Being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be- in fact, it kind of sucks.
After surviving his duel with Lilith, Mathias thought that he could relax. That is until he discovers that, Nossy, the new king, has been kidnapped.
When the investigating vampires seem to have no clue how to rescue Nosferatu, Mathias must step in. Everything is peachy until Mathias is named the next new king in order to stop the man behind Nossy’s kidnapping from taking over the throne.
Suddenly, his life is not his own again, and Mathias must make a choice: risk his life to find his friend, or sit back and watch disaster unfold. Views: 442
'A Sweet Blitz’ is a short but sweet wartime fable. A young girl, Sarah, is given some advice from her mother: ‘never accept gifts when you do somebody a favour’, advice which Sarah subsequently ignores given the lure of chocolate. Haunted by paranoia and guilt, Sarah eventually seeks solace in the forbidden bounty that drove her mad. She is appalled by what she finds, finally learning her lesson.'A Sweet Blitz’ is a wartime fable based on a true story, featuring a young girl living in the city who learns a valuable lesson against the backdrop of The Blitz. The short but sweet story begins as Sarah’s mother offers her some sound advice: ‘never accept gifts when you do somebody a favour’. The young girl pays little attention. The following day she is sent on an errand by her mother, with orders to return as quickly as possible. On her way, Sarah is accosted by an elderly neighbour who also asks the young girl for a favour, offering a gift in return. Sarah agrees with no hesitation, and she is subsequently offered a bar of chocolate in gratitude. Sarah, ignoring her mother’s warnings, accepts the gift, which is followed by immediate regret. She is plagued by paranoia, for fear of her mother discovering the hidden bounty, and she frequently succumbs to visions of her mother’s punishment. Reaching a point where she is unable to handle the guilt, shame, or stress any longer, Sarah resolves to acquire the forbidden chocolate and surrender to it, but is appalled by what she finds. . . Views: 442
Geoff MacLeod is having his worse day ever. As WRLA’s Meteorologist, he failed to predict the storm of the century. What could possibly be worse? Then Elijah moves into the vacant apartment next door. He’s an eccentric older gent who seems harmless enough. That is, until he takes to the roof of their building to do the impossible - wave a staff in the air and … change the weather!This short story is for the weather lover at heart. If your favorite moment of any storm is the last few moments just before the rain falls - the clouds heavy with menace, the gusts swaying the trees, the lighting just short of danger. If only the energy and exhilaration of that moment could be tapped ... if only you could control the weather! Views: 441
We are living in apocalyptic times. We see everywhere the miracles of technology, the glossy urban facades and the wealth of the elite, but we also see the oppressed and starving poor, the shocking degradation of nature and a mechanistic culture of war run rampant and out of control.We have no more urgent need than that of a positive perspective for the future of life on Earth.So far, our efforts to solve these problems have gone almost entirely towards creating new systems of energy and food production, urban housing, or matters of organization, communication and economy. Only a few visionaries have included human psychology in this research and worked to create holistic, coherent solutions for both humanity and the Earth. One of them is the psychoanalyst Dieter Duhm, leader of the so-called "emancipation debate" during the '68 Student Movement in Germany. He writes:«The human being is the cause of his own failure because he disregarded some essential aspects of his own inner... Views: 441
Sometimes when perfect falls apart, a little trouble fixes everything . . .
Twenty-one-year-old Kayla Turner has lost everything. After spending most of her life taking care of her ailing mother, she just wants to spot a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. So when her late father-a man she barely knew-leaves her an inheritance, she finally breathes a sigh of relief . . . until she learns the inheritance comes with strings. Strings in the form of handsome playboy Daren Ackwood, her father's protégé. To see any of her inheritance, she's forced to team up with him. From his expensive car to those sexy dimples, Kayla's seen his type before. But Daren isn't who he seems to be . . .
