Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water. Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all. Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand. But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it…. With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own

From Wall Street messenger-boy to president of his own multi-million-pound company at dazzling speed, though not without a few dubious deals, Harvey Metcalfe rose to dizzying financial heights and was determined to stay there. Harvey loved England. Every June he sailed over in the QE2 to reinstate himself in the Royal Suite at Claridge’s for the two weeks of Wimbledon. From there he flew down to Monte Carlo to join his yacht for two weeks before returning to London to watch his filly Rosalie from his private box at Ascot. He had also found Britain an excellent place for one of his shadier ventures: the massive sale of shares in a fraudulent non-producing North Sea Oil company, conning the heir to an earldom, a Harley Street doctor, a Bond Street art-dealer and a Harvard Fellow at Oxford. But for once Harvey Metcalfe had conned the wrong men. The Oxford mathematician in particular had a methodical, ingenious, complex mind, the like of which Harvey Metcalfe had never yet come up against. When he next checked into Claridge’s Royal Suite, Harvey was unaware of the four young men watching his every move, intent on retrieving their million — not a penny more, not a penny less

Not After Midnight is a collection of short stories by Daphne du Maurier, all with different characters and themes but similar in that they touch on the supernatural or strange events. "Don't Look Now" — this novella features John and Laura who are on holiday in Venice. But it is a dangerous place for them as they are being followed by two old sisters and there is a killer on the loose. "Not After Midnight" is a tale about a lonely teacher who goes on a painting holiday in Crete and meets a strange American couple. The woman invites him to visit them in their hotel room but "not after midnight," the reason for this becoming clear as the story progresses. In "A Border Line Case", a young actress pursues old family friend Nick after the death of her father. She discovers he is an IRA executive and accompanies him on a bombing raid in Ireland, but soon learns he is not all he seems to be. In "The Way of the Cross", a disparate group of pilgrims from the same village embark on a trip to frenetic, dusty Jerusalem. Their regular vicar is taken ill and replaced by The Reverend Babcock, a rough diamond from Leeds. On the first night, young Robin, a precocious nine-year-old, suggests a walk to the Garden of Gethsemane. In the dark, among the bushes and trees, two people overhear things about themselves that force them to re-evaluate their lives. Subsequently the whole group learn a great deal about themselves and their loved ones, and return home better people. "The Breakthrough" is a science fiction-style story set in a deserted lab in the wilds of Norfolk. A man is sent to help with a new computer but soon realizes the strange purpose of the scientific team and decides to leave. However, he gets caught up in the experiment and stays. Mac, the leader of the group, is convinced that he can trap the life force, or soul, at the point of death and utilize its energy. His guinea pig Ken is the affable young assistant who happens to be dying of leukemia. Needless to say, the plan goes horribly awry

What does a gal have to do to get a good date in this town? Adele Harris can't even begin to answer that question. She's had so many lousy dates that she's sure she's cursed. Why else would every man she goes out with suddenly act like he's lost his mind-and his manners? Adele thought life couldn't get any more confusing… until she learns the marriage of her seemingly Miss Perfect sister is on the rocks. So she goes back to their hometown to give her a shoulder to cry on, only to run smack into Zach Zemaitis… the one who got away. Texans love God, family, and football, though not always in that order Zach, a former pro star, knows all about football. As for the other two, well, he's doing his best. But when Adele comes charging back into his life-still all lush curves and beautiful, big blue eyes-he wonders if his best is good enough. After all, he did her wrong. Can a woman with her track record ever really believe that he's serious this time… or is he destined to be another bad date?

