Description: A compelling look at animal welfare and factory farming in the United States from Mercy For Animals, the leading international force in preventing cruelty to farmed animals and promoting compassionate food choices and policies.
Nathan Runkle would have been a fifth-generation farmer in his small midwestern town. Instead, he founded our nation’s leading nonprofit organization for protecting factory farmed animals. In Mercy For Animals, Nathan brings us into the trenches of his organization’s work; from MFA’s early days in grassroots activism, to dangerous and dramatic experiences doing undercover investigations, to the organization’s current large-scale efforts at making sweeping legislative change to protect factory farmed animals and encourage compassionate food choices.
But this isn’t just Nathan’s story. Mercy For Animals examines how our country moved from a network of small, local farms with more than 50 percent of Americans involved in agriculture to a massive coast-to-coast industrial complex controlled by a mere 1 percent of our population—and the consequences of this drastic change on animals as well as our global and local environments. We also learn how MFA strives to protect farmed animals in behind-the-scenes negotiations with companies like Nestlé and other brand names—conglomerates whose policy changes can save countless lives and strengthen our planet. Alongside this unflinching snapshot of our current food system, readers are also offered hope and solutions—big and small—for ending mistreatment of factory farmed animals. From simple diet modifications to a clear explanation of how to contact corporations and legislators efficiently, Mercy For Animals proves that you don’t have to be a hardcore vegan or an animal-rights activist to make a powerful difference in the lives of animals.
Description: In this enthralling historical thriller set in post—World War II London, detective John Henry Rossett must stop a murderous ex—SS officer as the German occupation of England begins to falter. Working with the SS in German-occupied Britain was never easy for John Rossett. Though he’s returned to his former job, the police inspector has been tainted by his Nazi associations. His suspicious colleagues see him as a collaborator, and he’s unwelcome at his old haunts. But the Germans aren’t done with Rossett. When decorated SS Captain Karl Bauer kills the US consul in Liverpool, then goes on the run, Generalmajor Neumann orders Rossett to find the missing killer—a swift, cunning, and ruthless man known as "the Bear." While the Nazis still maintain control over London, Liverpool is run by criminal networks and the British resistance. A wasteland of burned-out buildings and mountains of rubble, the northern port city is the perfect place for a clever warrior like Bauer to hide. Neumann and Rossett’s search also turns up damning new information: Bauer’s superior, Major Theo Dannecker, has been colluding with the US consul and the British resistance to smuggle large amounts of gold out of the country. As for the Bear, the fervent SS officer has repudiated his allegiance to the crumbling Reich and is now focused on destroying Rossett, the famed "British Lion," one innocent victim at a time. To prevent more deaths and protect Britain, Rossett must trap the Bear and uncover a diabolical conspiracy that has brought Nazi officers and the British resistance together.
Description: In this riveting new William Monk novel, Anne Perry delves into the diverse population of Victorian London, whose disparate communities force Monk to rethink his investigative techniques—lest he be caught in the crosshairs of violent bigotry.
In the course of his tenure with the Thames River Police, Commander Monk has yet to see a more gruesome crime scene: a Hungarian warehouse owner lies in the middle of his blood-sodden office, pierced through the chest with a bayonet and eerily surrounded by seventeen candles, their wicks dipped in blood. Suspecting the murder may be rooted in ethnic prejudice, Monk turns to London’s Hungarian community in search of clues but finds his inquiries stymied by its wary citizens and a language he doesn’t speak. Only with the help of a local pharmacist acting as translator can Monk hope to penetrate this tightly knit enclave, even as more of its members fall victim to identical brutal murders. But whoever the killer, or killers, may be—a secret society practicing ritual sacrifice, a madman on a spree, a British native targeting foreigners—they are well hidden among the city’s ever-growing populace.
With the able assistance of his wife—former battlefield nurse Hester, who herself is dealing with a traumatized war veteran who may be tangled up in the murders—Monk must combat distrust, hostility, and threats from the very people he seeks to protect. But as the body count grows, stirring ever greater fear and anger among the Hungarian émigrés, resistance to the police also increases. Racing time and the rising tide of terror all around him, Monk must be even more relentless than the mysterious killer, or the echoes of malice and murder will resound through London’s streets like a clarion of doom.
Description: From talented debut author Simone Kelly comes this suspenseful novel that crackles with intrigue, sex, and plenty of surprises—perfect for fans of Eric Jerome Dickey and Carl Weber. Meet Jacques Berradi. Moroccan-born and Manhattan-raised, his genuine, sexy-smooth allure goes hand in hand with a unique gift. Since Jacques was young, he has had the ability to read peoples’ energies, communicate with spirit guides, and even catch glimpses of people’s futures. Now a professional “intuitive counselor,” Jacques’s clients pay him handsomely for his insight. Unfortunately, Jacques’s psychic abilities don’t come with an off switch to tune out the world’s noise, nor do they always provide him with easy answers; recently Jacques has begun having dark, alarming dreams about his beloved father, a Moroccan immigrant who died when he was a boy.
Meet Kylie Collins, an adventurous, Miami twentysomething who is trying to find her footing after being laid off from a cushy music industry job. When a mishap brings them together, Kylie is instantly mesmerized by Jacques’s cool demeanor and intuitive abilities, and he’s captivated by her outgoing charm and breezy good looks. Seeking to learn more about her family history—including the identity of the father she’s never known—Kylie visits Jacques’s office to gain some insight about her future, and about her free-spirited and headstrong Jamaican mother, True.
But on the night that they meet, a rolling blackout cuts off power throughout Miami. Kylie and Jacques, and a few of his clients, head to the only place in the neighborhood with enough light to see: Like a Fly on the Wall Detective Agency. There, Kylie serendipitously lands herself the perfect new job as an apprentice private eye.
As partners, Jacques and Kylie are an unstoppable duo. Can Jacques’s intuition reveal the scandalous history of Kylie’s mother and father? Will Kylie’s newfound detective skills uncover evidence about the death of Jacques’s father? And will the chemistry that charges their friendship bubble over into something much, much hotter…?
Description: The author of the critically acclaimed The Book of Jonah explores questions of love and choice, disappointment and hope in the lives of two strangers who meet by chance in this mesmerizing tale that unfolds over one Thanksgiving Day. Adam is a former musician and recovering alcoholic who is home for Thanksgiving for the first time in many years. Surrounded by his parents and siblings, nieces and nephews—all who have seen him at his worst—he can’t shake the feeling that no matter how hard he tries, he’ll always be the one who can’t get it right. Marissa is a flight attendant whose marriage is strained by simmering tensions over race, class, and ambition. Heading to her in-laws for their picture-perfect holiday family dinner, her anxiety is intensified by the knowledge she is pregnant from an impulsive one-night-stand. In an airport restaurant on Thanksgiving morning, Adam and Marissa meet. Over the course of this day fraught with emotion and expectation, these two strangers will form an unlikely bond as they reckon with their family ties, their pasts, and the choices that will determine their way forward. Joshua Max Feldman focuses his knowing eye on one of the last bastions of classical American idealism, the Thanksgiving family gathering, as he explores our struggles to know—and to be—our best selves. Hilarious and heartrending, Start Without Me is a thoughtful and entertaining page-turner that will leave its indelible mark on your heart.
