Showing results by narrator "John Pirhalla" in All Categories

When a known Komran outpost that has recently been upgraded shows signs of staging an invasion, there are only two options: commit to a full-force assault and lose many lives and ships to take the base, or send in a small, elite team to take on an entire base by themselves. The council believes the barbarian has done well so far. Why not risk his team’s necks first and see how it goes before scheduling that assault? Joe and his team must make their way to a planet that has been under Komran control for decades.

Every light casts a shadow. Ronan Renzo is that shadow. Ronan Renzo lives a somewhat pampered life as the son of a merchant, but all that changes when his family home is visited by a strange, black-clad man. This man's clothing is so dark that it seems to swallow light, and he bears the symbol of the crescent moon upon his breast. He is, according to Ronan, a member of the Night Guild. A guild of thieves and assassins, who commit dark deeds in homage to the one they serve: the Night God.

In a not-so-distant future, Earth is at the mercy of a rogue quantum AI, with the power to manipulate time, space, and reality. This once-benign creation has gone off the rails, turning our world into a chaotic, dystopian landscape straight out of a video game. Amidst this madness, Liam, an ordinary man, is thrust into the role of Earth's unlikely savior. Tasked with rebooting the entire planet, he must navigate a world where the rules of physics are as malleable as the whims of the AI that controls it.

After he’s given a warning by a dying man that Russian terrorists are coming after him, black ops agent Blake Jordan pushes everyone he cares about away to keep them safe. But Russia has a long memory. When a cyberattack is unleashed against hospitals and government agencies, Blake teams up with his lost love to investigate. But he never expects her to be used as leverage for the release of a terrorist who Blake thinks is dead.

Huon and Liona have reached the rank of Immortal. On the world of Temtoria, they developed abilities long lost to the surgecallers in Harolan and Taloniar. But their journey is far from over. On their return, they must help their friends catch up to their level of strength while pushing forward in their mission to defeat the Immortal Seven and the Everlasting King.

The Starship Atlantis takes you on an unforgettable journey through the extraordinary. From alien civilizations and rogue AI to desperate missions on the brink of collapse, these stories will transport you across the stars into the heart of the unknown. This anthology features six never-before-published novellas and short stories, plus two exclusive bonus tales.

A dark reflection of evil has been unleashed.... Dylan Reynolds seems like an average, lonely teenager. Forced to move to a strange city where he doesn’t know anyone, Dylan rebels against his parents and runs away from home. But a chance encounter unlocks something hidden away in the troubled youth’s mind - a suppressed memory of a twin brother. And a sinister secret lurks in their shared past.... This special edition includes the entire terrifying Ghost Mirror trilogy, plus two additional short story collections.

It was just supposed to be a birthday party, a mobile celebration with a group of college friends on a modified fire truck. But at some point, things take a dark detour. As the pulsating beats of dance music reverberate over an endless stretch of asphalt, the temperature suddenly plummets, and the reality of the situation becomes chillingly clear: the driver will not stop. After frantically attempting to contact the mysterious motorist, the passengers begin to suspect this party may never end.

American History lecturer Paul Mahan was looking for a little peace and quiet. A place to recover from his personal demons, and pursue his academic career. But when he moves into the newly refurbished Rookwood Apartments, he soon finds himself trapped in a living nightmare. A series of terrifying events forces Paul to question his sanity. Strange messages scribble themselves across the walls. His beautiful neighbor seems to vanish without a trace. And a deadly accident tears away the veil from Rookwood’s dark past.

Town marshal Elias Faust thinks that he can make any problem go away if he throws enough lead at it. The living’s easy for a lawman. Bloody, but easy - that is, until Magnate Gregdon arrives with his undead syndicate to tear the town of Blackpeak, Texas apart. When a shootout with a pair of outlaws goes sideways, Elias Faust accidentally draws the Magnate’s attention. As if dealing with arcane sorcery, reanimated corpses, and the Magnate’s personal vendetta aren’t enough, Faust finds himself at the center of a power-struggle for Blackpeak’s eldritch secrets.