When Jimmie John Hall and Betty Dienhardt found each other, they filled all the lonely corners of their young lives with love and hope. It would result in the brutal murders of fourteen innocent people

Murder is only the beginning for Banks and his team... The gruesome double murder at an Eastvale property developer’s luxury home should be an open and shut case for Superintendent Banks and his team of detectives. There’s a clear link to the notoriously vicious Albanian mafia, men who left the country suspiciously soon after the death. Then they find a cache of spy-cam videos hidden in the house — and Annie and Gerry’s investigation pivots to the rape of a young girl that could cast the murders in an entirely different light. Banks’s friend Zelda, increasingly uncertain of her future in Britain’s hostile environment, thinks she will be safer in Moldova hunting the men who abducted, raped and enslaved her than she is Yorkshire or London. Her search takes her back to the orphanage where it all began — but by stirring up the murky waters of the past, Zelda is putting herself in greater danger than any she’s seen before. And as the threat escalates, so does the danger for Banks and those who love Zelda

Brandon leaves his boyfriend in the city for a quiet life in the mountains, after an affair with a professor ends with Brandon being forced to kill a research animal. It is a violent, unfortunate episode that conjures memories from his military background. In the mountains, his new neighbors are using the increased temperatures to stage an agricultural project in an effort to combat globally heightened food prices and shortages. Brandon gets swept along with their optimism, while simultaneously applying to a new astronaut training program. However, he learns that these changes — internal, external — are irreversible. A sublime love story coupled with the universal struggle for personal understanding, Not Dark Yet is an informed novel of consequences with an ever-tightening emotional grip on the reader. "Fascinating, surreal, gorgeously written, and like nothing you’ve ever read before, Not Dark Yet is the book we all need to read right now. It is art about science, climate change, and activism, and it vitally explores how we as people deal with a world that is transforming in terrifying ways." — BuzzFeed "[Ellingsen] is just starting what promises to be a major career, but already giving readers a unique and fascinating perspective." — Jeff VanderMeer "I cannot remember the last time a writer impressed me so quickly." — InDigest Magazine Berit Ellingsen is a Korean Norwegian writer and former bookseller whose stories have appeared in W.W. Norton's Flash Fiction International Anthology, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Unstuck. She is the author of the story collection Beneath the Liquid Skin, and the novel Une Ville Vide, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the British Science Fiction Award

For LA producer Larry Brooker, this is the movie that could bring the fortune that has so long eluded him…For rock superstar, Gaia, desperate to be taken seriously as an actor, this is the role that could get her an Oscar nomination For the City of Brighton and Hove, the publicity value of a major Hollywood movie being filmed on location, about the city's greatest love story between King George 1Vth and Maria Fitzherbert – is incalculable. For Detective Superintendent Roy Grace of Sussex CID, it is a nightmare unfolding in front of his eyes. An obsessed stalker is after Gaia. One attempt on her life is made days before she leaves her Bel Air home to fly to Brighton. Now, he has been warned, the stalker may be at large in his city, waiting, watching, planning

Science and progress has turned inward, creating new realities and entire new worlds. Fletcher works as a virtual reality tester to escape to the past, and longs for a bygone era when humankind could still gaze into space

MURDER ON THE “FAR VENTURE” Nose pointed skyward, the Far Venture rested on the barren soil of Mars, poised for take-off. Outside, a party of scientists had wandered from the ship into the mysterious lichen forests and disappeared. Inside, the 125 man crew of military and civilian specialists seethed with conflict and tensions. An alien intelligence seemed to be interfering with the ship’s rocket engines and nuclear activator. And, into this explosive situation, suddenly comes—murder. It was a race against the clock and Dane had to make a fast decision. Colonel Cragg, the C.O. of the USAF spacecraft Far Venture, was ready to write off the party of scientists who had strayed from the ship and seemingly disappeared. The crew of civilian and military specialists were poised for the nuclear blast-off that should take this first Martian mission back to Earth. But Dane had seen the curious spark fires that flashed across the sands from the mysterious lichen beds. Dane believed they were the signals of some alien form of life and that the scientists were still alive… He had to prove his theory, even if it meant clashing with the military brass and placing his own life in danger. For unless they understood the nature of what he believed to be a hostile, threatening force and took steps against it—none of them might ever see the planet Earth again… Here are all the ingredients for a first-rate science fiction thriller, written with the authenticity that only a man close to our nation’s space program could give it

