Étienne Joubert is a knight out of time. He fought in the Crusades of the late thirteenth century, but now finds himself facing a different holy war in a twenty-first-century world teeming with the gods humanity has worshipped—except, it seems, for his own. Follow his journey through three exciting stories, all revised for this collection . . .A Medieval Knight in Vatican CityJoubert finds himself at war in a Rome he barely recognizes, dodging metal carts that spee...

Strangely enough, Drake answered everything before it could be asked; but sometimes, the answers were more confusing than revealing. Drake turned to Pat and Maggie and whispered, "I can… visualize your questions. That's the best answer I can give you. Your language does not have the words to explain it." Maggie looked at Pat. Her look said Our language? The Stellar Family Chronicles follows the story of siblings Maggie, Pat, Lucy and Tommy. When their cousin Drake comes to visit from Alask...

Los Angeles, 1948. World War II may be over, but a new war is on the horizon. People are seeing monsters—not on Hollywood’s silver screens but in real life—and the authorities are trying to keep it under wraps.In Scott Pearson’s novella The Big Dark, private detective Henry Shaw is in trouble with his former partner on the police force, Bob Neville. Shaw has a knack for run-ins with these horrific creatures, and he’s making it hard for the police to keep their presence fro...

Wisecracking Kate Sullivan and her teenage son, Max, are visiting the Minnesota State Fair together when they stumble upon a dead body. Emboldened by her previous misadventure investigating a murder at Great Lakes Lodges, Kate once again turns amateur sleuth, getting on the nerves of the usually unflappable Detective Skip Peterson.

In "The Sun Dress," a dress, an affair, and a gun lead to a surprising and explosive confrontation. Officer Peggy Roberts makes a traffic stop and hopes to catch a killer in "Clothes Make the Man." The flash fiction "Details, Details" illuminates the research behind David's perfect plan to kill his boss. Finally, "First Impression" is a night on the town with a cold-blooded assassin who has made going unnoticed the cornerstone of his profession.

When Phil finds an otherworldly squid in his basement, he knows who to call: the Cthulhu Helpline. Lucky for him, N'larshthog, his customer service rep, is very experienced with this sort of manifestation. Learn the fate of the squid and how Phil really feels about tentacles in this slightly risque tale of the Lovecraftian mythos.

Cpl. M. J. Robeson of the United Earth Systems Marines comes to in her quarters aboard the starship Alliance and discovers that she is the only member of the crew conscious while a lone unidentified intruder has invaded the ship. A brutal cat-and-mouse battle ensues between Robeson and the intruder for control over the starship, with the fate of hundreds of Robeson's crewmates hanging in the balance.

Team Turbo is in the mini-league basketball final. They are up against Pumpkin's All Stars when Hari hurts his finger. When it comes down to a shootout, there is only one spare player they can use - Kylie Maserati.

Can Carlo win the Grommet Competition? Grom Comp Day was the day Carlo showed what a good surfer he was. Maddy set up a sandwich stall and Team Turbo watched the competition excitedly. But when Carlo's board broke in two, he ended up winning a different prize altogether.

A modern take on the classic rhyme Row, Row, Row Your Boat with three brave adventurers setting off on an epic journey.From the tallest penguin to the world's deadliest octopus, you might encounter a friendly narwhal or even a nest of sea snakes. But don't forget to look out for the crocodiles!With vibrant illustrations by Scott Pearson, The Big Row Your Boat Adventure is a fun read-along picture book, which teaches children about geograph...

Ed and Claire's longtime neighbor Roy has purchased a satellite dish, allowing around-the-clock TV watching, a rare thing in the farm country of northern Minnesota in 1984. Claire is worried that he's not sleeping, but the real problem is why Roy doesn't want to sleep. Now Ed finds himself trying to stay up all night to keep Roy company when all he wants is for his friend to get some much-needed rest.

"I think it's sweet. I really like it." - Jacinda Ardern, interview with The SpinoffThe baby is asleep and all is well. All is quiet until...Along comes a crowd of rowdy sports fans, paparazzi, politicians and many more.Shhh! Don't wake the baby!"A book which inspires youngsters to read." - NZ Herald