Flesh


Richard Laymon - 1987
    But the real horror is not what it looks like, or even what it does to you when it invades your flesh, but what it makes you do to others...

Babbitt


Sinclair Lewis - 1922
    The controversy provoked by Babbitt was influential in the decision to award the Nobel Prize in Literature to Lewis in 1930.

The People's Necromancer


Rex Jameson - 2018
     For thousands of years, mankind warred without magic. Peculiar abilities were buried in history along with the storied paladins and the mysterious dark elves who rarely ventured into human towns. That all changes at the end of the Tranquility Era, when a young man named Ashton accidentally raises his murdered best friend Clayton from the grave. Because of his mistake, Ashton becomes the focus of manhunts, armies, and the King’s judgement, but Ashton is not the biggest problem in the Kingdom of Surdel. The golden age of man is coming to a close and enemies surround the civilized world. Lulled into a false sense of security by isolation and pervasive peace, human lords hatch petty schemes to weaken their rivals and gain favor with the throne. Meanwhile, an ancient darkness stirs beneath the Great Northern Mountains and the orcish hordes grow restless just beyond the Southern Peaks. Out of the chaos at the end of the Tranquility Era, a new breed of hero arrives to forge an age of sorcery and mayhem. And into this chaos comes the Necromancer!

Hard Times


Charles Dickens - 1854
    Published in 1854, the story concerns one Thomas Gradgrind, a "fanatic of the demonstrable fact," who raises his children, Tom and Louisa, in a stifling and arid atmosphere of grim practicality.Without a moral compass to guide them, the children sink into lives of desperation and despair, played out against the grim background of Coketown, a wretched community shadowed by an industrial behemoth. Louisa falls into a loveless marriage with Josiah Bouderby, a vulgar banker, while the unscrupulous Tom, totally lacking in principle, becomes a thief who frames an innocent man for his crime. Witnessing the degradation and downfall of his children, Gradgrind realizes that his own misguided principles have ruined their lives.Considered Dickens' harshest indictment of mid-19th-century industrial practices and their dehumanizing effects, this novel offers a fascinating tapestry of Victorian life, filled with the richness of detail, brilliant characterization, and passionate social concern that typify the novelist's finest creations.Of Dickens' work, the eminent Victorian critic John Ruskin had this to say: "He is entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written; and all of them, but especially Hard Times, should be studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions."

The Black Tulip


Alexandre Dumas - 1850
    But after his powerful godfather is assassinated, the unwitting Cornelius becomes caught up in deadly political intrigue and is falsely accused of high treason by a bitter rival. Condemned to life imprisonment, his only comfort is Rosa, the jailer's beautiful daughter, and together they concoct a plan to grow the black tulip in secret. Dumas' last major historical novel is a tale of romantic love, jealousy and obsession, interweaving historical events surrounding the brutal murders of two Dutch statesman in 1672 with the phenomenon of tulipomania that gripped seventeenth-century Holland.

Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1


D. Wolfin - 2016
    Frantic space exploration became the world's focus, but failed to find a new world for the human race. In desperation, humanity went digital. Minds were scanned, encoded, and transferred to the virtual world of Grandosa. Manual labor and power production were entirely automated. Reproduction among those once human is now a cold, sterile affair fraught with new complications. Regal is a young boy who was born 222 years after the inception of Grandosa. He is what is referred to as a Soulless; someone accused of lacking a soul due to diminished emotions and driven by logic. His parents abandoned him, choosing the Eternal Rest. He is left with no one to rely on other than himself as a series of unfortunate events force him to adjust his outlook on life. Regal's school years teach him that there is more to this world than meets the eye. What he doesn't yet realize is that his future is full of turmoil that will threaten his very existence. His only path through these trials is to rise above, to stand and defend a life that no one other than himself can see.

Four Scarpetta Novels: The Last Precinct / Blow Fly / Predator / The Book of the Dead


Patricia Cornwell - 1996
    Then she receives news that chills her to the core: Jean-Baptiste Chandonne-the vicious and unrepentant Wolfman, who pursued her to her very doorstep-has asked to see her..."Predator" Investigating the disappearance of two sisters in Florida, Dr. Kay Scarpetta follows clues that twist and turn, leading her into the psychopathic depths of a jailed serial killer's mind..."The Book of the Dead" The Book of the Dead is the morgue log, the ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to acquire a new meaning.

The First Men in the Moon


H.G. Wells - 1901
    Cavor soon succeeds in his experiments, only to tell a stunned Bedford the invention makes possible one of the oldest dreams of humanity: a journey to the moon. With Bedford motivated by money, and Cavor by the desire for knowledge, the two embark on the expedition. But neither are prepared for what they find - a world of freezing nights, boiling days and sinister alien life, on which they may be trapped forever.

