"Daddy." She pierced him suddenly with her green eyes. "You know what it is, stop pretending. I'm grown up now; tell me what it is "

"Cathy, you always said you didn't want to know; it made you feel different, you didn't want to know. And you're not grown up."

"I said a lot of things. But now I want to know."

"You're not grown up, you're..." He stared into her burning eyes for a long time, having known for sixteen years that this moment would one day come, that she would have to know the truth someday. "It's called Mist," he heard his voice saying. "It's a powerful field, something along the lines of magnetism. You know, that game we used to play on the kitchen table, Cathy; when you tried to push the positive sides of your magnets together and they repelled each other, and one scooted away without even touching the other, and how you used to giggle?"

She studied him for a long time. "But when I reversed one of them, they didn't repel, they attracted."

He looked away from her, his little girl, the miracle. Fear throbbed in his eyes as he stared out the window at the Blue River Valley beyond the farmhouse. He had always known that they couldn't hide here, nor anywhere. She would never be safe, not anywhere on Earth, not anywhere in the universe. He had always known that this day would come.

"Mist," Cathy said, breaking him out of his stare.

"Mist. That's the field that surrounds you."

"Daddy, am I human?"

Dylan is only sixteen, but his life has already been filled with horror and sorrow. After his mother and father commit suicide together, Dylan begins to believe society will eventually collapse into chaos. He obsessively prepares for doomsday, having no idea how quickly the world will disintegrate in his immediate future.

It is May when Dylan drives a truck filled with supplies into the Abraham National Forest; there, he adopts a hill; sets up camp with his German Shepard puppy, Hans; and waits for something apocalyptic to happen. But before long, an intruder infiltrates his camp. Julie, a pistol-wielding eighteen-year-old, is supposedly a rock climber, but in truth she is scared to death of the same thing he is: the end of the world. As gunfire echoes in the distance and the world is thrown into violence and panic, Dylan and Julie decide to face life together without electricity, security, or a promise of anything. But when strange things beyond their imagination begin to appear, both cannot help but wonder if they are the new Adam and Eve.

In this compelling tale, two teenagers attempt to carve out a new existence in a treacherous wilderness where only the smartest and bravest survive.

Dylan is only sixteen, but his life has already been filled with horror and sorrow. After his mother and father commit suicide together, Dylan begins to believe society will eventually collapse into chaos. He obsessively prepares for doomsday, having no idea how quickly the world will disintegrate in his immediate future.

It is May when Dylan drives a truck filled with supplies into the Abraham National Forest; there, he adopts a hill; sets up camp with his German Shepard puppy, Hans; and waits for something apocalyptic to happen. But before long, an intruder infiltrates his camp. Julie, a pistol-wielding eighteen-year-old, is supposedly a rock climber, but in truth she is scared to death of the same thing he is: the end of the world. As gunfire echoes in the distance and the world is thrown into violence and panic, Dylan and Julie decide to face life together without electricity, security, or a promise of anything. But when strange things beyond their imagination begin to appear, both cannot help but wonder if they are the new Adam and Eve.

In this compelling tale, two teenagers attempt to carve out a new existence in a treacherous wilderness where only the smartest and bravest survive.

In a future world that has collapsed under the weight of human over-population, a new drug appears on the streets that promises the hungry and desperate a way to paradise--at the price of death.

Derek Knox, a detective in the NYPD Narcotics Division, has been fighting a losing battle with this drug for over 20 years. He has seen it kill millions, including his younger brother. Now as the drug threatens his sister and what friends he has, Knox becomes a legal assassin, hunting down Dream dealers in the murky canyons and alleys of a dying city.

One day he faces the demon; a simple pill that is both a nightmare and a dream.

Her favorite color was black. She dressed in black jeans and black blouses, and wore a strange black veil cape that seemed to swirl a shadow mist behind her as she passed. Her form was never still; even when she rested, the darkness swam around her. She had a dangerous need to fl aunt herself in front of the cameras- to draw attention to herself, though her face was nearly always hidden behind the fluttering black veil.

