A man builds a tree house by a river, in anticipation of the coming flood. A sugar-beet crashes through a young woman's windscreen. A boy sets fire to a barn. A pair of itinerant labourers sit by a lake, talking about shovels and sex, while fighter-planes fly low overhead and prepare for war.
These aren't the sort of things you imagine happening to someone like you. But sometimes they do.
Set in the flat and threatened fenland landscape, where the sky is dominant and the sea lurks just beyond the horizon, these delicate, dangerous, and sometimes deeply funny stories tell of things buried and unearthed, of familiar places made strange, and of lives where much is hidden, much is at risk, and tender moments are hard-won.
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From her home on the California coast, Dalva hears the broad silence of the Nebraska prairie where she was born and longs for the son she gave up for adoption years before. Beautiful, fearless, tormented, at forty-five she has lived a life of lovers and adventures. Now, Dalva begins a journey that will take her back to the bosom of her family, to the half-Sioux lover of her youth, and to a pioneering great-grandfather whose journals recount the bloody annihilation of the Plains Indians. On the way, she discovers a story that stretches from East to West, from the Civil War to Wounded Knee and Vietnam -- and finds the balm to heal her wild and wounded soul.
Spanning several decades and three continents, Modoc is one of the most amazing true animal stories ever told. Raised together in a small German circus town, a boy and an elephant formed a bond that would last their entire lives, and would be tested time and again; through a near-fatal shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, an apprenticeship with the legendary Mahout elephant trainers in the Indian teak forests, and their eventual rise to circus stardom in 1940s New York City.
**Modoc is a captivating true story of loyalty, friendship, and high adventure, to be treasured by animal lovers everywhere.
Poor Jacob Two-Two. Not only must he say everything twice just to be heard over his four brothers and sisters, but he finds himself the prisoner of the dreaded Hooded Fang. What had he done to deserve such a punishment? The worst crime of all – insulting a grown-up! Although he’s small, Jacob is not helpless, especially when The Infamous Two come to his aid.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Two classic novels and a short story collection from the legendary Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author in one volume.
This volume from an icon of the Golden Age of science fiction includes:
City: In this International Fantasy Award–winning novel, millennia have passed since humankind abandoned Earth, leaving their most loyal animal companions alone. Granted the power of speech centuries earlier, the intelligent, pacifist dogs are the last keepers of human history. With the aid of Jenkins, an ageless service robot, the dogs live in harmony and peace. But now they’re threatened by the reawakened remnants of a warlike race called “Man.”
A Heritage of Stars: More than a thousand years have passed since humankind intentionally destroyed its treacherous technology. The scant knowledge that has survived is kept in monastery-like “universities” where Tom Cushing learns of the legendary “Place of Going to the Stars.” On an amazing trek across what was once America, Tom and a band of misfits seek the source of the myth, only to discover an astonishing revelation at the end of their journey.
Grotto of the Dancing Deer: Ten tales of wonder, danger, and the future, including the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning “Grotto of the Dancing Deer,” in which a man carrying an ancient secret finally speaks up, unable to bear any longer the loneliness he has experienced for millennia; “Over the River,” where children from an embattled future are sent back for safekeeping to their ancestors in the peaceful past; “Day of Truce,” about the inhabitants of a suburban subdivision who must barricade themselves against bands of roving attackers who invade when the gates open wide one day every year; and seven more stories from a master of speculative fiction.
Olivia is a vegetarian. Ivy is a vampire. And they're twins?!? Ever since Olivia discovered that her long-lost twin sister, Ivy, is a vampire, she's been soaking up everything Ivy will tell her about Franklin Grove's vampire community. It's all top secret, and Olivia's sworn that she'll never tell another soul. But now, nosy tabloid reporter Serena Star is snooping around. As she gets closer and closer to the truth, it's up to Ivy and Olivia to throw her off track. This is one fangtastic news story that can't get out!
The Man from Archangel and Other Tales of Adventure is a volume collecting 15 short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle and published in 1925. The collection is divided in two parts : Tales of Adventure with miscellaneous stories, and Tales of Medical Life with stories about medecine and doctors.
Nothing defines a life more clearly, than its use of power. As more details about the Novacula are revealed, the picture of the conflict and its antagonists comes into focus. Crim and Denek's actions are placed into context, suddenly framing them with astonishing consequences as the two troopers continue to apply their own peculiar reasoning to survive in a world beyond their knowledge.The PA is a humourous short story about the world post-apocalypse (PA). It is 1182 words.
