Tony Stark guest-stars in the beginning of "The Coulson Protocols."

    An elite squadron of TIE fighter pilots is assembled to help protect Imperial interests and hammer the Emperor’s fury down upon the treasonous and violent Rebel Alliance. But how far is this untested team willing to go to preserve law and order? And are the pilots of SHADOW WING as loyal to the Empire as they seem? This April, JODY HOUSER (THRAWN, AGE OF REPUBLIC) and ROGÊ ANTÔNIO’s (X-MEN RED) TIE fighter tale chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the heroes of the Empire in the last days of civil war — but what about the heroes of the Rebellion? Be sure to pick up the first book of TIE FIGHTER’s sister novel series, STAR WARS: ALPHABET SQUAD by Alexander Freed. From Del Rey Books, on sale this June.

     ABOUT THE SHORT STORY’S PRICE: Hello, you lovely people. Odd to talk about money straight up, but I know that some of you might be thinking, £1.99/US$2.99/CDN$3.99/A$3.99 is a lot for a short story. Let me explain how it works in the UK. A rate of 20% VAT (Value Added Tax) applies to eBooks. This doesn’t apply to ‘real’ paper books. That means 33p of the £1.99 goes straight to the British government. Amazon takes around 2p to deliver the story to your Kindle, then takes another 48p as its cut. The remainder, £1.16, goes to me. That's not a great deal, I hope you agree. A roughly similar story applies in foreign territories. In these times of falling sales, and authors losing their contracts, and only one in seven traditionally published authors being able to write fulltime, stories like this are a vital way of YOU supporting the authors whose books you enjoy. So THANK YOU for your support! Think of it in terms of a pint of beer or a cup of coffee: they cost £2-4, depending on where you live in the UK. This story will give you more enjoyment (I think!) than either of those things, and last for a longer time, and cost you less money. This is the third time I have self-published a short story. (Massive thanks here to Pete Simpson, who designed the cover for me!) It’s been an exciting project since the day I did the poll on Facebook, asking you lovely people which of my characters you wanted me to write about. Centurion Tullus won out, narrowly, and this is the result. The one hundred and something people who backed the Kickstarter campaign got to read this story almost 7 months ago, but now you can too. Oh, what's it about? The war of the Batos, or the Pannonian War, which took place between AD 6 and 9, a general emergency that had almost 100.000 legionaries sent to modern-day Croatia to sort out the rebels. Enjoy the story, and please email me if you have any questions about it or anything else – ben@benkane.net Ben

    

    Cooper's latest alternate history novel, a new contribution to Eric Flint's 1632 Universe, the romance between Juan Cardona, an officer in Spain's Manila garrison, and Huang Mingyu, a young, beautiful Chinese woman, is threatened when a Dutch-Japanese force launches a surprise attack on 17th century Manila. Manila falls and Juan is rescued by Huang Mingyu, who proves to have hidden talents and connections. It is then up to Juan to warn the incoming Manila galleon of the Dutch-Japanese threat before it blunders into Manila Bay, and to prove his worth to Mingyu's family. Who have interests of their own in the region....Will true love prevail when Japan (the chrysanthemum), Spain (the cross) and China (the dragon) come into conflict?For readers unfamiliar with the 1632 universe, it posits a cosmic catastrophe -- the RIng of Fire -- that throws the West Virginia town of Grantville into 17th century Germany. By 1633, the ripples caused by this event have reached East Asia, and the Japanese are determined to forestall the missionary-instigated Shimabara Rebellion of 1637.

    A great story with lots of twists! I was literally spellbound." "I love J. M. Klaire's stories. They are hot, sexy, sexy stories of finding your true mate." Get every story in the Alpha Hunted series, all in one huge bundle collection of shifter goodness! BEFORE THE HUNT: PREQUEL When a wolf shifter with commitment issues teams up with a runaway bride to find her a new groom- the claws come out and the fur flies! Meet Sandra, a runaway bride looking to provide for her widowed mother, and Naythan, a wolf shifter determined never to settle down. This prequel to the Alpha Hunted series takes place about nine months before Alpha Hunted: Keelyn & Bane. ALPHA HUNTED: KEELYN & BANE Fate’s dark design brings them together... in a mating neither is ready for. Five years after witnessing her father's death, Keelyn has become what she never wanted to be: a were-hunter. Surprisingly good at the career she'd had thrust upon her that fateful day, she heads to the yearly gathering to pay her farm's rent with money earned from hunting werewolf hearts and pelts. Bane and his wolf pack are also headed to the yearly gathering when Bane, the pack's Alpha, finally scents the female his wolf says is to be their forever mate. There's only one problem- she also scents of death and wet wolf hide. When Bane follows Keelyn into the woods, neither are prepared for the passion, or the truths, they're each about to face. Can they survive the revelations that lie ahead? Or has fate doomed them to an impossible love? ALPHA HUNTED 2: BELLA & MAC Feeling desperate and alone, pregnant with a baby left behind during a rape, the last thing Bella needs is for her were-hunter sister to bring strange men home. Mac, a bear shifter traveling with his adopted wolf pack, scents pregnant Bella as his mate. Mac's first instinct is to provide for and protect Bella, but Bella's first instinct is to aim a shovel at his head. Secrets and shifters being welcomed into a house of were-hunters, who each hold secrets of their own. What could possibly go wrong? ALPHA HUNTED 3: IVY, DAVID & RYKER When two wolf-pack enforcers show up right in the middle of some serious family drama, Ivy is almost too busy with her own personal crisis to notice how hot the tattooed bad boys are. With secrets being revealed left and right, her family being hunted, and her own hidden identity a key to the whole thing, the last thing she needs is two lone wolves claiming that she, and only she, can complete their triad and become their mate. Not sure she even believes in fated mates, and needing to keep her family together while getting to the bottom of a mystery three generations in the making, she tells the men no. And no isn't a word they are used to hearing. ALPHA HUNTED 4: ENID & THE KING Enid raised her three young daughters to hate, and hunt, shifters. So, of course one mated a werewolf, the other a bear, and the third mated not one but two of the rag-tag pack's wolf enforcers. When Enid finds herself entwined in the lives of her girls, their mates, and their king, who just happens to be a sexy-as-sin dragon shifter, her first thought is, "FML.

