The book begins a year after a worldwide sickness has infected all the adults, turning them into zombie-like creatures. The surviving children have formed a number of groups throughout London in order to better combat the threat posed by the adults and to increase their odds of survival. A young survivor named Small Sam is kidnapped by infected adults and taken away. He and several other children have made a base within the confines of a Waitrose supermarket. The other children led by a boy named Arran and his second-in-command, Maxie, have increasingly grown tired of the children being killed one-by-one. The adults are becoming smarter and as a consequence the children are being picked off more frequently. A scavenger party, composed of Arran and several other boys Achilleus, Ollie, Freak and Deke, explore a building with a swimming pool and they find a vending machine, but it turns out to be a trap. During the battle, Deke is killed and Arran is bitten by an adult woman. He becomes sick from the bite, and they only just manage to escape. Later that night a boy in a patchwork coat named Jester arrives at the gates of the building and asks for the group''s help. He tells the group he has come from Buckingham Palace, where a group of kids are based in a safe environment. He claims that if they travel there, they will all be safe as well. The majority of the group like the idea and soon set off through Camden to the palace, along with another group of kids from a Morrisons supermarket who share the same feeling. A loner named Callum decides to stay behind on his own, afraid to leave to confines of his base. Meanwhile, Small Sam awakes in a grown-up base made at Arsenal Stadium. He escapes and heads back to Waitrose to find only Callum, as the other children have left. Callum explains that the other children are headed for Buckingham Palace, and Sam sets off to catch up with them. Sam is unable to catch up with the other kids and is chased by adults into the London Underground and gets as far as King''s Cross when an older, uninfected man named Nick appears with a sawed-off shotgun and saves him. Nick has been living in the tunnels inside a train with his wife, Rachael. The couple aids Sam, but appear to have sinister motives behind it. Later Sam discovers he is chained up with 3 other children whom the couple have found, and it seems the couple are cannibals. With the help of a young boy known only as "the Kid" Sam escapes. However, Nick chases them outside but then gets infected and dies. Sam and the Kid go on, eventually making it to safety at the Tower of London, where another group of kids have taken shelter. As the Waitrose and Morrison''s group travels to Buckingham Palace they are attacked by a pack of grown-ups, led by one wearing a St. George''s Cross shirt. The children win the fight, but Arran has gone out of control because of his bite wound, and gets carried away with killing the adults. As a result he is mistaken for an adult and becomes fatally wounded by an arrow, which was shot by a girl named Sophie from another surviving group of kids. Maxie comes to Arran''s aid but he dies in her arms. The group teams up with Sophie''s group and after a few more skirmishes they eventually manage to find Buckingham Palace. The group of kids meet David King, the leader of the kids at Buckingham Palace who seems to have things well worked-out, but turns out to be hiding the truth of his plans. The Waitrose and Morrison''s group are pressured into going to a park opposite the palace to peacefully talk with a group of kids, called the "squatters," about joining them at Buckingham Palace. However, after their leader, Just John, refuses, fight breaks out. After a tough fight in which Freak dies, they capture John and take him back to the palace. John and David come to an agreement: Achilleus and Just John fight to the death over the territorial ownership of the park. They fight, and Achilleus wins and spares Just John''s life. Callum becomes overly upset at his loneliness, despite having stashed things like a music player which he hid from other kids, and becomes upset when he remembers having to kill his own mother after the epidemic. He loses hope slowly as adults led by the Saint George zombie break into the store and kill him Maxie and Ollie find that they don''t trust David because of how he acts, and his obsession with taking over London. Maxie expresses her concerns to the rest of the group and they decide to escape. David and Jester attempt to stop them, but they all manage to escape, with a girl named Brooke, who leads them to the British Museum, where there is another group of kids. Meanwhile, the Saint George zombie continues to grow smarter and to lead his army of adults through London, searching out more kids. He craves more power and destruction, and wants to kill and eat every last child he can find...

