The Persian Helmet

      Rhonda Keith
     The Persian Helmet

Preview of incomplete, unedited ms.Status updating…Time and Space breached…Data leak detected…The archives of The Numbered Entity Project have opened in this membrane of existence for the very first time. Inside the, at once both infinitesimal and infinity-spanning, data stores wait the tale of rogues, outcasts and 'others.' Those whose time was numbered but refused to 'know their place.' Those who tried, for better or worse, to change their respective worlds of swords and magic, steam and musket, or nanotechnology. The Project records all, in tribute to Time and Space.Jaime has waited his whole life for the chance to change the world. Armed with a discrete bio-weapon, he prepares to assassinate the Great Sir of the Seven Systems and free millions from industrial serfdom. But Jaime is on a one way trip, a journey that will force him to sever his ties to the one he loves most. His ideals will be tested to breaking when brought to bear against that love, a love which could tear Seven Systems apart.

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    Dead Body On My Route

      Tayman International Ventures LLC
     Dead Body On My Route

Like every other day in his working life, U.S. postal worker Trent Bixby is delivering the mail. But when Mrs. Neibauer's black poodle drops an American Girl doll at his feet, he fears that something terrible has happened. In this short story about a hero who stumbles across an unexpected surprise, the shocking truth about Mrs. Neibauer is revealed and a tragedy is avoided.Like every other day in his working life, U.S. postal worker Trent Bixby is delivering the mail. But when Mrs. Neibauer's black poodle drops an American Girl doll at his feet, he fears that something terrible has happened. In this short story about an unassuming government worker who stumbles across an unexpected surprise, the shocking truth about Mrs. Neibauer is revealed and a tragedy involving an innocent 8 year old girl is avoided.

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    Altar of Eden

      James Rollins
     Altar of Eden

Baghdad falls . . . and armed men are seen looting the city zoo. Amid a hail of bullets, a concealed underground lab is ransacked--and something horrific is set loose upon the world. Seven years later, Louisiana state veterinarian Lorna Polk investigates an abandoned shipwrecked fishing trawler carrying exotic caged animals, part of a black market smuggling ring. But there is something disturbingly wrong with these beasts--each an unsettling mutation of the natural order, all sharing one uncanny trait: incredibly heightened intelligence. Joining forces with U.S. Border Patrol Agent Jack Menard--a man who shares with her a dark and bloody past--Lorna sets out to uncover the truth about this strange cargo and the terrorist threat it poses. Because a beast escaped the shipwreck and is running amok--and what is about to be born upon the altar of Eden could threaten not only the future of the world but the very foundation of what it means to be human.

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    The Closers

      Michael Connelly
     The Closers

Detective Harry Bosch is back with the LAPD with the sole mission of closing unsolved cases. The murder of a 16 year old girl in 1988 is his first file. A DNA match makes the case very much alive again, and it turns out to be anything but cold. The ripples from this death have destroyed at least two other lives, and everywhere he probes, Bosch finds hot grief, hot rage, and a bottomless well of betrayal and malice. In Los Angeles in 1988, a sixteen-year-old girl disappeared from her home and was later found dead of a gunshot wound to the chest. The death appeared at first to be a suicide - but some of the evidence contradicted that scenario, and detectives came to believe this was in fact a murder. Despite a by-the-book investigation, no one was ever charged. Now Detective Harry Bosch is back with the LAPD with the sole mission of closing unsolved cases, and this girl's death is the first he's given. A DNA match makes the case very much alive again, and it turns out to be anything but cold. The ripples from this death have destroyed at least two other lives, and everywhere he probes, Bosch finds hot grief, hot rage, and a bottomless well of betrayal and malice. And it's not just the girl's family and friends whose lives Bosch is stirring up afresh. With each new development, Harry Bosch finds increasing resistance from within the police force itself. Old enemies are close at hand. Even as he pushes relentlessly to find the truth, Bosch has to wonder if this assignment was intended to be his last. Digging up the past may heal old wounds-or it may expose new, searing ones. From the mind of the man GQ has called "the best mystery writer in the world," The Closers is a masterpiece of thriller writing that is as sharp and immediate as the greatest fiction. Also available as a Time Warner AudioBook, eBook and Large Print Edition.

