This collection contains fifteen short stories in a variety of genres, including science fiction, crime, and horror.Conflict: A woman becomes possessed by the ancestors of those murdered to obtain the diamond for her wedding ring.Marvin's Dead: A woman mourns the man she loves.Jahannam: A young man pays a ransom for his kidnapped father, and waits at the morgue for news.Font of Youth: A man discovers immortality, alone.Four Degrees Above Freezing: A detective questions a man who found a chilled corpse.Fallstaff: Sir John is the King's man.Check Out: A former killer-for-hire hides out after being unable to fulfill a contract.Fainting Game: A man becomes obsessed tracking the deaths of several young boys.Murder on Holiday: While on holiday, a serial-killer's activities lead to the birth of Jack The Ripper's myth.A Life In Porn: A man records and relives little moments with the women in his life.Betty Page Is Dead: A young GI falls in love with a pinup picture.DID Have: Four personalities in the same body reflect on the death of the fifth.Spirit: A NASA probe finds love. And note I didn't go for the obvious 'willing' joke.PWI: An astronaut fights with his ship's computer about his habit of getting drunk while piloting.Baby Back: A pregnancy re-kindles a failing relationship.Cockfight: A rooster, irresistible to hens and humans alike, upsets the pecking order.

A short story about a man and his curious young son living in the wild.Introducing Miss Lizzie Borden of Fall River, Massachusetts, a most excellent girl detective and the most remarkable young woman ever to take on the criminal underworld. Many years before her infamous arrest and trial for the murders of her father and stepmother, Lizzie Borden pursued a career as a private consulting detective as chronicled in this clever and imaginative series of short stories. Join Lizzie as she matches wits with the Agitated Elocutionist in this wry tale of mystery set in a Victorian New England mill town. When Mrs. Arbuthnot, the Agitated Elocutionist of Fall River, reports the disappearance of her coveted Star of Swansea, Lizzie Borden the Girl Detective enters into a maze of secrets, lies and tongue twisters. Together with her loyal cousin Sarah Borden, Lizzie explores Fall River's dark side. You have met Lizzie Borden before, but never like this!

“I am Morning Toill, the daughter of, Geth—the last of his powerful children. Today the Thieves Guild pilot will come to see me, just as I have dreamed--my dreams are always true. He is the one they will call Lazarus, but he will not accept it when I tell him so. The tale of Thad Cochran begins here with me, and I will show him what is coming." Thus begins The Guild Saga.“I am Morning Toill, the daughter of, Geth—the last of his powerful children. Today the Thieves Guild pilot will come to see me, just as I have dreamed--my dreams are always true. He is the one they will call Lazarus, but he will not accept it when I tell him so. The tale of Thad Cochran begins here with me, and I will show him what is coming. A bloodthirsty one he will one day be, and not even his love for Maggie Thorn will keep him forever on the path of peace. One day soon, the Thieves Guild pilot will face his destiny…at a faraway place called, the North Ridge. There the avenger will confront the dreamer, and only the spirits know which one will prevail.”Thus begins The Guild Saga which continues in The Wonk Decelerator, The Late Great Benjamin Bale and The Return of the Crimson Witch.

A swashbuckling adventure story that reveals for the first time how Diego de la Vega became the masked man we all know so well Born in southern California late in the eighteenth century, Diego de la Vega is a child of two worlds. His father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner; his mother, a Shoshone warrior. At the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Spain, a country chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule. He soon joins La Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor. Between the New World and the Old, the persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born, and the legend begins. After many adventures -- duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and impossible rescues -- Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves.

England, 1470. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. The Yorkist king Edward IV is driven out of England, his wife and children forced to seek sanctuary from the House of Lancaster. Yet rage and humiliation prick Edward back to greatness. He lands at Ravenspur, with a half-drowned army and his brother Richard at his side. Though every hand is against them, though every city gate is shut, they have come home. The brothers York will not go quietly into banishment. Instead, they choose to attack. Yet neither Edward nor Richard realize that the true enemy of York has yet to reveal himself. Far away, Henry Tudor has become a man. He is the Red Dragon - 'the man of destiny' who seeks to end the Wars of the Roses. His claim will carry him to Bosworth Field. There will be silence and the mourning of queens. There will be self-sacrifice and terrible betrayals. Two royal princes will be put to death. There will be an ending -- and a new royal house will stand over them all. Praise for Conn Iggulden's Wars of the Roses series: 'A tough, pacy chronicle of bloody encounters, betrayals and cruelties. Superb' Daily Mail 'Iggulden is a master storyteller and makes our blood flow faster' Sunday Express 'Iggulden breathes new life into the darkest and most dramatic of times, with a flair for both the huge scale and human interest of it all' Star 'Pacey and juicy, and packed with action' Sunday Times 'Iggulden is in a class of his own when it comes to epic, historical fiction' Daily Mirror 'Absorbing and bloody' The Times 'One of our finest historical novelists' Daily Express

The search has taken a thousand years. Can the ship have hit the jackpot with the very first planet it's found?Nick, the teenaged son of two scientists in the guinea pig group is sick of waiting to wake the sleeping colonists. There has to be something he can do about the boredom.A science fiction story for young adults.

