The first in the Maggie Newberry mystery series, Little Death by the Sea, takes Atlanta Copywriter Maggie Newberry to the south of France and Paris in her search for her sister and her niece's killer. Along the way, she meets Laurent--a sexy Frenchman who is not at all what he appears. Is he helping her in her quest? Or is he the reason for it?

The stories in this collection draw variously on the themes of love and loss, Taoist metaphors, socio-political concerns, and the writer's place and role in the world. Literary and complex yet accessible and fast-paced, each story differs widely in style, motivation, philosophy, and denouement from all the others. The collection encompasses topographies and places from China to France, and Ireland to India.

"A stunning novel and a joy to read" Helen Hollick, Managing Editor - Historical Novel Society (Editor's Choice)"Smith writes fluidly, and the society he depicts is intriguingly complex." - Kirkus ReviewsThe first recorded Europeans to cross the Mississippi River reached the western shore on June 18, 1541. Hernando De Soto and his army of three hundred and fifty conquistadors spent the next year and a half conquering the nations in the fertile flood plains of eastern Arkansas.Three surviving sixteenth-century journals written during the expedition detailed a complex array of twelve different nations. Each had separate beliefs, languages, and interconnected villages with capital towns comparable in size to European cities of the time. Through these densely populated sites, the Spanish carried a host of deadly old-world diseases, a powerful new religion, and war.No other Europeans ventured into this land until French explorers arrived one hundred and thirty years later. They found...

One couple, two coasts--it may be unconventional, but Riley and Asher make it work. Riley's fierce New York career and Asher's lucrative Phoenix sports agency are the perfect balance to their sexy, satisfying marriage. Which is what makes Asher's sudden ultimatum to Riley--leave New York or leave him--so shocking. And Riley has an even bigger surprise in store, forcing her to decide where her heart and future really lie....Brokering million-dollar deals is easy for Asher; living apart from his wife isn't. But can Asher walk away from everything he's worked for? Or will ambition and drive--the things they love most about each other--tear Riley and Asher apart?Perhaps changing priorities will make this couple fly even higher....

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel, Knots & Crosses, was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into over thirty languages and are bestsellers worldwide. Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2005. In 2004, Ian won America’s celebrated Edgar award for Resurrection Men. He has also been shortlisted for the Anthony Awards in the USA, and won Denmark’s Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay St Andrews, Edinburgh, Hull and the Open University A contributor to BBC2’s Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin’s Evil Thoughts. He has received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh. He has also recently been appointed to the rank of Deputy Lieutenant of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons. Visit his website at www.ianrankin.net .

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Clancy is back and the stakes have never been higher.Jack Ryan has only just moved back into the Oval Office when he is faced with a new international threat. An aborted coup in the People's Republic of China has left President Wei Zhen Lin with no choice but to agree with the expansionist policies of General Su Ke Qiang. They have declared the South China Sea a protectorate and are planning an invasion of Taiwan.The Ryan administration is determined to thwart China’s ambitions, but the stakes are dangerously high as a new breed of powerful Chinese anti-ship missile endangers the US Navy's plans to protect the island. Meanwhile, Chinese cyberwarfare experts have launched a devastating attack on American infrastructure. It's a new combat arena, but it’s every bit as deadly as any that has gone before.Jack Ryan, Jr. and his colleagues at the Campus may be just the wild card that his father needs to stack the deck. There's just one problem: someone knows about the off-the-books intelligence agency and threatens to blow their cover sky high.Review"Each plotline comes to us mainly in a series of tightly written action scenes...as visual as anything on a movie screen, with the added enticement of crisp, accurate and hard driving prose." *--Chicago Tribune"Hard to put down." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*About the AuthorTom Clancy is the world's favorite international thriller author. Starting with The Hunt For Red October, all of Mr. Clancy's books have hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Mr. Clancy lives in Maryland and owns an interest in the Baltimore Orioles.Mark Greaney is the national bestselling author of The Gray Man series of books, the most recent of which is Ballistic. Mr. Greaney lives in Memphis, Tennessee.