Description: Shortlisted for the Giller Prize • A local schoolteacher is arrested for a heinous crime, leaving his family to wrestle with the possibility of his guilt in this exquisite novel about loyalty, truth, and happiness.
The Woodburys cherish life in the affluent, bucolic suburb of Avalon Hills, Connecticut. George is a beloved science teacher at the local prep school, a hero who once thwarted a gunman, and his wife, Joan, is a hardworking ER nurse. They have brought up their children in this thriving town of wooded yards and sprawling lakes.
Then one night a police car pulls up to the Woodbury home and George is charged with sexual misconduct with students from his daughter’s school. As he sits in prison awaiting trial and claiming innocence, Joan vaults between denial and rage as friends and neighbors turn cold. Their daughter, seventeen-year-old Sadie, is a popular high school senior who becomes a social outcast—and finds refuge in an unexpected place. Her brother, Andrew, a lawyer in New York, returns home to support the family, only to confront unhappy memories from his past. A writer tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist group attempts to recruit Sadie for their cause.
Provocative and unforgettable, The Best Kind of People reveals the cracks along the seams of even the most perfect lives and the unraveling of an American family.
Description: Trish Bailey is on overload trying to deal with a demanding job, an ailing mother, and a healing heart. When a series of unsettling memory lapses leads to a tragic death—and puts Trish under police scrutiny—her world is once again thrown into turmoil.
Detective Colin Flynn isn't certain what to think of the facts he uncovers during his investigation. Did Trish simply make a terrible mistake or is there more to the case than meets the eye? As he searches for answers, disturbing information begins to emerge—and if the forces at work are as evil as he suspects, the situation isn't just dangerous . . . it's deadly.
Bestselling and award-winning author Irene Hannon captures readers with a mind-bending story that will have them doubling back to retrace their steps—and figure out what they missed!
Description: When Aurelie Harcourt's father dies in debtor's prison, he leaves her just two things: his wealthy family, whom she has never met, and his famous pen name, Nathaniel Droll. Her new family greets her with apathy and even resentment. Only the quiet houseguest, Silas Rotherham, welcomes her company.
When Aurelie decides to complete her father's unfinished serial novel, writing the family into the story as unflattering characters, she must keep her identity as Nathaniel Droll hidden while searching for the truth about her mother's disappearance—and perhaps even her father's death.
Author Joanna Davidson Politano's stunning debut set in Victorian England will delight readers with its highly original plot, lush setting, vibrant characters, and reluctant romance.
Description: Becoming a Christian is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to Sarah Hollenbeck. Best because, well, that's obvious. Worst because, up to this point, she's made her very comfortable living as a well-known, bestselling author of steamy romance novels that would leave the members of her new church blushing. Now Sarah is trying to reconcile her past with the future she's chosen. She's still under contract with her publisher and on the hook with her enormous fan base for the kind of book she's not sure she can write anymore. She's beginning to think that the church might frown on her tithing on royalties from a "scandalous" book. And the fact that she's falling in love with her pastor doesn't make things any easier.
With a powerful voice, penetrating insight, and plenty of wit, Bethany Turner explodes onto the scene with a debut that isn't afraid to deal with the thorny realities of living the Christian life.
Description: With our democracy in crisis, many Americans are frightened and uncertain. So, the legendary activist and author of Diet for a Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappé, and organizer-scholar Adam Eichen teamed up to tell the underreported story of a “movement of movements” arising to tackle the roots of the crisis. The authors view the Trump presidency as a symptom of a shocking anti-democracy movement and expose the events that drove us to this crisis. But their focus is on solutions: how people from all backgrounds, committed to an array of social-justice causes, are creating a canopy of hope, what Lappé and Eichen call the “democracy movement.” To save the democracy we thought we had, argue the authors, we must take our civic life to a place it’s never been. The arising democracy movement’s innovative and inspiring strategies are enabling millions of Americans to feel part of something big, historic, and positive. Democracy is not only possible but essential to meet the most basic human needs for power, meaning, and connection; joining the democracy movement is thus a daring and noble undertaking calling each of us.
Description: The Fearless Benjamin Lay chronicles the transatlantic life and times of a singular and astonishing man—a Quaker dwarf who became one of the first ever to demand the total, unconditional emancipation of all enslaved Africans around the world. He performed public guerrilla theater to shame slave masters, insisting that human bondage violated the fundamental principles of Christianity. He wrote a fiery, controversial book against bondage that Benjamin Franklin published in 1738. He lived in a cave, made his own clothes, refused to consume anything produced by slave labor, championed animal rights, and embraced vegetarianism. He acted on his ideals to create a new, practical, revolutionary way of life.
Description: MacArthur award–winning educator, reformer, and author Deborah Meier draws on her fifty-plus years of experience in education to argue that the purpose of universal education is to provide young people with an “apprenticeship for citizenship in a democracy.” Through an intergenerational exchange with her former colleague and fellow educator Emily Gasoi, the coauthors share their experiences working in democratically governed schools and analyze the last several decades of education reform. Reflecting on the trajectory of education and social policies that are leading our country further from rule “of, for, and by the people,” the authors apply their extensive knowledge and years of research to address the question of how public education must change in order to counter the erosion of democratic spirit and practice in schools and in the nation as a whole.
Pepper is getting a dress made for a special occasion. It's the first dress that has ever been made just for her, and she wants it to be perfect. But what pattern is right for her? Pepper is particular, and nothing works at first. Dotted Swiss? Too plain. Houndstooth? Not enough color. Pinstripe? Too glum. As Pepper learns about each fabric, she finds a reason why it's just not the one. Will Pepper ever be able to find the perfect pattern?
Julie Kraulis takes readers on a journey through gorgeous patterns and their origins—from the mountains of Switzerland to the green grass of Scotland—in search of Pepper's ideal pattern. The incredible illustrations make for a dress, a character and a book that are impossible to forget.
One morning, a robot wakes up to find he is missing an arm. He and his robo buddy search inside and outside the house, through a garden, an amusement park, a library and even a candy shop, but it's nowhere to be found. Where can the arm be, and what might make a suitable replacement? A lollipop? A fish bone? How about a fork?
Can You Find My Robot's Arm? humorously invites children to explore the beautiful and intricate hand-cut images of Chihiro Takeuchi.
