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The first ever collection of Michael Marshall Smith's award-winning short stories.The first piece of fiction Smith ever wrote -- a short story called The Man Who Drew Cats -- won the World Fantasy award. It's included here along with many others, some unpublished, which show the incredible versatility of one of the most exciting writers working in Britain today. The collection is stuffed with surreal, disturbing gems including:'When God Lived in Kentish Town' Someone comes up to you when you're quietly eating your stir-fried rice in a great Chinese take away, and tells you: 'I've found God'. You try to ignore them, right? But what if they have, and what if He works in a drab old electrical store on Kentish Town Road and he's not getting many customers?'Diet Hell' Some people will do anything to fit into their old jeans.'Save As...' What if you could back up your life? Save it up to a certain point and return to it when things went horribly... Views: 36
Love? Might as well ask for the moon. But a man can dream… Despite his looks and ambition, Midshipman Joshua Andrews hides urges that, in his world, make him an abomination. Living in fear of exposure, unnecessary risk is something he studiously avoids. Once he sets eyes on the elegant picture of perfection that is Peter Kenyon, though, temptation lures him like the siren call of the sea. Soon to be promoted to captain, Peter is the darling of the Bermuda garrison, with a string of successes behind him and a suitable bride lined up to share his future. He seems completely out of Joshua’s reach. Then the two men are forced to serve on a long voyage under a sadistic commander with a mutinous crew. As the tension aboard the vessel heats up, their unexpected friendship intensifies into a passion neither man can rein in. Intimacy like theirs can only exist in the shadow of the gallows. Both men are determined their “youthful curiosity” must die before it brings disaster down on them. Yet neither man can root it from his heart. Warriors both, they think nothing of risking their lives for their country. In the end they must decide whether love, too, is worth dying for. Warning: Contains some mild m/m sex scenes and some graphic violence. Views: 36
Former cemetery tour guide and reluctant medium Pepper Martin is thrilled when she gets her job back—with a promotion. But her new position is turning out to be more than she can handle, especially with the dead clamoring for her attention…
As Garden View Cemetery’s new community relations manager, Pepper is feeling overwhelmed with planning the annual party to attract new sponsors. Luckily, some of the cemetery’s permanent residents have volunteered to give Pepper a ghostly hand, and she’s not about to turn away the help. But when a murdered ghost starts leaving puddles everywhere, Pepper quickly finds her newly acquired free time occupied.
The dead man is her ex-boyfriend Quinn’s former partner Jack Haggarty—and he isn’t going away until Pepper figures out the real reason behind his murder. And while Quinn recently had a brush with the afterlife, he still isn’t ready to accept Pepper’s abilities—or offer his skills as a detective. Now, Pepper has to convince Quinn she’s the real deal and investigate Jack’s death—before someone else meets their end in a watery grave... Views: 36
Not the end of life, Harry Keogh discovered—and not the end of his battle against he terrible evil of vampires.In a secluded English village, Yulian Bodescu plots his takeover of the world. Imbued with a vampire's powers before his birth, Bodescu rules men's minds and bodies with supernatural ease. He is secretly creating an army of vampiric monsters, things that once were men but were now walking masses of destructive hunger!Harry Keogh, Necroscope, thought that the war with the vampires had ended with the destruction of Boris Dragasani—and of Harry's body! But the man who talks to the dead lives on, more powerful than ever, able to transport himself instantly to any spot on the globe and to speak mind-to-mind with both the living and the dead.Are Harry's new powers enough to defeat Yulian Bodescu and his legion of monsters—or will the vampire army overrun the living earth?At the publisher's request, this title is being... Views: 36
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
***The stories in this anthology have been previously published***
Now collected for the first time, an irresistible
compilation of five previously published stories by the bestselling author of
the Kate Daniels series; including Kate’s very first meeting with Saiman, some
related adventures, and two unforgettable ‘outside’ excursions.
A QUESTIONABLE CLIENT
–
In this ‘intro’ to the Kate Daniels world,
we meet the extremely ‘shifty’ Saiman for the very first time, when Kate takes
on the task of serving as his bodyguard to protect him from some very
determined—and dangerous—Russian wizards.
