. . .One of the most acclaimed novels of our time, Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is a story of alienation and connection, devastation and renewal, at once joyous, heartbreaking, poignant, mystical, and powerfully, profoundly human.

    Don’t get me wrong—I read that literature myself. Why not? It is usually entertaining, if not suspenseful. In The Perennial Wanderer: An American in the World, however, it is my intent to demonstrate that life is indeed stranger than fiction, and I, not unlike the escapist writers, have invested much time and energy in bringing these life experiences to the reader. After working in so many countries—including war torn and conflictive countries such as Viet Nam, Colombia, Perú, Mozambique, Sudan and El Salvador—I have seen more than my share of violence, murder, mayhem, public corruption and chicanery. And none of my observations have taken place as a military man—my military experience, by the way, was in the peacetime Air Force in the beautiful Hawaiian Islands.

    A brilliant but troubled Bangladeshi physics student searches for balance, acceptance, and his own extraordinary destiny after his father disappears. When a Halloween blizzard immobilizes Minneapolis, a young woman is forced to confront the snow-bound nature of her own relationships and emotions. During an excursion to an idyllic swimming hole hidden in the Black Hills, two old friends unexpectedly compete for the affections of an irresistible, though married, Lakota woman. Like a mythical expedition to reach the horizon or the quest to distill truth from the beauty around us, the revelation confirmed by these imaginative stories - elegant, sometimes jarring, always wonderfully absurd - is that the very act of reaching is itself a form of touch.“The quiet plains of the North Country serve as a perfect backdrop for Parsons’ moving debut, a collection of short stories whose characters often live deeply solitary, if not always lonely, lives.”-- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Eloquently written and replete with a continual stream of un-hackneyed twists and turns, Parsons’ collection is superbly crafted. Engaging, riveting, and at times, mind-boggling, The Sense of Touch is earmarked to become a literary classic.”-- San Francisco Book Review (five-star review)"Parsons has made himself a man to watch in the literary world. Each of these stories is as thrilling as the next." -- Portland Book Review (five-star review)"Each story is honed with purpose and infused with subtle energies. He creates delicate lines between the frigid cosmos and the warmth that can be generated among people. Parsons' writing has a strong pulse. This debut assortment heralds his promising career." -- The US Review of Books (Top-Rated Recommended Review)

    Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins' affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman--a girl Will had once loved--was found brutally murdered in her family's basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished. And when his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good. Now eleven years have passed. Will has found proof that Ken is alive. And this is just the first in a series of stunning revelations as Will is forced to confront startling truths about his brother, and even himself. As a violent mystery unwinds around him, Will knows he must press his search all the way to the end. Because the most powerful surprises are yet to come.

    She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

    The one thing missing was what she desired the most—a male counterpart equal to her in every way. Unfortunately for Gem, the world she was born into had a shortage of the alpha male she was dreaming of. Gemma lived in a time of restricted freedom and self-determination, which sadly for her also included an almost total lack of privacy and sexual liberty. The type of man she was looking for was completely out of fashion and possibly extinct. For a woman with a seemingly unquenchable libido, the laws and moral attitudes that repressed the natural interaction between men and women made her miserable. If she couldn’t find the man she wanted the old fashioned way, then perhaps the technology of the day would provide a suitable alternative. So began Gem’s quest for personal gratification. On the invitation of her platonic best friend, Gemma went underground to an exclusive sex club. Avoiding the eyes of the law, this was a place where virtual reality sex, and even artificial humans, were designed to provide almost any pleasure imaginable. Even still, Gemma's’ basic needs were not met. She hatched a new plan: if the man she really wanted didn’t exist then she would just have to make one.

    And yet…” The Year I Turned 25 catalogues the ups and downs of a TV reporter in her mid-twenties, who takes on the added challenge of training an adorable, but misbehaving puppy. Sometimes melancholic and other times hilarious, this brave and thought-provoking memoir approaches dating, sexual assault and mental health in a personal, but relatable way. This book is for every woman who ever asked herself if something was wrong with her and for every dog lover who discovered true love in a puppy. “This project isn't about – and was never about – figuring out who I am. It’s about figuring out how to figure out who I am."

