Teaching English in Japan and selling drugs to friends and clients is Josh's ticket to popularity and reward. Content with this lifestyle, a quick detour, a magazine and a cell phone skew this path in a direction neither he nor his friends could have anticipated.(Manga insert edition) * 'Keitai Friends' is a chapter of 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' also available at SmashwordsJosh's story plays a part of the lives of the Keitai Friends who appear in 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' and 'Kujira'. This edition includes what was a four page manga that is based on a narrative section of the story. The frames have been adapted to suit the ebook format, creating a hybrid manga that does not interfere with the integrity of the text as a short story, yet enhances it contextually. The manga has been created in Japan by Japanese artists to ensure that it is stylistically modern, placing the reader in Japan and in the moment. Please enjoy!* 'Keitai Friends' is a chapter of 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine', also available at Smashwords.

The Templar Wars is an epic tale of magic versus science, set in the fantastical world of Agmoria. The Elder Races, under the rule of the tyrant Senlo Karath, will stop at nothing to control the source of all magic.Nick Stolter harvested the glory from his championship rodeo years and began a successful cutting horse ranch in Southern California. He married his sweetheart and their family began with joy and tragedy.Fifteen years Nick and family have struggled and an ugly secret begins to rear its head inside the horseman. Only when a long-lost friend appeared at the doorstep is any hope ignited.A horse roundup in the wilds of Arizona means days in the saddle, a chance at gold, and new breeding stock. A new start for the family comes at a catastrophic price to him and his loved ones.Instead of being gone the promised ten days, Nick embarks on a month of hell as he tries to get back to his family. The year is 1860 and the west is still very wild. Some will live, some will die and some will never be the same.

In his extraordinary body of work, James Alexander Thom does more than bring the past to life; he makes us experience history as if we were witnessing it for the first time. Thom's new novel is an enthralling adventure with fascinating real-life characters--and a heart-grabbing narrative that casts a vivid light on a momentous chapter in American history. Sign-Talker begins just after the Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson has sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to penetrate the newly acquired territory, journey up the Missouri River, cross the Rocky Mountains, and reach the glimmering sea in the far West. To survive, the two captains need an extraordinary hunter who will be able to provide the expedition with fresh game, and a sign-talker to communicate with the native tribes. They choose George Drouillard. It is Drouillard, an actual historical figure, who becomes our eyes and ears on this unforgettable odyssey. Drouillard, a metis raised among the Shawnee, cannot fathom what drives the two men. Nor can he help but admire their ingenuity and courage as they tackle the journey into the unknown. Along the way, he watches as they shrewdly shape and discipline their force, adding French-Canadian rivermen--to guide the expedition up the Missouri--and an Indian woman, Sacagawea, who will play a crucial role in negotiations with the Western tribes. After plunging into an unforgiving land and near madness, the two captains celebrate a triumphant achievement. But the glory will soon be eclipsed by an overwhelming tragedy that will touch not only Meriwether Lewis and the frontier tribes but George Drouillard himself. A magnificent tale told with intelligence and insight, Sign-Talker is full of song and suffering, humor and pathos. James Alexander Thom has created the rarest reading experience: one that entertains us even as it shows us a new vision of our nation, our past, and ourselves. From the Paperback edition.

On this speck of volcanic soil in the middle of a vast sea, a complete, unique and peaceful world was created slowly and carefully. It waited there for hundreds of thousands of years for an annihilating invasion of voracious animals for which it was totally unprepared, a cohort of rapacious beasts led by the worst predator in the world, Homo sapiens . . . In an incredibly short space of time, a number of unique species had vanished . . . ' Mauritius, the green and mountainous island in the Indian Ocean, was once the home of the ill-fated dodo, and by the 1970s it still had many unique but endangered species, hanging onto their existence by their fingernails.When Gerald Durrell went to rescue some of these creatures from extinction, he experienced danger and discomfort, but enjoyed the adventures greatly. He spent nights in the jungle looking for bats and pink pigeons, and climbed near-vertical rock faces to find Telfair's skinks and Gunther's geckos, spending his spare time exploring the enchanted worlds of the coral reefs with their many species of multicoloured fish. By the end of his trip, he had an extraordinary collection of animals to take to his Jersey sanctuary from where the progeny could, in time, be restored to Mauritius.

