Several years after a crippling car accident, a bitter man confined to his wheelchair takes a drastic measure to get his life back.Is the Porcelain Princess simply someone from a fairy story, or does she really exist?Carey has spent all her young life searching for the Princess, touring the kingdoms with the puppet theatre inherited from her parents. A few puppets have a semblance of life thanks to ingenious mechanisms, but they’re rapidly disintegrating and Carey hopes the Princess will reveal the secret of her life. But why are real people illustrated in stories about the Princess? And why do they succumb to the disease-like Fading, turning transparent and gradually completely vanishing?Carey finds the Princess – but she also finds that her own life is far more complicated than she had ever imagined.

Sixteen-year-old Jack Brodie time travels back to the world-famous Gardner Heist. When he returns his life has changed for the worst. He keeps returning to the crime to fix his mistakes until he has to make the ultimate choice: his family and his own happiness, or the girl he loves. But someone has been watching him and wants him dead.Jack Brodie has a sixth sense that someone has been watching him. Following him. One night he travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art heists, the Gardner Museum Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn’t been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe.Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right. Someone has been watching him and wants him dead.

A collection of short stories, dealing mostly with science fiction and fantasy themes. First contact is about making first contact with an alien species. Crucifixion is about a scientific discovery. Jack and Jill is a murder mystery. Heroics is about saving the princess from a rival. Reawakening is about an elf who feels alone. But all of these stories twist from expectations in the end.A collection of short stories, dealing mostly with science fiction and fantasy themes, the expectations of these and how they differ from reality. First contact is about making first contact with an alien species. Crucifixion is about a scientific discovery. Jack and Jill is a murder mystery. Heroics is about saving the princess from a rival. Reawakening is about an elf who feels alone. But all of these stories twist from expectations in the end. Each story is short and can be read quickly.

Five stories of horror and dark fantasy by James R. Sanford. In "The Winter Beast," a Russian aristocrat's oath casts him into a living nightmare with a creature he cannot fight. Also in this collection: "The God Stone," "Blood Bond," "A Family Tradition," and "The Exalted."Five stories of horror and dark fantasy by James R. Sanford:The Winter Beast - In the wake of Napoleon's invasion, a Russian aristocrat's oath casts him into a living nightmare with a creature he cannot fight.The God Stone - Two children play a game with an ancient power.Blood Bond - A princess in medieval India must confront her brother's dark secret when she tries to rescue him from an evil alchemist.A Family Tradition - A man's father has set him to a lifetime task of murder.The Exalted - A man goes in search of his mother's foreign kin and finds that they are not quite human.

Sam, a half-fae Void, is ostracized by her own people, much less the humans who control her home—the Illinois Mystical Reservation. Packed into the Reservation with vampires, werewolves, faes, and mages alike, Sam does her best to travel below the radar, but when her only friend asks for her help she can’t say no. Her work to solve a fae’s murder brings her to the forefront of vampire politics.Sam, a half-fae Void, is ostracized by her own people, much less the humans who control her home—the Illinois Mystical Reservation. Packed into the Reservation with vampires, werewolves, faes, and mages alike, Sam does her best to travel below the radar, but when her only friend asks for her help she can’t say no. Her work to solve a fae’s murder brings her to the forefront of vampire politics, and changes her life forever.

Dane must make the ultimate decision: Kill to retain his immortal dragon form, losing the woman he loves in the process... or face a powerful foe as a weakened mortal.Dane needs to feed. Desperately. His guide sends him a new victim, a woman named Athens who wants death’s deliverance. There’s just one problem: as a dragon, Dane would die too if he consumes the life force of one with no will to live. In an effort to make her suitable, Dane forges a bond he never wanted. Now he must face an ancient enemy in his weakened state, and make the ultimate decision: Kill to retain his immortal dragon form, losing the woman he loves in the process... or face a powerful foe as a weakened mortal.

In September 1985, nineteen-year-old John Lindqvist moved into a dilapidated old building in Stockholm, planning to make his living as a magician. Something strange was going on in the locked shower room in the building’s basement—and the price of entry was just a little blood. I Always Find You is a horror story—as bizarre and macabre as any of Lindqvist’s earlier novels—but it’s also a melancholy meditation on being young and lonely, on making friends and growing up. It’s about magic, and the intensity of human connection—and the evil we carry inside.

