But when the government bans professional fighting, his life spirals out of control. Convicted of murder, he's sentenced to life in prison. But all of the felons he's ever known have disappeared from Earth, never to return. He's about to find out firsthand what happened to them. He'll have to stay alive amongst Earth’s most ruthless felons if he wants to survive … and become the first man to escape from Oz.

    Teens ranked less than Five are called Monsters and are considered a danger to society. They are forced to attend the Monster Show- a brutal, sacrificial ritual that is broadcast worldwide on live TV. IF you can survive the Monster Show, you become a Ten. That's a big IF- no one has ever become a Ten.In this Episode:Why was Decca Sedated, and Who is Leo, really? Will she survive? And is Woo alive? Who is Xitler and what are his plans with Faya? And Will Decca win? Will she kill Carnivore or will she lose like Woo?

    Iza's father rules the island with a cruel and militant fist, showing little mercy to those who come begging at his docks. Iza chafes under his absolute control, refusing to believe that ruthlessness is the only path to survival. But when zombies breach their compound one night and rebels take her hostage, Iza must decide for herself what it truly takes to survive in a world filled with death and betrayal. Set in the zombie world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Bougainvillea is the story of growing up between two worlds: the living and the dead, the rulers and the ruled, the privileged and the cast off. PLEASE NOTE: this is a short story, not a full novel. It was originally published in the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology and is included in the collection, The Dead and Empty World (also available).

    All of that changes, though, when Lee leads a team of old friends to virtual glory as the first-ever group to beat Mako Assault, a revolutionary new game that has emerged from nowhere to take the Internet by storm. As a reward for their achievement, the group is flown to meet the game’s mysterious designer and assist in developing the follow-on game Mako 2.0. But what they find when they get there is more than they’d expected…much more. Mako’s intent was never to entertain its players. It was to train them.An epic sci-fi thrill-ride of action, suspense, laughter, and romance, Mako is the story of five ordinary people who will have to rise to the challenge of extraordinary events, driven only by their faith in each other. If they can’t, the game will become very real to more than just themselves—the Earth itself may ultimately be at stake.

    When an oil rig drills too deep under the Gulf of Mexico it breaks the capstone separating our world from the UnderRealms - home to monsters, daemons and dark magiks. The nightmares of our long ago come flooding back into the world where they are met by automatic weapons fire, heating seeking missiles (they're hell on dragons, don'tcha know) and one drunken, dissolute son of a bitch called Dave. But this is not Dave's story. This is the story of the poor bastards who had to put up with him while he saved the world and acted like a jerk.

    He’s joined by the genetically engineered assassin, Shasti Rainhell, whose cold perfection masks her dark past. Both are blackmailed by government spymaster, Mandela, into a suicidal mission to the doomed planet Enshar. Leading a team of scientists and soldiers, they must unravel the mystery of that planet’s death before an ancient force reaches out to claim their lives.The classic Planet Stories of S/F have suffered abandonment, without a rescuer, until now. Edward McKeown's "Was Once A Hero" combines adventure and romance with the dark humor and human complexities absent from a more black-and-white age. Robert Fenaday and Shasti Rainhell are real people. They make mistakes, they hurt, they stumble in the dark emotionally, and they save the world. They are flawed, wounded heroes, and they make you realize, as you hungrily turn each page, that the best fiction contains excitement and passion; and the best aspect of life is the possibility of personal redemption. Was Once a Hero provides both." Tim McLoughlin, author of "Heart of the Old Country" (Movie Title: The Narrows) and Editor of "Brooklyn Noir"

    The devils of Hell live in fear of constant demon attacks, and Ash is recruited to help fight. The boy is teamed up with Shiva, the feisty daughter of Satan, and Aura, a pervy man with a dangerous curse. The team's first mission is to track down King Satan's stolen pendant, which might just be Ash's ticket back to Earth as well.

    Then an unexpected message leads him into what could become his greatest – and strangest – case yet, a case whose foundations are inextricably linked to his own past.Rule Zero is a darkly comic thriller packed with psychic spies, prescient journalists, contact clairvoyants, repressed supermen, a lethal cocktail waitress and a roving troupe of ape-like security guards.Britain will never be the same again.

