Claws and whiskers! A spirit of uncertainty and unrest has settled upon the Cougar village. Cheshire Cougar, the brave and noble Marquis of Cougars, has been brought back from the Battle of Eastern Pass on a travois. The leader of the Cougar clan has lost his ability to smell out those enslaved to the dragon and the Council is scared.Claws and whiskers! A spirit of uncertainty and unrest has settled upon the Cougar village. Cheshire Cougar, the brave and noble Marquis of Cougars, has been brought back from the Battle of Eastern Pass on a travois. The leader of the Cougar clan has lost his ability to smell out those enslaved to the dragon and the Council is scared. Just as the residents of the forest valley are adjusting to the return of the Marquis of Cougars, Cheshire turns the social world upside down by appointing Nurse Leana Longclaw to be his assistant and second in command. Will Cheshire be able to battle his inner demons? Will Leana be able to face her fears? Or will an accidental trip to the human realm make them lose the battle to confession?

The five stories in this book all involve dragons of one sort or another. Some are small and appear to be harmless while others are very large and dangerous. All the dragons have one thing in common – they change the lives of those around them.When Joe buys an ornate box from a car-boot sale, a set of mysterious and creepy occurrences with the box and its contents ensues. An original, creepy, ghost story for Christmas.

Ari Johnson wishes adjusting to living with her boyfriend was her only source of excitement and anxiety. She wishes a lot of things. But then wishing was what got her here in the first place. Ari chose to be a Guild Hunter. She wanted to hunt dangerous Jinn and destroy them before they could harm innocent people. But now that Ari is a member of The Guild, she finds herself in the impossible position of hunting her ex-best friend – human-turned-dangerous sorcerer, Charlie Creagh. As Ari struggles to come to terms with her duty, an ancient Jinn and his companion want revenge on her for using the command of the Seal against them; the White King refuses to give up on his quest to resurrect Lilif, and Asmodeus isn’t done toying with her. When Ari can take no more, rushing to the Sultan Azazil’s side to demand of him the favor he owes her, the events she sets in motion will not only alter everyone’s lives, it will kindle a darkness that will shake the realms to their very core.

MORTAL RECALL For Sam Ryan, life began at age fourteen. She has no memory of her parents or her childhood. In a decade of service with the State Police, Sam has exhausted the resources of the force searching for clues to her identity. But all mention of her family seems to have been deliberately wiped off the record. Everything changes the night Sam’s missing partner resurfaces as a vampire . . . and forces her to kill him in self-defense. Now Sam is charged with murder. Suspended from the force, and with no one left to trust, Sam accepts some unexpected help from Gabriel Stern, a shapeshifter who conceals startling secrets. While investigating the circumstances surrounding her partner’s strange behavior, Sam discovers that Garbriel’s been involved with a dangerous organization that’s planning a war on the human race. More immediate, someone is guarding the truth about Sam’s past—someone who’d rather see her dead than risk her knowing too much. To stay alive, Sam must unravel the threads of her past—and find out not only who she is but what she is.

Samuel Johnson is in trouble. Not only is he in love with the wrong girl, but the demon Mrs. Abernathy is seeking revenge on him for his part in foiling the invasion of Earth by the forces of evil. She wants to get her claws on Samuel, and when Samuel and his faithful dachshund, Boswell, are pulled through a portal into the dark realm, she gets her chance. PLEASE NOTE: This book was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK as HELL'S BELLS. The titles are different, but the books are the same. Please spread the word!

Full of suspense, humor, and symbolism, this magnificently crafted and magical novel replays biblical and medieval themes in contemporary London. An attempt by the sharp, feral, and uncommonly intelligent Lucas Graffe to murder his sensual and charismatic half-brother Clement is interrupted by a stranger—whom Lucas strikes and leaves for dead. When the stranger mysteriously reappears, with specific demands for reparation, the Graffes’ circle of idiosyncratic family and friends is disrupted—for the demands are bizarre, intrusive, and ultimately fatal.

Lisette Beaucaire was angry when her parents sent her away from Paris that September day in 1940. And although she knew that with the Nazis occupying the city she'd be safer at her Aunt Josephine's farm in the Dordogne valley, Lisette resented her "exile." She'd miss her friends and the excitement of being thirteen and starting a new school. Instead she'd have nothing to do but amuse her little cousin Cecile. That's what Lisette thought, but she soon found out that she wasn't the only visitor at the farmhouse. And then she encountered Gerard, a visitor from a long time ago, who proved to be a valiant ally at a crucial moment for the people who lived in the farmhouse.

Features 11 outstanding works by Osamu Dazai, widely regarded as one of 20th century Japan's most gifted writers and a master teller of tales. Dazai experimented with a wide variety of short story styles and brought to each a sophisticated sense of humor, a broad empathy for the human condition, and a tremendous literary talent. This book showcases a range of his styles from the poignant childhood recollections of "Memories", to the samurai buffoonery of "A Poor Man's Got His Pride", to reworked folk classics such as the title story. By turns hilarious, ironic, introspective, mystical and sarcastic, the eleven stories present the most fully rounded portrait available of a tragic, multifaceted genius of modern Japanese letters.

