Fantasy-SciFi-Horror
Plunged, First Chapter Free! Featured
A Navy SEAL. A cloaking experiment gone wrong. A battle beyond reality. Will his faith be enough?
The Matrix meets The Chosen in Plunged, a high-octane Christian sci-fi thriller of explosive action and soul-stirring faith.
When Navy SEAL Jacob Carter is forced into a top-secret ex ...
Heroes of Time Legends: The Healer Featured
A butterfly's wing is healed, and destiny unfolds. Follow the healer's path as he walks between shadow and light. Fulgar Geth's life has been one of grief and hardship since childhood. With his strange abilities to heal and wield forces of magnetism, he is often shunned and misunderstood. Unable ...
The Road to the Stars Featured
Get ready for an electrifying odyssey across the cosmos in Adam Gaffen's "The Road to the Stars," where Kendra Cassidy emerges as the unstoppable force propelling humanity into the galactic unknown, no matter what obstacles stand in her way! Amidst a world on the brink of resource catastrophe, Ke ...
Kilty As Hell Featured
"This series is getting better and better." - Amazon Reviewer
Catriona is having a strange year. First, she found a dazed Highlander on the Hollywood studio lot where she works as a fixer and now it seems she and that big hunk of haggis are supposed to save the world from corrupted t ...
The Last Dog Featured
The Last Dog is an award-winning dystopian drama set in 2086 (2 books in the series). It received a Readers Favorite award in 2018, and won the Book Excellence Award in 2017. After the Unified World Pact of 2045, people lived in a state of peace and prosperity previously unknown in human history. Th ...
Werewolves, Vamps, and Thieves!
Joe Mack and his friends head to Pittsburgh to deal with a surge of disappearances, all people with psychic abilities going missing under highly questionable supernatural circumstances. That’s enough to keep anyone hopping, but Joe can’t ignore the feeling that th ...
From the Mind of a Witch Featured
When ex-FBI agent Rebecca Marte considered the possible challenges of her new career as a private investigator, she never thought one of them would be to investigate a witch charged with killing a man during a coven ritual. The job should be easy as six icons of the St. Louis business community, the ...
Nowhere Too Far Featured
Over fifty years ago, Dr. Fred Carlson told the world that the possibility existed the Earth could be impacted by a pair of asteroids sometime in the future which may cause the complete destruction of all life on Earth. His warning was disputed and soon forgotten by all except a small group of pe ...
Earth Peregrination Series Book 1 Featured
Destructive earthquakes and time-traveling portals created by massive storms take our heroes and heroines to beautiful, exotic, strange, and dangerous places. Everyday people thrown into a warrior lifestyle they never expected and didn't ask for; all while fighting demonic forces at every turn. T ...
She Reigns Featured
The fulfillment of the prophecy is at hand. To claim the crown and restore peace, Attina must first defeat the tyrant king. But victory won't come easy. Known to be the most powerful of the Fae, King Henrik would sooner burn his kingdom to the ground than relinquish his throne. More than ever, ...
The first book to the spiritual fantasy series - The Path of None - The Curse - a One-of-a-kind 284-page horror graphic novel filled with stunning vivid dark imagery - is A.G.ZoderoT’s spiritual grimdark fantasy horror masterpiece set a sinister fantasy world as we know it Not, and serves as an orig ...
Necrosis Featured
Amidst the chaos and fear of an apocalyptic virus, a mother fights to protect her daughter from the rotting remains of society. Navigating a frightening new world where survival is paramount and trust is a gamble, infection is only a misstep away. Despite her doubts and imperfections, Amy’s love and ...
Children of Alpheios Featured
A 2023 Firebird Book Award Winner & Five-Star Reader's Favorite: A genetically engineered colony on a new world. A baby born different than everyone else. A mother who will do anything to save him. On planet Eamine, twenty-one-year-old Alina must protect her baby when Mandin is born with a ...
HOLOGRAM Featured
Holographer David Leone has just turned forty, and he's been enjoying spicy memories of his first love, Lucille Muhr, who's now a famous actress. When the ghost image of a young girl shows up in a holographic portrait of a bride and groom, David sets out to invent a device to pre-screen space for h ...
Emergence Featured
★★★★★ “Stayed up until 2 AM on a work night … you’ve been warned.”