She wore black fingerless gloves and black eye shadow and a spider ring. Her visible body was covered in tattoos and piercings. The cameras called her Pin Cushion, and she sneered at them. The cameras called her Goth Girl, and she sneered at them. She was attractive, and her face and expressions fascinated men. But she made herself too scary and bitchy to find some stupid romance. She was not attracted to men or women; she was attracted to no one. She seemed determined to despise life; and sometimes she got a plummeting sense in her stomach that it was quickly coming to an end. She wanted no human to know her or any part of her lonely and uneventful existence. She wanted no one to know her secret, but those who worked with her suspected: She could read the cameras.

Like her veil-cape, Cassandra fl owed through life in a dark mist. She had enrolled at San Diego State, but the superficial syrup of academia had soon turned her off. It was a place where professors taught knowing they were in the cameras. Where classmates laughed at her and chittered in the eyes of the cameras.

She lived in an efficiency apartment just off El Cajon Boulevard, and most of her money went to the rent. She ate simple and cheap Paleofood: raw fruits and vegetables, unsalted mixed nuts. She did not want to, nor could she use her kitchen. She ate tuna out of the can after straining it.

One day she talked about the curse; she didn't know why.

THE RED CHICK

Molly Kendrick, age 81, has found out that she is dying of cancer. She drives to the farm she shared with her late husband and relives her life through diaries and a series of flashbacks. "Sweetie"

Teena Greene, a 16 year old girl living on a farm in Nebraska in 1967 rescues a baby fox and raises it, falling in love along the way with Chad, a neighboring farm boy.

Dear Reader: This book will change your life when you read it, and might even induce you to send money to its creator.

You've already picked up this book, and if you're reading the back cover, you must know that you are in the Celebrated Few who can spot great literature at a glance. Read this book, learn about everything mystical, magical and rewarding there possibly is. There are many dumb asses walking the earth, you know this. The Grimpebbet Almanac isn't for them.

But you know. And so do we. Folks who read books are smarter than folks who don't, that's a mathematical certainty. Read this book and find out secrets that will change your life. There's no reason to let the dumb asses in on it--not just yet. They don't, after all, have much money. And the great wisdom in this book would be lost on them. The mere fact that you picked a book off a shelf indicates that you are far and above the...unfortunates.

Buy this book and read it, or something very disturbing and wrong must be going on in your life. You pay money for dog food; you must pay money for a book this epic and life-changing. You're smart enough to buy and read the Grimpebbet Almanac. It is a beacon of light in a sea of dumb asses.

--J.D. Baghead, Esquire.

I will die up here in the high mountains, she thought. And be like Solanda, Mother's old friend, who vanished as the deer vanish.

(A demon tricked me by looking like a boy).

"You climb too high," the hunter said, squatting down on his haunches and leaning against a boulder. "Nothing eat up here."

Mira finally got her voice: "Why are you here?"

"I follow you." He smiled.

Mira stared down the great mountain, knowing she was trapped, that she had climbed too high where monsters are. He had stalked her like a deer. And she had been as foolish as a deer.

"To kill me?"

He gave her a surprised, then puzzled look. "Why I want to kill you?"

"To give the gods their sacrifice."

He looked at her for a long time, and Mira felt strange. He was handsome, his hair and beard night-black, his blue eyes arrogant, confident. A smile that was very close to a smirk. He was a savage-looking boy, but she saw that he was a boy, not two seasons older than her.

His deerskin leggings were well-used and torn ragged, made by skillful hands, but not any of the river tribes. Slung over his back was a very ornate spear thrower. A brace of feathered arrows in a wolfskin pouch flared out of his back. His right fist gripped a long spear crowned with a tooth of flint. Rawhide thongs belted his leggings; on his waistbelt a stone hatchet and long stone knife were strapped. His arms and legs rippled with savage muscles.

