It is the spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. When three of the heiress's old friends are found dead, Maisie must race to find out who would want to kill these seemingly respectable young women before it's too late. As Maisie investigates, she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.

Violence and unrest are sweeping through Roman Britain. Justin and Flavius find themselves caught up in the middle of it all when they discover a plot to overthrow the Emperor. In fear for their lives, they gather together a tattered band of men and lead them into the thick of battle, to defend the honor of Rome. But will they be in time to save the Emperor . . .

Is Captain Rescue having a bad day, or is something more sinister happening?Bridget is used to being robbed. It’s one of the perks of living in her city. But she never imagined the one and only Captain Rescue would ever come to her aid... like this. After “taking care” of her would-be assailants, Captain Rescue practically kidnaps Bridget, whisking the reluctant teen away on a crime-fighting joyride.It doesn’t take long for her to suspect that Captain Rescue might very well have cracked. Is he just not the hero she thought he was, or is something more sinister going on here? Find out in... A Mind Not Worth Controlling. But wait, there’s more!If you enjoyed this short story -- and let’s not kid around here, you did -- then check out A Drizzle of Zombies! It’s Captain Rescue (and friends’) first full-length novel, and it’s a rompin’ good time.

The small city of Tulle-sur-Mer. Winding city streets. The Blue Sparrow Inn. A secret passage. An agent of the Queen. A man in disguise. Long forgotten catacombs. Dusty bones. Large rats. Hidden agendas. Thieves. Murder. Revenge. What do those all have in common? A Whisper in the Dark.The small city of Tulle-sur-Mer. Winding city streets. The Blue Sparrow Inn. A secret passage. An agent of the Queen. A man in disguise. Long forgotten catacombs. Dusty bones. Large rats. Hidden agendas. Thieves. Murder. Revenge. What do those all have in common? A Whisper in the Dark.Stopping for the night after a weary day of travel should have been a trivial thing. For Navarr Doucette, an agent of the Queen on a secret assignment, he soon finds that it's quite the contrary when staying at the Blue Sparrow Inn. What should have been a quiet night of sleep before returning to the road in the morning soon turns into a frantic night of mystery and survival.A Whisper in the Dark is a thrilling tale of chilling suspense, dark mystery, and sinister intrigue.FROM THE AUTHOR:I became a fan of Alexander Dumas and his tales of the musketeers in my late teens. At that time I was also heavily into fantasy and supernatural tales, much like you would read in stories by Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, and R.A. Salvatore. From those five various authors and their influences I created the protagonist Navarr Doucette, as seen in A WHISPER IN THE DARK. I started writing stories about Navarr in various lengths from shorts to full novels back in 1994. Since then the world around him has been heavily fleshed out, and is very similar to Europe in the 1600s. In my stories many of the superstitions that people had during that era are not just superstitions and false fears as we know them to be today. In Navarr's world they exist, and things can be dark, mysterious, and downright evil.

Forever Days is the hilarious story of 5 friends. They meet at University and have the time of their lives. Upon graduating, they all make a pact: To meet at the same pub, on the same day every year, until one of them dies...Forever Days is the hilarious story of 5 friends. They meet at University and have the time of their lives. Upon graduating, they all make a pact: To meet at the same pub, on the same day every year, until one of them dies...Forever Days is a lighthearted look at the choices we make in life and the journeys we take.A heartwarming comedy which explores life's trials and tribulations from the bottom of a glass.

Nice Girls Don’t Sign a Lease Without a Wedding Ring OK, you asked for more Jane, so I offer you a little bite of the Nice Girls universe. There will be other short stories posted here in the future. And I might possibly participate in an anthology featuring Half-Moon Hollow's cast of weirdos. Enjoy!

Welcome to Book 1 of Season 8, the beginning of a brand new story... The Shade's sixth hundredth year is approaching, and the island's younger generations have organized the perfect celebration for The Shade's founders. Derek, Sofia, Lucas, Vivienne and Xavier, Claudia and Yuri, among others, are set to take a vacation on the idyllic world of Strava; a seemingly deserted paradise nestled deep within the In-Between. All seems to be going well on their much-deserved break, until Derek stumbles upon something that wasn't meant to be found... A hidden cave, containing centuries' old secrets... As Derek and his closest friends and family set out to unravel the mystery, the rest of GASP soon becomes involved too... in what will quickly become another breathtaking, jaw-dropping, spine-tingling Shadian adventure! Prepare for a return of your favorite characters, old and new... Buy now! Beware of spoilers in the reviews below that are without spoiler alerts

It was just a smooth round metal ball, less than a metre in diameter. Although it was still hot from its journey through the huge nothingness of space, it looked quite harmless. But what was it, exactly? A meteor, perhaps - just one of those pieces of rock from outer space that occasionallyfall down on to the planet Earth. But meteors don't usually make strange hissing sounds . . . In this collection of four of his famous science-fiction stories, John Wyndham creates visions of the future that make us think carefully about the way we live now.