From award-winning author Ruth Rendell – 'without a doubt the grand dame of British crime fiction,' (The Gazette) – comes the chilling new Inspector Wexford novel. Searching for truffles in a wood, a man and his dog unearth something less savoury-a human hand. The body, as Chief Inspector Wexford is informed later, has lain buried for ten years or so, wrapped in a purple cotton shroud. The post mortem cannot reveal the precise cause of death. The only clue is a crack in one of the dead man's ribs. Although the police database covers a relatively short period of time, it stores a long list of Missing Persons. Men, women and children disappear at an alarming rate-hundreds every day. So Wexford knows he is going to have a job on his hands to identify the corpse. And then, only about twenty yards away from the woodland burial site, in the cellar of a disused cottage, another body is discovered. The detection skills of Wexford, Burden, and the other investigating officers of the Kingsmarkham Police Force, are tested to the utmost to see if the murders are connected and to track down whoever is responsible

‘I want you to change the next wicked person you see into a tiger,’ demanded Lionel. ‘A very large tiger’ Heckie is not just a witch — she’s an animal witch, who wants to make the world a better place by transforming evil people into harmless animals, using her incredible Toe of Transformation and her awesome Knuckle of Power. But when slimy Lionel Knapsack charms Heckie, her magic begins to take a darker direction. Her friends, including a cheese wizard and a boy called Daniel, must come to the rescue… ‘Eva Ibbotson has assumed the mantle of Roald Dahl.’

A pregnancy pact between three teenaged girls puts their mothers' love to the ultimate test in this explosive new novel from Barbara Delinsky, 'a first- rate storyteller who creates characters as familiar as your neighbors.' (Boston Globe) When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter's pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk. The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother?

Sherman Jamison is rich, very rich. He has amassed millions and now wants someone to pass them on to, the next in the family line. But he has no heir as his wife has been unable to have children. Refusing to let this stand in his way, Jamison pleads for a divorce but his wife, a devout Catholic, refuses to give into his demands. If she will not agree, she will have to be removed. Jamison hires a professional killer to do the deed but this is only the beginning of a thrilling and electrifying story of revenge, betrayal and murder

Not Not While the Giro is James Kelman's first major collection of short stories — originally published by Polygon in 1983. The reader follows the lives of young men, social misfits, whose lives are spent waiting — waiting for their next giro or menial job — in the pub, the dole office, the snooker table and the greyhound track. This collection, written with irony and great tenderness, confirmed James Kelman's status as one of the most significant writers in the UK, and remains as powerful, relevant and truthful as it was in the early 1980s

Twenty-year-old Skyler saw the incident out her window: Some sort of metalic object hovering over the Golden Gate Bridge just before it collapsed and a mushroom cloud lifted above the city. Like everyone, she ran, but she couldn't outrun the radiation, with her last thoughts being of her beloved baby brother, Dorian, safe in her distant family home. Flash forward to a post-incident America, where the country has been broken up into territories and Muslims have been herded onto the old Indian reservations in the west, even though no one has determined who set off the explosion that destroyed San Francisco. Twelve-year old Dorian dreams about killing Muslims and about his sister — even though Dorian's parents insist Skyler never existed. Are they still shell-shocked, trying to put the past behind them. or is something more sinister going on? Meanwhile, across the street, Dorian's neighbor adopts a Muslim orphan from the territories. It will set off a series of increasingly terrifying incidents that will lead to either tragedy or redemption for Dorian, as he struggles to prove that his sister existed — and was killed by a terrorist attack. Not on Fire, but Burning is unlike anything you're read before — not exactly a thriller, not exactly sci-fi, not exactly speculative fiction, but rather a brilliant and absorbing adventure into the dark heart of an America that seems ripped from the headlines. But just as powerfully, it presents a captivating hero: A young boy driven by love to seek the truth, even if it means his deepest beliefs are wrong

