The Deacons of the Order are all that stand between the wicked spirits of the Otherside and the innocent citizens of the Empire. They are sworn to protect humanity, even when they cannot protect themselves… After the Razing of the Order, Sorcha Faris, one of the most powerful Deacons, is struggling to regain control of the runes she once wielded. The Deacons are needed more desperately than ever. The barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead is weakening, and the Emperor has abandoned his throne, seeking to destroy those he feels have betrayed him. Though she is haunted by the terrible truth of her past, Sorcha must lead the charge against the gathering hordes of geists seeking to cross into the Empire. But to do so, she will need to manipulate powers beyond her understanding—powers that may prove to be her undoing…

It was a beautiful winter's day. Anders, his wife and their feisty six-year-old, Maja, set out across the ice of the Swedish archipelago to visit the lighthouse on Gavasten. There was no one around, so they let her go on ahead. And she disappeared, seemingly into thin air, and was never found. Two years later, Anders is a broken alcoholic, his life ruined. He returns to the archipelago, the home of his childhood and his family. But all he finds are Maja's toys and through the haze of memory, loss and alcohol, he realizes that someone or something is trying to communicate with him. Soon enough, his return sets in motion a series of horrifying events which exposes a mysterious and troubling relationship between the inhabitants of the remote island and the sea

Harbour Street is the next spellbinding installment in Ann Cleeves' series of crime novels about Vera Stanhope, played in the TV detective drama VERA by Brenda Blethyn. As the snow falls thickly on Newcastle, the shouts and laughter of Christmas revelers break the muffled silence. Detective Joe Ashworth and his daughter Jessie are swept along in the jostling crowd onto the Metro. But when the train is stopped due to the bad weather, and the other passengers fade into the swirling snow, Jessie notices that one lady hasn't left the train: Margaret Krukowski has been fatally stabbed. Arriving at the scene, DI Vera Stanhope is relieved to have an excuse to escape the holiday festivities. As she stands on the silent, snow-covered station platform, Vera feels a familiar buzz of anticipation, sensing that this will be a complex and unusual case. Then, just days later, a second woman is murdered. Vera knows that to find the key to this new killing she needs to understand what had been troubling Margaret so deeply before she died – before another life is lost. She can feel in her bones that there's a link. Retracing Margaret's final steps, Vera finds herself searching deep into the hidden past of this seemingly innocent neighborhood, led by clues that keep revolving around one street… Why are the residents of Harbour Street so reluctant to speak? Told with piercing prose and a forensic eye, Ann Cleeves' gripping new novel explores what happens when a community closes ranks to protect their own-and at what point silent witnesses become complicit

 Tall, dark, and lethal... Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too. With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees. Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge

Somewhere in western New York there's a remote mountaintop in the moonlight, its dark forests and moon-dappled meadows populated only by corpses, and if ex-PI Joe Kurtz doesn't unravel the secret of that place in five days, he'll be one of them. Everyone seems to want a piece of Kurtz and most succeed in getting one. Unknown assailants gun down Kurtz and his female parole officer, giving Kurtz the headache of a lifetime but putting pretty Peg O'Toole on life support. While working his own case through a haze of concussion migraine, Kurtz has to deal with Toma Gonzaga, the gay don who owes Kurtz a blood debt, and Angelina Farino Ferrara, the female don who is after Kurtz's body — or maybe just his head. And while someone is murdering all the heroin addicts in Buffalo and hauling away the bodies, a serial killer called the Artful Dodger hatches his twisted plan. In Kurtz's corner is police detective Rigby King, a beautiful woman who was his lover when they were both rebellious teenagers in Father Baker's Orphanage. Rigby also has designs on Joe Kurtz, but whether they're aimed at bedding or abetting him, helping him stay alive, or simply putting him away for life, Kurtz will have to discover the hard way

Five dishonored soldiers. Former Special Forces. One last mission. These are the men of Hard Ink. Ever since hard-bodied, drop-dead-charming Shane McCallan strolled into the dance club where Crystal Dean works, he’s shown a knack for getting beneath her defenses. For her little sister’s sake, Crystal can’t get too close. Until her job and Shane’s mission intersect, and he reveals talents that go deeper than she could have guessed. Shane would never turn his back on a friend in need, especially a former Special Forces teammate running a dangerous, off-the-books operation. Nor can he walk away from Crystal. The gorgeous waitress is hiding secrets she doesn't want him to uncover. Too bad. He’s exactly the man she needs to protect her sister, her life, and her heart. All he has to do is convince her that when something feels this good, you hold on as hard as you can—and never let go

