Modern Fiction

This is an updated version for all ages retold in wonderful storytelling fashion. John Bunyan was a simple maker and mender of pots and pans who received very little education. In spite of that, he penned the most successful allegory ever written. Embark on a perilous journey with Christian, the lead character, from the City of Destruction to the luminous safe haven of the Celestial City. The journey will encourage you to “set your hope fully on the grace to be given you” amidst the obstacles of life.

I'm Colin McCool, world-class trouble magnet and druid apprentice extraordinaire. I survived my final confrontation with the Dark Druid by the skin of my teeth. But that stunt attracted the attention of some extremely nasty gods who now consider me a threat to their very existence. Hashtag FML, amirite? Now, I'm in a race to master the ways of druid magic, all while staying one step ahead of the immortal assassins trying to kill me.

Billy Phelan, small-time bookie, pool hustler, and poker player, becomes an unlikely go-between in the 1938 kidnapping of an Albany, New York, political boss' son.

A courtroom drama of biological science versus transgenderism, The Wise of Heart updates the Scopes Monkey Trial for the twenty-first century. He wanted to test the new Gender Awareness in Academia (GAIA) Act, but high-school biology teacher, Mike Andrews got more than he bargained for.

In the ever-changing modern international landscape, men serving at the tip of the spear need to be able to adapt, adjust, and excel in any environment, under any rules of engagement, at any time. This can lead to men making hard decisions that toe, and sometimes cross, the line between right and wrong.

An allegorical story of World War I set in the trenches in France and dealing ostensibly with a mutiny in a French regiment.

Gerade aus der Haft entlassen, möchte sich Franz Biberkopf eine neue Existenz aufbauen. Doch den Lockungen der Großstadt kann er nicht widerstehen und wird schon bald wieder in kriminelle Machenschaften verwickelt, die ihn fast an den Galgen bringen. Das bewegende Schicksal des Arbeiters Franz Biberkopf, der sich in einer Welt des Verbrechens verirrt, steht exemplarisch für den Kampf des kleinen Mannes in einer unsicher gewordenen Welt. Döblin schuf damit einen Jahrhundertroman, der häufig mit "Ulysses" verglichen wird. Hannes Messemer liest diese atemlose, polyphone Symphonie der Großstadt bravourös ein.

Lucky navigates her teen years—from first kisses and brushes with famous older men to attending boarding school and adventuring through exotic Greek islands—as Gino, a powerful Vegas hotel owner, struggles to control her. Meanwhile, her brother, Dario, is too scared to tell Gino that he's gay. But fearless Lucky will not be held back by her father...or anyone else. Soon she has no choice but to strike out on her own path—one that will lead her to become the powerful and charismatic woman that she was destined to be.

Mary Shelley's 1818 novel presents the Faustian story of a man who aspires to create life out of death, with disastrous results. The novel is constructed as a series of first-person narratives, delivered by Captain Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and his Creature, which makes it perfect for a dramatic reading presented by actor author Geoffrey Giuliano.

Yates movingly portrays a man and a woman from their courtship in the 1950s to their divorce in the '70s, chronicling their heartbreaking attempts to reach their highest ambitions. Michael Davenport dreams of being a poet after returning home from World War II, and at first he and his new wife, Lucy, enjoy their life together. But as the decades pass and the success of others creates a fear of failure in both Michael and Lucy, their once bright future gives way to a life of adultery and isolation.

Over the past fifty years, fiction in English has never looked more various. Books bulkier than Victorian three-deckers appear alongside works of minimalist brevity, and experiments with form have produced everything from verse novels to Twitter-thread narratives. This is truly a golden age. But what unites this kaleidoscopic array of genres and styles? Celebrated writer and critic Peter Kemp shows how modern writers are obsessed with the past.

Mick Roberts, the newest partner at Twisted Steel's custom hot rod and motorcycle shop, looks like a man with everything. But secretly he still craves the connection he lost when his best friend, Adam, and the love of his life, Jessilynn, walked out. Then he wasn't ready for the pleasure they promised. Now things have changed. Rich, powerful, and insatiable, Adam Gulati is used to getting what he wants. And there's nothing he wants more than Mick and Jessi.

Seamus O'Mahony charts the realities of work in the 'ministry of bodies', that huge complex where people come to be cured and to die. From unexpected deaths to moral quandaries and bureaucratic disasters, O'Mahony documents life in the halls and wards that all of us will visit at some point in our lives with his characteristic wit and dry and unsentimental intelligence.

Comfort for Isabella York is found buried in the pages of books. Bookended between two beautiful sisters, she is a different kind of princess, quiet and studious. Judged harshly on social media and in the tabloids, which compare her to her thin, outgoing sisters, a shy Bella has no desire to become a working royal for the House of Chadwick upon graduating from university, preferring to work in the family's dusty archives instead.

The Society for Magickal Heritage’s best agents are heading back into paradise. Giddy Gods help them all. No one ever said heroic adventure would be easy, but this is ridiculous. Magickal wonderlands aren’t meant to have a dark side. Heroes aren’t meant to get stranded there, either. Ves may be up for anything, but she hadn’t expected that pretty much anything would be up for her. And with a horde of unhappy spirits enjoying a direct line to Zareen’s psyche, it’s lucky she’s unbreakable... right?

Nick Fairfax believes that his romance with Lord Bane Dunsaney is over. Bane has chosen revenge against Nick’s family over his love for Nick. And Bane’s secret - that he is the guardian of a tiger spirit - has also caused a wedge between them with Nick still in the dark about Bane’s true nature. Can they overcome these seemingly insurmountable problems and find their happily ever after? Cursed: Beloved is the third and final book in the Cursed series.

His angelic beauty is frightening, and I want no part of it. I’m trapped by him now in a dark place, and I can’t escape. I vowed to bring him down, and I won’t rest until I do.

Have you ever passed out and woken up in your girlfriend’s apartment only to find you’ve lost access to your multi-million dollar dark web auctioning website–right after she found out she’s not your only girlfriend? Have you ever been accused of attempted murder by a talented and vindictive mime? Have you ever gone to jail for defending yourself against a papercut from a yoga teacher? If you haven’t, you haven’t lived!

Natalie and Neil everything they could want: a stylish London house, two high-flying careers, a close-knit group of friends and family. And best of all: an ideal marriage. Having children, they’ve agreed, would only disrupt their carefree lives. But then Neil turns thirty-five, and suddenly he’s longing for a baby. However, Nat has not had a similar change of heart. As they no longer agree on this fundamental issue, their once perfect relationship starts to crumble. Nat starts to think about her exes and wonders if one of the men she has loved in the past can offer her a future.

"Kafka erscheint uns rätselhaft, dabei schreibt er doch eigentlich in einer schlichten Prosa, seine Schilderungen sind präzise, seine Personen reden in einfachen Worten und es wird weder um das, was sie tun, noch um das, das sie reden, noch um das, was ihnen zustößt, ein großes Gewese gemacht. Aber wir verstehen nicht. Oder glauben, nicht zu verstehen. Oder wir verstehen, können aber nicht sagen, was eigentlich. Wir glauben immer etwas anderes, Drittes ausmachen zu müssen, das mit dem, was dort passiert, eigentlich bezeichnet wird, wir versuchen, das Rätsel zu lösen.