Readers of the Harry Potter series and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are sure to be mesmerized by Dan Vyleta’s thrilling blend of historical fiction and fantasy, as three young friends scratch the surface of the grown-up world to discover startling wonders—and dangerous secrets. “Dan Vyleta writes with intricacy and imagination and skillful pacing; never once would I have considered putting his book down. In the manner of both a Dickens novel and the best young adult adventure stories (the Harry Potter series among them). . .his ending, which I wouldn’t dare reveal here, is a real firecracker.”—Jennifer Senior, The New York Times Welcome to a Victorian England unlike any other you have experienced before. Here, wicked thoughts (both harmless and hate-filled) appear in the air as telltale wisps of Smoke. Young Thomas Argyle, a son of aristocracy, has been sent to an elite boarding school. Here he will be purged of Wickedness, for the wealthy do not Smoke. When he resists a sadistic headboy's temptations to Smoke, a much larger struggle beyond the school walls is revealed. Shortly thereafter, on a trip to London, Thomas and his best friend witness events that make them begin to question everything they have been taught about Smoke. And thus the adventure begins... You will travel by coach to a grand estate where secrets lurk in attic rooms and hidden laboratories; where young love blossoms; and where a tumultuous relationship between a mother and her children is the crucible in which powerful passions are kindled, and dangerous deeds must be snuffed out in a desperate race against time.

Unforgiveable betrayals, devious motives, and forbidden love collide in the first installment of internationally bestselling author Sally Green's epic new fantasy series, perfect for Game of Thrones fans. In a land tinged with magic and a bustling trade in an illicit supernatural substance, destiny will intertwine the fates of five players: A visionary princess determined to forge her own path. An idealistic solider whose heart is at odds with his duty. A streetwise hunter tracking the most dangerous prey. A charming thief with a powerful hidden identity. A loyal servant on a quest to avenge his kingdom. Their lives intersect with a stolen bottle of demon smoke. As war approaches, they must navigate a tangled web of political intrigue, shifting alliances, and forbidden love in order to uncover the dangerous truth about the strangely powerful smoke that interwines their fates.

After the death of her abusive father and loss of her beloved Ethan and their unborn child, Pattyn runs away, desperately seeking peace, as her younger sister, a sophomore in high school, also tries to put the pieces of her life back together.

Spirits expert Thad Vogler, owner of the James Beard Award–winning Bar Agricole, takes readers around the world, celebrating the vivid characters who produce hand-made spirits like rum, scotch, cognac, and mezcal. From the mountains of Mexico and the forbidden distilleries of Havana, to the wilds of Scotland and the pastoral corners of France and beyond, this adventure will change how you think about your drink. Thad Vogler is one of the most important people in the beverage industry today. He’s a man on a mission to bring “grower spirits”—spirits with provenance, made in the traditional way by individuals rather than by mass conglomerates—to the public eye, before they disappear completely. We care so much about the food we eat: how it is made, by whom, and where. Yet we are far less careful about the spirits we drink, often allowing the biggest brands with the most marketing dollars to control the narrative. In By the Smoke and the Smell, Vogler is here to set the record straight. This remarkable memoir is the first book to ask the tough questions about the booze industry: where our spirits come from, who makes them, and at what cost. By the Smoke and the Smell is also a celebration of the people and places behind the most singular, life-changing spirits on earth. Vogler takes us to Normandy, where we drink calvados with lovable Vikings; to Cuba, a country where Vogler lived for a time, and that has so much more to offer than cigars, classic cars, and mojitos; to the jagged cliffs and crystal-clear lochs of Scotland; to Northern Ireland, Oaxaca, Armagnac, Cognac, Kentucky, and California. Alternately hilarious and heartfelt, Vogler’s memoir will open your eyes to the rich world of traditional, small-scale distilling—and in the process, it will completely change the way you think about and buy spirits.

Once upon a time there was a war . . . and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neither, who wanted instead to be the Wise American, or the Good American, but who eventually came to witness himself as the Real American and finally as simply the Fucking American. That’s me. This is the story of Skip Sands—spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong—and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature. Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson’s first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date. Tree of Smoke is the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Fiction.

This book is rereleasing later in 2023 as The Empire of Shadows, Book 1 of the Raiders of the Arcana series. Nice Victorian ladies shouldn't run off to find lost Central American cities. One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job. It’s just the latest in a long line of injustices facing any brilliant female with archaeological ambitions in Victorian England. When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she's holding her chance to show the world what she's capable of—but she’s not the only one after the prize. A disgraced professor and his ruthless handler are hot on her heels, willing to go to any extreme to acquire the map for themselves. To race them through the uncharted jungles of British Honduras, Ellie needs a guide. The only one who knows the territory is maverick surveyor Adam Bates—and his determination to nose his way into Ellie's secrets makes him a dangerous partner. As Ellie and Adam navigate mysterious ruins, deadly cataracts and one seriously angry boar, she realizes more than just her ambition is at stake. There’s a deadly force lurking at the heart of the city—and if it falls into the wrong hands, it could shake the fate of the world. The Smoke Hunter is the first book in a high-stakes, rip-roaring historical adventure series perfect for fans of The Mummy and Romancing the Stone.

"Places, people, secrets and recipes!"--Cover.

Into the Smokeis a work of photojournalism and traces Tom Barry's career as a firefighter--spanning parts of four decades in FDNY--along with the forty-year effort of noted freelance photographer Michael Dick. The era covered in this book is best known in the fire service on the east coast of the United States as the War Years, the urban decay and social unrest that started in the 1960s and persisted, continually fed by arson for profit, into the 1990s. Firefighting is a truckie blindly crawling down a smoke-filled hallway, searching for victims, hoping to find them before the fire does. It is an engine operator, calling on the last ounce of strength and pushing deeper into the apartment to extinguish the fire in the rear bedroom and beat the "Red Devil" one more time. Fellowship of the firefighter Fantasies from childhood intertwine with the terror of impending death, the pain of disfigurement, the joys of success, and the comradeship and respect of their peers. Many of the fires depicted in this book predate OSHA personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements. This period was a fertile stage for innovation and development of firefighting techniques and equipment.

A SHADES OF LONDON exclusive World Book Day story On a cold night, Stephen Dene went to the Eton boathouse to perform a desperate act. But someone stopped him along the way, sending his life in a new and decidedly strange direction--leading him to London, to two new friends, and to a world of shadows and mystery.

Brought up in one of London's famed street markets, Jethro the cat burglar is as smart as he is streetwise, which is just as well, as he always needs all of his wits about him to pull off the perfect job and not get caught. After he breaks into the Soviet embassy and steals jewels belonging to the ambassador's wife, Jethro comes to the attention of His Majesty's Secret Service, who forces him to revisit the place again to retrieve a code book for them. But this is all just a set up for a thief to catch a thief, and it leads to a deadly game of cat and mouse to see who will get to Jethro first: London's gangsters, MI5, or one of the Soviet's most formidable secret agents.