Stuart Fiction

“Chilling...satisfying...offers up tasty tidbits of San Francisco lore . . . [Russell] has a gift for dialogue, slyly using it to reveal character.”—New York Times Book ReviewSan Francisco P.I. Stuart Winter looks into the death of a young, deaf heiress who volunteered as a sign language instructor—for a gorilla who may have witnessed her murder. “Polished and provocative...a California mystery of the hard-boiled school...very well written, with a corking good plot and fine characters.”—Booklist “Remarkable...[hops] from avant-garde theater to a deaf school, from winos’ ...

Lonnie Skyeborne always knew at least three things to be true: 1. She was human in a land of fairies. 2. She hated the royals above everyone else. 3. She was a liar. Except, ever since becoming the queen of Elsewhere, everything Lonnie knows to be true is crumbling around her. The castle has fallen, the crown has been stolen, and the kingdom of Elsewhere is overrun by rebels and monsters. It's a bad time to be a human in the country of Elsewhere . . . except that might no longer apply to Lonnie.

Ex-DEA agent Jesse Warden has seen enough of the inside of a solitary confinement cell to last him a lifetime. Or two lifetimes, which is the sentence he's serving after being convicted of a crime he was planning to commit but never did. So when an old buddy shows up with a deal that could spring him from his hell behind bars, he's ready to listen.

I caught the attention of a monster. I didn’t ask for it. Didn’t even see it coming. But the moment I do, it’s too late. Killian Carson is a predator wrapped in sophisticated charm. He’s cold-blooded, manipulative, and savage. The worst part is that no one sees his devil side. I do. And that will cost me everything. I run, but the thing about monsters? They always chase.

The Vampire the Masquerade Clan Novel Saga is a thirteen-volume masterpiece, presenting the war between the established Camarilla leadership and the growing power of the brutal Sabbat on the East Coast of the United States. Each novel is told from the perspective of one of the thirteen clans, intertwining with the others, and filling in missing pieces artfully as we follow battle after battle, intrigue after intrigue...and the appearance of a strange artifact that falls into the hands of a solitary Toreador sculptor.

Stone Barrington and his latest paramour are enjoying a peaceful country retreat when their idyll is broken by an unwelcome stranger. He was sent by an enemy, someone who'd be happy to silence Stone and all his collaborators for good...only it's soon clear that Stone is not an easy man to target. But with boundless resources and a thirst for vengeance, this foe will not be deterred, and when one plot fails another materializes. Their latest plan is more ambitious and subtle than any they've tried before, and the consequences could remake the nation.

After helping Princess Grace foil the villainous Prince Ruprecht—twice!—junior knights Tim, Belinda, and Ferkle are on a new quest—this time to recover the Queen of Merryland’s precious golden fleece (and more importantly, the protective amulet in its pocket) from the Kingdom of Dinkum. The safety of all Merryland depends upon them. But first, they must face the deadly Sea of Terror and the dastardly perils it contains. Tim and his friends will have to use every ounce of bravery, valor, and intelligence they possess to navigate the treacherous waters—or else risk becoming flotsam on the waves.

Successful Hollywood movie producer Wolf Willett is stunned when he happens to read his own New York Times obituary: victim of a sordid triple homicide amid a steamy ménage à trois with his young bride and best friend. Who's the corpse? Who wants him dead? And why has Wolf blacked out the entire evening of the grisly crime?

Upon returning to New York City after a whirlwind British excursion, Stone Barrington is notified of a delicate situation within the country's administration. A close friend requires his expertise and subtlety to eradicate a destructive presence in a classified agency - only it soon becomes clear that this renegade was sent by a rival Stone has encountered before.

The rambling house called Thornyhold is like something out of a fairy tale. Left to Gilly Ramsey by the cousin whose occasional visits brightened her childhood, the cottage, set deep in a wild wood, has come just in time to save her from a bleak future. With its reputation for magic and its resident black cat, Thornyhold offers Gilly more than just a new home. It offers her a chance to start over.

In the waning days of the Russian Empire, the Czar inked a secret treaty with Japan that was stolen en route by one of the workmen on the Trans-Siberian Railway. More than 100 years later, the Soviet Union has gone the way of the Czardom, and police inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is trying to find his way in the Russia of Vladimir Putin.

Carla Stewart follows up her OFBI Fiction Book of the year debut with her compelling novel Broken Wings. Stage performers Gabe and Mitzi Steiner captured America’s heart for two decades. Now, after 60 wonderful years of marriage, Gabe has drifted into the fog of Alzheimer’s, leaving Mitzi to ponder her future—alone. In the midst of her own grief, Mitzi encounters a battered young woman desperate for someone to help her pick up the broken pieces of her life.

Three years ago, Damien Montgomery was on the run from everyone. That is long past now, as the Mage-King of Mars has plucked him from obscurity to take advantage of his rare and powerful magical gifts. The Mage-King has plans for his newest pupil, but Damien is young and inexperienced. To season the young Mage, he is assigned to one of the warrior-judges that rove the Protectorate's stars, the Hands of the King, as an aide and apprentice.

Damien Montgomery is as much a nobody as a Mage of the star-spanning Protectorate of Mars can be. Trained as a Jump Mage, one of the elite who teleport ships across interstellar space, he lacks the connections to find a ship that will take him. Until pirates and politics strand Captain David White of the jump freighter Blue Jayin his home system. The two men's matching needs birth a choice and a partnership that will take them from high-end orbitals to prisons to alien graveyards in forgotten star systems.

It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch - strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. There's a killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. If that wasn't enough, Logan also has to contend with a new boss, DI Insch, who doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks everyone's a fool.

Damien Montgomery serves the Mage-King of Mars as a Hand: a troubleshooter, judge, and roving representative. Now, his duties have brought him home and into conflict with his fellows. A Hand is dead in nuclear fire amongst the mountains of Mars. The conspiracy she served is broken and scattered, but Damien must know who they are and what drove them. What secrets could convince a Hand of the Mage-King to betray everything?

For too long the Religious Right has masqueraded as a social movement preoccupied with a number of cultural issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage. In her deeply reported investigation, Katherine Stewart reveals a disturbing truth: this is a political movement that seeks to gain power and to impose its vision on all of society. America’s religious nationalists aren’t just fighting a culture war, they are waging a political war on the norms and institutions of American democracy.

Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before.

George Brisbane Scott Douglas (1856-1935), the Scottish poet and writer, published the book Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales in 1901. The literary genres of the book include comic, literary, nursery, and animal stories plus fairy tales of mythic creatures like the brownies, bogles, kelpies, and mermaids. Classified, tabulated, and scientifically labelled, these imaginative narratives are related in vernacular language, and have a timeless appeal to adults and children alike. Amongst the most popular stories are "The Fox’s Stratagem", and "The Bee and the Mouse".

I guess trying to catch the bus with your laces undone isn’t such a smart decision after all… One fatal collision later, and I’m facing my judgment. As it turns out, I’ve been a lazy sob, and my short, uneventful life of playing games and getting up late wasn’t worth much. And so I don’t qualify to move on to the afterlife. I try to argue to the goddess in front of me that I do have skills, that it was hard work playing those simulation and management games. But she will not concede. In the end, I manage to get the benefit of the doubt, and a wager is made.