From the Publisher

Abarrach, the Realm of stone. Here, on a barren world of underground caverns built around a core of molten lava, the lesser races -- humans, elves, and dwarves -- seem to have all died off. Here, too, what may well be the last remnants of the once powerful Sartan still struggle to survive. For Haplo and Alfred -- enemies by heritage, traveling companions by necessity -- Abarrach may reveal more than either dares to discover about the history of Sartan... and the future of all their descendants.

From the Inside Flap

Abarrach, the Realm of stone. Here, on a barren  world of underground caverns built around a core of  molten lava, the lesser races -- humans, elves,  and dwarves -- seem to have all died off. Here, too,  what may well be the last remnants of the once  powerful Sartan still struggle to survive. For Haplo  and Alfred -- enemies by heritage, traveling  companions by necessity -- Abarrach may reveal more than  either dares to discover about the history of  Sartan... and the future of all their descendants.

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From Publishers Weekly

The fourth volume of the authors' Death Gate Cycle, begun with Dragon Wing , moves to Chelestra, Realm of Sea, last of the four worlds created by the Sartan during the Sundering in their battle against the Patryns. The inhabitants of this world--dwarves, elves and humans--are in grave danger: the seasun, source of light and life to the seamoons on which they dwell, is moving away. When the vessels in which they were to escape are destroyed by malignant, highly intelligent dragon-snakes, three children, scions of the ruling families, undergo adventures and encounter Haplo, the Patryn escaped from imprisonment in the Labyrinth who has been traveling the worlds of the Death's Gate fomenting discord. Meanwhile, Alfred, the last remaining Sartan, also translated to the water world, is reunited with others of his kind, including Samah, who initiated the Sundering and has been in suspended animation since. The stage for escalated conflict is set. The worlds created by Weis and Hickman become more attractively complex with each book of the series. The deepening characterizations of Haplo and Alfred, with the underlying mysteries surrounding both, provide the necessary glue binding this opus, which promises three more volumes.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Fourth of the projected seven-book series (most recently Fire Sea, not seen), continuing the adventures of Haplo the Patryn and his rival, Albert the Sartan. Haplo arrives on Chelestra, a water-world whose construction makes no geometric, physical, or narrative sense, only to find that the local seawater quenches the tattoos that are the source of his Patryn magic. Meanwhile, Alfred, the clumsy, bumbling Sartan, also arrives and by accident reawakens the slumbering ancient, arrogant Sartan ruling council, who regard askance Alfred's growing friendship with Haplo. Also on Chelestra live some superpowerful dragon-snakes, whose purpose is to stir up trouble, force the Sartan to open the Death Gate, and allow them to escape. Haplo befriends a trio of ``mensch,'' the human, dwarf, and elf subclasses oppressed by the mighty Sartan, and eventually comes to trust Alfred--he turns out to be the Serpent Mage (whatever that is, and not that it makes a shred of difference to anything)--more than his nominal master, the Patryn Xar. Yet another futile exercise, with the implausible backdrop, absurd plotting, and vacuous dramatics highlighting the authors' inability to narrate in other than a pedestrian monotone. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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From Library Journal

