Martin was born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: "The Hero," sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed. Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93. Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West. Volume 1 of "George R. R. Martin: Short Stories" contains the Hugo, Locus Poll and Nebula Award? Winning "Sandkings," and more excellent short science fiction and fantasy.

    This is the scandal they can't ignore.It's a major event in Oakdale -- a black-tie gala honoring the Marron family's fifty years of support for Oakdale's Memorial Hospital. But high spirits are cut short when patron of honor Gregory Marron Jr. is delivered in his limo dead on arrival, from an apparent heart attack. Three women in the crowd have reasons of their own to suspect murder. . . .Event organizer Katie Peretti never understood her boyfriend Mike Kasnoff's reasons for not attending the party -- until now. Wrongly implicated in a crime against the Marrons, Mike served a stiff sentence, and has nursed a simmering rage ever since. Maddie Coleman, the teenaged sister of the limo's driver, Henry, knows that her brother owed Marron thirty-thousand dollars. She also knows he couldn't pay him back, and had only one recourse for permanently erasing the debt. Carly Snyder's suspicions are more personal. The wife of police detective Jack Snyder, Carly was one of Marron's mistresses. In a heated moment she wanted her shameful past dead and buried -- a wish her husband possibly honored.Now Katie, Maddie, and Carly, each of them desperate to protect the man they love, are crossing paths in an investigation that's uncovering more poisonous secrets in Oakdale than they ever imagined. The means, motives, and suspects are shifting with each new twist -- and one of these determined women may not live to see the killer revealed.

    To help Deutsch forestall his death and to learn the secrets of life after death, a team of experts must survive a night in Belasco House, a place known amongst the local townsfolk as "Hell House." The notorious Belasco House starts to exert its dark influence on the group of scientists and spiritualists as they unearth the perverse and wretched secrets from within its walls. Hell House has let them in... but will it ever let them leave?

    Lee SeriesWilkie Collins:The Woman in WhiteNo NameArmadaleThe MoonstoneThe Haunted HotelThe Law and The LadyThe Dead SecretMiss or Mrs?R. Austin Freeman:Dr. Thorndyke SeriesOther MysteriesAgatha Christie:The Mysterious Affair at StylesThe Secret AdversaryH. C. McNeile:Bulldog DrummondThe Black GangG. K. Chesterton:The Innocence of Father BrownThe Wisdom of Father BrownArthur Morrison:Martin Hewitt SeriesDorrington & Hicks StoriesErnest Bramah:Max Carrados StoriesVictor L. Whitechurch:The Canon in ResidenceThrilling Stories of the RailwayThomas W. Hanshew:Hamilton Cleek SeriesE. W. Hornung:A. J. Raffles SeriesMystery NovelsJ. S. Fletcher:Mystery NovelsPaul Campenhaye – Specialist in CriminologyRober Barr:The Triumph of Eugéne ValmontJennie Baxter, JournalistThe Adventures of Sherlaw KombsThe Adventure of the Second SwagFrank Froest Mystery NovelsC. N. Williamson & A. M. Williamson Mystery NovelsIsabel Ostander Mystery Novels

    Rider Haggard's Quatermain series, including 'King Solomon's Mines' and 'Allan Quatermain.' Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.Contents:King Solomon's MinesAllan QuatermainAllan's WifeMaiwa's RevengeMarieChild of StormAllan the Holy FlowerFinishedThe Ivory ChildThe Ancient AllanAllan and the Ice-GodsMagepa the BuckA Tale of Three LionsHunter Quatermain's StoryLong OddsHenry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was an English writer of adventure novels set predominantly in Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. Haggard is most famous as the author of the novels KING SOLOMON'S MINES and its sequel ALLAN QUATERMAIN, and SHE and its sequel AYESHA, swashbuckling adventure novels set in the context of late 19th century Africa. Hugely popular KING SOLOMON'S MINES is one of the best-selling adventure books of all time.This unexpurgated edition contains the complete text, with minor errors and omissions corrected.

    While you may read this in just twenty minutes, each little nugget is only the visible tip of an information iceberg.' In this free ebook sampler to accompany the new book 1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted, come face-to-face with some of the most mind-blowing facts in the QI universe, such as: The sun gets 4 million tons lighter every second; The first scientifically named dinosaur bone was called Scrotum humanum because it looked like a giant pair of human testicles; A 'batman' was a unit of weight in the Ottoman Empire. Ben Affleck weighs about nine batmans; Making all the chain mail for The Lord of the Rings wore the costume designers' fingerprints away.Enjoy the incredible world of QI facts.