    Through this journey she finds out the biggest hindrances as well as the most helpful tips and tricks along the way. In this book you will find out what she did to recover from her stroke at age sixteen when she was told she would never walk on her own again.

    But when Laney Thomas wakes up two-months later and discovers she is the sole survivor of the accident that has claimed the lives of three of her friends, Laney quickly realizes the world she awakened to is not the one she remembers. The one thing that hasn't changed however, is Evan - one of their group of five not in the car that night. Laney and Evan have always been close. Children of best friends, their lives inextricable, connection unbreakable. He is the only person that understands her grief and can help her get through their shared nightmare. But when Evan disappears from her life she is left to manage this new world alone, as well as memories of the past, where painful truths of the friendships she'd cherished are buried.

    Level one is the most common, possible evidence. Level two, clear evidence of non-human intelligence. Level three is verified signs of non-human intelligence. Level three has a very high burden of proof, requiring verified artifacts. It is the last step before level four. Contact.Centuries ago, Humanity reached for the stars. But the galaxy has turned out to be a lonely place. The Imperial Survey Service explores systems and identifies planets for colonization beyond the edge of explored space, beyond the rim worlds. They also search for signs of an alien civilization. It is a part of their mission they take very seriously.A routine planetary survey mission to system X5682 believes they have found clear evidence of intelligent activity. The usual reports are made. Protocol demands that any reports of potential intelligent activity be investigated. A small fleet task force is dispatched. Their job is to secure the system. Task force Marines secure the site until Imperial Survey can verify the find. The routine has been played out many times, and always ends the same way. No scientific findings, an explainable phenomenon, no confirmation.Until now.The survey team leader is elated by his potential discovery. It is an elation the fleet task force commander does not share. His captains are also ambivalent, save one who is out to prove himself.Unfortunately, the fleet task force has to be to be cobbled together from people unfortunate enough to delay too long before proceeding on shore leave. The Marines are not exactly welcome in the midst of a group of scientists who are used to being immersed in their research on a new planet.The Imperial Fleet mostly keeps the peace and war is a faded memory. That means resources are tight and ships stay in service a long time. The task force that arrives is not exactly in perfect condition. Even the Marines have to be pulled from different ships and base assignments. Everyone expects a short mission once they reach the planet. All they have to do is wait for the specialist team from the Imperial Survey Service to show up and declare another potential find to be nothing after all.Unexpectedly, without warning, humanity makes first contact. Elation turns to desperation and a fight for survival. The Globur are coming.

    It holds all of her memories of Hurricane Katrina, memories which she would rather forget. There is one thing that makes her change her mind –Tommy, her beloved pet turkey who watched the destruction of her city from Chelsea’s backpack. It’s Tommy who represents hope and life, and all the good things that a Thanksgiving can bring. A Pardon for Tommy is a story with twists, turns and turkeys. It’s about family, friends and food.

     Max Dumerick has spent his life doing the dirty work of the highest bidder. When his last job awakens his reluctant conscience, he finds himself teaming up with an unlikely duo to try to stop a would-be god. When Melanie Edwards realizes she is being hunted, her desire to protect her family forces her to make hard choices… ones that will lead her into the belly of the beast. Abandoned by the woman he loves and left with nothing but infrequent, cryptic messages, Ryan Edwards stumbles across evidence of the coming apocalypse... and must make a choice between warning the world and protecting his daughter.

    The terrifying shadows engulf him and everyone he knows—yet nobody else notices their presence.Hunter can’t escape them, so he sets out to understand them. Why do they follow him? What are they trying to tell him?In this first installment of the Master of Perceptions series, pre-teen Hunter discovers that every sensation the demons produce—whether it be sight, sound, texture, flavor, or smell—has a different meaning, and that by breaking this code, he just might be able to harness their power.