The battle continues as five ordinary kids must journey back into the heart of an epic conflict. Five months into World War III, Ellie and her four remaining friends have barely escaped the Australian town of Wirrawee with their lives and their sanity intact. But as the next step becomes clear, they realize they must once again sacrifice their hard-won comfort and safety. A group of soldiers has recruited the kids to guide the way to the Wirrawee air base. What could possibly motivate Ellie and her friends to return? This risky sabotage mission may be their only hope of rescuing their families, too.

The third volume in The Lymond Chronicles, the highly renowned series of historical novels by Dorothy Dunnett, Disorderly Knights takes place in 1551, when Francis Crawford of Lymond is dispatched to embattled Malta, to assist the Knights of Hospitallers in defending the island against the Turks. But shortly the swordsman and scholar discovers that the greatest threat to the Knights lies within their own ranks, where various factions vie secretly for master. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Stella McKenna has lived a predictable, ordinary life. At least it was ordinary, until "she" began to haunt her... Her name is Faith Harrison, and they say he killed her. Stella has heard the stories repeatedly, but they aren't what worries her. What worries her are the visions. Visions of things she hasn't been told, intimate things about him; about the man the townsfolk hate with such vengeance, the one they call Villain. Thirty years ago, Gabriel Hunter cast a powerful spell, and now he waits in torment. Faith would come back to him. She "had" to come back to him. Instead, he is visited by Stella McKenna, a woman he's sure was sent just to torture him. Kill him with his very lust for her! His desire is strong. Stronger than he is, stronger than his spell, stronger than anything. But if he yields to Stella McKenna and her supple body, her fair skin, and his want of her, he'll lose the love of his life forever... "Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal sex, bondage."

A powerful tale of love, friendship, and becoming American in late ’70s Cambridge from the best-selling novelist. "If you like brave, acute, elated, naked, brutal, tender, humane, and beautiful prose, then you’ve come to the right place.”—Nicole Krauss Cambridge, 1977: A Harvard graduate student, a Jew from Egypt, is preparing to become the assimilated American professor he longs to be. But when he bonds with a brash, charismatic Arab cab driver nicknamed Kalashnikov, he begins to neglect his studies. Together they carouse the bars and cafés of Cambridge, seduce strangers, ridicule “jumbo-ersatz” America, and skinny-dip in Walden Pond. As final exams approach and the cab driver is threatened with deportation, the grad student faces the decision of his life: whether to cling to his dream of New World assimilation or ditch it all to defend his Old World friend. Sexually charged and enormously moving, this is a deeply American novel of identity and ideals in conflict. It is the book that will seal André Aciman’s reputation as one of the finest writers of our time.

The novel follows Anton, an undercover operative from the future planet Earth, in his mission on an alien planet, that is populated by human beings, whose society has not advanced beyond the Middle Ages. The novel's core idea is that human progress throughout the centuries is often cruel and bloody, and that religion and blind faith can be an effective tool of oppression, working to destroy the emerging scientific disciplines and enlightenment. Don Rumata has been sent from Earth to the medieval kingdom of Arkanar with instructions to observe and to save what he can. Masquerading as an arrogant nobleman, a dueler, and a brawler, he is never defeated, but yet he can never kill. With his doubt and compassion, and his deep love for a local girl named Kira, Rumata wants to save the kingdom from the machinations of Don Reba, the first minister to the king. But given his orders, what role can he play? This long overdue translation will reintroduce one of the most profound Soviet-era novels to an eager audience. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are widely known as the greatest Russian writers of science fiction, and their 1964 novel Hard to Be a God is considered one of the greatest of their works. Yet until now the only English version (unavailable for over thirty years) was based on a German translation, and was full of errors, infelicities, and misunderstandings. Now, in a new translation by Olena Bormashenko, whose translation of the authors’ Roadside Picnic has received widespread acclaim, here is the definitive edition of this brilliant work.

