Books published by publisher Blackstone Pub

Following her National Book Award-nominated debut novel, A Kind of Freedom, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton returns with this equally elegant and historically inspired story of survivors and healers, of black women and their black sons, set in the American South. In 1925, Josephine is the proud owner of a thriving farm. As a child, she channeled otherworldly power to free herself from slavery. Now, her new neighbor, a white woman named Charlotte, seeks her company, and an uneasy friendship grows between them. But Charlotte has also sought solace in the Ku Klux Klan, a relationship that jeopardizes Josephine's family. Nearly 100 years later, Josephine's descendant, Ava, is a single mother who has just lost her job. She moves in with her white grandmother, Martha, a wealthy but lonely woman who pays her grandchild to be her companion. But Martha's behavior soon becomes erratic, then even threatening, and Ava must escape before her story and Josephine's converge. The Revisioners explores the depths of women's relationships: powerful women and marginalized women, healers and survivors. It is a novel about the bonds between a mother and a child, and the dangers that upend those bonds. At its core, The Revisioners ponders generational legacies, the endurance of hope, and the undying promise of freedom.

Before he was freed by Neferet, Kalona was imprisoned within the earth for centuries because of the Darkness in his heart. But what happened to the Other World's Kalona? It's as though he's been forgotten, or maybe he never existed at all.... In the present, Other Neferet may have left her House of Night, but she has far from given up her goal of immortality and world domination. As she operates in secret to gain access to Old Magick, the new High Priestess, Anastasia Lankford, works toward peace and acceptance for the vampyres of the Other World. But just as Other Kevin's broken heart will take time to heal, peace in that world will also take time and work - and not all of the Other World vampyres want peace. After all, why should they return to being shunned by humans, especially when they've had a taste of how it feels to be in power? Meanwhile, Zoey is desperate to help rid the Other World of Neferet once and for all, and not knowing what's going on over there is eating away at her. But, as the Nerd Herd warns, it's far too dangerous to call on Old Magick time and again. As a distraction, she throws herself into her work and attempts to bring the humans and vampyres of Tulsa closer together with the first human-vampyre swim meet in history! It's too bad that something always seems to go wrong whenever the stakes are high. What happens when worlds clash and powers that should be left alone are awakened? Can Other Kevin and his world heal from the wounds Neferet continues to inflict? Can Old Magick ever truly be harnessed and used for good? Or will Darkness extinguish Light and leave our heroes broken, hopeless, and as forgotten as Kalona of the Silver Wings? Don't miss this second-to-last volume in the House of Night Other World saga!

There's something fishy just below the surface of Scumble River.... School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd is getting ready to return to work from her maternity leave and hoping for a peaceful year. But when an elderly woman disappears on her first day back and a disgruntled parent threatens to sue the school, Skye realizes that her return will be anything but quiet. When the parent suing Skye's school is found dead and with the missing woman's case still unsolved, Skye suspects the crimes are somehow linked. With her chief of police husband, Wally, at her side, Skye dives into the investigations. But as tensions rise and Skye and Wally's suspect list lengthens, they start to wonder whether a member of their own tight-knit community could be behind it all....

The moment Other Kevin returns to his world trouble begins. Thankfully, he finds friends and allies—some expected, some unexpected—and soon discovers he, like his sister, can wield Old Magick. But without a mentor to help him, will Kevin be tempted to embrace Darkness?Back in our Tulsa, things have settled down since Zoey and the gang closed the tear between worlds. A new school year has begun, and Zoey’s exchange student program with public schools is really taking off. All is well.But if all is well, why is Zoey increasingly withdrawn and moody?Stark thinks he knows what’s wrong—and he is determined not to lose Zoey to the Other World and Heath, who is there and very much alive. Stevie Rae thinks she knows what’s wrong—Z just needs a break. Maybe a little vacay? And the rest of the Nerd Herd thinks their Z will be fine—just give her some time to stop missing (and worrying about) Other Kevin.But Zoey knows the truth. In the Other World her brother is using Old Magick, unaware of the dangers it holds. Without guidance, what will stop him from giving in to the potent pull of Old Magick? Without her guidance, Other Kevin could lose more than the war against Neferet—he could lose his soul. And Z knows she must help him—after all, he is her little brother …In Lost, we follow Zoey, Stevie Rae, and Rephaim to an alternative version of the House of Night, where dangers take the form of friends, and allies are found in the strangest places.

