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The orcs are thirsty. And so are Captain Frank Gerber's swords, but apparently, you can't murder your customers. Stuck with a nightclub after a job gone wrong, Frank has to figure out how to rebuild something he never even wanted. That's just the first of his problems. Frank's blades will have a taste of blood again, but first, he has to party with orcs, barter with gnomes, drink with dwarves, and make shady deals with the scum of Sankta Varath, the greatest city in all of Steelheart Kingdom. And that's just the first week.

With this sharp and witty debut collection, author Kate Doyle captures precisely that time of life when so many young women are caught in between, pre-occupied by nostalgia for past relationships—with friends, roommates, siblings—while trying to move forward into an uncertain future.

Chuck Gross would like nothing more than to prune himself from his family tree. He’s already clipped his name, turning Charles Grossheart, Jr.—son of a billionaire labor exploiter, weapons manufacturer, and climate change denier—into ordinary good-guy Chuck, the “self-made” proprietor of an up-and-coming punk label. But when Daddy threatens to cut him off, Chuck is forced to get a “real job”—and conveniently, an old college friend has just swept back into his life with the perfect opportunity.

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.

Germany, 1940. While struggling to survive at an orphanage, young Didi crosses paths with a rebellious, quirky girl who will either help her escape a life of abuse and uncertainty, or lead her down an even darker path.

In the eyes of Nadine, a polygamist and serial bride, nudging her husbands into heaven is a testament to love. Even Nancy Neptune, a notorious shock jock, is gobsmacked by Nadine's so-called “Celestial Send-Offs.” Things go to hell in a hurry when Nadine offs the wrong guy and is charged with assisted suicide. Meanwhile, Blue McKenna has problems of her own. A power outage has leveled Blue's medical marijuana dispensary. Scottie Sphincter, lead singer of a band called The Rectal Surgeons, is fingered as a suspect.

Francis Foster—last of the liver-eaters, a 16th century warlock and all-around nasty piece of work—has developed an addiction to killing people. He's been doing it for 500 years or more, body-swapping left, right, and center when needs must, and starting a new serial killer's reign. But he bites off much more than he can chew when his soul-transference ritual goes wrong and he ends up in the body of a dachshund. Now that he's a dog, he can't say or do the things he needs to do to perform the magic to hijack someone else's body, and that's where Tommy comes into play.

2Was gibt‘s zum Essen?" "Nix." Paukenschlag am Eberhofer-Hof: Die Oma streikt! Nach gefühlt 2000 Kuchen und noch mehr Schweinsbraten, Semmelknödeln und Kraut beschließt die Oma, sich der familiären Fürsorge zukünftig zu entledigen. Chaos pur! Papa Eberhofer, Franz, Leopold und Susi sollen doch bitteschön endlich mal lernen, sich selbst zu versorgen. Ausgerechnet jetzt übernimmt Susi auch noch vorübergehend Niederkaltenkirchens Rathaus als stellvertretende Bürgermeisterin und reduziert mit ihrer neugewonnenen Macht Franz‘ Posten kurzum auf halbtags, damit er sich zukünftig um Sohn Pauli kümmert.

Something bad happened last night. My best friend Posey is dead. The police think it was a tragic accident. I know she was murdered. But I can’t remember a thing. I’ve woken up with the hangover from hell, a stranger in my bed, and I’ve gone viral for the worst reasons. There’s only thing stopping me from dying of shame. I need to find a killer.

Dave is one of Irwell Cars' best drivers, although his life doesn't always reflect that. A run-down office with an uncertain future, Irwell Cars isn't offering Dave much—except the chance to pine after Lind, the long-suffering radio operator and his secret crush, and panic over what will become of him if the firm closes. Add in a crucial darts match, a 'Brief Encounter' themed date night, some former school bullies and a rather difficult omelette, and Dave is beginning to feel like even his pick ups are bringing him down...