At the Story Zoo, you get to tell any story you want in front of the live audience, as long as it's about you. And tonight is dog night. So sit back, relax, and let these dogs tell their tales. We've got some hilarious but quite touching stories from dogs of all kinds, including a bulldog who doesn't wanted to be judged by his looks; a bloodhound who loses her power of scent and turns to a dog called Surelick Holmes for help; an energetic poodle who saves the day with her yapping; and a stray who takes fetching to a whole new level.
These stories will make you laugh, make you cry and maybe even make you howl at the moon. Whether you're looking for smart, funny, sweet, sharp, silly or just plain fuzzy, The Story Zoo is going to be your new favorite haunt.
Description: Who are you, if you can’t be what you always expected? A moving coming-of-age tale of prodigy and community, unlikely friendship and growing things.
Twelve-year-old Rose Brutigan has grown seven inches in the last eight months. She’s always been different from her twin brother, Thomas, but now she towers over him in too many ways. The gap in their interests continues to widen as well. Musically talented Rose is focused on winning the upcoming Bach Cello Suites Competition, while happy-go-lucky Thomas has taken up the challenge of growing a giant pumpkin in the yard of their elderly neighbor, Mr. Pickering. But when a serious accident changes the course of the summer, Rose is forced to grow and change in ways she never could have imagined. Along the way there’s tap dancing and classic musicals, mail-order worms and neighborhood-sourced compost, fresh-squeezed lemonade, the Minnesota State Fair — and an eclectic cast of local characters that readers will fall in love with.
Description: When the vuvv first landed, it came as a surprise to aspiring artist Adam and the rest of planet Earth — but not necessarily an unwelcome one. Can it really be called an invasion when the vuvv generously offered free advanced technology and cures for every illness imaginable? As it turns out, yes. With his parents’ jobs replaced by alien tech and no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv’s miraculous medicine, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have to get creative to survive. And since the vuvv crave anything they deem "classic" Earth culture (doo-wop music, still-life paintings of fruit, true love), recording 1950s-style dates for the vuvv to watch in a pay-per-minute format seems like a brilliant idea. But it’s hard for Adam and Chloe to sell true love when they hate each other more with every passing episode. Soon enough, Adam must decide how far he’s willing to go — and what he’s willing to sacrifice — to give the vuvv what they want.
Description: New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War. August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris. But as history tells us, it all happened so differently… Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene? Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…
Description: The old Victorian pier was a thing of beauty until it was allowed to decay. It was where the youth of Oldcliffe-on-Sea would go to hang out. It’s also where twenty-one-year-old Sophie Collier disappeared eighteen years ago.
Francesca Howe, known as Frankie, was Sophie’s best friend, and even now she is haunted by the mystery of what happened to her. When Frankie gets a call from Sophie’s brother, Daniel, informing her that human remains have been found washed up nearby, she immediately wonders if it could be Sophie, and returns to her old hometown to try and find closure. Now an editor at a local newspaper, Daniel believes that Sophie was terrified of someone and that her death was the result of foul play rather than “death by misadventure,” as the police claim.
Description: Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Brand-new stories by: David Abrams, Caroline Patterson, Eric Heidle, Thomas McGuane, Janet Skeslien Charles, Sidner Larson, Yvonne Seng, James Grady, Jamie Ford, Carrie La Seur, Walter Kirn, Gwen Florio, Debra Magpie Earling, and Keir Graff.
Montana is a state that many Americans know very little about, but its criminal dimensions can sometimes run as deep as anywhere else in the country. Whether the setting is urban (or what passes for urban in Montana) or rural, or somewhere in between, the stories in this volume bring the full state to life . . . or death.
From the introduction by James Grady and Keir Graff:
This anthology is a road trip through the dreams and disasters of the true Montana, stories written by authors with Montana in their blood, tales that circle you around the state through its cities and small towns . . . No doubt the state’s beauty will still make the very idea of Montana Noir seem incongruous to some. Noir is black-and-white. Streets and alleys. Flashing neon lighting a rain-streaked window. But while noir was definitely an urban invention, it knows no boundaries. Noir is struggle. It’s doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. It’s being trapped. It’s hubris. It’s being defeated yet going on. Sometimes it’s being defeated and not going on.
Description: How well do you know the people you love…? Best friends Noah Sadler and Abdi Mahad have always been inseparable. But when Noah is found floating unconscious in Bristol's Feeder Canal, Abdi can't—or won't—tell anyone what happened. Just back from a mandatory leave following his last case, Detective Jim Clemo is now assigned to look into this unfortunate accident. But tragedy strikes and what looked like the simple case of a prank gone wrong soon ignites into a public battle. Noah is British. Abdi is a Somali refugee. And social tensions have been rising rapidly in Bristol. Against this background of fear and fury two families fight for their sons and for the truth. Neither of them know how far they will have to go, what demons they will have to face, what pain they will have to suffer. Because the truth hurts.
Description: Ten years after Earth sent messages out into deep space, there has been an answer. Music from distant planet Pud 5 has reached the world’s radios. Are aliens about to invade? No one knows, and almost-eighteen-year-old Derek doesn’t really care, because at a wild end-of-the-world party, Jennifer Novak invited him to play beer pong, and things, well, progressed from there. Derek is in love. Deeply, hopelessly in love. He wants it all — marriage, kids, growing old on a beach in Costa Rica. For him, Jenny is the One. But Jenny has other plans, which may or may not include Derek. So Derek will try anything to win her — even soliciting advice from an alien who shows up in his hometown. This alien may just be the answer to Derek’s problem, but is Derek prepared to risk starting an intergalactic war to get his girl? Just how far is he willing to travel to discover the mysteries of the universe — and the enigma of love? When boy meets girl meets alien, the angst of first love gets an extraterrestrial intervention in a tale both outrageously funny and full of heart.
Description: Trying to move on from her mother’s death and afraid of riding after a bad fall, plucky fourteen-year-old Kit Bridges doesn’t quite know what to expect when her father takes a position at The Covington Academy. a prestigious boarding school in England. Things are looking up when Kit meets her cool, possibly secretly royal new roommate, Anya, and the boys of Covington, like Will, with their charming accents. But she hadn’t anticipated such a strict headmistress as Lady Covington. Or the expectation that every student be a rider. Or the wild horse that she seems to have a strange and special bond with. While navigating new friendships, romances, and an alarmingly austere new environment, Kit needs to figure out whether she’s ready to get back in the saddle. And at the end of the day, it’s hard to tell who will be more changed by her arrival — The Covington Academy or Kit herself.
Description: In the tradition of All The Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale, comes an incandescent debut novel about a young Dutch man who comes of age during the perilousness of World War II.
Beginning in the summer of 1939, fourteen-year-old Jacob Koopman and his older brother, Edwin, enjoy lives of prosperity and quiet contentment. Many of the residents in their small Dutch town have some connection to the Koopman lightbulb factory, and the locals hold the family in high esteem.