Meet the intense and sexy bad boy bikers of the Chaos Motorcycle Club in Carissa and Joker's story from Kristen Ashley's New York Times bestselling series.* *The ride of her life . . . Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy---until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa's pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower. Climb on and hold tight . . . In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he's the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa's acting, it's clear she's falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker's secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa---or ride away forever . . .

Two in the Bush is a record of the six-month journey which took Gerald Durrell, his wife Jacquie, and two cameramen through New Zealand, Australia and Malaya. The object was, first, to see what was being done about the conservation of wild life in these countries, and, secondly, to make a series of television films for the BBC. They were introduced to many rare and remarkable animals – Royal Albatrosses, Tuataras, Duck-Billed Platypuses, Flying Lizards and Long-Nosed Bandicoots, as well as to some equally unusual humans. Anyone who has read The Overloaded Ark, The Bafut Beagles or The Whispering Land will have enjoyed Gerald Durrell’s enthusiastic adventuring and his delight in the absurdity of the situations in which he finds himself. His observation of animal – and human – behaviour is always informative and often hilarious. Gerald Durrell was one of Britain’s best-loved naturalists, whose books, including My Family and Other Animals, continue to entertain and amuse generations of children and adults alike. Fifteen of his classic titles have now been republished by Bello. ‘Delightfully readable and often very funny.’ *Daily Mail * ‘An account of Gerald Durrell’s tour of New Zealand, Australia and Malaya in search of rarities . . . Easy to read, difficult to put down, with many vivid sidelights on the human side of the expedition. This absorbing narrative reveals the ardours, ironies and disappointments, the organizational miracles and the hilarious human mishaps . . .’ Maurice Wiggin, *Sunday Times * ‘Mr Durrell has the knack of writing about animals and their antics with tremendous affection and enthusiasm, but without sentimentality.’ *Sunday Telegraph * ‘Will delight his fans and armchair naturalists everywhere.’ Evening Standard

Four months ago, Penny Lane Bloom was heartbroken over a guy, had only a small handful of close friends, and was sure that, somehow, this year was going to be different. Four months later, everything has changed. Penny’s gone from a few friends to a huge group of girls who all have each other’s backs, from a guy who thought nothing of cheating to a total sweetheart, and from the idea for The Lonely Hearts Club to a full-scale girls-rock revolution. Just think how much more she’ll be able to accomplish by the end of the school year! And it’s the holidays, which means Penny has two blissful weeks to spend eating cheese fries with her girls and kissing Ryan. The only thing she still has to do…is survive Christmas with her family.

The first English biography of a man that has affected some of the most dramatic and historic events of the 20th century, Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg became the head of the Habsburg family at nine years old, three years after his father's exile and has spent the last eighty years as a dominant figure in European politics. Refusing to support Hitler, developing a close friendship with F.D. Roosevelt, and becoming a member of European Parliament, he's led quite a fascinating life. Today at ninty, he continues to be active, being one of the strongest advocates for a unified Europe.

In the year 1260, under the supervision of the architect Gerhard Morart, the most ambitious ecclesiastical building in all of Christendom is rising above the merchant city of Cologne: the great cathedral. Far below the soaring spires and flying buttresses, a bitter struggle is underway between the archbishop of Cologne and the ruling merchant families to control the enormous wealth of this prosperous commercial center—a struggle that quickly becomes deadly. Morart is the first of many victims, pushed to his death from the cathedral's scaffolding by a huge man with long hair, clad all in black. But hiding in the branches of the archbishop's apple orchard is a witness: a red-haired petty thief called Jacob the Fox, street-smart, cunning, and yet naive in the ways of the political world. Out of his depth and running for his life, he soon finds himself engaged in a desperate battle with some very powerful forces. Most dangerous of all is the killer himself—a mysterious man with remarkable speed, strength, and intelligence, hiding dark secrets that have stripped away his humanity and turned him into a cruel, efficient hired assassin who favors a miniature crossbow as his weapon of choice. But who is he killing for? Jacob the Fox—uneducated and superstitious—fears the killer is the Angel of Death himself. But the wily Fox makes an alliance with some of the strangest of bedfellows: a beautiful clothes dyer, her drunken rascal of a father, and her learned uncle, who loves a good debate almost as much as he loves a bottle of wine. Can this unlikely foursome triumph against the odds and learn the truth of the evil conspiracy before their quest leads to their death at the end of a crossbow arrow? Readers who loved the richly textured setting and historical accuracy of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose will thrill to discover a new novel through which they can vicariously enter the medieval world. With its vivid evocation of both the rich and powerful and those struggling to survive another day at the bottom of society's rungs in the Cologne of 1260, Death and the Devil, the first novel by Frank Schatzing, sends a clear announcement to the literary world that an important new voice in fiction is here.

