Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang is a collection that combines the very strange with the heartbreakingly familiar. The stories present characters who face sudden and inevitable changes, such as the rise of automatons or the arrival of aliens, and must find a way to maintain some sense of normalcy.
With a blend of sharp intelligence and humor, Chiang's stories explore what it means to be alive in a world filled with uncertainty, beauty, and wonder. This collection includes the following stories:
Additionally, the collection features Story Notes that provide insights into the creation of each piece. Stories of Your Life and Others has been recognized as a contemporary classic and includes 'Story of Your Life,' which inspired the major motion picture Arrival.
Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon.
Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, and chargedâa place where she feels desperate to be accepted.
As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence.
The Girls is a spellbinding and arresting coming-of-age story that paints an indelible portrait of girls, and the women they become, during a time when everything can go horribly wrong.
In 2154, the world as we know it has fallen into oblivion. Mankind lives decimated and scattered in the remnants of the old world. But only a few know what really happened.
Growing up in a secluded city ruled by a dogmatic tyrant, Adam watches hunger starve the poor, sickness claim the young, and war kill his three older brothers. Turning seventeen, he has one year left before being forced to join the Grey Guard and follow his brothers into the unknown.
Wanting to put an end to the broken system and mindless war, to seek a life of harmony with the one he loves, he decides to do whatever it takes to bring the tyrant to his knees.
Felix Hartmann's powerful debut novel tells a tale of good and evil, truth and deceit, and paints a riveting and ruthless picture of a rebellious young man who must choose between surviving under a tyrannical regime and risking everything in an ultimate fight for freedom.
End of Watch is the spectacular finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers. In this thrilling conclusion, the diabolical "Mercedes Killer" drives his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney donât figure out a way to stop him, theyâll be victims themselves.
In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.
Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibneyâthe woman who delivered the blow to Hartsfieldâs head that put him on the brain injury ward. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Billâs heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara.
Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city. In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense. No one does it better than King.
Homegoing is a novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.
Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.
Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi's magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control. Homegoing is a tremendous reading experience, not to be missed, by an astonishingly gifted young writer.
Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?
Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed. That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.
When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each otherâand how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.
Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, You Know Me Well is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.
Beautifully written and richly illustrated. A sing song bedtime story sure to become a family favorite.
While Saitama's distracted at a martial arts tournament, Centichoro, a threat-level Dragon monster, attacks! Metal Bat engages it in battle but struggles against its gargantuan size. The monster knocks him into the distance and right into the path of hero-hunter Garo!
Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia and star of Meg Cabot's insanely popular #1 New York Times bestselling Princess Diaries books, has "penned" her first historical romance novel... with help from Meg Cabot.
He's a tall, handsome knight with a secret. She's an adventurous beauty with more than a few secrets of her own. Finnula needs money for her sister's dowry, and fast. Hugo Fitzstephen, returning home to England from the Crusades with saddlebags of jewels, has money, and lots of it. What could be simpler than to kidnap him and hold him for ransom?
Well, for starters, Finnula could make the terrible mistake of falling in love with her hostage.
A drastic change of heart.
A determined choice to commit.
An unexpected betrayal at a critical moment.
There is nothing like a birthday to give Hamilton Dinger something to look forward to in his busy life. With his new job as a part-time intern at the Mayorâs office, being a full-time high school student and starlight warrior has its challenges. Although he has the full support of his girlfriend, Gwen, and his best friend, Mikey, and even a tentative partnership with Starry Knight, his ally against the Seven Deadly Sinisters, Hamilton has definite cause for concern.
The arrival of SWORD, the growing demonic activity in Apollo City, and the increasingly negative media attention have sparked ongoing unrest among the city and its inhabitants. To gain more power, Elysian and Hamilton set off for the Celestial Kingdom to deepen his commitment through learning, new landscapes, and cosmic surfing. Evil forces continue in their quest for power and control. But when Hamilton finds uncertainty and distrust between his two worlds, will he be able to find the answers to his questions? Will he find the strength he needs to carry on? Will he realize the importance of his choices, and more importantlyâmake the right ones?