Mankind comes face to face with extraterrestrial life in this short fiction reprint anthology from Clarkesworld publisher Neil Clarke. They Are Strangers from Far Lands… Science fiction writers have been using aliens as a metaphor for the other for over one hundred years. Superman has otherworldly origins, and his struggles to blend in on our planet are a clear metaphor for immigration. Earth’s adopted son is just one example of this “Alien Among Us” narrative. There are stories of assimilation, or the failure to do so. Stories of resistance to the forces of naturalization. Stories told from the alien viewpoint. Stories that use aliens as a manifestation of the fears and worries of specific places and eras. Stories that transcend location and time, speaking to universal issues of group identity and its relationship to the Other. Nearly thirty authors in this reprint anthology grapple both the best and worst aspects of human nature, and they do so in utterly compelling and entertaining ways. Not One of Us is a collection of stories that aren’t afraid to tackle thorny and often controversial issues of race, nationalism, religion, political ideology, and other ways in which humanity divides itself

There’s only been one woman for Gabriel Edwards—Summer Holland. But unless she needs cash, food or a place to stay, she wants nothing to do with him. Now he’s done playing Summer’s knight in shining armor. He’s finally found the woman to settle down with—the town’s newest librarian. She’s smart and sweet, and wholly in love with him. And nothing and no one will get in the way of his plans. Until Summer comes home to Holland Springs, and needs his help once more. Summer Holland is set on one thing: convincing Gabriel Edwards to help her get back the daughter she gave up for adoption. She’s always counted on him to rescue her when she needed it most, and this time is no different…until she learns of the new woman in Gabriel’s life. Now she realizes she’s never gotten over him, and after they share one sweet kiss, Gabriel starts to believe that he might not be over her either

Three years ago, Lady Victoria Wexhall was humiliated when Nathan Oliver waltzed brazenly out of her life after favoring her with one glorious kiss… her very first! Now, when her father insists she pay a visit to Nathan's family estate in Cornwall, the pampered Society beauty devises a plan to drive the heartless rake mad with desire, then drop him cold. Because the man is a cad – and he will rue the day he trifled with her affections! But Victoria's plan isn't the only plot that's afoot. Nathan's sworn duty to the Crown has immersed him in a perilous intrigue, and he is certain this infuriatingly tempting lady is somehow involved. Using his winning charm and sensuous allure, Nathan intends to discover the lady's secrets. And the dashing rogue is bound and determined to prove that, while not quite a gentleman, he is every bit a lover!

The U.S. army wants Nero Wolfe urgently, but the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth refuses the call to duty. It takes his perambulatory confidential assistant, Archie Goodwin, to titillate Wolfe’s taste for crime with two malevolent morsels: a corpse that won’t rest in peace and a sinister “accident” involving national security. So as Goodwin lays the bait on the wrong side of the law, Wolfe sets the traps to catch a pair of wily killers

A collection of stories The hero of Robinson's novels (Wednesday's Child, etc.), Yorkshire Chief Inspector Alan Banks, appears in three of this collection's 13 stories, and one of the 13, "Innocence," won the Canadian Crime Writers Award for best short story. That tale displays well Robinson's gift for turning a familiar plot inside-out as strange circumstances overwhelm his characters. A man waits outside a school to meet a teacher friend, draws the suspicion of parents and finds himself charged with the murder of a schoolgirl. What happens after his trial is shocking but, in Robinson's hands, perfectly believable. There's a similar twist in the title story, wherein an out-of-town visitor ventures nervously into an urban park often described as unsafe at night. There's danger, all right, but not what the reader expects. In "Fan Mail," a mystery novelist agrees to advise a Walter Mitty-like husband on innovative ways to murder his wife; an old secret leads to a perverse result. The plots of the stories are mostly solid and the characters are always vivid. U.S. readers may particularly enjoy Robinson's take on his fellow Canadians coping with Florida and southern California

