The Best American Short Stories 2016

"The literary 'Oscars' features twenty outstanding examples of the best of the best in American short stories." —Shelf Awareness for Readers The Best American Short Stories 2016 will be selected by Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz. He brings "one of the most distinctive and magnetic voices in contemporary fiction: limber, streetwise, caffeinated and wonderfully eclectic" (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times) to the collection.
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All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault

Monsters are real.But so are heroes.Sparks are champions of weird science. Boasting capes and costumes and amazing super-powers that only make sense if you don't think about them too hard, they fight an eternal battle for truth and justice . . . mostly.Darklings are creatures of myth and magic: ghosts, vampires, were-beasts, and the like. Their very presence warps reality. Doors creak at their approach. Cobwebs gather where they linger. Kim Lam is an ordinary college student until a freak scientific accident (what else?) transforms Kim and three housemates into Sparks—and drafts them into the never-ending war between the Light and Dark. They struggle to master their new abilities—and (of course) to design cool costumes and come up with great hero-names.Turns out that "accident" was just the first salvo in a Mad Genius's latest diabolical scheme. Now it's up to four newbie heroes to save the day, before they even have a chance to...
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The 34th Golden Age of Science Fiction: C.M. Kornbluth

Cyril M. Kornbluth (1923–1958) was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He wrote prolifically during his short lifetime, and produced a remarkable body of work. The volume is the largest ebook collection of his work ever assembled. It includes:TIME BUMTAKEOFFTHE SYNDICTHE ALTAR AT MIDNIGHTCRISIS!THE GOLDEN ROADKAZAM COLLECTSTHE LUCKIEST MAN IN DENVMAKE MINE MARSTHE MARCHING MORONSTHE REVERSIBLE REVOLUTIONSSHARK SHIPTHE ADVENTURERWITH THESE HANDSTHE WORDS OF GURUTHE NAKED STORMTHIRTEEN O'CLOCKTHE CITY IN THE SOFATHE ROCKET OFWHAT SORGHUM SAYSIf you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 280+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction — and much, much more!
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The Din in the Head

One of America's foremost novelists and critics, Cynthia Ozick has won praise and provoked debate for taking on challenging literary, historical, and moral issues. Her new collection of spirited essays focuses on the essential joys of great literature, with particular emphasis on the novel. With razor-sharp wit and an inspiring joie de vivre, she investigates unexpected byways in the works of Leo Tolstoy, Saul Bellow, Helen Keller, Isaac Babel, Sylvia Plath, Susan Sontag, and others. In a posthumous and hilariously harassing “(Unfortunate) Interview with Henry James," Ozick's hero is shocked by a lady reporter. In “Highbrow Blues" and in reflections on her own early fiction, she writes intimately of “the din in our heads, that relentless inner hum," and the curative power of literary imagination. The Din in the Head is sure to please fans of Ozick, win her new readers, and excite critical controversy and acclaim.
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A Touch of Heaven

A 10 year high school reunion is the perfect excuse for a girls weekend out but what will happen when the girls realize the exotic dancer they've all been ogling is none other than the nerd they made fun of in school!
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Prague Noir

"The 14 crime stories set in Prague in this superior entry in Akashic's Noir Series offer armored car robbery, kidnapping, murder masked as suicide, and more—not bad for a burg that, as the editor notes in his intro, didn't even have 'the profession of private detective' until 1990...In the varied and polished content of this volume, readers will find much to amuse."—Publishers Weekly"Murder and mayhem erupt, even in fairy-tale Prague. Editor Mandys maintains that it may be hard to imagine dark doings taking place virtually in the shadow of Prague Castle, yet he manages to harvest 14 artful tales that speak directly to the contrary. Although there are few standard whodunits, Prague's long history provides fertile ground for evildoers...Perhaps nowhere but Prague do vice and enchantment live at such close quarters, and Mandys' collection captures both beautifully. A lovely addition to Akashic's venerable series."—Kirkus...
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Collected Stories of Reynolds Price

For over three decades, Reynolds Price has been one of America's most distinguished writers, in a career that has been remarkable both for its virtuosity and for the variety of literary forms he has embraced. Now he shows himself as much a master of the story as he is of the novel, in a volume that presents fifty stories, including two early collections — The Names and Faces of Heroes and Permanent Errors — as well as more than two dozen new stories that have never been gathered together before. In his introduction, Mr. Price explains how, after the publication of his first two collections, he wrote no new stories for almost twenty years. "But once I needed — for unknown reasons in a new and radically altered life — to return to the story, it opened before me like a new chance....A collection like this then," he adds, "...will show a writer's preoccupations in ways the novel severely rations (novels are partly made for that...
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Mortal Crimes 1

