that serves as a shipboard sty. The first mate promptly nicknames him "Buttons" for the shiny ones on his impractical jacket. Redburn quickly grasps the workings of social relations aboard ship. As a common seaman he can have no contact with those "behind the mast" where the officers command the ship. Before the mast, where the common seaman work and live, a bully named Jackson, the best seaman aboard, rules through fear with an iron fist. Uneducated yet cunning, with broken nose and squinting eye, he is described as "a Cain afloat, branded on his yellow brow with some inscrutable curse and going about corrupting and searing every heart that beat near him." Redburn soon experiences all the trials of a greenhorn: seasickness, scrubbing decks, climbing masts in the dead of night to unfurl sails, cramped quarters, and bad food.When the ship lands in Liverpool he is given liberty ashore. He rents a room and walks the city every day. One day in a street called Launcelott's Hey he hears "a feeble wail" from a cellar beneath an old warehouse and looking into it sees "the figure of what had been a woman. Her blue arms folded to her livid bosom two shrunken things like children, that leaned toward her, one on each side. At first I knew not whether they were alive or dead. They made no sign; they did not move or stir; but from the vault came that soul-sickening wail." He runs for help but is met with indifference by a ragpicker, a porter, his landlady, even by a policeman who tells him to mind his own business. He returns with some bread and cheese and drops them into the vault to the mother and children, but they are too weak to lift it to their mouths. The mother whispers "water" so he runs and fills his tarpaulin hat at an open hydrant. The girls drink and revive enough to nibble some cheese. He clasps the mother's arms and pulls them aside to see "a meager babe, the lower part of its body thrust into an old bonnet. Its face was dazzlingly white, even in its squalor; but the closed eyes looked like balls of indigo. It must have been dead for some hours." Judging them beyond the point at which medicine could help, he returns to his room. A few days later he revisits the street and finds the vault empty: "In place of the woman and children, a heap of quick-lime was glistening...".. Herman Melville(August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style: the vocabulary is rich and original, a strong sense of rhythm infuses the elaborate sentences, the imagery is often mystical or ironic, and the abundance of allusion extends to Scripture, myth, philosophy, literature, and the visual arts.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series comes The Rule of Thoughts, the exciting sequel to The Eye of Minds. Fans of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and The Hunger Games will love the new Mortality Doctrine series.    Michael completed the Path.What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.    He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.    Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality.    The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body.    And the takeover has already begun. From the Hardcover edition.

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough. Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby. Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby? Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

New Year. New Species. Welcome to the Wildlands. TALON After the tragic death of his parents when Talon was young, he’s dedicated his life to protecting the Pantera. To the strikingly gorgeous man, loyalty and honor mean everything. So it’s no surprise that he’s determined to treat Isi Rousseau as the enemy. If the elders believe she is a danger then he will do whatever necessary to prevent her from destroying his beloved Wildlands. But discovering the delicate beauty sleeping in his bed, Talon discovers his noble intentions wavering. The female, with short, jet black hair streaked with blue, and a pair of dark eyes, might act tough, but it’s obvious to him that she’s as desperate as he is for a place to call home. More importantly, her presence is helping keep Ashe and her baby alive. Suddenly things are not quite as black and white as Talon assumed, and he must decide if his loyalty to his people is worth losing his true mate. XAVIER He shouldn’t want his best friend’s little sister… The drop-dead gorgeous leader of the Geeks, Xavier has one goal: find the human male his enemies seek. Devoted to his work, and to the Pantera, there is nothing that can distract him from accomplishing his goal. Until he spots his best friend’s little sister alone and partying it up with a bunch of human males at the local bar. Consumed with possessiveness, Xavier takes her home and refuses to leave her side until her brother returns. He tries to convince himself he’s just looking out for her, but the longer he’s around Amalie, the harder it is to deny the molten attraction that burns between them. She has three days to change his mind… Beautiful and strong-willed Hunter, Amalie is free. No brother to tell her what to do, and no Pantera watching over her because she happens to be the last Pantera born. But before she can truly enjoy herself, her brother’s best friend tries to put her on lockdown. Xavier has been the star in all of Mal’s fantasies, and there’s no one she’d rather give her virginity to. But the sexy male refuses to open his eyes and see what’s right in front of him. Mal knows she has three days to change his mind. Three days to make him see her as grown, and the one female he can’t resist.

A wonderful collection of surreal stories from French master Emile Zola given a fresh new translation. Zola is best known for his novels Nana and Germinal. The Flood, along with the complementary stories presented here, the celebrated Blood and Three Wars, is a fascinating example of Zola experimenting with surrealist styles, in a departure from the dark realism for which he is more commonly known. The eternal theme of man versus nature writ large, it is a timely reminder of our fragility and impermanence before the unyielding elements. Louis Roubien has much to be thankful for. Now an old man, the head of a large family, his many hard years of work on the land have transformed him from a peasant farmer into a prosperous and satisfied freeholder, distributing his largesse among his relatives and the local community. But with success has come hubris, and when the rains, hitherto a harbinger of plenty, come, and the banks of the River Garonne swell and burst, Roubien sees everything for which he has striven swept away by the raging waters of the flood. His livelihood taken from him in one fell blow, it remains to be seen whether Roubien will at least be left his life, and the lives of those he holds dear.

