The Ranger On the island of Galveston, off the coast of southeast Texas, lies a hotel called the Jacaranda. In its single year of operation, two dozen people have died there. The locals say it's cursed. The Rangers say that's nonsense, but they know a man who might be willing to investigate. Horatio Korman crosses the water from the mainland, and hopes for the best. The Nun But the bodies pile up, and a hurricane is brewing up fast. One of the Jacaranda's guests sees time running out, so she seeks an authority of a different sort: a priest from El Huizache who is good at solving problems and keeping secrets. Eileen Callahan has a problem to solve, and a secret to keep. She crosses her fingers, and sends a message that could save them all. The Padre Juan Miguel Quintero Rios broke a promise to the Virgin, and so he was punished...but his intentions were pure, so he was also blessed. Now he walks the southwest with second sight and a tattoo across his back: ''Deo, non Fortuna''--By God, not chance. The former gunslinger crosses himself, and makes for the Jacaranda Hotel. Novella takes place 20 years after the events of Fiddlehead, and will be unrelated to the main arc.

The definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, from the author of the New York Times bestseller *Area 51* No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain," from its Cold War inception in 1958 to the present. This is the book on DARPA--a compelling narrative about this clandestine intersection of science and the American military and the often frightening results.

"Citizens are warned not to eat any meat products."Indiana is the perfect daughter girlie-girl for her mom and tom boy for her dad. While spending the weekend at her father's survival school, she returns to find the world in the grip of a bio-terrorist attack.*Recommended for 15yrs and up due to violence & language*"Citizens are warned not to eat any meat products."Indiana is the perfect daughter girlie-girl for her mom and tom boy for her dad. While spending the weekend at her fathers survival school, she returns to find the world in the grip of a bio-terrorist attack.Terrorist have infected several meat packing plants across the US. People are getting sick and dieing... then coming back.With her best friend Suzie and Hillbilly Hottie Ryan in tow she has to put her survival training to the test in order to keep them alive, in a world filling with zombies... who are trying to infect them.*Recommended for 15yrs and up due to violence & language*

When journalist Kevin Lee first meets retired academic Frank Peters and hears about an intelligent alien virus that has invaded the Earth, he is naturally very skeptical. However, when Peters is murdered, his skepticism soon turns to a real concern for the future of the planet and the survival of mankind.When journalist Kevin Lee first meets retired academic Frank Peters and hears about an intelligent alien virus that has invaded the Earth, he is naturally very skeptical. However, when Peters is murdered, his skepticism soon turns to a real concern for the future of the planet and the survival of mankind. Kevin joins a group of liked-minded people in Edinburgh dedicated to eradicating the virus. Returning to London, he rescues his colleague Sandi from a London hospital. Finding himself a wanted man, he seeks refuge with members of the group on a remote Scottish island. There he gains a new understanding of Frank Peters – who turns out to be much more than he first appeared. Together, the group make a final bid to eradicate the virus from humanity – and from the Universe.

There's strange things afoot on Mars. Mike must dig deep if he's going to find out what's going on, make it out alive, and locate the mysterious Rose.There's strange things afoot on Mars.In this incredibly skewed and slightly humourous tale, Mike must dig deep if he's going to find out what's going on at Mars Incorporated, make it out alive, and above all else locate the mysterious Rose.And... what's the deal with the Black Cat, and why is it so important that Mike follows it? To make matters worse, he doesn't even like cats!

Mimi is a 23-year-old reality TV star with no plans to ever take anything seriously. Ky is a shapeshifter with a complicated past. When Mimi's poor dating choices bring them together, they will have to make the most of both of their talents to save the world from a power-hungry maniac.Twenty-three-year-old television star Mimi Parks has collapsed outside of a nightclub. But it's not drugs this time. And as Mimi sees herself hurtling toward the end of her career and her life as she knows it, what she doesn't see is that she has interfered with a young (five-hundred-year-old) shapeshifter's mission to save the world from a power-hungry maniac. If they are to succeed together, Ky must overcome his complicated past to make an unlikely alliance. Mimi must reconnect with her own humanity just as she is becoming a little bit more than human.

The Scavenger species are circling. It is, truly, the End Days for the Gzilt civilization. An ancient people, organized on military principles and yet almost perversely peaceful, the Gzilt helped set up the Culture ten thousand years earlier and were very nearly one of its founding societies, deciding not to join only at the last moment. Now they've made the collective decision to follow the well-trodden path of millions of other civilizations; they are going to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new and almost infinitely more rich and complex existence. Amid preparations though, the Regimental High Command is destroyed. Lieutenant Commander (reserve) Vyr Cossont appears to have been involved, and she is now wanted - dead, not alive. Aided only by an ancient, reconditioned android and a suspicious Culture avatar, Cossont must complete her last mission given to her by the High Command. She must find the oldest person in the Culture, a man over nine thousand years old, who might have some idea what really happened all that time ago. It seems that the final days of the Gzilt civilization are likely to prove its most perilous.

