Stars in the Darkness is a collection of stories about why being just matters, and what the ramifications are for individuals, groups, towns, countries, or even worlds if justice is not expected, encouraged, or enforced.The stories cover a wide range, from historical fiction to fantasy to alternate realities. Every tale, whether set in ancient Egypt, in a future where only the rich can afford to increase their children’s intelligence through genetic engineering, or about a man turn...

Stranded on Portsmouth Island, William Hill struggled to survive even as The Fever raced across the world leaving a scattered wasteland of the dead and dying in its wake. The news brought stories of storms and riots, of people starving while the government promised food.Two weeks before, life had made sense. The outlook hadn't been bright, but he understood it. Faced with dwindling supplies and a disease so virulent some wondered if humanity might be facing its own extinction, Will...

Monsters + Humor + Fun = THE NOTEBOOK OF DOOM! This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow! Alexander has just moved to a new town where he is about to uncover all sorts of monsters! He finds an old notebook with the word "DOOM" i...

A beautiful reporter. A secret ritual in a graveyard. A disembodied hand on the side of the road. Mike Hammer returns in one of the most shocking cases of his storied career.Private Investigator Mike Hammer may be getting older, but he hasn’t lost his step. So when he spots a brutally destroyed corpse on the side of the road in upstate New York, unrecognizable as human except for the disembodied hand lying next to it, there’s no question of him not taking the case....

Patrice is finally comfortable in her life as a gorgon. By day, she rules the Mt. Olympus reception area with a fist of iron, a glare of stone, and a headful of snakes. After hours, she sneaks around "borrowing" magical items from other departments to aid in her secret missions to help people behind the scenes.She thinks she's covered her tracks until a powerful goddess comes to her for a favor. If Patrice agrees to help, she could start a war with all the witches of ancient Greece...

Forgotten memories. Supernatural abilities. Mysterious tattoos.After waking in an alleyway with no memories, a strange tattoo, and a supernatural ability—Lena knows something extraordinary happened to her. When a deep guiding instinct hums to life inside her, she sets out into the unknown in hopes of unlocking secrets to her past.Now, hitchhiking around the country with nothing but a personalized bracelet as proof of a life she once led, Lena must ...

DOWN THESE DARK STREETS…Most folks see Puyallup as the worst Seattle’s got to offer; a tangled mess of metahumanity and greed, poverty and slums, vice and corruption, where crime is more organized than the government. They call it a Barrens, an armpit, a cesspool.Jimmy Kincaid, though, calls it home. Walking the line between shadows and the desperate light, semi-legit like only a local brat and former cop can be, he insists Puyallup has a heart and a soul, ...

In this impressive anthology, twenty of today's hottest urban fantasy writers—including Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Maberry, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan Mcguire, and C. E. Murphy—pair together to write ten original stories featuring their favorite series characters.Worlds collide when two different urban fantasy series meet in each of the ten electrifying stories in this collaborative project, featuring beloved characters such as Peter Octavian and Dahlia Lynley-Chivers, Joanne Walker ...

THE MEANEST STREETS...James Kincaid is the type of guy who might be described as down on his luck, if only he’d had some luck to begin with. Like so many people in the shadows of Seattle, he’s trying to get by with what he has. In his case, that includes a lively spirit, a sadly diminished magical talent, quick wits, and good knowledge of the twists and turns of the city’s dingy streets and back alleys. He puts all that to the service of whatever clients he can dig...

Tense, tightly-focused, and brimming with corrosive wit, Hidden Wounds is absolutely addictive—every page is a gripping reminder of O’Flynn’s grasp on the thriller genre and the hidden psychology of serial killers. Fans of Claire MacKintosh, Chelsea Cain, and Gilly MacMillion will love the Born Bad series.She’s not fragile like a poppy. She’s fragile like a bomb.Poppy Pratt isn’t sure whether it’s normal for a recently widowed psyc...

Praise for Jeffrey Ford:"Outstanding. . . . Ford uses . . . incongruously lyrical phrases to infuse the everyday with a nebulous magic."—Publishers Weekly, Best Books of the Year(Starred Review)"For lovers of the weird and fantastic and lovers of great writing, this is a treasure trove of disturbing visions, new worlds and fully realized craft."—Shelf Awareness (Starred Review)"Properly creepy, but from time to time deliciously funny and heart-brea...

The farther we’ve gotten from the magic and mystery of the past, the more we've come to love Halloween—the one time each year when the mundane is overturned in favor of the bizarre, the “other side” is closest, and everyone can become anyone (or anything) they wish . . . and sometimes what they don’t. Introducing nineteen original stories from mistresses and masters of the dark celebrate the most fantastic, enchanting, spooky, and supernatural of holidays.