Alfred Bester took science fiction into hyperdrive, endowing it with a wit, speed, and narrative inventiveness that have inspired two generations of writers. And nowhere is Bester funnier, speedier, or more audacious than in these seventeen short stories—two of them previously unpublished—that have now been brought together in a single volume for the first time.
Read about the sweet-natured young man whose phenomenal good luck turns out to be disastrous for the rest of humanity. Find out why tourists are flocking to a hellish little town in a post-nuclear Kansas. Meet a warlock who practices on Park Avenue and whose potions comply with the Pure Food and Drug Act. Make a deal with the Devil—but not without calling your agent. Dazzling, effervescent, sexy, and sardonic, Virtual Unrealities is a historic collection from one of science fiction's true pathbreakers.
CONTENTS:
Disappearing Act
Oddy and Id
Star Light, Star Bright (1953)
5,271,009 (1954)
Fondly Fahrenheit (1954)
Hobson's Choice (1952)
Of Time and Third Avenue (1952)
Time is the Traitor (1953)
The Men Who Murdered Mohammed (1958)
The Pi Man (1959)
They Don't Make Life Like They Used To (1963)
Will You Wait? (1959)
The Flowered Thundermug (1964)
Adam and No Eve (1941)
And 3 1/2 to Go
Galatea Galante (1979)
The Devil Without Glasses Views: 933
Augusta Huiell Seaman was an American author of children\'s literature. Augusta Huiell Seaman was an American author of children\'s literature. Views: 933
In picture-perfect Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ash-blond highlights gleam in the winter sun and frozen lakes sparkle like Swarovski crystals. But pictures often lie— and so do Rosewood's four prettiest girls. Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily have been lying ever since they became friends with beautiful Alison DiLaurentis. Ali made them do terrible things—things they had to keep secret for years. And even though Ali was killed at the end of seventh grade, their bad-girl ways didn't die with her. Hanna's on a mission to corrupt Rosewood's youth, starting with a very attractive sophomore. Aria's snooping into her boyfriend's past. Spencer's stealing— from her family. And pure little Emily's abstaining from abstinence. The girls should be careful, though. They thought they were safe when Ali's killer was arrested and A's true identity was finally revealed. But now there's a new A in town turning up the heat. And this time Rosewood is going to burn. Views: 933
[Ménage Amour: Erotic Paranormal Ménage a Trois Romance, M/F/M, Shape-Shifter]
Lina’s finally getting the hang of being mated to twin Elemental dragon shifters, but the Goddess gig still has her stumped. She wouldn’t trade being mated to Jan and Rick Alexandr, even though she might end up accidentally blowing them up for getting on her nerves.
When Lina, her Watcher, and their dragon mates are summoned to Yellowstone National Park for a shifter Gathering, Lina never anticipates she’d soon become fast friends with Brodey Lyall, a wolf shifter. She senses Brodey’s deep grief over a recent loss, but that’s the least of their problems.
An ancient foe with an old grudge threatens to destroy everything Lina holds dear. Now it’s up to Brodey to outsmart a homicidal, psychopathic chicken bent on revenge. Can Brodey safely reunite Lina with her men, or will a forest fire and Yellowstone’s harsh elements prove too much for even the wily wolf shifter to overcome?
** A Siren Erotic Romance Views: 933
Dr. Olivia Simon is in the middle of treating a gunshot victim while on duty Christmas night when she realizes that the patient is Annie O'Neill, the woman with whom her husband, Paul, is in love. Despite Olivia's best efforts to save her, Annie dies in surgery. For Olivia, Paul and Annie's husband, Alec, life will never be the same. Views: 932
It’s been a year since the torturous notes from A stopped and the mystery of Alison DiLaurentis’s disappearance was finally put to rest. Now seniors in high school, Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily are older, but they’re not any wiser. The pretty little liars have more secrets than ever - twisted secrets that could destroy the perfect lives they’ve worked so hard to rebuild. Aria’s jealous of her boyfriend’s new exchange student. Spencer’s getting a little too cozy with her soon-to-be-stepbrother. Hanna’s one scandalous photo away from ruining her dad’s Senate campaign. And Emily will do anything to get a swim scholarship. Worst of all: Last spring break in Jamaica, they did something unforgivable. The girls are desperate to forget that fateful night, but they should know better than anyone that all secrets wash ashore. . . eventually. Views: 932
Freak weather and flash floods all over southern England. Half of Lafferton is afloat. A landslip on the Moor has closed the bypass and, as the rain slowly drains away, a shallow grave - and a skeleton - are exposed. The remains are identified as those of missing teenager, Harriet Lowther, last seen 16 years ago. Views: 932
Everybody's entitled to his own opinion, right? WRONG!! He or she is entitled to an informed opinion-so if you don't like being argued with, if you don't like a tital stranger telling you that your opinion is stupid, and you're fulla crap, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Because this guy never learned how to lie, and he is either adored or printed on hate posters in Cheney's office, Ku Klux Klan dens, schlock poroducers' bathrooms, and those idiot sites on the internet that truckle to ultra-maroons. Views: 932
Sheldon's sweeping saga of greed and betrayal, sabotage and danger, and the ties that can kill. . . Roffe and Sons is a family firm, an international empire filled with desperate, cash-hungry family members. At its head was one of the wealthiest men in the world, a man who has just died in a mysterious accident and left his only daughter, Elizabeth, in control of the company. Now as this intelligent, tough, and beautiful young woman dares to save -- not sell -- Roffe and Sons, she will have to outwit those who secretly want her power, and the unknown assassin who wants her life. Views: 931
From the author of Bloodring comes its thrilling follow-up, set a century after the apocalypse and portraying a world in the throes of an ice age - and a never-ending battle among seraphs, demons, and humans....
