Showing results by narrator "Mikael Naramore" in All Categories

In this captivating collection from the Shaanxi region, considered the cradle of Chinese civilization, twenty disparate and unique voices come together to show a China caught between new-world advancements and old-world traditions. From the homeland of China’s first dynasty and the world-famous terra-cotta warriors, these tales show rugged rural life colliding with fast-paced city life; hollow arranged marriages juxtaposed with torrid forbidden love affairs; and the vanity of newly minted millionaires clashing with the desperation of the poor.

On the border of Zahl-Legion space, far from anything Austin Stone has ever known, Star Runners are dying. Lurking in the darkness, the Zahl Empire has a new threat facing the Legion Tridents. After surviving pirates and battling threats to Earth, Austin knows better than most rookies in the Tizona Squadron the dangers that exist in the universe.

With their fearless crime-fighting, good manners, and manly fashion sense, the Hardly boys are the pride of Feyport, Illinois. In A Ghost in the Closet, dark-haired, muscular Frank and his lovable kid brother, Joe, return from a gay trip to Europe to find that their parents - world-famous detective Fennel P. Hardly and his wife, Mrs. Hardly - have been kidnapped! Even worse, so have six poodles from the Lake Merrimen Dog Show! Pals Nancy Clue, Cherry Aimless, R.N., and Police Detective Jackie Jones help the Hardly boys track down the criminals.

It all starts at the Suwanee High Institute of Technology (SHIT), where Richard Johnson, a.k.a. Prick, informs his lab partner, Skunky, that he's given up on developing Richard's Vitamin Extract. So Skunky leaves the condescending Prick to his fancy electromagnetism and continues working on the beverage.

Sam Prichard - you know him as a retired cop from Denver who blundered into the world of the private investigator and from there into the world of international espionage and terrorism. Twice before, he has been called on to save the country. This time, in a tale that is straight out of today's headlines, Sam Prichard must save the world.

Mouse - the mysterious man with the unassuming moniker (and the mentor of teen super Kid Sensation) - finally has his story told. Brilliant and gifted, Mouse is a mental whiz who fails utterly in his initial attempts to join a superhero team. With his dream ostensibly out of reach, he eventually ends up working at an electronics repair shop, toiling in relative obscurity but seemingly content and at peace with the hand fate has dealt to him. However, a surprise visit from the Alpha League - the world's premier team of superheroes - changes all of that in a heartbeat.

When the secrets of the past begin to surface, the truth can be disarming…Twenty-six-year-old Elsie Sherman has had a crush on her brother’s best friend, Henry Logan, since she was twelve years old. Unfortunately, Henry - now an Air Force officer - has only ever treated her like a younger sister, stepping into her brother’s shoes after he was killed in action. That is until the night when one dance ignites a sensual fire between the two, leaving Elsie aroused and confused.

Red Queen is a story about young people searching for freedom and agency in a world dominated by bureaucrats, administrators, and propagandists. The world of Red Queen is a police state with its roots in today's events: post-9/11 warrantless physical and electronic surveillance; the erosion of personal liberties for supposed security reasons, even when the government's actions are shown to be ineffective or wrongheaded.

Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins races to France when he learns that an ISIS terrorist he'd thought was dead has an Iranian backpack nuclear weapon and plans to destroy Paris. Pono was once Mustafa al-Boudienne's prisoner in Iraq, and is now the only one left alive to identify him. Reaching Paris, Pono finds that his closest comrade has been kidnapped, and that the date to destroy the city is fast approaching.

A year on from Julia Morton's arrival at Fortress Athione, an uneasy truce is being maintained between Deva and her enemies, but the Protectorate never rests. Believing himself destined to rule, Lord Mortain orders a two-pronged attack and unleashes General Navarien upon the North to bypass Julia's guardianship of Deva's western border. Julia is content to live in the fortress with her lover, Lord Keverin, but reality intrudes with news from the capital. With the king dead and the lords vying for his throne, her new priority has to be ensuring the right man is chosen for the job.

