Young doctor Gina Panzella has known her boss, plastic surgeon Dr. Duncan Lathram, almost her entire life, and respects him deeply. Charming and brilliant, Duncan has invented a dissolving implant that allows incisions to heal without scarring. Duncan's artistry in the operation room is the salvationof Washington's biggest power players whenever they need touch-ups for C-Span. But there are a few things about Duncan that Gina can't quite figure out. Why did he trade vascular surgery for the more profitable but less vital plastic surgery, and why won't he accept his patients' medical insurance? What caused his daughter's death and the breakup of his marriage? Why do his tirades agains the new congressional medical ethics committee have such a bitter personal sting? And what is his connection to two committee members who died in accidents not long after Duncan operated on them? Soon Gina's curiosity about Duncanis replaced by suspicion and fear. With the help of Gerry Canney, a high school classmate now working for the FBI, Gina determines to find out what ruined Duncan's personal life and aroused his wrath against the congressmen. She find a man much more complex and mysterious than the sharp-tongued but kindhearted physician she though she knew. Then two more congressmen fall ill after Duncan's surgery. And Gina discovers another kind of implant in Duncan's arsenal. . . .

Six weeks to write for your life... In this blistering story of a ghostwriter haunted by his demonic subject, the Man Booker Prize winner turns to lies, crime and literature with devastating effect A young and penniless writer, Kif Kehlmann, is rung in the middle of the night by the notorious con man and corporate criminal, Siegfried Heidl. About to go to trial for defrauding the banks of $700 million, Heidl proposes a deal: $10,000 for Kehlmann to ghost write his memoir in six weeks. But as the writing gets under way, Kehlmann begins to fear that he is being corrupted by Heidl. As the deadline draws closer, he becomes ever more unsure if he is ghost writing a memoir, or if Heidl is rewriting him—his life, his future. Everything that was certain grows uncertain as he begins to wonder: who is Seigfried Heidl—and who is Kif Kehlmann? By turns compelling, comic, and chilling, First Person is a haunting journey into the heart of our age.

Caroline Jacobs has lost herself. She's a wife, mother (to a tattooed teenage daughter she avoids), Sears Portrait Studio photographer, and wimp. Asserting herself, taking the reins, or facing life head-on are not in her repertoire. So when Caroline suddenly cracks and screams "Fuck you!" at the PTA president, she is shocked. So is her husband. So is the PTA president. So is everyone. But Caroline soon realizes the true cause of her outburst can be traced back to something that happened to her as a teenager, a scarring betrayal by her best friend Emily. This act changed Caroline's life forever. So, with a little bit of bravery flowing through her veins, Caroline decides to go back to her home town and confront Emily. She busts her daughter Polly out of school, and the two set off to deliver the perfect comeback, which is twenty-five years in the making. But nothing goes as planned. Long buried secrets begin to rise to the surface, and Caroline will have to face much more than one old, bad best friend. A heartwarming story told with Matthew Dicks' signature wit, The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs is a deceptively simple novel about the ways in which our childhood experiences reverberate through our lives, and the bravery of one woman trying to change her life and finds true understanding of her daughter, and herself, along the way.

What could a traditional West African religion possibly have in common with astronomy and astrology? In the conventional natal chart is it possible that African deities influence our daily lives, we are very familiar with the Greco-roman names of the planets, but within indigenous cultures that pre dated Greece and Rome what did they refer to these heavenly bodies as? They were referred to a OSet in a world that is not our own, Legon Awakening takes you through an epic journey into a land full of wonderment, illusion, and innovation.Legon is a simple young man in the small town of Salmont, a town in the center of the Empire that few know about and even fewer care about. All he wishes to do is to start his own butcher shop and take care of his adopted sister and family. Legon is not from Salmont and echoes from his parents past are coming up to haunt him. Legon finds himself being caught in the war that claimed his biological parents lives and now threatens everything he has. He must flee from everything he knows and journey to land of his ancestors to keep all that he loves safe.

Poems from 2011We've got more great stories for you this month, with a god morgue, a few unexplained benefactors, and a xenobiologist who would really rather not be eaten by space slugs. Yep, it's that good.Fiction Vortex publishes science fiction and fantasy stories weekly at FictionVortex.com

