He soon learns that every aspect of his life so far, including the staged deaths of his parents, has been arranged by the Senate Tribunal in an attempt to mold him into the perfect leader. Now there are only thirty candidates, including Caius, left competing to be the Emperor's heir. Success in a series of Trials will reunite him with his family and make him the most powerful man in the world, but failure will lead to a life of isolation and imprisonment hidden in the eaves of the palace. As Caius enters the trials, it becomes apparent that the tests themselves are not the problem: it is the twenty nine other candidates willing to do whatever it takes to win, including maim or kill their top competitors. Can Caius navigate the pitfalls of imperial politics and cutthroat competition, all while performing well enough to succeed in the trials fair and square?

    

    P. Lovecraft -- victim of a mysterious death that literally makes the skin crawl -- is about to bring these two writers face to face with a peril sprung from the pulps."The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril" is at once a valentine to an old-fashioned genre as well as a modern, meta-literary examination of the classic hero pulp. From the palaces and battlefields of warlord-plagued China to the seedy waterfronts of Providence, Rhode Island; from frozen seas and cursed islands to the dizzying and labyrinthine alleys and tunnels of lower Manhattan, Dent and Gibson, joined by the young pulp writer L. Ron Hubbard and a host of colorful characters, finally step out from behind the shadows of their creations to take part in a heroic journey far greater than any story they have imagined as they race to stop a madman destined to create a new empire born of, and based in, pure, gaseous evil."The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril" is a swashbuckling romantic tale of writersand writing, magic and love, marriage and fatherhood, and ambition and loss that weaves the true lives of its real-life characters into a fictional epic.

    Mason and his rag-tag crew become embroiled in a global chase to find the book before the Vatican’s deepest secret can be revealed…

    These aging giants, calling themselves the ‘freakin’ old guys’ are hard-working leaders in their respective fields and have a menagerie of skills to show for it. But what starts out as a dream quickly turns into a nightmare.With these guys, the action never stops.While preparing to set sail, they have a run in with a teenage troublemaker that plagues the locals. The son of a senator, Sean has no respect for authority and is a little lost. The FOGs come from an era where a little rough handling never hurt anyone, and so strike a deal with Sean’s mother to have him sail along with them. She agrees, hoping that two weeks of hard work alongside six respected, intelligent men will get Sean turned around. Things quickly take a turn for the worst when the six small boats get caught in the crossfire of a mafia drug deal. It soon becomes clear that some of the group’s members may be hiding secrets and past lives from the others… Suddenly, the six boats are caught in an odd fog bank, and when they come out the other side, things are not as they seem. Their radios and compasses no longer work and time seems to have lost its way. Where are they? Things quickly start to defy the accepted order of things. Suddenly dropped into their own Odyssey, they fight against strange creatures and demi-goddesses as they try to find a way back home. Together, they must navigate this strange new land. Caly’s Island is a rip-roaring pseudo-fantasy thriller of a modern quest to conquer the unknown amongst seas of turmoil. Dick Herman retired from the US Air Force in 1983 with the rank of Major after serving for twenty- one years. He has flown over 200 combat missions himself and was stationed in Vietnam, West Germany and Great Britain. He has flown the F-4 and C-130 and received five medals, including the Bronze Star. He and his English-born wife now live in Fair Oaks, California. He is the author of several aviation thrillers from Endeavour Press.Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future. Sign up to our newsletter: http://bit.ly/1LUVI4n Follow us on Twitter @venture_pressFacebook: http://on.fb.me/1NnFow7

    Heroes storm the gates of dark fortresses... Gods clash over the fate of the realm itself....Arek cooks lasagna, and tops it with a dash of finely chopped basil.An orc who has seen more than his fair amount of fighting, Arek wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his days cooking and away from the chaos of combat.However, when Ming and her group of adventurers hire him as their full-time chef, his plans of avoiding violence crumble. He longs to leave his blood-soaked mistakes in his past, but old friends and foes have different ideas.Cleaver's Edge is the first book in a Fantasy / LitRPG lite series with a cooking element that's perfect for the holiday season. It contains status windows and other RPG elements, but it is not set within a video game. It will appeal to anyone that enjoys listening to a slice-of-life fantasy about a group of adventurers, as well as fans of Food Wars!This novel also contains real recipes, and we highly recommend you give them a taste, if you’re hungry!

    With completely re-mastered art and coloring, Dave Stevens' masterpiece soars off the page as it never has before-and looks as stunningly beautiful as it always should have.This collection contains more than 130 pages of supplemental material: sketches, preliminaries, character designs, script pages, photographs, and original art pages, as well as commentary by Dave Stevens and several of his peers, who occasionally assisted him on The Rocketeer.The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures Deluxe Edition was honored with three Harvey Awards and won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project-Comic Books.

    It was Napoleon's first setback— the defeat that cost him all chance of spreading his Empire to the East. George Abercrombie Fox, ambitious and ruthless, hero of THE PRESS GANG and PRIZE MONEY, played a key role at the terrible siege. It was a role that brought him both enormous success and catastrophic failure. Two duels, hidden treasure, torture, and violent, bloody death, are just some of the ingredients in this suspense-filled and authentic novel. For where Fox sails, excitement and explosive action are always on board! FOX IS NOT THE NOBLE HERO OF TRADITIONAL FICTION. FOX IS A FIGHTING MAN WHO TRANSCENDS HEROISM — HE DOESN’T CARE HOW HE WINS AS LONG AS HE WINS. HE’S MEAN, CUNNING AND MOST VICIOUS WHEN TRAPPED. THERE’S NO WAY TO OUTFOX FOX! Adam Hardy was a pen name used by Kenneth Bulmer (1921-2005). A prolific writer, Bulmer wrote over 160 novels and many short stories, both under his real name and various pen names. He is best known for science fiction, including his long-running Dray Prescot series of planetary romances, but he wrote in many genres.

