Here, Uncle Oswald gets more than he bargained for in Arabia . . . The Visitor is taken from the short story collection Switch Bitch, which includes three other black comedies which capture the ins and outs, highs and lows of sex (including another Uncle Oswald story, Bitch). 'One of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation.' (The Times ) This story is also available as a Penguin digital audio download read by Richard E. Grant and Derek Jacobi. Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today.

    Jekyll and Mr. Hyde --The Suicide Club --The bottle imp --The body-snatcher --Olalla.

    Four electrifying suspense novels featuring brilliant criminalist and quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme: The Vanished Man, The Twelfth Card, The Cold Moon and The Broken Window.

    6, Sankarea, and Until The Full Moon.

    Short, sardonic, and dark, these six brief fiction stories and one non-fiction piece are consummate Vonnegut with piercing satire and an eye for life’s obscene inanity. Also available for the first time is an unfinished science-fiction short story, included in the appendix. These stories trace trivial human lives and mundane desires, which is precisely where Vonnegut’s inimitable perspective as a humanist shines, illuminating his alternating hopeful and dismal outlook, although undoubtedly focusing on the latter. Here as in his greatest novels, Vonnegut’s writing takes us to the darkest corners of the human soul and with wit and humor, manages to remind us of our potential to be something greater.

    In this toasted tomorrow, the highly-mechanized Puffy Products is bent on producing the supremely lightest loaf. The story is what happens if bread isn't just airy, but pumped full of lighter-than-air helium. Leiber (Ships to the Stars) didn't often bake up such a souffle of spoof, but he's a master in the kitchen. And "Bread Overhead" has just enough to say about human nature to be filling, besides.

    They bury their doubts with their dead.The Annals of the Black Company discounted ebundle includes: The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose, Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, The Silver Spike, Bleak Seasons, She Is The Darkness, Water Sleeps, Soldiers LiveAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    He grew up on Earth convinced he was the last of his kind. He was wrong. Superman, Supergirl, and the half-Kryptonian, half-human clone Superboy must now face their biggest threat: H'El on Earth.

    The daughter of a beloved local football coach, her seemingly senseless murder sparked intense scrutiny that lingers today. Award-winning author Blaine Pardoe and his daughter, Victoria Hester, crack open three decades of material on this mysterious tragedy, exposing dark secrets and political in-fighting that tore at the Battle Creek legal system for years. Compiled from documents, videos and interviews, this book presents the facts and clues of the case to the public for the first time.

    C. Boyle is one of the most renowned storytellers of the modern era. This collection of fourteen stories drifts effortlessly between myth and reality, encompassing a panorama of human emotions. In “The Marlbane Manchester Musser Award,” Boyle reveals a writer’s dismay when a simple trip is turned upside down by a stranger. “Los Gigantes” tells the story of a group of giants being used to create a new breed of soldier for the military. In “The Way You Look Tonight” Boyle examines the way our perceptions of our loved ones can change on a dime with just a simple revelation. And in “Sic Transit” he shows how quickly we can become consumed with curiosity.Boyle travels the world in these and the rest of the stories, from California to Russia, Latin America to upstate New York, but his adept touch at depicting the lives of his characters never wavers.

    First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.The Calling: Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.The Rising: All Maya and her friends have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they're so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control. But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And like it or not, she'll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life

    Dick award and was optioned by Hollywood. He followed this up with two further novels continuing the adventures of Takeshi Kovacs - BROKEN ANGELS and WOKEN FURIES. He also wrote two further standalone SF novels, MARKET FORCES and BLACK MAN (which won the Arthur C. Clarke award).All five of these novels are collected here as the perfect introduction to Richard's work, or a welcome reminder of his power as a writer. Richard has also written two computer games (CRYSIS 2 and SYNDICATE), comics for MARVEL and is currently working on a fantasy trilogy comprising OF THE STEEL REMAINS, THE COLD COMMANDS, THE DARK DEFILES.

    A group called the Free Merioneth Forces have claimed responsibility but there had to be an individual at the end of that missile launcher and Paula is determined to find out who it was.This short story is taken from Manhattan in Reverse, the first short story collection in thirteen years from the master of space opera. Peter F. Hamilton takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a brand new story featuring Paula Mayo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth's Serious Crimes Directorate. Dealing with intricate themes and topical subjects this top ten bestselling author is at the top of his game.The cover image for The Demon Trap was designed by Andrew Parkes as part of a competition run by Pan Macmillan in association with SFX magazine.

    In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk finds himself on the trail of a gruesome murderer who is somehow involved with the works of Coleridge, quantum physics, and the enigmatic study of the Cambridge Professor of Chronology. Ultimately, the stakes of the case are far greater than a single murder, but go to the fate of life on Earth. Confused? Don't be - everything is connected.

    Even more exciting, each of these stories will spin off into a series of its own. Maggie Shayne’s CHRISTMAS BLUESA true believer returns the music to a lonesome drifter’s soul.Miranda’s Shayne’s FINDING CHRISTMASA small-town coffee shop owner melts a humbug hero’s wounded heart.River Shayne’s A HERO FOR HANNAHCan a woman in grave danger learn to trust one more time?Jessica Lewis’s THE SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS BABYA lonely serviceman comes home for a holiday he’ll never forget.Grab a cup of eggnog, curl up near the tree, and fall in love with the holidays all over again!