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    Farmer's Grove

      CJ Puccia
     Farmer's Grove

When Katie and her husband move to a small farm town in Wisconsin, some strange coincidences reveal an unbelievable horror.Book One in the MY BEST FRIEND'S BROTHER Series ( YA Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy ) - CONTENT WARNING This book contains non-graphic sexual content and some strong language. - When Lilly announced that her estranged brother is coming to live with her, Adonia was shocked—she had no idea her best friend even had a brother! Adonia doesn’t have long to process this revelation before Lilly jets off to vacation in sunny Florida, leaving her alone for weeks. Adonia doesn’t know how she’s going to pass the time, but that changes one morning when she’s sitting in a local book store and spots the sexiest guy she’s ever seen. Little does she know, he’s spotted her too. His name is Luke, and he’s smokin’ hot—so hot that Adonia has dubbed him a Greek god! Luke sweeps her off her feet, beats the tar out of her jerky ex-boyfriend at school, and is a perfect gentleman—what’s not to love about her Greek god? He’s an award-winning skier and Olympic hopeful, and he’s fallen in love with HER! But between stolen kisses, moonlight skiing and heated whispers, Adonia has the feeling Luke is keeping secrets. When she tries to get him to share, Luke clams up. Not knowing what to do, Adonia decides to back off, but has no idea that everything is about to come crashing down around her. Her love for Luke is about to be tested beyond any relationship she’s ever had! Will their love survive the test? Or will Adonia end up with nothing, just as she was starting to think she had everything?

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    Silver

      J.L. Austgen
     Silver

Silver is a short story prequel to the Evelyn Morgan series of mystery thrillers, including Keyser Run and Muckross Folly.Abandoned after being brutally assaulted, Air Force Academy cadet Evelyn Morgan remembers another very difficult time in her life -- her mother's battle with cancer. Her mother divulges a family secret, which provides renewed hope and strength in Morgan's current struggle.We asked some of Australia's top fantasy and science fiction authors to select two of their stories tied together by a single theme and to write an introduction on how they had explored that theme — to give some insight into their writing and how they see the big issues. We also paired the writers with Australia's top SF artists, so that each publication also showcases the illustrator. Then we released the publications in pairs. The result is the Aurealis Duos series.In "Terrorism", Jack Dann, an expat New Yorker and multi-award winning SF author who eats Vegemite with an American accent says, "I didn't feel patriotic the morning that the towers fell... I just felt that someone had burned down my house... the only way I could get my arms around the subject was to write about... us. No treatise on terrorism and suicide bombing here, just two stories that are set on the other side of the looking glass."

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    The Death Bump

      Tim McEnroe
     The Death Bump

After deciding against ending his own life, Justin discovers that his sister is having dreams that are eerily similar to her real life with one exception: In her dreams, Justin is dead.Finally at the end of his miserable rope, Justin Luck climbs to the top of Stinton's Point and finds the perfect place from which to end it all. But just before he takes the leap, fear prevails and causes him to change his mind...or does he?That very night, his sister Rosie has a vivid dream that shakes him to his core: A dream in which he took his life by jumping from Stinton's Point.The days continue. So do Rosie's dreams. Rosie and Justin discover that the dreams are eerily similar to her real life, but there's one exception: In her dreams, Justin is dead.

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    Blood Trail

      C. J. Box
     Blood Trail

It is elk season in the Rockies, but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Joe Pickett can hardly believe his ears: game wardens have found a hunter dead at a camp in the mountains; strung up, gutted, and flayed, as if he were the elk he'd been pursuing. A spent cartridge and a poker chip lie next to his body. Ripples of horror spread through the community, and with a possibly psychotic killer on the loose Governor Rulon is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. Are the murders the work of a deranged antihunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta? As always, Joe Pickett is the governor's go-to man, and he�s put on the case to track the murderous hunter, as more bodies and poker chips turn up. Bold, fast-paced, and with a controversial hook-hunting versus antihunting activists. Blood Trail is proof that C. J. Box is an ever-rising talent.

