Best known as the author of "Psycho", Robert Bloch is world-renowned for his stories of horror, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. Many of the 25 stories in this first volume of "The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch" have been unavailable for decades. The stories are in his classic style of gripping suspense, science fiction and fantasy. As Bloch writes, "These stories in this collection have a common theme; they deal with monsters. Some of the monsters are human, some are not-- but all of them embody, in one way or another, the fears common to us in our dreams. We call these monsters by many names-- ghosts, vampires, extraterrestrials, changelings. But we recognize them for what they are; manifestations of the secret dreads and desires which lurk beneath the surface of consciousness." "Bloch has become a virtual fixture on the popular culture landscape." --Publishers Weekly "If you're not familiar with Bloch's short fiction, find someone to borrow this from; if you already are familiar, you know that you want to own these volumes." --Locus

Howard Engel, an internationally published and award-winning mystery writer, takes dead aim, so to speak, at this fascination we all share, and produces a wonderfully wise and witty social history of the men and women who represent our agents of death, and have done our dirty work over the centuries. 60 photos and line drawings.

The bestselling historical novel that exposes the less than honorable side of our Founding Fathers by the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. In this gripping and timely work, William Safire unveils the story behind the nation's first great political scandals. James Thomson Callender, the "scandalmonger" of the title, is an ambitious gossip-peddling editor secretly hired by Thomas Jefferson as a political weapon. After carefully damaging Alexander Hamilton's reputation, thereby paving the way for Jefferson's success, Callender is shunned by the very politicians on whose behalf he was jailed for sedition. Broke and betrayed, Callender seeks revenge by exposing an illicit affair between Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemmings, an accusation that ultimately cost Callender his career and would not be authenticated for two centuries. By using actual letters, records, and notes to re-create dialogue and events, Scandalmonger embodies historical fiction at its best, politics at its most intriguing, and our Founding Fathers at their most notorious. For those who think that Washington sex scandals and lurid journalism are recent developments, this novel will be a revelation, for Safire shows how media intrusiveness into private lives-and politicians' cool manipulation of the press-are practices as old as the Constitution.

A chilling, compulsively readable novel of psychological suspense from the author of Little Face and The Carrier Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband when she hears a name she never thought she'd hear again: Mark Bretherick. It's a name she shouldn't recognize. Last year, a work trip Sally had planned was canceled at the last minute. Desperate for a break from juggling her job and a young family, Sally didn't tell her husband that the trip had fallen through. Instead, she treated herself to a secret vacation in a remote hotel. While she was there, Sally met a man--Mark Bretherick. All the details are the same: where he lives, his job, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. Except that the photograph on the news is of a man Sally has never seen before. And Geraldine and Lucy Bretherick are both dead... With the international bestseller Little Face , Sophie Hannah established herself as a striking new voice in psychological suspense. The Wrong Mother , a riveting exploration of a mother's unspeakable betrayal, confirms her reputation as a master of the form.

A dedicated New York City female judge, Tory Parker, with a tangled emotional life. A ruthless South American narcoterrorist with a history of killing judges who threaten his enterprise. His baby brother, now facing a trial in Tory's courtroom. A string of young Latin American girls found dead—after vicious sexual abuse—in Washington, DC, and one who manages to survive—and the secrets she knows could implode the United States justice system. This collaboration brings together the experiences and talents of Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, author of the memoir 25 to Life, and Matthew Hall, author of the thrillers Nightmare Logic and The Art of Breaking Glass. In real life, Judge Crocker Snyder received so many death threats connected to high-level drug cases in her New York City courtroom that she had 24/7 protection from the NYPD for many years. Matthew Hall's thrillers have been translated into 13 languages.

This adventure pits Christopher Chance against the organized crime of the world! When he's tasked with protecting a highly placed informant and collecting damaging evidence throughout Europe, every assassin and goon from Paris to Prague will be gunning for the human target!

Irving Wallace’s novels have made him one of America’s best-known and best-selling storytellers. Now to the list of such best sellers as The Fan Club, The Word, The Seven Minutes, and The Plot he has added his most timely and compelling novel to date: The R Document—the story of a conspiracy to destroy the Bill of Rights, of an attempt by the FBI to take over the country. Against a background of rising violence and crime, Wallace pits two opposing forces: those who are working to amend the Constitution so that the Government can impose a drastic rule of “law and order” and those who recognize that the proposed 35th Amendment may conceal a far more sinister and far-reaching plan, one that would subvert the entire process of Constitutional government and replace it with a police state. Opponents in this life-and-death conflict are the bull-like, powerful Director of the FBI, Vernon T. Tynan, and the new Attorney General, Christopher Collins, an ambitious, honest man who supports the controversial 35th Amendment despite his private misgivings, but who discovers that there is a secret plot of an evil and vicious nature behind it. For Collins, the first doubt is stirred at the deathbed of his predecessor, whose last words are a warning of “The R Document”—the dangerous, mysterious, elusive key to the nation’s future. In search of this vital document, in a desperate fight against time, Collins stumbles upon the possibility that the FBI is terrorizing important leaders in California and that the Government may be secretly preparing a concentration camp in the desert against the day when the Amendment has been ratified. As his hunt for “The R Document” continues, Collins finds himself involved in a widening series of dirty tricks: an attempt at sexual blackmail against himself; the establishment of a zombie-like American town in which, as a “pilot program,” the citizens have been stripped of their Constitutional rights; a brutal double murder; a revelation of scandal in his wife’s past that causes her to vanish. As the hours rush by to the moment when California will take the final, decisive vote on the ratification of the 35th Amendment, the fate of the country rests on Collins’ shoulders, on the outcome of his death struggle with Director Tynan and on the hunt for “The R Document.” Shocking, authentic, excitingly readable, blending inside fact with fiction as only Irving Wallace can, The R Document will be one of the most widely read and talked-about novels of the year.

