Four cautionary tales for grown-ups, each laced with fun and horrible surprises.

In this collection of 12 ingenious and baffling tales, the author demonstrates her mastery of the short, sharp mystery story. Lord Peter Wimsey appears in several of the stories, as does Montague Egg, the travelling salesman extraordinaire.

Centuries from now, the basic right to expand human intelligence beyond its natural limits has become a war-worthy cause for the Demarchists and Conjoiners. Only vast lighthugger starships bind these squabbling colonies together, manned by the panicky and paranoid Ultras. And the hyperpigs just try to keep their heads down. The rich get richer. And everyone tries not to think about the worrying number of extinct alien civilizations turning up on the...

"Stories that unite into a ... vision of a country that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions"-- Dust jacket flap.

"The book is divided into two parts: New Monsters, which contains seven chilling stand-alone tales that traverse and blend the genres of crime fiction, horror, and speculative fiction; and Old Friends, which contains five short pieces that reveal the origins or hidden backstories of Neville fan-favorite characters like Albert Ryan, Roberta Garrick, and of course Gerry Fegan. It also contains the long-awaited novella The Traveller, the companion piece...

Introduces unconventional clergyman Sidney Chambers, who teams up with roguish Inspector Harry Keating to investigate a suspicious suicide, a jewelry theft, the unexplained demise of a jazz promoter, and a shocking art forgery.

An outstanding array, 52 pieces in all-, of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James.

"From one of Britain's most accomplished, acclaimed, and garlanded writers, Hilary Mantel delivers a brilliant collection of contemporary short stories that demonstrate what modern England has becomeIn The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel's trademark gifts of penetrating characterization, unsparing eye, and rascally intelligence are once again fully on display.Her classic wicked humor in each story--which range from a ghost story...