Showing results by narrator "Vikas" in All Categories

A city equal parts darkness and hope. A scarred city. An often violent one. But a resilient city, too. That's our Memphis. Like many cities we have a namesake - in Egypt, Men-nefer became Menfe became Memphis, enduring and beautiful, on the banks of the Nile. Centuries later, another continent, another people, another river: Memphis, Tennessee, the soul of the Mississippi Delta, was formed.

Many companies have used purpose as a corporate buzzword to appear virtuous internally and look good to the outside world. But a poor understanding of the importance of real purpose can have detrimental consequences for the profitability and sustainability of a business.

On the night before Pride, families everywhere are preparing to partake. As one family packs snacks and makes signs, an older sibling shares the importance of the march with the newest member of the family. Reflecting on the day, the siblings agree that the best thing about Pride is getting to be yourself.

Perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link, Jo Paquette’s Stories I Told My Dead Lover contains eight searing tales of psychological horror that probe the darkest and most deeply buried parts of the human psyche. A child is forced to grow up too soon. A woman trusts her doctor too much. An abandoned woman isn’t as alone as she thinks. An idyllic holiday masks an unspeakable act of violence. Driven, desperate, fighting for the power to choose their own fate, Paquette’s characters dare to push back at the walls that hold them in.

Icarus plunges into a terrifying new world; an endless green forest where wolves appear out of nowhere and dreams seem as tangible as reality. To make matters worse, he can’t remember anything that came before the fall; not Hawk, not the Dimension, not even his own name.

Discover stories of fear, triumph, and spectacular celebration in the fictional town of Maple Grove, New Jersey, where the local kids gather at the community center to discover new crushes, fight against ignorance, and even save a life. Cheer for Chaya as she wins chess tournaments (unlike Andrew, she knows stupid sugary soda won't make you better at chess), and follow as Jeevan learns how to cook traditional food (it turns out he can cook sabji—he just can't eat it).

The Transpop Rebellion ended 10 years ago with now-Secretary General Nicholas Seafort as a hero. With that political capital, Seafort stepped into place as one of the most powerful men in the world. But political clout isn't all it seems to be. While Seafort tries to stay true to his moral code, he's being pulled in every direction. His former colleagues in the navy demand more ships, while the enviro lobbyists plead with him to repair the planet's broken ecosystem. Patriarch's Hope returns the focus to the Seafort Saga's charismatic and troubled title character.

On 12 March 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is conducting routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris ‘Wedge’ Mitchell is flying an F-35E Lightning, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt’s destroyer will lie at the bottom of the ocean. A terrifying new era is at hand.

Summer vacation is Levi London's favorite time of the year. Each summer, he and his brothers are shipped off to Florida to stay with their grandparents. For 10 weeks everything is perfect. He has freedom, fun, and Summer West - the cute and spunky girl across the street - for whom he's planned to confess his giant crush.

Before his grandmother moved from India to the island of Mariposa, Muki Krishnan’s life was good. But now? He has to share his bedroom with Paati, his grandmother, who snores like a bulldozer and wakes him up at dawn to do yoga. Paati’s arrival coincides with even bigger changes in Mariposa. The president divides citizens into Butterflies - families who have lived in Mariposa for three generations - and Moths, who, like Muki’s family, are more recent immigrants.

Inspired by the Cervantes classic, Sam DuChamp, mediocre writer of spy thrillers, creates Quichotte, a courtly, addled salesman obsessed with television, who falls in impossible love with a TV star. Together with his (imaginary) son Sancho, Quichotte sets off on a picaresque quest across America to prove worthy of her hand, gallantly braving the tragicomic perils of an age where 'Anything-Can-Happen'. Meanwhile his creator, in a midlife crisis, has equally urgent challenges of his own.

Haris Abadi is a man in search of a cause. An Arab American with a conflicted past, he is now in Turkey, attempting to cross into Syria and join the fight against Bashar al-Assad's regime. But he is robbed before he can make it, and is taken in by Amir, a charismatic Syrian refugee and former revolutionary, and Amir's wife, Daphne, a sophisticated beauty haunted by grief. As it becomes clear that Daphne is also desperate to return to Syria, Haris's choices become ever more wrenching: Whose side is he really on?

V. S. Naipaul's legendary command of broad comedy and acute social observation is on abundant display in these classic works of fiction - two novels and a collection of stories - that capture the rhythms of life in the Caribbean and England with impressive subtlety and humor.

A resentful member of a high school Quiz Bowl team with an unrequited crush. A Valentine's Day in the life of Every Day's protagonist, "A". A return to the characters of Two Boys Kissing. 19 Love Songs, from New York Times best-selling author David Levithan, delivers all of these stories and more. Born from Levithan's tradition of writing a story for his friends each Valentine's Day, this collection brings all of them to his listeners for the first time. With fiction, nonfiction, and a story in verse, there's something for every listener here.

The tigers of Chowghad were a man-eating Bengal tigress and her sub-adult cub, which for over a five-year period killed a reported 64 people in eastern Kumaon over an area spanning 1,500 square miles (3,900 square km). The tigress was attacking humans initially alone, but later she was assisted by her sub-adult cub. This is a story of a terrible man-eating tigress who had maximum number of preys on her name.

When Saroo Brierley used Google Earth to find his long-lost hometown half a world away, he made global headlines. Saroo had become lost on a train in India at the age of five. Not knowing the name of his family or where he was from, he survived for weeks on the streets of Kolkata before being taken into an orphanage and adopted by a couple in Australia. Despite being happy in his new family, Saroo always wondered about his origins. He spent hours staring at the map of India on his bedroom wall.

Seven years ago, Tanvi was spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok, where she joined the ranks of the dream runners: human children freed of all memory and emotion, who collect mortal dreams for the entertainment of the serpentine, immortal naga court. But when one of Tanvi’s dream harvests goes awry, she begins to remember her life on earth. Panicked and confused, she turns to the one mortal in Nagalok who might be able to help: Venkat, the dreamsmith responsible for collecting the dream runners’ wares and shaping them into the kingdom’s most tantalizing commodity.

As Mumbai empties under the threat of imminent nuclear annihilation, statistician Sarita can only think of being reunited with her physicist husband. To find him, she must journey across the surreal landscape of a near-abandoned city, braving gangs of competing Hindu and Muslim hoodlums. Joining her is Jaz - a Muslim whose true religion has always been sex. Danger lurks around every corner, but so does the absurd: the patron goddess Devi Mahas even materialized on a beach to save her city....

In this new anthology offered by Blunder Woman Productions, you’ll take a trip down twisty roads into forests, back alleys, and even across the border between life and death. Together these tales are funny, creepy, weird, contemplative, traditional, and speculative. The characters in these stories might take a wrong turn, but it’s the right move for any fan of thrillers and mysteries.

If you keep a monster as a pet, don’t lose your grip on the leash...Captured by Deep Dive and broken by the nefarious Desmond, Ryan has become a weapon. Headshot’s developers use him to destroy their competitors, and along the way the enthusiastic gamer almost loses himself in a web of lies, pain and forcible mental resets. Almost. Months have passed. With Sasha off the grid and Ryan a brainwashed recruit, the relaunch of Headshot may finally succeed in its ultimate goal - malicious, unprecedented access to the innermost thoughts of those that play it.