A little glimpse into the past, when two of our favorite dangerous angels were just beginning to grow into their wings. Guild Hunter Short story featured in the April Newsletter.

Short Story released by the author in the February Newsletter.

Fully consider Alban's state, a young prince who was sold into slavery. Void of memory of who he is, rumors begin to fly that he may be the foretold Slave King. Alban toys with the idea, but only to figure out whom he may trust. Love with the slaver's daughter, Joan, only complicates things further. Beyond his fallen state, will he regain his memory or at least find out who betrayed him?Don't let the light-hearted humor distract you; there is deep meaning far beyond that which is apparent to be found in this book and series! As you consider this, be prepared for a life-changing experience, for, you are about to enter into the fireside chat of the old king as he begins to tell the age-old Legend of the Slave King.  As the king shares a story, far beyond belief, those characters come alive to the extent that they dance in the flames of the campfire. Tales of then and now, bravery and treachery, good and evil, and romance and disenchantment become emblazoned on the minds and hearts of those who watch and listen. The old king begins, "As we each begin our individual quests in life and try to figure out who we really are in our heart of hearts — who it is that God knows we may become — most of us are given a name by which we will be known throughout our lives. So, what is in a name, what happens when that name is lost, and what dangers occur in such a situation?"As all listen in anticipation, the old king teaches his people of Alban, a young prince who was sold into slavery. Without much more than a name only given to him by his captors, he struggles to gain any memory of who he is (or was). Because of his memory loss, more and more rumors begin to fly in the camp that, aside from being a slave, he may actually be the Slave King of whom it was foretold generations ago. Beyond his own curiosity, Alban toys with the idea only in order to figure out whom he may trust. Especially when the enchanting daughter of the slaver company's owner crosses his path and sparks begin to fly! Still, there are the visions that he's having and the inexplicable but deeply seeded longing to do God's will. Will he be able to remember who he is or at least to find out who betrayed and sold him? Will he be able to endure to the end of escaping to freedom? Is he actually the Slave King from the legend?This series is best read from book one and continued in succession:Book One: The Legend of the Slave King Book Two: The Hope of Eternal SpringsBook Three: The Road Back to Effulgia

A twisting, turning, thrilling "lumberjack" adventure that takes place during the northern Wisconsin timber boom of the 1880s.Young lumberjack, Tor Loken, and old Chief Namakagon, work to foil a ruthless timber tycoon and protect the secret silver mine—a mine that truly existed and has yet to be rediscovered. 2nd place in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards out of 10,000 worldwide entries.NOTE: This is the originally published version. Some minor details have been changed in later revisions. The story, though, remains the same. SEE REVIEWS FAR BELOW.It is 1883 and you are about to plunge into the peak of nineteenth century lumberjack life in northern Wisconsin. Meet sixteen-year-old Tor Loken, whose father owns a remote lumber camp, the Namakagon Timber Company. Join the fight when a sinister lumber baron takes control of the river, threatening the future of the camp. Learn the way of the woodsman from your mentor, Chief Namakagon. This old hermit just may show you the way to his secret silver mine.Be at the cook shanty table before dawn for breakfast with the men. Then it’s out into the cuttings where, knee deep in snow, you will help your camp harvest a hundred thousand giant pine logs this season. Hook up the Clydesdales to the water tanker and ice down the trails for the big timber sleighs. Take the train to the city for camp supplies but keep an eye out for cunning charlatans intent on an easy swindle. Spin a yarn or sing along with the other jacks in the bunkhouse. Go to town for a Saturday night of lumberjack merriment but dress warmly; it’s a six hour sleigh ride back to camp at twenty below zero. Come spring, you’ll help drive your camp’s timber down a thundering river, jumping from log to log as they rush downstream. Then it’s time to celebrate. But keep your pocketbook buttoned up when in town; there are bandits and thugs who want to separate you from your generous dollar-a-day wages! Put on your red wool mackinaw and your calked boots. Grab your peavey or a pike pole. You’re in for a good look at life in the pinery in the 1880s . . . and a twisting, turning, fact-based adventure story that will often leave you breathless.The legendary lost silver cache of Chief Namakagon will, most likely, be re-discovered one day. It's out there, waiting to be found. This book offers some clues about where to begin your search.The Treasure of Namakagon is based on history. References to the Namekagon River log drives, life in the logging camps, and fraudulent timber sales are based on true events, as is the gun play that resulted from a ploy to charge for timber floated past the dam. Many historical references help make this tale as close to real life as can be found in a fictional adventure. Although many still search for Chief Namakagon’s secret silver mine, it has yet to be rediscovered. Publisher’s Weekly Magazine“… A fascinating tale.” “… Rip-roaring action …” “… So well-written.” “Difficult to put down; a great read.” Amazon Books“The writing style of this piece is its greatest strength.” “The flow of the words is like an old fashioned song.”“Wonderfully written …. Compelling …. Captures the reader’s attention and keeps us reading.” A good piece of writing with suspense and action …” Jerry Apps, award-winning Wisconsin author"Vivifies the tumultuous nature of 19th-century life in the legendary north woods." Michael Perry, NYT bestselling Wisconsin author"Open with caution. You won't want to put this one down." LaMoine MacLaughlin, President, WI Writers Assn. Writer’s Digest“It’s the dialog and characters that drive The Treasure of Namakagon. It appears as if author James A. Brakken is determined to make a go of this series, and … he’s made at least one fan of this reader.” Judge, Writer’s Digest Book Awards