The Enemy

FBI Agent Alex Cross is on vacation in Los Angeles with his family when he receives word that a Hollywood actress has been murdered. The actress was shot and her face violently slashed with a knife. An email describing the killer''s mindset before and during the murder as well as allusions to the killer''s motivation was sent to an entertainment reporter at the Los Angeles Times. The emails are signed "Mary Smith". The actress happens to be friends with the wife of the President of the United States who has asked FBI Director Ron Burns to look into the matter. Additional victims, including a movie producer and a local TV anchorwoman, turn up later as well. As the number of incidents increases so does the number of leads. One such lead is a sighting of a blue Chevrolet Suburban speeding away from one of the murder scenes. Further investigation reveals the owner of one such Suburban who''s owner lives near the Internet cafe where many of the Mary Smith emails were sent. A variety of other evidence also corroborates the conclusion that the Suburban''s owner is, in fact, the Mary Smith killer. Cross interviews the Suburban owner. In doing so, he discovers that she suffers from some sort of psychological disorder that either lead or caused her to kill her three children 20 years ago. To investigate the killings further, Cross travels to the Suburban owner''s small hometown in Vermont and discovers that after her children were killed, she was institutionalized at a state mental hospital from which she later escaped. At the mental hospital, Cross examines the log of visitors who had come to see the Suburban owner and discovers a familiar name who then shows up and tries to silence Cross for good.

Mary, Mary

During her formative years, Tallis encounters the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (not a mythago, but real flesh and blood). Tallis sings him a song that she thinks she has made up herself, but the composer identifies its tune as that of a folk song he has collected personally in Norfolk. Slowly Tallis''s links with the wood intensify. She makes ten chthonic wooden masks, each of which represents one of the ten first legends in Ryhope wood. Within the context of the story, these masks are talismans that help to engage certain parts of her subconscious and so link her with the characters and landscapes which are forming within the wood. When properly used (especially later in the book), these masks allow Tallis to see things that cannot be seen without them, and they can also be used to create ''Hollowings'' — pathways in space and time which allow her to step into far-off places within the wood which would otherwise take days, weeks, or even months to travel to on foot. Tallis makes the masks in the following order: # The Hollower — made from elm, this female mask is painted red & white. # Gaberlungi — made from oak and painted white, this mask is known as "memory of the land". # Skogen — made from hazel and painted green, this mask is known as "shadow of the forest". # Lament — made from willow bark, this simple mask is painted gray. # Falkenna — the first of three journey masks is painted like a hawk; this mask is known as "the flight of a bird into an unknown region". # Silvering — the second of three journey masks is painted in colored circles; this mask is known as "the movement of a salmon into the rivers of an unknown region". The Silvering is also the name of a short story included in Merlin''s Wood. # Cunhaval — the third of three journey masks is made from elder wood; this mask is known as "the running of a hunting dog through the forest tracks of an unknown region". # Moondream — made from beechwood, this mask is painted with moon symbols on its face. This mask plays a prominent role in The Hollowing. # Sinisalo — made from wych elm and painted white and azure, this mask is known as "seeing the child in the land". # Morndun — this mask appears dead from the front, but alive from behind and is known as "the first journey of a ghost into an unknown region". Before setting foot in the wood, Tallis has one particular encounter that has major repercussions through the rest of the story: with the ''help'' of one of the mythagos, she ''hollows'' (creates a Hollowing) and observes Scathach, a young warrior, dying on a battlefield beneath a tree. Tallis'' misdirected magic used to help this young warrior changes both her story and Harry Keeton''s story in Ryhope wood. Deep within Ryhope wood Tallis eventually meets up with Edward Wynne-Jones (human, not mythago) who was only mentioned in Mythago Wood. He is now living in the wood as a shaman to a small village of ancient people. Through his understanding of the wood (which he studied with the scientist George Huxley from the first book), Tallis herself gains an understanding of her connections with all that surrounds her; most importantly, she asks him how she might find her lost brother Harry Keeton.

Lavondyss

The story takes place in a suburb of Chicago called Summit during the 1910s. Two hit men, Max and Al, walk into Henry''s lunch-room, which is run by George, and order something off the menu that is not available and have to settle for pork and eggs. Al goes into the kitchen and ties up Nick Adams, a recurring character in Hemingway''s stories, and Sam the black cook. Max and George soon have a conversation, which reveals that the two men are there to kill Ole Anderson, a Swedish boxer, for a "friend". Anderson never shows, so the two men leave. George sends Nick to Hirsch''s boarding house, run by Mrs. Bell, to warn Anderson about the two men. Nick finds Anderson lying in his bed with all of his clothes on. He tells Anderson what has happened. Anderson does not react, except to tell Nick not to do anything, as there is nothing that can be done. Nick leaves, goes back to the lunch-room, and informs George about Ole Anderson''s reaction. When George no longer seems concerned, Nick decides to leave town.

