Showing results by narrator "Patrick Cronin" in All Categories

Since cities emerged 10,000 years ago, they have become one of the most impressive artifacts of humanity. But their evolution has been anything but linear - cities have gone through moments of radical change, turning points that redefine their very essence. In this book a renowned architect and urban planner who studies the intersection of cities and technology argues that we are in such a moment. The authors explain some of the forces behind urban change and offer new visions.

Sorch is an orc mage in a world where orcs are cursed with stupidity every time they cast a spell. The only spell he can safely cast is Enhance Intelligence, which boosts his IQ for a second before the curse drains it all away again. Normally casting such a spell would be pointless, but Sorch's tribe has found a way to benefit. Magic that is cast near a mysterious artefact called the ‘Voodoo Engine’ causes invisible hands to appear, and these hands get work done for his tribe. Sorch is a slave to the Voodoo Engine, casting a single spell over and over again to avoid being beaten.

Where to turn when all roads lead to ruin? Last night I barely escaped 1776 New York City - now I have to go back. My teammates are trapped in a time catch. Worse, the demon master Malphas is building a gateway there, one that could trigger a full-blown apocalypse. But returning will require new allies: A crabby goblin, a fae princess and former lover, and the demon-vampire Arnaud. Yeah, that guy. And we’re no longer facing one time catch, but several. But as hellfire lashes up and day dims to eternal night, I’m facing an even greater test...

Smith and Trowbridge describe the flavor of their five-book space opera Exordium as a cross between Star Wars and Dangerous Liaisons with a touch of the Three Stooges. With its fast-moving blend of humor and horror, of high-tech skiffy and the deep places of the human heart, The Phoenix in Flight launches the reader into a complex, multi-layered universe of Brandon nyr-Arkad, dissolute youngest son of the ruler of the Thousand Suns.

How did Circuit City go from a Mom and Pop store with a mere $13,000 investment, to the best performing Fortune 500 Company for any 15-year period between 1965 and 1995, to bankruptcy and liquidation in 2009? What must leaders do not only to take a business from good to great, but to avoid plummeting from great to gone in a constantly evolving marketplace?

In a time when prisons no longer contain inmates behind concrete and steel, the convicted serve their time while asleep, rehabilitating in virtual reality while blissfully unaware of their crimes. Roger Parker is a professional prison breaker, skilled at navigating these strange penal dream worlds and extracting those imprisoned there - for a price. Parker wants out of the game, but a powerful senator, desperate to save his son, convinces Parker to pull one last job.

Unfortunately for him, the secrets of the giant machines appear to have been lost to antiquity. Still, he has to try. After returning from a lucrative contract, he secures a base of operation for his Cavaliers in the Karma system, then he sets off toward the galactic core. It’s something he feels he needs to do by himself, so he leaves his overprotective mentor Hargrave behind.

They have absolute power; after all, they are the ones with the weapons. The only other armed agency, the Peacemaker Guild, is far smaller and unable to bend them to their will. But absolute power has the tendency to corrupt absolutely, and this is becoming increasingly apparent as the guild’s members pursue their hidden agendas.

I vowed to protect my brother and my pack at all cost, but this time the debt for the protection might be my life. A war between my pack and the witches is long in the making. They'd do anything to destroy us. When a close ally is nearly killed by them, Josh goes rogue and retaliates. It's not without deadly consequences. While I'm handling the mayhem that's threatening to destroy my brother and pack, an alpha from another pack is causing havoc in the only thing in my life that isn't a wreck - my relationship with Sky.

Colonel Jason Azoros is having a bad year. Having taken over the Argonauts’ mercenary company when its previous owner was killed, he has arrived back at Karma to find that no one will deal with him. Blacklisted by his father, Jason is forced to do a job for him to clear his name. The early days of humanity’s expansion into space was an exciting time, as the best of the race went to the stars. Unfortunately, some of the worst went, as well, and the Argonauts must hunt down and destroy the worst of the worst, Colchis Industries.

