and sets in motion this powerful - and unusual - collection of animal stories for adults.There is mystery and terror in the great woodland, and there is love. It is a world where fear and death and the survival of the fittest are the pitiless underlying themes. Though they are loosely linked, the stories are written to be read as separate tales, usually with a single main character: an ugly, love-lost squirrel, a wantonly savage stoat, a bat, a veteran hare running before the hounds. They are suspense thrillers or romantic interludes, pure adventure narratives, even horror stories; they all draw us deep into the stern forest through the elements we share with the animals - cold and dark, rain and sun, suspicion, loyalty, the need for warmth and the safety of shelter - above all, the feeling that, even in a world where death is inevitable, there is always enough to make life worth living.The style is clear, straightforward, often very simple, but there is passion as well as knowledge in the book. It brings the wild creates fiercely to life, in a disturbing way, with menace and unease - but vividly, in a literary debut of great imaginative strength.

    Lawrence offers a gripping novel of the hunted turning upon the hunter. The North American wilderness serves as the backdrop in this electrifying story of suspense and survival, as a magnificent and dangerous white puma relentlessly stalks the men who have taken his family and now seek his death.

    Where they are greedy, he is generous. But for all that Saxton believes in honor and love, kindness and courage, other animals deem him no better than the moniker his kind is fated to bear: Lonely Thief.Meanwhile, Dante, a battle-worn wolf missing an eye and an ear, left his pack for reasons he keeps close to his chest. One too many bad memories has left him cynical, and yet he somehow remains faithful to a fault. His lonely life, plagued by misfortune and dishonor, changes forever the day he meets Saxton.Thrown together by fate, this unlikely duo travel across the North American continent, chasing trains, fighting hunger, evading man, and confronting their own inner demons— all while searching for redemption, family, and a place to call home.

    Now he must survive on his own navigating the treacherous outer fringes of the wolf provinces, dangerously close to where the new predator wages war on the wolf. It is here, in an anarchic enclave where meatdrunk ramblefoots plunder the bountiful treasures of man, that Raspail comes to prominence as a legend among wolves. But Raspail has no interest in power, only Kileo, the love he was torn from. With old foes waiting to assassinate him and Cob Ash recently allied with hostile neighbor Draguignon, Raspail will need to unite the lawless ramblefooots and conquer Cob Ash if he is to ever see Kileo again. With a keen eye for the extraordinary in nature, and a portrayal of wolf culture that is both meticulously researched and then fantastically extrapolated on, Ramblefoot is a thrilling adventure that will immerse you in its sprawling mythology from the first sentence.

    Pedlar, a yellow-necked mouse, has reached that point. Told to leave the Hedgerow and go on a long journey, the adventurous mouse says his farewells and sets out for a far-distant country knows as The House. Reaching his destination, Pedlar enters a strange new world inhabited by many warring tribes: the Stinkhorns of the cellar, the great Savage Tribe in the kitchen, the library Bookeaters, the Invisibles, the Deathshead and the rebellious 13-K Gang.

    (Nancy Pearl)

    He had no idea... Welcome to The Track. An elite club for members whose depraved desires run to the extreme. A place where you can bet on a pony and see how long he can survive...in a deadly scenario decided by a simple spin of the wheel. Step right up. Author's note: "Cliché: Episode Three" is the third installment in an ongoing series. Think literary Netflix! This series of shorts is a follow-up to the novel Numb. However, it can just as easily be enjoyed as a standalone series beginning with episode one. Whichever path you choose, enjoy! Cliche: Episode Three eBook categories: Suspense Thriller Psychological Thriller Crime Fiction Murder Noir Vigilante Justice Suspense Horror Organized Crime Kidnapping Disturbing Hard-boiled Suspense Horror Mystery

    When a colony of ants awakens from winter's Long Sleep, they are shattered to learn killer red ants are destroying everything in their path. Can the tiny colony of ants save their world from the marauders?

    Two unusual black cheetahs share a mental link, one cat coming from the past to reveal scenes from his life with the young pharaoh Tutankhamen, and one struggling to survive in a future world ravaged by ecological disaster.

    If only he could open the door. Nelson whimpers his final goodbye to Rascal, his canine soulmate, their paws almost touching through the heavy glass that separates them. Succumbing to the smoke, his life drifts slowly before him. Nelson was born deep in the French Alps, where his only worries were how snow could be both soft and hard and why it made the house sink. And whose turn it was to fetch the baguettes from the boulangerie. So how could puppy love be so cruel? And how ever did he find himself lost and lonely in England? His dogged wanderings eventually led him to David and his son Timothy, a young boy with autism. Life was once again full of joy. Until now, trapped in the fire, Nelson's luck has surely deserted him. But he can't die yet! He has an amazing tale to tell - and an amazing tail to tell it with. And with Rascal there to help, Nelson has no choice but to survive.

    Troubled and separated from his herd, the whale wants to fulfill his one obsessive desire — to communicate with the human race and learn why they can be both vicious hunters and frolicking playmates.Far away, on a doomed Russian nuclear submarine, Lieutenant Peter Rostov, the sonar officer and a classical musician, is spending what he's sure are his last days listening to the beautiful "sounding" of the whale.In the amazing climax to this unique novel, man and whale come together — and a magnificent destiny is fulfilled."Searls is remarkably eloquent. . . . you'll stand up and cheer." — The Washington Post Book World

    But before that dawn there was a night, and it is in the darkness that souls are made...or broken.

    It's North America, but very little of what you know is the same. The sun still shines and the grass still grows, but there are no people. There are, or perhaps there aren't, twelve Curials -- kit fox, dolphin, raven, lioness, and the rest -- who intervene in the lives of the inhabitants. There are the inhabitants, a myriad of animals: mice, otters, meekrats, and buffalo, to name a few. They live in their towns and cities, pursuing various occupations, having occasional celebrations...and now and then they live in fear.In fear of the Blood Jaguar, the thirteenth Curial, who returns from time to time and visits a horrible plague on the world, nearly killing it entirely. At such times, a fisher, a skink, and a bobcat are somehow impelled to go on a quest to stop her. They always fail. There is no reason to think that this time, of all times, Bobcat will somehow not fail.

    Creggan begins to lose his sense of freedom, as the cage curls around himself, cutting off access to the sky. An older female eagle who's been trapped in the cages for a long time gives Creggan the strength to survive, and the hope of one day escaping this man-made construct.

    In the meantime, miles away, his clan's peaceful existence is devastated by an attack from an unknown cannibalistic species, the Baal. Some of the clan are killed but many more are taken as prey by the Baal to their lands beyond the ice wall. When Golau leads a rescue mission north, Inter species alliances are forged with the Neanderthal and barriers are broken down as the struggle for survival intensifies. Meanwhile back in the clan, hunger and tragedy force the remaining clan members to embrace strange new ideas from a lowly teenage girl and a mentally challenged boy.A final bloody confrontation ensues, but not before Golau unveils the strange ancestry of the Neanderthal, a horrifying, truth about the Baal, and the uncertain future of humanity.