FROM THE BOOK:
There had been a feeling hanging over me in the past few weeks, a feeling that change was coming. It didn't click until that moment that change had already arrived. I was changing, things were changing, and I was finally okayâin fact, more than okayâwith that. It was flooring, the idea I was looking forward to something more in life than Tetris and being cheered on by my friends. Those things still mattered, of course, but there was more, and I was enthralled there was more.
Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.
Thereâs only one problem: sheâs not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Ayselâs convinced sheâs found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) whoâs haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each otherâs broken lives.
But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.
Ariel never knew aliens existed until she finds herself kidnapped and taken from Earth. When the Anzon declare humans useless, she learns her fate â prize for the winner of a brutal fight between large, muscled alien men.
Ral is a Zorn warrior. He has also been kidnapped by the Anzon, along with his crew. Forced into slavery, he's got one thing on his mind â freeing his people. That is, until he sees the small human woman he's willing to fight to win. He doesn't just want her body, he wants her heart forever.
In the hands of a hot alien, Ariel is about to discover how pleasurable captivity can be.
Two boys. Two secrets.
David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think heâs gay. The school bully thinks heâs a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth â David wants to be a girl.
On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal â to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for longâŚ
Note to Self
Love is patient; love is kind.
Love doesn't boast or brag.
There's no arrogance in love;
it's never rude, crude, or indecent-it's not self absorbed.
Love isn't easily upset.
Love doesn't tally wrongs.
Love trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.
Love will never become obsolete.
I'll fight for her.
Thief
Caleb Drake never got over his first love. Not when he got married. Not when she got married. When life suddenly comes full circle Caleb must decide how far he is willing to go to get the aloof and alluring Olivia Kaspen back. But for every action in life there is a consequence, and soon Caleb finds out that sometimes love comes at an unbearably high price.
Abby has been through hell and has survived one of the most brutal childhoods imaginable... barely. To the outside world, she is just a loner with an attitude.
When her grandmother dies in a tragic explosion, Abby is left with questionsâand nothing else. Homeless, sleeping in a junkyard, and on the run from a system that has failed her over and over again, she meets Jake, a tattooed blue-eyed biker with secrets that rival her own.
Two broken souls that can't be healed. They can't be saved. Abby & Jake have to decide if they can accept the darkness not only within one another, but within themselves. If they can accept each other for who they really are, they might learn that love isn't always found in the light.
Caution: This is not your typical romance. The story of Abby & Jake contains disturbing situations, graphic violence, sex, strong language, drug use, and all types of abuse.
I. Remember. Everything. Only now I wish I didn't. When the fog is sucked away from my mind like smoke through a vacuum, the truth that has been beyond my reach for months finally reveals itself. But the relief I thought I would feel never comes, and I'm more afraid now than I was the morning I woke up handcuffed in King's bed.
Because with the truth comes dark secrets I was never meant to know. I will put the lives of those I love most at risk if I let on that my memory has returned, or if I seek help from the heavily tattooed felon who owns me body and soul. I don't know if I'm strong enough to resist the magnetic pull toward King that grows stronger every day. He's already saved me in more ways than one. Now it's my turn to do whatever it takes to save him. Even if that means marrying someone else...
Voice From The East is a well-versed poetry book containing a collection of 35 very appealing poems. Most of these poems are written with a sense of emotional touch. The book consists of a vivid range of topics, touching on a variety of subjects. Some of these poems possess very deep meanings, trying to flash out the depth of life experiences.
This book is perfectly composed for readers as it covers all the ranges of poetry, touching the common aspects of human life. Based on common lifetime experiences, these poems are composed to reflect the various facets of life, joys, sorrow, pains, hope, victory, and morality.
The book features some very fine allegories, sonnets, free verses, fantasies, a ballad, and also a lyric. A few of these poems shed light on mythological subjects, historical events, religious sentiments, philosophies, imaginations, and the environment. Readers will find a very colorful presentation of the various phases of life.
When Gladiator Inc, an adult toy company, expands their market to familiarize the âvanillaâ world with the elements of BDSM, the result is a pay-per-view reality show with video feeds streamed live to subscribers. The show, Dom Wars, is a competition to determine the Top Dom that will become the spokesperson for the company.