    For years, the mystery of the Hobgoblin's identity plagued not only Spider-Man and his friends, but fans, as well! Now, all is revealed, and the answers will shock you! As the Hobgoblin stands exposed at last, the threats of Norman Osborn and an all-new Green Goblin wait in the wings! Featuring all your favorite Spidey characters, from Mary Jane to Betty Brant to Robbie Robertson! COLLECTING: Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1-3 and Spectacular Spider-Man #259-261 -- written by Roger Stern and Glenn Greenberg, and illustrated by Ron Frenz and Luke Ross.

    They've been having some serious problems with the white stuff—not snow, but cocaine—and their highly-paid, isolated, somewhat stir-crazy employees have been overdosing at an alarming rate. Kate's job is to identify the dealer and staunch the flow before more people die. It's never that simple, of course.In Play with Fire, Kate and friends stumble across a naked, decaying corpse in the woods. Judged death by misadventure by the Troopers, Kate's sense of justice demands that she launch her own investigation, leading her to ask some very uncomfortable questions of a frontier faith community. Questions that might drive someone to kill…again.In Blood Will Tell, Kate is forced to involve herself in Native politics, attending the annual Federation convention in Anchorage and investigating the deaths of several board members. Opposition to a new development project seems to have been the link tying the victims together, but when Kate poses the question that all detective work begins with—cui bono?—she finds there are more suspects on the list than not.Also included: the two Kate Shugak short stories, "Wreck Rights" and "Cherchez la Femme."

     A Texas Ranger, relegated to deskwork due to past recklessness, petitions to regain custody of his five-year-old daughter, and his case is assigned to a family court judge who is as attractive as she is ambitious. When a masked gunman barges in during the custody hearing with his sights on the judge, the Ranger reacts instinctually and goes after him. But authorities apprehend the wrong man, and the real gunman remains unknown, at large, and a threat. Will this take-charge lawman jeopardize his chances of custody by going after the would-be assassin? And will this unlikely pair be able to deny the forbidden attraction building between them?

    To the media, he's a menace. To the Torino crime family, he's a possible million dollar payday. To Gwen Stacy, he's the subject of her latest school paper, and a way to become a reporter for the Daily Bugle. He's Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man.

    Welcome to the Warzone, where six years of non-stop battle between the forces of the Blue and the Iron have split the nation down its center, utterly transforming it. In a world of new alliances and strange enemies, President Tony Stark and General Steve Rogers meet to make one last attempt at peace.

    When he defi es U.S. government orders to confront the armored assassins himself, Stark sets off an international con- flagration that threatens his friends, his company, and his very life-and sets him on a collision course with China and Russia, and their champions, Radioactive Man, Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo!COLLECTING: Iron Man Legacy #1-6

    The bizarre adventures of Weapon H - an all-new hero with the Hulk's raw strength and Wolverine's Adamantium claws -continue here! As if Wendigo, Brood and Man-Thing weren't enough, our favorite ex-mercenary must now face the Skrullduggers! But what the heck are they? Why, dragon-monsters with Skrull shape-shifting powers, obviously! But were they sent by Roxxon, or is this an all-new threat from outer space? Hopefully special guest Captain America can lend a hand! COLLECTING: WEAPON H 7-12

    There's a brand new Hulk in town, and his name is Amadeus Cho! Get ready for the craziest Hulk story of the millennium as a kid genius decides he's gonna be the best Hulk ever- and just possibly brings the entire Marvel Universe crashing down into chaos!

    Cannonball, Dani Moonstar, Karma, Sunspot, Magma and Magik have put the band back together - just don't call them the New Mutants! They might not get to be old mutants either, when one of the most powerful threats they have ever faced returns - Legion! Speaking of comebacks, the dead just won't stay dead as the shocking events of Necrosha hit home...and Doug Ramsey and Warlock return to the fold! The team's past returns to haunt them as they are dragged into the hellish dimension of Limbo, but will the secret they uncover there lead to the fall of the New Mutants once and for all? COLLECTING: NEW MUTANTS (2009) 1-11, 15-21; MARVEL SPOTLIGHT: NEW MUTANTS; MATERIAL FROM X-NECROSHA 1