The Colton Points of View Collection Foreign war correspondent Tanner Thomas is addicted to living on the edge. Needing the adrenaline rush of his job to help him cope with a personal loss, he throws himself back into the game, concentrating all his energy on getting the next big story. But when he meets his new photojournalist, Beaux Croslyn, he can’t help but feel like he’s losing his focus—and maybe risking more… With secrets she won’t address, Beaux is far from your ordinary woman. Determined to keep her distance, she’s willing to pull Tanner in closer and hide behind the sparks flying between them. But as Beaux’s past begins to put their relationship—and their lives—at risk, Tanner’s determination to find the truth puts them both in jeopardy. He's ready to chase her to the ends of the earth to find out if what they had was real, or if the danger surrounding them was just an exquisite heat fated to burn out…

Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals--and they're camping outside of Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Inside its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan are ... tense. But then the mayor of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting and tells them about a violent vamp attack that has left three women missing. His message is simple: get your House in order. Or else. Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it doesn't help that she can't tell who's on her side. So she secretly calls in a favor from someone who's tall, dark, and part of underground vamp group that may have some deep intel on the attack. Merit soon finds herself in the heady, dark heart of Chicago's supernatural society--a world full of vampires who seem too ready to fulfill the protesting human's worst fears, and a place where she'll learn that you can't be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands

"Vachss is a contemporary master." – Atlanta Journal Constitution "His writing has the power of a rogue elephant." – Cleveland Plain-Dealer "A confection from Hell- a poison pill laced with acid and wrapped in razor-edged concertina wire." – Courier-Post (Philadelphia) "Jolting…eerily seductive." – Washington Times "Each [Burke book] is as savage as Celine. And there it is, a three sentence throwaway paragraph, as pure as Euclid. I'm a sucker for such Elegance." – Newsday "It's wonderful. The words do leap off the page. The principal character is an original. The style is as clean as a haiku." – Washington Post "Andrew Vachss is unique among modern writers; no one else comes close to the raw power and intellectual ambiguity that he manifests so elegantly, so coldly." – Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MI) *** Now a paid assassin, Burke is on a collision course with a man named Train, who runs a "safehouse" for kids. But when Burke learns that his suspicions about Train are right (the safehouse keeps kids in harm's way), he becomes his own gun-for-hire

The most wanted salvage marine in the universe thought he was done fighting. He was wrong. For Samuel Hyst the nightmare was over, left behind upon dead worlds and within the derelict ships drifting through space, he and his family having fled to the edges of the frontier to begin a new life of peace. In the aftermath of a violent raid by slave traders, the long suffering marine discovers that a relic of the ancient machine civilization has been left at the doorstep of his pristine forest homestead. He feels the menace radiating from it, and knows that the various powers and factions that rule necrospace will soon come for all of them. Samuel cuts a deal with Captain Dar of the freelance prospecting ship Rig Halo, who years ago saved Samuel’s wife and son from the trade war. Tension is high aboard the ship, as the Hyst family adjusts to being in the rough company of the Halo and a life on the run. As it turns out, the Rig is also a ship full of mercenaries, and once more Samuel finds himself with rifle in hand and squeezing the trigger just to stay alive. The hunt has already begun and Grotto predators are closing in

Heist-man Nolan is enjoying his retirement from crime, running his own restaurant, when the president of a bank he robbed two years ago shows up with a blackmail demand. All Nolan has to do is rob the bank again — and play patsy to a sexy girl friend’s murder scheme

Jackie Malone has been murdered. Her body lies in a pool of blood in the north London flat where she worked as a prostitute. Deep knife wounds have been gouged into her corpse and her hands and feet are tied with coat hanger wire. For Detective Inspector Jack Delaney this is no ordinary case. He was a friend of Jackie's and she left desperate messages on his answer phone just hours before she was killed. Despite no immediate leads and no obvious suspects, the fear in her voice tells him that this was not a random act of violence.Just as Delaney begins his investigation, a young girl is reported missing, feared abducted, and he is immediately tasked with finding her. Delaney knows he must act quickly if there is any chance of finding her alive, but he is also determined to track down Jackie's killer before the trail goes cold. However, his tough and uncompromising attitude has made him some powerful enemies on the force, and Delaney soon finds that this case may provide the perfect opportunity for them to dispose of him, once and for all

This crackling, authentically drawn courtroom drama finds San Francisco's assistant D.A. Dismas Hardy immersed in not one but two murder trials when he discovers the severed hand of a billionaire inside the belly of a dying shark later represents the murder suspect

There's a bitter wind brewing in Buffalo, New York and it's blowing in more than just snow. "Little Skag" Farino, the last don of the local crime family, wants Kurtz dead and is sending in platoons of hit men, starting with the Attica Three Stooges and working up through more competent killers. Little Skag's beautiful sister, Angelina Farino Ferrara, is back from seven years in Sicily and has her own deadly agenda for Kurtz. If that isn't enough, Kurtz is approached by a dying concert violinist who wants his daughter's killer found. Rejecting the case at first, he is soon on the trail of a man who's not just the murderer of one child, but a cold-blooded serial killer who is a master of alternate identities and has the power to send a hundred men after Kurtz. As the bodies pile up like cords of wood, HARD FREEZE hits town with the power of a whiteout blizzard and builds to a truly chilling climax. This is a crime novel where trigger fingers freeze to blue steel

