Rebecca and Douglas (known as Becca and Doug in the books) return to their home town of Lucknow, in India, after their adventures in Operation Typhoon Shore. They continue their quest to find their parents and uncover the secrets of the Guild. They become reunited with Miss Liberty Da Vine whom they rescued from Sheng-Fat on Wenzi Island in Operation Red Jericho and travelled with aboard the Expedient in Operation Typhoon Shore. Operation Storm City is the final installment of the trilogy. From India to the desert wastes of China, Becca and Doug must follow every clue and scrap of information discovered so far in their adventures to guide them to the truth about their missing parents. Old friends join them in new alliances, for Becca and Doug know now that they must find Ur-Can the fabled machine at the very heart of the story which is hidden deep in the Taklamakan Desert - the so-called ‘Desert of Death’. They now know Ur-Can holds the answers they seek, as it was the destination of their parents’ lost expedition. But Ur-Can has fallen into the hands of a mad Russian general intent on using the machine’s colossal power for his own evil ends. Becca and Doug are tested beyond anything they have so far endured in the trilogy as they try to conclude their gruelling quest.

Operation Storm City

This novel covers the time from when Arthur Pendragon first becomes king to the time Merlin, now getting on in years, begins to lose his powers and becomes a sort of master spy to assist King Arthur as he begins the task of uniting all of Britain. Arthur is now King and hard at work establishing Camelot as the center of government and authority. A few ambitious lords from other parts of Britain have designs on Arthur''s throne, and Merlin is kept busy preventing them from doing so. Having unwisely taken Morgause(his half-sister) to his bed as a very young man after his first battle and victory, Arthur is now the father of Mordred. Merlin foresees that Mordred will be the cause of Arthur''s death, but doesn''t understand how it will happen. He spends a great deal of time traveling in disguise and observing Morgause''s scheming and intrigue. Somewhere along the line, Merlin takes on a female apprentice, Niniane. When she first appears she is disguised as a boy, and Merlin initially takes her for the reincarnation of a child he had seen some years before whom he would have chosen as apprentice, but who died unexpectedly. Niniane is not quite as gifted as Merlin himself, but he teaches her everything he knows, and they fall in love despite their age difference. As he gives her the secrets of his psychic abilities and how to control them, he seems to lose them himself. In a depleted, weakened condition, he takes ill and falls into a coma, and is believed to be dead. Niniane has him buried within the crystal cave, where he awakes some time later. He escapes after a few weeks, through a combination of chance luck and ingenious planning, and travels incognito to let Arthur know he is still alive. Niniane takes Merlin''s place as the court wizard-seer, while Merlin retires to the crystal cave and lives a quiet and happy life as a hermit, much like his old master in the first volume of the series.

The Last Enchantment

Captain Jonathan Archer and the crew of the Starship Enterprise find their way forward blocked by a mysterious alien vessel, piloted by a race they will soon come to know as the Antianna. Unable to decipher the alien ship''s transmissions, unwilling to risk a battle, Enterprise is forced to veer from its planned course. Almost immediately, they find themselves in the heart of space ruled by the Thelasian Trading Confederacy, who have also had dealings with the Antianna. The Thelasian leader, Governor Maxim Sen, is in fact in the middle of organising a war against the Antianna, to eliminate the threat they pose to the Confederacy''s trading routes. Archer suspects Sen has other motives as well. He also suspects that there is a reason for the Antianna''s seemingly hostile posture. But, with the assembled races of an entire sector against him, he needs more than just suspicions. He needs facts. And, only one woman can give them to him: Ensign Hoshi Sato. If she can translate the Antianna language, peace may just be possible. If not, war - a devastating sector-wide war - will soon result.

