The book tells the story about Kit Walker, son of the 20th Phantom, who will one day grow up to take over the mantle from his father and become the 21st Phantom. The book starts with Kit''s birth in the Skull Cave. Several chapters are dedicated to him growing up in the Bangalla jungle, where the readers get to see events and lessons that shape him to the man he will once become. When Kit reaches the age of 12, he travels to Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA, to receive a proper education (it is a tradition in the Phantom family that the children are sent away to their mother''s homeland for education). Kit lives with his mother''s sister and her husband in Clarksville. Kit is a brilliant student, and receives excellent grades in every subject. Kit proves to be a talented sportsman, and is predicted to become the world champion of a number of different genres (he even knocks out the boxing champion of the world in a match when the champion visits Clarksville. Kit also meets his future wife-to-be, Diana Palmer, on a Christmas party on his school. Despite being able to choose practically any career he wants, Kit faithfully returns to Bengalla to take over the role of the Phantom when he receives word from his childhood friend Guran that his father, the 20th Phantom, is dying from wounds he received in a battle with pirates trying to rob a jungle hospital.

The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks

In the beginning, Griffin, "The Man With the Plan", as his best friend Ben Slovak likes to call him, gets an idea to sleep in the old Rockford house scheduled for demolition. They then proceed to lie to their parents so they can go have a sleepover there before it gets demolished. They start snooping through the house and they come to a drawer; they open it to find an old Babe Ruth card. Wondering about it, they take it to a pawn shop owned by S. Wendell Palomino, nicknamed "Swindle"; they ask him how much Palomino would give them for the card. Palomino tells him the card is a replica and tricks them out for $120. Griffin’s parents are not doing well financially, due to Griffin’s dad''s invention, a machine that picks fruit automatically named the SmartPick. Griffin also finds out his family is going to have to sell their house to move to a more reasonably priced neighborhood. If his family had to move, Griffin would have to leave his best friend Ben behind, and he also finds out the card was actually real, and that Palomino is going to sell it for millions. Griffin, with Ben''s help, decides to make a plan to break into Palomino''s store to get the card from the safe. They break into the shop by getting in a large crate. A man that works in the store, Tom Dufferin, carries the box inside. When the boys are securely inside the shop, they discover that the safe has disappeared. To break out of the store, Griffin and Ben climb the fence, and break the alarm code using a video recording of Dufferin, as he punches the code in after he closes the shop. After the failure, he had moved the card to his house. Griffin and Ben make another plan to break into the house and steal the card back. The only problem is that they need six sixth graders to help. They recruit four in all. Logan, an actor-to-be, takes care of the suspicious neighbor of Palomino’s. Pitch is a climber, and they need her to climb up and get in from the bathroom skylight. They need Savannah, an animal lover, to calm the guard dog down, and make Melissa take care of the security system so they can get in. Suddenly, Darren, a boy who is loved by Ben and Griffin, hears about the plan to break in and blackmails them into letting him join in on the plan for some of the money. They need Swindle to get out of his house so the plan can happen and, knowing Swindle is a stealer, Griffin and Ben buy him a ticket to a New York Rangers hockey game and they "accidentally" mail it to him, faking it as a birthday card. Everyone agrees to the plan, and so it begins. On the heist night, Pitch sprains her ankle; Ben falls asleep in a bush, and they almost ruin the entire heist. Then Darren tries to take the card for himself. Only thinking of the one guard dog, they get inside to find two. After they manage the affair, they find the safe, but the card isn''t in there, so they look around the entire house until Griffin remembers from an interview where the reporter asked why the card was so cold. Griffin then ran to the freezer. However, something sets the security system on and the team hears the police coming. In shock Darren grabs the card and tries to run. When running outside, Darren loses grip and the card ends up in a tree. Griffin remembers his dad’s invention, the SmartPick, and runs home to get it. They manage to get the card and make a run for it. Luckily Griffin has a Plan B. Unfortunately; they get caught, since Pitch left the climbing harnesses. Later, Griffin goes to retrieve the card, but he is arrested by Detective Vizzini. Swindle doesn''t want to press charges (so he can avoid an investigation so he won''t risk getting in trouble when he cheated Griffin), and Winifred Rockford Bates, the last surviving member of the original Rockford family, gives the Babe Ruth baseball card to her youngest relative, Darren Vader. Ben had said earlier that Darren claimed to be related to the Rockfords. However, Griffin and Ben did not believe him donate the money, in total $974,000, making it the second most expensive collectible ever. They then have to give the card to the Cedarville Museum. In the end no one got any money from the heist, though all the talk about the heist caused Griffin''s dad to have the SmartPick patented. After that, Griffin and his family do not have any more financial problems. As of 2009, a movie deal on Swindle and Schooled (another Gordon Korman book) was made public, although not many details have gone out.