This just Book 1, but Book 2 shall come out soon.Read to find out more about this girl called Shawna and enjoy it.
Samantha Montgomery of Academy City 676 always dreamed of life outside of school. Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. A rogue weapons manufacturer, a ruthless killer, and a schoolgirl converge as a weapon so advanced it defies the laws of physics is a mere breath away from being unleashed on the world. Now it’s up to Sam and some unexpected allies to keep it out of the wrong hands.Set in our world in the near future, Harmonics: Rise of the Magician follows the life of Samantha Montgomery of Academy City 676, a normal primary education girl, and the actions of MESA, a defense contractor responsible for the world's most advanced weaponry. Elsewhere in other parts of the world, the super governments of United Western Collective and the Jade Empire follow the exploits and dealings of the world's most notorious assassin, a man known only as "The Magician". Some consider him a myth, others think of him as a legend, while others still believe he's the world's most brutal slayer of men. Still all look on in awe at any mention of the Magician. With the supposed ability to manipulate his surroundings at will, the world has seen the actions of this man whose purpose and identity remains hidden. They all look for him. The government, the fans, the law enforcement agencies search the world over for him without really knowing how truly dangerous he is...They're about to find out. A school in siege, a weapon so advanced it defies the law of physics, an assassin out for blood, and Samantha caught in the middle. When reality as you know it ceases to be, can you live with the reality yet to come? Join Sam as she discovers for herself how dangerous life outside of school really is.
She’s a cutting-edge travel blogger—he’s a fishing guide with strong ties to their small hometown.She thought they were arch enemies—he always thought they’d end up together.She’s a cutting-edge travel blogger—he’s a fishing guide with strong ties to their small hometown.She thought they were arch enemies—he always thought they’d end up together.Autumn grew up in her parents’ fishing resort in backwoods Oregon, listening to wild travel stories from around the world. Now she’s broken free and living her dream as a travel blogger, that is until her mom talks her into coming home and writing a blog about the Rugged Resort. Autumn’s very surprised to find Cory still there. He was the thorn in her side growing up, and now he’s buddy-buddy with her parents. She plans to write her blog and hit the road, but Cory has other ideas.
When a scruffy ex-boxer picks up P.I. Deacon Bishop at the south Texas airport, Bishop worries that he's made a long trip for nothing. Because Leon Huggins doesn't look like he could pay a bar tab, let alone a detective's retainer. But Leon isn't the client--not at first, anyway. Leon's brother is supposed to be the client but then Eli Huggins ends up dead. Bishop can't walk away.There are times when honouring a promise can be harder than we expected, but it can be a necessary tool in the healing process.Jesse has always been the epitome of integrity and good judgement, until a tragic event pushes her to the brink of moral bankruptcy. An event she had successfully purged from her memory, or so she had misled herself to believe. Now, nine years later, and mere months after the death of her best friend, she once again finds herself caught up in the steely grip of emotional turmoil. During the final weeks before losing her ten-year-long battle with cancer, Leila had one last request. And now, honour binds Jesse to a promise she wishes she had never made.
When Bill takes Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack on a mysterious trip to the desolate northern isles, everything looks set for an exciting time. But then Bill is kidnapped and the children, marooned far from the mainland, find themselves playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with an unknown enemy.
An epic WWII saga, for fans of The Bronze Horseman and Outlander. Outcast and despised as a Roma (gypsy) in World War II Romania, all Tsura longs for is a sense of safety and a place to belong. Just when she believes she’s found home in the arms of her lover, for both their safety, she’s forced to leave him and marry another.An epic WWII saga, for fans of The Bronze Horseman and Outlander. Outcast and despised as a Roma (gypsy) in World War II Romania, all Tsura longs for is a sense of safety and a place to belong. Just when she believes she’s found home in the arms of her lover, for both their safety, she’s forced to leave him and marry another. Against the sweeping backdrop of war-torn Romania, Tsura fights one day at a time to survive the fall of fascism, the unrest of civil war, and the rise of Communism. Yet in spite of all she’s forced to endure, the biggest surprise of all? Home might be found in the last place she ever expected it—with her own husband.Excerpt:“It won’t be a real marriage.” Tsura put her hands to Andrei’s shirt and pulled him in close. “I’ll never share a bed with him. I love you. I only do what I must to keep us all safe. Once the war ends, it’ll be as if it never was.” She caught his face in her hands. “I am only yours, Andrei.” “Yes, you’re only mine,” Andrei bent over and growled in her ear. “When you put on that dress for him and walk down the aisle in that ugly goy church,” he kissed her hard before putting a strong hand to the back of her neck, pulling her forehead to his, “you think of me, here. When you say your vows to that man, you remember that it’s me who has owned your body tonight.” He again pressed his lips to hers. It was a claiming.Book I of II.
