Only master of mayhem Wally McDoogle can turn an innocent game of laser tag into international espionage. From the Swiss Alps to the African plains, Agent 00 1/7th bumblingly employs such top–secret gizmos as rocket–powered toilet paper, exploding dental floss and the ever–popular transformer tacos (don't laugh, they get great gas mileage) in a desperate attempt to stop the dreaded and super secret...Giggle Gun. It isn't until Wally finally takes responsibility for his actions (which unfortunately involves leaping out of a jet fighter traveling 1.2 gazillion miles an hour), that he is finally able to save his life...And while he is at it, the entire free world.

There he was in his sailboat in the middle of the Atlantic, all alone and loving it. Well, there was a US Navy carrier group on his southern horizon, but he was US Navy himself, so he didn't mind. Then came the UFOs, hurtling in from the Outer Black to overfly the carriers at Mach 17. Their impossible aeronautics were bad enough - but then they started shooting at each other. And at the Navy. With nukes. Little ones at first, but winding up with a 500 megatonner at 90 miles that fried every piece of electronics within sight. Richard Ashton thought he was just a ringside observer to these now over-the-horizon events. Until the crippled alien lifeboat came drifting down and homed in on his sailboat; suddenly he had his hands full of an unconscious, critially wounded alien warrior - who just happened to be a gorgeous female, too. And that was when it began to get really interesting...

A guide to embracing the ups and downs of the artistic process—and allowing them to carry you along your unique creative journey Whether in painting, poetry, performance, music, dance, or life, there is an intelligence working in every situation. This force is the primary carrier of creation. If we trust it and follow its natural movement, it will astound us with its ability to find a way through problems—and even make creative use of our mistakes and failures.There is a magic to this process that cannot be controlled by the ego. Somehow it always finds the way to the place where you need to be, and a destination you never could have known in advance.When everything seems as if it is hopeless and going nowhere . . . trust the process.

THE DREAMER. THE THUNDER. THE BAT. THE EAGLE. THE ANGEL. WHOSE WILL BE DONE? It’s the early years of the Twenty-First Century. Without the guidance and values long championed by the old guard—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—a younger generation of super heroes is ravaging the world. But when the Man of Steel returns from self-imposed exile, his very presence could be the catalyst that pushes us all into Armageddon. Seen through the eyes of Norman McCay, an aging minister who embarks on a disturbing odyssey of revelation with an angel known as the Spectre to guide him, Kingdom Come is the story of what defines a hero in a world spinning inexorably out of control … of the heroes who adapted to that changing world, and those who couldn’t … of personal battles fought with inner demons, and the final war that would determine the fate of our planet.

Otherland. In many ways it is humankind's most stunning achievement: a private, multidimensional universe built over two generations by the greatest minds of the twenty-first century. But this most exclusive of places is also one of the world's best kept secrets, created and controlled by an organization made up of the world's most powerful and ruthless individuals, a private cartel known--to those who know of their existence at all--as The Grail Brotherhood. Though their purpose in creating Otherland is still a mystery, it may not remain so for long. For they have exacted a terrible price from humanity in the process, and even their highly organized global conspiracy cannot hide the nature of their crimes forever. And now a small band of adventurers has penetrated the veil of secrecy that prevents the uninitiated from entering Otherland. But having broken into the amazing worlds within worlds that make up this universe, they are trapped, unable to escape back to their own flesh-and-blood bodies in the real world. And as dangers and circumstances split their party into small, widely scattered groups, their only hope of reuniting lies in returning again and again to the River that flows--in one form or another--through all the worlds. But the odds seem to be completely against them as they--and the one outsider with whom they might join forces--become hopelessly lost in realms where an Ice Age tribe's fears can only be quenched in blood...where insects are as large and deadly as dinosaurs...where they are caught in the war between a man made of straw and one made of tin...where cartoon ads take on a life of their own...where humans strive to survive in the aftermath of an alien invasion...and where one among their party is actually The Grail Brotherhood's most terrifying weapon--a sociopathic killer who has never failed and whose current mission is to make certain that not even one member of this little invasion force lives long enough to reveal the truth about Otherland to the people of Earth...

