Their soul is their magic. The nobility scheme and kill for it. Keedar Giorin's people were once rulers, the most revered in the land. Now, they're dregs, the lowest of the low. Defeated, diseased, and scorned, they live in the Smear, a district where crime is like breathing, where only the quick, the strong, and the ruthless survive. Yet their status does not prevent the nobility from harvesting his people's most precious asset: the magic contained within their souls. For centuries, the nobles have played their Game of Souls, breeding dregs like cattle to gain advantage in their unending struggle to usurp the throne. For centuries, they forced his people to serve. For centuries, they ripped away gifted young dregs from their parents, ingrained an unfailing loyalty to the Empire, compelled them to become King's Blades, and convinced all it was an honor. Keedar was one of those young, kept secret by his mother even as the king murdered her. Forced to help two young noblemen in order to stave off a repeat of the massacre that brought about her death, Keedar calls upon his power. Now, the hunt is on. Can he elude the most dangerous of assassins? Can he prevent a count from stealing his power?** Views: 18
'Magnificent' Robert MacfarlaneWinner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the YearOur lives depend on shipping but it is a world which is largely hidden from us. In every lonely corner of every sea, through every night, every day, and every imaginable weather, tiny crews of seafarers work the giant ships which keep landed life afloat. These ordinary men live extraordinary lives, subject to dangers and difficulties we can only imagine, from hurricanes and pirates to years of confinement in hazardous, if not hellish, environments. Horatio Clare joins two container ships on their epic voyages across the globe and experiences unforgettable journeys. As the ships cross seas of history and incident, seafarers unfold the stories of their lives, and a beautiful and terrifying portrait of the oceans and their human subjects emerges.'Tremendous' The Times Views: 18
A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINALA hit man stalks his mark at a race track. A sociopath crosses every moral boundary to become a published author. An ex-mercenary obsessively defends his “perimeter” from a dangerous interloper. A man for hire grudgingly accepts help from a teenage girl to track an online predator. In a dystopian future, young people struggle for survival underground, forming themselves into vicious gangs with only the graffiti of the “last journalists” accepted as truth. Andrew Vachss collects twenty tight, powerful stories—all from the past decade of his career, including some now published for the first time—along with an original screenplay. Together, they form Mortal Lock, a searing portrait of the criminal underworld, with both its depravity and humanity on display.Review"A collection of white-hot short stories." --Kirkus Reviews“Vachss’s reverence for storytelling is evident in the blunt beauty of his language.” —Chicago Sun-Times“Vachss is a contemporary master. . . Decidedly hard-boiled, his prose is lean, tough-edged, and brittle.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution“To read Andrews Vachss at his best is to take a ride on the dark side, where the plight of the oppressed and vulnerable . . . becomes the catalyst for revenge-fueled street justice.” —Los Angeles Times“Many writers try to cover the same ground as Vachss. A handful are as good. None are better.” —People“Vachss’s stories . . . burn with righteous rage and transfer a degree of that rage to the reader.” —The Washington Post Book World“Writing in a style so sleekly engineered that it purrs when you pop the hood, Vachss gives us such a smooth ride that it’s easy to forget someone is driving this thing.” —The New York Times Book Review “Vachss is red-hot and as serious as a punctured lung.” —PlayboyAbout the AuthorAndrew Vachss is a lawyer who represents children and youths exclusively. His many books include the Burke series and two collections of short stories, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times, among other publications. A native New Yorker, he divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.READER BIOPhil Gigante has narrated over 70 audiobooks, including Audie Award winner The Dark Highlander. An actor, director, and producer with over 20 years' experience in theatre, film, television, and radio, he is currently the artistic director of Gigantic Productions and Little Giant Children's Theatre. He makes his home in the Midwest. Views: 18
Unbelievable facts about an amazing specimen—YOU!Most of us eat, run, or sleep without thinking about it. But our bodies are masterful machines of intricate design that perform amazing feats daily.The fifth book in Annick's successful 50 Questions series guides readers through the details of how our bodies function, from the miracles of genetics, to immune cells shaped like sea monsters.With her engaging, lucid style, Lloyd Kyi incorporates recent scientific research to explain our body's complex workings. Kids will love finding the answers to questions such as:Do blood cells travel single file? (In our capillaries, blood cells have to squeeze through one at a time.)How is your spine like a racetrack? (Messages race down the nerves in your spinal cord faster than a NASCAR driver.)Is your brain like plastic? (Your brain's ability to change is called "plasticity.")Can your lungs take a hike? (Your lungs and blood vessels adapt to altitude changes.) Views: 18
