In Stoker-winner Maberry's wild second Joe Ledger novel (after  Patient Zero ), Joe and his comrades from the Department of Military Science (DMS) take on enough villains and their world-threatening plots to fill half a dozen ordinary thrillers. The dangers Joe and his Echo Team warriors confront include evil boy-girl albino twins born on Christmas, each child marked with a star like the Star of Bethlehem; weaponized genetic diseases; the Cabal, whose goal is worldwide ethnic cleansing; Nazi clones; a race of slaves called New Men; a wide array of mythical beasts (unicorns, centaurs, dragons, elves, etc.); and morphogenetic monsters such as tiger/dogs and insect/humans. Joe battles these horrors with his usual ferocity, but by the end, even this superhero is reduced to despair by the toll the job exacts. While Joe has announced his retirement, eager readers can look forward to one more volume in this humorous, over-the-top cross-genre trilogy.

Breakout star Creepella von Cacklefur is back in another fur-raising adventure!A mysterious old friend of Grandpa Frankenstein shows up one night on the doorstep of Cacklefur Castle. He's a vampire . . . and he needs the von Cacklefur family's help. His ancient castle has been infested by strange and troublesome monsters and ghosts, and he's afraid he'll have to move out because of them! Yikes! It's up to Creepella and her family and friends to help this vampire save his home.

Finally available, this thriller written by a former military intelligence analyst who worked with the NSA tells the all-too-real story of a former NSA operative. In the heart of the Middle East, former NSA agent Scott Evers is drawn deep into an explosive terrorist plot. Two ships in the Mediterranean were destroyed, a Navy helicopter has been shot down, and two SEAL teams are missing in action. As he races to find answers, Scott is being hunted by a rogue operative that wants him dead no matter what it takes. When the dust clears, Scott's world will never be the same again.

In a heartbeat, a crowded auditorium or a city street can become a kill zone, where life and death are separated by a split second. For Atticus Kodiak, professional bodyguard, the object is to keep people alive, and there is no margin for error. Now Kodiak faces his toughest challenge: to protect a woman and her daughter from a killer with a fanatic agenda of his own....Tense, taut, and as brutally real as this morning's headlines, Keeper marks the debut of a talented young writer of tough, unflinching prose—and the beginning of an electrifying new series.From Publishers WeeklyThe world of the professional bodyguard provides the arena for this no-nonsense first novel. Atticus Kodiak, 28, is hired to protect Felice Romero, director of a Manhattan abortion clinic targeted by militant pro-lifers. The pros and cons of abortion are intelligently presented as Kodiak tries to protect his client and her daughter, who's afflicted with Down's syndrome. Soon the bodyguard, whose girlfriend has just undergone an abortion, finds himself personally committed to his client. Bomb threats, shootings and several murders, one particularly tragic, heat up the action, driving the narrative toward an explosive climax at a cemetery. Rucka's prose is clean and visual, his characterizations and dialogue are economical and his storytelling scoots along at a fast clip. A few top crime writers-Robert B. Parker in the Spenser series, for instance-have wandered into bodyguard territory. Rucka has the talent to make it his own, however, especially if he spins this trim tale into a series. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalFirst novelist Rucka delivers a story as timely as today's headlines. Atticus Kodiak, a bodyguard by profession, gets caught in the middle of a demonstration on the day he brings his girlfriend to the Woman's LifeCare Clinic for an abortion. The clinic, run by Dr. Felice Romero, has been targeted by the Sword of the Silent, a group of pro-life fanatics run by the megalomaniacal Jonathan Crowell. Because of escalating tensions between the pro-choice and pro-life factions, cooler heads schedule a peace summit of sorts, christened Common Ground. Romero plans to attend, but when she receives some very nasty and specific threats by mail, she hires Kodiak and associates to keep her and her daughter safe. This is a tense and exciting novel filled with some odd characters. Recommended for popular collections.?Dawn L. Anderson, North Richland Hills P. L., Tex.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Parish and Richards are given the baffling case of a man drained of blood and left suspended in a Community Centre in the position of The Hanging Man from a pack of Tarot cards with a number on a piece of paper inserted into his heart, but this murder is only the beginning . . .Stick and Xena are given a series of double murders to solve, but nothing is ever as simple as it first appears. The men have had body parts removed, their wives have had their throats cut and there's a bloody handprint on the children's bedroom doors . . .Jerry is given two other students – Shakin' and Joe – by the Professor in her law class, and is tasked to produce a project on the Baker Street Bank Robbery and the use of a D-Notice, but things begin to spiral out of control when Jerry is threatened by an MI5 agent, and then Bronwyn gets involved . . .

Captain Joe Ledger. Former cop. Former Army Ranger. Currently the top-kick of Echo Team, an elite squad of first-class shooters who roll out to face down the world's most dangerous terrorists. Not fanatics with explosive vests or political hostage takers. Joe and his team square off against terrorists who have the most advanced and exotic weapons of mass destruction. Designer bioweapons. Cutting edge transgenics. Real mad scientist stuff. If they have to call Joe Ledger – it's already hit the fan. JOE LEDGER: SPECIAL OPS collects several of the Ledger short stories and presents two brand new tales exclusive to this volume. Bonus features include character profiles and a never-before-published glimpse behind the scenes of the Department of Military Sciences. Join the Hunt!

An Anthology of Military Horror.

Ten years in the making, comes a literary work Like no other, from the legendary author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell.In the half a square mile of decay and demolition that was England's Saxon capital, eternity is loitering between the firetrap housing projects. Embedded in the grubby amber of the district's narrative among its saints, kings, prostitutes, and derelicts a different kind of human time is happening, a soiled simultaneity that does not differentiate between the petrolcolored puddles and the fractured dreams of those who navigate them. Fiends last mentioned in the second-century Book of Tobit wait in urine-scented stairwells, the delinquent specters of unlucky children undermine a century with tunnels, and in upstairs parlors laborers with golden blood reduce fate to a snooker tournament.An opulent mythology for those without a pot to piss in, through the labyrinthine streets and pages of Jerusalem tread ghosts that sing of wealth and...

Fable™ Heroes, available May 2, 2012, on Xbox Live Arcade, gathers a range of heroes and villains from across the epic videogame saga—and the Fable™ companion eBook series delves even deeper into their greatest triumphs, darkest secrets, and never-before-seen origins. In the second eBook short story, evil will be unmasked—but nothing is ever what it seems when Jack of Blades has the upper hand.Finally, the people of Albion are safe. Jack of Blades, the supernatural terror, has been slayed . . . or at least, that’s what they’ve been told. But the residents of Oddwood know that Jack is alive and well. Leading a small force of mercenaries, Jack has enslaved the townsfolk and is enjoying a life of luxury—until an unassuming young man arrives on the scene, inadvertently thwarting Jack at every step. Living up to his merciless reputation, Jack of Blades decides upon a suitable punishment: throwing the newcomer into a cage with a flesh-eating Balverine. Little does Jack realize that he’s dealing with a wild card—and a shocking twist to the Fable™ saga.© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft, Fable, Lionhead, the Lionhead logo, Xbox, and the Xbox logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.