May 1195, and Sir John de Wolfe is faced with a strange series of murders. The common factor is that an appropriate Biblical text is left at the murder scene, reflecting the alleged sin of the victim. Since only one per cent of the population can read, de Wolfe believes the killer to be a priest.

In 1951 Mississippi, Thebes State Penal Farm is a place of violence, racial terror, and horrific rumors. When an old friend disappears inside Thebes, Arkansas State Police Sgt. Earl Swagger infiltrates the prison and discovers a savage world where death is the only salvation. He barely escapes with his life, but he's not about to stay away for long.

A mysterious plague in the Antarctic. A diamond empire run by an evil genius. A devastating new technology that threatens to annihilate millions. Tasman Sea, 1856. A British clipper ship bound for Australia's penal colony is crushed in a raging typhoon. A few pitiful survivors wash up on a deserted island. Among them are Betsy Fletcher and Jess Dorsett, who discover an immense supply of exquisite diamonds... Seymour Island, Antarctica, 2000. Dirk Pitt rescues Maeve Fletcher, a descendant of Betsy and Jess, after an unknouwn cataclysm kills thousands of marine animals and nearly two hundred people aboard a cruise ship. Pitt traces the carnage to the global diamond operations of Maeve's father, Arthur Dorsett, and her callous sisters. From a chilling escape at a high-security Canadian mine to a tiny boat adrift on lonely, shark-infested seas, the ingenious Pitt is racing to thwart Dorsett's ruthless plans — before an unthinkable disaster claims millions of innocent lives.

In perhaps the first true-crime book written at the victim's request, Ann Rule untangles a web of lies and brutality that culminated in the murder of Sheila Blackthorne Bellush, a woman Rule never met, but whose shocking story she now chronicles with compassion, exacting detail, and unvarnished candor. Although happily ensconced in a loving second marriage, and a new family of quadruplets, Sheila never truly escaped the vicious enslavement of her ex-husband, multi-millionaire Allen Blackthorne, a handsome charmer and a violent, controlling sociopath who subjected Sheila to unthinkable abuse in their marriage, and terrorized her for a decade after their divorce. When Sheila was slain in her home, in the presence of her four toddlers, authorities raced to link the crime to Blackthorne, the man who vowed to monitor Sheila's every move in his obsessive quest for power and revenge.

Internationally acclaimed author John Connolly thrilled readers with his debut bestseller, Every Dead Thing. Now he gives a new name to fear with this atmospheric, spine-tingling page-turner. Haunted by the murder of his wife and daughter, former New York police detective Charlie Parker retreats home to Scarborough, Maine, to rebuild his shattered life. But his return reawakens old ghosts, drawing him into the manhunt for the killer of yet another mother and child. The obvious suspect is the young woman's violent ex-husband. But there is another possibility — a mythical killer who lurks deep in the dark hollow of Parker's own past, a figure that has haunt...

Colleen McCullough captivated millions with her beloved worldwide bestseller The Thorn Birds. Now she takes readers to the birth of modern Australia with a breath-taking saga brimming with drama, history, and passion. It was one of the greatest human experiments ever undertaken: to populate an unknown continent with the criminals of English society. For Richard Morgan, twelve months as a prisoner on the high seas would be just the beginning in a soul-trying test to survive in a hostile new land where, against all odds, he would find a new love and a new life. From the dank cells of England's prisons to the unforgiving frontier of the eighteenth-century outback, Morgan's Run is the epic tale of one man whose strength and character helped settle a country and define its future.

From the Queen of Suspense, Mary Higgins Clark, and bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark — the acclaimed mother/daughter duo — comes this holiday treat, a heartwarming tale of redemption and love. He Sees You When You're Sleeping Sterling Brooks has been cooling his heels in the Celestial Waiting Room for forty-six years, waiting for admission to heaven. Finally, just days before Christmas, he's summoned before the Heavenly Council and found unworthy; throughout his life he had been hopelessly self-absorbed. To redeem himself, he is given the chance to go back to Earth and find someone to help. At New York's Rockefeller Center skating rink, Sterling encounters Marissa, a heartbroken seven-year-old whose father and grandmother have been forced into the Witness Protection Program; they had overheard two gangsters hatch a sinister plot to collect money from a debtor. Able to travel through time and space, Sterling devises a master plan to reunite little Marissa with her family in time for Christmas. Along the way, he discovers within himself what it takes to earn his wings.

Have you ever wondered what Santa did before he was Santa? When Santa was young and needed a job, no one was looking for a man in a red suit to deliver gifts on Christmas. So Santa tried just about everything — from a chimney sweep to a postman to a circus performer. But none of these worked out. It wasn't until he met a group of elves who helped him use all his special talents, that Santa was able to find his dream job.

«First published in 1920, Flappers and Philosophers marked F. Scott Fitzgerald's entry into the realm of the short story, in which he adroitly proved himself «a master of the mechanism of short story technique (Boston Transcript). Several of his most beloved tales are represented in this collection of eight, including Bernice Bobs Her Hair and Head and Shoulders, with their particularly O. Henry-like twists; the poignant Benediction and The Cut-Glass Bowl; and The Offshore Pirate, the octet's opening and most romantic story. It is a collection of masterful short works from an American literary icon that led The New York Times Book Review to note that [no one] can fail to recognize Mr. Fitzgerald's talent and genius. Pocket Books' Enriched Classics present the great works of world literature enhanced for the contemporary reader. Special features include critical perspectives, suggestions for further reading, and a unique visual essay composed of period photographs that help bring every word to life.»

