Showing Books By Publisher : Duckbill

Magic in the Shadows

Every time you use magic, it uses you back. Sure, you could magic yourself a photographic memory for that big test, for that big interview, for that big stock market job. And all it cost you was a nice case of liver failure. Or the memory of your lover's name. Magic is Allison Beckstom's blessing and curse. As a Hound, she uses her gifts to track down practitioners who abuse their power, and then stops them from inflicting harm on unsuspecting innocents. Unfortunately her spells have taken a toll on her, physically marking her and erasing her memories - including those of the man she loves. But lost memories aren't the only things preying on Allie's thoughts. Her late father, a prominent businessman and sorcerer has somehow channeled himself into her mind. With the help of the Authority, a secret organization of magic users, she hopes to gain better control over her own abilities and find a way to deal with her father...

Bloodlines: The Golden Lily

It's a risky game protecting vampire secrets, especially when you lie at the heart of the most dangerous of them all. Alchemist Sydney Sage is in hiding at the human boarding school, Amberwood, where she has been tasked with keeping secret and protecting the life of vampire princess, Jill Dragomir. But after a series of attacks, Sydney learns something shocking about the paranormal world she inhabits. Vampire hunters aren't just the stuff of legend. They're real. And someone very close to her maybe one of them...

Grave Memory

When the dead need to talk, Alex Craft is always ready to listen... As a Grave Witch, Alex solves murders by raising the dead - an ability that comes at a cost, and after her last few cases, that cost is compounding. But her magic isn't the only thing causing havoc in her life. While she's always been on friendly terms with Death himself, things have recently become a whole lot more close and personal. Then there's her sometime partner, agent Falin Andrews, who is under the glamour of the Winter Queen. To top everything off, her best friend has been forever changed by her time spent captive in Faerie. But the personal takes a backseat to the professional when a string of suicides occur in Nekros City and Alex is hired to investigate. The shades have no memory of the days leading up to their brutal endings, so despite the very public apparent suicides, this is murder. But what kind of magic can overcome the human will to survive? And why do the shades lack the memory of their deaths? Searching for the answer might mean Alex won't have a life to remember at all.

Screwed!: A Guy's Gotta Do What He Doesn't Wanna D

A hilarious, side-splitting view of the way relationships work for guys! Love is never easy, and its playing a cruel prank on Karan Nothing hassles Karan, the smooth-talking bad boy who enjoys a successful job as a copywriter in the work-hard-party-harder world of advertising. He can always depend on his bindaas attitude and incessant supply of wisecracks to get out of any tricky situation. Everything is perfect . . . until Sonia tumbles into his life. After an initial battle of egos, Karan falls hard and fast for Sonia, but he can never find the right moment to confess his feelings to her. Then he meets Anita. And thats when things get really complicated. Screwed follows Karans misadventures with hilarious zeal as he comes to realize that ignoring a problem is NOT the best way to deal with it, and making the right choice NEVER is ever easy.

The Fry chonicles

Stephen Fry is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director and presenter. He is one of the most influential cultural forces in the country. This title details some of the most turbulent and least well known years of his life.

Fern- My Story

For years now, Fern Britton has been widely loved as the presenter of Ready Steady Cook, and, more recently, co-presenter of This Morning with Philip Schofield. Never one to shy away from a good laugh or cry on national TV, she has none-the-less never talked about herself to the public, preferring to keep her private life private. Her warmth and humour, empathy and compassion, have made her feel like a best friend to millions on a daily basis, but no one knows the woman behind the sparkling smile. Now, for the first time, she is going to tell her story. And it is one that will strike a chord with women everywhere. Life as a child was not always easy, and she faced private and public challenges with her personal life, appearance and her career as she climbed the ladder to fame. Now a full-time working mum, with a very happy marriage to her second husband Phil Vickery, she is at the top of her game, and ready to tell it like it is. So put your feet up and get ready for a great read.

FIR

The first genuine police procedural in Indian crime fiction! The first desi police procedural Dashing DSP Bikram Chatterjee of the West Bengal Police hates his boss, the boorish SP Toofan Kumar. And he knows his boss especially resents his affair with screen goddess Shona Chowdhury—it’s a rank thing. Bikram is keenly aware of the two distinct worlds he inhabits: the posh circles of Toofan and Shona—a world he instinctively distrusts—and the grimy world of crime with which he is familiar, even comfortable. Then Robi Bose, former darling of Calcutta’s Page 3, is found dead with bloody froth on his lips and Bikram is given the task of investigating this high-profile death in double-quick time. This, in addition to all his other duties—cultivating informers, breaking up drug-smuggling rackets on the Indo–Bangladesh border and providing security for occasionally violent football matches. And as the investigation draws him in, Bikram finds his two worlds colliding in unexpected ways.