The Killers

Nita and Kit start to fight about the solution to the pollution in Jones Inlet, leading Nita to start to work on her own for a while. In the meantime, Nita''s mother falls ill and is taken to the hospital with a brain tumor. Meanwhile, Kit finds out that his dog, Ponch, is able to create universes out of nothing, bringing in a lot of research possibilities where they can explore. Nita begins to practice with kernels - magical "software" that describes and reflects the surrounding area- in order to try to save her mother''s life. While practicing, Nita meets a wizard named Pralaya who might be able to join her in saving her mother''s life. She then discovers that the wizard may be overshadowed by the Lone Power, making it a dangerous prospect for them to work together. She discusses it with Kit, who decides to help her as well. While her mother is in surgery, Nita enters her body with Pralaya and begins to search for the kernel in order to kill the cancer, leaving Kit behind. Kit, using the universes Ponch creates, is able to also enter Mrs. Callahan''s body to aid Nita and her mother. He helps her undo the deal she was in the process of making with the Lone Power for her mother''s life, but she is still unable to eliminate all of the cancer. As the Lone Power is gloating in his anticipated victory, Nita''s mother is able to take control of the kernel and defeat the Lone Power. She realizes that if she were to cure herself, she would be starting down a path at the end of which nothing would matter to her except extending her life, so she chooses to live out what life is left to her in love.

The Wizard''s Dilemma

As the story opens, Tamis, a sorceress, is seeing the future. She discovers that only a mixed-blood Spartan called Parmenion can help her. Parmenion is a half-blood Spartan whose mother is from Macedon. He is an accomplished runner and a strategic genius, yet he is despised by the young Spartan nobles. He is forced to kill a love rival in duel, subsequently forcing him to flee to Thebes. There, Parmenion starts a new life as a professional runner, but also gets involved with Thebian rebels attempting to overthrow the Spartan garrison now residing in the city center. This ultimately leads to an extended war between to the two city states, ending with Parmenion crushing the Spartan army, destroying the Spartan legend in the process. Some years later Parmenion is a famous mercenary general, winning battles all around Asia. He is then offered a chance to rebuild the Macedonian army by Philip II of Macedon. Later on the story describes the rise of Macedon under Philip II of Macedon and the birth of Alexander the Great. fr:Le Lion de Macédoine pl:Lew Macedonii

Lion of Macedon

Catherine, Called Birdy provides an insider''s look at the life of Catherine Rollo, 14, the daughter of a minor English nobleman. She is called "Birdy" in reference to the number of birds she keeps in her room. It could also be interpreted metaphorically, as she has been described as "a bird fighting against the bars of her cage" many times throughout the story. The year is 1290 and the vehicle for storytelling is Catherine''s diary. She looks with a clear and critical eye upon the world around her, telling of the people she knows and of the daily events in her small manor house. Much of Birdy''s energy is consumed by avoiding the various suitors her father chooses for her to marry. She sends them all packing with assorted ruses until she is almost wed to an older, unattractive man she refers to as Shaggy Beard. In the process of telling the routines of her young life, Birdy lays before readers a feast of details about medieval England. The book contains information about the food, dress, religious beliefs, manners, health, medical practices, and sanitary habits (or lack thereof) of the people of her day. From the number of fleas she kills in an evening to her herbal medicines laced with urine, Birdy tells facts about her time period. She is depicted as a feminist far ahead of her time. An afterword discusses the mind set of medieval people and concludes with a list of books to consult for further information about the period.

