Thief Of Souls

In Brian Klingborg's Thief of Souls, the brutal murder of a young woman in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing—but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, living in exile in the small town, is interested in justice for the victim. Lu Fei is a graduate of China’s top police college but he’s been assigned to a sleepy backwater town in northern China, where almost nothing happens and the theft of a few chickens represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is found dead, her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed in her mouth. The CID in Beijing—headed by a rising political star—is on the case but in an increasingly authoritarian China, prosperity and political stability are far more important than solving the murder of an insignificant village girl. As such, the CID head is interested in pinning the crime on the first available suspect rather than wading into uncomfortable truths, leaving Lu Fei on his own. As Lu digs deeper into the gruesome murder, he finds himself facing old enemies and creating new ones in the form of local Communist Party bosses and corrupt business interests. Despite these rising obstacles, Lu remains determined to find the real killer, especially after he links the murder to other unsolved homicides. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more he puts himself and his loved ones in danger.

What cost will she pay to save her soul? After failing to return with the Dragon’s Heart, Zemira is sent by her father to infiltrate the Court of Blood, in search of the mythical cauldron that contains the power of the long-lost dragon kings. But her deal with Prince Keir bears dangerous consequences—for Keir is determined to gain the cauldron himself. Caught between two deadly enemies, can Zemira save herself? And will Keir ever forgive her for the deception she played upon him? Join USA Today bestselling author, Bec McMaster, on a dangerous quest with a heroine determined to forge her own fate—though Zemira never counted on a wickedly alluring prince who may or may not be her ally. Read this epic fantasy filled with magic and breathtaking romance today!

With her acclaimed novels The Plague Tales and The Burning Road, Ann Benson has carved out a unique place on the literary landscape with her fascinating alchemy of mystery, history, and psychological terror. Now this gifted storyteller returns with an astounding tale of two crime waves separated by nearly 600 years. In each, the victims are children. In each, the perpetrator is a man of power and renown. And in each, the pursuit of justice is spearheaded by a woman who has seen the face of evil up close—and whose own life is entwined with a madman’s. In the city of Nantes, in the year 1440, a woman hurries through the cobblestoned streets. Her world of faith, loyalty, and family is buckling under the weight of her suspicions about a dead child . . . and others who may have met the same fate—all at the hands of the same killer—the infamous Gilles de Rais. Soon Guillemette le Drappière, companion to the Bishop of Nantes, is investigating the young nobleman she helped raise from infancy. To unravel the truth, Guillemette must enter a dark realm of power, perversion, bloodlust—and bring to it the unforgiving light of the church she serves. In the city of Los Angeles, in the year 2002, a detective gets the kind of call she dreads most: “My child is gone.” Lany Dunbar, a mother, a cop, and a veteran of human horrors, cannot be prepared for where this search will lead her. For within days, Lany is certain that this missing-child case has exposed the work of a serial killer. At odds with her own department, sure that her killer is becoming more emboldened, Lany zeroes in on a suspect—while a suspect zeroes in on her. . . . Two horrific crime sprees. Two extraordinary eras. The connections between them are at once eerie, compelling, and surprising. Only Ann Benson can weave together the strands of history and suspense with such mastery. Skillfully blending past and present, myth and reality, Benson catapults us from an age when wolves ran wild through the streets of Paris to an age of high-tech criminal profiling. A riveting, rousing adventure through time, history, and forensic science, Thief of Souls introduces two unforgettable characters, separated by centuries, linked by a passionate quest for justice. For in a race to stop monsters from more monstrous crimes, both women will discover a frightening truth: that within a killer is a child, and within a child are seeds of both innocence and evil.

In this extraordinary novel of mischief and menace, we see a young man's very self vanishing before his eyes—from the winner of the PEN/Malamud Award and “one of our most gifted writers” (Chicago Tribune) "Entirely original.... So craftily construcyed that to appreciate how liberally Baxter plants creepy hints of what's to come a reader should really savor this book twice." —The Washington Post As a graduate student in upstate New York, Nathaniel Mason is drawn into a tangle of relationships with people who seem to hover just beyond his grasp. There's Theresa, alluring but elusive, and Jamie, who is fickle if not wholly unavailable. But Jerome Coolberg is the most mysterious and compelling. Not only cryptic about himself, he seems also to have appropriated parts of Nathaniel's past that Nathaniel cannot remember having told him about.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME The extraordinary, beloved novel about the ability of books to feed the soul even in the darkest of times. When Death has a story to tell, you listen. It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time. “The kind of book that can be life-changing.” —The New York Times “Deserves a place on the same shelf with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.” —USA Today DON’T MISS BRIDGE OF CLAY, MARKUS ZUSAK’S FIRST NOVEL SINCE THE BOOK THIEF.

The latest psychological thriller from national best selling author Darian North examines the frightening world of a religious cult. A loving husband becomes devastated when his beautiful but troubled wife abandons him and their young daughter for a mysterious and seductive cult. Coping with the loss, the husband immerses himself in raising his daughter, discovering the joys of fatherhood. But the reprieve is only temporary as the cult kidnaps his daughter. To save his child, the husband must enter the cult's compound -- alone and unarmed -- and resist the temptations of their mesmerizing leader before he descends into a nightmare world of spiritual corruption, sexual seduction, and paralyzing fear!

A group of monumentally powerful teens must face an ancient, soul-eating foe in this second book of The Star Shards Chronicles. A cataclysmic explosion has given earthly teens astronomical powers—when the star Mentarsus-H went supernova at their conceptions, the teens absorbed the shattered soul of the star and inherited unimaginable abilities. Now the Star Shards have become like gods, drunk on their own power—and ripe for manipulation by The Bringer, a creature who would turn them against one another and transform the planet into his own personal feeding ground. But who is more dangerous: The Bringer or the Star Shards? Acclaimed author Neal Shusterman presents “a story which is grippingly unexpected” (The Bookwatch) that sets the stage for the riveting conclusion to The Star Shards trilogy. Originally published by Tor Fantasy in 1999.

A BAFFLING MURDER IN RURAL CHINA. AN EXILED DETECTIVE. AND POLITICS AS DEADLY AS A KILLER. 'Parts the bamboo curtain to reveal a detailed and pacy portrait of police work and everyday life in this gripping crime thriller.' THE SUN 'City of Ice delivers everything one could want in a crime novel - insight, thrills, and entertainment.' Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times bestselling author In a remote Chinese town - where the theft of a few chickens counts as a major crime - a young woman is found brutally murdered...with her heart, lungs and liver removed. Inspector Lu Fei, a weary cop who fled the city, suddenly finds himself under the intense scrutiny of the ruling party in Beijing. Determined to find her killer, Lu Fei must navigate a society where politics can be deadly, corruption is rife, and the powerful are untouchable. As evidence connects the case to a string of unsolved murders, Lu must decide what he will risk in search of justice... 'City of Ice is everything a reader could want in a novel.' Jack Du Brul, New York Times bestselling author 'Klingborg truly understands how Chinese bureaucracies work; at the same time he's a wizard at believable characters, compelling situations, and a propulsive plot.' SJ Rozan, Edgar Award winner and best-selling Readers are gripped by CITY OF ICE: 'A dazzling debut...it's the perfect example of a riveting read you simply can't put down. ' ***** Goodreads Reviewer 'This slickly plotted, atmospheric thriller is compulsively readable and a fascinating exploration into a mysterious place and time.' ***** Goodreads Reviewer 'The descriptions, the emotions, the depth of characters are amazing.' ***** Goodreads Reviewer