The world ends for someone every day. One day it will end for everyone

How do you survive when eye-contact can mean instant death? Set your priorities, recite your mantra, and keep a bandanna handy. In a world where death is only a thought away, society has collapsed and seven survivors shelter together in a basement stronghold. Each haunted by a troubled past, they struggle through their private purgatories to rebuild trust, faith, and hope for the future. When one of them fails to return from a foraging expedition and a stranger arrives in their makeshift sanctuary, the group is forced to confront its fragile equilibrium. Is the newcomer a saving grace or an angel of death? Based on a short film of the same name, the first novella by Carl A.S. Bystrom mixes apocalyptic horror and grim mystery into a labyrinth of choices made in the face of death

A collection of short stories by the author of Madensky Square reveals the writer’s ability to write funny and erudite historical fiction. Known for her neatly fashioned romance fiction, Ibbotson (Madensky Square) here collects 19 decorous stories of love gained and lost. With settings that range from the early 1990s to the present day, they generally feature surprise endings, some of them sadly contrived. In the title story, Max, a lawyer and confirmed bachelor in pre-WW I Vienna, attends the opera, where Helene, a singer of Wagnerian heft, is hurt in an onstage accident. She hires Max to file suit; they marry; later, Max takes a mistress. On his wife’s death he is free to marry his paramour, but Helene’s will dictates otherwise — she knew that forbidden fruit is sweetest. The London grocer in “Doushenka” is obsessed by Russia. Traveling to St. Petersburg, he falls in love with a young ballerina, but their relationship is ended by his sacrifice on her behalf, and for the rest of his life he must be content with the memories of his Great Love. A Great Love is the essential element in these old-fashioned tales, of which “Sidi” is the most celebratory-and blatantly sentimental. Eschewing the angst and alienation discussed in much contemporary fiction, Ibbotson offers leisurely details of a more genteel era whose passing she obviously laments. Her stories, however, are oversweet and ultimately cloying. Women who enjoy romantic fiction will enjoy these heartwarming stories, first published in Great Britain in 1984. Ibbotson concentrates on the infinite variety of Great Love-its discovery, development, recognition, loss, and denouement. Her characters, males and females of all ages and professions, are frequently seen during the Christmas season and in prewar Vienna and Russia. In many stories, people find and lose each other-often with an O. Henry twist. Ibbotson, a winner of the Romantic Novelists Association award, writes charmingly about love, forgiveness, loss, and happiness. Highly recommended

Now a major motion picture, Stephen King’s brilliant and terrifying story of a marriage with truly deadly secrets. Darcy Anderson’s husband of more than twenty years is away on one of his routine business trips when the unsuspecting Darcy looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a hidden box under a worktable and in it she discovers a trove of horrific evidence that her husband is two men—one, the benign father of her children, the other, a raging rapist and murderer. It’s a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends “A Good Marriage.” Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Doctor Sleep and Under the Dome, now a major TV miniseries on CBS. His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller as well as the Best Hardcover Book Award from the International Thriller Writers Association. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King

WINNER OF THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD. When nuclear war breaks out and the nations of the Earth are destroyed, a group of US astronauts are marooned on the lunar surface. Using the “torsion field generator”, a WWII Nazi Wunderwaffe previously known as the Bell, they hope to find an alternate Earth that did not suffer nuclear armageddon. But once they do discover one, how will they return home? They have a single Lunar Module, which can carry only four astronauts into lunar orbit…

A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence. One of the Verge’s Best Books of 2017 “As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.” In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ’droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth

It is 1965 and Ginny Eckhardt is a science fiction writer. She’s been published in the big science fiction magazines and is friends with many of the popular science fiction authors of the day. Her husband, Walden, has just been selected by NASA as one of the New Nineteen Apollo astronauts… which means Ginny will be a member of the Astronaut Wives Club. Although the realities of spaceflight fascinate Ginny, her genders bars her from the United State space programme. Her science fiction offers little in the way of consolation—but perhaps there is something she can do about that… Covering the years 1965 to 1972, when Walden Eckhardt lifts-off aboard Apollo 15 as the mission’s lunar module pilot, this is Ginny’s life: wife, science fiction writer, astronaut wife… because that is ALL THAT OUTER SPACE ALLOWS

