Split Second

      Sophie McKenzie
     Split Second

*2:02...2:01...2:00 What the hell was this? I stared at the numbers, numb with horror. The box was a bomb. And it was going to go off in two minutes.* Charlie's life is torn apart by a terrorist bomb in a London market. Months later she meets Nat, whose family has been left devastated by the same explosion. But as Charlie gets closer to Nat she starts to wonder if he knows more about the attack than he is letting on... Life can change in the blink of an eye - whether you're ready or not. The new bestseller from the award-winning Sophie McKenzie.

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    Phineas Redux

      Anthony Trollope
     Phineas Redux

The fourth of Trollope's Palliser novels, Phineas Redux is one of his most spellbinding achievements. Trollope shows a remarkably prescient sense of the importance of intrigue, bribery, and sexual scandal, and the power of the press to make or break a political career. He is equally skilled in portraying the complex nature of Phineas's romantic entanglements with three powerful women: the mysterious Madame Max, the devoted Laura Kennedy, and the irrepressible Lady Glencora (now Duchess of Omnium). In his introduction, John Bowen highlights the weaving of public events and private passions in the book, the strength of the female characters, and the analogies, both subtle and comic, between the different kinds of action (politics, hunting, romance) that the book contains. An appendix outlines the internal chronology of the series, providing a unique understanding of the six novels as a linked narrative. In addition, the book features a compact biography of Trollope and a chronology charts his life against the major historical events of the period. Numerous notes explain political, cultural, and social allusions.

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  • 707

    Directive RIP

      Stuart Parker
     Directive RIP

A murderous vigilante gang on the prowl, a ruthless psychiatrist with a thirst for mind control, a poison-obsessed colonel backed by his own private army...it was a case straight out of Riley's Red Line Files and for cops with careers and lives worth preserving it couldn't get much worse - but for Furn and Breeze of the Rogue Intercept Police, it was time to play.In a post-apocalyptic world known as the Territory of Malm, infants are born soulless. With a hideous appearance and unquenchable hunger, they are kept out of sight until they are Chosen.Long ago, the residents of Malm placed their faith in the Office of Souls to lead them and keep them safe after the human race was almost destroyed in the time known only as "Before". But someone long forgotten has other plans, and that means unleashing unspeakable evil into their world.Soul Implantation Day 3675 starts out like any other, and follows the paths of six people who are destined to meet in the courtyard of the Fountain of Souls. They bear witness to a soul implantation ceremony gone terribly awry. Not all of them will survive, and some will suffer a fate far worse than death.Length: 25,000 words*This novella was previously released under the title "The Soul Garden".*The complete Twisted Souls series:The Soul Ripper (Twisted Souls #1)Twisted Souls (Twisted Souls #2)Soul Cycle (Twisted Souls #3)A Soul to Settle (Twisted Souls #4)

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    Moonlight

      M. Matheson
     Moonlight

Are you stuck in a situation too prickly to take to law enforcement? Or, they've been no help at all.Switch sides.Call an outlaw...Troy Bittles, a retired Enforcer for the world's most notorious bike gang The Breakers, can help. Retirement is boring, and he's done a lot of bad. In an effort to balance the scale of justice Troy uses his special skill set to help his neighbors.Bad neighbor, worse landlord, car repossessed, runaway spouse or child.Are you stuck in a situation too prickly to take to law enforcement? Or, they've been no help at all.Switch sides.Call an outlaw...Troy Bittles, a retired Enforcer for the world's most notorious bike gang The Breakers, can help. Retirement is boring, and he's done a lot of bad. In an effort to balance the scales of justice Troy uses his particular skill set to help his neighbors.Oak Park is a diverse gumbo of Nouveau Rich, street gangs, and motorcycle clubs with a worldwide footprint. That diversity leads to many great and extraordinary alliances.Aidan and Margie Hills have been in the neighborhood since WWII. They are upstanding model citizens. Their best friend and de facto son, Troy, is the mirror image of most that is good.Troy was born and raised in the neighborhood. Like father like son, Troy is a one-percenter, a motorcycle outlaw. He has never worked a traditional job in his life, yet is highly paid for what he does.The Hilles are desperate, their teenage grandson whom they have raised as their own son has run away. Up until now he has been a trouble-free young man, but bad company corrupts good manners as the Good Book says. Or, as Aidan would put it, “You run with dogs, you’ll get fleas.” Aaron recently took up with the Goths, kids with an over-familiarity to death and dead things.The Hilles realize they should have called Troy earlier.Can Troy track down one runaway in a city of seven million? Can he ‘bring’ him home? All in one piece...Moonlight began its life as the opening chapter of my soon to come crime novel, Flatline. It was eighty-sixed for not fitting in.I enjoyed this part of the story, and I think you will too.All the elements and scenes in this story, to one degree or another, come from my own experiences.

