Adam Equinox and his friends believe they've said farewell to the fantasy world of Karazan forever. They couldn't be more wrong. . . Join Adam Equinox on a new adventure in the second book of the Karazan Quartet. Adam is back at the orphanage and desperate to return to Quested Court for the holidays, but with the sinister new boy Weevil, and Matron conspiring against him, it seems impossible that Adam will ever escape Highgate . but finally he arrives at Quested Court only to find the household in turmoil. Q's five-year-old daughter, Hannah, has disappeared, and it seems that she has gone to Karazan to find her cat, tiger Lily. Adam and his friends are the only ones who can travel there and bring her home again. their search takes them to Shakesh, which lies at the edge of the Shroud - the unexplored outer limit of the map of Karazan - and to rescue Hannah the five friends must undertake the most perilous journey of all. they must head beyond the Shroud, to the hidden stronghold of the evil King Karazeel, Hannah's captor. Ages 10+

A compilation of strange and interesting designs from the mind of Mike Corriero. This art book is the first collection of sketches from the personal sketchbooks of the artist. You'll find everything from creatures to structure and environment thumbnails as well as some robots and other odd creations.

Christianity was born nearly two thousand years ago in ancient Palestine. It has shaped the course of human history. Yet historians still cannot say how it really began. How did a first-century Jew called Jesus manage to spark a new religion? It is one of the biggest and most profound of all historical mysteries. This extraordinary book finally provides a convincing answer. Traditionally, the birth of Christianity has been explained via the miracle of the Resurrection. After Jesus died he was raised from the dead by God and appeared to his disciples, telling them to spread the gospel. Once they saw the Risen Jesus, nothing could shake their belief. Within a few generations Christianity had spread throughout the Middle East and Europe; within a few centuries it had taken over much of the world. But historians have been unable to account for Christianity’s remarkable success without the Resurrection to spark it. If no one really saw the Risen Jesus, how were his followers convinced that he was their immortal Messiah? Art historian Thomas de Wesselow has spent the last seven years deducing the answer to this puzzle, and in doing so he has pieced together an entirely new picture of the birth of Christianity. Reassessing a familiar but misunderstood historical source and reinterpreting many biblical passages, de Wesselow shows that the solution has been staring us in the face for more than a century. The Shroud of Turin, widely thought to be a fake, is in fact authentic. And it holds the key to the greatest mystery in human history.

"Heller, while a man of science, was nevertheless a devout man (Southern Baptist). He viewed his task concerning The Shroud with great scepticism; there have been far too many hoaxes in the world of religion. The book describes in great detail the events leading up to the team's conviction that the Shroud was genuine; last - not least - being Heller and Adler's verification of "heme" (blood) and the inexplicable "burned image" of the crucified man. Although carbon dating indicates that the image is not 2000 years old and that the cloth is from the Middle Ages, there is not enough evidence to disprove Heller's assertion that the Shroud is indeed genuine"--Amazon.com

Known to millions for his television and film roles, Chris Elliott is one of the most beloved comedians of his generation. With his novel The Shroud of the Thwacker, Elliott delivers a laugh-out-loud parody that will delight mystery lovers as well as his devoted fans. Set in New York City in 1882, the story hilariously chronicles the adventures of police chief Caleb Spencer and his two cohorts, Evening Post reporter Liz Smith and mayor Teddy Roosevelt, as they unravel the mystery of the world's first (and most bizarre) serial killer: Jack the Jolly Thwacker. The elusive Thwacker dresses his victims in outlandish costumes, leaves behind taunting poetry, and leads the authorities on a wild chase through New York streets and landmarks (complete with gas-powered wooden cell phones, carriages, gaslights, and the original Original Ray's Pizzeria). In a bizarre twist, Chris Elliott himself joins the action, using time travel and historical documents to uncover the Thwacker's identity. With a wink and a nod to Patricia Cornwell, The DaVinci Code, and Caleb Carr's mysteries, Elliott does for the historical crime genre what Douglas Adams did for science fiction in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

David Robinson's life has taken several bad turns. First, his daughter dies. Then his marriage crumbles and his career as a mystery writer falls apart. But after he is killed in a hit-and-run accident, David quickly learns that he will face his most harrowing challenges as a wraith in the Shadowlands. And David soon learns that power is a blade that cuts two ways.

‘Shroud will not be easily surpassed for its combination of wit, moral complexity and compassion. It is hard to see what more a novel could do’ Irish Times Dark secrets and reality unravel in Shroud, the second of John Banville's three novels to feature Cass Cleave, alongside Eclipse and Ancient Light. Axel Vander, distinguished intellectual and elderly academic, is not the man he seems. When a letter arrives out of the blue, threatening to unveil his secrets – and carefully concealed identity – Vander travels to Turin to meet its author. There, muddled by age and alcohol, unable always to distinguish fact from fiction, Vander comes face to face with the woman who has the knowledge to unmask him, Cass Cleave. However, her sense of reality is as unreliable as his, and the two are quickly drawn together, their relationship dark, disturbed and doomed to disaster from its very start.