In the land of Eileanan, the Pact of Peace has not meant the end of unrest. Isault and Lachlan must continue to deal with their military position in Tirsoilleir—where a spy has compromised their tactical secrets, leaving them at a tremendous loss. Isabeau the witch longs to rejoin her sister and her home in these uncertain times, but she must first complete one last task for her teachers. To find her true purpose in life, she must reach the Skull of the World and listen to the silent words of the White Gods. Few survive. But those who do are changed forever. Now, when she does return home, she does so with an extraordinary gift. But when Margrit of Arran decides to take advantage of Lachlan’s absence by kidnapping his son and heir to the throne, Isabeau must learn to use her gifts in the face of evil—and overcome her enemy once and for all.

"A haunting voyage through the peculiar--and peculiarly American--world of human skull collecting. Ann Fabian's remarkable and moving study illuminates as few other works have the powerful hold that the dead and their remains continue to have upon the living". Karl Jacoby, author of Shadows at Dawn: A Borderlands Massacre and the Violence of History.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Carlyle Alexander, a forensic artist suffering from psychosis, falls in love with the image of a young woman who was a victim to a serial killer. Through reconstructing the visage on a skull that was recovered, Carlyle falls in love with the victim who he believes he shares a unique and supernatural bond. Carlyle vows to avenge his beloved by pursuing the perpetrator and bestowing ‘justice’ when the Florida Justice System of Zephyrhills fails to make their case against him. As one maniac pursues another the question of what happens when two separate psychoses collide, each believing that the other is the villain in their own delusion. With both believing that they were called to kill for a higher purpose, they relentlessly hunt one another to try and complete the mission their delirium had set forth. As Carlyle’s mental state deteriorates, the former artist battles his own manic episodes and insurmountable personal demons, leading the reader to both empathize yet detest his decisions. While the serial killer continues to prey upon women in the area, Carlyle befriends many young women connected to the case who will inevitably be twisted into his ‘accomplices,’ who aid him in his tireless pursuit to avenge his beloved with the ultimate goal of returning her to life, demonstrating the extent to which his mental state had depreciated. The story delves into topics such as feminism, matriarchal religions, aesthetics, drug use, cults, necrophilia, and untreated mental illness. The Skull, the first book in the trilogy, seemingly concludes with the serial killer being slain and Carlyle apparently having committed suicide. The format of the book is a letter by Carlyle which acts as his manifesto, diary, confession, and ultimately his suicide letter addressed to the major detective on the case of the serial killer who becomes increasingly more suspicious of Carlyle, even believing that he is the serial killer himself.

Invited to protect an actress within the rose red walls of a fairy-tale castle, Detective Cordelia Gray finds the stage is set for death. Actress Clarissa Lisle has always been famous for her ravishing beauty—and her unscrupulous manipulations. Now on the death-shrouded island of Courcy, her schemes win her a starring role in a nightmare in which she can trust no one—not her deceived husband; her dangerously insecure stepson; her ominously genial host; her dependent, desperate cousin; or her cruelly amusing ex-lover. Soon Detective Cordelia gray finds that nothing is as it seems on Courcy—especially after the curtain goes down. Here she must delve into ancient secrets and guilt-stained pasts—and risk her life to stop a brilliantly cunning murderer who has set the stage for her death.

Vienna, 1923. Lev Dragina, an ex-Bolshevik, is hired by criminal kingpin, Max Strauss, to rescue his god-daughter from rivals in the Viennese slums. Continually tortured by recollections of the Great War, Dragina searches for a sense of belonging while desperately looking for Strauss' god-daughter. The adventure that ensues, however, leads him into a maze of byzantine intrigues that involve a war for dominance in the Viennese underworld, the occult mysticism of the city's forlorn neighborhoods and a Vatican quest to uncover the INRI inscription, the sacred plaque hung over the head of Jesus during the crucifixion. There is more to the abduction than the simple kidnapping of a gangster's goddaughter and the keys that unlock the mystery behind her disappearance also mean salvation for Lev Dragina and his tormented soul.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Fermat?s Last Theorem, ?an extraordinary story?( Philadelphia Inquirer) of discovery, evolution, science, and faith. In 1929, French Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a part of a group of scientists that uncovered a skull that became known as Peking Man, a key evolutionary link that left Teilhard torn between science and his ancient faith, and would leave him ostracized by his beloved Catholic Church. His struggle is at the heart of The Jesuit and the Skull, which takes readers across continents and cultures in a fascinating exploration of one of the twentieth century?s most important discoveries, and one of the world?s most provocative pieces of evidence in the roiling debate between creationism and evolution.

In The Skull Beneath the Skin: Africa After the Cold War award-winning journalist Mark Huband argues that foreign involvement in Africa has been the single most destructive element in the continent's history. He argues that the catastrophes that have erupted since the end of the Cold War are a legacy of that long foreign involvement, and that stab

*The Thirteenth Doctor meets the illustrious artist Frida Kahlo in the first of three brand-new novellas starring inspiring characters from history.* Some art can be deadly . . . Young Frida Kahlo is angry. Injured in a terrible accident, she lives with constant pain and worries that her dreams are unreachable. But when the TARDIS lands in Mexico City – drawn by a strange disturbance in its energy fields – Frida’s life is turned upside down. Aliens have arrived, taking over the bodies of children and killing anyone who gets in their way. With the fate of the Earth at stake, the Doctor and Frida must find a way to understand their alien invaders, and each other.