Six Years Of Darkness

Part One: SIX YEARS OF DARKNESS Refugees from the Nazis, seventeen-year-old Joni Morgen and her mother arrive in blacked out London in November 1939, after an eight-months stint as domestic servants at a seaside resort. Standing on the wet pavement outside Victoria Station, Joni takes one look at the hustle and bustle of the busy street and is immediately sucked into the spirit of this great city. There is no other place where she wants to be at this time in history. She remains in London through air raids, destruction, shortages, financial stresses and twelve hour work days. Finally the war was over. With youthful optimism she writes: "Peace! Peace on Earth! No man, woman or child will ever be killed again, no bomb dropped, no torpedo fired. World peace. How long mankind longed for that. Now itOs real." Part Two: THIS NEW LIFE Seven years after the war, Britain is still trying to recover from its devastation. Disillusioned, tired of unending rationing, bomb-damaged buildings, shortages and personal restrictions, Joni and her friend Gerda, both alone in the world immigrate to Canada. An unexpectedly carefree and exciting new life opens up for thirty-year-old Joni, a striking contrast to the severity of the war years. The personal nature of these stories allows the reader to walk in the shoes of an "enemy alien" during the war, and an adventurous young woman seeking a purpose in life after the war.

Cursed by God, hunted by demons, desired by Cain and Abel... All in a day's work. For Evangeline Hollis, a long ago fling with a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks just became a disaster of biblical proportions. One night with a leather-clad man of mystery has led to a divine punishment: the Mark of Cain. Thrust into a world where sinners are drafted into service to kill demons, Eve's learning curve is short. A longtime agnostic, she begrudgingly maneuvers through a celestial bureaucracy where she is a valuable but ill-treated pawn. She's also become the latest point of contention in the oldest case of sibling rivalry in history... But she'll worry about all that later. Right now she's more concerned with learning to kill while staying alive. And saving the soul she'd never believed she had ... in S.J. Day's Eve of Darkness. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

I should warn you, I'm not a good person. I tried to be good...normal. But the darkness can't be suppressed forever. Six years ago, I walked away from the family. Now, I must go back. I have no choice. But things will be different this time. I'm stronger, smarter, and I refuse to submit in a world ruled by dangerous men. My name is Maura Quinn. I'm the Banphrionsa--Princess in my father's dark kingdom of crime. Everyone has a story. Even the bad guy. So proceed with caution because this is my descent or my rise. It depends on how you look at it. But most of all, this is how I embrace the darkness.*** Warning: This is a dark and twisted tale with violence, foul language, and sexual content. May contain triggers.***

Bill Pronzini is one of the most highly acclaimed mystery authors writing today. Barry N. Malzberg exploded onto the science fiction scene in the 1970s with incendiary novels and short stories that took the craft of speculative fiction to a completely different level. When these two master authors come together to collaborate on fiction, the result is literary dynamite. On Account of Darkness and Other Stories brings together for the first time every science fiction story that Bill and Barry wrote together during their long careers, featuring a brand-new introduction. These short, sharp stories, each a paradigm of the craft of science fiction, are prime examples of two authors working at the height of their collaborative powers, resulting in a collection of truly speculative fiction. Barry N. Malzberg is the author of some forty science fiction novels and collections. Bill Pronzini has been a full-time professional writer since 1969. Stories included in this collection: On Account of Darkness A Clone at Last “Do I Dare to Eat a Peach?” On the Nature of Time Night Rider Opening a Vein Reading Day Fascination The Lyran Case Whither Thou, Ghost Vanishing Point Out of Quarantine Shakespeare MCMLXXXV In Our Image Another Burnt-Out Case Inaugural The Last One Left Coming Again Multiples Prose Bowl Final War Epitaph Toy The Rec Field The Hungarian Cinch

A “deeply spiritual and socially radical” (Dr. Obery Hendricks, PhD) guide to uplift our spirits as we work for justice in these politically turbulent times—from Reverend Otis Moss, III, Senior Pastor at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ and one of the country’s most renowned and beloved spiritual and civil rights leaders. Once again, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first observed in the 1960s, it is midnight in America—a dark time of division and anxiety, with threats of violence looming in the shadows. In 2008, the Trinity United Church in Chicago received threats when one of its parishioners, Senator Barack Obama, ran for president. “We’re going to kill you” rang in Reverend Otis Moss’s ears when he suddenly heard a noise in the middle of the night. He grabbed a baseball bat to confront the intruder in his home. When he opened the door to his daughter’s room, he found that the source of the noise was his own little girl, dancing. She was simply practicing for her ballet recital. At that moment, Pastor Moss saw that the real intruder was within him. Caught in a cycle of worry and anger, he had allowed the darkness inside. But seeing his daughter evoked Pslam 30: “You have turned my mourning into dancing.” He set out to write the sermon that became this inspiring and transformative book. Dancing in the Darkness is a “life-affirming” (Dr. Teresa L. Fry Brown) guide to the practical, political, and spiritual challenges of our day. Drawing on the teachings of Dr. King, Howard Thurman, sacred scripture, southern wisdom, global spiritual traditions, Black culture, and his own personal experiences, Dr. Moss instructs you on how to practice spiritual resistance by combining justice and love. This collection helps us tap into the spiritual reserves we all possess but too often overlook, so we can slay our personal demons, confront our civic challenges, and reach our highest goals.

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror offers more than four hundred pages of tales from some of today’s finest writers of the fantastique?sure to delight as well as disturb!