    Women desire him. Men envy him. Despite his charmed life, however, what Dane Bainbridge truly craves is love. But the only woman who sends his heart aflutter and his emotions in turmoil is the "imaginary woman" he has been seeing in mirrors all his life. Meirah resides in a time dimension beyond every mirror. Her world is one of imagination and nightmares, kept alive by the strength of a mortal’s blood. And Dane’s is the strongest, which curses him to life after life of suffering and torture - watching the only woman he could ever love slip away with his sacrifice. Can they break the curse that separates them before they die in a war of worlds never before known?

    Provocatively dressed and elaborately made-up, Marilyn is also very dead. Despite a lack of evidence at the post mortem, DI Piercy is convinced that Marilyn was murdered. A newcomer and a woman in the remote moorland town, Piercy must battle against several prejudices in her determination to find the killer - but could she be wrong? Is it possible that Marilyn Smith's death was not murder at all...?

    My home is London, but I work in the worlds beneath our own, traipsing through places where no one has walked in a thousand years. Except for that time I happened to cross paths with another Seeker. Wealthier than me, less pleasant in disposition...okay, downright angry, especially when I made off with the loot. I didn't expect he'd chase me, but he did, and he's not the only one. Pursued by my foes, outnumbered by enemies, running short on friends, it's all part of the life of a runaway and a treasure hunter.

     An old man, a young armor-wearing girl, and a farm boy walk into a story, and this is what you get; a fantasy series of monsters and mayhem where each day leads them into new troubles and intrigue. Fred is the farm boy, a serf bound to his lord by the debt of his deceased parents. He’s thrown out into the world against his will and into the company of an armored young woman by the name of Pat and her cloaked, bearded companion, Ned. Together they make an unlikely group as they wind their way through troubles with perilous plant monsters, dangerous dog-beasts, and a good book that refuses to be put down. Literally. The Unwilling Adventurer is a fantastical fantasy for lovers of sword and sorcery, action and adventure, panic and pandemonium, and a bunch of other epic adjectives.

    This wild, adventurous epic fantasy series has been compared to books by Anne McCaffrey, Christopher Paolini, Robin Hobb, and more. You're sure to enjoy it if you like clever heroines, epic adventures, wild new worlds, and of course, dragon riding! From the inside flap of book one: Zara Kenrook has a nose for treasure and a knack for trouble. With her business strapped for cash, the ex-thief reluctantly accepts a job stealing a priceless artifact. But when she nabs the wrong precious object, she ends up bonded to a baby dragon for life... Forced into the rider's academy by the dragon rider she tried to rob, she trains by day and looks for a way to reclaim her destiny by night. But when she discovers that her original mission may involve magical objects and a dark purpose, Zara vows to battle a nefarious destiny.

    In its wake, everything changed. Now the sun rises in the south, if it rises at all. Animals go mad. Crops ripen and die overnight. The Church - a body of miracle-workers who can heal the sick and walk through fire - warns that God's final judgment is at hand. THE WORLD WILL SOON END.Now, stories tell of men that speak with beasts and peasants who work their own miracles. The Church decries these heretics, hunting them like animals and demanding the same of the faithful. In a remote village, a small group of childhood friends are caught in the crossfire. Accused of heresy by the Church and sentenced to death, they escape their village as it burns behind them.BUT SOME MAY FIND HOPE.Their Church hunts them. A cursed world assails them. To survive, one of them will learn the true meaning of her beliefs; another, that some portents can be deceiving. But only one revelation has a chance to save them:That they are not forsaken. They have each other.Bestselling Kindle Suspense author Adam J. Nicolai invites you to a land beneath a broken sky, where sorceries clash with miracles, mountains are crowned with lightning, and faith - true faith - can topple empires.

    Which is exactly why Theo Rockman, a.k.a. Prometheus, would rather not go. With his best friend gravely injured and the fate of humanity still on the line, Theo has all sorts of creative excuses to avoid dating swoon-worthy god and love of his life, Hephaestus. YA romantic comedy gets an epic mythological twist in this free m/m romance short story. Being human hasn’t killed Theo, but this date just might.