When it was first published in 1989, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love became an international bestselling sensation, winning rave reviews and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that changed the landscape of American literature returns with a new afterword by Oscar Hijuelos. Here is the story of the memorable Castillo brothers, from Havana to New York's Upper West Side. The lovelorn songwriter Nestor and his macho brother Cesar find success in the city's dance halls and beyond playing the rhythms that earn them their band's name, as they struggle with elusive fame and lost love in a richly sensual tale that has become a cultural touchstone and an enduring favorite

Every short story in this wonderfully varied collection has one thing in common: each features some alteration in history, some divergence from historical reality, which results in a world very different from the one we know today. As well as original stories specially commissioned from bestselling writers such as James Morrow, Stephen Baxter and Ken MacLeod, there are genre classics such as Kim Stanley Robinson’s story of how World War II atomic bomber the Enola Gay, having crashed on a training flight, is replaced by the Lucky Strike with profoundly different consequences

Stories of the fall of civilisation, the destruction of the Earth and the end of the Universe itself The last sixty years have been full of stories of one or other possible Armageddon, whether by nuclear war, plague, cosmic catastrophe or, more recently, global warming, terrorism, genetic engineering, AIDS and other pandemics. These stories, both pre- and post-apocalyptic, describe the fall of civilization, the destruction of the entire Earth, or the end of the Universe itself. Many of the stories reflect on humankind’s infinite capacity for self-destruction, but the stories are by no means all downbeat or depressing — one key theme explores what the aftermath of a cataclysm might be and how humans strive to survive

OVER 40 NEW STORIES FROM BRITAIN’S LEADING CRIME WRITERS Leading editor and reviewer Maxim Jakubowski has compiled another beguiling collection of the year’s best new short crime fiction from the UK. Ian Rankin’s perennially popular Edinburgh cop, Inspector Rebus, makes an unexpected comeback in a short, but intriguing story, ‘The Very Last Drop’, and the collection closes with another Rankin story, ‘Driven’. Making their first appearance in the series are many luminaries such as Kate Atkinson, Louise Welsh, Stephen Booth, Christopher Brookmyre, Colin Bateman, A. L. Kennedy, Sheila Quigley, Lin Anderson, Simon Kernick and David Hewson. Also represented are exciting up-and-coming talents such as Nick Quantrill, Jay Stringer, Paul D. Brazill and Nigel Bird

Thirty-five short stories from the top names in British crime fiction, by the likes of Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Jake Arnott, Val McDermid, and more

This edition of Maxim Jakubowski’s Best New Erotica series auspiciously appears with a new collection of fiction from forty-eight artisans of the sensual. Selected from stories by more than 4,000 authors of erotica from around the world, these artful excursions into the libido represent the current states of desire in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and France. In this third new volume of voluptuary pursuits, tales by popular talents in the arts of titillation like Michel Faber, Michael Crawley, M. Christian, O’Neil De Noux, Alison Tyler, and Cara Bruce stand alongside stories from promising newcomers to the field of erotic fiction. All of them nonetheless share a standard of excellence and elegance that takes their often humorous, sometimes dark, and always original fictions far beyond tired conventions. So it is that John Grant presents “The Adventures of Thomas the Rock Star in the Court of the Queen of Faery,” while Cheyenne Blue depicts the misadventures of a city girl in “Cactus Ass.” Then, too, there’s Dawn O’Hara’s “London Derrière.” Claire Tristram serves up “Tomatoes: A Love Story in Three Parts” while Susannah Indigo offers the combination of “Bacon, Lola and Tomato,” as Mark Ramsden relishes what’s “Truly Scrumptious.”