Fifteen-year old Melanie has run away and is lost in the Californian desert. The search party is told she is mute. But is Melanie really mute, or is there an unspeakable secret in her life? Melanie's terrifying adventure is about the difficulty of putting thoughts into words, of being heard and understood and loved.Fifteen-year old Melanie has run away and is lost in the Californian desert. The search party is told she is mute. But is Melanie really mute, or is there an unspeakable secret in her life? Yes -- Melanie’s is terrified by the thought of allowing anyone into her mind, of putting thoughts into words. And so Melanie has decided not to talk. She prefers her perfect fantasy world to the problematic reality of a broken family and bullies at school. Lost in the desert, she discovers that she isn't the only one who has problems with words. A young man doesn’t understand “No”. An illegal immigrant has no voice in America. A gay man can’t explain himself. An old man is silenced by a stroke. Melanie doesn’t talk because she is afraid of being misunderstood, but love and longing finally make her speak out.

The Bone Cell is a place to avoid at all costs, but of course Ian and Connor do not know this. An ancient crow has enlisted them to right a forgotten wrong of murder, mayhem and magic. With no mind to the consequences, they are both soon sucked into the middle of a crime that for long years has gone unpaid...A spooky dream of a gigantic crow and an old, crumbling church in the lost reaches of a forest. A hint of mystery, murder and mayhem in dark underground passages. A poor magician and his little girl, surrounded and harassed by a group of mad trappers…These are the visions that bring Ian and Connor to the site of their abandoned tree house where, unsurprisingly, the crow awaits. As they sit in the embrace of the crow’s eerie time knot, the strange bird tells them a nearly two-hundred-year-old story of how a town and great church came to be and of the misery that befell it. Of how the church became home to many animals and birds, and of the massive oak that had since grown up through the floor and slowly engulfed the church’s remains. But now the tree has begun to wither and an avalanche of death will soon follow. The two boys are the crow’s only remaining hope because of an innate talent they have been diligently hiding. They will be required to walk into the teeth of an old crime that has gone years unpaid, and of course the crow cannot promise that they will not be swept up in the flood of danger and madness that is fast approaching. Because something has changed in The Bone Cell and Connor and Ian are the only ones who can do anything about it.

The Adventures of Young Gabriel Celtic is a Middle Grade/YA series that focuses on the misadventures of Gabriel Celtic as a youngster. Always inquisitive, he follows his intuition in search of mystery and adventure. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out quite like he planned.The Adventures of Young Gabriel Celtic is a Middle Grade series that focuses on the misadventures of Gabriel Celtic as a youngster. Always inquisitive, he follows his intuition in search of mystery and adventure. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out quite like he planned. “Go ahead Mr. Celtic.”“Why are you calling collect dad.” GB said smiling. “Did your car break down?”Silence“Dad…?”“Gabe?” GB asked excitedly at the sound of his son’s voice. “Where are you? I thought you were at Jimmy’s house?”“I’m at the airport…in Mount Pleasant.”“WHAT? That’s a hundred miles from here!”“Yeah…I kinda got my tail in a wringer here. Can you come pick me up?”“You are in a world of trouble son. I haven’t even started getting mad at you yet.”“I know….I’m sorry. Oh and dad…?”“Yeah Gabe?”“Bring your gun.”

Ben Grant and his motley crew continue on their quest to take down the Desard Crime Family. Now they are gunning for the criminal Gothra for a way in. To do so they find themselves on Earth, in the city of Bangkok in an attempt to kidnap a lieutenant deserting from her organisation. With the information they can get they plan on a full frontal assault on Gothra's skyscraper.100% of the profits made by this book will be donated to charity. People have lived in poverty and ignorance for generations. Thousands of people are dying out of cold and hunger. Their own administration would kill many innocents in order to lead the country to a darker place.Years ago, a nine-year-old boy was killed for stealing money to buy medicine for his ill mother. His death was a tragedy that was never forgotten. A young woman, in her early twenties, decides to change things around her. She and her team joined the administration in hopes for a better future. They would provide food and care to those in need. In the process, they met many heart breaking cases.They were forced to witness the cruelty of the human race. They saw atrocities that have haunted them for years. They saw the physically abused men and women begging for their lives. They saw mutilated faces that could’ve made a rock cry. They saw the brutalized people who wanted to escape their reality. They saw the orphans who wanted nothing but to see the shadows of their lost parents. They saw the wrinkles on aging men and woman who wanted to scream from the oppression. They saw the infants of martyred parents who didn’t even know why they cried. They saw the tears of those who screamed, “Give us our home back.” So, for that ladies and gentlemen, please hear them out.If you liked Les Misérables, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, or Divergent, you will love National Exile.

