NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST The first English-language story collection from “one of Iran’s most important living fiction writers” (Guardian), “a playful, whip-smart literary conjuror: a Kundera or Rushdie of post-Khomeini Iran” (Wall Street Journal) In Seasons of Purgatory, the fantastical and the visceral merge in tales of tender desire and collective violence, the boredom and brutality of war, and the clash of modern urban life and rural traditions. Mandanipour, banned from publication in his native Iran, vividly renders the individual consciousness in extremis from a variety of perspectives: young and old, man and woman, conscript and prisoner. While delivering a ferocious social critique, these stories are steeped in the poetry and stark beauty of an ancient land and culture.

In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories. Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto. But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.

"Before he enlisted as a soldier in the Iran-Iraq war and disappeared, Amir Yamini was a carefree playboy whose only concerns were seducing women and riling his religious family. Five years later, his mother and sister Reyhaneh find him in a mental hospital for shell-shocked soldiers, his left arm and most of his memory lost. Amir is haunted by the vision of a mysterious woman whose face he cannot see-- the crescent moon on her forehead shines too brightly. He names her Moon Brow. Back home in Tehran, the prodigal son is both hailed as a living martyr to the cause of Ayatollah Khomeini's Revolution and confined as a dangerous madman. His sense of humor, if not his sanity, intact, Amir cajoles Reyhaneh into helping him escape the garden walls to search for Moon Brow. Piecing together the puzzle of his past, Amir decides theres only one solution: he must return to the battlefield and find the remains of his severed arm-- and discover its secrets"--Amazon.com.

When mayhem descends on a tiny logging town, former sheriff Cork O’Connor is called upon to investigate a murder in this “wonderful page-turner” (The Denver Post) that “prolongs suspense to the very end” (Publishers Weekly) by Edgar Award-winning author William Kent Krueger. Not far from Aurora, Minnesota (population 3,752), lies an ancient expanse of great white pines, sacred to the Anishinaabe tribe. When an explosion kills the night watchman at wealthy industrialist Karl Lindstrom’s nearby lumber mill, it’s obvious where suspicion will fall. Former sheriff Cork O’Connor agrees to help investigate, but he has mixed feelings about the case. For one thing, he is part Anishinaabe. For another, his wife, a lawyer, represents the tribe. Meanwhile, near Lindstrom’s lakeside home, a reclusive shipwreck survivor and his sidekick are harboring their own resentment of the industrialist. And it soon becomes clear to Cork that danger, both at home and in Aurora, lurks around every corner…

"If we, by our prayers and sacrifices, freed a soul from purgatory, we would then have another intercessor for us in heaven." - Venerable Solanus Casey Every day we have another opportunity to pray for the holy souls in purgatory - author, speaker, and purgatory expert Susan Tassone gives you a unique tool to do just that. Day by Day for the Holy Souls includes prayers, teachings about purgatory, real-life stories, Susan's own wisdom, meditations, quotes from the saints, and more. You can use this book however you like - as a daily devotional, as a year round novena, to follow the liturgical seasons - or, just pick it up and read as the Spirit leads you. God has given us the duty, power and privilege of praying for the release of the holy souls. Now Susan Tassone has given you a powerful way to accomplish that mission.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER They were the family with everything. Money. Influence. Glamour. Power. The power to halt a police investigation in its tracks. The power to spin a story, concoct a lie, and believe it was the truth. The power to murder without guilt, without shame, and without ever paying the price. They were the Bradleys, America's royalty. But an outsider refuses to play his part. And now, the day of reckoning has arrived. Praise for A Season in Purgatory “Highly entertaining.”—Entertainment Weekly “Stunning.”—Liz Smith “Compelling.”—New York Daily News “Mesmerizing.”—The New York Times “Potent characterization and deftly crafted plotting.”—Publishers Weekly

This book is a story of beginnings, of the past, present, and future of one woman and one man. Shaylee and Davon's lives would intersect over repeatedly, being 15 years apart. Never truly apart as they both vowed to make the world a better place.Shaylee and Davon would give life through Hope and Love to a lost and dying world, moving them even closer to the truth as God's strength is made perfect in weakness!Shaylee and Davon would come together at the edge of time, as evil angelic beings would place dangerous illusions before them trying to stop what God has ordained.Real or fictional, the mystery is yours to decide!As you, enter two worlds; one seen and one not seen; a world taking truth into a world of fiction and fantasy and a world turning fiction and fantasy into a world of reality.What a mystery that unfolds the faith of two souls made one in the darkest of seasons of human experience. Two people on two separate paths taking four decades to end two journeys as God merged them into on journey, one single path paved with prayers, tears, blood, and death of the Saints before them. Cloaked in a mysterious world of Angels and Demons, two worlds one seen and the other never seen by most except for the special ones, the ones with the power to face all that is evil and yet not fall as so many others have. They are the ones that storybooks are written after. A people with no time for wealth, power, and fame; who has time for such stories when a battle is raging in two worlds, one seen and the other not seen.Through decades, battles of unseen epic destruction would be birth between universes playing out in the spirit world between Lucifer and God, as angelic beings would battle over God's creation, Humankind.You will never be the same in the journey through Purgatory - --A place of purging, -A place of pruning, -And a place of displaying the fruits of the spirit.Along this journey, Shaylee, an apostle of Hope and Davon, an Apostle of Love, would be exploited through the evil darkness of demons, the supernatural, and cults alike. "Could the earth we live on, be a place between heaven and hell, could it be your purgatory as Jesus prays for you?Demons, evil men, evil women, and immoral leaders, would offer up Hope and Love as sacrifices for sin's victory through abductions, drugs, homelessness, prisons, murders, seduction, wealth, power, and fame in a never-ending war to destroy Hope and Love leaving Humankind in despair.In all the sufferings, temptations, trials, and tribulations, Shaylee and Davon seemed to be at their end, consumed with no hope yet goodness would always prevail in the end.