    FYODOR MIKHAILOVICH DOSTOYEVSKY [1821-1881] was a Russian writer of novels and short stories .In 1841, he graduated from Saint Petersburg Academy of Military Engineering. In 1845, he published his first novel Poor Folk in the magazine Sovremennik. The poet Nikolai Nekrasov, editor of the magazine, said of Dostoyevsky, "a new Gogol has arisen!" In 1846, he published The Double. It was received with dissaponting reaction. In 1849, he was arrested and sentenced to death for being a member of the Petrashevsky Circle. The sentence was reduced to four years hard labor at a prison camp in Omsk, Siberia. Of the experience he wrote, "In summer, intolerable closeness; in winter, unendurable cold. All the floors were rotten. Filth on the floors an inch thick; one could slip and fall... We were packed like herrings in a barrel...There was no room to turn around. From dusk to dawn it was impossible not to behave like pigs... Fleas, lice, and black beetles by the bushel..." In 1854, and was required to serve five years in the Russian army at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. In 1866, he published Crime and Punishment which made him one of Russia's most popular authors. In 1867, he published The Gambler. He had become a frequent visitor to casinos and wrote the book to pay debts. From 1873 to 1881, he published the Writer's Diary, a magazine of short stories and articles on current events.Many leading authors have been influenced by him including Proust, Faulkner, Camus, Kafka, Kerouac, and Salinger. Hemingway cited his influence in A Moveable Feast. James Joyce said of him, "...he is the man more than any other who has created modern prose ..."

    Then he became a legend. John Wesley Hardin was fifteen when he killed his first man. Before his murderous ways ended, he'd killed forty-two men in cold blood -- one, the legend goes, for snoring. From then on, Hardin stayed true to his calling, living a fever dream of lightning fast draws and flying lead. By seventeen, Hardin had a deadly reputation for killing that drew traitors, backstabbers, and wannabe gunslingers -- all for a chance to gun down the man who had turned killing into an all-American legend.

    This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.

    Presents two classic tales of terror, in which the protagonists put their souls in peril by their criminal activities and hope their evil deeds do not catch up to them.

    He is also dead broke. His vast knowledge and magical skills are unfortunately matched by his talent for making powerful enemies and alienating friends.With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, he accepts an offer of work from Lt. Karrin Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit – a force tasked to deal with the strange cases no one else wants to get involved with, let alone attempt to solve.Harry finds himself pitted against a multitude of supernatural bad guys in this exciting collection – demons, poltergeists, sorcerers, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and even an evil faerie godmother can’t keep a good wizard down!

    He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half. Discover Travis McGee with this special collection of the first three titles of John D. MacDonald's classic series.The Deep Blue Goodbye Travis McGee isn't particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet girl who's been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn't anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake . . . Nightmare in Pink Travis McGee's old army buddy needs a favour. His sister's fiancé has just been murdered in what the authorities claim was a standard Manhattan mugging. But Nina knows better. Travis is determined to get to the bottom of things, but just as he's closing in on the truth he finds himself taken captive. Some people will go to any lengths to make sure their secrets don't get out . . .A Purple Place for Dying Travis McGee isn't sure he wants to help Mona, a woman trapped in a marriage with a wealthy businessman whom she is convinced is stealing from her trust fund. That is until he sees Mona shot dead on the cliffs near her cabin. But when he arrives at the scene, her body is gone. And there's no trace of them ever having met. Will Travis prove that what he saw was real, and unravel a complex murder web, in time to save his own skin?

    

    By the author of the classic book, "Little Women," this long out-of-print collection of heart-warming tales by Louisa May Alcott show why her stories continue to endear this truly great American author to children all over the world.

    I just want to shoot somebody."--Mike Hammer Everybody loves a mystery, and nobody solves them like Mike Hammer. While other detectives bend and manipulate the law, Hammer holds it in total contempt, seeing it as nothing more than an impediment to justice, the one virtue he holds in absolute esteem. Now, the no-holds-barred private eye returns, along with his gorgeous secretary, Velda, and a collection of New York City characters, in two fully dramatized "theater-of-the-mind" audio adventures. "Dangerous Days" and "Oil and Water." "Dangerous Days" - When Hammer rescues a crazed young woman clad only in a medical gown, he's flung into the shadowy world of secret ops and international terrorism. New York is the target, and Mike Hammer is the only man who can prevent a massive catastrophe. But will he find out who the real enemy is before it's too late? "Oil and Water" - The one woman Mike Hammer might have married is back in town. But when she's murdered after making an appointment with her ex-lover, Mike winds up investigating a massive conspiracy involving a powerful oil company. Hammer thinks he's close to the truth, but has he been played for a sucker all along? Narrated by Stacy Keach, the acclaimed actor who starred in the original Mike Hammer TV series, these new mysteries are written by the writers of that show and enhanced with a full supporting cast, sound effects, and music. Even the show's jazzy theme song is back to set the gritty tone for each episode.