Showing results by narrator "Stephen Davies Bel" in All Categories

A plus-size New York City private investigator dives up to his chins into a sticky mess of drugs, murder, government paranoia, and cheese Danish. Tipping the scales at 240 pounds, Alphonse Joseph Bressio is a big man in New York's legal investigation biz, though he'd rather be doing almost anything else.

Wolfgang Schmitt, ex-underwear model, self-proclaimed wisecrack, and cynical copywriter turned undercover agent, is biding his time, unsure how to spend the millions he scored after his recent undercover mission for the FBI. Complicating matters is the fact that he might be called in for a new mission; if it's off the books and calls for a touch of seduction, Wolf is the man for the job.

Private investigator Mike Haller has been hired to find Muriel Contreras, a hooker who's inherited nearly $1,000,000. But just when he's approaching an answer to her whereabouts, he discovers he's been sabotaged - and his P.I. license is suspended. Haller sets out on his own to find out who is trying to stop him, but the chase quickly turns deadly when his colleague - who assigned Haller to the case - is brutally murdered.

The game is a weeklong retreat. It’s located in a remote region of northern California. It’s designed to build teamwork, establish trust, and increase awareness. The players are three ambitious executives - one woman and two men, each prepared to put his physical, mental, and moral limits to the test. They never dreamed how far they could go. The rules are simple. First you run. Then you hide. Don’t appear weak, don’t admit to the fear, and don’t react to the pain. The prize is staying alive. Let the game begin.

The Devil gives Norman Reeves an ill-fated mission he has no choice but to accept: Find the center of Eden and reverse the Fall of Man. Thrust into a place called Creation, Norman's task is plagued by unimaginable people and events. He must unravel impossible clues to free the Three Trees and keep himself out of Hell at the same time. On this surreal and humorous journey, Norman discovers many things better left unknown: the shocking secret lives of people close to him and the other unthinkable reason he was brought here.

Scholars have often claimed that democracies, whatever their virtues, are functionally short-sighted. The evidence is clear: We have been unable to manage many long-term issues, including climate change, nuclear waste disposal, natural disaster preparedness, infrastructure maintenance, and budget deficits. To solve long-term problems, do we need political systems that are less democratic, or even authoritarian?

Billionaires in World Politics shows how the privatization of politics assumes a new dimension when billionaires wield power in world politics, which requires a rethinking of individual agency in international relations. Structural changes have generated new opportunities for individuals to become extremely rich and to engage in politics across borders. The political agency of billionaires is being conceptualized in terms of capacities, goals, and power, which is contingent upon the specific political field a billionaire is trying to enter.

His name was Jim Racine, and years ago he had been a top heavyweight contender in the United States. But now he's over the hill and desperate, so he takes a fight in a corrupt South American country - and accidentally kills a young man in the ring. The public outrage forces an investigation, and the government refuses to return his passport. Racine is in limbo, but he figures if he can get to the U.S. Ambassador, his problems will be over.

Although Colton and his forces have been winning battles, scattered forces still resist. Only now is the most powerful threat emerging - the Darkening, a physical emptiness, a void, which encroaches upon the very heart of the land, jeopardizing life itself, chilling souls to the bone, bringing death and annihilation, stealing memories and thoughts.

In 1997, Daniel Trush, a bright, active, outgoing twelve-year-old, collapsed on the basketball court and fell into a deep coma. Rushed to the hospital, he was found to have five previously undetected aneurysms in his brain. One had burst, causing a massive cerebral hemorrhage. While Daniel remained comatose, the uncontrolled pressure inside his skull caused him to suffer multiple strokes.

The year is 1989 in Los Angeles, and Miles Jameson is about to graduate from high school. The last big party of high school is approaching, along with the end of a turbulent decade, and Miles has only a vague desire to “work with his hands” (his girlfriend points out that this is a bit trite). Marked with the disaffection and apathy that filled a particular era, and that has always marked adolescence, author John Duncan Talbird gives us a rollicking and bacchanalian look at the challenge of making something of yourself, even when it seems there is little to work with.

A scandalous thriller of the dark world of Silicon Valley billionaires, and the women who prey on them for their money. The man: Wolfgang Schmitt: former model, newly single, habitual wiseass. It's a profile only his ailing mother could love - but it makes him perfect for one thing.... The bait: Billionaire Nelson Scott wants Schmitt to seduce his wife - setting off a prenuptial clause that will keep her hands off his money. The job pays a million bucks just for trying.

Back in hometown Chicago, Neville attends the funeral of the man he's murdered and meets his widow, Claudia, and her 3-year-old son. Neville gradually insinuates himself into the widow's confidence and conceives a plan to seize the victim's life - his wife, his son, his work, his wealth, and even his persona and appearance.

Target of Opportunity opens in the midst of World War II as San Francisco Police Inspector Gilman and his brother-in-law, former Washington attorney Donald Kerwin, stop into a 7-Eleven - and are met with a torrent of bullets. A gunman at the register kills Kerwin and wounds Gilman, and an illegal police search follows, leading to a dismissal of charges against the suspect.

High school wrestler Jake Persson is living on vitamins and diet Mountain Dew as he fights to make weight at the height of championship season. In the small mining town in northern Minnesota's Iron Range where Jake lives, this is the most exciting thing that has happened in years. During his last meet, Jake confronts his future and the unnerving sense that his own body and desires are starting to betray him. Chelsey Johnson writes a gripping story about hunger, control, and wrestling down desire.

Written by multiple Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake, "Dogs in the Moonlight" was first published in the 2005. Over his long career, Jay Lake has published 10 novels and more than 300 stories. He was honored with the 2004 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Captured and imprisoned by Colton, the wizard Premoran rails against his fate. Without Premoran, the essences of the ancient Lalas trees will be lost forever. While the Twins prepare to embark on their separate quests for the Gem of Eternity, another rises to aid the Lalas. Her name is Tamara, a Sister of Parth. Trained in the mystical mysteries, though unaware of the true extent of her power, she alone can traverse the Hollows.

Nestled in upstate New York, Stratburgh University has a problem. Three sorority sisters have disappeared, and the police say they simply ran away. The students are outraged. Even openly gay junior Jamie Bradford is concerned, only he has other worries. He doesn’t have a boyfriend and is willing to disregard the troublesome news on campus to find one. With hopes of finding a lover, Jamie attends the party of the year and becomes involved with two men at the same time. One is the man of his dreams; the other is a man of his nightmares and a police officer. And Jamie’s hell begins. The cop has another goal and will stop at nothing to achieve it. He’s even willing to track Jamie through the Catskill Mountains and New York City to get what he wants. Jamie’s life.

Universal Love welcomes listeners to a near-future world where our everyday technologies have fundamentally altered the possibilities and limits of how we love one another. In these gripping stories, a young boy tries to understand what keeps his father tethered to the drowned city they call home. A daughter gets to know her dead mother's hologram better than she ever knew her living mother. And, at a time when unpleasant memories can be erased, a man undergoes electronic surgery to have his depression, and his past, forever removed.

Stories of Color marks Lawrence Biscontini's first book of fiction. Written during a 12-country, 12-month sabbatical in 2015, these various short stories offer something for (almost) everyone. The common thread of the human condition among all sentient beings weaves throughout the tales.