Showing results by narrator "P.J. Ochlan" in All Categories

Donald Trump's opulent Palm Beach club Mar-a-Lago has thrummed with scandal since the earliest days of his presidency. Long known for its famous and wealthy clientele, the resort's guest list soon started filling with political operatives and power-seekers. Meanwhile, as Trump re-branded Mar-a-Lago 'the Winter White House' and began spending weekends there, state business spilled out into full view of the club's members and vast sums of taxpayer money and political donations began flowing into its coffers and into the pockets of the president.

Hollywood vs. The Author is a collection of non-fiction anecdotes by authors who’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the development room firsthand - some who have successfully managed to straddle the two worlds, seeing their works morph into the kinds of feature films and TV shows that make them proud, and others who stepped blindsided into that room after selling their first or second novels. All the stories in this collection illustrate the great divide between the world of literature and the big or small screen.

Unfortunately, Terry has seen her very human response to the situation Angelina, Charley, and he dealt with in San Antonio. Except this time, there is no one to help her deal with the emotions but an alien from another system and a guy from the south. In short, her two friends. When Angelina finds another "ticket" into trouble, will she have the guys help this time or deal with it herself? Perhaps Terry will find out just how much humans can manipulate their bodies to match his capabilities on their own.

A Goddess is stirring up trouble, and Arthur happens to be the one caught up in the action. After an unfortunate encounter, Arthur is given a second chance in a new world. To his surprise, this new world has mechanics that remind him of role-playing games from Earth. He has been given a simple directive from the Goddess, to help the people of the world and spread her name. He quickly discovers this will not be an easy task. The world has been overrun with bandits, who work for the lords of the land and cause all the denizens to live in abject ruin.

Dragon warrior Forge has been sentenced to death by the Dragonkind elite. Recalling the memories of his family's murders could drive him to the edge of insanity, but it's the only way to remove the target on his back. Fiercely determined to protect his pack and his newborn son, Forge agrees to undergo harrowing treatments to help him remember the trauma buried deep inside his heart and mind. When nothing works, a woman of unprecedented power is brought in to help.

This book - simple and powerful - is the result of Murray's passionate exploration of the issue of surrender: why it's seemingly impossible and yet completely necessary.

Former assassin David Slaton discovers a cryptic message: on a memory stick, a photograph of the man who will soon assume command of DGSI, France's elite counterterrorism force. With that country reeling under a wave of ISIS attacks, Zavier Baland will be trusted to make the Republic safe again. The problem - Slaton has seen Baland's face before. He is Ali Samir, a terrorist Slaton is certain he killed 15 years earlier. Unable to reconcile this frightening disconnect, he attempts to raise the alarm.

Phineas McKinney thought New York City was tough, until he was attacked by Malcontents - evil vampires who consider mortals to be snacks. Saved by the good vampires, Phin swore to devote his now undead life to stopping the Malcontents. He's got his job cut out for him when word comes that their enemy may be hiding in Wyoming. What does a city boy like him know about horses and campfires? Good thing he's got Brynley Jones with him... if only she didn't hate every vampire on earth.

Combining research from Asian scholars with his many years of experience living and working in East Asia, Brad directs our attention to Paul's letter to the Romans. He argues that some traditional East Asian cultural values are closer to those of the first-century biblical world than common Western cultural values. In addition, he adds his voice to the scholarship engaging the values of honor and shame in particular and their influence on biblical interpretation.

After what happened in Vermont, there was only one thing left to do. A great purge was in order, a fresh start for the Cherry Blossom Girls. No matter where it took us, it needed to happen. For Fiona, for my parents, and for those who would lose their lives over the course of the following weeks. Out with the old and in with the new. Our enemies had to go.

In Virginia DeMarce's witty and touching "Pastor Kastenmayer's Revenge", a Lutheran pastor gets even with the American who eloped with his daughter by scheming to gain new adherents through eight separate arranged marriages between Lutheran down-timers and American up-timers. Also included: Gorg Huff's "Other People's Money", plus much more.

Almighty is His Name is the riveting story of God's hand of protection as missionary, SoPhal Ung, and his family fought for their lives in Cambodia. Although the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, SoPhal started a house church, which grew from five members to 600 in eight months. He was arrested for this "illegal" activity, imprisoned, severely beaten, and chained by hand and foot, losing 75 pounds in the terrible ordeal. God miraculously spared his life on numerous occasions.

In Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff's "Poor Little Rich Girls," we follow the continuing adventures of the teenage tycoons begun by Huff in "The Sewing Circle" (Gazette #1) and "Other People's Money" (Gazette #3). The focus in this story, however, is on the younger siblings - the so-called Barbie Consortium - and their down-timer associates and enemies.

From cork taint, to volatile acidity, to off-putting aromas and flavors, all wine connoisseurs have encountered unappealing qualities in a disappointing bottle. But are all faults truly bad? Are some even desirable? Jamie Goode brings his authoritative voice to the table once again to demystify the science behind what causes a good bottle to go bad. By exposing the root causes of faults in wine, Flawless challenges us to rethink our assumptions about how wine should taste and how we can understand beauty in a glass.

Public opinion polling is the ultimate democratic process; it gives every person an equal voice in letting elected leaders know what they need and want. But in the eyes of the public, polls today are tarnished. Recent election forecasts have routinely missed the mark and media coverage of polls has focused solely on predicting winners and losers. In Strength in Numbers, data journalist G. Elliott Morris argues that the larger purpose of political polls is to improve democracy, not just predict elections.

Magnus "Steps" Craig is part of the elite three-man Special Tracking Unit of the FBI. Called in on special cases where his skills are particularly needed, he works as a tracker. The media dubs him "The Human Bloodhound", since Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface better than anyone else. But there's a secret to his success. Steps has a special ability - a kind of synesthesia - where he can see the "essence" of a person, something he calls "shine", on everything they've touched.

From a best-selling author with unprecedented access to Pope Francis, an investigative look at the recent financial scandals at the highest levels of the Vatican. A veritable war is waging in the church: On one side there is Pope Francis' strong message for one church of the poor and all; on the other there is the old Curia, with its endless enemies, and the old and new lobbies struggling to preserve their not-so-Christian privileges.

Jamie is rebuilding his life after his previous escape from the Pilo Family Circus, with no memories of the circus besides the clown outfit in his cupboard. Far below, as the circus stirs back to life, Jamie finds himself filled with urges to be a clown again (making inappropriate jokes at work, an urge to put on his clown outfit, etc.). He also finds that his friends and family do not trust him because of that night he was found by police in a clown suit with blood on his shoes and no memory of what happened.

Ask any self-respecting Louisianan who makes the best gumbo and the answer is universal: "Momma." The product of a melting pot of culinary influences, gumbo, in fact, reflects the diversity of the people who cooked it up: French aristocrats, West Africans in bondage, Cajun refugees, German settlers, Native Americans-all had a hand in the pot. What is it about gumbo that continues to delight and nourish so many? And what explains its spread around the world? A seasoned journalist, Ken Wells sleuths out the answers.

Virtually everyone would agree that Leonardo da Vinci was the most important artist of the High Renaissance. It was Leonardo who singlehandedly created the defining features of Western art: a realism based on subtle shading; depth using atmospheric effects; and dramatic contrasts between light and dark.