Description: A chance to receive an early reading copy of the first picture book from Costa Award nominated Ross Montgomery and bestselling illustrator David Litchfield (The Bear and the Piano). A gentle introduction to death and loss - like a younger, gentler Monster Calls.
Description: lise Hooper’s debut novel conjures the fascinating, untold story of May Alcott—Louisa’s youngest sister and an artist in her own right. We all know the story of the March sisters, heroines of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa herself, Amy March is often the least favorite sister. Now, it’s time to learn the truth about the real “Amy”, Louisa’s sister, May. Stylish, outgoing, creative, May Alcott grows up longing to experience the wide world beyond Concord, Massachusetts. While her sister Louisa crafts stories, May herself is a talented and dedicated artist, taking lessons in Boston, turning down a marriage proposal from a well-off suitor, and facing scorn for entering what is very much a man’s profession. Life for the Alcott family has never been easy, so when Louisa’s Little Women is published, its success eases the financial burdens they’d faced for so many years. Everyone agrees the novel is charming, but May is struck to the core by the portrayal of selfish, spoiled “Amy March.” Is this what her beloved sister really thinks of her? So May embarks on a quest to discover her own true identity, as an artist and a woman. From Boston to Rome, London, and Paris, this brave, talented, and determined woman forges an amazing life of her own, making her so much more than merely “The Other Alcott.”
Description: From the author of Secrets of Nanreath Hall comes this gripping, beautifully written historical fiction novel set during World War II—the unforgettable story of a young woman who must leave Singapore and forge a new life in England. On the eve of Pearl Harbor, impetuous and overindulged, Lucy Stanhope, the granddaughter of an earl, is living a life of pampered luxury in Singapore until one reckless act will change her life forever.
Exiled to England to stay with an aunt she barely remembers, Lucy never dreamed that she would be one of the last people to escape Singapore before war engulfs the entire island, and that her parents would disappear in the devastating aftermath. Now grief stricken and all alone, she must cope with the realities of a grim, battle-weary England.
Then she meets Bill, a young evacuee sent to the country to escape the Blitz, and in a moment of weakness, Lucy agrees to help him find his mother in London. The unlikely runaways take off on a seemingly simple journey across the country, but her world becomes even more complicated when she is reunited with an invalided soldier she knew in Singapore. Now Lucy will be forced to finally confront the choices she has made if she ever hopes to have the future she yearns for.
Description: In this extraordinary debut novel with its deft nod to Dickensian heroes and rogues, Mira Bartók tells the story of Arthur, a shy, fox-like foundling with only one ear and a desperate desire to belong, as he seeks his destiny.
Have you been unexpectedly burdened by a recently orphaned or unclaimed creature? Worry not! We have just the solution for you!
Welcome to the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an institution run by evil Miss Carbunkle, a cunning villainess who believes her terrified young charges exist only to serve and suffer. Part animal and part human, the groundlings toil in classroom and factory, forbidden to enjoy anything regular children have, most particularly singing and music. For the Wonderling, an innocent-hearted, one-eared, fox-like eleven-year-old with only a number rather than a proper name — a 13 etched on a medallion around his neck — it is the only home he has ever known. But unexpected courage leads him to acquire the loyalty of a young bird groundling named Trinket, who gives the Home’s loneliest inhabitant two incredible gifts: a real name — Arthur, like the good king in the old stories — and a best friend. Using Trinket’s ingenious invention, the pair escape over the wall and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and ultimately down the path of sweet Arthur’s true destiny. Richly imagined, with shimmering language, steampunk motifs, and gripping, magical plot twists, this high adventure fantasy is the debut novel of award-winning memoirist Mira Bartók and has already been put into development for a major motion picture.
Description: Ex-bodyguard D Hunter is swept into the City of Angels on a dark mission to find his mysterious grandfather’s killer.
To Funk and Die in LA, the fourth book in the D Hunter crime-fiction series, brings the ex-bodyguard to the City of Angels on a stand-alone mission when his grandfather, businessman Daniel “Big Danny” Hunter, is shot dead in a drive-by. Why would someone execute a grocery store owner? D soon finds there was more to Big Danny’s life than selling loaves of bread. The old man, it turns out, was deeply involved with Dr. Funk, a legendary musical innovator who has become a mysterious recluse.
Most of the novel takes place in the LA neighborhoods of Crenshaw, Koreatown, and Pico-Union—areas where black, Asian, and Latino cultures intersect away from the glamour of Hollywood—and echoes of the 1992 riots play a significant role in D’s investigation. In the tradition of Raymond Chandler and Walter Mosley, D Hunter rides through the mean streets of Los Angeles seeking truth and not always finding justice.
Description: On a hot summer night in the late 1980s, in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, a twelve-year-old African-American girl was sitting on a mailbox talking with her friends when she became the innocent victim of gang-related gunfire. Amid public outcry, an immediate manhunt was on to catch the murderer, and a young African-American man was quickly apprehended, charged, and — wrongly — convicted of the crime. Dick Lehr, a former reporter for the Boston Globe’s famous Spotlight Team who investigated this case for the newspaper, now turns the story into Trell, a page-turning novel about the daughter of an imprisoned man who persuades a reporter and a lawyer to help her prove her father’s innocence. What pieces of evidence might have been overlooked? Can they manage to get to the truth before a dangerous character from the neighborhood gets to them?
Description: A darkly humorous tale with a twist ending
Edmond Bigsnout, lone wolf that he is, loves his solitary cabin in the woods. But lately he's been craving urban rabbit for dinner, so he travels into the city to catch one. Unfortunately, the rabbit has a lot of neighbors—who mistake Edmond for a kind and helpful resident! Perhaps Edmond can become a good neighbor, despite his bad intentions.
Readers of all ages will devour this story about a wolf who decides that if you can't eat them, join them.
Description: An eye-opening look at the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and became an American hero.
Baseball, basketball, football — no matter the game, Jackie Robinson excelled. His talents would have easily landed another man a career in pro sports, but such opportunities were closed to athletes like Jackie for one reason: his skin was the wrong color. Settling for playing baseball in the Negro Leagues, Jackie chafed at the inability to prove himself where it mattered most: the major leagues. Then in 1946, Branch Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, recruited Jackie Robinson. Jackie faced cruel and sometimes violent hatred and discrimination, but he proved himself again and again, exhibiting courage, determination, restraint, and a phenomenal ability to play the game. In this compelling biography, award-winning author Doreen Rappaport chronicles the extraordinary life of Jackie Robinson and how his achievements won over — and changed — a segregated nation.
Description: Die(t) Trying, a new book by the psychologist, Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D., is a character-driven form of weight loss self-help. The book is staged as a murder mystery in which the reader immerses herself in the psychological lives of women who have trouble losing weight.