This novel explores the dark underbelly of city life. It is published here in its original form by the 'Dr' who risked his tail and talent to write this book.

Death Valley lives up to its name when a murder draws Ellery Queen into the strange practices of a religious cult. It's 1943, the war is raging, and sleuthing scribe Ellery Queen wants to do his bit. After a tortuous cross-country drive, he takes a job writing scripts for a Hollywood propaganda house--twelve hours a day of hack work that quickly turns his mind to jelly. After a few weeks, he is so worn down that he can type nothing but gibberish, and he decides to drive home. The trouble starts as soon as he reaches the desert. His ancient roadster breaks down on the edge of Death Valley. Wandering in search of help, he is saved by a man known as the Teacher, who takes him to an oasis called Quenan. Here, Queen finds a bizarre, reclusive cult that seems to have come straight out of the ancient past. A murder has been committed in the desert, and the Quenanites plan on delivering some Old Testament justice. Queen is just the detective they've been waiting for.

Herb and Jean Hervey fight all the time. It makes him crazy, but still Herb can't get Jean out of his system. Jean's in love with Paul, Wilda's husband. All Paul wants to do is leave for China and become a flyer. One evening Herb meets Dorothy, whose husband Tommy is fighting in Spain. Dorothy wants comfort and company, and Herb can't keep away from her. Then Jean lets herself get picked up by George Green, who can't keep away from her. It all adds up to a lot of trouble. Retreat from Oblivion is a story of passion, sacrifice and frustration set in New York City at the outset of World War II. It is a story you will not soon forget. David Goodis is considered one of the top writers of noir fiction, and this is his first novel, out of print in the U.S. for over 80 years and never before published in paperback.

A ghost story forces a man to confront the darkest secret of his past.

The Interior Castle is considered St. Teresa of Avila’s masterpiece. She wrote this last work in just a few months in 1577, five years before her death. At this point in her life she had been granted the highest mystical graces; this book is the fruit of her lived experience and a deep-felt praise of God for it. More than a book, The Interior Castle is a powerful image of the mystery of the human person. It is, in a very real sense, Teresa’s soul. Using the image of a castle, Teresa describes the soul’s progressive inner journey through seven dwelling places, until finally reaching the center where, now transformed, it is united with God. Reading the works of Teresa herself is indispensable. This second, revised study edition has been completely redesigned as a springboard to reading and understanding Teresa’s text. The book presents a chapter of The Interior Castle itself, followed by a review of the development of her thought and the principal ideas in each chapter. Interpretive notes after each chapter cover doctrine, history, and sociology. Expanded questions for reflection and/or discussion conclude each chapter. A glossary of terms offers definitions as well as their specific and sometimes unique meaning in Teresa’s writings. Comprehensive indexes of key themes and figures, castle imagery, and biblical references make this volume an indispensable reference resource. Then, because Teresa always wanted her writings to be in harmony with Scripture, the study edition offers a biblical index that lists by page number scriptural texts or allusions to them found in Teresa's writings. With its combination of Teresa's text and modern commentary and notes, The Interior Castle Study Edition demonstrates how contemporary church teachings are reflected in Teresa's basic concepts and principles of the spiritual life, and how modern readers can apply these perennially rich teachings to our lives today.

"Where did they all go?" Sixteen-year-old orphan William Wythers, is eager to try life in the New World. He and the other settlers face an arduous voyage and difficult months ahead on Roanoke Island, off the coast of Virginia. Yet there is a wonderful freedom in defining the rules for this new world in America. And when William falls in love with a young Native American woman, it seems that life is going to be happy after all. But when John White arrives from England with fresh supplies for the settlement, not a single person remains. Who knows what happened? An unsolved mystery in American history comes brilliantly alive in Sonia Levitin's historical novel about the lost colony in Roanoke.

This book takes the reader into the heart of the mystery of the 99 sacred Names of Allah. It is a vehicle for understanding the infinite nature of God, and for discovering the divine potential in every soul. It is also a comprehensive guidebook for progressing through the stages of the spiritual path and an instruction manual for teachers on how to work with students more wisely, as physicians of the heart. In the process of this voyage to discovery, the reader is systematically exposed to the universal mysticism encoded in the Qur'an and in the classical Sufi traditions, as well as to a modern psychological approach that works with the 99 Names to achieve individuation and wholeness.