The contestants all wear cameras to film every moment and angle of the competition, while they complete various challenges to determine who has ultimately Dominated various elements of themselves.
The hero and heroine of the series, Lucian Bane and Tara Reese, have barely made it into the Sixth and Final Round of Dom Wars. This week-long Survival Round will determine the Top Dom, once and for all.
The contestants are taken to an uninhabited island, where they will have to cross formidable jungle terrain. First Dom to reach the boat anchored on the other side of the island wins the million dollars and the title. Seems simple.
Except Lucianâs old adversary, the Sadist Jase Duff from Round One, has been tasked with making sure none of the five teams make it to the boat. If he is successful, he wins the prize, only it's not money that Jase Duff cares about, it's revenge on Lucian and Tara. And his sadistic need to inflict pain makes it game on.
Itâs 1814. Napoleon has escaped his imprisonment on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And at Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, five young ladies are secretly being trained for a world of spies, diplomacy, and war.
Tess Aubreyson canât run far enough or fast enough to escape the prophetic dreams that haunt her. Dreams bring nothing but death and grief, and Tess refuses to accept that she may be destined for the same madness that destroyed her mother.
Until her disturbing dreams become the only means of saving Lord Ravencross, the man she loves, and her fellow students at Stranje House. Tessâs old friend, the traitorous Lady Daneska, and Ghost, the ruthless leader of the Iron Crown, have returned to England, intent on paving the way for Napoleonâs invasion.
Can the young ladies of Stranje House prevail once more? Or is England destined to fall into the hands of the power-mad dictator?
Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and psychokinetic powers. She's unappreciated by her crass, dishonest family and finds solace in the books she devours at an astonishing rate. At just five-and-a-half, she's tackling complex math problems and immersing herself in the works of Dickens.
Despite her intellect and abilities, Matilda's life is far from perfect. Her parents are dismissive and self-absorbed, and her school is run by the tyrannical headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, who has a penchant for throwing children as if they were javelins. But Matilda is not one to be underestimated or downtrodden.
With a combination of cunning, patience, and a touch of magic, Matilda begins to turn the tables on her parents and Miss Trunchbull. Rallying with her beloved teacher, Miss Honey, Matilda devises clever plans to outsmart the grown-ups who underestimate her. Through her journey, she demonstrates that even a child can change her own story, proving that brains and kindness can triumph over brawn and cruelty.
Roald Dahl's Matilda is a testament to the power of imagination, the importance of education, and the unyielding strength of the human spirit, especially in someone so young.
The enemy is Other. The enemy is us.
Theyâre down here, theyâre up there, theyâre nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.
But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.
In these last days, Earthâs remaining survivors will need to decide whatâs more important: saving themselvesâŚor saving what makes us human.
Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He's strong and silent... and dead.
All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesnât want them.
The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the âdifferently biotic.â But the students donât want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isnât breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the âliving impairedâ from the people who want them to disappearâfor good.
When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?
As the eldest among her siblings, all her life Helena expected to become the next queen of Asyri. Her only desire was to be the best queen with the purest and most loving heartâand certainly the most powerful and bravest in the history of the kingdom.
She had proven her ability by winning all the tests given to her by the current queen, yet the crown was denied from her. With disappointment, and a feeling of betrayal and injustice, she found herself a new family who valued her and saw her worth, which led to her uncovering the mysteries of the entire kingdomâand her life.
The best way to answer all her questions is to get the authority of the queen. But that depends on her choice. Will she choose to stay with the family that she grew up with or will she remain with the new family she has discovered?
Amanda Wilson is all geared up for an exciting gap-year, travelling across Europe. She soon finds her plans thwarted when she is abandoned in France with only a cellarful of Chateau Plonk, a large, orange Space Hopper, and Old Ted, the dog, for company.
Fate has intervened to turn Amanda's life on its head. First, the campervan breaks down. Then her dopey son, Tom, who is staying in their house in the UK, begins wrecking it, one piece at a time. The jaw-dropping video Skype calls that her irrepressible mother insists on making are, by contrast, making Amanda's humdrum trip even less palatable.
