Showing results by author "S.A Matthews" in All Categories

Life is difficult for the world’s tiniest superhero. Her genius plan to save her parents from supervillainy in one easy step proved impossible - at least not without destroying the Earth. Superpowers, good or bad, aren’t going away any time soon. Mom’s as likely to hug her as trick her into a ridiculous trap, but at least, her dad’s mellowed out a bit. Lately, he seems focused more on being weird than evil.

Cops sometimes rely on hunches to guide them, but Detective Maddy Wimsey takes it a step further: Magic. August opens with the bad omen of a suicide that she suspects is more than it appears. However, before she can even start to find evidence that won't get her a date with a shrink, an even worse case walks in the door. A local nurse claims she suspects one of her co-workers of murdering patients. Unfortunately, the woman has even less evidence than Maddy's belief that a spirit is throwing people off tall buildings. However, something about the story rings too true to brush aside.

The Caro Expedition is under way, but the journey will not be without peril for the mysterious warrior and those she leads. Their goal: To plunder the secrets of Valshyr, unlock its past, and search for answers within the mist. Meanwhile, in Wyvern’s Rest, Ava has her freedom, but it may cost her more than she can bear. She and the other survivors are left battered and broken as tremors plague their helpless city, pushed to the brink as darkness infests the Outer Quarter. Put to the test, Ava will have to choose between her freedom and the city’s survival. Which will she choose?

It’s been a few weeks since the Nolmek scattered giant crystals around the world that unintentionally gave some people superpowers. They also nearly eliminated war and shared technology to solve famine, drought, and pollution, so pretty much everyone loves them. Alas, the aliens didn’t visit Earth purely out of kindness. They needed a primitive species to enslave.

Six months ago, Harper Cody stressed out over finding the right college. Now, she’ll be thrilled if she makes it to her 18th birthday. Unexpected nuclear war destroyed the world she knew, along with her dreams for a future. Violent thugs took away her parents and home, sending her fleeing into the ashes with her traumatized little sister. Following her best hope for survival, she chased a rumor of safety in the mountains.

Life in suburban New Jersey with her mother is comfortable, not to mention boring, to an introverted 14-year-old. As if her friend’s surprise trip didn’t suck enough, her best summer ever falls to pieces when she’s sent across the country to stay with a father she hasn’t seen in six years.

The feud between the capital cities of Cambridge and Sephyra has reached a boiling point, leaving the “Jewel of the Highlands” a ghost of its former glory. Those with the means to live and the will to dream have already fled the city. Those lacking remain, condemned to bury their sorrow while the walls crumble around them. Ava spends her days tethered to her prison, the belly of an old, stone inn, overlooking the docks and the familiar sea-side market. Every day, the tavern fills with the hopes and dreams of those fleeing; Ava watches them leave with the one wish…to join them.

Fifty years after the moon landings, the commercialization of space travel is finally here, but do we still know how to dream? Final Frontier recalls the heady thrill of the Apollo era and glimpses wonders yet to come. Inside, find a dozen uplifting stories of humor, tragedy, sacrifice and good old fashioned cussedness by today's award-winning authors - plus a healthy dose of optimism. All that, plus a forward by a NASA astronaut and a piece by Spider Robinson, inspired by Robert Heinlein. The Final Frontier is open for business!

For most 12-year-olds, being kidnapped is terrifying. For Althea, it’s only Tuesday. Her powers of healing make her a precious commodity in the Badlands, a place where the strong write the law in blood. For as long as she can remember, she has lived either as a possession or a goddess. Althea contents herself with captivity as long as she can help others, even those who killed to own her. After three whole months in the same village, the friendship of a young warrior makes her feel almost like a member of the tribe rather than a prisoner.

Magical forces don't always play nice. In fact, they can be downright evil. Life is going fairly well for Detective Maddy Wimsey. At 35, she's an accomplished detective, practicing Wiccan, has a wonderful relationship with her long-time boyfriend, and even a much-needed vacation after dealing with a cursed gem. Alas, her break doesn't last long. A creeping darkness interrupts the solace of the woods with a supernatural vendetta against her coven. Maddy had opened a particular can of worms looking into the past, and the entity has decided to make her a target.