Three hard-boiled stories that hark back to the days of pulp fiction.Meet private dick Jay Dafoe. He’s in a dirty business, and cold hard cash has always made up for twinges his conscience might occasionally feel.Ben Andropov is a cop. The bosses are management, and the beat is the moon. Management wants order and doesn’t care how it’s kept.Cold Pulp Trio is hard-boiled American noir.Three hard-boiled stories that hark back to the days of Black Mask and Astounding Science Fiction. The first tale is a novella that introduces private dick Jay Dafoe. He’s in a dirty business, and cold hard cash has always made up for twinges his conscience might occasionally feel, or so he thought until he’s hired to find a missing daughter. How does the amoral Dafoe handle the horror he unwittingly becomes entwined with? The second story finds Dafoe doing what he thought was routine work for a lawyer. What he doesn’t know is that he is the final pawn in a tragedy that was thirty years in the making. Some sins, Dafoe finds out, can’t be forgiven.The third story is a study of a thug with a badge. Ben Andropov is a cop. The bosses are management, and the beat is the moon. Management wants order and doesn’t care how it’s kept. Andropov is a low-level enforcer of the status quo, having used his natural brutality to escape the drudgery and poverty of the everyday citizen. Seventeen years he’s been a cop, and it’s starting to take its toll. Solving a simple murder winds up inflicting more damage to what’s left of his crippled soul and there’s no way out.Cold Pulp Trio is hard-boiled noir. American as hollow point bullets.

New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon and rising stars Jaid Black and Kresley Cole unlock the pleasures and perils of embracing the boldest and most powerful of lovers -- 100% alpha males -- in three sensually erotic tales. Discover the physical rapture of his muscular arms.... Become a prisoner of passion, swept away by an encounter with his primal side.... And get lost in the all-consuming thrill of white-hot pursuit by a relentless stranger who may be your most dangerous foe, the best lover you've ever had -- or both. Let your fantasies run wild with these unforgettable novellas where bigger is most definitely better -- and playing easy-to-get is the only way to go! "Turn Up The Heat" / Sherrilyn Kenyon The story of an average woman who wins the vacation of a lifetime - a trip to Sex Camp. But what Allison George gets is a race for her life with an ex-Mafia who is now being sought by his previous employer. Vince Cappelleti knew the island was a risky proposition, but he'd run out of options. Now the only thing he wants in his sights is Allison, but in order to have a future with her, he must first deal with his past. "Hunter's Oath" / Jaid Black What was supposed to be a simple taxi ride to Fairbanks, Alaska for Sofia Rowley ends up becoming a terrifying fight for her freedom. Sold by the cab driver to a mysterious man who imprisons her in a lost Viking world, Sofia is forced to stand all but naked on a bride auction block, her fate now in the hands of the highest bidder. "The Warlord Wants Forever" / Kresley Cole Nikolai Wroth, a ruthless vampire general, will stop at nothing to find his Bride, the one woman who can “blood” him, making his heart beat and filling him with strength. Coldly interested only in the power his mate will bring, he can hardly believe when Myst the Coveted, his army’s new immortal captive, awakens him body -- and soul. Famed throughout the world as the most beautiful Valkyrie, Myst has devoted her life to protecting a magical jewel and to fighting the vampires.

From Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck and acclaimed artist Mark Buehner comes a heartwarming story that illustrates the true meaning of Christmas. Rob wants to get his father something special for Christmas this year—something that shows how much he really loves him. But it's Christmas Eve, and he doesn't have much money to spend. What could he possibly get? Suddenly, Rob thinks of the best gift of all... The acclaimed author of nearly a hundred books for children and adults, Pearl S. Buck captures the spirit of Christmas in this elegant, heartening story about a boy's gift of love. Originally published in 1955, this timeless story with glorious full-color art by Mark Buehner will be a welcome addition to your holiday collection.

