Books published by Open Road Media

Nine tales of imagination and wonder from one of the formative voices of science fiction and fantasy, the author of Way Station and City.   Named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Clifford D. Simak was a preeminent voice during the decades that established sci-fi as a genre to be reckoned with. Held in the same esteem as fellow luminaries Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury, his novels continue to enthrall today’s readers. And his short fiction is still as gripping and surprising now as when it first entertained an entire generation of fans.   The title story is just one example of this. Cheviot Sherwood doesn’t believe in miracles. They never seem to pay off. So when he’s marooned on a planet with no plan for escape and no working radio, he takes it in stride and prepares for a long stay gathering food, making shelter, and collecting all the diamonds the world has to offer. But when a ship like none he’s ever encountered lands, he sees his salvation—and an opportunity to take the priceless craft for himself. Unfortunately, his “rescuer” has the same idea . . .   This volume also includes the celebrated short works “Eternity Lost,” “Shotgun Cure,” and “Paradise,” among others.  Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this ebook.

“The greatest thriller writer alive today” puts rogue agent Blaine McCracken in the sights of a space-borne superweapon in this Cold War nail-biter (Bookviews).In the last years of the Cold War, policy and trust for the Russians have led to disarmament treaties and hope for a new beginning. But peace is not yet within grasp. An entire American town has been wiped off the map: not by nuclear strike, but rather a space-borne particle cannon capable of reducing the entire nation to dust in hours. But who pulled the trigger? Was it the Russians, making a final bid for world domination? Or was it a third power—some aspiring conqueror hoping to pit the superpowers against each other? It’s up to Blaine McCracken to find out. An old flame has contacted the rogue op, begging for help protecting her father, a jeweler who has just been robbed of five rare stones—five rubies that could mean life or death for the United States.

New York Times Bestseller: The ';astonishing' true story of the notorious ';black widow' who preyed on her husband and daughter and faked her own death (The Washington Post Book World). Pretty, smart, and pampered, Audrey Marie Hilley grew up in a small Alabama town believing she was entitled to the best of everything. But marriage to her high school sweetheart, a cushy secretarial job, and motherhood were not enough to satisfy Marie, and she soon began to act out in troubling ways. Only when her husband, Frank, became sick with a mysterious illness, did it seem that she was ready to put someone else's needs ahead of her own. The truth was far more disturbing. Four years after Frank died, Marie's daughter, Carol, began to experience debilitating stomach pains. The young woman was near death when the horrifying reality finally emerged: Marie had poisoned her husband with arsenic and was attempting to do the same to her daughter. It was the first in a series of shocking twists that exposed Marie Hilley as a cold-blooded chameleon capable of the most sinister of crimes. From Alabama to Florida to New Hampshire, her trail of death and deceit included multiple identities, a second marriage, a false kidnapping, a fake death, several dramatic escapes, and a final act of desperation that brought the whole sordid saga to an astonishing end. A mesmerizing portrait of an American murderess with ';a genius for deception,' Poisoned Blood is ';one of the most riveting true-crime stories in memory' (Publishers Weekly).

Based on the Sherlock Holmes film: Ellery Queen matches wits with the Baker Street sleuth to unmask Jack the Ripper.Ellery Queen is struggling over his latest book when a friend brings him a mystery. It is a journal, written by a Victorian doctor, of reports on the remarkable adventures of his close friend, a brilliant detective named Sherlock Holmes. Queen''s surprise turns to amazement as he turns its pages and discovers the lost story of Sherlock Holmes''s greatest case: the pursuit of Jack the Ripper. From the brothels and back alleys of fog-choked Whitechapel to the manor of one of England''s greatest families, Holmes and Dr. Watson chase history''s most fearsome killer. But it will take the brilliance of Ellery Queen to solve the case once and for all.Based on the Sherlock Holmes film A Study in Terror, this collaboration between two of the world''s greatest detectives is one of the most original mystery novels of all time.

Death Valley lives up to its name when a murder draws Ellery Queen into the strange practices of a religious cult.It''s 1943, the war is raging, and sleuthing scribe Ellery Queen wants to do his bit. After a tortuous cross-country drive, he takes a job writing scripts for a Hollywood propaganda house-twelve hours a day of hack work that quickly turns his mind to jelly. After a few weeks, he is so worn down that he can type nothing but gibberish, and he decides to drive home. The trouble starts as soon as he reaches the desert.His ancient roadster breaks down on the edge of Death Valley. Wandering in search of help, he is saved by a man known as the Teacher, who takes him to an oasis called Quenan. Here, Queen finds a bizarre, reclusive cult that seems to have come straight out of the ancient past. A murder has been committed in the desert, and the Quenanites plan on delivering some Old Testament justice. Queen is just the detective they''ve been waiting for.

