The first story in the 'Slayer of Evil (Prices Negotiable)' series. In a world where monsters are a fact of life, experienced monster hunter Eric Margrave thinks buying a haunted house for dirt cheap and kicking out the ghost is a great way to save some cash. Too bad this ghost is a bit more tenacious than the norm...The world of the supernatural is a place of intense horror and blood-chilling danger. Dark, twisted monsters stalk among humanity from the shadows, seeking only to devour us. Seems like somebody should make some money from all that, right? Enter Eric Margrave, semi-professional monster hunter (He'd be a professional, but they really don't have a certification process for this sort of thing.). When the things that go bump in the night start actually knocking on the door, he's the one who serves them their walking papers... for a nominal fee. Prices negotiable. No demons, please.In his debut appearance, Eric has entered the exciting world of real-estate, looking to set up a new safehouse. Good news: the house is haunted, and therefore a steal at the current price if you happen to know how to work an exorcism. Bad news... well, the house might be a bit more aggressively haunted than even a freelance slayer of the paranormal is used to...

Isabel Allende's first memory of Chile is of a house she never knew. The "large old house" on the Calle Cueto, where her mother was born and which her grandfather evoked so frequently that Isabel felt as if she had lived there, became the protagonist of her first novel, The House of the Spirits. It appears again at the beginning of Allende's playful, seductively compelling memoir My Invented Country, and leads us into this gifted writer's world. Here are the almost mythic figures of a Chilean family -- grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends -- with whom readers of Allende's fiction will feel immediately at home. And here, too, is an unforgettable portrait of a charming, idiosyncratic Chilean people with a violent history and an indomitable spirit. Although she claims to have been an outsider in her native land -- "I never fit in anywhere, not into my family, my social class, or the religion fate bestowed on me" -- Isabel Allende carries with her even today the mark of the politics, myth, and magic of her homeland. In My Invented County, she explores the role of memory and nostalgia in shaping her life, her books, and that most intimate connection to her place of origin. Two life-altering events inflect the peripatetic narration of this book: The military coup and violent death of her uncle, Salvador Allende Gossens, on September 11, 1973, sent her into exile and transformed her into a writer. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, on her newly adopted homeland, the United States, brought forth from Allende an overdue acknowledgment that she had indeed left home. My Invented Country, whose structure mimics the workings of memory itself, ranges back and forth across that distance accrued between the author's past and present lives. It speaks compellingly to immigrants, and to all of us, who try to retain a coherent inner life in a world full of contradictions.

Jeremy Hanson is a Captain in the Intergalactic Command Exchange and on the fast track to Colonel. In three months, he will get his dream job as a pilot on a battleship but first he has to complete a special assignment with the General's daughter, Avon. An easy mission you would think, but not when you put a hard-headed ambitious Captain and a spoiled rotten Cadet together.All Captain Jeremy Hanson wanted to do was complete a three-month assignment with Cadet Avon Zadoorian and then be assigned to his dream job as a pilot on an intergalactic battleship. It should have been easy, but there is nothing easy about Avon, the spoiled rotten daughter of a General in the Intergalactic Command Exchange. Who will get court-martialed first in this highly volatile love/hate relationship in which they both love to hate each other? The assignment goes from bad to worse when the truth is discovered of who Cadet Zadoorian really is.

When two alien friends desire nothing more than the respect from their peers, they will push themselves beyond the limit so they can be the last one standing in a dangerous local rite of passage that will test their courage, their will, and more importantly, their loyalty to one another."You Learn. You Work. You Fight."In spite her age, Aly should be the ideal Goolian combatant in her tribe. Her reaction time is faster than any adult. Her agility is off the charts, and she’s one of the top ranked sparring students in the entire village. If she could just fire a single beam of energy from her palms, like everyone else on her homeworld, she wouldn’t get pushed around, harassed in class, or long for acceptance. The Evaluations, however, can change that. If she can be the last one standing in a dangerous rite of passage that will put her years of training to the ultimate test, she’ll finally prove her worth to her people. Anything less, and she'll be the local outcast for the remainder of her life.There’s another person in the tribe longing for the same prize due to a similar dilemma, and it will take all of Aly’s strength to defeat her. There’s only one small problem. That person happens to be her best friend.Exciting, dangerous, and moving, Evaluations of the Tribe will take you on a gripping coming of age adventure*Novel contains science fiction violence and some mild language.

Travel to new lands and visit old souls in Tears of the Ancient and Other Stories, a collection of short stories filled with demons and dragons*, betrayal and tomfoolery, a whipsmart goblin and a comedic mushroom!* It's more like an oversized lizard, if we're being honest.Two young boys spend their summer days playing in the woods, pretending they are miners working in the nearby mine that has been closed for decades. They pretend to be mining diamonds, gold and sometimes even rubies. Recently one of them has lost a loved one. So this time when the boys go into the woods to play the miner game, the grieving boy no longer wants to mine for gold, he wants to mine for ghosts, and this time he wants to go in the mine instead of simply near the entrance to play.

