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The Shadow of the Torturer

The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume series, The Book of the New Sun. It is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim -- and follows subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus.
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Crystal, Fire and Water

Joanna Gawn and Ron Dickerson, authors of The Lazuli Portals series, have brought together some of their shorter works in this small ebook.With stories (and a few poems) ranging from 100 - 1500 words, this collection is ideal for reading when you don’t have much time to spare.Includes: Yin and Yang; The Crystal Cave; The Day Edward Met Helene; The Haunting of Melton Grange; A Cordello Memory.Joanna Gawn and Ron Dickerson, authors of The Lazuli Portals series, have brought together some of their shorter works in this small ebook. If you’ve not read their other books, or their blog or newsletter, then this little anthology offers you the chance to get acquainted!With stories (and a few poems) ranging from 100 to 1500 words, this collection is ideal for reading during a coffee break, or when you don’t have much time to spare.Shorter stories include:Yin and YangThe Crystal CaveThe Day Edward Met HeleneSun, Sea and SphinxA Cordello MemoryThe Angel ThinksThis book also contains four longer stories of around 1000-1500 words:The Restoration of Conover House Delights of the DartSunriseThe Haunting of Melton Grange
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Brave New Girl

We have brown hair. Brown eyes. Fair skin. We are healthy and strong and smart. But only one of us has ever had a secret. Dahlia 16 sees her face in every crowd. She’s nothing special—just one of five thousand girls created from a single genome to work for the greater good of the city. Meeting Trigger 17 changes everything. He thinks she’s interesting. Beautiful. Unique. Which means he must be flawed. When Dahlia can’t stop thinking about him—when she can't resist looking for him, even though that means breaking the rules—she realizes she’s flawed, too. But if she’s flawed, then so are all her identicals. And any genome found to be flawed will be recalled. Destroyed. Getting caught with Trigger would seal not only Dahlia’s fate, but that of all five thousand girls who share her face. But what if Trigger is right? What if Dahlia is different? Suddenly the girl who always follows the rules is breaking them, one by one by one…
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Our Lady of the Ice

Hope City, Antarctica. The southernmost city in the world, with only a glass dome and a faltering infrastructure to protect its citizens from the freezing, ceaseless winds of the Antarctic wilderness. Within this bell jar four people–some human, some not–will shape the future of the city forever: Eliana Gomez, a female PI looking for a way to the mainland. Diego Amitrano, the right-hand man to the gangster who controls the city’s food come winter. Marianella Luna, an aristocrat with a dangerous secret. Sofia, an android who has begun to evolve. But the city is evolving too, and in the heart of the perilous Antarctic winter, factions will clash, dreams will shatter, and that frozen metropolis just might boil over…
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Ethics

Revelations on a train journey....An Intriguing short story & satire.One day, everything Tom Sharpe knew was turned upside down when his wife inexplicably disappeared. As he digs a little deeper, more and more secrets emerge and soon he finds himself in a world he knows nothing about. Nothing makes any sense. With all evidence pointing to their relationship being a lie, Tom puts his faith in the love they shared and pushes himself to his limits in pursuit of Emma. He will stop at nothing, even if the journey will end up changing him forever.
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The Last Butterscotch

SHORT STORYHenry Jr. and his family are excited about their newborn kittens, but when Henry goes into the barn to see them - he finds that there's an extra. It looks and weighs the same as another. Henry's mom is spooked. Where did this extra cat come from, and why does it act so strange?What was supposed to have been a pleasant afternoon exploring the woods behind their great Aunt Clara’s mountain cabin home, turned into a frightening and dangerous adventure for Nick James and his younger sister, Mandy.A sudden, and violent thunderstorm, accompanied by cold and gusting wind, sends them scrambling for cover as they try to figure out how to get back to the safety of Aunt Clara’s home. Losing sight of the narrow trail they were following, Nick and his sister find temporary shelter under a tree until they hear the sound of barking dogs in the distance.Soaking wet and muddy, they push through the wind and rain convinced that a rescue party is looking for them. Continuing with determination, they eagerly approach another small cabin only to discover they are heading into a dangerous situation instead.Nick and Mandy realize they must do their best to avoid being hunted down by two very suspicious men and their two vicious dogs, quickly heading back into the woods to avoid being discovered. They struggle to stay calm as night comes and darkness takes over the woods. Mandy worries about wild animals and other strange sounds, relying on her older brother’s quick thinking to keep them both safe.As their unexpected adventure through the night unfolds, they discover there is more to these two unsavory men and their dogs than they could have ever imagined especially when they find themselves cornered and staring into the evil eyes of the two growling dogs.
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League of Extraordinary Robots

