This book is a history of the British Enderby settlement on the Auckland Islands 1849–52 and its associated whaling venture. Isolation, a stormswept climate, unproductive soil, inexperienced crews, drunkenness and above all an unexpected shortage of whales meant the raw colony ran into trouble and the parent company found itself facing disaster. Two special commissioners were sent to either close the venture down or move it elsewhere, and a bitter struggle developed, with Charles Enderby refusing to admit defeat and Governor Sir George Grey reluctantly becoming involved. Nevertheless the settlement collapsed, and the few Maori settlers on the islands, who had preceded and benefited from the colonists' presence, left soon after. Little trace of the colony remains, and the Auckland Islands are much as they were before Charles Enderby attempted to realise his dream: uninhabited, isolated, wild and beautiful, and now of World Heritage status. Views: 28
For Kip Barrett, a secret commission from her boss's boss's boss, CEO Tamara Sterling, shows that the respect she's earned for her integrity and intelligence as a fraud investigator is justified. All she has to do is what she's done successfully before: Follow the cyber-trail, find the high-tech thief, and document it so that justice prevails. This time, however, the embezzler is one of their own. Sterling Fraud Investigations has an unblemished reputation for ethical conduct and security. Kip must find out who and how, as soon as possible, and no one but Tamara can know what she's doing. As Kip gets closer to discovering the embezzler, her clandestine meetings with Tamara grow more frequent. It doesn't help that her admiration for Sterling's work is compounded by an undeniable physical chemistry. But SFI has an iron-clad no fraternization rule, and Sterling investigators never break the rules. She needs to wrap up her findings before anyone—including her emerging... Views: 28
Paranormal investigator Ellie Jordan faces a difficult new case. Her new clients are a family haunted by multiple ghosts and a poltergeist that wrecks their home at night. Their seven-year-old son’s invisible friends may not be imaginary at all, but the restless spirits of dead children. Ellie must unravel the mystery of another family's death a century ago to exorcise their ghosts from the house. Views: 28
SUMMARY:
It has been twelve years since a dark, murderous figure stalked the alleys and courts of Whitechapel. And yet, in the summer of 1900, East London is still poor, still brutal, still a shadow city to its western twin. Among the reformers is an idealistic young woman named India Selwyn-Jones, recently graduated from medical school. With the help of her influential fiance--Freddie Lytton, an up-and-coming Liberal MP--she works to shut down the area's opium dens that destroy both body and soul. Her selfless activities better her patients' lives and bring her immense gratification, but unfortunately, they also bring her into direct conflict with East London's ruling crime lord--Sid Malone. India is not good for business and at first, Malone wants her out. But against all odds, India and Sid fall in love. Different in nearly every way, they share one thing in common--they're both wounded souls. Their love is impossible and they know it, yet they cling to it desperately. Lytton, India's fiance, will stop at nothing to marry India and gain her family's fortune. Fractious criminal underlings and rivals conspire against Sid. When Sid is finally betrayed by one of his own, he must flee London to save his life. Mistakenly thinking him dead, India, pregnant and desperate, marries Freddie to provide a father for hers and Sid's child. India and Sid must each make a terrible sacrifice--a sacrifice that will change them both forever. One that will lead them to other lives, and other places...and perhaps--one distant, bittersweet day--back to each other. Views: 28
A romance set in New Orleans amidst betrayal, Hurricane Katrina, and the new beginnings hardships and heartbreak sometimes make possible.Tully Gaston eroeaux might be successful in the courtroom, but at home her relationship with her partner, Dr. Jessica eroeaux, and their children are falling apart. In one life changing moment precipitated by a cup of spilt coffee, the world Tully had so carefully constructed comes to an end.As Tully struggles to pick up the pieces, two women add to the complications—Dr. Kara Nicolas, the woman who stole her wife, becomes a professional adversary in the courtroom, and Libby Dexter, the young woman who moves in to assist with the kids, offers more than a helping hand. Views: 28
Life can be cruel for a servant girl in 1850s London. Fifteen-year-old Abi is a scullery maid in Greave Hall, an elegant but troubled household. The widowed master of the house is slowly slipping into madness, and the tyrannical housekeeper, Mrs.Cotton, punishes Abi without mercy. But there's something else going on in Greave Hall, too. An otherworldly presence is making itself known, and a deadly secret will reveal itself---a secret that will shatter everything Abi knows.ReviewStarred Review "The year is 1855 and orphaned serving girl Abigail Tamper, 14, tries to escape Greave Hall, an austere London mansion, in the dead of night. She is hauled back and forced to work for Mrs. Cotton, cruel and devious housekeeper to senile Lord Greave. It isn't just the dreary residents who frighten Abi; there's something terribly amiss in the house. Glasses crash to the floor, rooms are turned topsy-turvy and then righted again when no one is looking, handprints appear in impossible places. Deepening Abi's dread is the upcoming anniversary of her mother's death. She pins her hopes for brighter days on the heir to the house, handsome Samuel Greave, who is