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One Word Answer

New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris has created a phenomenon with her Sookie Stackhouse novels, which are the basis for the smash hit television program True Blood. In this companion piece to her wildly popular series, Harris explains the fate of a character shrouded in mystery. Sookie's cousin Hadley ran away years earlier and hasn't been heard from since. When Mr. Cataliades visits on behalf of the vampire queen of Louisiana, Sookie finally learns that Hadley was murdered during a cemetery ritual. Now, the queen has an unusual request of Sookie that will force the telepathic cocktail waitress into a difficult situation. "One Word Answer" can be enjoyed on its own, but devotees of the series will find the story especially enjoyable, as it helps bridge the gap between Dead as a Doornail (Book 5) and Definitely Dead (Book 6). **
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Best Short Stories 2013

The four short stories included in this ebook were selected as finalists for the Best Short Stories of 2013 Award and were published during the month of December, 2013. Fans, well-wishers, and reading enthusiasts have selected this years top short story from among these distinguished finalists.Dear reader,The four short stories included in this ebook were selected as finalists for the Best Short Stories of 2013 Award and were published during the month of December, 2013. Fans, well-wishers, and reading enthusiasts have selected this years top short story from among these distinguished finalists. The results of this readers-choice poll are as follows:1. Dreamer by Janae Schiele2. Bliss by Vanessa Rasanen3. Out of the Shadows by Katrina Umland4. Facing Memories by Deanna WiseburnI hope you enjoy these stories as much as I, our judges, and all the wonderful readers at justinblaney.com did. Your friend,Justin BlaneyEditor of justinblaney.comPS, I included one of my own short stories as a bonus, fifth story at the conclusion of this volume. This is the first in a series called Isfits, which you can discover more about at isfits.com
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The Chase

Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because there’s no logical reason why I’m so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I don’t usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think I’m flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesn’t help that he’s buddy-buddy with my brother. And that his best friend has a crush on me. And that I just moved in with them. Oh, did I not mention we’re roommates? I suppose it doesn’t matter. Fitzy has made it clear he’s not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. I’m not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and I’m not about to start. I’ve got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what he’s missing? He knows where to find me.
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Killing Time

Meet Dr. Gideon Wolfe, expert criminologist of the new millenium. A professor at New York's John Jay University in the year 2023, he lives in an era that has seen plague, a global economic crash, and the 2018 assassination of President Emily Forrester. In this turbulent new world order, Wolfe's life and everything he knows are turned upside down when the widow of a murdered special-effects wizard enters his office. The widow hands him a silver disc from her husband's safety deposit box, hoping that Wolfe's expertise in history and criminology will compel him to track down her husband's killers. The disc contains footage of President Forrester's assassination, the same video that has been broadcast countless times on TV and over the internet-with one crucial, shocking difference: This version shows that before the video was released, it was altered with sinister special effects. This explosive discovery will lead Gideon Wolfe on an electrifying journey from a criminal underworld of New York to the jungles of Africa and on a quest to find the truth in an age when all information can be manipulated. With this novel, Carr has boldly established a new genre-future history-combining the best elements of mystery and thrillers with unique historical insight. Breathtakingly suspenseful,Killing Time unfolds as the work of a master novelist. From the Hardcover edition.
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Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher

"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" *—Midwest Children's Book Review* Sammy should have known better than to think 8th grade would be easier than 7th. It's only September and already the history teacher is receiving death threats. Naturally, Sammy is the prime suspect. To make matters worse, officer Borsch has asked Sammy to help out at his wedding. If she doesn't find the real prankster fast, Sammy will be wearing prison stripes instead of a poofy pastel bridesmaid dress. This latest Sammy Keyes adventure blends mystery, comedy, and a dusting of fairy tale magic as Sammy takes off her high-tops, puts on some party shoes, and steps into a whole lot of trouble. The Sammy Keyes mysteries are fast-paced, funny, thoroughly modern, and true whodunits. Each mystery is exciting and dramatic, but it's the drama in Sammy's personal life that keeps readers coming back to see what happens next with her love interest Casey, her soap-star mother, and her mysterious father. From the Hardcover edition.
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Don't Care High

