No one is born talented or successful. Its the hard work that makes us successful. This book is a collection of ten short stories. Each story revolves around a different face of time in life. Each character of each story faces problems but overcomes them with time. Life is just like a roller coaster. We should peacefully sit and enjoy the ride. If we panic, we may fall down. It has some ups and downs, but these ups and downs help our fear go away.

As the offspring resume life normally, it's as if they predicted the future. The Dark Realm erupts and slips into reality, plunging the world into permanent darkness. Dark portals open up all around the world, letting loose monsters from within to run rampant and create chaos. With the world turned into another apocalyptic-like state, the offspring and friends embark on another task of figuring out how to save mortal reality. New allies will join their side, and new foes will stand in their way as the offspring journey deeper into dimensions where no mortal has ventured. Reuniting with the Astrals, they learn about the past, and what made it into the present; as well as what the future holds. Gaining new friendships, strengthening the connections between relationships, and obtaining newfound abilities lie in the offsprings' path. Are they willing to make the biggest sacrifice in their life in order to save the people and their home, or is the overwhelming darkness going to consume those who matter most?

When a remote Peruvian village is reduced to ash in seconds, the Shepherds face a horrific question: Is this the work of a man-made weapon of unthinkable power, or is God raining down judgment from above, as some believe? As the recently installed leader of the Joshua Bravo team, Jedidiah Johnson shifts into covert operation mode to follow rumors of a new energy-based weapon able to incinerate a target--even a human target--with no warning. With the assistance of the CIA, Jed's team deploys to Hong Kong to extract the Chinese scientist who helped develop the weapon. What the Shepherds learn from Dr. Zhao confirms their worst fears: The weapon is real and has disappeared from the testing facility where it was held. With help from the Watchers, Jed discovers that Victor, the leader of the Dark Ones, has the weapon and intends to use it to wreak untold damage and destabilize the faith of millions. But as Jed and his team race the clock to find and disable the weapon, Victor begins to unfold secret plans for another attack . . . And this target is much closer to home.

A blizzard brings a city to a standstill and ushers in an evil that defies imagination in this gripping tale from #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. Winter gripped the city. Terror gripped it, too. They found four corpses in four days, each more hideous than the last. At first the cops thought they were dealing with a psychopath. But soon they heard eerie sounds in the ventilation system—and saw unearthly silver eyes in the snow-slashed night. In a city paralyzed by a blizzard, something watches, something stalks…

This historical epic, set in the world of 300, tells of the upsurge and decline of the Persian King's empire, and the ascent of the Grecian realm through Alexander. Written and illustrated by comics luminary and legend, Frank Miller (Sin City, The Dark Knight, 300), and colored by Alex Sinclair (Batman: The Dark Knight III: The Master Race), this companion to Miller's epic masterpiece, 300, brings the historical story of Xerxes to the graphic novel audience with grit and visual style! The ongoing Greek rebellion against Persian tyranny reaches a turning point after the destruction of the city of Sardis and the later battle of Marathon: on a military campaign to vanquish the city of Athens and silence the Greeks once and for all, Xerxes, Persian Prince, watches as his father, King Darius, falls in battle . . . The mantle of king is passed and while his newly-inherited fleet retreats toward home, Xerxes' hatred is cemented toward Athens--and his incentive to build the Persian empire is fueled. Xerxes becomes the king of all countries--the king of Persia, ruler of Zion, and Pharoah of Egypt--and his empire is unlike any the world has ever seen, until . . . The mantle is again passed, the god king dies and Darius III continues as the king of all. But then, from the west, a tiger force strikes in Asia Minor and is on a course for collision with Persian forces. This will be the beginning of the end for Persia and the launch of Alexander the Great's rise to power!

