There are summers that will change your life. There are summers that may end it. In the lush green hills beyond Florence sits the Villa Medici—a graceful pensione surrounded by manicured gardens. Rachel, a college student from an unfashionable London suburb, can’t believe her luck in landing a summer job here. Especially when she’s drawn into a circle of privileged young sophisticates, including her glamorous coworker Diana, who promises to help Rachel win the affections of handsome, confident Sebastian. But as champagne flows and rivalries fester in the Tuscan countryside, Rachel realizes that Diana has motivations of her own. Adrift in a world of backstabbing and bed-hopping, lavish parties and easy betrayal, Rachel feels the stakes rising along with the temperature until, one night, something snaps. Someone dies. And nothing will ever be the same… In this atmospheric thriller set in sun-drenched Tuscany, Lizzy Barber weaves a deadly web of manipulation and desire that will keep readers enthralled until the breathtaking last page.

"The true story of my journey from ordinary housewife to Canoe Widow, Panama and prison"--Cover.

A midlife crisis turns into the adventure of a lifetime—but will she survive it? The very day she books a trip to Aruba for their 25th wedding anniversary, Wynne discovers her husband cheating on her with a younger woman. Amid the flurry of divorce proceedings, she forgets to cancel the trip, so rather than lose all that money she decides to go alone. Why not enjoy a vacation in a tropical paradise while she figures out what to do with the rest of her life? Determined to step out of her comfort zone, she even goes ahead with those pre-paid scuba diving lessons. When she finds a wedding ring on the ocean floor during one of her training dives, Wynne has no idea it will catapult her into a high-profile murder mystery. With the help of a handsome insurance investigator, she begins unraveling clues that transform her journey of self-discovery into a thrill ride that will either clear an accused man’s name…or get her killed!

Now with a new introduction for the Tor Essentials line, A Fire Upon the Deep is sure to bring a new generation of SF fans to Vinge's award-winning works. A Hugo Award-winning Novel! “Vinge is one of the best visionary writers of SF today.”-David Brin Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures, and technology, can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence. Fleeing this galactic threat, Ravna crash lands on a strange world with a ship-hold full of cryogenically frozen children, the only survivors from a destroyed space-lab. They are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. Tor books by Vernor Vinge Zones of Thought Series A Fire Upon The Deep A Deepness In The Sky The Children of The Sky Realtime/Bobble Series The Peace War Marooned in Realtime Other Novels The Witling Tatja Grimm's World Rainbows End Collections Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge True Names At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Describes why secondary students don't read, and offers teachers practical advice and strategies for developing depth, stamina, and passion in adolescent readers.

When old school friends get together it's supposed to be a laugh - but not when you've got something to hide... Critically acclaimed author Emily Barr digs up the past for four school friends when they reunite in France. Out of my Depth is a tale of friends and 'frenemies' with dark secrets - perfect for fans of Sam Baker and Samantha Hayes. 'Sleep-sabotagingly moreish' - Cosmopolitan When Susie decides to invite her old school friends for a reunion she tells herself that it's just about showing off. It's about letting Amanda, Izzy and Tamsin, see how well she's done, with her successful career as an artist, her gorgeous house in France, her deliciously louche boyfriend. But the truth is that this is a dark plan. A plan that could make or break her seemingly perfect life...and she knows it. As the old friends gather at Susie's for a long weekend of catching up and comparisons, it is clear that despite their lives having taken very different turns, they are all still haunted by a dark and common past. They each know that up until now they have been treading water -- waiting for the inevitable moment when they have to face the truth. The question is, now that the time has come, who will sink and who will swim? What readers are saying about Out of my Depth: 'Another fantastic read from a fantastic author' 'Barr's clever plotting and observant descriptions mean that you easily get involved in the lives of everyone in the book' 'Takes some very unexpected twists and turns'

Electra's totally out of her depth. Everyone's giving her the third degree! Freak Boy's dad wants to know whether he's being bullied. Sorrel's interrogating Electra about Lucy's private life. Even her dad is cross-examining her about her mum's love-life, over his Deep Pan Super Supreme. And all Electra can think is, How far can you get a piece of melted cheese to stretch without it breaking? Welcome to the crazy world of Electra Brown.