An eclectic collection of the year's best reportage, The Best American Crime Reporting 2008 brings together the murderers and the master­minds, the mysteries and missteps that make for brilliant stories, told by the aces of the true-crime genre. This latest addition to the highly acclaimed series features guest editor Jonathan Kellerman, bestselling author of more than twenty crime novels, most recently Compulsion and the forthcoming Bones.Story of a snitch / Jeremy Kahn --A season in hell / Dean La Tourette --I'm with the Steelers / Justin Heckert --House across the way / Calvin Trillin --Caged life / Alan Prendergast --Badges of dishonor / Pamela Collof --Dangerous minds / Malcolm Gladwell --Dean of Death Row / Tad Friend --Tainted kidney / Charles Graeber --Ploy / Mark Bowden --Day of the dead / D. T. Max --Just a random female / Nick Schou --Serial killer's disciple / James Renner --Mercenary / Tom Junod --Murder at 19,000 feet / Jonathan Green

    It’s about getting lost -- that is, it is about losing yourself in a place and a moment. The little things that tether you to what’s familiar are gone, and you become a conduit through which the sensation of the place is felt.” -- from the introduction by Susan OrleanThe twenty pieces in this year’s collection showcase the best travel writing from 2006. George Saunders travels to India to witness firsthand a fifteen-year-old boy who has been meditating motionless under a tree for months without food or water, and who many followers believe is the reincarnation of the Buddha. Matthew Power reveals trickle-down economics at work in a Philippine garbage dump. Jason Anthony describes the challenges of everyday life in Vostok, the coldest place on earth, where temperatures dip as low as minus-129 degrees and where, in midsummer, minus-20 degrees is considered a heat wave.David Halberstam, in one of his last published essays, recalls how an inauspicious Saigon restaurant changed the way he and other reporters in Vietnam saw the world. Ian Frazier analyzes why we get sick when traveling in out-of-the-way places. And Kevin Fedarko embarks on a drug-fueled journey in Djibouti, chewing psychotropic foliage in “the worst place on earth.”Closer to home, Steve Friedman profiles a 410-pound man who set out to walk cross-country to lose weight and find happiness. Rick Bass chases the elusive concept of the West in America, and Jonathan Stern takes a hilarious Lonely Planet approach to his small Manhattan apartment.A brief and awkward tour of the end of the Earth / Jason Anthony --Lost in space / Rick Bass --High in hell / Kevin Fedarko --A kielbasa too far / Ian Frazier --Lost in America / Steve Friedman --Long day's journey into dinner / Elizabeth Gilbert --Arieh / Reesa Grushka --The boys of Saigon / David Halberstam --Hutong Karma / Peter Hessler --Miles from nowhere / Edward Hoagland --Birth of a nation? / Ian Parker --The long way home / Nando Parrado --Do not disturb / Ann Patchett --The magic mountain / Matthew Power --Streets of sorrow / David Rakoff --The incredible Buddha boy / George Saunders --Brazil's untamed heart / Gary Shteyngart --Circle of fire / Andrew Solomon --The lonely planet guide to my apartment / Jonathan Stern --Fantasy Island / Cynthia Zarin

    In this exuberantly praised book — a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supposed fun of traveling aboard a Caribbean luxury cruiseliner — David Foster Wallace brings to nonfiction the same curiosity, hilarity, and exhilarating verbal facility that has delighted readers of his fiction, including the bestselling Infinite Jest.

    Winston K. Marks (1915-1979) is one such unjustly forgotten author.Included here are 12 science fiction stories, published between 1953 and 1959, representing some of his best work:THE WATER EATER (1953)UNBEGOTTEN CHILD (1953)…SO THEY BAKED A CAKE (1954)BACKLASH (1954)TABBY (1954)BREEDER REACTION (1954)FORSYTE'S RETREAT (1954)MATE IN TWO MOVES (1954)THE TEST COLONY (1954)BROWN JOHN’S BODY (1955)THE MIND DIGGER (1958)THE DEADLY DAUGHTERS (1958)If you enjoy this book, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the more than 100 other entries in the series, covering science fiction, modern authors, mysteries, westerns, classics, adventure stories, and much, much more!

