Ocean State Libraries

Eve Duncan and her adopted daughter, Jane MacGuire, are pitted against the members of a secretive cult who have targeted Jane and have decided that she will be their ultimate sacrifice. In eight days they will come for her. In eight days, what Jane fears the most will become a reality. In eight days, she will die.

"A trenchant analysis of sacrifice as the foundation of the modern, as well as the ancient, social order The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter and moral rectitude, were at odds. In this analysis, Terry Eagleton makes a compelling argument that...

""Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I'm just a Jade. I'm not a real hero." As each new decade begins, the Sun's power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino...

"Travel to Grishnaverse, a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only for a terrible price. Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge,...

The celebrated Victorian author of Middlemarch explores the turbulent world of Florence during the Italian Renaissance in this sweeping historical novel. Florence, 1492. Lorenzo de Medici has just died, leaving governance of the Florentine Republic to his son Piero, an unskilled ruler. Meanwhile, Tito Melema, a shipwrecked stranger, finds love with a young woman named Romola, the devoted daughter of a blind scholar. Though her brother has a vision...

"Beneath the commonplace affirmation that Jesus 'paid for our sins' lie depths of implication: Did God demand a blood sacrifice to assuage divine anger? Is sacrifice (consciously or unconsciously) intended to induce the deity to show favor? What underlies the various metaphors for atonement used in the Bible? Here, Stephen Finlan surveys psychological theories that help us to understand beliefs about sacrifice and atonement and what they may reveal...

A humorous and gory look at the ancient Aztec tradition of sacrificing enemy warriors to the gods.

Ancient, opposing forces continue the battle for control of all men in their quest across a strange continent and among stranger peoples struggling over the religion of a dead God.

Tells the chilling tale of a fishing village tempted by greed, who evolve into freakish half-human creatures and must sacrifice outsiders to an ancient, monstrous god of the sea.

Former military intelligence officer Noah Drake exiled himself to a small island off the coast of Georgia after the side effects of an untested drug destroyed his body's tolerance to light. But because of his sacrifice, he brought down a dangerous traitor. Now five years later, Noah's adversary is back to settle the score.