It starts with a mystery: an old manor house is surrounded by an impenetrable bubble, and all that lives within it seems to wither and die. Investigating, the Army find two men inside the house: men who vanished some 100 years ago but who have now reappeared, and as young as the day they disappeared. There are rumours of a machine which could puncture the dimensions, allowing man to travel beyond the bounds of the Earth… and for other things to travel here. Another day, another war

On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy. It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond. Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection. As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower. Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting

The Imperial Library Corps has brought the light of civilization to the Galactic Periphery for millennia, but when a rogue admiral launches a surprise attack on the Empire will the libraries be abandoned as just another casualty of war? Amid the backdrop of interstellar conflict, a librarian at the edge of the galaxy must make a fateful decision which will determine the course of his life. “Bibliophile” is a 11,000-word novella imagining the future of libraries and those who depend on them. It is the first installment in a series of library-themed science fiction stories titled “L is for Librarian.”

Now a Lifetime original movie, Stephen King’s haunting story about an author of a series of mystery novels who tries to reconcile her old life with her life after a horrific attack and the one thing that can save her: Revenge. Tess Thorne, a famous mystery writer, faces a long drive home following a book signing engagement. Advised to take a shortcut at the suggestion of the event’s planner, Tess sets out for home, well after dark. On a lonely stretch of New England road, her tire blows out, and when a man in a pick up stops, it is not to help her, but to repeatedly assault her and leave her for dead. Tess survives, and she plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself, capable of gruesome violence

The advancement of technology has allowed our society to grow in leaps and bounds. The fields of medicine, engineering, agriculture and countless others have benefited from the applied science of high tech microprocessors and their data processing capabilities. This technology helps power our homes, cars, laptops, and phones. It is involved in every aspect of our lives, but as powerful and complex as these systems are there is one device that can cripple everything and bring the world as we know it to a standstill: EMP blast. Mike Grant, a veteran welder for a Pittsburgh steel company, is at work when an EMP blast wrecks the entire country. With no transportation and no way to contact his loved ones, Mike has to combat the panic stricken city to find his father, reach his wife and children in the suburbs, and escape to their cabin in Ohio. This fast-paced, adrenaline filled thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as we all find out what happens when the lights go out

This is a stand-alone novel and doesn’t require reading the other books in the series It’s been a week without power. No phones. No computers. Nothing. Whatever shred of humanity is left in people is slowly dwindling away. Gangs are forming, people are starving, and the whole country is in a free-for-all. With his house burnt to the ground, Mike Grant finds himself on the road, fighting to stay alive. A single thought propelling him forward: get to his family. Accompanied by his neighbor, Nelson, Mike leaves Pittsburgh and heads to his family’s cabin in Ohio. For Mike the only thing worse than not making it to the cabin is the fear of his family not being there when he does

After fighting tooth and nail to reach his cabin in Ohio, Mike Grant has finally been reunited with his family. The safe haven he built has enough supplies to last them for months, but with the extra mouths to feed that timeline is shrinking fast. With a murderous gang of bikers in the nearby town, a loose alliance with a neighboring hunter, and tension building from members inside his own group, Mike has to navigate the murky waters of trust in this post-EMP world, and hard choices have to be made. Friends are lost and family bonds are tested as Mike is pushed to the brink in this thrilling next installment of the “Broken” series

