Spearman. A sci-fi military novel set in space, the book follows Captain Jonah Halberd, newly assigned commander of the spaceship HMS Cumberland, an advanced cruiser in the Royal Navy of the Commonwealth, currently under the reign of King Edward XII. There is an ongoing war between the Commonwealth and the Rodinan Federation. After rescuing Lady Julia Hawthorne, the fiancee of First Space Lord Chesterfield, Jonah and his crew set off for yet another dangerous assignment. But an ensuing battle with the Rodinan armada causes heavy casualties, and Jonah finds himself captured by the enemy. A daring rescue led by Lieutenant Commander Fred MacMurray results in Jonah receiving a hero's welcome back home. Now, he must unite the Coalition for war.

    It’s a magnificent story.” In a small corner of an English city, dirt poor Rachel Hines and rich kid Danny Pearce are a pair of History students whose destinies become entangled when an old gravestone catapults them into their city’s dark past - a gritty, violent, gaslit world of real danger - where they find that every action has an unforeseen consequence that can ripple through generations. Over the course of six gripping stories, and an entire century of local history, Touchstone Season 1 builds into a moving coming-of-age saga that has won plaudits from young and old readers alike with its intelligent blend of time travel adventure, science fiction, historical romance and urban fantasy. What starts out as a simple teenage time travel adventure series becomes something much deeper, darker, more complex, till it climaxes in a mindbending Gods-Amongst-Us saga on an epic scale. This Ebook Box Set edition contains all six novels in Touchstone Season 1, comprising over a quarter of a million words, and 1000 pages in the original paperback editions. "If you haven’t read this series yet — you simply must! But beware — you will be hooked!!” Contains the following novels and novellas: Touchstone (1. The Sins of the Fathers) Touchstone (2. Family at War) Touchstone (3. All the Time in the World) Touchstone (4. Station at the End of Time) Touchstone (5. Let's Fall in Love for the Last Time) Touchstone (6. Fade to Grey)

    She returns home triumphant, but there is trouble brewing—the Serpentes face peril from both internal and external forces, and El’Jyiurma finds herself caught up in the middle. With word of their existence growing, they catch the attention of a race they’d rather not meet. At the same time, they must battle the hatred and fear that automatically comes from humans, based merely on their appearance. Fearing an invasion from outside forces, President Frazier of Gieliv sends a desperate plea to the Serpentes, requesting help to bolster their weak navy. With a potential attack looming, the king of the Serpentes sends El’Jyiurma to the Gieliv system to foster diplomatic relations and help defend Gieliv. Hard choices have to be made, and El’Jyuirma is in the hot seat. Which is the more significant threat, and how can it be stopped? A wrong choice could lead to the end of the Serpentes civilization, and El’Jyiurma has little time to decide.

    The mission to destroy a domestic terrorist cell in possession of a nuclear bomb sounds like the opportunity he is looking for, until he realizes that his targets are not terrorists, and that what they have is something infinitely more dangerous than a bomb. On the run with Dr. Grace Llewellyn and the device she calls Prometheus, Markus finds himself pitted against the full might of US intelligence and military forces as they mount the biggest manhunt ever conducted on American soil. He quickly learns that Prometheus represents a technological advancement so profound that it can alter the course of history. But there is another such device already in play, and he, Grace and Prometheus are all that stand between it and the end of human civilization as we know it.

    Now eighteen, Lorna Cunningham is eagerly awaiting the day when she can leave the Newcastle house in which she's known only heartache. The Arabian ancestry of the father she has never known has meant that she has been nothing more than an unwelcome guest in her grandmother's home, forced to take second place to her spoilt cousin, Rose, who has wanted for neither love nor material comforts.Lorna takes comfort from her growing friendship with bookseller Edwin Randall, who shares her love of reading and inspires her with his passion to improve the terrible conditions of the Newcastle slums. But their relationship is overshadowed by Lorna's infatuation with the handsome and charismatic Maurice Haldane - the man Rose is determined she herself will marry and who has the power to change all their lives for ever...

    But a strange encounter with a beautiful blond boy on the beach leads to a terrible tragedy, the consequences of which are to affect Connie and William for the rest of their lives.

    The young military widow leaves dozens of messages for her father but receives no response. Looking for a copy of her mother’s obituary, Roxie reads an article in the newspaper and discovers her entire life is a web of lies, secrets, and deceit. The story sends her off in search of the truth about the man she idolized. She drives to her father’s birthplace—Manhattan, Kansas—and moves into her grandmother’s huge, three-story, hundred-and-fifty-year-old house. It’s been vacant for decades, but Roxie begins to believe she’s not the only occupant. She doesn’t know if there’s an intruder or if the spirit of her grandmother is watching over her. In only a matter of days, someone has made several attempts on her life. She calls in her best friend, Janice Tallchief—retired on a disability from the Kansas City Police Department—to act as her bodyguard. Can Jan and Roxie unravel the mystery before the killer succeeds?

