But to do it impersonating Santa Claus, on behalf of a nun, handcuffed to a gorgeous hostage--that takes brass...bells.Christmas UnpluggedBy USA Today Bestselling Author JOY NASHTwo sisters, plus two brothers, plus one romantic Christmas weekend at Dutch Lodge with zero electricity. It all adds up to a sleigh load of mix-ups, breakups and happily-ever-after hookups.

    The humble, pixelated games of the ‘70s and ‘80s have evolved into the vivid, realistic, and immersive form of entertainment that now rivals all other forms of media for dominance in the consumer marketplace. For many, video games have become the cultural icons around which pop culture revolves.PRESS START TO PLAY is an anthology of stories inspired by video games: stories that attempt to recreate the feel of a video game in prose form; stories that play with the concepts common (or exclusive) to video games; and stories about the creation of video games and/or about the video games—or the gamers—themselves.These stories will appeal to anyone who has interacted with games, from hardcore teenaged fanatics, to men and women who game after their children have gone to bed, to your well-meaning aunt who won’t stop inviting you to join her farm-based Facebook games.At the helm of this project are Daniel H. Wilson—bestselling novelist and expert in artificial intelligence—and John Joseph Adams—bestselling, Hugo Award-nominated editor of more than a dozen science fiction/fantasy anthologies and series editor of Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy (volume one forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin in 2015). Together, they have drawn on their wide-ranging contacts to assemble an incredibly talented group of authors who are eager to attack the topic of video games from startling and fascinating angles.Under the direction of an A.I. specialist and a veteran editor, the anthology will expose readers to a strategically chosen mix of stories that explore novel video game concepts in prose narratives, such as save points, kill screens, gold-farming, respawning, first-person shooters, unlocking achievements, and getting “pwned.” Likewise, each of our authors is an accomplished specialist in areas such as science fiction, fantasy, and techno-thrillers, and many have experience writing for video games professionally.Combining unique viewpoints and exacting realism, this anthology promises to thrill generations of readers, from those who grew up with Atari 2600s to the console and PC gamers of today.

    Alternate-cover edition can be found here In his second collection, Carver establishes his reputation as one of the most celebrated and beloved short-story writers in American literature—a haunting meditation on love, loss, and companionship, and finding one’s way through the dark.

    For all of Jack Santos' life, he was told that his father was killed in the Vietnam War. Then a twist of fate changes everything he thought he knew, and he discovers that his father isn't dead after all. Now Jack is hungry for everything he can find out about this father, Levi Harper. And the only link he has to the past is through Levi's journals. It is through these journals that Jack discovers who his father really is: his loves, dreams, hopes...and secrets. Can Jack discover the truth about his own life? And can he find the love that will always bring him back to Paradise Bay?

    Just like our marriage." So opens Meg Wolitzer's compelling and provocative novel The Wife, as Joan Castleman sits beside her husband on their flight to Helsinki. Joan's husband, Joseph Castleman, is "one of those men who own the world...who has no idea how to take care of himself or anyone else, and who derives much of his style from the Dylan Thomas Handbook of Personal Hygiene and Etiquette." He is also one of America's preeminent novelists, about to receive a prestigious international award to honor his accomplishments, and Joan, who has spent forty years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop. From this gripping opening, Wolitzer flashes back fifty years to 1950s Smith College and Greenwich Village -- the beginning of the Castleman relationship -- and follows the course of the famous marriage that has brought them to this breaking point, culminating in a shocking ending that outs a carefully kept secret. Wolitzer's most important and ambitious book to date, The Wife is a wise, sharp-eyed, compulsively readable story about a woman forced to confront the sacrifices she's made in order to achieve the life she thought she wanted. But it's also an unusually candid look at the choices all men and women make for themselves, in marriage, work, and life. With her skillful storytelling and pitch-perfect observations, Wolitzer invites intriguing questions about the nature of partnership and the precarious position of an ambitious woman in a man's world.

    Among the first-rate short mysteries in this collection, the brand-new "Garden of Eden" and "Open House" feature the famous sleuthing duo Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. "Bull's-Eye" introduced Cindy Decker to the crime-fiction world, and "Mr. Barton's Head Case" appears here for the very first time in English. In addition, two rare personal essays allow readers glimpses into Kellerman's private life, revealing her true grit in "Small Miracles" and childhood memories of working in her father's deli in the exquisite "Summer of My Womanhood." Compiled at last in one volume, the seventeen pieces in this book feature new introductions by the author and contribute to a unique, compelling portrait of one of America's top masters of suspense. A must-have collection for all mystery fans, The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights showcases how ordinary everyday experiences can be the genesis of extraordinary tales that unveil the darkest sins and secrets of the human heart.

