One of the most celebrated writers of our time gives us his first cycle of short fiction: five brilliantly etched, interconnected stories in which music is a vivid and essential character.
A once-popular singer, desperate to make a comeback, turning from the one certainty in his life . . . A man whose unerring taste in music is the only thing his closest friends value in him . . . A struggling singer-songwriter unwittingly involved in the failing marriage of a couple he’s only just met . . . A gifted, underappreciated jazz musician who lets himself believe that plastic surgery will help his career . . . A young cellist whose tutor promises to “unwrap” his talent . . .
Passion or necessity—or the often uneasy combination of the two—determines the place of music in each of these lives. And, in one way or another, music delivers each of them to a moment of reckoning: sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes just eluding their grasp.
An exploration of love, need, and the ineluctable force of the past, Nocturnes reveals these individuals to us with extraordinary precision and subtlety, and with the arresting psychological and emotional detail that has marked all of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed works of fiction. Views: 719
Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things--which includes a never-before published American Gods story, "Black Dog," written exclusively for this volume.
In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013--as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.
Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In "Adventure Story"--a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane--Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience "A Calendar of Tales" are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year--stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother's Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale "The Case of Death and Honey". And "Click-Clack the Rattlebag" explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we're all alone in the darkness.
A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day. Views: 719
Book 3 of The Athena Universe. Someone's been messing with genetics on Earth in Saphora's absence.The last thing on prince Xander's mind was becoming king. He'd much rather explore the world, make new discoveries. Unfortunately, he gets his wish in ways he hadn't imagined. Upon Saphora's return, he finds himself infatuated with the idea of visiting Earth. And so he does. But what he finds is unexpected. Seems like someone's found use for Saphora even in her absence. And it looks like people are lining up to get a taste of it. But what does that mean for Earth? With him being called back for the war on Athena, what will Xander do to save his newly beloved planet? Views: 719
A blink in reality leaves CW3 Mike Duggins and his SpecOps in a different, unrecognizable world. They are stalked by massive, cunning, draconic predators. The only things keeping the predators at bay are Mike’s team, untested Mech Armor, and the DARPA techs.When Chief Warrant Officer Mike Duggins and his SpecOps team are assigned to a DARPA black site, their reality is changed in the blink of an eye, leaving them in an unrecognizable world, stalked by massive, draconic predators. With only his team, untested Mech Armor, and DARPA techs keeping the cunning predators at bay, they will have to employ every tactic they know in order to survive or risk becoming prey for the hostile carnivores. Can 5 experienced warriors and the DARPA tech team outsmart and outwit an enemy like no other they've seen before and find their way back home? Views: 719
Seven doomed explorers, trapped, hunted, and turned against one another. When Austin brought his daughter to the unexplored planet Paphos, it was supposed to be a chance to reconnect with her. But when he and his crew of scientists discover an alien facility, all of that changes.This book is part 1.Seven doomed explorers, trapped, hunted, and turned against one another. When Austin brought his daughter to the unexplored planet Paphos, it was supposed to be a chance to reconnect with her. But when he and his crew of scientists discover an alien facility, all of that changes. Eager to become rich, the crew ventures in, surrounded by the remnants of an alien massacre. By the time they realize that something is there with them, it is already too late. Now Austin isn't worried about reconnecting with his daughter, he's worried about keeping her alive.This book is part 1. Views: 718
19+ Being the boy who accidentally shot his sister was hard. Never being able to find the girl who actually pulled the trigger was worse. Convinced, through years of relentless therapy, that she was a figment of his trauma and imagination, Eli Adams gave up on her existence. Until one day a name, bearing remarkable resemblance to the people missing in his life, showed up out of nowhere. Suddenly he was thrust into a journey that forced him to offer up his soul as payment for the truth. What he discovered along the way, was that the girl who took his sister's life and his hand, all those years ago, had become the thing he needed to be whole. Saving her was one thing. Healing her was another. Convincing her to love him will be the toughest part of it all. Views: 718
“The paint dripped off me like a liquid coat and I inhaled the toxic fumes, sucking the undiluted scent into my lungs. My pupils dilated as I sank into the vision of a pain so absolute, it went beyond pain. It should have rendered me unconscious, it should have affected my ability, it felt like it should have killed me. As it was, the pain distracted me so badly that I was unable to focus on any other details. I painted turquoise wounds that wept turquoise blood onto the paper floor, and when I was finished, I painted more. I painted the walls, the floor, the back of the door and the boarded-up windows. I covered the room in wounds and fumes, and then I curled up in the middle of the mess, weeping my heart into my paint-covered hands.”
The past few months have reduced Seraph Black to a permanent state of fight, and now it is all that she knows. She is fighting her friends and family to go off on a suicide mission to rescue Silas, she is fighting the fragmented memories that clamour for recognition inside her mind, and she is fighting a guilt so magnificent… it might just force her to betray the very people that have sacrificed so much to keep her safe.
She had asked for space, and it had been given to her in the most heart-rending of ways, leaving only one of the four brothers remaining by her side.
Miro Quillan is her last hope.
Without him, she may never get her pairs back.
Warning: While this book is intended for a young adult audience, it is not recommended for persons younger than 15 years, due to some themes. Views: 718
From the shadows of the past.
Prim and beautiful professor Roseleen White clutches her new prized possession - a thousand-year-old Scandinavian sword. And suddenly, a dream stands before her: a magnificent Viking warrior sworn to satisfy Roseleen's every desire.
Until forever.
