The weird, invisible insect depopulated an entire planet. Now it was felling Thompson's crew as his ship hurtled toward the sun ... certain death for all, including the disease carrier. Forgotten in the panic was Buster, Thompson's wise cat.The weird, invisible insect depopulated an entire planet. Now it was felling Thompson's crew as his ship hurtled toward the sun ... certain death for all, including the disease carrier. Forgotten in the panic was Buster, Thompson's wise cat.

HardPress Classic Books Series

Dentists save the world! With some help from a time traveling government agent...This short story is about dentists who travel through time to keep reality as we know it from collapsing. Yes. You read that right, dentists often save the world!

Kathy Taylor had weathered eight rough years as a black female police officer in Boston - but enough was enough. She turned in her badge, moved up north, and set up shop as a private investigator in historic Salem, Massachusetts. Now she's surrounded by wiccans and herbalists, by crystal shops and psychic pizza-deliverymen.And her first client has just stepped in the door.Kathy Taylor had weathered eight rough years as a black female police officer in Boston - but enough was enough. She turned in her badge, moved up north, and set up shop as a private investigator in historic Salem, Massachusetts. Now she's surrounded by wiccans and herbalists, by crystal shops and psychic pizza-deliverymen.And her first client has just stepped in the door.The Lucky Cat is the very first entry in the Salem Massachusetts Mini Mystery series. These short stories will be written and loaded one a day from October 1 through October 31, 2014. All author's proceeds from this series benefit battered women's shelters.Lisa has lived in scenic Massachusetts since 1986, with only two brief forays out of state. She loves the history of Salem. One of Lisa’s ancestors was Ann Foster, who died during the Salem Witch Trials. Ann Foster was a grandmother by that time and sacrificed herself to protect her daughter and granddaughter.

Police chase SHORT STORY - in the future with flying cars.It's police Captain Matt Selznick's last day on the job, and he's going to make sure he ends his career on a high note. Rather than ending with a customary day at the desk, he goes out in the field impersonating a criminal transporter to pick up a bad guy and bring him in for questioning. Sounds simple right? If only it had been.A collection of easy-to-relate-to poems by N. Jaber, reflecting on an array of feelings and life experiences.In this book, readers are taken on an emotional journey that people all over the world experience.

In his first novel Strop crafts a timely tale- the prophesied time of Jacob’s trouble is here. Like Dorothy's trip to the Land of Oz, this believable 21st century time-traveling tale has something for everybody. A good read!-Glenn NicholasIn these three short, short stories, the God of Love, Victor Valentine, does his best to add to the world's supply of love. Or, at least, to help settle some scores. But even when managed by an expert, love remains what it always is — exciting, unreliable, heartbreaking.

Who is this child called Jepaul and why are his looks so different? Was his being found simply chance, or fate? He has to face ordeals of fire, water, earth and air, but he can’t do it alone. He has powerful allies in the form of the Elementals of the world called Shalah. All bring him closer to the frightening truth of who he really is and the knowledge that the fate of a world depends on him.Shalah – a world inhabited by a race once possessed of advanced technologies. Aeons ago, although watched over by benevolent guardian entities, Shalah fell under the onset of malevolent powers. The planet decended into barbarism, the inhabitants’ technologies falling into disuse as knowledge was lost; the guardians’ mental talents were inadequate to stem the influence of malign beings bent on conquest and destruction.Born on Shalah, an abandoned boy with unusual looks, is given life and one chance to face his destiny. Jepaul endures ordeals of air, fire, water and earth, for only he can bring his world back from the brink of the abyss.

Legend of the Salad Traveler is a lighthearted story of a salad that weighs 5.5 ounces, and it decides to go on vacation; a man unexpectedly ends up in the shower and tells you he knows how to find it. Just make sure you keep enough rocks in your pocket. This is a story of epic proportions - well not epic, but whimsical proportions.So what does a radio DJ's salad and Schrodinger's cat have in common? Absolutely nothing, unless you consider if one of them decides to go on vacation, the salad that is, then all you have is a cat all alone with nothing to do except ponder its existence. So what about the salad? Legend of the Salad Traveler is a lighthearted story of a salad that weighed 5.5 ounces, and it decides to go on vacation; a man unexpectedly ends up in your shower and tells you he knows how to find it. Just make sure you keep enough rocks in your pocket. That's explained later, and it has something to do with moving from universe to universe as this is a story of epic proportions - well not epic, maybe whimsical proportions and fun nonetheless.

The Nexus Odyssey is an epic journey of human exploration. Overpopulation and its attendant problems force colonisation of another planet. Having achieved this salvation, the relations between Earth and Mars become fractious, and this leads to the development of interstellar propulsion capability, a joint strategy of humans and intelligent aliens. The problems are immense, and benefits uncertain.Caedus has lived his life by the sword, and now seems destined to die by it as well. He has found himself sentenced to death for crimes against Vera'Gon and her people. The justice system of the capital city Vera'Gon is harsh, but fair. The worst criminals fight in the arena, executing each other for the entertainment of the people. The winners get to live another day, and get another chance to bring justice against their fellow combatants. But win or lose, all combatants will eventually find their life bleeding out on the sand. The system offers no redemption, only death. Can Caedus continue his life of blood and violence, or will he be executed like so many before him?

