Devils In The Castle

We often think of demons appearing only in extravagant and extraordinary manifestations or working only through "bad" people. But the truth is more frightening than that. Most demonic activity takes place undetected, under the radar, and can even be hidden in our own prayer lives and in the churches where we attend Mass. Subtlety, illusion, and deceit are the preferred tactics of Satan's army of fallen angels, and they are waging an invisible battle for souls -- right now -- within and around us all. With St. Teresa of Avila's masterpiece The Interior Castle as his guide, bestselling author Dan Burke takes you on an illuminating journey through the seven levels of spiritual progress, explaining what God is accomplishing within your soul at each stage, as well as the finely tailored demonic strategies applied to throw you off your path. You'll learn how the devil is as active in your prayer life as you are, and how the saints were able to counter Satan as he adapted his schemes to correspond with where they were on their spiritual journeys. By discovering the myriad challenges St. Teresa faced and the remedies she employed to advance the spiritual progress of her soul, you'll know precisely what to expect as you progress in your current state to your final spiritual destination. You'll also learn: The marks of authentic contemplative encounter with God Why God uses dryness in prayer to advance the progress of our souls How to know if you're still in the "Purgative Way" How desolation can work for the good of the soul Why it's dangerous to assume that your decisions are correct if you feel at peace How to fight distraction in prayer The 11 ways to test the authenticity of charismatic gifts

The devils who live in the girl's boarding school attic simply will not be chased away, until the boys from a neighboring school arrive to help.

In this unusual twist on the Faust legend, a man makes a deal with a supernatural visitor, surrendering his soul to alleviate the suffering of others. In his quiet home in rural Vermont, a man named Taft wonders what’s missing from his life. He’s at a loss until a strange voice startles him. A stranger has seemingly appeared out of nowhere: well-dressed and smooth-talking, this man offers Taft the chance to have anything he’s ever wanted―for a price. So begins The Devil in the Valley, the latest novel from critically acclaimed author Castle Freeman, Jr, a tale of temptation and greed that examines what we’re willing to trade to obtain the things we most desire. Exploring the supernatural while staying rooted deeply in our world, The Devil in the Valley is a powerful novel from a master at his craft. “Castle Freeman, Jr. conjures an intricate tete-a-tete with the devil into a Vermont home-brew of brimstone and beneficence. Fast-paced, compulsive, The Devil in the Valley leaves you wanting more.” —Gregory Maguire, bestselling author of Wicked and After Alice “Castle Freeman has somehow infused The Devil in the Valley with a mysterious energy that keeps a reader eagerly turning pages while desperately hoping the book will go on and on. This is fine and deeply enjoyable writing.” —David Huddle, author of The Faulkes Chronicle

Steeped in the folklore of Eastern Europe, and set in the shadow of Nazi darkness erupting just beyond the Czech border, this bone-chilling, richly imagined novel is propulsively entertaining, and impossible to put down. "A wildly entertaining story...Russell has created a truly frightening story." —The New York Times Book Review Czechoslovakia, 1935: Viktor Kosárek, a newly trained psychiatrist who studied under Carl Jung, arrives at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. The facility is located in a medieval mountaintop castle surrounded by forests, on a site that is well known for concealing dark secrets going back many centuries. The asylum houses six inmates--the country's most treacherous killers--known to the terrified public as the Devil's Six. Viktor intends to use a new medical technique to prove that these patients share a common archetype of evil, a phenomenon he calls The Devil Aspect. Yet as he begins to learn the stunning secrets of these patients, he must face the unnerving possibility that these six may share a darker truth. Meanwhile, in Prague, fear grips the city as a phantom serial killer emerges in the dark alleys. Police investigator Lukas Smolak, desperate to locate the culprit (a copycat of Jack the Ripper), turns to Viktor and the doctors at Hrad Orlu for their expertise with the psychotic criminal mind. And Viktor finds himself wrapped up in a case more terrifying than he could have ever imagined.

