After the conclusion of The Silver Anklet, Taras triumphant return to Morni is short-lived. Taras deceased former stepmother, Kali, seeks revenge through her daughter, Layla. And so begins a series of carefully orchestrated events to cast suspicion on Tara: a dead dog in the village temple, contaminated well water, and whispers that Tara is still possessed. Layla fuels the villagers blind superstitions and fears. Soon all of Morni is against Tara, even her own family. Death seems to be the only way to stop her evil stepsister. Tara turns to Lord Yama and his deadly conch for help. He takes her to the Underworld to seek advice, but when she returns, she has only 24 hours to prove her innocence and to save the village before she must go back to the World of the Dead. Forever. Can Tara believe in herself once more to defeat Layla, or will Lord Yama and his deadly conch claim their next victim? The harrowing conclusion to the thrilling Tara Trilogy answers these questions and more.

With People of the Mist, bestselling authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear take us to the Chesapeake Bay of six hundred years ago, when the unprovoked and brutal murder of a young woman on the eve of her wedding threatens to turn the entire Algonquin Nation against itself in a brutal war that could destroy them as a people. No ordinary woman, Red Knot was the heir to the Greenstone Clan and the future leader of the independent villages. Her death has shattered all alliances and left a power void that several ambitious clan chiefs see as their destiny to fill. The very air vibrates with the drums and war cries of the rallying warriors. Into the eye of this brewing storm steps the bitter old man they call The Panther. Feared as a sorcerer, The Panther is the only one with the power to demand to be heard by all. But as he digs deeper into the ever-thickening web of lies surrounding the murder, and uncovers darker, more deeply rooted secrets, he fears there may be no words to stop the impending bloodshed. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

When viewed from a quiet beach, the ocean can seem calm, even serene. But hidden beneath the sea's waves are a staggering variety of active creatures, engaged in the never-ending struggles of life--to reproduce, to eat, and to avoid being eaten. Marine scientist Ellen Prager takes us deep into the sea to introduce a cast of fascinating and bizarre creatures. From the tiny arrow worms whose voracious ways may lead to death by overeating, to the lobsters that battle rivals or seduce mates with their urine, Prager reveals the ways they interact as predators, prey, or potential mates. And while these animals make for some jaw-dropping stories--there's far more to Prager's account than entertaining anecdotes: again and again, she illustrates the crucial connections between life in the ocean and humankind, in everything from our food supply to our economy, and in drug discovery, biomedical research, and popular culture.--From publisher description.

The role of venoms in nature … and in human medicine Why are toxins so advantageous to their possessors as to evolve over and over again? What is it about watery environments that favors so many venomous creatures? Marine biologist Paul Erickson explores these and other questions with astounding images from Andrew Martinez and other top underwater photographers. GREAT for teaching STEM Marine Biology Scorpions and brown recluse spiders are fine as far as they go, but if you want daily contact with venomous creatures, the ocean is the place to be. Blue-ringed octopi, stony corals, sea jellies, stonefish, lionfish, poison-fanged blennies, stingrays, cone snails, blind remipedes, fire urchins—you can choose your poison in the ocean. Venoms are often but not always defensive weapons. The banded sea krait, an aquatic snake, wriggles into undersea caves to prey on vicious moray eels, killing them with one of the world’s most deadly neurotoxins, which it injects through fangs that resemble hypodermic needles.

In this astonishingly assured, exquisitely crafted debut collection, Anthony Doerr takes readers from the African coast to the suburbs of Ohio, from sideshow pageantry to harsh wilderness survival, charting a vast and varied emotional landscape. Like the best storytellers, Doerr explores the human condition in all its manifestations: metamorphosis, grief, fractured relationships, and slowly mending hearts. Most dazzling is Doerr's gift for conjuring nature in both its beautiful abundance and crushing power. Some of his characters contend with tremendous hardship; some discover unique gifts; all are united by their ultimate deference to the mysteries of their respective landscapes.