Mira clutched her little pointed stick. She edged down the mountain slope, to see what he would do. "Why did you follow me?"

He was a shadow now, against the boulder, but she could see his white teeth grinning.

"You are very pretty," he called out of the evening.

He didn't follow her. He wasn't going to hurt her. She scuttered down the slope, grinning now, heart pounding and sudden blood in her face.

What he said to me...

"You climb too high, Pretty One " his voice echoed behind her, making a crazy thrill in her stomach. "Run home before it gets dark."

Her face burned red. "Why " she called, grinning over her shoulder.

"Because a knife-tooth has come to this mountain."

I will die up here in the high mountains, she thought. And be like Solanda, Mother's old friend, who vanished as the deer vanish.

(A demon tricked me by looking like a boy).

"You climb too high," the hunter said, squatting down on his haunches and leaning against a boulder. "Nothing eat up here."

Mira finally got her voice: "Why are you here?"

"I follow you." He smiled.

Mira stared down the great mountain, knowing she was trapped, that she had climbed too high where monsters are. He had stalked her like a deer. And she had been as foolish as a deer.

"To kill me?"

He gave her a surprised, then puzzled look. "Why I want to kill you?"

"To give the gods their sacrifice."

He looked at her for a long time, and Mira felt strange. He was handsome, his hair and beard night-black, his blue eyes arrogant, confident. A smile that was very close to a smirk. He was a savage-looking boy, but she saw that he was a boy, not two seasons older than her.

His deerskin leggings were well-used and torn ragged, made by skillful hands, but not any of the river tribes. Slung over his back was a very ornate spear thrower. A brace of feathered arrows in a wolfskin pouch flared out of his back. His right fist gripped a long spear crowned with a tooth of flint. Rawhide thongs belted his leggings; on his waistbelt a stone hatchet and long stone knife were strapped. His arms and legs rippled with savage muscles.

Mira clutched her little pointed stick. She edged down the mountain slope, to see what he would do. "Why did you follow me?"

He was a shadow now, against the boulder, but she could see his white teeth grinning.

"You are very pretty," he called out of the evening.

He didn't follow her. He wasn't going to hurt her. She scuttered down the slope, grinning now, heart pounding and sudden blood in her face.

What he said to me...

"You climb too high, Pretty One " his voice echoed behind her, making a crazy thrill in her stomach. "Run home before it gets dark."

Her face burned red. "Why " she called, grinning over her shoulder.

"Because a knife-tooth has come to this mountain."

You don't talk like God.

"How do you know? Have you ever once talked to Me? What do you want Me to do, start throwing a bunch of thees and thous at you? I'm not the threatening kind, Andy. But you owe Me a favor. And it would be better to pay it than not."

"Oh, Please " Andy crawled off the couch and got to his knees. He clasped his hands in supplication. "Please, just leave me alone "

"Get off the floor, Andrew. Get off your damn knees. And stop folding your hands in front of you, it creeps Me out. I've had a stomach full of people whimpering on their knees, believe you Me. I never made people to be on their knees, they somehow learned it on their own."

Andy stared up at the bumpled-white ceiling. What's the favor you ask of me?

"It's a small thing," the voice said. "I want you to rescue my daughter."

Andy stared at the ceiling. Then he scrambled off the couch and staggered into the kitchen.

"Andy?"

"I need a drink. Maybe four or five. Oh, God He touched his chest, heard his heart pumping too hard.

"Yes?"

Drink until I pass out and this goes away.

"Are you talking to yourself, or Me?"

What? Rescue your...

"My daughter."

The daughter of God.

You don't talk like God.

"How do you know? Have you ever once talked to Me? What do you want Me to do, start throwing a bunch of thees and thous at you? I'm not the threatening kind, Andy. But you owe Me a favor. And it would be better to pay it than not."

