Black Sun is a bittersweet love story involving an iconoclastic forest ranger and a freckle-faced "American princess" half his age. Like Lady Chatterley's lover, he initiates her into the rites of sex and the stark, secret harmonies of his wilderness. She, in turn, awakens in him the pleasure of love. Then she mysteriously disappears, plunging him into desolation. Black Sun is a singular novel in Abbey's repertoire, a romantic story of a solitary man's passion for the outdoors and for a woman who is seeing the natural world's true colors for the first time. "Like most honest novels, Black Sun is partly autobiographical, mostly invention, and entirely true. The voice that speaks in this book is the passionate voice of the forest," Abbey writes, "the madness of desire, and the joy of love, and the anguish of final loss."Edward Abbey spent most of his life in the American Southwest. He was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including the celebrated Desert Solitaire, which decried the waste of America's wilderness, and the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, the title of which is still in use today to describe groups that purposefully sabotage projects and entities that degrade the environment. Abbey was also one of the country's foremost defenders of the natural environment. He died in 1989.

From the world's number one bestselling crime writer comes the haunting and irresistible new Dr. Kay Scarpetta novel—Depraved HeartDepraved Heart: "Void of social duty and fatally bent on mischief."—Mayes v. People, 806 III. 306 (1883)Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a highly suspicious death scene in a historic home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages, immediately begins playing . . . and seems to be from her niece Lucy. But how can it beIt's clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago. As Scarpetta watches she comes to grips with frightening secrets about her niece, whom she loves like a daughter. That first clip and others sent soon after raise dangerous implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, alarmed, and not knowing where to turn. She doesn't know whom she can tell—not her FBI agent husband, Benton Wesley, or her investigative partner, Pete Marino. Not even Lucy. Cornwell launches these unforgettable characters on an intensely psychological odyssey that includes the bizarre death of a Hollywood mogul's daughter, wreckage on the bottom of the sea in the Bermuda Triangle, a grisly gift left in the back of a crime scene truck, and videos from the past that threaten to destroy Scarpetta's entire world and everyone she loves. The diabolical presence and singularly "depraved heart" behind what unfolds seems obvious—but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that's the message they send when they start harassing Lucy and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life. In the latest novel in her bestselling series featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell captivates readers again with the jolting twists, high-wire tension, and cutting-edge forensic detail for which she is renowned, proving yet again why she is the world's number one bestselling crime writer.

In 14 original stories, Jane McCafferty illuminates modern life weaving her love of music throughout the lives and stories of her characters. From two middle-aged strangers who meet in an empty baseball stadium during a rainstorm, to a 23-year-old man who brings his 62-year-old wife home to meet his parents, to a young couple who live next door to an unemployed clown and his wife, these stories are at one unexpected and enthralling.This collection of short stories, linked by the theme of music, is a gorgeous follow-up to One Heart, award-winning writer Jane McCafferty’s critically acclaimed debut novel.

For fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell comes this powerful novel with the most fearless heroine—self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson—from Julie Murphy, the acclaimed author of Side Effects May Vary. With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.Dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini bodyPut a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . .until?Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she?is?surprised when he seems to like her back. ?Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself.?So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing?the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

In this darkly imaginative debut novel full of myth, magic, romance, and mystery, a Princeton freshman is drawn into a love triangle with two enigmatic brothers and discovers terrifying secrets about her family and herself—a bewitching blend of Twilight, The Secret History, Jane Eyre, and A Discovery of WitchesFor every world, there is an underworld. Arriving at Princeton for her freshman year, Thea Slavin finds herself alone, a stranger in a strange land. Away from her family and her Eastern European homeland for the first time, she struggles to adapt to unfamiliar American ways and the challenges of college life—including a young man whose brooding good looks and murky past intrigue her. Drawn to the elusive Rhys and his equally handsome and mysterious brother, Jake, she ventures into a sensual mythic underworld as irresistible as it is dangerous.In this shadow world that seems to evoke Greek mythology and the Bulgarian legends of the samodivi, or "wildalones"—forest witches who beguile and entrap men—Thea will discover a family secret bound to transform her forever . . . if she can accept that dead doesn't always mean gone, and love doesn't always distinguish between the two.Mesmerizing and addictive, Wildalone is a thrilling blend of the modern and the fantastical. Krassi Zourkova creates an atmospheric world filled with rich characters as compelling as those of Diana Gabaldon, Deborah Harkness, and Stephenie Meyer.