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    3 Days

      Krista Madden
     3 Days

A Young Adult Paranormal Romance with Science Fiction elements. Kara has only three days to get to her lost love, Blaine. Will she make it in time, or be forced to survive the aftermath of the solar flare alone?Kara Laquin wanted nothing more than to forget. Forget the past, live in the present, and ignore the future. When a massive solar flare destroys all electronics and throws the country into chaos, Kara is nearly a whole state away from her lost love, Blaine. He can wait only three days before moving on. With access to fuel limited, she must do anything necessary to get to him before he is forced to move on, but society is crumbling around her. Looters and murderers prowl the cities during the day, and something even worse roams at night.

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    The Sons of Man

      Laura Ellison
     The Sons of Man

Teen Sonya Neslund and her friends solve the mystery behind a series of sniper shootings in their hometown during a fierce winter. Who is the Marine Sniper?Teen Sonya Neslund and her friends solve the mystery behind a series of sniper shootings in their hometown during a fierce winter. Sonya's friend Bobby finds a kindred spirit in a boy with his own secrets. Meanwhile, the outlaw Blue Diamonds MC seek vengeance for a murdered brother. Does a new church, and its charismatic leader, have the answers? Who is the Marine Sniper?

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    GoodBye Morality

      John Eidemak
     GoodBye Morality

GOODBYE MORALITY is the novel about a man who takes the road less travelled to rise to unbelievable heights within the criminal world. An unforgettable crime thriller, with characters you will never forget.GOODBYE MORALITY is the novel about a man who takes the road less travelled to rise to unbelievable heights within the criminal world. John Forbes, the main character, comes from a modest background, but has grown up on the Craven Estate in Dorset, where his mother lives and works as a housekeeper. This is a place of strong contrast between being wealthy or poor.Through various criminal enterprises, which inevitably include the use of violence and murder, John builds a considerable fortune. His marriage to Catherine, the daughter of Lord and Lade Craven produces a son, Michael, upon whom John dotes. However, John continues a serious love affair with the artist Mona Hobson whose talent he helps validate by secretly buying up the paintings.Wise enough to know his own limitation, he goes into partnership with John Elgberg, a Dane with a past and his extrovert wife, Andrea, moving the ‘Invisible Company’ to Mallorca. After some years the company financial transaction attracts police attention.When John’s son Michael dies of leukaemia, his marriage falls apart. Devastated, John moves to a remote lavender farm in the South of France, where he is plagued with growing doubts about the life he has created, the death of his son and the shocking decisions he has taken. John is unable to make the break needed even if he finds love with the unimpressionable local woman Cecilia.An unforgettable crime thriller, with characters you will never forget.

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    The Observer

      Bill Russo
     The Observer

There is a dark chamber in the mind of every person where their deepest secrets are hidden away from friends, neighbors, and even themselves.For some individuals the door to this secluded room is slammed shut and locked tight by the conscious mind – never to be revisited..There is a dark chamber in the mind of every person where their deepest secrets are hidden away from friends, neighbors, and even themselves.For some individuals the door to this secluded room is slammed shut and locked tight by the conscious mind – never to be revisited.For others the gateway never fully closes and the horrors revisit them with increasing frequency until they take a rope, a knife, a gun, or perhaps too many pills in a fatal attempt to seal the portal.The tale that follows is of a man whose dark compartment of unforgiveable sins is firmly locked – even to himself.

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    The Girl from the Closet

      Bartolomeo S. LoPiccolo
     The Girl from the Closet

The last and final installment of 'Save me'. All loose ends will be tied and everything will make sense by the end of this last story. the prequel to 'Save Me'This meditation on the subject that has never gone out of fashion is derived from the factual material and includes the last moments of Socrates, based on Plato’s Crito and Pheado dialogues, a Buddhist Monk, based on the reported stories of the Chinese Zen monks, a Ballerina in a Nazi death camp, documented in the work of a German psychiatrist and, finally, the death of Joseph Stalin, based on the recollections by his personal guards. Despite the subject matter the script does not contain elements usually associated with death. It is not approached as something wrong or morbid. It sees death as a reflection of one’s life.

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