Die(t) Trying tells the tale of overweight women who have been murdered and what it takes to solve the murders, recover the bodies, and give the victims their lives back. It delivers the kind of weight loss self-help that seeps its way into your psyche without you having to lift a finger.
Murders are committed and the victims live, only to be murdered again and again. As luck would have it, there is a crime-fighter who takes the murdered on a life-saving journey backward from the crime itself to the motive for the crime. The kind of justice handed out is what every overweight woman wishes she could have.
Description: Gaza: a city of contrasts. For most of its recent history Gaza has been seen as a touchstone for the problems of the Middle East. Yet historically Gaza was also a coastal civilization open to the world. Today the Gazans are a uniquely imprisoned people, most unable to travel to the West Bank, let alone Israel – where tens of thousands once worked – and unable to flee in wartime. The surprise is that so many remain courageous, outspoken and steadfast.
From the notorious camps to the factories struggling under economic stranglehold and bombardment, Donald Macintyre brings empathy to an honest and revealing portrait of Gaza – encompassing the tragedy but also the hope, albeit increasingly fragile, for normality. Through the stories of its people and interviews with policymakers, he explains how Gaza became what it is today. On the ground in the world’s biggest prison, he shows us why, given the chance, Gaza has the creativity and resilience to play a positive leading role in both a Palestinian state and the wider Middle East.
Description: In 2008, the renowned violinist Paul Robertson suffered a ruptured aorta. After dying momentarily on the operating table, he remained in a coma for many weeks. During this time, he experienced visions which afforded him a profound insight into the relationship between music and the mind. When he awoke, he found his understanding of the world – and beyond – fundamentally altered.
This surprising and rewarding memoir offers a singular perspective on creative endeavor: the rigors of learning, the challenges of performance and the spiritual nourishment that drives us on. It is a poignant and wise book that draws on a lifetime’s experiences, in both life and death.
Description: One of the advantages of a long-term relationship, is that you can safely offer to share something in a spontaneous act of generosity, in the sure knowledge, based on your experience of the tastes of your partner, that the offer will be refused, and you can then bask in your enjoyment of both the object, and the goodwill generated by your offer. However, even after 19 years, this can go disastrously wrong. Hence today?s "Oh, yes, I would like half of that cheese and onion pasty" debacle.
Ever tried sneaking a banana into the British Library? Struggled with pedestrian etiquette? Been rubbish at life? While others parade tales of their success, Anthony McGowan recalls his failures, giving voice to thoughts and opinions that would otherwise go unheard. The Art of Failing is a love poem to holed socks, unsatisfactory packed lunches, athlete?s foot powder, the eccentrics of the British Library, liver salts, Kierkegaard, Morrissey and the rainy streets of West Hampstead, where an unlucky Northerner finds himself at sea.
Description: A special and important book about staying true to yourself in an age of social media pressure and; forget the fake and keep it real! Savvy advice from professional life coach aimed at 13+ but also perfect for the 20s and 30s Girls fans.
Description: On the verge of losing her laboratory, her savings, and all respect for herself, Pandora (Penny) Yee lands her first contract as scientific consult to the police department. And with seventeen murder cases on the go, the surly inspector is happy to leave her to it. Only she’s going to need to get around, and that means her slightly unhinged adopted brother, Matiu, will be doing the driving. But something about the case spooks Matiu, something other than the lack of a body in the congealing pool of blood in the locked room or that odd little bowl.
Matiu doesn’t like anything about this case, from the voices that screamed at him when he touched that bowl, to the way his hateful imaginary friend Makere has come back to torment him, to the fact that the victim seems to be tied up with a man from Matiu’s past, a man who takes pleasure in watching dogs tear each other to pieces for profit and entertainment.
Hounds of the Underworld blends mystery, near-future noir and horror. Set in New Zealand it’s the product of a collaboration by two Kiwi authors, one with Chinese heritage and the other Māori. This debut book in The Path of Ra series offers compelling new voices and an exotic perspective on the detective drama.
What They’re Saying About Hounds of the Underworld
“…a wild and gruesome treat, packed with mystery, action, and dark humor. Horror fans will devour it!” —Jeff Strand, author of Wolf Hunt
“Filled with an incredible unity of voice and magnificent world building, Hounds of the Underworld was impossible to put down. I was hooked on the first page.” —Jake Bible, Bram Stoker Award-nominated novelist and author of Z-Burbia, Mega, and Salvage Merc One
“A dark tech-noir so near to our future, it could be tomorrow, hard-boiled and hair-raising! One of the best speculative fiction novels ever written.” —Paul Mannering, Engines of Empathy
Description: An East Village Tenement in the Beatdown Mid-’70s New Yorker Magazine Literary Parties, Downtown Punk Bacchanals Love, Music, Blood, and Madness
In 1976, Savage Joy author Robert Dunn (Meet the Annas, Stations of the Cross) moved to New York City, scored a $90-a-month East Village apartment, and got hired at The New Yorker magazine. All life-changing good fortune, and the foundation of this novel, Dunn’s most autobiographical yet. In Savage Joy the narrator, Cole Whitman, straddles his uptown literary world and the budding Lower Manhattan punk scene. When an apartment in his building at 340 East 11th Street opens up, musician Slater Martin moves in, sweeping Cole along into his CBGBs world. Also moving into 340 is Cole’s elegant and mysterious literary editor pal Emily Prosser, whom Cole desires unrequitedly. Cole needs a girlfriend, Slater needs a new band, Emily needs a new life. Together the three of them, along with a fiery female drummer called Sailor and a dweeby bassist, Wendell Walter, get a new punk group going, named, by Cole, Savage Joy. What follows among the five of them is both joyful and savage, a feast of love, music, sex, violence, blood, and madness.
Description: Sinful Pleasures: An Anthology of Erotic Tales
ePub and Mobi files will be sent to winners. PDF on request. Join us as we weave our way from mainstream erotic romance to surreal sex-filled dreamscapes and everything in between, created by some of the best new and established voices in the erotica genre.
List of authors:
Janine Ashbless Ella Scandal Sonni de Soto Jo Henny Wolf Lily Harlem Lady Divine Gail Williams Samantha MacLeod Tony Fyler Ellie Barker Lisa McCarthy
Description: In the summer of 1914, Jane Fairchild, a young English musician, is kidnapped by magic and sent to Spellhaven, an island city ruled by magicians. Here, peace and prosperity are maintained with the assistance of Unseen Spirits bound to the service of the Lords Magician. The Spirits must be kept in good humour by the performance of all kinds of shows, dance, drama and music and Jane is one of many people kidnapped from the outside world and forced to contribute to these entertainments for a set period of service.
Only Jane is having none of it. She will not perform for her kidnapper, Lucian Palafox, but agrees to undertake an apprenticeship with another magician impresario, provided she is taught magic in return. Jane's forays into magic lead her deeper within the mysteries of Spellhaven, her rivalry with Lucian escalates and the quarrels between them grow strong enough to shake the city to its foundations.