Rosetta

Treasure lives with her mother and her abusive stepfather, Terry, whom she hates very much. When Terry whips Treasure with his belt, scarring her forehead, her grandmother Rita puts her foot down and takes Treasure in herself, although she still has nightmares that Terry is coming to get her. India lives in the upper-class Parkfield estate with her parents and her au pair, miserable Wanda. Her father is a businessman with a terrible drinking problem, and her mother, Moya Upton is a controlling fashion designer who finds India''s weight problem particularly embarrassing. India is unpopular at school and her only friend now goes to boarding school. Her only source of comfort is rereading The Diary of Anne Frank, whom she considers her heroine. One day, after Wanda fails to collect her from school, India decides to walk home. While passing through the Latimer Estate she meets Treasure, and the two hit it off instantly. India is very taken with Treasure''s charismatic family, and Treasure is impressed by India''s posh lifestyle. Their friendship proves to be the bright spot in both of their lives, as India begins to suspect that her dad is having an affair with Wanda and Treasure receives a phone call from her mum and Terry, telling her that they are coming to take her home. To protect Treasure, Rita sends her granddaughter and the other kids out of the flat until the coast is clear. However, Treasure is spotted by Terry and has to run away where he can''t find her - to India''s house. India takes advantage of her family''s inattention to hide her friend away in her attic, where she can live "like Anne Frank". She lends the book to Treasure, who begins to idolize Anne as well. Meanwhile, word has spread around the Latimer Estate that Treasure has been abducted. Her mother and stepfather broadcast an appeal on the news, and her neighbour''s son, "Mumbly" Michael Watkins, is accused of kidnapping her. Treasure is horrified and wants to go home, knowing that her Nan is worried about her, but India does her best to convince her to stay where she is safe, all the while coping with her own problems, including her father''s alcoholism and the fact that Wanda may be pregnant. When Nan shows up at India''s school, demanding to know where Treasure is, India has no choice but to reveal their secret. Her mother is horrified, and scolds her, which results in India revealing Wanda''s secret too, out of spite. After Nan promises to keep India''s involvement in the incident quiet, and takes Treasure home, Treasure tells her Nan that she is going to tell everyone the truth about Terry. Her revelation on the news leads to a custody battle between her parents and her grandmother, which Rita eventually wins with the aid of a campaign.Treasure''s mum declares that she doesen''t want Treasure anymore because she told the truth about terry but they hug each other and Treasure sets out into her new life with Rita. In the last chapter, India discloses that her parents are getting a divorce after her father narrowly escaped arrest for embezzlement; Wanda was sent back to Australia, allegedly after terminating the pregnancy; and India is in love with her new therapist, Chris, who has encouraged her to pursue a career in psychology. Treasure, meanwhile, is still her best friend: she is now working as a model for India''s mum (Moya Upton, the clothes designer), who takes them on a photoshoot to Amsterdam at the end of the story, complete of course with a visit to Anne Frank''s attic. The sight of the book makes both girls cry; although they cannot read Dutch, India states that it wasn''t necessary as "we both know it by heart".

Secrets

Sophos, Magus''s once studious protégé, finds himself much out of his element as he and his family are ambushed in his villa. Surprising both his attackers and himself, Sophos at first succeeds in evading his attackers and hiding his mother and sisters, but is soon betrayed by his servants. Mistakenly sold into slavery, he finds himself content with manual labor and forms an unlikely camaraderie with the other slaves and workhands. However, eventually, when faced with a choice between a life of contentment or one of influence, capable of making changes much needed by Sounis, he chooses the latter, all the while wondering "if people always choose what will make them unhappy." Soon after a harrowing escape from the Baron who enslaved him, Sophos unexpectedly finds himself the King of Sounis. The state he has inherited is far from ideal. Not only is Sounis deadlocked in war with Attolia, it is also being torn from the inside by internal discontent and a civil war. With neither the monetary resources nor the man power to properly secure his throne, he is faced with several options, each with heavy consequences. Aided by the Magus, Sophos decides to turn to his old friend: Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, with whom Sophos traveled years before and who is now the King of Attolia.

A Conspiracy of Kings

Tandia, whose parents were a South African Indian man (Mr. Patel) and his house worker (a black woman), is raped by a police officer at her father''s grave the day after his funeral. With Mr. Patel''s death, Tandia knew things were going to be very hard for her. But after his wife (Mrs. Patel) kicks her out of the dark corrugated-iron shed in the back yard, her only house, her situation has been changed more drastically than she expected. She is arrested by the police and meets the policeman who brutalised her on her father''s grave and becomes her lifelong enemy, Jannie Geldenhuis. Tandia finds a home in the brothel where Geldenhuis drops her. The brothel''s owner and the other residents adopt her and she learns a lot of life lessons. Some of the clients of the brothel end up becoming her sponsors for her ambition to enter law school. While Peekay and Hymie (Morrie in the American version) go to Britain to read law at Oxford University, they want to conquer the world boxing field, Peekay as world welterweight champion and Hymie as Peekay''s manager. They also want to pursue justice for the country they love, South Africa. When they arrive back in South Africa, their rivalry with Jannie Geldenhuis, which began in the school where they first met, extends to both boxing and politics. Tandia grows up to be a smart, intelligent and very beautiful lawyer. She joins the law firm formed by Peekay and Hymie and is dedicated to providing counsel to the under-represented black and coloured population of South Africa. Her defense of a black terrorist causes her to again confront her lifelong enemy Jannie Geldenhuis who is now a powerful officer in the police force. Tandia and Peekay develop a romantic relationship, in a country where mixed relationships are outlawed. Their growing love is very dangerous and it leads them into the most fearful consequences.