Swindle

This novel is a fictionalised biography of Charles Joseph Carter. The main character, Carter, is followed through his career, from his first encounter with magic to his last performance. Along the way he encounters many historical figures, including fellow magicians Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston, United States President Warren G. Harding, BMW founder Max Friz, the Marx Brothers, business magnate Francis Marion "Borax" Smith, the inventor of electronic television Philo Farnsworth, and San Franciscan madams Tessie Wall and Jessie Hayman. Most of the novel centres on the mysterious death of President Harding, who dies shortly after taking part in Carter''s stage show. President Harding apparently knew of many serious scandals that seemed likely to bring down the establishment and it seems certain that he was assassinated by persons and methods unknown. Much of Carter''s past is shown in the form of flashbacks as U.S. Secret Service Agent Griffin investigates the magician as a suspect. The flashbacks chart Carter''s early career including his first encounter with a magic trick, shown to him by "the tallest man alive", Joe Sullivan (also an actual, if obscure, historical figure) in a fairground sideshow, his first paid performance for Borax Smith, his rivalry with the magician "Mysterioso", his first meeting with Harry Houdini who bestows the title "Carter the Great" on him, and Carter''s marriage to Sarah Anabelle. Unbeknownst to Agent Griffin, President Harding passed a great secret to Carter: a young inventor named Philo Farnsworth has a new invention called television. Television is wanted by both the radio industry and the military and they are hunting Carter to get it. Carter must draw on all his magic to escape kidnapping and death as he seeks out the inventor. Along the way Carter meets a young blind woman with a mysterious past and encounters a deadly rival. Finally, in a magic show to end all magic shows, Carter must truly beat the devil if he is to save Farnsworth and his magical invention.

Carter Beats the Devil

Three riders arrive at the Shamesey town gates to inform border rider Guil Stuart that his partner, Aby Dale and her nighthorse Moon, were killed in a truck convoy accident on Tarmin Height. The accident, they say, was caused by a rogue nighthorse. Stuart heads up the mountain to hunt down and kill the rogue. Danny Fisher, a junior rider and friend of Stuart, follows him. Another rider, Ancel Harper, who blames Stuart for the earlier death of his brother, also pursues Stuart. With winter approaching, journeys up the mountain at this time of the year are ill-advised and dangerous. Stuart first goes to the industrial town of Anveney where he meets businessman Lew Cassivey. Dale had been working for Cassivey, and her last job, escorting the truck convoy down the mountain, included delivering a shipment of gold to him. The truck that crashed had the gold in it, and Cassivey wants Stuart to retrieve it and pays him in advance. In Tarmin village, in the highlands near Tarmin Height, 13-year old Brionne Goss responds to the <call> of a nighthorse in the Wild by going out the village gates on her own. It is a rogue nighthorse and it finds and adopts Brionne. During her absence, riders go out looking for her, and her older bothers, Carlo and Randy, are arrested in the village for the death of their father, the blacksmith. Their father had belittled and abused the boys for most of their lives and when he now accuses them of pushing Brionne out the gate, Carlo shoots him. Later Brionne and the rogue return to the village and her mother insists that the gates be opened to let her daughter in. Tarmin is then overrun by swarms of predators and scavengers and everyone in the village is killed, except for Tara Chang, a rider out of the village at the time, and the Goss brothers who are locked in jail. Fisher arrives at Tarmin to find the gates wide open! The village is decimated, but Fisher finds and frees the Goss brothers. Stuart reaches Tarmin''s gates (now closed) where he is shot at by Harper who is waiting near the gates to ambush him. Stuart retreats to a rider shelter and is later joined by Chang who is lost after the fall of Tarmin. Then the rogue with Brionne on its back arrives at the shelter. The rogue, whom Stuart recognises as Dale''s horse Moon, has found Stuart in the ambient, recognising him as Dale''s partner. Stuart tricks Moon by approaching her as a friend and then shoots the horse dead. He rescues Brionne, but the loss of "her nighthorse" causes her to slip into a coma. Stuart realises that Moon could not have died with Dale and went rogue only after her rider fell off the cliff. Moon must have sent images to the ambient of Moon and Dale together in the gorge below because that is what Moon would have wanted. What the other riders saw and reported were Moon''s sendings. Then Harper arrives at the shelter and shoots and wounds Stuart. Chang responds by shooting and killing Harper, and Harper''s nighthorse runs away, riderless and another potential rogue. Fisher and the Goss boys leave Tarmin village to search for Stuart and find him at the shelter. Because of the danger Brionne now poses if she wakes up with another rogue in the vicinity, Fisher agrees to escort her and her brothers to another village further up the mountain. Stuart and Chang remain behind in the rider shelter because Stuart cannot ride and needs to recover from his injury. :... continued in Cloud''s Rider.

