Hardboiled noir meets academic satire in Academy Gothic. Tate Cowlishaw is late for another faculty meeting when he discovers the body of Scoot Simkins, dean of Parshall College. Cowlishaw might be legally blind but sees that a man with three bullets in his head didn't put them there himself. The police disagree. When Cowlishaw investigates, he is told his teaching contract won't be renewed. Suspects aren't hard to come by at the college annually ranked Worst Value by U.S. News & World Report. While the faculty brace for a visit from the accreditation board, Cowlishaw's investigation leads him to another colleague on eternal sabbatical. Before long, his efforts to save his job become efforts to stay alive. A farcical tale of incompetence and corruption, Academy Gothic scathingly redefines higher education as it chronicles the last days of a dying college"Tate Cowlishaw, the droll narrator of Hill's fine first novel, may be legally blind, but he's clever enough to realize that the...

Seven-year-old Lottie knows everything about everyone. She snoops, she spies, she eavesdrops. But when the beloved Crabtree School cat goes missing, can the greatest detective in Year Three crack the case and find Lady Lovelypaws before it's too late? It won't be easy, but Lottie has a plan. The first step? A sleepover at Crabtree School! In the fourth instalment of the Crabtree series, readers can join Lottie, Ava, Zoe, Isabel and Rani for a bit of mystery and—of course—a midnight feast!

At 20, Dahlia has never seen a man, let alone talked to one. And why should she want to? Society has been rid of them for hundreds of years and things have never been better. Pulled into rebellion brewing not far under the surface, Dahlia is forced to rethink everything she ever thought she knew, as her world turns more dangerous that she ever thought it could be.

In the Mouth of the Tiger is an epic story of adventure, love, mystery and intrigue set in Malaya, in the colourful and turbulent years before and after World War 2.Nona Orlov, a young Russian refugee abandoned in colonial Penang, falls in love with an Englishman who offers escape from her tawdry hand-to-mouth existence and catapults her into a world of mansions, expensive cars, well-bred horses and luxurious yachts.But Denis Elesmere-Elliott is much more than the urbane, wealthy man-about-town that he appears, and Nona is plunged into a dark world of treachery, violence and sudden death. As the mysteries multiply, Nona realises that, if she is to survive, her courage must match those of the tigers that frequent the jungles around her.

Outside of Titan Group, there are few people that Roman Hart would die for. He’s a soldier, a protector, and he’s haunted that one of the people he should’ve been able to protect didn’t let him. That was years ago, and now a hardened heart and a cocky attitude are his impenetrable shields, until one woman—one challenge—drives him to distraction. On the outside, Beth Tourne has it all. Luxury car, gorgeous condo, and a job partying with the rich and famous. It’s a plush CIA cover, but she wants more. Anything for an adrenaline rush that can override her guilty numbness and let her forget the tragedy she never saw coming. Their scars make them perfect operatives. Their mirrored pasts give them deep, wounded reasons to stay alone. But the more they ignore the tension, the more vulnerable they become. Survival means trust. In one another, behind closed doors, and on the job. The only way they’re making it out alive is if they find peace while waging a war.

Lady Jessica Charteris has tricked her way out of marriage and into the arms of Wolfe Lonetree, the bastard son of a viscount and a Cheyenne shamans daughter. There's just one catch: Jessica must accompany her new husband to America. Wholly unprepared for the hardships that await her in America, Jessica is more terrified still of Wolfe himself, whose raw sensuality leaves her breathless…

A Short Story from The Fighting Anthonys Series

Carol is haunted by a ghost who is determined to change her attitude about Christmas. Travels to London in 1818, and in 2168, plus a return to the present day all combine to convince her that the most important part of any holiday is love. For her, the name of love is a man called Nicholas.

Romance. 20674 words long.

Carrie Drummond is excited to spend a fun, relaxing weekend at a mountain cabin with her friends—a last hurrah before they all graduate college in a few months. But when the power goes out and the only other person to make it through the snowstorm is the one man in the world she hates, she thinks the weekend is ruined. But her so-called enemy has other plans.

