The highly anticipated follow-up to the "rich world"* of the "lighthearted and assured debut,"† featuring an "irresistible character"‡ whose first thrilling and original adventure "demands sequels."*"I've found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I've known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality." In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the supernatural. First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound. Then in nearby Gad's Valley, now home to the exiled New Fiddleham police detective Charlie Cane, dinosaur bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable...

Limpy's family reckons humans don't hate cane toads, but Limpy knows otherwise. He's spotted the signs: the cross looks, the unkind comments, the way they squash cane toads with their cars. Limpy is desperate to save his species from ending up as pancakes. Somehow he must make humans see how fabulous cane toads really are. Risking everything, he sets off on a wart-tinglingly dangerous and daring journey to . . . the Olympics?This is the epic story of a slightly squashed young cane toad's quest for the truth.From the Hardcover edition.

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice. An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love. A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013

One of the most acclaimed travel writers of our time turns his unflinching eye on an American South too often overlooked Paul Theroux has spent fifty years crossing the globe, adventuring in the exotic, seeking the rich history and folklore of the far away. Now, for the first time, in his tenth travel book, Theroux explores a piece of America — the Deep South. He finds there a paradoxical place, full of incomparable music, unparalleled cuisine, and yet also some of the nation's worst schools, housing, and unemployment rates. It's these parts of the South, so often ignored, that have caught Theroux's keen traveler's eye. On road trips spanning four seasons, wending along rural highways, Theroux visits gun shows and small-town churches, laborers in Arkansas, and parts of Mississippi where they still call the farm up the road "the plantation." He talks to mayors and social workers, writers and reverends, the working poor and farming families — the...

"Alisa Kwitney has an understanding of human foibles and follies and a light, intelligent touch that marks her as an author to watch and enjoy." —#1 New York Times bestselling author Neil GaimanFrankenstein meets Marissa Meyer's Cinder in this tightly paced historical thriller packed with secrets, betrayal and steamy romance.When Elizabeth Lavenza enrolled at Ingold as its first female medical student, she knew she wouldn't have an easy time. From class demands to being an outsider among her male cohorts, she'll have to go above and beyond to prove herself.So when she stumbles across what appears to be a faulty Bio-Mechanical—one of the mechanized cadavers created to service the school—she jumps at the chance to fix it and get ahead in the program. Only this Bio-Mechanical isn't like the others. This one seems to have thoughts, feelings...and...

The hilarious new novel from Lindsey Kelk, author of the bestselling I Heart seriesEveryone loves a bridesmaid - except Maddie, who's perpetually asked to be one.Everyone loves a wedding - except Maddie's best friend, who's getting divorced.And everyone loves the way Maddie's so happy behind the scenes - except Maddie herself.One best friend is in wedding countdown while the other heads for marriage meltdown. And as Maddie juggles her best chance at promotion in years with bridezilla texts and late-night counselling sessions, she starts to wonder – is it time to stop being the bridesmaid?

When pampered Jacqueline Abington secretly elopes with the family gardener, she asks another woman to take her place on the much-anticipated maiden voyage of the Titanic.Tessa Bowen hails from a poor corner of London but has been granted the opportunity of a lifetime—a ticket to sail to America aboard a famed vessel. But there's a catch; she must assume Jacqueline's identity. For the first time in her life, Tessa stays in luxurious quarters, dresses in elegant gowns, and dines with prestigious people. Then a wealthy American man takes an interest in her, and Tessa struggles to keep up the ruse as she begins falling for him. When tragedy strikes, the game is up, and two women's lives are forever changed.

Heroes get a new meaning when you see inside their lives. Gracie is a Navy Pilot; Bruce works Air Force Pararescue. With dangerous jobs—often away from home—they write love letters. When Gracie is shot down behind enemy lines, Bruce has one mission: get her out alive. Uncommon Heroes: Welcome to a world where friendships go deep, loyalties stand strong, and uncommon heroes perform the toughest jobs in the world. Dee Henderson's military romance series provides a detailed passage into the world of the military and homeland heroes, and those they love.

MERCS, MAGIC, AND MURDER-- In the world of the future, reality has shifted. It is a time where supercorporations are the true rulers, and their corporate wars, power games, and espionage missions all too often rampage out of control. The nation is divided into megaplexes, sprawling urban centers peopled by everything from true humans to elves, dwarves, orks, trolls, were-folk, mages, and the occasional upwardly mobile dragon. In this world where magic and technology coexist, and where both have become far too advanced for comfort, the shadowrunners survive by the quickness of their wits, the sharpness of their fangs and blades, and their skill at riding the computer Matrix. And if the price is right, or the need is great enough, they'll sell their services to any bidder. These are their stories.

Book 2 in the Supernova Series. Kerrigan and Dominic thought the worst of the storm was behind them. In reality, they had only weathered impossible odds to find they were smack dab in the eye of an unforgiving cyclone. The promise of a better tomorrow, a brighter, sunnier life filled with hopes and dreams rests in the palm of a stranger’s hand. But is he friend or foe? If Kerrigan can harness the power of a stranger’s knowledge, she may be able to save the one she loves before he fades into nothingness, and she is left all alone.

This touching and funny collection of stories showcases Tharoor's daunting literary acumen, as well as the keen sensitivity that informs his ability to write profoundly and entertainingly on themes ranging from family conflict to death. In the title story—written in a lonely hotel room in Geneva soon after the author began his work with the United Nations—a young Indian orphan is on his way to visit America for the first time, and his anguish and longing in the airplane seem hardly different from those of any American child. Tharoor's admiration for P. G. Wodehouse makes “How Bobby Chatterjee Turned to Drink" a delightful homage, while “The Temple Thief," “The Simple Man," and “The Political Murder" bring to mind O. Henry and Maupassant. His three college stories, “Friends," “The Pyre," and “The Professor's Daughter," are full of youthful high jinks, naïve infatuations, and ingenious wordplay. “The Solitude of the...

Mary Miller had always been an outcast. As a young girl she had fallen into the hot burn - a torrent of warm chemical run-off from the local coal mine. Fished out white-haired and half-dead, sympathy for her quickly faded when the young man who pushed her in died in a mining accident just two days later. From then on she was regarded with a mixture of suspicion and fascination by her God-fearing community. Now, years later she is hardly less alone. She is the mother of a bastard son, Sandy, and caught up in a faltering affair with a local teacher. Sandy, meanwhile, has fallen in love with a strange homeless girl. The search for happiness isn't easy. Both mother and son must face a dark secret from their past, in the growing knowledge that their small dramas are being played out against a much larger canvas, glimpsed only in symbols and flickering images - of decay and regrowth, of fire and water - of the flood. The Flood is both a coming-of-age novel and an amazing portrait of a time and place. Dark, atmospheric and powerful, it is a remarkable debut from a remarkable author.