In a novel filled with exhilarating action and lush imagery, Faith Hunter portrays a near-future world, caught in the throes of an ambiguous apocalypse, where a woman with everything to hide finds her destiny revealed.... No one thought the apocalypse would be like this. The world didn't end. And the appearance of seraphs heralded three plagues and a devastating war between the forces of good and evil. More than a hundred years later, the earth has plunged into an ice age, and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle while religious strife rages among the surviving humans. Thorn St. Croix is no ordinary neomage. All the others of her kind, mages who can twist leftover creation energy to their will, were gathered together into Enclaves long ago. There, they live in luxurious confinement, isolated from humans and exploited for their magic. When Thorn's powers nearly drive her insane, she escapes - and lives as a fugitive, disguised as a human, channeling her gifts for war into stone-magery and the pacific tasks of jewelry making. But when Thaddeus Bartholomew, a dangerously attractive policeman, shows up on her doorstep and accuses her of kidnapping her ex-husband, she retrieves her weapons and risks revealing her identity to find him. And for Thorn, the punishment for revelation is death....

A young man is kidnapped from his fiancee's apartment complex. His abductor performs terrible experiments on him, seeking to unlock some hidden potential...and that potential may be his only route to freedom. But at what cost?Margaret, made miserable by her unappreciative family, diverts her attention to someone else's hotel. On investigating further, she is spared disgrace by her inquisitive friend and the unwitting owner.

New greatly improved Pro Edition! Book One of The Nexus of Kellaran Series. A mighty world of wonder approaches a global war. Young Mark finds himself at the center of an intense whirlwind of adventure, romance, and action that will transform the world of Kellaran in only seven days! A passionately acclaimed High Fantasy Epic! Uses American Imperial (Standard) measurement units.Book One of The Nexus of Kellaran Series. A mighty world of magic and wonder approaches a global turning point, and a global war. Young Mark finds himself at the center of an intense whirlwind of adventure, romance, and action that will transform the world of Kellaran in only seven days! A passionately acclaimed High Fantasy Epic! Uses American Imperial (Standard) measurement units.New Professionally Published Edition! Features greatly improved cover art and graphics, better maps, new appendices including a recurring character list with descriptions and first appearance notes, proofreading by six editors to eliminate every typo, and professional editing including chapter breaks.Kellaran is a mighty world many times larger than the Earth, its technology is almost entirely magical, and it is home to many modern and advanced societies. The humans, unicorns, dragons, elves, dwarves, giants, gnomes, selkies, and gargoyles each have their own powerful nations, and the precarious peace is about to be shattered yet again.Many fantasy novels have central events that are supposed to affect the entire world, yet they are only described as affecting a part of one continent. Blessings Of A Curse is a story with true global scope; an epic of world-changing events, all interacting in a frantic global crisis.It's a book that is cheering and emotionally uplifting. It seldom seems emotionally dark, though it sometimes deals with tragic events.The magic in the story is self-consistent, and is as consistent as possible with real physics and physical constants.This novel contains adult themes, and deals with issues of sexuality. It is not recommended for those under 14 years of age.Many of the readers of this fantasy series also loved this author's science fiction series. Even many who had never read or enjoyed science fiction before were so impressed with The Nexus Of Kellaran Series that they then tried The Rational Future Series, and loved it just as much. The Rational Future Series; People Of The Tiger, Hunters In The Sky, and Victory Or Extinction are available now.Wayne Edward Clarke has been a professional musician, an inventor, a bio-sociological engineer, a gardener, and an author of fantasy, science fiction, erotica, and non-fiction books. He recently formed a fully staffed publishing company; Wayne Edward Clarke Publishing, which will soon be publishing other new and talented authors. 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book, May 28, 2012 By Paulsub63 This review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - Metric Pro. Edition (The Nexus Of Kellaran Series) This book was incredible. A I read it, I was immersed in another world. The main character's evolution from a total neophyte to an accomplished master kept me riveted, and I was hooked. I have also read the second book in the series and I am anxiously awaiting the final book.This book, series and author will expand your horizons. Please give the book a try and you too will come to know what makes his writing so addictive. 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best i've had the pleasure of reading, April 16, 2012 By HjÃrtur Þorgeirsson This review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - USA Pro EditionThis is my first review I've done on Amazon and it's mainly because I haven't felt compelled to until now. Grave unjustice would be done to this incredible author if someone doesn't comment on how f-ing awesome this book truly is. Let me put it this way, only two books have I read that I enjoyed more than this book! Truly a modern masterpiece.5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, September 11, 2012 By brownchr014This review is from: Blessings Of A Curse - USA Pro Edition read the metric version before realizing the usa version was free as well and had to bear through the metric version. Love the book and would have loved chapters, just to be able to give myself a stopping point between reads.

