One year on the Western Front through the eyes of a First World War Canadian infantry platoon.The Great War is two years old and shows no sign of ending soon. The revered “Originals” of the Third Battalion are becoming a rarer breed with each passing day. As new replacements fill the spots of their fallen comrades, they must decide whether to remain with the battalion, or accept a safe “bombproof” job away from their friends, obligations, and identities as Originals of the Third.BOMBPROOF is a novel in three parts and takes place over one year in 1916-1917. Parallel stories set after the war provide glimpses into the lives of the survivors and how the decisions they made and hardships they endured continue to affect their lives long after they have returned home.

I do not fear death. I do not tremor at the thought of my eternity. I do not plea for mercy. Set in Elizabethan England a young girls choices lead her to face her few final breaths. But are her choices her own?Humans have settled into the remains of the cities, leaving the outlying suburbs and rural areas to those afflicted by the parasite.A field biologist in another life, Mike has to find a way to break the parasite's life cycle, before the human species is erased from the planet.

He has a secure job, an expensive house, an ideal family, and everything else he had dreamt of. He is a successful man. Or is he? A short story.Jeannie Gray and Ted Wroth were having a conversation about their upcoming marriage. Jeannie asked, "What will annoy me about you if we wed?" Ted was surprised by the questions but he did admit to faults like splashing water over the floor, making a mess while cooking, and being all thumbs in making repairs. They got on the topic of sports. What Ted said caused Jeannine to make a crucial decision. This story tells what it was.

Joseph Conrad's enduring portrait of the ugliness of colonialism. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read** Heart of Darkness is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but of those that underpin Western civilization itself. This edition also includes Conrad’s Congo Diary, a glossary, and an introduction discussing the author’s experiences of Africa, critical responses, and the novel’s symbolic complexities. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. **

An enchanting new contemporary romance set in Edilean, about two childhood friends who are reunited after years apart, only to discover that the spark they felt even as kids still remains... When Kim Aldredge was eight, she met a twelve-year-old boy named Travis who was visiting her hometown of Edilean, Virginia with his mother. Even though they were there under mysterious circumstances, that didn’t stop the children from becoming friends. For two blissful weeks they rode bikes, played baseball, and read out loud to each other. They were ordinary things to Kim, but to Travis, they were oh-so-extraordinary. And Travis helped Kim discover her love of making jewelry, the passion that became her profession. Before he left he told her that someday he’d return, and for years Kim kept the photo of her and Travis, their arms around each other and smiling, close to her. Travis is now a successful attorney in Manhattan—but there are things in his life that he doesn’t want made public. And even though he’s traveled the world, he still thinks about that summer he spent in Edilean, and the girl he met there. Those weeks changed his life forever. When Travis learns that his mother has moved back to Edilean and is planning to remarry, he decides it’s time that he return as well—not just to investigate this future husband, but to finally fulfill the promise he made to Kim all those years before….

A lost treasure, a Nazi war criminal, and a lifelong quest to find a missing heirloom are the starting points for this new novel from the author of God's Spy. Father Anthony Fowler, CIA operative and member of the Vatican's secret service, the Holy Alliance, pays a visit to a war criminal living under a pseudonym because of the terrible experiments he performed on Jewish children. Fowler offers him a deal - he will not reveal the man's true identity in exchange for a huge candle covered in fine filigree gold. But it isn't the gold Fowler is after - it is the metallic object preserved within the wax, a missing fragment of an ancient map. Soon Fowler is involved in an expedition to Jordan set up by the enigmatic head of Kayn industries, a reclusive billionaire who has links to the highest levels of the Catholic Church. But there is a traitor in the group who has links to terrorist organisations back in the US, and who is patiently awaiting the moment to strike. From wartime Vienna to terrorist cells in New York and a lost valley in Jordan, Contract with God is a thrilling read about a quest for power and the secrets of an ancient world.

Renowned, award-winning author Avi pens a stark, unflinching tale of ordinary boys living in wartime as tensions — and desperations — mount among them. Twelve-year-old Patryk knows little of the world beyond his tiny Polish village; the Russians have occupied the land for as long as anyone can remember, but otherwise life is unremarkable. Patryk and his friends entertain themselves by coming up with dares — some more harmful than others — until the Germans drop a bomb on the schoolhouse and the Great War comes crashing in. As control of the village falls from one nation to another, Jurek, the ringleader of these friends, devises the best dare yet: whichever boy steals the finest military button will be king. But as sneaking buttons from uniforms hanging to dry progresses to looting the bodies of dead soldiers — and as Jurek’s obsession with being king escalates — Patryk begins to wonder whether their “button war” is still just a game. When devastation reaches their doorstep, the lines between the button war and the real war blur, especially for the increasingly callous Jurek. Master of historical fiction Avi delivers a fierce account of the boys of one war-torn village who are determined to prove themselves with a simple dare that spins disastrously out of control.