Eight heroes. Two galaxies. One epic mystery.
Matthai Valtrellin, reluctant heir to a galactic dynasty, never questioned his role—until a mysterious woman appears, heralding imposs ...
Three Deadly Shorts & A Poem Featured
Three Short Stories of Love and Loathing, And A Poem of Infinite Consequences Final Day With only minutes from conversion, Alana must convince her loving husband Michael that change is imminent and that he is a crucial part of her metamorphosis. But something goes wrong! Alana’s inept attempt at a e ...
Unbound by Shadowspire Featured
Secrets are a game to Myrna’s family. If only she were a player and not a pawn.
Myrna found a way out from under her family’s thumb via her dream job, but it’s more than it seems. Here, the ground vibrates with a power that fe ...
High school mean-girl drama is bad enough, and having an overprotective magical car only makes it worse. Samantha wishes she’d followed her grandfather’s rules about not getting the car ...
In space, the screaming never stops.
From derelict ships haunted by madness to alien planets steeped in dread, this chilling anthology of space horror and sci-fi terror takes you on a journey into the deepest, darkest reaches of the cos ...
Wicked Tongue Featured
A typical night of partying leaves Daniel Blair with far more than a hangover. His myraid of strange symptoms defy explanation, as does the blood on his pillow. And something is very wrong with his tongue.
Afraid he contracted a terrible unknown illness, Daniel seeks help. But hi ...
Amazon #1 Bestseller
"A mind-bending thriller with spiritual stakes...unexpected twists...mind-blowing revelations...and thought-provoking conflicts that challenge everything readers think they know." - Reader View ...
Harper Brinley is running for her life. After escaping from a government holding facility where she, along with other scientists, were being forced to build a deadly weapon, she headed for the most remote place she could think of, the wild Xantifal Mountains. The one place where no one would think t ...
The Matriarch Messiah Featured
A story of self-discovery, fortune, and fate
An unexpected adventure leads to peril, betrayal, love, and family. Where will your choices find you?
A time-traveling tale of swashbuckling battles, ...
Sacrifice Featured
When high-status Trueborn Rajiv is attacked by a giant bhimkay spider, his rescuer, Leyta, becomes his captor. Can Rajiv learn to see the enslaved escapee Leyta as more than a non-human Tankborn? Or will he seize his chance to recapture her, knowing the gene-splicers will wipe away her brain and ...
Hunter's Moon Featured
International bestselling author James Byron Huggins returns with the sequel to his novel Hunter, delivering a story of primal terror, relentless pursuit, and ultimate confrontation.
A brilliant but twisted Army scientist has done the unthinkable. He has become the beast, an ancient, preh ...
Princess of Wind and Sea Featured
In 1773, the prince and princess travel across the globe on a series of secret missions, and run into unexpected danger. Aisling's magical abilities are increasing, but dark forces who seek to destroy her powers are hunting them. The prince must protect her at all costs, as they fight for survival a ...
A warrior fighting his destiny. A woman desperately seeking hers. And a magic portal that joins them both. Dál Cruinne is a world of warriors and mages, clan kings and sages. Asleep since the Dragon Wars of millennia past, the beasts have now awoken. Arlan, warrior son of the High King of the Sovere ...
Death's Head Featured
As the war in Europe winds down, a unit of battle-fatigued GIs are tasked in liberating the survivors of the infamous Verurteilt concentration camp, in theory a relatively simple rescue mission. Upon arrival, Sergeant Rance Hawkins and his four young charges are ordered to search an unmapped area be ...
Circus grunt Charmer Fire wrangler Growing up within the grind of the enchanted Circus Faire, Crew’s unique talents have blossomed. Though, he’s been warned that the King of Hawkswing is determined to eradicate a certain species, and for his own sake Crew must keep his formidable gifts under wrap ...
Heaven’s security is threatened after an Ancient makes the ultimate sacrifice, thrusting ...
My Gran used to say, “There are times when the only way out is a lead pill.” These are stories when things got that bad. A Lead Pill is the second collection of short stories from a HARD PLACE. Stories of loneliness and betrayal, of false hope and shattered dreams, of gifts and regrets, of love and ...