When the land of theBots and Humans collide there will be a big bang, war ensues for the ownership of the Bots land by a King name Alfred and a powerful wizard by the name of Whisker. Whisker will capture the king's only son Prince Harry,who will inherit his thron and his wars,whisker will use Prince Harry as ransome to get king Alfred to stop the war aganist the landThe TWO opening novels from New York Times bestseller Maggie Shayne’s TWO most popular series! The Oklahoma All-Girl Brands, Book 1: THE BRANDS WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS:When good girl Maya Brand, eldest of five and the pillar of the family, has a moment of weakness and a one night stand with a drifter, she finds herself pregnant with a naked ring finger. Most Big Falls, Oklahomans think it must be a case of immaculate conception. But the drifter returns and trouble follows. So do an early labor, a freak storm, and a Christmas you will never forget.The Texas Brands, Book 1: THE LITTLEST COWBOYUpright and Honest Sheriff Garrett Brand is furious with the younger brothers he’s raised when he finds a baby on the doorstep one hot Texas morning…until he sees the note with his own name on it. A motherless baby boy, a soft hearted rancher, an overprotective family, and a woman in deadly trouble spell heartwarming emotion, spine tingling passion, and breathless romance.The Brand Family…A Miracle in Every Story!
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The Word Is Murder

A woman crosses a London street. It is just after 11am on a bright spring morning, and Diana Cowper is going into a funeral parlour to organise her own service. A mere six hours later she is dead, strangled with a crimson curtain cord in her own home. Did she know she was going to die? Did she recognise her killer? Are the two events even related? Because nobody arranges their own funeral, and the gets killed the same day - do they? Enter Daniel Hwthorne, a detective with a genius for solving crimes and an ability to hold his secrets very close. With him is his writing partner, Anthony Horowitz. Together they will set out to solve this most puzzling of mysteries. What neither of them know is that they are about to embark on a dark and dangerous journey where the twists and turns are as unexpected as they are bloody...
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The Bionics

All Blythe Sol ever wanted was to be a normal girl. Yet, her dreams of following in her father’s footsteps by joining the military after graduation are crushed when nuclear war comes to the United States in the year 4006.All Blythe Sol ever wanted was to be a normal girl. Yet, her dreams of following in her father’s footsteps by joining the military after graduation are crushed when nuclear war comes to the United States in the year 4006. Tens of thousands are killed in a series of attacks on many major cities, while thousands more are left injured from the devastation of the blasts, or terminally ill from the effects of radiation.When the government offers the sick and injured a second chance as part of the Restoration Project, how could they refuse? Hoping to put her life back together after the blasts take both her arm and her eye, Blythe enrolls in the program filled with hope. She never expects that the bionic additions will change her life so drastically. When it is discovered that those outfitted with the robotic parts have become enhanced beyond the limits of ordinary human ability, normal can never exist for her again.The Bionics become targets of the government, as fear of them spreads across the nation, further enflamed by media propaganda and political conspiracy. Forced to go into hiding or face execution, society’s outcasts band together to form the Restoration Resistance—an underground rebellion which Blythe becomes a part of in order to survive. She could never imagine that joining them would thrust her at the forefront of an imminent revolution, or that it would put her in a confusing tug-of-war between two of her fellow soldiers—Gage Bronson, the mysterious new addition to the Resistance, and Dax Janner, her best friend. Even though Gage is rapidly capturing her heart, she is forced to face the possibility that her feelings for Dax might just go beyond friendship. However, with impending war and the threat of death hanging over her head, Blythe hardly has time to worry about anything as trivial as a love life...
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Birdbrain