The Morning After

Naughty Men

have it all IITIIM degrees, plum consulting-partner position with Mcarthurs, a company-provided BMW but things havent been going so well lately. Work bores me, my wife Meera and I havent had sex in years, my in-laws treat me like their personal slave. Also, for some time, Ive been having reassuring conversations with Nunu, my dick. Actually, he thinks Im losing it! Sid, my friend from Institute days, has the same problem he doesnt talk to Nunu, though and his solution is simple: anything goes ... as long as the wife doesnt find out! We have a plan to spice up our lives. It involves Jenny, the mystic masseuse from the Feather Touch massage parlour, the infuriatingly efficient Baby Detective Agency to get the in-laws to back off, and a leisurely, raunchy road trip along the coast from Kerala to Goa. Oh yes, did I mention that consulting project for Rajnikanth Sirs new movie?

I never thought i could fall in love

Could life be any better? Playboy Ronnie thinks he has hit the jackpot when he has sex with Miss Fresher in her car on Freshers’ Night; saves himself from ragging by making fools of his seniors; and when his money-making scheme with his friend promises to bring in the much-needed moolah for having fun! But destiny seems to have its own plans and soon Ronnie falls in love! However, the journey from lust to love is not easy. Fighting his playboy image, and his best friend, Mickey, Ronnie has to now convince the girl of his dreams that ‘she is the only one for him’. Even if it means almost getting killed by a criminal gang and breaking into the girls’ hostel to declare his love! I Never Thought I Could Fall in Love is a racy, naughty and heart-warming love-story of a boy who did not know what he was capable of doing in life until he fell in love.

The Kingdom

When Texas oil baron Charlie King contacts Sam and Remi Fargo he has an unusual request. He hired an investigator - and good friend of the pair - to locate his missing father in the Far East. But now the investigator has vanished. Would Sam and Remi be willing to look for them both? Though something about the request doesn't quite add up, Sam and Remi agree to help out. It's a journey that takes the Fargos to Tibet, Nepal, Bulgaria, India, and China. They get mixed up with black-market fossils, a centuries-old puzzle chest, the ancient Nepali kingdom of Mustang, a balloon aircraft from a century before its time . . . and an extraordinary skeleton that might turn the history of human evolution on its head. Oh, and not a few unfriendly people with guns and itchy trigger fingers . . . Packed with endless imagination and breathtaking suspense, The Kingdom is a spectacular new Clive Cussler adventure.

Love on the Rocks

'What happened to Gary?' 'He was lying on the floor, dead.' 'Congratulations, Raghav. Your investigation has reached the next level, from theft to probable homicide!' Newly-wed Sancha is excited about sailing with her husband, an officer in the merchant navy, on board the Sea Hyena. But Chief Officer Aaron Andrews is keeping a secret from his wife—a month before she arrived, the chief cook was found dead in the meat locker, his death ruled an accident. First Engineer Harsh Castillo is enamoured of his best friend Aaron's bride, but that's the least of his problems. The demons he's battling have a stronger pull on him. When money is stolen from the captain's safe, the inquisitive Sancha makes a game of finding the thief. What she finds, instead, is a murder. With the evidence implicating her husband, Sancha is at a crossroads— should she tell Raghav Shridhar, the investigating officer, about the money or should she give her secretive husband the benefit of the doubt?

Merciless

No Pity Each skeleton is flawless - gleaming white and perfectly preserved, a testament to his skill. Every scrap of flesh has been removed to reveal the glistening bone beneath. And the collection is growing . . . No Compassion When bleached human bones are identified as belonging to a former patient of Dr James Dixon, Detective Malcolm Kier suspects the worst. Dixon was recently acquitted of attempted murder, thanks to defense attorney Angie Carlson. But as the body count rises, Kier is convinced that Angie is now the target of a brutal, brilliant psychopath. No Escape Angie is no stranger to the dark side of human nature. But nothing has prepared her for the decades-long legacy of madness and murder about to be revealed - or a killer ready to claim her as his ultimate trophy . . .

