It's not fair. Harry's had a plain-vanilla approach to living life. He's too boring and unremarkable. He doesn't deserve to have his throat ripped out. If it was up to him, demon-wrangling would be left to more interesting people that enjoy taking risks. But life has a funny way of being unfair like that.Harry is happy just watching TV. He never gives the supernatural a second thought. His imagination is too feeble for razor-fanged demons and conjuring lightning out of thin air. But sometimes a guy finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. While demon-summoning is best left to those who seek out the dark arts, it's just as possible for someone to accidentally stumble into a command of otherworldly forces. It's also just as possible for someone to be found in a pool of blood in his hotel room with no plausible explanation. Harry has to think faster than he likes to if he doesn't want to end up as one of those guys.

*Jailbird* takes us into a fractured and comic, pure Vonnegut world of high crimes and misdemeanors in government—and in the heart. This wry tale follows bumbling bureaucrat Walter F. Starbuck from Harvard to the Nixon White House to the penitentiary as Watergate’s least known co-conspirator. But the humor turns dark when Vonnegut shines his spotlight on the cold hearts and calculated greed of the mighty, giving a razor-sharp edge to an unforgettable portrait of power and politics in our times. *From the Trade Paperback edition.*

Years ago, family loyalty caused Fain Hauk to give up everything he loved: His military career. His planet. His fiancée. Even his name. Now decades later, everything has changed. He's built a new life out of the ashes of his old, and he's vowed to never let anything threaten his loved ones again. But when old enemies align themselves with new ones, he's caught in the middle of a brutal war. And when fate throws his former fiancée back into his world and she has her own agenda that includes taking his head for what he did to her years ago, more than just his life is at stake. The fate of the Ichidian universe and that of his brothers-in-arms hangs in the balance. Winner take all. It's kill or be killed, and never has the battle been more fierce... Or more fun, in *Born of Betrayal, *the next *League: Nemesis Rising *novel from #1 *New York Times *bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon!

From the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool comes a stunning portrait of the first perilous years of Elizabeth I's reign. As a new queen, Elizabeth faces two great dangers: the French invasion of Scotland, which threatens to put Mary Queen of Scots on her throne, and her passion for the convicted traitor Robert Dudley. But Dudley is already married, and his devoted wife Amy will never give him up, least of all to an upstart Protestant Princess. She refuses to set her beloved husband free to marry the queen; but she cannot prevent him from becoming the favorite and the focus of the feverishly plotting, pleasure seeking court. Others too oppose the marriage, but for very different reasons. William Cecil, the queen's wisest counselor, knows she must marry for policy; her uncle hates Dudley and swears he will be murder him first. Behind the triangle of lovers, the factions take up their places: the Protestants, the priests, the assassins, the diplomats and the moneymakers. The very coin of England is shaved and clipped to nothing as Elizabeth uncertainly leads her bankrupt country into a war that no-one thinks can be won. Then someone acts in secret, and for Elizabeth, Dudley and the emerging kingdom, nothing will be as planned. Blending historical fact with contemporary rumor, Philippa Gregory has created a dark and tense novel of Tudor times, which casts Elizabeth I in a light no one has suggested before. Passionate, fearful, emotionally needy, this is a queen who will stop at nothing.

The U.S. Army's Special Forces are known for their highly specialized training and courage behind enemy lines. But there’s a group that’s even more stealthy and deadly. It’s composed of the most feared operators on the face of the earth—the soldiers of Ghost Recon. When the American ambassador to Colombia is kidnapped, the Ghost Recon team battles its way through rebels to rescue the man. But during the operation, they discover evidence of a new Islamic fundamentalist group that is being backed by South American drug cartels and rebel groups. The Ghosts follow a trail that leads them to uncover the group’s true purpose: to control the choke points in the Indian Ocean and stop the flow of oil. This would mean billions to the South Americans, and cause economic chaos all over the world. But as the team chases down their quarry, they soon realize that their true foes have yet to reveal themselves…

When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders: cousin Judith, heaving with remorse for unspoken wickedness; Amos, preaching fire and damnation; their sons, lustful Seth and despairing Reuben; child of nature Elfine; and crazed old Aunt Ada Doom, who has kept to her bedroom for the last twenty years. But Flora loves nothing better than to organize other people. Armed with common sense and a strong will, she resolves to take each of the family in hand. A hilarious and merciless parody of rural melodramas, Cold Comfort Farm (1932) is one of the best-loved comic novels of all time.

