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Something weird is happening to the Los Angeles freeways—phantom cars, lanes from nowhere, and sometimes unmarked offramps that give glimpses of a desolate desert highway—and Sebastian Vickery, disgraced ex-Secret Service agent, is a driver for a covert supernatural-evasion car service. But another government agency is using and perhaps causing the freeway anomalies, and their chief is determined to have Vickery killed because of something he learned years ago at a halted Presidential motorcade.
Reluctantly aided by Ingrid Castine, a member of that agency, and a homeless Mexican boy, and a woman who makes her living costumed as Supergirl on the sidewalk in front of the Chinese Theater, Vickery learns what legendary hell it is that the desert highway leads to—and when Castine deliberately drives into it to save him from capture, he must enter it himself to get her out. Views: 1 056
Like the colorful pieces of sea glass washed up on shore, Opal has weathered rough waters and twisting currents. But instead of finding a tranquil eddy, Opal is caught in a riptide. Her unique glass messengers which allow instant communication over vast distances have become a vital part of Sitian society. Once used solely by the Councilors and magicians, other powerful factions are now vying for control. Control of the messengers equals control of Sitia. Unfortunately that also means control of Opal. If that isn’t enough of a problem, Opal’s determination to prove blood magic is still being used is met with strong resistance. The Council doubts her, her mentor doubts her, and even her family is concerned. When her world is turned upside down, she begins to doubt herself. In the end, Opal must decide who to believe, who to trust, and who has control—otherwise she will shatter into a million pieces and be swept out by the tide. Views: 1 056
If you could re-create a day, what dark secrets would you uncover?
From New York Times #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes a detective thriller in a police beat like no other. Anthony Davis and his partner Chaz are the only real people in a city of 20 million, sent there by court order to find out what happened in the real world 10 days ago so that hidden evidence can be brought to light and located in the real city today.
Within the re-created Snapshot of May 1st, Davis and Chaz are the ultimate authorities. Flashing their badges will get them past any obstruction and overrule any civil right of the dupes around them. But the crimes the detectives are sent to investigate seem like drudgery—until they stumble upon the grisly results of a mass killing that the precinct headquarters orders them not to investigate. That’s one order they have to refuse.
The hunt is on. And though the dupes in the replica city have no future once the Snapshot is turned off, that doesn’t mean that both Davis and Chaz will walk out of it alive tonight.
Film rights have now been optioned by MGM, with Broken Road Productions and Entertainment 360 producing.
**Review
brilliantly written, light and funny when required and serious at the appropriate moments....And there are so many secrets left to explore so much more to find out about Legion and his aspects that I'm hopeful of another book, as frustratingly, but in a good way, it left me wanting more. * Escapes of a Bookworm * If you haven't checked out this series yet, you should. It's a super fun blend of sci-fi/fantasy and modern thriller, and is totally different from anything else Sanderson has written - you know, apart from the fact that it's also fairly mindblowingly awesome. ;) So whether or not you've read his stuff before, you should give this a try. * Therewerebooksinvolved.com * with unanswered questions lingering and Stephen's mind slowly reaching saturation point, there's potential for the series to develop into greater character study and more complex mysteries. * Starburst Magazine * We get some brilliantly funny scenes between Stephen and his personae, not to mention some brilliantly clever scenes that really shape our view of Stephen's world...Legion: Skin Deep is an absolutely fantastic read, * Fantasy Book Review * The decidedly though-provoking premise, that the human body and its cells can be used as receptacles to store information...makes for a very interesting read * Pat's Fantasy Hotlist *
About the Author
Brandon Sanderson is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Steelheart and Firefight, the first two books in the Reckoners series, and of the internationally bestselling books in the Stormlight Archive and the Mistborn series, and he was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. His books have been published in more than twenty-five languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Calamity is the third book in the Reckoners series. Brandon lives and writes in Utah. Views: 1 056
Dean Koontz's unique talent for writing terrifying thrillers with a heart and soul is nowhere more evident than in this latest suspense masterpiece that pits one man against the ultimate deadline. If there were speed limits for the sheer pulse-racing excitement allowed in one novel, "Velocity" would break them all. Get ready for the ride of your life. Velocity Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car. "If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours. " It seems like a sick joke, and Bill's friend on the police force, Lanny Olson, thinks so too. His advice to Bill is to go home and forget about it. Besides, what could they do even if they took the note seriously? No crime has actually been committed. But less than twenty-four hours later, a young blond schoolteacher is found murdered, and it's Bill's fault: he didn't convince the police to get involved. Now he's got another note, another deadline, another ultimatum. . . and two new lives hanging in the balance. Suddenly Bill's average, seemingly innocuous life takes on the dimensions and speed of an accelerating nightmare. Because the notes are coming faster, the deadlines growing tighter, and the killer becoming bolder and crueler with every communication--until Bill is isolated with the terrifying knowledge that he alone has the power of life and death over a psychopath's innocent victims. Until the struggle between good and evil is intensely personal. Until the most chilling words of all are: "The choice is yours. " Views: 1 056
New York Times bestselling author of *Zombie Lover*
A wild and wonderful new magical adventure that leads from Xanth to Earth - and back again!
