When she enters their lives, she brings along chaos and mayhem. She desperately seeks the love that her mother, a woman who cares more for drugs than her own flesh and blood, couldn’t give. She only knows how to show and feel love by opening her legs. A night that begins as partying and fun turns into horror. The events that transpire blacken Della’s heart. She vows that the pain inflicted upon her will be inflicted back on her attackers. She will pay them all back - with a vengeance. What happens when her obsession with getting even causes her to spiral out of control?

    In my view, there isn't higher praise than that."--Brian Keene, author of The Rising Meet Delphine, Simone, and Zarina. Together they are the Sisters of the Endless Night. For centuries the coven has traveled the width and breadth of the country, unable to call any one place home for very long. The black magic that has sustained their youth and beauty over the centuries requires frequent ritual human sacrifice. Thus they must move often to avoid detection by those who would oppose them. Now the coven has come to idyllic Wagner Avenue, the very heart of American suburbia. It is here where the alluring witches will face their gravest challenges yet. Dark forces are in motion, the cauldron is boiling, the pentagram is bleeding, and trouble is brewing. The witching hour is here. "Bryan Smith is one of the most reliable and consistently entertaining writers working in the horror and suspense genres."--Ray Garton, author of Live Girls

    Hidden secrets. It may just take a city girl to save the family farm… Jane dreams of marrying her high school sweetheart and raising a brood of kids on his beloved family farm. Despite her parents’ disapproval and her boyfriend’s draft card, she exchanges hurried vows before he ships off to Vietnam. Back on the farm, Jane must fight her own battle with a mother-in-law who frowns on her big city upbringing. Determined to prove she’s cut out for country living, the fiery redhead rolls up her sleeves to explore every inch of the family business. Beneath creaking floorboards and layers of dust, she unearths ghostly secrets… and a rising mountain of debt that threatens to tear her dreams for the future apart. To save the homestead, she schemes up a plan to bring the old farm into the modern age and out of the hands of the collectors. Under the shadow of unsolved mysteries and the critical eye of her mother-in-law, can she hold on to a home-sweet-home worthy of her heroic husband… if he ever returns at all?Bradley Farm is the first standalone romantic mystery in a sweeping family saga series. If you like touching tales of young love, strong-willed heroines, and rustic country backdrops, then you’ll love Mary Jane Forbes’ story of finding your way home. Buy Bradley Farm to sow the seeds of a heartwarming family history today!

    Meanwhile, Bill Butler is roused from his bed and, together with his Knock team, must try to outwit the devious smugglers. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Veteran.

    The doors are locked, the curtains are closed, mattresses are nailed over the windows.They are out there. She might let them in.The children sleep in the bedroom across the hall.Soon she will have to wake them. Soon she will have to blindfold them.Today they must leave the house. Today they will risk everything.

    Scott Fitzgerald.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “This book brings back marvelous memories of a very special time.”—Frank Sinatra Called “a living compendium of a hundred years of social history” by The New York Times Book Review, Peter Duchin has lived through tremendous highs and dismal lows. Orphaned by his glamorous parents, the Newport debutante Marjorie Oelrichs and the famous bandleader Eddy Duchin, he was raised in the privileged, old-money world of Averell Harriman, the diplomat and former governor of New York. He grew up to be one of America’s preeminent bandleaders, effortlessly entertaining and charming partygoers at thousands of society galas, from the White House to Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball. In Ghost of a Chance, he looks back on a life that another man may not have survived. And as he relates the frank, often surprising recollections of the many friends and famous figures who made up the strange family of his youth, Duchin chronicles the changing face of social life in America. Praise for Ghost of a Chance   “A tale told with wit and charm . . . It is a sprightly, engaging, and at times hilarious look back at a life spent in music, show business, and what used to be called society.”—The Boston Globe“A bittersweet gem of a book.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer“Peter Duchin’s glamorous story is about absent fathers, surrogate mothers, and dwelling on the edges of money and power in a tuxedoed world.”—Gay Talese“A great read.”—Frank Sinatra

    They were wrong. On October 15th, humanity went missing. A handful of scattered survivors wake to find the world empty of friends, family, and neighbors. Among them, a child searches for his family. A special agent turned enemy of the state survives a fiery plane crash with no way to reach his daughter. A serial killer discovers he’s no longer at the top of the food chain. Now these strangers must find the strength inside them to weather the new world. But they are not alone. In the absence of civilization, a new threat emerges. In the stillness, it waits and watches, preying on their weakness. Their only hope is to find more survivors, rise above their fear, and face the oncoming darkness.

