This is what we dream of: to be so swept away, so poleaxed by a book that the breath is sucked right out of us. Brace yourselves. May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the knights' Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the knights as the "Hounds of Hell." The knights call themselves "The Religion." In Messina, Sicily, a French countess, Carla La Penautier, seeks passage to Malta in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth twelve years ago. The only man with the expertise and daring to help her is a Rabelaisian soldier of fortune, arms dealer, former janissary, and strapping Saxon adventurer by the name of Mattias Tannhauser. He agrees to accompany the lady to Malta, where, amid the most spectacular siege in military history, they must try to find the boy--whose name they do not know and whose face they have never seen--and pluck him from the jaws of Holy War. The Religion is the first book of the Tannhauser Trilogy, and from the first page of this epic account of the last great medieval conflict between East and West, it is clear we are in the hands of a master. Not since James Clavell has a novelist so powerfully and assuredly plunged readers headlong into another world and time. Anne Rice transformed the vampire novel. Stephen King reinvented horror. Now, in a spectacular tale of heroism, tragedy, and passion, Tim Willocks revivifies historical fiction.

Numbers. They complete me. Nothing makes sense without them, the building blocks of logic. A math teacher by day, a statistics doctorate student at night, my obsession to solve problems is constantly fed. I'm exactly where I want to be in life, no unknown variables or unsolved formulas. Until I meet her. Lyra. The woman beyond the numbers. How can I stay away, when everything about her draws me in? But how can I fall in love, when she won't promise me eternity?

Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts - both brand-new and old favourites - about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak, Patrick Ness and Andrew Smith, and with a new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak.

The Aldens visit Cap Lambert near Hannibal, Missouri.

Lacey's seventeen-year-old daughter, recently returned to London with his estranged wife, has disappeared, as have many street girls in Covent Garden. Desperately hunting for her, Lacey uncovers secrets about his wife's past--and his own life--that he must face before he can stop a killer.

Hot on the heels of The Summer Queen, this novel is a must-read for fans of Vinge's Hugo Award-winning series. BZ Gundhalinu, a policeman who became an outcast after saving the future Summer Queen, quits his job to follow his ne'er-do-well brothers into the godforsaken waste, World's End, to prospect. BZ's odyssey will set the stage for The Summer Queen. Reissue.

He was a stringy mongrel, wandering the streets of the city, driven by a ravenous hunger and hunting a quarry he could not define. But he was something more. Somewhere in the depths of his consciousness was a memory clawing its way to the surface, tormenting him, refusing to let him rest. The memory of what he had once been. A man... 'The author has an undeniable knack for thrilling, as few other writers have... he sure can tell a devil of a story.' Literary Review

'Smoko At East Seaham' by Ken Blowers, is the fourth in a series of delightful collections of light-hearted short stories. The nine short stories are just the right ‘bite size morsels’ to have during ‘Smoko’. Take a break with a cup of your favourite beverage and lift your day with a scone and a laugh or two.Ken Blowers has developed a firm following of readers from the first three collections in his continuing set of Short Stories. Now he entices old friends and new to the world of mystery and intrigue in perfect bite size pieces for ‘Smoko’. You can join Ken for ‘Smoko at East Seaham’ and be transported across time in a short space of time to tales of merriment, mystique and manslaughter!Yet again Ken entertains readers with a smattering of subjects across a smattering of suburban settings to take us on a short journey out of our humdrum day. This volume of short stories covers everything from the perils of online communication to touching insights of loving relationships and as usual, has something to offer everyone. All you need to do is be ready for the unexpected (like any good Scout!) and you will survive the rollercoaster ride of reading Ken’s latest offering.With ‘Smoko At Seaham’, your ‘appetite’ is assured of being well and truly sated as you keep up with Ken's next compelling volumes of short stories, with the next one coming soon…

When Vince took the job at the funeral home he didn't really know what to expect. He thought he had prepared himself for the worst... He was wrong... Now everything that Vince thought he knew about the living and the dead is about to be turned upside down. The Morticians Apprentice is a breath of fresh air in the zombie genre.Dumped on Homecoming night, Amanda Larson assumes that her life is over. That is until Jake Edwards, her next-door neighbor and long time crush, has come to the rescue. Although he is visiting from college, Amanda can't help but hope that their night will lead into something bigger. Jake, on the other hand, knows that despite his attraction to little Mandy, he can't commit, not while he's away at college. Still, Amanda will never forget the kiss she shares with the boy next door.This is a prequel short story for a contemporary romance novel, Time Changes Everything.

Old West judge Dalton Freely makes a Faustian bargain to take revenge against the outlaws who murdered his family and left him for dead.Old West judge Dalton Freely awakes under a scorching desert sun in a pool of blood-soaked dirt, a noose around his neck, his arms bound behind his back. He turns his gaze upward to find the bodies of his wife and children hanging from a tree. Only then does he begin to recall the horror of the previous evening when a gang of outlaws murdered his family. On the verge of death himself, Dalton desperately drags his broken body back toward civilization, a single thought on his mind: revenge."Dalton" is part of "The Eyes of Mictlan Origins" series, a collection of free short stories excerpted from the dark fantasy novel, "The Eyes of Mictlan."

