A rebellious prince, a reluctant witch, and a mysterious prophecy,twisted together in a tale of Beauty and the Beast Trapped in an underground palace Prince Kian must remain a beast, or give in to the queen’s plan to strip him of his powers. But Kian refuses to submit to his mother's evil plan and is determined to escape both his prison and his curse—even if it means dabbling in witch's magic. On the run for most of her life, Bryanna MacElvy has never learned to use her healing Gift. When she’s pulled by Kian’s spell into his prison, the prince sees the golden witch as his salvation. Refusing to let her, or to accept she is incapable of curing him, Kian offers her a terrible bargain—heal him, or give up her freedom forever. Their lives entwined by fate, the prince must learn to love a human and Bryanna must learn to trust herself—or risk losing their freedom, his powers, and their passion, to the evil of the Black Queen. Dare to enter Jessica Aspen’s world of steamy, fantasy romance in book two of her fairy tale trilogy: Tales of the Black Court Views: 39
Hopeful, humorous, heartbreaking YA When Max trips his way into Serena's life, she can't help but fall for his awkward ways – until she discovers who Max really is. Will Serena share her secret or run? Max is a seventeen-year-old musician who towers, giraffe-like, over his double bass. He's avoiding certain candid "talks" with his overly perceptive dads – like his plans to seek out his adoption history – like the fact that he's not gay – and that he's been in love with Serena forever. Serena was a vibrant, talented singer at their performing arts high school before her mother's tragic death. Since then, she's faded into the chorus, concealing her chronic anxieties over the circumstances surrounding the accident. Lose yourself in this tender, funny, heart-wrenching story of Max and Serena stumbling over truths and lies as they find their way through first love.... Views: 39
A vibrant new look at the American Revolution's first months, from the author of the bestseller The Admirals When we reflect on our nation's history, the American Revolution can feel almost like a foregone conclusion. In reality, the first weeks and months of 1775 were very tenuous, and a fractured and ragtag group of colonial militias had to coalesce rapidly to have even the slimmest chance of toppling the mighty British Army.AMERICAN SPRING follows a fledgling nation from Paul Revere's little-known ride of December 1774 and the first shots fired on Lexington Green through the catastrophic Battle of Bunker Hill, culminating with a Virginian named George Washington taking command of colonial forces on July 3, 1775.Focusing on the colorful heroes John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Benjamin Franklin, and Patrick Henry, and the ordinary Americans caught up in the revolution, Walter R. Borneman uses newly available sources and research to tell... Views: 39
THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS is a collection of horror that’s a literary tour de force through the emotional pain and personal anguish of the human condition. Praised as one of the best collections of heartfelt and gut-wrenching horror written in recent history, it’s a disturbing trip through the ages exploring the painful tragedies of life, love and loss.
Each of the five masterfully written novellas included in THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS examine complex themes running the gamut from the loss of childhood innocence, to the dreadful reality of survival after everything we hold dear is gone, to some of the most profound aspects of human tragedy.
As one of the best storytellers of the modern age, John F.D. Taff takes readers on a skillfully balanced emotional journey into nostalgia, through personal pain and beyond the everyday terrors that are uncomfortably real over the course of the human lifetime. His straight-forward, nuanced writing style is at times darkly comedic, often deeply poetic and always accurate in the most terrifying of ways.
Evoking the literary styles of horror legends Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe and Bram Stoker, in THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS also pays homage to modern genre masters Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling and Clive Barker, solidifying author John F.D. Taff as modern horror’s new King of Pain.
PRAISE FOR THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS:
“THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS is accomplished stuff, complex and heartfelt. It’s one of the best novella collections I’ve read in years!” – JACK KETCHUM, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of The Box, Closing Time and Peaceable Kingdom
“Taff brings the pain in five damaged and disturbing tales of love gone horribly wrong. This collection is like a knife in the heart. Highly recommended!” – JONATHAN MABERRY, New York Times bestselling author of Code Zero and Fall of Night
“Taff is a standout talent. Look no further than this collection for evidence that not only is horror not dead, there are new proponents of the craft capable to carry it into the future.” – KEALAN PATRICK BURKE, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Jack & Jill
FEATURING THE NOVELLAS:
“What Becomes God” begins as a nostalgic trip into childhood, exploring love, friendship and the loss of innocence as two young boys whose days spent playing in the sun are interrupted by the looming specter of disease and death must face the sacrifice that belief demands of them.
“Object Permanence” unleashes a psychological nightmare when a man held in a mental institution and experiencing horrific hallucinations escapes to return to his hometown to confront the source of evil that has plagued him for years.
“Love in the Time of Zombies” examines the lives of two men fighting to survive in a rural Midwestern town at the end of the world where they soon realize that death doesn’t always bring relief from the love…and the terrible price it demands.
“The Long, Long Breakdown” tells the story of personal anguish and isolation of a father struggling to protect his teenage daughter from the terrifying forces threatening their lives and attempting to end their familial bond in post-apocalyptic Miami.
“Visitation” offers a journey of profound self-discovery as a man anguished over the death of his wife takes a trip to a distant planet on the promise of experiencing a long-awaited reunion with the love of his life only to find that the true nature of the human condition is far more devastating.