Coming from a society where women were barred from serious writing and teaching, Julian, an anchorite of the great medieval city of Norwich, nevertheless uses her womanlines and the English vernacular of the day to describe a series of revelations which she received from God in the year 1373. She identifies the female nature of Christ's suffering and the motherhood of God, using images from domestic daily life, emphasizing the homeliness of God's love. She writes in a lively and unpretentious manner and her theology is precise without ever being pedantic.

Tells how the Harrington family and its tradition of distinguished service in the defence of the realm was founded, and how they discovered treecats. Weber is joined in Honor's universe by two leading science fiction writers, David Drake and S.M. Stirling.

In this extraordinary collection of stories, the New York Times-bestselling author of Evening Class and This Year It Will Be Different once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy brings us sons and lovers, daughters and strangers, husbands and wives in their infinite variety--powerfully compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation. A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip....A man and a woman's mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances can be....An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors....A pair of star-crossed travelers take each other's bags, and then learn that when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life. In their company are many more, whose poignant, ironic, often humorous stories--unforgettable slices of life--make up The Return Journey, a spellbinding trip into the human heart. Maeve Binchy was born and educated in Dublin. She is the author of the bestselling books Evening Class, This Year It Will Be Different, The Glass Lake, The Copper Beech, The Lilac Bus, Circle of Friends, Silver Wedding, Firefly Summer, Echoes, Light a Penny Candle, and London Transports, three volumes of short stories, two plays, and a teleplay that won three awards at the Prague Film Festival. She has been writing for The Irish Times since 1969 and lives with her husband, Gordon Snell, in Dublin. From the Hardcover edition.

"Another delightful and entertaining story with characters who walk off the pages into the reader's heart...truly a winner," said Rendezvous about Jude Deveraux's An Angel for Emily. "All sorts of clever turns and surprises. Definitely a keeper...wow!" raved the Philadelphia Inquirer. Now the beloved New York Times bestselling author concocts a charming, piquant tale about a take-charge businessman and a daffy but wise young widow, the special bonds of brotherhood, and the eternal love between mother and child, all set in a small Kentucky town during Christmas, the season of... The Blessing When wealthy, hard-driving corporate genius Jason Wilding reluctantly takes a break from his business and his husband-hunting girlfriends for a Christmas visit to his hometown in Abernathy, Kentucky, he has no idea what his physician brother, David, has in store for him. It seems that Amy Thompkins, a whimsical young widow with definite artistic talent, has captured David's heart, but courting her with a demanding baby in tow has been difficult. In order to pursue her, he persuades Jason to move into her home and take care of her spoiled but adorable son, Max, for a week. For a fiercely efficient CEO, it's an impossible scene: a falling-down old house; buckets on the dining room floor to catch the rain; a widow living on next to nothing, with no marketable skills. But Amy's joy for life, her love for her son, and her sparkling humor are irresistible -- and tiny Max adores Jason beyond reason. Soon, Jason sees Amy and her future as a prime target for his strategic planning. Importing his private chef to prepare the little one's food and buying a baby store so that his mother can get real bargains are just the beginning. Because enigmatic Jason is thawing -- the tender feelings and longing he has buried for years are begging to be heard. And when he smiles, Amy is reminded of a Mount Rushmore monument finally cracking up -- in the best possible way. The mutual attraction is glowing bright, but what to do about David? Once again, Jude Deveraux's deft hand and loving vision conjure up a novel full of surprises and delights, in a story that will warm all our hearts and make us believe in the power of miracles, large and small. It's a tale for all seasons, and a love story to remember always.

