Contact English

Dr. Renee Caisson knows there are worse things than an attractive man in uniform drafting her into a secret government project—especially when Major Jackson makes it clear that he isn’t bothered by her questionable past. But when her labs come back with decidedly odd results, the Major is forced to come clean over who the government is actually studying. Renee is shocked to learn her subjects are demonic-looking beings who call themselves “Neighbors”—refugees from a dying world, who arrived during the nation-wide solar eclipse.

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

A portal to a new world, or a hole in space itself? Private Cosmo Frost and his HAVOC drone are sent to investigate… But he isn’t the only one looking to pass through the portal… And humanity isn’t ready for what’s coming for them. War is a way of life on Fiona Grand. Comso Frost is a commando in the newly developed Armor Brigade. He uses specialized armor and commands a heavy weapons assault drone in combat. His girlfriend Allura Pressley is a highly decorated Bombardier in the FGAF. But no one has ever seen an enemy like the one they’ll soon be facing. And it isn’t just ...

First contact with a mysterious race of aliens reveals an unusual request; a family's pet dog comes to grips with the newly bestowed gift of human-like intelligence; a poet, in danger and alone on a distant world, makes unlikely allies; hundreds of years in the future, a famous hermit lives in the sea above the now-underwater Harvard University; former friends navigate unsteady peace between human refugees and the technologically superior race that saved them; in a future where human life can be infinitely extended through cybertronic rebirth, one woman declines immortality.

Lyla Cowan is finally feeling good about where she is. But what she is remains a yet to be answered question. Ralnor space is proving to be just as lucrative as DU space was. And just as dangerous. The Ralnor don’t like the Unruly, and they act like it’s not a problem. But Lyla can now see the cracks in the façade. But are things actually much worse than anyone will admit? Now she has a full service mercenary company at her back. Now she can face whatever comes at her with confidence. But Unruly is, as Unruly does. The Hunter Imperium Universe Is best read in this order: The Hunter ...

Alien apocalyptic fiction, a hard fought survival journey with an unexpected romance. But keep the tissues handy… you’ll need them at the end. The alien apocalypse crashed his world to take human slaves. He was middle-aged, overweight and alone. The aliens didn’t care, they came to harvest the human slaves for market. Any humans they couldn’t sell, they fed to their animals. And, people were being harvested by the millions. His hard apocalyptic survival journey started a tough march to safety and ended with a journey to test his soul. William Theodore Benson worked his way West ...

Lord Commander Grayson St. Clair has guided the Tellus Ad Astra to a part of the universe no human - and possibly no race known to man - has ever seen. Far from the worlds they know, the colony ship is on its own facing...something that seems to have no weakness. Something whose sole purpose seems to be devouring civilizations. With both time and space as enemies, St. Clair must figure out a way to explore this new corner of space, maintain military order on a mission that was supposed to be civilian, and - somehow - bring the Tellus Ad Astra back to the Milky Way.

Humans have reached the stars. There is no evidence any other species survived its own sentience long enough to do the same. Until now, when the Magellanix deep-space scout Accipiter discovers the Artifact, a million-year-old alien construct resting in a dormant volcano on a faraway world.

The lines. Mysterious yet familiar: the key to controlling every ship in the galaxy. Once they were thought of as tools, but since linesman Ean Lambert discovered strange new lines in an alien vessel, they have become so much more - symbols of a power too great to ignore.

The McCormacks have been forced to use their technology to protect their position on Earth, and have extended that to other nations as well. What will be the consequences? They’ve discovered two planets that appear to be suitable for colonization: one for the Paraxeans and one for Earth. But they need to make sure they’re really suitable.

People love easily. Look at most of your relatives or coworkers. How lovable are they? Really? Yet most have mates and children. The vast majority are still invited to family gatherings and their relatives will speak to them. Many have pets to which they are devoted. Some even call them their fur-babies. Is your dog or cat or parakeet property or family? Not in law but in your heart? Can a pet really love you back? Or is it a different affection? Are you not kind to those who feed and shelter you? But what if your dog could talk back? Would your cat speak to you kindly?

