A richly atmospheric tale of religion, mystery, and intrigue, The Fifth Servant recreates life in the era when Emperor Rudolph II occupied the throne—a time of uncertainty and fear viewed through the eyes of an intrepid rabbinical student on a quest for truth and justice.

    The representatives of the thirteen colonies who approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776 charted a collision course, aware of the obstacles in their path and the risks they were taking. The events that led to their decision took place over a period of nearly 300 years. Looking back, the wonder is that it culminated so quickly. For a century after its discovery, the New World was little more than a lode to be mined by adventurers seeking profits. It wasn't until the end of the sixteenth century that serious efforts were made to establish permanent colonies. Even then, the perils of the journey and threats of starvation inhibited settlement. But settlers gradually came, spurred, in part, by the fear of religious persecution, but above all, drawn by the hope of owning land. They were a mixed lot: English Separatists from Leiden, French Huguenots, Dutch burghers, Mennonite peasants from the Rhine Valley, and a few gentleman Anglicans. But they shared a quality of toughness. Here is their story from award-winning historian Louis B. Wright.

      Harry Turtledove’s many New York Times bestsellers provide an intriguing take on history’s most crucial moments, but he honed his speculative talents in a different genre: fantasy. The Videssos Cycle is the perfect fusion of the two. Collected here are the first two novels of Turtledove’s one-of-a-kind saga, in which a Roman legion is transported to a strange realm where magic rules.   THE MISPLACED LEGION   In a duel for survival, the Roman military tribune Marcus Aemilius Scaurus raises his sword, blessed by a Druid priest, against a Celtic chieftain, who brandishes a blade of his own. At the moment the weapons touch, Marcus and his legion find themselves under a strange night sky, full of unfamiliar stars, where Rome and Gaul are unknown. They are in an outpost of the embattled Empire of Videssos—a world that will test their skill and courage as no soldiers have ever been tested before.   AN EMPEROR FOR THE LEGION   In the capital of Videssos, a coward and betrayer has seized the throne. There, behind great walls that have always made the city impregnable to storm or siege, he rules with the aid of dark sorcery. Overthrowing him seems impossible and the imperial army has already fled in panic from the savage victors. But there is no panic in the legion. Now Marcus Scaurus leads his men through the chaos and enemy hordes in search of winter quarters, to regroup and do the unthinkable: take the untakeable city.

    Buck set in war-time China. Dr. Gray Thompson, an American missionary doctor, works alongside Dr. Sara Durand in a hospital he has built in a small Chinese village, as Japanese forces approach. When Gray returns from a visit to America a trip, he shocks Sara (who is in love with him) by introducing his new socialite wife, Louise. In the midst of bombing attacks on the village, Dr. Thompson continues to help the local residents, and especially the insurgent leader Chen-Ta. To protect the hospital, a high-ranking Japanese prisoner gets a message to the Japanese commander which stops the bombing but, eventually, Japanese paratroopers land in the village, and fierce fighting ensues. China Sky was also the subject of a 1945 movie of the same name. Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938 and was the author of numerous novels, short-stories and works of non-fiction.

    (Heinlein’s novel The Puppet Masters had been serialized in the September through November 1951 issues of Galaxy but Gold had merely acquired serial rights to a contract novel which had been written for Scribner’s.) Heinlein never again appeared in Gold’s Galaxy. This novelette, set in a near-future only subtly different from the McCarthyite and politically menacing present deals with social deterioration, cultural breakdown in a careful, documentary style which becomes terrifying. His romantically-linked leads are emotionally affecting but never sentimentalized, the background of chaos in which they enact their tragic, drowning love, is sparingly but furiously painted. Heinlein’s 1952 is clearly the apotheosis of those “Crazy Years” which he had noted in his famous chronological Future History, published a decade earlier in Astounding Science Fiction as a precis of his intended career. Perhaps no story of this period limns its political and cultural dysfunction as accurately as this novelette. Overshadowed by Heinlein’s juveniles and his famous later novels, The Year of the Jackpot may be the purest version of his portfolio and his most memorable work of less than novel length. It is one of his most exemplary stories and perhaps his best.