Catherine, Called Birdy

Teilhard views evolution as a process that leads to increasing complexity. From the cell to the thinking animal, a process of psychical concentration leads to greater consciousness. The emergence of Homo sapiens marks the beginning of a new age, as the power acquired by consciousness to turn in upon itself raises humankind to a new sphere. Borrowing Julian Huxley’s expression, Teilhard describes humankind as evolution becoming conscious of itself. In Teilhard''s conception of the evolution of the species, a collective identity begins to develop as trade and the transmission of ideas increases. Knowledge accumulates and is transmitted in increasing levels of depth and complexity. This leads to a further augmentation of consciousness and the emergence of a thinking layer that envelops the earth. Teilhard calls the new membrane the “noosphere” (from the Greek “nous,” meaning mind), a term first coined by Vladimir Vernadsky. The noosphere is the Collective consciousness of humanity, the networks of thought and emotion in which all are immersed. The development of science and technology causes an expansion of the human sphere of influence, allowing a person to be simultaneously present in every corner of the world. Teilhard argues that humanity has thus become cosmopolitan, stretching a single organized membrane over the Earth. Teilhard describes the process by which this happens as a “gigantic psychobiological operation, a sort of mega-synthesis, the “super-arrangement” to which all the thinking elements of the earth find themselves today individually and collectively subject.” The rapid expansion of the noosphere requires a new domain of psychical expansion, which “is staring us in the face if we would only raise our heads to look at it.” In Teilhard’s view, evolution will culminate in the Omega Point, a sort of supreme consciousness. Layers of consciousness will converge in Omega, fusing and consuming them in itself. The concentration of a conscious universe will reassemble in itself all consciousnesses as well as all that we are conscious of. Teilhard emphasizes that each individual facet of consciousness will remain conscious of itself at the end of the process.

The Phenomenon of Man

Dexter Morgan is a serial killer trained by his adopted father, a police detective, to channel his murderous urges through vigilantism, only killing other killers. The source of Dexter''s blood lust and investigative prowess is a voice in his mind that he calls the "Dark Passenger". At the start of the novel, Dexter, a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, investigates a double homicide at the University of Miami campus. Two female students are found burned and beheaded. Their heads are replaced by the ceramic heads of bulls. Something about this murder uncharacteristically frightens the Dark Passenger into silence, leaving Dexter to solve the crime on his own. As a series of similar murders takes place, members of a mysterious cult begin stalking Dexter, believing his Dark Passenger to be a threat to them. Dexter soon begins to question the dark voice that has been with him all his life, as he slowly realizes that his Dark Passenger is a true entity unto itself, possibly an offspring of the ancient god Moloch. While attempting to dispatch a killer who had been stalking him, Dexter becomes frightened and is unable to go through with the deed. He soon realizes that the Dark Passenger had given him an unusual amount of confidence and an almost supernatural awareness of the world around him; now that it is gone, he feels vulnerable for the first time in his life. As the novel progresses, Dexter begins to develop emotions that were once suppressed by the Dark Passenger, mainly those of sadness and anger. While missing the helpful clues and hints of the Dark Passenger, Dexter feeds off of his newfound emotions to find some balance in his life and to solve the mystery unfolding around him. The story also concerns the training of Cody and Astor Bennett, Dexter''s soon-to-be stepchildren. Traumatized by their abusive father, they have developed homicidal tendencies similar to Dexter''s. Dexter intends to teach them the "Code of Harry", which his own adoptive father used to help him hide his dark nature and blend in with normal people. Cody and Astor are eager to learn, but Dexter informs them that they are not ready yet, and still have years of training left before they are able to inflict any real human suffering. The novel concludes as the Cult of Moloch kidnaps Astor and Cody, thereby forcing Dexter to engage them head-on. However, the cult soon captures Dexter through a supernatural captivation of music. Though confined in a small concrete storage closet, Dexter escapes and encounters an old man who is the current avatar of Moloch. Though Dexter is instantly humbled and frightened of Moloch, he continuously mocks the malignant spirit, which in turn entrances him and the children and orders them to be sacrificed in a flaming pit. Dexter remains in a trance until his pant leg catches on fire; the pain of the burns snaps him out of it, and he opens fire on the cult members. A final showdown pits an armed Dexter against Moloch, who is clutching Astor and threatening to kill her. In a stalemate, Dexter is hesitant to act until Moloch reaches for his ceremonial knife only to find it missing; and then shudders to a halt and falls over with the knife lodged squarely in his back. Cody stands behind him holding Moloch''s knife, saying, "I told you I was ready." Dexter laments that having killed at such an early age, Cody''s journey will now be more difficult. Weeks pass, and Dexter is left alone to accept life without his Dark Passenger. At his wedding, Dexter falls into a fit of despair as he thinks about how painful his life is going to be in its banality. Just then, the Passenger comes back to him, brought on by Dexter''s immense suffering, and he is made whole again in the final paragraphs of the novel. This is the first of Jeff Lindsay''s "Dexter" series not narrated exclusively in the first-person point of view. Along with Dexter''s first-person narration, the novel also includes third person narration from two other points of view. One is a person called the Watcher, a member of the cult that follows and observes Dexter. The other is a mythical, godlike entity called "IT" (revealed to be Moloch) which has existed since the beginning of time and is similar in various ways to the Dark Passenger. IT takes great pleasure in entering creatures as a "passenger" and making them kill other creatures, and works to create other murderous entities similar to itself, but soon turns against many of them, causing them to flee. IT and its offspring go to war, with IT being victorious. Some of IT''s remaining children stay in hiding, fearing IT''s power.