Now in paperback! In this companion novel to Dear Levi, told in letters,11-year-old Levi helps a young African American in a harrowing flight for freedom along the Underground Railroad. From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Dark Duke has stolen the kingdom of Belsden, and now no one is safe. He rules with an iron fist, conquering lands and oppressing people at will. The only remaining hope is Taylor James and his ragtag army.This is an adventure beyond all adventures with hilarious moments, incredible action, and unforgettable characters.The Dark Duke has stolen the kingdom of Belsden, and now no one is safe. He rules with an iron fist, conquering lands and oppressing people at will. But one thing haunts the Dark Duke: the thought of the baby king who got away. That baby’s name is Taylor James, and as he grows into a man and discovers his past, he finds himself leading a ragtag army against the Dark Duke’s powerful forces. But when the Dark Duke captures his family and his one true love, the beautiful Rosemarie, everything comes to a head.This is an adventure beyond all adventures. It is filled with hilarious moments, incredible action, and unforgettable characters. Sword fighting, monsters, brutes, epic battles, and even the world’s ugliest army can be found inside. It reads like a movie and will have you on the edge of your seat cheering.

Discover the start of the Lazarus Longman Chronicles in this thrilling novella written in the spirit of H. Rider Haggard and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!On the scorching plains of the Zimbabwe Plateau a thrilling adventure is set in motion to prevent a catastrophic war between Boers, Zulus and British redcoats. Archaeologist Lazarus Longman is contacted by an agent of the British Empire and given an important mission; find the mythical gold mines of Great Zimbabwe before the Boers do and prevent revolution in Southern Africa.

The third instalment in Bernard Cornwell's King Alfred series, following on from the outstanding previous novels The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman, both of which were top ten bestsellers. The year is 878 and Wessex is free from the Vikings. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord, helped Alfred win that victory, but now he is disgusted by Alfred's lack of generosity and repelled by the king's insistent piety. He flees Wessex, going back north to seek revenge for the killing of his foster father and to rescue his stepsister, captured in the same raid. He needs to find his old enemy, Kjartan, a renegade Danish lord who lurks in the formidable stronghold of Dunholm. Uhtred arrives in the north to discover rebellion, chaos and fear. His only ally is Hild, a West Saxon nun fleeing her calling, and his best hope is his sword, with which he has made a formidable reputation as a warrior. He will need the assistance of other warriors if he is to attack Dunholm and he finds Guthred, a slave who believes he is a king. He takes him across the Pennines to where a desperate alliance of fanatical Christians and beleaguered Danes form a new army to confront the terrible Viking lords who rule Northumbria. 'The Lords of the North' is a powerful story of betrayal, romance and struggle, set in an England of turmoil, upheaval and glory. Uhtred, a Northumbrian raised as a Viking, a man without lands, a warrior without a country, has become a splendid heroic figure.

Though Charles Portis is best known for his fiction writing, he is also a prolific essayist, travel writer, and newspaper reporter. Collected here in Escape Velocity, edited by Jay Jennings, is his "miscellany" –– journalism, short fiction, memoir, and even the play Delray's New Moon, published for the first time in this volume. Portis covers topics as varied as the civil rights movement, road tripping in Baja, and Elvis' s visits to his aging mother for publications such as the New York Herald Tribune and Saturday Evening Post. Fans of Portis’s droll Southern humor and quirky characters will be thrilled at this new addition to his library, and those not yet familiar with his work will find a great introduction to him here. Also included are tributes by accomplished authors including Donna Tartt and Ron Rosenbaum.

It's early April of 1945 and the bloodied days of World War II. The Nazi regime is being slowly throttled by the oncoming Russian and Allied armies and Hitler rages uselessly in his Berlin bunker. But the high command have one more throw of the dice to make. An audacious plan is hatched to save the Fatherland and beat off the oncoming apocalypse. All it will take is a hodge-podge squadron of escort fighters, a captured U.S. bomber, and one brave but suicidal pilot to fly it over the Atlantic into the beating heart of America. Half a century later, a rusting plane is discovered, sunk with its crew, off the coast of New York—a relic from a bygone age. Chris Roland, a brilliant young photographer, is sent to take photos of this time capsule. But it is only when he discovers that the fragments of Nazi uniforms on the decaying corpses that he realizes that he has come across a secret so terrible that even 50 years later it could still kill him.

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, ‘Take my hand ...’ But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren’t rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose—to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. That’s why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world...

