Showing results by author "Banks" in All Categories

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it....

The peace Jesus offers us is more than just words. It's healing for our hurts and calm for our troubled hearts. It's love and acceptance when others misunderstand us and push us away. It's the freedom of a new identity in Him, defined not by how good we are but by how good He is.

Princess Isabella Chastaine holds the fate of her tiny island nation in her hands. Literally. Escaping the men who murdered her parents, she flees to England with a sacred map outlining the location of ancient relic items necessary for a new ruler to ascend the throne, items buried deep within the granite caves of her homeland. Simon Rothmore, Earl of Merrick, has faithfully served the English crown since his recruitment into an elite secret agency.

The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

Emma, half human and half Syrena, and her Syrena love, Galen, need time together - alone. Away from the kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton. Emma's grandfather, the Poseidon king, suggests the two visit a small town called Neptune. Neptune is home to both Syrena and Half-Breeds alike. But Emma and Galen didn't sign up to be peacemakers between the ocean and the land-dwelling, freshwater Syrena. They didn't bargain for meeting a charming Half-Breed named Reed, who can barely disguise his feelings for Emma.

Jillian's marriage was a nightmare, the news of her husband's death an answered prayer. She refuses to bow to the ton and pretend to mourn. And her best friend, Case, will be by her side as she defies society's rules and has her first taste of freedom. Justin, eighth Duke of Whittington, is determined to save his family name from the scandal his brother Case is creating, but the lovely Jillian is not the foe he expected. Both vulnerable and vexing, he's never met another woman like her.

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Maya Banks here continues her enthralling series based around the Kelly brothers - six rugged men who make up an elite military group. When Nathan Kelly is finally rescued from behind enemy lines, he credits his life to Shea, whose psychic voice sustained his spirit through it all. But now Shea has gone silent, and Nathan fears she’s in trouble. Can he find Shea in time to repay the tremendous debt he owes her?

'Block Party', is the dope in urban fiction. This gripping narrative revolves around the protagonist, Cashmere, a man fresh out of Federal Prison, determined to reclaim his position in the streets. However, the young underlings he left back at home, have grown into men during his absence, Those young men refuse to accept his authority. Cashmere soon finds out that there's a new kingpin in control of the city. The new ruler, known as The Mayor, is ten years younger than Cashmere and rules the city with an iron fist.

Hutch, Cam, and Sawyer were juvenile delinquents when they formed a friendship with the wealthy but lonely Regina. She felt loved for the first time in her life by all three. Today she's a police officer and wary of resuming her relationship with the hot trio until an attempt is made on her life. When they jump in to protect her, an all-new bond is formed, one riskier than ever before because now a killer looms in the shadows.

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks, and military action. The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him toward his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought. The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause.

Iker Baldwin was used to making hard decisions in his line of work. For the SWAT team, it could be a matter of life or death. As a seasoned officer, protecting and serving was what he did. So when he had to decide what to do in his personal life, he chose to protect. Which meant walking away from the love of his life. In the back of his mind, he knew he had made the wrong decision.

Ending a war makes her a savior to some... but a target to others. Video-gamer Jolie Bernardo hadn't planned on ending a war when she moved to Jinla, but fate stepped in and thrust her into the path of four sexy princes. Now her dream to make a name for herself in the video game community is threatened, as Others are out for her blood. When the four princes of Jinla inadvertently forge a bond with her, it draws and binds them to one another. Unfortunately for them, it now means abandoning their chances of pursuing females to focus on keeping her alive.

It's been a year since ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly saw his wife Rachel alive. Now he's received an anonymous phone call claiming Rachel is alive. To find her, Ethan will have to doge bullets, cross a jungle, and risk falling captive to a deadly drug cartel that threatens his own demise.

Caelen McCabe's young, reckless heart nearly destroyed his clan. Now, putting family loyalty above all else, he steps up to marry his older brother's jilted bride and salvage the uneasy alliance between two clans. While beautiful Rionna McDonald is a fit wife for any man, Caelen trusts no woman, especially not this sweet temptress who torments him with white-hot longing. As the sacrificial lamb in her father's power game, Rionna will do her duty but vows to protect her heart and her pride from humiliation.

Devon Carter was her first; now newly wed Ashley wants their passion to last. But her dreams of true love are crushed by the discovery that their marriage is another of Daddy's business deals. Her strategy: act the part of perfect wife and make Devon love her. But Devon misses the bubbly, no-holds-barred woman his wife used to be. Who is this Ashley with the steely demeanor of a society wife? And will he find a way to rekindle the fire in her eyes...especially now that she's pregnant?

Have you ever been played? Most will say “yes” and just take the defeat on the chin, but not Zariah Hartfield. Life had already dealt her a bad hand, landing her in a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate who thought she was a nut-case, and who desperately tried to get away from Zariah, her odd behavior, and controlling ways. As luck would have it, Zariah hooked up with Hardy, a sexy, suave piece of eye candy who laughed her out of her panties the first night then tried to tell her to forget it ever happened the next day.

Do you have a child who has walked away from Jesus? Or have you walked away from Him yourself? Hope Lies Ahead captures the candid journey of a prodigal son’s return, written from the unique perspective of both the father who prayed and the son who struggled. Told together, their story will encourage you through the honesty of their pain and their compelling experience of God’s redemption.

Keema is back, and dirtier than ever. After oddly maneuvering her way out of the blood bath she left behind in Arizona, Keema is up to her old tricks again. Between sex, greed, and murder, it’s almost impossible to escape from the hood life she’s grown accustomed to. From one scam to the next, she finally comes up with a new hustle that rains money and is sure to give her the riches she thinks she deserves. That is until someone from her past emerges, sending her into mental shock. The stakes become high as Keema fights for her life, still with her mind on her money.

This is a striking addition to the body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks's staggering talent.

Getting her back will be the toughest deal they've ever negotiated. On the night of her fifth anniversary, Catherine Cullen-Wellesley intends to break the news to the two men in her life. She's pregnant with their child. It’ll be the perfect preamble to the vacation they've promised her: Two weeks on a Jamaican beach. No cell phones, no emails, no business. But when Logan and Rhys blow off the trip for yet another "business emergency", Catherine faces some difficult truths.