New Releases by Matt Forbeck

The rich and powerful take what they want. We steal it back for you. When a disreputable dealer starts swindling aged and ailing comic-book creators out of their wealth—and their high-valued comics and artwork—the daughter of one victim comes to ex-insurance investigator Nathan Ford and his team of counter-crooks for help. Their scheme: run a con at the Comic-Con International, where the crook intends to sell the goods. But there’s more going on than simple theft. An arson plot is in motion that will not only destroy countless rare collectibles, but may end up costing lives. With time short, the team must take down a ruthless mark whose true motives have yet to be revealed…

* Stage a coup * Swim with sharks * Beat a breathalyzer * The Forbidden Knowledge series has taken readers over the edge before, but never like this. The Most Forbidden Knowledge jam-packs the best and baddest how-tos into one car-stealing, keg-kicking, base-jumping-off-a-skyscraper collection. You''ll find everything you ever wanted to learn (though probably never should) in this ultimate self-destruction manual.

Ask Not What Your Country Could Do For you. Ask What It Could Do To You. John Cruise - better known as the superpowered delta Patriot - only wanted to serve his country, which has suffered under martial law since the assassination of the First Lady back in 1963. For years, he did so as a member of Delta Prime, the federal paramilitary organization dedicated to keeping deltas and the rest of the population in line. Then, during the Bicentennial Battle, Chicago disappeared in a blinding flash of light, taking the world''s most powerful deltas with it, along with Patriot''s wife. Today, in 1999, Patriot leads a group of rebel deltas known as the Defiance, all of whom are on the run from Delta Prime. He hopes to find a way to break scores of their imprisoned friends out of New Alcatraz, the only place on the planet strong enough to hold them all. But then, while rescuing college student Lisa Stanski from a pack of Primers, the unthinkable happens. Patriot gets caught. Now it''s up to the rest of the Defiance, including Lisa, to figure out how to break Patriot out of New Alcatraz before his old pal Ragnarok, now the leader of Delta Prime, has him executed without trial, under the direct orders of President John F. Kennedy himself.

Imagine: A fantasy world, but not one based on Medieval/Dark Ages European culture and myth, but rather on the tropes of the Spaghetti Western and Chinese Wuxia. Add steampunk elements. Mix well. A fantasy world that mixes the inspirations of Django and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and House of Flying Daggers... Fistful of Dollars and Fist of Legend. A fantasy world that''s explored through a book series, a constantly-updated website, a tabletop role-playing game, comics, artwork, webseries and much, much, more. This is FAR WEST. Tales of the Far West is the first book in Adamant Entertainment''s Wuxia-Western mash-up, featuring a dozen all-new tales written by critically-acclaimed and award-winning fantasy, science-fiction, horror and adventure authors, including: "He Built The Wall To Knock It Down" by Scott Lynch: A master teaches an unforgettable lesson in the pursuit of excellence in all things. "In Stillness, Music" by Aaron Rosenberg: A wandering musician is all that stands between a village and a cattle baron. "Riding The Thunderbird" by Chuck Wendig: A herd of giant, flightless birds, a young girl, and a sudden lesson. "Purity of Purpose" by Gareth-Michael Skarka: Who seeks the secret of the Unsurpassed Weapons? "Paper Lotus" by Tessa Gratton: A strange girl tasks a wounded man to deliver a crucial message. "In the Name of the Empire" by Eddy Webb: A sheriff is charged with the murder of an Imperial Magistrate. "Errant Eagles" by Will Hindmarch: A gunslinger faces the consequences of his past. "Railroad Spikes" by Ari Marmell: A bandit finds that he''s robbed the wrong train. "The Fury Pact" by Matt Forbeck: An inventor''s son faces the responsibility of his name. "Seven Holes" by T.S. Luikart: An apprentice learns the true nature of demons. "Local Legend" by Jason L. Blair: Red Phoenix was dead, and the bounty hunter tells the tale. "Crippled Avengers" by Dave Gross: A band of fighters seek to take revenge on the steam baron who crippled them.

Hell comes to the high seas as James Cameron''s Titanic crashes full-force into the iceberg that is Bram Stoker''s Dracula. Forbeck sinks his fangs into one helluva horror story, robbing from real history to set up an epic showdown between man and vampire (and between vampire and vampire) on the RMS Carpathia. It''s gripping, exciting, and imaginative. It could make a great film, but it''s a great book anyway so read it, whether you like sci-fi or not.

Il y a 250 ans, Ascalon a été réduite en cendres. Des siècles plus tard, les descendants des Ascaloniens exilés en Kryte se retrouvent assiégés de toute part. Afin de sauver l''humanité, la reine Jennah cherche à négocier un traité de paix avec les charrs tant haïs. Mais il reste un obstacle : les légions charrs n''accepteront cette trêve que si la Griffe du Khan-Ur, un trésor de grande valeur, leur est rapportée de la cité d''Ascalon. Une bande d''aventuriers disparate, chacun traînant derrière lui ses propres fantômes, se met en route vers cette région hantée afin de retrouver la Griffe. Sans cet artefact, il n''existe aucun espoir de paix entre humains et charrs. Mais le roi mort-vivant qui règne sur Ascalon ne se laissera pas déposséder sans réagir. Et certains sont prêts à tout pour que cette paix ne voit pas le jour...