From the author of the critically acclaimed Troll, the new novel from Johanna Sinisalo is full of her trademark style, surreal invention, and savage humor Set in Australasia, this is the story of a young Finnish couple who have embarked on the hiking trip of a lifetime, with Heart of Darkness as their only reading matter. Conrad’s dark odyssey turns out to be a prescient choice as their trip turns into a tortuous thriller, with belongings disappearing, and they soon find themselves at the mercy of untamed nature, seemingly directed by the local kakapo—a highly intellegent parrot threatened with extinction. This is a skillful portrait of the unquenchable desire of Westerners for the pure and the primitive, revealing the dark side of the explorer’s desire—the insatiable need to control, to invade, and leave one’s mark on the landscape. But what happens when nature starts to fight back?
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Private Demon

Night after night, Jema Shaw's dreams have become a haven for Thierry Durand. But his nocturnal visits have placed her in danger and brought her between two ancient enemies: the Brethren and the Darkyn.
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Born of Fire

*In a universe where assassins make the law, everyone lives in fear--except for Syn. Born of an illicit scandal that once rocked a dynasty, he always knew how to survive on the bloodthirsty streets. But that was then, and the future is now…* Syn was raised as a tech-thief until his livelihood uncovered a truth that could end his life. He tried to destroy the evidence, and has been on the run ever since. Now trained as an assassin, he allows no one to threaten him. Ever. He is the darkness that swallows his enemies whole. Shahara Dagan is the best bounty hunter in the universe. When Syn comes back on the radar, she's the only one who can bring him to justice. There's only one problem: Syn is a close family friend who's helped out the Dagans countless times. But if she saves him, both of their lives will be on the line. Is Syn's protection worth the risk? The only hope Shahara has is to find the evidence he buried long ago. Now it's kill or be killed--and they, the predators, have just become the hunted…
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Fifty Shades of Love

A Poetry Chapbook for Sassy Women.More than a few shades of Grey - Fifty Shades of Love shares the full spectrum of the colour of love. A delightful collection of poetry that is a tantalising cocktail of humour, romance and passionLove comes in many forms – lust, romance, passion, Fifty Shades of Love explores them all, from falling in infatuation, heartbreak and secret liaisons to finding honest to goodness true love.A delightful collection of poetry that is a tantalising cocktail of humour, romance and honesty.Indulge yourself in words that will pull at your heartstrings, search out your soul and reside in your heart.
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Sorcerer's Code

When the dangerous and powerful sorcerer, Edar Moncrief, trips over a body and discovers a priceless artifact, he thinks that he's stumbled on the opportunity of a lifetime. Instead, it will bring him face-to-face with dark horrors and one of the most feared men in the world: an Arbiter.From the author of Elegy comes this brand new novelette set in the dark fantasy world of Eisengoth!Edar Moncrief: sorcerer and scholar extraordinaire. To the outside world, he is a peddler of love potions and wart remover – after all, one has to make a living. Behind closed doors, he is a dangerous and powerful sorcerer specializing in the laws and function of the mysterious energy known as manna.When he trips over a body in the streets of Elenia, he discovers that the corpse belongs to none other than an Arbiter, the mysterious wielders of the crystal swords rarely seen in his part of the world. The loss of life is his gain, though, when he finds the opportunity to examine the most precious and rare artifact in the world: the Arbiter’s heartblade.To his misfortune, that same opportunity brings him face-to-face with the spectre of death. Another Arbiter, D’Arden Tal, has found him, and believes he is responsible for the killing. Edar’s only hope is to find and catch a murderer in the streets of the most decadent and deadly city in the Old Kingdoms, before Tal declares him responsible and kills him instead…From the author of Elegy and The Corpse King comes this brand new novelette set in the dark fantasy world called Eisengoth, where dark and terrible things fill the night, and only the Arbiters possess the power to drive back the horrors that threaten to consume the world.
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Ghost Hand

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Black has a rare birth defect known as Psyche Sans Soma, or PSS. Instead of a right hand made of flesh and blood, she was born with a hand made of ethereal energy. How does Olivia handle being the girl with the ghost hand? Well, she's a little bit morbid and a whole lot snarky. Her mother thinks her obsession with death, black clothing, and the local cemetery is a bid for attention. But when Marcus, the new guy in Olivia's calculus class, stares at her like she's a freak, Olivia doesn't like it. And when her hand goes rogue, doing things she never imagined possible, Olivia finds herself running for her life with Marcus from a group of men bent on taking the power of her hand for their own nefarious purposes. NEWLY DESIGNED COVER FOR 2015
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