Fire On High

      Peter David
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Lieutenant Robin Lefler's mother died in a shuttle explosion ten years ago. So is the woman being held prisoner in Thallonian space really her? If it is, what is her connection to the mysterious woman holding a weapon that could doom entire worlds? With the lives of billions at stake, Robin Lefler, Captain Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur must find the answers before time runs out for them and for the struggling remnants of the once-great Thallonian Empire.

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    The Attack of the Aqua Apes

      R. L. Stine
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When Scott and Glen decide to use water from Fear Street Lake to grow their Aqua Ape, they had no idea that the tiny little creature would keep growing...and growing...and growing. And its teeth keep getting sharper...and sharper...and sharper.Will Scott and Glen be able to contain their destructive new pet before it's too late?

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    Let's Get This Party Haunted!

      R. L. Stine
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It’s October, and you know what that means . . . well, sure, Halloween, but it’s also Max’s birthday! Now that a bunch of ghosts have entered Max’s life, no birthday celebration will ever be the same! All Max wants for his birthday is a great party–but will he live to see another new year?From the Hardcover edition.About the AuthorR. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children’s author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide media phenomenon.R.L. Stine has received numerous awards of recognition. He lives in New York, NY. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.11At dinner that night, Mom was very upset. She told Dad the whole story. “The principal called me this afternoon. Max told a teacher to shut up. And he tossed clay all over the art room.”Dad’s face turned even redder than usual. Steam started to pour from his ears. He gripped his fork and knife in his big, meaty fists. “In trouble again? Why did you do that, Max?”“Hard to explain,” I muttered.The dragon tattoo on Dad’s right bicep appeared to lower its fiery head and stare at me. “Why can’t you be more like Colin?” Dad growled. “Is that asking too much? Colin is perfect. Why can’t you be perfect?”“I don’t know,” I whispered, head down.Colin kicked me hard under the table. Then, grinning, he pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here is my new honor roll certificate,” he told Dad. “Would you like to get it framed like all the others?”I was grounded for a week. I didn’t see Nicky or Tara the whole time. I knew they were angry at me. Angry because I’d told them to stay away from my birthday party.But I didn’t expect them to totally disappear.A week after the pottery room incident, Quentin came over to practice magic tricks. My party was only a few days away. I wanted to rehearse and rehearse until our act was perfect.After all, Traci Wayne was coming. I wasn’t allowed to get near her. But this was my big chance to impress her.“Let me show you a hat trick that everyone loves,” Quentin said. “Do you have a real hat I could use?”I rubbed my chin, thinking hard. “No. I only have baseball caps,” I said. “Oh, wait. My dad has a really good hat he uses for weddings and funerals and things.”“Go get it,” Quentin said. “You’ll like this trick.”I hesitated. “But it’s my dad’s only hat, and it’s very expensive. You have to be very careful.”“No problem,” Quentin said. “The trick is perfectly safe. I’ve done it a thousand times.”I went down to my parents’ bedroom closet to borrow Dad’s hat. He and Mom were in the den, watching wrestling on TV. They were both shouting at the screen: “Kill him! Kill! Kill! Break him in two!”They both love wrestling. But sometimes they get carried away. Last week after a big match, Mom jumped on Dad and started slapping his bald head with both hands. He had to pick her up and carry her into the shower to snap her out of it.I pulled Dad’s hat down from the top shelf. And I also borrowed one of his neckties. He only has three, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him wear one. I had learned a nifty new necktie trick that I knew Quentin would love.“Kill! Kill! Ruin him!” My parents’ shouts rang out from the den.Back in my room, I handed Quentin the hat.“What’s the trick?” I asked. “Will it be good for the party?”He nodded. He pulled a few things from his magic kit. He held up two eggs. “I crack these two eggs into the hat,” he said. “Then I pour in this jar of honey. Then I turn the hat right side up, and it’s perfectly dry.”I gulped. “Are you sure about this?”