The adventure starts here... Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed. Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin, is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.

An SCU team investigates an inexplicable string of murders committed by men and women with no memory of their crimes in the latest in this New York Times bestselling series. Madness has taken ahold of Prosperity, North Carolina. Residents are killing one another, as if in a dream, and waking up with no memory of the monstrous acts they've committed--or why. As the death toll climbs, the local sheriff's department is further rocked by a murder carried out by one of their own. Deputy Katie Cole knows that whatever monster is afoot is beyond her scope... The Special Crimes Unit is called in for their specific brand of investigation. It will take all their training, all their experience, and every extra sense they can call on to get to the bottom of things in Prosperity. And as a dark pattern begins to emerge, even the most experienced and hardened SCU agents have to wonder if this is beyond their understanding.

Have you ever wondered what secrets lurk behind the closed doors of New York City’s wealthiest families? They're powerful, they're famous. . . they're undead. Schuyler Van Alen’s blood legacy has just been called into question—is the young vampire in fact a Blue Blood, or is it the sinister Silver Blood that runs through her veins? As controversy swirls, Schuyler is left stranded in the Force household, trapped under the same roof as her cunning nemesis, Mimi Force, and her forbidden crush, Jack Force. When one of the Gates of Hell is breached by Silver Bloods in Rio de Janeiro, however, the Blue Bloods will need Schuyler on their side. The stakes are high; the battle is bloody; and through it all, Carnavale rages on. And in the end, one vampire’s secret identity will be exposed in a revelation that shocks everyone.

The young haremaid Dotti and the badger-warrior Lord Brocktree—unlikely comrades—set out for Salamandastron together, only to discover the legendary mountain has been captured by the wildcat Ungatt Trunn and his Blue Hordes. To face them, the two must rally an army—hares and otters, shrews and moles, mice and squirrels—and execute a plan that makes up in cleverness what it lacks in force.

From the hilarious to the horrific, master storyteller Vivian Vande Velde explores the world of the dead--and the undead--in this surprisingly moving collection of unnerving tales.

A haunting song. An enigmatic singer. A confrontation that could tear the fabric of reality apart.Pray the Dreamer does not wake ...A dark urban fantasy short story from Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Australia's master of the macabre.Three dinosaur stories with full colour illustrations. "Earthshaker" - a very large dinosaur comes to stay. "Elly and Aargh" - Elly the ankylosaur makes a fearsome friend! "KIng of the Killers" - can a T Rex outwit two huge and hungry dinosaurs?Combining humour and excitement, these three stories are perfect for reading aloud to younger children, or for more confident readers to enjoy on their own.

The Ministry of the Eye and Ear wages a war of espionage and assassination that the elves of the Blessed Court may live in peace. When the rival Uncanny Court threatens the balance of power, a questing agent is called to action. She must assassinate the dark elf ambassador to the City of Peace, but discreetly.Dame Aylith the High Elf is a questing agent in the Ministry of the Eye and Ear. Adventurous by nature, she uses her prowess to serve and protect those who would live in peace. The dark elves of the Uncanny Court are exiles bent on war and vengeance. When a dark elf ambassador initiates a scheme that would entice the dwarves to neutrality, Aylith is tasked with assassinating him. Unfortunately, she must do so in the City of Peace, thus, she must be discreet. Aylith's problems worsen when her little sprite friend insists on helping.

A demon child is born.Arcona is assaulted and bullied every day by her fellow villagers, even her own mother regularly throws harsh words and beats the poor girl. Arcona’s mistreatment finally hits the peak and she is forced to flee the village in which she was born. Her time in the wild sharpens her instincts, and her demonic powers grow. No longer is she the weak and docile child she once was.A demon child is born.Arcona is assaulted and bullied every day by her fellow villagers, even her own mother regularly throws harsh words and beats the poor girl. Arcona’s mistreatment finally hits the peak and she is forced to flee the village in which she was born. Her time in the wild sharpens her instincts, and her demonic powers grow. No longer is she the weak and docile child she once was. It was time for revenge! Join Arcona on her ascent to power, see the evil that takes hold of her, and understand what it means to be a demon. Revenge is Arcona’s prologue to the upcoming Leros of the Underworld series.