This is an EBOOK and is available in PDF, EPUB and MOBI formats.
Description: As her children begin lives of their own, Victory struggles with the loneliness of an empty nest. Just when the city of Limani could not seem smaller, an old friend requests that she come out of retirement for one final mercenary contract—to bodyguard his granddaughter, a princess of the Qin Empire.
For the first time in a century, the Qin and British Empires are reopening diplomatic relations. Alongside the British delegation, Victory and her daywalker Mikelos arrive in the Qin colony city of Jiang Yi Yue. As the Qin weredragons and British werewolves take careful steps toward a lasting peace between their people, a connection between the Qin princess and a British nobleman throw everyone’s plans in disarray.
Meanwhile, a third faction stalks the city under the cover of darkness.
This is not a typical romance. It’s a good thing Victory is not a typical vampire.
Praise for the Steel Empires Series
“Gribble brings the newest generation to the forefront with an adventure reminiscent of Tamora Pierce’s Alanna series. VERDICT: Strong plotting and captivating characters will please fans of fantasy quests.” —Library Journal
“This is a solid first effort that sets the stage for more installments in an intriguing world with complex characters.”—Publishers Weekly
“A deviously raucous romp through a modern world filled with were-creatures, mercenaries, and Victory—a fanged kickass heroine…”—Diana Dru Botsford, author Four Dragons and The Drift
“Strong characters rule in this unique debut. Magic, murder, and mayhem wrapped up in one package—definitely my type of book!”—Maria V. Snyder, The Chronicles of Ixia series
Description: Format: Open, non-DRM file. Winners will be sent a coupon code and the URL of a webpage where they can download the eBook in ePub or Kindle format.
Sabrina had no idea that her life was so deeply rooted in the mystical and the legendary - not until she found herself in the middle of a war between Heaven and Earth, in the company of a handful of creatures whom she had not believed possible before that moment... and not sure on whose side she was on.
Description: Since 1948, Israel has withstood three full-scale invasions on multiple fronts, bloody wars with Palestinian militias, deadly bombings of its diplomatic missions, and hundreds of terrorist attacks within its territory and against its citizens abroad. This violence has inflicted immense suffering and loss on the people of Israel, but the country has emerged from armed conflict with more territory rather than less, while its permanent preparedness for war has ensured that the full weight of Israeli innovation has been thrown behind the country's military, turning it into the most formidable fighting force in the region. In light of Israel's military prowess, its enemies have opened a new front in their war of annihilation: a full-scale political assault on Israel's legitimacy. The Anti-Israel Agenda reveals how the institutions of greatest moral and political influence including Western governments, the campus, the United Nations, and the Church are being turned against Israel in an effort to isolate and cripple the state until it can no longer defend its interests or its people.
Description: Welcome to Willoughby Close… a charming cluster of cozy cottages, each with a story to tell and a happy ending to deliver…
Alice James has been a drifter her whole life, working her way through several foster homes before ending up in Wychwood-on-Lea, feeling anchorless and invisible. When a chance encounter leads to Alice accepting a position as a caretaker and companion to Lady Stokeley, she starts to feel as if she might finally be able to put down some roots and live the way other people do.
Then, Lady Stokeley’s nephew, city banker Henry Trent, storms into Willoughby Manor, seeming to find fault with everything, including Alice. As the next in line to the manor and title, he threatens to upturn everything she’s started to build. But Henry is hiding his own secret fears and weaknesses, as well as a long-running feud with his aunt. A surprising and inconvenient attraction that simmers between them leaves Alice feeling more confused than ever, and Henry torn between duty and desire, fear and love.
When circumstances become even more difficult, both Alice and Henry must decide who they really are, and what they are willing to fight for. Could Alice possibly the next Lady of Willoughby Manor?
Robin Wyatt Dunn, always the poet of beauty and imagination, offers us a work of splendid topography. A dream, as poetry often simulates, is present within this work. Dunn travels the language of the Earth, its peopled history, to remind us (if we read carefully) that art and life are equal synonyms. The special thing about this collection is it is not only astonishing, it is bare and melancholy. They say sad songs achieve the best effects. This vivid verse compilation is sad, drifting, and mournful at once. The poet’s exile is the chief image of the collection—as Christ Himself said, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country.” A poet is home in his work. Here, Dunn both enumerates and interrogates the hidden dream we are too distracted to encompass; as simple souls in the brush, we do not wish to disturb the Universe. Yet Dunn did this for us.
- Dustin Pickering, founder of Transcendent Zero Press
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And so with darkness, I read Dunn's manuscript contemplating my aches dangling free, albeit grisly and vanishing, "I'm leaving Los Angeles...the decision to love is like an old whisker...with my knife to your back...wracked runt and wired to the max". It is rather sardonically discerning to have these lines put into mind of that vexatious, dreamy, pulsating rhythm, the one which we all at some point or another, struggle to disembark from our conscious of atrophy and decay. Yet, somehow, no matter how vast its burgeoning rust and bankruptcy have eroded our remaining faith and goodness, we still carry on in this archival system of scatological shuffle into something far more dwelt in lies and privation, for we are but beings huddling together to pride ourselves the courage in the dark: I am a writer, but you write me.
- Lana Bella, author of Adagio, Finishing Line Press, 2016
Description: Albert Londres, a renowned French journalist, was puzzled by Jewish life in Europe between the two world wars. How could a people so materially impoverished and politically downtrodden achieve such cultural and intellectual excellence? He set out to unlock the mystery by investigating Jewish life in England, Eastern Europe and finally Palestine. His conclusion is laid out in his literary masterpiece, The Wandering Jew has Arrived.
With the publication of The Wandering Jew has Arrived Londres reveals prophetic insights into how the Holocaust could happen a decade before it actually did and many other of the monumental trends in Jewish life in the 20th century!
Description: [ebook format .pdf] Challenging riddles, enigmas, logic problems and mind-benders, all with a Jewish twist.
Jews have always been a puzzling people. In both senses of the word. We have certainly caused consternation and bewilderment over the ages (just contemplate the mysteries of gefilte fish, for example). And we have, by and large, always enjoyed a good intellectual mind-bender. From dreidels to Dungeons & Dragons, Jews have enjoyed a tradition of dreying their kops. And you’ll find plenty that will cause you to do just that in this book. In these pages you’ll find some classic puzzles, lovingly collected over the years. You’ll also encounter brand new ones, created especially for this book. Each contains a bit of a Jewish twist to add to the flavor. But, like they used to say about the rye bread... You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this book! So strain your brain and try your hand at these kosher conundrums, and if you do well, then congratulate yourself and say: Puzzle Tov!
Description: Dirty, dangerous, pristine, and opulent. Welcome to West Marque.
