CHRISTMAS ELVES: EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW IS WRONG Newly appointed Christmas Special Investigator Steingrim Og's first day on the job is interrupted by a murder and theft of a magic item, which threatens to destroy all society at the North Pole. With no mentor, on the job training is all Steingrim has to rely on. Fighting racism, corruption, and politics, Steingrim finds his first case more complex than he imagined. He only has five days to find the murderer and the missing magic item or everything the Elves know will come undone.
“An extraordinary real-life adventure of men battling the elements and themselves, told with ice-cold precision.” –Kirkus Reviews (starred review) In the dark years following the Civil War, America’s foremost Arctic explorer, Charles Francis Hall, became a figure of national pride when he embarked on a harrowing, landmark expedition. With financial backing from Congress and the personal support of President Grant, Captain Hall and his crew boarded the Polaris, a steam schooner carefully refitted for its rigorous journey, and began their quest to be the first men to reach the North Pole. Neither the ship nor its captain would ever return. What transpired was a tragic death and whispers of murder, as well as a horrifying ordeal through the heart of an Arctic winter, when men fought starvation, madness, and each other upon the ever-shifting ice. Trial by Ice is an incredible adventure that pits men against the natural elements and their own fragile human nature. In this powerful true story of death and survival, courage and intrigue aboard a doomed ship, Richard Parry chronicles one of the most astonishing, little known tragedies at sea in American history. “ABSORBING . . . Suspense builds as Parry describes the events leading up to Hall’s ‘murder,’ then climaxes in horrifying detail.” –Publishers Weekly “RIVETING.” –Library Journal
A satire of traditional Christmas stories and noir. A hardboiled elf is framed for murder in a North Pole world that plays reindeer games for keeps, and where favorite holiday characters live complex lives beyond December. Fired from his longtime job as captain of the Coal Patrol, two-foot-three inch 1,300-year-old elf Gumdrop Coal is angry. He's one of Santa's original elves, inspired by the fat man's vision to bring joy to children on that one special day each year. But somewhere along the way things went sour for Gumdrop. Maybe it was delivering one too many lumps of coal for the Naughty List. Maybe it's the conspiracy against Christmas that he's starting to sense down every chimney. Either way, North Pole disillusionment is nothing new: Some elves brood with a bottle of nog, trying to forget their own wish list. Some get better. Some get bitter. Gumdrop Coal wants revenge. Justice is the only thing he knows, and so he decides to give a serious wakeup call to parents who can't keep their vile offspring from landing on the Naughty List. But when one parent winds up dead, his eye shot out with a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model BB gun, Gumdrop Coal must learn who framed him and why. Along the way he'll escape the life-sucking plants of the Mistletoe Forrest, battle the infamous Tannenbomb Giant, and survive a close encounter with twelve very angry drummers and their violent friends. The horrible truth lurking behind the gingerbread doors of Kringle Town could spell the end of Christmas-and of the fat man himself. Holly Jolly!
“Exceptional…the perfect holiday entertainment.”— Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW This Christmas season, travel to the North Pole you’ve never seen before—where Santa’s new wife, April Claus, is not only set on creating the perfect holiday—she’s also set on solving the perfect crime… Love is full of surprises—though few compare to realizing that you’re marrying the real-life Santa. April Claus dearly loves her new husband, Nick, but adjusting to life in the North Pole is not all sugarplums and candy canes. Especially when a cantankerous elf named Giblet Hollyberry is killed—felled by a black widow spider in his stocking—shortly after publicly arguing with Nick. Christmastown is hardly a hotbed of crime, aside from mishaps caused by too much eggnog, but April disagrees with Constable Crinkle’s verdict of accidental death. As April sets out to find the culprit, it’ll mean putting the future of Christmas on the line—and hoping her own name isn’t on a lethal naughty list . . .
Beginning as America's first attempt to reach the North Pole, an expedition ended with the captain's suspicious death, a brutal struggle for survival, and a government cover-up. This harrowing account of the 130-year old mystery of the "U.S.S. Polaris" presents information from transcripts of the Navy inquest, the ship's log, autopsy and forensic reports, and the personal papers of the captain and crew.
April Claus knows being married to the real Santa makes every day feel like Christmas. But when a different holiday arrives at the North Pole, so does murder . . . For the first time ever, Christmastown is celebrating a strange new tradition—Halloween. But not everyone is willing to watch their dependable winter wonderland get overrun by carved pumpkins and costume parties. As a series of scary happenings hit Santaland, each one more intense than the last, April realizes having a role in the festivities could cost her family, friends—even her own life. April isn’t the only unlucky target. Outspoken elf Tiny Sparkletoe is found dead in the snow outside his cottage, crushed in the middle of what appears to be a monstrous footprint. With mayhem descending like reindeer on rooftops, April must stop the Halloween killer before the fate of Mrs. Claus becomes another creepy tale to tell in the dark . . . “An exceptional series launch . . . This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Was the Mafia involved in the 1972 disappearance of the plane carrying Congressmen Hale Boggs and Nick Begich, or was it just a simple case of bad weather? Who murdered the postmistress in Ruby? How did the Alaska State Troopers use cutting-edge science to find Sophie Sergie's killer? How does crime differ from one part of Alaska to another? Alaska has always had a high rate of violent crime. From the gold rush to the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to the heyday of king crab fishing, the state's rich resources have attracted eager workers and criminals alike. Travel through time and space with true-crime writer Robin Barefield as she tells you about murder and mystery in Alaska from the early 1900s to the present day and from Juneau to Kiana, Nome, Anchorage, Kodiak, and places in between. Learn about serial killers Ed Krause, Richard Bunday, Gary Zieger, Robert Hansen, and Israel Keyes. Why did Michael Silka suddenly start killing the residents of remote Manley Hot Springs, and what reason did Louis Hastings have for murdering his neighbors in McCarthy? Why was no one ever caught and convicted for the gruesome massacre on the fishing boat Investor? Alaska is vast and breathtaking, but it can also be deadly. Take a road trip and learn about Alaska's past and present through its violent crime. Get a glimpse of murder and mystery in the Last Frontier.
DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "North-Pole Voyages" (Embracing Sketches of the Important Facts and Incidents in the Latest American Efforts to Reach the North Pole, from the Second Grinnell Expedition to That of the Polaris) by Zachariah Atwell Mudge. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
A Booklist Best Literary Travel Book (2017) and Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book (2016) “A penetrating study of human character in a challenging environment. . . . [David Welky’s] seamless narrative, chilling at times and always thought-provoking, transports the reader to a time when the Arctic was virtually as harsh and inaccessible a place as the Moon or Mars.” —Natural History From a snow-swept hill in the ice fields northwest of Greenland, famed Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary spots a line of mysterious peaks dotting the horizon. In 1906, he names that distant, uncharted territory “Crocker Land.” Years later, two of Peary’s disciples, George Borup and Donald MacMillan, take the brave steps Peary never did: with a team of amateur adventurers and intrepid native guides, they endeavor to reach this unknown land and fill in the last blank space on the globe. What follows is hardship and mishap the likes of which none of the explorers could possibly have imagined. From howling blizzards and desperate food shortages to crime and tragedy, the explorers experience a remarkable journey of endurance, courage, and hope. Set in one of the world’s most inhospitable places, A Wretched and Precarious Situation is an Arctic tale unlike any other.