Rider at the Gate

A Caress of Twilight begins a few months after the events of A Kiss of Shadows. It is December, and Merry and the Sidhe warriors she has chosen as her lovers have returned to Los Angeles, California. Merry has resumed working for the Grey Detective Agency and several of the Sidhe have also joined the payroll. Merry is approached by Maeve Reed, previously known as Conchenn before her exile from the Seelie Court and now a famous Hollywood actress. Maeve asks Merry to perform a fertility rite that will permit her to have a child by her dying human husband. In return, she tells the princess that the reason for her exile was that she had refused to become the wife of Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, because she believed he was sterile. Galen, badly injured by the demi-fey during A Kiss of Shadows, has yet to heal, despite the usually phenomenal healing abilities of a sidhe warrior. Merry approaches the Queen of the Demi-Fey, Niceven, regarding a cure. The price of the cure and an alliance is a weekly drink of Merry''s blood by a surrogate to be chosen by Niceven. During Merry''s first night in bed with Doyle, they are interrupted by Andais who reveals that the Nameless has been freed. The worst of both courts, the Nameless was the last great spell that Seelie and Unseelie had cooperated upon. They had stripped themselves of everything too awful for them to be permitted to stay in the United States, and from it had been formed the Nameless. A strange murder brings members of the Grey Agency, including Merry, to the scene. However, their presence is challenged by others of the police force and they are thrown off site. However, this is not before they have a chance to suspect that supernatural forces are at work. It is suspected that the lives had been sucked from the murder victims by the ghosts of dead gods. Nothing is said to the police, however, as the only known person to work such a spell was a sidhe and, if it were discovered, that fact could result in all sidhe being banished from the country. Healed from his injuries by Niceven''s representative, Sage, Galen acts the part of the Green Man in the fertility ritual with Merry which results in Maeve Reed becoming pregnant. It begins to become clear that Taranis is also planning something as various social secretaries insist upon Merry attending first the Yule Ball and then a feast in her honour. This culminates in a conversation between Merry and Taranis himself. Finally, the Nameless attacks Maeve Reed''s home. It is finally defeated by Merry and her companions, Merry herself showing for the first time her second Hand of Power - the Hand of Blood. The result of the destruction of the Nameless is the release of the magics which formed it; these magics transfer themselves to the victors, who begin to exhibit unforeseen side effects.