«Read this history-making serial novel — from cliffhanger to cliffhanger — in its entirety. When it first appeared, one volume per month, Stephen King's The Green Mile was an unprecedented publishing triumph: all six volumes ended up on the New York Times bestseller list — simultaneously — and delighted millions of fans the world over. Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk the Green Mile, keeping a date with «Old Sparky», Cold Mountain's electric chair. Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities in his years working the Mile. But he's never seen anyone like John Coffey, a man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child, condemned for a crime terrifying in its violence and shocking in its depravity. In this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecombe is about to discover the terrible, wondrous truth about Coffey, a truth that will challenge his most cherished beliefs...and yours.»

Derrick has a thriving business, good looks, and charisma to spare, but his success seems empty without a special lady to share it with. Tony was an unredeemable ladies' man until Tracie caught his heart. But will his conniving ex, Valarie, let them live happily ever after? Any woman would be lucky to have Benjamin. But his weakness for young women has only made him a target for gold diggers in search of a sugar daddy. Will he ever find true love? And, finally, there's Mark. Still bitter from being rejected by black women when he was young, he seeks acceptance in the arms of a white lover. But will his friends and family accept her?

When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son — and now an idyllic home. As a family, they've got it all... right down to the friendly cat. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth — more terrifying than death itself...and hideously more powerful.

D.D. Harriman is a billionaire with a dream: the dream of Space for All Mankind. The method? Anything that works. Maybe, in fact, Harriman goes too far. But he will give us the stars....

«When young Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away from her-home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan, shrouded in darkness. When a young wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, Tenar's rightful duty is to protect the Tombs. But Ged also brings with him the light of magic and tales of a brighter world Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape the darkness that has become her domain? With millions of copies sold worldwide, Ursula K. Le Guin's «Earthsea Cycle» has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere, alongside the works of such beloved authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.»

Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is propelled from north to south when a nine-year-old girl is brutally shot on a Montreal street and the remains of a missing North Carolina teenager are found hundreds of miles away. The connection between the crimes leads Brennan into a bizarre culture of outlaw motorcycle gangs, where one misstep can bring disaster.

With Earth in the path of the rapacious Posleen, the Galactic Federation offers help to the backward humans — for a price. You can protect yourself from your enemies, but God save you from your allies!

When all of the performers at the circus are out sick with ear infections, it's up to Olivia to save the day! That's no problem for Olivia, of course, because she knows how to do everything. From lion taming to trampoline jumping, unicycling to tight-rope walking, Olivia is the ultimate performer — with the ultimate imagination. Now in a board book edition perfect for little hands, readers will delight to see how Ringmaster Olivia learns to fly!

Once upon a time, in the haunted city of Derry, four boys stood together and did a brave thing. It was something that changed them in ways they could never begin to understand. Dreamcatcher. Twenty-five years after saving a Down's-syndrome kid from bullies, Beav, Henry, Pete, and Jonesy — now men with separate lives and separate problems — reunite in the woods of Maine for their annual hunting trip. But when a stranger stumbles into their camp, disoriented and mumbling something about lights in the sky, chaos erupts. Soon, the four friends are plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world where their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past — and in the Dreamcatcher. Never before has Stephen King contended so frankly with the heart of darkness. Dreamcatcher, his first full-length novel since Bag of Bones, is a powerful story of astonishing range that will satisfy fans both new and old.

«Police chief of a small Massachusetts town, Cameron McDonald makes the toughest arrest of his life when his own cousin Jamie comes to him and confesses outright that he has killed his terminally ill wife out of mercy. Now, a heated murder trial plunges the town into upheaval, and drives a wedge into a contented marriage: Cameron, aiding the prosecution in their case against Jamie, is suddenly at odds with his devoted wife, Allie — seduced by the idea of a man so in love with his wife that he'd grant all her wishes, even her wish to end her life. And when an inexplicable attraction leads to a shocking betrayal, Allie faces the hardest questions of the heart: when does love cross the line of moral obligation? And what does it mean to truly love another? Praised for her «personal, detail-rich style» «(Glamour)», Jodi Picoult infuses this page-turning novel with heart, warmth, and startling candor, taking readers on an unforgettable emotional journey.»

In autumn, a strong wind blows flower seeds high in the air and carries them far across the land. One by one, many of the seeds are lost — burned by the sun, fallen into the ocean, eaten by a bird. But some survive the long winter and, come spring, sprout into plants, facing new dangers — trampled by playing children, picked as a gift for a friend. Soon only the tiniest seed remains, growing into a giant flower and, when autumn returns, sending its own seeds into the wind to start the process over again. Eric Carle's eloquent text and brilliant collages turn the simple life cycle of a plant into an exciting story, a nature lesson, and an inspiring message of the importance of perseverance.