When a resident of Hell begins to recall bits and pieces from his mortal life, he sets in motion a series of events both tragic and comic, and all in all dumbfounding.

There isn't much spectacular about Satchel Delaney. His life revolves around baseball, fishing, scholarly pursuits, and carousing with his three best friends, Felix, Vincent, and Tae. However, in the summer before they enter college, Satchel and his companions find themselves amidst a preternatural transformation in their hometown. Rumor has it a mythical bird of prey is lurking somewhere in the woods, or is it only in the dark corners of the imaginations of the town elders?

In A Brotherhood of Liberty, Dennis Patrick Halpin shifts the focus of the black freedom struggle from the Deep South to argue that Baltimore is key to understanding the trajectory of civil rights in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the 1870s and early 1880s, a dynamic group of black political leaders migrated to Baltimore from rural Virginia and Maryland. These activists, mostly former slaves who subsequently trained in the ministry, pushed Baltimore to fulfill Reconstruction's promise of racial equality. In doing so, they were part of a larger effort among African Americans to create new forms of black politics by founding churches, starting businesses, establishing community centers, and creating newspapers. Black Baltimoreans successfully challenged Jim Crow regulations on public transit, in the courts, in the voting booth, and on the streets of residential neighborhoods. They formed some of the nation's earliest civil rights organizations, including the United Mutual Brotherhood of Liberty, to define their own freedom in the period after the Civil War. Halpin shows how black Baltimoreans' successes prompted segregationists to reformulate their tactics. He examines how segregationists countered activists' victories by using Progressive Era concerns over urban order and corruption to criminalize and disenfranchise African Americans. Indeed, he argues the Progressive Era was crucial in establishing the racialized carceral state of the twentieth-century United States. Tracing the civil rights victories scored by black Baltimoreans that inspired activists throughout the nation and subsequent generations, A Brotherhood of Liberty highlights the strategies that can continue to be useful today, as well as the challenges that may be faced.

Practicing the ancient art of Akiun is punishable by death. When the warrior Jenna and her brother Hahn come to the city of Frethenia to flee from the price on their heads and start a new life, all goes well. But soon they discover a plot by the church to cover up damning knowledge, a Brotherhood of Evil that operates under the same church, and a growing connection to the Prophecy of the New Queen of Trefolk. Cast into a deadly maelstrom of assassination and intrigue, Jenna must risk revealing her true identity to save her city, her people, and her brother.

Award-winning author and poet, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is widely known for her novels, Sister of My Heart, The Mistress of Spices, The Vine of Desire and Queen of Dreams. Translated into 11 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew and Japanese, her other writings include two prize-winning short story collections, two volumes of poetry, and her novels for young children. Among the awards and citations she has are the O. Henry Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, and the American Book Award. Born in India, she currently lives in Texas where she teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

Harold is a squirrel living a happy if sheltered life in his park on New York City's Upper West Side. But when a streetwise rat persuades him to take part in an experiment, Harold suddenly finds himself without his tail fur-and without a home. Mistaken for a rat and forced out on the unfamiliar streets of New York, Harold encounters a cast of unforgettable characters, including a neurotic pigeon, a vain cat, and a tribe of hostile squirrels. But it's not until Harold discovers allies in an unusual trio of rodents that his adventures really begin. . . . By turns funny, poignant, and suspenseful, Harold's Tail will appeal to fans of Stuart Little and The Cricket in Times Square as it celebrates the courage of an unexpected hero and the resilient power of friendship

“Who saves a hero?” Julie Lawrence is a Victim’s Advocate for the Denver PD. Her job is to respond to domestic violence incidents, fires, car accidents and other tragic events where people need help dealing with their darkest moments. She has had her own share of tragedies in the past which gives her empathy and a unique insight into victims and what they need to heal and move on with their lives. But she is better at giving advice than taking it and has closed herself off from sharing her life with anyone or anything except a stray tiger-striped gray cat. Rusty Wilson is a firefighter with a reputation for working hard and playing harder. He meets Julie while he is trying to save a burning house and she is protecting a battered wife and an unborn child. He is attracted to her, but not ready to settle down. To his surprise, she resists even his most platonic attempts at developing a relationship. One day a typical call turns into a hostage situation, and Julie rushes to the scene, partly in her role of Victim’s Advocate and partly because Rusty is involved. She finally accepts his offer of friendship, and as they get to know each other better, they realize they have a lot in common. When a stalker starts playing a cat-and-mouse game with Julie, she and Rusty work together, trying to figure out which of her past domestic violence cases has created a psycho who wants revenge. In her line of work, there are a lot of people who want her dead. Julie has no idea who is trying to kill her. The warnings had started out as just creepy, but gradually turn into genuine threats on her life. Rusty provides the emotional and moral support she hadn’t realized she needed until the danger increases. Their love affair starts in the heat of passion and ends when he finds out her secrets. Someone is watching . . . and waiting. Julie has dedicated herself to saving other people. Who’s going to save her? CRIES IN THE NIGHT is Book #2 in the Denver After Dark series. AFTER MIDNIGHT is Book #1 has won several prestigious awards, including being named Best Indie Suspense Novel of 2013 and third place in the Readers’ Favorite Suspense Novel Award of 2013. Kathy Clark also writes a New Adult Romantic Suspense series (Scandals) and Young Adult Romantic Suspense novels in the CUL8R series under the pen name of Bob Kat.