Tandia

The novel is about a 15-year-old girl named Darlene Joyce (D.J.) Schwenk, who lives on a farm in Red Bend, Wisconsin. During the summer, she is pressured into training a stubborn football player named Brian Nelson. Eventually, they become friends, and D.J. develops romantic feelings for Brian. Part of DJ''s struggle is that she had once been a star athlete in volleyball and basketball. When her father hurts his hip, she had to take over all the responsibilities of running their dairy farm. Her only hopes of college had been sports scholarships, and when she is forced to quit sports in order to run the farm, she starts slacking in school. DJ''s two older brothers Win and Bill are legends at her school and both play college football. DJ decides to try out for her high school football team. When pre-season is about to start, D.J.''s best friend Amber walks in on a waterfight between D.J. and Brian. Brian leaves, and D.J. and Amber argue. Later on, D.J.''s friend Kari invites her to a gravel-pit party, which Amber attends. D.J. tells the two of them about her decision and Amber expresses her disgust. After, D.J. encounters Amber away from the rest of the party. Then Amber reveals, "You''re with me. You''re not with him. It''s the two of us. Don''t you see that?" It then occurs to D.J. that Amber is in love with her (Which is how you know that Amber is a lesbian.) DJ withholds her decision to try out for the team from Brian, and when he finally finds out their friendship is ruined because Brian feels like DJ has betrayed him. Throughout the summer, D.J. learns a lot about the people in her life. She also discovers that there is a lot of meaning in speaking out. Brian once says to her "When you don''t talk, there''s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said." DJ and her family don''t communicate effectively, her father rarely speaks to any of them except for her mother, her two older brothers are in the middle of a silent fight with her father, they have no contact with the family (until DJ finds out her mother has been communicating with them the whole time), and her younger brother speaks only when he is spoken to.

Dairy Queen

The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are all on a sailing cruise with Captain Flint in the Outer Hebrides. While the older members of the party clean the boat before returning her to the owner, the younger ones explore inland and a mysterious bird is seen nesting on an island in a loch. The question arises whether it is a Great Northern Diver, which has never been known to nest in the British Isles, or a Black-Throated Diver. Mr Jemmerling the expert they consult turns out to be a deadly enemy of the birds, as he collects birds eggs and stuffed skins of birds. Hence they try to protect the birds while gathering photographic evidence of their nesting. Complicating the matter is a misunderstanding with the local Scottish inhabitants who are mostly Gaelic speaking. As the plot involves more excitement and violence than usual, with the egg-collector attempting to shoot the rare bird of the title, some have classified this book as one of the metafictional stories in the series: a fantasy tale made up by the children themselves. The other two books generally agreed to be metafictional are Peter Duck and Missee Lee.

Great Northern?

Fred Neville, a lieutenant of cavalry and heir to the earldom of Scroope, woos and then seduces the beautiful Kate O’Hara. Kate lives with her mother in genteel poverty in an isolated cottage near the cliffs of Moher in western Ireland. News of the romantic entanglement quickly reaches Scroope Manor, and Fred is summoned back to Dorsetshire where the earl extracts a firm undertaking that Fred will not marry Kate O’Hara under any circumstances, despite any promises he has made to the girl. Once back in Ireland, Fred is confronted at his barracks by Mrs. O’Hara, demanding to know when he intends to marry her daughter, who is carrying his baby. He is shamed into agreeing to visit Kate, but that evening word arrives that the old Earl has died, and that Fred is now the Earl of Scroope. Fred realizes that marriage to Kate O’Hara is out of the question as her background would make her quite unacceptable in society. He resolves to confront Mrs. O’Hara and her unfortunate daughter. The climax of the novel takes place between the young earl and Mrs. O’Hara on the cliffs above the cottage. Whilst acknowledging the promises he made to Kate, Fred steadfastly refuses to make her Countess of Scroope. A frenzied Mrs. O’Hara attacks the lord, driving him backwards over the cliff edge to his death. Realizing she has killed the man her daughter loves, she instantly falls insane. Fred Neville’s brother, Jack, inherits the earldom and pays for Mrs. O’Hara’s incarceration in an English mental asylum where she endlessly repeats the words “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Is it not the law?”