    Then he mowed the lawn (again) and knew his life was over. His wife was happy doing her crosswords, but Stanley felt like an old age pensioner with nothing to look forward to apart from sitting in his chair, watching daytime TV, and walking his dog, Roobarb. On a whim, after yet another wet walk with his overweight pooch, he put an advert in the corner shop window: Old Age Pensioner Investigations. No job too big, or small. From murder to missing cats, Detective Stanley can solve it all. He went home, got told off for letting Roobarb get mud on the lino, stared at Custard the cat who stole the only biscuit he was allowed a day (he was putting on weight), and fell asleep in his chair. Then the doorbell rang. He had a case. The old age private eye was in business. Now all he had to do was actually solve a murder. Oh, and get a pad, and a pen, and maybe detectives had cars too, and secretaries, and offices... He wasn't bored any more, that was the main thing. Plus the murder mystery, of course.

    Episkopi is a Greek village, waiting for God. Discover how the village steps back from the grave and humorously goes about breathing new life into itself. The power of a new-fangled computer which is first used to secretly provide all the old boys with lustful moments, is harnessed for the benefit of everyone. The Mynos Series encompasses traditional village life in Greece with two old goats reflecting on their way of life, one being the kafenion owner, the other a ten bob millionaire from having sold land for expats to buy a home. There’s a story behind every person who moves to Episkopi and with each book you’ll discover their life experiences and discover how and why they made their move to a place in the sun.

    NEW, edited and updated version. (Formatting, spelling and grammar corrections made, plus some new material added) Please note, this is a politically incorrect story. It bashes the current administration. Irony is winning the Powerball lottery six months before the world's economies meltdown. The Shelter tells the story of a family who wins $27 million in the lottery, they pull roots and move to Nashville where they buy a large home bordered by three farms. With the money in hand the world's economies in the process of melting down. They 'buy the farm.' They purchase the three farms and the 7,000 square foot house. The farms are able to provide food when the economies collapse. The house is large enough to hold all of their extended family. To ensure their survival, Jay decides to build a large shelter under the farmland. Jay befriends the local Mafia 'Don', Tony, who helps him in exchange for a ticket in the shelter. Book one tells the story of Jay and Lacy, winning the lottery, their move to Nashville, buying the farms and building the shelter while the world goes to hell around them. The world starts to melt down when the people of Greece elect a new Prime Minister, who defaults on their loans to Germany. The EU falls apart when the other European Nations follow Greece's lead. China demands payment of its debt from America or the state of Hawaii. The President increases taxes to raise the $1.4 trillion needed to pay China back, putting enormous stress on the American economy. Russia adds gasoline to the fire by dumping their dollars. Russia helps destabilize the EU so they can invade by offering humanitarian aid. When the American economy collapses, distribution of food stops, starvation becomes a real problem. The cities explode in violence due to the lack of food and clean water. As the insanity spreads, Jay builds a shelter complex to house over 40 people for more than a year without surfacing. A shelter, he thinks, is an insurance policy, one he hopes he'll never have to use. A shelter complex he and his neighbors, need in order to survive an invasion of their farms. All of their winnings are worthless when the only real currency is a loaf of bread and a bottle of clean water. There's a special sneak preview of my next book, "In the Year 2050. America's Religious Civil War" included at the end of the "The Shelter."

    She's sent to an orphanage in Blackpool, but the master has an eye for a pretty young lass. Grace won't be his victim, so she runs, destitute, into the night. In Blackpool, she finds a home with the kindly Sheila and Peggy - and meets a lovely airman. But it's 1938, and war is on the horizon. Will Grace ever find the happiness and home she deserves?

    Soon they realize Allen’s true potential and purpose when they embark on a perilous journey in a struggle to preserve the planet. Meanwhile, Professor Nora Howard, a cryptozoologist and geneticist working for an unscrupulous high-tech conglomerate, Wilde Enterprises, recruits wildlife conservationists, Jack Tremens and Miguel Walla to travel the globe searching for evidence of cryptid creatures and secure proof of their existence. Adventurous treks into the unknown filled with danger and near death as they defend themselves against bizarre beasts and voracious man-eating plants. Soon everyone’s paths will cross in a terrifying fight for survival on CRYPTID ISLAND...the thrilling prequel to Cryptid Zoo.