In King Toot, monsters of all ages will find 101 silly, grody, goofy – even a few revolting – poems about goblin boogers and grinning ghosts and cackling witches and werewolf farts! Includes a bonus chapter for teachers and parents on how to turn these festive poems into teachable moments for your own little monsters!“Oh the toots, that left King Tut; When they first, unwrapped his butt!” So begins my gassy, grody and very silly collection of 101 revolting rhymes for little monsters. But it’s not just mummies that fill this grody collection. Here monsters of all ages will find tales of goblin boogers and grinning ghosts and cackling witches and werewolf farts! Includes a bonus chapter for teachers and parents on how to turn these festive poems into teachable moments for your own little monsters!

An oniric trip, halfway between reality and fantasy, joy and pain, desire and melancholy, ecstasy and gloom... All these feelings painted together, with all the colors of the mood..Harley Rayne, an extraordinarily ordinary and forgotten young woman, wants two simple things: For her family to acknowledge her existence, and to be important to someone.Anyone.When Frank Essex—a wild, sexy, and often volatile flavor of trouble—happens to come into her life and be everything she thinks she needs, Harley finally feels like more than a piece of furniture. Frank not only sees her, he needs her. No one has ever needed her before.But Frank has a secret; the same secret her family has protected her entire life.That secret comes out when he sheds his sheep's clothing to reveal the wolf within. The man she loves is a violent, sadistic monster, and he doesn’t take rejection easily. This time, Harley discovers running away won't be as easy as it was before. Especially when Frank isn't the only one hunting her down.

Before he ever met orphaned teenagers Maureen O’Malley and Sean McAndrew, Dubh Súile mac Alasdair was a man outside of time. Warrior, Druid, Prince, he has lived for over 1200 years, seen wonders and war, but it is the second great war of man’s twentieth century that threatens to bring him to his knees.Changelings. They were the descendants of Man and Fae. They walked between worlds – as healers, mystics, even kings – but no more. He is the last, and even he is banished. Nuada, king of the Fae has hast him from faerie into the 20th century of man. He has seen wonders, courted gods, and suffered more wars than he can count, but nothing in his 1200 years on earth prepared him for 1944 London, or the war that threatened to destroy civilization.Set in the world created in Changelings: Into the Mist, Hunted takes a peek into the life of Dubh Súile mac Alasdair before he ever met orphaned teenagers Maureen O’Malley and Sean McAndrew.

Set against the backdrop of the Salem witch hunts, Elizabeth Gaskell’s somber novella reveals much about the complicity of mankind. Recently orphaned, Lois is forced to leave the English parsonage that had been her home and sail to America. A God-fearing and honest girl, she has little to concern her in this new life. Yet as she joins her distant family, she finds jealousy and dissension are rife, and her cousins quick to point the finger at the “imposter.” With the whole of Salem gripped by a fear of the supernatural, it seems her new home is where she is in most danger. Lonely and afraid, the words of an old curse return to haunt her. Collaborator and friend of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell is a leading figure in Victorian literature.

Dear Reader, Like handshakes, house pets, or raw carrots, many things are preferable when not slippery. Unfortunately, in this miserable volume, I am afraid that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire run into more than their fair share of slipperiness during their harrowing journey up--and down--a range of strange and distressing mountains. In order to spare you any further repulsion, it would be best not to mention any of the unpleasant details of this story, particularly a secret message, a toboggan, a deceitful map, a swarm of snow gnats, a scheming villain, a troupe of organized youngsters, a covered casserole dish, and a surprising survivor of a terrible fire. Unfortunately, I have dedicated my life to researching and recording the sad tale of the Baudelaire orphans. There is no reason for you to dedicate your-self to such things, and you might instead dedicate yourself to letting this slippery book slip from your hands into a nearby trash receptacle, or deep pit. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

In 1977, twenty years after the publication of his landmark poem 'Howl' and Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Allen Ginsberg decided it was time to teach a course on the literary history of the Beat Generation. In The Best Minds of My Generation - a compilation of lectures from the course, expertly edited by renowned Beats scholar, Bill Morgan - Ginsberg gives us the convoluted origin story of the 'Beat' idea. Amongst anecdotes of meeting Kerouac, Burroughs and other figures for the first time, Ginsberg elucidates the importance of music, and particularly jazz rhythms, to Beat writing, discusses their many influences - literary, pharmaceutical and spiritual - and paints a portrait of a group who were leading a literary revolution. A unique document that works both as historical record and unconventional memoir, The Best Minds of My Generation is a vivid, personal and eye-opening look at one of the most important literary movements of the twentieth century.

Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes' pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.

"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" *—Midwest Children's Book Review* Sammy knew that getting to know her new rockstar dad on a cruise would be a little uncomfortable. . . . But when the heiress to a perfume empire disappears from the ship, it turns out everyone's in for a rocky ride. In this penultimate book in the Sammy Keyes mystery series, Wendelin Van Draanen pays homage to the mystery genre. This book is a classic locked-room whodunnit—Sammy Keyes style. The Sammy Keyes mysteries are fast-paced, funny, thoroughly modern, and true whodunits. Each mystery is exciting and dramatic, but it's the drama in Sammy's personal life that keeps readers coming back to see what happens next with her love interest Casey, her soap-star mother, and her mysterious father. From the Hardcover edition.