Xavier Walton's First Kiss is a tween handbook of the often awkward and complex world of boy-girl interaction. Follow Xavier as he moves from the uncomfortable world of school life, to the more open spaces of summer camp. It is at sleep-away camp that he finally crosses the threshold from boy to young man, and shares a kiss with his summer girl.A collection of 16 short stories.What's a Pretty Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? - A middle-aged waitress has a chance encounter with a truck driver.Prescription - A man needs to buy a prescription for his sick wife, but doesn't have enough money.A Brief Hospital Stay - A man waits by his ailing wife's bedside.Game Shows Touch Our Lives - A man sits in a bar after an ill-fated appearance on a TV game show.An Old, Broken Ship - A woman is left to care for her aging, ailing father.Plus 11 others.

ShadowStrike poisoned the water of Trinity Falls two months ago. Now the Trinity Four, the teens most affected by the poison, have been isolated in a remote mansion under twenty-four-hour medical care while scientists on four continents rush to discover a cure. Meanwhile, U.S. operatives scour the world for the bioterrorists responsible for this heinous crime, as two teen virtual spies, also infected, hunt for the criminals on the Internet. The danger remains real—for ShadowStrike has every reason to pursue the Trinity Four, and their evil plan will unleash a new designer virus that’s even deadlier than the first.

“FOR HEADLONG, NONSTOP ADVENTURE AND FOR VIVID, EVEN FLORID, SCENERY, NO ONE EVEN COMES CLOSE TO HOWARD.” –Harry Turtledove In a meteoric career that covered only a dozen years, Robert E. Howard defined the sword-and-sorcery genre. In doing so, he brought to life the archetypal adventurer known to millions around the world as Conan the barbarian. Witness, then, Howard at his finest, and Conan at his most savage, in the latest volume featuring the collected works of Robert E. Howard, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Greg Manchess. Prepared directly from the earliest known versions–often Howard’s own manuscripts–are such sword-and-sorcery classics as “The Servants of Bit-Yakin” (formerly published as “Jewels of Gwahlur”), “Beyond the Black River,” “The Black Stranger,” “Man-Eaters of Zamboula” (formerly published as “Shadows in Zamboula”), and, perhaps his most famous adventure of all, “Red Nails.” The Conquering Sword of Conan includes never-before-published outlines, notes, and story drafts, plus a new introduction, personal correspondence, and the revealing essay “Hyborian Genesis”–which chronicles the history of the creation of the Conan series. Truly, this is heroic fantasy at its finest. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst. But they’re not there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest steamship. Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail. As if the situation weren’t treacherous enough, this new “ally” may turn out to be the last person Tikaya should trust. Those runes cloak more than mysteries, however, and he’s the only one who can help her unravel them before their secrets destroy the world.

When Clara discovers a mysterious journal in her Grammie’s attic a new and exciting world and time opens up to her. Innocently, Clara recites the incantation she finds on a hand drawn map, thinking what’s the worse that could happen. That is when she meets, Captain Melvin Claudius Flump, a dashing British Navel Officer and time traveler.When Clara discovers a mysterious journal in her Grammie’s attic a new and exciting world and time opens up to her. Innocently, Clara recites the incantation she finds on a hand drawn map, thinking what’s the worse that could happen. That is when she meets, Captain Melvin Claudius Flump, a dashing British Navel Officer and time traveler. In their first adventure, the Captain whisks Clara off to Victorian Era Africa for a safari. The electricity between Clara and the Captain is palpable. What amazing things will she encounter, is there a romance brewing between them and can Clara keep it all a secrete from her Grammie?

Super fun way to teach your kids about the parts of speech! You can begin teaching at an early age because it is in story format!V.Campudoni's 1994 illustrated novel of darkness, and redemption, and a little lost cat.

The personification of principles.A comatose man is discovered on the side of the highway late at night, battered, broken, and bruised. Who is he? How did he get there? Was he the victim of a heinous crime? But there's more to Broken than just the fate of a nearly dead man, or the crime's investigation. Everyone touched by the crime discovers something about his or her own life, something that will impact each so intensely that they will never be the same. The college student who stumbles upon the body. The trucker who comes to his aid. The young surgeon who saves his life. The nurses who help him to heal from the accident.But what brought the victim to that point on the highway is the heart of Broken, as well as what happens to him as a result. He eventually recovers only to discover that the passions that once drove him are gone, irrevocably stolen from him by the man who almost took his life. As he searches for why bad things happen to good people, will he see the good in the tragedy, or will it destroy not only his devastated hopes and dreams, but his desire to find new ones, options for his future that aren't rendered impossible by his irreversible injuries.And what about the fate of the man who almost killed him? Will the victim and his family find forgiveness in their hearts for the criminal? Will he be brought to justice? And what does true justice entail?Broken is a legal thriller, but it's also a tale of hope and forgiveness, one that just might impact you as dramatically as the characters in the story.

