Oliver has a special gift: he can tell when something isn’t true! Like the child’s voice that calls to him in the dark. When Oliver visits his friends at Raelem Estate, he finds darkness everywhere - and mystery. What links unexplained deaths and a stone pool? And what ancient terror lies hidden beneath the pool’s dark water? Join Oliver as he unravels the mystery and travels to a place that touches the very edge of our world. Dark Water is Mike Pieloor’s debut novelette Length: ~9,500 words
When canine heroes Max, Rocky, and Gizmo encounter a lavish riverboat moored close to shore, they're wary of what they might find on board. But as they're welcomed by a friendly community of dogs, the trio discover that there's more to their new world than they expected. These dogs have seen humans -- who Max, Rocky, and Gizmo thought had disappeared without a trace. The brave companions meet new friends and encounter old enemies in their search for their people, traveling to places they never imagined -- from a high-speed monorail to a zoo filled with exotic animals. Max, Rocky, and Gizmo uncover secrets that promise to change their lives forever as they draw closer to figuring out why the humans left and being reunited with their families. The Last Dogs: Dark Waters is the second book in a thrilling series about three friends on a journey to find their people -- and bring them home.
In Nancy Springer’s enthralling fourth volume of the Book of Isle, two young princes set out to destroy their own father and the pervasive evil that poisons the kingdom An epic saga set in an ageless island stronghold of magic and mystery, Nancy Springer’s Book of Isle series is considered by many to be among the most accomplished offerings in all of fantasy literature, as lyrical and inventive as the classic works of J. R. R. Tolkien. In this unforgettable novel, a violent rift in a royal house threatens to tear an entire kingdom asunder. The next in line to rule the troubled realm of Melior, Prince Tirell gave his heart to the gentle and beautiful peasant girl Mylitta. But she died at the cruel whim of Tirell’s father, the king, who insists on a more politically expedient match for his rebellious son. Since the murder of his love, Tirell’s heart has hardened, and now, with the aid of his younger brother, Frain, the healer, he seeks an army that will help him defeat the evil, unrepentant monarch. All hope for victory in the war to come awaits the brothers somewhere deep in the mysteries of the Vale, where a beautiful goddess also dwells. But a sinister presence is spreading its malevolence throughout the land—and Melior can never again be truly whole until the kingdom is rid of the terrible scourge of the Black Beast.
She came walking out of the desert, just as the famous poet Rimbaud had centuries before. Now the nameless woman lies horribly scarred and close to death in an asylum deep in the North African desert. An Australian official, a man code-named John Devlin, has come to question her. It is clear that the woman and Devlin share some kind of past, and all kinds of secrets. As the wind calls up a deadly sandstorm, the inhabitants of the asylum discover they are linked by a diary written by Rimbaud. Over the next 120 years, everyone who sees the diary will want it. Most will do anything to possess it. For the ruthless Polish aristocrat Aleksander Walenska, the diary holds secrets that will bring him wealth and power; for his troubled and religious son Czeslaw, it is a book of death, a penance to be fulfilled by sacrifice; for Czeslaw’s sister, it is a book of the desert that will redeem her family’s name; for Devlin, the diary is worthless and the desert is not a place of revelation but of modern terrorism. Only the nameless woman, whose dark past is entwined with those who would possess Rimbaud’s diary at any cost, knows the true worth of the book . . .
Danny North Star and Alice Sinclair are two women living in two alternate realities but who share the same fight to win the freedom to live their own lives and choose their own fates. As Alice battles with herself over whether she's as crazy as everyone says she is or if it's the world she lives in that's insane, she loses herself in Danny's story, told to her through an enchanted journal only she can read. It's a cautionary tale of just how far those in power will go to keep their place on top - and the steep cost to be paid by those the powerful exploit who strive to change their fate. Reading Danny's accounts of enslavement and torture at the hands of one magical society, Alice realizes she shouldn't be asking herself if she was crazy or sane... ...but whether or not madness was better than the alternative.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author and “queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory comes the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller Wideacre as the once-great Lacey estate is restored to its former grandeur—though not without cost. The Wideacre estate is bankrupt. The villagers are living in poverty and formerly stunning hall is a smoke-blackened ruin. But, in the Dower House nearby, two children are being raised in protected innocence. Equal claimants to the estate, rivals for the love of the village, they are tied by a secret childhood betrothal but forbidden to marry. Only one can be the favored child—only one can inherit the magical understanding between the land and the Lacey family that can make the Sussex village grow green again. Only one can be Beatrice Lacey’s true heir. Sensual, gripping, and mystical, The Favored Child irresistibly sweeps the reader into a world of secrets, betrayals, and power in this revolutionary period of English history.
The Master of Edaun; Blood of Brothers The righteous warriors shall prevail!' Three men meet in the military. The men discover from each other their lives mirrored each other. Each man, Native Americans and taught the artistry of weapons and the visions of medieval warfare. Odd each discovered the others grew up the same way. Yeah all had twisted crazy fathers right? To top it all off they each enjoy the life as knights and swordsmanship. Any way after their stints in the military they decide to join together as archaeologist. During one of their digs, they discover another world. A world where evil rules. Our long time friends journey deep into a world where evil has taken over. Was their fathers seers of the future? Or do things really connect? Human kind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.... -Chief Seattle- *** Hunter, the lead character in the book, is helped by his long time friends Jinx and Tunk. Three Scottish brothers OCey, Mac and Dilman join in battle for the freedom of Rhea. Young Dil introduces a new gift he has developed. This gift helps in the crusade but could be dangerous. An evil wizard, Alexar, controls from the captured fortress Edaun. His rule is ruthless as he heads murderers, thieves and the nasty creatures that roam this island called Rhea. Step into the Master's world... The righteous will come, and the giants will be avengers of the slain. The people will arise and the eagles will again take flight. Thorn The Master of Edaun
Wrack awakes in a shallow, mossy grave with no memory of how he got there or who he is. Shards of his former life return in brief flashes of color, as Wrack traverses a bleak world, where seemingly immortal creatures with godlike power—the Doomed—wage war on each other and the living alike. A power awakens within him, and with it, a dark hunger. Wrack and his unexpected companions—the beautiful warrior Brin and clever Avar—each seek something different: answers, vengeance, stories. Their disparate goals are more entwined than they ever imagined, and the three soon find their fates may be inextricably bound through prophecy.
This anthology of original work is divided into three sections: "Rhymes" - hilarious anecdotes of small town characters: town drunks, village idiots, drifters, beggars, outsiders, misers, moonshiners; the infirmed, poor and misunderstood, and more! "Crimes" - eleven short stories of horror, suspense, science fiction, mystery and the supernatural, sure to keep you awake at night! "Other Pastimes" - soulful poetry by the author over 50 years of experience and world travel.
Ever hear of Jenny Greenteeth? That's a kind of hag that lives in dangerous pools, so the folktales say. She grabs kids by the ankles and drags them down to drown. Of course we know how stories like that get started. They were invented to keep kids from danger. You know, the bogeyman strategy. "Don't you play near that pool, or Jenny Greenteeth will get you!" Only, suppose it's not a story? Suppose it's real? Jo's fear of dark water is not just fear, it's a full-blown, stomach-churning, paralyzing phobia. Determined to beat it, she dares to swim in this forest-shadowed pool, with its ink-dark surface that never reflects the sky. Under the surface it isn't really dark, just dim and green. The surface glimmers overhead. Jo looks down. Silver minnows fan out from beneath her feet. Below them the green light fades into darkness. Deeper still, at the farthest edge of the light, a pale shape moves. Not a fish. Something larger. It rises toward her.