The ancient Patryn-Sartan conflict over control of the four elemental realms enters a new phase as Patryn agent Haplo returns to the Realm of Sky, only to discover its invasion by serpentlike creatures whose evil ambitions threaten the destruction of all the realms. This fifth installment of a seven-volume fantasy epic bears the now-familiar Weis/Hickman trademarks: offbeat humor, complex villain/heroes, and an emphasis on moral responsibility. Despite a tendency toward wordiness, the authors have a knack for sustaining a good story. Purchase where the other series titles are in demand. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/92.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Volume five of the apparently interminable Death Gate Cycle (Serpent Mage, 1992, etc.). Now that the evil-magic serpents of the water-world Chelestra have escaped through the Death Gate, new power alliances are possible--such as that between the serpents and Xar, Haplo's powerful Patryn boss. Despite Haplo's feeble warnings about the serpents' malevolent intentions (they can assume any shape, retaining only tell-tale red eyes), Xar dispatches Haplo and his yappy-dog sidekick to the air-world Arianus, with orders to set species against species and generally create chaos among the lower- order ``mensch.'' And this time Haplo's old rival/accomplice, Albert the Sartan, languishes trapped inside the Labyrinth. So, by himself Haplo must somehow stop the elf-dwarf war by helping the human and elf magicians while placating Xar and devising a means to repel the serpents--oh, yes, and preventing various assassinations, including his own. A hypercomplicated plot whose increasingly improbable convolutions seem designed only to distract attention from the ludicrously implausible scenario, plodding narrative, and irritatingly obtuse characters. Which, being translated into Fannish, means: another smash hit. (First printing of 60,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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In the Death Gate series, Weis and Hickman have created their most exciting and original epic to date. Into the Labyrinth, the sixth of seven books set in the vast and richly imagined Death Gate Universe, is a romantic and heroic tale that spans four worlds in an age-old battle to control the sundered realms of air, water, fire, and stone... Xar, Lord of the Nexus, has traveled to the fiery world of Abarrach to learn the secret art of necromancy, hoping to raise an army of the dead to conquer the four worlds. But he discovers an easier way. One of the undead tells the lord about the Seventh Gate, the magical chamber used by the Sartan to sunder the world. The Seventh Gate still exists and whoever enters it can either create worlds - or destroy them. Only one person knows the location of this gate, although he doesn't know he knows it. That person is Haplo. Xar sends a Patryn assassin to kill Haplo and bring back his corpse. The lord plans to use his necromancy to bring Haplo back to life and turn him into a mindless slave who will reveal the location of the Gate. Xar is certain of success, for the assassin is someone from Haplos past, someone whom Haplo trusts with his life. Another assssin is also after Haplo. Hugh the Hand has been hired by the Kenkari to kill the Patryn, and the Brotherhood has provided an ancient Sartan weapon - the Accursed Blade - to help him in his task. Wounded and weakened, Haplo nearly falls victim to his killers. But when the Accursed Blade runs amok, all of them, including a terrified and extremely reluctant Alfred, find themselves fighting for their lives in the most dreaded place of all - the deadly prison maze called the Labyrinth. Betrayed by the one heloves, Haplo is imprisoned by his own people, forced to watch helplessly as an army of evil prepares to march on the Labyrinth, dooming all inside to death.

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From Publishers Weekly

Thousands of pages have been spent getting to this seventh and final book in the massive Death Gate Cycle (Into the Labyrinth). Only the most voracious fans of Weis and Hickman will feel it was worth the effort; anyone else will find that incomprehensible (and poorly sketched) landscapes and tedious prose make this volume both dizzying and dull. Here, Marit (a sorceress), Hugh the Hand, Alfred the Sartan and Haplo the Patryn join forces to stop various nefarious (or at least misguided and misunderstood) villains as they try to subjugate each other's races, get to Death's Gate and destroy the world as they know it. A significant portion of the more interesting lore and stories (of elves who imprison their souls in ornate boxes, etc.), however, gets little more than footnotes, an epilogue or a short mention in the appendices. While these addenda seem an attempt to add literary flavor to this hodgepodge of zombies, sorcerors, dragons and a schizophrenically postmodern God who occasionally thinks he's James Bond, they succeed only in upping the page count.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A spectacular journey that takes heroes Haplo and Marit through each of the sundered realms and beyond the sinister Seventh Gate culminates with a battle against the forces of evil in this conclusion to the seven-volume "Death Gate Cycle." Purchase where the series is popular.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Review

'This book does full and elegant justice to Formula One's greatest driver and wiliest tactician. "Few people really know me", Senna once said. Williams comes very, very close' Mail on Sunday 'Not just an insightful and pragmatic assessment of Senna as driver and complex human being, but a thorough examination of that grim weekend for F1' Financial Times 'A masterly portrait--literate, poignant and truth-seeking' Scotland on Sunday

Product Description

Millions of people around the world watched in horror on that fateful day in Imola at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when Ayrton Senna's car careered off the track at 190mph. The greatest driver in Formula One history was dead.In this classic sports book, reissued to tie-in with a new Working Title documentary film about Senna, Richard Williams explores the complex Brazilian who was a hero in his own country and an icon to everyone who loved not just motor-racing but sport itself. In his drive to win and his desire always to test himself to the limit, Senna embodied all that is best and most thrilling in sport.

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Review

“A gritty and atmospheric read.”Closer magazine

Product Description

Mann’s search for the brother he never knew takes him from the carefree beaches of Thailand to the desperate drug-ridden world of Amsterdam’s Red Light District.It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. But it became a journey into hell…Paradise has become a nightmare. Five young voluntary workers on a once in a lifetime gap year in Thailand have vanished into thin air. Entire villages lay ransacked, their people brutally murdered.Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, troubled detective Johnny Mann is haunted by personal demons, including the unsolved murder of his father. Trying to pick up the pieces of his life, he receives a desperate plea for help from a woman in Amsterdam - a woman who claims to have known his father intimately years before.Hoping to unravel to mystery shrouding his father's death, Mann agrees to go undercover and search for the five missing teenagers, one of whom is the woman's 18-year-old son, Jake. And Mann's secret brother…From the carefree beaches of Thailand to the labyrinthine streets of Amsterdam, nothing is as at seems as Mann is plunged into conspiracy and peril and pitted against pure evil.