An Eye for an Eye

The story starts with the hero, Kirill, being "erased" from daily life in present-day Moscow. Everybody forgets him (even his parents and dog), another person lives in his apartment, all IDs and files in all offices disappear. After a while he is phoned and invited to an old water tower — but inside is his future home and working place. There it is revealed to him that he is able to open doors, leading to other worlds — although at first all but one are locked. Once opened each door becomes rigidly connected to some world, but which one can''t be predicted. All of the worlds have mostly similar environments and seem to be on the planet Earth but the societies and people are different. After a while Kirill meets a special group of functionals, so called because they gained supernatural abilities making them excellent in some profession. They serve other people, but mostly other functionals. They say Kirill has become one of them — a customs officer. He benefits from taxes paid by people who pass through his tower. Also he has superhuman strength and is almost immortal, but only within 10&nbsp;km of his tower. Kirill enjoys these new worlds, people and abilities. A politician Dima meets him and asks to find a national idea for Russia. He informs Kirill about the world number One, which nobody can access and which seems to be exactly our world living 30 years later. Critical information from this world may enhance the prestige of the country. Kirill also encounters an underground, that is, a few people fighting against the ''corporate laws'' of functionals and their working for themselves or the elites of other worlds. But he remains untouched by the rhetoric of the underground, justifying most of this. Ideas of armed opposition are alien if not to say ridiculous for him. But a younger 20-aged girl who Kirril falls in love with is a genuine underground activist... The last door opened leads to the world number One: A lovely Moscow filled with smiling people: there were no Second World War and no horrors of revolution, as this world lags for 30 years and the rulers of it carefully study the mistakes of other worlds. It''s just what Dima proposed to Kirill, but applied in reverse. Upon rather bloody returning to our world, Kirill faces troubles with his girl. Hating the system of functionals, she manifests disobedience. But their laws don''t forgive this, and the functional Natalie murders her, Kirril being unable to resurrect her... :"An extreme foolishness," said I, "All these loud words and beautiful poses... ''they will not pass'', ''yet it moves'', ''motherland or death'', ''am able to die for my beliefs'' — all of this becomes nonsense when real death comes... All of this is for kids. And for adults who handle them..." :Natalie nodded with approval. :"But yet it moves" said I, "Doesn''t it? It moves, and they will not pass, and motherland remains motherland even if death becomes death, and nobody is ready to die, but sometimes it''s easier to die than to betray..." In Kirill''s fighting Natalie, his tower becomes devastated, thus he ceases being a functional and is restored to his former life. The ending of this story we will learn from the second book of the future duology.

Rough Draft

Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of workers who are part of one of the major crime families. He is the youngest son with a mother in prison for making millionaires fall in love with her, a dead father, and two older brothers who work for the nephew and current heir of one the biggest crime families in the area. Cassel''s friend Lila was the daughter of the crime lord and other possible heir, but had been killed by Cassel when they were fourteen, though he can''t remember why he did it. Cassel is the only one in his family not to have an ability. Now seventeen, Cassel finds himself sleepwalking up on the roof at his prep school, dreaming of a white cat and nearly dies getting back down. This gets him kicked out of school and the dorms until he can get a doctor''s note saying it won''t happen again, which he plans to get using a con, getting stationary and the doctor''s signature from a nearby office. His simple plan to get back into school and turn life back to normal is complicated by his brothers, who keep acting strangely around him. Cassel overhears enough of their conversations to make him suspicious that he''s being manipulated, and he goes to a fortune teller to get stone amulets to protect himself from memory alteration, which he cuts into his skin. Further investigation leads Cassel to discover that his brothers have been keeping a white cat just like the one from his dreams, but that it''s free now and has been following him around. He rescues it from the pound, certain for some reason that it''s Lila, and that he hadn''t killed her like he thought, but been manipulated by a memory worker, though he doesn''t know who. Shortly after, he discovers that one of the rocks under his skin has broken, and his second oldest brother is the memory worker. He also figures out that he is a worker after all, but his brothers have been keeping it from him to ''protect'' him. Cassel is a transformation worker, and has been changing people into everyday objects as murder and body disposal for his brothers as contract killers, then forgetting about it afterward. With this discovery, Cassel changes the white cat back into Lila, and the two plan to reunite her with her father and allow her to take back her place as heir by revealing a plan Anton has of killing her father and running the family himself. It succeeds, and things go mostly back to normal for Cassel despite his new-found ability. Lila still originally hates him for what he did, but when he arrives home from school a week later, she is waiting for him, having forgiven him. They start to make out as Cassel has always dreamed, when they are interrupted by a phone call from his mother, who has gotten out of jail and wants to tell him of her surprise: that she met Lila in New York and used her ability to make her fall madly in love with Cassel. He demands she undo it, but his mother claims she cannot, and Cassel realizes that he was a mark himself, gullible enough to believe that Lila would forgive him and love him so easily.

