The Guardian

      Jack Whyte
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From Jack Whyte, the master of the sweeping historical epic, comes the continuing story of two heroes who reshaped and reconfigured the entire destiny of the kingdom of Scotland by defying the might and power of Edward Plantagenet, the king of England, who called himself the Hammer of the Scots. Wallace the Braveheart would become the only legendary, heroic commoner in medieval British history and the undying champion of the common man. The other, Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, would perfect the techniques of guerrilla warfare developed by Wallace and use them to create his own place in history as the greatest king of Scots who ever lived. In the spring of 1297, the two men meet in Ayr, in the south of Scotland, each having recently lost a young wife, one in childbirth and the other by murder. Each is heartbroken but determined in his grief to defy the ambitions of England and its malignant king, whose lust to conquer and consume the realm of Scotland is blatant and unyielding. Their combined anger at the injustices of the invading English is about to unleash a storm in Scotland that will last for sixteen years—and destroy England’s military power for decades—before giving rise to a new nation of free men.

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    The King's Deception

      Steve Berry
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Cotton Malone is back! Steve Berry’s new international adventure blends gripping contemporary political intrigue, Tudor treachery, and high-octane thrills into one riveting novel of suspense. Cotton Malone and his fifteen-year-old son, Gary, are headed to Europe. As a favor to his former boss at the Justice Department, Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England. But after he is greeted at gunpoint in London, both the fugitive and Gary disappear, and Malone learns that he’s stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdown—an international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets. At its heart is the Libyan terrorist convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103, who is set to be released by Scottish authorities for “humanitarian reasons.” An outraged American government objects, but nothing can persuade the British to intervene. Except, perhaps, Operation King’s Deception. Run by the CIA, the operation aims to solve a centuries-old mystery, one that could rock Great Britain to its royal foundations. Blake Antrim, the CIA operative in charge of King’s Deception, is hunting for the spark that could rekindle a most dangerous fire, the one thing that every Irish national has sought for generations: a legal reason why the English must leave Northern Ireland. The answer is a long-buried secret that calls into question the legitimacy of the entire forty-five-year reign of Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, who completed the conquest of Ireland and seized much of its land. But Antrim also has a more personal agenda, a twisted game of revenge in which Gary is a pawn. With assassins, traitors, spies, and dangerous disciples of a secret society closing in, Malone is caught in a lethal bind. To save Gary he must play one treacherous player against another—and only by uncovering the incredible truth can he hope to prevent the shattering consequences of the King’s Deception. Praise for The King’s Deception *  “A Dan Brown-ian secular conspiracy about the Virgin Queen driving nonstop international intrigue.”—Kirkus Reviews* Praise for Steve Berry “Berry raises this genre’s stakes.”—The New York Times “I love this guy.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child “Forget Clancy and Cussler. When it comes to this genre, there is simply no one better.”—The Providence Journal

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    Fatality

      Caroline B. Cooney
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Four years after a gruesome murder, a teenage girl discovers that some secrets refuse to stay buried, in this riveting mystery from a “thriller master” (Publishers Weekly). Rose was thrilled when Angelica Lofft invited her to spend the weekend at her family’s beautiful lake house. It had everything a girl could want: delicious treats, gorgeous horses, and an exquisite pool. But instead of a weekend of fun in the sun, someone ended up dead. Four years later, the police have reopened the case. This time they have Rose’s diary—her private, personal diary—and Rose will do anything to get it back, even if it means stealing a police car. But now that she’s destroyed the evidence, the police are convinced she saw something. And the longer Rose keeps her secrets, the more she risks losing everything . . . From the bestselling author of The Face on the Milk Carton comes a gripping thriller about the lies people tell and the consequences they can’t escape. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Caroline B. Cooney including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

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    Burying the Shadow

      Storm Constantine
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In idyllic Taparak, young Rayojinni trains and awaits her initiation into the ranks of the soulscapers--the practitioners who heal the mental and spiritual ills of the people. Far away in glittering Sacramente, the elite artisans of the Eloim live in isolation, hiding their true non-human nature from the public who adore their culture, art and philosophy. But all is not well for the Eloim, who are succumbing to a a disease called "The Fear", bringing death and despair among their ranks for the first time. And no soulscaper is able to help them. Eloim actress Gimel and her brother Beth decide they need a child, a soulscaper young enough they can be trained to cope with their alien psyches--and they have chosen Rayojinni.

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    Hidden Huntress

      Danielle L. Jensen
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Beneath the mountain, the king's reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cecile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king's power. Or his manipulation.Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cecile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted.

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    All This Time

      Melissa Tagg
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Bear McKinley’s past refuses to let go. Ten years ago, Bear gave up everything—his freedom and his reputation—for his mess of a family. But after years of distance and too many attempts at starting over, he finally has a new life doing noble work in Brazil . . . until his past catches up to him once again. Suddenly he finds himself back in Maple Valley, charged with the care of his missing brother’s children, convinced he’s out of second chances to make his life count. And yet, with every day that passes, these kids, this quirky town and the woman he never stopped missing help patch the holes in his heart. Maybe this is the fresh start he’s been longing for all along. But as his newfound hope grows, so does the mystery surrounding his brother’s activities—and when the threat reaches into the lives of those he loves, it’s clear he can’t run away this time.Fear holds...

