Both a frightening apocalyptic story set in the southern United States and a character-focused, deeply moving literary thriller.What would happen if technology all over the world suddenly stopped working? When a strange new star appears in the sky, human life instantly grinds to a halt. Across the world, anything and everything electronic stops working completely. At first, the event seems like a bizarre miracle to Seth Black—it interrupts his suicide attempt and erases gambling debt that threatened to destroy his family. But when Seth and his wife, Natalie, realize the electricity isn't coming back on, that their the food supplies won't last, they begin to wonder how they and their two sons will survive. Meanwhile, screenwriter Thomas Phillips—an old friend of Natalie's—has just picked up Skylar Stover, star of his new movie, at the airport when his phone goes dead and planes begin to fall from the...

Both a haunting coming-of-age story set in North Texas against the backdrop of a deadly tornado, and a character-driven, deeply-affecting supernatural thriller. In 1979, a massive tornado devastates the city of Wichita Falls, Texas, leaving scores dead, thousands homeless, and nine-year-old Todd Willis in a coma, fighting for his life. Four years later, Todd awakens to a world that looks the same but feels different in a way he can't quite grasp. For Todd, it's a struggle to separate fact from fiction as he battles lingering hallucinations from his long sleep. The new friends Todd makes in 1983 are fascinated with his experience and become mesmerized by his strange relationship with the world. Together the five boys come of age during a dark, fiery summer where they find first love, betrayal, and a secret so terrible they agree to never speak of it again. But darkness returns to Wichita Falls twenty-five years later, and the...

Thomas Phillips knows he's losing his mind. He's been losing it for as long as he can remember. And yet, when a strange old man asks him to consider that he, out of everyone in the world, knows the real truth, Thomas' life begins to spiral out of control. He loses interest in his job and is fired. He refuses his wife's suggestion of psychiatric care, and she leaves him. In the end, Thomas is alone. Except he's not, because someone seems to be following him. What if you were Thomas? Where would you go? What would you do? What if you realized every person in your life had been scripted to be there? What if you were haunted by the idea that you'd lived all these encounters before, hundreds or even thousands of times before? And what if the person watching all this time was you?Thomas World explores what happens when the borders of reality start seeming a bit pores... when things start bleeding through the edges, challenging ones perceptions of the universe. The grand tradition...

William Cox (1764–1837) was a soldier, road builder, and pioneering pastoralist in the colony of New South Wales. He made his name building the road across the Blue Mountains in 1814. In just over six months, his team of 30 convicts hacked out 163 kilometres of road through appalling terrain, without serious accident. As such he is part of early Australian history. But whilst his sympathetic treatment of convicts contributed to this success, as Paymaster of the New South Wales Corps he had earlier used the regimental funds to buy his first farms – resulting in dismissal from the army. As a pastoralist Cox helped carry through the improvements which gave Australia its first significant wool exports. As a liberal thinker he was both a co-founder of the first Agricultural Society and championed emancipists having citizens' rights. In the first book-length biography of William Cox, Richard Cox – a descendant – gives the details of Cox's life, from early...