The Familiar (Volume 1) ranges from Mexico to Southeast Asia, from Venice, Italy, to Venice, California, with nine lives hanging in the balance, each called upon to make a terrifying choice. They include a therapist-in-training grappling with daughters as demanding as her patients; an ambitious East L.A. gang member contracted for violence; two scientists in Marfa, Texas, on the run from an organization powerful beyond imagining; plus a recovering addict in Singapore summoned at midnight by a desperate billionaire; and a programmer near Silicon Beach whose game engine might unleash consequences far exceeding the entertainment he intends. At the very heart, though, is a twelve-year-old girl named Xanther who one rainy day in May sets out with her father to get a dog, only to end up trying to save a creature as fragile as it is dangerous . . . which will change not only her life and the lives of those she has yet to encounter, but this world, too—or at least the world we think we know and the future we take for granted.(With full-color illustrations throughout.)

    Dominant aliens allow humans to the stars only as mercenaries. Swordsman Kana and his comrades, betrayed by Central Command, march across hostile planet Fronn. Star Rangers 1953, The Last Planet 1955. 4K years later, telepath Kartr and Patrollers crash on a beautiful unknown yet familiar world and seek the source of a beacon to safety.

    She believes that the ghosts of the celebrity dead visit her padded cell and whisper the world's secrets in her ears. Which is a big problem for the British government, because she's the only one who can help them when an American billionaire is murdered in London in one of the strangest killings yet. The Home Secretary needs the case locked down and solved before the entrepreneur's death becomes public knowledge and economic chaos ensures. The woman he has in mind for the job might be paranoid, she might be lethal, she might half-insane and drawing a pension, but it's amazing how you can forgive that in a genius when it's a genius's help you need.Yes, the security forces need Agatha Witchley again. It's just the ghosts of Churchill, Elvis and Groucho Marx they could do without.

    A modern woman who keeps men at arm’s length. Can their passion overcome their pasts? Althea Jarden’s botanical fieldwork keeps her happily busy, but it has kept her from relationships as well—by design. Because deep passions can overwhelm her, she concluded long ago that a conventional life was not for her. She’s learned to depend on herself. But all the self-reliance in the world can’t prepare her for being taken to ancient Scotland and what she finds there. Chieftain Brennus Skaraven would like nothing better than to remain dead, his legendary clan buried and forgotten. Anything would be preferable to suffering the manipulations of the druids. But when a strange lass comes crashing into his life, he discovers more than a reason to live. He finds the one thing that had always been denied to him and his kind—love. Brennus is the first book in the Immortal Highlander Clan Skaraven series. If you love hard-bodied heroes, a mythic world, and a brave heroine, then you’ll love this sizzling series. Join the romantic realm of the Immortal Highlanders by picking up a copy of this book today. Mature readers comfortable with dark themes only please.

    The find will change her life, sending her on an adventure of soldiers and rebels, wizards and warriors, and beasts both noble and monstrous. Each step will bring her closer to the truth of her potential, of the war, and of the fate of her world.

    Sacrifice. Survival.Welcome to the Extinction Trials.In Stormchaser and Lincoln's ruined world, the only way to survive is to risk everything. To face a contest more dangerous than anyone can imagine. And they will do anything to win.But in a land full of monsters - human and reptilian - they can't afford to trust anyone. Perhaps not even each other...

    But he does. Every night he dreams of an elf running through flames, trying in vain to outrun the Rebel Dragon Obsidian. Every night he sees her fall. Sees her eyes close. Feels her heart as it slows, and then stops. Every night, through the connection of the dream, he dies with her. It's a spiral that he can't control, and it's slowly driving him insane.Auri is an elf raised by a powerful human king not of her own blood. Left behind by the mother who perished far from the elven isle El`dell, she seeks to forge her life among the humans. Her journey takes her to the land of her heritage. To a place that holds both a haunting betrayal, and a miracle that just might save her life.Together, they become embroiled in a conspiracy where destinies are intertwined, love is born in the fallout of ultimate sacrifice, and the only path to victory lies through the searing flames of dragon fire.

