Showing results by author "M.A.S.M.M" in All Categories

Through his connection to the Wraith King, Connor has access to far more power than he realizes. His shadow blades give him the strength of a god, granting him the limitless potential of a man with no equal. But no matter what good Connor does, the people still fear him. Even those he saves run screaming in his overwhelming presence. He wields the sort of power people unite to destroy, and word of his growing abilities spreads fast.

Everyone could see it coming. But one man could do something about it. Oh, he couldn't avert the nuclear holocaust, but a scientist in Austria, ruthlessly using billions of research dollars for his own purposes, set himself up and out: he created a time machine, and filled a warehouse with low-tech survival gear. Too bad he didn't get to use it himself. Instead, a team of American grad students, led by their professor, is sent back to the late Roman Empire. Even though they are experts in this time and place, they are about to realize that books and actual experience are very different things.

Sophia Cova lived a quiet, normal life, shadowed in sadness after the loss of her parents in a tragic airline accident. With her older brother being her only living relative and her anchor, Sophia is sure she’s destined for a brighter future. But that was before she was taken. Stolen from her mundane, orderly life, she was drugged and woke to every woman’s worst nightmare.

DCI Tom Raven is enjoying the long summer days when an encounter with an old army pal spouting conspiracy theories reignites long-buried memories he would rather forget. A few days later, walkers crossing the North York Moors discover the burnt remains of a body beside a stone cross on a Bronze Age burial mound. When the investigation leads to a top-secret military base, Raven is drawn into a plot that threatens national security.

Eighteen of the very best American short stories, each a classic in its own right. Stories include "The Little Frenchman and his Water Lots", by George Pope Morris; "The Angel of the Odd", by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Schoolmasters’s Progress", by Caroline M.S. Kirkland; "The Watkinson Evening", by Eliza Leslie; "Titbottom’s Spectacles", by George William Curtis; "My Double and "How He Undid Me", by Edward Everett Hale; "A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters", by Oliver Wendell; and more.

Princess Bellanova has survived in the shadows for years. An exile haunted by a curse that plunged her family into a deathless sleep and left her home rotting, Nova has spent seven years trying to endure while honing her gifts—and now she will use those gifts to walk into death. For rumor has it that Luminor, the Blade of Light—the cursed weapon that felled her family—is buried in the underworld. If Nova can steal it, she might break the spell and reclaim the kingdom.

Cinco anos após sobreviver ao Degolador de Grimvel, Cassie Kane retorna à sua cidade natal. Mas sua chegada reacende um ciclo de terror: o assassino volta à matança e, desta vez, parece ter o objetivo crucial de provocá-la. Deixando recados em cadáveres, presentes misteriosos à sua porta e uma trilha de sangue em seu caminho.

"A gift that is not freely given loses its worth. And when it's forcibly taken, a gift can become a curse." Reim was raised for one purpose: to inherit the Vuorian throne—a crown that demands she protect her fractured, volatile kingdom from those within its walls who seek to ruin it—the Unnamed. A destiny few believe she can fulfill. Least of all, Reim herself. With her beloved father's health rapidly declining, and the threat of insurrection looming, she makes a desperate deal—sealed in magic and blood—with an enigmatic Unnamed man known only as the healer.

The Ancient Woods of Saldia hold secrets. The gnarled oaks are home to murderers, slavers, and the legendary blightwolves that ravage the countryside by the light of the twin moons. In a world of rabid wolves the size of horses, not-so-extinct dragons, and magical reagents that grow over every inch of the land, tonight is unique. Tonight, a merciless king dies alone in the forest. Tonight, an usurper rises from within the ranks of the king's trusted noblemen. Tonight, ancient enchantments are unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

The lost queen of a fallen empire returns to the land that betrayed her, wrapped not in silk but in secrets. To reclaim her stolen throne, she must court four rival kings—each powerful enough to destroy her, each dangerous enough to want her.

