'The iron of the bridge felt hot under my hand. The sun had been upon it all day. Gripping hard with my hands I lifted myself on to the bar and gazed down steadily on the water passing under... I thought of places I would never see, and women I should never love. A white sea breaking on a beach, the slow rustle of a shivering tree, the hot scent of grass... I breathed deeply and I felt as though the waiting water rose up in front of me and would not let me go'
As far as his father, an accomplished poet, is concerned, Richard will never amount to anything, and so he decides to take his fate into his own hands in a moment of crisis. But at the last moment, he is saved by a passing stranger, Jake, who appeals to Richard not to waste his life. The two men, both at turning points, and on a whim set out for adventure, jumping aboard the first ship they see, cementing a passionate friendship. Their journeys take them to Norway and across Europe, become firm friends. But it is in bohemian Paris, where Richard meets Hesta, a captivating music student, who enables him to fulfil his own artistic promise. Views: 1 235
A North Korean ICBM crashes into the Sea of Japan. A veteran CIA officer is murdered in Ho Chi Minh City, and a package of forged documents goes missing. The pieces are there, but assembling the puzzle will cost Jack Ryan, Jr. and his fellow Campus agents precious time. Time they don’t have.
The challenge facing President Jack Ryan is an old one with a terrifying new twist. The international stalemate with North Korea continues into its seventh decade. A young, untested dictator is determined to prove his strength by breaking the deadlock. Like his father before him, he hangs his plans on the country’s nuclear ambitions. Until now, that program was impeded by a lack of resources. However, there has been a dramatic change in the nation’s economic fortune. A rich deposit of valuable minerals have been found in the Hermit Kingdom. Coupled with their nuclear capabilities, the money from this find will make North Korea a dangerous force on the world stage.
There’s just one more step needed to complete this perfect plan…the elimination of the president of the United States. Views: 1 224
Time has changed the March household home of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. It has turned to that time where the girls must go out and find their places in the big word. The marvelous things that the girls dreamed of doing they each must find themselves. Taking on the big world their talents develop as each grows more accomplished, as each of the girls find love as tragedy strikes they find comfort in each other and home. Louisa May Alcott's Good Wives along with Little Women continually rank as amoung the best children's books of all time.
** Views: 1 222
Atlanta Heat ― never before released as a standalone novella! Previously published in the anthology * Rescue Me. *
Em Delaney has wanted bad-boy Macey March for as long as she can remember. But as a Navy SEAL under the command of her overprotective godfather, Macey is off-limits to Em…until a kidnapping attempt forces them to share tantalizingly close quarters—and a forbidden desire. Views: 1 221
Lyra
From a distance, the Haven Institute, tucked away on a private island off the coast of Florida, looks serene and even beautiful. But up close the locked doors, military guards, and biohazard suits tell a different story. In truth, it is a clandestine research facility where thousands of replicas, or human models, are born, raised, and observed.
But when a surprise attack is launched on Haven, two of its young experimental subjects—Lyra, or 24, and the boy known only as 72—manage to escape. As they make their way through a new and menacing environment, they meet a stranger named Gemma, who has embarked on a perilous quest of her own. And as Lyra tries to understand Haven’s purpose, she uncovers earth-shattering secrets that will change the lives of both girls.
Gemma
Gemma has been in and out of hospitals her whole life. A sickly child, she has grown into a lonely adolescent whose life is circumscribed by home, school, and her best friend, April.
But after she is nearly abducted by a stranger claiming to know her, Gemma starts to investigate her family’s past and discovers her father’s mysterious connection to the secretive Haven research facility. Hungry for answers, she travels to Florida, only to stumble upon two human models, or replicas, 24 and 72—and a completely new set of questions. As Gemma tries to unravel the mysteries of Haven, she learns terrible truths about herself and her family that will threaten to destroy everything she loves.
Two girls, two stories, one novel.
While the stories of Gemma and Lyra mirror each other, each contains revelations critically important to the other story. Their narratives can be read separately or in alternating chapters. Views: 1 220
Few of Richard Matheson’s readers know that he had hopes for writing popular music. At a very early age, Matheson taught himself how to write sheet music, but his family could not afford art supplies and so he had to give up composition. But music never left his mind and when Matheson found a creative new outlet through his writing (cheaper than music, requiring only a pencil and paper), he quickly began composing both prose stories as well as poetry. He picked up music composition again at the age of seventeen, adding music to his poems. Here in Lyrics are the compositions that Matheson created, in publication for the very first time. Views: 1 220
(Suncoast Society series book #67, MMF, BDSM)
When a hurricane takes Jessica’s home, gives her a new dog, and forces her return to Florida, she’s determined to focus on herself and definitely isn’t looking for a relationship after her cheating ex shredded her trust. Enter Tristan and Kyle, and the two hunky Doms soon work their way under her skin.
Tristan and Kyle were friends and roommates first, and run a rope group together, but the attraction between them finally boils over into more. Still, they’re possibly open to a third if they meet the right woman. That’s when Jessica drops into their lives.
When their kinky and vanilla lives merge in an unexpected way, outside forces at play threaten to destroy their happiness before they even have a chance to explore their new dynamic together. Between meddling exes and painful pasts, it all combines to create an emotionally explosive situation that might leave all three of their hearts shattered if they can’t find a solution together. Views: 1 220
One moment Joseph Schwartz is a happily retired tailor in Chicago, 1949. The next he's a helpless stranger on Earth during the heyday of the first Galactic Empire.