With this convenient eBook bundle, enjoy the first five books in Sophie Kinsella's bestselling Shopaholic series, starring the unforgettable Becky Bloomwood. Confessions of a Shopaholic Shopaholic Takes Manhattan Shopaholic Ties the Knot Shopaholic & Sister Shopaholic & Baby BONUS: This bundle also contains an excerpt from the new bestseller Mini Shopaholic. “[Becky] Bloomwood is plucky and funny… You won’t have to shop around to find a more winning protagonist.” --People “Too good to pass up.”  --USA Today “Witty and hilarious.” --Cosmopolitan

Raymond Chandler never wrote a memoir or autobiography. The closest he came to writing either was in—and around—his novels, shorts stories, and letters. There have been books that describe and evaluate Chandler’s life, but to find out what he himself felt about his life and work, Barry Day, editor of The Letters of Noël Coward (“There is much to dazzle here in just the way we expect . . . the book is meticulous, artfully structured—splendid” —Daniel Mendelsohn; The New York Review of Books), has cannily, deftly chosen from Chandler’s writing, as well as the many interviews he gave over the years as he achieved cult status, to weave together an illuminating narrative that reveals the man, the work, the worlds he created. Using Chandler’s own words as well as Day’s text, here is the life of “the man with no home,” a man precariously balanced between his classical English education with its immutable values and that of a fast-evolving America during the years before the Great War, and the changing vernacular of the cultural psyche that resulted. Chandler makes clear what it is to be a writer, and in particular what it is to be a writer of “hardboiled” fiction in what was for him “another language.” Along the way, he discusses the work of his contemporaries: Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, W. Somerset Maugham, and others (“I wish,” said Chandler, “I had one of those facile plotting brains, like Erle Gardner”). Here is Chandler’s Los Angeles (“There is a touch of the desert about everything in California,” he said, “and about the minds of the people who live here”), a city he adopted and that adopted him in the post-World War I period . . . Here is his Hollywood (“Anyone who doesn’t like Hollywood,” he said, “is either crazy or sober”) . . . He recounts his own (rocky) experiences working in the town with Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, and others. . .We see Chandler’s alter ego, Philip Marlowe, private eye, the incorruptible knight with little armor who walks the “mean streets” in a world not made for knights (“If I had ever an opportunity of selecting the movie actor who would best represent Marlowe to my mind, I think it would have been Cary Grant.”) . . . Here is Chandler on drinking (his life in the end was in a race with alcohol—and loneliness) .  .  . and here are Chandler’s women—the Little Sisters, the “dames” in his fiction, and in his life (on writing The Long Goodbye, Chandler said, “I watched my wife die by half inches and I wrote the best book in my agony of that knowledge . . . I was as hollow as the places between the stars.” After her death Chandler led what he called a “posthumous life” writing fiction, but more often than not, his writing life was made up of letters written to women he barely knew.) Interwoven throughout the text are more than one hundred pictures that reveal the psyche and world of Raymond Chandler. “I have lived my whole life on the edge of nothing,” he wrote.  In his own words, and with Barry Day’s commentary, we see the shape this took and the way it informed the man and his extraordinary work. From the Hardcover edition.

At the time when Robinson wrote this book, the largest known source of radioactive contamination of the world's environment was a government-owned nuclear plant called Sellafield, not far from Wordsworth's cottage in the Lakes District; one child in sixty was dying from leukemia in the village closest to the plant. The central question of this eloquently impassioned book is: How can a country that we persist in calling a welfare state consciously risk the lives of its people for profit.

Imagine a city made of gold, and each thing in it made of gold, and every person as golden as a precious statue. . . . A magus dreams of turning London into a city of gold, but he cannot do it alone and so he kidnaps a child called Jack, who he is sure will help him realise his ambition. But Jack is not a willing assistant and instead he embarks on a magical adventure to save the city, release a dragon and set free seven other boys kidnapped in the past. An enchanting novel filled with magic and mystery.

Well-known newspaper journalist Sabrina Cameron has arrived in Austin, Texas, to reinvent herself. Besides a new job and new friends, what better cure for her control-freak tendencies than to skydive for the first time in her life?Supersexy jumpmaster Ryan "Cowboy" Walker is just the wild man to push Sabrina to her limits—both of them know it on sight. The high-octane experiences that follow, meanwhile, have nothing to do with leaping from a plane. Talk about losing control! But when Sabrina's suddenly forced to choose between new loyalties and old…it'll not only force her to choose who she's going to be…but who she's going to be with.