New version Nov 01 2016. Canadian bookstore owner Paul Sirenne heads to the town of Etretat, France, on the trail of a hundred year old mystery hidden in the pages of 'The Hollow Needle', by Maurice Leblanc. Together with Leblanc's great-granddaughter, Sirenne unearths puzzles, codes and historical mysteries, exposing a secret war for control of a cave fortress in Etretat's chalk cliffs.Canadian bookstore owner Paul Sirenne is thrust into a quest for answers when his parents are found murdered, their bodies cut up into the letters H.N. A note sent before his father's murder drives Sirenne to seek out the roots of a long-forgotten family secret.He heads to the town of Etretat, France, on the trail of a hundred year old mystery hidden in the pages of 'The Hollow Needle', by Maurice Leblanc. Together with Leblanc's great-granddaughter, Sirenne unearths puzzles, codes and historical mysteries, exposing a secret war between Leblanc and Adolf Hitler for control of a cave fortress hidden in Etretat's chalk cliffs. 'THE CAVES OF ETRETAT' is the first in a four-book epic action-adventure series, replete with real historical mysteries, codes, puzzles, and dozens of conspiracy theories. Each book raises the stakes to a higher level, increasing the pace, the scope, and the questions. This series ,unlike any other, will appeal to conspiracy-lovers and answer-seekers alike. Try to solve the mystery before the end. What is really going on? Inextricably woven into history, the series re-writes everything we know into a non-stop rollercoaster where nothing is ever as it seems.Though written as fiction, the 'Caves of Etretat' series presents an allegorical tale, somewhat like the "Celestine Prophecies" but on steroids. It is intended to take the reader on a journey unlike any other. In fact, the author challenges you to figure out where this story will take you before you get there. He is confident you will not succeed.

The greatest mystery of the ancient world remains the identity of who set fire to the Great Library in Alexandria. One hundred years later, Heron of Alexandria—the city's most renown inventor—receives coin from a mysterious patron to investigate the crime, setting in motion a chain of events that will shake the Roman Empire and change the course of history forever.The greatest mystery of the ancient world remains the identity of who set fire to the Great Library in Alexandria. One hundred years later, Heron of Alexandria—the city's most renown inventor and creator of Temple miracles—receives coin from a mysterious patron to investigate the crime. Desperate to be free of the debts incurred by her twin brother, she accepts and sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the Roman Empire and change the course of history forever.Series OrderBook One - Fires of AlexandriaBook Two - Heirs of AlexandriaBook Three - Legacy of AlexandriaBook Four - Warmachines of AlexandriaBook Five - Empire of AlexandriaBook Six - Voyage of AlexandriaBook Seven - Goddess of Alexandria

The Professional Heroes go toe-to-toe with Venators Mali as the puppet master of the whole event is revealed.Inspired by themes of separation, six authors put their own spin on things coming apart.One topic. Six authors. Six very different tales.Tobias Madden - Tobias' Moving Day gives us a bittersweet separation with a twist at the end.David R. Ford - Darling, I Wish You Hadn't Done That puts a dark spin on a familial parting of ways.Sophie L Macdonald - Roses For My Love is a supernatural romance from beyond the grave.Jeanette Stampone - Time to Go is a deeply moving tale of an unwanted yet inevitable parting of ways.Katarína Krajcirovicova - The Sentence of Love looks at the lengths people will go to in order to stay together.Andrew Szemeredy - "Swirl" or The Mystery of the Missing Host is a humorous tale that will leave you with a smile.

"Never again attempt to develop this kind of technology."It is with these words that an unknown alien attacker destroys the Earth cities of Tehran, Sydney and Beijing. Fifty million people die... and nothing is ever the same again."Never again attempt to develop this kind of technology."It is with these words that an unknown alien attacker destroys the Earth cities of Tehran, Sydney and Beijing. Fifty million people die... and nothing is ever the same again.Some call them Demons, some call them Aliens, but to Chinese Naval Captain Melissa Liao they are the enemy. She is given command of one of three great warships built to fight the "demons", the TFR Beijing.Her task is simple. Find who attacked Earth and why... then stop them.Book one of the Lacuna series.- Lacuna- Lacuna: The Sands of Karathi- Lacuna: The Spectre of Oblivion- Lacuna: The Ashes of Humanity (coming 2013!)Don't miss these short stories set in the Lacuna universe:- Magnet- Magnet: Special Mission- Imperfect- Faith