Finally, she discovers that her new-found, French friend, Bibi Chevalier, had engineered a plan to ensure that her philandering husband would never stray again; unfortunately, Amanda is unwittingly drawn into the scheme, becoming a target.
Meanwhile, on a beach in Sydney, a lonely Todd Bradshaw realises that his first true love, Amanda Wilson, is definitely the only woman for him. Can he get back into her good books and hopefully back into her arms with his latest plan? Or will fate intervene yet again and turn everyone's lives upside down?
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff⌠TOMMASO, Book #2, Immortal Matchmakers, Inc. Series
SOMETIMES, HOT MEN CAN BE REAL MONSTERSâŚ
Tommaso Fierro is used to the finer things in lifeânice suits, nice car, nice house. Okay, his past isnât so nice, but thatâs in the past. Or at least it was until he blacked out after meeting the woman of his dreams.
Annnd possibly capturing her. Annnd possibly terrorizing her before she got away. Annnd discovering that heâs turning into a horrible creature he loathes with all his heart.
Luckily, thereâs a cure. Unluckily, it will require him to track this woman down and convince her to give him a second chance. But if he finds her, will she ever believe that heâs really not a monster?
The betrayal at the Requiem has passed, but the foreboding presence of the Dark Man still exists. While whispers of a new threat roll across the Dark Lands, Webb Thompson is plagued by a recurring nightmare that warns of a looming evil powerful enough to transform not just his life, but also that of his sister, Sundown, and her counselor, Raven.
After the Dark Man initiates a move that destabilizes the shaky balance of good and evil in the Dark Lands, Webb realizes the only resolution may lie within a shadowy region known to few and traversed by even less. But does the cryptic Not-Where hide the source of tribulation or is it a place to release more insidious forces?
As the paths of Webb, Sundown, and Raven surreptitiously intertwine, they realize too late that despite their caution and steadfastness, destiny cannot be tempered as new evils are unleashed, secrets are revealed, and a vast army rises. Now only time will tell if they can stop the Dark Man from escaping his otherworldly prison.
Seule survivante d'un groupe de pionniers après l'attaque de leur caravane par des Raïs, au nord de l'Empire, une fillette est recueillie par le peuple des Petits. Elle grandit dans la Forêt Maison à l'Êcart des hommes et dÊcide, à l'adolescence, de partir en quête de ses origines.
En chemin, sous le nom d'Ellana, elle croise le plus grand des marchombres, le maĂŽtre Jilano AlhuĂŻn, qui la prend pour ĂŠlève et l'initie aux secrets de sa guilde. Un apprentissage semĂŠ d'embĂťches, de rencontres et d'inimitiĂŠsâŚ
Au terme dâun voyage jusquâau RentaĂŻ avec Nillem, autre ĂŠlève marchombre, Ellana reçoit la Greffe et lâhĂŠritage marchombre. Mais des mercenaires du Chaos la traquent...
After walking through the portal in the Tower of Swallows while narrowly escaping death, Ciri finds herself in a completely different world... an Elven world. She is trapped with no way out. Time does not seem to exist and there are no obvious borders or portals to cross back into her home world.
But this is Ciri, the child of prophecy, and she will not be defeated. She knows she must escape to finally rejoin The Witcher, Geralt, and his companions - and also to try to conquer her worst nightmare. Leo Bonhart, the man who chased, wounded, and tortured Ciri, is still on her trail. And the world is still at war.
Translated from original Polish by David French, The Lady of the Lake is part of the New York Times bestselling series that inspired the hit Netflix show and the blockbuster video games, making it an essential read for fans of The Witcher universe.
Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchantersâthe only two in Russiaâand with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crownâs Game, an ancient duel of magical skillâthe greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsarâs most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanterâeven when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crownâs Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned withâbeautiful, whip-smart, imaginativeâand he canât stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolaiâs best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both loveâŚor be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clearâthe Crownâs Game is not one to lose.
The Problem with Forever is a captivating story about friendship, survival, and finding your voice. Growing up, Mallory Dodge learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. Even though it's been four years since her nightmare ended, she's beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.
