Urban Power

Winter 1862, London. Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute, arrives on the doorstep of veterinarian John Crawford, a man she met once seven years earlier. Their brief meeting produced a child who, until now, had been presumed dead. McKee has learned that the girl lives - but that her life and soul are in mortal peril from a vampiric ghost. But this is no ordinary spirit; the bloodthirsty wraith is none other than John Polidori, the onetime physician to the mad, bad, and dangerous Romantic poet Lord Byron.

We may be living longer, but people are more socially isolated than ever before. As a result, we are hindered both mentally and physically, and many of us are looking for something concrete we can do to address problems like poverty, racism, and climate change. What if solutions could be found on your very doorstep or just two door knocks away? Cormac Russell and John McKnight offer a wealth of illustrative examples from around the world that will inspire you to explore your own community and discover its hidden treasures.

When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes.

A young man named Anodos experiences dream like adventures in Fairy Land, where he meets tree spirits, endures the presence of the overwhelming shadow, journeys to the palace of the fairy queen, and searches for the spirit of the earth. The story conveys a profound sadness and a poignant longing for death.

Mercury Rhodes and her world were utterly changed when the bombs fell, releasing the green mist. While it proved deadly to all the men who breathed it in, it gave new life to women who did the same. The green mist provided each member of her newfound family an ability: Stella’s heightened intuition, Imani’s earthly connection, Karen’s bond with Spirit, and Gemma’s healing ability. Although Mercury now has incredible physical strength, she doesn’t know if she will be strong enough for what comes next—especially after the death of Ford, their companion through the aftermath of the mist.

Ghosts can be caught, bottled, and sold by covert dealers to addicts who inhale the things - and when a young boy named Kootie accidentally inhales the ghost of Thomas Edison, he finds that all the factions of Los Angeles’s occult underground are after him, determined to kill him and get Edison’s powerful ghost for themselves. Aided by Edison’s confused and irascible ghost, Kootie flees - and finds himself dodging perils natural and supernatural in the gritty alleys and trainyards of a Los Angeles that tourists never see.

The enemy is strong. There are a lot of them, and they are pressing the attack forward. Me, I don't have enough supplies and weapons for my army. Heck, I don't even have an army to speak of. Corruption is rampant, the government is in free fall, and rioting mobs run free. Thievery is rampant to the point that even my old friend Beko is left speechless. Because it is not his own doing. But the worst of it is they want me to pull out of that unfortunate place altogether—and save face too. Because the Empire never abandons its friends, does it?

Toby Drake is faced with a crisis of conscience when a beautiful woman shows up on his doorstep, battered, bloodied, and on run from a super-powered thug. Trained as an engineer prior to The Storm, Toby makes a living fixing other people’s broken electronics, hardly something that has prepared him to go up against a super. He quickly discovers that it’s one thing to hear about villains doing bad things, but another thing entirely to come face-to-face with them.

Its light enchants the eye. Its touch corrupts flesh and soul. It seeks to spread the same fell unity that brought down the Fallen civilization. And every power on the Albeder sea conspires to claim this Fallen heirloom. Only Tristan and his Bound know the truth of the Fallen. Only they have the will to confront the source and destroy it.

The untamed north is not empty. Foreign expeditions fight for territory. Kaethlan bands struggle in opposition. Dina has succumbed to her Gift, unable to unite her people. Tristan and his Bound remember their debts. Sacred valleys devoid of life draw the Risen north, but the Kaethlans will not be left to guard their homeland alone.

For generations, a nameless man has been passed down through Cane's family - one who never seems to age, remembers the stories of old, and knows the depths of men's hearts. On the outside, Cane's family appeared to be simple fishermen. Yet when he turned 18 and his life entwined with the nameless man forever, Cane learned they were far more than he could imagine. And as they are hunted while pursuing hidden secrets, Cane's life enters turmoil, where nothing is clear.

In the wake of their Aunt Amity's suicide, Scott and Madeline Madden are summoned to Caveat, the eerie, decaying mansion in the Hollywood hills in which they were raised. But their decadent and reclusive cousins, the malicious wheelchair-bound Claimayne and his sister, Ariel, do not welcome Scott and Madeline's return to the childhood home they once shared. While Scott desperately wants to go back to their shabby South-of-Sunset lives, he cannot pry his sister away from this haunted "House of Usher in the Hollywood Hills" that is a conduit for the supernatural.

Clean water, paved roads, public transit, electricity and gas, sewers, waste processing, telecommunication, even the Internet—all this infrastructure is what makes cities work and powers our lives, often seamlessly and silently. Virtually everything we do and consume depends on infrastructure. Yet, most people have no idea how these systems work. How is water treated? How do cities manage rainwater? Why do traffic jams exist? How is electricity generated and distributed? What happens to trash after it is picked up? How does the Internet work?

Two immortal realms on brink of war. One mortal standing in their way. With the quint squaring off against the king of Slait, Lera is running out of time to tame her feral magic. Worse still, just when the quint must weave together to survive, demons from Tye’s past surface to tear them apart. Demons he fears facing, let alone sharing with Lera.

A young woman possessed by a ghost has slain the Fisher King of the West, Scott Crane. Now, temporarily freed from that malevolent spirit, she seeks to restore the King to life....

When Aria and her friends get a dangerous vision, they have only moments to act. A life is in danger and they find themselves caught up in the kind of adventure they've always wanted. But things aren't always what they seem. A split-second decision and a surprise invitation change everything, as the gang's lives are turned suddenly upside-down. They struggle to adjust to their new reality, but find that some ties are harder to break than others. Some ties should never have been made in the first place.

After discovering a cryptic clue left by her father, Rae Kerrigan finds herself facing off against an opponent she never expected: the Privy Council. The lines between "good" and "evil" are blurred once again, only this time, Rae isn't sure who's left on her side. Life in London becomes a dangerous dance - one she must navigate carefully because the stakes have never been higher.

Imperial San Francisco is the epic saga of how all great cities parasitize their hinterlands for the sake of those elites who own and run them by using the mass media at their command to shape the thought of those who unwittingly serve their interests. Using San Francisco as an example of how cities employ remote control technology to exploit water, energy, natural resources, and labor from an expansive imperium, it takes the listener from ancient Rome to the University of California’s role in the creation of nuclear weaponry and its first use.

Amid increasing hardship and limited employment options, poor urban youth are developing creative online strategies to make ends meet. Using such social media platforms as YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, they're capitalizing on the public's fascination with the ghetto and gang violence. But with what consequences? Ballad of the Bullet follows the Corner Boys, a group of 30 or so young men on Chicago's South Side who have hitched their dreams of success to the creation of "drill music" (slang for "shooting music").

Permaculture is the gardening and farming roadmap of the future. It teaches you to work with nature so that the Earth will be your ally, not your foe. It’s a must-have for every person concerned about the environment and sustainable living. It contains valuable lessons and strategies critical for the future of life on Earth.