For centuries, blood feeders have inhabited our nightmares and horror stories, as well as the shadowy realms of scientific knowledge. In Dark Banquet, zoologist Bill Schutt takes readers on an entertaining voyage into the world of some of nature's strangest creatures--the sanguivores. Using a sharp eye and mordant wit, Schutt makes a remarkably persuasive case that vampire bats, leeches, ticks, bed bugs, and other vampires are as deserving of our curiosity as warmer and fuzzier species are--and that many of them are even ­worthy of conservation.Schutt takes us from rural Trinidad to the jungles of Brazil to learn about some of the most reviled, misunderstood, and marvelously evolved animals on our planet: vampire bats. Only recently has fact begun to disentangle itself from fiction concerning these remarkable animals, and Schutt delves into the myths and misconceptions surrounding them. Examining the substance that sustains nature's vampires, Schutt reveals...

The Drakuls have found the Solar System! A merciless race, there is nothing left once the Drakuls have conquered a civilization except the bones of its dead. When the first Drakul exploratory ship emerged from the stargate, Earth's days became numbered. Although LCDR Shawn 'Calvin' Hobbs and the crew of the TSS Vella Gulf came back with a battleship from their last mission, it won't be enough to defend the Solar System from the Drakul menace. The Mrowry and the Terran artificial intelligences have run the numbers... and Terra has come up wanting. The crew of the Vella Gulf knows what a Drakul invasion means: the end of civilization as we know it. Can they find a way to stop the devastating onslaught of the Drakul fleet? Even their new allies, the Mrowry, think Earth's salvation is unlikely. The Earth has more enemies than it can count and no prospect of aid. In the face of extinction, Terra Stands Alone!

Cold Malice: Cold Justice Series

An unknown doomsday virus quickly claims the lives of four people across the country- including Dr. Sophia Russell, a researcher leading the team trying to crack the disease. Devastated and enraged, her fiance, Lt. Colonel Jonathan Smith, uncovers evidence that his lover's death was no accident- that someone out there has the virus, and the pandemic that threatens countless millions of lives was planned. Not knowing where to turn or whom to trust, Smith assembles a private team to aid his fight against the deadly virus. While the death toll mounts rapidly, their quest leads them to the highest levels of power and the darkest corners of the earth, as Smith and his team match wits with a determined genius out to destroy them, with the fate of the world in the balance…

Amanda Reed has been given an ultimatum: risk her life as a madman's spy or her young sister will live out her life frozen in stone, a decorative statue in a wizard's cold mansion. To free her sister, Amanda needs help, help only one man can provide...the man who betrayed her and broke her heart. Handsome scoundrel Liam Gallagher is an orphan...and one of the Others. He learned to survive by any means, without hesitation or regret. He had orders to seduce Amanda, then, against all odds, he fell in love. Now to win back her trust, he will risk everything, do anything, be anything for the woman he loves. Together, Amanda and Liam face a terrifying nightmare. But time is running short, and only if these two wounded souls learn to truly trust can they succeed...