The Judge came like a thief in the night. No one knew that the world had ended – until the sun began to rot in the sky, and the graves opened, and angels from Hell clothed themselves in the flesh of corpses…Long out of print, this murderous theological fantasy presents an epic vision of damnation and redemption, supercharged with mayhem, terror, and old-time religion. Looking for a good scare? Try The Dead, and bite off more than you can chew

In an apocalyptic world where the dead roam the earth, Carl Teegarden lays dying. Fatally wounded by the undead, he watches his lifeblood drain from his ravaged body and struggles to come to terms with his inevitable fate. Knowing that this fate will not necessarily end with his final breath, he fights through the pain and looks back upon his life, remembering the events which have led to his lonely demise. Only he isn’t alone. The spirit of a woman with whom he’d found love in a ruined world stands by his side, her loyalty transcending the barriers of life and death. Smoldering across the room is the ghost of a small child whose hatred of this man burns with such intensity that no amount of suffering can sate his thirst for revenge. All the while, legions of the walking dead scour the countryside for the slightest sign of life. As their destinies intertwine, stories of love and devotion intertwine with failing and regret across a timeline marked by the grim struggle for survival. And in this nightmare world, each will come to understand, in their own way, exactly what it means to be numbered among the dead and dying…

Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event-an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle. With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities

Devious minds, not surprisingly, work in devious ways…

Sonia needed help and Bill was just the guy for a lady in distress. Then came the boomerang

The Dead Father is a gargantuan half-dead, half-alive, part mechanical, wise, vain, powerful being who still has hopes for himself-even while he is being dragged by means of a cable toward a mysterious goal. In this extraordinary novel, marked by the imaginative use of language that influenced a generation of fiction writers, Donald Barthelme offered a glimpse into his fictional universe. As Donald Antrim writes in his introduction, "Reading The Dead Father, one has the sense that its author enjoys an almost complete artistic freedom. . a permission to reshape, misrepresent, or even ignore the world as we find it. . Laughing along with its author, we escape anxiety and feel alive."

“In the fall, I went for walks and brought home bones. The best bones weren’t on trails — deer and moose don’t die conveniently — and soon I was wandering so far into the woods that I needed a map and compass to find my way home. When winter came and snow blew into the mountains, burying the bones, I continued to spend my days and often my nights in the woods. I vaguely understood that I was doing this because I could no longer think; I found relief in walking up hills. When the night temperatures dropped below zero, I felt visited by necessity, a baseline purpose, and I walked for miles, my only objective to remain upright, keep moving, preserve warmth. When I was lost, I told myself stories. .” So Charles D’Ambrosio recounted his life in Philipsburg, Montana, the genesis of the brilliant stories collected here, six of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. Each of these eight burnished, terrifying, masterfully crafted stories is set against a landscape that is both deeply American and unmistakably universal. A son confronts his father’s madness and his own hunger for connection on a misguided hike in the Pacific Northwest. A screenwriter fights for his sanity in the bleak corridors of a Manhattan psych ward while lusting after a ballerina who sets herself ablaze. A Thanksgiving hunting trip in Northern Michigan becomes the scene of a haunting reckoning with marital infidelity and desperation. And in the magnificent title story, carpenters building sets for a porn movie drift dreamily beneath a surface of sexual tension toward a racial violence they will never fully comprehend. Taking place in remote cabins, asylums, Indian reservations, the backloads of Iowa and the streets of Seattle, this collection of stories, as muscular and challenging as the best novels, is about people who have been orphaned, who have lost connection, and who have exhausted the ability to generate meaning in their lives. Yet in the midst of lacerating difficulty, the sensibility at work in these fictions boldly insists on the enduring power of love. D’Ambrosio conjures a world that is fearfully inhospitable, darkly humorous, and touched by glory; here are characters, tested by every kind of failure, who struggle to remain human, whose lives have been sharpened rather than numbed by adversity, whose apprehension of truth and beauty has been deepened rather than defeated by their troubles. Many writers speak of the abyss. Charles D’Ambrosio writes as if he is inside of it, gazing upward, and the gaze itself is redemptive, a great yearning ache, poignant and wondrous, equal parts grit and grace. A must read for everyone who cares about literary writing, The Dead Fish Museum belongs on the same shelf with the best American short fiction