From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes a thrilling, spine-tingling 32-page original short story that's perfect for fans of Unwind and UnWholly.Bones. They know the call of the ice.Anika knows the call of the ice, too. Living in an isolated port town in Alaska with her father and younger brother, Anika is practically steps away from the Harding Icefield, and Exit Glacier has always been her favorite place.But after a couple tragically dies there, Exit Glacier seems to come alive and begins moving toward the town with unnatural speed. Anika feels deep in her bones that the ice wants something. . . .After the glacier finally stops in the town's cemetery, Anika and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Rav, face a sinister truth: The soul of the glacier is looking for bodies to inhabit . . . and where better to find them than the graveyard?This fast-paced, eerie short story is a deft blend of suspense and horror that will leave readers breathless . . . and chilled to the bone.Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.

Ever wonder "What if?" Everything That Makes You is a romantic, epic story about one girl—and her two possible lives after an accident changes her fate.Fiona Doyle's face was horribly scarred as a child. She writes about her frustrations and dreams in notebooks, penning song lyrics. But she'd never be brave enough to sing those songs in public. Fi Doyle never had an accident. She's the best lacrosse player in the state and can't be distracted by her friend who wants to be more than that. But then her luck on the field goes south.Alternating chapters between Fiona and Fi tell two stories about the same girl—hopes and dreams and crushes, fears and failures and loss. This beautifully written realistic contemporary novel with a twist is perfect for fans of If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.

Her name is Lauren, but everyone calls her Panda.What they don't know is that behind their backs, she also goes by Gray. As in Gray Scales, the photoblog that her classmates are addicted to because of the secrets Gray exposes: a jock buying drugs, a teacher in a compromising position, a rich girl shoplifting. But no one knows Panda's the vigilante photographer behind it all. At least, she thinks no one knows—until she gets a note from the Admirer, who's not only caught her red-handed acting as Gray but also threatens to reveal everything unless Panda plays a little game of Dare or . . . Dare.Panda plays along. Anything to keep the secret she's protected for years.But when the game turns deadly, Panda doesn't know what to do. And she might need to step out of the shadows to save herself . . . and everyone else on the Admirer's hit list, including some of the classmates she's loathed and exposed for years.

Angus:My mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad.Thongs:Stupid underwear. What's the point of them, anywayThey just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.Full-Frontal Snogging:Kissing with all the trimmings, lip to lip, open mouth, tongues ... everything.Her dad's got the mentality of a Teletubby (only not so developed). Her cat, Angus, is trying to eat the poodle next door. And her best friend thinks she looks like an alien -- just because she accidentally shaved off her eyebrows. Ergghhhlack. Still, add a little boy-stalking, teacher-baiting, and full-frontal snogging with a Sex God, and Georgia's year just might turn out to be the most fabbitty fab fab ever!

Georgia Nicolson has started dating the Sex God (aka Robbie). So life should be perfect . . . except in Georgia's life, nothing is ever perfect. Her cat, Angus (the size of a small Labrador), is terrorizing the neighborhood. Her sister, Libby (who is slightly mad), hides her pooey knickers at the bottom of Georgia's bed.Then the Sex God breaks it off because she's too young. It's time for a plan. It's time for a Red Herring. It's time for Georgia to become a "heartless boy magnet!"