Paul's attempts to adjust to New York City life are thwarted at his high school, nicknamed Don't Care High, until his manipulation of a new Student Council president wakes up the apathetic student body.
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The Phantom of Nantucket

A dream trip to Nantucket turns into a nightmare in this seventh book of the Nancy Drew Diaries, a fresh approach to a classic series. Nancy, Bess, and George can't wait to start their trip to Nantucket. The three girls are there to visit Bess’s family friend Jenna and go to the opening of an exhibit at the local whaling museum. Jenna’s been working on the exhibit for months, but when the girls get to the museum, a threatening banner has replaced the welcome sign. Nancy’s got plenty of potential suspects, but she’s worried she won’t be able to solve the case in time to save the opening. And as the threats increase in severity, she becomes more concerned about Jenna’s safety than the ruined exhibit. Can Nancy find the culprit in time?
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Pagan Babies

Pagan Babies is classic crime fiction from the master of suspense, New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard.  Father Terry Dunn thought he'd seen everything on the mean streets of Detroit, but that was before he went on a little retreat to Rwanda to evade a tax-fraud indictment. Now the whiskey-drinking, Nine Inch Nails T-shirt-wearing padre is back trying to hustle up a score to help the little orphans of Rwanda. But the fund-raising gets complicated when a former tattletale cohort pops up on Terry's tail. And then there's the lovely Debbie Dewey. A freshly sprung ex-con turned stand-up comic, Debbie needs some fast cash, too, to settle an old score. Now they're in together for a bigger payoff than either could finagle alone. After all, it makes sense...unless Father Terry is working a con of his own.
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Havana Bay

The body, at least what was left of it, was drifting in Havana Bay the morning Arkady arrived from Moscow. Only the day before, he had received an urgent message from the Russian embassy in Havana that his friend Pribluda was missing and asking that he come. The Cubans insisted that this corpse floating in an inner tube was Pribluda, but Arkady wasn't so sure. "You don't investigate assault, you don't investigate murder. Just what do you investigate?" Arkady asks Ofelia Osorio, a detective in the Policia Nacional de la Revolucion. "Or is it simply open season on Russians in Havana?" The comrades of the Cold War have parted bitterly, and the Russians who used to swarm through Havana's streets are now as rare as they are despised, much more so than Americans. Havana is overrun with color, music, and suspicion. The Revolution's heroes have outlived idealism. The Com-munist world has shrunk to Cuba. Paradise has become a stop on sex tours. It is a city of empty stores and talking drums, Karl Marx and sharp machetes, where an American radical rides around in Hemingway's car to tout island investments and a Wall Street developer on the run from the FBI flies a pirate flag. "A dead Russian, a live Russian," Ofelia says. "What's the difference?" But the dead Russian is followed by the murders of a Cuban boxer and a prostitute. Although none of them is supposed to be investigated, Arkady cannot be stopped. He speaks no Spanish, knows nothing about Cuba, and, as a Russian, is a pariah. However, there is something about this faded, lovely, dangerous city--the rhythms of waves against the seawall, the insinuation of music always in the air, and, finally, Ofelia herself--that plunges Arkady back into life. "What ultimately sets the Renko books apart is the careful writing, and, more important, the knowledge of the human heart that is carried through it, through them, first to last."–Chicago Tribune
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Secret Identity

Alvin Bixby: Hulking, knuckles of steel, hideous breath, foul temper. Kids call him: Bubba. Nolan Byrd: Puny, power walker, math genius, can't keep shoes tied. Kids call him: Nerd. Bubba has been the bane of Nolan's existence for five long years. So when Mr. Green asks the class to become reporters, Nolan decides he'll write an expose--on Bubba. He doesn't want to sign his name to it (that'd be suicidal), so Nolan creates a secret identity for himself--on the Internet. He launches Shredderman.com as a place where truth and justice prevail--and bullies get what's coming to them. This hilariously triumphant story is for any kid who's ever dreamed of unleashing their own inner superhero! From the Hardcover edition.
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The Gap Into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge

Author of The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, one of the most acclaimed fantasy series of all time, master storyteller Stephen R. Donaldson retums with the second book in his long-awaited new science fiction series--a story about dark passions, perilous alliances, and dubious heroism set in a stunningly imagined future. Beautiful, brilliant, and dangerous, Morn Hyland is an ex-police officer for the United Mining Companies--and the target of two ruthless, powerful men.  One is the charismatic ore-pirate Nick Succorso, who sees Morn as booty wrested from his vicious rival, Angus Thermopyle.  thermopyle once made the mistake of underestimating Morn and now he's about to pay the ultimate price.  Both men think they can possess her, but Morn is no one's trophy--and no one's pawn. Meanwhile, withing the borders of Forbidden Space, wait the Amnioin, an alien race capable of horrific atrocities.  The Amnion want something unspeakable from humanity--and they will go to unthinkable lengths to get it. In Forbidden Knowledge, Stephen R. Donaldson spins a galaxy-wide web of intrigue, deception, and betrayal that tightens with inexorable strength around characters and readers alike. From the Paperback edition.
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Adam

Stuntman Adam Campbell returns home to Riverbend, Texas, after being seriously injured in a movie stunt gone wrong. He settles in to heal at his family's ranch, where his four brothers, famous trick riders, train horses. Adam is stunned to find Bailey Farrell working there—she was the shy girl who'd helped Adam graduate high school so he could run off to Hollywood. Except the budding Bailey, with whom Adam had a brief but intense affair, has blossomed into a beautiful woman. Now the sparks that had once ignited between them threaten to explode. Adam is beaten-up, broken-down, and has lost his nerve—the stunt that injured him also killed his best friend. The only one he can turn to is Bailey, but will Bailey, who has come back to Riverbend to lick her wounds after a painful divorce, be willing to help him again? Book 1 of Riding Hard. A 230-page (approx) novel—20 chapters, plus bonus sneak peek at Grant's book and a recipe for Mrs. Ward's Harvest Pie.
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A Brief Intermission: A Romantic 4th of July Story

As Flickers Cinemas empties and the whole town prepares to watch the 4th of July fireworks, Chance Prescott interrupts the horror flick in Theater 4 to surprise the movie’s only patron with a rooftop view of the town’s fireworks display. Will romance blossom under the stars? Or will Chance’s risky proposition fall on deaf ears? You never know what might happen in the summer heat...As the theaters at Flickers Cinemas empty and the whole town prepares to watch the 4th of July fireworks, Chance Prescott interrupts the horror flick in Theater 4 to surprise the movie’s only patron with a brief intermission, including a rooftop view of the town’s fireworks display. Will romance blossom under the “hiss and boom” in the sky above? Or will Chance’s risky proposition fall on deaf ears? You never know what might happen in the summer heat…This 4,100-word short story is 24 pages long.
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Broken Soul

Jane Yellowrock is a vampire killer for hire—but other creatures of the night still need to watch their backs.... When the Master of the city of New Orleans asks Jane to improve security for a future visit from a delegation of European vampires, she names an exorbitant price—and Leo is willing to pay. That’s because the European vamps want Leo’s territory, and he knows that he needs Jane to prevent a total bloodbath. Leo, however, doesn’t mention how this new job will change Jane’s life or the danger it will bring her and her team. Jane has more to worry about than some greedy vampires. There’s a vicious creature stalking the streets of New Orleans, and its agenda seems to be ripping Leo and her to pieces. Now Jane just has to figure out how to kill something she can’t even see….
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The Mystery at Lilac Inn

Teenage detective Nancy Drew finds herself in danger when she sets out to track a jewel thief.
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