On October 11 the television star Jason Taverner is so famous that 30 million viewers eagerly watch his prime-time show. On October 12 Jason Taverner is not a has-been but a never-was -- a man who has lost not only his audience but all proof of his existence. And in the claustrophobic betrayal state of Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, loss of proof is synonyms with loss of life. Taverner races to solve the riddle of his disappearance", immerses us in a horribly plausible Philip K. Dick United States in which everyone -- from a waiflike forger of identity cards to a surgically altered pleasure -- informs on everyone else, a world in which omniscient police have something to hide. His bleakly beautiful novel bores into the deepest bedrock self and plants a stick of dynamite at its center.

In a top-secret government installation near the small town of Two Rivers, Michigan, scientists are investigating a mysterious object discovered several years earlier. Late one evening, the local residents observe strange lights coming from the laboratory. The next morning, they awake to find that their town was literally cut off from the rest of the world...and thrust into a new one! Soon the town is discovered by the bewildered leaders of this new world—at which point, the people of Two Rivers realize that they've arrived in a rigid theocracy. The authorities, known as the Bureau de la Covenance Religieuse, have ordered Linneth Stone, a young ethnologist, to analyze the arrivals and report her findings to the Lieutenant in charge. What Linneth finds will challenge the philosophical basis of her society and lead inexorably to a struggle for power centering on the mysterious object that Two Rivers' government scientists were studying when the town slipped between worlds. In Mysterium, Robert Charles Wilson "blends science, religion, philosophy and alternate history into an intelligent, compelling work of fiction" (Publishers Weekly).

Although small and seemingly helpless, the Foundation had managed to survive against the greed of its neighboring warlords. But could it stand against the mighty power of the Empire, who had created a mutant man with the strength of a dozen battlefleets...?

In the year 2033, the economic situation in Europe is more hopeless than ever before. Artur Tschistokjow, a young dissident from Belarus, takes over the leadership of the Freedom Movement of the Rus, a small group of rebels that fights against the Lodge Brothers in the underground. Frank and Alfred join his organization and follow the fanatical revolutionary to a point of no return...In the year 2033, the economic situation in Europe is more hopeless than ever before. The World Government still loots the nations without mercy and holds them in its iron claws.Artur Tschistokjow, a young dissident from Belarus, takes over the leadership of the Freedom Movement of the Rus, a small group of rebels that fights against the Lodge Brothers in the underground. While a big economic crisis starts in Belarus, the rebels form a growing revolutionary movement. Frank, Alfred and an increasing number of discontent Belarusians join Tschistokjow`s organization. They finally follow the Russian dissident to a point of no return.Part III of the German "Prey World" series!

When magic leaps from fairy-tale to reality at the tips of every person's fingers, chaos unfolds in the world of Adrala. Four unlikely but steadfast friends; Eris, Pird, Zook, and Sye, have their loyalty to one another tested when they find themselves at the center of a conspiracy three-thousand years in the making.In the days before civilization, the days when dark things combed the landscape, three races of people fought for control of their lands. Among them were the elves, smart and blessed with the gift of magic. Their greatest foes, even more hated than the ferocious creatures that preyed upon living flesh, were the dwarves. Steeped in honor and tradition, the dwarves felt that all magic was black magic. Warriors by nature, the cleansed the lands of the monsters and yet the elves looked upon them as little more than animals themselves. Eventually there was war.Caught between the aggressive dwarves and the scheming elves, the humans tried to broker a peace and bring about a society in which all three races could coexist. Some say their ideas were unrealistic . Others feel they were downright foolish. Either way, the idealistic nature of the proposed treaty was mocked by both the dwarves and the elves.Mocked, but not dismissed.While the dwarves laughed at the idea of peace, the elves dissected the humans' proposal bit by bit. A Constitution, they called it. Indeed, there were sensible ideas. But much better to have the elves in charge rather than the soft hearted humans. The elf leaders got together under one banner and formulated a plan. Bringing the full power of their magic to bear against the other two races, they brought the war to a swift conclusion.Some called it peace. Others called it subjugation. A new version of the Constitution was given to all the people of the three races. It granted rights to the dwarves and other rights to the humans and still other rights to the elves. Mostly, though, it brought forth four tenets.All dwarves are created equally.All humans are created equally.All elves are created equally.All people are not created equally.Over the years and decades and centuries, society evolved. Amendments were made to the Constitution. Dwarves, humans, and elves found their places in society. With their combined efforts, the monsters of the world were all but eradicated. But with the long lifespans of both the elves and the dwarves, old grudges remained. While the elves ran civilization and dwarves fed it, it was the humans who drove it. Blessed with no outstanding physical attributes, they were the Earth's best innovators. The telegraph, the radio, television, and computer were all constructs of human innovation. Guns, bombs, cars, and trains all came about from human ingenuity. But for all their creative ability, they held little control or wealth. It was the elves, always the elves, with the keys to the kingdom.Owen Keefe is a policeman who has done his best to keep his place in the human controlled department. When a late call takes him into an unlikely and dangerous situation, his life is changed and he starts down a dangerous and slippery slope that may ultimately shatter the castes forever.