"The hags shook the dead and woke the trees.They're coming to get the lonely three.The huntress, the bird and the silver tonguedmust leave it all behindto find out what happened to the one."Rosie collected herbs throughout Lakewood Trees all the time, but she never expected to collect a silver-haired boy from a crater created by a lightning bolt. He couldn't speak. His clothes were tattered and his only possession was a whispering key clutched tightly in...

Something is happening in Apartment 1B. Mr. Talos can hear it through the walls but his son won't believe him. His neighbours won't listen.Take a step through the door of each apartment if you dare and discover their dark secrets as you search for clues to whatever is looming in Apartment 1B.

Welcome to Shorts, a collection of short stories from Michael Stoneburner, author of the He Was A Boy Who Smiles series and We Need To Talk About This anthology. Take a trip into a collection of tales that are woven together to create a sense of hope, laughter, tears, hard truths and imagination. Michael takes the readers through tales about people who connect with people, allows the readers to imagine their own conclusions, their own heroes and their own voices speak to them through beaut...

If he was a phoenix falling, then what brought him to his doom?Michael's life was falling apart. His parents, still in their twenties, struggled to raise not two, but three children. His loving mom grew more and more distant. The Shadow Monster continued to haunt and rampage the triangle house at night. Michael struggled not to be the curse of the family and be the normal boy everyone wanted him to be.His new teacher, Ms. West, might have been a witch. She seemed to have co...

If he was a phoenix rising, then what brought him to his ashes?He was a child of the 80's, born in Phoenix, Arizona. He had young parents, barely into adulthood: a father who was always chasing after his hopes and dreams and a mother who loved her husband irrevocably. The only thing Michael had to worry about was starting Kindergarten and learning how to read so he could read his comics to his infant brother and crazy cat. Everything seemed idyllic.Then things started going...

When Sophie's friend Anisha is sent on her first foreign trip in her job at a travel agency - and gets to take Sophie with her - she jumps at the chance of some time away.But what Sophie doesn't realise is that there is a catch - a rather large catch. The five-star hotel is also a world-renowned golf resort. And its owners have offered the holiday on the basis of the girls' golfing prowess. Of which they possess quite literally none...A laugh-out-loud short story from the b...

When 16-year-old Tessa suffers a shocking accident in gym class, she finds herself in heaven (or what she thinks is heaven), which happens to bear a striking resemblance to her hometown mall. In the tradition of It's a Wonderful Life and The Christmas Carol, Tessa starts reliving her life up until that moment. She sees some things she'd rather forget, learns some things about herself she'd rather not know, and ultimately must find the answer to one burning questi...

In this thrilling first book of the Powder Mage Trilogy, civil unrest has crippled the citizens of Adro in the aftermath of the revolution that obliterated the monarchy—now, Field Marshal Tamas and his lieutenants must confront the true cost of freedom.It's a bloody business overthrowing a king ...Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Na...

A new short story from Australia's queen of hard-hitting family drama.A short story for fans of Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve.Step into the fragile domestic world of Roar and discover the unforgettable voice of Nicole Trope, bestselling author of The Secrets in Silence, Three Hours Late and The Boy Under the Table.*The baby sleeps peacefully, filled with milk and contentment. The man on the bed breathes his way into the da...

For fans of Alice Hoffman and Kate Morton, The White Hare is a spellbinding novel about mothers and daughters finding a new home for themselves, the secrets they try to bury, and the local legends that may change their lives.In the far west of Cornwall lies the White Valley, which cuts deeply through bluebell woods down to the sea at White Cove. The valley has a long and bloody history, laced with folklore, and in it sits a house above the beach that has l...

An art student and monster's apprentice must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people in this riveting sequel to the mesmerizing, acclaimed book Daughter of Smoke & Bone by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor.*Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.This is not that world.*Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. Sh...

Previously published in the print anthology Partners in Crime.Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are called to duty at an international detective agency. On assignment, they are told to be wary of the number sixteen. If they see it in writing or hear it in conversation with a stranger, that means they are close to finding the spy ring they seek.