It's a series of dreams, you see. Each different from the last. There's the halting tale of a regiment left to the mercies of a time and place no one will remember. The story of a detective who never tells the truth and a murder surrounded by lies too elaborate to unravel. And, of course, there's the haunting narrative of two artists who dare to take a bite of the fruit the ferryman offers them.It's a series of dreams, you see. Each different from the last. There's the halting tale of a regiment left to the mercies of a time and place no one will remember. The story of a detective who never tells the truth and a murder surrounded by lies too elaborate to unravel. And, of course, there's the haunting narrative of two artists who dare to take a bite of the fruit the ferryman offers them only to find themselves alone in an empty world. Each of these tales is strewn across worlds and centuries. There isn't a common thread among them, except… Ahhh, except. Except that each is a search for a happy ending, with varying degrees of success. Except that each brushes life at its most fragile. Woolgathering is a journey through chronicles strange and familiar, leaving the adventurer to take from it what he wishes-- assuming, of course, that he finds his way out at all.

Someone in ten-year-old Binny Jordan’s family has a super power – & it’s not her. Binny’s seven-year-old sister Cassie can turn herself invisible and now a strange man is keenly interested in what Cassie can do. Binny’s parents seem more distracted than ever, and her older brother Zach is hiding something of his own. Binny needs to find a way to protect her sister, but she’s never felt more alone.Someone in ten-year-old Binny Jordan’s family has a super power – and it’s not her. Binny’s seven-year-old sister Cassie can turn herself invisible and now a strange man is keenly interested in what Cassie can do. Binny’s parents seem more distracted than ever, and her older brother Zach is hiding something of his own. Binny needs to find a way to protect her sister, but she’s never felt more alone.

A warrior-woman/sorceress from the northern steppes visits the ancient and wicked city of Bel-Athis, "The Jewel of the Sands" while traveling through strange desert lands far to the south and east. There she comes into conflict with the vicious tyrant Ammon-Zul, High Priest of Baal-Zebub, "The Lord of Flies," a devil-god who demands human sacrifice lest he unleash a terrible plague upon the city.A barbarian warrior-woman/sorceress from the northern steppes visits the ancient and wicked city of Bel-Athis, "The Jewel of the Sands" while traveling through strange desert lands far to the south and east. There she comes into conflict with the vicious tyrant Ammon-Zul, High Priest of Baal-Zebub, "The Lord of Flies," a devil-god who demands human sacrifice lest he unleash a terrible plague upon the city.Weird fiction meets sword and sorcery fantasy in this first installment of the Valruna Saga, an ongoing series of tales in the tradition of Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and Fritz Leiber.This short story introduces the character Vana Valruna and her reluctant campaign against the Baals, the four demonic Lords that rule the ancient world.It all starts here in this tale, when a single heroic act earns Vana the enmity of the most bloodthirsty of these devil-gods, the sinister Baal-Zebub, whereupon she is inexorably drawn into a desperate spiritual battle between the noble gods of the north and the terrifyingly alien deities worshipped by the rest of the known world.With the aid of her beloved horse, Thunrasar, her trusted guide, Jerob of the desert folk, and her northern gods, as well as an unlikely ally in one who was cast out by those same gods, villified as a traitor and deemed no better than a demon himself, one by one Vana will see these elder deities dethroned, or die in the attempt.

Tinne is a disenchanted young Story Teller. He is thrust into the Quest for the Black Dragon (a lost magical stone whose power allows the Story Tellers to create the future) by the need to keep the stone from Katharine, the Story Teller Queen of Sitty, whose intentions for the Black Dragon are purely selfish and evil. His quest leads him through many turmoils including betrayal and war.The Black Dragon is a powerful magic stone, one in a set of three, which allows Story Tellers to create the future. The time for the Tellers to gather is close at hand and the stone is missing. The responsibility of recovering the Black Dragon falls into the hands of an unlikely candidate, Tinne. Tinne’s mentor abandons him half way through his Teller apprenticeship leaving him disenchanted and rejecting his heritage. Years later he realizes the truth of his training and that the future depends on him to find the stone before Katharine, the evil Queen of Sitty. Tinne and Ren, his best friend and partner in mischief, set out on their quest to find the last known location of the Black Dragon. They rescue a beautiful young woman from some of Katharine’s soldiers, but the woman is actually a witch who casts a spell on Tinne and traps the two over winter in the Forest of Sirens.More than a century before Tinne is born, Katharine (an ancient witch and veteran Story Teller) tries to steal the magic stones but her plan is foiled by Tinne’s mentor, resulting in the loss of the Black Dragon. Her Spirit Hunter spies have been searching for nearly one hundred and fifty years when Tinne’s interest in the stone catches Katharine’s attention. She then attacks Tinne’s home city of Bayfield, assuming, correctly, that the stone is there.Jessie is the Captain of the Royal Guard of Bayfield who tries to defend against Katharine. He is betrayed by his counterpart, Captain Maynard, who has been secretly courting Katharine’s great-granddaughter. Maynard commands his troops to surrender in order to assume power of the city. Jessie and his troops must flee with their families. In order to find them Maynard decides to torture the people who are left which include Angela, Jessie’s fiancé and future Queen of Bayfield.