Günter Koschorrek wrote his illicit diary on any scraps of paper he could lay his hands on, storing them with his mother on infrequent trips home on leave. The diary went missing, and it was not until he was reunited with his daughter in America some forty years later that it came to light and became Blood Red Snow. The author’s excitement at the first encounter with the enemy in the Russian Steppe is obvious. Later, the horror and confusion of fighting in the streets of Stalingrad are brought to life by his descriptions of the others in his unit – their differing manners and techniques for dealing with the squalor and death. He is also posted to Romania and Italy, assignments he remembers fondly compared to his time on the Eastern Front. This book stands as a memorial to the huge numbers on both sides who did not survive and is, some six decades later, the fulfilment of a responsibility the author feels to honour the memory of those who perished.

There never was a story that was happy through and through. When writer Arthur Ransome leaves his unhappy marriage in England and moves to Russia to work as a journalist, he has little idea of the violent revolution about to erupt. Unwittingly, he finds himself at its center, tapped by the British to report back on the Bolsheviks even as he becomes dangerously, romantically entangled with Trotsky's personal secretary. Both sides seek to use Arthur to gather and relay information for their own purposes . . . and both grow to suspect him of being a double agent. Arthur wants only to elope far from conflict with his beloved, but her Russian ties make leaving the country nearly impossible. And the more Arthur resists becoming a pawn, the more entrenched in the game he seems to become. Blood Red Snow White, a Soviet-era thriller from renowned author Marcus Sedgwick, is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats. This title has Common Core connections.

Fairy tales retold—with a twist—from “some of our best storytellers” including Neil Gaiman, Gahan Wilson, Tanith Lee, and others (The Washington Post). In this “no holds barred . . . nightmarish . . . provocative” collection, bestselling and award-winning fantasy masters put a dark, disturbing, and erotic spin on your favorite bedtime stories—and give you something entirely new to trouble your dreams (The New York Times Book Review). A boy is haunted through adulthood by a soul-eating creature that lies forever in wait under Neil Gaiman’s “Troll Bridge”; a melancholy amphibian shares his most private fantasies with a therapist in Gahan Wilson’s “The Frog Prince”; in Tanith Lee’s “Snow-Drop,” a lonely artist invites seven circus performers into her home to satisfy an obsession; in Steve Rasnic Tem’s “Little Poucet,” a band of lost brothers find refuge and terror with a hungry family in the woods; and Wendy Wheeler delves into the deviant psyche of the predatory male in “Little Red.” Also featuring Nancy Kress, Charles de Lint, Melanie Tem, Patricia A. McKillip, Jack Dann, and others, all paying a revisit to our favorite fairy tales in ways you’ve never dared to imagine.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cockroaches, Olav Johansen is a walking contradiction: a cold-blooded killer with a heart of gold. This was not a problem—until he fell for his boss’s wife…. “Nesbø’s much-heralded gifts are on display.” —The New York Times Book Review Olav is a fixer for a high-profile crime kingpin in 1970s Oslo. He easily takes care of anyone who causes trouble for his boss. But he is more complicated than he seems. Olav's latest job puts him at the pinnacle of his trade, but it may become his greatest mistake: It turns out that the more you know about your boss's business, the more your boss might want you fixed yourself—especially if you're falling for his wife. Don't miss Jo Nesbo's new thriller, Killing Moon, coming soon!

Eleven-year-old Abigail presents a diary account of life in Valley Forge from December 1777 to July 1778 as General Washington prepares his troops to fight the British.

