Showing results by narrator "Todd McLaren" in All Categories

In 2005, 15 workers were killed when BP's Texas City Refinery exploded. In 2006, corroded pipes owned by BP led to an oil spill in Alaska. Now, in 2010, 11 men drilling for BP were killed in the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. What's next? In In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race That Took It Down, Stanley Reed - a journalist who has covered BP for over a decade - and investigative reporter Alison Fitzgerald answer not only that question, but also examine why these disasters happen to BP so much more than other large oil companies.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is Washington's response to America's call for a new regulatory framework for the 21st century. In The New Financial Deal, author David Skeel offers an in-depth look at the new financial reforms and questions whether they will bring more effective regulation of contemporary finance or simply cement the partnership between government and the largest banks.

Elaine Quartermaine’s life was never much to talk about. Growing up in pre-Victorian London had made her a survivor if nothing else. Until she died! Or...thought she had died, and then she woke up somewhere else in someone else’s body.  

For Sage Alexander, life was forever changed when he realized that the Angelic embodiments he could always see, the magnificent heavenly powers that he possessed, and the destiny he had always been told he had to fulfill were all real and true, and that his promised powers were necessary to defeat the Seven Princes of Hell. After saving his father from the clutches of Greed incarnate and destroying Prince Mammon, Sage has come to realize his place within the Angelic Council and the world as a protector to humanity.

The world is darker than it seems. Demons, vicious half-humans and evil creatures of myth and legend prowl the Earth, unseen to human eyes but not to the eyes of 14-year-old Sage Alexander. Descended from humans and angels, Sage has the power to see and fight all these creatures, and in fact he must. The human race is in danger, controlled unknowingly by the Seven Princes of Hell, the seven deadly sins. Greed, Sloth, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, and Pride all breathe their sin into weaker human ears and take those willing souls for their own, as they have for centuries.

Following the fatal shooting in broad daylight of unarmed African American Michael Brown by a white cop in August 2014, Ferguson, Missouri, became the scene of protests that pitted law enforcement against locals and Black Lives matter activists. The media firestorm has not waned, and, in fact, has grown stronger in light of all the recent violence by and against police officers nationwide. According to Ferguson's former police chief Tom Jackson, the uninformed media actually fans the flames of unrest and exploits the situation.

What could possibly go wrong with Charles attending a vintage wine auction preview? This is the Gotcha Detective Agency, after all, and what goes wrong makes Mimi and Charles's head spin. And not from too much wine. Mimi, Charles, and Nick fall into a twisted tale of wine fraud and murder in this latest installment of the Gotcha Detective Agency Mystery series.

Burned-out software engineer Jake Martin and his golden retriever, Fred, live in a mountain cabin far enough from Denver to escape the rat race but not far enough to escape its crime. While remodeling an old house, he uncovers a stack of love letters that will turn his world inside out. When word of the letters gets out, people start dying, including the owner of the house Jake was remodeling. With his main source of income gone, he lets his friend and neighbor, Bonnie Jones, talk him into searching for the killer after they are offered a large retainer.

This grippingly intimate and heartbreaking book provides a portrait of the walking wounded who make up the base of the Trump movement. Desperate and angry, these are the Americans of the vanishing industrial heartland, depressed Appalachian coal country, and the no-man's land along the Southwestern border. These are coal miners, out-of-work construction workers, and small business owners who have watched their fortunes dwindle with each passing year.

There is a treasure high in the Colorado Rockies waiting for someone to find it. Jake Martin couldn't care less. Since the death of his wife, all Jake wants is to be left alone in his mountain cabin where he and his dog, Fred, can get on with life. But when it becomes known that the location of the treasure is encrypted in a message left by a 19th-century miner, people begin to die, and Jake's good friend and neighbor becomes the number one suspect.

In this second collection of Miles Fenby's adventures with Inspector 9, the adventurous duo travels the world - and universe - to solve riddles, follow clues and race to win The Great Scavenger Hunt. Meanwhile, the impending birth of Miles's baby brother looms large, adding to Miles's sense of urgency and unease.

Miles Fenby is a clever five-year-old boy whose life is in turmoil (for a five-year-old). His family has just relocated for his dad's work, and his mom is pregnant with a second child. When Miles and his dad assemble his brand-new bunk bed (approved by Inspector 9, according to the packing slip), there's an extra piece whose purpose they can't quite figure out. Later that night, Miles is amazed to discover that the mystery piece is a key that transports him (and his bed) to grand adventures with Inspector 9....

Since the dawn of civilization, it's been mankind's greatest dream: immortality and eternal youth. Dramatic advances in medical science have finally made it possible. But in order to preserve everyone's youthful state, they must undergo an irreversible operation before passing into adulthood. A special hormone patch maintains each person's body in the form of a preadolescent 11-year-old.

My name is Marten Mann. I work for the devil, or the prince of lies, as you people are so fond of calling him. Yes. You read that last line correctly. I am employed by the powers of evil as acquisitor ad infinitum. I did not seek out this job: I was chosen for the position. To put it in simpler terms, I am a broker of sorts - you know, the guy who finds out what it is that you want the most. I make it readily available to you for a price. I think we all know just how costly that one thing that you think you need so much can be.

Beginning in his kayak in his home waters of eastern Long Island, Carl Safina's The View from Lazy Point takes us through the four seasons to the four points of the compass, from the high Arctic south to Antarctica, across the warm belly of the tropics from the Caribbean to the west Pacific, then home again.

Stashie is a heart reader. She wields a dangerous magic: one that reveals the truth at the heart of a person. So when the old king needs to know which of his sons has he pure heart, and which must be killed, he turns to heart readers to tell him the truth. But Stashie is a victim of vicious Gerneral Tarne, the country's military leader. The empire's killing machine ruined her life - this is her chance for revenge.

No one’s mourning the death of Cuba’s dictator, Fidel Castro. His heirs, including daughter Carla, are jockeying for power. Guerrilla rebels threaten to topple the teetering government. But there’s more at stake than just the island nation. Il Jeffe’s legacy includes a long-hidden atomic missile, left over from the Kennedy-era Bay of Pigs crisis - which guerrilla leaders threaten to use against any American interference. Ace pilot Marine Lt. Edward Garcia is tasked to find the launch site.

Sardonic, chain-smoking, java-addicted FBI Special Agent Andy Fisher is called to look into the possibility that a terrorist group claims to have acquired an "E Bomb" - which can disable all electronic systems within a 10-mile radius - from North Korea. Fisher doubts that the North Koreans could actually make a working lawnmower, let alone an E Bomb. But the threat is more immediate than he suspects: The terrorists are already proceeding toward their objective.

FBI agent Jack Ferico’s father is dying. His last wish? To see his estranged son, Danny, before he dies. Jack never got along with his older brother, but agrees to bring him home. Trouble is, Danny has disappeared without a trace. Jack’s search uncovers secrets, hidden agendas, and a danger more serious than he ever imagined. Danny specialized in stealth technologies at an international think tank. National security agencies suspect Danny sold classified technologies to the wrong people.

Dr. Harmon Gettys is the perfect man: tall, dark, handsome, and brilliant. He’d seemingly be a catch for any woman - especially those who desire an apparently charmed offspring. But Gettys uses his seed for murder, to create a legacy of violence. For Fire Marshal Greymon Gift, gruesome burn-related murders are nothing new. But a sudden spike in his jurisdiction has Gift on high alert. When an FBI investigation links multiple arson scenes to the deceased Dr. Gettys, Gift is pulled even deeper into a case that’s hot enough to start a conflagration.