Greenvoe, the tight-knit community on the Orcadian island of Hellya, has existed unchanged for generations, but Operation Black Star requires the island for unspecified purposes and threatens the islanders' way of life. A whole host of characters - The Skarf, failed fishermen and Marxist historian; Ivan Westray, boatman and dallier; pious creeler Samuel Whaness; drunken fishermen Bert Kerston; earth-mother Alice Voar, and meths-drinker Timmy Folster - are vividly brought to life in this sparkling mixture of prose and poetry. In the end Operation Black Star fails, but not before it has ruined the island; but the book ends on a note of hope as the islanders return to celebrate the ritual rebirth of Hellya.

The Pat Hobby Stories are a collection of 17 comedic short stories written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They first appeared in Esquire magazine between January 1940 and May 1941, but in 1962 they were collected into a single book and published posthumously.Pat Hobby is a once successful screenwriter in Hollywood, but now an alcoholic and broke, who spends his time hanging around the studio, hoping for work. The stories generally revolve around him hatching a plan to earn money or glory in some way, but they usually end in further humiliation.The introduction to the book states, "while it would be unfair to judge this book as a novel, it would be less than fair to consider it as anything but a full-length portrait. It was as such that Fitzgerald worked on it, and would have wanted it presented in book form, after its original magazine publication. He thought of it as a comedy."

R.M.Ballantyne is possibly the greatest writer of children's adventure stories. He is most famous for his work "The Coral Island," but wrote more than a hundred stories. Because of a mistake he made in The Coral Island, in which he gave an incorrect thickness of coconut shells, he subsequently travelled all over the world to gain ensure his stories were accurate and carefully researched. For example, he served for as a London fireman while researching "Fighting the Flames" and for "Deep Down" he spent time with the tin miners of Cornwall. In this Collection, ten of his best known and loved stories are included, complete and unabridged. They are: Hudson Bay, The Coral Island (illustrated), The Dog Crusoe and his Master, Away in the Wilderness, Fast in the Ice, The Lifeboat, Post Haste, My Doggie and I, The Madman and the Pirate and The Pirate City

Welcome to the liminal zone, where things beyond your wildest imagination await.

What fate awaits when death is not the end?

A group of four university students stumbles upon a deserted, decaying village deep in the mountains only to find an enormous perpetual motion machine still at work there. Before they can answer the questions of who made it and to what end, the friends begin to disappear, one after the other. Another story sees the return of the strange Hikizuri siblings! A girl weighed down since birth by an invisible burden meets the odd siblings and moves in with them in order to understand the truth about herself. But after a string of bizarre occurrences, the siblings’ uncle appears on the scene…

Arthur J. Raffles is a character by E. W. Hornung. He is a gentleman thief, living in a salubrious part of London, playing Cricket and supporting himself through his ingenious burglaries. He has a sidekick called Harry "Bunny" Manders who is brave and loyal, frequently saving the day. Raffles is a master of disguise imitating accents flawlessly. This book contain all the Raffles stories, enjoy Hornung's unique crime stories, where, in stealing as in sport, played by a devilishly handsome and charming master. The Amateur Cracksman (the early period, in which Raffles really is an amateur thief) The Black Mask (after Raffles's and Bunny's exposure) (U.S. title: Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman), A Thief in the Night, Mr. Justice Raffles (novel).

THE SPICY NEW ROM COM PUTTING PICKLE BALL AT IT'S CENTRE.

Meg Bloomberg is ready to let her paddle do the talking.

Finally, Meg Bloomberg is out of her disastrous relationship, so she and her best friend take off on a pickleball excursion to take their mind off men. It’s supposed to be an easy lob, a way to heal, not the opening serve to a new courtside romance that’s doomed to spin out.

No matter how Meg tries, she can’t shake her feelings for Ethan Fine. A charismatic environmental consultant, Ethan seems like the real dill. But when Meg discovers that Ethan is sabotaging her home court, she decides the match is over.

It’s time for Meg to take control of her own game. And maybe, just maybe…love will bounce back.

Perfect for fans of Night Shift, Right Move and Daydream this is the hottest new sports romance in town!

A GUIDED TOUR OF BOSTON'S UNDERWORLD, REVEALING THE PLACES WHERE DEALS WERE MADE, PEOPLE WERE KILLED, AND BODIES WERE BURIED Gangsters have played a shady role in shaping Greater Boston's history. While lurking in local restaurants or just around the corner inside that inconspicuous building, countless criminals have quietly made their mark on the city and surrounding communities. Packed with photos, Gangland Boston reveals the hidden history of these places, bringing readers back in time to when the North End was wrought with gun violence, Hanover Street was known as a "shooting gallery," and guys named King Solomon, Beano Breen, and Mickey the Wiseguy ruled the underworld. Drawing upon years of research and an extensive collection of rare photographs, author Emily Sweeney sheds light on how gang violence unfolded during Prohibition, how the Italian mafia rose to power, and how the Gustin Gang came to be. She also uncovers little-known facts about well-known crime figures (Did you know the leader of the Gustin Gang was an Olympic athlete? Or that a fellowship at a major university was named after a big-time bookie?) From South Boston to Somerville, Chinatown to Charlestown, and every neighborhood in between, readers will get to know mobsters in ways they never have before. Readers will find out: * Exact addresses where mobsters lived, worked, and played around Greater Boston * How an Olympic athlete became one of Boston's most notorious gangsters * The untold history of the Gustin Gang * Frank Sinatra's connection to a long-forgotten Massachusetts racetrack * Little-known facts about David "Beano" Breen, Charles "King" Solomon, Harry "Doc" Sagansky, Raymond L.S. Patriarca, and other legendary crime figures

"He was supposed to be a myth. But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell…he was, quite simply, mine."