In this “mind-bender” about a psychopath seeking revenge “the plot yanks you compulsively toward its solution, and the shocks make you jerk back in fright” (Toronto Star). The Winter Olympics are coming to western Canada, but the mood is far from celebratory when a snowboarder is murdered on the slopes, his corpse mutilated. And he’s only the first athlete to suffer a grisly end. Soon, a raging winter storm and a deranged killer’s team of mercenaries has cut Whistler Mountain off from the rest of the world. It’s a whodunit especially suited to the Special X team, which specializes in psychopathic behavior. Except an old enemy is targeting team commander Robert DeClercq. Bent on bloody revenge, Mephisto has elaborate plan that includes assassinating anyone connected with the Canadian Mountie. And that’s just the start of this megalomaniac’s horrific doomsday scheme . . . Let the games begin! “As always with Slade, a cracking good detective story.” —Anne Perry, New York Times–bestselling author of the Thomas Pitt series “Red Snow is crisply written, sly and exciting. Michael Slade is a writer who clearly knows how to tell a story and make it real.” —Robert McCammon, New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song and the Matthew Corbett series “Red snow indeed! This one is guaranteed to keep you awake with the lights burning.” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto) “In the annals of dark fiction, Canada can claim one true champion in Michael Slade. . . . The plot yanks you compulsively toward its solution, and the shocks make you jerk back in fright.” —Toronto Star “Very good twists, and a great villain. Mephisto, who seems to have attained a new level of insanity, is the kind of homicidal maniac you can’t take your eyes off. The writing is tight and compelling.” —Winnipeg Free Press

"An attention-grabbing procedural with unsettling surprises inside every snowbank" - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Called to investigate the bloodstained aftermath of an eventful Christmas party, detectives Anderson & Costello discover that the holiday season can be anything but merry. A family man is stabbed to death at a crowded Christmas Ice Show. Murdered in plain sight. No clues, no witnesses, no known motive. A week later, two bodies are discovered at a holiday cottage in a remote highland glen: one in the kitchen; the other sprawled outside on the icy lawn. The killer would appear to have arrived and left without leaving a trace, not even a footprint in the snow. What secrets are lurking within this isolated, superstitious community? As the snow piles higher, detectives Anderson and Costello put their wits to solving a seemingly impossible crime, and gradually uncover a twisted tale of greed, obsession – and cold-blooded murder.

Dorota Maslowska's audacious debut novel establishes her as a new young literary voice of international importance.

Red Blood/White Snow moves the reader through a troubled marriage, religious differences, vulnerable children, and Stalin's failed treaty with Hitler. Ivan (Vanya) Markarov's ordinary family life is catapulted into catastrophic events beyond his wildest imagination. Orders arrive from the Leningrad Soviet: The engineer Vanya will relocate to the Kirov Works in Leningrad. Delighted with his good fortune--and happy to leave Anya's Jewish parents-- Ivan Alexandrovich moves the family from Sevastopol to the city of Peter the Great. Within months, the first German bombs plunge the Markarovs into a fight for the survival of their marriage, their children, and their country.

The Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, a major figure in world politics and an ardent opponent of apartheid, was shot dead on the streets of Stockholm in February 1986. At the time of his death, Palme was deeply involved in Middle East diplomacy and was working under UN auspices to end the Iran-Iraq war. Across Scandinavia, Palme's killing had an impact similar to that of the Kennedy assassinations in the United States—and it ignited nearly as many conspiracy theories. Interest in the Palme slaying was most recently stirred by reports of the death of Christer Pettersson, who was tried for the murder twice, convicted the first time, and then acquitted on appeal. In his investigative account of Palme's still-unsolved murder, the historian Jan Bondeson meticulously recreates the assassination and its aftermath. Like the best works of crime fiction, this book puts the victim and his death into social context. Bondeson's work, however, is noteworthy for its dispassionate treatment of police incompetence: the police did not answer a witness's phone call reporting the murder just 45 seconds after it occurred, and further time was lost as the police sought to confirm that someone had actually been shot. When the police arrived on the scene, they did not even recognize the victim as the Prime Minister. This early confusion was emblematic of the errors that were to follow. Bondeson demolishes the various conspiracy theories that have been devised to make sense of the killing, before suggesting a convincing explanation of his own. A brilliant piece of investigative journalism, Blood on the Snow includes crime-scene photographs and reconstructions that have never before been published and offers a gripping narrative of a crime that shocked a continent.