Dark. Depraved. Sacrilegious.Each shocking story from these bestselling, dark authors will deform a holy sacrament into a sensually wicked taboo.There is no sanctuary, no light - only darkness - a deep, clawing horror.The blood of the innocent will be shed in a twisted perversion of all you hold dear.You will search in vain for a happy ending. This is your only warning.

When Finnish police investigator Anna Fekete's bag is stolen on holiday in the Balkan village of her birth, she is pulled into a murder investigation that becomes increasingly dangerous ... and personal. The electrifying third book in the international, bestselling Anna Fekete series. ***Shortlisted for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year*** 'Tough and powerful crime fiction' Publishers Weekly 'A gut-punch of a book' Metro 'Dark-souled but clear-eyed, Kati Hiekkapelto's edgy, powerful novels grip your throat and squeeze your heart. Addictive' A J Finn, author of The Woman in the Window –––––––––––––––––––––––– Anna Fekete returns to the Balkan village of her birth for a relaxing summer holiday. But when her bag is stolen and the thief is found dead on the banks of the river, Anna is pulled into a murder case. Her investigation leads straight to her own family and to closely guarded secrets concealing a horrendous travesty of justice that threatens them all. As layer after layer of corruption, deceit and guilt are revealed, Anna is caught up in the refugee crisis spreading across Europe. How long before everything explodes? Chilling, tense and relevant, The Exiled is an electrifying, unputdownable thriller from one of Finland's most celebrated crime writers. –––––––––––––––––––––––– 'Finnish Kati Hiekkapelto deserves her growing reputation as her individual writing identity is subtly unlike that of her colleagues' Barry Forshaw, Financial Times ' The Exiled represents the next level in creative development of both the author and her heroine. There is the subtle confident maturity: the writer who is not afraid to challenge the current political and social situation, and to rage about it in the most elegant literary manner, and the character who learns more about her roots and her personality, and ways to deal with the feeling of displacement' Crime Review 'Compelling, assured and gutsy ... a gripping and stimulating read' LoveReading 'There is something fresh and slightly subversive about Hiekkapelto's writing ... that makes the novel stand out from the pack' Doug Johnstone, Big Issue 'An edgy and insightful chiller with a raw and brooding narrative. Skilfully plotted and beautifully written, Hiekkapelto has given us an excellent and suspenseful crime novel' Craig Robertson 'A beautifully written and many-layered mystery novel that illuminates the dangers of prejudice, while still providing a major thrill ride' Mystery Scene Magazine 'A taut and provocative thriller with a raging social conscience' Eva Dolan 'A writer willing to take risks with her work' Sarah Ward 'The taut and elegance of the writing brilliantly contrasts with the grit of the subject matter' Anya Lipska

Dive into a world of witches and warriors in this action-packed historical fantasy omnibus by USA Today bestselling urban fantasy author Thea Atkinson In a world where love is something to kill for, can she find one to die for? Dive into the entire series in one massive volume. Includes the FREE first in series starter: Water Witch as well as: Blood Witch Theron's Tale Sons of Alkaia Bone Witch Breath Witch Fire Witch Return to Etlantium Alaysha has spent her life as an outsider, shunned by her own village and exploited by her father for her uncontrollable powers. Forced to be a weapon, she yearns for freedom and fears losing herself to the darkness within. When an enigmatic stranger emerges, defying her magic, Alaysha's world is turned upside down. With his captivating charm and elusive secrets, he promises to unlock the hidden truths of her past and help her harness her destructive magic. A magic that is growing too strong for her to control. Discover a world where outcasts become heroes, power is both a curse and a gift, and the choices we make shape our destiny. Will Alaysha rise above her past and rewrite her own fate, or will she succumb to the forces that seek to control her? The answers lie within the pages of this story, an epic tale of self-discovery, love, and the enduring power of hope. Fans of Kristen Cashore and Shannon Mayer will love to curl up with this binge-worthy story that delivers an epic journey of love and transformation. Join Alaysha's gripping journey and unlock the magic that lies within.

Under the Tudor monarchy, English law expanded to include the category of "treason by words." Rebecca Lemon investigates this remarkable phrase both as a legal charge and as a cultural event. English citizens, she shows, expressed competing notions of treason in opposition to the growing absolutism of the monarchy. Lemon explores the complex participation of texts by John Donne, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare in the legal and political controversies marking the Earl of Essex's 1601 rebellion and the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. Lemon suggests that the articulation of diverse ideas about treason within literary and polemical texts produced increasingly fractured conceptions of the crime of treason itself. Further, literary texts, in representing issues familiar from political polemic, helped to foster more free, less ideologically rigid, responses to the crisis of treason. As a result, such works of imagination bolstered an emerging discourse on subjects' rights. Treason by Words offers an original theory of the role of dissent and rebellion during a period of burgeoning sovereign power.