The famous sleuth comes out of retirement to help his father hunt down a New York City serial killer: "Marvelous . . . one of his best" (Classic Mysteries).In the dog days of August, it is no surprise to see New Yorkers perspire. But this summer, a killer called the Cat gives the city a new reason to sweat. He selects his victims seemingly at random and strangles them, then escapes without leaving a clue. As the death toll climbs, and the press whips the public into horrified frenzy, Gotham teeters on the edge of anarchy.Ellery Queen, the brilliant amateur sleuth, has gone into retirement when the Cat begins to kill. As his father, a seasoned homicide detective, leads the investigation into the murder, Ellery tries to avoid getting involved. But as the body count rises, he can no longer resist the urge to hunt. The Queens are known for their curiosity-and everyone knows how curiosity can affect a cat.

After traveling the country and listening to women's most common health problems, Dr. Marianne Legato, one of the nation's leading advocates for women's health, answers these common questions and more in What Women Need to Know. This revolutionary book teaches women how to ask their doctors the right questions and leave the office satisfied. Dr. Legato is also the author of The Female Heart, a book that dispels myths that heart disease is only a male problem. Her coauthor on both books is Carol Colman Gerber, one of the country's leading medical writers.

Inspector Charlesworth investigates a strange murder in a dress shopThe sales room at Christophe et Cie is staffed by five young women. Each is beautiful in her own way--and each could be a murderer. One morning, two of the women purchase some oxalic acid to clean a stain off a Panama hat. No one knows how the poison gets into Miss Doon's system, but it doesn't take long to kill her. When Inspector Charlesworth steps into the little shop, he finds a dozen motives and no clear solution. Everyone in the shop was jealous of Miss Doon, for as the owner's girlfriend she was the favorite to head up the store's new Riviera branch. Romantic feelings for his chief suspect sidetrack Charlesworth, and it takes a second murder to put him back on the trail of the killer.

Inspector Cockrill's dull vacation is jolted by a Mediterranean murderFrom the moment he steps on the plane, Inspector Cockrill loathes his fellow travelers. They are typical tour group bores: the dullards of England whom he had hoped to escape by going to Italy. He gives up on the trip immediately, burying his nose in a mystery novel to ensure that no one tries to become his friend. But not long after the group makes landfall at the craggy isle of San Juan el Pirata, a murder demands his attention. The body of a woman is found laid out carefully on her bed, blood pooled around her and fingers wrapped around the dagger that took her life. The corrupt local police force, impatient to find a killer, names Cockrill chief suspect. To escape the Italian hangman, the detective must find out who would go on vacation to kill a stranger.

The New York Timesbestselling authors of Miracle at Midway delve into the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII in ';a superb work of history' (Albuquerque Journal Magazine). In the predawn hours of December 7, 1941, a Japanese carrier group sailed toward Hawaii. A few minutes before 8:00 a.m., they received the order to rain death on the American base at Pearl Harbor, sinking dozens of ships, destroying hundreds of airplanes, and taking the lives of over two thousand servicemen. The carnage lasted only two hours, but more than seventy years later, terrible questions remain unanswered. How did the Japanese slip past the American radar? Why were the Hawaiian defense forces so woefully underprepared? What, if anything, did American intelligence know before the first Japanese pilot shouted ';Tora! Tora! Tora!'? In this incomparable volume, Pearl Harbor experts Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon tackle dozens of thorny issues in an attempt to determine who was at fault for one of the most shocking military disasters in history.

Private investigator Jake Cardigan and his partner, Sid Gomez, must race to save a woman trapped in the deadly crossfire of a violent war between rival TekLords William ';Captain Kirk' Shatner of Star Trek fame returns with his ninth action-packed TekWar adventure, certain to thrill his devoted legions of science fiction readers. In the year 2122 an addictive new form of the fantasy-enabling electronic drug Tek is about to hit the market. This version, delivered to users over computer networks, would eliminate the need for Tek chips, thereby putting the old-school TekLords out of business. Jill Bernardino, the ex-wife of Sid Gomez, loyal partner of private eye Jake Cardigan, has been looking into this new development closelya little too closelyand now finds herself in serious, possibly inescapable peril. Caught in the middle of a vicious international drug war, Jill is taken prisoner, and only Cardigan and Gomez can rescue her. But their efforts will put them directly in the crosshairs of warring squads of Tek-trade killers in a bloody cartel war.This ebook features an illustrated biography of William Shatner including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.