A cataclysmic cloud hangs over the enchanted land of land of Xanth. Three courageous couples must venture into the O-Xone, a cybernetic interface between Xanth and our own world, to rescue the enchanted realm from destruction.
A xany new fantasy xaga from the Master of Merriment, Xone of Contention is chock-filled with danger, excitement and xillions of laughs!
After a year filled with harrowing adventures, all Breanna of the Black Wave and her newfound love Justin Tree want is a little time to get to know each other better, and explore the wonders of the enchanted land of Xanth. But their incipient idyll is soon shattered by a stunning discovery. A climatic catastrophe is causing a massive meltdown that threatens to inundate the ancient forests of Xanth.
The only way to avert this dire disaster is to undertake a voyage into the distant mists of the past, to find the moment when this ghastly greenhouse effect began. And the only people who can safely make that journey are those unaffected by Xanth's magic - normal, ordinary humans from our own world.
So Breanna and Justin turn for help to the Demon X(A/N)th (a.k.a. Nimby) and his lovely consort Chlorine. Together, they devise a daring plan. Making use of the O-Xone, a magical computer network that links the worlds of Xanth and Earth, Nimby and Chlorine make contact with Pia and Edsel, a young couple from Earth who are working on a Xanth game, and arrange to exchange bodies with them.
But an unexpected surprise awaits them on their arrival. The Demon Earth has challenged the Demon Xanth to a deadly duel for the highest possible stakes - dominion over both worlds. While Pia and Edsel range through the farthest reaches of time and space to save Xanth from destruction, Nimby must learn to live by the strange rules of our world, and defeat his ancient enemy without the benefit of his own awesome powers.
Brimming with magic, merriment, laughter and love, Xone of Contention is a rousing new fantasy saga in the grand Xanth tradition. Views: 1 056
Two centuries into the future, the Hundred Concerns, a group of powerful corporations that dominate galactic commerce, have pressured the Commonwealth of Humans into signing a pact with the Haluk, a conquering alien race with nefarious designs. Among the few people who recognize the malevolent intent of the aliens is hotheaded maverick Helly Frost.
To prove that the Haluk have created demiclones--genetically engineered individuals who are perfect human replicas--Helly travels to the Sagittarius Whorl, a fearsome region of the galaxy hostile to every form of life. But he must find crucial pieces of evidence that will expose the Haluk plot. Instead, he discovers something far darker than he had ever imagined. . . .
From the Paperback edition. Views: 1 055
A good and proper aristocrat on the isolated, seemingly backward planet of Haven, Genevieve has been carefully instructed in the Covenants -- the ancient, inflexible laws governing the women of her class. She knows what is expected of her: marriage in her mid-twenties to a groom of her father's choosing, childbirth at age thirty. And then soon afterwards -- as has been the lot of so many noblewomen before her -- perhaps death. But there is another Genevieve within who longs to heed the call of the sea -- though she has never once seen the vast waters that cover most of her homeworld's surface. For an unheard voice is crying out to her across the centuries, drawing her ever-closer to a terrible truth hidden beneath a smoke screen of rules, tradition, and propriety. And it is Genevieve who must fulfill a forgotten destiny -- something inborn passed for untold generations from daughter to daughter -- or she and the entire civilization of Haven will be swept away on a cosmic wave of oblivion. Views: 1 055
ThunderClan's darkest hour is upon them, as Tigerstar's quest for power plunges all the Clans into the most terrible danger any cat has ever faced. In order to save his Clan and his friends, Fireheart must uncover the meaning of an ominous proclamation from StarClan:
"Four will become two. Lion and tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest."