    Only they can wield the fiercest of magics, to protect the Arka, until either death or the madness takes them.Five scholars of Arfell have been assassinated. A spellbook has gone missing – a powerful summoning manual from the time of elves and fire-born daemons. The Arkmages are running out of time and options, and the world is once again on the brink of war with the Siren dragon-riders.It falls to Farden – one of the Arka's most powerful yet troubled Written mages – to keep Emaneska from falling into chaos. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Farden is tasked with hunting down the assassin, and recovering the spellbook before it falls into the wrong hands, and the world is cast into shadow.It will mean fighting his way across savage Emaneska and back, a land infested with wyrms, marauders, and betrayal. It will take every fibre of his will, every scrap of magic in his bones, and if he falls, so shall the world.Welcome to Emaneska.The Written is the first volume in The Emaneska Series, a fast-paced, epic and norse-inspired fantasy saga perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Steven Erikson, Will Wight, and George R.R. Martin. Join over 100,000 other readers and delve into the iron world of Emaneska.

    With no idea how to cure himself of this odd new compulsion, he decides to let it take its course and go for a drive, hoping that once he proves to himself that there is nowhere to go, he can return to his normal life. Instead, he finds himself hurled headlong into a nightmare adventure across a fractured Wisconsin as the dream reveals itself one heart-pounding detail at a time. <br><br>Horror, science fiction, dark fantasy. From the author of The Temple of the Blind. 84,000 words.

    The parasitic machines issue a form of auditory hypnosis called The Music, which keeps their minds malleable and emotions flat. All artistic expression—especially real music—is strictly prohibited.On the edge of the city, nineteen year old Ronja struggles to support her cousins and disabled mother. A chance meeting leads to her kidnapping by an underground resistance striving to preserve the human spirit. Violently severed from her Singer by the brash young agent Roark, Ronja revels in her newfound freedom until the consequences of her disappearance begin to unfold.

    But sometimes death is a myth.This collection includes all three novels in An Assassin's Blade, a dark epic fantasy about an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation, a malevolent nightmare that's returned from beyond the grave, and gods who must die in order for life to prevail.Book 1: The MisbegottenAstul, assassin by day and purveyor of secrets at night, has agreed to hunt down a king slayer. Somewhat for the money, a little for the ego, and a bit for the adventure... but mostly for the money.There's just one problem. The king slayer's trail leads to a cache of disturbing secrets involving insane kings, mad queens and kingdoms suddenly poised for a war to end all wars. People seem to be losing their minds. Or rather, forfeiting them.Something harrowing lingers and lurks in the world of Mizridahl. And only an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation is aware.Conjurers have returned.Book 2: The MiscreantThere is a realm the living were never supposed to visit and the dead were never supposed to leave. The rules have changed.Astul, an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation, finds his brother's corpse curiously absent from its tomb. This amid accusations that grave robbers are terrorizing the world of Mizridahl. But Astul soon discovers the cadavers aren't being robbed. They're being gathered. Harvested.A dreadful enigma creeps into Mizridahl, with the might of an army that was never supposed to see the living realm again. Astul lost nearly everything dear to him when conjurers swept across his world four months ago. Now he stands to lose the rest.Conjurers were the beginning. This is the end.Book 3: The MisjudgmentGods are real, and it's time for them to die.Astul, an infamous assassin with a woeful reputation, never believed in gods. As luck would have it, they're quite real. And if they have their way, Astul will be quite dead.A civil war is brewing between the celestial powers. And all of life hangs in the balance. If victory falls into the wrong hands, creation will begin anew. There's only one way to guarantee that doesn't happen, and it involves the assassination of a lifetime.Gods will die. Or else life will expire.

    Life would be perfect if he could dodge the bullet his father has aimed at his head — following dear old Dad into motivational-speaking stardom. But there doesn’t seem to be a way out… — Until Idris morphs into something green and scaly. Cadi has finally found a safe and loving home. Then a malicious boy turns her whole world upside down. The next thing she knows, she’s wandering the streets on New Year’s Eve, alone. — Until a crystal leads her to this lizard boy with a smart mouth and massive ego. To change Idris back into his sexy human self, Cadi must reveal a secret she’s been holding close to her heart for as long as she can remember. A secret that will send them racing to close a wormhole ahead of a deadly army. A secret that could change their worlds forever…

    Men have been enslaved for their own protection and the only way to get a mate is to enter the Network Games and fight for one. The catch? It's a live battle to the death and the competition is fierce. Who's ready to play? Are ya? Are ya really?

    Will under suspicion, they flee. Suddenly a hard-edged FBI agent appears on their doorstep. “I know you’re innocent, because Rachael wasn’t the first ... or the last.”

    Includes The Amplified, The Dissenters, and The Restrainers.