Going ten years strong, the acclaimed collection of contemporary horror fiction again showcases the talents of the finest writers working the field of fear. Along with his annual review of the year in horror, award-winning editor Stephen Jones has chosen the year's best stories by the old masters and new voices alike. — The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 10 includes bloodcurdlers and flesh-crawlers from Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Dennis Etchison, Thomas Ligotti, Michael Marshall Smith, Peter Straub, Kim Newman, Harlan Ellison, and many others

Number 13 — lucky for horror fans! This award-winning anthology series has now reached its thirteenth spectacular volume and to mark the event, Steve Jones has chosen only the very best short stories and novellas by today's finest exponents of the horror genre. Contributors to this volume include: Gala Blau, Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, Charles Grant, Glen Hirshberg, Chico Kidd, Nancy Kilpatrick, Paul J. McAuley, Conrad Williams. Also featuring the most comprehensive overview of the year, a fascinating necrology and a list of useful contacts, this is the one book that all lovers of the supernatural and psychological terror will want on their shelves

The World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award-winning series. This latest edition of the world's premier annual showcase devoted exclusively to excellence in horror and dark fantasy fiction contains some of the very best short stories and novellas by today's finest exponents of horror fiction. Also featuring the most comprehensive yearly overview of horror around the world, lists of useful contact addresses and a fascinating necrology, this is the only book that should be required reading for every fan of dark fiction. Like all of the other volumes in this series, award-winning editor Stephen Jones once again brings us the best new horror, revisiting momentous events and chilling achievements on the dark side of fantasy in 2004. This book was nominated for the 2005 British Fantasy Award

This new volume of the world's most acclaimed Year's Best Horror series includes a masterful selection of the finest supernatural short stories and terrifying novellas from many of the biggest names and most exciting newcomers currently working in the genre. This is the very best of new short stories and novellas by today's masters of the macabre. Contributors include such names as Neil Gaiman, Michael Marshall Smith, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Glen Hirshberg. This is required reading for any fan of ghoulish fiction. Winner of the 2009 British Fantasy Award

This new anthology presenting a selection of some of the very best, and most chilling, short stories and novellas of horror and the supernatural by both contemporary masters of horror and exciting newcomers. As ever, the latest volume of this record-breaking and multiple award-winning anthology series also offers an in-depth overview of the year in horror, a fascinating necrology of notable names, and a useful directory contact information for dedicated horror fans and writers. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world's leading annual anthology dedicated solely to showcasing the best in contemporary horror fiction on both sides of the Atlantic

The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies uncovers 100 cover-ups “they” really don't want you to know about. This collection delves into some of the biggest lies in history. Jon E. Lewis is a historian and writer, whose books on history and military history are sold worldwide. He is also the editor of many The Mammoth Book of anthologies, including the best-selling Cover-Ups

The Assassination of JFK, 9/11, the Da Vinci Code, The Death of Diana, Men in Black, Pearl Harbor, The Illuminati, Protocols of Zion, Hess, The Bilderberg Group, New World Order, Elvis, Fluoridization, Martin Luther King s murder, Opus Dei, The Gemstone Files, John Paul I, Dead Sea Scrolls, Lockerbie bombing, Black helicopters. In other words everything they never wanted you to know and were afraid you might ask! Jon E. Lewis explores the 100 most terrifying cover-ups of all time, from the invention of Jesus divinity (pace the Da Vinci Code) to Bush's and Blair's real agenda in invading Iraq. Entertainingly written and closely documented, the book provides each cover-up with a plausibility rating. Uncover why the Titanic sank, ponder the sinister Vatican/Mafia network that plotted the assassination of liberal John Paul, find out why NASA lost its files on Mars, read why no-one enters Area 51, and consider why medical supplies were already on site at Edgware Road before the 7/7 bombs detonated. Just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean that they aren't out to conspire against you

This outstanding anthology of original stories — from both established award-winning authors and exciting new voices — collects tales of cosmic horror inspired by Lovecraft from authors who do not merely imitate, but reimagine, re-energize, and renew the best of his concepts in ways relevant to today’s readers, to create fresh new fiction that explores our modern fears and nightmares. From the depths of R’lyeh to the heights of the Mountains of Madness, some of today’s best weird fiction writers traverse terrain created by Lovecraft and create new eldritch geographies to explore

25 chilling short stories by outstanding female writers.Women have always written exceptional stories of horror and the supernatural. This anthology aims to showcase the very best of these, from Amelia B. Edwards's 'The Phantom Coach', published in 1864, through past luminaries such as Edith Wharton and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, to modern talents including Muriel Gray, Sarah Pinborough and Lilith Saintcrow.From tales of ghostly children to visitations by departed loved ones, and from heart-rending stories to the profoundly unsettling depiction of extreme malevolence, what each of these stories has in common is the effect of a slight chilling of the skin, a feeling of something not quite present, but nevertheless there. If anything, this showcase anthology proves that sometimes the female of the species can also be the most terrifying

Everything your rulers never wanted you to know and you were afraid to ask… Ten classic stories from the birth of modern science fiction writing The Golden Age of Science Fiction, from the early 1940s through the 1950s, saw an explosion of talent in SF writing including authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke. Their writing helped science fiction gained wide public attention, and left a lasting impression upon society. The same writers formed the mould for the next three decades of science fiction, and much of their writing remains as fresh today as it was then. Collected in one giant volume, here is the very best of the golden era. The stories include: • A.E. van Vogt, ‘The Weapons Shop’ • Isaac Asimov, ‘The Big and the Little’ • Lester del Rey, ‘Nerves’ • Fredric Brown, ‘Daymare’ • Theodore Sturgeon, ‘Killdozer!’ • C.L. Moore, ‘No Woman Born’ • A. Bertram Chandler, ‘Giant Killer’

From Ancient Rome through thirteenth-century Venice to 1930s' New York, twelve compelling historical crime stories. Our dark past brought to life by leading contemporary crime writers A new generation of crime writers has broadened the genre of crime fiction, creating more human stories of historical realism, with a stronger emphasis on character and the psychology of crime. This superb anthology of 12 novellas encompasses over 4,000 years of our dark, criminal past, from Bronze Age Britain to the eve of the Second World War, with stories set in ancient Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire, medieval Venice, seventh-century Ireland and 1930s' New York. A Byzantine icon painter, suddenly out of work when icons are banned, becomes embroiled in a case of deception; Charles Babbage and the young Ada Byron try to crack a coded message and stop a master criminal; and New York detectives are on the lookout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Here in one marvellous volume, is the cream of erotic writing from all the corners of the globe. Maxim Jakubowski has gathered together unexpurgated delights, new and unpublished gems, and classic masterpieces seldom seen before. Come play in a garden of exotic and erotic writing, with origins ranging from France and Germany to Japan and New Zealand, from Russia to the United States and Canada

What happens when an Irish god finds himself smitten by a beautiful mortal woman? When the Celtic gods dream of romance trouble abounds! Visit an Irish king tempted by the poetry of a sensuous wraith who blends the mythological and the historical so seamlessly he finds himself transported to a myth-laden Ireland of beasts and warriors — and entirely at her mercy. A forbidden love cursed by the saints causes two young lovers to magically shape-shift to freedom in an underground fairy Otherworld with disastrous results. A Celtic hero sets out on a treacherous sea journey to claim a dream woman. The rekindled ashes of an ancient desire between a fierce clansman and his lady find new light with a pair of young, secret lovers. The volume contains stories by: Jenna Maclaine, Jennifer Ashley, Roberta Gellis, Claire Delacroix, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Cindy Miles, Ciar Cullen, Helen Scott Taylor, Shirley Kennedy, Margo Maguire, Susan Krinard, Pat McDermott, Nadia Williams, Dara England, Kathleen Givens, Sandra Newgent, Cindy Holby, Cat Adams, Penelope Neri, Patricia Rice

Reason to be afraid—over 50 unsolved cases of serial murder. Fact: murderers and serial killers do not always get caught. Behind every headline of a newsworthy conviction lie other cases of vicious murderers who got away, and who remain somewhere among us. Here in one giant volume are more than 50 of the most serious serial killings and other murder cases that continue to remain unsolved. The cases covered in this alarming book include: Argentina’s crazed highway killer, responsible for mutilating and killing at least five people since 1997 and dumping their bodies along remote highways The Green River Killer, who has claimed at least 49 lives in the Seattle-Tacoma area South Africa’s “Phoenix Strangler,” suspected of killing 20 women The Twin Cities Killer, responsible for more than 30 murders on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul, where the victims were mostly prostitutes Costa Rica’s elusive “El Psicópata” (The Psychopath), thought to have murdered at least 19 people in this small, quiet Central American country “The Monster of Florence,” responsible for a series of 15 sexual slayings just outside Florence, where all the victims were courting couples. NIGEL CAWTHORNE is the author of The World’s Greatest Serial Killers, and Killers: The Most Barbaric Murderers of Our Times, as well as numerous other books. His writing has appeared in over a hundred and fifty newspapers, magazines and partworks—from the Sun to the Financial Times, and from Flatbush Life to The New York Trib. He lives in London

An anthology of stories A new anthology of twenty-nine short stories features an array of baffling locked-room mysteries by Michael Collins, Bill Pronzini, Susanna Gregory, H. R. F. Keating, Peter Lovesey, Kate Ellis, and Lawrence Block, among others

The very best short SF fiction of any given year as recommended and nominated by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: the best novella, novelette and short story. Here you will find the cream of the crop of science fiction and fantasy - startling ideas, the intricate construction of new worlds and mind-bending experimental writing. This anthology includes not only the Nebula Award-winning works in each short-form category, but also all the nominees in the novelette and short story categories. Here you will find colourful fantasy, outstanding speculative fiction, steampunk, edgy writing on the fringes of the mainstream and uncompromisingly hard SF in stories set in the distant past, an off-kilter present day, the far future or some times in between

An anthology of stories edited by Mike Ashley Marianne is an important fictional formulation of Sand's thinking on the role of women and the nature of democracy. This edition includes a long biographical preface which quotes extensively from her correspondences

The Mammoth Book of New Terror is a revised and expanded new edition of the touchstone collection of modern horror fiction, selected by the acknowledged master of the genre - the award-winning godfather of grisly literature, Stephen Jones. Here are over 20 stories and short novels by the masters of gore, including Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, F. Paul Wilson, Brian Lumle, Graham Masterton, Ramsay Campbell, R. Chetwyn-Hayes and Neil Gaiman. This sequel to the classic Mammoth horror anthology features five new and unpublished stories from some of the biggest and brightest names on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as gems from acknowledged masters. All veins of the genre are represented including suspense, visceral horror and sheer razor-slashing terror. From Brian Lumley's disturbing 'Fruiting Bodies' and Basil Copper's 'The Candle in the Skull' to Christopher Fowler's 'Turbo-Satan' and Kim Newman's 'Amerikanski Bed at the Moscow Morgue', this is a spine-chilling collection guaranteed to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck!

Another fabulous collection of Paranormal Romance stories in the bestselling Mammoth series. If love transcends all boundaries, paranormal romance is its natural conclusion. Over twenty tales from some of the hottest names in romantic fiction to transport you to fantastical worlds in which mythical beasts, magical creatures of all shapes and sizes, heart-stoppingly handsome ghosts, angels and mortals with extra-sensory powers live out extraordinary desires. Includes stories from Lara Adrian, Ava Gray, Sharon Shinn, Robin D. Owens, Karen Chance and many more

From the likes of Robert Randisi, Peter Crowther, and Max Rittenberg, these 30 stories of bizarre and impossible crimes will fascinate and intrigue the reader who grapples with their intricate puzzles. A man alone in an all-glass phone booth, visible on CCTV and with no one near him, is killed by an ice pick. A man sitting alone in a room is shot by a bullet fired only once – over 200 years ago. A man enters a cable-car alone, and is visible for the entire journey, only to be found dead when he reaches the bottom. A man receives mail in response to letters apparently written by him – after his death. The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries is a stunning collection of brand new and previously unpublished stories, as well as many stories from rare mystery journals appearing for the first time in book form

We now live in enlightened times that reassure us that, far from being a lower form of literature, pulp fiction is the term for what the best storytelling provides — pyrotechnic thrills, shocks galore and excitement by the bucketload! From cops, both straight and crooked, to ruthless bigshots, shady operators, femmes fatales and damsels in distress. Including gangsters, drifters, common crooks, shady attorneys to molls with a heart of gold, enjoy a rollercoaster ride through popular literature’s best pulp writers. The MBO of Pulp Action includes the talents of Charles Willeford, Ed McBain, Bill Pronzini, Ed Gorman, Lawrence Block, John D. Macdonald, William Campbell Gault, Bruno Fischer, Mark Timlin, Joe R. Lansdale and many of the classic Black Mask magazine

From some of the biggest names in Regency historical romance, 25 wickedly witty, lusciously romantic and sublimely sensual short stories. Stories replete with oversexed aristocrats, posturing courtesans and feuding dukes and duchesses tell of a beautiful lady awakened by a passion more powerful than anything she has ever known, one that could doom or save her; a disgraced rake who, given a final chance to redeem himself, discovers love has rules of its own; and a luscious young beauty fed up with proper tea parties and elegant balls who disguises herself to enjoy a soirée of uninhibited pleasure. As the passion mounts, so do the complications… Includes big name contributors such as Anna Campbell, Lorraine Heath, Barbara Metzger, Deborah Raleigh and Elizabeth Boyle

An anthology of stories

In the words of those who trod the void and those at mission control, here are over 50 of the greatest true stories of suborbital, orbital and deep-space exploration. From Apollo 8’s first view of a fractured, tortured landscape of craters on the ‘dark side’ of the Moon to the series of cliff-hanger crises aboard space station Mir, they include moments of extraordinary heroic achievement as well as episodes of terrible human cost. Among the astronauts and cosmonauts featured are John Glenn, Pavel Beyayev, Jim Lovell, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Valery Korzun, Vasily Tsibliyev and Michael Foale. • First walk in space by Sergei Leonov and his traumatic return to Earth • Apollo 13’s problem — the classic, nail-biting account of abandoning ship on the way to the Moon • Docking with the frozen, empty Salyut 7 space station that had drifted without power for eight months • Progress crashes into Mir — the astronauts survive death by a hair’s breadth • Jerry Linenger’s panic attack during a space walk, ‘just out there dangling’

The hidden life of Sherlock Holmes’s most famous adversary is reimagined and revealed by the finest crime writers today. Some of literature’s greatest supervillains have also become its most intriguing antiheroes—Dracula, Hannibal Lecter, Lord Voldemort, and Norman Bates—figures that capture our imagination. Perhaps the greatest of these is Professor James Moriarty. Fiercely intelligent and a relentless schemer, Professor Moriarty is the perfect foil to the inimitable Sherlock Holmes, whose crime-solving acumen could only be as brilliant as Moriarty’s cunning. While “the Napoleon of crime” appeared in only two of Conan Doyle’s original stories, Moriarty’s enigma is finally revealed in this diverse anthology of thirty-seven new Moriarty stories, reimagined and retold by leading crime writers such as Martin Edwards, Jürgen Ehlers, Barbara Nadel, L. C. Tyler, Michael Gregorio, Alison Joseph and Peter Guttridge. In these intelligent, compelling stories—some frightening and others humorous—Moriarty is brought back vividly to new life, not simply as an incarnation of pure evil but also as a fallible human being with personality, motivations, and subtle shades of humanity. Filling the gaps of the Conan Doyle canon, The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Professor Moriarty is a must-read for any fan of the Sherlock Holmes’s legacy

