A dedicated policeman caught in terrifying circumstances, Captain Alexei Korolev of Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Militia may be unwavering in his outward party loyalty but he is forever conflicted about what he must do to maintain that good standing. It is 1937, and Korolev finds himself on an airplane bound for Odessa after the suspicious suicide of Maria Alexandrovna Lenskaya, a loyal young party member who supposedly had an illicit intimate relationship with the party director. His instructions are to determine if her suicide was actually a cover-up for murder, and if so, to find her killer, but under no circumstances reveal her close ties to the director. Maria was working on the set of a movie subsidized by the state, and between everyone involved in the production, her journalist boyfriend, and countless nosy locals, the pool of possible suspects is large and daunting. Korolev finds help from several quarters that are every bit as ominous as they are useful, but none of them can make up for the one important fact of his case which he cannot discuss. Moral, loyal, and also committed to justice, Captain Alexei Korolev is trapped between the demands of the party and those of the truth. As a result he is one of the most intriguing figures in crime fiction, and he makes The Darkening Field another shocking and devastatingly true-to-history thriller from William Ryan.

OVER THE LAST decade or more we have become increasingly aware of how our materialistic, energy-intensive civilization has been destroying the fragile balance of the web of life that has sustained humanity and all living beings for millennia. Yet, while spiritual teachings tell us that the events in the outer world are a reflection of changes taking place in the inner worlds, we appear to have little awareness of how this outer darkening is reflected within. This book, written between 2004 and the winter of 2012, tells the story of these inner changes that belong to our spiritual destiny and the fate of our planet. It is a witness to the darkening of the light of the sacred, reflected in our continued ecological destruction, and what this might mean to our shared destiny. With this darkening comes the danger that we may lose the opportunity for the global awakening that was possible at the beginning of the new millennium. This story of our collective destiny, however painful, needs to be heard if we are to take responsibility for the Earth and reclaim our sacred role as guardians of the planet. "I bow to the courage in this book. Here Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has allowed himself to hear the cry of the Earth. He has been brave enough to face and to feel the immensity of the loss. He has dared to share that with us and to hope we can wake up to save what's left of our world and our souls." —JOANNA MACY, Co-author, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy "I was very moved by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee's reflections." —MARY EVELYN TUCKER, Co-director, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology "... insightfully calls us to action now to avoid further devastation of our planet—of the Earth which is our home. We can no longer afford to remain in a collective trance ignoring how the Earth is responding to our behavior. Llewellyn inspires us to turn within and engage in the work needed to transform our world. This book is a gem!" —SANDRA INGERMAN, MA, author Soul Retrieval and Medicine for the Earth,

“A prescient and important book. . . . Fascinating.”—The New York Review of Books No single invention of the last half century has changed the way we live now as much as the Internet. Alexander Klimburg was a member of the generation for whom it was a utopian ideal turned reality: a place where ideas, information, and knowledge could be shared and new freedoms found and enjoyed. Two decades later, the future isn’t so bright any more: increasingly, the Internet is used as a weapon and a means of domination by states eager to exploit or curtail global connectivity in order to further their national interests. Klimburg is a leading voice in the conversation on the implications of this dangerous shift, and in The Darkening Web, he explains why we underestimate the consequences of states’ ambitions to project power in cyberspace at our peril: Not only have hacking and cyber operations fundamentally changed the nature of political conflict—ensnaring states in a struggle to maintain a precarious peace that could rapidly collapse into all-out war—but the rise of covert influencing and information warfare has enabled these same global powers to create and disseminate their own distorted versions of reality in which anything is possible. At stake are not only our personal data or the electrical grid, but the Internet as we know it today—and with it the very existence of open and democratic societies. Blending anecdote with argument, Klimburg brings us face-to-face with the range of threats the struggle for cyberspace presents, from an apocalyptic scenario of debilitated civilian infrastructure to a 1984-like erosion of privacy and freedom of expression. Focusing on different approaches to cyber-conflict in the US, Russia and China, he reveals the extent to which the battle for control of the Internet is as complex and perilous as the one surrounding nuclear weapons during the Cold War—and quite possibly as dangerous for humanity as a whole. Authoritative, thought-provoking, and compellingly argued, The Darkening Web makes clear that the debate about the different aspirations for cyberspace is nothing short of a war over our global values.

In this long awaited follow-up to the best-selling An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor explores ‘the treasures of darkness’ that the Bible speaks about. What can we learn about the ways of God when we cannot see the way ahead, are lost, alone, frightened, not in control or when the world around us seems to have descended into darkness?

In this thrilling and epic YA fantasy debut, the only hope for a city trapped in the eye of a cursed storm lies with the daughter of failed revolutionaries and a prince terrified of his throne. Vesper Vale is the daughter of revolutionaries. Failed revolutionaries. When her mother was caught by the queen’s soldiers, they gave her a choice: death by the hangman’s axe, or death by the Storm that surrounds the city and curses anyone it touches. She chose the Storm. And when the queen’s soldiers—led by a paranoid prince—catch up to Vesper’s father after twelve years on the run, Vesper will do whatever it takes to save him from sharing that fate. Even arm herself with her father’s book of dangerous experimental magic. Even infiltrate the prince’s elite squad of soldier-sorcerers. Even cheat her way into his cold heart. But when Vesper learns that there’s more to the story of her mother’s death, she’ll have to make a choice if she wants to save her city: trust the devious prince with her family’s secrets, or follow her mother’s footsteps into the Storm.

A troubled teen, living in Paris, is torn between two boys, one of whom encourages her to embrace life, while the other—dark, dangerous, and attractive—urges her to embrace her fatal flaws.

One of America's most talked-about science writers--and author of the award-winning book, Thursday's Universe--explores the phenomenon of "dark matter", the hypothesized, invisible substance that is changing our view of the universe. Photographs.

"A debut novel with a bighearted sensuality and a bull's-eye precision on a par with our best working writers today. A must-read." —Jan Elizabeth Watson, author of What Has Become of You and Asta in the Wings Good wife, good mother. That's all Claire Spruce is trying to be, but the never-ending snow in this new town and her workaholic husband are making her crazy. Even the sweet face of her toddler son can't pull her out of the dark places in her head. Feeling overwhelmed and alone, she reconnects with her long-lost high school boyfriend, Dean, who offers an intoxicating, reckless escape. But Dean's reappearance is not a coincidence. He wants something from Claire—and she soon finds that the cost of repaying an old favor may lead to the destruction of her entire life. What Burns Away is a story of loyalty, family, and the consequences of the past's inevitable collision with our future. "This novel is captivating...it moves fast, doesn't let you catch your breath, and leaves you shaken." —Sarah Braunstein, author of The Sweet Relief of Missing Children "A new mom's fiery first love is back, and he challenges all she's built for herself, revealing the fragility of suburban dreams." —Bill Roorbach, author of The Remedy for Love and Life Among Giants

Where some of Stalin's greatest crimes lie buried . . . Russia, 1937. In Moscow, Stalin's purges are reaching their darkest hour. Meanwhile Korolev, a police investigator, must travel to the bleak, battle-scarred Ukraine – scene of some of Stalin's bloodiest crimes – to look into the mysterious death of a young woman. The victim, a beautiful film production assistant, had made both powerful friends and terrible enemies . . . The second in this lauded historical crime series, William Ryan's The Bloody Meadow was shortlisted for the Ireland AM Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award.