Showing results by narrator "Michael David Axtell" in All Categories

When the Colonial Marines set out after their deadliest prey, the Xenomorphs, it's what Corporal Hicks calls a bug hunt - kill or be killed. Here are fifteen all-new stories of such "close encounters", written by many of today's most extraordinary authors. Set during the events of all four Alien films, sending the Marines to alien worlds, to derelict space settlements, and into the nests of the universe's most dangerous monsters, these adventures are guaranteed to send the blood racing - one way or another.

This volume is the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 and 1964, containing 11 great classics. No anthology better captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field. Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country.

A priest hears the confession of a frightened prison inmate, and he learns that a man facing lethal injection in 84 hours is innocent. The lead investigator on the high-profile case was his old friend, Sean O'Brien. And now O'Brien has a chance to right a horrible wrong. But he has less than 84 hours to uncover clues to a crime that sent an innocent man to death row.

Adam Binder has the Sight. It’s a power that runs in his bloodline: the ability to see beyond this world and into another, a realm of magic populated by elves, gnomes, and spirits of every kind. Years after his brother Bobby had him committed to a psych ward, Adam is ready to come to grips with who he is, to live his life on his terms, to find love, and maybe even use his magic to do some good. Hoping to track down his missing father, Adam follows a trail of cursed artifacts to Denver, only to discover that an ancient and horrifying spirit has taken possession of Bobby’s wife.

Evan Sanderson seems to be living a charmed life. He is a successful doctor, much respected in the community, and has a beautiful wife. Evan accomplished what he had because he had a burning ambition to achieve, to be the best. At the end of his life, he wonders if he did enough. He has a terrible feeling he has not. Evan lives in Middle Falls, where second—and third—chances abound, so perhaps he will be able to get to where he longs to be after all. Or will his ambition turn in new directions?

Some fall prey to those holding a gun for the first time. Others cannot be defeated even by the most experienced shooters in the world, unless their luck comes to save the day. Cheater’s accuracy is unparalleled, and Lady Luck is on his side. He has all the marks of a champion, and champions never miss. The true aim of his heart, though, is not one that can be hit with a single fortunate shot. No, she is far to the west, beyond several of the Continent’s most dangerous locations: the bleak boundaries dividing regions from one another.

On his shoulders, he carries a heavy rifle that digs into his burned flesh. Worse still is his load of loot. In mass, it amounts to dozens of pounds. But in worth, it is weightier than a palace. Only the luckiest of geniuses could manage to escape a dangerous wilderness, where he is hunted with every step, with such riches on his back. Luck, of course, is something Cheater has plenty of. Genius, though, is less clear. He watches his haul grow with each new place he visits, adding to the physical and emotional strain of his pilgrimage.

Jason and his best friend, Michael, are finding out just how different things can be...and that magic isn’t as limited as previously thought. What will he do? The God Bradard now wants him to be his champion, but can he do it? He feels trapped. Can he keep Earth safe? Will the dungeon he found and the people he recruits be enough? Will adventure, love, and faith be enough to keep Jason going and to do what he doesn’t want to do: gain power and fight the Gods themselves?

The Continent is full of all kinds of places, and in some, fear rules every corner. Approaching the worst of these places is beyond the stomachs of most men and women. Entering and crossing them? Even fewer would dare that. And they would only do so with an experienced team or a heavily armored trade caravan, for only in such company would they have a chance of making it.

Meet Michael Skelly, the man boldly harnessing wind energy that could power America’s future and break its fossil fuel dependence in this "essential, compelling look into the future of the nation’s power grid" (Bryan Burrough, author of The Big Rich).

It seems that Jason is about to bring down something that has stood for eons in secret, controlling the universe. The Primes have worked in the background for ages, ruling the universe as they saw fit, but not always to the benefits of the races. But Jason is taking them out, since to him, they are nothing more than petty gods who are choosing to use the people of the universe as pawns.

A crash landing leads to a crash course in survival...and passion. En route to a tropical paradise, overworked and dedicated Aimee Myller is ready to begin her new life. But when the plane defects, the pilot, sexy Tristan Bress, needs to make an emergency landing in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Aimee Myller's dreams of a fairytale getaway in Brazil come crashing right down with the plane.

Harbor Lights is a story collection from one of the most popular and widely acclaimed icons of American fiction, featuring a never-before-published novella. These eight stories move from the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the sweeping plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons, and trailer parks across the South, weaving together love, friendship, violence, survival, and revenge

Few people are aware that John Moses Browning - a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West - was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his 60s.

Jason is learning more about his powers to Godhood. Throw a Dungeon and its core into the mix, and things get even more interesting.... He'll need to deal with Temples now, but not in the way he expected. Michael, his wives, and a few others are embarking on something that might change the course of the cosmos themselves. Add in the Elves from Earth and their story about travelling across the stars and the thrills will just keep coming.

At first, stories of Cheater caused nothing but laughter and rolled eyes. As the months went on, however, the tales became more terrific - and more terrifying. Now, Cheater the Lovestruck Loser has become Cheater the Lucky Legend. He never misses. He can never be held captive. And his luck never runs out. In pursuit of his love, his inexorable progress eastward leaves a trail of story upon story and corpse upon corpse.

When Joe Billie stops a grave robber from unearthing a Seminole Indian burial site, Joe becomes the prime suspect in a bizarre murder. For Sean O'Brien, the first challenge is getting Joe to talk about the circumstances surrounding the killing. As Joe faces first-degree murder charges, O'Brien thinks he knows why his old friend is evasive. But proving it will send O'Brien deep into Seminole history to uncover a greedy killer hell-bent on creating a modern-day Trail of Tears.

Cheater now has a straightforward goal, or so it seems to him. To everyone else, his endeavor sounds suicidal for a high-level veteran, never mind a newcomer whose intellect is still shackled by the System. Cheater sees only one way forward: develop his skills, conquer monsters, and become stronger, faster, wiser, and more fearsome with each passing day. Until he makes progress on his own capabilities, he cannot hope to achieve anything else. But the System has intentions of its own.

I’ve been betrayed. I spent years hiding my magic from the world, but now I've got new powers I can’t control. Everyone around me is at risk, and if my secret is revealed, I’ll be hunted. But I don’t have time to worry about the monster I might become. Someone has stolen a dangerous artifact that could turn my world upside down. It could get me and my friends killed and bring destruction down on my city.

Best-selling historian Andrew Nagorski takes a fresh look at the decisive year 1941, when Hitler’s miscalculations and policy of terror propelled Churchill, FDR, and Stalin into a powerful new alliance that defeated Nazi Germany.