Product Description DOWNWARD TO DARKNESS “You’re hungry,” she said, smiling wickedly in his dream. His hunger became a pain that kept him from speaking or even thinking. He tore at the meat on the table and crammed a wad into his mouth. Juice and fat ran down his chin as he chewed the crackling flesh. She shamed him by taking up her knife and fork and carving daintily. She extended a bit of meat on the fork and let him take it between his lips. He stared at her as he chewed, desiring her with all his soul but content, for the moment, to be with her and be fed choice tidbits like a pampered pet. “More,” he said. “More.” And has he spoke he turned to face her — and saw for the first time the banquet that she’d served him. As he woke screaming — screaming violently ill with the knowledge that he’d dined on human flesh. BRIAN McNAUGHTON the secret master of horror From the Publisher A novel of unyeilding terror by the World Fantasy Awardwinning Secret Master of Horror

A banished warrior teaches her treacherous uncle that once made, some oaths cannot be broken...and some monsters cannot be chained.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

He strikes without warning....he kills without mercy....he's only just begun.... Iris Johansen, the New York Times bestselling author of The Killing Game and The Face of Deception, delivers a gripping new novel of breathtaking suspense and explosive adventure. It is the story of a courageous woman who is coerced into tracking down a ruthless killer--but as she hunts out her prey with stunning accuracy, she becomes the object of his wrath.... As part of an elite K-9 search and rescue team, Sarah Patrick and her golden retriever, Monty, have a gift for finding what no one else can--whether it's a survivor buried alive by an earthquake or the skeleton of a murdered child. But their latest assignment is not like the others. This time Sarah is being forced to take part in a deadly mission...by a man who knows enough about her past to ensure her cooperation. A man who won't take no for an answer.  John Logan is used to getting what he wants, and what he wants now is Sarah's help. His top-secret venture has been sabotaged, its facilities destroyed, and its handpicked staff massacred. The sole survivor is being held for ransom. Logan knows that the only way to save the man--and the secrets he holds--is to find him as soon as possible. Smart, tough, and uncompromising, Sarah is furious when she is strong-armed into joining Logan on his search. And once she takes the perilous assignment, she realizes that Logan's promises that she and Monty will be safe may not be enough to protect them.  Because a killer is devising a sadistic vengeance...and he may soon find use for Sarah.  Racing against time to stop the bloodshed before more victims are claimed, both Sarah and Logan will look straight into the heart of true evil. And when the killer's search for revenge finally ends, no one will ever be the same again.... From the Hardcover edition.

In this fascinating insight into the shady inner workings of the art world a young appraiser working at a prestigious auction house comes across an unidentified masterpiece. But when the powerful CEO of the company claims the discovery as his own the appraiser teams up with the original owner of the piece to gain revenge. Together they set up a cunning scam that shatters the illusion of the elegant world of the Old Masters.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Veteran.

Israeli Military Intelligence agents Eytan Eckstein and Benni Baum are summoned once more to undertake a mission that could be their last. A defecting Czech spy claims to know the identity of a mole within Israel's top secret nuclear program, but he has fled to Africa and will only turn over the information if a string of his demands are met. Thus begins “Operation Sorcerer," a quest to extricate the Czech spy, rescue a throng of desperate refugees, and survive the onslaught of Africa warlords determined to destroy the Israeli heroes.Steven Hartov was born in the United States and educated at Boston University. After serving in the U.S. Military Sealift Command, he emigrated to Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces parachute corps and Military Intelligence special operations. He is the author of the espionage trilogy, “The Heat of Ramadan," “The Nylon Hand of God," and “The Devil's Shepherd," and co-author of the New York Times best...

Murder in Hilden Heights?Was Hattie Baker the victim of a serial killer?On a balmy, late summer morning in Hilden Heights Hattie Baker is found dead in her pool, and she wasn't the first. A socialite and successful business owner, Hattie was an excellent swimmer. Even so, her death was ruled an accident. Her boyfriend, Mason Willis, however, doesn't believe it was an accident. He thinks she was murdered and goes to Harry Starke for help. Thus begins an investigation that almost costs Harry his life. Can Harry find the killer before they strike again?

What do you get when you don't trust the opposite sex?The worst idea ever.RomanRoman Scott didn't have time for nonsense. As the owner of a very successful landscaping business and a single father of two five-year-old twins, the man was busy. Though he still managed to make time for his family and a guys' night out every now and again, free time was still a luxury that didn't come along his way very often. Still, he wouldn't trade his life for anything in the world.So, when he finds himself forced to meet his across-the-street neighbor because the woman dared to bring puppies into the neighborhood, he's not happy about it. He doesn't have time for the sexy woman and her puppies, though his children don't seem to care in the least. However, the more that he gets to know her, the more he believes that she just might be the perfect solution to his...uh, problems.HavenHaven Oslind didn't have any complaints in life. The woman got to work from...

Jake wakes up one morning to find he is suddenly twenty-five years old, the Yeerks rule the world, all the other Animorphs are either dead or Yeerk-infested, and he alone is left to fight.