Living among humans in a postapocalyptic ice age, neomage Thorn St. Croix has learned to count on her friends, but she's lost count of her enemies. She is a source of both fear and fascination for the people of Mineral City. Her powers can save them from the forces of evil, but can also attract demon spawn and succubae. And fighting on her own turf nearly gets Thorn and those she holds dear killed.
But Thorn's ultimate test awaits deep under the snow-covered mountains beyond the village, where an imprisoned fallen seraph desperately needs her help. There, hidden in the hellhole, the armies of Darkness assemble to ensure that this subterranean rescue will be Thorn's final descent.... Views: 931
What if you were told that you could make a fortune just by pushing a button on a box? But pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world . . . someone you don't know. Would you still push the button?
"Button, Button," Richard Matheson's chilling tale of greed and temptation, is now the basis of The Box, the new film from the director of Donnie Darko. In addition, this outstanding collection also contains many other unforgettable stories by Matheson, the award-winning author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come.
"The inventive plots and spare but convincing portraits of ordinary men and women caught up in forces beyond their control demonstrate why Stephen King has called Matheson his most significant influence."
--Publishers Weekly Views: 931
44 SCOTLAND STREET - Book 3
The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy—just ask his mother.
This just in from Edinburgh: the complicated lives of the denizens of 44 Scotland Street are becoming no simpler. Domenica Macdonald has left for the Malacca Straits to conduct a perilous anthropological study of pirate households. Angus Lordie’s dog, Cyril, has been stolen, and is facing an uncertain future wandering the streets. Bertie, the prodigiously talented six-year-old, is still enduring psychotherapy, but his burden is lightened by a junior orchestra's trip to Paris, where he makes some interesting new friends. Back in Edinburgh, there is romance for Pat with a handsome young man called Wolf, until she begins to see the attractions of the more prosaically named Matthew.
Teeming with McCall Smith’s wonderful wit and charming depictions of Edinburgh, Love Over Scotland is another beautiful ode to a city and its people that continue to fascinate this astounding author.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 930
Worldwide #1 bestselling author Wilbur Smith returns to Ancient Egypt in a captivating new novel that will transport you to extraordinary times.
EGYPT IS UNDER ATTACK.
Pharaoh Tamose lies mortally wounded. The ancient city of Luxor is surrounded, All seems lost.
Taita, advisor to the Pharaoh, prepares for the enemy’s final, fatal push. The ex-slave, now general of Tamose’s armies, is never more ingenious than when all hope is dashed. And this is Egypt’s most desperate hour.
With the timely arrival of an old ally, the tide is turned and the Egyptian army feasts upon its retreating foe. But upon his victorious return to Luxor, Taita is seized and branded a traitor. Tamose is dead and a poisonous new era has begun. The new Pharaoh has risen — and he must be stopped…
From the glittering temples of Luxor to the Citadel of Sparta, PHARAOH is an intense and powerful novel magnificently transporting you to a time of threat, blood and glory. Master storyteller, Wilbur Smith, is at the very peak of his powers. Views: 929
It seems innocent enough. A disgraced British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son. But the moment Adam Scott opens the yellowing envelope, he sets into motion a deadly chain of events that threatens to shake the very foundations of the free world.
Within days, Adam's lover is brutally murdered and he's running for his life through the great cities of Europe, pursued not only by the KGB, but by the CIA and his own countrymen as well. Their common intent is to kill him before the truth comes out. While powerful men in smoke-filled rooms plot ever more ingenious means of destroying him, Adam finds himself betrayed and abandoned even by those he holds most dear.
When at last he comes to understand what he is in possession of, he's even more determined to protect it, for it's more than a matter of life and death-it's a matter of honor. Views: 929
From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a thrilling short story that delves deep beneath the city of Paris to a dark necropolis, where the only means for escape is…The Skeleton Key.
Seichan is ripped out of the Sigma series for an adventure all her own—but can she survive? The beautiful and elusive assassin wakes in a hotel in Paris with a deadly electronic collar fastened to her throat. Joined by a boy who is similarly threatened, she must rescue the son of a hated enemy, who has fallen under the sway of the nefarious leader of an apocalyptic cult. To survive, she must venture into the dark world beneath the City of Lights, into the infamous catacombs of Paris. Caught between two enemies, she must fight for her life…while time ticks down toward a fiery apocalypse. But in the dark, surrounded by the moldering bones of the dead, even success does not equal survival. In the end, the only true hope for the world lies in a stunning act of betrayal.
Included with this short story is a sneak peek at the first 70 pages of The Devil Colony, where a clue unlocked by The Skeleton Key will play a key role. Views: 929