Product Description Majipoor, an immense planet populated by a wide variety of exotic races, first appeared in Robert Silverberg's 1980 novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, a book that has since acquired the status of a modern classic. In subsequent decades, Silverberg has revisited Majipoor on numerous occasions, and it has become one of this gifted and prolific author's signature creations.The latest offering in the cycle, Tales of Majipoor, is both a superb literary accomplishment and a gift to Silverberg's legion of devoted fans. This generous volume contains seven long stories, each of which explores a different aspect of life on Majipoor. Together, they encompass several thousand years of colorful, dramatic history. The opening tale, 'The End of the Line,' tells the story of Lord Stiamot and his rise to the role of Coranol, a position second only to Pontifex in Majipoor's complex hierarchy. The final entry, 'The Seventh Shrine,' circles back to the very beginning of the series, giving us a murder mystery set during the reign of Lord Valentine. In between are stories that involve magic ('The Sorcerer s Apprentice'), religion ('The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar'), and even poetry ('The Book of Changes'). Supplementing all this is a brief but crucial historical prologue and a series of detailed maps that add richness and depth to these singular--and endlessly absorbing--narratives. Beautifully written and thoroughly imagined on every level, Tales of Majipoor combines irresistible storytelling with the sort of meticulously detailed world building that only the finest imaginative literature can provide. It is a book that only Robert Silverberg, a true Grand Master, could have written. From the Inside Flap Majipoor, an immense planet populated by a wide variety of exotic races, first appeared in Robert Silverberg's 1980 novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, a book that has since acquired the status of a modern classic. In subsequent decades, Silverberg has revisited Majipoor on numerous occasions, and it has become one of this gifted and prolific author's signature creations.The latest offering in the cycle, Tales of Majipoor, is both a superb literary accomplishment and a gift to Silverberg's legion of devoted fans. This generous volume contains seven long stories, each of which explores a different aspect of life on Majipoor. Together, they encompass several thousand years of colorful, dramatic history. The opening tale, “The End of the Line,” tells the story of Lord Stiamot and his rise to the role of Coranol, a position second only to Pontifex in Majipoor's complex hierarchy. The final entry, “The Seventh Shrine,” circles back to the very beginning of the series, giving us a murder mystery set during the reign of Lord Valentine. In between are stories that involve magic (“The Sorcerer's Apprentice”), religion (“The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar”), and even poetry (“The Book of Changes”). Supplementing all this is a brief but crucial historical prologue and a series of detailed maps that add richness and depth to these singular—and endlessly absorbing—narratives. Beautifully written and thoroughly imagined on every level, Tales of Majipoor combines irresistible storytelling with the sort of meticulously detailed world building that only the finest imaginative literature can provide. It is a book that only Robert Silverberg, a true Grand Master, could have written.

A crewman has been murdered aboard the U. S.S. Trident, and all evidence points to Ensign Janos of the Excalibur. Captain Mackenzie Calhoun is reluctant to accept that Janos, a powerful non-humanoid whom the captain has known and trusted for years, could be a killer, and immediately launches an investigation into the crime. But this troubling murder mystery soon escalates into a full-fledged diplomatic crisis that threatens to pit Calhoun and Captain Elizabeth Shelby against the entire United Federation of Planets -- and the Starship Enterprise™. Meanwhile, the turmoil involving Ensign Janos forces Calhoun to recall his own tempestuous past, his rocky relationship with a young Elizabeth Shelby -- and a long-ago exploit that may have everything to do with the deadly emergency that now confronts them all!

"For a long time, scientists have wondered how life has emerged from inanimate chemistry, and whether Earth is the only place where it exists. Charles Darwin speculated about life on Earth beginning in a warm little pond. Some of his contemporaries believed that life existed on Mars. It once seemed inevitable that the truth would be known by now. It is not. For more than a century, the origins and extent of life have remained shrouded in mystery. But, as Mario Livio and Jack Szostak reveal in Is Earth Exceptional?, the veil is finally lifting. The authors describe how life's building blocks-from RNA to amino acids and cells-could have emerged from the chaos of Earth's early existence. They then apply the knowledge gathered from cutting-edge research across the sciences to the search for life in the cosmos: both life as we know it and life as we don't. Why and where life exists are two of the biggest unsolved problems in science. Is Earth Exceptional? is the ultimate exploration of the question of whether life is a freak accident or a chemical imperative"-- Provided by publisher.

Molly Travers, a young woman living in San Francisco, discovers that she is the descendant of a family of vaudeville magicians, who in the nineteenth century performed real magic with a group of occultists known as the Order of the Labyrinth. As Molly investigates her past, richer and deeper magic enters her life. First she travels to England, where the trail leads her to an estate once owned by a rich, eccentric widow who believed in the supernatural and had her own personal medium - Molly's great-grandmother. Underneath the house, in the enormous cellar, the widow's fortune was spent constructing a labyrinth to Molly's great-grandmother's specifications. Beneath the house the labyrinth awaits, seemingly untouched by the hundred years that have passed since it was built. Molly enters its passages and there everything changes. The labyrinth, and the secrets it contains, will bring Molly face-to-face with magic, mystery, and murder, changing her life forever.