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE The first full account of how the Cold War arms race finally came to a close, this riveting narrative history sheds new light on the people who struggled to end this era of massive overkill, and examines the legacy of the nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that remain a threat today. Drawing on memoirs, interviews in both Russia and the US, and classified documents from deep inside the Kremlin, David E. Hoffman examines the inner motives and secret decisions of each side and details the deadly stockpiles that remained unsecured as the Soviet Union collapsed. This is the fascinating story of how Reagan, Gorbachev, and a previously unheralded collection of scientists, soldiers, diplomats, and spies changed the course of history

The second novel in the wonderful Paddy Meehan series by Scotland 's princess of crime. Paddy Meehan, Glasgow's aspiring journalist is back on the beat, trawling the streets of Glasgow for a story – something to prove she can write; that she's better at her job than all her male colleagues; anything that will get her off the terrible night shift that is slowly turning her brains to mush. And then she meets the woman with the poodle perm at the door of a wealthy suburb in the north of the city. It's just a domestic dispute, Paddy's told, although her instincts are alerted when she's slipped a £50 note to keep the story out of the papers. By the next morning the woman is dead; she's been tortured, beaten, and left to die. Paddy has found her story, but she's still got the £50; and with her father and brothers unemployed, and her upright Roman Catholic family perilously short of money, this could solve a lot of problems. A day later, Paddy sees a body being pulled from the river. Another death, she's told; it's nothing to do with you; go home. But when Paddy talks to the wife of the dead man, she finds that the relationship between him and the murdered woman was closer than the police had imagined. Why have these people died? What were they trying to hide? And could this be the break Paddy's been waiting for? What follows is a deeply personal journey into the dark heart of a brutal economic recession, and the brutal bud of the drugs trade in the 1980s

In Shyish, the dread realm of Death, all must pay the Bone Tithe… but no one has told Gotrek Gurnisson that. When his aelven companion Maleneth is taken to pay Nagash his due, Gotrek swears to seek her captors and rescue her. Woe betide any – living, dead, or in-between – who dare stand in the path of his wrath

On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train’s arrival in the English village of Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear. Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd. Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test. Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce clan, involving none other than Winston Churchill himself. Surrounded by family, friends, and a famous pathologist from the Home Office—and making spectacular use of Harriet’s beloved Gipsy Moth plane, *Blithe Spirit* —Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer. **Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Winn Award, and Arthur Ellis Award** “If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.” *—USA Today* “Irresistibly appealing.” *—The New York Times Book Review* , on A Red Herring Without Mustard “Original, charming, devilishly creative.”—Bookreporter, on I Am Half-Sick of Shadows “Delightful and entertaining.”*—San Jose Mercury News, *on* Speaking from Among the Bones* From the Hardcover edition. ### Review **Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Winn Award, and Arthur Ellis Award** **** “If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.” *—USA Today* “Irresistibly appealing.” *—The New York Times Book Review* , on A Red Herring Without Mustard “Original, charming, devilishly creative.”—Bookreporter, on I Am Half-Sick of Shadows “Delightful and entertaining.”*—San Jose Mercury News, *on* Speaking from Among the Bones*

A haunting Russian tale about the environmental legacy of the Cold War. Yerzhan grows up in a remote part of Kazakhstan where the Soviets tests atomic weapons. As a young boy he falls in love with the neighbour’s daughter and one evening, to impress her, he dives into a forbidden lake. The radio-active water changes Yerzhan. He will never grow into a man. While the girl he loves becomes a beautiful woman. Why Peirene chose to publish this book: ‘Like a Grimm’s Fairy tale, this story transforms an innermost fear into an outward reality. We witness a prepubescent boy’s secret terror of not growing up into a man. We also wander in a beautiful, fierce landscape unlike any other we find in Western Literature. And by the end of Yerzhan’s tale we are awe-struck by our human resilience in the face of catastrophic, man-made, follies.’