Helen never had strong bonding love for her daughter Emma, until they worked together. This love is short lived, soon Emma is knocked down and killed by Lesley, a young American nurse in London. A short jail term and extradition to the States for Lesley, leaves Helen broken, and ready for reprisal. Helen’s journey for justice takes her to American, she finds Emma’s killer, new love and herself...Helen had ‘sort of’ loved her daughter Emma, as she had ‘sort of’ loved her husband. However, through an unexpected request for help from student Emma, Helen begins to find the mother love for her daughter. This new love is short lived, as Emma is knocked down by a drink-driver in a London Street, by Lesley, a pretty young American nurse.A two-month jail term and extradition to the States for pretty Lesley, leaves Helen broken. Before the accident Emma had found her talent for photography, and had sold work in the States to media company owner De-Hem. It was during her preparations for an art show that Helen and Emma had found love and friendship. In hospital Emma has to have her hands amputated, this, and the stress of the accident causes Helen to break down, along with her marriage.During rehabilitation, Emma starts to recover, as does Helen, enough so, to allow her to form a relationship with Rick, a tall handsome biker, working at the hospital. The future looks bright until Emma unexpectedly dies. Incensed, Helen intends to trace and track down Lesley to her Arizona home. Help comes from Maureen who can ‘sort’ everything, but at a price. Helen tricks her way in to the desert house, only to find that the pretty Lesley of the trial has vanished. Helen discovers that Lesley is now 22 stone of unwashed addiction, with filthy matted hair, and confused, frightened and drunk. Recognising Helen, Lesley grabs the kitchen knife and slashes her own wrists.Helen has a decision to make; let her live or die, she lets her live. Pretending to be her sister-in-law Helen waits in Lesley’s hospital room for her to come round. When she does, they start to talk, both realising they have much in common due to the accident, as both women are broken, have lost their husbands, family, and are running away. Apart from the wine bottle, Helen discovers Lesley is utterly alone in the world, and reluctantly at first, helps her to pull through. The relationship develops, together with Helen liking Arizona and the people she begins to meet. She fly’s to Texas to meet De-Hem, Emma’s art agent, who informs Helen that Emma has acquired a cult following since her death. Despite his tough-talk she likes him, they work together planning projects for books and exhibitions of Emma’s work. But all is not well, as Helen ends her relationship with Rick as she is spending more and more time in the states. Lesley begins to heal and regain her life through Helen’s support, and one day while working in her desert garden, she begins to remember the night of the accident for the first time. Unable to cope she sees a counsellor and her story unfolds as she starts to recall what happened on the night of the accident.

Eliot's correspondence from his childhood in St. Louis until he had settled in England and published The Waste Land. Edited and with an Introduction by Valerie Eliot; Index; photographs.

Fifty short stories, each told in 50 words, to last your lifetime.Anamika returned back to her boring life once again. She felt nobody had cared for her liking or disliking other than Rahul, whom she had dumped for the very family who never cared for her. She thought deeply about herself, ‘I have to think for everyone; but none thinks about me!’ This negative thought took over her mind and soul slowly but steadily.Her unhappiness towards her life continued to grow day by day.Finally, one day she took that drastic step of committing suicide!

A highly original mix of history, comedy and boogers, telling the story of the Peasants' Revolt through the eyes of three young serfs whose bravery may have inspired the invention of the handkerchief and brought the rediscovery of medieval literature's most overlooked writer: Geoffrey Chaucer's elder brother Dennis. Then again it may all have been cooked up by a guy in a shed somewhere in England.Ravensdaughter hates the humans of the castle. They stink and they have stupid rounded ears while her ears are pointy. Ravensdaughter is fairy-born, a changeling. She knows that one day when her magic grows in the fairies will come to take her home. In the meanwhile, though, a human girl named Beth is trying to make friends with her...

'Remy's New Friend' is a light-hearted children's story that teaches a very important lesson- that one "can't judge a book by its cover".Brach is a thief. He is a petty thief, but he steals a little more than he needs to survive. He is assisted in his chose profession by a unique set of abilities he has. When he concentrates, he can affect the way things move. He has bought 13 meals on the same gold coin and he gets change every time. After he pays, he just calls the coin back to him. He is always seeking a way to get ahead by using his ability. He is also looking for a girl.

In his second short-story installment Matthew Farrington again tackles issues of family, abuse, madness and the inherent competing human desires of surrender and survival. Part of the bulk of a larger work, The Rest of Me showcases Farrington’s shrewd talent for breaking through traditional barriers in fiction writing, concisely displaying the raw emotion of his subject in brief and moving prose.Book 1 of 5 in the Bubby Anthology.Robert, a social outcast all of his life, suddenly receives the powers of Bubby. In a flash, his life is completely turned around. In other words, the ladies dig him! When the world is threatened by an evil force, will the inexperienced Bubby be able to summon the strength to save it, and make it back in time for his many dates?ReviewOur introduction to the hero named Bubby is a funny, albeit short, one. Originally written in 1995, by then high school student, B. P. Draper, the jokes have aged well. While the characters are not as well-developed as I would have liked, I still empathize with the title character's desire to fit in. If I had to describe Bubby I in a sentence, I would say it is like a train wreck that you can't look away from because it is a hilarious, hilarious train wreck. Overall, Bubby I is an enjoyable satire of the superhero world. --Braden Erp