Art and money have much in common. Both are spheres of social activity that carry symbolic values. A coin is simply a piece of metal, stamped with signs to give it symbolic meaning, to give it a value, a value that changes with the vicissitudes of its economic life, or, when no longer legal tender, with its life as a collectable. A painting is a piece of canvas, stretched on a frame to make it taut, which is then covered with pigment, brushed with an image, a sign that gives it value, a value that changes with the vicissitudes of its aesthetic and symbolic life, with its commodity value. Art and money come together whenever the values of both are exchanged within a market—in trade between artist and client/patron, between dealer and customer, between competitors for social authority. These relationships of art and money are examined by a number of writers from a variety of perspectives—from different periods in history, within different cultures, and engaging with different media of art—from Renaissance Italy to Pop Art and the recent flourishing of the art of Australian Aborigines, from critiques of the market and contemporary art to the funding of art education, from an examination of the values that are being bought and sold to ways for artists to avoid an over-engagement with the money economy, and finally the relationship between art, national identity and coinage.

"Debating the Sacraments argues that Reformation debates concerning baptism and the Lord's Supper cannot be treated in isolation. It demonstrates the continuing influence of Erasmus on Luther's evangelical opponents and examines the role of printing in fanning the public controversy over the sacraments"--Provided by publisher.

This book explores the political-theological implications of sacramental desire in Fyodor Dostoevsky`s The Brothers Karamazov with Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra in critical dialogue with Henri de Lubac. Suderman demonstrates how the work of de Lubac, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche address a transcendent desire for a higher social and political unity in late-modern Western cultures and the imperialistic and coercive tendencies latent within it, concretely expressed in the Western church and the modern state. Specifically, this book investigates how Dostoevsky and Nietzsche envision new forms of political embodiment that are neither escapist nor imperialist. Through a detailed examination of Zarathustra's dramatic discovery of the eternal return and Alyosha's mystical experience of the resurrection, Suderman demonstrates the metaphysical significance of their respective political ethics. While the intent of de Lubac is to recover the social implications of the sacraments of Roman Catholicism, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky espouse alternative articulations of community and the sacramental desire necessary for such embodiment, a desire rooted in their respective perceptions of God.

A sweeping epic fantasy weaving both destiny and ancient magic in this masterful final novel in the beloved Five Warrior Angels trilogy from Brian Lee Durfee. In the age of belief, magic is a myth. But when an apocalyptic crusade comes to the remote border of Gul Kana, that belief is shattered as is the tenuous peace that held the Five Isles together. Now, the prophecies that were used to justify this war are unravelling revealing a hidden agenda while the world lies in the wake of the degradations of this war. But a slim skein of hope resides within the hidden truths, long kept secret, and scattered throughout the isles—truths less reliant upon prophecy than heroism, and great sacrifice. Not everything is as it seems in this epic, long-awaited conclusion to trilogy which Booklist raved as “high fantasy in the vein of Stephen R. Donaldson or David Eddings, with generous helpings from George R. R. Martin.”

When FBI Agent Ivy Pane is injured in the line of duty and loses the functioning of her right arm, she returns to her hometown defeated, expecting her career to be over, and haunted by memories of her missing sister. But when a local killer surfaces, Ivy soon finds herself needed by the local police force—and soon realizes she may just be the only one with a chance to stop him before he strikes again. As victims turn up in a long-abandoned tunnel system, the only clue is the scent of burning candles. Former FBI agent Ivy Pane must re-learn the skills she needs to function again—and to stop this macabre murderer before it’s too late. BROKEN LIFE (An Ivy Pane Suspense Thriller—Book 1) is the debut novel in a new series by mystery and suspense author Laura Rise. A captivating and harrowing crime thriller series featuring a complex and tormented female protagonist, the Ivy Pane series will keep you on the edge of your seat with constant action, suspense, surprise twists, and a relentless pace that will have you staying up all night to find out what happens next. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Robert Dugoni, and Rachel Caine are sure to fall in love. Future books in the series are also available!

The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick plays a significant role in the lives of many throughout the Church, but confusion over the sacrament can result in individuals not receiving this important comfort from the Church. Understanding Sacramental Healing: Anointing and Viaticum explores the rich history of the sacrament and addresses the changes that have occurred since the Second Vatican Council by providing a theological basis for the history and pastoral practice of the sacrament of the sick. Father John Kasza offers a cohesive and concise synthesis of the disciplines of theology, canon law, medicine, anthropology, and liturgy geared toward assisting the practitioner in using the ritual to the fullest extent possible. He also builds a greater appreciation of the sacrament and its part in the Church's role as healer in today's society. By recognizing the theological tradition of the sacrament of the sick, Understanding Sacramental Healing: Anointing and Viaticum becomes an incisive reflection on the current state of the sacrament that will bring all-priest sand ministers of care-to a greater understanding of the sacrament. The author examines: -The liturgical development of the sacrament in light of the Second Vatican Council. -The practical implementation of the sacrament in both parish and diocesan venues in the 40 years since the close of the Council. -The nature of illness, how illness affects someone, and how the Church responds to those suffering from an illness. -The criteria for the reception of the sacrament and how its use may be broadened.