Hans doesn't know who he is or where he came from. When he was a baby, he washed ashore in a wooden box and was adopted by the conniving grave robber, Knobbe the Bent. Now fate has thrown him together with Angela von Schwanenberg, a young countess fleeing for her life from the evil Archduke Arnulf and his dreaded Necromancer. Together, these friends are on a daring quest to discover Hans' true identity and to save Angela's parents from the archduke.Join Hans and Angela on their grand adventure as they ride through the depths of the great forest, sled down a mountain in a coffin, and sneak along the secret passageways of the archduke's palace. The Grave Robber's Apprentice is a world of highwaymen, hermits, and dancing bears; and of a boy separated from his family by the sea.In this world anything is possible with luck and imagination—even for a grave robber's apprentice.

Battered by age, apathetic and broken, the Observers gather a final time to share their insights before embracing the promised oblivion. Though not all are ready to surrender eternity.

A daringly ironic attack on racism American-style.

Criminal mastermind Harlan DeVane has genetically engineered a "superbug" that lies like a dormant time bomb inside its human hosts until detonated by specific biochemical triggers. First, he uses his weapon to destroy Roger Gordian, head of UpLink Technologies. As Roger falls prey to the disease, his medical and intelligence teams race to find the cause and cure.

This unique and original debut novel casts two real-life legends of fantasy fiction—the creator of Conan and the inventor of the Necronomicon—in a nightmare of their own making… H.P. Lovecraft was a writer who would one day become famous for his eerie tales of the macabre—filled with ancient beings who ruled the world millions of years before the appearance of the human race. Robert E. Howard was also a writer whose barbarian character Conan would become a literary legend—a lone hero in a primitive world overrun by humankind’s oldest enemies. But few know the real story that inspired these masters of pulp fiction. The story that begins on a dark and stormy night. A night tortured by the cries of an inhuman infant child. A child who would open the gates to the most dangerous force in the cosmos—the ancient god Cthulhu… And only two men—two eccentric writers—can stop him.

Maggie decides she needs a break. Teaching high school geometry has her burned out, so she plans a week vacation at Highview Inn, a mountain resort in Maryland. The peaceful, idyllic surroundings are the perfect antidote, and she looks forward to long days of playing tennis and swimming.But on her first day she discovers the body of a hotel employee in the woods. The young waitress was also a former student of hers, and the murder disturbs Maggie in more ways than one. Unlike most math problem she encounters, this mystery has no easy answers.As the list of suspects gets longer, she finds herself distrusting everyone. With clues from the girl's diary and inquiries into her suspects' histories, Maggie moves closer to the truth. Then she learns of other puzzling "suicides" and accidental deaths in the resort's past which seem too coincidental to her. But the killer knows what she is up to, and Maggie will have to outwit this cold-blooded murderer or die trying.

fiction; prose, Women Writers

From literary icon and Essence bestselling author of Imagine This and Dirty Red comes forth the classic urban novel that launched Vickie Stringer's wildly successful career -- Let That Be the Reason. This is the remix. Based on Stringer's real-life experiences, this epic tale has changed the face of contemporary literature and continues to resonate and provide voice to thousands of urban readers as a cautionary tale of will and redemption.Pamela Xavier is a young woman left for dead by her drug-dealing boyfriend, Chino. With stacks of bills, no food in the fridge, and a baby on the way, Pammy turns to the streets for survival. Her back against the wall, Pammy relies on her alter ego, Carmen, to guide her through the male-dominated game and to achieve what she thinks will buy back her life and her happiness: money. In no time, Carmen graduates from call-girl service to leader of a major drug cartel -- all to raise her son so he may never know her sam...

For John, who said, “You know what this book needs? More fire. And maybe some swords.” This one time, honey, you were right Still she haunts me, phantomwise, Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes. —Lewis Carroll

MORE THAN 20 MILLION COPIES OF ANN RULE'S BOOKS IN PRINT!In this unnerving collection drawn from her personal crime files, "America's best true-crime writer" (Kirkus Reviews) Ann Rule brilliantly dissects the convoluted love affairs that all too often end in violence. Expertly analyzing a shocking, headline-making case, Rule unmasks the deadly motives inside a seemingly idyllic marriage: a beautiful young wife, a rising star in America's top-ranked computer corporation, and a prosperous husband, the scion of a family building business. With an adorable son and a gorgeous home, the couple seemed to have it all. But a furtive evil permeated their days and nights, dragging them into a murky world of drugs, sordid sex, and con operations. In this realm, one of them would prove to be a virtual innocent, the other a manipulator with no conscience. Sudden, violent death brought their charade of a fairy-tale romance to a tragic end -- with a brutal crime that might never have come to light were it not for the stubborn detectives and prosecutors whose fight for justice spanned an entire decade. Empty Promises recounts several other cases where the search for love brought only lies and betrayal -- a cautionary primer, perhaps, for those who trust too much too soon. Powerful because they strike so close to home, the cases in Empty Promises will leave readers shaken by the realities of love gone terribly -- and fatally -- wrong.From BooklistAlthough the former police officer and FBI consultant is best known for full-length true-crime books, she is also a prolific writer of shorter articles, publishing more than a thousand of them over the past three decades. Many of her shorter pieces have been collected in the ongoing Crime Files series, of which this is volume seven. The ten pieces included here, some of them going back more than 25 years, tell the story of a man whose possessiveness allegedly led him to murder; of unrequited love that led to madness; of a couple of genuinely (almost comically) incompetent femme fatales; of a man who killed for the thrill of it; and other fascinating, unsettling tales. Rule brings the same respect for detail to her short work that is evident in the book-length accounts. She is able to look beyond "just the facts" and penetrate to the heart of the matter, to identify not only the who and the what, but the all-important why. The shortest article here is deeper, and tells us more about the nature of crime, than a whole stack of full-length books written by less talented competitors. Among the very small group of top-notch true-crime writers (Lawrence Schiller, Jack Olsen, and Joe McGinniss, when he gets it right), Rule just may be the best of the bunch. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reservedReviewThe undisputed master crime writer of the Eighties and Nineties John Saul Devastatingly accurate insight NEW YORK TIMES

With the final battle drawing near, will Max be able to remember who he is and what he's capable of? Will Lane, Gabby, and their crew survive the end of the world, or will Mother Nature get the last laugh?