Somehow, Luther Kite has found them. At long last, the third installment in the Andrew Z. Thomas series. Following the events of DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS, Andy Thomas and Violet King are hiding out in the wilds of northern Canada, where Violet has a four-month-old son and a burgeoning romance with Andy. On a cold, rainy night at their cabin in the woods, the promise of an idyllic life that seems just around the corner is shattered when a man from their past, a monster of pure malevolence, returns. What he has in store for them will challenge their understanding of evil and stretch the fibers of their love to the breaking point. This ebook, a 20,000-word novella, is both the sequel to Desert Places and Locked Doors and the bridge between Locked Doors and Stirred, coming this year from Crouch and J.A. Konrath. It isn't necessary for you to read either Desert Places or Locked Doors to fully understand and be terrified by Break You. Additional material includes a foreword, afterword, bonus interview with Blake and J.A. Konrath, excerpts from DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS by Crouch, and SHAKEN by Konrath.

Stonewood Heights is the perfect place to raise children: it’s got good schools, solid values and a healthy real estate market. Parents in the town are involved in their children’s lives, and often in other children’s lives, too—coaching sports, driving carpool, focusing on enriching experiences. Ruth Ramsey is the high school human sexuality teacher whose openness is not appreciated by all her students—or their parents. Her daughter’s soccer coach is Tim Mason, a former stoner and rocker whose response to hitting rock bottom was to reach out and be saved. Tim’s introduction of Christianity on the playing field horrifies Ruth, while his evangelical church sees a useful target in the loose-lipped sex ed teacher. But when these two adversaries in a small-town culture war actually talk to each other, a surprising friendship begins to develop.

In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all. S. C. Gwynne’s *Empire of the Summer Moon* spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend. S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told.

View our feature on Glen Cook's Cruel Zinc Melodies.Garrett uncovers the dark side of the fantasy city TunFaire, where no-one is to be trusted especially beautiful woman. When a pack of gorgeous woman knock on his door, Garrett knows it’s too good to be true. The leader of the group is Alyx Weider, the daughter of the largest brewer in town. Her father and friends are opening a new theater in TunFaire and the lovely ladies are there to persuade Garrett to help get rid of the paranormal parasites living in the new construction. Garrett agrees because after all, it means free beer and the company of these beautiful girls. What else could a man want? But Garrett doesn’t realize the drama he’s stepping into.

Lance has always known he was gay, but he's never had a real boyfriend. Sergio is bisexual, but his only real relationship was with a girl. When the two of them meet, they have an instant connection--but will it be enough to overcome their differences? Allie's been in a relationship with a guy for the last two years--but when she meets Kimiko, she can't get her out of her mind. Does this mean she's gay? Does it mean she's bi? Kimiko, falling hard for Allie, and finding it impossible to believe that a gorgeous girl like Allie would be into her, is willing to stick around and help Allie figure it out. Boyfriends with Girlfriends is Alex Sanchez at his best, writing with a sensitive hand to portray four very real teens striving to find their places in the world--and with each other.

After global devastation, the last remnants of Earth sent a handful of colonists of a distant terraformed world to give humanity one last, desperate chance. Unable to provide the technology required for an advanced civilization, the founders instilled in the colonists a strict code of conduct and gave them a few precious imprinting devices: glass helmets that contain all of Earth's scientific knowledge. Once in a generation, the heir to the province of Laal begins the arduous training required to survive the imprinting of the Glass Helm and acquire the knowledge of the lost Earth. But Leland de Laal, the youngest son of one of Agatsu's greatest leaders, has climbed the forbidden rock spire where the Helm is kept and donned it, unaware that its knowledge has a terrible price. To an unprepared mind, it brings madness, agony, and even death.

Walker is my name and I am the same. Riddley Walker. Walking my riddels where ever theyve took me and walking them now on this paper the same. There aint that many sir prizes in life if you take noatis of every thing. Every time will have its happenings out and every place the same. Thats why I finely come to writing all this down. Thinking on what the idear of us myt be. Thinking on that thing whats in us lorn and loan and oansome.' Composed in an English which has never been spoken and laced with a storytelling tradition that predates the written word, RIDDLEY WALKER is the world waiting for us at the bitter end of the nuclear road. It is desolate, dangerous and harrowing, and a modern masterpiece.

In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now.