    I am sure you’ve seen at least one, if not more of the 26 films made on fictional British spy 007. You may’ve also seen TV shows like The Americans, Blindspot, Chuck, Covert Affairs, Homeland, Nikita, Quantico, The Blacklist, and/or The Night Manager. I wrote this book after I realised that the average person may not know even one-sixth of what I know about spies and spying. Almost each of the Top 50 nations (by GDP, population or military power) has a spy agency/service. Many countries have more than one ‘secret service’ or ‘intelligence agency’. USA has 16. Some countries’ spy agencies are more powerful than entire smaller nations, with annual budgets larger than their GDPs. This books attempts to tell the story of 20 of the world’s largest and most powerful spy agencies, details their important missions, reveals their darkest secrets, and gives you an inside perspective of the often quite gory but thrilling ‘world of spies’. It gives you a 360º view of those spy agencies you only read about or see in a movie or TV show. With one chapter per agency, you can read only chapters you may be interested in. The life of most spies is not as glamorous as it is made out to be. You may think it is all about high-tech and guns and car chases and ‘hot’ women, but that’s not the case. In the real spy world, the techniques boil down to the interpretation of basic human psychology. Even though a spy learns several action techniques on how to get out of a dangerous situation, including how to withstand torture, if he/she is resorting to car chases, it means they’re doing something wrong. Spies don’t get paid very well. Gambling at a casino or flying on a private jet may be part of the job, but a spy doesn’t get to spend this kind of money on personal expenses. Spies cannot disclose the nature of their work to their family and friends, to maintain secrecy. Many have to live away from home for weeks, months, even years. Married life is a mess, as the spouse starts suspecting the spy of having an affair. Who can become a spy? Do you need a law enforcement (police) or military background? Not really. Spies have degrees as diverse as law, political science, finance, economics – even professional athletes have become successful spies.

    But when Richard Colman adopts his dead sister's daughter, he has no idea how tough life can be.Richard's girlfriend walks out. His business starts losing clients. And there's something terribly wrong with the little girl.Her name is Bernadette, but Richard calls her "Barney". It's a word his own father used to use... a barney, a row, a terrible racket. And Barney is well-named – she never stops screaming. She hammers her head on the floor and the walls. She's adorable, but she doesn't sleep. She cannot talk. She won't even respond to her name.Richard slowly faces the unbearable truth that his little girl is profoundly autistic. And as he prepares for a battle simply to be allowed to keep his child, he's only beginning to find out how tough life can be. Christopher Stevens, the bestselling author of A REAL BOY, draws on painful and intensely personal experiences of raising his own autistic child, to create this compelling story of a single parent who must come to terms with his beloved little girl's autism.AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a novel. The characters are fictional, though they are very real to me. Many of the events in the story did really happen to my family, following the diagnosis of my younger son with autism. I later wrote a memoir about this intensely emotional and exhausting experience: it was published as A REAL BOY. If you have read this memoir, you might recognise some of the scenes and situations in A GIRL CALLED BARNEY – and if you want to read a strictly factual account, the memoir will better suit your needs. A GIRL CALLED BARNEY is more dramatic, more tragic and less humorous than the later, non-fiction book. I used the novel to express the darker, more frightening emotions that, in real life, we hardly dare admit that we feel.Praise for A REAL BOY, Christopher Stevens's factual account of raising his autistic son:Jane Asher, President of the National Autistic Society"This wonderfully honest book tells us a great deal, not only about autism, but also about the extraordinary tolerance and unselfishness that is borne out of unequivocal love. At the same time, it reveals some uncomfortable truths about the struggle it takes to access the rights of those with disabilities in our so-called civilized society."The Sun, 15 Feb 08"incredibly moving"Daily Mail, February 26, 2008Christopher Stevens writes poignantly about life with his autistic son. It's a moving account of the boy's struggle to cope with a world that confuses him - and the extraordinary leap forward that gave them all hope.Bournemouth Daily Echo, 27th June 08By turns harrowing, humorous and inspirational.About the AuthorChristopher Stevens has been a senior sub-editor at the Observer for fourteen years and is also the author of Born Brilliant, the acclaimed biography of Kenneth Williams; Masters of Sitcom, a celebration of Galton and Simpson; and Thirty Days Has September, the bestselling reference book on Kindle.Born Brilliant was shortlisted for a "Sherry", the Sheridan Morley Theatre Biography Prize. It was adapted and broadcast as a Radio Four Book of the Week.

    But that’s what happens when medical technology goes awry. Doctors said they could train her brain to interpret digital signals from the camera in her artificial eye. The module even has wi-fi so they can monitor signal traffic across her optic nerve. What they didn’t anticipate was that her brain would figure out how to use the wi-fi connection both ways. Asha can now see the Internet. ASHA'S INTELLIGENCE IS NOT ARTIFICIAL As her digital brain develops, she creates an online AI by copying part of her mind to the cloud. The AI she calls Abbot becomes her right hand as she goes to work for the FBI tracking down international terrorists. Unfortunately, she is so effective, the government believes she may be a co-conspirator. When they refuse to pay her, she walks out. IT'S NOT JUST THE FBI WHO SUSPECT HER When Asha crosses paths with Chinese military hackers, she stops them by taking out Shanghai’s electrical grid. Now the communist government wants to know who did it and how. Things go downhill after Asha gives a copy of Abbot to her husband’s company. When the Chinese military steals a copy of it, they immediately recognize its military significance. Their top priority, however, is to take out the woman who came up with it in the first place. CHINA FLEXES ITS NEW CYBER WARFARE TOOL Using her own technology against her, the Chinese suddenly become a serious threat to the US. The FBI calls Asha back and ask one last favor: stop the Chinese attack. She agrees, but this time there are conditions. Either they pay upfront, or she will take care of the Asian threat in her own way, and knowing Asha, that could mean World War Three.