Dexter in the Dark

:Note on names: Throughout the novel Rupert Brooke is referred to as Brooke and Nell Golightly is referred to as Nell. That convention is maintained here. The prelude of the novel begins with a 1982 letter from the elderly daughter of Rupert Brooke by a Tahitian women to Nell Golightly, asking Nell to help the daughter better understand her father. Nell responds, including a narrative of the time spent by Brooke at The Orchard in Grantchester from 1909 until his retreat in Tahiti in 1914, which becomes the rest of the novel. Nell''s story alternates between the perspectives of Nell Golightly, a seventeen-year-old girl, and the poet Rupert Brooke. The novel begins as Nell''s father dies while tending to the family''s bee hives. Because she is the oldest child and her mother is long dead, Nell Golightly decides finds a job as a maid at The Orchard, a boarding house and tea room outside of Cambridge which caters to the students at the University there. There she, along with several other young women, serves guests and cleans the facilities. She also helps a local beekeeper tend his hives. Soon after Nell begins working at The Orchard, Rupert Brooke becomes a resident. As he enjoys his summer working on papers for Cambridge societies and composing his poetry, Brooke leads a social life flirting with various women and enjoying the company of artists and other students. Brooke soon lusts for Nell, and his increased interest in her leads to unconventional encounters. They develop a friendship in which both Nell and Brooke hold secret admiration and love for the other, but are unable to express it because of social conventions. Brooke also desires to lose his virginity because he feels that being a virgin is disgraceful. Because he cannot convince Nell or any of several other women to succumb to his wooing, he loses it in a homosexual encounter with a boyhood friend, Denham Russell-Smith. After the encounter, Brooke returns home to comfort his mother at his father''s death bed. After his father''s death, though Brooke desires to return to the Orchard, Brooke is forced to stay at the school where his father worked as headmaster, retaining the post until the end of the school year. After a brief period, Brooke returns to The Orchard. Meanwhile, Nell''s sister Betty becomes a maid at The Orchard and another of Nell''s sisters has a still birth. Brooke continues to become closer to Nell, and they covertly go swimming together in Byron''s pond, a local swimming hole named after the poet Lord Byron. Afterwards, Brooke departs on a tour advocating for workers'' rights, which does not go very well. At the end of the tour, Brooke proposes to Noel Oliver, one of the wealthy girls whom Brooke had been courting during his stay at The Orchard. Upon his return to Grantchester, Brooke also finds himself expelled from The Orchard because of his wanton social life. Brooke then moves next door to another boarding house, the Old Vicarage. Brooke does not marry Noel, but rather spends a brief period in Munich where he tries to become intimate with a Belgian girl in order to lose his heterosexual virginity. This relationship also fails, and he returns to England confused about his sexuality. He and Nell continue to remain close until he goes on a vacation with his friends, where he again proposes to another of his friends. Brooke is refused resulting in a psychological breakdown and an extended absence from Grantchester while he is treated by a London doctor. After a few more months, Brooke returns to the Old Vicarage briefly before departing on a trip to Tahiti via Canada and the United States. The night before he leaves, Nell realises that she still loves Brooke and goes to Brooke''s bed the night before he leaves. While in Tahiti, Brooke suffers an injury to one of his feet, and is nursed by the beautiful Taatama, a local woman. Then Brook and Taatama romance each other, eventually having sex and impregnating Taatama. After several months of exploring the island, Brooke decides to return home. Before his departure Brooke leave writes Nell a letter which contains a black pearl. Nell, now married to a local carter, receives the pearl and letter soon after she gives birth to a child by Brooke.

