Thunder Heights

From the “Queen of the American gothics”: In turn-of-the-century New York, a strange inheritance lures a vulnerable governess into a trap (The New York Times). Camilla King knows little of her family history, having never met her estranged relatives. Her late father wanted it that way. But when she receives a startling invitation from her immeasurably wealthy and ailing grandfather, Orrin Judd, to return to Thunder Heights, the crumbling mansion on the Hudson where her mother died under mysterious circumstances, Camilla complies, partly out of curiosity for the family she never had, and partly because of whispers of an inheritance. What she finds there is a demanding and unwelcoming tyrant, two wraithlike aunts haunted by an unnamable grief, a cunning idler living off the Judd fortune, and her grandfather’s rigid and suspicious aide. When a series of accidents befall Camilla, she has reason to fear her homecoming may be a carefully designed trap—the same one her own mother fell prey to many years ago. New York Times–bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author Phyllis A. Whitney “is, and always will be, the Grand Master of her craft” (Barbara Michaels). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Phyllis A. Whitney including rare images from the author’s estate.

Romance/suspense.

This book is a collection poetry and short stories. The stories deal with unrequited love, love lost, finding love, revenge and survival. They are about finding one's self, or just living. Many of these works reference supernatural undertones, or a belief in Wicca, witchcraft, and the big three, Fate, Karma, and Destiny. The poetry is dark and at each writing expressed some need to "vocalize" inner struggles.

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the birth of modern feminism, the sexual revolution, and strong growth in the mass-market publishing industry. Women made up a large part of the book market, and Gothic fiction became a higher popular staple. Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart and Phyllis Whitney emerged as prominent authors, while the standardized paperback Gothic sold in the millions. Pitched at middle-class women of all ages, Gothics paved the way for contemporary fiction categories such as urban fantasy, paranormal romance and vampire erotica. Though not as popular today as they once were, Gothic paperbacks retain a cult following--and the books themselves have become collectors' items. They were also the first popular novels to present strong heroines as agents of liberation and transformation. This work offers the missing chapters of the Gothic story, from the imaginative creations of Ann Radcliffe and the Bronte sisters to the bestseller 50 Shades of Grey.

Teratoid Heights realistically depicts the lifecycles of various species found in the tide location's cave-riddled terrain, down to the most painstakingly detailed behavioral patterns. It matters not that both Teratoid Heights and its inhabitants are entirely fictional. Brinkman taps into the zeitgeist of modern suburban America with what seems to be a mixture of J.R.R. Tolkein-style adventure, video-game inspired syncopation and an endless barrage of cable-television nature films all filtered through the reddened eyes of a marijuana-addled teenager. A book that reveals levels of humor and humanity no matter what age the reader.