In the Midnight Museum - Bram Stoker Award-nominated for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction, 2005 Martin Tyler is a 44-year-old janitor whose life has come to a sputtering halt; he has no friends, no family, and no promise of better days ahead. In the grip of blackest depression, he attempts to take his own life, only to find himself waking up in a local mental health facility where he has been placed for observation. But something more has happened to Martin than just a failed suicide attempt; certain doors of perception have been unlocked in his mind, allowing him to see fantastic creatures that lurk outside on the streets of Cedar Hill - creatures only he can perceive. Over the next 48 hours, Martin will discover what these creatures are, who controls them, and why he must enter The Midnight Museum, a place with no doors or windows, but many entrances and exits; a place just outside the perception of everyday life; a place where Martin will discover how and why he inadvertently holds the fate of the world in his hands. The Ballad of Road Mama and Daddy BlissIn the novella The Ballad of Road Mama and Daddy Bliss, a man assigned community service duty with the city morgue after a DUI arrest is offered a simple deal: transport an old woman's body back to her hometown, and his record will be wiped clean. But this is no typical old woman, and -- as he soon discovers -- he is taking her to a town that is on no map. The old woman's identity, as well as the reasons behind the town's secret existence, will be revealed to him over the course of a few nightmarish hours between midnight and dawn -- the time when The Road demands its sacrifices.Kiss of the MudmanInternational Horror Guild Award for Long Fiction, 2007 A haunting story behind the lyrics of a rock song from the 70s. It is a story of music, stardom, death, and the combination of notes that brings dirty destruction to the Cedar Hill halfway house. Along the way, a visit from the "ulcerations" of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, Kurt Cobain, and Billie Holiday enlighten the legend of just why the greatest guitar player that ever lived was a woman. Music fans will love it, and Braunbeck's fans should not miss it. It has all the things that make his work special: the pain, the despair, and the fear, all combined but with each one allowed its own moment in the sun, each one getting its own time with your nerves before they all come crashing down, leaving you with just enough energy to turn the page.TessellationsA haunted, young actress returns home after the death of her father to discover that her brother has seemingly gone insane. Over the course of one unnerving night she first witnesses — and then becomes a part of — a Halloween nightmare that, piece by piece, physically brings back the past, rips a hole in her consensual reality, and allows demons, monsters, and even a miracle or two to shamble into this world and transform it into the darkest of fairy tales...The Sisterhood of Plain-Faced Women'The Sisterhood of Plain-Faced Women' is the story of Amanda, who gains beauty but at a terrible price as her new physical attributes are torn from other people, the tale never less than compelling and with a heartfelt moral at its core

When Six friends accept help from a friendly stranger, and his even friendlier family, it leads to one Hell of a dinner invitation they’ll never forget — no matter how much they wished they could! A tasty new horror from the author who brought you “The Cabin” and “Smile” — this book is not for the easily offended nor is it for people who don’t appreciate shocks galore. Having previously had positive feedback for his numerous horror and ghost stories — Matt Shaw decided to write “Consumed” for the more gore-hungry horror fans… And he delivers by the bucket load!

From Dennis Lehane, the award-winning author of Mystic River, Shutter Island, and the Kenzie-Gennaro series, comes a striking collection of five short stories and a play.A small southern town gives birth to a dangerous man with a broken heart and a high-powered rifle... A young girl, caught up in an inner-city gang war, crosses the line from victim to avenger... An innocent man is hunted by government agents for an unspecified crime... A boy and a girl fall in love while ransacking a rich man's house during the waning days of the Vietnam War... A compromised psychiatrist confronts the unstable patient he slept with... A father and a son wage a lethal battle of wits over the whereabouts of a stolen diamond and a missing woman... Along with completely original material, this new collection is a compilation of the best of Dennis Lehane’s previously published short stories, including “Until Gwen,” which was adapted for the stage in 2005 and appears in this book as the play Coronado.At turns suspenseful, surreal, romantic, and tragically comic, these tales journey headlong into the heart of our national myths — about class, gender, freedom, and regeneration through violence — and reveal that the truth waiting for us there is not what we'd expect

A NEW NOVELETTE FROM THE AUTHOR OF LIFE AFTER DANE. You’re out in the middle of nowhere. You’ve been crippled and left for dead. There’s something in the woods. It’s coming. There’s only one thing you can do… CRAWL

Alice Munro's territory is the farms and semi-rural towns of south-western Ontario. In these dazzling stories she deals with the self-discovery of adolescence, the joys and pains of love and the despair and guilt of those caught in a narrow existence. And in sensitively exploring the lives of ordinary men and women, she makes us aware of the universal nature of their fears, sorrows and aspirations