Kanar Reas, an ex-soldier known as the Blackheart, hides a dangerous secret. Exiled from the Realmsguard, he wants nothing to do with the kind of magic that destroyed his life. That is until his team of mercenaries is offered a job they can’t refuse.

After thirty years of friendship, Pam dreams of her perfect retirement with Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene, and their husbands—until their husbands pool their funds for an investment that goes terribly wrong, and their dreams of beachfront condos and a sunny, carefree retirement vanish. But when one husband dies in a freak accident, the other three women are shocked to see his widow rebound with a huge life insurance payout and a new life in Florida. The women discover that their husbands have identical, seven-figure life insurance policies. A new dream forms, and this time, it involves a hitman.

Wren, Shrike, and Lark are three, very special siblings with one unusual calling. Raised by a father gifted with the ability to sense impending death, his visions allowed them to save people’s lives. But they never imagined meddling with fate would have horrific consequences. Now their beloved father is dead, murdered by one of the people they saved. And the Rose siblings have unearthed a terrifying secret: those who were meant to die have become hosts for demonic spirits from beyond. Ghostly apparitions who feed on misery and pain. And who delight in torturing their human victims.

Chicago, sometime. Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different.

After the United Nations of Terra (UNT) Fleet Frigate Nelson reported an encounter with an alien spaceship, she disappeared without a trace. An alien race called the Maltaani have made their presence known by landing a mass of troops on Balfan-48, a desert planet located far too close to Terra Earth for comfort. Tensions are rising and tempers are growing short. The UNT responds by deploying ISMC’s Ninth Division aboard the flagship Atlas to the scene to investigate the Maltaani aggression.

Subtlety is a game Joe is capable of, but he always preferred a more hands-on approach. Unluckily for him, the Komran are no longer satisfied with a war of attrition, and there’s no choice but to play. After intercepting the Komran battleplans on his last suicide mission, Joe gets the request to take on the most challenging mission to date: diplomacy.

After scouring the world for rare stolen artifacts, former commando turned treasure hunter Dak Harper is looking forward to a little time back in the States. His boss has sent him to North Carolina to retrieve a set of Civil War pistols stolen from a museum. The legendary Samuel Colt made the guns for President Abraham Lincoln, but some local bigwig has purloined them for himself. Dak learns this Southern tycoon’s interests stretch further than stolen weapons. Turns out he’s holding a town hostage at the center of a sprawling crime syndicate. And innocent townsfolk are dying.

The island of Tarawa, a tiny spit of sand out in the middle of the Pacific, teemed with five hundred pillboxes filled with artillery pieces and highly motivated Japanese soldiers. Their commanding officer encouraged his troops, saying, “It would take one million men one hundred years” to conquer Tarawa. They were convinced that the Americans would be slaughtered before they ever got ashore.

For a job that came out of the blue, this latest gig could keep former Delta Forcer operator Dak Harper in the black for quite a while. On his way to London to track a crazed former colonel who wants the ex-Special Forces commando dead, Dak is diverted by an urgent request from his employer, a 13-year-old multimillionaire with a passion for antiquities. Dak’s new assignment? Find the fabled Welsh Crown, a mysterious 13th century artifact that’s been missing for centuries. The gig sounds easy until Dak’s target starts a bloody turf war with a larger, more powerful syndicate.

Young elf prince Drynn has always lived in the shadow of his athletic and popular elder brother. But, when the bookish boy’s mother dies from a mystery illness and he receives the Queen’s Opal, he’s plagued by visions of the past and a growing power. And, with the gem supposedly cursing those who possess it, he must enter the human realm to hunt down the cure…or become the next to die. Outside the forest, Drynn finds much has changed with the world now ruled by greedy wizards coveting more magic.