"Liz McGinnis never imagined herself living in a luxurious gated community like The Palms. Ever since she and her family moved in, she's felt like an outsider amongst the Stepford-like wives and their obnoxiously spoiled children. Still, she's determined to make it work--if not for herself, then for her husband, Phil, who landed them this lavish home in the first place, and for her daughter, Danielle, who's about to enter high school. Yet underneath...

"In the thin glow of moonlight, a mess of auburn curls gleams against the rocks. Hands bound, the girl's fragile body is limp and still. Seconds later, a wall of raging white water crashes down, swallowing her whole... A knock on the door late in the evening can only mean trouble for Detective Josie Quinn, but fear chokes her at the news that one of her own team is missing. No one has seen Denton PD's Press Liaison Amber for days. Sweet-natured and...

"Joyce Carol Oates is renowned for her rare ability to "illuminate the mind's most disturbing corners" (Seattle Times). That genius is on full display in her new collection of seven feverishly unsettling works, DIS MEM BER and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense. In the title story, a precocious eleven-year-old named Jill is in thrall to an older male relative, the mysterious, attractive black sheep of the family. Without telling her parents Jill...

'It's clearly no ordinary drowning. When a young girl is pulled from the watery depths, a piece of concrete tied around her waist and two mysterious circular patches on the back of her neck, Detective Louise Rick is immediately called out to Holbaek Fjord. Her name was Samra, and when the police learn that she was a member of Holbaek's sizeable Muslim immigrant community, they immediately assume it was an honor killing. Yet her mother insists Samra...

Sophie Jordan's breathtaking digital original novella set in the world of Firelight.

For Az, it's supposed to be a fun summer vacation with her family. Nothing complicated. Just a quick trip to test the waters as she prepares for a year on her own. That all changes when she rescues a drowning girl and meets Tate—the most gorgeous human boy she's ever seen. Tate throws her heart, her plans, and her life into upheaval, but the closer

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In 218 BC, Hannibal led his army with 27 elephants across the Alps to attack the Romans. Eleven years before this historic event, on the banks of a river near Carthage, North Africa, one of his elephants pulled a drowning girl out of rough waters. Thus began Liada's epic journey with an elephant named Obolus.

Armed with the first of the four tower guards, Dinah and Vincent set out to solve the rest of the Mausoleum's riddles, which prove more difficult as the journey progresses. The deceptive puzzles of Bizenghast's Graveyard lead the children to an ancient seaside to stop a drowned girl's murderous rampage. Later, they travel through Bizenghast's early past to rid the woods of a festering plague-carrier. And finally, they come face to face with the mysterious...

Blood Orchids: Black sand beaches and steaming volcanoes are the backdrop for murder as young patrolwoman, Lei Texeira, discovers the bodies of two drowned girls and attracts the attention of a killer with ties to her own dark past. Torch Ginger:The stunning cliffs and pristine beaches of Kauai have drawn Lei to a fresh start, but only she can untangle a mystery of missing persons with madness at its heart. Black Jasmine:Cruise ships and art galleries...

When Thand saved Princess Sharman, a drowning girl from the sea, he could have never imagined how the encounter would start a revolution. Unable to return home Thand offers Princess Sharman a place to live with his family in the village of Elingale. Soon the princess learns that they live a primitive and uneducated life. Knowing that education would improve their lives, she teaches them to read and write. But education is forbidden by the evil land-owner,...