Robert E. Howard's vengeance-obsessed Puritan begins his supernatural adventures in the haunted Black Forest of Germany in this adaptation of Howard's "The Castle of the Devil." When Solomon Kane stumbles upon the body of a boy hanged from a rickety gallows, he goes after the man responsible—a baron feared by the peasants for miles around. Something far worse than the devilish baron and the terrible, intelligent wolf that prowls the woods lies hidden in the ruined monastery beneath the baron's castle, where a devil-worshiping priest died in chains centuries ago. • This team's debut Kane story is available for free at myspace.com/darkhorsepresents. • "Solomon Kane is one of the toughest Robert E. Howard heroes to adapt to the comics page, but Scott Allie and Mario Guevara have done a stunning job. Unsettling, moody and eerily beautiful, their Kane is absolutely worthy of his creator."—Kurt Busiek • Collects the Solomon Kane five-issue miniseries.

In the tradition of The Glass Castle, Educated, and Heartland, Neal Wootentraces five decades of his dirt-poor, Alabama mountain family as the years and secrets coalesce. Neal Wooten grew up in a tiny community atop Sand Mountain, Alabama, where everyone was white and everyone was poor. Prohibition was still embraced. If you wanted alcohol, you had to drive to Georgia or ask the bootlegger sitting next to you in church. Tent revivals, snake handlers, and sacred harp music were the norm, and everyone was welcome as long as you weren’t Black, brown, gay, atheist, Muslim, a damn Yankee, or a Tennessee Vol fan. The Wooten's lived a secret existence in a shack in the woods with no running water, no insulation, and almost no electricity. Even the school bus and mail carrier wouldn’t go there. Neal’s family could hide where they were, but not what they were. They were poor white trash. Cops could see it. Teachers could see it. Everyone could see it. Growing up, Neal was weaned on folklore legends of his grandfather—his quick wit, quick feet, and quick temper. He discovers how this volatile disposition led to a murder, a conviction, and ultimately to a daring prison escape and a closely guarded family secret. Being followed by a black car with men in black suits was as normal to Neal as using an outhouse, carrying drinking water from a stream, and doing homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. And Neal’s father, having inherited the very same traits of his father, made sure the frigid mountain winters weren’t the most brutal thing his family faced. Told from two perspectives, this story alternates between Neal’s life and his grandfather’s, culminating in a shocking revelation. Take a journey to the Deep South and learn what it’s like to be born on the wrong side of the tracks, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of a violent mental illness.

"Kat Martin is a premier historical romance author...and Devil's Prize enhances her first-class reputation." —Affaire de Coeur HER VIRTUE COMES AT A HIGH COST At a gaming table where he cheated Lady Alexa Garrick out of a fortune, Damien, Lord Falon, made a scandalous proposal to the exquisite young heiress—one night in his bed would discharge her debt. Yet, as he claimed his prize, the handsome earl fought a craving for more than Alexa's body. When a twist of fate turned seduction into matrimony, rapture and rage warred within him. How could he love the woman whose flirtation had destroyed his brother? HIS DESIRE: PRICELESS... Alexa knew of Damien's French blood, scandalous liaisons, and the whispers that branded him a smuggler. Though she was playing with fire, the dark, devil-earl's hungry embrace plucked at her heartstrings with a haunting song of desire. But how could she be sure whether Damien was drawing her into a web of danger and deceit...or offering her his true and lasting love?

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PARADE MAGAZINE – ONE OF FALL'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS AARP'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALL CRIMEREADS – ONE OF THE BEST TRADITIONAL MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR GLOBE AND MAIL - TOP 100 BOOKS OF THE YEAR CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR KIRKUS REVIEWS - ONE OF THE BEST MYSTERIES/THRILLERS OF THE YEAR LIBRARY JOURNAL - ONE OF THE BEST CRIME FICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR The 16th novel by #1 bestselling author Louise Penny finds Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec investigating a sinister plot in the City of Light On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man’s life. When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d’Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art. It sends them deep into the secrets Armand’s godfather has kept for decades. A gruesome discovery in Stephen’s Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized. Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family. For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.

'An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep defying fiction' TIME OUT One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world. The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens. The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths. While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel. In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium. These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century . . .

Another delightful installment in the internationally acclaimed series: It's spring in St. Denis. The village choir is preparing for its Easter concert, the wildflowers are blooming, and among the lazy whorls of the river a dead woman is found floating in a boat. This means another case for Bruno, the town’s cherished chief of police. With the discovery of sinister markings and black candles near the body, it seems to Bruno that the occult might be involved. And as questions mount—most notably about a troubling real estate proposal in the region and the sudden reappearance of an elderly countess—Bruno and his colleagues are drawn ever closer to a climactic showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac: the place locals call the Devil’s Cave.