Elemental magic, souls doomed to eternal reincarnation, and an ancient cult with sinister devices. Phoenyx Blake has a dark secret, one she’s repressed since her father died in a mysterious house fire a decade ago. When she wakes in a dungeon with three strangers, she’s forced to face that secret, w ...
Faerie and the human world may have survived near-annihilation, but that doesn’t mean everything is flowers and singalongs for the residents of the now-combined lands. Humans are coming to terms with finding chunks of a realm they didn’t know existed dumped into their neighborhoods, plus the Fae ...
A desperate woman takes a perilous gamble to save her family from a brutal murderer, they go through an illegal portal to the Forbidden Colony of St. Antoni. But it proves a dangerous haven, whose citizens have created a society as different from the Post-Apocalyptic Earth t ...
Shutterbug Allison Lee is trying to survive high school while suffering the popular girl's abuse. Her life is often abysmal, but at least her green hair is savage. Her talent for photography is recognized by the school paper and the judges of a photo contest. While visiting her friend Joe, a homeles ...
When Corran, Rigan, and their friends became outlaw monster hunters and fled beyond the walls of Ravenwood City, they thought they had defeated the source of the abominations that killed so many of their friends and loved ones. But the more successful they become at destroying the creatures, the mor ...
Picking a rose was a stupid way to trigger a curse, in Elissa’s opinion. But there’s no arguing with the strange, scarred host of a hidden valley who’s taken her brother captive.
Without the resources to mount a rescue, Elissa desperately settles for the next best thing: exchanging her fr ...
As the world descends into chaos, one woman will do anything to find her daughter…
Shannon Grayson is a tough-as-nails long-haul truck driver on a routine job. But her life is turned upside down when a massive electromagnetic blast hits North America while she’s unload ...
Warnings echo through the woods…
Born with the mark of the scribe, Raela is bound to the prophetic book that directs her people underground to escape the invasion of their homeland. As the prophecy warns, this event signals a worsening doom on the horizon.
But th ...
This genre-blending collection is rich in characters, who aren't always what they seem at first glance. Space pirates, Fire Elves, and living grotesques toake us on journeys across the multiverse and deep into the hidden crevices of the mind. These stories interrogate what it is to be monstrous; and ...
Ancient guardians. Hidden threats. Epic adventure.
What are your plans for summer?
Jay Blotter’s summer was supposed to be simple: soccer with friends, part-time job.
Then the shadows came.
It starts with a strange creature only he can see and a creeping sense that ...
We are guarded by immortals when we dream.
Dream thieves watch over the unconscious wanderings of the human mind, plucking out the most dangerous dreams before they can take root and turn us into monsters. Malcolm Jones has been a dream thief since the dawn of time, but for once, he has f ...
A Five-Star Reader's Favorite! After her brother takes his own life, Wrenn Jodh’s life unravels. With nothing left of him but a pair of journals she can’t bear to read, Wrenn retreats to the stability of her job as an aid worker for Kohath’s refugees. On the way, she finds herself thrown togethe ...
In Hub, a city of treachery and deceit, Gelsey, a pixie, is one of the best thieves around. When a smash and grab assignment turns into a job interview with a powerful dragon, Gelsey finds herself a part of a crew including five more of the best criminals Hub has to offer. Her crew includes Silai, ...
In a realm of darkness and secrets, I'll risk everything to bring my pack back together and reclaim the magic that binds us.
I can feel my world cracking when my enchanted lamp isn't returned. Zachary, loyal and brave as ever, insists on tracking down the ...
A jobless jester and a misguided magpie wander into a land where technology is booming… but trouble is brewing! Dame Elsebet de Whellen has ruled her mildly magical, high-tech country for 50 prosperous years. Now it's facing a crisis three generations in the making, and the bold steps she's taken to ...
Sometimes, breaking the curse is only the beginning…
Princess Eliana of Ymittos has long anticipated the day she gets to make the rules — and use her magic without fear of penalty. But until she ascends the throne, Eliana’s days are devoted to practicing diplomacy on i ...
Cam of Cairnrach has one job--to reach the king of Isencroft with a desperately needed elixir before dark magic claims the monarch's life. He's traveled across two kingdoms on his urgent quest, but he finds that the last mile of the journey is the hardest. Set in the world of The Chronicles of the N ...
As the tropical city of Darwin slumbers, a massive armada of dragonflies approaches, their eerie hum reminiscent of the haunting drone of Japanese fighter planes on that fateful February 14, 1942.