The story began in our jolly childhood. Ah Pid was my best friend. Although we were born in the same year; he was born with an innate ability to be better than anyone else. I reckoned that the entire childhood would never be the same without him. If not because of that particular incident; he might have achieved the goal in life. In contrary, I would never have a chance to emulate.The story began in our jolly childhood. Ah Pid was my best friend. He was also the leader of our clique. Although we were born in the same year, raised in the same neighborhood and educated in the same class, he was born with an innate ability to be better than anyone else. I reckoned that the entire childhood would never be the same without him. He was the soul in our clique. Without his present we simply dawdled and stared blank into each other. He had led us to beguile in the swimming pool without any adult, to defy in the kite duel against doyen fellas, to win the title King of the Sky, to salvage me from the distraught of five thousand lines mandatory punishment, to debauch in ludic routine instead of gawked up like a dunce. While everyone was floundering to cope with the school routine, he had already culminated to the top position in the school cohort. While I was surmising in fantasy, he already set forth ambitious to thrive in life. I reckoned that he was a mature mind trapped in a child's body. If not because of that particular incident; he might have achieved his goal in life. In contrary, I would never have a chance to emulate. The incident affected both of us. He was convulsed to a journey of Odyssey. I was defiled with appalling nightmare. After the incident. his dad banished him, he was compelled to adapt and accustom to another way of life. Without him, the clique dissolved of natural death. That had given me an unexpected transition to find a whole new direction. The incident left a permanent scar and latent malignancy in Ah Pid. It had also incurred an invisible defilement that haunted me during the nights, His salient characteristic of volubility was pervaded by a veil of melancholy; our heyday never returned for a long time.

On a remote island in the Canadian Arctic, researchers discover the wreckage of a mysterious World War II-era aircraft, a discovery that forces the Russian Federation into a shocking admission. The unmarked plane is a Soviet strategic bomber that disappeared with its crew more than fifty years ago while carrying two metric tons of weaponized anthrax. Desperate to prevent a political and diplomatic firestorm, the U.S. president dispatches a Covert-One team led by Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith to the crash site. But others have reached the frigid, windswept island first, including an international arms dealer and his crew of vicious mercenaries. As for the Russians, they are lying: a second, even deadlier secret rests within the hulk of the lost bomber, a secret the Russians are willing to kill to protect. Trapped in a polar wilderness, Smith and his team find themselves fighting a savage war on two front--against an enemy they can see and another hiding within their own ranks.

Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of their beginning, with Master and Commander, these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback with smart new livery. This is the twelfth book in the series. Jack Aubrey is a naval officer, a post-captain of experience and capacity. When The Letter of Marque opens he has been struck off the Navy List for a crime he has not committed. With Aubrey is his friend and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also an unofficial British intelligence agent. Maturin has bought for Aubrey his old ship the Surprise, so that the misery of ejection from the service can be palliated by the command of what Aubrey calls a ‘private man-of-war’ – a letter of marque, a privateer. Together they sail on a voyage which, if successful, might restore Aubrey to the rank, and the raison d’etre, whose loss he so much regrets. Around these simple, ostensibly familar elements Patrick O’Brian has written a novel of great narrative power, exploring his extraordinary world once more, in a tale full of human feeling and rarely matched in its drama.

It's the 24th century and the economy rules, AI's have rights and you can live forever given enough money and luck. Marshal "Chuy" Navarro is a contractor in a privatized army, selling his services to the Catholic Church. When needed he can be a Cop, a Spy, a Soldier, even a Terrorist. What he doesn't know is that his AI handler can peer deep into his thoughts and has another view of the future.It's the 24th century and the economy rules, AI's have rights and you can live forever given enough money and luck. Or perhaps you just seem to live forever. The story is told by an AI through immersive recordings concerning a pivotal employee. Marshal "Chuy" Navarro is a contractor in a privatized army, a highly trained agent selling his services to the Catholic Church. When needed he can be a Cop, a Spy, a Soldier, even a Terrorist. What he doesn't know is that his AI handler can peer deep into his thoughts and has another view of the future.

It wouldn't be the first time the crime of murder disrupted a family, but how often does that crime happen in a previous life?The Baxters seemed the idyllic couple; almost love at first sight. Certainly there was a strong attraction that both passed on to just having the right chemistry. But soon after the honeymoon, things began to unravel...so much so that they now stood before a Judge after their third 'domestic dispute' intervention by local police. Yet, neither could recall what any of the arguments were about. In another time, they might be considered demon possessed. In modern time, they were remanded to court-ordered psychological evaluation. Hypnosis became the tool that unlocked crimes from a past life whose devastating effects continued to be felt over a hundred years later.