"Oh, Please " Andy crawled off the couch and got to his knees. He clasped his hands in supplication. "Please, just leave me alone "

"Get off the floor, Andrew. Get off your damn knees. And stop folding your hands in front of you, it creeps Me out. I've had a stomach full of people whimpering on their knees, believe you Me. I never made people to be on their knees, they somehow learned it on their own."

Andy stared up at the bumpled-white ceiling. What's the favor you ask of me?

"It's a small thing," the voice said. "I want you to rescue my daughter."

Andy stared at the ceiling. Then he scrambled off the couch and staggered into the kitchen.

"Andy?"

"I need a drink. Maybe four or five. Oh, God He touched his chest, heard his heart pumping too hard.

"Yes?"

Drink until I pass out and this goes away.

"Are you talking to yourself, or Me?"

What? Rescue your...

"My daughter."

The daughter of God.

"Daddy." She pierced him suddenly with her green eyes. "You know what it is, stop pretending. I'm grown up now; tell me what it is "

"Cathy, you always said you didn't want to know; it made you feel different, you didn't want to know. And you're not grown up."

"I said a lot of things. But now I want to know."

"You're not grown up, you're..." He stared into her burning eyes for a long time, having known for sixteen years that this moment would one day come, that she would have to know the truth someday. "It's called Mist," he heard his voice saying. "It's a powerful field, something along the lines of magnetism. You know, that game we used to play on the kitchen table, Cathy; when you tried to push the positive sides of your magnets together and they repelled each other, and one scooted away without even touching the other, and how you used to giggle?"

She studied him for a long time. "But when I reversed one of them, they didn't repel, they attracted."

He looked away from her, his little girl, the miracle. Fear throbbed in his eyes as he stared out the window at the Blue River Valley beyond the farmhouse. He had always known that they couldn't hide here, nor anywhere. She would never be safe, not anywhere on Earth, not anywhere in the universe. He had always known that this day would come.

"Mist," Cathy said, breaking him out of his stare.

"Mist. That's the field that surrounds you."

"Daddy, am I human?"

Scientists Anton Singer and Heinz Kovalt have worked for years to create specimen #8107, a creature featuring the traits of some of the most savage animal predators on the planet. But with Singer dying from cancer, the cross-species monster, designed to kill American soldiers, is now for sale.

Wendy Nugent, sheriff of Harrison County, Nebraska, grows suspicious when a government lab springs up on an abandoned farmstead near her own farm in the Blue River Valley, in the middle of nowhere. Despite being reassured by a colonel from the Pentagon, a representative of Homeland Security, and a Princeton scientist that it is simply a federal livestock research lab, she doesn't buy it. Nugent tries to investigate, only to be rebuffed by scientist Mark Sterns, with whom she begins a romantic relationship.

Something beyond the normal research is obviously occurring in that compound, which sports its own Marine guards and security fences. She is kept in the dark until a powerful storm destroys the lab and unleashes a real terror that threatens her once-quiet county.

Scientists Anton Singer and Heinz Kovalt have worked for years to create specimen #8107, a creature featuring the traits of some of the most savage animal predators on the planet. But with Singer dying from cancer, the cross-species monster, designed to kill American soldiers, is now for sale.

Wendy Nugent, sheriff of Harrison County, Nebraska, grows suspicious when a government lab springs up on an abandoned farmstead near her own farm in the Blue River Valley, in the middle of nowhere. Despite being reassured by a colonel from the Pentagon, a representative of Homeland Security, and a Princeton scientist that it is simply a federal livestock research lab, she doesn't buy it. Nugent tries to investigate, only to be rebuffed by scientist Mark Sterns, with whom she begins a romantic relationship.

Something beyond the normal research is obviously occurring in that compound, which sports its own Marine guards and security fences. She is kept in the dark until a powerful storm destroys the lab and unleashes a real terror that threatens her once-quiet county.