Callum and Ande receive an invitation from Pitch to holi ...
Aisling and Prince Drayaen return home to Ireland in time to celebrate the holidays. But their festivities are short-lived. New enemies are threatening their way of life. As dark forces swirl around them, Aisling and the prince must destroy their adversaries to protect each other and everything they ...
In 1772, amidst the ancient ruins and standing stones of western Ireland, a young woman inherits an army, a fleet of ships, and special powers. To keep her magic, she journeys to the East Kingdom and meets her greatest challenge -- a warrior prince whose love threatens to destroy them both. Together ...
Duty, honor, and loyalty will be put to the ultimate test.
Mark Howard brings us an epic coming-of-age fantasy tale about duty, honor, and loyalty in a life-or-death stakes struggle for the realm. As the battles rage in a mysterious world that echoes J.R. Tolkien’s Mi ...
Stephen, a young, disembodied soul is sent to the earthly plane by his spiritual master. After his harrowing previous life in flesh, he is petrified. But it’s part of the plan. ‘Every soul must fall into flesh to learn and grow.’ The words of the master ring in his ears—there is no escaping his sojo ...
Tausi, son of the legendary Captain Ngala, has risen to the edge of power as higher glories await him on bloody horizons. Now the lord of his own ship, The Ube, he reaves the Mirror Sea to spread the fame of Song City, once a den of monsters in Shallow Bay. Every doubt he meets with the end of a swo ...
The court of the gryphon king has ever been a dangerous and seductive place where Ishtar’s blessing is both the hot breath of passion and the cold kiss of steel. Yet as the childhood companion of King Ditanu, Iltani never doubted her place in either his kingdom or his heart. Then duty called her awa ...
(5 stars) "Great books, kept my interest from page one. But now I have to wait for the next one (sad face). I love this series." -- Judith J, Amazon reader. The adventure continues in WIZARD SEARCH, The Magic of Larlion, Book 4. The war ends in victory for the young wizard Beneban and his friends, b ...
For Sage, fitting in with her new classmates is a matter of life or death. Literally. Dragged out of hiding after her parents are killed, Sage is forced to enroll in the Institution. There, she’ll learn to be a model citizen of Eprah. But model citizens are murderers. And when everyone is granted au ...
Not so cute and cuddly! Not a cozy mystery! Not like any crime story you've read. Serena McKay, P.I., lives in a post-apocalyptic dystopian time where the rich get richer and the poor are homeless. Existence in August City is nightmarish at best and disastrously chilling at worst. Serena has suffere ...
Mae Lin Zhou has struggled to live up to her father’s expectations all her life. When her dying grandmother chooses her to carry the family’s ability to make luck, she thinks this is her chance. If she can learn to control her new power.
Whisked away to Kismet Academy, Mae Lin finds herse ...
ARE MONSTERS BORN OR ARE THEY CREATED? Once inseparable, their friendship shattered under the weight of envy, inviting an insidious darkness that lurked in the shadows. But what truly transpired between these brothers before their fates were forever intertwined? Brace yourself for a revelation th ...
ROBBED OF HER LIFE… …when 82-year-old Eula is stripped of her home and possessions by a scheming banker and her scoundrel son. Suddenly she is forced to begin a new life in a brutal assisted living facility. Feeling lost and broken, she soon learns that a vicious nurse is determined to make her life ...
None can resist the ravages of time. Knowledge is lost. Memories fade. But some things must never be forgotten. Over 400 years ago, twelve great warriors united the beleaguered armies of men and scoured the war-torn lands of evil, pushing the enemy back into the underground pits and caverns from ...
Like millions of other kids, Jim grew up wanting to be a superhero. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, Jim actually had the goods: a plethora of super powers that would have been the envy of any meta on the planet. But when his tryout with the Alpha League - the world's premier group of ...
When Brand & Desmet airlift occult valuables out of Havana during the 1898 naval conflict with Spain, they get far more than they expected. A shipwreck with experimental tech and magical relics sparks a race to retrieve the goods—and the winner might turn the tide of the war and the balance of power ...
When you ask a god for favors, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. Josef Magarac was a brave man, a strong man, a hard-working immigrant who only wanted a better life for his family. Instead he got a bloodbath. From the bloody steel mill strikes of Pennsylvania rose a true man of st ...