It was like any other day on the Anna University campus in Chennai. I had delivered a lecture 'Vision to Mission' and the session got extended from one hour to two. I had lunch with a group of research students and went back to class. As I was returning to my rooms in the evening the vice-chancellor, Prof. A. Kalanidhi, fell in step with me. Someone had been frantically trying to get in touch with me through the day, he said. Indeed, the phone was ringing when I entered the room. When I answered, a voice at the other end said, 'The prime minister wants to talk with you ...' Some months earlier, I had left my post as principal scientific adviser to the government of India, a Cabinet-level post, to return to teaching. Now, as I spoke to the PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, my life was set for an unexpected change. Turning Points takes up the incredible Kalam story from where Wings of Fire left off. It brings together details from his career and presidency that are not generally known as he speaks out for the first time on certain points of controversy. It offers insight not only into an extraordinary personality but also a vision of how a country with a great heritage can become great in accomplishment, skills and abilities through effort, perseverance and confidence. It is a continuing saga, above all, of a journey, individual and collective, that will take India to 2020 and beyond as a developed nation.

An old man struggles to make one last connection with his estranged son, before it’s too late The elderly Bruno knows he is not far from death. One of his last wishes is to contact his estranged son, Miles, whose marriage to an Indian woman drove a decades-long wedge between father and son. When Miles comes back into his father’s life, Bruno must confront his guilt, and his family must overcome the tension that grew during his long absence. Set against an enchanting London backdrop, Murdoch’s complex family drama is a poignant exploration of love, remorse, and the power of emotional redemption.

Review"A moral tale that has elements of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Superman, and Star Wars."--Los Angeles Times Book Review"Set in a far future in which robots run a world with a small and declining human population, this novel could be considered an unofficial sequel to Fahrenheit 451, for its central event and symbol is the rediscovery of reading."--San Francisco Chronicle"Because of its affirmation of such persistent human values as curiosity, courage, and compassion, along with its undeniable narrative power, Mockingbird will become one of those books that coming generations will periodically rediscover with wonder and delight."--The Washington Post"I've read other novels extrapolating the dangers of computerization but Mockingbird stings me, the writer, the hardest. The notion, the possibility, that people might indeed lose the ability, and worse, the desire to read, is made acutely probable."--New York Times bestselling author ANNE MCCAFFREY"Walter Tevis is science fiction's great neglected master, one of the definitive bridges between sf and literature. For those who know his work only through the movies, the lucid prose and literary vision of Mockingbird and The Man Who Fell to Earth will come as a revelation." --AL SARRANTONIO, Author of The Five Worlds saga From the Inside FlapMockingbird is a powerful novel of a future world where humans are dying. Those that survive spend their days in a narcotic bliss or choose a quick suicide rather than slow extinction. Humanity's salvation rests with an android who has no desire to live, and a man and a woman who must discover love, hope, and dreams of a world reborn.

The Jacqueline Wilson Christmas Cracker is packed with brilliant Christmas stories, including a brand-new tale from Jacqueline, and classic favourite Starring Tracy Beaker, in which Jacqueline's most famous heroine gets the lead part in her Christmas play! There are tasty Christmas recipes, perfect present tips, and fun facts all about Christmas. Plus, there's a special letter from Jacqueline herself, so you can find out all about her own Christmas memories and traditions! Merry Christmas from Jacqueline Wilson!

Take a step back to a slower paced life the 1930s and 40s, and discover the joy of old-fashioned romance as penned by one of America's most beloved authors. Lightly updated for today's reader, this collection of three romances—including The Big Blue Soldier, Found Treasure, and The Patch of Blue—is the perfect pathway to discovering a timeless author. Grace Livingston Hill created enduring characters who go through every human emotion. They are realistic individuals looking to fit in and find a place of contentment in life. Love meets them in their struggles and faith points them to eternal hope and peace.

From colonial disputes, secret treaties with former foes, high-wire diplomacy, and tit-for-tat building of the terrifyingly powerful dreadnought battleships. DREADNOUGHT is a dramatic re-creation of the diplomatic and military brinkmanship that preceded, and made inevitable, the outbreak of the first world war.Massie brings to vivid life such historical figures as the single-minded Admiral von Tirpitz, the young, ambitious, Winston Churchill, the ruthless, sycophantic Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow, and many others. The relationship between Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm is particularly intriguing. Wilhelm's admiration, and even envy, for everything British, was to play an important part in the events to come. Their story, and the story of the era, filled with misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and events leading to unintended conclusions, unfolds like a Greek tragedy in his powerful narrative. Intimately human and dramatic, DREADNOUGHT is history at its most...

The latest Broken Magic novel from national bestselling author Devon Monk. Marked by Life and Death magic, Shame Flynn and Terric Conley are "breakers"—those who can use magic to its full extent. Most of the time, they can barely stand each other, but they know they have to work together to defeat a common enemy—rogue magic user Eli Collins. Backed by the government, Eli is trying to use magic as a weapon by carving spells into the flesh of innocents and turning them into brainless walking bombs. To stop him, Shame and Terric will need to call on their magic, even as it threatens to consume them—because the price they must pay to wield Life and Death could change the very fate of the world...and magic itself.

I Know Their Crimes. Star prosecutor Kristen Mayhew has a dangerous secret admirer. He seems to know her every thought, her every move. He sends her letters. And he kills the criminals she herself is powerless to stop. I Hunt Down the Guilty. This avenger even knows Kristen's deepest secret-the one that has kept her from surrendering her heart to Abe Reagan, the police detective sworn to protect her. Like Kristen, Reagan is haunted by the loss of something precious that can never be regained. But in the shadow of a calculating serial killer, the two turn to each other and dare to rediscover passion...even as the messages and vicious murders continue. Even as the killer's thirst for retribution makes Kristen a target for murder.