From Publishers WeeklyCraven's first novel, a cloning thriller, isn't quite a clone of John Darnton's recent cloning thriller (The Experiment, Forecasts, July 5), but the two could pass as siblings. Both are by Sunday novelists: Craven is the (in)famous director of such horror film classics as Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street; Darnton edits for the New York Times. Both feature top-secret experiments by mad doctors: here, it's an army-funded program by Dr. Frederick Wolfe that has tampered with nature by growing human duplicates. And in both novels it's the dawning awareness by the clones and their originals of the implications of their situations that generates the primary suspense. But there are differences. Craven is an emotional writer, unlike Darnton, but he lacks the latter's attention to journalistic detail. Craven also writes cinematically, with energetic crosscutting of scenes. His setup depicts the evolving affair of a pair of lovers, model Elizabeth and financier Hans, in Europe, as well as the clandestine superweapons experiments of ailing, aging physicist Peter Jance and his wife, both colleagues of Wolfe, in White Sands. Hans is kidnapped: Wolfe's people have snatched him, for Hans, it's revealed, is Peter's clone. On the Caribbean island of Vieques, Wolfe transplants Peter's brain into Hans's young body, ensuring that Peter's diabolical weapons research will continue. Much of the remainder of the narrative concerns Peter's grappling with his new body and its memories, including recollections of Elizabeth, who makes her way to Vieques, sparking in Peter a reassessment of his marriage and career. The two become lovers. Can they escape Wolfe's clutches? Surging melodrama and rich characters distinguish this novel; one wishes it boasted the clear prose and scientific analysis of the Darnton. Neither book works fully, but the two complement each otherAnot like mirror images but like two halves of one whole. Author tour. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalFilm director Craven, famous for his "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, takes a stab at thriller-writingAwith considerable success. Dr. Peter Jance, a brilliant physicist on the verge of developing the ultimate weapon for the U.S. government, is suffering from pancreatic cancer and is in danger of dying before he completes his task. The solution may lie with Dr. Frederick Wolfe, the master of the super-secret military-sponsored Fountain SocietyAas in "fountain of youth." (My god: what if scientific geniuses could live forever?) What follows is a wickedly clever tale of genetic experimentation and human cloning, international military intrigue, mad-scientist wizardry, and evil secret intelligence that would be right at home in The X-Files. That Craven can make all of this believable is a testament to his writing skill; the "master of the macabre" has a winner that will appeal to Allan Folsom fans. Recommended for all fiction collections.-ARebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Convicted murderer David Haines sits on death row. Meanwhile, researcher Dr. Laura Donaldson discovers that Haines's blood may hold the cure to cancer. When she unwittingly helps Haines escape, she and FBI agent Kevin Sheldrake embark on a terrifying manhunt. It is imperative that Haines be brought back alive--but he'd sooner kill himself than offer his blood to medical science.

Erethizon Dorsatum—better known as Ereth, the self-centered, foul-tempered old porcupine—is having a birthday. And he fully expects his best friend Poppy, a deer mouse, to help him celebrate in a grand manner. But Poppy has gone off somewhere with her husband, Rye, and it appears she has forgotten all about it. "Belching Beavers," says Ereth, "I am not angry!" (Though, perhaps he is—and more than just a little.) Ereth knows his special occasion deserves a special treat—even if he has to get it for himself. And what treat could be more special than tasty salt? But the nearest salt is located deep in the forest, in a cabin occupied by fur hunters, who have set out traps to capture the Dimwood Forest animals. In one of the traps, Ereth finds Leaper the Fox—who, with her dying breath, begs the prickly porcupine to take care of her three boisterous young kits, Tumble, Nimble, and Flip. "Jellied walrus warts!" Ereth exclaims, but reluctantly agrees. Certainly this day is not going as he planned—and it's only just the beginning! Not only does Ereth suddenly have a rambunctious new family to take care of, but he's being stalked by Marty the Fisher, the one creature in Dimwood Forest who can do him harm. And Bounder, the father of the three little foxes, remembers all too well the nose full of quills he got a while back from the grumpy old animal who now fancies himself the leader of the den. He too sets out to show Ereth who's boss. Throw in an unexpected snowstorm, and all in all, it adds up to one brithday Ereth the porcupine is never going to forget, not even if he lives to be a hundred and twenty-two!

Many malevolent menaces have imperiled the magical land of Xanth in its long and storied history. But none has been as despicably dangerous as the Dastard-a craven miscreant who sold his soul to a detestable demon for the power to erase events. Now the entire future of Xanth is at the mercy of his every whim. Only a young dragon-girl named Becka has the power to stop his devious deeds! Becka is a crossbreed-the daughter of Draco Dragon and a lovely human woman who met, by chance, at a Love Spring. Now fourteen, Becka is beginning to wonder where in Xanth she belongs-on the ground with her mother's people, or flying the skies with her father's kind. So she journeys to the Good Magician Humfrey to discover her True Purpose in life. Much to her astonishment and surprise, the Magician tells her that that a great Destiny awaits her-one that will affect the future of all of Xanth.

Gwen is known as someone who listens well and solves problems. Clients pay for her counsel as they sit in the purple chair and untangle their emotions and stories. Word of mouth keeps people coming to her door. But who listens to Gwen? Who helps solve her own problems? As she supports clients to heal, her own life swirls in pain. She is sliding further down. Will she ever learn to take her own advice and who will catch her if she doesn't?

Setting: New York City, present day Sensuality rating: 8 High-powered attorney Victoria Kensington knows how to protect herself. In fact, she's spent her whole life protecting her vulnerable sister, Audrey, from their stern father's disapproval. But when Audrey, who's supposed to be painting in Venice, collapses at Victoria's feet in Central Park dressed only in a hospital gown, Victoria doesn't know what to think. And when Audrey disappears without a trace, Victoria will do anything to find out what has happened to her sister, even if it means allowing FBI associate Zachary Hamilton, the only man she's ever loved, back into her life--and her heart. Even if it means finding out her father knows a whole lot more than he's letting on, Victoria will let nothing stop her from saving Audrey. But when Victoria has several close calls, Zach insists on sticking close to her, really close. Will Victoria find a second chance at having the kind of family she always wanted and maybe even a second chance at love? Andrea Kane creates a knockout of a suspenseful romance, one that will keep readers guessing until the very end.--Alison Trinkle