Pyre is a volatile planet. Its surface belches heat and noxious gases, forcing downsiders to inhabit domes. But Pyre's instability isn't limited to its geology. The colonists, who were marooned in the system hundreds of years ago, have endured a tumultuous history. Exploring Triton, Pyre's third moon, spacers inadvertently activate an alien dome. Nearly a year later, the Belle's bridge crew, who monitors the alien site, is alarmed, when they witness a bright blue light shoot from the dome's platform and merge with the shield.

Pyre's humans suffer multiple cultural shocks. They discovered the Messinants dome, an ancient construction that houses a quantum-coupled gate. More shocking, they find that sentient alien races utilize a network of these domes to journey between their far distant worlds in pursuit of alliance matters. If humans wish to join this elite collection of sentients, they must contribute significantly in trade, tech, or something of equal value.

Hall-of-Fame-nominated marketer and Wall Street Journal cartoonist Stu Heinecke's innovative concept of Contact Marketing - using personalized campaigns to create alliances with executive assistants and reach the elusive VIPs who can make or break a sale, with response rates as high as 100 percent - has helped professionals around the world open more doors in their careers and reach new heights of success. Now, Heinecke shares the latest tips, tools, and tactics to help listeners break through to their top accounts in the most effective ways possible.

Lyla Cowan is a force to be reckoned with. She’s tough, ruthless when she needs to be, and intolerant of bullies. While at the same time she’s making sure colonists and refugees have what they need. ‘You broke it, you bought it’ has a whole new meaning when two thirds of the galactic core is affected. She started this path as a lowly paid mercenary. Now she’s running the third largest militia in the League of Worlds. The Unbound became bound. To each other, and to the work. But the work is changing, and change begun cannot be stopped. Sometimes to continue on, you must first ...

Knocking at death’s door. Bargaining for a second chance. Seems like a heck of a way to find out about an alien invasion.... Vietnam vet Albert Jenkins is battling a bulging waistline and a passion for drink. So when a towering pile of scrap rocket parts falls and crushes the stubborn curmudgeon, he thinks it’s finally the end. But just as he’s about to take one final breath, a snarky alien parasite offers him a deal: His life in return for sharing his body.

Sent to Earth to explore, survey, collect samples and report back to its makers, an alien probe arrives in the middle of a warzone. Witnessing both the best and worst of humanity, the AI probe faces situations that go far beyond the parameters of its programming and is forced to improvise, making decisions that have repercussions for the future of our entire world.

Jake Corby saved the world. Now, he's being asked to save the universe! Corby is recovering from his last mission, enjoying life with his new family, when he’s sucked into a parallel universe with nothing but his clothes, his dog, and his eighty-three-year-old grandmother-in-law. On this version of Earth, the dinosaurs didn’t go extinct and the world is ruled by a spacefaring civilization of dinobirds. If Jake wants to return home, he’ll need to not only survive but locate the rulers of Earth so they can send him back. Worse, Corby learns that a universe collision is imminent. Unless ...

For thousands of years those of Ra have sought to teach the Law of One to seekers of truth on Earth who wished to learn of the unity or oneness of all things. This basic law of all creation is buried deep within each of our hearts because we really are one in love and in light, the building blocks of the universe. We are all manifestations of the one infinite creator. We are the creator. We are not learning this law for the first time but are remembering it yet again as all mystics have taught throughout Earth’s history.

It's 1974, and Jerry Stieglitz is a grad student in marine biology at UCLA with a side gig selling short stories to science fiction magazines, just weeks away from marrying his longtime fiancée. Then his life is upended by grim-faced men from three-letter agencies who want him to join a top-secret "Project Azorian" in the middle of the north Pacific Ocean—and they really don't take "no" for an answer. Further, they're offering enough money to solve all of his immediate problems.