Action Comedy

Mild-mannered sheep farmer Albert Stark is fed up with the harsh life of the American frontier, where it seems everything and anything can kill you: Duels at high noon. Barroom brawls. Poisonous snakes. Cholera-infected drinking water. Tumbleweed abrasion. Something called “toe-foot.” Even a trip to the outhouse. Yes, there are a million ways to die in the wild, wild West, and Albert plans to avoid them all. Some people think that makes him a coward. Albert calls it common sense.

Action explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.

It takes only one halfling bomb, and Offi Numminen’s world is turned upside-down - or downside-up, really, since he lives in a hole in the ground. His goth cardigans and aggressive melancholy set him apart from the other gnomes, as does his decision to fight back against their halfling oppressors. Suddenly Offi is the leader of a band of lovable misfits and outcasts - from a gryphon who would literally kill for omelets to a young dwarf herbalist who is better with bees than with his cudgel to an assertive and cheerful teen witch with a beard as long as her book of curses.

International bestselling author Jeff Kinney serves up heaps of laughs in Hot Mess, the 19th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Greg Heffley is caught in the middle as the two halves of his extended family come together in a sidesplittingly relatable summer story!

DRAGONS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN . . . I stole the Red Diamond and summoned my Dragon before it was ready. But the beast did not give me the strength I needed to straighten my broken body, make me handsome like I once was, like my mate deserves in a man. Now all I want is to burn myself to ashes, float away on the wind. But fate won't let me turn away. Won't let me give up. And you know what? Neither will she . . . Drama and madness, fire and steam, action and adventure. Sweetness with a touch of darkness. No cheating. No cliffhangers. And a guaranteed happy ending. This is dragon-love, ...

The Cooke and Hood families have been at each other’s throats since the Spanish Main days. The latest chapter in their piratic rivalry takes place in present day, when an old treasure map turns up. None of this seems to matter to Morgan Cooke, a cowardly, landlubbing accountant entirely ignorant of his heritage until his estranged father, Isaac, in need of crewmen, kidnaps him and thrusts him into the fray. When Morgan wakes up on a boat in the middle of the Caribbean, he learns that piracy still flourishes, albeit with far more discretion than in the old days—pirates disguise their ...

Hired as a tutor and nanny to Prince Maxon’s son, Fiona packs her bags and goes to a planet where the people are every color of the rainbow. But life in the palace is anything but vibrant. The prince is a jerk. A jerk her hormones crave. His sexy body and deep gaze twist her emotions in knots, but she’s not falling for him. Prince Maxon has been training for the day to take the place of his father as king since birth. Long days of weapons training, war strategizing, and politics have kept him too busy to be a good father or loving partner. He doesn’t have time for the emotions that ...

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and Trenton vice cop Joe Morelli join forces to find the madman killer who shot and barbecued the youngest son of international black-market arms dealer Alexander Ramos. Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, is caught on video just minutes before the crime occurs. He's at the scene, he's with the victim, and he's the number-one suspect. Ranger is former special forces turned soldier of fortune. He has a blue-chip stock portfolio and no known address. He moves in mysterious circles.

Isaac Hayes always gets what he wants, and Charlotte Swift has always resisted submitting to him, only to succumb to his demands to protect her in the end, because she never cared enough about anything to fight for something else. And so Isaac had his true love, polished and gleaming, like so many of his hard-earned trophies.They were content, she was safe, and Isaac was triumphant. But now that Will Furlough is in the post-apocalypse picture, Charlotte's determined to keep him there, or walk out of Isaac's perfect frame all together. Isaac doesn't want to lose her, but now that Charlotte ...

DRAGONS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN . . . Dragons don't build stuff. We break stuff. But my newest castle needs a drawbridge (since I broke the old one . . . oops) And I ain't no engineer. But when I see the curvy engineer who arrives on the scene . . . I'm ready to break stuff again. Break down her walls. Bust through her gates. Take what's mine. Mine forever. Coz last I heard, that's what fate means, right? Drama and madness, fire and heat, action and adventure. Sweetness with a touch of darkness. No cheating. No cliffhangers. And a guaranteed happy ending. This is dragon-love, Annabelle ...