    Married life and the social scene in the most fashionable city on earth is everything Anna hoped it would be, but when Emile vanishes without trace and she is evicted, Anna is forced to discover the city’s poverty-stricken dark side of harsh streets and squalid tenements, where the temptation for a penniless young lady to become a kept woman is overwhelming. To make matters worse, war with Prussia looms and Anna and the city she loves will both struggle to survive.

    

    No Sparkles. Serious Snark.REVIEW: "Honestly, this is one of the best books that I've read this year and certainly a new series that I will be following." —Black Lagoon ReviewsBOOK ONE: HARD DAY’S KNIGHTChildren are missing. The police are stumped. Halloween is coming, and an ancient evil is on the horizon. The vampires are the good guys. This is not your ordinary fall weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Vampire private detectives Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood have been hired to save a client from being cursed for all eternity, but end up in a bigger mess than they ever imagined. Suddenly trapped in the middle of a serial kidnapping case, Jimmy and Greg uncover a plot to bring forth an ancient evil. Soon, they’ve enlisted the help of a police detective, a priest, a witch, a fallen angel and a strip club proprietor to save the world. This unlikely band of heroes battles zombies, witches, neuroses and sunburn while cracking jokes and looking for the perfect bag of O-negative.BOOK TWO: BACK IN BLACKVampire detectives Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood investigate a series of assaults plaguing the alleys of Charlotte, North Carolina. The string of hate crimes becomes personal when Jimmy’s just-maybe-main-squeeze Detective Sabrina Law’s cousin is attacked. Helping a lady out could get the boys killed when they end up in Faerie. Before long, they’re up to their butts in trolls, dark fae and a grand battle royale. The odds are against them, but to the boys, this is just another day on the night shift—if the night shift included a steel cage match of supernaturals.BOOK THREE: KNIGHT MOVESEt tu, Vampire? The boys discover they may be tied to a string of serial killings at the college and that they suddenly aren’t the only vampire game in town.The vampire count in Charlotte is at least three. Or more. As far as the unhappy boys are concerned, anything more than two is a crowd not to be tolerated. While tracking down the killer and the competition, they encounter coeds, booby traps (not related to the coeds) and a hirsute bounty hunter with a moon fetish and a bad attitude. To catch the killer, Jimmy will have to survive a dive headfirst into the great unwashed horde of Dorkdom (game night at the local comic shop).What’s a red-blood-drinking vampire to do? His job. Again. Praise for the Black Knight Chronicles—"This is another great book in what will hopefully be a large and successful series. I know I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment." — Indie Book Blog"I love this book. It makes me happy in a way that hasn't happened in a long, long time." —Keryl Raist, Author of Sylvianna

    Locked Doors is the second of her Nurse Hilda Adams stories. Nurse Adams is charged with the care of two young boys in a home full of conundrums. Both parents are fearful but refuse to leave their home and won't say why. The rugs have been rolled up and the furniture piled into the middle of each room. Their anxiety is catching, as Miss Adams too furtively watches for danger as she searches for clues. Why, she wonders, do they lock every door in the house? And who or what is the menace that terrifies them?

    One hundred billion of them, to be precise.In a world where everybody dies but nobody leaves, Myron Vale is the rare individual who completely straddles both sides of the great divide. In fact, he may just be the only one. His strange ability the result of a gunshot to the head while serving as a Portland police officer, a few years later he recovers to forge a new life as private investigator catering to both the living and the dead. His big problem? He can't tell them apart.In this short story prequel to Ghost Detective, the first novel featuring Myron Vale, a house call to an old farmhouse finds Vale investigating the most unlikely of haunted places — a breadbox. What lies inside? It's not at all what Vale expects.Includes an author's note explaining the origin of the story (which lead to the novel), as well as the opening chapter of Ghost Detective.