The Terrorist

When you are trained to endure the harshest of climates, the most hostile of situations, to survive where no ordinary man can—there’s little difference between you and the terrorist you are trying to kill. Little, except which side are you on. Suvir and Murad--both victims of circumstances, both numb with the pain of having lost their loved ones--choose to do things differently. While one crosses the border and becomes the most dreaded of terrorists, the other joins the Special Forces. Their face-off is a fight to death as one is out to carry out a major terrorist operation in Delhi and the other has been specially called in to foil the attack.

Losing My Virginity And Other Dumb Ideas

Kaveri is thirty, single, knows seven languages, is an interpreter by profession, has read all the books about men and how to get a date. Yet, she has not been able to figure out the language of love. Since the 'THE ONE GREAT LOVE' of her life has eluded her for thirty years and might never show up, she decides to take matters into her own hands. On her thirtieth birthday, she makes a resolution love or no love, she is going to lose her virginity. Life, however, has other plans! About The Author Madhuri is the director of a creative production house that can do almost anything in the media from making brochures to producing TV shows. She is a complete media professional, having worked in all forms of the visual medium TV, advertisements, documentaries. She has worked as a senior assistant director for film-makers like Subhash Ghai, Kaizad Gustad and Rohan Sippy, and music director Anu Malik. Madhuri has an MA in Communication and Films from Jamia Millia Islamia her thesis film, 'Between Dualities', won her the National Award for best documentary on women's issues in 1999. Besides media, she is passionate about travelling, yoga and reading. She is currently working on commercial film scripts and her next book. She is active on Twitter, Facebook and writes a blog (http://madhuribanerjee.blogspot.com/).

Dust

A young, A young, female zombie wants to tell you her story. . Zombies are the new vampires! From classic George Romero horror films to the hugely successful Shaun of the Dead they are a prominent feature on our cultural landscape. Dust is a unique and appealing twist on the zombie genre, avoiding all the clichés and telling a thoughtful and moving story instead. Dust is a nail-bitingly good zombie romp that magically morphs into anintelligent treatise on life, death and the fallibility of being human. With its engaging protagonist Jessica, and a host of well-imagined supporting characters - both alive and undead - Dust is a cut above the rest Buffy actress Amber Benson. Dust follows Jessie and her gang of fellow zombies as they battle themselves, humans and a plague that is targeting all humanoids ... Dust can be read on many levels without taking away from the energy of the narrative Amanda Foreman, Telegraph After she was buried, Jessie awoke and tore through the earth to arise, reborn, as a zombie. Jessie\'s gang is the Fly-by-Nights. She loves the ancient, skeletal Florian and his memories of time gone by. She\'s in love with Joe, a maggot-infested corpse. They fight, hunt, dance together as one-something humans can never understand. There are dark places humans have learned to avoid, lest they run into the zombie gangs. But now, Jessie and the Fly-by-Nights have seen new creatures in the woods-things not human and not zombie. A strange new illness has flamed up out of nowhere, causing the undeads to become more alive and the living to exist on the brink of death. As bits and pieces of the truth fall around Jessie, like the flesh off her bones, she\'ll have to choose between looking away or staring down the madness-and hanging onto everything she has come to know as life

Beautiful Chaos

Cursed lovers Ethan and Lena have returned to their home town, which is now ravaged by swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms. What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin? For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask. Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending

The Templar's Quest

An ancient relic that holds the key to ultimate power... it can only be another deadly thriller from C.M. Palov. A breathless Indiana Jones-style conspiracy thriller, perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Sam Bourne, Chris Kuzneski and Matthew Reilly The story crackles with tension and imagination from the first to the last page ... intrigue, treachery, history and a wealth of secrets. Super Steve Berry The Montségur Medallion points the way to the most coveted relic, the Holy Grail. In the wrong hands it could destroy civilisation. Finn McGuire finds himself framed for a string of murders moments after he uncovers the legendary Medallion in an ancient Syrian chapel. The culprits are a group of Nazi SS descendents known as The Seven who will stop at nothing to possess the pendant . . . and the Holy Grail. Their wish? To resurrect the Third Reich. Former MI5 operative Caedmon Aisquith is an expert in the Knights Templar and the Grail; he knows the Seven can only desire it for evil and when Finn approaches him, the two join forces in a quest to find the deadly relic and halt the bloodshed. Their race takes them from the Louvre to a medieval citadel in the Pyrenees. But the stakes are high for the fate of mankind hangs in the balance if they fail

