Age of Aether -- A Steampunk Adventure-Romance Novella. When Capt. Ben Bantam is tapped to go back in time in order to retrieve a cure for the vicious Shadow plague, he is shocked to arrive in an alternate 1944 where electricity doesn't exist. Instead, a parallel past has mysteriously arisen -- complete with parasols, stunningly luxurious Aerotels, hydrologic computing, Helux-powered 'cloud growlers' and a space elevator-based moon race with Germany. And of course, there is the lovely Dr. Rachelle Archenstone ... But when Hitler is made Chancellor in this world and the American space program sabotaged, Bantam is the only one who realizes the true depth of the danger posed by the newly formed Nazi party. Together with Rachelle, he races to save this America while seeking an explanation to the mystery of this alternate past -- and with it, a way to return to his own world with the Shadow's cure. But when it comes down to a choice between his lovely Rachelle and a thousand years of Nazi rule, what will he do? Thrill to a tale of a Yesterday that never was ... And yet was!

This is a sampler of MAX QUICK: THE POCKET AND THE PENDANT by Mark Jeffrey. The full book is available in hardcover and ebook from Harper Collins in bookstores everywhere. (Unfortunately I am limited to only two chapters by Harper Collins ... but I will soon be uploading a generous portion of MAX QUICK: THE TWO TRAVELERS (Max Quick #2) to make up for it! More on author Mark Jeffrey and Max Quick books here: http://markjeffrey.net Max Quick is a pickpocket, a vagabond, an orphan, and a thief. Even so, nothing about him seems particularly special . . . until one day when time mysteriously stops. Suddenly, nearly everyone in the world is frozen in time—except for Max. Now Max must journey across America to find the source of the Time-stop. Along the way, he meets others who aren't suspended in time, like Casey, a girl who's never been on her own until now. Together, as they search for the cause of this disaster, Max and his companions encounter ancient mysteries, magic books, and clues to the riddle of stopped time. But relentless and mysterious villains are hot on Max's heels and will do everything in their power to prevent Max from ending the Time-stop. And the closer Max gets to the answers, the more it seems that his own true identity is not what he once believed. Racing against a clock that no longer ticks, Max must embrace his past to save his future—and the world—from being altered forever.

This is a sampler of the full book ARMAND PTOLEMY AND THE GOLDEN ALEPH. More info and links to the full book can be found here: http://markjeffrey.net When Armand Ptolemy is called to investigate strange tremors plaguing an old wing of the New York public library, he finds himself enmeshed in a series of events that began in 1912. Yet Ptolemy himself is rumored to be from the past -- and the world's Elite lust after the secret of how he seemingly jumped forward over one hundred years in time. Most keenly interested in this secret is Octavio Veerspike, head of the Veerspike banking dynasty. When the Commission -- a secret society of the world's most powerful people -- suddenly call a conclave in the tropics, Ptolemy has to figure out what they're up to, and fast. But the Elites have other ideas. Putting into a motion the capstone of a hundred-years old plan, the Commission wants Ptolemy out of the way. And with the Golden Aleph giving them very potent powers of prediction, they just may succeed ... Mark Jeffrey (@markjeffrey on Twitter) is also the author of the best-selling young adult novel MAX QUICK: THE POCKET AND THE PENDANT (HarperCollins, 2011) which received over 2.6 million downloads as a podcast audiobook.