When a rifle range accident leaves Dean Howell disfigured and in a vegetative state, his wife Sarah finds her dreary life in Pine Cone, Alabama made even worse. After long and tedious days on the assembly line, she returns home to care for her corpselike husband while enduring her loathsome and hateful mother-in-law, Jo. Jo blames the entire town for her son's mishap, and when she gives a strange piece of jewelry to the man she believes most responsible, a series of gruesome deaths is set in motion. Sarah believes the amulet has something to do with the rising body count, but no one will believe her. As the inexplicable murders continue, Sarah and her friend Becca Blair have no choice but to track down the amulet themselves, before it's too late . . . Michael McDowell (1950-1999) is best known for his screenplays for Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas, but he was also the author of several excellent and underrated Southern Gothic horror novels, of...

Amanda’s heart broke as she watched them drive her beloved twins away. She resolved to hope . . . and to fight for them to her last breath.Kara and Lizzie are heiresses to one of the largest fortunes in the country. But when their father dies suddenly, the toddlers are taken from the arms of Amanda, their loving stepmother, and given to relatives who only want the children’s fortune for themselves.Kara and Lizzie grow up questioning their worth . . . until the day when they learn the truth.Intensely involving, emotionally charged, and infused with hope, Covenant Child is an inspiring story that challenges us to embrace the life God holds out to us.“Blackstock is a masterful writer . . .” —Christian Retailing

MARRIED FOR MONEYRaimond Le Veq needed to marry to gain his inheritance and restore the fortunes of the House of Le Veq, the proud Black New Orleans family whose wealth had been ravaged by the War Between the States. Still wounded by the double-cross of the only woman he ever came close to loving, he gave the choice of bride to his mother. But he never be expected that she would pick Sable Fontaine--the beautiful former slave he could not allow himself to trust again. FREED BY PASSIONBetrayed and sold to a cruel neighbor, Sable did whatever it took escape. With the spirits of her royal African ancestors guiding her, she made a bold bid for freedom, and won. But along the way she had to hurt the charming Union Major Le Veq, who had romanced her and championed her. Now fate has brought them back together in a marriage of convenience. Can she convince Raimond she was never a Rebel spy, and that this time, she'd choose him above all else?About the AuthorBeverly Jenkins has received numerous awards, including three Waldenbooks Best Sellers Awards, two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times magazine, and a Golden Pen Award from the Black Writer’s Guild. Ms. Jenkins was voted one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American writers of the twentieth century by AABLC, the nation’s largest online African-American book club.

Edward Weyland is far from your average vampire: not only is he a respected anthropology professor but his condition is biological — rather than supernatural. He lives discrete lifetimes bounded by decades of hibernation and steals blood from labs rather than committing murder. Weyland is a monster who must form an uneasy empathy with his prey in order to survive, and The Vampire Tapestry is a story wholly unlike any you've heard before.**

"Alice B. Toklas wrote hers and now everybody will write theirs." In 1933 Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas skyrocketed to the top of the bestseller lists, and the author found herself a celebrity. Everybody's Autobiography is the very Steinian account of her soul-satisfying next five years in France, England, and America, where she made a triumphant tour of the country. Here are Stein's devastating analyses of some of the major figures of the day whom she met--among them Dashiell Hammett, Charlie Chaplin, Pablo Picasso, Marianne Moore, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Sherwood Anderson--and also of her own life and work.

Evan Tanner ran head-first into a piece of shrapnel in Korea, and now he can't sleep. Ever. Which can be an asset for a dedicated linguist, term paper forger, thief, lost cause enthusiast . . . Spy.Tanner takes on jobs for a covert intelligence organization so secret that even those who work for it have no idea who they're working for. Now his nameless supervisor wants him to sneak behind the Iron Curtain, storm an impregnable castle in Prague (_alone!_), and rescue an old Slovak who's got a pressing date with a hangman's noose. The trouble is the prisoner is an unrepentant Nazi who makes Goering look like Mister Rogers. Tanner hates Nazis. If he's caught (which is likely) the U.S. will deny that they know him. And Tanner will be executed. After being tortured, no doubt. All in all, there are many excellent reasons why Tanner should refuse this assignment. So, naturally, he says yes.

17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using salvaged scrap metal, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree--they were destroyed more than a century ago--his missing father used to tell him stories about the Old World. Everything changes when Banyan meets a mysterious woman with a strange tattoo--a map to the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts . . . the locusts that now feed on human flesh.But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.Review"There's a brilliant madness to this deadly postapocalyptic world, filled with complex characters, shifting loyalties, and layers of mystery... it's also a nonstop adventure, with wild concepts and an almost hypnotic quality to Banyan's terse, weather-beaten narration. Lines like "I knew it was a day of endings, one way or another" and "One good thing about a world made of stone and steel, that world can't burn for long" bring this unforgettable setting to life." - Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW"Howard has a gift for the phantasmagoric image: the killing Surge that is this future's ocean, the bark Banyan finds growing on a homeless man, the swarm of locusts descending for the kill and more." - Kirkus ReviewsFrom the Inside FlapSeventeen-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree--they were destroyed more than a century ago--his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo--a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts--the locusts that now feed on human flesh.But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.In this dazzling debut, Howard presents a disturbing world with uncanny similarities to our own. Like the forests Banyan seeks to rebuild, this visionary novel is both beautiful and haunting--full of images that will take permanent root in your mind . . . and forever change the way you think about nature.

