Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers-some willingly, some unwittingly-have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear - of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

The great viral plague had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare. Led by the mysterious, charismatic Amy, they go on the attack, leading an insurrection against the virals--the first offensives of the Second Viral War--infiltrating a dozen hives, each presided over by one of the original Twelve. Their secret weapon: Alicia, transformed at the end of book one into a half human, half viral--but...

River Tam and her brother Simon are hiding out from the totalitarian government that experimented with River's brain aboard a space-freighter. Captained by a down on his luck soldier, the crew of Serenity must take jobs, whether they are legal or not, while trying to avoid the Alliance, and keeping the Tams safe. Then things get out of control and the true extent of River's powers becomes known. At the same time, the Alliance sends a new Operative...

In a near-future world where technologically enhanced humans are governed by a strict set of conduct laws, twenty-nine-year-old Owen Gray joins the ranks of a persecuted underclass that is planning to change, or destroy, the world.

A minor road accident landed county prosecutor Katie DeMaio in Westlake Hospital. That night, from her window, she thought she saw a man load a woman's body into the trunk of a car...or was it just a sleeping pill induced nightmare? At work the next day, Katie began investigating a suicide that looked more like murder. Initial evidence pointed elsewhere, but medical examiner Richard Carroll saw a trail leading to Dr. Edgar Highley. He suspected that...

Dr. Kate Philo and her scientific exploration team make a breathtaking discovery in the Arctic: the body of a man buried deep in the ice. As a scientist in a groundbreaking project run by the egocentric and paranoid Erastus Carthage, Kate has brought small creatures back to life for short periods of time. But the team's methods have never been attempted on larger life-forms.

After a tumultuous year in which her mentor is murdered and her estranged father comes back into her life, Pia Grazdani, decided to take some time off from her medical studies and escape New York City. Intrigued by the promise of the burgeoning field of medical technology and the chance to clear her head in the cool air of Colorado, Pia takes a job at Nano, LLC, a lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology institute in the Rockies. Nano is...

Kurt Austin puts the NUMA team on a case involving a hideous series of medical experiments, an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization, and a secret new virus that threatens to set off a worldwide pandemic. In this eighth NUMA File novel, Kurt Austin and his National Underwater and Marine Agency Special Projects team return, squaring off with the elusive and dangerous Pyramid Triad organization of China in a race to acquire the antidote...

Michelle "Mac" Mackenzie, a super-human "Greater-Than" with unique abilities, teams up with a former Navy SEAL Shane Laughlin to stop the spread of a highly addictive drug called Destiny, which gives anyone the same abilities as a "Greater-Than."