LIMITED EDITION BOX SET!Mystery, danger and suspense lurk in these 7 full-length, stand-alone novels by 7 award-winning, USA Today and New York Times Bestselling Authors.380+ 5-star reviews for the individual books with an overall 4.2 star rating.THE DEVIL'S HOUR (A Laura Cardinal Novel) - J Carson Black When one of three Arizona girls missing for eleven years turns up alive, Laura Cardinal is called in to work this cold case that warms up fast. After the bones of a second child are found, Laura knows the fiery death of someone close to her isn't coincidence. The perp is near -- and watching.INDISPENSABLE PARTY (A Sasha McCandless Novel) - Melissa F Miller After researchers create a lethal virus, the U.S. government stockpiles a vaccine even as doomsday preppers mobilize. Then the virus is stolen and a researcher murdered, leaving attorney Sasha McCandless and security officer Leo Connelly just three days to stop the release of the ultimate biochemical weapon.SOLE INTENTION (Intention Series Book #1) - M A Comley Ex-cops-turned-missing-persons-investigators Ellen Brazil and Brian Lynx are contracted to find the wife of a bodybuilder. With more women in the Worcester area gone missing, Ellen and Brian suspect a serial kidnapper. If the women are still alive, Ellen and Brian will need to find them -- fast.NIGHT PREY (A Night Series Novel) - Carol Davis Luce Roberta Paxton had had premonitions of threats before, but this time no one was listening. But deep in the Tahoe forest, emerging only to stalk his prey, a vicious killer watched. Each glimpse of Roberta fired his need, yet still he waited. Until he saw Roberta's 13-year-old sister, Tobie...IMPLANT - Michael Wallace & Jeffrey Anderson, MD Neurosurgeon Julia Nolan uses brain implants to record visual and auditory data from field operatives. When Ian Westhelle suffers a psychotic break and kills his handler, Julia tracks him to a CIA asylum for "security risks -- a costly discovery when agents target her for elimination.LITTLE GIRL GONE (A Logan Harper Thriller) - Brett Battles Logan Harper isn't looking for redemption. But the attempted murder of a friend whose granddaughter goes missing leads to a sinister plot connected to corporate USA. As the odds stack against him, Logan falls back on old skills from the life he'd rather forget to bring the girl home alive.TRIAL JUNKIES (A Trial Junkies Thriller) - Robert Gregory Browne A pal from Ethan Hutchinson's college days is wrongly accused of a brutal murder. When Hutch and his old college gang go searching for the real killer, what they find shatters every notion they have about friendship, loss and redemption ... and jeopardizes the lives of Hutch and the woman he loves.
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The Terrorists of Irustan

In this brilliant novel from the author of Sing the Light, a talented medicant defies the rule of men-and changes the lives of every woman on the planet. "A dark, richly imagined tale...a thoughtful meditation upon the dangers of fanaticism and the strength of the human spirit."-Sharon Shinn"Rich with alien atmospherics."-Publishers WeeklyFrom BooklistOn Irustan, a planet settled long ago by humans, the Book of Second Prophet painstakingly details the proper way of being. Despite space travel and advanced technologies, men are the absolute decision makers. Women, draped in shapeless silks, their faces heavily veiled, are chattel. Only a select few get a glimpse at independence by becoming medicants, who are trained in the medical sciences. Such work is regarded as too distasteful for men. The beautiful Zahra is a young wife, a talented medicant, and a murderer. Sickened by a world of abusive husbands, Zahra's choice to kill is believably righteous, but it is fraught with treacherous subsequent ramifications. Marley realizes Irustan in dynamic detail, and she manages real, consistent character development so that not only does Zahra mature, but secondary characters subtly grow as situations demand. Throughout, Marley's acclaimed, exquisite prose and her universal themes of feminist heroism light the book brightly. Karen SimonettiFrom Kirkus ReviewsFeminist science fiction from the author of the paperback Receive the Gift, etc. According to planet Irustan's inflexible religious code, women must be secluded and veiled, and are given away at the whim of the household's chief male. Nearly all men work in the rhodium mines, where they unavoidably inhale dust and become susceptible to a fatal disease; despite wearing masks, they require regular treatment. Their religion, however, bids them disregard their bodies, so men cannot be doctors. Zahra IbSada, the wife of Qadir, chief director of mines, is a ``medicant,'' Irustan's nearest equivalent to a doctor, diagnosing and treating with the help of machines imported from Earth. Despairingly, Zahra treats wives battered by their husbands, certifies as healthy 14-year-old girls being forced into marriage, and, disregarding Qadir's prohibition, patches up prostitutes injured by their clients. Then her friend Kalen, whose daughter Rabi will be given to the brutal Binya Maris, asks Zahra to intervene. She refuses, but secretly helps Kalen administer a fatal disease-causing agent. Zahra becomes friendly with offworld deliveryman Jin-Li Chung, who turns out to be a woman. When another friend begs for help against her adamant husband, Zahra again intervenes. Jin-Li's Earth boss, suspicious of the two unexplained deaths, orders him/her to spy on Zahra. But the brutality continues. Should Zahra persist with her covert terrorism, thereby risking detection, or join with her friends and start a revolution? Thoughtful and effective, despite the familiar backdrop and obvious developments. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Thicker Than Blood

If you are going through hell… keep going…Wounded, defeated, and flung across the wilderness, Jade Crow and her peeps faced their worst enemy and not all have escaped… or survived.Separated from her friends, their fates unknown, and without her magic, Jade must discover her own heritage and unlock her true powers… or else her next fight with Samir will be her last.For Jade, life has come down to two choices... Level up. Or die.
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The Bad Boys of Summer Anthology

Seven Full-Length romances from NYT, USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Authors.Savor You by Emily SnowMetamorphosis by Erin NoelleCrazy Beautiful Love by J.S. CooperCollaboration by Michelle Lynn & Nevaeh LeeA Lush Betrayal by Selena LaurenceWho He Is by Shanora Q. WilliamsRemember When by T. Torrest
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