They are sent to the world's hot spots-on covert missions fraught with danger. They are called on to perform at the peak of their physical and mental capabilities, primed for combat and surveillance, yet ready to pitch in with disaster relief operations. They are the Army's Special Forces Groups. Now follow Tom Clancy as he delves into the training and tools, missions and mindset of these elite operatives. Special Forces includes: The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams Plus: an interview with General Hugh Shelton, USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and the former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM)

When Greyboar, a professional strangler, discovers the Supreme Philosophy of Life, he becomes a new man--but how can a villain in good standing pay the bills with his philosophical exploration getting in the way? Then Greyboar's long-lost sister asks him to help persecuted dwarves escape their human oppressors.

Longarm longs to send this posse a-packin’!Everybody in Denver remembers the ruthless massacre at a local bank ’round five years back, but not a living soul has seen hide nor hair of the posse since. The murderers scooted out of town with a good passel of loot—and their identities unknown.   But when one of them, at death’s door, decides to come clean before the Lord and the law, deputy marshal Long uses his leads—and vows to avenge the murder of the innocents. With some dirt on his targets gathered from a lonely, young landlady—who’ll only give away one secret per night of low-down lovin’—Longarm thinks he can sniff out their track. But to do this, he’ll have to uncover a trail hidden under five years’ worth of dust…

Welcome to the town of Kismet Bay where magic and fate are a way of life...Sage Strange is back in Kismet Bay to plan her sister's wedding and the last thing she wants is to see her ex-boyfriend, Tristan Scott. They didn't end on good terms and she fully intends on avoiding him at all cost.Tristan still loves Sage and when he discovers she's back he decides to test his luck and pray the magic of Kismet Bay will bring them back together for good. 

Brenna, one of the volunteers at the Wild at Heart animal clinic, is horrified to find a dog caught in a trap in the local nature preserve, but subsequent events prove that every story has two sides.

The beautiful, iron-willed Wild Ginger is only in elementary school when we first meet her, but already she has been singled out by the Red Guards for her "foreign-colored eyes." Her classmate Maple is also a target of persecution. It is through the quieter, more skeptical Maple, a less than ardent Maoist whose father is languishing in prison for a minor crime, that we see this story to its tragic end. The Red Guards have branded Wild Ginger's deceased father a traitor and eventually drive her mother to a gruesome suicide, but she fervently embraces Maoism to save her spirit. She rises quickly through the ranks and is held up as a national model for Maoism. Wild Ginger now has everything, even a young man who vies for her heart. But Mao's prohibition on romantic love places her in an untenable position. Into this sexually charged situation steps Maple, creating an uneasy triangle that Min has portrayed with keen psychological insight and her characteristic gift for lyrical eroticism.

An alien pyramid has appeared on Earth, squatting in the middle of Chicago. It is growing, destroying the city as it does — and nothing seems able to stop it, not even the might of the US military. Somehow, the alien device is snatching people and — for unknown reasons — transporting them into worlds of mythology. Dr Lukacs is one of the victims. Granted, he's an expert on mythology. But myths are not something he'd thought to encounter personally. Or wanted to! Sure, he has a couple of tough paratroopers along with him, as well as a blonde Amazon biologist and a very capable maintenance mechanic. Unfortunately, modern weapons don't work, and the Greek gods are out to kill the heroes. Well, yes, they've got Medea and Arachne and the Sphinx on their side (both Sphinxes, actually — the Greek version as well as the Egyptian). And at least some of the Egyptian gods seem friendly. But that can be a very mixed blessing, to say the least. Oh, and whatever you do—don't mention dwarf-tossing.

In 1901 London, as the precise social order of the Victorian era winds down and the forward-looking Edwardian order takes wing, three strangers meet in the city's stony Highgate Cemetery. Beautiful Lavinia revels in the elaborate trappings of the past. Plain Maude strives to shape the future. Simon Fields, a boy their age, is bound by poverty and professional to the cemetery.As they explore the prejudices and flaws of a changing time, they bring their very different families together and ultimately discover that their fates are intertwined.

Someone-or some thing-has kidnapped the dreaded Demon Earth. If he isn't found, the very fabric of our world will unravel, removing the Earth's gravitational field, and, incidentally, that of the magical land of Xanth as well! To combat this dastardly deed, six bold adventurers must locate the mysterious object known as the Swell Foop, and wield it in a deadly cosmic contest against an awesome enemy. The twenty-fifth exhilarating episode in Piers Anthony's fabulous saga of Xanth, Swell Foop blends laughter and romance, wonder and danger, in one of the most intricate and intriguing tales in the history of the series. Swell Foop, the twenty-fifth volume in Piers Anthony's bestselling Xanth fantasy adventures, is one of the most intricate and intriguing tales in the history of the series.