“Of course I’m sure,” Quentin said. “It’s an easy trick. Watch.”He pushed his blond hair off his forehead. Then he cracked the two eggs and let them run into the hat. Then he opened the honey jar and turned it upside down, and the honey slowly oozed into the hat with the egg yolks.“Say the magic words!” Quentin cried. “Hat be good!” He turned the hat over–and honey and yellow egg yolk came dripping out.“You–you ruined my dad’s hat!” I wailed.Quentin squinted at the sticky mess inside the hat. “I don’t get it. That trick always works.”My heart started leaping in my chest. I shoved the hat under my bed. Later I’d have to figure out a good hiding place for it.“What’s up with the necktie?” Quentin asked, picking up the tie and pulling it through his fingers.“Here’s a good trick for the party,” I said. “And this one is totally safe.”I took the tie from him and picked up a pair of scissors. “See? I make it look like I cut the tie into four pieces. But I don’t really cut it. I cut this piece of cloth instead.”I pulled the cloth from my magic kit and tucked it under the tie. “Now watch,” I said. “It looks like I’ve cut the tie up. But when I tug on it, it’s all together again.” “Cool,” Quentin muttered.“Ladies and gentlemen,” I boomed, holding the tie in front of me. “The Amazing Indestructible Necktie!”I snipped it into four pieces. I balled the pieces up in my hand. And then I gave a hard tug. “Back together again!” I exclaimed.Wrong.I’d sliced my dad’s tie into four pieces.“Oh, wow.” I stared at the pieces of tie in my hand.Then I pictured my dad, as big as a truck, a bellowing bull when he was angry. When he saw what I’d done to his hat and tie, he’d . . . he’d . . .I couldn’t even think about it.Trembling, I shoved the pieces of necktie under my bed next to the hat.Quentin tried a few easy card tricks. The cards fell from his hands and scattered over the floor.He tried the trick where he waves his magic wand and it turns into a bouquet of flowers. It didn’t work. The wand broke in two.He shook his head. “Max, everything is messed up tonight. I can’t figure out why.”I could.I knew what was happening. Nicky and Tara were messing up our tricks.I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists. I felt so angry, I wanted to scream.But no way could I tell Quentin about them.Nicky and Tara were angry because they couldn’t come to my party. So they were doing their best to mess up our magic act.We tried a few more easy tricks, and they were ruined too. “It just isn’t our night,” Quentin said. “Maybe we should try again tomorrow night.”He left, shaking his head, very confused.As soon as he was out the door, my two ghost friends appeared. “How’s it going, Max?” Tara asked, grinning at me.“You know how it’s going,” I snapped.“Did you have a bad night?” Nicky asked, acting innocent.I realized I was grinding my teeth. I’d never been so angry at them. “You have no right to do that,” I shouted. “You have no right to ruin all our tricks.”“I’ll bet your tricks will go a lot better if you invite us to your party,” Tara said.“For sure,” Nicky chimed in. “Invite us to your birthday party, and we’ll be your best friends again.”“No way!” I cried. “You’re not my best friends. And stop begging me. No way are you coming to my party!”They both put on these really hurt faces. Tara pulled off her hat, tossed it on the floor, and started stomping on it.I turned away from them and walked to the window. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. I didn’t like being angry at them. They were two poor young ghosts, after all. They probably wouldn’t have any more birthdays–because they were dead.But messing up our magic tricks like that was just plain mean.I gazed out the window, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. A few stars twinkled dimly in the night sky. I lowered my eyes–and gasped when I saw the boy in black staring up at me. He stood at the side of my yard, leaning against a tree trunk.I pulled up the window, stuck my head out, and shouted down at him. “Go away! I’m warning you! Go away!”He took a few steps closer to the house. Light from the kitchen downstairs washed over him, and I saw his face. An old man’s face, lined and wrinkled and sagging.He cupped his hands around his mouth and called up to me. “Be careful!”Gripping the windowsill, I stared down at his ancient face, at his pale, sunken eyes. “What do you want?” I screamed. “Why are you doing this?”“Be careful,” he repeated in a breathy rasp of a voice. “They are going to kill you. The ghosts are going to kill you!”A chill ran down my back. I stepped away from the window. Shivering, I turned to Nicky and Tara.“What did he mean?” I asked. “Why did he say that? Why did he say you are going to kill me?”I saw the shock on Nicky’s and Tara’s faces.And then they disappeared.