In Benjamin Percy's new thriller, a post-apocalyptic reimagining of the Lewis and Clark saga, a super flu and nuclear fallout have made a husk of the world we know. A few humans carry on, living in outposts such as the Sanctuary-the remains of St. Louis-a shielded community that owes its survival to its militant defense and fear-mongering leaders. Then a rider comes from the wasteland beyond its walls. She reports on the outside world: west of the Cascades, rain falls, crops grow, civilization thrives. But there is danger too: the rising power of an army that pillages and enslaves every community they happen upon. Against the wishes of the Sanctuary, a small group sets out in secrecy. Led by Lewis Meriwether and Mina Clark, they hope to expand their infant nation, and to reunite the States. But the Sanctuary will not allow them to escape without a fight

When Inspector Peter Glebsky arrives at a remote ski chalet, he intends to ski, drink brandy, and loaf around in blissful solitude. But the chalet’s other vacationers—a famous hypnotist, a physicist with a penchant for gymnastic feats, and a large handful of others—are a nuisance, and so is the avalanche that soon cuts the inn off from civilization. And then there’s the dead body, which may not even be human… In this genre-bending novel, the Strugatskys gleefully upend the plot of many a Hercule Poirot mystery, and the result is much funnier, and much stranger, than anything ever written by Agatha Christie. “If Russian sci-fi can be said to have a soul, it resides with the Brothers Strugatsky… Delightful, and a must-read for a new generation of sci-fi fans everywhere.” “This is the Strugatskys at their best, at once silly and dead serious… It’s a ripping good yarn, which translator Josh Billings has rendered with great energy and wit.” “Does for science-fiction/detective hybridization what *Hard to Be a God* has done for sci-fi/fantasy.”

When Inspector Peter Glebsky arrives at the remote ski chalet on vacation, the last thing he intends to do is get involved in any police work. He's there to ski, drink brandy, and loaf around in blissful solitude.But he hadn't counted on the other vacationers, an eccentric bunch including a famous hypnotist, a physicist with a penchant for gymnastic feats, a sulky teenager of indeterminate gender, and the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Moses. And as the chalet fills up, strange things start happening-things that seem to indicate the presence of another, unseen guest. Is there a ghost on the premises? A prankster? Something more sinister? And then an avalanche blocks the mountain pass, and they're stuck.Which is just about when they find the corpse. Meaning that Glebksy's vacation is over and he's embarked on the most unusual investigation he's ever been involved with. In fact, the further he looks into it, the more Glebsky realizes that the victim may not even be human

Anne Scott's address was scribbled on a crumpled note in the pocket of Morse's smartest suit. Inspector Morse turned the corner of Canal Street, Jericho, on Wednesday afternoon. He hadn't planned a second visit, but was back the same day as officer in charge of a suicide investigation

The jogger ran north along the water's edge, the sand heavy underfoot after the night's rain. At the promontory he turned and headed back down the beach. In the distance he saw a figure walking towards him. Suddenly the person stumbled and fell, then just lay there not moving. Feeling uneasy, he ran forward. 'Are you all right?' The face that turned towards him was expressionless, the eyes cold. For the jogger, time seemed to stand still. Deep down inside him something came alive, something he had tried to bury for years. Then he saw the muzzle of the gun. It was pointed straight at him. He sank to his knees; everything in his mind went still…

