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Family Secrets by Jayant Swamy
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Kalayla
Jeannie Nicholas - 2019
We meet three families, one Irish, one Italian and one black, confronting the legacy of the past in 1999 Cambridge, MA.Kalayla: a feisty bi-racial, 11 year old loner whose world implodes when she discovers her parents belong in the Guinness Book of World Records for being “The World’s Biggest Liars” about her mother’s family. Maureen: Kalayla’s mother cocoons herself in art projects, deflecting the pain of her parent’s rejection. Her husband’s sudden death catapults her into life as a single mother raising a rebellious, incomprehensible daughter. Lena: their landlady, financially successful, seventy-two years old, wears only black, and lives in a fourth-floor walk-up apartment. Lena is tormented by memories of the dead--her twin sons and husband, and the living--two sons from whom she is estranged. Anyone who has experienced the angularities, rigid pockets and soft spots of family life can take hope from reading Kalayla which shows that pathways for change do exist--and if we choose to, we can find them.
Young Donald
Michael Bennett - 2020
Now, limbs terminally akimbo, Teddy’s body lies in a pool of blood in Jessup Quadrangle. And at the center of the investigation at the prestigious New Jersey Military Academy is young Donald.Surely blame for Teddy’s accidental death should not rest with him, Donald reasons. But how? Can people be convinced that Teddy took his own life? Can suspicion be cast on Stanley Wong, the Academy’s only Asian cadet? And with Teddy gone, who can Donald enlist to help him avoid blame?From New York real-estate moguls to Hong Kong triad bosses, Donald’s web of lies soon spins further than he could have ever imagined.
A Drive Through Time
Andrei Saygo - 2021
Good thing his companion is a mysterious young woman with exceptional fighting skills. Too bad she has her own agenda.When Duncan decided to take a month off and travel around Europe, he never imagined where he would end up. Or when.He wakes up in a world utterly different than the one he knew—a world with no GPS signal and no internet connection. Struggling with the societal norms, injustice, and inequity of the time, Duncan reluctantly accepts the help of a beautiful young woman, Alana, and her father.With the threat of an attack looming over their heads, Duncan must use his knowledge of modern chemistry, physics, and cyber technology to stop an invading army and save an entire town along the way. Will he find a way to protect them and return home or die at the hands of the ruthless Celtic warriors?
The River
Helen Bryan - 2021
From the ancestral blood and sweat of its settlers—the immigrants, the slaves, the Cherokee—a new generation strives for prosperity in the united township of Grafton.Across the unfolding decades, childhood friends, mothers and daughters, wives and lovers will have their bonds tested. New hopes and dreams lie beyond the river, and as allegiances are challenged, a harmonious community finds itself grappling with inevitable cultural change—change that creates a vast, opportune, and unpredictable new beginning for generations yet to come.
Who Did You Tell?
Lesley Kara - 2019
"Instantly immersive, then intriguing, then insanely suspenseful, then . . . the truth. Believe me, Lesley Kara knows what she's doing."--Lee Child
We said to keep it a secret, that no one needed to know.
Astrid is newly sober and trying to turn her life around. Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and darkness of her previous life, she is focusing on her recovery. She's going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she's wronged. If she fills her days, maybe she can outrun the ghosts that haunt her. Maybe she can start anew.
But someone is tormenting me now. Someone knows where I am and what I've done.
Someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won't stop until she learns that some mistakes can't be corrected. Some mistakes, you have to pay for . . .
The question is: Who did you tell?
Kilbride House
Sheila Forsey - 2019
Victoria Goulding, a Protestant, falls in love with Canice Meagher, born on the Blasket Islands and a Roman Catholic. To be together they must elope. Before their escape, the hand of fate plays its cards and changes their lives irrevocably.Sixty-three years later, in the leafy suburbs of New York, Edith Goulding, Victoria’s sister, has died. Edith left Ireland in the winter of 1955 all those years ago, never to return. In her will she has insisted that her daughter Catherine and granddaughter Lainey visit Kilbride.Kilbride House, despite all its grandeur, holds shocking memories within its walls – memories that have slipped through the cracks of time. As the ghosts awaken the lies begin to unravel, and everything is altered. The past cannot remain untold.
The Universe Is Calling You: Connecting with Essence to Live with Positive Energy, Love, and Power
Char Margolis - 2020
Essence is the fundamental, universal, loving energy that connects the entire universe and all its living things. This universal loving goodness binds us all together in an intimate and powerful way. Char shows readers how to tap into the power of Essence and draw strength and wisdom from these deep, fundamental connections. Using the universal presence of the Essence, readers will learn: - The truth about living and dying - The 5 sources of power and how to manifest them - About spirits and angels and how to benefit from their aide - How to help departed loved ones find peace - Ways to ward off negative and harmful energies - And much more… With Char as a guide, readers will explore the vast and connected world of Essence and delve into their own inherent spiritual awareness.
