The discovery of an ancient holy relic in an English country church ignites the ultimate battle of good and evil in this deeply thoughtful metaphysical thriller An unidentified body lies lifeless in the offices of a British publishing house. Soon after it is discovered, an urgent request from an author arrives by post, pleading for the deletion of an important paragraph from an upcoming publication. These unlikely incidents mark the beginning of a secret war waged in the English countryside but threatening to engulf all of humankind. On the side of the godly, an archdeacon, an eccentric duke, a book editor, and a young boy must confront the dark magic of relentless satanic forces—for behind the facade of a common pharmacy, sinister plans are being laid for the negation of everything. The most horrible of conspiracies, its success hangs on the acquisition of an object of enormous supernatural power recently discovered in a small parish church: the Holy...

It's election season in Blossom County, and that means it's time for moonshineEducated at the racetrack, Billy has never had a firm grip on his ABCs, but he sure knows how to read a racing form. When a family court judge threatens to put the seven-year-old in a foster home, Billy and his father go to live in the countryside, at the wholesome little farm owned by Billy's Uncle Sagamore, where the air is pure, the grass is green, and the liquor from his hidden distillery is clear as water—and about 120 proof. But pressure from the law has kept Sagamore's still silent, and the stash of white lightning is starting to dwindle. To get his home-brewing operation back underway, Sagamore needs a distraction—and there's none better than local politics. When Uncle Sagamore throws his weight into the Blossom County elections, democracy will never be the same.

A sailor stranded in the Pacific Ocean finds there are a million ways to dieHis life in pieces, Harry Goddard buys a thirty-two-foot sloop and sets out to sail the Pacific. He is a thousand miles from anywhere when his craft strikes an unseen object, and begins taking water. For all his desperate efforts, he cannot save her, and Harry is forced into his life raft, to drift without food, water, or shelter from the sun. He is near death when the Leander rescues him. But by the time his trip is over, he'll wish he'd taken his chances in the open water.A tramp freighter sailing under the Panamanian flag, the Leander is en route to the Philippines when its crew spots Harry and takes him aboard. But as he regains his strength, Harry uncovers a murderous conspiracy that could destroy the ship that saved him.

A beautiful fraudster gives a drifter a chance at an irresistible scoreJerry Forbes, on the run in Fort Lauderdale, is careful not to tell Marian Forsyth his real name. But Marian already knows his secrets. She's been following him since Miami Beach, fascinated by this handsome drifter since the first time she heard his voice. Finally she tells him the truth: Together, they're going to steal a fortune from a rich sap named Harris Chapman. The plan is simple—all they have to do is ask.Marian chose Jerry because he could be Chapman's double. With a little coaching, he'll be able to walk into the rich man's bank and take whatever he likes. But it's not long before the plan gets complicated, and Jerry is smart enough to know that when a heist turns sour, it's not the women who die.

Raised at the racetrack, a boy comes to live on a Texas farmBilly doesn't know how to read a book, but give him a racing form and he can tell you everything about a pony that you'd ever want to know. He and his father live on the road, traveling from Aqueduct to Hialeah and back again, until an overzealous Welfare lady demands they settle somewhere more wholesome than the track. Not knowing anyplace wholesome, Billy's father takes him to Texas instead, to live on his brother Sagamore's farm.There Billy meets bootleggers, gangsters, and the beautiful Miss Choo-Choo Caroline, a Chicago stripper who is wearing nothing but a tiny, diamond-encrusted G-string when she disappears. Uncle Sagamore, an enterprising brute, sees this as a chance for profit. For a boy with gambling in his veins, there could be quite a lot to learn.

For Madox, a dull town, a beautiful woman, and an easy bank heist spell doomIn a town so small that Main Street is only three blocks long, there isn't a lot to do—other than work, ogle women, and think about fast ways to get rich. After a year of aimless wandering, Madox has landed here, nearly broke and with no prospects but a dead-end job selling cars to yokels. Until one afternoon a fire at the burger joint draws the attention of everyone in town—including the men who are supposed to be guarding the bank. It's almost too good to be true, but there it is—$15,000 lying around, watched by no one. Now all Madox needs is a little nerve and a second distraction. And while one woman will give him the nerve, another will make him ready to kill.