When it was first published in 1985, Ursula K. Le Guin’s ambitious and experimental novel Always Coming Home, a tapestry of interwoven stories, poems, histories, myths, and anthropological reports from the fictional Kesh society, included one chapter from a novel called Dangerous People by Arravna, or Wordriver, which Le Guin had “translated” from the Kesh, the invented language of an invented people who “might be going to have lived a long, long time from now” in a post-apocalyptic Napa Valley, California. Now Library of America presents, for the first time, the full text of the short, innovative, and perceptive novella Dangerous People, which Le Guin completed shortly before her death, making this Le Guin’s final new work. The story of one missing woman and the people around her who may or may not be implicated in her death or disappearance, Dangerous People explores larger questions about what—in relationships, in relationships, in society—make a person “dangerous”; and in giving us the Kesh perspective, Le Guin ultimately shines a light on our own society’s perceptions of truth, gender, and relationships

LONDON, 1625. A young gentleman lies murdered in a Coldharbour alley. Before his death, he uncovered secrets that could threaten the mortal world above and the faerie world below. Now, to find the murderer and protect both realms, Sir Michael Deven will need the help of a man with reason to hate the fae of the Onyx Court — the victim’s own brother. A novella of the Onyx Court, set between Midnight Never Come and In Ashes Lie

What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy. An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare. N. K. Jemisin’s Emergency Skin is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting

Sometimes, when it’s goal and seconds to go, a bruised and battered eleven who’ve been playing by the coach’s charts have got to throw away every play — and gamble for paydirt on the one called heart!

Freedom is Space for the Spirit by Glen Hirshberg is a fantasy about a middle-aged German, drawn back to Russia by a mysterious invitation from a friend he knew during the wild, exuberant period in the midst of the break-up of the Soviet Union. Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, he begins to see bears, wandering and seemingly lost

Far in the future, the Earth is surrounded by a half-mile thick layer of space junk, some of it trash, some of it giant advertising billboards, some of it space-winni vacationers. But Priest, a sexist narcotics detective for The Authority is more interested in the terrorist group whose strange new weapon took a pot shot at his city and atomized everything inside its target area—including his arm. Priest finds himself partnered with the tough and sexy Rehna, a fellow Authority officer, and Gawyn, a brilliant little girl whose gruff attitude matches Priest’s. The three of them track down the terrorists, and their weapon, while Priest looks to deliver his unique brand of justice and get compensation for not one, but two ruined Tac-suits. FROM ABOVE is a 7500 word novella also published in Jeremy Robinson’s story collection, INSOMNIA. This solo release also contains samples of Robinson’s books, CALLSIGN: KING and THE LAST HUNTER - DESCENT. FROM ABOVE is a short story written years ago, before my first novel was published. I’m offering it for free because I think it represents the pacing, humor and action found in many of my full length novels, though not necessarily the content. FROM ABOVE is much more sci-fi than most of my novels, which could be better classified as action-adventure with sci-fi elements. Think Indian Jones with military, mythologtical monsters and non-stop action. I hope you enjoy this quick tale. If you’re interested in the full length books, just follow the store link below. Thanks!

FLYING SAUCERS: RUSSIA’S SECRET WEAPON? WHEN THIS MARTIAN CRASHED THE IRON CURTAIN… HE FELL AMONG THIEVES It was a bad break. America’s worst enemy became partners with a powerful planet. But Pearl Harbor was a catastrophe too, and remember what we did about that…

Captain Shane Schofield and his elite team of marines is about to discover… There is no hell like a man-made one. It is an island that doesn’t appear on any maps. A secret location where the government conducts classified experiments. Experiments that have gone terribly wrong…. When all contact with the mysterious island is suddenly and inexplicably lost, Captain Shane Schofield and four crack Special Forces units parachute in. Nothing prepares them for what they find—the island is a testing ground for a deadly breed of genetically enhanced supersoldiers. You could say they’ve just entered hell, but this place is much, much worse…

Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra is a moving science fiction novelette about an encounter and budding relationship between two aliens, one human, who are the only living creatures occupying a planet in deep space. The human is assigned to guard a valuable find, while his colleagues leave, to file a report with the company that hired them. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied

Pineville – sometime in the future. A man awakes in the desert, clueless on his whereabouts and how he got to his location. His questions about his situation stir his soul. With some unexpected assistance, he finds the path that may lead to answers. The path to Hock City. A place unlike anywhere he has ever seen. Before this moment, his world was small and peaceful, but now – everything has changed. After a string of encounters, he has a new sense of direction. He hopes that the direction leads to one place: home

Jason Jacks is a sadistic serial killer, with a penchant for killing couples. Jaz and Edward Sullivan are newlyweds on holiday in Cornwall, staying in Ed’s old family home. Jason Jacks is just about the worst kind of house guest anyone could wish for. Because if he comes a-knockin’, then you’re as good as dead… This is extreme horror, as is everything by Sam West. It is for the most hardened horror fans only. (And even then, please proceed with caution.) Includes the first chapter of ‘Djinn’ at the end of the novella

Один из величайших прозаиков своего поколения, Андре Асиман, в книге Homo Irrealis в форме эссе исследует, что значит время для художников и писателей, которые не могут постичь жизнь в настоящем. Понятие «ирреалис» не о прошлом или будущем — оно о том, что могло бы быть, никогда не происходило, но гипотетически еще может случиться. От размышлений о поэзии метро и временных резонансов пустых итальянских улиц до описания жизней и творчества Зигмунда Фрейда, Константиноса Кавафиса, Винфрида Зебальда, Джона Слоуна, Эрика Ромера, Марселя Пруста и Фернандо Пессоа и портретов Александрии и Санкт-Петербурга, Homo Irrealis — это анализ силы воображения, способного создать место вне крепкой хватки времени

Inhumanity is a short novel that explores the darkest sides of love, revenge, and life but I must warn you that this book will cause your mind to enter the darkest parts of yourself and humankind. The dictionary describes inhumanity as the quality or state of being cruel or barbarous, and is what you will find within these chapters, a story about people that have and will do cruel or barbarous actions to one another for their own gain. It was my intention to stretch my own limits of my imagination in creating this story and I found myself struggling to write the very words you are about to read. If you feel you have the courage and the mental resilience, then I urge you to move forward

«— Я знаю, чтобы вы с отцом для меня хотели, но оставаться здесь не могу. Мэттью Гиббон быстро принял решение, вошел в спальню, упаковал чемодан и отправился на вокзал, где сел на поезд до Лондона»

Nobody ever told Marvin Mackleschmidt that becoming an interplanetary pilot would be easy. It’s even tougher, however, however, when you’re a little bit chicken. The kind of chicken that wears feathers and clucks, that is. When disaster strikes Lagrange station, can Marvin overcome his genetic handicap and save the hundreds of passengers whose lives depend on him?

In a 1916 story by Heinz von Lichberg, a man falls in love with his landlady’s daughter—and her name is Lolita. In 1955 the writer Vladimir Nabokov became world famous with the novel Lolita, the story of a stormy obsession with a nymph that leads a man to his downfall. The work immediately became a contemporary classic. However, recently it has been discovered that, almost forty years before, a dark German writer, Heinz von Lichberg, had already written and published a story entitled Lolita, in which a teenager from Alicante seduced a German scholar on a trip to Spain. Did Nabokov know this first Lolita? To what extent was he inspired by it?

In the aftermath of the Battle of Detroit, Corporal Jackson finds out how the 365th AIB got a mauling in the Public Residence Clusters, and why the Territorial Army may have lost control over a big chunk of Detroit. A novella in the Terms of Enlistment universe