     Yet in the wake of those final battles comes a reprieve, a new peace maintained by the knowledge that total war is too devastating to even contemplate, that the weapons employed--should they come into common use--would lay waste to the galaxy. Admiral Tanis Richards, the former Field Marshal, wishes nothing more than to retire to her lakehouse and stare out over the rippling waters for a year or two, but knows she cannot. For the greatest enemy that humanity and free AIs have ever faced waits for her at the galactic core. Epsilon, a powerful AI, his nodes filling an entire world, is has his mind bent on remaking the universe, and organic life is not in the blueprint. Though they yearn to enjoy the fruits of their labors, Tanis and her allies must prepare for one final battle against the scions of the human race. They must prepare to fight The Ascension War.

    she must keep it secret, and that means telling lies. Holly hates telling lies. Her latest assignment has brought her to the paradise island of Mauritius where she meets a British couple, Robert and Rosemary, who share a tragic secret of their own. The moment they introduce Holly to handsome writer, Philippe, she begins to fall in love, something she hasn't allowed herself to do for twenty years. But Philippe has not been completely honest and when Holly stumbles across the truth, she feels totally betrayed. "A slice of sheer escapism which packs an emotional punch" Jemma Forte This is the first book in the Liberty Sands trilogy. Read on at the end of this book to find out what happens to Holly next in the preview of If He Really Loved Me..., book two in the series.

    Contains:Not Long Before the EndWhat Good is a Glass Dagger?The Magic Goes AwayUnfinished Story #1and:The Magic May ReturnNotes for a Series of Stories to be Set in the Fantasy World of The Magic Goes Away

    But what emerges from the shadows of the town’s waste plant is beyond anything found in nature.Fist-sized cockroaches. Bird-sized wasps. Spiders, millipedes, ticks, all swollen to enormous bulk with vicious appetites to match. And other things, creatures that should never exist.Through the night they come, slithering, buzzing, scuttling, crawling over skin, burrowing into flesh, making the town their nest.Time is soon running out for Crease and the other survivors, as that hideous skittering noise closes in from all around…

    

    In most of Norton's works, alienated outsiders undertake a journey through which they realize their full potential. Many planets in the books are Earth-like places, where humans can live without special protection, and have extensive flora and fauna which are described in considerable detail and often have substantial bearing on the plot.On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Nobody today is telling better stories of straight-forward interstellar adventure.Included in this volume:Book One: Storm Over Warlock - Stranded on the alien world of Warlock, Shann Lantree's expedition camp has been wiped out by the Throgs, beings so alien that humans have yet to communicate with them. Lantree must quickly learn how to survive under harsh conditions while being chased by the Throgs -- and how to distinguish the real from the dreamed when he meets the mysterious Wyverns. A satisfying and mature novel which readers will seize upon if they want to enjoy a good adventure story...Book Two: Star Born - When the oppressive global dictatorship of Pax took over Earth they put a stop to space exploration. Still, a few rebels escaped in the sleeper ships to found free new colonies -- or perish in the attempt. Those few colonists that reached inhabitable worlds were cut off for centuries, and in that isolation and freedom they developed the mysterious mental powers that "civilization" had all but destroyed...Book Three: Star Hunter - Somewhere on the jungle world of Jumala, there was a man in hiding--a man whose mind had been reconditioned with another's brain pattern and for whom there was a fabulous reward. Star Hunter is a thrill-packed account of that other-worldly game of hide-and-seek between a man who did not know all his own powers and an interstellar safari that sought something no man had a right to find...Book Four: Plague Ship - A fast-moving suspense tale, full of unusual detail and unexpected turns. Several highlights make the book really shine: the sunset gorp hunt on the reefs of an oily sea; a raid on an asteroid's emergency station; and a landing in the Big Burn, resulting in an encounter with the mutant life-forms that reside there...Book Five: Voodoo Planet - Dane Thorson of the space-trader 'Solar Queen' found himself embroiled in a desperate battle of minds between the rational science of the spaceways and the hypnotic witchcraft of the mental wizard that ruled the Voodoo Planet...Book Six: The Gifts of Asti - Varta, the last priestess of Asti, lives alone with Lur, a telepath of the lizardfolk, in Asti's isolated mountain retreat. Decadent Memphir has long since drifted away from the austere paths of Asti, and now the barbarians of Klem are sacking the city, and the smoke of its burning drifts up to the temple...Book Seven: The People of the Crater - "Send the Black Throne to dust; conquer the Black Ones, and bring the Daughter from the Caves of Darkness." These were the tasks Garin must perform to fulfill the prophecy of the Ancient Ones--and establish his own destiny in this hidden land!This are the original and unabridged versions of these tales.

