Andrew B. Leiter presents the first book-length study of the sexually violent African American man, or "black beast," as a composite literary phenomenon. According to Leiter, the black beast theme served as a fundamental link between the Harlem and Southern Renaissances, with writers from both movements exploring its psychological, cultural, and social ramifications. Indeed, Leiter asserts that the two groups consciously engaged one another's work as they struggled to define roles for black masculinity in a society that viewed the black beast as the raison d'être for segregation. Leiter begins by tracing the nineteenth-century origins of the black beast image, and then provides close readings of eight writers who demonstrate the crucial impact anxieties about black masculinity and interracial sexuality had on the formation of American literary modernism. James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Walter White's The Fire in the Flint, George Schuyler's Black No More, William Faulkner's Light in August, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, Allen Tate's The Fathers, Erskine Caldwell's Trouble in July, and Richard Wright's Native Son, as well as other works, provide strong evidence that perceptions of black male sexual violence shaped segregation, protest traditions, and the literature that arose from them. Leiter maintains that the environment of southern race relations -- which allowed such atrocities as the Atlanta riot of 1906, numerous lynchings, Virginia's Racial Integrity Act, and the Scottsboro trials -- influenced in part the development of both the Harlem and Southern Renaissances. While the black beast image had the most pernicious impact on African American individual and communal identities, he says the "threat" of black masculinity also shaped concepts of white national and communal identities, as well as white femininity and masculinity. In the Shadow of the Black Beast signals a fresh interpretation of a literary stereotype within its social and historical context.

Fan favorite couple Rhage and Mary return in this gripping novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Nothing is as it used to be for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The slayers of the Lessening Society are stronger than ever, preying on human weakness to acquire more money, more weapons, more power. But as the Brotherhood readies for an all-out attack on them, one of their own fights a battle within himself... For Rhage—the Brother with the biggest appetites, but also the biggest heart—life was supposed to be perfect. Or at the very least, perfectly enjoyable. But he can’t understand or control the panic and insecurity that plague him. Terrified, he must reassess his priorities after suffering a mortal injury. And the answer, when it comes to him, rocks his—and his beloved Mary’s—world...

In year 851 a dark world is rising with a birth. What does the Shadows want and what have triggered this increased activity? What is the Shadow and what may the gods suddenly intervene in human choice? From 12 years and above. Now its is free!

Val receives a calling card from a very dangerous boy who wants to play with her. It's a game without rules, logic, or consequence, and he'll stop at nothing to claim her as his-even if it means destroying them both.Three years ago, Valerian Kimble got herself entangled with a burgeoning sociopath intent on adding her to his own columns of wins and losses. She managed to escape him, but at a terrible cost...This time it's personal.Now a high school senior, Val is a pale shadow of the girl she once was and still recovering from the terrible trauma she suffered at his hands. She is understandably reluctant when her friends receive mysterious invitations to a theme party being held in one of the old manor homes on the edge of town.Right away, something about the party seems off. The other guests are secretive, and strangely hostile. Cell phones don't work. Doors lock and unlock, seemingly at will. And the festivities start to take a turn for the sinister as the evening progresses. Because their host loves games. Loves them so much that he's decided to make a little wager. The deadline is sunrise. The stakes? Their lives.Let the games begin.

Masculinity Under Construction: Literary Re-Presentations of Black Masculinity in the African Diaspora analyzes Black male identity as constructed by Black male authors. In each chapter, Dr. Jefferson-James discusses a different "construction" or definition of masculine identity produced by men of African descent on the continent of Africa, in the Caribbean, and in North America. Combing through the works of James Baldwin, Chinua Achebe, Ralph Ellison, George Lamming, and other pan-African authors, Masculinity Under Construction argues for the importance of analyzing the historical context that contributed to the formation of Black male identity. Additionally, Dr. Jefferson-James draws a relationship between Black feminists and writers, such as Anna Julia Cooper and her contemporaries, and these works of literature viewed as primarily about Black masculinity.

For mankind to survive, a last-ditch attempt to destroy the ork menace must succeed. The Imperium’s attempts to defeat the ork menace seem doomed to failure; it is only a matter of time before the greenskins triumph, and mankind is wiped from the face of galactic map. Yet there is some cause for hope – the Imperial Fists Chapter is reformed, and a few Sisters of Silence yet survive. Supported by the full military might and technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines head to the orks’ home world one final time. This time there will be no retreat, no surrender. They must succeed… or die in the attempt.

Two brothers bound by more than blood fight to change a brutal destiny in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the s’Hisbe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer for years. On the run from a destiny of sexual servitude, he’s never been able to rely on anyone...except for his brother, iAm. iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing—and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Selena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around...but by then, it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due, and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating. Now Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others—or abandon the female he loves. When tragedy strikes and changes everything, iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice...

Originally published: London: Faber & Faber, 2016.

In Nancy Springer’s enthralling fourth volume of the Book of Isle, two young princes set out to destroy their own father and the pervasive evil that poisons the kingdom An epic saga set in an ageless island stronghold of magic and mystery, Nancy Springer’s Book of Isle series is considered by many to be among the most accomplished offerings in all of fantasy literature, as lyrical and inventive as the classic works of J. R. R. Tolkien. In this unforgettable novel, a violent rift in a royal house threatens to tear an entire kingdom asunder. The next in line to rule the troubled realm of Melior, Prince Tirell gave his heart to the gentle and beautiful peasant girl Mylitta. But she died at the cruel whim of Tirell’s father, the king, who insists on a more politically expedient match for his rebellious son. Since the murder of his love, Tirell’s heart has hardened, and now, with the aid of his younger brother, Frain, the healer, he seeks an army that will help him defeat the evil, unrepentant monarch. All hope for victory in the war to come awaits the brothers somewhere deep in the mysteries of the Vale, where a beautiful goddess also dwells. But a sinister presence is spreading its malevolence throughout the land—and Melior can never again be truly whole until the kingdom is rid of the terrible scourge of the Black Beast.