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  • 706

    Doom Comes for a Sold Soul

      M. K. Theodoratus
     Doom Comes for a Sold Soul

Demons are coming to take Dr. Allsdipp, a Nobel Prize Winner, away. He doesn't want to go, and his fight to keep his soul has made him the oldest person alive. Grant Highgrim, a down and out reporter, has a chance to become a real reporter again--if he can interview the oldest man alive, but first, he must save the geezer from a legion of beetle-demons coming to claim his soul.Not only is Grant Highgrim about to be evicted from his apartment for nonpayment, his career as a reporter is on the line. When he learns the world’s oldest living man—the reclusive 150-year-old Nobel Prize winner Dr Henry Allsdipp—Highgrim is determined to interview him. He thinks he has found a way to get his floundering career on track. All he has to do is to persuade Allsdipp to reveal the secret of his long life.On the day that Highgrim arrives to interview the ill-tempered recluse, everything goes wrong. A horde of demon beetles invades the home, seeking just one thing--Henry Allsdipp’s soul. Highgrim must conquer his irrational fear of insects to save the old man and his own future at the same time.How can he save the cranky Allsdipp from the demons coming to take him away?

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    Plague Ship

      Clive Cussler
     Plague Ship

"For four novels, Clive Cussler has charted the exploits of the Oregon, a covert ship completely dilapidated on the outside but on the inside packed with sophisticated weaponry and intelligence-gathering equipment. Captained by the rakish, one-legged Juan Cabrillo and manned by a crew of former military and spy personnel, it is a private enterprise, available for any government agency that can afford it - and now Cussler sends the Oregon on its most extraordinary mission yet." The crew has just completed a top secret mission against Iran in the Persian Gulf when they come across a cruise ship adrift at sea. Hundreds of bodies litter its deck, and, as Cabrillo tries to determine what happened, explosions rack the length of the ship. Barely able to escape with his own life and that of the liner's sole survivor, Cabrillo finds himself plunged into a mystery as intricate - and as perilous - as any he has ever known and pitted against a cult with monstrously lethal plans for the human race ... plans he may already be too late to stop.

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  • 706

    Pair of Knaves

      Alex Brightsmith
     Pair of Knaves

A pair of ultra short stories, almost flash fiction, exploring the murky, ambiguous world of Kathryn Blake through the eyes of two of her associates.John Marchant and Pavel Tomeckova, first introduced in contemporary thriller Viennese Waltz, take centre stage to tell stories of their own.In Scorpion Dance John describes little job in which, for once, he upstages his flamboyant partner, whilst in Hook in the Heart Pavel has another opportunity to explain, as he once explained to Kathryn Blake, how a certain raw recruit first came to the attention of his arm of the service.

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  • 704

    Shattering

      J.D Evies
     Shattering

This is a fictional short story about actual events. It recounts the final emotional changes a man goes through after realizing that everything he’s believed in is just a web weaved from the beginning by men of power that reached the top by deceiving and forging.This is a fictional short story about actual events. It recounts the final emotional changes a man goes through after realizing that everything he’s believed in is just a web weaved from the beginning by men of power that reached the top by deceiving and forging. The unbearable washout he has supported, and the lies he has helped to sponsor fusion in a desperate heart.