The pre-dawn arrests of the last remaining mafiosi in December 2008 signalled the end of the Sicilian Mafia as we know it. In Mafia: Inside the Dark Heart, A.G.D. Maran charts the complete history of the world's most infamous criminal organisation, from its first incarnation as an alternative form of local government in the Sicilian countryside and arguable force for 'good' to the more familiar form that has been immortalised in films such as The Godfather, and its final defeat after a long-awaited change of attitude by the Italian government. The author has used his many Italian contacts and a decade of exhaustive research to bring to life the story of the Sicilian Mafia while also exploring the links to the Cosa Nostra in America. Along the way, he asks many provocative questions, including: Why was Lucky Luciano, the father of modern organised crime, freed from a life sentence in America and deported to Italy, allowing him to organise the international drug trade? Was the Mafia involved in the death of Pope John Paul I? Why did the Mafia murder Roberto Calvi, known as God's Banker? What is the relationship between the Mafia and Freemasonry? Why did successive Italian governments fail to tackle the Mafia? Why did it take 40 years to find the Last Godfathers? These and many other riveting issues are covered in Maran's refreshing new take on a perennially enthralling subject.

This collection features the first three thrillers in The Shepherds series by Andrews & Wilson. Dark Intercept On the eve of his medical retirement, Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson receives a frantic call from his estranged childhood best friend David Yarnell, whose daughter has been kidnapped. Police have no suspects and no leads. Jed reluctantly agrees to help, but soon dark memories and strange abilities he thought he’d put behind him resurface. To save the missing girl, he must take a leap of faith and embrace gifts he’s denied for years. Dark Angel When former Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson begins training with the Shepherds, he hears whispers of a name raising fear and anger among them. After years in prison, Nicholas Woland, who betrayed the Shepherds and joined their enemies, has been freed to execute a sinister plot causing hundreds of deaths and inciting worldwide religious warfare. As Woland and the Shepherds race toward a collision, Jed must rely on his untested team, never realizing a secret servant of the enemy is growing closer to him. Dark Fall As a new Shepherds team leader, Jedidiah Johnson’s tracking rumors of an energy-based weapon able to incinerate a human target without warning. With help from the Watchers, Jed discovers the Dark Ones’ leader plans to use the weapon to wreak untold damage and destabilize the faith of millions. While Jed and his team race to find and disable the weapon, secret plans for another attack unfold . . . and this target is much closer to home.

Beginning in 1981, Richard Hodges supervised the excavation of the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, one of the great centers of Dark Age Europe, situated in spectacular mountain country in central Italy. The existence of the monastery had long been known from a twelfth-century illuminated manuscript and the excavations threw vivid light on its epic history. This richly illustrated book tells of the discoveries made by Hodges's team, with the Samnite and Roman origins of the site charted in detail, and the magnificence of the monastery's early medieval period fully elaborated. Built around a modest eighth-century monastery, the ninth-century monastic city was grandiose, remarkable for its architecture and the wealth of its artistic culture. Hodges documents the excavations of the great ninth-century abbey church of San Vincenzo Maggiore, part of the cloisters, the distinguished guests? palace, the workshops, cemeteries, and many smaller buildings. San Vincenzo, with its rich decor and opulent material culture, is revealed as a model Carolingian monastery, a unique monument to the Carolingian Renaissance in Europe. Light in the Dark Ages traces the history of San Vincenzo from the monastery's spectacular rise as a result of Charlemagne's patronage to its cataclysmic sack by Arab marauders in 881, demonstrating the relation between the treasures unearthed and their political context.

Rhys Evans Fourteen years... For fourteen years he'd lived with the certainty that they'd caught the right guy...convicted the right guy...punished the right guy. While life behind bars didn't make up for what the bastard had done, the families he'd destroyed, or the lives he'd stolen, the fact he'd died a broken, lonely man locked in a cell had been a small comfort. But now Ariel Hamilton was back-the onetime love of his life and the daughter of Dark Fall's infamous serial killer. She rolled into town with her snarky smile, furious eyes and baseless accusations of police corruption. Damn it to hell, Hamilton had been the X-factor killer, Rhys was certain of that-no matter how desperately Ariel was trying to prove him wrong. Ariel Hamilton Fourteen years... For fourteen years she'd lived with the knowledge her father had been framed, and watched him waste away in prison for crimes he hadn't committed. Nobody had believed her back then. Even Rhys, the boy she'd loved with all her heart, had walked away. It had been a hard lesson, but she'd learned it well-count on no one. Well she finally had proof of her dad's innocence. Proof that Dark Falls police department had framed an innocent man and covered it up...were still covering it up. She wasn't nineteen anymore, she wouldn't be cowed and ran out of town. She'd stay and fight to clear her father's name. Even if that meant drawing the real killer out...even if that meant making herself a target and losing a second chance with the only man she'd ever loved.