    Featuring stories of fraud, murder, theft, and madness, the Best American Crime Reporting series has been hailed as “arresting reading” (People) and the best mix of “the political, the macabre, and the downright brilliant” (Entertainment Weekly).The color of blood / Calvin Trillin --Breaking the bank / L. Jon Wertheim --Body snatchers / Dan P. Lee --Everyone will remember me as some sort of monster / Mark Boal --The fabulous fraudulent life of Jocelyn and Ed / Sabrina Rubin Erdely --True crime / David Grann --The day Kennedy died / Michael J. Mooney --The Zankou chicken murders / Mark Arax --Mexico's red days / Charles Bowden --Hate and death / R. Scott Moxley --Dead man's float / Stephen Rodrick --Non-lehtal force / Alec Wilkinson --American murder mystery / Hanna Rosin --Stop, thief! / John Colapinto --Tribal wars / Matt McAllester

    What was waiting in the backseat as a hospital security guard moved a patient's vehicle? If you lost your new Littmann, to what extremes would you go to get it back?In this edition, we have weird ideas patients had about sex and reproductive health, hear more from school nurses, and thank our lucky stars we weren't on THAT shift.

    The bears.Canis. The wolves.Draconis. The dragons.Fifteen books filled with stories of love won and lost, tragedies over come and bonds forged in the darkest of times that will stand all tests. Because once these shifters find their true mates, they bite down and won’t let go.Once united against an old foe, the days since victory have seen the three great houses beset by traitors, civil wars, and retreating from the world entirely. The only thing that will help them come together again? The love of a good mate.But finding that love won’t come easy to these shifters. They will have to contend with all sorts of obstacles in their way, including one another! The women of Plymouth Falls aren’t easily swayed, and it will take more than just bulging muscles and chiseled jaw-lines to get these women to help out. They will have to fight for what they believe in, and put paw, claw and wing on the line.But will they be able to show their mates they’re genuine before it’s too late? There's only one way to find out...This box set has all fifteen full-length novels from the world of Plymouth Falls.High House Ursa:Bearing SecretsFurever LoyalMated to the EnemyShifting AlliancesBlood BearonHigh House Canis:Savage LoveBlood MateMidnight BrideShadows HowlRoyal AlphaHigh House DraconisFire Dragon’s BrideMated to the Water DragonIce Dragon’s CaressEarth Dragon’s KissClaimed by the Dragon King