A gorgeous illustrated edition of a classic novella from the #1 bestselling author of A Game of Thrones—a chilling mystery set on a seemingly haunted spaceship, soon to be an original series on SYFY. Featuring fifteen original illustrations, this is the definitive edition of an electrifying tale that combines the deep-space thrills of Alien, the psychological horror of The Shining, and, of course, the inimitable vision of George R. R. Martin. When a scientific expedition is launched to study a mysterious alien race, the only ship available is the Nightflyer, a fully autonomous vessel manned by a single human. But Captain Royd Eris remains locked away, interacting with his passengers only as a disembodied voice—or a projected hologram no more substantial than a ghost. Yet that’s not the only reason the ship seems haunted. The team’s telepath, Thale Lasamer, senses another presence aboard the Nightflyer—something dangerous, volatile, and alien. Captain Eris claims to know nothing about the elusive intruder, and when someone, or something, begins killing off the expedition’s members, he’s unable—or unwilling—to stem the bloody tide. Only Melantha Jhirl, a genetically enhanced outcast with greater strength, stamina, and intelligence than other humans, has a chance of solving the mystery—and stopping the malevolent being that’s wiping out her shipmates. But first she has to keep herself alive

When the seeds rained down from deep space, it may have been the first stage of an alien invasion—or something else entirely. How much time do we have left, and do we even understand what timescale to use? As a slow apocalypse blooms across the Earth, planets and plants, animals and microbes, all live and die and evolve at different scales. Is one human life long enough to unravel the mystery? Nine Last Days on Planet Earth is a Tor.com Original from the award-winning science fiction author Daryl Gregory. At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. Literary Awards: Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novelette (2019), Locus Award Nominee for Novelette (2019), Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Nominee (2019)

Спасибо благородным рыцарям с храбрыми сердцами.  Литмиру – за то, что свел нас вместе.  Форуму, а в особенности участникам авторского коллективного чтения – ребята, спасибо за то, что вы такие… да блин, просто спасибо, что ВЫ есть! Строгие критики и просто хорошие люди, с которыми можно поговорить о творчестве и обо всем на свете.  И конечно, нашим читателям, теперь уже общим.  С безмерной благодарностью, Ваши, Юля и Ди. Граф, рыцарь и... Призрак

Published in Asimov’s Science Fiction June 2015 The title of her latest story was adapted from the name of a shrine on I-95. “Our Lady of the Highways,” she tells us, “has probably inspired a song from every musician who has ever passed it.” The tale is, in part, a love letter to her touring van

У меня есть все, о чем мечтает, каждая девушка. Десять лет назад, я не имела ничего - лишь дружбу и любовь всего лишь одного человечка. Нам было по девять, но это не так важно.  Он был моим щитом, от насмешек в приюте, был моим теплом, моим защитником, моим домом.  Эштон был моим лучшим другом. До тех пор, пока однажды все не изменилось, и на долгие годы, судьба разлучила нас, а в его сердце поселилась ненависть ко мне.  Я хочу увидеть в его глазах мальчика из прошлого, но теперь я вижу там лишь... чудовище.  Мы не должны были снова встретиться. Но так случилось, и с этого и началась моя история

A high octane, darkly hilarious tale of one man’s journey to live a life after the global pandemic. Equal parts madness and hilarity, this gripping tale follows a broken mop wielding protagonist who runs into a slew of unusual, fascinating, and dangerous characters. Fans of apocalyptic fiction and absurdist humor will find themselves immersed in an original work of pandemic calamity. Few stories capture some of the more hellish aspects of social collapse; from dirty toilets to the disappearance of allergy medicine. A genre-bending adventure tale that never lets up on the suspense and action, while giving readers a unique perspective on what really matters. Full of memorable characters, psychos, raiders, fellow travelers, our hero ends up the unlikely guardian of two young post-apocalyptic humans. Will they find their safe haven? Give this thriller a look if you’re looking for a fast, entertaining, and unusual ride. The journey veers from mad cults, Katana armed survivors, to towns full of people on the brink of civil war. Our hero and companions are sure to inspire a new sense of possibility. Copyright © Declan McCreary 2018

Pennsylvania is a short story, 16,500 words (about forty five pages,) and it is the first in the Pennsylvania series. Jedidiah Troyer is now a traveler. He has signed up for an emigration program that is colonizing the planet of New Pennsylvania. He just wants to start a farm and homestead on affordable land in a new Amish community. Space pioneering isn’t as easy as it sounds when you’re plain. … As he leaned over to pull his meal tray from the slot in the machine, he noticed the computer screen above the slot. Your charge: 2,000 Unilets Your balance: 598,000 Unilets 598,000 Unilets! Wait a minute. That’s way too much. Something is wrong…