A Caress of Twilight

After having promised their mother, Layla, not to use their djinn powers without consulting her first, John and Philippa are leading pretty normal lives. When Philippa enters the Djinnverso tournament (also called Djinnversoctoannular, djinn game of bluffing with 7 astaralgi, or 8 sided dice, the of which being undermine luck) unbidden events are set into motion and she is framed as a cheater. The twins also learn that the famed book, Solomon''s Grimoire, which is in the care of Ayesha, the Blue Djinn of Babylon and the ruler of all six tribes of djinn, has been stolen. The Grimoire gives anyone who uses its spells vast control over a djinn. The twins go in search of the missing book, leading them into more danger and adventures. It turns out that Solomon''s Grimoire is not missing, but instead was being used as a trap for Philippa. Ayesha, the twins'' grandmother (whom they do not know of until the end of the book), wished to kidnap Philippa so that she would be the next Blue Djinn, as Ayesha''s life was rapidly expiring. Jockeying for her position was Mimi de Ghulle, a wicked djinn from the tribe of Ghul; however, she is having little success. John goes in search of Philippa, who is being held at the Blue Djinn''s secret palace in Babylon. The twin''s favorite uncle, Nimrod, also goes in search of an acceptable alternative to Philippa as the next Blue Djinn. The book alternates between John''s search of Philippa, told in third person narration, and Philippa''s experiences, told in first person in the form of a diary. Philippa discovers that the Blue Djinn''s powers to be beyond good and evil come from the Garden of Eden''s Tree of Logic. Slowly Philippa loses her humanity as the Tree has greater and greater effects on her. John, in his search, faces numerous obstacles in finding and reaching the palace. He is aided by two of his uncles, Alan and Neil, who were turned into dogs by his mother for attempting the murder of their brother, John and Philippa''s father, Edward, for his fortune. In addition, John attains a copy of The Bellili Scrolls, a map to the palace, and of its underground locale, Iravotum. The book climaxes when John reaches the palace and manages to rescue Philippa. However, during their traversal of Iravotum, Alan and Neil attack a large bird, called the Rukkh, that was attacking the group, biting its legs. However, the dogs did not let go, and fell to the ground, killing them. It is later revealed that Layla''s binding of the human Alan and Neil would last only as long as the physical bodies of the dogs they inhabit, leaving the human Alan and Neil alive. The twins join Nimrod and Groanin in a restaurant, called Kebabylon, in Iraq, near Iravotum. A reporter introduced earlier in the book is also present. The reporter, Montana Retch, is actually a djinn tracker hired by Mimi de Ghulle to eliminate Philippa, so that Mimi would be the only candidate for the post of Blue Djinn. After Layla appears, having been summoned by the transformation of Alan and Neil, she transforms Montana Retch into a cat, reversing her previous vow never to use djinn power again. It is revealed to the reader, but not John and Philippa, that Ayesha did not wish Philippa to be the next Blue Djinn; she wanted Layla. However, Layla had refused, prompting Ayesha to kidnap Philippa to use as a bargaining tool. As Ayesha knew she would, Layla offered herself to become the next Blue Djinn in place of Philippa; Nimrod is also privy to this due to his own conclusions. The novel ends with the children still not knowing, but as Layla knows Ayesha''s life is rapidly ending, must tell her children the reason Ayesha did not pursue them after escaping, and leave forever to assume her post as the cold hearted Blue Djinn of Babylon.

The Blue Djinn of Babylon

Based on characters created by Kix Brooks (as the alter egos of country superstars, Brooks and Dunn), The Adventures of Slim and Howdy is a comic crime novel that chronicles the exploits of a couple of gifted but undiscovered guitar pickin'', honky tonk entertainin'', country singers. It starts with a chance meeting on a used car lot in Beaumont, Texas. Slim and Howdy agree to partner up and ride together. But before they can even get out of town, they incur the undying wrath of Brushfire Boone Tate and a guy named Black Tony. A few days later they arrive in the Texas border town of Del Rio to play at the Lost and Found, a honky-tonk run by their old friend, the widow Jodie Lee. Along the way Slim and Howdy get caught up in a rigged poker game, encounter a snake handler with a do-it-yourself amputation kit, and have a run-in with Los Zetas, the deadly Mexican organized crime gang. Before it''s over, Jodie Lee gets kidnapped, suspects come crawling out of the cacti, and Slim and Howdy have to save the day.