Javier Perez is a hustler from a family of hustlers. He learns from an early age how to play the game to his own advantage, how his background—murdered drug dealer dad, single cash-strapped mom, best friend serving time for gang activity—can be a key to doors he didn’t even know existed. This kind of story, molded in the right way, is just what college admissions committees are looking for, and a full academic scholarship to a prestigious university brings Javi one step closer to his dream of becoming a famous writer.

When Sally kills her husband with a cast-iron skillet, she’s more fearful of losing her kids than of disposing of a fresh corpse. That just wouldn’t be fair—not after twenty years of marriage to a truly terrible man. But Sally isn’t the only woman in town reaching the brink. Soon, Sally finds herself leading an extremely unusual self-help group, and among them there are four bodies to hide. Can they all figure out the perfect way to bury their husbands . . . and get away with it?

Stacey was trying to live her best life, but now she's dead. But why hasn't she passed on? Could it be her fatal car accident is actually murder? Detectives Ed Beaufontaine and Rose Garafino have a long list of suspects, chief among them Stacey's fiancé, Liam. His business dealings and new relationship with Emily Jackson are raising a few eyebrows. As the detectives dig deeper, so does Stacey. With nothing but time on her hands, she forensically examines her past relationships realising she might have been better off without them.

Eigentlich kennen sie sich nicht, können aber nicht aufhören, sich zu unterhalten... Lauren und Jared haben absolut nichts miteinander zu tun, obwohl sie seit Jahren auf dasselbe College gehen. Trotzdem hat sich Lauren direkt in ihn verliebt. Heimlich, still und leise – so wie Lauren wahrgenommen wird. Und dann sind da diese E-Mails, die sie sich wochenlang schreiben. Heimlich, still und leise – so wie Jared sich in Lauren verliebt. Das Problem: Er weiß nicht, dass sie die Eine für ihn ist und Lauren hat bereits die Hoffnung aufgegeben, sich ihm zu offenbaren.

Jonathan Abernathy is a loser. Unemployed, behind on his student loan payments and a self-declared failure, the only thing Abernathy has in abundance is debt. When a government loan forgiveness programme offers Abernathy a job he can literally do in his sleep, he thinks he’s found his big break. He finds himself auditing the dreams of white-collar workers, flagging their anxieties for removal so they'll be more productive. If Abernathy can appear to be competent at this new job, might he have a chance at a new life?

Squid Match: More than a mere tale of horror and carnage, this story is a powerful study in class struggles and inequality. Some Body to Love: Join Sally as she embarks on a quest to get chlamydia while helping her classmate's father secure a corpse in time for his sex doll convention . . . and maybe find love along the way. The Lepercorn: Lucy and her father are just like any working-class family trying to make an honest living scamming blind people out of hot dogs. But their lives are turned upside down when a small misunderstanding manifests as a grotesque abomination.

The night after her father's funeral, Claire meets Lucas in a bar. Lucas doesn't know it, but it's not a chance meeting. One thoughtless mistyped email has put him in the crosshairs of an extremely put-out serial killer. But before they make eye contact, before Claire lets him buy her a drink, even before she takes him home and carves him up into little pieces, something about that night is very wrong. Because someone is watching Claire. Someone who is about to discover her murderous little hobby.

Enter the wonderfully weird, always uncomfortable, side-splittingly funny world of The Terrifying Realm of the Possible, where your worst fears of who you are or might become are always just around the corner. In these masterful short stories from the singular mind of the actor and comedian Brett Gelman, you’ll meet five individuals, each navigating a uniquely strange stage of life.

Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she’s not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she’s serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. At the same time, she’s trying to forge a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters after the death of her absent father.

Sang Duri is the eldest member and “visual” of a Korean boy band at the apex of global superstardom. But when his latest solo single accidentally leads to controversy, he’s abruptly canceled. To spare the band from fallout with obsessive fans and overbearing management, Duri disappears from the public eye by hiding out in the McMansion of a Chinese American woman he meets in a Los Angeles H-Mart. But his rescuer is both unhappily married and a psychologist with a savior complex, a combination that makes their potential union seductive and incredibly problematic.