White Cat

Thunderball begins with a meeting between Bond and his superior, M, during which the agent is told that his latest physical assessment is poor because of excessive drinking and smoking (up to sixty cigarettes a day). M sends Bond on a two-week treatment at the Shrublands health clinic to improve his health. At the clinic Bond encounters Count Lippe, a member of the Red Lightning Tong criminal organisation from Macau. When Bond learns of the Tong connection, Lippe tries to kill him by tampering with a spinal traction machine. Bond, however, is saved by nurse Patricia Fearing and later retaliates against Lippe by trapping him in a steam bath, resulting in the Count''s second-degree burns and a week''s stay in hospital. The Prime Minister receives a communiqué from SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) explaining that the organisation has hijacked a Villiers Vindicator and seized its two nuclear bombs, which it will use to destroy two major cities unless a £100,000,000 ransom is paid. This is SPECTRE''s Plan Omega. SPECTRE is headed by criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Count Lippe was dispatched to Shrublands to oversee Giuseppe Petacchi of the Italian Air Force, at the Boscombe Down Airfield, a bomber squadron base. Although Lippe was successful, Blofeld considered him unreliable, because of his childish clash with Bond and, as a consequence, Blofeld has Lippe killed. Acting as a NATO observer of Royal Air Force procedure, Petacchi is in SPECTRE''s pay to hijack the bomber in mid-flight by killing its crew and flying it to the Bahamas. Once there, Petacchi is killed and the plane, with bombs, are taken by Emilio Largo (aka SPECTRE Number One) on board the cruiser yacht Disco Volante. The Americans and the British launch Operation Thunderball to foil SPECTRE and recover the two atomic bombs. On a hunch, M assigns Bond to the Bahamas to investigate. There, Bond meets Felix Leiter, seconded to the CIA from his usual role at Pinkertons because of the Thunderball crisis. While in Nassau, Bond meets Dominetta "Domino" Vitali, Largo''s mistress and the sister of the dead pilot Giuseppe Petacchi. She is living on board the Disco Volante and believes Largo is on a treasure hunt, although Largo makes her stay ashore while he and his partners hunt hidden treasure. After seducing her, Bond informs her that Largo killed her brother; Bond then recruits her to spy on Largo. Domino re-boards the Disco Volante with a Geiger counter to ascertain if the yacht is where the two nuclear bombs are hidden. However, she is discovered and Largo tortures her for information. Bond and Leiter alert the Thunderball war room of their suspicions of Largo and join the crew of the American nuclear submarine Manta as the ransom deadline nears. The Manta chases the Disco Volante to capture it and recover the bombs en route to the first target. An undersea battle ensues between the crews, while Bond fights Largo. Bond, now very weak from his efforts to disable the bombs, tries to get away, but Largo corners him in an underwater cave and easily overpowers him. Before Largo can finish Bond off Domino shoots him with a spear gun. The bombs are recovered and Bond is sent to hospital with Domino.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Operation Storm City

No Author Listed

The Last Enchantment

By Mary Stewart

Rosetta

No Author Listed

Secrets

By Jacqueline Wilson

A Conspiracy of Kings

By Megan Whalen Turner

Tandia

By Bryce Courtenay

Dairy Queen

No Author Listed

Great Northern?

By Arthur Ransome

An Eye for an Eye

By Anthony Trollope

Rough Draft

By Sergey Lukyanenko

White Cat

By Holly Black

Thunderball

By Ian Fleming