The award-winning poet Anne Carson reinvents a genre in Autobiography of Red, a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional re-creation of an ancient Greek myth and a wholly original coming-of-age story set in the present. Geryon, a young boy who is also a winged red monster, reveals the volcanic terrain of his fragile, tormented soul in an autobiography he begins at the age of five. As he grows older, Geryon escapes his abusive brother and affectionate but ineffectual mother, finding solace behind the lens of his camera and in the arms of a young man named Herakles, a cavalier drifter who leaves him at the peak of infatuation. When Herakles reappears years later, Geryon confronts again the pain of his desire and embarks on a journey that will unleash his creative imagination to its fullest extent. By turns whimsical and haunting, erudite and accessible, richly layered and deceptively simple, Autobiography of Red is a profoundly moving portrait of an artist coming to terms with the fantastic accident of who he is. "A profound love story . . . sensuous and funny, poignant, musical and tender."--The New York Times Book Review "A deeply odd and immensely engaging book. . . . [Carson] exposes with passionate force the mythic underlying the explosive everyday."  --The Village Voice A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR National book Critics Circle Award Finalist

Nancy's aunt Eloise in New York City has invited her, Bess, and George to spend the weekend. After a long day of sightseeing, the group ends up at Haunted Harriet's, a spooky theme restaurant. But real horror begins when a birthday cake explodes and oozes green slime, rubber worms, and fake spiders -- and Nancy gets blamed for it!

Now from the author the Washington Post Book World calls "the dark chronicler of human vanity and folly" comes Celebration. The newest black comedy from Harry Crews is a biting, brilliant commentary set in a Florida rest-home gulag where the over-sixty-five set checks its dignity, self-esteem, and social security numbers at the door.Forever and Forever is the aptly named retreat, populated by a motley crew of forgotten wives and ruined men who are waiting for death while working on their tans. The leader of this group is Stump, whose lost arm paid for Forever and Forever, and who believes the silent desperation that infuses the trailer park masks the fact that Forever and Forever is truly a small piece of hell on earth.This ironic silence is shattered by the entrance of a beautiful young bombshell. Too Much is her name, and that is exactly what she is. This walking bonfire awakens long dead appetites in the inhabitants of Forever and Forever, reminding them of what they once were and can be again -- alive."Dark and sometimes shocking ... Wonderfully ribald and deeply humame." —Gary Dretzka, Chicago Tribune “Crews is at his giddy, twisted best.” —Entertainment Weekly “Shards of brilliance and of the gonzo wit that has made Crews’s reputation as a dead-on satirist.” —Karen Karbo, The New York Times Book Review “... a tribute to individuality and yes, to celebrating life.”—The Charlotte Observer "...another savage satire with the usual Crewsian elements: grotesque characters, bizarre situations, and black humor." —Library JournalFrom BooklistCrews is a Rabelaisian satirist who toys with the more gothic aspects of southern literature, particularly in this kinky tale. Readers will know that they've entered the realm of the absurd as soon as they meet Too Much, a flexible and lusty beauty right out of Lil' Abner, tight cutoffs, big boobs, and all. Too Much descends on a Florida trailer park called Forever and Forever like a hurricane, riling everyone at this purgatory for old folks who are too raggedy to enjoy retirement but not quite broken down enough for a rest home. Too Much easily seduces Stump, the bitter, one-handed vet who owns this depressing settlement, then unceremoniously deposes him while stirring up long-forgotten appetites in the Old Ones, with her five-alarm body and nihilistic faith in what she calls the "chance of ultimate possibility." Crews is funny, his plot is nearly surreal, and his playing with our notions of good and evil is clever and entertaining, but this is, at base, a very silly novel. —Donna Seaman

Seventeen-year-old Joss is a rebel, and a student of time travel at the prestigious Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. This year, for the first time, the Centre has an alien student? Mavkel, from the planet Choria. And Mavkel has chosen Joss, of all people, as his roommate and study partner. Then Mavkel gets sick. Joss quickly realizes that his will to live is draining away. The only way she can help Mavkel is by breaking the Centre's strictest rules . . . and that means going back in time to change history.