The Great Lover

While serving a sentence for killing his foster mother – a crime he insisted he didn''t commit – Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years later, the man who could have supported Jacko''s alibi suddenly turns up; and the family must come to terms with the fact not only that one of them is the real murderer, but also that suspicion falls upon each of them. Christie''s focus in this novel is upon the psychology of innocence, as the family members struggle with their suspicions of one another. The witness, Arthur Calgary, believes that, when he clears the name of their son, the family would be grateful. He fails to realise the implications of his information. However, once he does so, he is determined to help and to protect the innocent by finding the murderer. To be able to do so, he visits the retired local doctor, Dr MacMaster, to ask him about the now-cleared murderer, Jacko Argyle. Dr MacMaster states that he was surprised when Jacko killed his mother. Not because he thought that murder was outside Jacko''s ''moral range'', but because he thought Jacko would be too cowardly to kill somebody himself; that, if he wanted to murder somebody, he would egg on an accomplice to do his dirty work. Dr MacMaster says "the kind of murder I''d have expected Jacko to do, if he did one, was the type where a couple of boys go out on a raid; then, when the police come after them, the Jackos say ''Biff him on the head, Bud. Let him have it. Shoot him down.'' They''re willing for murder, ready to incite to murder, but they''ve not got the nerve to do murder themselves with their own hands". This description seems to be a reference to the Craig and Bentley case which had occurred in 1952.

Ordeal by Innocence

Guru Isa, a school teacher, lives in constant fear. The Indonesian war for independence is raging, and before that the Japanese occupiers had created terror amongst the populace; his fear is so great that for years he has become unable to have an erection. However, due to his obligations as a school teacher he attends a youth''s meeting, where they discuss the revolution. Unable to say no, he is asked to become a courier and deliver letters and weapons within Jakarta. Not long after, Guru Isa meets a young guerrilla named Hazil. Due to their mutual interest in music, the two become friends and Guru Isa begins to feel more relaxed. As they work together for the revolution, Guru Isa becomes uneasier. Not long after delivering weapons outside of Jakarta, Guru Isa falls ill with malaria. Hazil assists Guru Isa''s wife, Fatimah, with his care. Eventually, Guru Isa is able to leave the house and teach again. However, during this period Fatimah, disappointed by Guru Isa''s impotence, begins having an affair with Hazil. Guru Isa learns of this after finding Hazil''s smoking pipe under a pillow in the bedroom and becomes furious, but is unable to confront Fatimah or Hazil. Instead, he distances himself further from everyone and becomes even less self-confident. A while later, Guru Isa and Hazil are tasked with throwing a grenade at a crowd of soldiers dispersing from a movie theatre. Although they succeed in their mission, not long afterwards Hazil is captured. Although Guru Isa initially intends to leave Jakarta, he decides to face the consequences for what he has done. After being captured by the Dutch forces and staying silent through torture, Guru Isa meets with Hazil in the prison and learns that he had confessed "after just a slap to the head". Overcoming his fear and regaining his self-confidence, Guru Isa is able to have an erection again.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Enemy

By Charlie Higson

Mary, Mary

By B. W. Battin

Lavondyss

By Robert Holdstock

The Killers

By Ernest Hemingway

The Wizard's Dilemma

By Diane Duane

Lion of Macedon

By David Gemmell

Catherine, Called Birdy

By Karen Cushman

The Phenomenon of Man

No Author Listed

Dexter in the Dark

By Jeff Lindsay

The Great Lover

No Author Listed

Ordeal by Innocence

By Agatha Christie

Jalan Tak Ada Ujung

By Mochtar Lubis