Adelbern, rey de Ascalon, desesperado por defender su reino de las imparables hordas de charr, invoca al poderoso Fuego para expulsar a los invasores. Pero la magia es un arma de doble filo y el Fuego abrasa a los charr y a los humanos por igual. Sin embargo, los ascalonianos vuelven a levantarse. La ira de su rey los transforma en defensores espectrales encargados de proteger el reino hasta el final de los tiempos. Aquella tierra condenada, que antaño había sido poderosa, queda convertida en una triste sombra de su antigua gloria. Siglos más tarde, los descendientes de Ascalon -exiliados en la nación de Kryta- se encuentran sitiados. Para salvar a la humanidad, la reina Jennah intenta negociar un tratado con los odiados charr, pero sus legiones no firmarán ninguna tregua hasta no obtener su posesión más preciada: la Garra de los Khan-Ur, objeto perdido en las ruinas de Ascalon.

Could a Jedi knight use his light saber to deflect a beam from a phaser? Which aliens are cooler: the Cardassians or the Chazrach? Have any Federation ships ever made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs? And most important, in a fight between the Empire and the Federation, who would win? Ever since Princess Leia''s starship hovered into sight on the silver screen, fans of Star Wars and Star Trek have been debating these questions. Now, side by side, they can line up aliens, technology, story points, weaponry, and heroes from the two great science fiction/fantasy stories of our age. For fans everywhere, this volume offers detailed information about both universes, as well as trivia, quizzes, quotes, and information drawn from these two iconic settings. So phasers on stun and light sabers at the ready! It''s time for the duel to begin.

It''s a kind of magic... When two college freshmen decide to spend Spring Break using their magic to fleece the gambling tables of Las Vegas, little do they imagine that Vegas harbors some magical secrets of its own... And of course what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas - alive or dead. File Under: [The Mob & Magic | Ancient Secrets | Zombie Wizardry | Bet Your Life]

THE VERY BEST PERSON TO CATCH YOUR KILLER…IS YOU. Matt Forbeck arrives as the new king of high-concept - with a blockbuster action movie in a book. In the near future, scientists solve the problem of mortality by learning how to backup and restore a persons memories into a vat-bred clone. When Secret Service agent Ronan "Methusaleh" Dooley is brutally murdered, he''s brought back from the dead one more time to hunt his killer, but this time those who wanted him dead are much closer to home. FILE UNDER: Science Fiction [Future Thriller / Cheat Death / Rogue Agents / Who Killed Who?] From the Paperback edition.

250 years ago, Ascalon burned . . . Desperate to defend his land from advancing hordes of bestial charr, King Adelbern summoned the all-powerful Foefire to repel the invaders. But magic can be a double-edged sword—the Foefire burned both charr and human alike. While the charr corpses smoldered, the slain Ascalonians arose again, transformed by their king’s rage into ghostly protectors and charged with guarding the realm . . . forever. The once mighty kingdom became a haunted shadow of its former glory. Centuries later, the descendants of Ascalon, exiled to the nation of Kryta, are besieged on all sides. To save humankind, Queen Jennah seeks to negotiate a treaty with the hated charr. But one obstacle remains. The charr legions won’t sign the truce until their most prized possession, the Claw of the Khan-Ur,is returned from the ruins of fallen Ascalon. Now a mismatched band of adventurers, each plagued by ghosts of their own, sets forth into a haunted, war-torn land to retrieve the Claw. Without the artifact, there is no hope for peace between human and charr—but the undead king who rules Ascalon won’t give it up easily, and not everyone wants peace!

WELCOME TO THE YEAR 2072… …And a world unlike anything you’ve ever imagined. A world where magic and machines exist side-by-side. Where cybernetics can replace organs or entire limbs with ease, and arcane spells can make the impossible happen. Where the Matrix has become an artificial world of its own, filled with all kinds of pleasure, treasure, and trouble. Where dwarves, elves, orks, and trolls walk alongside humans every day. Some work for megacorporations whose invisible tentacles wrap around every aspect of modern life. Others choose a much less legal career, doing whatever dirty work the corp executives need done—for a price. WELCOME TO SHADOWRUN Featuring fifteen new stories about the men and women who make their living in the shadows of the Sixth World, Spells and Chrome takes you into the dark and dirty streets of a bleak future. Whether risking their lives to execute a mission for an employer who might be planning to double-cross them anyway, or just doing whatever they need to do to survive another day, shadowrunners use everything they’ve got—cyberware, spells, or a very big gun—to get the job done.

“It will be a dangerous mission. I don’t expect that any of us will survive. But it’s a chance to save mankind, to save our world. Maybe the last chance.” By the end of the twenty-third century, Earth is a plague-ridden, war-ravaged cesspool dominated by megacorporations whose ruthless armies fight one another for power and for the very scarce resources there are left. Capitol fighters Mitch Hunter and Nathan Rooker are battling the opposing forces of the Bauhaus corporation when a cannon blast exposes and destroys an ancient stone seal in the ground. From the bowels of the Earth crawl hordes of necromutants with razorlike boneblades for arms, hideous humanoids that thrive and multiply by commandeering the bodies of dying soldiers. Mitch barely escapes– only to discover that both the rise of the mutants and the “Deliverer” who will save humanity have been prophesied. Unless Mitch and a group of warriors from each of the megacorporations succeed in reaching the hidden horrors and wiping out the mutant scourge, ouir world will literally become a hell on Earth. Now a major motion picture

Describes how to draw in the shoujo manga style, providing step-by-step instructions on developing characters, scenes, and action poses.

The Bad Bay Hackers win the "Spike!" magazine tournament and are invited to the Tabazco Bowl. The team sets off for the fabulous land of Lustria, but soon Dunk and his friends must fight off zombies, cannibalistic pygmy halflings, and pirates, in this latest installment of the Blood Bowl series. Original.

"Unapproachable East" provides a detailed look at the eastern region of the Forgotten Realms world. In addition to new spells, magic items, feats, character races, prestige classes, and a wealth of new monsters, this title includes descriptions of people, places, and unique cultural elements from throughout the region. Full color.