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.

After 40 years in San Quentin, Luke Palmer leaves with a state-issued suit, $100 dollars to buy a bus ticket, and a map that will lead to a promise and into the heart of a dark forest. College graduate student Molly Monroe is about to release rare butterflies not far from where the FBI used 4,000 bullets in a shootout to kill Ma Barker and one of her gangster sons in 1935. Molly snaps a picture that will frame something she never sees coming.

Guilt dogs Prince Aiden's every footstep. He can still hear Penelope's screams in his dreams and see the flames devour Barclay Manor until it is nothing but ashes. But with a murderer on the loose in the capital, he can't risk allowing his feelings to cloud his judgment, even if it means keeping Penelope Barclay far away from him. With Penelope now trapped in the capital, Aiden has to do whatever he can to make the city safe—even if that means running away from the mage girl with cinnamon hair and emerald eyes shadowing his every move.

Forced to grapple with the loss of his emotions and having found a new unlikely ally, he struggles to ascend to power faster than ever before. The Navalon Autarchy and the Elean Empire move with no hesitation in the background. Liam is supported by the Primordial Essence and his people, pushed to the brink and left with no other choice but to fight for survival. Continue to follow Liam's journey to its conclusion. The final part of his adventure has arrived.

Fed up living under the oppression of monsters, Clara kills a vampire to rid the world of at least one of the beasts. But when her father’s gambling debts rage out of control and put her sister in harm’s way, she offers herself up to pay the debt. Thrust into a world of darkness and chaos, Clara does what she must to survive Alaric, her new master, who is determined to make her pay for what she did.

More than 100 years have passed since the Catastrophe brought humanity to the brink of extinction. Those who survived are changed. The Wildeners have reverted to the old ways - but with new gods - while others place their faith in the technology that once powered their lost civilization. A lowly scribe of the Guild of Historians must venture into the wilds beyond the glass and steel towers to discover the fate of a child who mysteriously disappeared more than a decade before and was one of a special few with the power to restore this lost civilization to glory once again.

On June 14, 1940, German tanks rolled into Paris. Eight days later, France accepted a humiliating defeat and foreign occupation. Most citizens adapted and many even allied themselves with the new fascist leadership. Yet others refused to capitulate; in answer to the ruthless violence, shortages, and curfews imposed by the Nazis, a resistance arose. Among this shadow army were Jews, immigrants, communists, workers, writers, police officers, shop owners, including many young people in their teens and 20s.

As soon as Gail and Jon Durbin bring home their adopted baby Maya, she becomes the glue that mends their fractured marriage. But the Durbin’s social worker, Paige, can’t find the teenage birth mother to sign the consent forms. By law, Carli has seventy-two hours to change her mind. Without her signature, the adoption will unravel.

When Sean O’Brien stops near the Florida Everglades to buy flowers for a woman, he doesn’t know that the purchase will lead to a trail of deceit, greed and murder. Chester Miller’s life goal is to restore rare ghost orchids in the Everglades. Entering the glades, he sees something that is very much out of place. The elder botanist becomes a target. O’Brien, in a race with the clock, follows a near invisible path that takes him across Florida in a web of dark political corruption.

The Tutorial Zones have converged. Humanity was caught unprepared and must now deal with new challenges. Now, Liam must get the situation under control once more before it is too late. Novel enemies emerge while deprivation of resources becomes a real issue due to the number of people. In the meantime, a mysterious organization's plans brew beneath the surface. In order to stand up to them and protect humanity at the same time, Liam will have to push himself to his limits. Left with no other choice, he must become exponentially stronger than before at a much faster rate.

When visitors arrive, Clara Valmont must make an entirely new agreement with the vampire she is indebted to in order to stay alive. But even her brief reprieve might not be enough when something far more dangerous than a vampire comes to call. Things between Clara and Alaric are not what they appear to be, and if anyone learns the truth, then it could spell death, for both of them.

This collection of five short stories touches on themes and topics throughout the genre including zombies, superheroes, artificial intelligence, and the changing role of birthdays in the future. "Billy and the Zombies" is a story about a boy who spent most of his life preparing for a zombie apocalypse and now has to deal with one in real life. "Mom's Special Day" talks about an indeterminate future where birthdays have a much different meaning than they do today. "The Trial of WLQC-73" discusses what happens when we create computers that are as human as we are with all of our faults and failings. "The Heist" is a story about a future where Superheroes aren't as clean cut as our comic books show them to be. "Chance Encounters" describes what happens when a simple misunderstanding spirals out of control.

From filmmaker and New Yorker contributor Susanna Fogel comes a comedic novel about a fractured family of New England Jews and their discontents. Told entirely in letters to a heroine we never meet, we get to know the Fellers through their check-ins with Julie over the course of three decades: their thank-you notes, letters of condolence, family gossip, and good old-fashioned familial passive-aggression.

An acclaimed investigative journalist explores ethical hacking and presents a listener-friendly, informative guide to everything there is to know about entering the field of cybersecurity.

In this crime mystery, when Police Officer Danny Garcia and his partner get a call for a disturbance of the peace, they have no idea of the surprise in store for them. Danny has been angling for a police detective job, and something about this arrest stinks - and not just the alcohol on the alleged criminals’ breath. While off duty, Danny is hit with another stumper. A fellow parishioner approaches him at church, hoping for some help with a sensitive problem. As Danny takes action to unravel the mystery, he becomes convinced that a priest at his church is not what he claims to be.

Star Druid: Publisher's Pack contains books 1 and 2 of the Star Druid series. What is an exiled druid to do when their order is destroyed by a rising tide of darkness? 1. Seize magical power. 2. Get rich. 3. Gather a harem of beautiful women. 4. Revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge.

After being tossed into an unknown dimension, the earth's inhabitants must strive to fend off a supernatural menace, each possessing an overwhelming power. With the world's mightiest struggling to adapt, Evan Cross and his allies must now embark on a quest against time. Through countless perils, they must strive to acquire the strength to venture across an alien land to save all from a world of calamities.

The audiobook The Last Incarnation is filled with stories and reflections about Rama - Dr. Frederick Lenz. There are over 100 stories written by people who had direct personal contact with Rama for periods of time ranging from a few months to many years. Together these stories create a collection of powerful spiritual experiences retelling an ancient story: the search for God and Truth in human experience.

Sean O’Brien knows that his close friend, Dave Collins, isn’t a man who asks for favors. After three decades as a CIA officer, Collins learned self-reliance from the best school in the world - the streets. However, after five years out of the agency, he stops looking over his shoulder. And then the assassinations begin. One by one. Five of the CIA’s best former officers. Dave Collins’ old colleagues. Local police can’t protect retired CIA officers from ghosts of their past. Dave’s life is on the line, and they are coming for him.

In her new collection of stories, award-winning New York Times Notable author Leila Aboulela offers us a rich tableau of life as an immigrant abroad. Shuttling between the dusty, sunbaked streets of Khartoum and the university halls and cramped apartments of Aberdeen and London, Elsewhere, Home explores, with subtlety and restraint, the profound feelings of yearning, loss, and alienation that come with leaving one’s homeland in pursuit of a different life.