The story follows the young brothers, Gabriel and Paul Reed, and their journey that makes them legends. The two travel the world to ban rebels together and lead them to take down the super power destroying humanity, The Army of the Apocalylpse. Follow them in their fight for freedom.Hope, anger, fear, insanity, despair, and desolation are several aspects of the atmosphere that shroud the conquered populace of the war torn wasteland called Earth.An army of evil, known as The Army of Apocalypse, overran and overpowered the established governments of the world during its time of peace. They do as they please, and crush those who oppose. Many cower at the sight and allusion of this wretched army, but not for the Reed brothers—they act as the shining light of hope in this dark era. Paul and Gabriel Reed are a pair of loving brothers who stand side-by-side in a fight against the world’s demons—as well as their own. The legendary pair journey around the globe taking out The Army’s leaders, sabotaging bases of operations, and gathering loyal followers that leads to the creation of the ultimate resistance—The Sons of Liberty

Captain Wingclipper tries to bribe an ex-military colleague with Zulgahoik beer in exchange for the repair of the ship, while Elwood and Rodeena get captured by the locals. The only way they can be released? A bottle of the rarest Zulgahoik beer, or die.Frightened after finding blood on their carpet, Andrea Wilton agrees to join forces with  Trent Michner's best friend, Brian Strait, in order to discover what happened to Trent and his wife, her best friend. The bad guys are not far behind and do everything in their power to discourage the search.A neighbor is murdered on her doorstep leaving behind the first clue in the search. Andrea and Brian follow one clue after another, all the way to Haiti. More missing people lead them to voodoo ceremonies and throw away children.Andrea grows more confident and begins to look a little more closely at Brian as a true friend. Their confidence in their Lord and in each other grows as they discover the evil that lurks just around the corner.

With superb skill and feeling, Graham Greene retraces the experiences and encounters of his extraordinary life. His restlessness is legendary; as if seeking out danger, Greene travelled to Haiti during the nightmare rule of Papa Doc, Vietnam in the last days of the French, Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion. With ironic delight he recalls his time in the British Secret Service in Africa, and his brief involvement in Hollywood. He writes, as only he can, about people and places, about faith, doubt, fear and, not least, the trials and craft of writing.

The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world. Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind. It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command. Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees. From the Hardcover edition.

Zack and his friend Uta discover a raptor's egg and when the egg hatches they befriend the baby raptor. The mother attacks them and retrieves the hatchling. Zack and Uta decide to venture back to the caves, find the baby raptor, and attempt to escape from the raptor lair with their lives.

Mathew is out of his comfort zone, he has to work out how to take the space station closer to the sun. It needs all his attention, but he can’t get the Russian woman out of his mind, or that the commander has accused him of plotting to take over Earthrise. He was sure a murderer was aboard, but it’s possible that everyone is just losing their memory, and now there’s the green glow.Melba has always wanted to play the slide trombone, but she's too small. Her grandmother wants Melba to play a musical instrument more suitable for a girl -- like a flute or violin -- but Melba loves the way a trombone looks and sounds. Tired of waiting around until she's big enough to play a trombone on her own, Melba finally decides to take matters into her own hands with humorous and unexpected results.

There's nothing like a smoking six gun in your hand to make you grow up fast! They were the youngest-and some said the most dangerous-gang in the territory. They were just kids, but the savagery of the untamed West made men out of them before their time.'Nightcap at Ningi Creek' by Ken Blowers, is a delightful collection of eight light-hearted short stories. Perfect in content and length to read when relaxing with your evening nightcap, and guaranteed to leave a smile on your face!In this first release of an upcoming series, Ken takes the reader on a journey with stories set around South-East Queensland. The Caboolture, and Bribie Island area serves as the perfect backdrop for Ken's character's to come to life. This volume of short stories has something to offer everyone. Whether you can relate to the life of a Police Officer, Private Investigator, Senior Citizen, Milkman, Station-Master or Boatie, Ken's ability to draw the reader into every day lives of regular people is most unique.You too can be immediately transported to a time and era that possibly no longer exists, to either reminisce, or choose your own adventure - in any event, your reading needs are more than catered for, with this smorgasbord of saga's.Whatever your choice, you will not be disappointed as the unexpected unfolds with every word, slowly revealing the conclusion like a mini Agatha Christie mystery.Once you start reading these stories you'll be hungry for more. Look out for Ken's next exciting volume of short stories coming soon...