A masterful blend of Christian scholarship and thrilling adventure, The Last Cato is a novel about the race to find the secret location of the Vera Cruz, the True Cross on which Christ was crucified, and the ancient brotherhood sworn to protect it. Holy relics are disappearing from sacred spots around the world—and the Vatican will do whatever it takes to stop the thieves from stealing what is left of the scattered splinters of the True Cross. Brilliant paleographer Dr. Ottavia Salina is called upon by the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church to decipher the scars found on an Ethiopian man's corpse: seven crosses and seven Greek letters. The markings, symbolizing the Seven Deadly Sins, are part of an elaborate initiation ritual for the Staurofilakes, the clandestine brotherhood hiding the True Cross for centuries, headed by a secretive figure called Cato. With the help of a member of the Swiss Guard and a renowned archaeologist, Dr. Salina uncovers the connection between the brotherhood and Dante's Divine Comedy, and races across the globe to Christianity's ancient capitals. Together, they will face challenges that will put their faith—and their very lives—to the ultimate test.

Biggie is back! Nancy Bell returns with another delicious installment in her series of rural Texas mysteries featuring local doyen Biggie Weatherford as amateur detective. Once again, young J.R. faithfully narrates the humorous exploits of Biggie, his grandmother. Filled with plenty of quirky characters and down-home Texas flair, Bell's stories continue to delight. An old friend of Biggie comes back to Job's Crossing. Rex Barnwell and his young wife have returned to convert his father's ranch into a retreat for overweight teenage girls, and Biggie is forced to reveal a secret that she has always kept from J.R. Not long after this startling revelation, Rex is murdered. Knowing full well that he won't be able to keep Biggie away, the Texas Ranger in charge of the case enlists her help. While Biggie pursues her investigation, J.R. has his hands full with troubles of his own. These troubles don't involve any murders-though it might be easier for J.R. if they did. As an extra treat for the reader, Willie Mae shares her recipe for King Ranch Casserole.

Alternate cover edition for 9780440337843. Five hundred years ago, Highland laird Drustan MacKeltar was felled by a powerful spell, and trapped in an enchanted slumber. He was hidden by faithful clansmen, who were determined to keep him safe from a prophecy of doom. American tourist Gwen Cassidy has come to Scotland to escape (for a week or two at least) from her humdrum life in the States. She's also hoping to find a man to relieve her of her virginity, since she seems destined to spend her life alone. When she tumbles into the arms of the sexy Highlander, awakening him from his enchanted slumber, she's swept into the 16th century by his absolutely unforgettable kiss. When she started this trip, Gwen was only hoping for a roll in the heather, and a few good memories -- not a life in the past. But she finds little time for boredom or regrets as she's caught up in treacherous plots that have little to do with bringing her handsome Highland laird to her bed. Kiss of the Highlander is an engaging time-travel romp.

Called "elegantly, starkly beautiful" by The New York Times Book Review, The Siege is Helen Dunmore's masterpiece. Her canvas is monumental -- the Nazis' 1941 winter siege on Leningrad that killed six hundred thousand -- but her focus is heartrendingly intimate. One family, the Levins, fights to stay alive in their small apartment, held together by the unlikely courage and resourcefulness of twenty-two-year-old Anna. Though she dreams of an artist's life, she must instead forage for food in the ever more desperate city and watch her little brother grow cruelly thin. Their father, a blacklisted writer who once advocated a robust life of the mind, withers in spirit and body. At such brutal times everything is tested. And yet Dunmore's inspiring story shows that even then, the triumph of the human heart is that love need not fall away.

It's a blooming mystery!Nancy and her friends agree that the Pink Princess daisies they've grown from seed are the prettiest flowers ever. They're sure to win a prize at the spring flower show. But shortly before the event, the daisies disappear! Snobby fourth-grader Viola Van Hall told the girls that her flowers were going to take first prize. Classmate Orson Wong wanted the daisies for a horrible science experiment. Belle Bridges sprinkles flower petals all over her salads -- she might have eaten the daisies. Have the girls lost the chance to win the contest, or is the answer to the mystery right under their noses?