In this towering story about a man pitting himself against the sea, against society, and against himself, Robert Stone again demonstrates that he is "one of the most impressive novelists of his generation" (New York Review of Books). Inviting comparison with the great sea novels of Conrad, Melville, and Hemingway, Outerbridge Reach is also the portrait of two men and the powerful, unforgettable woman they both love - and for whom they are both ready, in their very different ways, to stake everything. As the San Francisco Chronicle said, "Robert Stone asks questions of our time few writers could imagine and answers them in narratives few readers will ever quite forget."**

THE stories in this collection have slipped on a sunbeam, skidded on the dew and sprinted fast as a fox to be here with you. Of course, they're true, puffed on to the page with a hint of lavender and a gust of sage. They tell of Sussex: its sparkling seas; chalk giants; wise witches and crossdressing smugglers. Once you've heard them, you'll know that when leaves skitter, it's Puck, the sprite of Sussex, fighting with his sister the Fairy Queen. When you hear laughter in the forest, it's Flint, the phantom highwayman making his escape, and when you run over the Downs, you'll remember they were shaped by the Devil's buttocks. These tales – specially chosen for the enjoyment of 7- to 11-year-old readers – sparkle with magic and explode with adventure. Not only will children love to read them, or listen to them being read, these stories will also stimulate an interest in the county and help children engage with their own surroundings.

William Bernhardt's bestselling novels explore politics, power, ambition, crime, and the law. Now he scales new heights of suspense as, in one harrowing day, lawyer and former senator Ben Kincaid enters the eye of an international storm, a crisis with consequences beyond calculation. Kincaid is in a meeting with the president in the Oval Office when Washington suddenly explodes into chaos. Facing an imminent threat to the White House, Kincaid is whisked, along with the president and his advisors, to the underground PEOC – Presidential Emergency Operations Center – built to withstand a nuclear blast, but vulnerable to another kind of attack. Inside the bunker, defense specialists realize that a malevolent foreign dictator has hacked into the U.S. nuclear defense system and now has a finger on the trigger of America's most dangerous weapons. The dictator's message is clear: Heed his demands or suffer unfathomable destruction. Forced to make critical, split-second decisions, the president seems to be falling apart under the pressure. The vice president wants to strip him of his powers – a move that could have a disastrous impact on national defense. But even during this time of upheaval, in order for the president to be removed, there must be a trial. With the clock winding down, Kincaid has precious little time to defend the president. While Kincaid faces the trial of his life, legendary CIA agent Seamus McKay races through the clogged streets of Washington, searching for a hidden command center – guarded by murderous fanatics – that now controls U.S. ballistic missiles. Two sides of one unforgettable story, McKay and Kincaid home in on their targets. One uses a gun – and any weapon he can get his hands on; the other employs his intuition and the law. And in William Bernhardt's spectacular thriller, as both move closer and closer to uncovering a world-shattering plot, the ultimate act of betrayal is launched from the heart of America's capitol itself.

MEET THE GIRLS OF PROJECT Mc2!McKeyla McAlister: brilliant leader and savvy special agent for NOV8Adrienne Attoms: culinary chemist and sweet scientist Bryden Bandweth: technology guru and social media maven Camryn Coyle: construction queen and engineer extraordinaire ADORABLE PRINCE XANDER is coming to town for his launch into outer space—and the students of Maywood Glen Academy can't stop talking about it. No one even notices the mysterious new girl, McKeyla McAlister, who enrolls just before the big event.The smartest girls at school—Adri, Bry, and Cam—think McKeyla is definitely I.A.W.A.T.S.T.—Interesting And Weird At The Same Time. They discover she is an agent for NOV8 (that's Innovate), a top secret organization of super smart women, and her assignment is to keep the prince safe!With the help of high tech gadgets, cool culinary chemistry, and some awesome teamwork, these girls may just save the world.