On a cold afternoon on the North Shore of Massachusetts, the body of Ellen Shepard is found hanging by the neck in the attic of her home. She leaves no family. She leaves no note. And she leaves vacant her position as the general manager of the notoriously brutal Majestic Airlines operation at Boston’s Logan Airport. The police rule her death a suicide. The company calls it a “tragic loss to the Majestic family.” But the people who worked for her call it what it is-one more victim lost to the devastating secret buried in Logan’s past, and meant to stay there. Alex Shanahan loves the airline business. At 34 years old, she has no husband, no children, no long-term relationships-not even a dog. She has her job, which over her career has taken her from airport to airport and city to city. She lives among boxes she no longer bothers to unpack and pursues the assignments no one else will take, the ones she considers to be the best opportunities. Taking charge of the Boston operation after Ellen Shepard’s suicide is the perfect challenge for Alex. From the moment she sets foot at Logan, Alex is pulled into the intrigue of her predecessor’s death. She is welcomed by an obscene depiction of Ellen’s dead body twisting at the end of a rope. It’s a greeting from some of her new employees, a warning that secrets can kill, and a threat that once she knows them it will already be too late. But Alex wants to know the truth. She follows a trail of corruption and betrayal from the ramp at Logan to the airline’s executive suites. What she uncovers could bring down the airline and destroy the lives and careers of everyone involved. It could also cost Alex her life

Hank was a dying breed on the space station Belvaille. The criminal gangs that had once made their homes there were forced out by the corporations that had taken over since the facility became an Independent Protectorate. Instead of the gentlemanly gang wars that had once dominated the scene, and made Hank’s services prized as a negotiator, the city was now plagued by the clash of corporate armies using heavy weapons. Even tanks roamed the streets regularly. Most everyone from the olden days had either fled the station or was killed due to the organizational changes. Changes that Hank personally brought about when he had negotiated Belvaille’s status with the Navy. As Hank contemplates whether he can survive in this increasingly hostile environment, he realizes that things aren’t as bad as they seem--they are quite a bit worse. The constant power plays among corporations might have further reach than just the alleys of a backwater space station at the edge of the galaxy. NOTE: Sequel to Hard Luck Hank: Screw the Galaxy

An increasingly crippled Hank struggles to keep the various factions of Belvaille in check after the collapse of the Colmarian Confederation. Hank, as Supreme Kommilaire and Secretary of City, has several hundred police to try and maintain order among the millions of inhabitants on the space station while simultaneously preparing for Belvaille’s first ever election. He thinks it is an impossible task. Every year the city, and even the galaxy, falls further into chaos as he himself succumbs to the debilitating effects of his mutation. With economic turmoil everywhere, a dirty election in the works, and the galaxy’s foremost assassin hunting him, Hank has to decide if he can save Belvaille. Or if it’s even worth saving. NOTE: Sequel to Hard Luck Hank — Screw the Galaxy and Hard Luck Hank — Basketful of Crap [Contain animated GIFs!]

Hank is a thug. He knows he’s a thug. He has no problem with that realization. In his view the galaxy has given him a gift: a mutation that allows him to withstand great deals of physical trauma. He puts his abilities to the best use possible and that isn’t by being a scientist. Besides, the space station Belvaille doesn’t need scientists. It is not, generally, a thinking person’s locale. It is the remotest habitation in the entire Colmarian Confederation. There is literally no reason to be there. Unless you are a criminal. Because of its location, Belvaille is populated with nothing but crooks. Every day is a series of power struggles between the crime bosses. Hank is an intrinsic part of this community as a premier gang negotiator. Not because he is eloquent or brilliant or an expert combatant, but because if you shoot him in the face he keeps on talking. Hank believes he has it pretty good until a beautiful and mysterious blue woman enters his life with a compelling job offer. Hank and Belvaille, so long out of public scrutiny, suddenly find themselves the epicenter of the galaxy with a lot of very unwelcome attention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS5NxySmQIQ

Shifters Unbound - 3.5 Myka, who'd been raised by an abusive stepfather, is not sure that a wild fighter named Spike is the best man to bring up the cute little jaguar cub. She goes to Shiftertown to check out Spike, and finds that the man behind the name is a lonely Shifter who's lost most of his family and is a fierce caretaker to those he has left. Spike is torn between the cub and his duties as tracker to the Shiftertown leader, and begs Myka, the only person who understands, to help him. He starts to like the sassy Myka, a horse trainer who's not afraid of working with animals, even if they're wildcats who turn into humans. When Spike's job puts his cub and Myka in danger, Spike is forced to choose between those to whom he's pledged his loyalty and his need to protect the woman and cub he's come to love