Who murdered Lucille Balu, a rising young film star, found strangled to death in a hotel elevator? Set against the background of the fabulous Cote d’Azur and the Cannes Film Festival, James Hadley Chase’s new thriller tells the story of a young degenerate with an inner compulsion to kill. Written with the speed, force and economy of style we have come to expect from the man who has been described as “the most remarkable among British and American thriller writers” this tense new novel throws a noose round the reader which will not be snakes off until long after the last page has been turned

In the tradition of Jennifer Close’s Girls in White Dresses comes a “a pin-sharp, utterly addictive debut” (Vogue U.K.) told in vignettes that speak to a new generation not trying to have it all but hoping to make sense of it all. Claire Flannery has just quit her office job, hoping to take some time to discover her real passion. The problem is, she’s not exactly sure how to go about finding it. Without the distractions of a regular routine, Claire confronts the best and worst parts of herself: the generous, attentive part that visits her grandmother for tea and cooks special meals for her boyfriend, Luke, and the part that she feels will never measure up and makes regrettable comments after too many glasses of wine. What emerges is a candid, moving portrait of a clear-eyed heroine trying to forge her own way, a wholly relatable character whose imperfections and uncanny observations highlight what makes us all different and yet inescapably linked

Ben Marcus achieved cult status and gained the admiration of his peers with his first book, The Age of Wire and String. With Notable American Women he goes well beyond that first achievement to create something radically wonderful, a novel set in a world so fully imagined that it creates its own reality. On a farm in Ohio, American women led by Jane Dark practice all means of behavior modification in an attempt to attain complete stillness and silence. Witnessing (and subjected to) their cultish actions is one Ben Marcus, whose father, Michael Marcus, may be buried in the back yard, and whose mother, Jane Marcus, enthusiastically condones the use of her son for (generally unsuccessful) breeding purposes, among other things. Inventing his own uses for language, the author Ben Marcus has written a harrowing, hilarious, strangely moving, altogether engrossing work of fiction that will be read and argued over for years to come

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Thirteen transfixing new stories from one of the most innovative writers of his generation and one of the most vital and original voices of our time—for fans of George Saunders, Nathan Englander, and Elizabeth Strout. In these thirteen ingenious stories, Ben Marcus reveals moments of redemption in the sometimes nightmarish modern world. In “The Grow-Light Blues,” a hapless, corporate drone finds love after being disfigured testing his employer’s newest nutrition supplement—the enhanced glow from his computer monitor. In the chilling “Cold Little Bird,” a father finds himself alienated from his family when he starts to suspect that his son’s precocity has turned sinister. “The Boys” follows a sister who descends into an affair with her recently widowed brother-in-law. In “Blueprints for St. Louis,” two architects in a flailing marriage consider the ethics of adding a mist that artificially incites emotion in mourners to their latest assignment, a memorial to a terrorist attack. A heartbreaking collection of stories that showcases the author’s compassion, tenderness, and mordant humor—blistering, beautiful work from a modern master

Experiences and observations of the journalist in the Cuban-Spanish War, the Greek-Turkish War, the Spanish-American War, the South African War, and the Japanese-Russian War, accompanied by “A War Correspondent’s Kit.”