Now, after years of homeschooling, Mallory must face a new milestoneâspending her senior year at a public high school. But she never imagined she'd run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn't seen since childhood, on her very first day.
It doesn't take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet soon it becomes apparent that she's not the only one grappling with lingering scars from the past. As she watches Rider's life spiral out of control, Mallory must make a choice between staying silent and speaking outâfor the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard.
The world is at war and the prophesied savior is nowhere to be found. Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher, races to find her in the fourth novel of Andrzej Sapkowski's groundbreaking epic fantasy series that inspired the hit Netflix show and the blockbuster video games.
The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies including Dandelion, Milva, Regis, and Cahir, to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous.
There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting...
A Head Full of Ghosts is a chilling thriller that brilliantly blends psychological suspense and supernatural horror. The novel is reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist.
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism, believing the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts' plight for a reality television show.
With John, Marjorie's father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.
Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long-ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface. A mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.
The only way to grow up is to survive.
London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived the destruction and the outbreak of a deadly virus are children, among them sixteen-year-old Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the deadly Maraudersâthe German army led by the cutthroat Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.
Unsure if the virus has spread past Englandâs borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook is on the hunt for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the surviving children. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return.
Until one day when they grab Joanna. Gwen will stop at nothing to get her sister back, but as she sets out, she crosses paths with a daredevil named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it might cost Gwen more than she bargained for. And are Gwen, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart the ruthless Captain Hook?
Gwen Stacy is back in the webs and has an all-new, all-different mystery to solve: the reappearance of the Lizard! The Spider-Woman of Earth-65 was convinced that the Lizard died in her arms along with Peter Parker. But a new reptilian rampage leaves her with doubts not only about Peter's life, but his death as well.
Troubles begin to mount as the Osborns of Gwen's world make their debut, and she finds herself on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most wanted list! Perhaps some wise words from a mentor figure could help - how about Jessica Drew, the Spider-Woman of Earth-616? What lessons about power and responsibility will Jess have to share, and what use will they be when Gwen battles the Goblins?
COLLECTING: SPIDER-GWEN 1-6
A year has passed since the Tournament. Fletcher and Ignatius have been locked away in Peltâs dungeons, but now they must face a trial at the hands of the Inquisition, a powerful institution controlled by those who would delight in Fletcherâs downfall.
The trial is haunted by ghosts from the past with shocking revelations about Fletcherâs origins, but he has little time to dwell on them; the graduating students of Vocans are to be sent deep into the orc jungles to complete a dangerous mission for the king and his council. If they fail, the orcish armies will rise to power beyond anything the Empire has ever seen.
With loyal friends Othello and Sylva by his side, Fletcher must battle his way to the heart of Orcdom and save Hominum from destruction⌠or die trying.
Thirteen-year-old Stewart is academically brilliant but socially clueless. Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old Ashley is the undisputed âItâ girl in her class, but her grades are less than stellar.
Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. Stewart is trying to be 89.9 percent happy about the new arrangement, but Ashley is 110 percent horrified. She already has to hide the real reason her dad moved out, and now âSpewartâ could further threaten her position at the top of the social ladder.
They are complete opposites. And yet, they have one thing in common: theyâlike everyone elseâare made of molecules.
In this hilarious and deeply moving story, award-winning author Susin Nielsen has created two narrators who will steal your heart and make you laugh out loud.
Life? It's simple: be true to yourself. The tricky part is finding out exactly who you are...
In the holidays before the dreaded term at Crowthorne Grammar's outdoor education camp two things out of the ordinary happened. A picture of me was plastered all over a twenty-metre billboard. And I kissed Ben Capaldi.
Boarding for a term in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sibylla expects the gruesome outdoor education program â but friendship complications, and love that goes wrong? They're extra-curricula.
Enter Lou from Six Impossible Things â the reluctant new girl for this term in the great outdoors. Fragile behind an implacable mask, she is grieving a death that occurred almost a year ago. Despite herself, Lou becomes intrigued by the unfolding drama between her housemates Sibylla and Holly, and has to decide whether to end her self-imposed detachment and join the fray.
