His people have gathered to feast on meat and mead and listen to the old tales. But the village skald, with all his talk of heroes and kings, will have to wait his turn. It is Harald himself who will hold them all spellbound this night. For the jarl has his own story to tell: a tale of adventure and courage. Of honour and of how friendship can be forged in fire and quenched in blood. It is a story of love, too. And of The Terror.

    . .It’s all work and no play for longtime friends-turned-business-partners Kristen and Jasper—until an unexpected kiss turns things personal. Will it mean the end of something, or the beginning? With a major contract in the balance, Christmas around the corner, and a lot of unspoken feelings, it may take an unpredictable blizzard in New England to seal the deal . . .

    When she and the baby are taken in by a band of rebels, Raven finds herself an outsider within a tight-knit group. The only other newcomer is an untrustworthy boy known as the Thief until he finally earns himself a new name: Tack.Now she and Tack are inseparable, committed to each other, the fledgling rebellion, and a future together. But as they both take center stage in the fight, Raven must decide whether the dangers of the revolution are worth risking her dreams of a peaceful life with Tack.As her story hurtles back and forth between past and present, Raven transforms from a scared girl newly arrived in the Wilds to the tough leader who helps Lena save former Deliria-Free poster boy Julian Fineman from a death sentence. Whatever the original mission may have been, Raven abides by a conviction that she believes to her core: You always return for the people you love.By turns surprising, revelatory, and poignant, Raven’s story enriches the Delirium world and resonates with a voice that is as vulnerable as it is strong.

    With her husband badly wounded, she must run for help alone as his cryptic parting words echo in her head: "Be careful who you trust." BookShotsLIGHTNING-FAST STORIES BY JAMES PATTERSONNovels you can devour in a few hoursImpossible to stop readingAll original content from James Patterson

    From that moment onward every construct is different.They all have one thing in common, though; all constructs are bound by rules. They serve. They do not question their place. They do not betray.Each construct is different, but some are more different than others...A 4,000 word short story set in the Lacuna universe but suitable to read as a stand-alone story.

    She’s drawn into a stranger’s murder in this SHORT STORY featuring characters from the Maggie Sullivan mystery novels. A job offer from a blonde at a dime store lunch counter lures the detective to a still-warm corpse in an alley. His gold watch and cufflinks are still on him, but not his shoes and socks. A night of grilling by homicide cops does nothing to improve Maggie’s mood, which deteriorates further when they laugh off a lead she gives them and imply she solves cases by batting her eyes instead of using her brains. Aided by a ragtag newsboy, Maggie baits a trap for the killer. He shows up with a knife. But Maggie wields a .38 as expertly as she does an emery board — and she doesn’t back down for thugs or authorities when she’s after answers. A woman sleuth like none you’ve met and historical atmosphere meet in the streets of a small Ohio city, capturing a 20th century America before cell phones or carry-out coffee cups in this short story reminiscent of the golden age of private eyes.

    Never before published, it features her ex-Special Forces soldier turned self-defence expert and bodyguard, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox.In Across The Broken Line, we follow Charlie through a fragmented timescale of cross and double-cross as she fights to keep her principal alive – whoever that might be.

    But Leslie doesn’t lament the meager number, she only truly mourns the second one. In her youthful arrogance, she turned him away, thinking there would be many more chances. Now, she lives two lives—one in the present, and another plagued by bittersweet memories of the past. But maybe, even now, it might be possible to reconcile the two.

    Enlivened by Francesca Marciano’s wit, clear eye, and stunning evocations of people and places, The Other Language is an enthralling tour de force rich with many pleasures.

    The father has a story to share before it’s too late. He tells his son about a courageous little girl lying in a hospital bed a few miles away. She’s a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it. As he talks about this plucky little girl, the father also reveals more about himself: his triumphs in business, his failures as a parent, his past regrets, his hopes for the future. Now, on a cold winter’s night, the father has been given an unexpected chance to do something remarkable that could change the destiny of a little girl he hardly knows. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he must find out what his own life has actually been worth, and only his son can reveal that answer. With humor and compassion, Fredrik Backman’s The Deal of a Lifetime reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our legacy rests in how we share that gift with others.

    Casey, author of Stygian Doorways

    This prequel story takes place before the events of The Selection and is told from the point of view of Prince Maxon's mother, Amberly. Discover a whole new Selection with this inside look at how Maxon's parents met—and how an ordinary girl named Amberly became a beloved queen.

    . . and it could well be their last visit. Going back to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill, Grisham brings the Graneys and their world to vivid and colorful life, making it abundantly clear why he is our most popular storyteller.

    A collection of fifteen blue-collar stories, period and contemporary—1866 through the present.

    From the title story told by a woman suffering from gaps in her memory, to one about a man seeking insight in bags of garbage, to a surreal story about a car salesman and the customer he tries to seduce, The Woman Next Door charms and provokes with an incomparable style.