returning as an injured hero from the Crimean War. The two played together in childhood, when Abi's mother was Master Samuel's nurse, and they share a brother/sisterlike bond. But the eerie occurrences only increase on his return. Is Abi's dead mother trying to tell her something? Every gothic trope is put to use here: the silent butler, a séance gone wrong, messages via Ouija board, secret alliances, out-of-wedlock pregnancies (two of them), and a last-minute will that changes everything. This ghost story is light fare, chilling, and suspenseful. Readers who ask for "more like this book" might well be primed for something more substantial, like Henry James himself." -School Library Journal, August 2011 review From the Inside FlapAbigail is a maidservant in Greave Hall, an elegant London household governed by the tyrannical housekeeper, Mrs Cotton. As Mrs Cotton's malice intensifies, a ghostly presence distracts Abi with clues to a deadly secret. Views: 28
EDITORIAL REVIEW: Ty Hauck is shattered by the news. A close friend from his past, along with her husband and daughter, has been brutally murdered in her home by vicious intruders. Now he will risk everything he loves to avenge her death. . . . A wealthy banker, seeing his world about to crumble around him, knows his family is in unfathomable danger. . . . A U.S. government agent watches the sudden bank transfers of millions in cash and suspects that this is the first step in a plot to unleash a wave of global panic. . . . Ty Hauck hunts the murderer of a friend—and steps into the crosshairs of a sinister conspiracy—in this most electrifying novel yet from *New York Times* bestselling thriller master Andrew Gross Private security investigator Ty Hauck, with Naomi Blum, a tenacious agent from the U.S. Department of Treasury, unravels the evidence that joins these seemingly unrelated events—revealing a reckless scheme that stretches from New York to London to central Europe and gives new meaning to the phrase "too big to fail." What began with a tragedy that opened a door to Hauck's past—a door that he thought was long closed—ends with a frantic race to avert a disaster that could shake the very security of our country—and even the world. Views: 28
An advanced alien civilization sends out probes to study and preserve different planetary cultures and biospheres. A probe evaluates Earth and determines that humanity is headed toward extinction due to self-inflicted environmental degradation. In order to make Earth sustainable and to save humanity, the probe decides that Earth’s population must be radically reduced. The probe is programmed with prime directives that force it to make all interventions culturally appropriate. Since pop culture is full of movies describing the end of the world by zombies and vampires, the probe manufactures viruses that create an outbreak of these creatures. Ninety-eight percent of humanity is wiped out by culturally-sensitive environmentalist aliens who are here to save us. This is a story of people living in Salt Lake City, Utah when the alien probe destroys the world. The unlucky, slow, and foolish die quickly. This isn’t a typical zombie apocalypse story about a bunch of victims wandering the world slowly getting picked off one-by-one. This novel is about people, who refuse to be victims. They understand that the only way to survive is to band together and to control their environment. The aliens, zombies, and vampires need to be taught that on Earth the top predator will always be human. Views: 28
The rogue Kriar Daergons have the ancient Jyril genemar, a weapon capable of destroying all the magic in Eternity. A device so destructive it can to slay any creature from a universe away. Bannor is just lucky enough to have the weapon aimed at him.
Infinity Annihilator is the fifth and final volume in the epic of Reality's Plaything, as the ultimate powers meet head on in devastating battle. Views: 28
"Dr. Syn's creator cannot but write interestingly. . . . Some of the strange stories are horrible and not for the squeamish." - Sydney Morning Herald
"These tales of terror and violence are quite nightmarish in their exciting conception." - Glasgow Evening News
"Master of the Macabre is certainly macabre and provides just what you want, if you enjoy reading of 'ghosts and ghoulies, long leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night.'" The Star (Sheffield)
"It is all very good reading for a windy night, alone in front of an open fireplace." - Winnipeg Tribune
"This book is strange, thrilling and certainly macabre." - Yorkshire Evening Press
Tayler Kent flees London in a blinding snowstorm, hoping to escape the ghosts that haunt his home. Instead, he finds things may have gone from bad to worse when he crashes his car, breaks his ankle, and is forced to take refuge at a medieval monastery now inhabited by the eccentric Charles Hogarth, known as "The Master of the Macabre." As Kent's ankle heals, Hogarth entertains him with fine food, brandy, and a series of gruesome stories connected with an odd assortment of old relics on display in a curio cabinet. But the terrors are not confined to Hogarth's tales: the monastery is haunted by the evil spirit of an apostate monk and besieged by more corporeal foes, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on one of the Master's treasures. . . .
Best known for his series of novels featuring the smuggler Dr. Syn, Russell Thorndike (1885-1972) in The Master of the Macabre (1947) delivers an irresistible mix of horror, adventure, and black humour that is sure to please fans of classic ghost stories and supernatural fiction. This first-ever republication of the novel includes the original jacket art and a new introduction by Mark Valentine.
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