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Dark in Death: In Death, Book 46

Lieutenant Eve Dallas returns in the new novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense, and takes on a case of death imitating art…

It was a stab in the dark.

On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourists in Times Square. To Chanel’s best friend, who had just slipped out of the theater for a moment to take a call, it felt as unreal as the ancient black-and-white movie up on the screen. But Chanel’s blood ran red, and her death was anything but fictional.

Then, as Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime – from the pages of her own book. Dallas doesn’t think it’s coincidence, since a recent strangulation of a sex worker resembles a scene from her writing as well. Cops look for patterns of behavior: similar weapons, similar MOs. But this killer seems to find inspiration in someone else’s imagination, and if the theory holds, this may be only the second of a long-running series.

The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama – and only Eve can put a stop to a creative impulse gone horribly, destructively wrong.

From the author of Echoes in Death, this is the latest of the edgy, phenomenally popular police procedurals that Publishers Weekly calls “inventive, entertaining, and clever.”

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Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process

A stunning guide to finding creative inspiration and how it can illuminate your life, your work, and your art—from Stephen King, Junot Díaz, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amy Tan, Khaled Hosseini, Roxane Gay, Neil Gaiman, and many more acclaimed writers

What inspires you? That’s the simple, but profound question posed to forty-six renowned authors in LIGHT THE DARK. Each writer begins with a favorite passage from a novel, a song, a poem—something that gets them started and keeps them going with the creative work they love. From there, incredible lessons and stories of life-changing encounters with art emerge, like how sneaking books into his job as a night security guard helped Khaled Hosseini learn that nothing he creates will ever be truly finished. Or how a college reading assignment taught Junot Díaz that great art can be a healing conversation, and an unexpected poet led Elizabeth Gilbert to embrace an unyielding optimism, even in the face of darkness. LIGHT THE DARK collects the best of The Atlantic’s much-acclaimed “By Heart” series edited by Joe Fassler and adds brand new pieces, each one paired with a striking illustration. Here is a guide to creative living and writing in the vein of Daily Rituals, Bird by Bird, and Big Magic for anyone who wants to learn how great writers find inspiration—and how to find some of your own.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Elizabeth Gilbert, Junot Díaz, Marilynne Robinson, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, Aimee Bender, Mary Gaitskill, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Roxane Gay, Angela Flournoy, Jonathan Franzen, Yiyun Li, Leslie Jamison, Claire Messud,  Edwidge Danticat, David Mitchell, Khaled Hosseini, Ayana Mathis, Kathryn Harrison, Azar Nafisi,  Hanya Yanagihara, Jane Smiley, Nell Zink, Emma Donoghue, Jeff Tweedy, Eileen Myles, Maggie Shipstead, Sherman Alexie, Andre Dubus III, Billy Collins, Lev Grossman, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Charles Simic, Jim Shepard,  T.C. Boyle, Tom Perrotta, Viet Than Nguyen, William Gibson, Mark Haddon, Ethan Canin, Jessie Ball, Jim Crace, and Walter Mosley.

“As [these authors] reveal what inspires them, they, in turn, inspire the reader, all while celebrating the beauty and purpose of art.” -Booklist

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The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba!

In the first book of this brilliant series, Stephen King introduces listeners to one of his most powerful creations: Roland of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.

Both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, The Gunslinger leaves listeners eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

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Stay on the Wing: The Dark Herbalist, Book 2

When Timothy finally found work as a tester for a popular online MMORPG, his lifelong dream was fulfilled. And now, he earns money (and pretty good money, at that) just for doing what he loves – playing a beautiful and realistic computer game. But he isn’t some typical run-of-the-mill player, like the millions of others. Timothy is truly capable and talented, and stands out from the crowd. In fact, the faceless masses consider him far too lucky and successful. Many players dislike him for his achievements and hunt him down ruthlessly just because they feel envious or because he looks different. So, what is he to do now that the whole world is against him and his only allies are his beloved sister and a few trusted friends? Make peace? Sink down to their level? Or just fly ever higher on the wings of success? It’s all up to Timothy!