She's the only one I ever wanted. And she's just become my enemy. There's a rat threatening to take down the whole club. An old business partner's been picked up by the cops and the word is out that he's going to talk. That’s where I come in. It's my job as enforcer for the Wayward Kings to make sure this guy eats a bullet before he can open his mouth. And I'm ready to prove my loyalty to the club with bullets and blood. Except I didn't count on the woman I’ve fallen for getting hired to be his lawyer. Maria. The fiery redhead I've wanted to claim for my own since the day we met. This ...

In late 2003, in his column in Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King called The Memory of Running "the best novel you won't read this year." This glowing endorsement of the audiobook resulted in Ron McLarty receiving a $2 million two-book deal from Viking Penguin. Also, Warner Brothers has shelled out big bucks for the movie rights to The Memory of Running, for which McLarty will write the script.

Gary Karkofsky is an ordinary guy with an ordinary life living in an extraordinary world. Supervillains, heroes, and monsters are a common part of the world he inhabits. Yet, after the death of his hometown's resident superhero, he gains the amazing gift of the late champion's magical cloak. Deciding he prefers to be rich rather than good, Gary embarks on a career as Merciless: The Supervillain Without Mercy. But is he evil enough to be a villain in America's most crime-ridden city?

This time Stephanie, Morelli, Ranger. Lula, Valerie, and Grandma Mazur are strapped in for the ride of their lives. Stephanie is hired to find a missing child. But things aren't always as they seem and Stephanie must determine if she's working for the right side of the law. Plus, there's the Morelli question: can a Jersey girl keep her head on straight when more than just bullets are aimed for her heart?

Verity King has a problem with her husband. He’s been turned into a frog, and contrary to opinion, that’s not an improvement. A cryptic message, a severed finger in her fridge, and no signs of forced entry make it clear to Tempest why he was called, but Mr King’s worrying transformation is just the first act. Almost before he can add up the clues, a second victim confirms the theme and Tempest finds himself up against someone performing modern retellings of the Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales … with real live human characters. Tempest also has a new partner and it’s not his old army...

Following his newfound fame for apprehending plastic surgeon to the stars and serial killer Dr. Vanderlay Mukerjee, Gary moves back into the five-million-dollar mansion he bought with his lottery winnings. What was formerly Turpentine Acres is now Kensington Gardens, an upscale community that frowns upon Gary's lawn ornaments and Confederate flag.

Max is just your average girl. She works odd jobs, has a soul-crushing amount of debt, and happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to Europe’s youngest female prime minister, Sofia Christensen. Sofia is powerful, beautiful—and unfortunately, someone is trying quite hard to assassinate her. When the CIA approaches Max with a deal, a life-changing amount of money if she pretends to be Sofia on the prime minister’s annual Italian vacation, Max packs her bags for the Amalfi Coast.

What happens after the superhero gets the girl? Nobody said being married was easy, but try being married to a superhero. Not only is there laundry, cooking, and a career to balance, but throw in a few supervillains and your day’s booked. Ariana, Victoria, and Emma’s men spend more time saving the world than doing dishes. These wives want some semblance of a normal married life, but would settle for an uninterrupted meal together. How can they compete with saving the world? When a catastrophic earthquake devastates Shadow Town and crime spirals out of control, the city needs help. ...

This is the 5th book in the delightful New Bears for the 21st Century series In The Bear on Top of the World the brave young bear and his intrepid bee accomplice travel to Arctic Norway where they encounter a polar bear supremacist movement, led by a shadowy figure. Never far from trouble in their quest to protect the honey supply, the visitors quickly get caught up in the action. Humorous reading and great escapism for all age groups above 12. A tale of fun, adventure and rollicking bear antics

After two rollicking adventures through Western literature, resourceful literary detective Thursday Next definitely needs some downtime. And what better place for a respite than in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost Plots, where all unpublished books reside? But peace and quiet remain elusive for Thursday, who soon discovers that the Well is a veritable linguistic free-for-all, where grammasites run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market, and lousy books—like the one she has taken up residence in—are scrapped for salvage.