The Call has gone out, summoning the Fifth Wheel to the Holy City, Jonah’s Sword. There, they prepare to take their sacred oath as knights-of-the-realm. The Marshals, the Marshals’ Men and even the High Marshal himself, Ablechance Mainhouse, will attend.
The oath swearing occurs only once every twenty years and is often accompanied by change…and sometimes war.
The realm has enjoyed peace for nearly two decades under Mainhouse but the bitter taste of defeat still lingers in the mouths of his old rivals. Many would like to see the old man removed from the High Seat, including Genevieve Goodregard, the Lady of Seawall.
Genevieve desires to see her husband as High Marshal and herself as High Lady. She has worked hard to this end with the help of the scheming and powerful bishop, Michael.
For Genevieve, the Call is much more than the swearing of an ancient oath. It is a call to action. The chips are down, the important players are gathered, and it is time for her to play her hand. It is a time for her to go All In.
Compostela (Tesseracts Twenty) is an anthology of hard and soft science fiction stories that best represent a futuristic view of the sciences and how humanity might be affected (for better or worse) by a reliance in all things technological.
The stories contained within the pages of Compostela are a reflection of the world we live in today; where science produces both wonders and horrors; and will leave us with a future that undoubtedly will contain both. Journeys to the stars may be exhilarating and mind-expanding, but they can also be dangerous or even tragic. SF has always reflected that wide range of possibilities.
Featuring works by these Canadian visionaries:
Alan Bao, John Bell, Chantal Boudreau, Leslie Brown, Tanya Bryan, J. R. Campbell, Eric Choi, David Clink, paulo da costa, Miki Dare, Robert Dawson, Linda DeMeulemeester, Steve Fahnestalk, Jacob Fletcher, Catherine Girczyc, R. Gregory, Mary-Jean Harris, Geoffrey Hart, Michaela Hiebert, Matthew Hughes, Guy Immega, Garnet Johnson-Koehn, Michael Johnstone, Cate McBride, Lisa Ann McLean, Rati Mehrotra, Derryl Murphy, Brent Nichols, Susan Pieters, Alexandra Renwick, Rhea Rose, Robert J. Sawyer, Thea van Diepen, Nancy SM Waldman.
About the title of this anthology:
For more than 1,000 years, Santiago de Compostela (Compostela means “field of stars”) has attracted pilgrims to walk to the cathedral that holds St. James the apostle's relics. The stories in this anthology in their own way tell the tale of futuristic travelers who journey into the dark outer (or inner) reaches of space, searching for their own connections to the past, present and future relics of their time.
Cyan by Syd Logsdon (EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing)
This book is an eBook, not a physical book.
Description: Colonizing Cyan may be Earth’s last hope for survival..
It took Earth’s last, dying effort, led by Keir Delacroix of the original explorers, to plant a colony on Cyan. Now the new colonists are uneasy in their seasonless paradise. Will destruction come upon them from a renegade explorer and her DNA modified creatures of the torrid zone, or from Saloman Curran, the man whose heartless manipulations brought them here? Or will it come from their own inability to adapt to their new home?
Description: Available in PDF, ePub, and mobi formats.
Entertaining Demons by Daniel I. Russell is at times vicious and at others all too real examination of the realities of being a teenage girl.
Starring in the reality TV show PI: Paranormal Investigations should be a dream come true, but for Molly it’s a nightmare. Between constant filming, unexplained occurrences waking her at all hours, and the scrutiny of her friends and neighbors, she is frustrated and exhausted. Unfortunately, the contract her grandpa signed says she can’t quit and she does need the money. Besides, the show’s host, Samuel, is the only one who wants to help stop the hauntings. Molly decides to ride out the experience, thinking that footsteps and rattling doorknobs in the middle of the night aren’t so bad.
Molly’s wrong.
Demons are making their way to Molly’s quiet English town, intent on shutting down the show. As the darkness converges, Molly is caught in a struggle among demons while desperately fighting to keep her family safe.
Will she survive the night? Find out in Entertaining Demons!
"In Daniel I. Russell's diabolically dark satire Entertaining Demons, the damnation of teenager Molly is big business and the very biggest and baddest of the big brothers is watching. Make a Faustian deal with this book — you won't regret it!" —Greg Chapman, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Hollow House
Description: Get the ARC edition of Kristi DeMeester's debut short fiction collection! Available in PDF, ePub, and mobi formats.
Everything That’s Underneath, Kristi DeMeester’s debut powerful horror collection, is full of weird, unsettling tales that recalls the styles of such accomplished storytellers as Laird Barron and Tom Piccirilli.
Crawl across the earth and dig in the dirt. Feel it. Tearing at your nails, gritty between your teeth, filling your nostrils. Consume it until it has consumed you. For there you will find the voices that have called from the shadows, the ones that promise to cherish you only to rip your body to shreds.
In Everything That’s Underneath, Kristi DeMeester explores the dark places most people avoid. A hole in an abandoned lot, an illness twisting your loved one into someone you don’t recognize, lust that pushes you farther and farther until no one can hear yours cry for help. In these 18 stories the characters cannot escape the evil that is haunting them. They must make a choice: accept it and become part of what terrifies them the most or allow it to consume them and live in fear forever.
“Kristi DeMeester’s wonderfully disturbing Everything That’s Underneath features a cast of characters who are as emotionally raw and authentic as they are haunted. DeMeester’s mothers and daughters, struggling at the edges of a society/economy as cold and uncaring as the universe, succumb in the face of horrors made even more terrifying by their nagging sense of familiarity. A dark, intelligent, relentless collection." — Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock
Description: Maybe dating the good guy, isn’t so bad.
When Rex Somersby’s family matchmaker sets him up with the famous Evelyn Cadeau, he can’t believe his luck. Evelyn is the woman with the perfect Gift—the woman every man wants—while Rex’s own magical ability leaves much to be desired. He travels from Missouri to meet his dream girl in her rural Mississippi home, where Evelyn makes it clear that winning her heart won’t be an easy task. Good thing farm-boy Rex has never been afraid of a little hard work.
Evelyn Cadeau is used to getting her way. As the woman with the most powerful Gift, she knows she can have her pick of anyone she wants. And who she wants is slick, handsome, and off-limits Guy McCallister—not gawky, buttoned-up Rex Somersby. Yet, after an arranged date with Rex takes a dramatic turn, leading to a bottle of wine and sneaking to the creek for a late night skinny dip, she realizes there may be more to by-the-rules Rex than meets the eye.
Just as the young couple start to think their family’s tradition of matchmaking isn’t quite so backward, Rex is drafted to Vietnam. With war threatening to tear them apart, will love be able to save them? Or will it take a bit of magic?
Ash Carter had to leave the Middle East in a hurry. But when he arrives in Singapore he finds himself in the middle of a much bigger problem.