Steward is a clone. A beta. His memories are fifteen years old, because his alpha never did have a brain-scan update. And in those fifteen years, the entire world has changed: The Orbital Policorp which held his allegiance has collapsed; dozens of his friends died in an off-planet war which he survived; an alien race has established relations with humanity; both his first and second wives have divorced him. And someone has murdered him.From Publishers WeeklyWilliams's novel Hardwired was a well-written but standard entry in the cyberpunk sweepstakes launched by William Gibson's Neuromancer. This followup, however, is much more interesting and successful. Etienne Steward is the clone ("Steward Beta") of a hero of the Artifact Wars, in which multinational corporations fielded armies to plunder alien ruins. He's been given Steward Alpha's memories minus the last years of the hero's life: the war and its aftermath. Now Steward Beta begins an investigation, tracking down Alpha's wife, friends, enemies and fellow vets to fill in the picture and learn why Alpha was murdered. In particular, Beta probes the war, its horrors, its betrayals and The Powers, the aliens who ended it. Resonances of Vietnam-era moral concerns make this deft updating of the postWorld War II genre of psychological thrillers about amnesiacs one of the best of its kind. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review''Slick and intelligent entertainment. The tension remains high throughout. A taut, satisfying tale of space-age skulduggery.'' --San Francisco Chronicle''Resonances of Vietnam-era moral concerns make this deft updating of the post-World War II genre of psychological thrillers about amnesiacs one of the best of its kind.'' --Publishers Weekly Views: 18
Harlequin Romance brings you four new titles for one great price, available now for a limited time only from July 1 to July 31! Experience the rush of falling in love!This Harlequin Romance bundle includes A Cowboy to Come Home To by Donna Alward, How to Melt a Frozen Heart by Cara Colter, The Cattleman's Ready-Made Family by Michelle Douglas, and Rancher to the Rescue by Jennifer Faye.Look for four new compelling stories every month from Harlequin Romance! Views: 18
Helen Devine is one of the UK's most successful lingerie designers. Her luscious creations have spiced up the love life of many a grateful woman and sealed the deal on many a budding romance. So why is her own love life such a disaster? She's a sexy, confident woman: surely the right man for her must be out there somewhere?Helen's best friend Poppy, a great believer in Synchronicity, urges Helen to trust in fate. As a level-headed businesswoman, Helen prefers to trust in herself. Besides, she feels Poppy needs to practise what she preaches...Then a series of strange coincidences during a business trip to Hong Kong and a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Vietnam causes Helen to think twice. From the city lights of Hong Kong to the majestic rock-formations of Halong Bay and the smoky jazz clubs of Hanoi, it looks like fate might at last be lending her a helping hand in finding The One.Perhaps Poppy might be onto something after all? On the other hand, maybe the road... Views: 18
Enjoy four explicit gangbang stories in this smoking hot bundle! From vampires to slutty babysitters to secret society sex rituals, these sizzling group sex stories will leave you quivering and begging for more!
The following hot, hot, hot stories, which total over 20,000 words, are included:
Ritual Gangbang
Ambitious but innocent Jessica Landry is desperate to move on from being just an intern. She wants a taste of real success!
When her sexy and wildly successful boss learns that she's a virgin, he offers her a way to make all of her dreams come true... But the price is steeper than she ever imagined.
Does Jessica have it in her to exchange her virginity to advance her career in a secret society's gangbang ritual?
Graveyard Gangbang
On a late-night walk home, Mia takes a shortcut through the old cemetery. Sure, it kind of gives her the creeps, but the little jolt of adrenaline really gets her blood pumping.
As she's walking through the tombstones in the moonlight, Mia crosses paths with a dangerously sexy man, and he's got some of friends with him. She can't help but notice that they're all young, gorgeous, and pale... With shockingly sharp teeth flashing behind their lusty grins. Can Mia handle a gang of four horny vampires, and let them take her for a fang-tastic ride?
Gangbang Babysitter
Sexy college coed Renee is jealous! Two of her babysitter friends have had mind blowing sex on the job, while her nights are still nothing but board games and blocks.
Renee's Friday night job proves to be no different... until the family's chiseled oldest son shows up with three of his lacrosse teammates in tow. The four hot young studs offer to take Renee for a ride that she'll never forget. This might be just the thing to take her evening from ordinary to orgasmic!
Double Stuffed In Hollywood
After a chance meeting with a mysteriously sexy movie producer, failing actress Heather's sure that her bad luck is finally about to change!
Heather's ready to impress, but what will she do when her audition turns out to be a strange sex ritual with an elite group of A-list celebrities? Does she have what it takes to *really* make it in Hollywood? Views: 18
What if a woman as strong and as complex as Eva Perón began her life as a robot repair assistant threatened by a powerful peacekeeping force that wants to take all she has from her? The discovery ship, Creative Fire, is on its way home from a multi-generational journey. But home is nothing like the crew expected. They have been gone for generations, and the system they return to is home to technologies and riches beyond their wildest dreams. But they are immediately oppressed and relegated to the lowest status imaginable, barely able to interact with the technologies and people of the star station where they dock, the Diamond Deep. Ruby Martin and her partner, Joel North, must find a way to learn what they need to know and to become more than they have ever been if they are to find a way to save their people.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 18