Jane Weatherby wants a more exciting match for her son than Mary Pomfret and decides to take action to break off their engagement. Central to her schemes is Mary's father, John, who used to be Jane's lover and just might be again. Narrated mainly through Henry Green's incomparable comic dialogue, Nothing is a satiric comedy of manners. First published in the U.S. by Viking (1950), most recent paperback edition published by Penguin in the collection Nothing; Doting, Blindness (1993)

Thomas McGuane's high-spirited and fiercely lyrical new novel chronicles the fall and rise of Frank Copenhaver, a man so unhinged by his wife's departure that he finds himself ruining his business, falling in love with the wrong women, and wandering the lawns of his neighborhood, desperate for the merest glimpse of normalcy. The result is a ruefully funny novel of embattled manhood, set in the country that McGuane has made his own: a Montana where cowboys slug it out with speculators, a cattleman's best friend may be his insurance broker, and love and fishing are the only consolations that last

Lawyer Dismas Hardy is thrown into a panic when his wife fails to turn up to collect their children from school. He discovers that she is being held in jail for contempt of court because she's refusing to divulge in a grand jury trial a confidence given to her by a friend, Ron Beaumont

Trouble… Chelsea Ross's acting career has been a total bust. The closest she ever came to stardom was her brilliant performance as "Pretty Dead Girl #1." But leaving Hollywood to become the personal assistant to a famous hockey player could be her stupidest career move ever. More trouble… Injured superstar Mark Bressler's glory days are over. The bad-boy ex-jock could at least be civil to the pint-sized, pink-haired bombshell who the Seattle Chinooks hired to be his P.A. If Chelsea didn't need the money, she'd be running from the world's biggest jerk as fast as her feet could carry her. Big trouble! Chelsea can deal with Mark's rotten attitude and dark moods. The problem is those biceps and that red-hot bod! And when the bad boy starts to put the moves on her, Chelsea knows it's time she banished him to the penalty box… if only she could resist the kind of trouble he has in mind!

“BACH HAS A REMARKABLE GIFT… [HE] CONVINCE[S] AND CAPTIVATE[S] HIS LISTENERS.” Is there a reason for every event that touches our lives? Richard Bach believed there was, and to find it, he set out on a great adventure. Here he tells about the magical summer when he turned time backward to become an old-fashioned barnstormer in an antique biplane… and let destiny be his copilot. “BIOGRAPHY? FANTASY? METAPHYSICS? FICTION? NONFICTION? SELF-HELP? PHILOSOPHY? WITH BACH, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE INTENTIONALLY UNLIMITED.” “JUST LOOK—HE IS UP THERE.”

All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. From the author of the bestselling novel "The Sympathizer" comes a searching exploration of the conflict Americans call the Vietnam War and Vietnamese call the American War a conflict that lives on in the collective memory of both nations. From a kaleidoscope of cultural forms novels, memoirs, cemeteries, monuments, films, photography, museum exhibits, video games, souvenirs, and more "Nothing Ever Dies "brings a comprehensive vision of the war into sharp focus. At stake are ethical questions about how the war should be remembered by participants that include not only Americans and Vietnamese but also Laotians, Cambodians, South Koreans, and Southeast Asian Americans. Too often, memorials valorize the experience of one s own people above all else, honoring their sacrifices while demonizing the enemy or, most often, ignoring combatants and civilians on the other side altogether. Visiting sites across the United States, Southeast Asia, and Korea, Viet Thanh Nguyen provides penetrating interpretations of the way memories of the war help to enable future wars or struggle to prevent them. Drawing from this war, Nguyen offers a lesson for all wars by calling on us to recognize not only our shared humanity but our ever-present inhumanity. This is the only path to reconciliation with our foes, and with ourselves. Without reconciliation, war s truth will be impossible to remember, and war s trauma impossible to forget."