From Publishers Weekly Rune, the shrewd and spunky heroine of Manhattan Is My Beat, returns with a new job as a camerawoman for a local TV news station, but she still believes in magic and lives by her own rules. Rune thinks that Randy Boggs, convicted killer of network news head Lance Hopper, is innocent, and she persuades network dragon lady Piper Sutton, the country's top news anchor, to let her investigate and produce a segment on the murder. Endearing, with lots of moxie but no experience, Rune learns the hard way as she blunders through the world of big-time investigative reporting, making mistakes and trusting the wrong people. She also has to act as a mother to her flaky friend Claire's three-year-old, Ophelia, when Claire runs off to Boston in search of a better life. Deaver's background as a journalist helps him to vivify the competitive, even back-stabbing caste system of network news and to successfully depict the tedium as well as the excitement a reporter experiences when breaking a major story. He writes with clarity, compassion and intelligence, and with a decidedly human and contemporary slant. *** This is the final installment in Jeffery Deaver's "Rune" trilogy. Rune seems to have finally made the first step towards her dreams. She has secured a job working for a major news department. However, she becomes fascinated with the brutal murder of the network boss and then trouble starts

‘I insist on only a few questions. Is the target a man? I don't work against women or children. Have you retained anyone else to solve this problem? Is the target a principal? I am no longer samurai, either… I am a realist now’ John Rain, jazz fan, single malt connoisseur and honorable assassin, is dragged out of retirement first by blackmail and then by revenge. Featuring many of the characters so vividly brought to life in Rain Fall, Barry Eisler takes us on another journey into a world of spooks, double-crosses and elaborately executed ‘terminations’. Stylish, page-turning and authentic, Barry Eisler is in the front rank of thriller writing

Derek Strange is a rookie cop, the job he’s dreamed of since he was a boy. His brother, Dennis, has not been as fortunate; home from the service with a disability pension and zero prospects, he is man with good intentions but bad habits. Derek has always looked out for Dennis, but no amount of brotherly love can save him from the dangerous world of Alvin Jones, a local bottom-feeder, hustler, and stone killer who draws him into his web of violence. While the rookie cop navigates the rocky terrain of a city in turmoil, a family in crisis, and his love for a woman he has driven away, Frank Vaughn, a cop at the opposite end of his career, investigates the vicious hit and run of a young black man. Vaughn’s personal life is a shambles, but he’s good police; he pursues the killers with sharklike intent. Meanwhile, in Memphis, a prophet is murdered, igniting a volcanic chain of events that will leave the nation’s capital burned, divided, and decimated, forever changing the lives of its working-class inhabitants. Two cops struggling to do their jobs against the backdrop of a violent uprising: Their paths collide in the middle of a full-fury revolution, in an electrifying climax to the most powerful book yet from George Pelecanos, “the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world” (Esquire), who “writes with intelligence and complexity, as well as with a sober recognition of the evil at large in the world” (Washington Post)

The Zone, a chemical and nuclear contaminated hell, a broad swathe of Europe where the Warsaw Pact mass attacks have been stalled by NATO. Major Revells’ men have to enter it to destroy a Russian tank workshop concealed in the midst of a refugee camp. Major Revells’ tank hunter team are given the suicidal task of hunting down and destroying a crack Russian tank repair workshop. The elite unit is upgrading weapons and armour, getting it ready for a massed assault on the NATO front line. Crossing the severely contaminated terrain of the Zone the Special Combat Force have to enter the dangerous world of the refugees to find their target. They encounter a renegade group of East German deserters, the reviled Grepos, border guards. Through them they discover that the workshop has been sited underground, close to a huge refugee camp. Invulnerable to assault by any conventional means without unacceptable civilian losses, Revells’ men have to risk everything to attack at point blank range. First NEL Paperback Edition November 1980 First IMPRINT Publication E-Book Edition May 2005 First Revision IMPRINT Publications E-Book Edition April 2007

The dehumanizing effects of heavy industrialization are given form and bitter indictment in this Dickens novel. Raised by a hard, pragmatic father concerned only with sterile principles, Tom and Louisa Gradgrind grow up with little imagination, culture or concern for others. Louisa chooses Josiah Bounderby for a husband, a vulgar man who owns a bank and a mill, whom she leaves after a while and returns to her father's house. Her unscrupulous brother adds to the family crises by robbing his brother-in-law's bank. The father finally sees how his cold, principled upbringing has damaged his children's lives

