Showing results by author "John Lees" in Genre Fiction

John has been training the mythical mathematical creatures known as actuaries for nearly 20 years. Join John as he tries to help recalcitrant student actuaries pass their professional exams armed with nothing but a copy of the actuarial tables and a sense of humor. Experience his Basil Fawlty-like antics as he strives to maximize the likelihood of socially awkward actuaries being able to survive in the “normal” world.

For centuries, legends have told of the Kraken - nightmarish, tentacled beasts, attacking ships, and devouring sailors. Now, they have arrived off the shores of Beach City. Researcher Travis Prescott has been hunting these elusive beasts for years. For reporter Ashley Wells, it is the story of a lifetime. For Professor Clyde Spencer, it is the culmination of a lifetime's search. And for the wealthy and connected Colin Mason, it is a new and deadly obsession. But for Beach City, it is the beginning of a nightmare. Sometimes legends are real.

Cheerful in the face of dark opposition. Innovative to improve a backward world. Industrial as a cure for oppressive conditions. Unyielding beneath all who seek to bind and control them. Faithful until they conquer the fear of death and rise to great acts of heroism and service. Mormons and steampunks are two faces of the same coin. Twelve authors spin tales of true believers facing impossible odds, risking this life in the hope of gaining something better after.

Carson Sheridan has dedicated her life to shark conservation, but can't deny the horrific series of attacks that point unerringly to a massive Great White–all off the same beach–all at the same time of year. Great Whites in California are in historically large numbers and record sizes. But the waters off Surf Shore are particularly deadly, and Carson is about to discover why.

High in the ridges of Appalachia, Emily Child carries a secret that could kill her. Pregnant, but not in the way she dreamed of, her body has turned against her, and time is running out. While her husband searches in desperation, Emily follows an older trail: the half-forgotten path to the Isabella, the midwife who raised her, a woman whispered about in both reverence and fear. Guided by memory, folklore, and the voices of the hills themselves, Emily must navigate not only the dangers of her own failing body but also the haunting pull of a world where the line between healing and myth blurs.

Twenty miles off the coast of San Francisco, this small chain of islands hosts a yearly migration of seals... and during this time of year, the sharks are here too – the biggest, hungriest Great Whites in the world. Attempting to swim off these shores is attempted suicide. Colin Mason – wealthy, connected – with one leg bitten off by a white shark in these very same waters – now hosts his own yearly event – a marathon swim through the Great White-infested Farallons.