The Sunset Club

Meet the members of the Sunset Club: Pandit Preetam Sharma, Nawab Barkatullah Baig and Sardar Boota Singh. Friends for over forty years, they are now in their eighties. And every evening, at the sunset hour, they sit together on a bench in Lodhi Gardens to exchange news and views on the events of the day, talking about everything from love, lust, sex and scandal to religion and politics. As he follows a year in the lives of the three men—from January 26 2009 to January 26 2010—Khushwant Singh brings his characters vibrantly to life, with his piquant portrayals of their fantasies and foibles, his unerring ear for dialogue and his genius for capturing the flavour and texture of everyday life in their households. Interwoven with this compelling human story is another chronicle – of a year in the life of India, as the country goes through the cycle of seasons, the tumult of general elections, violence, natural disasters and corruption in high places. In turn ribald and lyrical, poignant and profound, The Sunset Club is a deeply moving exploration of friendship, sexuality, old age and infirmity; a joyous celebration of nature; an insightful portrait of India’s paradoxes and complexities.

SixKill: A Spenser Mystery

A villainous movie star, a soft-spoken assassin, and a new sidekick all await Spenser, Robert B. Parker’s legendary private eye. A girl has been found dead, seemingly strangled, in the hotel room of movie star Jumbo Nelson. Jumbo’s lawyers want Spenser to find out whether Jumbo did it – not because they care either way, but because the knowledge will help them work out how to block his conviction. Jumbo is a sufficiently repulsive individual that Spenser finds it hard to contain his distaste. And then there is his bodyguard, Zebulon Six kill, a Cree Indian who squandered his pro-football career thanks to an inability to control his temper, and turned his attentions to alcohol instead. Also involved in Jumbo’s case for reasons that remain unclear is a cold-blooded assassin who just might be the most dangerous enemy Spenser has faced yet. But if he can persuade Six kill to turn his life around, Spenser might just have the ally he needs

Good as Gold: The Sinking of Titanic - What really

A magician of genre fiction’ Independent One autumn day in 1992, former pop singer Lennart Cederström finds something unexpected in the forest: a baby girl in a plastic bag, partially buried. He gives her the kiss of life, and her first cry astounds him; it is a clear, pure musical note. He takes her to his wife and persuades Edie was never one to do what she was told. A brunette among a family of blonds, she was always the rebel. When she is pushed to join the family banking business, she needs distraction. So she begins to delve into the family archive to uncover the truth about her great-grandfather Kit. Branded a coward and a thief, Kit escaped from Titanic and was rumoured to have carried a fortune into the lifeboat with him. What, Edie wonders, happened to it? Edie's excavations reveal shocking facts about Titanic’s sinking that are destined to rock the world. What’s more, she unearths some recent secrets that reveal Edie’s family business is not all it seems. As she attempts to right her family's wrongs, her position becomes increasingly dangerous. Her twin brother, her parents, her uncle – is there anyone out there she can trust? About the Author No one is better placed than Louise Patten to give the inside story on the corporate world she knows so well. Louise broke through the corporate glass ceiling to become one of a tiny handful of female FTSE Chairmen. She is now Senior Adviser to Bain & Company, and is a non-executive director of Bradford & Bingley and Marks & Spencer. She is married with one daughter and lives in London and Somerset

Sisters Shobha De'

Ms De shocks India, and much of its literary set like no other writer today.' --New York Times They were beautiful, wealthy and sought after. They were sisters and they were at war. When her parents die in an air crash, Mikki Hiralal suddenly finds herself the owner of the sprawling Hiralal industrial empire. Abandoning her studies in the United States, she returns to Bombay, only to find her father's business affairs in a mess. Almost bankrupt, beset on all sides by creditors, takeover tycoons and unreliable associates, Mikki realizes there is only one person she can turn to for help--the beautiful Alisha, her father's illegitimate daughter. There is only one hitch: Alisha hates Mikki...In her new novel, set in the corrupt world of big business, Shobha De, the bestselling author of Socialite Evenings and Starry Nights, tells an engrossing story of two women who play for very high stakes, driven by ambition, lust, greed and hate....

Second Thoughts

Magic To The Bone

"Using magic, meant it used you back. Forget the fairytale hocus pocus, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex, and drugs, gave as good as it got" Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user, maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allie Beckstrom is the best there is. Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic . . . About the Author Devon Monk has one husband, two sons, and a dog named Mojo. She lives in Oregon and is surrounded by colorful and numerous family members who mostly live within dinner-calling distance of each other. She has sold over fifty short stories to fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, and young adult magazines and anthologies. Her stories have been published in five countries and included in a Year's Best Fantasy collection. When not writing, Devon is either knitting, remodeling the house-that-was-once-a-barn, or hosting a family celebration.