This 1963 masterpiece is widely considered one of the best novels of the greatest Russian writers of science fiction. Yet until now the only English version (unavailable for over thirty years) was based on a German translation, and was full of errors, infelicities, and misunderstandings. Now, in a new translation by Olena Bormashenko, whose translation of the authors’ Roadside Picnic has received widespread acclaim, here is the definitive edition of this brilliant work. It tells the story of Don Rumata, who is sent from Earth to the medieval kingdom of Arkanar with instructions to observe and to save what he can. Masquerading as an arrogant nobleman, a dueler and a brawler, Don Rumata is never defeated, but can never kill. With his doubt and compassion, and his deep love for a local girl named Kira, Rumata wants to save the kingdom from the machinations of Don Reba, the first minister to the king. But given his orders, what role can he play? Hard to Be a God has inspired a role-playing video game and two movies, including Aleksei German’s long-awaited swan song. This long overdue translation will reintroduce one of the most profound Soviet-era novels to an eager audience. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were famous and popular Russian writers of science fiction, with more than 25 novels and novellas to their names. Hari Kunzru is the author of highly praised novels including Gods Without Men and The Impressionist. Olena Bormashenko is the acclaimed translator of the Strugatskys’ Roadside Picnic

ONCE BURNED Sadie Howard never dates a guy more than once-but Fate has other plans for her when it comes to Aiden Downey, the one that got away. Aiden loved her, left her, and broke her heart. Yet suddenly she's bumping into him at every turn, driven to distraction by his wicked grin and rock-hard body. Now she can't resist finishing what they started-as long as she doesn't let herself fall in love... TWICE AS TEMPTING Aiden Downey threw away the best thing he ever had when he let Sadie go, and now he's determined to win back the woman he's always wanted. Sadie agrees to let him into her life-and her bed-as long as there are no strings attached. But Aiden's not about to make the same mistake again. Can he convince her to take a second chance on a once-in-a-lifetime love?

TELL THE TRUTH AND SHAME THE DEVIL Two children who mysteriously disappeared twenty-one years ago are the last thing on Lorna Temple's mind when she returns to her Pennsylvania hometown to sell the old family property in the wake of her parents' passing. But instead of memories, the fields where Lorna grew up yield something utterly chilling. All those years ago, when nine-year-old Melinda Eagan vanished on her birthday, her foulmouthed older brother, Jason, quickly became the lone suspect. Yet when he went missing, too, the case turned cold. But Jason, it seems, never got far: His bones have been moldering on the Temples ' land for two decades. As far as the local police are concerned, the book is closed on Melinda's murder-and Jason's death is justice served. But Lorna refuses to let the dead rest uneasily. She turns to private eye T. J. Dawson to dig up the dirt of the past and see what lies beneath. Only there's someone out there who hasn't forgotten-and who won't be the least bit forgiving about being exposed as a killer. In matters of crime, there are many versions of the truth

What are the ingredients of a hard-boiled detective story? “Savagery, style, sophistication, sleuthing, and sex,” said Ellery Queen. Often a desperate blond, a jealous husband, and, of course, a tough-but-tender P.I. the likes of Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. Perhaps Raymond Chandler summed it up best in his description of Dashiell Hammett’s style: “Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it... He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes.” Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories is the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind, with over half of the stories never published before in book form. Included are thirty-six sublimely suspenseful stories that chronicle the evolution of this quintessentially American art form, from its earliest beginnings during the golden age of the legendary pulp magazine Black Mask in the 1920s, to the arrival of the tough digest Manhunt in the 1950s, and finally leading up to present-day hard-boiled stories by such writers as James Ellroy. Here are eight decades worth of the best writing about betrayal, murder, and mayhem: from Hammett’s 1925 tour de force “The Scorched Face,” in which the disappearance of two sisters leads Hammett’s never-named detective, the Continental Op, straight into a web of sexual blackmail amidst the West Coast elite, to Ed Gorman’s 1992 “The Long Silence After,” a gripping and powerful rendezvous involving a middle class insurance executive, a Chicago streetwalker, and a loaded .38. Other delectable contributions include “Brush Fire” by James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Raymond Chandler’s “I’ll Be Waiting,” where, for once, the femme fatale is not blond but a redhead, a Ross Macdonald mystery starring Macdonald’s most famous creator, the cryptic Lew Archer, and “The Screen Test of Mike Hammer” by the one and only Mickey Spillane. The hard-boiled cult has more in common with the legendary lawmen of the Wild West than with the gentleman and lady sleuths of traditional drawing room mysteries, and this direct line of descent is on brilliant display in two of the most subtle and tautly written stories in the collection, Elmore Leonard’s “3:10 to Yuma” and John D. MacDonald’s “Nor Iron Bars.” Other contributors include Evan Hunter (better known as Ed McBain), Jim Thompson, Helen Nielsen, Margaret Maron, Andrew Vachss, Faye Kellerman, and Lawrence Block. Compellingly and compulsively readable, Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories is a page-turner no mystery lover will want to be without. Containing many notable rarities, it celebrates a genre that has profoundly shaped not only American literature and film, but how we see our heroes and ourselves

When VI Warshawski returns to her Chicago office after a client visit at Stateville, the last thing she expects is exactly what she finds. Her once tidy work space looks as though a hurricane tore through it. Ripped documents, upended drawers, and even pictures from the wall have been strewn about. But the most chilling find is a bracelet belonging to Warshawki's adored cousin Petra. A video surveillance camera reveals that three persons entered the premises – but where is Petra? The cops spring into action, calling it a possible kidnapping, possible assault, and possible aggravated burglary. Has Warshawski's connection to a group known as the Anacondas put those she loves in danger?