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    A Father's Fight

      J. B. Salsbury
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Life changes in the span of a heartbeat—one tiny heartbeat.Blake and Layla have lived through disappointment and regret, only finally finding relief through the powerful love they have for each other. A love they intend to fight to keep.They’ve had to forgive each other, but can they truly move forward without facing the pain of the past?Layla’s been avoiding the phone calls. Nine months pregnant and exhausted, she doesn’t want the complication. But she can’t run from the truth. Whoever’s calling was there eighteen years ago. Unlike her, he remembers the night that changed the course of her life, and he’s ready to confess.Blake’s preoccupied with an email, a few simple sentences sent through cyberspace that have the capability to rob him of his sanity, his freedom, and the people he loves most in the world. When he’s called home for a mysterious reason, leaving Layla isn’t ideal, but hope for reconciliation with his father combined with his brother’s secrecy ignites a curiosity he refuses to ignore.Putting the pain behind them is no longer an option.To get the answers they need, they must face the past and open up old wounds that threaten to bleed them dry.

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    Night Terrors

      E. F. Benson
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His body was pressed against the wall at the head of the bed, and the face was a mask of agonised horror and fruitless entreaty. But the eyes were already glazed in death, and before Francis could reach the bed the body had toppled over and lay inert and lifeless. Even as he looked, he heard a limping step go down the passage outside.'E. F. Benson was a master of the ghost story and now all his rich, imaginative, spine-tingling and beautifully written tales are presented together in this bumper collection. The range and variety of these spooky narratives is far broader and more adventurous than those of any other writer of supernatural fiction. Within the covers of this volume you will encounter revengeful spectres, vampires, homicidal spirits, monstrous spectral worms and slugs and other entities of nameless dread. This is a classic collection that cannot fail to charm and chill.

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    Viola in Reel Life

      Adriana Trigiani
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EDITORIAL REVIEW: I'm marooned. Abandoned. Left to rot in boarding school . . . Viola doesn't *want* to go to boarding school, but somehow she ends up at an all-girls school in South Bend, Indiana, far, far away from her home in Brooklyn, New York. Now Viola is stuck for a whole year in the sherbet-colored sweater capital of the world. Ick. There's no way Viola's going to survive the year—especially since she has to replace her best friend Andrew with three new roommates who, disturbingly, actually seem to *like* it there. She resorts to viewing the world (and hiding) behind the lens of her video camera. Boarding school, though, and her roommates and even the Midwest are nothing like she thought they would be, and soon Viola realizes she may be in for the most incredible year of her life. But first she has to put the camera down and let the world in.

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    The Orchid Thief

      Susan Orlean
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In Susan Orlean's mesmerizing true story of beauty and obsession is John Laroche, a renegade plant dealer and sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he is missing his front teeth and has the posture of al dente spaghetti. In 1994, Laroche and three Seminole Indians were arrested with rare orchids they had stolen from a wild swamp in south Florida that is filled with some of the world's most extraordinary plants and trees. Laroche had planned to clone the orchids and then sell them for a small fortune to impassioned collectors. After he was caught in the act, Laroche set off one of the oddest legal controversies in recent memory, which brought together environmentalists, Native Amer-ican activists, and devoted orchid collectors. The result is a tale that is strange, compelling, and hilarious. New Yorker writer Susan Orlean followed Laroche through swamps and into the eccentric world of Florida's orchid collectors, a subculture of aristocrats,...

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    Tear You Apart

      Megan Hart
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Their passion will consume everything—and everyone— in its path…. I'm on a train. I don't know which stop I got on at; I only know the train is going fast and the world outside becomes a blur. I should get off, but I don't. The universe is playing a cosmic joke on me. Here I had my life—a good life with everything a woman  could want—and suddenly, there is something more I didn't know I could have. A chance for me to be satisfied and content and maybe even on occasion deliriously, amazingly, exuberantly fulfilled. So this is where I am, on a train that's out of control, and I am not just a passenger. I'm the one shoveling the furnace full of coal to keep it going fast and faster. If I could make myself believe it all happened by chance and I couldn't help it, that I've been swept away, that it's not my fault, that it's fate…would that be easier? The truth is, I didn't know I was looking for this until I found Will, but I must've been, all this time. And now it is not random, it is not fate,  it is not being swept away.  This is my choice.  And I don't know how to stop. Or even if I want to.

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    Saved by the Lifeboat

      R. M. Ballantyne
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The Scottish juvenile fiction writer R. M. Ballantyne was born into a famous family of publishers. Leaving home at age 16 he went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company; after returning home to Scotland R. M. Ballantyne published his first book "Hudson's Bay" detailing his experiences in Canada. Later Ballantyne would write about more of his experiences with Native Americans and the Fur trappers he met in the most remote regions of Canada. With his success as a writer he withdrew from the business world to become a full time writer for the rest of his life. With over a hundred different books he has become one of the most cherished juvenile fiction writers today. Along with his other exploits throughout his life he also was tremendously successful with his artwork as his water color paintings were displayed at the Royal Scottish Academy.

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    The Moving Picture Boys on the Coast

      Victor Appleton
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Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films are made -- the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes. The volumes teem with adventures and will be found interesting from first chapter to last.

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  • 339

    Village Annals, Containing Austerus and Humanus: A Sympathetic Tale

      Anonymous
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Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive collection. As part of our on-going commitment to delivering value to the reader, we have also provided you with a link to a website, where you may download a digital version of this work for free. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. Whilst the books in this collection have not been hand curated, an aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature. As a result of this book being first published many decades ago, it may have occasional imperfections. These imperfections may include poor picture quality, blurred or missing text. While some of these imperfections may have appeared in the original work, others may have resulted from the scanning process that has been applied. However, our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. While some publishers have applied optical character recognition (OCR), this approach has its own drawbacks, which include formatting errors, misspelt words, or the presence of inappropriate characters. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with an experience that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic book, and that the occasional imperfection that it might contain will not detract from the experience.

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