What happens when everything comes crumbling down? Some of today's best selling authors take you to the dark side in this collection of eleven deadly tales. Zombie Fallout - Mark Tufo Strain of Resistance - Michelle Bryan Strangers - David Moody World-Mark By Leigh M. Lane A New World: Chaos - John O'Brien Trudge: Surviving The Apocalypse - Shawn Chesser Black Virus- Bobby Adair Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - W.J. Lundy The Death of Kaylis - Jaime Johnesee The Biomass Revolution - Nicholas Sansbury Smith Return of The Phoenix - Heath Stallcup

Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, leader of a small and highly dysfunctional band of layabouts. An inveterate womaniser and rogue, he and his gang make a living on the wrong side of the law, avoiding the heavily armed flying frigates of the Coalition Navy. With their trio of ragged fighter craft, they run contraband, rob airships and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So a hot tip on a cargo freighter loaded with valuables seems like a great prospect for an easy heist and a fast buck. Until the heist goes wrong, and the freighter explodes. Suddenly Frey isn't just a nuisance anymore - he's public enemy number one, with the Coalition Navy on his tail and contractors hired to take him down. But Frey knows something they don't. That freighter was rigged to blow, and Frey has been framed to take the fall. If he wants to prove it, he's going to have to catch the real culprit. He must face liars and lovers, dogfights and gunfights, Dukes and daemons. It's going to take all his criminal talents to prove he's not the criminal they think he is ...

"You are a fire. You must burn. Be a candle, and light the way for someone. Or be a firework and dedicate your entire life for a moment, for a smile. You are a fire, Sam. So burn your life away for someone." A flash fiction about sacrifice.In The Stars follows ‘The Circle’ of friends through a full year, with each episode covering the period of time indicated by the zodiac sign from which it takes its title.‘Capricorn’ is the first episode of In The Stars, released in January 2014. For those readers unfamiliar with the series, it re-introduces the main characters, so you could pick it up from here and perhaps catch up with the previous books later (I hope you will!).The full novel of In The Stars Part I (Capricorn–Gemini) is also available for purchase as a paperback and ebook from January 2014.* * * * *Some things are just meant to be, or sometimes it seems that way. Like old uni pals inexplicably moving to your hometown, or realising that your childhood best friend is the love of your life, or landing a star role in a hit TV series that could well be your autobiography.Fate, karma, written in the stars, or just bizarre quirks of coincidence?For better or worse, the events of the next six months will push the friends to the limits. For The Circle can expand and contract, but it is always whole; eternal.Set over the first six months of a year of The Circle, In The Stars Part I explores the day-to-day lives of nine friends from high school who are now it their late thirties, following them through celebration, loss, illness and life-changing decisions.What readers say about the Hiding Behind The Couch Series:"The remarkable characterisation in these novels is what makes them for me.""This story reminds me of my favorite movies about friendship and relationships.""Few authors have explored the depths of longtime friends within a group, or 'circle' the way Debbie McGowan has!""I have a love-hate relationship with Debbie McGowan's Hiding Behind the Couch Series. I love to read them, I HATE it when they're over."

New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins brings you the second book in this thrilling war-torn world... Being on the run in the desert means food and sanctuary are hard to come by, but Amber Tate and her crew are not about to give up. Not after having the things they love brutally ripped from them by an unknown enemy who sent their world into the apocalypse. Survival takes precedence, but once safe shelter is found, their guards fall and the emotions they've been holding in are finally released. Anger, insecurities...lust. In their tight quarters, Amber, Rylen, Tater, and Remy can't escape it. The past must be faced, and passions run even stronger in the darkest of times. In the midst of unrest, their worlds are rocked again when they discover the truth about the war that's ruined their lives. They thought finding out the enemy's identity would give them the edge; instead it's revealed terrifying dangers they never thought possible.

Time is running out for fourteen year-old Sam. He suffers from a rare inherited condition that caused terrible disfigurement to his great-grandfather and although it skipped the next two generations, it's come back with a vengeance in him. Sam's parents try to ensure he leads as normal a life as possible, but a normal life is difficult when your flesh and bones mutiny and bubble up into horrific growths, and pressure on your brain causes searing migraines. Then the very worst happens, but all is not lost for Sam.

Gregory Benford expands Arthur C. Clarke's novella, Against the Fall of Night, into a novel-length adventure set billions of years in the future about human destiny among the stars.

When Police Officer Perry Salter first meets crime victim Jeremy, the young man has a rare, debilitating form of autism. Later, Officer Salter confronts evidence of two hideous crimes. His cop instincts say Jeremy is innocent while the evidence and the community say Jeremy is guilty. Salter struggles to find truth and justice despite the very real risk of damaging his rising his career.Two elementary school bullies, now about to graduate from college, are confronted by their terrorized, under achieving victim and his new friend. Will the childhood victim answer their pleas for life-saving help? A seasoned and aggressive police officer, obsessed with advancing his career, must choose between just observing a conviction negotiated, which everyone but the victim wants, or determining actual guilt or innocence of the strangest case of his career.

Lisa Herbert lives in on the planet Fairfield. The “Savage Rain” decades earlier isolated her world. A remark from her sister gets Lisa to ask, “If life was better before the ‘Savage Rain,’ why couldn’t it be better again?” Lisa travels to three planets, using wits, compassion, and a little sneakiness to rebuild civilization.Teenager Lisa Herbert lives in the small town of Mountain View on the planet Fairfield. The “Savage Rain” decades earlier shut down the hyperspace gate and isolated her world. A casual remark from her sister gets Lisa to ask a simple question: “If life was better before the ‘Savage Rain,’ why couldn’t it be better again?”That question starts Lisa on a journey. She reactivates Fairfield’s H-gate and travels to three worlds. Each planet offers her a chance to improve life by hard work, by trade, or by making friends. She relies on her brains, her compassion, and a little sneakiness to solve the problems she faces.Lisa’s Way presents a heroine more interested in reasoning than fighting, and more concerned with doing good than looking good.