Признанный сюрреалист среди японских писателей. Банана Ёсимото умеет создавать мистический эффект как никто другой. Данная книга представляет собой два исследования понятий «любовь», «память» и «скорбь». Фрейд описывает сверхъестественное как особое ощущение, возникающее, когда объяснимое переплетается с необъяснимым. Банана Есимото, признанный сюрреалист среди японских писателей, умеет создавать мистический эффект как никто другой. Ее последняя книга представляет собой два исследования понятий «любовь», «память» и «скорбь». Если в первом романе героиня приходит к пониманию того, что ее отношения являлись ничем иным, как заполнением пустого места в чужой душе, то во втором реальность примиряет героиню со смертью сестры

Joe Kurtz has been wronged one too many times. So when he takes out the drugdealing thug who killed his girlfriend, the exPI gets to cool his heels for 11 years in Attica. It's there that he meets "Little Skag" Farino, the son of an aging Buffalo, New York, mob boss. In exchange for protecting the kid's manhood against any unwanted jailhouse affection, Kurtz gets an audience with Little Skag's father upon his release from prison. Semiretired Don Byron Farino is still clinging to what dwindling power he holds on the New York organized crime scene. He enlists Kurtz's help to track down the Family's missing accountanta man with too much knowledge of Family business to have on the loose. But someone doesn't want the accountant found. As the story twists and turns and the body count rises, Kurtz no longer knows whom he can trust. Everyone seems to be after something, from the mob boss's sultry yet dangerous daughter, to a hit man named The Dane, an albino killer who is good with a knife, and a dwarf who is armed to the teeth and hellbent on revenge. Bestselling author Dan Simmons expertly builds the tension as he springs one surprise after another, all the while daring the reader to take a ride with Kurtz through the cold, windy streets of Buffalo where one wrong move could mean a bellyfull of lead

Named a Fall Pick by Boston Globe, ELLE, Library Journal and MyDomain An eerie debut collection featuring missing parents, unrequited love, and other uncomfortable moments A man hangs from the ceiling of an art gallery. A woman spells out messages to her sister using her own hair. Children deemed “bad” are stolen from their homes. In Hardly Children, Laura Adamczyk’s rich and eccentric debut collection, familiar worlds—bars, hotel rooms, cities that could very well be our own—hum with uncanny dread. The characters in Hardly Children are keyed up, on the verge, full of desire. They’re lost, they’re in love with someone they shouldn’t be, they’re denying uncomfortable truths using sex or humor. They are children waking up to the threats of adulthood, and adults living with childlike abandon. With command, caution, and subtle terror, Adamczyk shapes a world where death and the possibility of loss always emerge. Yet the shape of this loss is never fully revealed. Instead, it looms in the periphery of these stories, like an uncomfortable scene viewed out of the corner of one’s eye

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman has been hailed as one of the best crime fiction writers in America today, winning virtually every major award in the genre. The author of the enormously popular series featuring Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan as well as three critically lauded stand-alone novels, Lippman now turns her attention to short stories – and reveals another level of mastery. Lippman sets many of the stories in this sterling anthology, Hardly Knew Her, in familiar territory: her beloved Baltimore, from downtown to its affluent suburbs, where successful businessmen go to shocking lengths to protect what they have or ruthlessly expand their holdings, while dissatisfied wives find murderous ways to escape their lives. But Lippman is also unafraid to travel – to New Orleans, to an unnamed southwestern city, and even to Dublin, the backdrop for the lethal clash of two not-so-innocents abroad. Tess Monaghan is here, in two stories and a profile, aligning herself with various underdogs. And in her extraordinary, never-before-published novella, Scratch a Woman, Lippman takes us deep into the private world of a high-priced call girl/madam and devoted soccer mom, exploring the mystery of what may, in fact, be written in the blood. Each of these ingenious tales is a gem – sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to read Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers, hailed for her keen psychological insights and her compelling characterizations," (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has "invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work" (George Pelecanos). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her

“Hardware Scenario G-49” was first published in Amazing Stories, Vol. 66, #8, No. 565, December 1991