Cora discovers her father is in trouble… and the only person who can help her is the enemy’s son, Nick Holloway.Her father couldn’t have stolen a million dollars, so how is he going to replace it? In one week?Cora discovers her father is in trouble… and the only person who can help her is the enemy’s son, Nick Holloway.Her father couldn’t have stolen a million dollars, so how is he going to replace it? In one week?Nick is ordered to take Cora out into the wilderness to a remote cabin to keep her father in line. He claims he wants to help Cora and says he’s deceiving the Hollways to keep her safe…but what if he’s playing both sides? He could be using her attraction to him against her. Cora can’t allow herself to trust Nick, no matter how sexy he is.Nick isn’t the only one offering to help. Alexander Pierce could scare the devil but he can also track down anyone in a day. He warns Cora that if she wants to find her father alive, he’s the way. Is it possible both Nick and Alexander have secret feelings for her? With her dad's life on the line, she might have to play her own little game.Soon she’s running from her feelings for Nick, running from creepy Alexander and the rest of the Holloways, and trying to find her father somewhere in the city of Eugene. To make matters worse, everyone thinks she has access to the missing money.The clock is ticking…***Teaser:This could be dangerous. She broke away from Nick’s intense look and scanned the trees around them. “We’re not safe here.”“These mountains are huge. It’d take a miracle to find us.” He ran his finger down her jaw line and backtracked to trace just under her lip. “I’m certain they headed back by now, thinking they’re behind us or missed us.”While speaking, he looked into her eyes like she was the only thing in the universe. His brown eyes reflected the greens and blues around them while showing a wild display of primal desire and promise. She saw it coming this time, but didn’t swim away. Their lips met in urgency and picked up where they had left off before.She felt lost, and there wasn’t anything but Nick, his arms around her, his hands melding to the curves of her body, his kiss awakening her feminine side. His hands ran down her hips and shock waves washed through her. For several blissful minutes, she didn’t have a care in the world. She only wanted more and more of him.Then, she remembered her dad. The money. Alexander.
Girt by Sea is an amalgam of several street theatre performances reworked as a play for voices (or for radio broadcast). There is nothing especially ambitious about the play as it merely tries to touch on a few notions about the mandatory detention of refugees and package them in a short, sharp piece that quickly gets down to satirical business.Scarlett Knight comes from a family of nightmares. She hates them all with a passion and has to spend her whole Summer playing happy families. Due to a deal made between her parents she lives with her mother but has to spend the holidays with her father and her much hated half brothers and sisters. Luckily for her though her father has found her a summer job at a local bar and it is here that Scarlett finds a place where she belongs. Drake and Dylan Bennigan are the family she never had. She falls in love with them both but one of them becomes a lot more. However her father had an ulterior motive for getting her the job and she soon discovers that things are not as straightforward as she first thought. Suddenly she is caught between her family and her new found friends. She will have to act quickly to save them from her father's plans. However he is not the sort of person you would want to upset so it will take all of her cunning and manipulation to carry out her plan. This turns out to be a Summer that none of them will ever forget.
After a year of hunting, Tempest believes she has finally captured the serial rapist plaguing the San Francisco area. Her sense of triumph is short-lived when she discovers she has the wrong man. Before she can decide what to do with the unconscious man in her possession, she discovers they share a secret—neither of them is human. Could he help explain the origins of her family’s unusual talents?After a year of hunting, Tempest believes she has finally captured the serial rapist preying on women in the San Francisco area. Her sense of triumph is short-lived when she discovers she has the wrong man. Before she can decide what to do with the unconscious man in her possession, she discovers they share a secret—neither of them is human. Could he help explain the origins of her family’s unusual talents?When Aiden regains consciousness, he is none too happy to find himself locked in a cage. He is, however, fascinated with his captor—a woman who bares a striking resemblance to a mystery woman from his uncle’s past. He soon finds she arouses more than his curiosity. Could she be the one to end his loneliness? Or will her past prevent her from opening her heart to him?
Mass market paperback by Dell/Laurel Leaf, 1974. Edited by Robert Silverberg with introduction. Three sci-fi novellas: 'And Us, Too, I Guess' by George Effinger; 'Chains of the Sea' by Gardner R. Dozois; 'The Shrine of Sebastian' by Gordon Eklund.
Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station?and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it?s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew?