From School Library JournalGrade 6-10–Moving when you're in high school is difficult enough, especially when your parents can't seem to hold their own lives together and your younger sister is being more obnoxious than usual. However, for 15-year-old Jessica Day, these concerns pale when bizarre things start to happen and she discovers that she now has unwanted magical powers. Part science fiction, part horror story, this novel is the first in a series about the midnighters, a select group of individuals whose birth at the stroke of midnight gives them the special ability to move about in a mysterious 25th hour. As Jessica takes her place among these extraordinary teens, she must battle the increasingly dangerous slithers and other darklings that have suddenly become more violent and aggressive. The story is exciting and the writing compelling. Gaps in the account will not bother readers, who will be totally absorbed by the paranormal elements as well as the intriguing characters, and who will be eagerly awaiting the next book.–Sharon Grover, Arlington County Department of Libraries, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Product DescriptionA few nights after Jessica Day arrives in Bixby, Oklahoma, she wakes up at midnight to find the entire world frozen, except for her and a few others who call themselves 'midnighters'. Dark things haunt this midnight hour – dark things with a mysterious interest in Jessica. The question is ?hy; The Secret Hour is a compelling tale of dark secrets, midnight romance, eerie creatures, courage, destiny, and unexpected peril. Views: 65
A broken love affair takes Lucy Matthews to the Villa d'Este as governess to the six-year-old Danielle Van de Naude. But instead of a refuge Lucy finds she has entered a world of intrigue and fear. Why did Danielle's previous governess die? Is someone trying to kill her too? Determined to find out, Lucy encounters death and murder as Danielle is kidnapped to thwart her father's political ambitions, and only Lucy can save her life. But who can she trust to help her? Ian Lyall, who watches her so disturbingly? Steve Patterson who wishes to marry her? The suave Bradley Van de Naude, Danielle's step-brother? Or Max Rampling, the man who has her heart but holds another woman in his arms? One of them is a ruthless killer, but who? And why? As Lucy faces death in an attempt to save Danielle, the façades finally drop and the truth is revealed. Views: 65
For thirteen-year-old Kate, being poor in a small rural Florida town means feeling ashamed and isolated. At school, her classmates laugh at her old clothes and worn shoes. Things are not much better at home. Kate's mother is working long hours at a dairy farm to keep food on the table. Kate has to keep an eye on her brothers—Justin is old enough to talk about running away, and Chip is young enough to keep wandering off.But one day, the family's goat gets loose and wanders down the road. That's when Kate meets the Wilsons, a tight knit, middle-class African-American family. Kate is particularly drawn to Ruby, the glamorous grown daughter who has returned home from New York City. As Kate begins to spend time with Ruby in town she becomes aware of the undercurrent of discrimination and prejudice that runs through her community, and the complex roles of race and class in her own relationships.Rosa Jordan offers readers a gripping, empathetic tale of how two families... Views: 65
An American original, Peter Rock brings our strangest beliefs to vivid and sympathetic life in this haunting novel inspired by true events.The Shelter Cycle tells the story of two children, Francine and Colville, who grew up in the Church Universal and Triumphant, a religion that predicted the world could end in the late 1980s. While their parents built underground shelters to withstand the impending Soviet missile strike, Francine and Colville played in the Montana wilderness, where invisible spirits watched over them. When the prophesized apocalypse did not occur, the sect's members resurfaced and the children were forced to grow up in a world they believed might no longer exist.Twenty years later, Francine and Colville are reunited while searching for an abducted girl. Haunted by memories and inculcated beliefs, they must confront the Church's teachings. If all the things they were raised to believe were misguided, why then do they suddenly feel so true? Views: 65
Murder She Wrote meets Fargo in the eighteenth installment of Victoria Houston's "engaging" (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine) and critically acclaimed mystery series set in the northwoods of Wisconsin."My wife and Gordon Maxwell tried to kill me this morning." Doc Osborne is startled by the unexpected words tumbling out of the mouth of his friend and fellow AA member Chuck Pelletier, the recently remarried lead accountant for a planned luxury fly-fishing lodge preserve under construction in the area. Alarmed, Doc tries to alert Police Chief Lew Ferris, but she is tied up with law enforcement teams across the state. They're searching for thieves who have been cutting down and stealing hundreds of thousands of precious birch trees from public and private property across northern Wisconsin. But it's too late. Pelletier is found dead not two hours later. Doc is shocked, saddened, and determined to get to the bottom of... Views: 65
Provocative and disturbing, Truman Capote's first published novel is a meditation on how fate can debase youthful expectations. Joel Knox seeks his long-absent father and his own future, but nothing turns out as planned. Views: 65
Fidelma of Cashel - sister to the King of Muman, a religieuse of the Celtic Church and an advocate of the Brehon courts - returns in this new collection of fifteen tales. These stories of murder, mayhem, and mystery are not merely spellbinders but also provide insight into the ways and mores of the complex, fascinating society of seventh century Ireland as well as heretofore unrevealed background details of Fidelma herself.Review"Sister Fidelma fans-and they have their own international society ...-will welcome Peter Tremayne's Whispers of the Dead."--Publishers WeeklyAbout the AuthorPeter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym for Peter Berresford Ellis, a prominent authority on the ancient Celts and author of numerous works of history and scholarship. As Tremayne, he is the author of eleven books featuring Sister Fidelma, including Our Lady of Darkness. He lives in London. Views: 65
Psychic romance novelist Orchid Adams has yet to meet her match on the space colony of St. Helen's--until an assignment with a lone-wolf private investigator puts her mind and her heart on a collision course. Views: 65