For fans of Downton Abbey . . . The peaceful beauty of the English countryside belies the turmoil of forbidden love and the apprehension of a changing world for the families of NetherwoodYorkshire, 1904. On Netherwood Common, Russian émigré Anna Rabinovich shows her dear friend Eve Williams a gracious Victorian villa—Ravenscliffe—the house Anna wants them to live in. There's a garden and a yard and room enough for their children to play and grow. Something about the house speaks to Anna, and you should listen to a house, she believes...Ravenscliffe holds the promise of happiness. Across the square, Clarissa and her husband, the Earl of Netherwood, are preparing for King Edward's visit. Clarissa is determined to have everything in top shape at Netherwood Hall—in spite of the indolent heir to the estate, Tobias, and his American bride—and much of it depends on the work going on downstairs as the loyal servants strive to preserve the noble family's dignity and reputation.As Anna restores Ravenscliffe to its full grandeur, she strikes up a relationship with hardworking Amos Sykes—who proposed to Eve just one year ago. But when Eve's long-lost brother Silas turns up in their close-knit mining community, cracks begin to appear in even the strongest friendships.As change comes to the small town and society at large, the residents of Netherwood must find their footing or lose their place altogether.

Two remarkably different worlds—one of wealth and privilege, the other of poverty and desperation—are about to collide in one shattering moment in this mesmerizing tale of high drama, forbidden love, and families fighting to hold on to what they haveUpstairs: Lord Netherwood, a coal baron, earns his considerable wealth from the three mines he owns. Supplying a bustling industrial empire with the highest-quality coal keeps his coffers filled—money he needs to run his splendid estate, Netherwood Hall, and to dress his wife and daughters in the latest fashions. And keeping his heir, the charming but feckless Tobias, out of trouble, doesn't come cheap.Downstairs: Eve Williams, the wife of one of Lord Netherwood's most stalwart employees, cleverly manages her family's well-being on the low wages her hardworking husband earns in the mines. But when her ordered life amid the terraced rows of miners' houses is brought crashing down by the twin arrivals of tragedy and charity, Eve must look to her own self-sufficiency and talent to provide for her three young children. And soon the divide between "upstairs" and "downstairs" is about to close . . .and neither world will ever be the same.

The beach house is a peaceful haven, a place to escape everyday problems. Here, three families find their feelings intensified and their lives transformed each summer.When thirty-year-old Julia, mourning the death of her husband, decides to sell the Santa Cruz beach house they owned together, she sets in motion a final summer that will change the lives of all the families who rent it year after year. Teenaged Chris discovers the bittersweet joy of first love. Maggie and Joe, married sixty-five years, courageously face a separation that even their devotion cannot prevent. The married woman Peter yearns for suddenly comes within his reach. And Julia ultimately finds the strength to rebuild her life—something she once thought impossible.With equal measures of heartbreak and happiness, bestselling author Georgia Bockoven's unforgettable novel tells of the beauty of life and the power of love, and speaks to every woman who has ever clung to a child or loved a man.

As a cop on the night shift in Hopewell Falls, New York, June Lyons drives drunks home and picks up the doughnuts. A former FBI agent, she left the Bureau when her husband died, and now she and her young daughter are back in upstate New York, living with her father, the town's retired chief of police.When June discovers a young woman's body impaled on an ice shear in the frozen Mohawk River, news of the murder spreads fast; the dead girl was the daughter of a powerful local congresswoman, and her troubled youth kept the gossips busy. Though June was born and raised in Hopewell Falls, the local police see her as an interloper—resentment that explodes in anger when the FBI arrive and deputize her to work on the murder investigation. But June may not find allies among the feds. The agent heading the case is someone from her past—someone she isn't sure she can trust.As June digs deeper, her already tumultuous murder case turns red-hot when it leads to a notorious biker gang and a meth lab hidden in plain sight—and an unmistakable sign that the river murder won't be the last.

Danny Shanklin is the world's most wanted man.Hunted by nine international intelligence agencies for a terrorist atrocity he did not commit, he's now trapped in a deadly race against the clock to protect his life, his family, and the world from the people responsible—people intent on true destruction. For though they framed him, these terrorists are really after a much bigger target: six lethal smallpox formulations, any one of which could trigger a global pandemic, leaving only one in three people alive.With the help of a Ukrainian mercenary and a ruthless female assassin, Danny soon finds himself forced into the roles of both predator and prey—as he tries desperately to win the fight of his life.