    For almost three years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire, allied under the Khitomer Accords, have contended with the nascent coalition on a predominantly cold-war footing. But as Starfleet rebuilds itself, factions within the Typhon Pact grow restive, concerned about their own inability to develop a quantum slipstream drive to match that of the Federation. Will leaders such as UFP President Bacco and RSE Praetor Kamemor bring about a lasting peace across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, or will the cold war between the two alliances deepen, and perhaps even lead to an all-out shooting war? Raise the Dawn After the disastrous events in the Bajoran system, Captain Benjamin Sisko must confront the consequences of the recent choices he has made in his life. At the same time, the United Federation of Planets and its Khitomer Accords allies have come to the brink of war with the Typhon Pact. While factions within the Pact unsuccessfully used the recent gestures of goodwill—the opening of borders and a joint Federation-Romulan exploratory mission—to develop quantum-slipstream drive, they have not given up their goals. Employing a broad range of assets, from Romulus to Cardassia, from Ab-Tzenketh to Bajor, they embark on a dangerous new plan to acquire the technology they need to take control of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. While UFP President Bacco and Romulan Praetor Kamemor work feverishly to reestablish peace, Captains Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard, and Ro Laren stand on the front lines of the conflict...even as a new danger threatens the Bajoran wormhole as it once more becomes a flashpoint of galactic history. Brinkmanship The Venette Convention has always remained independent, but it is about to become the flashpoint for a tense military standoff between the two power blocs now dominating interstellar space—the United Federation of Planets and the recently formed Typhon Pact. The Venetan government turns to the Typhon Pact’s Tzenkethi Coalition for protection in the new order, and has agreed to allow three of their supply bases for Tzenkethi use. But these bases—if militarized—would put Tzenkethi weapons unacceptably close to Federation, Cardassian, and Ferengi space. While Captain Ezri Dax and the crew of the U.S.S. Aventine are sent to investigate exactly what is happening at one of the Venette bases, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise are assigned to a diplomatic mission sent to the Venette homeworld in order to broker a mutually acceptable resolution. But the Cardassian delegates don’t seem particularly keen on using diplomacy to resolve the situation, which soon spirals out of control toward all-out war. . .

    By the end of the Second World War, however, the reputation of both novels had grown and Faulkner's great fictional creation, Yoknapatawpha County, had become as much a part of America as any real area of the Mississippi landscape. This "Guide" explores the wealth of critical material generated by these two exceptional works of modernist fiction. From the initially mixed critical responses to the novels in the early 1930s, the "Guide" follows the enormous growth of interest in Faulkner's work across six decades. New writings shaped by a range of critical theories are discussed, offering the reader a clear view of the place now given to one of America's most innovative and influential novelists.