Struggling to make amends for his family's mistakes, Daren has a life more Oliver Twist than Richie Rich these days. He's beyond grateful that James Turner included him in his will, but working with Turner's princess of a daughter to fulfill his cryptic last wish is making Daren wonder if being broke is really so bad. Still, she's just as beautiful as she is stubborn, and the more time he spends with Kayla, the less it feels right being without her. Soon Daren and Kayla begin to wonder if maybe the best gift Kayla's dad could have left them . . . was each other. Views: 441
Huge amounts of international aid money are being stolen by those at the heart of the political establishment. Ex politician, Jim Smith, threatened and harassed into fleeing abroad for accusations of fraud secretly returns to renew his campaign. An epic thriller covering events in the USA, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia about a stubborn man refusing to fit into any stereotype.After making public accusations that high level government bureaucrats and politicians were involved in criminality through organised theft of International Aid money, ex businessman and newly elected Independent Member of the UK Parliament, James (Jim) Smith, rapidly becomes a political outsider. Hounded and ridiculed by other politicians and sections of the press for naivety, for making accusations without proof, for his lack of political finesse, untidy appearance and blunt, no-nonsense style, he then endures a deliberate campaign of harassment clearly intended to silence him. Sure the campaign to stop him is being orchestrated and funded from somewhere, he flees abroad to escape the stress and publicity and ponder on what to do.For three years, he lives alone in a remote part of Thailand struggling to come to terms with his bitter incursion into politics while devoting himself to painting and Buddhism. But he is also determined to renew his campaign and, with help from an English businessman, Jonathan Walton, a Dutch 'mole', Jan Kerkman and an ex Irish newspaper reporter, Tom Hanrahan they uncover evidence of massive fraud netting millions of Dollars and Euros from charities and international aid funds at the heart of the political establishment. The mastermind is a strange and elusive Italian calling himself Guido who uses threats, blackmail and computer hacking technology to run the vast, fraudulent network.With the danger to Kerkman and Walton increasing, Smith secretly returns home but knowing they will face the same problem as before. As he explains at a secret meeting in Amsterdam, "We are asking a complicated political and bureaucratic system designed to protect itself from self investigation to do just that - to investigate itself, prove the existence of massive internal fraud and then act."But it is the US Government's intervention and determination to deal with fraud associated with its own US Aid programme that provides the manpower and resources that Smith and his colleagues need. With a US Senator, Colin Stafford, driving the political agenda and the FBI providing resources, more evidence is gathered and the international law enforcement agencies and Interpol are finally involved."All I ever wanted was to say something about the distribution of wealth and the worship of money as the answer to human happiness," Jim Smith explains to Senator Stafford. "Money has never meant much to me other than as a measure of my contribution to society. But it is wrong that people in positions of power and trust abuse their positions and steal vast sums from the public purse. But make no mistake, they are powerful. They already have money and resources but they are out to make even more. Security is what keeps them out of sight. Politics and bribery is what shuts mouths. Threats and fear of repercussion is what keeps people in their place. Finding those at the top might not be difficult but they are protected by a reputation of dignity and status that has been deliberately constructed to make any accusations from outside look absurd and inconceivable. I tried the accusations route and I was the one made to look absurd. That's why I went away but I always planned to return to renew my campaign. We will probably show the whole system is at fault and whether we can do anything about it in our own small way I don't know, but I'm damned sure the millions of honest, hard-working tax payers out there would support us in anything we do. That is where our strength lies."Arrests begin, but as Kerkman and Hanrahan close in on Guido at a villa on Lake Como the Italian provides yet one more surprise. An epic thriller covering events in the USA, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia about a stubborn man refusing to fit into any stereotype.of a successful businessman and a modern politician. Views: 441
Crusader, Arranged marriage, kidnapping, religious conflict, knighthood Views: 441
Sardelle Terushan wakes from three hundred years in a mage stasis shelter, only to realize that she is the last of the Referatu, the sorcerers who once helped protect Iskandia from conquerors. Their subterranean mountain community was blown up in a treacherous sneak attack by soldiers who feared their power. Everyone Sardelle ever knew is dead, and...Colonel Ridge Zirkander isn’t the model of military professionalism—he has a tendency to say exactly what’s on his mind, and his record has enough demerits to wallpaper the hull of an airship—but as the best fighter pilot in the Iskandian army, he’s used to a little leniency from his superiors. Until he punches the wrong diplomat in the nose and finds himself issued new orders: take command of a remote prison mine in the inhospitable Ice Blades Mountains. Ridge has never been in charge of anything larger than a flier squadron—what’s he supposed to do with a frozen fortress full of murderers and rapists? Not to mention the strange woman who shows up right before he arrives…Sardelle Terushan wakes from three hundred years in a mage stasis shelter, only to realize that she is the last of the Referatu, the sorcerers who once helped protect Iskandia from conquerors. Their subterranean mountain community was blown up in a treacherous sneak attack by soldiers who feared their power. Everyone Sardelle ever knew is dead, and the sentient soulblade she has been bonded to since her youth is buried in the core of the mountain. Further, what remains of her home has been infested by bloodthirsty miners commanded by the descendants of the very soldiers who destroyed her people.Sardelle needs help to reach her soulblade—her only link to her past and her last friend in the world. Her only hope is to pretend she’s one of the prisoners while trying to gain the commander’s trust. But lying isn’t her specialty, especially when the world has changed so much in the intervening centuries, and if Colonel Zirkander figures out who she truly is, he’ll be duty-bound to sentence her to the only acceptable punishment for sorcerers: death.The Dragon Blood series reading order:Book 1: Balanced on the Blade's EdgeBook 2: DeathmakerBook 3: Blood Charged Views: 441
In The Defendant's Chair examines the inner working of our US Government and a secret society as they manipulate the human genome in evil seclusion. In a race against time to save the human race, two women must contemplate both the ethical and moral issues of genetic tampering. Views: 441