When Riley’s secret friend, Eren, vanishes from the woods where he hides, Riley starts to think he imagined him. After all, what little boy would have fangs, a red, pointed tail like a devil, and no need for food? Over thirty years later, Riley is taken prisoner in the Fallen realm where angel ...
It's the year 2268 in the Kingdom of Canard. Jason has earned enough rewards to secure a beautiful girlfriend and lavish lifestyle. Until his unforgivable mistake. Now they’re trying to kill him. In a world where a person’s worth is measured by points and evil lurks around every corner, who will ...
A collection of tales blending characters through a journey into the unknown. Colors of the Soul, six stories of heightened emotions, mixes the supernatural with dark themes, and a mysterious German shepherd as a guide. Each story stands on its own, but each will have you turning the page for more.
A reluctant queen. A dark king. Their war will write the first Fae legacy.
Locked Out of Heaven is the explosive first book in the Legacies of Light & Dark Mythic Fantasy series. Perfect for fans o ...
A deadly bargain. A cursed prince. One kiss could break everything.
When Evonna strikes a blood bargain to find her missing brother, she’s given a single impossible task:
Kill Prince Alaistar of Darkhar by the full moon… or forfeit her own life.
They call him the Frog Prin ...
Never and Rikeva are stranded.
Defeating the Burnished King has come at a heavy cost. Never and Rikeva find themselves trapped in the time of his ancestors, captured by Amouni Guardians.
Guardians who immediately brand Never as a mongrel – and Rikeva as a worthles ...
Before the stars burned and the skies collapsed, there were the Constructors—architects of layers, reality built atop illusion.
Humanity’s final legacy wasn’t salvation, but si ...
A village blacksmith from the middle of nowhere, Thomas seeks adventure after surviving a plague that eradicated his homeland. Following his father’s advice and heading east, Thomas finds himself entwined in a surge of attacks by a thieves’ guild knows as Neydis. Similarly lost adventurers soon join ...
A disturbed Vietnam veteran believes he can fly into different versions of his life in an infinite multiverse. As he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, he uncovers a buried treasure inside his wounded heart that sends him soaring into his true home. Drafted straight out of high school ...
Star Force pilot and hero Wyatt McCoy left his medals and career behind after the Rim Wars, disillusioned and bitter when he learns the truths behind the conflict. He takes his converted gunship, the Nellie B, and heads to the Near Fringe, salvaging derelict ships and abandoned stations and minin ...
Roger and Gertrude Davis enjoy an idyllic existence in the small Appalachian town of Harper Pass. With vast landholdings, a successful business, and love for the family they’ve built, they’ve avoided the suffering The Great Depression has wrought on the area until it all comes crashing down on a swe ...
Join six teenagers on a mind-bending journey to unravel the mysteries of Fermi's paradox. Traveling through alien worlds and times, discovering love, loss, and the secrets of Earth’s position in the Galaxy. Discover the shocking truth behind why they were selected, as their future is forever alte ...
In Kingsgarden, magic and prosperity go hand in hand, and the future is limitless... if you're a man.
Unladylike, bookish, and wholly uninterested in being a princess, Arismendi has one dream: to open Kingsgarden’s first school for girls. But such a dream is expensive—too expensive for ...
For forty years, the Hiver menace has left devastation in its wake: prisoners bound in cocoons, trapped in living death, with no known way to safely free them.
When Clemintine LaSalle steals her mother’s Indenture contract papers from the blackmailer’s safe, she accidentally gets his blackmail list too, and someone wants that list badly enough to frame her for murder… Shangri-la was designed to be the next utopia. But it’s flawed and someone is attempti ...
He will give up everything for love. As dark prince of the dark seas, Victor has everything. Everything except Ariana's love. Victor is Ursula's son, so he can't blame Ariana for not trusting him. He will do anything for her, but she is falling for a mortal prince. Can Ariana see that Victor's heart ...
The end begins now as truth, trust, and power collide.
The final chapter of the Zworsky’s Children series expl ...
The world ended. Then things got tough. Shane Collins and Lucas Maddox are the last two US Marshals after a global cataclysm that destroyed most of modern civilization. They’re still on the job, fighting the good fight, although they’re no longer fully human and maybe not entirely sane. Witches a ...