     Paws, Claws & Aww's is a collection of steamy paranormal romance stories hot enough to melt your digital reader. Powerful, sexy, protective and romantic - this collection of stand-alones and series starters is full of sexy, paranormal, Alpha male shifters, witches and mage's to scratch your itch and make you howl! Featuring: Alana Hart - Saving Her Bear (The Bears of Blackrock #1) Never go home again! That's what Mom said - and stay away from that Fenn boy! How could Catherine Calhoun listen when that 'Fenn boy' has haunted her mind - and heart - for ten years? When Catherine finds herself in trouble, it's not the town of Blackrock or the family she left behind so long ago that calls her back. It's him. It's that Fenn boy. The boy whose kisses are her happiest memory. Yet, John Fenn has secrets - the kind that come with sharp claws and teeth. Even a bit of fur couldn't lessen the magic of his kisses, but there is darkness in Blackrock - the very thing that once tore her away from her true love. Will her return be enough to save John from becoming that darkness' next victim? Julia Leijon - Grizzly Guardian Still reeling from her sister's murder, Merryl retreats to Oregon with her nephew Sam. Building a new life for the pair of them is almost enough to distract her from her grief, especially when she faces the problem of how to help Sam learn what it is to be a bear shifter. With nowhere else to turn and no idea what to do, Merryl turns to her impossibly sexy and unattainable crush, Daniel. Daniel just wants to enjoy small town life after a violent past, but if anyone can see through his gruff facade and battle scars, it's Merryl. Helping Sam discover the cub side of his nature helps Daniel rediscover what it means to connect with those around him. For the sake of Merryl and Sam, Daniel will even return to his harrowing FBI work to help solve the murder and find them some peace. Despite a strong mutual attraction between them, a major obstacle blocks their way, and it's one that Daniel can never let Merryl know about: while his human side wants to support her as a friend while she puts her life back together, the bear in him knows with absolute certainty that he has found his fated mate. Knowing how many emotional burdens Merryl is already coping with, Daniel carries this heavy secret alone. But can Merryl convince him that she's tougher than he thinks, and can make her own choices? After each enduring so much cruelty and hardship at the hands of an unkind world, are the two of them still capable of love and trust? Liv Brywood - Midwinter Night's Alpha (Sexy BBW Pagan Holidays #6) His wickedly sexy tongue explored every inch of her trembling lips. Katelyn knows that returning to West Yellowstone for this year's centennial Yule celebration is probably a huge mistake. But after being gone for five years, she misses her old coven. It should be easy enough to avoid her ex-boyfriend, Devin. After all, werewolves usually hibernate during the winter. So when the BBW witch runs into him not five minutes after getting into town, she's convinced she's cursed. She knows better than to trust his rugged good looks and washboard abs. His silver-tipped tongue has ruined her life once before, and she refuses to make the same mistake twice... even if he does look hotter than a gushing geyser. Emma Alisyn - Alphonso's Baby (Clan Conroy Brides #2) Bear shifter Alphonso shunned his mate to protect her from his dark past... but when he discovers her six month old baby is his, will he take the risk in order to raise their child? Always looking over his shoulder for enemies, Alphonso pushed curvy Tamar away after their one, blazing hot night together. "I'm not relationship material, Tam. Don't get stars in your eyes." Only that one night resulted in a secret child, a beautiful baby girl Tamar has been hiding in plain sight for six months. Waiting patiently for him to see the goshdarnit light already. When he discovers her deception, Alphonso knows he has a choice to make. Continue to allow his past to dictate his future, or take a chance on true love and family? Tamar isn't certain her childhood love Al will ever see reason- she knows he did some bad stuff. Especially when that bad stuff shows up in the form of a curvy, exotic ex-girlfriend looking for protection. Tamar isn't going to roll over and play dead, though. She's Head Sow in these parts and no one - not the mysterious beauty, not her father's disapproval, and certainly not the enemies waiting in the shadows to strike - are going to claim what belongs to her without a bloody fight. Terra Wolf - Leaping Through Time (Soul Mate Bureau #2) William has the money to find his mate, but does he have the time... The crazy, old witch says she can send the wealthy, leopard shifter back in time to meet his mate, for a hefty fee. He'll have one week to find her or lose her forever. In a foreign land and a foreign place where his money is useless, he'll need his own wits and animal instincts to find the woman of his dreams. Constance is a woman in a man's world... She makes armour for the gladiators in a world where the men are men and the women are their objects. Constance has long since given up on love when just getting through a gruelling day is challenging enough. When the gorgeous, but wild eyed and crazy, fool in the silly clothes tells her stories of whisking her away to a future of leisure and money, all in exchange for one night of mating, she can't help but want him to not be lying. Another suitor pursues William and isn't willing to share... The beautiful and wealthy Fiona tries to distract William off the trail of his fated mate with her womanly ways and won't take no for an answer. When William is forced to unleash his leopard to try survive, Constance realises that she's unknowingly craved a man like him all along. Will the two of them have enough to survive the past, escape to William's present, and show Constance a future she never thought possible? Tina Talon - Bad Boy Wolf Joshua is a love 'em and leave 'em type of fellow. That is until he bumps into Meagan and everything changes. Meagan isn't used to shifter men and their lustful appetites and stormy tempers, but falls for Joshua anyhow. Can the two of them make a go of it, despite everything that could keep them apart? Christy Rivers - Real Men Are Bears After catching her boyfriend with another woman in their bed, Jess Perkins is blind with rage. The only thing she can think of doing is to take a long drive through the Washington wilderness. Eventually, she finds herself in the small town of Douglas, where the only place that's open is Uncle Ray's Bar and Grill. Jess, a struggling alcoholic, knows she shouldn't stop where temptation lurks. But there's no harm in walking in and ordering a harmless little burger... Thomas Hannity grew up listening to stories about fated mates, but he knows they're only fairy tales. His last relationship was with a human, and it ended badly. When he unexpectedly runs into his ex at work, it sends him into a spiral, and the only balm for his ache is a nice, strong drink at his favourite bar. It's a night just like any other... until a curvy, dark-haired girl wanders in from the cold. A girl that Thomas feels the sudden need to protect the moment he sets eyes on her. She's an independent city girl with a dark past. He's a bear shifter who no longer believes in love. Logically, they make no sense together. But destiny often isn't logical at all. Kellan Larkin - Alpha's Soulmate (Alphas' Fated Mates #1) M/M Gay Shifter Mpreg Romance He took my chin and pressed his lips to mine. Bliss overwhelmed me. This was utterly divine. Tucker's an Omega wolf recovering from a traumatic past. He ran away to Lake City to pursue his passion for journalism. While he knows it's also time to find his Alpha, he's distrustful and wary of emotional intimacy. That changes when he meets Clay. After a broken engagement with an ex-fiancé who stalked and threatened him, Clay buried himself in his work, founding a successful tech company. Now he's ready to move on and find his fated mate. But it turns out his ex isn't quite ready to let him go... When demons from the past threaten to disrupt the pair's growing relationship, Tucker and Clay find that they'll have to fight for their love. We’re going to start off fresh and build something together. We can do this, Tucker. You and me. Tessa Thorn - Dating The Billionaire Dragon (Mail Order Mates #1) "So, you’re the kind of lady who isn’t afraid to find out what a dragon’s like in the bedroom, huh?" Tina Valdez is the curvaceous, successful owner of a boutique bakery and a respected member of her community. There's just one thing missing - a man to share it all with. That changes when she meets real estate tycoon Blake through the shifter dating service Mail Order Mates. Blake the dragon shifter is sweet, sexy, and dominant in the bedroom. And he treats her like the goddess she is. But when anti-shifter prejudice threatens her business, she has to make a hard decision. Can she have it all? Or will she have to choose between her home and heritage and the promise of a new future with Blake? J.S. Wilder - Beared To Him (HoneyPoint Town #1) This is Part one of a Three Part series about HoneyPoint Town. Raine Wilson wants one thing: marriage. Her ex comes back into town after a mutual friend dies and after finally moving on with her life after six years. She finds it hard not to resist temptation to fall for the one that broke her heart. Joe Carlton wants one thing: to avoid his true form. Having to go back home after six years. He can’t resist but show his true form when he sees the luscious curves and earthy brown skin of his mate in the arms of another man. There’s a war coming to HoneyPoint Town and none of the locals know it until Joe starts to fight for the love he once lost. Erica Summers - The Dark Mage's Girlfriend What do you do when your crush turns out to be a Dark Wizard, summoner and binder of demons? Amy works at a supermarket while studying for college. One normal day, she finally gets her chance to ask her crush and neighbour out. She runs after him just as her shift ends. But, in a narrow street, a surprise awaits. The dreamy, aloof man who comes to the shop everyday, whenever she works, turns out to be a mage, and a dark one at that. Can Amy find love or will she be swallowed by his darkness? Kit Fawkes - Playing With Fire (Elementals #1) Curvy fire elemental witch Serafina’s hot temper gets the best of her, leading her to make a mistake during a vengeance spell that accidentally summons a high-level demon to do her bidding instead. Liam appears to help her undo what she’s done, and she’s drawn to the mysterious Guardian of the balance between light and dark magic. He’s intent on tracking down the demon, but her heart isn’t in stopping the vengeance curse just yet. Their attraction is mutual, but will Serafina and Liam find a way to make their relationship work, or will it flash and burn out after the mission binding him to her is complete, and he no longer has a reason to stay?