How did it start? A deadly virus from the Arctic. An international team of US, Russian, Chinese, and Korean scientist uncovered a prehistoric artifact frozen in the ice of the North. What they didn’t know is it carried a slumbering disease more fatal than the Medieval Black Plague. Gideon Cole is the son of a US General stationed in San Francisco. Gideon is surprised when the first nuclear missile hits New York City, ushering in the Apocalypse. His Dad calls, telling him it’s time to head to a secret war bunker. Along the way, as time is running out, they pick up Lynda Brodunvich and her father. Lynda was Gideon’s high school crush a decade ago. Will they make it to the bunker in time, before the bombs drop? If the plague doesn’t wipe out humanity, will they destroy each other on apocalyptic scales? If they do, is this the end of the world? Or can two people begin mankind over again? If you enjoy the dystopian genre, the end times, the last days theme, you’ll enjoy this book. With a Rise of the Machines, Terminator 3, style (without the evil robots), or Book of Eli, Armageddon theme, this author brings out a different aspect of what a nuclear holocaust could start. What if we could start the world over again? What would that be like?

In the near future, if Vegas games are ingeniously scam-proof, then the heists have to be too, in this imaginative and whip-smart story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian. An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house—unless human ingenuity isn’t entirely a thing of the past. Andy Weir’s Randomize is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting

Private detective and mutant shapeshifter Jeremy Stake (hero of the novels Deadstock and Blue War) has fallen on hard times in the far-future city of Punktown. When he is offered an opportunity to masquerade as another man to do his prison sentence for him, Stake agrees, but this is a new type of penitentiary – existing in its own pocket universe. In this isolated prison, a series of gruesome murders has occurred, and the inmates soon force Stake to investigate. Can Stake catch a killer that might not even be human, without becoming just another victim?

Joseph loved life, his farm and his wife. Until he was torn away to fight in the war. His easy going attitude quickly died as he became a cold blooded killer for the Russian Army. His main objective remained of wanting to return to his simple life, but was this even possible?

At an isolated military academy in the mountains of Colorado, Grace Walker and a small group of cadets fight to survive when the Hemorrhage Virus reaches the campus. Grace, the daughter of a Marine sniper who taught her how to protect herself knows the secrets of the emergency shelter at the Edgar Military Academy. She’s suspected for a long time that it was built as a bunker for someone other than the cadets. She’s about to get some answers to her questions. Six cadets, ranging in age from fifteen to eighteen, take refuge in the shelter with Grace. Senior cadet, Luke Matthews’ uncle, Dr. Mike Matthews, works at the CDC. He promised to send someone to rescue Luke, his younger sister, Megan, and any other cadets in the shelter. Until rescue arrives the seven of them fight the infected and rescue other survivors who hid in the buildings on campus the night of the attack. Surrounded by the infected, and cut off from the rest of the country, they’re unaware that the infection has nearly wiped out humanity

Can an ordinary guy make extraordinary choices in a battle between humanity and unearthly evil? Joe Mandel is a perfectly ordinary guy from a perfectly ordinary town—a college student and community volunteer who dreams of one day publishing a novel. When a series of strange intuitions leads him to a crime in progress, Joe jumps headlong into danger without hesitation. In the aftermath, he wonders about the uncanny impulse that suddenly swept over him. Until new friend Portia Montclair, the strangely wise daughter of the local police chief, explains to him what sent him ricocheting around town like a crazy pinball. Portia tells of another reality, a reality more thrilling—and terrifying—than Joe ever imagined. Timeless, elemental forces of good and evil have come to the quiet town of Little City: a cosmic entity capable of infecting human beings, and the seeker who has chosen Joe to find it. To stop the malevolent invader, this average Joe must be braver than he ever thought possible… and face the hardest decisions of his life

Лауреат Нобелевской премии Джон Голсуорси хорошо известен в нашей стране как автор знаменитой «Саги о Форсайтах». Однако его перу принадлежат не менее замечательные новеллы, рассказы и маленькие повести, проникнутые юмором, мягкой лиричностью и романтизмом. Salta Pro Nobis – рассказ-вариация из сборника «Моментальные снимки»