The Adventures of Slim and Howdy

Khasakkinte Itihasam does not have a single narrative plot. It is crafted in the form of the spiritual journey of an under-graduate dropout, Ravi, plagued by the guilt of an illicit affair he had with his stepmother. Ravi abandons a bright academic career and a research offer from Princeton University. He deserts his lover Padma and leaves on a long pilgrimage, which finally brings him to the small hamlet of Khasak near Palakkad. At Khasak, he starts a single-teacher school as part of the District Board’s education initiative. The novel begins with Ravi’s arrival at Khasak and his encounters with its people, Allappicha Mollakka, Appukkili, Shivaraman Nair, Madhavan Nair, Kuppuvachan, Maimoona, Khaliyar, Aliyar, and the students of his school like Kunhamina, Karuvu, Unipparadi, Kochusuhara and others. After some years, his lover Padma calls on him and Ravi decides to leave Khasak. He commits suicide through snakebite while waiting for a bus at Koomankavu. The novel has no story-line per se. It recounts the numerous encounters of Khasak from a spiritual and philosophical bent of mind. Through these encounters, Vijayan narrates numerous stories, myths and superstitions cherished in Khasak. He places them in opposition to the scientific and rational world outside, which is now making inroads into the hamlet through Ravi''s single-teacher school. The irony of the interface between these two worlds occupies a substantial space in the novel. Through the myths and stories, Vijayan also explores similar encounters of the past recounted by the people of Khasak, enabling him to have a distinctly unique view of cultural encounters across time and space.

Khasakkinte Itihasam

Canyons is a book about two boys. One boy is named Coyote Runs (age 14) and the other boy is Brennan Cole (age 15). The story starts with Brennan making a short narrative about his life and switches back and forth from Brennan and Coyote Runs. Later in the story, the switching ends when Coyote Runs gets shot in the head during his first raid that would, if successful, will make him a man among his Apache tribe. However, he is shot by American soldiers and dies instantly. Nearly two hundred years later, Brennan finds his skull with a bullet hole in its forehead, and becomes obsessive of it. From that point on in the novel, a mystical link connects Brennan''s mind with Coyote Runs'' spirit. After talking to his old biology teacher, he runs sixty miles in a day and a night to retrieve the skull to the top of a canyon - a place Coyote Runs calls his “medicine place." After a grueling run and chased by so-called rescuers, he gets Coyote Runs'' skull back to his medicine place ending the bond and the novel.

Canyons

The book is split into three parts. The first part is Polaroids from the Dead, which is a collection of short stories inspired by a series of Grateful Dead concerts. The second is Portraits of People and Places, which is a collection of essays about people and places, including a letter to Kurt Cobain and a discussion of the Lions Gate Bridge. The last part is called “Brentwood Notebook” and is a discussion of Brentwood, California, a suburb of Los Angelus. It is also where Marilyn Monroe died, and where Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered. The first part contains ten fictional stories. They have titles like “The 1960s Are Disneyland”, and "T or F: Self-Perfection Is Attainable Within Your Lifetime." The stories focus on both young and old characters and their experiences with Grateful Dead concerts. Interspersed within the text are large, full-page images of the Polaroids that inspired the story. Other images include a picture of Sharon Tate and Charles Manson, in reference to their mention in a story. This section was originally published in a slightly different form in Spin Magazine, in April 1992. ;List of Chapters : 1. The 1960s Are Disneyland : 2. You Are Afraid of the Smell of Shit : 3. You are Exhausted by Risk : 4. T or F: Self-Perfection Is Attainable Within Your Lifetime : 5. Tinkering with Oblivion Carries Risks : 6. You Don’t Own Your Body : 7. You Fear Involuntary Sedation : 8. You Can’t Remember What you Chose to Forget : 9. Technology Will Spare Us the Tedium of Repeating history : 10. How Clear Is Your Vision of Heaven? This section includes multiple essays and letters on a variety of topics. This section is nonfiction, excluding the last story. Some essays are recollections of places and events in Coupland’s life, such as an article on the Lions Gate Bridge, or a story about a visiting German reporter. Some are told as postcard recollections of places Coupland has visited. Others are essays about people, such as a letter to Kurt Cobain. The last piece is a collection of microstories about the 1992 American election''s Super Tuesday. Many of these essays were published in other publications, such as Spin, Vancouver Magazine, Tempo, Artforum, and The New Republic. The essays appeared in slightly different forms. ;List of Chapters: : 11. Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, B.C., Canada: Originally published in Vancouver Magazine under the name “This Bridge Is Ours” : 12. The German Reporter: Originally published in Tempo : 13. Postcard from the Former East Berlin (Circus Envy) : 14. Letter to Kurt Cobain: Originally published in The Washington Post : 15. Harolding in West Vancouver: Originally published in The New Republic in February 1994 : 16. Two Postcards from the Bahamas. : 17. Postcard from Palo Alto: Originally published in The New Republic in May 1994. : 18. James Rosenquist’s F-111 (F-One Eleven): Originally published in Artforum in April 1994. : 19. Postcard from Los Almos (Acid Canyon) : Originally published in The New Republic in May 1994. : 20. Washington, D.C.: Four Microstories, Super Tuesday 1992 This part is a long extended essay discussing Brentwood, California. The essay is broken down into a chronological time periods, spanning a day from Morning, to Afternoon to Late Afternoon. The essay follows Brentwood from its inception to its notoriety with the death of Marilyn Monroe and the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It also discusses the idea of post-fame, when fame becomes a liability to the famous. The essay incorporates information off billboards and menus into its text, including interesting historical documents as well. Portions of Brentwood Notebook was published in The New Republic in December 1994.

