The Van Duren girls were all very smart and good at sports. Haylie and Rachel were ten-year-old twins. Haylie was strong and could even beat up the boys if she wanted to. Rachel could think her way out of any situation. She was the all-city checkers champion, and could even play chess and beat grownups, something that no other kid in her grade could do. Kayla was only seven, but she was a quick thinker and could keep up with her sisters, both on their bikes and using her brain. When the three of them team up to form a detective agency, no mystery stands a chance! As the sisters patrol the streets of Lake Alamo on their bikes, they're ready to take on any challenge. The Van Duren sisters solve mysteries of all kinds, from secret identities to stolen items to bullies, these sisters are ready to take it all on, one case at a time.

An aetheric chain-reaction sends a wave of death rolling around the world, warping living beings and aether-based technology alike. In one afternoon, trains go from being the power that pushed civilization out to the frontier, to being very expensive sheds of scrap metal, filled with rotting produce and dying cattle. Cities go hungry. The farmers are in hardly better shape than their former customers in the city. Some trees bear withered fruit, while gobbets of exploded fruit flesh drape the limbs of others. One wheat stalk might be strong and firm, but its neighbor disintegrates to dust at a touch. Harvesting crops takes more work, but yields less food. People try not to starve, using a variety of tactics. The Loyale traveling circus survives the aether storm mostly unscathed. When the circus comes to Seppanen Town, all seems well until a ragged fugitive plunges into their camp and begs for sanctuary.

ANTHONY AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST ANTHOLOGY Including NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly’s story “Avalon,” soon to be adapted for television by David E. Kelley. "The very best of what crime fiction should deliver." -New York Journal of Books The latest Mystery Writers of America story collection, featuring surprising, page-turning twists on the genre from some of the top bestsellers and award winners in crime fiction It’s been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there’s something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. No matter how or where they appear, strangers are walking mysteries, complete unknowns in once-familiar territories who disrupt our lives with unease and wonder. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, Dean Koontz and Joe Hill.

The world of the Runelords has been combined by magic with another parallel world to form a new one, the beginning of a process that may unify all worlds into the one true world. This story picks up after the events of The Wyrmling Horde and follows two of Farland's well-known heroes, Borenson and Myrrima, on a quest to save their devastated land and the people of the new world from certain destruction. But the land is not the only thing that has been altered forever: in the change, Borenson has merged with a mighty and monstrous creature from the other world, Aaath Ulber. He begins to be a different person, a berserker warrior, as well as having a huge new body because of the transformation of worlds. Thousands have died, lands have sunk below the sea and, elsewhere, risen from it. The supernatural rulers of the world are part of a universal evil, yet play a Byzantine game of dark power politics among themselves. And Aaath Ulber is now the most significant pawn in that game. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

(Applause Acting Series). Over 75 monologues for women from the contemporary stage, written by these and other major dramatists: David Mamet * Brian Friel * Steve Tesich * Harold Pinter * Alan Ayckbourn * Timberlake Wertenbaker * Neil Simon * John Patrick Shanley * Jane Anderson * Elizabeth Swados * Ariel Dorfman * Craig Lucas.

"The Complete Stephen King Universe is the only definitive reference work that examines all of Stephen King?s novels, short stories, motion pictures, miniseries, and teleplays, and deciphers the threads that exist in all of his work. This ultimate resource includes in-depth story analyses, character breakdowns, little-known facts, and startling revelations on how the plots, themes, characters, and conflicts intertwine" -- publisher website (February 2007).

A great recurring character in a series you love becomes an old friend. You learn about their strange quirks and their haunted pasts and root for them every time they face danger. But where do some of the most fascinating sleuths in the mystery and thriller world really come from? What was the real-life location that inspired Michael Connelly to make Harry Bosch a Vietnam vet tunnel rat? Why is Jack Reacher a drifter? How did a brief encounter in Botswana inspire Alexander McCall Smith to create Precious Ramotswe? In The Lineup, some of the top mystery writers in the world tell about the genesis of their most beloved characters -- or, in some cases, let their creations do the talking.