PRAISE FOR GREY MATTER PRESS:
"In less than two years, Grey Matter Press has managed to establish itself as one of the premiere purveyors of horror fiction currently in existence via both a series of killer anthologies--SPLATTERLANDS (2013), OMINOUS REALITIES (2013), EQUILIBRIUM OVERTURNED (2014)--and John F.D. Taff's harrowing novella collection THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS (2014)." - FANGORIA
**Review
"Imagine a series of round robin stories penned collaboratively by Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, Harlan Ellison and Rod Serling, and you'll be in the general neighborhood [of THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS]: lush, poetic, ceaselessly imaginative, seriously affecting, multifaceted modern horror fiction. - FANGORIA
"Just under half a century ago, I discovered a personal "tell" that let me know when a performance had touched me deeply. The last time it happened I just finished John F.D. Taff's collection of horror novellas, THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS. Taff provides carefully nuanced, skillfully balanced components--storytelling, nostalgia, horror, human emotion--to work from beginnings to ultimate ends...sometimes death, sometimes things far worse, and sometimes something magnificent." - MICHAEL R. COLLINGS, *HELLNOTES*
"Taff's deceptively simplistic prose offers deep emotional and dramatic insights into how human beings live with the burdens of the past and the inevitability of death. "What Becomes God" is a slice of Stephen King/Ramsey Campbell. "Object Permanence" is a slowly revealing Twilight Zone-like story. The setting of "The Long, Long Breakdown" is reminiscent of J.G. Ballard. "Visitation" follows in the footsteps of the works of Philip K. Dick. THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS offers genre readers much to appreciate." - HORROR NEWS NETWORK
"Will definitely be in the running for one of my favorite reads of the year. This collection will not only appeal to horror fans, but could interest readers of just about any genre. Whether you are looking for introduction to the world of horror or are already a seasoned horror fanatic, you will definitely want to give THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS a read!" - THE HORROR BOOKSHELF
From the Author
PRAISE FOR GREY MATTER PRESS:
"In less than two years, Grey Matter Press has managed to establish itself as one of the premiere purveyors of horror fiction currently in existence via both a series of killer anthologies--SPLATTERLANDS (2013), OMINOUS REALITIES (2013), EQUILIBRIUM OVERTURNED (2014)--and John F.D. Taff's harrowing novella collection THE END IN ALL BEGINNINGS (2014)." - FANGORIA
"The dark, all-encompassing theme seems to be the trademark of Grey Matter Press. When asked for a referral for a good short story collection I often state without hesitation to the very press that has enchanted my reading attention." - Dave Gammon, HORROR NEWS Views: 39
"A fascinating history--. Literate and authoritative--.Marvelously exciting." --The New York Times Book ReviewJonathan Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Beak of the Finch, brings his brilliant reporting skills to the story of Seymour Benzer, the Brooklyn-born maverick scientist whose study of genetics and experiments with fruit fly genes has helped revolutionize or knowledge of the connections between DNA and behavior both animal and human.How much of our fate is decided before we are born? Which of our characteristics is inscribed in our DNA? Weiner brings us into Benzer's Fly Rooms at the California Institute of Technology, where Benzer, and his asssociates are in the process of finding answers, often astonishing ones, to these questions. Part biography, part thrilling scientific detective story, Time, Love, Memory forcefully demonstrates how Benzer's studies are changing our world view--and even our lives. Views: 39
Two bombs over Japan. Two shells. One called Little Boy, one called Fat Man. Three days apart. The one implicit in the other. Brothers.Winner of the 2013 Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize. In this striking debut novel, the atomic bombs dropped on Japan are personified as Fat Man and Little Boy. This small measure of humanity is a cruelty the bombs must suffer. Given life from death, the brothers' journey is one of surreal and unsettling discovery, transforming these symbols of mass destruction into beacons of longing and hope.[An] imaginative debut. . . Meginnis' story is both surprising and incisive." - Publishers WeeklyNamed one of the year's most impressive debut novelists" by the 2014 Brooklyn Book Festival"In his inventive and fabulist debut novel Fat Man and Little Boy Mike Meginnis lends a surprisingly human dimension to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II." - Largehearted... Views: 39
Meet outgoing Ava Wren, a fun fifth grader who tries not to lose patience with her shy big sister. When Pip's 13th birthday party turns into a disaster, Ava gets a story idea for a library contest.But uh-oh, Ava should never have written "Sting of the Queen Bee." Can Ava and her new friend help Pip come out of her shell? And can Ava get out of the mess she has made?"A big W-O-W for Ava and Pip!" —Julie Sternberg, Like Pickle Juice On a Cookie Views: 39
From the author of In the Heart of the Highlander, a romance proving that inappropriate desires can provide the most passionate encounters… Harriet Benson takes her work at the Evensong Agency seriously, but lately, between convalescing from an illness and tending to her father and two young brothers, she’s had to shorten her hours. So when a promising position opens up for part time work, she immediately accepts, despite the fact that her new boss is scandalously indecent—and dangerously appealing. Though his reputation paints him as a scoundrel, Sir Thomas Featherstone is more proper than anyone would guess. But Harriet’s wit and luscious curves are driving him to distraction. She’s the perfect woman to fill his office requirements, and other desperate needs he’s been ignoring… Harriet has always held firm to the rule that a secretary must never fall in love with her employer. Only Thomas is determined to win her affections—and he’s willing to risk any cost to make her his… Views: 39
