Featuring the conclusions to Issue 57's cliffhanger stories by Booker Prize nominee Oyinkan Braithwaite, Brian Evanson, and Mona Awad.

    In six stories and the novella, Bounty, Saunders introduces readers to people struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world.

    Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. The guest editor then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected – and most popular – of its kind.This special e-book sampler contains eleven selections from the 2011 editions.From The Best American Short Stories® edited by Geraldine Brooks:Housewifely Arts by Megan Mayhew BergmanPhantoms by Steven MillhauserFrom The Best American Essays® edited by Edwidge Danticat:Chapels by Pico IyerThere Are Things Awry Here by Lia PurpuraFrom The Best American Mystery Stories edited by Harlan Coben:A Crime of Opportunity by Ernest J. FinneyFrom The Best American Science and Nature Writing edited by Mary Roach:The Killer in the Pool by Tim Zimmermann, Jr.The Whole Fracking Enchilada by Sandra SteingraberFrom The Best American Sports Writing edited by Jane Leavy:The Surfing Savant by Paul SolotaroffNew Mike, Old Christine by Nancy HassFrom The Best American Travel Writing edited by Sloane Crosley: My Year at Sea by Christopher BuckleyMiami Party Boom by Emily Witt

    entertaining and beautifully written,” the complete series from the New York Times–bestselling author of the Xanth Novels (Science Fiction Review).   Seamlessly blending science fiction and fantasy, New York Times–bestselling author Piers Anthony presents an epic adventure series in a completely original universe.  Cluster: In a battle to control the energy of the Milky Way galaxy, two adversaries of superior Kirlian auras—green-skinned Flint of Outworld and a female Andromedan agent—are irresistibly drawn to each other.  Chaining the Lady: Melody of Mintaka, a direct descendant of Flint and his Andromedan mate, must save the Milky Way from the enemy Andromedans, who have discovered the secret of involuntary hosting—possessing another individual via a stronger aura.  Kirlian Quest: With his hyper-intense Kirlian aura, Herald the Healer, an aural descendant of Flint and Melody, must unravel the secrets of the Ancients to defend against the Space Amoeba, a fleet of alien ships a million strong.  Thousandstar: A new Ancient Site has been discovered, and in the competition to explore it, both host Heem of Highfalls and his transferee, Jessica of Capella, harbor secrets that may cost them their lives.  Viscous Circle: The bloodthirsty Solarians, desperate to possess the secrets of the Ancient Site, target the Bands, strange and beautiful pacifist beings, and only Rondl has the knowledge to save his race from extinction.

    In this distinct selection of stories marked by struggle and compassion, Pieces Like Pottery is a powerful examination of the sorrows of life, the strength of character, the steadfast of courage, and the resiliency of love requisite to find redemption. Filled with graceful insight into the human condition, each linked story presents a tale of loss and love mirroring themes from each of the five Sorrowful Mysteries. In Expect Dragons, James Hinri learns that his old high school teacher is dying. Wanting to tell Mr. Smith one last time how much his teaching impacted him, James drives across the country revisiting past encounters with his father's rejection and the pain of his youth. Disillusioned and losing hope, little did James know that Mr. Smith had one final lesson for him. In The Gravesite, Lisa and Mike's marriage hangs in the balance after the disappearance of their only son while backpacking in Thailand. Mike thinks the authorities are right--that Chris fell to his death in a hiking accident--but Lisa has her doubts. Her son was too strong to die this young, and no one can explain to her why new posts continue to appear on her son's blog. Twenty-Two looks in on the lives of a dock worker suffering from the guilt of a life not lived and a bartender making the best of each day, even though he can see clearly how his life should have been different. The two find their worlds collide when a past tragedy shockingly connects them. A collection of nine stories, each exquisitely written and charged with merciful insight into the trials of life, Pieces Like Pottery reminds us of the sorrows we all encounter in life and the kindness we receive, oftentimes from the unlikeliest of places.

    Not stories of triumph over adversity, but something completely other. Described in language that is brilliantly sardonic, Woods's characters return repeatedly to places where they don't belong—often the places where they were born. In "Zombie," a coming-of-age story like no other, two young girls find friendship with a mysterious woman in the local cemetery. "Take the Way Home That Leads Back to Sullivan Street" describes a lesbian couple trying to repair their relationship by dropping acid at a Mensa party. In "A New Mohawk," a man in romantic pursuit of a female political activist becomes inadvertently much more familiar with the Palestine/Israel conflict than anyone would have thought possible. And in the title story, Woods brings us into the mind of a queer goth teenager who faces ostracism from her small-town evangelical church.In the background are the endless American wars and occupations and too many early deaths of friends and family. This is fiction that is fresh and of the moment, even as it is timeless.