This debut mystery from a fresh voice in Southwestern fiction stakes out the common ground between Tony Hillerman, Elmore Leonard, and Cormac McCarthy.In a remote corner of the Chickasaw Nation, tribal Lighthorse policeman Bill Maytubby and county deputy Hannah Bond discover the buzzard-ravaged body of Majesty Tate, a young drifter with a blank past. They comb Oklahoma’s rock prairie, river bottoms, and hard-bitten small towns for traces of her last days.Tate was seen dancing with Austin Love, a violent local meth dealer fresh out of prison. An Oklahoma City motel clerk connects her with an aspiring politician. An oil-patch roustabout and a shady itinerant preacher provide dubious leads. Ne’er-do-wells start dying off.A fluke lead propels Maytubby deep into Louisiana’s bayou country, where a Cajun shrimper puts him on the scent of a bizarre conspiracy. He and Bond reunite in the Chickasaw Nation for the eventual face-off at Nail’s Crossing.“As fine a mystery series debut as I’ve read in a long time.”—Craig Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire series“Thrilling…Lackey’s exciting story unwinds like a rattlesnake.”—Bill Loehfelm, author of The Devil’s Muse“A captivating look at a little-known corner of rural Oklahoma…rife with drug problems, yet peopled by tenacious, idiosyncratic characters you can’t help rooting for.”—Kirkus Reviews

Before he was freed by Neferet, Kalona was imprisoned within the earth for centuries because of the Darkness in his heart. But what happened to the Other World's Kalona? It's as though he's been forgotten, or maybe he never existed at all ...In the present, Other Neferet may have left her House of Night, but she has far from given up her goal of immortality and world domination. As she operates in secret to gain access to Old Magick, the new High Priestess, Anastasia Lankford, works toward peace and acceptance for the vampyres of the Other World. But just as Other Kevin's broken heart will take time to heal, peace in that world will also take time and work -- and not all of the Other World vampyres want peace. After all, why should they return to being shunned by humans, especially when they've had a taste of how it feels to be in power?Meanwhile, Zoey is desperate to help rid the Other World of Neferet once and for all, and not knowing what's going on over there is eating away at her. But, as the Nerd Herd warns, it's far too dangerous to call on Old Magick time and again. As a distraction, she throws herself into her work and attempts to bring the humans and vampyres of Tulsa closer together with the first human-vampyre swim meet in history! It's too bad that something always seems to go wrong whenever the stakes are high.What happens when worlds clash and powers that should be left alone are awakened? Can Other Kevin and his world heal from the wounds Neferet continues to inflict? Can Old Magick ever truly be harnessed and used for good? Or will Darkness extinguish Light and leave our heroes broken, hopeless, and as forgotten as Kalona of the Silver Wings? Don't miss this second to last volume in the House of Night Other World saga!

Eight-year-old Molly and her 10-year-old brother, Ralph, are inseparable, in league with each other against the stodgy and stupid routines of school and daily life; against their prim mother and prissy older sisters; against the world of authority and perhaps the world itself. One summer, they are sent from the genteel Los Angeles suburb that is their home to back-country Colorado, where their uncle Claude has a ranch. There the children encounter an enchanting new world - savage, direct, beautiful, untamed - to which, over the next few years, they will return regularly, enjoying a delicious double life. And yet at the same time this other sphere, about which they are both so passionate, threatens to come between their passionate attachment to each other. Molly dreams of growing up to be a writer, yet clings ever more fiercely to the special world of childhood. Ralph for his part feels the growing challenge, and appeal, of impending manhood. Youth and innocence are hurtling toward a devastating end.