Polaroids from the Dead

Young Matthias from Macedonia follows his two older brothers’ example and enrolls in Alexander’s cavalry together with his close friend Lygaios/Lucas (Λυγαίος in Greek). This special convoy departs from Tripoli, Lebanon and after 125 days of marching meets the rear of Alexander''s army. The hero takes part into his first battle and gets shocked by the atrocities of his adversaries and his own people as well. Noteworthy is the fact that the enemy, apart from its guerilla methods, recruits women and children to fight for their freedom. While marching, Matthias meets Shinar, an Afghan woman who, having abandoned her own people, offers her services as carrier of the Greek army’s supplies. Nanguali is the barbarian warrior’s code; its three elements are: honour, revenge and hospitality. Their women’s honour, if blackened, could be redeemed (turn back into white) only by death. Matthias stands up to Baz, Shinar’s brother, but fails to reach a compromise and is deceived by Baz, who in the end kills his sister and her baby. At the end of the story, Matthias is left with nothing – he has lost his family, friends, health and hope. Instead of returning home (his wife and son having been killed) as initially planned and having nothing to lose, he decides to follow the Greek army in its way to India. The absurdity of the war is revealed in all its grandeur.

The Afghan Campaign

Julia Piper lives alone in her London apartment after having lost her son and husband in a car crash. Julia''s relationship with her mother is not a loving one. Her mother blames Julia for the accident, and Julia blames herself. Unwilling and unable to confide in anyone about her feelings Julia keeps to herself and distances herself from her surroundings. Julia makes a living as a cleaning lady and one of her clients is Sylvester Wykes, publisher and divorcee. When they eventually meet, Sylvester immediately is fascinated by the young and unapproachable woman. But, haunted by guilt and self-reproach, Julia is not interested in entering into a relationship with Sylvester. Instead, unable to talk to anyone about her loss, Julia keeps her feelings to herself and becomes increasingly reserved and isolated. In addition to her grief, Julia is being stalked. Ever since the funeral she has been terrorized by a stranger who keeps following her and makes phone calls late at night, pushing her closer to the edge.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Story of the Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks

By Lee Falk

Swindle

By Gordon Korman

Carter Beats the Devil

By Glen David Gold

Rider at the Gate

By C. J. Cherryh

A Caress of Twilight

By Laurell K. Hamilton

The Blue Djinn of Babylon

By Philip Kerr

The Adventures of Slim and Howdy

No Author Listed

Khasakkinte Itihasam

By O. V. Vijayan

Canyons

By Gary Paulsen

Polaroids from the Dead

By Douglas Coupland

The Afghan Campaign

By Steven Pressfield

An Imaginative Experience

By Mary Wesley