Stabbed. Burned by a dragon. Abandoned for the windrocs to pick over. The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw, and the courage of a girl who refused to die. Only an extraordinary friendship will save Hualiama’s beloved kingdom of ...
From Book 1: Have you ever made a mistake that keeps coming back to haunt you?On the run from her ex-boyfriends powerful criminal family, Sara Jones hides in Billings, Montana. But when people around her start dying from poisonous spider bites after she receives a mysterious package containing ...
Gods, monsters, and magic school. Class will never be the same. I thought that I was just a normal girl. Well except for being sickly with a bad back and asthma. But then my family was lost in a tragic accident and then next thing I know Hermes is knocking at my door. Yeah, that Hermes - the Greek g ...
Crystal is a young Half-White Dragon whose destiny lies outside the comfort and privilege of her family’s manor. Chosen by the emperor to lead an investigation on his behalf, she finds she cannot do it alone. Her abilities aren’t enough to deal with the magic and technological challenges the changin ...
It’s her first test and it might be her last. Soriya has worked her entire life to become the Greystone—protector of her city, Portents, against the growing shadows of myth and legend. All her efforts are in jeopardy when she is struck down by the destructive power of the Minotaur. Soriya must ...
Now embraced as an integral member of the pack, Aria finds herself entwined with Rafe, the enigmatic alpha who ignites a passionate connection within her. However, amidst the tranquility of Moondrift, a sinister presence lurks – the Daemonium Factiosi, thirsty for Aria's extraordinary power. As t ...
Set in Carlisle, England, in 1287, The Fate of Our Sorrows is a tender and haunting prequel to JC Wade’s Thistle and Sword series. Before rebellion and prophecy, before war tore her world apart, young Edyth De Vries lived a quiet life beneath the watchful eye o ...
No matter where the watch hands turn, she’d rather remain home. But with every time-traveling trekker’s life at stake, can she stop a deadly clock? Wilda Firestone survives off black coffee and white-hot sarcasm. And despite the colorful slew of characters filing through her time tourism costume sho ...
The first book to the spiritual fantasy series - The Path of None - The Curse is A.G.ZoderoT’s spiritual grimdark fantasy horror masterpiece set a sinister fantasy world as we know it Not, and serves as an origin story of the Dark Messiah, unraveling the Darkest of Legends, the Darkest of worlds' Cu ...
This luxury leatherbound special edition of Mistborn comes from Dragonsteel Books. It includes a bound-in, satin-ribbon bookmark, gilded pages, two color foiling on the cover, as well as exclusive artwork and a 2-page map.
If you've never read Mistborn, it's an epic fantasy novel origina ...
Brandeis Clark has grown bored with spaceflight academy, so when the government offers her an assignment hunting interstellar pirates, she jumps at the chance. But Brandy’s home planet, Thurman, has never had a military and doesn’t know how to run one. Her training officer does little beyond yell ...
A ruthless outlaw determined to conquer her kingdom. A courageous stranger who saves her life. She never suspected they would be the same man… With the king bound in enchanted slumber, unrest spreads through the Seven Rivers. Outlaws ravage the land, destroying peaceful villages. Left alone to ru ...
Lithir and Bruno are sent to find the traitor who plotted to kill Alfrahil. If they are to be successful in their mission, centuries of distrust between their races must be overcome. As the unlikely duo enters the Dwarven mines of Nerea, they confront a maniacal sect, whose power threatens to consum ...
A post-apocalyptic zombie thriller romance by International Bestselling Author, Nikita Slater. Only the strongest can survive in a hostile world ravaged by a disease that turns humans into primitives. Taran. I am the Desert Wren, a rebel bent on providing safe passage to illegal refugees en ...
Kynet never planned to be at the forefront of the rebellion. That was her brother’s hobby: rallying the people. Plotting against the leaders. Running into dangers she’d have to negotiate him out of.
That was before the Poisoner tried to kill her.
Left with strange powers in the af ...
The island of Niue, 1944. On this remote island, deep in the South Pacific, about 1,500 miles from its closest neighbor, it hardly feels like a war is on. Angelie, a 17-year-old Australian girl, is waiting out the war on the island, where warm tropical winds blow through her hair almost as gently as ...