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    Northern Exposure: Episode Three

      Luken Du Pont
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Raised in a little fishing town, Cairo Goodridge instead opts for a bigger brighter future in the concrete jungle, New York City. Success surrounds him, but all good things have to come to an end. After the cruel hand of mother nature brings destruction and desolation to his new home. He is forced to survive in the new untamed twisted city, were being human just doesn't cut it any more!The gods have played the Great Game for eons, and worlds have hung in the balance. Some worlds have survived, some have been destroyed, and some of the playing fields have existed in a draw. The last game nearly brought about the destruction of man and god alike, requiring drastic measures to reset the board. Now, the current iteration of the Great Game draws to a close, the winner nearly decided. All the gods have played their parts, save one. The God of Chaos has been unbound, the rules granting him one last move... But this particular god hates doing what is expected.

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    To Be Or Rock To Be

      Intipakaret
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When the young soul Kalakas jeers at the offer of incarnating as a mountain on Earth, because he believes he is going to be doing nothing, he hadn't then known about the potential lesson that is as monumental as the legacy of the Rock.What you consider to be the most ordinary about you is often the extraordinary others see in you. We commonly take our gifts for granted and inadvertently inspire others with what comes naturally to us.When the young soul Kalakas had an opportunity to incarnate to be the consciousness of a large volcanic mountain on Earth, he jeered at the offer, believing that he was going to be doing nothing.Succumbing to some gentle provocation from his mentor, he did indeed end up spending eons on Earth doing nothing.Was it going to be the most agonizingly boring life review ever when he returned to the spirit realm, or was there a lesson as monumental as the legacy of the Rock?

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    Belphagor

      Niccolo Machiavelli
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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

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    The Catalans

      Patrick O'Brian
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This novel is a powerful successor to Testimonies, Patrick O'Brian's first novel written for adults. It is set in that corner of France that became O'Brian's adopted home, where the long, dark wall of the Pyrenees runs headlong to meet the Mediterranean. Alain Roig returns to Saint-Féliu after years in the East and finds his family in crisis. His dour, middle-aged cousin Xavier, the mayor and most powerful citizen of the town, has fallen in love and plans to marry Madeleine, the young daughter of the local grocer. The Roig family property is threatened by this union, and Madeleine's relatives object on different grounds. Xavier is a tragic figure, damned by what he perceives as a lack of feeling; Madeleine is to be his salvation. Unfortunately she does not return his affection, and, as the feasts and harvest festivals of Saint-Féliu are played out, she finds herself falling in love with Alain.

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  • 287

    Surrendering to Us

      Chelsea M. Cameron
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They're finally together. But the Universe seems intent on tearing them apart… Rory Clarke might not be Lucah Blythe's boss anymore, but that doesn't mean they can sneak off to the boardroom for hot sex whenever they want. Keeping their hands off each other in the workplace is harder than they could have imagined, and that's not the only obstacle they have to deal with. Between Lucah's troublesome brother Ryder, and Rory's bff Sloane's inability to understand locked doors, they're drowning in drama. But it's only about to get a lot worse when a blast from Lucah's past surfaces, and chaos at Clarke Enterprises threatens to take away everything Rory has worked so hard for. Can the couple weather the storm and surrender to each other, or will the challenges of staying together destroy their relationship for good?

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    Stalk, Don't Run

      Carolyn Keene
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Malibu Mayhem follows Nancy Drew back to River Heights in this conclusion to the latest mystery arc!After an unforgettable vacation on the exclusive beaches of California, Nancy, Bess, and George are glad to be back in down-to-earth River Heights. But just as they’re settling into a boring summer routine, Malibu excitement follows them home: the superstar Casabian Sisters show up, convinced River Heights is the perfect setting for their newest reality show. And where the Casbians go, drama—and now danger— is never far behind. Quiet River Heights and nearby Camp Athena is turned upside down with a terrifying mix of midnight phone calls, missing Casabians, and a menacing nighttime stalker. But this isn’t a reality show, this is real life—and Nancy and her friends need to find out real fast just who is out to destroy their home… and their lives.

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    The Serrano Connection

      Elizabeth Moon
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1.  Elizabeth Moon is a New York Times best-selling author. 2.  This voulme combines the third and fourth in her popular Serrano/Suiza space adventure series. 3.  Advertising in Locus, Romantic Times, more 4.  Simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions 5.  Co-op available. Two Full-Length Novels of Space Adventure: Once a Hero: Esmay Suiza wasn’t a member of a great Navy family like the Serranos. She’d had to make her way on grit alone, which meant it wasn’t likely she’d make admiral, but all she wanted was to be part of the Fleet. But then she ended up a raging space battle, and was the only one who could stop a superior office turned traitor. She had never wanted to be a hero, but fate had other ideas. . . .  Rules of Engagement: Brun Meager is a young woman from a rich and powerful family, which had a lot to do with why Esmay Suiza didn’t get along with her, not to mention both having an amorous interest in Barin Serrano. When Brun was abducted by a repressive religious militia movement that makes the 21st century Taliban look like a bunch of Unitarians, Esmay was suspected of having connived in the capture to eliminate a rival. To clear herself, it looked like Esmay would have to locate and rescue Brun. Time to be a hero again. . . .

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    Staying Together

      Ann M. Martin
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After a big fight, sisters Flora and Ruby must come together in this stirring installment of Main Street Flora and Ruby have always gotten along as sisters, but now they're coming apart. They're starting to fight all the time and nobody -- not their friends, not their grandmother -- knows what to do. It's all a part of growing up, but it's not an easy part. And Flora and Ruby are going to have to learn how to stay together... with a little help from their friends.

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