"Fished from the river as an infant and raised by a roving band of street urchins who call themselves the Crowns, eight-year-old Duck keeps her head down and her mouth shut. It's a rollicking life, always thieving, always on the run -- until the ragtag Crowns infiltrate an abandoned cathedral in the city of Odierne and decide to set down roots. It's all part of the bold new plan hatched by the Crowns' fearless leader, Gnat: one of their very own will...

"The Herons are home in Skandia, but the usually peaceful country is in danger. The Temujai--ruthless warriors from the Eastern Steppes--have never given up on their ambition to claim Skandia for their own...and now they're on the move. Hal and his crew will have to brave the treacherous icy river and rapids to stop them, no matter the cost"--

It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance, and Venice teems with rumors about an ancient book of unimaginable power. An alchemist's dream, it contains recipes for gold, immortality, and undying love. Those who seek it will stop at nothing to get it; those who have it will die to protect it. As the storm of intrigue circles the republic, a penniless orphan is picked up by an illustrious chef and hired as an apprentice in the palace kitchen. With a precocious...

"Arthur Bishop ... is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets-- and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry ... is murdered, Bishop is intent on exacting revenge. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve ... approaches him with the same vengeful goal. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems...

Mara wakes in a field of dead grass, a heavy mist pressing down on her. She is terrified, afraid that she is dead. There is a boy in that mist, a beautiful young man dressed in black and able to move effortlessly through space and time. He is the Messenger of Fear. The Messenger sees the darkness in human hearts. He sees the evils done: the destructive lies, the cruelty, the bullying, the violence. And if the world does not bring justice to those...