This is a book about love, loneliness, and solitude. The overall theme of this collection of poetry is a search for something elusive. It's a search for that person or place we've all dreamt of at some time in our life. Accompanied with haunting images, it will no doubt reach out and touch a feeling in every reader.

The opportunity here offered [Footnote: By the appearance in England several years ago of an edition of the author's writings as then collected.] to give some account of the genesis of these Californian sketches, and the conditions under which they were conceived, is peculiarly tempting to an author who has been obliged to retain a decent professional reticence under a cloud of ingenious surmise, theory, and misinterpretation. He very gladly seizes this opportunity to establish the chronology of the sketches, and incidentally to show that what are considered the "happy accidents" of literature are very apt to be the results of quite logical and often prosaic processes. The author's first volume was published in 1865 in a thin book of verse, containing, besides the titular poem, "The Lost Galleon," various patriotic contributions to the lyrics of the Civil War, then raging, and certain better known humorous pieces, which have been hitherto interspersed with his later poems in separate volumes, but are now restored to their former companionship. This was followed in 1867 by "The Condensed Novels," originally contributed to the "San Francisco Californian," a journal then edited by the author, and a number of local sketches entitled "Bohemian Papers," making a single not very plethoric volume, the author's first book of prose. But he deems it worthy of consideration that during this period, i.e. from 1862 to 1866, he produced "The Society upon the Stanislaus" and "The Story of M'liss,"—the first a dialectical poem, the second a Californian romance,—his first efforts toward indicating a peculiarly characteristic Western American literature. He would like to offer these facts as evidence of his very early, half-boyish but very enthusiastic belief in such a possibility,—a belief which never deserted him, and which, a few years later, from the better-known pages of "The Overland Monthly," he was able to demonstrate to a larger and more cosmopolitan audience in the story of "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and the poem of the "Heathen Chinee." But it was one of the anomalies of the very condition of life that he worked amidst, and endeavored to portray, that these first efforts were rewarded by very little success; and, as he will presently show, even "The Luck of Roaring Camp" depended for its recognition in California upon its success elsewhere. Hence the critical reader will observe that the bulk of these earlier efforts, as shown in the first two volumes, were marked by very little flavor of the soil, but were addressed to an audience half foreign in their sympathies, and still imbued with Eastern or New England habits and literary traditions. "Home" was still potent with these voluntary exiles in their moments of relaxation. Eastern magazines and current Eastern literature formed their literary recreation, and the sale of the better class of periodicals was singularly great. Nor was the taste confined to American literature. The illustrated and satirical English journals were as frequently seen in California as in Massachusetts; and the author records that he has experienced more difficulty in procuring a copy of "Punch" in an English provincial town than was his fortune at "Red Dog" or "One-Horse Gulch." An audience thus liberally equipped and familiar with the best modern writers was naturally critical and exacting, and no one appreciates more than he does the salutary effects of this severe discipline upon his earlier efforts.

Stay quiet Don’t leave tracks Don’t ask the wrong questions… When Sarah goes missing Cage and Joule know they have to do everything to find her. But in the tiny town of El Indio, no one wants to answer their questions, and everyone is hiding something. Sarah went missing in the desert at midnight… but what was she even doing there? And why are there tracks that lead to and from the last place she was seen. The twins will have to find her without falling prey themselves. And nothing in the desert after dark is as it seems. The world won't let them rest. Cage and Joule are back in the fray. Is Sarah even still alive? Humans may be the worst disaster yet. The Taken is the fifth book in the fast-paced Black Carbon apocalyptic thriller series by USA Today bestselling author A.J. Scudiere. While this book can be read as a standalone, the Black Carbon series is a must-read for fans of resourceful heroes and impossible odds.

The apocalypse is now! Lights out. Keep still. Pray for morning. With the world changing right in front of them, the Mazur family will have to fight just to stay alive. Everything will be put to the test as the animals mutate, the waters rise, and the weather gets unspeakably worse… THE HUNTED - Joule and Cage Mazur know something is stalking the streets at night and their family’s only protection is bolting the door and embracing the darkness. But their locks won’t hold forever… THE SURFACE - When the rains came the first time and campus flooded, Cage thought it was a freak weather incident. Joule saw it for what it was—a warning. THE TEMPEST - The first tornado was an anomaly. But as everyone rushes to set up the new solar farm, they find that the winds have shifted and no one is safe. THE SWARM – When their tour guide slaps at a bug then drops dead, Cage and Joule will have to figure out why… before they are next. THE TAKEN – Cage and Joule are back in the fray when their best friend is reported missing. Is Sarah even still alive? Humans may be the worst disaster yet. THE NIGHT - When Joule saw the shadows, she knew: the Night Hunters were back. But you can’t escape the enemy you can’t identify. This box set contains 6 full novels from USA Today Bestselling Author A.J. Scudiere. Stay quiet. Follow the tracks. Fight back. Dive into the battle now with the Mazurs and the new family they’ve built. Will you survive?

Winner of the 2018 Clive Cussler Grandmaster Adventure Writer's Competition 2019 Oregon Book Awards Finalist For fans of Clive Cussler and Michael Crichton, a thrilling tale of an underground expedition to the deep . . . and the ultimate struggle for survival. Milo Luttrell never expected to step inside the mouth of an ancient cave in rural Tanzania. After all, he's a historian—not an archaeologist. Summoned under the guise of a mysterious life-changing opportunity, Milo suddenly finds himself in the midst of an expedition into the largest underground system in Africa, helmed by a brash billionaire-turned-exploration guru and his elite team of cavers. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to finally solve a century-old disappearance of the famed explorer Lord Riley DeWar, an enigmatic figure who both made—and nearly ruined—Milo's fledgling career. Determined to make the most of his second chance, Milo joins the team and begins a harrowing descent into one of Earth's last secrets: a dangerous, pitch-black realm of twisting passages and ancient fossils nearly two thousand feet underground. But when a storm hits the surface base camp, stranding the cavers and washing away supplies, all communication to the outside world is lost. As the remaining resources dwindle and members of the team begin to exhibit strange and terrifying abilities, Milo must brave the encroaching darkness to unearth the truth behind DeWar's fascination with the deep—and why he never left.

A Treasured Threat is a literary fiction with strong characters and well defined relationships. When it was written, it was not intended for a Christian reader but does has a Biblical plot. The central character, a retired Naval Commander and salvage diver, operates a SCUBA diving charter and is a part-time treasure hunter. A lead from an old navy buddy guides him and his crew to the discovery of an Old Testament artifact. Despite a multitude of tragic events that has surrounded the relic, he refuses to acknowledge the obvious destructive power it possesses. A Treasured Threat makes use of many actual ancient and contemporary events that most readers can relate to. Full of wit, humor and drama, A Treasured Threat will hold the readers' attention until its unexpected, high impact conclusion.

After losing both her husband and daughter less than two years apart, Tara James fell into a deep depression. At the urging of her family, she left the comfortable but confining home of her parents to move in with her sister. At first, the newly renovated farmhouse on the outskirts of Wichita, Kansas offered the solitude and normalcy Tara so desperately needed; however, after a restless first night, her nerves became unraveled. Dreams of her dead daughter and unexplainable occurrences in the house threaten to drive Tara over the edge. Convinced their house is haunted, the sisters decide to hold a séance in an attempt to rid the home of their unwanted guests. What starts out as a simple remedy spins quickly out of control when the young medium they hire unwittingly summons the spirit of a brutal killer and his still ravenous appetite for murder.