The very best of over ten years of the Best New Erotica series and other erotica titles compiled by Maxim Jakubowski. Stories have been taken from all volumes of The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica with the exception of recent volumes 8 and 9. They have also been drawn from the Mammoth Book of International Erotica, Mammoth Book of Historical Erotica, Mammoth Book of Erotica, Mammoth Book of New Erotica and Mammoth Book of Short Erotic Novels. The anthology is likely to include stories by Thomas S. Roche; Poppy Z. Brite; Alison Tyler; Lucy Taylor; Matt Thorne; M. Christian; Michael Hemmingson; Mike Kimera; Tara Alton; Marilyn Jaye-Lewis; Savannah Lee; Heather Corinna; Carol Queen; Donna George Storey; Lauren Henderson; Vicki Hendricks; O’Neil De Noux; Cara Bruce; Mark Timlin; Graham Joyce; Conrad Williams; Claude Lalumière; Kristina Lloyd; and Mitzi Szereto

“‘Is it really possible, do you suppose,’ said Sherlock Holmes to me one morning, as we took breakfast together, ‘that a healthy and robust man may be so stricken with terror that he drops down dead?’” The much praised Denis O. Smith introduces twelve new Sherlockian stories in this collection, including “The Adventure of the XYZ Club,” “The Secret of Shoreswood Hall,” and “The Adventure of the Brown Box.” Set in the late nineteenth century before Holmes’s disappearance at the Reichenbach Falls, these stories, written in the vein of the originals, recreate Arthur Conan Doyle’s world with deft fidelity, from manner of speech and character traits to plot unfoldings and the historical period. Whether in fogbound London or deep in the countryside, the world’s most beloved detective is brought vividly back to life in all his enigmatic, compelling glory, embarking on seemingly impenetrable mysteries with Dr. Watson by his side. For readers who can never get enough of Holmes, this satisfyingly hefty anthology builds on the old Conan Doyle to develop familiar characters in ways the originals could not. Both avid fans and a new generation of audiences are sure to be entertained with this continuation of the Sherlock Holmes legacy

Twenty-five stories of timeless true love Time travel romance is not the same thing as sci-fi romance, though some stories may be set in an imagined future; it is romantic fiction set in various different eras, usually from around the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. A woman may fall asleep in Central Park in the present to wake up in the arms of a Scottish laird in the sixteenth century. The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance contains 25 stories of adventure and love; settings include medieval Scotland, sixteenth-century England, the nineteenth-century ‘Wild West’. Some stories are set in the present and a few in the future. Stories include an Elizabethan nobleman whisked into the present day, a troubled young woman who lands in the sixteenth century able to break a curse of lost love. Includes stories from: Nina Bangs, Jude Deveraux, Sandra Hill, Linda Howard, Lynn Kurland, Karen Marie Moning, and many more

The authenticity of background detail, the lilting prose rhythms and the appealing conceptual audacity that won many fans for The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of the Horses continue to work their spell in this third installment of Auel's projected six-volume Earth's Children saga set in Ice Age Europe. The heroine, 18-year-old Ayla, cursed and pronounced dead by the "flathead" clan that reared her, now takes her chances with the mammoth-hunting Mamutoi, attended by her faithful lover, Jondalar. Gradually overcoming the prejudice aroused by her flathead connection, Ayla wins acceptance into the new clan through her powers as a healer, her shamanistic potential, her skill with spear and slingshot and her way with animals (she rides a horse, domesticates a wolf cub, both "firsts," it would seem, and even rides a lion). She also wins the heart of a bone-carving artist of "sparkling wit" (not much in evidence), which forces her to make a painful choice between the curiously complaisant Jondalar, her first instructor in love's delights, and this more charismatic fellow. The story is lyric rather than dramatic, and Ayla and her lovers are projections of a romantic rather than a historical imagination, but readers caught up in the charm of Auel's story probably won't care. 750,000 first printing; $300,000 ad/promo; paperback rights to Bantam; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club dual main selections; author tour