William Olivier Desmond Books

A thriller about a malevolent force in a small New England town that takes the shape of a clown, terrifying youngsters with their innermost fears and bringing them to untimely doom.

Darkness has fallen on the city of Portland, Oregon. One by one, the wives of affluent and respected men are vanishing from their homes. The only clues to their disappearance are a single black rose and a note that reads, "Gone, But Not Forgotten." It is the rebirth of a horror that has already devastated a community at the opposite end of the country—and, as it did then, terror and death will follow. Defense attorney Betsy Tannenbaum is trapped in a nightmare as the shadows of a killer darken her world. And she will soon be risking everything she has and everyone she loves to defend a cold, powerful, and manipulating client who may be a victim . . . or a monster.

With a demonic blend of malice and affection, Stephen King says farewell to Castle Rock, Maine, the town he put on the map. By the author of CARRIE, THE SHINING, NIGHT SHIFT, THE STAND, PET SEMATARY, MISERY, IT, THE DARK HALF and FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT.

Stephen King, a master of storytelling with over fifty books and numerous bestsellers, presents a remarkable collection of short stories, his first in six years. As guest editor of Best American Short Stories 2007, King immersed himself in hundreds of tales, reigniting his passion for the genre. The stories featured have appeared in prestigious publications like The New Yorker and Esquire. King's unique imagination transforms everyday scenarios into extraordinary narratives, such as a Port-O-San becoming a slimy birth canal or a roadside honky-tonk serving as a backdrop for endless love. In one tale, a book salesman unknowingly picks up a mute hitchhiker who listens too well, while another story follows a stationary bike rider on a captivating yet terrifying journey. "The Gingerbread Girl" showcases a vulnerable yet resourceful young woman, reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana," a blind girl performs a miracle with a kiss. King blurs the lines between the living and the dead, as seen in "N.," where a psychiatric patient's irrational thoughts may either threaten or save the world. This collection captures the eerie essence of dusk, where reality wavers and imagination reaches into the shadows, making it an ideal showcase for King's talents.

When one of his wife's Paola's students comes to visit him, with a strange and vague interest in investigating the possibility of a pardon for a crime committed by her grandfather many years ago, Commissario Brunetti thinks little of it, beyond being intrigued and attracted by the girl's intelligence and moral seriousness. But when the girl is found dead, clearly stabbed to death, Claudia Leonardo suddenly becomes Brunetti's case, no longer Paola's student. Claudia seems to have no discernible living family - her only familial relationship is with an elderly Austrian woman, who was the lover of her grandfather, but was not herself Claudia's grandmother. Brunetti is both intrigued and stunned by the extraordinary art collection the old woman keeps in her small, unprepossessing flat, and when she in turn is found dead, the case seems to have be about to open up long buried secrets of collaboration and the exploitation of Italian Jews during the war, secrets few in Italy are happy to explore...

TWISTED is the second Petra Connor novel and a superb example of Jonathan Kellerman's mastery of the psychological thriller Detective Petra Connor is struggling with a baffling drive-past murder when Isaac Gomez, a young research prodigy, tells her he's found something she might want to see. His theory that there's a connection between six unsolved murders committed in the LAPD area over the past six years, all at around midnight on June 28, seems fanciful at first - but soon the links become clearer. Something evil has managed to conceal itself between the dry pages of the files: a series of killings so meticulously constructed that the mind behind them would have remained invisible without Isaac's sharp probing. And June 28 is just a month away - will Petra be able to stop the murderer from striking again?

No. 1 bestselling author Stephen King's unforgettable novella - first included in his 1990, award-winning collection Four Past Midnight and made into a highly acclaimed miniseries - about a terrifying plane ride into a most unfriendly sky is now available as a stand-alone publication. The flight attendants were gone; almost all the passengers were gone; Brian Engle was willing to bet the 767's two-man cockpit crew was also gone. He believed Flight 29 was heading east on automatic pilot. On a red-eye flight from L. A. to Boston, ten passengers wake up to discover everyone else has disappeared. Brian Engle, a trained pilot, remembers something about a strange aurora borealis and turbulence reports over the desert. Now he has to try to land the plane. But the safe haven of Bangor airport is not what it seems. It's eerily empty. The clocks have stopped. The food and drink is tasteless. The fuel doesn't burn. And the sound, like 'radio static', is getting closer. Craig Toomy, an investment banker, believes he knows what's coming. The Langoliers. Which means time is, quite literally, running out . . . A spine-tingling, propulsive novella, The Langoliers is a brilliant read from the masterful Stephen King.

One rainy morning Commissario Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello respond to a 911 call reporting a body floating near some steps on the Grand Canal. Reaching down to pull it out, Brunetti's wrist is caught by the silkiness of golden hair, and he sees a small foot - together he and Vianello lift a dead girl from the water. But, inconceivably, no one has reported a missing child, nor the theft of the gold jewellery that she carries. Brunetti is drawn into a search not only for the cause of her death but also for her identity, her family, and for the secrets that people will keep in order to protect their children - be they innocent or guilty. From the canals and palazzos of Venice to a Gypsy encampment on the mainland, Brunetti struggles with institutional prejudice and entrenched criminality to try to unravel the fate of the dead child.

In Derry, Maine, four young boys once stood together and did a brave thing. Something that changed them in ways they hardly understand. A quarter of a century later, the boys are men who have gone their separate ways. Though they still get together once a year, to go hunting in the north woods of Maine. But this time is different. This time a man comes stumbling into their camp, lost, disoriented and muttering about lights in the sky. Before long, these old friends will be plunged into the most remarkable events of their lives as they struggle with a terrible creature from another world. Their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past - and in the Dreamcatcher.

Roused by a single drop of blood, Rosie Daniels wakes up to the chilling realization that her husband is going to kill her. And she takes flight. She begins to build a new life, but her husband is getting closer.