A headstrong young prince, enslaved far from home, must rescue his imperiled kingdom and those he loves from an ancient dark sorcery in Nancy Springer's magnificent third entry in the Book of Isle The life of young Prince Trevyn of Isle changes forever on the day a mysterious boy named Gwern is welcomed without question into the family's castle. Stubborn and resentful of the unwanted intrusion, the errant teenage prince abandons his home and soon finds himself both in love and in jeopardy. Enraptured by the village girl Meg, he incurs the wrath of Wael, a powerful warlock, by saving the lady of his heart and her people from certain destruction. But young Trevyn's trials have only just begun. Lured across the seas by his vengeful foe, he is captured and enslaved, and must somehow find his way to freedom. For the unprotected Isle is now at Wael's mercy, and love will surely die if the boy-prince cannot return to the realm as its champion. A classic epic fantasy in the grand tradition of J. R. R. Tolkien, set in an ancient island sanctuary of gods and ghosts and magic, Nancy Springer's captivating Book of Isle saga is brimming with adventure, romance, evil, mythic quests, legendary history, and ingeniously imagined locales.

Sixteenth century Italy produced a genius who marked the world with his studies and hypotheses about mathematical, physical and astronomical truths. His father, musician Vincenzio Galilei said, ';Truth is not found behind a man's reputation. Truth appears only when the answers to questions are searched out by a free mind. This is not the easy path in life but it is the most rewarding.' Galileo challenged divine law and the physics of Aristotle, and questioned everything in search of truths. And it was through this quest for truth that he was able to establish a structure for modern science.

"According to Max Bittersohn, he and Sarah Kelling have witnessed enough murder and unhappiness, so it's high time they got married. And though Sarah hasn't yet agreed to such drastic measures, she invites Max to summer with her at Ireson's Landing. But they haven't been in the house ten minutes when they stumble upon summer's first mystery--a mint-condition, antique Spanish mirror that is tremendously rare and valuable. Sarah has never seen it before and she doesn't know how it ended up in the summerhouse, but the sleuthing couple will soon find this looking glass to be more troublesome than anything Lewis Carroll ever invented. As the zany Kelling clan descends on Ireson's Landing, Sarah and her beau try to uncover the mystery of the Bilbao looking glass--a quest that is disrupted when a vicious next-door neighbor is found hacked to death with a woodshed ax. By summer's end, Sarah and Max will learn that some murders can be solved simply by looking in the mirror."--Provided by publisher.

"Murder upstages a Kelling family theatrical production-and Boston's art sleuths are on the case. "The screwball mystery is Charlotte MacLeod's cup of tea" (Chicago Tribune). Producing a Gilbert & Sullivan opera requires a special kind of madness, and the Kelling family is large enough and peculiar enough to undertake an entire company by themselves. For years now, Sarah Kelling's Aunt Emma has supervised these annual productions-from The Pirates of Penzance to The Mikado-and this year she has invited her cast of relatives to rehearse The Sorcerer in her stately mansion. The show is nearly ready when a team of burglars drugs the cast and crew to make off with a priceless portrait. Theft or no theft, Aunt Emma insists the show must go on. Even when one of the cast dies suddenly, she finds a replacement and continues rehearsal. But when Sarah begins to suspect the actor was murdered, it becomes clear that dear Aunt Emma may be in danger of taking her final bow."--Provided by publisher.

"The angry old men of the Comrades of the Convivial Codfish club celebrate yuletide doing what they do best: eating, drinking, and greeting the season of giving with a spirited "bah, humbug!" Though well past sixty, Jem Kelling is a relative infant compared to some of the club's elder statesmen, and he has waited decades to host their annual Christmas scowl. And during his first evening as Exalted Chowderhead, he is thrilled to find the wine abundant, the chowder superb, and the humbugs as lusty as ever. But as the night winds down, Jem is horrified to find that the ceremonial Codfish necklace has vanished--right off of his neck! His nephew-in-law, art investigator Max Bittersohn, is convinced his new uncle was the victim of a practical joke. But when the old man takes a hip-snapping tumble, Max is forced to conclude that one of the scrooges is trying to perpetrate a deadly Christmas jeer."--