The Girl, The Gold Tooth, and Everything
Francine LaSala - 2012
She isn’t quite sure. Feeling displaced in her over-priced McMansion-dotted suburban world, she is grappling not only with deep debt, a mostly absent husband, and her playground-terrorizer 3-year old Emma, but also with a significant amnesia she can’t shake—a “temporary” condition now going on several years, brought on by a traumatic event she cannot remember, and which everyone around her feels is best forgotten. A routine trip to the dentist changes everything for Mina, and suddenly she's not sure if what's happening is real, of if she's just now fully losing her mind... especially when she realizes the only person she thought she could trust is the one she fears the most.This latest novel by Francine LaSala (Rita Hayworth’s Shoes) is a fast-paced, richly layered, and darkly humorous satire filled with quirky characters and unforgettable moments of humanity.
The Lies You Told
Harriet Tyce - 2020
When Sadie Roper moves back to London, she's determined to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. First, she needs to get her daughter settled into a new school-one of the most exclusive in the city. Next, she's going to get back the high-flying criminal barrister career she sacrificed for marriage ten years earlier. But nothing goes quite as planned. The school is not very welcoming newcomers, her daughter hasn't made any friends yet and the other mothers are as fiercely competitive as their children. Sadie immediately finds herself on the outside as she navigates the fraught politics of the school gate. But the tide starts to turn as Sadie begins to work on a scandalous, high-profile case that's the perfect opportunity to prove herself again, even though a dangerous flirtation threatens to cloud her professional judgment. And when Julia, queen of the school moms, befriends Sadie, she draws her into the heart of the world from which she was previously excluded. Soon Sadie and her family start to thrive, but does this close new friendship prevent her from seeing the truth? Sadie may be keeping her friends close, but what she doesn't know is that her enemies are closer still... Dark, addictive and compelling, The Lies You Told is a compulsive psychological thriller from a master storyteller.
Dragon Apocalypse: The Complete Collection
James Maxey - 2016
Manipulating the world's most powerful warriors like pawns on a chessboard, can she stave off the coming doom, or will her actions serve as the trigger for the Dragon Apocalypse? DRAGON APOCALYPSE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, gathers all four novels of the critically acclaimed series by James Maxey, author of the bestselling BITTERWOOD series. It also includes the novella GREATSHADOW: ORIGINS, the story that provided the inspiration for the novels. GREATSHADOW Infidel is a legendary sword-for-hire, enchanted with impervious skin and the strength of ten men. When her closest companion dies, she decides to retire in style by stealing the treasure horde of the dragon Greatshadow. To do so, she joins an expedition organized by the Church of the Book, who’ve assembled a team of the world’s most dangerous mercenaries to kill the dragon. With half the rogues on the team dreaming of taking the treasure for themselves, can she survive her own companions long enough to fight the dragon? HUSH Infidel must travel to the frozen wastes to fulfill a promise made to a dying friend. When she stumbles across a plot by the Hush, the primal dragon of cold, to murder Glorious, the dragon of the sun, will she be able to save the world from the darkness of an eternal winter? WITCHBREAKER Long ago, Stark Tower, the Witchbreaker, used his hell-forged sword to destroy the kingdom of the witch-queen Avaris. Now, a young woman named Sorrow is on a quest to recover all the lost secrets of witchcraft, and has tapped into the power of Rott, the primal dragon of death, for the might needed to fight her numerous enemies. In the ruins of the land once ruled by Avaris, she discovers a sleeping knight who awakens with no memory of his past, who proves to be a warrior of unmatched skills. They must work together to reach Avaris in her abode in the realms of the dead. But is Sorrow’s new ally secretly her greatest enemy, the long-vanished Witchbreaker? CINDER It’s the end of the world! Twenty years after the attack on Greatshadow, the primal dragon Tempest has torn down the gates of Hell, unleashing an army of the damned onto a world already in ruins from blizzards, floods, and earthquakes. Infidel’s daughter Cinder was born with the power to walk between the realms of the living and the dead. Can she rescue Sorrow and her allies from Hell in time to defend the last stronghold of mankind from the assembled dragons? ‘This one is worth reading right now.' Orson Scott Card on Greatshadow 'Greatshadow's level 30+ adventure is charming, not po-faced, with a group of flawed, quick-witted and oddball adventurers that are equally comfortable with set-piece battle and rapid fire sarcasm.' Pornokitsch on Greatshadow 'A magnificently entertaining romp bursting with charm.' SFX on Greatshadow
Detonation
Erik A. Otto - 2018