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that's as sinful as it is sweet.*

Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that's ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city's dark facade.

With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil's bargain with a man she once believed a myth...a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.

Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he's spent years craving, it's all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he'll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close…

Vinland follows the turbulent life of Ranald Sigmundson, a young boy born into the Dark Ages when Orkney was torn between its Viking past and its Christian future. Struggling to understand the conflicts of his home, Ranald seeks adventure and knowledge across the seas, his journeys taking him as far as Norway, Iceland and Ireland. Through Ranald's story, many elements of early mediaeval life - of seamanship, marriage customs, beliefs and traditions - are brought vibrantly to life, and the traditional poetry interwoven through the prose adds a richness and poignancy to the tales he tells. In Vinland, Mackay Brown's fourth novel, lore and legend, the elementary pull of the sea and the land, the sweetness of the early religion and the darker, more ancient rites, create an exquisite celebration of Orcadian history.

Would you like to thank a soldier? Help an injured veteran? Read on The Last Jump is a war story, a mystery, a love tale, a touch of history and a narrative of valor and honor about the people who won World War II. Fact and fiction intermix seamlessly to unravel a secret passionately guarded by four old soldiers who swore an oath to die before revealing it. The reader is transported back in time to an imperfect America struggling with racial and gender issues while fighting for its very survival. The Last Jump takes us back to a time when Americans stood shoulder to shoulder to free the world from tyranny in defense of liberty and freedom. It celebrates the spirit and the courage of ordinary citizens pitted against the militaristic societies of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. It was a time when the sons of presidents and senators served, fought, suffered and died alongside average Americans and famous celebrities.
The Last Jump spans the war in Europe from Sicily to the Battle of the Bulge. It evokes both the agony and the glory of the greatest conflict in human history and the special generation that earned the final victory while striving to live up to the promise of equal justice and fairness for all.
Our story begins in present times. J.P. Kilroy, a middle-aged divorced journalist, regrets ignoring his mother's only deathbed request. Even her last letter, which exposed the existence of a dark family secret, could not motivate him to reconcile with the father who abandoned them thirty years ago. When he receives an invitation from the White House to attend a long overdue Medal of Honor awards ceremony for African-Americans, he also discovers his estranged father, also an honoree, recently passed away.
Was the secret now lost forever? The only remaining links to the past are four aging veterans who served with his father. His only chance to uncover the secret rests with the free-spirited Sky Johnson, a rough and tumble paratrooper, Frank West, the studious company commander, Harley Tidrick, Omaha Beach veteran and cousin of his father's best wartime friend, and Lincoln Abraham, the only living black honoree at the Medal of Honor ceremony.
Kilroy sees them as a second chance to fulfill his mother's last wish and engages them in an effort to uncover the truth. He soon discovers the four men not only know the secret, they are bound together by a sworn pact never to reveal it. Undaunted and with the aid of Cynthia Powers, an alluring Army press liaison, he accepts the challenge to cajole the veterans into revealing the mystery by any means necessary. Their conversations become a verbal odyssey and flashback to the racially charged attitudes in America during the War, the plight of women volunteer pilots and factory workers and the extraordinary dedication, bravery and sacrifice of the average citizen-soldier. Kilroy is taken back in time to a country in grave danger but a country as united as never before or since. But the old warriors stubbornly resist. As Kilroy works to solve the puzzle, he discovers truths he could never have imagined. Finally, the last veteran passes on and Kilroy's hopes are dashed. But one reaches from beyond the grave to identify the only other living person who has the answer and Kilroy races death to reach her. And a shocking conclusion awaits him, if only he can get there in time
In honor of those brave men and women who have served our country so selflessly and honorably, half the royalties from the sales of The Last Jump are being donated to charity to assist severely injured servicemen and women and the families of the fallen. You can both thank and help a soldier by buying the book and spreading the word. For more information visit www.thelastjump.org.

Fifteen gripping tales of determination, strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude. Although survival is often taken for granted - something every human strives to achieve on a daily basis - it is just this everyday imperative that makes for the most exciting stories. When something goes wrong, when survival is threatened, often by something as simple and sudden as a boat overturning or a traveler losing his way, this is when the necessity of survival is no longer just another daily chore. This is when something as intrinsic as breathing or swallowing becomes the most essential need and the most sought-after desire. Great American Survival Stories includes contributions from Jack London, Theodore Roosevelt, John Wesley Powell, Owen Chase, John Muir, Osborne Russell, Stephen Crane, Francis Parkman, Henry David Thoreau, Richard Henry Dana Jr., and others.

In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found—and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands—lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.

Is it suicide or… sacrifice?

Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found—exactly like the other—the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined. As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price.