Mistrz zagadek Morgan nadal nie zna celu, dla którego żyje ani znaczenia gwiazdek, widniejących na jego czole. Królestwo drży w posadach, pustoszą je hordy tajemniczych zmiennokształtnych, którzy wydali wojnę rodzajowi ludzkiemu. Wobec zupełnej bierności Najwyższego, Morgan zmuszony jest wziąć na siebie odpowiedzialność za cały świat. Nominowana do nagrody Hugo w 1980

Die letzte und endgültige Auseinandersetzung stand bevor. Im Reich des Erhabenen war die Zeit des Friedens zu Ende — durch Morgons Kampf mit dem teuflischen Zauberer Ohm, durch die Machenschaften der rätselhaften Gestaltwandler. Morgon wußte, daß es Verbindungslinien zwischen all diesen einzelene Vorfällen geben mußte — nur konnte er die Linien nicht ziehen. Wer wer Ohm? Welche Rolle spielte Thod, jener geheimnissvolle Harfner, der ihn einst an Ohm verraten hatte? Und was wollten die Gestaltwandler aus dem Meer? Als Fürst von Hed war Morgon ein friedliebender Mensch. Aber für ihn wie für das Reich des Erhabenen gab es nirgendwo mehr Frieden — und erst der letzte verzweifelte Augeblick der Kampfes brachte Kunde vom anbreichen des neuen Zeitalters

Džoanna Ketlīna Roulinga Harijs Poters un Azkabanas gūsteknis Kamēr vasarā būdams mājās pie Dērslijiem (kuri ir viņam atņēmuši visas skolas grāmatas, slotu un zizli), Harijs Poters ir sarūgtināts, ka tā arī nav saņēmis nevienu vēstuli no saviem draugiem Rona, Hermiones un Hagrida. Savā divpadsmitajā dzimšanas dienā Hariju apciemo mājas elfs Dobijs, kurš brīdina Hariju, ka zēna atgriešanās Cūkkārpā draudētu ar nāves briesmām. Harijs neņem vērā Dobija brīdinājumus un ir nolēmis atgriezties. Dobijs atklāj, ka viņš ir pārtvēris visas Harijam domātās vēstules, lai viņš domātu, ka visi draugi ir viņu aizmirsuši, cerot, ka Harijs tāpēc varētu negribēt atgriezties Cūkkārpā. No angļu valodas tulkojis Ingus Josts Redaktors Pauls Bankovskis Agatas Muzes datorgrafiskais noformējums Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis Jumava 2001 latviešu valodā, 2001 ©Ingus Josts, tulkojums latviešu valodā, 2001 Svinga krustmātēm Džillai Prūetai un Einijai Kīlijai

Džoanna Ketlīna Roulinga Harijs Poters un filozofu akmens Kāds ir mazā zēna Harija Potera noslēpums, kas licis bērniem visā pasaulē aizmirst televizora skatīšanos un videospēles? Iespējams, ka tā ir ikviena cilvēka slepena vēlme—kaut reizi mūžā iemantot burvju varu. Brīnuma gaidās sākas jauna tūkstošgade un Harija Potera No angļu valodas tulkojis Ingus Josts Atdzejotājs un redaktors Pauls Bankovskis Agatas Muzes datorgrafiskais noformējums SiA «J.L.V», izdevums latviešu valodā, 2001 ©IngusJosts, tulkojums latviešu valodā, 2001 Džesikai, kura mīl stāstīts, Annai, jo arī viņa tos mīlēja, un Di, kura šo stāstu dzirdēja pirmā. Jumava 2001 Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis

Džoanna Ketlīna Roulinga Harijs Poters un Fēniksa ordenis 1 un 2 daļa Harija Potera cīņa pret Tumsas pavēlnieku, lordu Voldemortu, turpinās, un nu tajā iesaistās Feniksa ordenis ar profesoru Dumidoru priekšgalā. Piektais gads Cūkkārpas Raganu un burvju arodskolā Harijam un viņa draugiem sola jaunus pārbaudījumus, taču Hariju nomoka arī uzmācīgi, no nomoda grūti atšķirami sapņi, kuri zēnu vedina noskaidrot, kas atrodas aiz necilām,  melnām durvīm kāda Burvestību ministrijas gaiteņa galā. Tikmēr Burvestību ministrijas tuvredzīgie ierēdņi par varītēm cenšas iedibināt kontroli pār Cūkkārpas skolu un tās direktoru, iesūtot skolā lielinkvizitori nešpetno profesori Ambrāžu… No angļu valodas tulkojuši Ingus Josts, Ieva Kolmane, Sabīne Ozola, Māra Poļakova Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis Agatas Muzes datorgrafiskais noformējums Atbildīgā redaktore Anna Pavlovska Literārā redaktore Ieim Kolmane Tehniska redaktore Irēna Soide Korektore Brigita Šoriiia Maketētāja Rūta Vilīte Jumava 2003