An alien invasion sweeps across the galaxy. The hope of humanity rests with an exile from an ancient empire and his loyal crew. They must work together to save the human race from imminent extinction. High adventure on a galactic scale.Welcome to McKenna Ranch!Meet Brody, Callie, Mercer and Parker—the four siblings in the clan of James McKenna, a Montana rancher. Growing up on the ranch was a great life, until Callie and Parker’s mother passed away, leaving James a widower. It wasn’t long, however, before he remarried, bringing stepmother Liz into their lives, along with her son, Brody. Soon, James and Liz added a new McKenna to the family, when daughter Mercer was born.Brothers and sisters are prone to disagreements and this Brady Bunch family of step, half, and full siblings is no exception. As they grew up on the ranch, they learned values that stuck with them throughout their lives—even though they may live apart as adults. But there is one thing that will bring them all back together. Their father’s only wish.Beginning with a short prequel novella that tells the story of James McKenna and Liz Caldera, and how they came to blend their families, these stories put you on the McKenna Ranch near Yellowstone National Park. This series leads off with Jan Scarbrough’s Brody, with Maddie James’ Callie to follow, while the siblings begin the long road home. These sweet to sexy stories give you a glimpse into Montana rodeo and ranch life, and of course, provide lots of contemporary cowboy love and romance.The Montana McKennas: Prequelby Jan Scarbrough and Maddie JamesThe Long Road Home:Brody, Book One, by Jan ScarbroughCallie, Book Two, by Maddie JamesParker, Book Three, by Maddie JamesMercer, Book Four, by Jan Scarbrough

A space station around Mars has suffered a series of strange murders. Jack, the security chief of the station, must struggle against the odds to find out who or what is causing these deaths before he becomes a victim himself.In a desperate measure to add excitement to Sam’s boring and crumbling marriage, he arranges an exotic sailing adventure, but it’s more than he bargained for when he and his family are abducted in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing them to endure a nightmare to escape their fate awaiting them in a foreign land.

An amusing rant by a visionary idealist with one crackpot idea after another. He sets off on a manic trip to Washington D.C. to solve the big problems. He's all about saving the planet, changing the world and transforming America into a healthier, cheaper and friendlier place. He lays out his grandiose ideas about affordable health care, housing and transportation as he follows his bliss.I wrote this series in 2005 for the Coastal Post, a Marin county monthly newspaper, an icon of the Free Press in the SF Bay Area that published my articles and columns from 1990 until its untimely demise in 2010. This series was written as a Walter Mitty adventure tale in a stream of consciousness style based on several manic clients I'd evaluated as a psychiatric crisis clinician. They were always the most interesting and quotable in my case notes, with their pressured speech, quick slants down field, leaping receptions and absolute conviction about their concepts. You might say that sounds like all my writing, but this was deliberate. My sister said it was the funniest articles I ever wrote, or at least shared with her, so that's an endorsement. The first article in this series was the seed concept for my book on reforming health care, Save Trillions with Universal Health Care. This first New Year's health care solution was a little more twisted, as are those for affordable housing and healthy transportation. I've developed more evidence based solutions for these too included in Lose Weight, Save Money. and Really Reduce Greenhouse Gases. I've edited the series from those original articles to tighten it up and match Smashwords format. I've included scanned illustrations from different versions of Peter Pan. The cover image is from an adventure in Oz illustration, I forget which book. This is an experiment to see whether smashwords grinds up images.

Never do a favor for a friend. Twelve-year-old March McQuin forgot rule number one for cat burglars, which is how he and his twin sister, Jules, found themselves dangling upside down twenty feet above a stone floor at three in the morning. Their target was a set of stunning diamonds and it should have been an easy job, in and out. Except another thief got there first. March and Jules were lucky to escape with their lives, and one measly stone. Now the botched heist has created a world of trouble. The stone they grabbed was the Morning Star, one of a trio of famous sapphires, and it's cursed. The theft put the twins and their friends in the crosshairs of Interpol, the FBI, and a vicious adult gang of international criminals. And worst of all, the only way to break the curse and set everything to rights is by somehow managing to steal the other two sapphires in the set. Break out the black gloves. Lay out the masks. There's a full moon coming, and jewels to steal...

When an MI5 operation goes disastrously wrong, James Adams needs all of his skills to get out of Russia alive. Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is on her first solo mission, trying to uncover a brutal human trafficking operation. And when James does get home, he finds that his nightmare is just beginning ... CHERUB agents have one crucial advantage: adults never suspect that children are spying on them.