“A poignant and sly magic trick of a book.”—San Francisco ChronicleHaunted by the disappearance of his older brother in the first Gulf War, the tragic deaths of his parents, and a lingering felony conviction, for almost a decade Roy Joseph has worked on oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana and lived in lonesome exile. Then, on the cusp of his thirtieth birthday, Roy is contacted by a teenager from California claiming to be his lost brother’s biological daughter. Yearning for the prospect of family, Roy embarks on a journey across America, visiting childhood haunts in the South to confront his troubled past, and making a stop in Nevada to call on a retired Navy SEAL who may hold the answer to his brother’s fate. Roy’s ultimate destination is San Francisco, where his potential long-lost niece awaits. The Other Joseph is a powerful, spellbinding tale of a man nearly defeated by life who is given one last chance at redemption—one last shot to find meaning and alter the course of his solitary existence.“Big, tough, and ravishing, a ghost story in the voice of a lost brother, an elegy with the ache and grace of deeply lived life in it.”—Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies and Arcadia

The Elizabethan Bond is back . . .Under the threat of a second Spanish Armada, John Shakespeare is sent to Lancashire to guard over England's secret weapon and its inventor, the maverick magician Dr. Dee.But nothing is so simple when the country is a hotbed of secret loyalties and civil unrest. During his mission, Shakespeare stumbles upon Catholic priests in hiding, a mysterious Bohemian seductress, and—of course—murder.Between facing off with a nefarious witch hunter and attending one of the first performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the intrepid John Shakespeare fights to stay alive while on the hunt for a deadly traitor.

England is a viper's nest of conspiracy.It is 1852, and the conflict between Protestants and Catholics threatens to tear the country in two. While Queen Elizabeth I holds the reins of power, there are those whose loyalty lies with her imprisoned cousin—Mary, Queen of Scots.On his first major mission for Sir Francis Walsingham, the young John Shakespeare is ordered to untangle a conspiracy to free the Stuart queen from Sheffield Castle. All too soon, he realizes that the tentacles of the plot reach deep into his native Warwickshire and threaten his own friends and family. His duty lies with Elizabeth … but how far will he go to protect those he loves?

Discover the power of Drools 6 and Business Rules for developing complex scenarios in your applications About This Book Implement and model different rules using the DRL full syntax Model complex business decisions and domain models in order to automate and improve your operational decisions with the Drools framework A practical, fast-paced, hands-on guide to help you use the different components provided by the Drools Rule Engine Who This Book Is For This book is for Java developers and architects who need to have a deep understanding of how to create or integrate your applications with the Drools Rules Framework. The book assumes that you know the Java language well and also have experience with some widely used frameworks, such as Spring. You should also know the basics of Maven-based applications. What You Will Learn Automate your application’s decisions, such as promotion applying, discount policies, fraud detection, and more. Quickly get started with writing your first rules using the DRL full syntax. Discover the power of the new syntax components of the rule language. Define inferences in your business rules to simplify complex decisions. Write decision tables, templates,domain-specific languages, and scorecards, and learn how to map them to the Drools framework. Harness the full operational power of Drools through all of its configuration points. Use Drools configurations and architectures for different environments and scenarios. In Detail Mastering JBoss Drools 6 will provide you with the knowledge to develop applications involving complex scenarios. You will learn how to use KIE modules to create and execute Business Rules, and how the PHREAK algorithm internally works to drive the Rule Engine decisions. This book will also cover the relationship between Drools and jBPM, which allows you to enrich your applications by using Business Processes. You will be briefly introduced to the concept of complex event processing (Drools CEP) where you will learn how to aggregate and correlate your data based on temporal conditions. You will also learn how to define rules using domain-specific languages, such as spreadsheets, database entries, PMML, and more. Towards the end, this book will take you through the integration of Drools with the Spring and Camel frameworks for more complex applications. Style and approach Approached from a developer’s perspective, the book teaches you all the advanced concepts of Business Rules applicable examples with helpful screenshots, diagrams, tutorials, and examples.