    In both countryside and towns, from peasants to the bourgeoisie to nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

    A TV cameraman who grew up in a small town just miles away can see what is going to happen next. Frantically, Wes Stewart races to the downed jet and tries to save the pilot’s life. When the plane explodes, Wes escapes without harm—and plunges into a murderous conspiracy.It’s been fifteen years since Wes has been back to the desolate land of his childhood. Now he finds himself up against the U.S. military, the local police, and someone who is tracking his every move. In the moments he spent with the dying pilot, Wes discovered something that could get him killed. But while he tries to untangle a web of lies and secrets surrounding the crash, another danger is stalking him. And this one he will never see coming.

    *** Leon leads a motley crew of companions (and the elephant) from India to Greece, encountering all sorts of dangers and adventures while attempting the long and arduous journey. *** "An amazing narrative vehicle for the display of ... a fairly complete composite of the life and times of which the author writes."-The Chicago Daily Tribune *** "By hybridizing a Middle-Eastern travelogue with an Alexandrine comedy of manners, the author has produced a specimen only slightly less rare then elephants in Westchester-to wit, a historical novel with a sense of humor."-The New York Times

    Check. Haunting castle ruins. Check.Proper English lord for a boyfriend.Well, almost check. Be careful what you wish for…Lucy Merriweather’s supposedly perfect boyfriend attempted to murder her during a visit to Blackford Castle. Falling through time to 1300s medieval England, she lands in a tangled heap at the feet of a tarnished grumpy knight with secrets of his own and no time to spare for a crazy damsel in distress.Book 2: Knight MovesLose yourself in time…A missing sister and totally fishy story.Check.A haunting castle in England.Check.Finding out news that rocks your world.Check. And double check.Be careful when you go searching for answers…Melinda Merriweather’s sister vanished on a trip to England. When someone tries to kill Melinda Merriweather, she knows there’s more to the story of her missing sister. Determined to find out what happened, Melinda lands in England, only to get more than she bargained for.A picture she can’t explain. A wrong turn leading to Falconburgh Castle and a whopper of a storm. Falling through time to 1300s medieval England, she finds herself staring at the pointy end of a wicked-looking sword. A weary knight swoops in and rescues Melinda, only to find out she’s no swooning damsel in distress. Now Melinda’s greatest fear is falling in love and never finding out what happened to her sister.Book 3: Lonely Is the KnightTravel through time... Both sisters lost to the mists of time.Check.Attempted murder.Check.Actually traveling through time to medieval England?Triple check.Beware ghosts trying to help…Charlotte Merriweather didn’t plan to steal the gorgeous low-slung sports car. But in her defense it was just sitting there running, with the door open, beckoning her. A terrible accident sends her traveling through time to 1330 England. Surely the handsome knight of the castle will aid her in the search to find her missing sisters?Henry Thornton has sworn never to marry. Even if he is enchanted by the odd woman he finds washed up on the shore. He'll aid her and send the lady on her way.Or not. As the castle falls under siege trapping Charlotte and Henry within the stone walls, will they risk everything for a chance at a love meant to last forever? The series picks up with the Thornton Brothers in Darkest Knight with four books in that series and more to come!Book 1: A Knight to RememberBook 2: Knight MovesBook 3: Lonely Is the KnightBook 4: Darkest KnightBook 5: Forever KnightBook 6: First Knight Book 7: Last KnightBook 8: coming soon

    The financial and economic crisis has touched the lives of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs and their homes, but many have little understanding of how it happened. Now, in this very accessible report, readers can get the facts. Formed in May 2009, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) is a panel of 10 commissioners with experience in business, regulations, economics, and housing, chosen by Congress to explain what happened and why it happened. This panel has had subpoena power that enabled them to interview people and examine documents that no reporter had access to. The FCIC has reviewed millions of pages of documents, and interviewed more than 600 leaders, experts, and participants in the financial markets and government regulatory agencies, as well as individuals and businesses affected by the crisis. In the tradition of The 9/11 Commission Report, "The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report" will be a comprehensive book for the lay reader, complete with a glossary, charts, and easy-to-read diagrams, and a timeline that includes important events. It will be read by policy makers, corporate executives, regulators, government agencies, and the American people.