    For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Lending a fresh perspective to a perennial favorite, Walter Mosley has chosen unforgettable short stories by both renowned writers and exciting newcomers. The Best American Short Stories 2003 features poignant tales that explore the nuances of family life and love, birth and death. Here are stories that will, as Mosley writes in his introduction, "live with the reader long after the words have been translated into ideas and dreams. That's because a good short story crosses the borders of our nations and our prejudices and our beliefs."Dorothy Allison Edwidge Danticat E. L. Doctorow Louise Erdrich Adam Haslett ZZ Packer Mona Simpson Mary Yukari Waters

    However, his main criterion for selecting The Best American Essays 2016 was, in a word, risk. Whether the risks involved championing an unpopular opinion, the possibility of ruining a professional career, or irrevocably offending family, for Franzen, “the writer has to be like the firefighter, whose job, while everyone else is fleeing the flames, is to run straight into them.”The Best American Essays 2016 includes ALEXANDER CHEE, PAUL CRENSHAW, JAQUIRA DÍAZ, LAURA KIPNIS, AMITAVA KUMAR, SEBASTIAN JUNGER,JOYCE CAROL OATES, OLIVER SACKS, THOMAS CHATTERTON WILLIAMS and others JONATHAN FRANZEN, guest editor, is the author of five novels, most recently Purity, and five works of nonfiction and translation, including Farther Away and The Kraus Project. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Künste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. ROBERT ATWAN, the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986, has published on a wide variety of subjects, from American advertising and early photography to ancient divination and Shakespeare. His criticism, essays, humor, poetry, and fiction have appeared in numerous periodicals nationwide.