‘Something from the menu?’ she asked.‘No, thank you.’ The boy held up a newspaper. He had scrawled a message on the front page: the passenger behind me has a gun.‘Something from the menu?’ Aravinya asked the pre-teen boy in seat 9A.‘No, thank you.’ The boy held up a newspaper. He had scrawled a message on the front page in thick black marker pen: the passenger behind me has a gun.This short story was written before a live audience and features characters from The Cut Out, a bestselling middle-grade action thriller which was shortlisted for multiple awards.

Robert E. Howard is one of the most famous and influential pulp authors of the twentieth century. Though largely known as the man who invented the sword-and-sorcery genre-and for his iconic hero Conan the Cimmerian-Howard also wrote horror tales, desert adventures, detective yarns, epic poetry, and more. This spectacular volume, gorgeously illustrated by Jim and Ruth Keegan, includes some of his best and most popular works. Inside, readers will discover (or rediscover) such gems as "The Shadow Kingdom," featuring Kull of Atlantis and considered by many to be the first sword-and-sorcery story; "The Fightin'est Pair," part of one of Howard’s most successful series, chronicling the travails of Steve Costigan, a merchant seaman with fists of steel and a head of wood; "The Grey God Passes," a haunting tale about the passing of an age, told against the backdrop of Irish history and legend; “Worms of the Earth,” a brooding narrative featuring Bran Mak Morn, about which H. P. Lovecraft said, "Few readers will ever forget the hideous and compelling power of this] macabre masterpiece"; a historical poem relating a momentous battle between Cimbri and the legions of Rome; and "Sharp's Gun Serenade," one of the last and funniest of the Breckinridge Elkins tales. These thrilling, eerie, compelling, swashbuckling stories and poems have been restored to their original form, presented just as the author intended. There is little doubt that after more than seven decades the voice of Robert E. Howard continues to resonate with readers around the world. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

Griffins, Dragons, and BNPs (Bugs of Nightmarish Proportions). Who knew? It seemed harmless enough. See a mysterious door and step through to see what happens, right? Now stranded in a magical kingdom, husband and wife search for a way home. However, enlisting the aid of the king and queen has given them their biggest shock yet: Royal Babysitters. Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed.Dragons, griffins, and BNPs (Bugs of Nightmarish Proportions). Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined what was in store for them. After learning he had inherited an enormous mansion and a huge tract of land from a reclusive set of relatives, Steve Miller, along with his wife Sarah, decide to take a few days off to investigate their new-found fortune in the quiet resort town of northern Idaho, Coeur d’Alene. While taking inventory of the vast manor, they discover a unique set of doors on the top floor. Mistaking them to be an ornate decoration, the doors are accidentally activated, presenting the two new homeowners with a tantalizing decision: step through or ignore? No harm could possibly befall them by simply walking through an open door, right? Curiosity getting the better of them, they step through and both are sent on a one-way journey to a land of unimagined wonder! Realizing they were now stranded on a world populated with creatures that should exist only in one’s imagination, they enlist the aid of the local king and queen. Their troubles continue to escalate, however, as it is revealed their arrival had been long foretold by an ancient local prophecy, bestowing upon them the status of Royal Bodyguards to the young crown prince. Stuck on a foreign world where mythical creatures abound, trying to avoid being attacked by griffins, and hoping to impress a living, breathing dragon, the newly appointed babysitters must find a way to return home soon before harm could befall the young prince.Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed.

Wandering sea gypsy Johnny Rossendale is caught up in a series of violent events as he investigates the strange history of a painting, the most treasured part of his family's inheritance. But Johnny, Earl of Stowey, has eight centuries of robber-baron blood in his veins, all boiling for revenge.

How can a school boy be Britain's most wanted terrorist? Thirteen-year old Elvis moves to his step-father's crumbling London home and is confronted by apparitions from the Black Death of 1665. Somehow he's got to get them back to where they came from, but in the process he catches plague himself and ends up in hospital. Soon half of London is sick and police track the illness back to Elvis's door.A group of random strangers are invited to take part in a mysterious lottery with an intriguing premise. Twenty-seven accept the offer.But what begins as an unusual social experiment quickly descends into something much more sinister. The contestants receive more than they bargained for, and the dark side of human nature reveals itself.As the lottery spirals into a life-and-death struggle for survival, Alice Kato is left searching for answers. How far are ordinary people willing to go to win this extraordinary amount of money? Is there anyone she can trust? Is there any way out?And just who exactly is pulling all the strings?Everyone has their price. Most just don't know what it is yet.