This book is a collection of three different short stories. While all are separate stories entirely, all zone in on moments in character's lives when they're faced with making some very important decisions.This book is composed of three short stories all focused on character's during a very important moment in their life. YES, centers in on a woman named Mimi right after she has been asked one of the most important questions in her life. While second guessing her own thoughts, she turns to the one person she could always count on for help. QUIET, jumps into the household of couple Jasper and Sam, but they aren't alone. Trapped in their bedroom closet during a break-in, there's no escape as they hear the unknown get closer and closer. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, looks into the eye of Christopher, a young man struggling to keep the things in his life together. After a hard few months with his wife, Sarah, Christopher takes one last chance to restore things back to the way they used to be.

It was in the Théatre St. Philippe (they had laid a temporary floor over the parquette seats) in the city we now call New Orleans, in the month of September, and in the year 1803. Under the twinkle of numberless candles, and in a perfumed air thrilled with the wailing ecstasy of violins, the little Creole capital's proudest and best were offering up the first cool night of the languidly departing summer to the divine Terpsichore. For summer there, bear in mind, is a loitering gossip, that only begins to talk of leaving when September rises to go. It was like hustling her out, it is true, to give a select bal masqué at such a very early--such an amusingly early date; but it was fitting that something should be done for the sick and the destitute; and why not this? Everybody knows the Lord loveth a cheerful giver.

Tom and Alyse get pulled into an international mystery after a chance meeting in Germany.Tom is pleased with the direction that his life has taken him, and enjoys his structured life as a young American soldier stationed overseas. Alyse is a beautiful young Canadian on summer vacation far from home. A chance meeting between the two while in Germany sets off a mysterious chain of events that will take them across continents and place them at odds with the most powerful people in the world. What the two uncover will shake their faith in the institutions that they believe in, and uncover shocking secrets that could cost them their lives.

One horrible Mother-in-law, one lamp with a Genie in it, three wishes - what could go wrong. Henry knew it was too good to be true. It was!Henry sat silently in his recliner, trying hard to not listen to his mother-in-law's utterances to his wife. He needed a walk.Walking slowly along the beach his mind was preoccupied in his simmering anger, so he didn't see the object half-buried in the sand. He tripped. Looking back at whatever it was that had caused him to fall, he saw an old-looking lamp. It had a rounded midsection and bell-like base, and there was a small top covering an opening in the middle. The handle was curved, reminding him of the outline of an ear, and the spout was long and slender, protruding up and out like the neck of a swan. It looked just like the lamp in every movie about Aladdin that he'd ever seen. He absentmindedly rubbed at it with his sleeve. Suddenly, the lamp flew from his hands, smoke began to bellow out of the spout, and he stared in amazement as a large, seemingly naked, man appeared in the cloud. “Master, I am yours to command.” came the baritone voice, “What is your wish?”

A previously unpublished episode from The Illearth War. Having found the Illearth Stone, Lord Foul intends to wield its evil power over the Giants of Seareach. But a force, led by Korik Bloodguard together with the Lords Shetra and Hyrim, undertake a perilous mission - to try and warn the Giants of their horrible fate... But they must travel across hostile land and through the menacing Grimmerdhore Forest. They must save themselves from the evil flames of the Gilden-Fire which threaten to engulf them. And Bloodguard must escape the hungry wolves and ur-viles so that he can complete his mission and remain loyal to his vow.

By the stroke of midnight, a heart would be broken, a cruel truth revealed, a devastating secret shared, and a love betrayed. Four lives would be changed forever, on One Day in December. One morning in December... Caro set off on a quest to find out if her relationship with her father had been based on a lifetime of lies. Lila decided to tell her lover's wife of their secret affair. Cammy was on the way to pick up the ring for the surprise proposal to the woman he loved. And Bernadette vowed to walk away from her controlling husband of 30 years and never look back. One day, four lives will change forever...

Astrophysicist and NPR commentator Adam Frank reveals what the latest research on alien civilizations may tell us about our own.Light of the Stars is science at the grandest of scales, and it tells a radically new story about what we are: one world in a universe awash in planets. Building on his widely discussed scientific papers and New York Times op-eds, astrophysicist Adam Frank shows that not only is it likely that alien civilizations have existed many times before, but also that many of them have driven their own worlds into dangerous eras of change. He explains how dust storms on Mars, the greenhouse effect on Venus, Gaia Theory, the threat of nuclear winter, and efforts to prove or disprove the plurality of worlds from Aristotle to Copernicus to Carl Sagan have contributed to our understanding of our place in the universe and the growing challenge of climate change. And he raises what may be the largest question of all: If there has been life on other worlds, what...

"A summer holiday in a book... unforgettably exciting." Piers Torday"Lauren St John at her very best... a gripping adventure across stormy seas, stately homes and boarding schools, with a fabulous plotted mystery at its core. I couldn't put it down." Abi ElphinstoneA storm is coming. What will it take to survive? An exciting adventure set at sea, from the bestselling author of the Laura Marlin Mysteries and Kat Wolfe Investigates.Twins Jess and Jude Carter live a dream life sailing from one exotic destination to the next with their guardian, Gabriel. But after Gabe vanishes and a storm smashes up their lives, they're left penniless and alone. When a wealthy, glamorous family offer them a home, everybody tells them they're the luckiest children in the world. But the Blakeneys' stately mansion is full of secrets – secrets that seem entangled with the twins' own fate. As they race to uncover the truth, Jess and Jude must...