    In this riveting anthology, a host of celebrated writers explore the complicated role money has played in their lives, whether they’re hiding from creditors or hiding a trust fund. This collection will touch a nerve with anyone who’s ever been afraid to reveal their bank balance.In these wide-ranging personal essays, Daniel Handler, Walter Kirn, Jill McCorkle, Meera Nair, Henry Alford, Susan Choi, and other acclaimed authors write with startling candor about how money has strengthened or undermined their closest relationships. Isabel Rose talks about the trials and tribulations of dating as an heiress. Tony Serra explains what led him to take a forty-year vow of poverty. September 11 widow Marian Fontana illuminates the heartbreak and moral complexities of victim compensation. Jonathan Dee reveals the debt that nearly did him in. And in paired essays, Fred Leebron and his wife Katherine Rhett discuss the way fights over money have shaken their marriage to the core again and again.We talk openly about our romantic disasters and family dramas, our problems at work and our battles with addiction. But when it comes to what is or is not in our wallets, we remain determinedly mum. Until now, that is. Money Changes Everything is the first anthology of its kind—an unflinching and on-the-record collection of essays filled with entertaining and enlightening insights into why we spend, save, and steal.The pieces in Money Changes Everything range from the comic to the harrowing, yet they all reveal the complex, emotionally charged role money plays in our lives by shattering the wall of silence that has long surrounded this topic.

    “The writers in this volume invite us into hidden places: a surgical pathologist’s laboratory, the boxing gym where a college professor and his student learn unexpected lessons about discipline, pain, and growing to adulthood. There are many discoveries to be made here, and I gladly invite the reader to an uncommonly rich and rewarding book.” — Kathleen Norris

    It is our hope that in this anthology you will find a story to love. We come from as varied backgrounds as we do locations. Hawaii to New York, California to Texas, and Texas to Tennessee; we have come together to share our love of storytelling. The characters within these pages are a wondrous mix as well. A flamboyant Knoxville designer, a 1900s investigative reporter, a neurosurgeon, a coroner, a woman dripping of Russian opulence and Parisian elegance, a detective that has simply had enough, and a Tennessee Police Chief all fill the pages and the imagination in Death of Choice. Come along with us to a Children’s Cemetery, 1920’s London, a daisy fresh diner in L.A., a fog shrouded barn, a small town in Tennessee, a Honolulu beach, and meet a collection of short stories from writers that will give you chills, thrills, and a set of tales you will long remember. Our hope is through these intriguing introductions you will discover an author or two you will want to read more of, and get to know better. Each of the authors in this anthology have many more books for you to enjoy. So find that spot where you love to curl up and read, and enjoy this collection of murder, mayhem and mystery. Micheal Maxwell Editor and Compiler September 2015

    McCauleySPILL SITE by Matthew C. FunkA CLEAN WHITE SUN by Mike WilkersonLUCK by Johnny ShawPLUS: an exclusive first look at Tyrus Books upcoming novel from Todd Robinson, THE HARD BOUNCE

    Dubner (the coauthor of Freakanomics) about a high-society silver thief, and an extraordinarily memorable "ode to bar fights" written by Jonathan Miles for Men's Journal after he punched an editor at a staff party. But this year's edition includes a bonus -- an original essay by James Ellroy detailing his fascination with Joseph Wambaugh and how it fed his obsession with crime -- even to the point of selling his own blood to buy Wambaugh's books. Smart, entertaining, and controversial, The Best American Crime Writing is an essential edition to any crime enthusiast's bookshelf.The girls next door / Peter Landesman --The ones that got away / Robert Draper --The family man / Skip Hollandsworth --Mysterious circumstances / David Grann --The virus underground / Clive Thompson --Punch drunk love / Jonathan Miles --The terror web / Lawrence Wright --Anatomy of a foiled plot / Craig Horowitz --To catch an oligarch / Justin Kane and Jason Felch --A long way down / Bruce Porter --Fine disturbances / Jeff Tietz --The silver thief / Stephen J. Dubner --Stalking her killer / Philip Weiss --Social disgraces / Debra Miller Landau --The self-destruction of an M.D. / Neil Swidey --Choirboys / James Ellroy