Master the skills required to steer cross-platform applications from drawing board to app store(s) using Xamarin About This Book Develop your Xamarin development skills with this comprehensive guide on various patterns and features so you can create elegant and high-quality applications Create adaptive user interfaces on separate platforms without compromising the user experience and platform identity Implement application lifecycle management concepts to manage and finalize cross-platform projects and efficiently collaborate with others Who This Book Is For This book is ideal for those who want to take their entry–level Xamarin mobile development skills to the next level to become the go-to person within their organization. To fully understand the patterns and concepts described, you should possess a reasonable level of knowledge about the core elements of Xamarin and cross-platform application development with it. What You Will Learn Configure your environment for cross-platform projects with Xamarin Gain memory management skills to avoid memory leaks and premature code cycles while decreasing the memory print of your applications Employ asynchronous and parallel patterns to execute non-interactive and non-blocking processes Create and use SQLite databases for offline scenarios Integrate network resources with cross-platform applications Design and implement eye-catching and reusable UI components without compromising nativity in mobile applications Manage the application lifecycle of cross-platform development projects Distribute Xamarin applications through public or private channels In Detail The main goal of this book is to equip you with the required know-how to successfully analyze, develop, and manage Xamarin cross-platform projects using the most efficient, robust, and scalable implementation patterns. This book starts with general topics such as memory management, asynchronous programming, local storage, and networking, and later moves onto platform-specific features. During this transition, you will learn about key tools to leverage the patterns described, as well as advanced implementation strategies and features. The book also presents User Interface design and implementation concepts on Android and iOS platforms from a Xamarin and cross-platform perspective, with the goal to create a consistent but native UI experience. Finally, we show you the toolset for application lifecycle management to help you prepare the development pipeline to manage and see cross-platform projects through to public or private release. Style and approach This is a comprehensive guide on various Xamarin features and patterns. Each topic is explained and demonstrated with code samples, which are revised in each section in an iterative manner and analyzed with available diagnostic tools to demonstrate the benefits of different patterns.

Analyze data network like a professional by mastering Wireshark - From 0 to 1337 About This Book Master Wireshark and train it as your network sniffer Impress your peers and get yourself pronounced as a network doctor Understand Wireshark and its numerous features with the aid of this fast-paced book packed with numerous screenshots, and become a pro at resolving network anomalies Who This Book Is For Are you curious to know what’s going on in a networkDo you get frustrated when you are unable to detect the cause of problems in your networksThis is where the book comes into play. Mastering Wireshark is for developers or network enthusiasts who are interested in understanding the internal workings of networks and have prior knowledge of using Wireshark, but are not aware about all of its functionalities. What You Will Learn Install Wireshark and understand its GUI and all the functionalities of it Create and use different filters Analyze different layers of network protocols and know the amount of packets that flow through the network Decrypt encrypted wireless traffic Use Wireshark as a diagnostic tool and also for network security analysis to keep track of malware Troubleshoot all the network anomalies with help of Wireshark Resolve latencies and bottleneck issues in the network In Detail Wireshark is a popular and powerful tool used to analyze the amount of bits and bytes that are flowing through a network. Wireshark deals with the second to seventh layer of network protocols, and the analysis made is presented in a human readable form. Mastering Wireshark will help you raise your knowledge to an expert level. At the start of the book, you will be taught how to install Wireshark, and will be introduced to its interface so you understand all its functionalities. Moving forward, you will discover different ways to create and use capture and display filters. Halfway through the book, you’ll be mastering the features of Wireshark, analyzing different layers of the network protocol, looking for any anomalies. As you reach to the end of the book, you will be taught how to use Wireshark for network security analysis and configure it for troubleshooting purposes. Style and approach Every chapter in this book is explained to you in an easy way accompanied by real-life examples and screenshots of the interface, making it easy for you to become an expert at using Wireshark.