"Sarah Kelling and her husband, Max Bittersohn, have made names for themselves tracking down stolen paintings, sculptures, and, when necessary, the occasional murderer. But this is the first time they have been asked to find a missing Rolls Royce. When Bill Billingsgate's prize 1927 New Phantom disappears, they head for his estate on the Massachusetts coast, arriving--to their horror--just in time for Billingsgate's annual Renaissance fair. Donning period dress, they grab pints of mead and start searching the crowd for the thief. Instead they find a corpse. When the local police bungle the investigation, Max and Sarah take it upon themselves to find the killer. In the course of their search, they confront a car thief, corruption at a radio station, and a horde of murderous bees. If this is the Renaissance, Max and Sarah can't wait to return to the present."--Provided by publisher.

At Balaclava Agricultural College, a kidnapping and pig-napping are followed by murder Newlyweds Peter and Helen Shandy are picking out flatware when a pair of gun-toting hooligans bursts into the silversmith's shop, emptying the safe and leaving with Helen as their hostage. Although the police recover Helen quickly, her professor husband is badly shaken by the ordeal. Early the next morning, the college's head of animal husbandry frantically reports another hostage situation in progress. Belinda, the school's beloved sow, has been kidnapped, and only Peter can bring home the bacon. There's a possible witness to the pig-napping in Miss Flackley, the farrier, but before she can point Peter toward the vanished porker, she's found dead in the barn's mash feeder. By the time Peter discovers the link between the two heists, pigs may really fly.

"Though the inheritance from her dearly departed Alexander was meant to set Sarah Kelling up for life, it vanishes quickly in the face of hounding from charitable organizations and the IRS. Facing the loss of her stately Back Bay brownstone, Sarah opens her home to lodgers--deciding she prefers a boardinghouse to the poorhouse. Soon she's cooking meals and serving tea for a cast of quirky residents, a cozy little family that would be quite happy were it not for the unpleasant presence of a certain Barnwell Augustus Quiffen--a man so rude that no one really minds when he's squashed beneath a subway car. Sarah replaces her lost boarder quickly, and the family dynamic is restored. But when another lodger dies suddenly, the boardinghouse appears to be cursed. Now it'll take more than a glass of sherry to soothe Sarah's panicked residents, and she must turn to detective Max Bittersohn for help before her boarders bolt."--

"A professor ponders the possibility of an ancient Viking curse while investigating a death by quicklime. When 105-year-old Hilda Horsefall tells young reporter Cronkite Swope of a stone carved with Norse runes that once sat in the nearby woods, the writer starts salivating at the thought of breaking the news that Vikings once marauded through their sleepy Massachusetts countryside. But while he's jotting down notes, a scream rings out, and Cronkite finds an even bigger story. A farmhand has been burned to death by quicklime, and Cronkite gets an exclusive scoop. In this neck of New England, strange deaths are invariably referred to Prof. Peter Shandy, the only local with the know-how to connect fearsome quicklime to the Vikings of old. But as he digs into the ancient mystery, the professor finds the forgotten Norse gods aren't above demanding a modern sacrifice."--Back cover.

"An unpleasant man in every respect, university professor Herbert Ungley is exceedingly vain. One morning, his landlady catches her cat coming in with Ungley's hairpiece between its teeth. It's clear something has happened to the old grouch, because he would never be caught without his toupee. Ungley is found in the yard behind his social club, with his head bashed in and his baldness plain for the world to see. Although the police are content to call it an accident, sleuthing horticulturalist Peter Shandy is unconvinced, and finds there are too many unanswered questions: How did Ungley come to have such a bulging bank account? Who was Ungley's long-lost heir, and what did he have to do with the professor's lost hair? And whose is the second body in the woods? Shandy must answer these questions and more if he's to discover who pulled the rug out from the balding corpse."--Provided by publisher.

"It's only been a few months since Sarah Kelling's elderly husband passed away, and she's struggling to adapt to life as a penniless young widow. To make ends meet, she converts her stately Boston home into a boardinghouse, a decision that brings something even better than money: the company of art-fraud investigator Max Bittersohn. The budding couple is standing on a balcony, recovering from a second-rate concert at a third-rate museum, when something plummets past them. The museum has been robbed, and a guard has fallen to his death. Dozens of priceless paintings have been stolen and replaced with forgeries, and recovering these masterworks will mean tearing the lid off the quiet life of the Boston upper crust. But it's a chance Sarah and Max must take, lest they join the guard on his long trip down."--Amazon.com