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker…and the woman rogue vampires fear most. Jane walks softly and carries a big stake to keep the peace in New Orleans, all part of her job as official enforcer to Leo Pellisier, Master of the City. But Leo’s reign is being threatened by a visit from a delegation of ancient European vampires seeking to expand their dominions. But there’s another danger to the city. When she hears reports of revenant vampires, loose in NOLA and out for blood, Jane goes to put them down—and discovers there’s something unusual about these revenants. They never should have risen. Jane must test her strength against a deadly, unnatural magic beyond human understanding, and a ruthless cadre of near-immortals whose thirst for power knows no bounds…

The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—Mary Karr’s sequel to the beloved and bestselling The Liars’ Club and Cherry “lassos you, hogties your emotions and won’t let you go” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times). Mary Karr’s bestselling, unforgettable sequel to her beloved memoirs The Liars’ Club and Cherry—and one of the most critically acclaimed books of the year—Lit is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. The Boston Globe calls Lit a book that “reminds us not only how compelling personal stories can be, but how, in the hands of a master, they can transmute into the highest art." The New York Times Book Review calls it “a master class on the art of the memoir” in its Top 10 Books of 2009 Citation. Michiko Kakutani calls it “a book that lassos you, hogties your emotions and won’t let you go” in her New York Times review. And Susan Cheever states, simply, that Lit is “the best book about being a woman in America I have read in years." In addition to the New York Times, Lit was named a Best Book of 2009 by the New Yorker (Reviewer Favorite), Entertainment Weekly (Top 10), Time (Top 10), the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, Slate, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the Seattle Times.

Discover #1 bestselling novel, Evan Burl and the FallingMy father abandoned me when I was an infant.My friends have turned against me. My uncle beats me.The most powerful sapients in the world want me dead.They all have one thing in common.They think I'm turning into a monster.I'm starting to worry they're right.Discover #1 bestselling novel, Evan Burl and the FallingA monster lives in all of us.My father abandoned me when I was an infant.My friends have turned against me.My uncle hates me.The most powerful sapients in the world want me dead.They all have one thing in common.They think I'm turning into a monster.I'm starting to worry they're right.Over a thousand years, one man unlocks sapience—the ability to transform the imagined into reality. But not everyone believes sapience is a gift because this power blurs the lines between dreaming and waking, making it impossible to divide real life from nightmare and friend from enemy.The most powerful of these sapients rule the world, sharing little in common save their venom for each other and lurid horror for Evan Burl—a sixteen-year-old imprisoned with twelve immortal orphans in a haunted castle surrounded by the bones of a forgotten city. Evan finds a letter that orders his execution—signed by his own father—that reveals Evan's latent supernatural talents. As Evan makes use of his new abilities, he loses his grasp on the physical world and fears he might be responsible for the string of gruesome deaths that have begun to plague the orphans. With each passing day, Evan's waking world is fading into a mist of dreams, replaced by starless nightmares that just might be real. The fates of those who remain alive rest on whether Evan can regain his ability to tell dream from reality and save his friends from the sapients who would rather the world forget that these twelve orphans ever lived. PRAISE FOR EVAN BURL AND THE FALLING“Justin Blaney’s descriptive, yet punchy writing style is just one way Evan Burl and the Falling separates itself from the vast majority of young adult and fantasy writing being published today. With its intelligent and gripping storyline, relatable heroes, and highly-imagined villains this book captured my attention from the start. I can’t wait to read what happens next.”—Freya Hind"The best fantasy book I've ever read" —Mitsy Princell“Brilliant. I am recommending this book to all my friends”—Julia (from Amazon.com) “Evan Burl is one of the most imaginative and creative (novels) I’ve read in a long time. Fans of fast-paced, action-packed fantasy will find a lot to love...”—Alyce Reese“Well-crafted. Mysterious. Intriguing.”—H.J. van der Klis “I usually don’t enjoy books of this genre... I’m really glad I took a chance. The characters were rich as was the story line. I couldn’t put it down!!!” —Julie Weber“Reading Evan Burl reminded me of how I felt when I read great books like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games for the first time.”—Katie Zinda