The oldest Biblical manuscripts in existence, the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves near Jerusalem in 1947, only to be kept a tightly held secret for nearly fifty more years, until the Huntington Library unleashed a storm of controversy in 1991 by releasing copies of the Scrolls. In this gripping investigation authors Baigent and Leigh set out to discover how a small coterie of orthodox biblical scholars gained control over the Scrolls, allowing access to no outsiders and issuing a strict “consensus” interpretation. The authors’ questions begin in Israel, then lead them to the corridors of the Vatican and into the offices of the Inquisition. With the help of independent scholars, historical research, and careful analysis of available texts, the authors reveal what was at stake for these orthodox guardians: The Scrolls present startling insights into early Christianity—insights that challenge the Church’s version of the “facts.” More than just a dramatic expose of the intrigues surrounding these priceless documents, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception presents nothing less than a new, highly significant perspective on Christianity

The nightmare tale of the life and death of Dillon, American gangster. From the first to the last page, the ruthlessness of an inhuman killer is set down with stark realism. Chase’s second book

A serial killer more terrifying than you could ever imagine . . . Seventeen-year-old Megan Carver was an unlikely runaway. A straight-A student from a happy home, she studied hard and rarely got into trouble. Six months on, she's never been found. Missing persons investigator David Raker knows what it's like to grieve. He knows the shadowy world of the lost too. So, when he's hired by Megan's parents to find out what happened, he recognizes their pain - but knows that the darkest secrets can be buried deep. And Megan's secrets could cost him his life. Because as Raker investigates her disappearance, he realizes everything is a lie. People close to her are dead

A husband, a family, a comfortable life: Theodora Lestrange lives in terror of it all. With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh – and a disappointed suitor – far behind. She is bound for Rumania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence. She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians, replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle's master, Count Andrei Dragulescu. Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora's imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute – Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway. Before her sojourn is ended – or her novel completed – Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal.and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire

In this breathtaking sequel to Dead I Well May Be, "the most captivating crime novel of 2003" (Philadelphia Inquirer), the mercenary Michael Forsythe is forced to infiltrate an Irish terrorist cell on behalf of the FBI, confronting murder, mayhem, and the prospect of his own execution

Lola Dakota had to call in the police several times to restrain her abusive husband, but he always returned, so when they got wind of his plan to hire a hitman to kill her she agrees to play her part in the sting which would see both men arrested. It proves to be a great success, but several hours later and when her husband is under lock and key, Lola is truly dead -and by someone's hand. The police team on the original sting are in disarray, so Alex Cooper and Mike Chapman are swiftly in place to take over. Looking beyond her husband into her professional life, they discover a university department riddled with jealousies, extra-marital affairs, swindled funds and the unexplained disappearance of a student known to be a drug user. The one thing which seems to link all the players with all the misdemeanours is the university's research site on an island off Manhattan where they were investigating the remains of the Victorian isolation hospitals and lunatic asylums and the morgue – the deadhouse. But why Lola's murder is connected to the place is not so easy to prove, nor the identity of her killer

Sometimes it’s obvious that there’s a problem, but not how big it is…

In the spring of 1348, tales begin arriving in England of poisonous clouds fast approaching, which have overwhelmed whole cities and even countries, with scarcely a human being left. While some pray more earnestly and live yet more devoutly, others vow to enjoy themselves and blot out their remaining days on earth by drinking and gambling. And then there are those who hope that God's wrath might be averted by going on a pilgrimage. But if God was permitting his people to be punished by this plague, then it surely could only be because they had committed terrible sins? So when a group of pilgrims are forced to seek shelter at an inn, their host suggests that the guests should tell their tales. He dares them to tell their stories of sin, so that it might emerge which one is the best.That is, the worst…

When the Witchmen caused the earth to move and called forth the fires from the mountain’s inner depths, the Moon Maidens, Ahrmehnee, and Thoheeks Bili’s troops barely escaped with their lives. Driven by the flames into territory said to be peopled by monstrous half-humans, Bili was forced to choose between braving the dangers of nature gone mad or fighting the savage natives on their own ground. But before he could decide, his troops were spotted by the beings who claimed this eerie land as their own and would use powerful spells of magic and illusion to send any intruders to their doom