Prince Viper d’Rojah, a warrior from the Sarafin cat shifter species, is not happy when he is sent on a special mission by his older brother Vox, King of the Sarafin. The mission is to deliver important documents to the human authorities before kidnapping the sister and grandmother of Vox’s mate, Riley. He has handled tougher assignments in his sleep and just wants to get back to finding the traitors trying to kill him and his family! Tina St. Claire was finally happy with her life until her big sister, Riley, suddenly disappeared. Even Grandma Pearl suspected that Riley’s ex-employer was hiding something. Determined to find Riley, Tina’s research unwittingly leads the danger to her and Grandma Pearl. The unexpected arrival of a strange man causes things to go from bad to worse when he gives her and Grandma Pearl a packet of material he claims is from Riley. Riley had warned Viper that neither her sister nor Grandma Pearl would willingly come with him. Viper could care less whether the females wanted to come or not, he had never failed a mission and wasn’t about to start now. Viper soon discovers this mission has turned into the most important one of his life when both he and his cat recognize that Tina is their mate. Now, he has to keep Tina and her gun toting Grandmother alive. The question is, who is going to save him when both women discover his plans to kidnap them?

My mountain. My cabin. My woman – she just doesn’t know it yet. I left civilization and my demons a long time ago, seeking solitude up on Blackthorn mountain. Just one ex-marine, a remote cabin, and the wilderness, with no distractions. But then she turns up, blowing in with a winter’s blizzard like a very fucking big distraction. Blonde, beautiful, and mouthy as all hell, even when I save her from freezing that sweet little ass off. A rough mountain man like me should want nothing to do with a rich little city girl like Katrina. Except one look at her sweet, tempting curves, and one taste of those sassy, pouty lips, and I want everything to do with her. I saved her from freezing, but maybe it’s her who’s going to save my frozen heart. We’re trapped up here for the storm, locked in a cabin with only the heat between us to keep us warm. Her wealthy, city family thinks they can marry her off to some rich little shit. But they’re very wrong. My mountain. My cabin. My woman. I’ll make Katrina my bride, and I’ll be damned if I let them take her from me.

For high-school senior Celeste Watkins, every day is a brutal test of bravery. And Celeste is scared. Alienated because she’s too smart, her speech too affected, her social skills too far outside the norm, she seems to have no choice but to retreat into isolation. But college could set her free, right? If she can make it through this grueling senior year, then maybe. If she can just find that one person to throw her a lifeline, then maybe, just maybe. Justin Milano, a college sophomore with his own set of quirks, could be that person to pull her from a world of solitude. To rescue her—that is, if she’ll let him. Together, they may work. Together, they may save each other. And together they may also save another couple—two people Celeste knows are absolutely, positively flat-out in love. Whether you were charmed by Celeste in Flat-Out Love or are meeting her for the first time, this book is a joyous celebration of differences, about battling private wars that rage in our heads and in our hearts, and—very much so— this is a story about first love.

THE NEW GLOBAL PHENOMENON Roger Brown has it all: clever and wealthy, he's at the very top of his game. And if his job as a headhunter ever gets dull, he has his sideline as an art thief to keep him busy. At a gallery opening, his wife introduces him to Clas Greve. Not only is Greve the perfect candidate for a position that Brown is recruiting for; he is also in possession of one of the most sought-after paintings in modern art history. Roger sees his chance to become rich beyond his wildest dreams, and starts planning his biggest theft ever. But soon, he runs into trouble - and it's not long before the hunter becomes the hunted...

Edna Davies' Christmas preparations have been delayed by her having to tend to a husband immobilized with a fractured kneecap. Suddenly, the holiday is less than a week away and she doesn't even have a tree. Adding to her worries, a winter snowstorm threatens to strand her two youngest children in Colorado. When a new acquaintance is murdered and Mary Osbourne disappears, Edna's days are further complicated. Juggling family problems with the search for her friend, Edna meets a killer and may miss Christmas.

On a day in April, just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Robert Maitland's car crashes over the concrete parapet of a high-speed highway onto the island below, where he is injured and, finally, trapped. What begins as an almost ludicrous predicament in Concrete Island soon turns into horror as Maitland - a wickedly modern Robinson Crusoe - realizes that, despite evidence of other inhabitants, this doomed terrain has become a mirror of his own mind. Seeking the dark outer rim of the everyday, Ballard weaves private catastrophe into an intensely specular allegory.

It ends with the beginning. This legendary, indie, cult-favorite series ends its tale with the story of the Poughkeepsie brotherhood before the tattoo. Before the train station, before the church, before a criminal empire there was a foster home and three teen boys who chose each other as family, because the ones they were born into didn’t exist Still in high school, Beckett is already laying the groundwork for a grander life ahead, one where his brothers want for nothing and get some respect for once. But even as he plans, Beckett must decide if he’s ready to make that choice—diving in to a life that trades his chance at a future, his chance at something as simple as first love with a girl named Candy Cox, for their chance to find happiness. Blake, Beckett, and Cole’s devotion to each other is forged by fists and the driving need to belong somewhere, to do more than just survive this life. Readers of the series know they each get there in the end, but before we count smiles, we must first shed tears. These early days of the Poughkeepsie brotherhood will play on your heartstrings before serrating them with a knife; they’ll lift your soul with music, only to leave you with nothing but a desperate prayer for hope. And when you reach the end of the beginning, you’ll be ready to start the series all over again.