Lucille is trapped in the icy depths of Hell. Time is slipping away—her mother's life clings to Lucille's waning energy, while Aspen is stranded far beyond her reach when she needs him most. The only person who can help Lucille save Aspen is the cold, lethal general whose golden eyes make her pulse stutter, but how is she supposed to win his favor when he hates Aspen even more than he hates her? Forced into General Ronen's military, where pain and suffering are a way of life and survival demands blood, Lucille must train harder than ever if she hopes to convince the general to help her.

For five years Raj Whitehall has led his men across the face of the planet Bellevue. With saber and bayonet he has conquered one barbarian nation after another. Now his greatest enemy is his own overlord, Barholm Clerett, who’s so paranoid of Raj’s victories that he is reduced to only one thought: Raj Whitehall must die. 

Casia has survived her brother's attempts to crush her and her growing army, but the battle for their empire is just beginning. Bitter and wounded, carrying the curse of a dark and dangerous upper-god, and desperate for more allies, she charges northward to seek the elves who once walked alongside the divine beings. The elven Court of Moreth holds knowledge. Secrets. And power. The kind of power that could shift all of Casia's wars in her favor. If she can survive the dangerous politics and treacherous magic of the elf-kind.

It's Christmastime at the Bellamy ancestral home and all the Bellamy sisters have gathered to celebrate. But it isn't just the Bellamy siblings who've made the journey to Wych House with their spouses and families. Andrew Derrick, the Marquess of Shelton, would rather spend Christmas anywhere else but in the home of the woman he once abducted. But if he's ever going to mend his scandalous reputation and build a life for himself, then he'll need to face up to the actions that have defined his past.

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians. When you consider the depth of literary talent available over the extraordinary length of Queen Victoria’s reign, allied to the fascination with their all things spiritual on ‘the other side’, then perhaps it’s simply right place, right time. Whatever the reasons given or proffered the reality and known facts are that if you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your listening pleasure.

Duchess Benedicta de Montfort stands to inherit a fortune . . . if her guardian doesn't kill her first. The only way to avoid whatever the unscrupulous man has planned is to hide until Benna comes of age. With the help of a family retainer, Benna becomes Ben Piddock, a postilion seeking employment. Benna knows horses and she's been mistaken for a tall, skinny boy all her life—so how hard can it be? Very hard, it turns out—especially when she falls in love with her handsome employer, Jago Venable, the new Earl of Trebolton.

Surviving in a dangerous universe relies on having good neighbors. The Edenites have escaped the dumpster fire of authoritarian government on Earth only to discover their Kaerin neighbors on the other side of Eden’s quantum “street” want them dead. The friendly Jema have returned to Chandra in the hopes of freeing their home planet from the Kaerin, but they need help. The Jema need a toehold on Chandra from which to launch their revolution; the Edenites need allies, and the Kaerin are now faced with an enemy that doesn’t fight fair.

The story continues; our heroes have made it to Eden, only to realize their new home is one of many Earths. It's a world worth fighting for, but they aren't the only people who think so. Coexistence and peace are alien concepts to a new enemy that doesn't have a word for retreat.

When a viral apocalypse kills 97 percent of the people on the planet, the survivors' humanity is hanging by a thread. Amid the leftovers of civilization, ex-Army Ranger Jason Larsen is reminded of the meaning of hope, family, and loyalty by a dog and a young boy who are as alone as he is. The survivors he seems to collect become family, and that is very bad news for those who think they run the apocalypse.

Edited by three of the policymakers who led the government's response to the crisis, with chapters written by the teams tasked with finding policy solutions, this book provides a comprehensive accounting of the internal debates and controversies surrounding the measures that were taken to stabilize the financial system and the economy. Offering previously untold insight into the key choices (including rejected options) and a frank evaluation of successes and failures, this volume is both an important historical document and an indispensable guide for confronting future financial calamities.