     The 'Skirmishes' have left the land in absolute ruin. The last few remains of civilization are Citadels; corrupt, oppressive and dangerous for most who inhabit them. Outside, 'The Big Waste' is a stretch of an endless damaged landscape that has been scorched, poisoned and left to decay by the horrors of constant war. The constant threat of Citadel bounty hunters, mutated animals, ghoulish, formerly-human mercenaries, and all-powerful gangs looms over everyone. Happiness is unlikely, conflict is frequent and death is certain. When an accomplished demolition derby driver decides to take a seemingly simple delivery job outside the citadel for a little adventure, he learns very quickly why the first day in the Big Waste can often become your last. Disclaimer: This book contains brutal violence, unconventional morals in a post-apocalyptic world, detailed sex with harem elements, non-human females and a little bit of dark humor.

    A time of shadows, secret societies, and dens filled with opium addicts. Into this world comes the most fantastic emissary of evil society has ever known… Dr. Fu-Manchu. Denis Nayland Smith pursues his quarry across continents and through the back alleys of London. As victim after victim disappears at the hands of the Devil Doctor, Smith must unravel his murderous plot before it is too late.  Includes a special feature by Leslie S. Kilnger

    Many have tried, but all have failed to locate the legendary Nazi gold train.Jack Reilly mourns the loss of his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, and an esteemed historian. In memory of her, the retired Delta operator tours the place of her imprisonment, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, site of the infamous Nazi concentration camp.Suddenly, the crowded complex is taken over by a well-armed force. They’re led by a woman on a personal quest. The mercenary commander yearns to uncover the lucrative haul with the help of a journal that once belonged to Heinrich Himmler, leader of Adolf Hitler’s ruthless paramilitary organization, the Schutzstaffel. She shanghaies Jack into service after she learns of his past.With innocent lives on the line, Jack agrees to help. If he fails, people die. But if he succeeds, and he unwillingly helps resurrect the Nazi party, even more people will die. Never in his life has Jack been stuck between a bigger rock and a harder place.The Forgotten Fortune is the first book in international bestselling author Matt James’ action-packed archaeological thriller series, The Jack Reilly Adventures.

    So great is the mighty Kong’s hold on the popular imagination that his story–a gripping yarn of man versus nature, coupled with a fantastical update of the Beauty and the Beast legend–has been thrice made into a motion picture (most recently in 2005) and referenced endlessly in every medium, from books to prime-time sitcoms. Beneath King Kong’s cultural significance, however, is a tense and surprisingly tender story. One cannot help but be frightened by Kong’s uncontrollable fury, be saddened over the giant’s capture, mistreatment, and exploitation by venal showmen, or sympathize with the beast’s ill-fated affection for the down-on-her-luck starlet Ann Darrow. This Modern Library edition of a true colossus among adventure stories is reprinted from the original 1932 novelization of the movie script, and includes a Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz, the preeminent biographer of Merian C. Cooper, producer of the original 1933 classic film.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    From the vast level acreage, where longhorns grew fat on lush grass, the surrounding hills looked verdant and hospitable; but this was pure deceit on Nature's part. Those hills were treacherous, and Bryant Cavendish loved them for that selfsame treachery. Sitting on the porch of his rambling house, the bitter old man spat tobacco-flavored curses at the infirmities that restricted him. His legs, tortured by rheumatism, were propped on a bentwood chair, and seemed slim and out of proportion to his barrel-shaped torso. His eyes, like caves beneath an overhanging ledge, were more restless than usual, as he gazed across the basin. He rasped a heavy thumbnail across the bristle of his slablike jowl. There was something in the air he couldn't explain. He felt a vague uneasiness despite the almost pastoral scene before him. He scanned the hills on all sides of the basin, knowing that no stranger could come through the tangle of underbrush and dense forest. Those hills had always been practically impassable. Then his restless eyes fell on the weird riot of color to the north. That was Bryant's Gap. Water flowing from the basin springs had patiently, through countless ages, cut the deep cleft in solid rock. The walls towering high on each side reflected unbelievable hues. Bryant's scowl deepened as he observed the Gap.

    When you have spent the last sixteen hundred years faithfully guarding a precious hoard of gold and silver buried in the foundations of a Roman villa, the arrival of a bunch of TV archaeologists is seriously bad news.But the little household gods of the Villa Corvo have ways of deterring intruders that the makers of the popular programme "Ready,Steady,Dig!" could never have dreamed of ...

    But when she and her friend, Peter, find a valuable coin and try to take it out of the shop, they find themselves in the fifteenth century. But that is only the beginning. The Edward V Coin The discovery of the coin from the short lived reign of Edward V, prompts Peter to want to find out what really happened to the princes in the Tower. The Anne Boleyn Necklace When Peter finds the famous B necklace worn by Anne Boleyn in many portraits, he is eager to use it to go back and see her in the flesh. But Rachel has sworn she'll never time travel again, until she finds a journal which reveals a cousin, stranded in the fifteenth century. She feels she must rescue her, but she doesn't stop to wonder if the cousin wants to be rescued. The Ripper Rings Jack the Ripper took souvenirs in the form of organs from his victims. But from one victim he took three rings and when they turn up in the antique shop, both Peter and Rachel are keen to find out how they got there.