Earth, as he soon learns, is a backwater, just a pebble in the sky, despised by all the other 200 million planets of the Empire because its people dare to claim it's the original home of man. And Earth is poor, with great areas of radioactivity ruining much of its soil—so poor that everyone is sentenced to death at the age of sixty.
Joseph Schwartz is sixty-two.
This is young Isaac Asimov's first novel, full of wonders and ideas, the book that launched the novels of the Galactic Empire, culminating in the Foundation series. This is Golden Age SF at its finest. Views: 1 217
It is the age of empire, of blood and conquest, of boundless excitement and possibility. Striding in the footsteps of the pioneers is Zouga Ballantyne. His dream begins in the danger and drudgery of the diamond pits and ends up on the rich grasslands of Matabeleland - but not before a king and a proud warrior nation have paid the price of history... Views: 1 215
Iconoclastic detective Jackson Brodie returns in a triumphant new novel about secrets, sex, and lies Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It's picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes. Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network-and back across the path of his old friend Reggie. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking novel by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today. Views: 1 213
Sylvie Davies is a ballerina who can't dance. A broken leg ended her career, but what broke her heart was her father's death, and what's breaking her spirit is her mother's remarriage. Still reeling Sylvie is shipped off to stay with relatives in the back of beyond. Or so she thinks, in fact she ends up in a town rich with her family's history . . . and as it turns out her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys she can't stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, is the expected choice. But handsome and mysterious Rhys has a hold on her that she doesn't quite understand
Then Sylvie starts seeing things - a girl by the lake and a man with dark unseeing eyes peering in through the window . . . Sylvie's lost nearly everything - is she starting to lose her mind as well? Views: 1 212
From *New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes an electrifying short story, in which the battle over a lost treasure leads to murder, betrayal, and the revelation of a shocking mystery hidden aboard the . . . Ghost Ship** *
The discovery of a burned body sprawled on a remote Australian beach shatters the vacation plans of Commander Gray Pierce. To thwart an ingenious enemy, he and Seichan are pulled into a centuries-old mystery surrounding a lost convict ship, the Trident. The vessel—with a history of mutiny and stolen treasure—vanished into the mists of time, but nothing stays lost forever. A freak storm reveals clues scattered across the Great Barrier Reef, but following those clues will lead to bloodshed and savagery, for where this ghost ship is hidden is as shocking as the mystery behind its disappearance. It will take all of Gray’s ingenuity and Seichan’s deadly skills not only to survive—but to stop an enemy from destroying everything in his path.
Included with this short story is a sneak peek at the upcoming Sigma Force novel, *The Demon Crown , where events here lead to Sigma’s most harrowing adventure to date.* Views: 1 211
From Canada’s new queen of suspense, another hugely entertaining supernatural thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Prepare to be enchanted . . .
Forget the cackling green hag in *The Wizard of Oz*, forget Samantha from *Bewitched*. Real witches are nothing, NOTHING like this. For years real witches have hidden their powers, afraid of being persecuted. They have integrated so well into the community, you could have a witch living right next door and never know about it. Take Paige, for instance, whom we first met in Kelley Armstrong’s novel **Stolen**. Just an ordinary twenty-something who runs her own website design company, worries about her weight and wonders if she’ll ever find a boyfriend. Okay, so she’s leader of the American Coven and guardian of Savannah, the teenage daughter of a black witch. Really, life is ordinary. But then a telekinetic half-demon, Leah O’Donnell, shows up to fight for custody of Savannah. And although Paige is ready for her, she’s not quite so prepared for the team of supernaturals that Leah brings with her, including a powerful sorcerer who claims to be Savannah’s father.
When all hell breaks loose -- literally -- and Paige is accused of witchcraft, Satanism and murder, the Coven, fearing exposure, abandons her. Cut off from her friends, Paige is forced against her better judgment to accept the help of a young sorcerer lawyer. And she quickly comes to realize that keeping Savannah could mean losing everything else.
Breathtakingly thrilling, hip and funny, this new novel is another page-turning triumph from an author who is going from strength to strength.
*“I had a feeding frenzy on my front lawn, an unconscious paranormal investigator on my stairs, and, somewhere out there, an entire Cabal special projects team devoted to ruining my life.”* -- from **Dime Store Magic**
*From the Trade Paperback edition.* Views: 1 211
Cheating, partying, blackmail, and now...murder?
Can the Billings Girls remain untouchable?
Reed's boyfriend, Thomas Pearson -- the popular, easygoing, irresistibly handsome and charismatic boy she fell in love with -- is dead. No one knows how it happened, and everyone is after the truth. Or are they?
Life at Easton Academy begins to feel very different. Taylor is acting like the poster child for Prozac, Kiran is spiking her cornflakes, Noelle is being kind of...nice, and Arianna keeps floating along as if nothing has happened.
Thanksgiving break arrives and Reed and Josh find themselves alone on campus. They are forced to confront the feelings they've been hiding. Those feelings combined with an empty campus result in the hottest hookup Reed could possibly imagine. But when Reed breaks the news about Josh to the Billings Girls, there's no fun game of tell-all. Instead, Josh begins to look like suspect No. 1 in the murder of Thomas Pearson.
The perfect life Reed has constructed as a Billings Girl begins to crumble. And as everyone becomes more convinced of Josh's guilt, Reed's private suspicions lead her somewhere she doesn't want to go. Views: 1 210