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From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of bestseller White's outstanding 17th Doc Ford thriller (after Dead Silence), two low-life ex-cons, King and Perry, are on the lam after killing a family of five in a burglary. They end up in Doc's neck of the woods, or rather his neck of the swamp, in central Florida. Doc; his boat-bum hipster pal, Tomlinson; troubled Indian teen Will Chaser, who played a key role in Dead Silence; and Arlis Futch, a crusty old fisherman, have arrived at a small lake, which they intend to search for Batista's treasure plane, which disappeared in 1958 while flying the ex-dictator's looted booty out of Cuba during the Castro takeover. King and Perry, who are as bad as they come, quickly take control of the others, forcing Doc and friends to continue diving in the lake, after which the pair plan to kill them all. Throw in a giant, mysterious swamp creature with an appetite for cattle, horses, and divers, and you've got a nail-biter that's virtually impossible to put down. Author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Starred Review Florida’s mystery heroes have been having a hard time this year. First, James W. Hall’s Thorn spent most of an entire novel trapped in a dry well (Silencer, 2010), and now, in Randy Wayne White’s latest Doc Ford thriller, the intrepid marine biologist goes underwater for a couple hundred pages. It starts innocently enough, with Ford, his hippie pal Tomlinson, teenager Will Chaser (from Dead Silence, 2009), and cranky old-timer Arlis Futch embarking on a treasure-hunting trip to an isolated lake, on the bottom of which is purported to be a mother lode of gold from Batista’s Cuba. Three problems quickly develop: a sort-of underwater avalanche that leaves all but Ford trapped under tons of limestone (a cave keeps the victims alive as their air supply dwindles); the arrival (on land) of two psycho killers right out of In Cold Blood (one is even named Perry); and, scariest of all, the lurking presence of, yes, a sea monster. Ford eventually surmounts all the obstacles before him, of course, but along the way, we are treated to a wonderful mix of hair-raising horror, grace under pressure, and fascinating natural history. There turns out to be a biologically sound explanation for the presence of the sea monster, but that doesn’t make it any less terrifying for anyone who remembers Creature from the Black Lagoon (as Ford notes, “The universe beneath is alive—relentlessly alive”). It’s no surprise that White’s long-running, always-popular series has broken through to mainstream best-sellerdom; his novels appeal on so many levels: as portraits of a steadily evolving, tough-yet-introspective hero; as eco-friendly investigations of natural Florida; and as muscular, head-banging adventure thrillers. And, now, there are sea monsters, too! --Bill Ott

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From Publishers Weekly

A first novel, this gripping techno-thriller is set in the early 1990s, with the Soviet system falling apart and the U.S. about to take a commanding lead in the arms race, thanks to a combination of Stealth technology and SDI. The assassination of the Soviet premier brings to power a hard-liner with a daring plan: to force the U.S. to the brink of war--a state called Defense Readiness Condition Two, only one stage below maximum readiness, DefCon One--and then suddenly relax the pressure. If, as expected, the U.S. forces stand down, the U.S.S.R. will launch a surprise first strike. Weber, a former Marine fighter pilot, handles the military aspects of the developing confrontation convincingly, concentrating on air and naval operations. The novel's secret-agent aspect, a fast-paced escape-and-evasion trail through the heart of the Soviet Union, is only slightly less effective. The process by which responses to Russian provocation escalate to the limit is frighteningly credible, even in the age of glasnost. 100,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When aging Soviet hard-liner Zhilinkov attains power, he bullies his Politburo comrades into "testing" the speed of U.S. military reactions. The scenes shift rapidly from gripping air and naval battles to national strategy centers in Washington and Moscow as an equally determined President increases U.S. readiness posture towards Defense Condition One. Weber's forte is his ability to tell a fast-paced war story filled with accurate details of the latest weapons systems. The only characters who emerge as human beings are Dimitri Karpov, a Russian-speaking mole, and Steve Wickham, the senior CIA agent in Moscow, as they battle throughout the book to escape the clutches of the KGB and GRU with their critical information about Zhilinkov's intentions. In this first novel about the sunset of nuclear war, Weber chooses to ignore the roles Congress, the media, and the public would play in deciding U.S. responses. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/89.
- Elsa Pendleton, Computer Sciences Corp., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Description

