A deadly puzzle. A closing trap. My name is Nadia, and I'm a Marshal of the High Queen of the Elves. That means it's my responsibility to broker a peace deal between the dwarves and the Elven commoners...and there are lots of Elven nobles who would like to see the deal fail. So when the Lord Inquisitor Arvalaeon arrives on my doorstep, critically wounded and missing the last week of his memory, things have just gotten even more complicated. One false step and the embers will become an inferno...

I’m Ava Locke. Three months ago, my worst nightmare came back to life. But with Kian’s help and Will’s unwavering support, I managed to take out Veynix the Venomous for good. Too bad Talon, Landshaft’s elite assassin and poison masters, won’t go away. A new drug is sweeping Boston. And unfortunately for me and the other Hunters here, once infected, there’s nothing any of us can do but wait to see if we burn, too. To make matters worse, the Fire Circle has called in a team from Hydron, a Water Circle-CIA operation outside our jurisdiction, to consult. Talon is still working on their plan, but the only thing we know is that it somehow involves Ember witches. Unfortunately, the surprises Talon keeps bringing are nothing compared to the one awaiting me at Headquarters when I return. Because as it turns out, the most dangerous thing to you is also the closest. Maybe I’ve been burning all along.

Chronicling the rise of the Keepers, this is the stunning prequel to Andrea Cremer's internationally bestselling Nightshade trilogy! Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother's life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind. With action, adventure, magic, and tantalizing sensuality, this book is as fast-paced and breathtaking as the Nightshade novels. "A great new book that will leave you breathless.” –Romantic Times

Albert Gleeson, his pregnant wife Pam, and his young stepson are struggling to adjust to their life on an acreage in Georgia after their return to our world. However, on his way home from a long day of teaching, Al finds that his home has been ransacked—and his family kidnapped. The police initially suspect him of foul play. When he’s finally cleared, with the help of his friends, Al pursues the kidnappers to Abaddon, a continent whose main land surface rests ten kilometres below sea level. Their search eventually forces them to cross an even deeper abyss, called Sheol, where the air pressure is so high that dragons fly. Fighting frustration and despair at his inability to locate Pam and his stepson, Al soon begins to understand that he has a role to play in rescuing the enslaved prisoners of Abaddon.

Looks at the history, traditions, theology and structure of the ancient and modern churches and monasteries.

"Makes Game of Thrones look like a nursery rhyme." —Daisy Goodwin, New York Times bestselling author of The Fortune Hunter “[Alpsten] recounts this remarkable woman’s colourful life and times." —Count Nikolai Tolstoy, historian and author Before there was Catherine the Great, there was Catherine Alexeyevna: the first woman to rule Russia in her own right. Ellen Alpsten's rich, sweeping debut novel is the story of her rise to power. St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself. Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life—the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber—she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself? From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.