"An accomplished writer… Stabenow places you right in this lonely, breathtaking country…so beautifully evoked it serves as another character." (Publishers Weekly) Shocked by a series of brutal, unexplainable murders, Alaska State Trooper Liam Campbell embarks on a desperate journey into the heart of the Alaskan Bush country-in search of the terrible, earth-shattering truth…

The sun sets. The moon takes its place, illuminating the most evil corners of the planet. What twisted fear dwells in that blackness? What legends attach to those of sound mind and make them go crazy in the bright light of day? Only Suspense Magazine knows... Teaming up with New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, Suspense Magazine offers up a nail-biting anthology titled: “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.” This thrilling collection consists of thirteen original short stories representing the genres of suspense/thriller, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and more. Take their hands... walk into their worlds... but be prepared to leave the light on when you’re through. After all, this incredible gathering of authors, who will delight fans of all genres, not only utilized their award-winning imaginations to answer that age-old question of why “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight” — they also made sure to pen stories that will leave you... speechless

Told from the perspective of several generations of teenagers, this science fiction novel involves an Earth ravaged by mankind, high-tech manipulative aliens, and advanced genetics. Early in the 21st century, global warming has caused sickness and death among plants, animals, and humans. Suddenly aliens contact and genetically modify a group of 14-year-olds, inviting them to visit their spacecraft. After several months of living among the aliens and studying genetics, the students discover that the aliens have been manipulating them and rebel. Upon their return to Earth, the girls in the group discover that they are pregnant and can only wonder what form their unborn children will take. Generations later, the offspring of these children seek to use their alien knowledge to change their genetic code, to allow them to live and prosper in an environment that is quickly becoming uninhabitable from the dual scourges of global warming and biowarfare. But after all the generations of change, will the genetically modified creatures resemble their ancestors, or will nothing human remain?

In the new Russia, even dictatorship is a reality show. Professional killers with the souls of artists, would-be theater directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, suicidal supermodels, Hell’s Angels who hallucinate themselves as holy warriors, and oligarch revolutionaries: welcome to the glittering, surreal heart of twenty-first-century Russia. It is a world erupting with new money and new power, changing so fast it breaks all sense of reality, home to a form of dictatorship—far subtler than twentieth-century strains—that is rapidly rising to challenge the West. When British producer Peter Pomerantsev plunges into the booming Russian TV industry, he gains access to every nook and corrupt cranny of the country. He is brought to smoky rooms for meetings with propaganda gurus running the nerve-center of the Russian media machine, and visits Siberian mafia-towns and the salons of the international super-rich in London and the US. As the Putin regime becomes more aggressive, Pomerantsev finds himself drawn further into the system

The Incomparable Sidney Sheldon Best known today for his exciting, blockbuster novels, Sidney Sheldon is the author of The Stars Shine Down, The Doomsday Conspiracy, Memories of Midnight, The Sands of Time, Windmills of the Cods, If Tomorrow Comes, Master of the Came, Rage of Angels, Bloodline, A Stranger in the Mirror, and The Other Side of Midnight. All have been number one international bestsellers. His first and only other book, The Naked Face, was acclaimed by the New York Times as "the best first mystery of the year." Most of his novels have become major feature films or TV mini-series, and there are 150 million copies of his books in print throughout the world. However, before he ever authored a book Sidney Sheldon had won a Tony Award for Broadway's Redhead and an Academy Award for The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer. He wrote the screenplays for twenty-three motion pictures including Easter Parade (with Judy Garland) and Annie Cet Your Cun. In addition, he penned six other Broadway hits and created four long-running television series including "Hart to Hart" and "I Dream of Jeannie," which he also produced and directed. A writer who has delighted millions with his award-winning plays, movies, novels, and television shows, Sidney Sheldon reigns as one of the most popular storytellers of all time

One man — alone, marooned, outnumbered... and running out of time. The setting — Los Angeles. The time — the twenty-four hours between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Joe Leland, veteran cop and former war hero, finds himself bang in the middle of the most terrifying situation any policeman has everdreamed of — a crime in progress. Stranded in a high office block, outnumbered by twelve to one, the wiry ex-cop takes on a fight to the death against fully armed terrorists, whilst the lives of seventy-five hostages — including those of his own daughter and grandchildren hang in the fragile balance. But Leland not only knows who the terrorists are and the cruel atrocities of which they are capable, he is also aware of the bloody and destructive anti-terrorist plans of the Los Angeles Police Department