During a trip to China, Paul and Christine experience the nightmare of every parent: their four year old son is threatened with kidnap. The only safe place for the family is the US embassy in Beijing, but they are two thousand miles away, with the police searching frantically for them, and all airports, train stations and major roads under surveillance. They'll have no chance without help from strangers, but who will be willing to risk their lives for them?Suspenseful and rife with the page-turning storytelling that has come to define Sendker's work, Far Side of the Night is a brilliant and timely thriller that offers a penetrating look into contemporary China.

Dumped by her billionaire fiancé, the Hollywood actress lands herself in all sorts of woes – hospitalization for slipping pill overdose and paparazzi. She escapes to India's Yoga capital but the paparazzi follows. A young yogi bails her out, detours her to an unusual world, introducing her to super consciousness of Onlyness. She thinks she is second time lucky. However, more shocks await her.Dumped by her billionaire fiancé, a resplendently beautiful woman, the reigning royalty of Hollywood’s dream factory, lands herself in all sorts of woes – hospitalization for slipping pill overdose, bad Press, peer group backstabbing and paparazzi. She escapes to anonymity at India's Yoga capital but the threat of paparazzi follows. A young yogi bails her out and detours her to an unusual world where he introduces her to the super consciousness of ‘Onlyness’ within her. The redeemed empress unconsciously discovers her true elements being in linearity with that of the yogi and believes, she may be second time lucky. However, more shocks await her.The singularities of life have elemental eccentricities of happening and un-happening; almost as weird and randomized as love. The elements of one’s own life and that of the equally precarious milieus are both patterned as well as un-patterned. The juxtaposition of symmetrical possibilities amid the larger probabilistic asymmetry of arbitrary milieus engender such beautiful marvels of life-living experiences, which people can accept only in one way – the destiny! The true and lasting relationship can happen only between similar and generic elements. Destinies shape this way. What destiny has in store for Melissa, the empress, who finds a yogi in her new and metamorphosed life, shall be decided not by factors outside in her near and far milieus, rather by what she finally accepts as something, which is her own internal positioning of consciousness. The moment, she accepts, love shall happen and destiny shall be signed in.

Buried deep below the Nevada desert, is a very special school where the best and brightest children come from around the world to learn the technology that will bring mankind to its next step of evolution -- a place amongst the stars. 'The Fourth World' follows four children through a year in this school where they learn how to pilot a UFO, take a field trip to mars, and learn from aliens!Twin SoulsSeventeen year old Alexis finds herself on the eve of her eighteenth birthday. What generally means a step into adulthood instead opens its way to a terrifying truth about not only her family, but herself. She comes from a long line of vampire hunters, and her real dad wants her to carry on the family quest. At the same time, she is falling for a new boy at school who has his own secret. He is a vampire. Alexis is forced to make a decision from which there is no turning back. - Will she deny this newly discovered heritage, or embrace it.This novel is approximately 64,000 words in length - 322 pages long.More by K.A. PoeTwin Souls (Nevermore, Book 1)Hybrid (Nevermore, Book 2)Sacrifice (Nevermore, Book 3)Destiny (Nevermore, Book 4)Darius - Episode One (Through the Rift)PraiseLike a beautifully composed piano composition, Twin Souls connects with readers - presenting a vampire novel that makes them question who the real monsters are.-Booknut 101It can be difficult to write about vampires after twilight since it became such a big hit so everyone who have read the books will compare them to other books in the same genre unless you come up with something unique. I really think Poe did that here!-Cecilia, Rather Barefoot than BooklessI had to stop reading halfway through to check and make sure there would be a sequel as I didn't want this to be the end of Alexis's story! Thankfully there will be one coming soon. I can't wait to read it too!-Angieleigh, Once Upon a Book

In this short story, college students and friends Jessica and Bryan are talking and studying one night. The next day, Jessica buys a magical hat and begins to learn what people are really thinking!New Pulp Author David White takes on Heaven, Hell, and everything in between with the debut of Magee, his Pro Se Single Shots series.Banished from on high for standing up to the archangel Michael, the being now known as Magee finds himself on Earth, stripped of his wings. Literally, as they were torn from his back. Left to his own vices, this fallen angel discovers he has many. In Magee: Knight From Hell, a killer is on the loose, one that no mortal means can stop. Magee begrudgingly finds himself involved in the hunt for this mystical murderer, alongside the only being he might call friend- a cultured and wealthy werewolf named Princeton. As Magee fights his way through his own issues, he finds that horrors of the past may mean more to his present than even a disgraced angel can survive.

They say if you see the Stranded, it's already too late... Tasked with transporting a monster-hunting "ghost" to the Vulgar Division artillery unit, far from the fighting, Wild Wish is ready to take a break for the winter. Their destination, Lake Harmonial, is a place of peace and tranquillity. An idyllic, safe retreat.Until now.This ghost is no ordinary soldier, and Command want Wild Wish with him for a reason. When the ice comes to Harmonial, it will bring a threat that could unbalance the entire war.One that only the Blood Scouts can stop.These peaceful woods contain forces darker than any Wish has seen before. Win or lose, this mission is going to leave deep and terrible scars. Return to the world of the Rocc for another thrilling, chilling chapter in the One War, as the Blood Scouts come to face the true cost of survival.