The Darkness That Comes Before, R. Scott Bakker's magnificent debut, drew thunderous acclaim from reviewers and fellow fantasy authors. Readers were invited into a darkly threatening, thrillingly imaginative universe as fully realized as that of any in modern fantasy and introduced to one of the genre's great characters: the powerful warrior-philosopher Anasûrimbor Kelhus, on whom the fate of a violently apocalyptic Holy War rests. Bakker's follow up to The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet enticed readers further into the richly imagined world of myth, violence, and sorcery. The startling and far-reaching answers to these questions are brought into thrilling focus in The Thousandfold Thought, the conclusion to The Prince of Nothing trilogy. Casting into question all the action that has taken place before, twisting readers' intuitions in unforeseen directions, remolding the fantasy genre to broaden the scope of intricacy and meaning, R. Scott Bakker has once again written a fantasy novel that defies all expectations and rewards the reader with an experience unlike any to be had in the canon of fantasy literature.

An exciting and hilarious medieval adventure from the bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm. "A profound and ambitious tour de force. Gidwitz is a masterful storyteller." – Matt de la Peña, Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author Beautifully illustrated throughout! Includes a detailed historical note and bibliography. 1242. On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon. On the run to escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can perform the miracles of saints. Join William, an oblate on a...

Brooklyn's toughest female detective takes on Dallas-and neither is ready for the fight. Dallas, Texas is not for the faint of heart. Good thing for Betty Rhyzyk she's from a family of take-no-prisoners Brooklyn police detectives. But her Big Apple wisdom will only get her so far when she relocates to The Big D, where Mexican drug cartels and cult leaders, deadbeat skells and society wives all battle for sunbaked turf. Betty is as tough as the best of them, but she's deeply shaken when her first investigation goes sideways. Battling a group of unruly subordinates, a persistent stalker, a formidable criminal organization, and an unsupportive girlfriend, the unbreakable Detective Betty Rhyzyk may be reaching her limit.

From the best-selling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce, this debut novel  is  a gripping survival  story of a young man trapped, perhaps fatally, during a border crossing. Héctor is trapped. The water truck, sealed to hide its human cargo, has broken down. The coyotes have taken all the passengers’ money for a mechanic and have not returned. Those left behind have no choice but to wait. Héctor finds a name in his friend César’s phone. AnniMac. A name with an American number. He must reach her, both for rescue and to pass along the message César has come so far to deliver. But are his messages going through? Over four days, as water and food run low, Héctor tells how he came to this desperate place. His story takes us from Oaxaca — its rich culture, its rapid change — to the dangers of the border. It exposes the tangled ties between Mexico and El Norte — land of promise and opportunity, homewrecker and unreliable friend. And it reminds us of the power of storytelling and the power of hope, as Héctor fights to ensure his message makes it out of the truck and into the world. Both an outstanding suspense novel and an arresting window into the relationship between two great cultures, The Jaguar’s Children shows how deeply interconnected all of us, always, are.

Claire Nevin identifies herself in many ways: Irish immigrant, apprentice healer, and most importantly, sister. When her troubled sibling sends her an unexpected package by rail, the gift and the man who delivers it threaten to redefine Claire's life once again. Fighting to hold on to all she's built, will she lose what matters most?

He is my master, and a great man. Yet I would have preferred to escape his notice. 'Hide yourself,' he told me, and I obeyed - perhaps too well. No inquisitor likes to be outwitted.I just want to be left alone. Is that too much to ask, after so many years of faithful service? Helie is a former spy of the famous fourteenth-century inquisitor Bernard Gui. Now he is living under an alias, trying to forget his past life of deception and intrigue. But a chance meeting once more brings him to the notice of the Inquisition; he is obliged to infiltrate a new heretical group, and find out what happened to the last spy sent to do so. Was he murdered or did he flee? Helie soon finds himself caught up in a dangerous conspiracy involving outlawed beliefs and human remains. The trouble is he no longer has the stomach for such an investigation - because his heart is beginning to betray him.Set in a period when France was rocked by religious strife, The Secret Familiar is a tense and thrilling tale of treachery, faith and ultimate truths.

Welcome to the territory. Leave your metal behind, all of it. The bugs will eat it, and they'll go right through you to get it…Don't carry it, don't wear it, and for god's sake don't come here if you've got a pacemaker. The bugs showed up about fifty years ago--self-replicating, solar-powered, metal-eating machines. No one knows where they came from. They don't like water, though, so they've stayed in the desert Southwest. The territory. People still live here, but they do it without metal. Log cabins, ceramics, what plastic they can get that will survive the sun and heat. Technology has adapted, and so have the people. Kimble Monroe has chosen to live in the territory. He was born here, and he is extraordinarily well adapted to it. He's one in a million. Maybe one in a billion. In 7th Sigma, Gould builds an extraordinary SF novel of survival and personal triumph against all the odds.

It’s a year after their assignment at the RamJack where they first confessed their feelings for each other and Valenti and O’Brian have been sharing an exclusive and white-hot relationship when Valenti suddenly pulls away. Understandably upset, O’Brian is determined to find out why his partner/lover is giving him the cold shoulder on Christmas, even if it means handcuffing Valenti to the bed to get the truth out of him!