No one knows where, or when, or who but someone is planning an attack. Carter is told to make sure it doesn’t happen. With pressure from politicians and the army and with Chinese Secret Societies watching his every move, he has other plans. He is more interested in finding out who killed his friend.
Description: Have you ever noticed that reading a book on the toilet takes forever? Wouldn’t it be nice to have stories suited to your specific potty needs?
From the mind of critically acclaimed author, Jaimie Engle, comes The Toilet Papers: Places to go, while you Go. This collection of short stories ranges from 50 words to more than 50 pages, separated in categories labeled to fit your bathroom needs: NUMBER ONE, NUMBER TWO, and FARFROMPOOPIN. The idea is to give you, the reader, a great deal of material to read, tailored and categorized to the needs of your intestines and bladder. So go ahead, get comfortable, pull out your Squatty Potty® and enjoy some fantasy, science fiction, horror, adventure, and humor from the comfort of your own throne…the john…the latrine…your office…the bathroom, whatever you want to call it. Just be sure to wash your hands once you’re done. (This book is endorsed by Squatty Potty®and Dookie the Unicorn approved). This is an epub format.
Description: In the Realm there are whispers. Whispers that the city used to be a different place. That before the Queen ruled there was a sky beyond the clouds and a world beyond their streets.
Vaun Dray Fen never knew that world. Born a prince without a purpose in a Realm ruled by lavish indulgence, unrelenting greed, and vicious hierarchy, he never knew a time before the Queen’s dust drugged the city. Everything is poisoned to distract and dull the senses, even the tea and pastries. And yet, after more than a century, his own magic is beginning to wake. The beautiful veneer of the Realm is cracking. Those who would defy the Queen turn their eyes to Vaun, and the dust saturating the Realm.
From the carnivorous pixies in the shadows to the wolves in the streets, Vaun thought he knew all the dangers of his city. But when whispers of treason bring down the fury of the Queen, he'll have to race to save the lives and souls of those he loves.
Ebook is available in both .Mobi (for Kindle) and .Epub (for most other e-readers). Winners will be emailed a download link.
Description: The world is in the midst of a revolution in military affairs, caused by a shift from symmetric to asymmetric war, the digitization and globalization of information, and the automation of war by robotics and cyber aggression. In this modern environment, a new weapon known as lawfare plays an essential role. Lawfare is the use, or more correctly the misuse, of law as a weapon of combat – to embarrass Western countries, to constrain their armies, and in this way to achieve military objectives. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the world’s leading conflict on this new battlefront. Drawing on the personal stories of soldiers in the Israeli, UK and US armies, and on filings at the International Criminal Court, A Table Against Mine Enemies defines lawfare and related terms through personal stories; explains the four fundamental laws of war on which lawfare attacks are based; details Israel-based examples of lawfare in the separation barrier, the disputed territories, and flotilla attempts to break the blockade against importation of weapons to Gaza; and presents scenarios for the future of war and of lawfare, based on advanced electronics, robotics, cyber attacks, and machine autonomy. Lawfare is in the news every week, and will continue to appear over the coming decades. A Table Against Mine Enemies provides the information essential to understanding this new and revolutionary weapon of war.
Description: Rewind … because part of us will always be seventeen years old.
Karen Alexander lives in California and has it all: teenage children who allow her to be seen in public with them now and then, a successful architect husband who still kind of fits into his I Hate Maggie Thatcher T-shirt, and a teaching career she loves, especially in the school holidays. And she has Carol—her official Best Pal since their days of platform shoes, flicked-out hair, lip gloss shoplifted from Woolworths, Ally’s Tartan Army, and dancing to ABBA and "The Hustle" at the local disco. Thirty-five years later, they worry more about a good foundation to cover the wrinkles, a reliable hairdresser to cover the grey, stylish but comfortable shoes, shapewear that gives them the semblance of a shape, and husbands who fall asleep on the couch. Back in Scotland for a funeral and a cringe-worthy sixtieth birthday party, Karen runs into her teenage crush, Bobby Henderson, the former local punk rocker and all-round bad boy who broke Karen’s sixteen-year-old heart by not noticing her. When he walks into the party in his leather jacket and winks at her, Karen’s heart skips a beat like it was 1978. Is the first cut really the deepest? Has Karen spent the last thirty years with the wrong guy? Can you rewind the tape of love, and if you can, should you?
Description: Traumatized by hallucinogenic voyages to the world of the dead, Peppa Mueller would like nothing more than to spend her life with the man she loves. But she doesn’t trust herself—or her powerful falcon totem. So she hunts. Her search for an unscrupulous weapons dealer takes her to Ireland and her estranged grandmother’s estate. But even as she seeks comfort in the arms of a handsome Irishman, her inner falcon senses the presence of a known and deadly enemy, one with a totem as powerful as her own. The conflict endangers Peppa’s grandmother. The Irishman turns out to have designs of his own. The enemy will stop at nothing to succeed. But the demands of Peppa’s heart may pose the greatest challenge of all.
Description: In both precise short-shorts and ruminative longer tales, Gunnhild Øyehaug meanders through the tangled, jinxed, and unavoidable conflicts of love and desire. From young Rimbaud’s thwarted passions to the scandalous disappearance of an entire family, these stories do the chilling work of tracing the outlines of what could have been in both the quietly morbid and the delightfully comical. A young man is born with an uncuttable umbilical cord and spends his life physically tethered to his mother; a tipsy uncle makes an uncomfortable toast with unforeseeable repercussions; and a dissatisfied deer yearns to be seen. As one character reflects, “You never know how things might turn out, you never know how anything will turn out, tomorrow the walls might fall down, the room disappear.”
Cleverly balancing the sensuous, the surreal, and the comical, Øyehaug achieves a playful familiarity with the absurd that never overreaches the needs of her stories. Full of characters who can’t help tying knots in themselves and each other, these tales make the world just a little more strange, and introduce a major international voice of searing vision, grace, and humor.
Description: For more than seventy-five years, Catwoman has forged her own path in a clear-cut world of stalwart heroes, diabolical villains, and damsels in distress. Her relentless independence across comic books, television, and film set her apart from the rest of the superhero world. When female-led comics were few and far between, Catwoman headlined her own series for over twenty years. But her unique path had its downsides as well. Her existence on the periphery of the superhero world made her expendable, and she was prone to lengthy absences. Her villainous origins also made her susceptible to sexualized and degrading depictions from her primarily male creators in ways that most conventional heroines didn't face.
For good and ill, Catwoman serves as a stark counterpart to the typical evolution of the history of women in comics, and in popular culture generally. Her adventures have charted an inimitably varied journey of empowerment and exploitation. Exploring the many incarnations of this cultural icon offers a new perspective on the superhero genre and showcases the fierce resiliency that has made Catwoman a fan favorite for decades.
This book is an eBook, not a physical book.