The Valefar boy tricked Ivy Taylor into kissing him, but he took much more than a kiss—he stole her soul and left her within inches of death. By surviving, Ivy is drawn into the conflict between the Martis and the Valefar. The war between these two immortal forces has raged for millennia without distraction. Until now.
Ivy is an anomaly—she is the only person who has ever walked away from a demon kiss alive. Her survival gives her unique and deadly abilities. Too powerful to ignore, Ivy is a threat to both armies. These two ancient enemies will stop at nothing to kill the seventeen-year-old.
Surviving is nothing new for headstrong Ivy, but her survival has never depended on another person before. This time it does. And if she misplaces her trust, she's dead. To her horror, she starts falling in love at the worst possible time—with the enemy. He appears to be protecting her. But she can't be certain if he is trying to help her, or help himself to her power. For Ivy, trusting the right person is the difference between love and survival, or a deadly demon kiss.
Demon Kissed #2 - CURSED - anticipated release date is August 31, 2011.
Codi Malpass’ Review – May 8, 2011 5 out of 5 stars
“I was sucked into this book as soon as I read the first few pages. The amount of detail about the setting and the characters is amazing as well as the length of imagination in this book. There’s enough romance in the story to keep you satisfied…even if it is kind of challenging for it to happen. I don’t really like books with sloppy kisses and “I love you”s on every page.
I can’t really think of any other word for it other than phenomenal. H.M. Ward deserves a freaking award to rival all awards ever given. Another thing I like was the ending line…that made me smile and laugh when I read it. I can’t wait for the second book to come out and I just hope that it’s as good as this book was. Something else I’d like to say is that if I was a producer, I’d probably do anything to make this into a movie and if they ever do…they will have a lot of weight on their shoulders because it’d be hard to make a movie as good as this book.”
Amy’s review Apr 10, 2011 5 of 5 stars
“Wow! The story line was great, and the concept of the book was something I’ve never read before. There were so many twists that I couldn’t predict anything that happened. I was kept guessing the entire time. Books like this are a rare find, especially when not that many people know about them. So I’m spreading the word! Read this book! You won’t regret it! The sequel can’t come out soon enough!”
Allie B.’s review – April 20, 2011 5 out of 5 stars
“This is one of the rare finds where the story draws you in and refuses to let go. Narrated in such detail, you are taken on an epic journey that will make you feel a part of Ivy Taylor’s world, with a vested interest in each character. It takes an extraordinary piece of literature to drive the emotions and senses felt while reading this novel. Demon Kissed is the beginning of an amazing adventure….”

About the Author

H.M. Ward was recently in the Washington Post about her debut novel Demon Kissed with over 38,000 super-awesome fans! Ward interacts with readers via her facebook page: www.facebook.com/demonkissed. Stop by and say hi. This New Yorker turned Texan will entertain you and make you laugh. Demon Kissed is the first novel in her new paranormal romance series.

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From Booklist

Former Nashville police reporter turned private investigator Harry James Denton has problems: his cash flow isn't flowing, his girlfriend is among many held hostage by a fanatic religious group, and his pal from down the hall, songwriter Slim Gibson, is in jail for murder. It seems Slim's ex-wife but current singing partner, Rebecca, was found beaten "way past dead" shortly after a gig with Slim, whose car was seen leaving Rebecca's driveway. Slim had plenty of motive--including the fact that Rebecca's considerable portion of their songwriting catalog reverts to Slim upon her death--but there are plenty of other suspects lurking on the fringes of the Nashville music crowd. This third Denton mystery is a little jewel. Denton is a Rockford-like private eye who'd like to avoid danger but has just enough integrity to follow his cases through to the end. Toss him into the colorful Nashville musical milieu, and you get a mystery in which the mournful wail of a pedal steel guitar represents death as well as heartbreak. Wes Lukowsky

Product Description

With his cash flow down to a slow drip, times are tight for Nashville gumshoe Harry James Denton. Things are tough all over Music City, U.S.A. And in some instances, they're murder, as Harry finds out the hard way when he lands a case he'd rather not touch.
When rising country singer Rebecca Gibson is found viciously beaten to death in her home, a heap of damning evidence points straight to her ex-husband, Slim Gibson -- half of the struggling songwriting team with whom Harry shares office space and an occasional beer. Slim and Rebecca were last seen making beautiful music at a local club just hours before the killing. Yet while probing beneath the sweet harmony, Harry discovers the dark history of a marriage made somewhere south of heaven -- and delves into the cutthroat world of the C&W music business, where deceit, betrayal, passion, and vengeance are sung about . . . and ruthlessly performed.
"A rising star among the current crop of American novelists." -- Nashville Banner

From the Paperback edition.

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