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    Worst Case

      James Patterson
     Worst Case

One by one, children of New York's wealthiest are taken hostage. But the criminal doesn't crave money or power--he only wants to ask the elite if they know the price others pay for their luxurious lifestyles. And, if they don't, he corrects their ignorance--by killing them. To Detective Michael Bennett, it becomes clear that these murders are linked and must be part of a greater, more public demonstration. With the city thrown into chaos, he is forced to team up with FBI agent Emily Parker, and the two set out to capture the killer before he begins his most public lesson yet--a deadly message for the entire city to witness. From the bestselling author who brought you the Alex Cross novels comes James Patterson's most action-packed series yet. With the heart-pounding suspense that only Patterson delivers, Worst Casel leave you gasping for breath until the very end. From the shocking first page to the last exhilarating scene, Worst Case is a non-stop thriller from "America's #1 storyteller" –Forbes).

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    Black & Blue

      James Patterson
     Black & Blue

Is Harriet Blue as great a detective as Lindsay Boxer? Harriet Blue, the most single-minded detective since Lindsay Boxer, won't rest until she stops a savage killer targeting female university students. But new clues point to a more chilling predator than she ever could have imagined. BookShots LIGHTNING-FAST STORIES BY JAMES PATTERSON - Novels you can devour in a few hours - Impossible to stop reading - All original content from James Patterson

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  • 704

    BESERK!

      Joseph Martin
     BESERK!

Seven assorted short stories about the supernatural, the unexplored, horror, action, and, romance. They are entertaining with startling twists and turns.And you thought your boss was cold! At the age of 24, Deidre finds herself unemployed with few job skills and a growing pile of overdue bills. When a perky career counselor suggests an open housekeeping position, Deidre knows this could be her only chance for a decent job.She doesn't bother asking many questions...like what the career counselor meant when she said the employer had certain "peculiarities".Deidre is in for a very unpleasant surprise. Not only is her prospective boss a vampire, but he's also cranky, adamantly prefers the telegraph over the telephone and gets dangerous when his prune juice isn't delivered on time. Oh, and he also has a strong fondness for another kind of liquid refreshment, one that he prefers warm and fresh.In this hilarious and satirical short story (approx. 4,300 words), author J. Bennett takes on the wildly popular vampire mythology and gives it a certain grizzled spin. As Deidre will discover, not all vampires are eternally-young , virile romantics who effortlessly keep up with the times. Some of them delight in wearing bow-ties, continue to enthusiastically vote for Eisenhower in each election, and consider the television to be witch magic.Can Deidre make it as a vampire's housekeeper? To find out, she'll first have to survive the job interview!

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    A Deal with Death

      Mahin Khan
     A Deal with Death

What if Death gave you another chance to live? Lester, worn by sickness, lies still on his deathbed, while his sister sits by his side, worried beyond death. With regrets and anxiety draining them, they are joined by Death, and as the end nears, Lester fears for himself and what he is to leave behind. It is all hopeless, until a deal is struck with Death.Another leg on her life journey brings Lolita closer to discovering her true self. Wiley shows what confidence looks like and how to get it and L'ii Kayana demonstrates how to stay present in the moment. These two truckers teach Lolita some of life's lessons not taught by the family members who lived in the bizarre household she called home. Add in bottle rockets, cats and the "Happy Hiker", and this trip is one for the record books.

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    The Rule Of The People

      Christopher Read
     The Rule Of The People

The battle for control of the South China Sea intensifies as Russia and America squeeze China from north and south, their own internal threats not yet resolved. Set immediately after The Trust Of The People, the repercussions of the past move rapidly between Beijing, Moscow and Washington, with Anderson and Markova drawn ever deeper into the complex schemes affecting the Kremlin and U.S. Congress.The battle for control of the reefs and shoals of the South China Sea intensifies as Russia and the U.S. squeeze China from north and south, their own internal threats not yet resolved...Set immediately after the events of The Trust of the People, the story forms the final part of the Conspiracy Trilogy. Covering a chaotic two week period, the repercussions of the past move rapidly between Beijing, Moscow and Washington, the truth invariably nothing more than a political inconvenience.Determined to make sense of the complex schemes played out by those now in power, Michael Anderson’s search for answers inevitably leads him back to Washington’s National Mall, the perpetual struggle between the White House and Congress threatening to spiral into something far more violent than the usual war of words.In the South China Sea, the fight-back against Beijing’s increasing dominance escalates into a bloody war of attrition, the fear that others will ally themselves with America forcing China into a series of desperate gambles. Russia becomes one such gamble, Natasha Markova drawn into a fight for survival as the conflict reopens the divisions within the Kremlin.

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