The time has come for prophecies to unfold, and for heroes to rise ... Views: 1 055
An explosive novel set in 1974 Belfast! In 1974 Belfast, the official Irish Republican Army has lost its influence, and a more violent offshoot of it -- the Provisional IRA, or Provos -- has begun a campaign of terror, bombing indiscriminately and remorselessly with the sole purpose of making Ulster ungovernable. British army explosives expert Lieutenant Marcus Richardson is confident in his ability to prevent the Provos' damage until a home-made car bomb nearly takes his life. Recuperating in hospital, Richardson wonders how to get himself out of explosives work with his dignity intact. Major John Smith appears with the answer: one last mission, then an appointment to an elite branch of the armed services. The only catch is that the mission is far more dangerous than defusing ticking bombs. Richardson must assume the identity of a working-class Catholic, infiltrate the Belfast Provos and identify their top men. If the Provos have the slightest suspicion his story is false, he can be sure they'll dispose of him without a second thought. Richardson agrees and goes in -- but as he gets to know the killers he's meant to expose, he finds that the conflict over Ulster may not be as blac Views: 1 055
Barry Laverty, M.B., can barely find the village of Ballybucklebo on a map when he first sets out to seek gainful employment there, but already he knows that there is nowhere he would rather live than in the emerald hills and dales of Northern Ireland. The proud owner of a spanking-new medical degree and little else in the way of worldly possessions, Barry jumps at the chance to secure a position as an assistant in a small rural practice.
At least until he meets Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly.
The older physician, whose motto is to never let the patients get the upper hand, has his own way of doing things. At first, Barry can't decide if the pugnacious O'Reilly is the biggest charlatan he has ever met, or the best teacher he could ever hope for. Through O'Reilly Barry soon gets to know all of the village's colorful and endearing residents, including:
A malingering Major and his equally hypochondriacal wife;
An unwed servant girl, who refuses to divulge the father of her upcoming baby;
A slightly daft old couple unable to marry for lack of a roof;
And a host of other eccentric characters who make every day an education for the inexperienced young doctor.
Ballybucklebo is long way from Belfast, and Barry is quick to discover that he still has a lot to learn about the quirks and traditions of country life. But with pluck and compassion and only the slightest touch of blarney, he will find out more about life--and love--than he ever imagined back in medical school.
"An Irish Country Doctor" is a charming and engrossing tale that will captivate readers from the very first page--and leave them yearning to visit the Irish countryside of days gone by. Views: 1 055
The bugs eat metal and leave people and animals alone -- unless you crush one, and then they'll swarm and destroy everything they touch. When Kimball comes upon twelve-year-old Thayet, she's been stuck on a rock in a river of bugs for two days, no food, no water, and no way back.
This is an excerpt from 7th Sigma. Views: 1 055
Your quest begins! Use your demigod skills in this interactive and customizable adventure story written by New York Times #1 bestselling author Rick Riordan. Combining four short stories, The Two-Headed Guidance Counselor, The Library of Deadly Weapons, My Demon Satyr Tea Party, and My Personal Zombie Apocalypse, your choices will have consequences in this first interactive demigod adventure.** Views: 1 055
From the bestselling author of "Chaos and Order" comes the conclusion of the "Gap" series. As the crew attempts to pursue the pirate ship "Soar" and her captain, their hopes turn to Angus Thermopyle. Angus, Morn Hyland, and her son, Davies, race home, unaware that Warden Dios and The Dragon are locked in a final confrontation that may alter the fate of humankind forever. Views: 1 054
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.
Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder. Views: 1 054
When Savannah tattoo artists Riley Poe is ambushed by an undead enemy, she inherits some of the traits of her attackers-and a telepathic link with a rampaging vampire. Now, she's experiencing murder after murder through the victims' eyes. And her new powers will not be enough to stop the horror-or the unending slaughter... Views: 1 054
