"An octopus gets a big surprise when he chooses to pick on a tiny fish in the ocean"--

This sexy, explosive novel features three twenty-something women, one hot rich guy, two mega movie stars, and a devastating murder.

For most of us, the story of mammal evolution starts after the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs, but over the last 20 years scientists have uncovered new fossils and used new technologies that have upended this story. In Beasts Before Us, palaeontologist Elsa Panciroli charts the emergence of the mammal lineage, Synapsida, beginning at their murky split from the reptiles in the Carboniferous period, over three-hundred million years ago. They made the world theirs long before the rise of dinosaurs. Travelling forward into the Permian and then Triassic periods, we learn how our ancient mammal ancestors evolved from large hairy beasts with accelerating metabolisms to exploit miniaturisation, which was key to unlocking the traits that define mammals as we now know them. Elsa criss-crosses the globe to explore the sites where discoveries are being made and meet the people who make them. In Scotland, she traverses the desert dunes of prehistoric Moray, where quarry workers unearthed the footprints of Permian creatures from before the time of dinosaurs. In South Africa, she introduces us to animals, once called 'mammal-like reptiles', that gave scientists the first hints that our furry kin evolved from a lineage of egg-laying burrowers. In China, new, complete fossilised skeletons reveal mammals that were gliders, shovel-pawed Jurassic moles, and flat-tailed swimmers. This book radically reframes the narrative of our mammalian ancestors and provides a counterpoint to the stereotypes of mighty dinosaur overlords and cowering little mammals. It turns out the earliest mammals weren't just precursors, they were pioneers.

Move over Uncle Scrooge! The richest character in comic book history is about to get his due. Harvey Comics' original creation Richie Rich, the Poor Little Rich Boy, represented the fantasies of every comic book-loving kid growing up in the 1960s and 70s. Now, Dark Horse is delighted to present the ultimate tribute to the boy who has everything - and we mean everything! This mega compilation of the essential Richie collects his earliest and most substantial stories for the first time ever.

With the cheeky twist of Jon Klassen’s This Is Not My Hat and the graphic appeal of Mo Willems, Poor Little Guy will leave kids giggling…and begging for rereads! What do you do when you're so tiny that the bigger ocean creatures think you might even taste adorable? An itsy-bitsy, glasses-wearing fish is minding his own business when a playful (and hungry) octopus snatches him right up. Luckily, this poor little guy is not quite as innocent as he seems…and he has a BIG surprise up his sleeve! Told with wit, a wink, and a delightfully dark sense of humor, Poor Little Guy celebrates the very smallest...and all of their giant victories. Hand this cute but mighty book to fans of Bob Shea and Dan Krall.

"A lyrical ode to that magical time in autumn when the leaves turn yellow"--

Yes, today she feeds the goose that lays the golden eggs! But her life once read like a mystery, because for forty-five years she had spasms of the face and neck, her head would ring and, most baffling of all, she had an ache deep in her chest like she was having a heart attack. Unbeknownst to her family, she lived with depression from the age of ten, until finally ending up in a psychiatrists little crash pad shortly after having a beautiful little girl. From here she began a quest to try to do herself inshe tried six times! Then it finally became apparent she was living with chronic pain, and a sublime head injury that kept her from accomplishing her quest of a nursing career. Then, in 2002, at the age of fifty-four, she finally threw up her arms and became willing to do whatever it took to get her life back. She began the twelve-step process of recovery that would open her life to healing. She soon found herself, strangely, thanking God for her affliction. Then, one day in June of 2002, she decided to live. Today she still has the pain but no longer suffers. Now it is a blessing to have lived, because her life has become part of one very big, ongoing miracle, a miracle of which you, the reader, are a part.