Accursed for untold centuries, mighty Thorn is now enslaved to a woman. Yet it is Roseleen who is the true prisoner, held willing captive by a handsome barbarian who sweeps her back to the ancient past on a journey of sensual discovery. But only by banishing him from her life forever can Roseleen free Thorn from immortality's chains - forcing her to make a devastating choice that will either imperil their future or preserve a love more powerful than time. Views: 718
Fifty years ago, William Michael Ryan joined the staff of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or, as it is affectionately known to its friends, the "Doghouse." Today he is Special Agent No. 1. This frequently touching, often hilarious, and always entertaining book describes Ryan's adventures with animals during this span of half a century -- adventures that have brought him into contact with more than half a million beasts, birds, and reptiles.
Among the animals he has met are such improbable characters as the Professor, a simian genius who disrupted New York harbor for weeks; Rosebud, who became the subject of the most hysterical elephant hunt in the history of Yonkers; Mukluk, the Eskimo husky with a fondness for beer; Dushka and Sachka, two giant Russian wolves who terrorized the guests of one of New York's most fashionable hotels.
In a city like New York many animals have not yet come to terms without civilization. A cat sometimes mistakes a chimney for a brick-lined mouse hole and gets trapped in it. A horse may find himself unintentionally in somebody's living room. Chimpanzees wake up in roominghouse beds. A bull suddenly materializes in a powder room, a fourteen-foot snake, uninvited, decides to take a bath in a lady's tub, and lions with no other pressing engagements may stroll nonchalantly through Manhattan's streets. These are only a few of the situations with which Bill Ryan has had to cope.
This book is not only the warmhearted, amusing account of Bill Ryan's incredible true adventures with animals -- it is also the absorbing story of a unique organization, the oldest and largest humane society in the Western Hemisphere. In telling of Ryan's career with the ASPCA, Lloyd Alexander has written an engaging book that will be thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who loves animals. At the same time, Fifty Years in the Doghouse offers important insights into the relationships between people and their pets. Underlying it is a sense of respect for all living things. As Lloyd Alexander says: "Laws assure animals of protection -- formally, officially, set down in black and white. But in the long run the best protection is the human heart." Views: 718
Trixie is a wise-cracking waitress trying to work her way through college when a late-night storm blows in a stranger. He’s not like the usual customers with his pale skin and dark clothes. Her kindness to him is rewarded with an invitation to his house in the country, and she finds herself in a sticky relationship when he returns her kindness with more than just a thank-you.THE THREE-PART SERIES IS COMPLETE!** Due to mature sexual content, recommended for readers aged 18+ **THE PALE SERIES - Sparks and pigs fly when a wise-cracking waitress meets a reclusive billionaire.Book #1 - Pale StrangerBook #2 - Pale CompanionBook #3 - Pale LoverTrixie is a wise-cracking waitress trying to work her way through college when a late-night storm blows in a stranger. He's not like the usual customers with his pale skin and dark clothes. Her kindness to him is rewarded with an invitation to his house in the country, and she finds herself in a sticky relationship when he returns her kindness with more than just a thank-you. Views: 718
One must be careful when choosing a partner for an evening of harmless infidelity. Especially when one is a king who rules over a vast kingdom and is locked in a sham marriage with a queen who wants him dead.If caution is not heeded, a king in such a situation might find himself assassinated. But he also might have his fondest desire fulfilled.A beautiful young dancer’s performance at the royal banquet has pleased her king. To show his gratitude, he offers her the fruits of his kingdom. She may have anything.Anything her heart desires.The King cannot refuse when the dancer asks for a night in his bed. Though it is the first time he will betray his marriage, he feels no guilt for he knows the Queen is, at that very moment, in the arms of another.But this tryst is not as it seems, for the Queen and her lover lust only for the reins of the kingdom. That night, they have set in motion a plan to murder their ruler and steal his throne.The King learns of this plot, but far too late to stop it. The assassination might succeed, but for the actions of a surprising ally, his new bed mate.The beautiful dancer, too, is not as she seems. She alone holds the power to save her king from the traitors, and to restore his kingdom to him. She will do this by presenting him an offer of her own. He may have anything.Anything his heart desires.Originally written as a single chapter in the Wither the Waking World novel The Death You Deserve, Betrayal is a glimpse into the origins of the cursed land of Illengaard, known as the Kingdom of Teardrops. Views: 717
Fleeing the battle between the Jokers, Aces, and Nats, Blaise heads for the planet Takis in the body of Dr. Tachyon, leaving Tach trapped in the pregnant body of a teenage runaway. Views: 717
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees...
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart. Views: 717
In “Home Lost”, Volume I of the the eight volume fantasy “Clarion of Destiny”, Leena receives the Garlan branch. From first contact her life is changed. After a solitary journey she returns home to find her village in ruins. Confused and alone, Leena sets out to search for her family and to discover the reason the Garlan branch selected her."Clarion of Destiny" is the eight volume fantasy tale of Leena, a young hedge witch in training selected by destiny to combat the greatest challenge her world has known. In an epic journey that leads through foreign lands and mysterious realms where demons, monsters and magic rule, this inexperienced young girl is forced to overcome a protected childhood to face challenges that would crush far more experienced adventurers. With each step, each passing day, she draws closer to a malevolent force so formidable it has defeated the mightiest armies and the strongest magic in her world. How can one lone girl hope to overcome an evil that has never known defeat?In Volume 1, Home Lost, Leena, a sixteen-year-old, half-trained hedge witch, is mysteriously selected to receive the Garlan branch, a magical item that has twice saved her world in the distant past. After a solitary journey through a frozen winter forest to seek this honor, she returns to her village. Nervous with excitement and anticipation, she rushes home to find the secure and treasured town of her youth deserted and in ruins. Confused and alone, Leena has little choice but to set out on a search for her missing friends and family. Can Leena discover why the Garlan branch selected her, in time to save the people she loves? Views: 717