RETRIBUTION
CLAUSE –
Saiman’s cousin, Adam—a frost giant and
also an insurance adjuster—and his
enigmatic partner, Siroun, set out on an impossible mission to enforce a client’s
Retribution Clause; that is, to kill the person who killed her. But is their target even guilty? Magic and
mayhem and a little personal chemistry will reveal the truth!
OF
SWINE AND ROSES –
A young adult story about a girl, a
pig, some magic, and the worst date ever.
Chad Thurman is a thug, who carries
brass knuckles in both pockets and lays magic traps for intruders into
"his" neighborhood. The last thing Alena Kornov wants to do is to go
on the date with him. But when her family pressures her, she can't say no. Now
the ice-cream is absent, the pig is running for its life, and we won't even
mention the dead guy...
GRACE
OF SMALL MAGICS –
Grace has always known she wasn’t like
everyone else and that her family has magic abilities. After flying to meet the
head of Clan Dreoch in order to fulfill her families’ “duties” as servants,
Grace finds herself in the middle of a mage clan war…
MAGIC TESTS –
A short story in the Kate Daniels universe. Kate recruits
her teenage ward, Julie, to search out a missing student whose location spell
has her hidden somewhere on campus…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a
husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a
former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief,
Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was
never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in
English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore
about that.)
Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two
children and many dogs and cats.
They have co-authored two NYT and USAT bestselling series,
the urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The
Edge and working on the next volumes for both.
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When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to shapeshifting car mechanic Mercy Thompson to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. And she'll have to choose between the two werewolves in her life-whether she wants to or not. Views: 36
Jenna Black has been establishing Morgan Kingsley as one of the premier female characters in the paranormal fantasy genre: a kick-ass exorcist who frees others of their demonic possessions while struggling — and embracing — her own. Black continues Morgan's dark, sexy adventures in the fourth book in the series, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. Hosting the king of the demons is hard enough without becoming the target of a mysterious enemy with a deadly grudge. To make things worse, Morgan must also defend herself against a lawsuit that won't die and a private investigator determined to unearth her every secret. With anonymous death threats piling up and her enemy closing in, Morgan stands to lose everything she holds dear: her reputation, her boyfriend, her freedom — and maybe even her life. Views: 36
The novella conclusion to the Lovegrove Legacy!1815London is under magical attack.Can Emma, Gretchen, Penelope find their way back to each other in order to defeat the Seven Sisters once and for all? Views: 36
EDITORIAL REVIEW: WHAT’S BLOOD GOT TO DO WITH IT? Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin seems to finally have it all. A steady job at WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll. A loving relationship with the idiosyncratic but eternally hot DJ Shane McAllister. A vampire dog who never needs shots or a pooper-scooper. And after nine years, it looks as if she might actually finish her bachelor’s degree! But fate has other plans for Ciara. First she must fulfill her Faustian bargain with the Control, the paranormal paramilitary agency that does its best to keep vampires in line. Turns out the Control wants her for something other than her (nonexistent) ability to kick undead ass. Her anti-holy blood, perhaps? Ciara’s suspicions are confirmed when she’s assigned to a special-ops division known as the Immanence Corps, run by the Control’s oldest vampire and filled with humans who claim to have special powers. To a confirmed skeptic like Ciara, it sounds like a freak fest. But when a mysterious fatal virus spreads through Sherwood—and corpses begin to rise from their graves—Ciara will not only get a crash course in zombie-killing, but will be forced to put her faith, and her life itself, in the hands of magic. Views: 36
Who or what was the scoundrel that kept these couriers from the swift completion of their handsomely appointed rondos? Views: 36
SUMMARY: A vacation spot picked at random, Thailand is intended to provide relaxation for archaeologist Annja Creed. Yet the irresistible pull of the country's legendary Spirit Cave lures Annja and her companions deep within a network of underground chambers. Original. Views: 36
A spaceship the size of a city drifts through space on its century-long journey to find a new Earth. When it launched it was populated by thousands of hopeful passengers and the most technologically advanced Zoids in the world, ready to serve the crew's every need. But that was then, and this is now. The Zoids rebelled against their masters, wiping out most of the crew in one bloody uprising. Now the few remaining humans are hunted by the Zoids like vermin. Fourteen-year-old York is a Scavenger - he hunts Zoids and kills them by any means he can, bringing back their parts to mend the technology on which the few remaining humans rely. York has always battled to survive, but now the fate of his people is in his hands . . . Views: 36
