Modern Fiction

"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.

With one year left at the International School in London, Fleur Marceaux is struggling to graduate, her love life is a mess, and she can’t stop thinking about Max, her ex-boyfriend’s best friend. But all that pales in comparison to the blackmailer determined to destroy her.

Phryne Fisher has gone missing in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Only her pearl-handled gun and a note arrive back home. She's left instruction that say that should she not turn up in six months' time, a letter must be sent to next of kin.

Sexual abuse, human trafficking, drug addiction, rape, prison, and domestic violence - Barbara Amaya experienced it all on first on the streets of Washington D.C., and then New York City, most of it before her 16th birthday. In Nobody's Girl she shares her journey from trafficking victim to human rights advocate, weaving together a story of loss, pain, courage, and transformation.

In the early 17th century, a crippled, graying, almost toothless veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a novel. It was the story of a poor nobleman, his brain addled from studying too many novels of chivalry, who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. That story, Don Quixote, went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author, Miguel de Cervantes, the single most-read author in human history.

Maid in Waiting is the beginning novel in the last trilogy of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Chronicles. In this 7th installment, the story continues of the lives and times, loves and losses, fortunes and deaths of the fictional but entirely representative family of propertied Victorians, the Forsytes.

Princess Elizabeth "Liz" of York isn't interested in a fairy tale life. Determined to use her elite platform to champion children's causes, she'd much rather raise awareness than find her prince. If only she could stop picturing one certain gardener with vivid hazel eyes.... When the relentless paparazzi invade her space, Liz's crush comes to her rescue and steals her heart. Tossing aside centuries of tradition for something real, she takes Roman's calloused hand and braces for the backlash. One member of the monarchy vows to keep the princess locked in her ivory tower.

In 2013, Edward Snowden shocked the world when he revealed that the United States government was secretly building a system of mass surveillance with the ability to gaze into the private lives of every person on earth. Phone calls, text messages, emails - nothing was safe from prying eyes. Now the man who risked everything to expose the truth about government spying describes for a new generation how he helped build that system, what motivated him to try to bring it down, and how young people can strive to protect their privacy in the digital age.

Maps for the Modern World is a collection of poems and original illustrations about cultivating community, awareness, and harmony with our surroundings as we move fearlessly toward our dreams.

What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction gathers the best-selling novelist Alice McDermott’s pithiest wisdom about her chosen art, acquired over a lifetime as an acclaimed writer and teacher of writing.

At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering "the cause of generation and life" and "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter", Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts. However, upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness.

Beauty expert and influencer Jia Ahmed has her eye on the prize: conquering the internet today, the entire makeup industry tomorrow, and finally, finally proving herself to her big, opinionated family. She has little time for love, and even less time for the men in her private messages — until the day a certain international superstar slides into her DMs, and she falls hard and fast.

In the aftermath of the brutal attack on his family compound, Alex Fletcher embraces his rapidly expanding role within the New England Regional Recovery Zone (RRZ). Fueled by a limitless drive to protect his family and a rekindled sense of duty, he enlists the reluctant aid of a local militia commander - to ease the public's fears of a federal government takeover.

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?

Things are getting serious at the Society for Magickal Heritage. An ancient legend has plans for Ves, and Ves has plans for just about everything else. It’s time to take on the ultimate challenge—and hope for the best. What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything. As usual. But if old magick is going to survive in the modern world, it’s no use being cautious. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and Ves is giving it everything she’s got. But can she handle the cost? And can the cost handle her?

After Maria Mast's abusive ex-boyfriend is arrested for being involved in sex trafficking and modern-day slavery, she thinks she and her son, Carter, can safely return to her Amish community. But the danger has only just begun. Someone begins stalking her, and they want blood and revenge.

Sensitive, aspiring photographer Nick Fairfax wants nothing to do with his family's corporate business, or their vicious, cold-blooded lifestyle. Intending to give up his inheritance and pursue his art, he arrives at his father's office, only to find that Fairfax Industries has fallen to a scarred man in a hooded cloak. The man is the reclusive billionaire Lord Bane Dunsaney, and he is bent on destroying the Fairfaxes. But when he sees Nick, *everything* changes.

How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines. In 64 BC when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign.

Best-selling urban fantasy and paranormal suspense author M.D. Massey welcomes listeners back to the world of the Junkyard Druid for his third short story collection. Blood Bound includes "Voodoo Ball", "Prince Mark's Price", and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do".

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.