There's a dark side to every invention, one which we have been fortunate to contain for most of history. But are we hurtling into the future too fast?Detonation is an epic, action-packed dystopian tale that is a cautionary reflection on our own innovation-obsessed culture. It follows two societies that are connected, but centuries apart, and their struggle against a superintelligent machine. Amid ideological clashes and political plotting, a diverse cast discovers this insidious threat, one which few can fathom, and fewer can challenge, and they are forced into an escalating conflict against a tireless enemy."A highly entertaining and absorbing combination of philosophy and action featuring robustly individualized characters." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Girl Who Talks to Ashes
Rachel Rener - 2021
Every time Lilah's eyes glaze over, terrible things happen: flowers shrivel, food goes to rot - even Willow's long, auburn hair turns stark white. But it's the death of the family cat that becomes the last straw; in the middle of the night, Willow and her mother dump the infant at the fire station two towns over – and are never heard from again. The next morning, Chief Stanley Quinn takes Lilah home and cares for the toddler as best as he can. With medication, her epilepsy remains under control... For the most part.But as a teenager, Lilah isn't always keen on taking her pills, and when she sneaks away to a rock concert with the cutest boy in school, something terrible happens, landing both of them in the hospital. After Stanley breaks down and confesses everything to his adopted daughter, she decides to track down the young girl who gave her up sixteen years ago; the young girl who never made it home that night… The young girl who is now presumed to be dead. Soon, Lilah's quest to find her birth mother becomes a quest to solve a sixteen-year-old missing persons case. She has everything she needs to find her – she just needs to learn how to control her peculiar ‘gift’ before she kills someone.Again. *"The Girl Who Talks To Ashes is one of the most ingenious books I have ever read. [It's] the perfect creepy read for the season in the form of one of the most unique stories I've ever come across." - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Laura Dragonchild, The Magic Book Corner"This book makes you feel like you are on a journey of self-discovery, and that the journey matters. I was blown away! " - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sara Lawson, Professional Editor"I enjoyed every minute of this book and I can’t recommend it enough." - V. Ash, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Goodreads review"Creepy, suspenseful, genuine, goosebump-inducing, sweet, charming, raw - it is all of these things and more. This is going on my list of absolute favorite books of all time!" - R. Hastings, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Goodreads review"I would highly recommend this book to everyone who appreciates a little 'magic' and a touch of darkness." - M. Reubzaet, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Goodreads review
Rossen to the Rescue: Secrets to Avoiding Scams, Everyday Dangers, and Major Catastrophes
Jeff Rossen - 2017
Missing Her More
Karen McQuestion - 2019
But their seemingly perfect world is ripped apart when their younger daughter, eight-year-old Brenna, runs off after overhearing her parents’ arguing. Out on the streets, she quickly realizes she’s lost. Even more frightening, Brenna soon realizes that a man is following her. Meanwhile, in a townhouse in Brooklyn, Callie Griffin is throwing a birthday party for her one-year-old son, Oliver. The joy of the day is ruined by her sister Lauren’s too short, drive-by appearance. Once close, the two sisters haven’t been able to move past a falling out which took place three years before. When Brenna notices the strange man getting closer, she panics and takes refuge in the Griffin home, befriending their four-year-old daughter, Summer, who is waiting out the party upstairs. As family and friends search for Brenna, her absence helps her father realize the importance of family, even as her presence in the Griffin home unwittingly sets in motion healing for a mother’s heart.
The Stakes
Ben Sanders - 2018
The latest from Ben Sanders, following his novels American Blood and Marshall’s Law.Rip-offs are a dangerous game, but heist man Miles Keller thinks he’s found a good strategy: rob rich New York criminals and then retire early, before word’s out about his true identity. New town, new name, no worries. Retirement can’t come soon enough, though. The NYPD is investigating him for the shooting of a hitman named Jack Deen, who was targeting Lucy Gates—a former police informant and Miles’s ex-lover. Miles thinks shooting hitmen counts as altruism, but in any case a murder charge would make life difficult. He’s ready to go to ground, but then Nina Stone reappears in his life. Nina is a fellow heist professional and the estranged wife of LA crime boss Charles Stone. Miles last saw her five years ago, and since then her life has grown more complicated: her husband wants her back, and he’s dispatched his go-to gun thug to play repo man. Complicating matters is the fact that the gun thug in question is Bobby Deen, cousin of the dead Jack Deen—and Bobby wants vengeance. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but Nina has an offer that could be lucrative. Maybe Miles can stick around a while longer…