Džoanna Ketlīna Roulinga Harijs Poters un jauktasiņu princis Harija Potera sestais mācību gads Cūkkārpā nebūt nav no vieglākajiem. Voldemorts, atkal iemiesojies un atguvis varenību, no jauna tiecas pakļaut ne tikai burvju, bet arī vientiešu pasauli. Tikmŗr Harija rokās nonāk mācību grāmata, ko sensenos laikos ar piezīmēm izraibinājis kāds Jauktasiņu princis. No angļu valodas tulkojuši Ingus Josts, Sabīne Ozola, Māra Poļakova Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis Atbildīgā redaktore Anna Pavlovska Literārā redaktore Ieva Kolmane Tehniskā redaktore Irēna Soide Korektore Brigita Šoriņa Maketētājs Ingus Feldmanis © Apgāds "Jumava", izdevums latviešu valodā, 2006 © Ingus Josts, Sabīne Ozola, Māra Poļakova, tulkojums latviešu valodā, 2006 Makenzijai, manai skaistajai meitai. Viņai es veltu dvīni, iemūžinātu rakstu zīmēs

Harijs Poters un noslēpumu kambaris Džoanna Ketlīna Roulinga Elpu aizraujošs ceļojums burvju un raganu pasaulē, kas neatstās vienaldzīgus pat tos lasitājus, kam būs pirmā tikšanās ar neparasto zēnu Hariju Poteru. Dērsliji visu vasaru izturas tik ļauni, ka Harijs sapņo tikai par vienu — pēc iespējas ātrāk atgriezties Cūkkārpas Raganu un burvju skolā. Tomēr brīdī, kad zēns jau pošas ceļā uz skolu, kāds dīvains radījums, vārdā Dobijs viņu brīdina - ja Harijs atgriezīsies Cūkkārpā, motiks nelabojama nelaime. No angļu valodas tulkojis Ingus Josts Redaktors Pauls Bankovskis Agatas Muzes datorgrafiskais noformējums Jumava  latviešu valoda, 2001 © Ingus Josts, tulkojums latviešu valodā, 2001 Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis Veltīta Šonam P. F. Herisam, pārgalvīgam autobraucējam un draugam, kurš ir uzticīgs arī apmākušās dienās

Džoanna Ketlīna Roulinga Harijs Poters un nāves dāvesti Harija Potera septītā grāmata sola atbildēt uz jautājumiem ko uzdevušas sešas iepriekšējās. Vai Harijam izdosies piepildīt smago pret paša gribu veicamo misiju - darīt galu Tumsas Pavēlnieka tīkojumiem sagrābt varu pār burvju un vientiešu pasauli? Kā kai satriec to kurš nodrošinājies prert nāvi sašķeldams savu dvēseli gabalos ujn nopglabādams maģiskos priekšmetos horkrustos? Vai ko līdzēs trīs nāves dāvesti kas vienkopus savākti, savu saimnieku var padarīt par Nāves pavēlnieku? No angļu valodas tulkojuši Ingus Josts, Ieva Kolmane, Sabīne Ozola, Māra Poļakova Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis Atbildīgā redaktore Anna Pavlovska Literārā redaktore Ieva Kolmane Tehniskā redaktore Irēna Soide Korektore Anete Kauce Maketētājs Ingus Feldmanis Šas grāmatas veltījums ir septiņkāršs: Nīlam, Džesikai, Deividam, Kenzijam, Annai un tev, ja reiz esi palicis kopā ar Hariju līdz galam. Ai, dzimtas nelaime Un drausmā lāsta asiņainais posts! Ai, bēdas nepanesamās, Ai, nebeidzamās sāpes! Ir pašu mājās dziedēklis, No citurienes glābiņš nenāks, Tik no tām — Ar nežēlīgu cīņu asiņainu. Tā apakšzemes dievu dziesma skan. Jūs, svētlaimīgie mūžīgie zem zemes, Lūgumu mūsu uzklausot, bērniem Palīgu uzvarai vēlīgi sūtiet! Aishils, "Ziedotājas" Nāve ir vien ceļš pāri pasaulei, kā draugi šķērso jūras; viņi turpina dzīvot cits citā. Jo viņiem jājūt, ka mīlestība un dzīvība mājo visā, kas allaž ir tepat līdzās. Šajā dievišķajā spogulī viņi ieskatās viens otram acīs; un viņu saruna ir brīva — un šķīsta. Tas ir miers, ko dāvā draudzība, jo pat tad, kad viņus sakās mirušus esam, viņu draudzība un klāt­būtne vislabākajā nozīmē ir un paliek, jo nāvei pār tām nav varas. Viljams Perms, "Vēl vairāk vienattūbas augļu" Jumava 2008