The Mancusis don't have any kids...but they sure have a lot of pets! So when they're desperate for a sitter, whom do they call? The Baby-sitters Club! Kristy's insulted. BSC members don't pet-sit. But Jessi's always liked animals, and she talks Kristy into letting her have the job. With snakes on the loose and sick hamsters, Jessi has plenty of pet-sitting troubles. And the Baby-sitters aren't making life any easier for her when they get into a big fight. Will Jessi be able to handle her pet-sitting job when things are going wrong with the baby-sitters, too?

Until the arrival of Aiken Drum, the 100,000 humans who had fled backward in time to Pliocene exile on Earth knew little but slavery to the Tanu, the humanoid aliens who came from another galaxy. But King Aiken's rule is precarious, for the Tanu's twisted brethren are secretly maneuvering to bring about his downfall. Worse, Aiken is about to confront a man of incredibly powerful talents who nearly overthrew a galactic rule. He is Marc Remillard. Call him...The Adversary.

Drake is a Killer vampire. Unlike the Guardians of the Night, Drake feeds on human blood, choosing victims who deserve to die. But still he works with the Guardians to protect those humans who yet have some good in them. When Gabriel, the leader of the Baltimore Guardians, mysteriously disappears, Drake finds himself in charge of a small band of inexperienced fledgling vampires. When a delegation of European Killers arrives in Baltimore looking for Gabriel, Drake must call on all the savagery of his sordid past to keep the Guardians in line—and to protect them from the ruthless Killers. Forced to confront a past he has tried so hard to outrun, Drake risks losing his humanity. His only hope is Faith, the French Seigneur's concubine, who desperately needs his help to rescue her human sister from the Seigneur's clutches. Then someone begins killing the members of the European vampire delegation, and Drake is the only suspect. Will Drake be saved by love, or will he become a Killer without a conscience?

Crusade: Neither side in the Human-Orion war was strong enough to defeat the other, so it fizzled into an uneasy peace filled with hatred and mistrust on both sides. Then a ship appeared from the dim mists of half-forgotten history, and fired on the Orion sentry ship, igniting the fires of interstellar war anew, in a quest to free Holy Mother Terra. In Death Ground: The human race and two other star traveling races had warred with each other in the past, but now all three are at peace-a peace which is shattered by the discovery of a fourth race, the "Bugs." The newcomers are mind-numbingly alien in their thought processes, have overwhelming numbers, and regard all other species as fit only to be food animals. There is no hope for peace with the invaders, and the galaxy explodes with a battle to the death. Kill-or be eaten!

On the eve of graduating from her posh New England academy, seventeen-year-old Halsey Rookmaaker receives a disturbing package in the mail, from Rome, Italy. She drops everything--her school, her friends, her future--and sets off, to find the only one who can help her get to the bottom of her past, and to the secrets of what happened to her parents. Kinsey and Maximilian Rookmaaker were two powerful magical beings . . . until somebody killed them. Now Halsey wants to know why. With her is Ballard, an attractive teenage boy with problems of his own. Together, they must decipher an ancient magic text, and prevent an evil necromancer from taking over the world. Life is never easy when you're an unfledged teenage witch. In Volume One of The Diaries, Halsey Rookmaaker must come face to face with her past, and with a dark stranger, who may be out for her blood.

Fifteen-year-old Andy Lockwood is special. Others notice the way he blurts out anything that comes into his mind, how he cannot foresee consequences, that he's more child than teenager. But his mother sees a boy with a heart as open and wide as the ocean. Laurel Lockwood lost her son once through neglect. She's spent the rest of her life determined to make up for her mistakes, and she's succeeded in becoming a committed, protective parent—maybe even overprotective. Still, she loosens her grip just enough to let Andy attend a local church social—a decision that terrifies her when the church is consumed by fire. But Andy survives…and remarkably, saves other children from the flames. Laurel watches as Andy basks in the role of unlikely hero and the world finally sees her Andy, the sweet boy she knows as well as her own heart. But when the suspicion of arson is cast upon Andy, Laurel must ask herself how well she really knows her son…and how far she'll go to keep her promise to protect him forever.

What if, after spending a lifetime deceiving everyone around you, you discovered the biggest lies were the ones you've told yourself? Grace Fontaine has everything: beauty, money, confidence, and the perfect family. But it’s all a lie. Grace has been adopted into a family of thieves who con affluent people out of money, jewelry, art, and anything else of value. Grace has never had any difficulty pulling off a job, but when things start to go wrong on the Fontaines' biggest heist yet, Grace finds herself breaking more and more of the rules designed to keep her from getting caught...including the most important one of all: never fall for your mark.