The Angels of Darkness, the God-Emperor's most dedicated servants, harbor a dark secret that stretches back to the great Horus Heresy, a time when humanity was torn apart by intergalactic civil war Now the horrific events from this era threaten to be unleashed as Interrogator-Chaplain Boreas gets caught up in the murderous plots of an enemy from the Chapter's shadowy past. . . .

Science Fiction/Fantasy. 117100 words long. First published in 2011, 2011

This year’s worth of the most powerful, the most startling, the smartest and most astute, in short, the best crime journalism. Scouring hundreds of publications, Otto Penzler and Thomas H. Cook have created a remarkable compilation containing the best examples of the most current and vibrant of our literary traditions: crime reporting.Included in this volume are Maximillian Potter’s “The Body Farm” from GQ, a portrait of Murray Marks, who collects dead bodies and strews them around two acres of the University of Tennessee campus to study their decomposition in order to help solve crime; Jay Kirk’s “My Undertaker, My Pimp,” from Harper’s, in which Mack Moore and his wife, Angel, switch from run-ning crooked funeral parlors to establishing a brothel; Skip Hollandsworth’s “The Day Treva Throneberry Disappeared” from Texas Monthly, about the sudden disappearence of a teenager and the strange place she turned up; Lawrence Wright’s “The Counterterrorist” from The New Yorker, the story of John O’Neill, the FBI agent who tracked Osama bin Laden for a decade—until he was killed when the World Trade Center collapsed. Intriguing, entertaining, and compelling reading, Best American Crime Writing has established itself as a much-anticipated annual.

Just a few hundred genes separate humans from chimpanzees. Imagine someone altering the chimp genome, splicing in human genes to increase the size of the cranium, reduce the amount of body hair, enable speech. What sort of creature would result? Sims takes place in the very near future, when the science of genetics is fulfilling its vaunted potential. It's a world where genetically transmitted diseases are being eliminated. A world where dangerous or boring manual labor is gradually being transferred to "sims," genetically altered chimps who occupy a gray zone between simian and human. The chief innovator in this world is SimGen, which owns the patent on the sim genome and has begun leasing the creatures worldwide. But SimGen is not quite what it seems. It has secrets . . . secrets beyond patents and proprietary processes . . . secrets it will go to any lengths to protect. Sims explores this brave new world as it is turned upside down and torn apart when lawyer Patrick Sullivan decides to try to unionize the sims. Right now, as you read these words, some company somewhere in the world is toying with the chimp genome. That is not fiction, it is fact. Sims is a science thriller that will come true. One way or another.

It is 1974 and the country is still struggling to come to terms with the Vietnam War. In the small town of Conners, Georgia, Darcy has just started high school, her older sister Adel goes to weekend dances at the local Army base, and their mother tends her beautiful garden–the biggest and best in town. But Darcy’s world is soon changed forever when her mother goes to Atlanta for tests. The diagnosis is not good–breast cancer. There is so much Darcy wants to talk to her mother about: the war and what happened to the soldiers who were there; the feelings she is having for the new (and troubled) boy in school. But she can’t. So she finds solace in her mother’s garden. There she can help the flowers her mother planted bloom. From the Hardcover edition.

In this electrifying tale of suspense from an international crime-writing sensation, a grisly death exposes the dark heart of a Scandinavian seaside village. Erica Falck returns to her tiny, remote hometown of Fjällbacka, Sweden, after her parents’ deaths only to encounter another tragedy: the suicide of her childhood best friend, Alex. It’s Erica herself who finds Alex’s body—suspended in a bathtub of frozen water, her wrists slashed. Erica is bewildered: Why would a beautiful woman who had it all take her own life? Teaming up with police detective Patrik Hedström, Erica begins to uncover shocking events from Alex’s childhood. As one horrifying fact after another comes to light, Erica and Patrik’s curiosity gives way to obsession—and their flirtation grows into uncontrollable attraction. But it’s not long before one thing becomes very clear: a deadly secret is at stake, and there’s someone out there who will do anything—even commit murder—to protect it. Fans of Scandinavian greats Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell will devour Camilla Läckberg’s penetrating portrait of human nature at its darkest.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. At the start of Läckberg's haunting U.S. debut, the first of her seven novels set in the Swedish coastal town of Fjällbacka, biographer Erica Falck returns home to sort through her deceased parents' belongings and work on her next book. But this is not the same hometown she grew up in. Summer tourists are turning the former fishing village into a thriving resort, and Erica's controlling brother-in-law is pressuring her to cash in by selling the family home. The apparent suicide of childhood friend Alexandra Wijkner contributes to Erica's grief. Once inseparable, they drifted apart before Alex's family abruptly moved away, and Erica feels compelled to write a novel about why the beautiful Alex would kill herself. Läckberg skillfully details how horrific secrets are never completely buried and how silence can kill the soul. A parallel between the town's downward spiral and the fate of one of Fjällbacka's wealthiest families adds texture. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review Murray, who has translated the works of both Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, adds another Scandinavian crime star to his résumé with this subtle rendering of Lackberg’s debut, a number-one best-seller in Sweden and the winner of France’s 2008 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for Best International Crime Novel. Erica, a thirtysomething biographer struggling with her latest book, deals with her grief over her parents’ untimely death and her mixed feelings about returning to her hometown after years in Stockholm. On a whim, she visits her childhood friend Alex only to find her dead in the bathtub. The grieving parents ask Erica to write an article about Alex for a local newsletter, which forces her to try to make sense of her friend’s life and death. As Erica delves deeper into Alex’s past, she begins to work with a local police officer, Patrik, another childhood friend, and together they uncover secrets that some people would greatly prefer were left secret. Set in winter in the coastal town of Fjallbacka, the novel uses the off-season quiet in the small village—many of the houses are empty—to create a chilling atmosphere in which silence drives suspense. This excellent thriller is a must-read for fans of Scandinavian crime literature and will especially appeal to those who enjoy Asa Larsson’s Rebecka Martinsson novels, as Rebecka and Erica are of a similar age and both return to the remote villages of their childhoods. --Jessica Moyer