After a glorious run as the world’s first full-immersion VR mega-game, Armored Souls is on its last legs. Competitors are on the rise, and the company’s own projects are surpassing it. In a last-ditch effort to inject new life into the game, Valhalla West announces a tournament with such an awesome prize that no player can resist. Reggie has led Wounded Legion to the top ranks of the factions on the Armored Souls servers, but the game has gotten easy for him. Too easy.

A century ago, the world burned. Even now, though rebuilt and defiant, civilization is still choking on the ashes. Jackson, a smuggler, lives in the shadows, once a boy with no memory, no name, and no future. Ravens followed him, long-extinct birds only he could see, and nightmares flew in their wake. Once, Jackson thought himself to be one of the lucky few touched by magic, a candidate for the Order of Mages. He is a man now, and that dream has died. But, the ravens still follow. The nightmares still whisper in his ear.

Frank, an Army Special Forces veteran, screwed up, went to prison, and is now out, living in small-town Wyoming and trying to go straight. But then some old "friends" from the big house come to collect on a favor, and everything goes totally nuts, forcing Frank to go outside the law to save the one thing he cherishes most.

In Death Likes it Hot, dashing P.R. man Peter Sargeant travels out to a posh beach community to help a wealthy socialite plan an end-of-summer party. His enjoyment of the sun, the surf, and the company of a lovely young fashion reporter is interrupted by the death of the socialite’s niece: she mysteriously drowns while swimming on a crowded beach. No one suspects murder until the police find a lethal dose of sleeping pills in her system.

The members of the Human Rebellion face a war spread across three worlds. Their enemies are multiplying. Their allies are becoming increasingly tenuous. With the war spiraling out of control, can Rynn find the answers to their plight in the pages of an ancient book? Or will Madlin take matters into her own hands and build something even she fears to turn on?

Nat Hodges' life as he knew it ended the day the Zahl Empire invaded his world, Tarrafa. Sweeping through the initial defenses in a matter of days, the Zahl destroy everything Nat had ever known. Traditions and customs are outlawed. Living in a homeworld occupied by an oppressive force, Nat faces the choice of fighting a seemingly hopeless battle for the past or succumbing to the overwhelming power of the future.

A book can open an entire world of experience or provide a recipe for meatloaf. Either is wonderful to Lewis Buzbee, who has spent much of his life in bookstores as a bookseller, a sales representative, and a customer. In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Buzbee celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore - the smell and touch of books, getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers.

At the edge of known space, Marine Lieutenant Gant Maker continues his vengeful pursuit of the alien race known as the Vacra. Now confirmed to have stolen weapons and tech so advanced that it can’t even be classified, the Vacra represent a menace unlike anything mankind has ever faced. For Maker, the threat is also personal, as the treacherous and cunning insectoids - still smarting from their stunning defeat at his hands during their last encounter - have specifically targeted him for capture, along with his exotic alien companion, Erlen.

All Cue wanted was to design tech in the basement of Seattle's Superhero headquarters and maybe watch some classic sci-fi with his new telepathic girlfriend, Cogs. Unfortunately, an old flame needs help, and he must strap on his gear and go to the rescue. This time, he'll bring his neurotic robot buddy, Caan, along for backup. It would be easy if it weren't for the drunk teleporter, beast-shifters, a Vegas crime lord, and tangling with a foreign super soldier. Despite his wishes otherwise, it seems that Cue has a Knack for trouble.

They came in their thousands. We fought them as one. It started during a winter storm on the North Eastern Seaboard which brought with it a strange green rain. Where it fell, everything withered, died, and was consumed. The residents of remote outposts in Maritime Canada escaped the worst of the early damage, but that was a blessing in disguise, for they were left to watch as first North America, then the world, was subsumed in the creeping green carpet of terror. And that was just the beginning.