Fearfully Carol waited, knowing Max was being judged as a husband as well as an artist — judged by another woman

Warren Hament is a bright young man who wanders into a career in finance in the early 1980s. Nothing Personal is the extraordinary story of his rapid ascent toward success, painted against a landscape of temptation and personal discovery. Introduced to the seductive, elite bastions of wealth and privilege, and joined by his gorgeous and ambitious girlfriend, he gets a career boost when his mentor is found dead. Warren soon finds himself at the center of two murder investigations as a crime spree seemingly focused on powerful finance wizards plagues Wall Street. The blood-soaked trail leads to vast wealth and limitless risk as Warren uncovers unexpected opportunity and unknown dangers at every turn and must face moral dilemmas for which he is wholly unprepared. Nothing Personal is a stellar debut novel, which follows an increasingly jaded protagonist as he comes of age in a rarified, deeply corrupt world. Offit, a former senior insider, unflinchingly divulges Wall Street’s culture of abuse and portrays the insidious, creeping forces of greed, sex, and power---and the terrible price paid in their thrall

A British man, ill and largely inactive since the Second World War, inherits land in the Canadian Rockies. He travels there to investigate his grandfather’s instinct that there are valuable oil reserves under the land

From Publishers Weekly At the start of bestseller Child's solid 12th Jack Reacher novel (after Bad Luck and Trouble), the ex-military policeman hitchhikes into Colorado, where he finds himself crossing the metaphorical and physical line that divides the small towns of Hope and Despair. Despair lives up to its name; all Reacher wants is a cup of coffee, but what he gets is attacked by four thugs and thrown in jail on a vagrancy charge. After he's kicked out of town, Reacher reacts in his usual manner-he goes back and whips everybody's butt and busts up the town's police force. In the process, he discovers, with the help of a good-looking lady cop from Hope, that a nearby metal processing plant is part of a plan that involves the war in Iraq and an apocalyptic sect bent on ushering in the end-time. With his powerful sense of justice, dogged determination and the physical and mental skills to overcome what to most would be overwhelming odds, Jack Reacher makes an irresistible modern knight-errant. Review “As I was reading this latest book, I was trying to understand why I like the Reacher series so much…The Jack Reacher books are all revenge fantasies. By the time the reader encounters the first fight, the reader is already mad… Reacher doesn't go looking for trouble, but trouble usually finds him.”- San Francisco Chronicle “Explosive and nearly impossible to put down.”-People

Kevin Wilson’s best book yet—a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with remarkable and disturbing abilities Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help. Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for? With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet—a most unusual story of parental love

This is not a detective story, this is a story about a detective William Warwick has always wanted to be a detective, and decides, much to his father’s dismay, that rather than become a barrister like his father, Sir Julian Warwick QC, and his sister Grace, he will join London’s Metropolitan Police Force. After graduating from university, William begins a career that will define his life: from his early months on the beat under the watchful eye of his first mentor, Constable Fred Yates, to his first high-stakes case as a fledgling detective in Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques squad. Investigating the theft of a priceless Rembrandt painting from the Fitzmolean Museum, he meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery who he falls hopelessly in love with, even as Beth guards a secret of her own that she’s terrified will come to light. While William follows the trail of the missing masterpiece, he comes up against suave art collector Miles Faulkner and his brilliant lawyer, Booth Watson QC, who are willing to bend the law to breaking point to stay one step ahead of William. Meanwhile, Miles Faulkner’s wife, Christina, befriends William, but whose side is she really on? Nothing Ventured heralds the start of a brand new series in the style of Jeffrey Archer’s number one Sunday Times bestselling The Clifton Chronicles: telling the story of the life of William Warwick — as a family man and a detective who will battle throughout his career against a powerful criminal nemesis. Through twists, triumph and tragedy, this series will show that William Warwick is destined to become one of Jeffrey Archer’s most enduring legacies