After the first blizzard of an early winter, a Mennonite college girl with a troubled past appears curled up and bloodied outside the offce of her childhood psychiatrist. Mute for many years as a child, Martha Lehman is again not talking. That same morning, the wealthy mother of Martha’s boyfriend is found murdered in her mansion in the country west of Millersburg, Ohio. Professor Mi chael Branden and Sheriff Bruce Robertson begin an investigation that, in the space of a single weekend, implicates Martha, threatens to tear apart the fabric of Millersburg College, pits one professor against another, and brings Caroline Branden near to a breaking point over the girl she once tried so fervently to help and who now seems determined to let no one help her at all. As Martha struggles to understand her enigmatic past and as Professor Branden wrestles with the murder of the college 6's leading benefactor, the real story of Martha Lehman emerges—born Amish, converted to Mennonite, and drawn to the English world for the worst of reasons. In Cast a Blue Shadow, his fourth Ohio Amish Mystery, P. L. Gaus continues to explore the thresholds of culture and faith among the Amish sects and their English neighbors of northern Ohio. Through interwoven plots, Gaus portrays these ways of life at odds with one another despite their seeming harmony. Coupling those clashes with the petty and desperate scufflings of academic politics, Gaus spins a suspenseful tale of power, pride, and tested faith. With Cast a Blue Shadow, Professors Branden and Gaus have done it again.

Sarah Brandt, a midwife in turn-of-the-century New York City, has seen more than her share of joy and sorrow, birth and death. Now she will see for the first time how the squalor of the streets can breed madness and murder…The Prodigal Son Mission on Mulberry Bend stands as a refuge for girls who otherwise would have to live by selling the only thing they have of value—themselves. The work being done there so impresses Sarah that she volunteers to help out however she can—with clothes, with medical assistance, with the organization of a benefit dinner. And when one of the girls is found dead and refused burial because of her former life, Sarah’s passion for justice is aroused.Reluctantly, Sergeant Frank Malloy agrees to look into the death, if only to keep Sarah from endangering herself by pursuing the matter. But Sarah cannot be kept out of the investigation—and just as Malloy feared, her attempts to find the cause of the unfortunate girl’s death in the circumstances of her life put her in deadly danger—from an unexpected source…**

From Publishers WeeklyFantasy fans will welcome Australian author McIntosh's gripping first installment in her Quickening trilogy, a tale of the eternal struggle between good and evil filled with magic, blood and jealousy. When 14-year-old Wyl Thirsk inherits the generalship of the Morgravian legions on his father's early death, he's fortunate to possess both the good habits and wise judgment that have helped the Thirsk family remain commanders of the legions for generations. These virtues will serve him well in his dealings with King Magnus of Morgravia's wayward son, Prince Celimus, whom Wyl is duty-bound to protect. After both boys achieve adulthood, the cruel Celimus orders Wyl to witness the torture and execution of a young woman, Myrren, accused of being a witch because she has mismatched eyes. Before her death, Myrren passes on to the empathetic Wyl a most unusual gift. Some readers may feel frustrated by the lack of information about Myrren or the purpose of her gift, though no doubt future volumes will fill in the gaps in an otherwise delightful and fast-moving story. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review'It's a 'just one more chapter' sort of book. Don't start reading MYRREN'S GIFT in the evening if you have to get up early the next morning!' ROBIN HOBB 'Fiona McIntosh is a bold new voice in high fantasy. MYRREN'S GIFT is a rich, satisfying confection of vivid detail, engrossing characters, and their dark doings, all beautifully written. I was enthralled from page one.' LYNN FLEWELLING

The Barrier by Rex Beach (c. 1908 Blue Hardcover with gold color lettered spine.)

Despite the odds stacked up against them, the Remnants seem to be surviving in the Rock's harsh environment while living peacefully with the inhabitants, but this new world still has its set of problems that Billy cannot handle.