From hayrides, corn mazes, Jekyll n Hyde, warped games, witches, demons, and death personified, Autumn Nights: 13 Spooky Fall Reads brings together the very best in chilling tales to hear under a harvest moon. This audiobook is for those who get excited about Halloween and crisp fall weather (and yes, even pumpkin spice lattes). Are you the type to dream of windy nights and tumbling leaves even while summer days stretch on? Do you want scary bonfire stories with doses of humor and twists on classical tales? This collection is perfect for you.

Eleven-year-old Kiera Quinn is sure she’s having a nightmare. She doesn’t believe a nap that started in her suburban bedroom ends in an empty wasteland. She doesn’t believe everyone she’s ever known may have never existed - and she definitely doesn’t believe an old man who tells her she will resurrect the world. The odd shaman clad in junk and old computer parts claims she is "the child born of the earth", humanity’s only chance to survive. Desperate and scared, Kiera humors him, hoping her bad dream ends soon.

Saving the world isn’t easy. It’s even harder when you’re only nine. Kelly Donovan used to be a nobody. Well, a smart nobody. Skipping ahead a year in school made her the smallest kid in fifth grade and a target for bullies in search of an easy mark. She tried to follow her father’s advice and ignore them, but it didn’t do any good. Escaping into her favorite comic books at least helped her through the day. Who needs friends anyway? Sometimes, dreams find a way to come true, even if nobody asked them to.

The universe holds various immutable constants: death, gravity, taxes...and the Wright family road trip. Every summer, Dad plans a vacation-by-car somewhere across the country. Lameness has increased each year, but Sarah blames that on growing older. She thought dying might get her out of going, but her father’s not about to let something that trivial put an end to the tradition. Of course, as a vampire, Sarah can’t seem to go anywhere without attracting the weird...and the deadly.

God’s will be done. After 11 years as a priest living by these words, Father Antonio Molinari never imagined who would teach his strongest lesson of faith - vampire. A case of possession brings him to the French countryside, where two local clergy offer him the chance of a lifetime...When their monster turns out to be a little girl.. he cannot bring himself to destroy her. Hunted by the Church he once served as well as the fiends he once destroyed, Father Molinari clings to his faith there is still room for him in God’s plan. But God is quiet, and the darkness tempting.

Months have passed since the incident on Titan. For Emile and the Formists, life is returning to normal now that their enemies have been dealt with. Or so they thought. On the Jovian world of Europa, a mysterious document has been released that threatens to reveal everything. The Jovian Manifesto, as it’s called, has the Outer Worlds up in arms and the Inner Worlds fearing a civil war.

A move to the small town of Spring Falls, New York, is the perfect cure for Mia Gartner’s horrid commute. However, her new home isn’t quite empty. She adored working in fine art restoration, but a two-hour ride each way got old fast. When her husband found a house for sale at a suspiciously low price, they jumped at it. Mia expected chemical contamination, a fixer-upper, or termites, so when the problem turned out to be persistent rumors of haunting, she set aside her worries.

She’s the last of her kind, the lone survivor of genocide. But Aleena doesn’t know she’s slept for 10,000 years. The Urlowens eradicated the Elven population on Earth. Now, they’ve returned to subdue the human race...But even with help, is defeat inevitable? After all, it’s not the first time the Urlowens have visited Earth.

She saw it coming. She knew it would happen - but no one believed her. Almost a year after tragedy shattered her family, 16-year-old Paige Thomas can’t break free from her guilt. Her mother ignores her, doting on her clingy little sister, while her father is a barely functioning shell. He hopes a move to the quiet little town of Shadesboro, PA, will help them heal, but Paige doesn’t believe in happiness anymore.

Brooklyn Amari knew not to get in a car with a stranger. When a man tried to lure her - she killed him. As if taking a life at the tender age of ten wasn’t bad enough, her childhood home burned to the ground two years later. She doesn’t remember how she survived, but she’s felt a pull toward the conflagration ever since. After a troubled patch in her teens, she’s become a respectable firefighter, rushing again and again into the inferno that almost killed her.