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Dark Warrior Mine

When Andrew is forced to retire from active duty, he believes that all he has to look forward to is a boring desk job. His glory days in special ops are over. But as it turns out, his thrill ride has just begun. Andrew discovers not only that immortals exist and have been manipulating global affairs since antiquity, but that he and his sister are rare possessors of the immortal genes. Problem is, Andrew might be too old to attempt the activation process. His sister, who is 14 years his junior, barely makes it through the transition, so the odds of him coming out of it alive, let alone immortal, are slim.

But fate may force his hand. Helping a friend find his long-lost daughter, Andrew finds a woman who’s worth taking the risk for. Nathalie might be a Dormant, but the only way to find out for sure requires fangs and venom.

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The Dark Dark: Stories

In these marvelously inventive stories, Samantha Hunt imagines numerous ways in which human lives might be altered by the otherworldly: an FBI agent falls in love with a robot built for a suicide mission; a young woman unintentionally cheats on her husband when she is transformed into a deer; two strangers become lovers and find themselves responsible for the resurrection of a dog; a woman tries to start her life anew after the loss of a child but riddles that new life with lies; 13 pregnant teenagers develop a strange relationship with the founding fathers of American history; a lonely woman’s fertility treatments become the stuff of science fiction. With offbeat humor and an unguarded gaze, Hunt conjures stories that urge an understanding of youth and mortality, magnification and loss – and that hold out hope that we can come to know one another deeply as we stand side-by-side observing this mysterious universe we’ve found ourselves in.

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Dark Enemy Captive

When the rescue team returns with Amanda and the chained Dalhu to the keep, Amanda is not as thrilled to be back as she thought she’d be. Between Kian’s contempt for her and Dalhu’s imprisonment, Amanda’s budding relationship with Dalhu seems doomed.

Things start to look up when Annani offers her help, and together with Syssi they resolve to find a way for Amanda to be with Dalhu. But will she still want him when she realizes that he is responsible for her nephew’s murder? Could she? Will she take the easy way out and choose Andrew instead?

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Dark Territory (Benjamin Ashwood)

After uncovering the existence of an ancient, secretive organization, Ben must track down its whereabouts to enlist help in a battle for the fate of humanity. He goes behind enemy lines and faces certain danger. He must convince the powerful elites that the looming threat to Alcott is real. If the opposing factions do not put aside their differences and join forces, the fate of mankind may be sealed. With what Ben knows, the solution is obvious. But the murky political waters of Alcott are not easy to navigate. The inexperienced young man from the country will have to act quickly before it is too late for everyone.

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The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba.

Now available for the first time as an Encore CD!

A #1 national bestseller, The Gunslinger introduces audiences to one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations, Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.

Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).Thirty-three years, a horrific and life-altering accident, and thousands of desperately rabid fans in the making, Stephen King’s quest to complete his magnum opus rivals the quest of Roland and his band of gunslingers who inhabit the Dark Tower series. Loyal DT fans and new readers alike will appreciate this revised edition of The Gunslinger, which breathes new life into Roland of Gilead, and offers readers a “clearer start and slightly easier entry into Roland’s world.”

King writes both a new introduction and foreword to this revised edition, and the ever-patient, ever-loyal “constant reader” is rewarded with secrets to the series’s inception. That a “magic” ream of green paper and a Robert Browning poem, came together to reveal to King his “ka” is no real surprise (this is King after all), but who would have thought that the squinty-eyed trio of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach would set the author on his true path to the Tower? While King credits Tolkien for inspiring the “quest and magic” that pervades the series, it was Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that helped create the epic proportions and “almost absurdly majestic western backdrop” of Roland’s world.

To King, The Gunslinger demanded revision because once the series was complete it became obvious that “the beginning was out of sync with the ending.” While the revision adds only 35 pages, Dark Tower purists will notice the changes to Allie’s fate and Roland’s interaction with Cort, Jake, and the Man in Black–all stellar scenes that will reignite the hunger for the rest of the series. Newcomers will appreciate the details and insight into Roland’s life. The revised Roland of Gilead (nee Deschain) is embodied with more humanity–he loves, he pities, he regrets. What DT fans might miss is the same ambiguity and mystery of the original that gave the original its pulpy underground feel (back when King himself awaited word from Roland’s world). –Daphne Durham