    There are no granny panties in this drawer!He picks up a pair of my NASA engineered favourites and insisted, "These are granny panties."No they are not!" I protested, "Granny panties are cotton, with flowers all over them and come up to your armpits." I grabbed my daily favourites out of his hand, "These are a modern-day wonder! They hide years of not doing sit-ups every day, cellulite dimples, Big Macs with extra sauce and muffin belly! My grandmother never had panties like this!"Call them what you want. They are modern-day granny panties" he informs me.Putting them back in the drawer I thought, "I would have to join a gym if I ever gave these beauties up."Anyway it got me to thinking. So I made a visit to a lingerie store. Maybe my underwear drawer did need some updating.The walls of the store were lined with massive posters of girls who don't eat so they can wear lace without tummy control panels. Looking at their photo-shopped abs didn't inspire me to drop to the floor and do a hundred sit-ups it just made me want to hold them down and force feed them hamburgers.The 20 something sales girl came over with her size 0 figure and asked if I needed help. "I am looking to update my underwear drawer" I tell her, "I am looking for something that is comfortable but... sexy." I know in her head she's thinking "Sex at her age! Wow good for her!"First she shows me the wall of underwear designed to turn on perverts. "No, that's not what I am looking for" and we move along to the "School girl" underwear to turn on pedophiles. "That's not me either" I tell her. Then she shows me the "new" line just in that week with the red or black fur around the waistband. "Doesn't that show through your dress pants?" I ask her. "Oh, you don't wear anything over these ones." That ought to make my work day more interesting I thought to myself.Then she brings out the most dreaded, torturous devise knows to woman... the G-String!I tried a pair once and I looked like a summo wrestler. Even I laughed when I looked in the mirror. It brought back a memory to me. I was doing a two-day course at university. Before the course started the students were standing around the back of the class chatting and getting to know one another. I met this lovely lady who told me she was 60-years-old and was doing the course out of interest. When it was time to sit down, she sat in front of me and to my horror she was wearing low-cut jeans that revealed a tattooed pair of eyes above her butt cheeks but the worst part, she was wearing a silver thong.It was like a car crash, I couldn't look away. For seven hours the droopy eyes on her butt watched me, staring at me, scarring me for life. Every time she put up her hand to ask a question her hips shifted and her butt winked at me. The sliver G-string thread around her waist looked like a disco Hippie headband. I would never be able to look at a G-string without thinking of her butt eye balling me."I don't do fanny-floss" I told her. I need something comfortable. "Maybe you should go to Walmart" she says. "Maybe you should go to hell" I thought in my head.With her sales commission still in my wallet, I left and called hubby from my cell phone in the car."Ok I am willing to compromise. Wh

    Her sacred betrothal would renew the elemental function of the Crystal Grid that powers the ten kingdoms of Atlantis. But her people are attacked by a storm of shadows, and now she is running for her life. Upon her arrival in the ruling city, she meets D’Vinid, a dejected musician who lives the quintessential Atlantean lifestyle of revelry, escapism and apathy. Under the eclipse of a holy festival, they are swept into an attraction they cannot resist. Their union may protect humanity from its worst enemy - the shadows of Atlantis. But there is one problem, this man is not her betrothed. Brigitte discovers the Grid is corrupted by psychic parasites that feed off human suffering, an epidemic called “the madness”. The rituals required to charge the Grid with psychic emanations have been poorly attended, and this has caused the Grid to malfunction. But as nature always strives toward balance, the crystals have activated a genetic upgrade among the people. The youth have begun to express supernatural powers. Could it be that D’Vinid and Brigitte are meant to be leaders among the awakened? And if so, why does it seem impossible for them to be together? A mysterious tale of romance, seduction and betrayal that reaches just enough into the modern mind to ask - will we learn the lessons of Atlantis?