The bestselling series has returned! Join P. C. and Kristin Cast in celebrating the tenth anniversary of the House of Night series by going on a thrilling new adventure with your beloved Nerd Herd.It’s Zoey’s eighteenth birthmas and the Nerd Herd has been scattered across the country busily adulting for almost a year when Stark calls them back to Tulsa to surprise Z. But all is not well in T-Town. Strange, dark signs are appearing—could it be possible Neferet is stirring? Not willing to chance disaster striking again, Zoey calls on her newly reunited friends to circle with her and add a layer of protection over Neferet’s grotto jail. Easy-peasy, right?Wrong. Nothing at the House of Night is ever as it seems.With rabid red vampyres closing in, Zoey and the Nerd Herd must come together again and battle evil. But a year is a long time. Have these old friends grown too far apart?When the world fractures and allies become enemies, will darkness devour friendships or will light save those she’s loved?“Both intense and thoroughly entertaining…this outing will not disappoint House of Night fans.”—Kirkus Reviews on Destined

Gods, monsters, and magic school. Class will never be the same. My Florida summer is not so hot. My mom and sister disappear, my dad is killed by a rogue wave, and then Hermes - yeah the god guy - shows up. He says a wave didn’t kill my dad - it was a monster from Greek myth. He invites me to attend Mount Olympus Academy where I’ll learn to be a killer and take my revenge. My classmates are vampires, witches, and shifters - all of us training to fight in the war between the gods and monsters. There’s also...Val. He’s a vampire, and I can’t stop thinking about him, even though interspecies dating is taboo. Plus, he’s got secrets too. I get secrets. The wings that sprout from my back were hidden from me my entire life. I’ve learned how to control them, but haven’t completed a full shift yet, which makes it impossible to figure out what I am. And...sometimes, I breathe fire. Which is weird, but also unfortunate, because someone has started setting fires on campus, and right now all the evidence points to me. I need to figure out how to shift and clear my name, or else I’m going to find out what happens to those who betray the gods. I’ve heard they die by fire or flood...and I don’t like either of those options.

In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, many look to the spirit world for answers. But it will take an all-too-earthbound intrigue to draw in the discerning heroine of Anna Lee Huber's latest mystery. It's not that Verity Kent doesn't sympathize with those eager to make contact with lost loved ones. After all, she once believed herself a war widow. But now that she's discovered Sidney is very much alive, Verity is having enough trouble connecting with her estranged husband, never mind the dead. Still, at a friend's behest, Verity attends a seance, where she encounters the man who still looms between her and Sidney - and a medium who channels a woman Verity once worked with in the Secret Service. Refusing to believe her former fellow spy is dead, Verity is determined to uncover the source of the spiritualist's top-secret revelation. Then the medium is murdered - and Verity's investigation is suddenly thwarted. Even Secret Service agents she once trusted turn their backs on her. Undaunted, Verity heads to war-torn Belgium, with Sidney by her side. But as they draw ever closer to the danger, Verity wonders if she's about to learn the true meaning of till death do us part.

Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife... but as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less. A woman who sleeps among garbage she has not put out for 40 years. A man who bled quietly to death in his living room. A woman who lives with rats, random debris, and terrified delusion. The still life of a home vacated by accidental overdose. Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead - and the book she has written is equally extraordinary. Not just the compelling story of a fascinating life among lives of desperation but an affirmation that, as isolated as we may feel, we are all in this together. Winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Literature. Winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Nonfiction.

Meticulously formatted, this is a highly listenable edition of the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation and detention programs launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Based on over six million internal CIA documents, the report details secret prisons - like the one in Thailand run by Gina Haspel - prisoner deaths, interrogation practices, and cooperation with other foreign and domestic agencies. It also examines charges that the CIA deceived elected officials and governmental overseers about the extent and legality of its operations. Over five years in the making, and withheld from public view since its declassification in April, 2014, this is the full summary report as finally released by the United States government on December 9, 2014.