Something terrible is stirring in the wreckage of Chernobyl. The Chernobyl Sarcophagus is crumbling, and the Carapace project to contain the infamous reactor has stalled. Dr Victoria Cox must return to Pripyat, in the heart of the exclusion zone, to find out why. Confronted by corporate irresponsibility and greed, she soon finds herself in a race against time, fighting to prevent another radiological disaster of catastrophic proportions. As the human cost of the project mounts, the long shadows of pagan myth and nuclear folklore fall across the irradiated ghost town. Shadows through which Victoria must walk, if she is to discover the true nature of the danger that they face - and the price that must be paid to stop it

By NASA’s best guess, the crew of Apollo 8 are an even money chance of dying. A long list of things could go catastrophically wrong as they attempt to park their supersonic spacecraft into stable lunar orbit. But they get it done, paving the way for one giant leap toward the surface. They are the first men alive to see the far side of the Moon — the lunar face permanently turned away from Earth. Inside the tiny capsule, astronaut Bill Anders points his camera at the lunar horizon and captures one of the most famous photographs of all time. Our planet, lonely and fragile in the eternal darkness of space. Lonely, but perhaps not alone. Another photo is taken that day… one so sensitive even the NASA chiefs don’t know about it. Sleeping Gods puts you right there on the first manned mission to the Moon. You’ll be surprised and amazed by this alternate view of space history, a prelude to Matt Eaton’s acclaimed novel, Blank. If you’ve pondered flying to the Moon, climb inside the capsule with the men who did it. Then join astronaut Frank Borman on a journey even more incredible that begins shortly after splashdown

Ashton, son of The Tank Man, and his sister were forced to move to the Port in 1989. He was contented with his life in the Port, but everything changed on that day when he was deprived of the right to vote against the dissolution of the government, a plebiscite initiated by a group of people who called themselves freedom-pursuers. His grudge against those freedom-pursuers, who he deemed as a bunch of hypocrites, prompted him to leave the country and start a new life in the place where he was born despite others’ objections, but it turned out to be a journey that he could never forget. And the chance of telling this story has only come to him after he passed away

For the first time in English, a glittering novella about stardom from “one of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century” (Judith Thurman, The New Yorker) All eyes are upon Rikio. And he likes it, mostly. His fans cheer from a roped-off section, screaming and yelling to attract his attention—they would kill for a moment alone with him. Finally the director sets up the shot, the camera begins to roll, someone yells “action”; Rikio, for a moment, transforms into another being, a hardened young yakuza, but as soon as the shot is finished, he slumps back into his own anxieties and obsessions. Being a star, constantly performing, being watched and scrutinized as if under a microscope, is often a drag. But so is life. Written shortly after Yukio Mishima himself had acted in the film “Afraid to Die,” this novella is a rich and unflinching psychological portrait of a celebrity coming apart at the seams. With exquisite, vivid prose, Star begs the question: is there any escape from how we are seen by others?

David Conway leads a quiet life in picturesque Magenta Bay on the colony world of Chalcedony. Nothing much has happened for five years, but all that is about to change. First he meets the mysterious holo star Carlotta Chakravorti-Luna, who regrets the lost loves of her past and dreams of learning what the future might hold. Then Conway’s alien friend Kee heads inland to take part in an Ashentay ritual with potentially fatal consequences. What follows is a convoluted and poignant tragedy which entangles Conway and his friends

That winter David Conway was enjoying a quiet life with his friends, not especially looking for love, but finding it anyway. The artist Matt Sommers was due to stage an exhibition of Epiphany Stones from Acrab IV, a show which attracted the attention of one Darius Dortmund, the famous empathy. Dortmund could see into the minds of men ‘some said into their very souls’ and when he met David and his friends, and looked into their minds, what he found there would lead to murder… Starship Winter, the third volume in the Starship Seasons sequence, continues the quiet adventures of Conway and his friends on the backwater colony world of Addenbrooke, Delta Pavonis IV