In this award-winning collection, the bestselling author of Gilead offers us other ways of thinking about history, religion, and society. Whether rescuing Calvinism and its creator Jean Cauvin from the repressive puritan stereotype, or considering how the McGuffey readers were inspired by Midwestern abolitionists, or the divide between the Bible and Darwinism, Marilynne Robinson repeatedly sends her reader back to the primary texts that are central to the development of American culture but little read or acknowledged today. A passionate and provocative celebration of ideas, the old arts of civilization, and life's mystery, The Death of Adam is, in the words of Robert D. Richardson, Jr., a grand, sweeping, blazing, brilliant, life-changing book

From Booker-shortlisted Irish author, two families living the dream in small town America are forced to confront their guilty secrets in the aftermath of a shocking death. This is just after the financial crash — people are beginning to discover the depth of the mess and all of a sudden the American dream is beginning to look tawdry. Michael Collins’s bravura novel begins with a spectacular death on a highway as a woman choses to drive off a bridge into a lake rather than face the reality of a recent cancer diagnosis. It soon emerges that the cancer diagnosis is not the only secret the woman has been hiding. When her husband dies soon after, the real nature of an apparently happy marriage is inexorably exposed, adultery, lies, corruption, the list goes on, and the couple’s son Norman has to somehow make sense of it all. Norman finds the life he has carefully constructed for himself decompose, and in the process mirrors the need for realignment that the greater world also has to face. He makes the unexpected discovery of the real treasures of life; in Norman’s case, love, and a brother he never imagined existed

A panoramic novel covering four generations of Mexican history, as recalled by a dying industrialist

"Put Cormac McCarthy, Franz Kafka and Benny Hill together in a Brighton Seaside Guesthouse, and they might just come up with Bunny Munro." – Irvine Welsh "Cocksman, Salesman, Deadman; Bunny Munro might not be Everyman, but every man ought to read this book. And read it half in stitches, half in tears." – David Peace The Death of Bunny Munro recounts the last journey of a salesman in search of a soul. Following the suicide of his wife, Bunny, a door-to-door salesman and lothario, takes his son on a trip along the south coast of England. He is about to discover that his days are numbered. With a daring hellride of a plot The Death of Bunny Munro is also modern morality tale of sorts, a stylish, furious, funny, truthful and tender account of one man's descent and judgement. The novel is full of the linguistic verve that has made Cave one of the world's most respected lyricists. It is his first novel since the publication of his critically acclaimed debut And the Ass Saw the Angel twenty years ago

In the US published under the title No Blade of Grass. This novel is perhaps one of the best treatments of the ecological disaster theme, written with both intelligence and a clear understanding of the human condition when faced with life-threatening circumstances. The storyline starts out with the news that a deadly, resilient plant virus known as the Chung-Li virus has virtually wiped all cereal crops, including rice, in China. Due to an initial Chinese government decision to suppress details of the ensuing famine, the full scale of the disaster is not made known until it is quite too late. Vaccine developed hastily by Western countries proves ultimately to be ineffective and before long, the virus has rapidly spread, reaching Europe including England and wiping out all the cereal crops (with the exception of potatoes) and grass of that particular region. Life in England starts breaking down with catastrophic consequences and the story then focuses on the attempts of the protagonist John Custance, his family and close friends, to reach safety in northern England where his brother has a farm newly set up for potato farming

November 1918: World War I had just ended and the deadly Spanish flu was raging across the world. Max Shertok, an immigrant US Army Private, leaves his Big Red One fighting unit in France to rescue his parents from civil war in Russia. On his way East he meets Zalmund Hofitz and Deena Wójick, renegades from the Bolshevik Revolution. The pair had fought police in the mayhem of worker revolts in Poland, carried guns for the Bolsheviks in the Red Terror in Moscow, and ran contraband for the crime syndicate in the decadence of Kyiv. Together, the explosive triangle produces love, betrayal, arrest and mass murder in the chaos that consumed Europe after the Peace. Will Max make it through the Cossacks, White Army, Anarchists, Ukrainian Nationals and Bolsheviks to his parents and back home to the US? Based on real people and true stories of the most tumultuous time of the Century