    JPL Corporation shredded her ground-breaking project, fired her and her team and blacklisted her. And then Ensley discovers the man who asked her to marry him is not only behind her being banished, but he’s sleeping with her supervisor. The devastation appears complete until Ensley receives a call from Sheriff Jack Trace of Spirit Springs, Idaho. Her father is missing. Ensley shoves everything else aside and leaves her high-powered life in the nation’s capital for the high desert of Idaho. The day she arrives in Spirit Springs, her father is shot, and dies in her arms. Determination consumes her as she focuses on finding her dad’s murderer. Ensley is continually hampered by Jack, the town’s great-looking sheriff who’s intent on keeping her safe, whether she wants him to or not. “Staggs’ characters are skillfully intertwined with the mystery. A must read. Bring on the next book in the series.” Jan Hambright, Romantic Suspense Author Five Star Reviews: “This book was a very easy read. I couldn't put it down. I definitely would recommend giving this new author a try.” “This book kept me on my toes with each chapter, I look forward to the next ones in this series. The writing is smart, and it will keep you interested until the end.” “This is a fast-paced book with mystery, suspense and a sassy heroine you're going to love. Ensley Markus is off to the first of many adventures! Enjoy!” “Fun to read, always looked forward to getting back to it.”

    He was an employee of Hindustan Shipyard limited which is building India’s nuclear submarine fleet. This is the fourth submarine engineer in the last twelve months who perished under mysterious circumstances. Navy leadership gets suspicious about a covert sabotage operation being carried out by an unknown enemy, to slow down India's attempt at acquiring a potent nuclear deterrent platform. After deliberations at different levels, an Intelligence Bureau agent is sent to Vizag to work as an undercover operative. What secrets will she uncover? Will she become the next target of an enemy spy ring? Would the Indian Navy exact revenge from a belligerent enemy?

    No sign remains of any other structure around them, no ruins of long forgotten buildings. They look... wrong. They feel wrong. Bad things happen if you get too close. Horrible things.You must never, ever ever talk about them.Thirty-four of today's best up and coming writers provide wonderfully unique interpretations inspired by the urban legends of the Internet age. Tales range from science fiction to fantasy, horror to mystery, and one writer even penned a romance!But you must never tell anyone about the stairs!Containing the stories:* Nothing Ever Happens Here by Richard Paolinelli* Star Thistle by J. Comer* Let Him In by Josh Dygert* A New Trail Off Of Old King?s Highway by Michael Reyes* The Strange Stairs at the Aldebourne Estate by Kristen Brand* Exclusive Scoop by J. Trevor Robinson* The Flash-Back Stairs: A Story of Betrayal by Patrick T. Luce* The Peacock House by Matthew Pegg* Where The Wood Thrush Sings by NB Williams* The Refuge by Dawn Witzke* Upon The Stair by Daniel Humphreys* Grand Staircase to the Yellow Court by R.C. Mulhare* Another Dead Man?s Curve by Chris Ingram* Game Warden by Russell Newquist* Stepping Stones by Jarrett Mazza* Reap Dance by James G. Hancock* Descending Stairs, 1699 by Meghan Casey* Where Angels Fear to Tread by Michelle Mellon* Sobek's Staircase by Jeremy Megargee* The Curses We Carry by Russell Mahon* Stranger?s Wood by J.S. Arroyo* Stairway Back to Jonathan's Farm by Dan Allen* The Thirteenth Step by MJ Mars* Cajun Ray by S.D. McPhail* W/M by Isobel Horsburgh* The Sentinel by Richard W. Watts* Sleep, Child by A.G. Lopes* The Lost Ones by Karen Thrower* Ready For Seven More by Christopher Lansdown* Fire and Pine by Bethany C. Gotschall* Stairway to? Where? by William Lehman* The Dead Always by Darren Todd* Missing Persons by Jonathan Bronico* Cedar Road by Mocha Pennington

    . . . An underground classic. . . . A bicycling book that follows a different course—one with characters you can relate to, whose actions raise questions about life on and off the bicycle. . . . The heart of The Yellow Jersey is the Tour de France itself, which serves as a metaphor for life.—Bicycling Magazine"This is sports fiction at its very best. Mr. Hurne has a cool, downbeat style descended from Lardner and Hemingway, and a fine hand with the hairpins turns of suspense."—The New York Times Book Review"Full of wit, charm, excitement, and intelligence."—Publishers WeeklyAn excerpt from the novel:It's a funny sort of stage. Everyone seems to be waiting for Romain to attack. Van Faignaert, as I expected, is taking things easy and trying to keep the bunch together. Butch Cassidy's not a bad climber and on the Col de Foreyssasse he has a go, but the Belgian team swoops and soon has him under control. I can see on the faces of the spectators that they are disappointed. They've turned out in their thousands expecting this to be It; I feel like shouting to them to go home and come back tomorrow. We get strung out a bit coming down the Foreyssasse but regroup at the bottom. The ominous threat of Romain taking off, coupled with the strong control of the race by the Belgian team, who're doing their damnedest to keep everyone in one lump, has really put the mockers on things.I'm just beginning to think that the worst of the stage has passed when the rider directly in front of me punctures, loses control and goes sliding along the loose surface on his side. It's on a sharp descent and the bunch is moving. Although it all happens in a split second, I'm unable to go either to the left or right of the fallen man and I jam on my brakes. With both wheels locked solid I pile into him at about thirty miles per hour. Normally I would have been flung over the handlebars, but my toe straps are sufficiently tight for me to do several cartwheels with the bike still attached to me. For a second everything seems upside down; then pain. I lie there feeling as if I'll never move again. From the front of the group I see v

    A young man’s uncanny gift for sculpting statues out of sand makes the women of his village swoon–until the men plot to put a stop to it. A small town of “utter inconsequence” prepares excitedly for a visit from President Clinton. This stunning debut collection offers brilliant snapshots of life’s small reversals and a broad-stroke portrait of our times.

