The darkly captivating seventh novel in the popular Villains series follows the rise and fall of the deranged and glamorous fan favorite, Cruella De Vil. If it doesn't scare you, no evil thing will...

Ah, puppies. But well get to that part of the story soon enough. You may think you know the tale: a happy young couple, two loyal dogs, a litter of fifteen perfectly spotted puppies and the woman determined to turn them into a perfectly spotted fur coatso determined that she stole every Dalmatian puppy in London, bringing the total of dogs to exactly one-hundred-and-one. But who is that monster, that scene-stealer, that evil thing? Who is the woman behind it all? Before the car crash, before the dognapping, before furs became her only true love, there was another story. This is the story of Cruella De Vilin her own words. Even the cruellest villains have best friends, true loves and daring dreams. After all, nothing is as simple as black and white.

Hella Mauzer was the first ever woman Inspector in the Helsinki Homicide Unit. But her superiors deemed her too ‘emotional’ for the job and had her reassigned. Now, two years later, she is working in Lapland for the Ivalo police department under Chief Inspector Järvi, a man more interested in criminal statistics and his social life than police work. They receive a letter from Irja Waltari, a priest’s wife from the village of Käärmela on the Soviet border, informing them of the disappearance of Erno Jokinen, a local. Hella jumps at the chance to investigate. Järvi does not think that a crime is involved. After all, people disappear all the time in the snows of Finland. When she arrives, Hella stays the village priest and his wife, who have taken in Erno’s grandson who refuses to tell anyone his grandfather’s secret. A body is then discovered in the forest and she realizes that she was right; a crime has been committed. A murder. But what Hella doesn’t know, is that the small village of Käärmela is harbouring another crime, a crime so evil, it is beyond anything any of them could have ever imagined.

Throughout the Villains series, the Odd Sisters have meddled in the lives of the Wicked Queen, The Beast, Ursula, Maleficent, and Mother Gothel, changing the course of fate for the greatest villains ever known. Now, it's time for their reckoning. This latest novel by the author of the wildly popular Villains series goes deeper into the lives of the twisted, diabolical Odd Sisters, finally revealing the dark truth about who they are and where they're from . The Odd Sisters will appeal to fans who can't get enough of the mischievous sisters, as well as draw new readers to Serena Valentino's darkly fascinating take on the Disney Villains.

The tale is told as if it's happening once upon a dream: the lovely maiden meets her handsome prince in the woods. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the maiden finds out that she is a princess—a princess who has been cursed by a dark fairy to prick her finger on a spindle and fall into an eternal sleep. Though her three good fairies try to protect her, the princess succumbs to the curse. But the power of good endures, as her true love defeats the fire-breathing dragon and awakens the princess with true love's first kiss. The two live happily ever after. And yet this is only half the story. So what of the dark fairy, Maleficent? Why does she curse the innocent princess? What led to her becoming so filled with malice, anger, and hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account, pulled down from the many passed down through the ages. It is a tale of love and betrayal, of magic and reveries. It is a tale of the Mistress of All Evil.

Laura Richards, a political science professor, and her husband Ben Richards, an astrophysics professor, unexpectedly find themselves at the center of a dark conspiracy after they adopt Chris Lumire, the orphaned son of Laura's friend Marian. Following the bizarre circumstances of Chris's birth, Laura and Ben uncover clues revealing an intelligent force surrounding Chris. Meanwhile, the Circle of Six--a powerful clique of men with otherworldly abilities--are sacrificing kidnapped young women and relying on advanced global technology in their efforts to locate genetically unique fetuses before birth. The group's painstaking plan unfolds on the unsuspecting mother of the first fetus. Worlds collide when Laura and Ben get in the way, pushed by Chris's inner force with--evidently--a plan of its own. From the ivy-covered walls of academia to submerged caves, get caught up in No Such Thing as Evil, the first installment of the Circle of Six trilogy.

An expert in criminology and psychology uses science to understand evil in today’s society. What is it about evil that we find so compelling? From our obsession with serial killers to violence in pop culture, we seem inescapably drawn to the stories of monstrous acts and the aberrant people who commit them. But evil, Dr. Julia Shaw argues, is largely subjective. What one may consider normal, like sex before marriage, eating meat, or working on Wall Street, others find abhorrent. And if evil is only in the eye of the beholder, can it be said to exist at all? In Evil, Shaw uses an engrossing mix of science, popular culture, and real-life examples to break down timely and provocative issues. How similar is your brain to a psychopath’s? How many people have murder fantasies? Can artificial intelligence be evil? Do your sexual proclivities make you a bad person? Who becomes a terrorist? If you could travel back in time, would you kill baby Hitler? In asking these questions, Shaw urges readers to discover empathy and to rethink and reshape what it means to be bad. Evil is a wide-ranging exploration into a fascinating, darkly compelling subject from wickedly smart and talented writer. Praise for Evil “A brilliant panorama that elucidates humanity’s dark side. . . . This science-based foundation for studying the minds of sadists, mass murderers, freaks and creeps, as well the new role of tech in promoting evil is presented in a totally engaging fashion.” —Philip Zimbardo, PhD; Professor Emeritus, Stanford University; author of The Lucifer Effect “This overview of various kinds of aberrant behavior grouped under the umbrella term evil is well backed up by the expertise of Shaw. . . . Shaw’s work will be particularly appropriate for college and high school libraries for its sober-minded, academically rigorous examination of an oft-sensationalized subject.” —Publishers Weekly “Capably written with a smooth mix of scientific insight and theoretical thought, the book will hopefully inspire empathy and understanding rather than hysteria and condemnation. A consistently fascinating journey into the darker sides of the human condition that will push on the boundaries of readers’ comfort zones.” —Kirkus Reviews