Liar meets Romeo and Juliet in this Shakespeare-inspired young adult novel about whether to trust yourself when everyone is telling you your instincts are wrong—for fans of Holly Black, Laini Taylor, and Black Swan, by New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline West. Jaye wakes up in the hospital, disoriented, and beset by a slippery morphing of reality into something else. She repeatedly sees a boy who she feels like she knows—but that's impossible. Determined to get back to school and back to A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which she's starring, she lies to her sister, her mom, and her doctors—she’s fine, she says. She’s fine, she’s fine, she’s fine. But then on her first day back, she takes a seat in class . . . next to the mysterious boy. Queasy with anxiety ("I can’t see you," she hisses at him, "because you’re not really here"), Jaye realizes this boy is, in fact, real. And he has no idea what she's talking about. Caught between this fascinating, empathetic new kid and her childhood friend turned recent love interest,  Jaye begins to notice unnerving similarities between her circumstances and those of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Tingling banter and clandestine meet-ups give way to darker, muddier incidents. As things escalate to a frightening pitch, how much of what's happening is real, how much is in Jaye's head, and how much does it matter as she's hurtling toward a fateful end over which she seems to have no control?**

She will come back to me, Tom Westonby tells himself. We'll be reunited. It has been five years since he's seen his beloved wife, Nicola Bekk. Five years since their wedding day – when he won her hand, but in doing so triggered the curse that has blighted the Bekk family for centuries. Nicola became a vampire, and fled, lest she harm the one she loves the most.Since then, Tom has lived a remote life in Nicola's ancestral home in the woods, patiently awaiting the return of his vampire bride. But little does he know that someone else is returning to the village – someone who holds great power over the supernatural forces that dwell within it, waiting for revenge.Soon, Tom will be forced to risk his life – and the lives of those he loves – in the fight against an ancient evil that cannot possibly be beaten . . .

The Same Sea is Amos Oz's most adventurous and inventive novel, the book by which he would like to be remembered. The cast of characters ranges from a prodigal son to a widowed father who has taken in his son's enticing young girlfriend, who in turn sleeps with her boyfriend's close friend. The author himself receives phone calls from his characters, criticizing the way he portrays them in his novel. In this human profusion there is chaos and order, love and eroticism, loyalty and betrayal, and ultimately an extraordinary energy."I wrote this book with everything I have. Language, music, structure—everything that I have. . . . This is the closest book I've written. Close to me, close to what I always wanted. . . . I went as far as I could."—Amos Oz

Liv and Audrey Westing have found something they’ve chased their entire lives, but could never quite reach. Love. It comes with the steepest of prices. One they both know they might not be able to pay, even with their hearts. Jonas wants more than Liv can give. Saul can’t watch Audrey save her sister anymore. Emilio, Saul’s brother, is hiding his own secrets buried deep inside. Secrets that are the difference between life and death… With the Jonas’ Cartel watching their every move, Liv and Audrey know there’s no place to run anymore. No place to hide. Maybe the fall is worth the pain… 

Welcome to a world where vampires have a choice...register or die at the hands of the Netherworld division. Humans can offer their blood and become 'pets,' and angels patrol it all. This is Koa’s world. Koa is the first half-blood to exist, and she works as an agent in the Netherworld division, keeping order in the mortal world.Koa had it all, an attractive human pet, a sprawling manor, and the ability to walk in the sun. A Netherworld serial killer, with a craving for little girls, threatens it all. Is Koa ready to return to the Netherworld to release the one creature that can protect all that she holds dear? Is she really ready for all that the Netherworld has in store for her?About the AuthorK.N. Lee is an American author who resides in North Carolina. She enjoys writing fantasy and horror novels and short stories. She also writes poetry and does a great deal promoting other authors on her websites. When she is not cooking traditional Asian meals for her friends, she travels the world and practices foreign languages. She lives with her two dogs, Raven and Rocco. www.TheChroniclesofKoa.com www.WriteLikeAWizard.com www.Facebook.com/knycolelee

ReviewIt's perhaps fitting that for McDermid's 25th novel she's revisited her most thrillingly murderous creation, Jacko Vance (Daily Mirror )Val McDermid's 25th novel is stunningly good, but it comes with a health warning. It is truly disturbing (The Times )McDermid never pulls her punches in her graphic descriptions of the evils men (and women) inflict on each other...tension filled from start to finish (Irish Independent )Her writing is taut, her plotting pacy... McDermid is particularly good at analysing human damage and its effects (Scotsman )To write one brilliant book is hard. To write 25 is a miracle. That is what Val McDermid has achieved over the course of her career and it's why she is a much-loved legend in the literary world...the pace here is flawless and the various storylines are expertly interwoven...a superb crime novel (Sunday Express )Brilliant ... sensational ...unforgettable (Guardian )It's a tribute to McDermid's skill as a storyteller that she deliberately creates a trio of central characters who are essentially incapable of conventional empathy yet still manages to sustain reader sympathy right through to the coldly brutal finale (Irish Times ) Book DescriptionThe unforgettable, gripping new Tony Hill and Carol Jordan novel

Adultery, incest, and questions of racial identity simmer beneath the tranquil surface of suburban life in this novel, set in a small New Jersey town of the early 1900s. Lovely young Laurentine is obsessed with her "bad blood," inherited from a common-law interracial union. Proud and independent, she longs for the respectability of a conventional marriage. Laurentine's vivacious and self-confident cousin, Melissa, also aspires to "marry up." But a family secret shadows Melissa's dreams and ambitions as she approaches an explosive revelation.African-American editor, poet, essayist, and novelist Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882–1961) was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance. An editor of the NAACP magazine The Crisis, she was also an editor and co-author of the African-American children's magazine, The Brownies' Book. Her third novel, The Chinaberry Tree, draws upon elements of Greek tragedy in its powerful depiction of interracial love and...

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

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When relationship, family, and friend problems make life rough, the swoop-list girls must examine their lives and make positive changes. But can they handle the challenge of confronting their own mistakes?