    The eighteen stories of Manuel Gonzales’s exhilarating first book render the fantastic commonplace and the ordinary extraordinary, in prose that thrums with energy and shimmers with beauty. In “The Artist’s Voice” we meet one of the world’s foremost composers, a man who speaks through his ears. A hijacked plane circles a city for twenty years in “Pilot, Copilot, Writer.” Sound can kill in “The Sounds of Early Morning.” And, in the title story, a man is at war with the wife he accidentally shrank. For these characters, the phenomenal isn’t necessarily special—but it’s often dangerous. In slightly fantastical settings, Gonzales illustrates very real guilt over small and large marital missteps, the intense desire for the reinvention of self, and the powerful urges we feel to defend and provide for the people we love. With wit and insight, these stories subvert our expectations and challenge us to look at our surroundings with fresh eyes. Brilliantly conceived, strikingly original, and told with the narrative instinct of a born storyteller, The Miniature Wife is an unforgettable debut.

    Mr Twiddle is a kind old soul with the best intentions, but he is extremely forgetful, very lazy and more than a little bit silly.

    In another, the narrator feels compelled to promise to deliver a takeout order that has incorrectly been phoned in to her. In a third, the petty details of a property transaction illuminate the complicated pains and loves of a family.The tales in this groundbreaking collection are secretly in conversation with canonical stories, re-imagined from the perspective of female characters. Just as Wallace Stevens’s “Anecdote of the Jar” responds to John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Galchen’s “The Lost Order” covertly recapitulates James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” while “The Region of Unlikeness” is a smoky and playful mirror to Jorge Luis Borges’s “The Aleph.” The title story, “American Innovations,” revisits Nikolai Gogol’s “The Nose.”By turns realistic, fantastical, witty, and lyrical, these marvelously uneasy stories are deeply emotional and written in exuberant, pitch-perfect prose. Whether exploring the tensions in a mother-daughter relationship or the finer points of time travel, Galchen is a writer like none other today.

    Haunted by memories of those she cared so dearly for, she soon longs to escape Providence in the hope that doing so will allow her to heal and feel whole once again. While browsing through the Providence Daily Post, she happens upon a series of ads placed by men from Montana who seek brides to join them on the new Frontier. All of the ads quickly begin to sound the same when suddenly, one stands out. Though skeptical, she decides to muster the courage to respond to a man named Mr. Adam Black who seeks an intelligent woman, not just a pleasant woman to keep his home tidy. Upon her arrival, Madeline meets the dashing Mr. Black and is quickly swept off her feet when he gives her a tour of his lavish home and all that lies within. Her hopes are quickly dashed, however, when he reveals to her that in truth, he’s only really looking to settle down to please his father, hoping to continue living his bachelor’s lifestyle. Although Madeline agrees to go along with Mr. Black’s peculiar arrangement, she can’t help but feel the palpable chemistry between them. Will Madeline settle for a picture perfect, yet hollow marriage arrangement, or does Mr. Black share the same feelings, turning her daydreams into a real life fairy tale? Book 2: Montana Mail Order Bride Clara: In 1890, New York City is no place for a woman alone, and that is exactly what young Clara has become. As she struggles to cope with the death of her only living relative, she is also faced with her own set of predicaments. Now, as she attempts to find work in the newspaper, she finds the advertisement of William Dean. William is a rugged man, used to the desolate life of the Frontier, and he’s made a place for himself in Montana--but his success means nothing without the tender warmth of a wife. When Clara notices his ad seeking a marriageable prospect, she responds and their worlds collide. Book 3: Montana Mail Order Bride Emma: When Emma marries her sweet husband James, she thinks she will finally get her happily ever after. But after eight happy years of marriage, Emma is forced to let her dear James fall prey to deathly clutches of a horrible illness. All she has left now is her dearest twelve year old daughter, Margaret. Both take jobs as seamstresses in a factory downtown, but their meager wages just aren’t enough for the two to get by. Emma is forced to admit that she needs the help of another husband, so when a matrimonial ad appears in the paper from a Frontier man, Emma takes a risk and heads to Montana with Margaret and Frederick, a long-time dear friend of her late husband’s who insists on accompanying the ladies as their chaperone. Book 4: Montana Mail Order Bride Julia: When a boy whom Julia has been charged to take care of dies, Julia is left searching for her next path in life. Her choices are limited, as she is not a wealthy woman nor is she married, and she fears that she must take the charity of her only living relative.