    Instead she got an overbearing landlord, a booty-grabbing boss, and a repo man just waiting for her to park her car in the open. But Carrie's lifetakes a drastic turn for the worse when she's not only fired from her job at L.A. Mutual Bank, but also robbed by the sexiest bank robber alive and evicted from her apartment all in the same day. That's it. No more Miss Nice Chick. Carrie hatches a plan to take back her life - involving skimpy bikinis, semi-automatic weapons and one big bank heist. If Carrie can pull this one off, she just might realize her island dreams after all. That is, if Mr. Sexy doesn't beat her to the big score....AWARDS:Predators & Editors Readers' Poll Award - Best Mainstream Short StoryREVIEWS:"Gemma Halliday has a talent for blending humor with a sense of drama.'Confessions of a Bombshell Bandit' captures how far one will go whenthey are out of options...you will savor every word." - Zoë Knighton,Sensual Reads and Reviews"Gemma Halliday's story will leave the reader howling with laughter!This delightful tale is exceptionally clever as the reader is lulledinto accepting Carrie's viewpoint. Well done!" - Kwips and Kritiques"I also adore Gemma Halliday's 'Confessions Of A Bombshell Bandit',another short story that has me putting the author's name on the topof the list the next time I go bookshopping because I love thisauthor's voice! I love unrepetant Carrie in all her glory and I love this story." - Mrs. Giggles, Book Reviewer

    To be published on the first anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut's death, Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace, imbued with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor.

    These are tales that can be read in their entirety in only a handful of minutes. The stories are submitted by dozens of authors who often set them in the larger worlds of their other books.Stories and Authors in the collection:Mistletoe Cowboy by Trish MilburnAn Ugly Sweater Christmas by Heather McGovernClose to Perfect by Suzanne FerrellTo Santa with Love by Lindsey BrookesA Perfect Party by Anna SugdenThe Miracle of the Child by Bridget HodderMistletoe Magic by D.B. SiedersOn This Christmas Day by Natalie J. DamschroderFashionably Late for Christmas by Tanya MichaelsA SEAL’s Proposal by Tawny WeberWhite Christmas Pizza by Donna MacMeansThe Christmas Before Hell Froze Over by Sally KilpatrickSnowflake by Monica McCabeAn Unexpected Guest by Beth PattilloNew Year’s Magic by Jody WallaceGiving Thanks by Jeanette GreyA Holiday Miracle by Michelle MonkouA Bluestone Christmas Homecoming by M.J. FredrickHaintsgiving by Maureen HardegreeAll She Wants for Christmas by Janice LynnThe Solstice Ball by Nancy NorthcottZombie of Good Cheer by Gretchen StullSnow and Ghosts by Nicki SalcedoA Candle in the Window by Dorien KellyIn Which Miss Gardella Receives Three Gifts by Colleen GleasonA Miracle for Molly by Trish Milburn

    Picador 1988, the famous African Trilogy by the recently late Chinua Achebe, 'the man whose writing redefined Colonialism' Achebe was a towering literary figure whose work always repays the reader.

    Never Change tells the bittersweet story of Myra Lipinsky, a 51-year-old home care nurse and self-acclaimed spinster who finds herself assigned to care for the golden boy she secretly worshipped back in high school. Only Chip Reardon isn't quite so golden these days -- he's dying from a highly virulent type of brain tumor.For Myra, the chance to care for Chip fills her with both pleasure and anxiety, particularly when she realizes that she still has strong feelings for him. At first their reunion is marked by fun, joy, and memories. But then reality kicks in when Chip's old girlfriend, Diann, shows up, and Myra once again finds herself feeling like the fifth wheel she was back in high school. Yet despite slipping into their old roles, the three quickly discover that they have all changed. For Myra, this leads to a bittersweet irony as she finds herself in a loving relationship for the first time in her life -- only to have it be with a man whose days are drastically numbered.

    Whatever else her marriage had lacked, however, she had her son Joseph. She resolved he should have all in life she had missed and to achieve that end, she would stop at nothing.It was Sir Arthur Jebeau, her late husband's brother, who came to her aid, and soon Ellen and Joseph were living at the old fmaily seat at Screehaugh. It was a convenient arrangement, one which Ellen was not slow to recognise could work to her advantage, for Sir Arthur was a widower and Screehaugh had no mistress . . .That was in 1926, but the working out of so many increasingly intertwined destinies would continue for twenty more years and only come to final resolution with Joseph Jebeau's escape from the traumatic heritage of his mother's ruthlelss ambition and his emergence as his own true self.

    

    Join fifteen of today’s most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell.With stories by:J. Anderson CoatsAndrea CremerY. S. LeeKatherine LongshoreMarie LuKekla MagoonMarissa MeyerSaundra MitchellBeth RevisCaroline Tung RichmondLindsay SmithJessica SpotswoodRobin TalleyLeslye WaltonElizabeth Wein

    G. Ballard has provided thoughtful remarks on the state of the world for decades. J.G. Ballard Conversations brings together several of Ballard's latest interviews and gives readers penetrating insight into the mind of one of the freshest thinkers at work today. Covering topics such at the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the evolution of sexual relationships, and our strange, immersive celebrity culture, this book is a fount of provocative takes on the things that matter. Rounded out with rare photographs of Ballard and supplemental resources, J.G. Ballard Conversations is a necessary item for anyone interested in the modern world.