My name is Mac Brennan, and that's the only thing I can remember about myself. Not why I woke up in a dumpster. Not why my right arm is as black as pitch and covered in glowing red tattoos, and certainly not why a vicious death cult is after me. Actually, that last part isn't true. I know why the death cult is after me. It's because I saved that damned girl from them. I didn't know who she was at the time, but I'd have done it anyway. I just don't like it when girls get beat up; call me old fashioned.

Brian Polk had been stateside for barely a year after leaving the Air Force when the unthinkable happened. It was an interstellar invasion. The Earupitans' technology and weaponry was so remarkable, humanity never really had a chance. The aliens now walk brazenly among humans - their reptilian eyes always watchful, always scrutinizing. Humanity now lives in fear - freedom is a thing of the past. And then there are those who have befriended the enemy. But not Captain Brian Polk. When he acquires some of the alien technology, he finally has hope of making some small difference.

Rade and his team have been sent deep behind enemy lines. Their mission: capture a high-ranking Sino Korean official and escape to the extract zone before all hell breaks loose. They almost make it. But then aliens decide to show up. Now Rade and his team are fighting not just for their lives, but for the lives of every man, woman, and child on Earth. Not that Rade minds: He lives for this.

A pack is only as strong as their Alpha. After an attack injures our Alpha, a rival pack tries to take control of the Midwest Pack. I have to consider the unimaginable to protect my pack - challenge our Alpha. A challenge against the pack's Alpha is a challenge to the death. Am I prepared to do this? Loyalties are divided, and our pack is ready to implode. Saving my pack from self-destruction becomes impossible when Sky's relationship with an enigmatic vampire puts a price on her head, and Josh's continued use of dark magic brings on the wrath of the witches and earns him new enemies.

Captain Galvin Quintos, along with his irreverent crew, is back and facing his most harrowing enemy yet. As the battle within the Eta Carinae Star System rages on with the Varapin, Quintos is forced to make a deal with the devil, one Commander Dunft Choob. Sure, Quintos has saved the pirate world of Haven—but at a heavy price. Oblivion, the most powerful warship in the known galaxy, will be reluctantly returned to the Varapin ghouls.

After a period of brutal isolation in a CIA black-site prison, former Marine and gifted hacker Gibson Vaughn is free - but with no idea where he was or how much time he's lost. Struggling to maintain his grip on reality, he races to return to the life he left behind. Angry and disoriented, his thoughts turn to vengeance and the man responsible for his rendition. But Gibson's drive for retribution and the ghosts of his violent past plunge him back into a world he wants only to escape.

Contains Raid (Book 3) and Conflict (Book 4. Earth has nearly completed a second ship, a sister vessel to the Behemoth. This crowning achievement is hampered by a lack of a necessary element called ulem. A lone security guard at the closest mining facility managed to deploy a distress call with a simple message: PIRATES HAVE TAKEN THE STATION. Then, the Behemoth finds itself drifting in an uncharted sector of space.

With the flawless sky above and the boardwalk below, Robert Worth has set up shop on Venice Beach with an eye on Delfina Famosa, his unexpected first client. A whip-smart homeless kid, Delfina reaches out to Robert to keep her father, Teo, out of trouble. The pair claim to be beneficiaries of the seven-figure Famosa trust, and Delfina wants him to have their backs in court. But in a city of illusions, nothing is what it first appears to be.

When Robert Worth relocated his law practice to the Venice Beach boardwalk, he never thought he’d be cutting movie deals. But when his pal Reyes needs legal help with his film project, Robert agrees to look into it. The road to Hollywood fame takes a crooked turn after a potential billionaire backer turns up dead in his Brentwood mansion - and Reyes is arrested for first-degree murder. Robert may not have any criminal-law experience, but with the help of his girlfriend, Gia, and his buddy Erik, a retired cop, he takes the case.

In Cool, the neuroscientist and philosopher Steven Quartz and the political scientist Anette Asp bring together the latest findings in brain science, economics, and evolutionary biology to form a provocative theory of consumerism, revealing how the brain's "social calculator" and an instinct to rebel are the crucial missing links in understanding the motivations behind our spending habits.