Hell's Gate


Ernest Dempsey - 2020
    IAA agents have recovered billions’ worth of missing antiquities, have wiped out entire networks of smugglers, and have even solved a murder at the Vatican. Their successes have made headlines from Tokyo to Turin to Tulsa. But some mysteries require deeper investigation—enigmas so puzzling that they’ve defied the explanations of history, science, and faith for millennia. Enter the IAA’s top two researchers, Alex Simms and Tara Watson, among the brightest, most dogged investigators ever to unearth a secret. This husband-and-wife duo has played a key role in every major success at the agency, but they’ve never been tested like this before. Their first assignment? To track down and stop a resurgent order of neo-Nazis who believe a cache of ancient stones holds the key to a new, eternal German Reich. Alex and Tara—whose “weapons” normally include computers, lab equipment, and reference books—are about to face an entirely new brand of war: in the real world, against real criminals…with real guns. They’ll need every bit of skill, luck, and maybe a miracle to stop these madmen who are hell-bent on opening Hell’s Gate. USA Today best-selling author Ernest Dempsey, creator of the popular Sean Wyatt series, unlocks a new realm of danger in this, his first in a new collection of thrillers. Archaeology has gone paranormal. Ernest Dempsey has written and published archaeological thrillers since 2010 and his catalog continues to grow every year. Discover a world of some of the best action adventure fiction Kindle Unlimited has to offer and find yourself stealing a glance at the clock as you burn through the pages late into the night, telling yourself "just one more."

The Dark Chorus


Ashley Meggitt - 2020
    He has never questioned the fact that he can see them. He thinks of them as the Dark Chorus. When he sets out to restore the soul of his dead mother it becomes clear that his ability comes from within him. It is a force that he cannot ignore – the last shard of the shattered soul of an angel. To be restored to the kingdom of light, the shard must be cleansed of the evil that infects it – but this requires the corrupt souls of the living! With the help from Makka, a psychotically violent young man full of hate, and Vee, an abused young woman full of pain, the Boy begins to kill. Psychiatrist Dr Eve Rhodes is seconded to assist the police investigation into the Boy’s apparently random ritualistic killings. As the investigation gathers pace, a pattern emerges. When Eve pulls at the thread from an article in an old psychology journal, what might otherwise have seemed to her a terrible psychotic delusion now feels all too real…Will the Boy succeed in restoring the angel’s soul to the light? Can Eve stop him, or will she be lost to realm of the Dark Chorus?

Level Zero: A Nightmare in Riverton Novel


Dan McDowell - 2021
    A sinister character lurks in an abandoned tunnel just beneath, manipulating Chris as he struggles to walk a fine line between his love for the dark and the macabre and a collapsing marriage.Todd Adams, a manic depressive financial advisor, awakens from a coma along with 53 others, fighting to understand unexplained phantom memories that plague them. As each work to unravel their meaning, they begin to disappear into a labyrinth beneath the hotel at the torment of a bizarre captor. Discovering mutual commonality in an unresolved past, Todd works to lead them out.Will they find the key to freedom?

Family Happiness


Leo Tolstoy - 1859
    Family Happiness (Russian: Семейное счастье [Semeynoye Schast'ye]) is an 1859 novella written by Leo Tolstoy, first published in The Russian Messenger.

Joe Coffin, Season One


Ken Preston - 2014
    Joe Coffin is on his way. And he's mad as hell.Joe Coffin is fresh out of jail, but going straight is the last thing on his mind. The sickos who murdered his wife and child are still out there, and he’s going to get revenge.The problem is, Joe Coffin is in much deeper than he realizes, and his wife might not be as dead as he believes.Violent, gory, profane and explicit, Joe Coffin is for mature readers only.Written in serial form, there are four episodes in Season One, each available individually or as a complete set at a significant price saving.

The Double and The Gambler


Fyodor Dostoevsky - 1846
    The Gambler is a stunning psychological portrait of a young man's exhilarating and destructive addiction to gambling, a compulsion that Dostoevsky–who once gambled away his young wife's wedding ring–knew intimately from his own experience. In chronicling the disastrous love affairs and gambling adventures of Alexei Ivanovich, Dostoevsky explores the irresistible temptation to look into the abyss of ultimate risk that he believed was an essential part of the Russian national character.

Designers Don't Read


Austin Howe - 2009
    He believes “in the wonder and exuberance of someone who gets paid-by clients to do what he loves.” Howe places immense value on curiosity and passion to help designers develop a point of view, a strong voice. He explores the creative process and conceptualization, and delves into what to do when inspiration is lacking. If there’s a villain in these elegant, incisive, amusing, and inspiring essays, it’s ad agencies and marketing directors, but even villains serve a purpose and illustrate the strength of graphic design “as a system, as a way of thinking, as almost a life style.” Howe believes that advertising and design must merge, but merge with design in the leadership role. He says that designers should create for clients and not in the hope of winning awards. He believes designers should swear “a 10-year commitment to make everything we do for every client a gift.” If this sounds like the designer is the client’s factotum, not so. Howe also argues in favor of offering clients a single solution and being willing to defend a great design. Organized not only by topic, but also by how long it will take the average reader to complete each chapter, Designers Don’t Read is intended to function like a “daily devotional” for designers and busy professionals involved in branded communications at all levels. Begun as a series of weekly essays sent every Monday morning to top graphic designers, Designers Don’t Read quickly developed a passionate and widespread following. With the approximate time each chapter might take to read, Designers Don’t Read’s delight and provocation can be fit into the niches in the life of a time-challenged designer. Or it may be hard to resist reading the entire book in one sitting!