And as Sibylla confronts a tangle of betrayal, she needs to renegotiate everything she thought she knew about surviving in the wild.
A story about first love, friendship and NOT fitting in.
The Beech Tree introduces you to the lives of those who visited the tree and shared their lives, their loves, their hopes and dreams, beneath the treeâs dark green canopy ⌠and their curious, inexplicable connection to one another.
The readers are introduced to Johnny and Margo, the first characters to visit the tree, just before Johnny ships off to fight in The Great War in 1918. We follow Johnny and Margo, Johnny's lifelong, albeit socially taboo, friendship with his friend, âBullet Joeâ Rogan, a pitcher in the Negro Leagues.
Johnny introduces his granddaughter, Debby, to the tree in 1957, an era of bobby socks, roller-skating carhops and Elvis music, and Debby meets Mason in 1967's Summer of Love, just before Mason is drafted to fight in Vietnam.
For 30 years, Debby wonders whatever became of the boy who changed her life. Then she finds out.
The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn't speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would trade his soul and lose his son to the sky.
My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother's words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.
But freedom will require escape, and I'm a prisoner of my mother's curse and my father's greed. I can't speak or make a sound, and I can't wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love ... a bird?"--Back cover.
The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity when the Gazette advertises: âA murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m.â
Is it a childish practical joke? Or perhaps a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time.
Without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. When they come back on, a gruesome scene is revealed. An impossible crime? Only the astute Miss Marple can unravel it.
The master of a Victorian mansion dies suddenly â and his sister is convinced it was murderâŚ. When Cora is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richardâs funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance.
At the reading of Richardâs will, Cora was clearly heard to say: âItâs been hushed up very nicely, hasnât itâŚBut he was murdered, wasnât he?â
In desperation, the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery.
From seat number nine, Hercule Poirot is almost ideally placed to observe his fellow air travelers on this short flight from Paris to London. Over to his right sits a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite. Ahead, in seat number thirteen, is the Countess of Horbury, horribly addicted to cocaine and not doing too good a job of concealing it. Across the gangway in seat number eight, a writer of detective fiction is being troubled by an aggressive wasp.
Yes, Poirot is almost ideally placed to take it all inâexcept that the passenger in the seat directly behind him has slumped over in the course of the flight... dead. Murdered. By someone in Poirot's immediate proximity. And Poirot himself must number among the suspects.
Elephants Can Remember is a classic Hercule Poirot investigation where the expert detective delves into an unsolved crime from the past involving the mysterious death of a husband and wife.
Poirot stood on the clifftop, the very place where, many years earlier, a tragic accident had occurred, followed by the grisly discovery of two bodiesâa husband and wife, both shot dead. But the question remained, who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder?
As Poirot delves into the past, he discovers that old sins leave long shadows. With his sharp mind and keen instincts, he is determined to solve this old double murder mystery that still stands as an open verdict.
Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England, Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christieâs most intriguing mysteries. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea.
The beautiful bronzed body of Arlena Stuart lay facedown on the beach. But strangely, there was no sun and Arlena was not sunbathingâŚshe had been strangled. Ever since Arlenaâs arrival, the air had been thick with sexual tension. Each of the guests had a motive to kill her, including Arlenaâs new husband. But Hercule Poirot suspects that this apparent âcrime of passionâ conceals something much more evil.
It was an open and shut case. All the evidence said Caroline Crale poisoned her philandering husband, a brilliant painter. She was quickly and easily convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. But instead of setting the young woman's mind at ease, the letter only raises disquieting questions. Did Caroline indeed write the truth? And if she didn't kill her husband, who did?
To find out, the Craleâs daughter asks Hercule Poirot to reopen the case. His investigation takes him deep into the conflicting memories and motivations of the five other people who were with the Crales on the fatal day. With his keen understanding of human psychology, he manages to discover the surprising truth behind the artist's death.
On the night before Christmas, cruel, tyrannical, filthy rich Simeon Lee is found in his locked bedroom with his throat cut. Now Hercule Poirot must put his deductive powers to the test to solve one of his most chilling cases - and to prevent a clever killer from spilling more blood.
Christmas Eve, and the Lee familyâs reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man.