Showing results by narrator "Mikael Naramore" in All Categories

Heiko hasn't finished high school. His father is an alcoholic. His mother left. His housemate organizes illegal dogfights. He works in his uncle's gym. He definitely isn't one of society's winners, but he has his chosen family, the pack of soccer hooligans he's grown up with. His uncle is the leader, and gradually Heiko has risen in the ranks, until he's recognized in the stands of his home team and beyond the stadium walls, where, after the game, he and his gang represent their city in brutal organized brawls with hooligans from other localities.

Jordan is a step closer to uncovering the mystery of her mother's disappearance. When the locket with her mother's portrait inside begins to behave strangely, she learns that what seems a simple family heirloom is actually a magic compass. Following the locket means there is no turning back. Jordan finds herself running for her life from someone she expected would welcome her with open arms.

On the border of Zahl-Legion space, far from anything Austin Stone has ever known, Star Runners are dying. Lurking in the darkness, the Zahl Empire has a new threat facing the Legion Tridents. After surviving pirates and battling threats to Earth, Austin knows better than most rookies in the Tizona Squadron the dangers that exist in the universe.

Having saved the planet and earned a place with the world's premiere superhero team, Jim (aka Kid Sensation) is preparing to attend the prestigious Academy, where teen supers from every corner of the globe learn to master their abilities. At the same time, however, he is approached by a mysterious government organization that wants Jim to work for them - and they won't take "No" for an answer. Moreover, at the Academy itself, an insidious and highly contagious virus is running amok.

Factories toil in the darkness of space. To build weapons, to build armadas. Sphere World’s arrival brought changes that still ripple through human space. Orion Belt Enterprises has grown from a gaming company to a system-spanning corporation with fleets to rival the largest factions of human space.

Cole Clayborne had always walked a dark path and flirted with a life of crime. While his three brothers chose to settle into married life, Cole rebelliously refused to be tied down. Now, an elusive stranger draws him into a shadowy chase that will bring unexpected turns to his uncertain future - and may determine which side of the law the restless Cole favors. A tragic, heartbreaking loss drives U.S. Marshal Daniel Ryan on a quest for vengeance - and leads him to a beautiful young woman, the sole witness to a terrible crime.

Tensions are running high aboard The Camelot, a deep-space exploration vessel. Spending an extended amount of time in close quarters has left most of the crew at each other’s throats, and put their veteran captain in the position of constantly playing peacemaker. As bad as things are, they get markedly worse when The Camelot unknowingly picks up a stowaway: a shapeshifting alien monster who boards their ship and begins killing the crew one by one.

My name is Dean Walters and I'm eighteen-years-old. We had saved Val, Jackie, and Claire with the precious vials in our possession, but they weren't 100 percent effective. Those who had taken the serum, the so-called miracle cure for zombie-itis, were easy enough to spot, since they had glowing green eyes and were suddenly equipped with night vision that would have made the average bat jealous, but that was only one side effect. Much to our dismay, the other side effect wasn't quite so tolerable.

Liam Hoffen thought saving the world would cut him and his friends some slack. Instead, they're bankrupt, shipwrecked, and fugitives on a backwater planet. So much for gratitude.... But, after discovering an ancient Kroerak ship, Liam sees an opportunity to locate the home world of the vicious alien species. When they set out to uncover the mysteries of the ship, things are looking up until he finds out the truth: Every other crew who tried to solve the mystery was never heard from again....

The When Swords Fall Silent anthology showcases the imaginations and talents of more than a dozen of the best modern science-fiction and fantasy authors, with each tale centered around one or more characters burdened with a bloody task they will see to completion no matter the cost. Every story takes you for a vicious ride through a world of shadow and death, each as unique in perspective and execution as the contracts carried out within.

In the far future, mankind lives safe and secure behind the Chronos Ring - an automatic defense system that encircles the area of space occupied by human beings. The Ring keeps out all of humanity's enemies - in particular, a vicious race of reptilians known as the Parsnaak. On the outer fringe of human-occupied space is the planet Muse, an entire world dedicated and established as a colossal museum - a storehouse of antiquities and relics from the ancient histories of both men and aliens.

Jessie and Eric Ramsey finally catch a break. The League of Independent Planets has granted them asylum and allowed them to live on the techno-paradise world of Phabian. Jessie gets a clerical job. Eric ends up working at a factory making magical construction materials. He might even have a girlfriend. Of course, trouble always finds a Ramsey. Eric’s inquisitor parole officers locate him despite having no official jurisdiction. Jessie gets recruited into Phabian’s ultra-secret counterintelligence agency, Section 74. Yet somehow, everything revolves around a newcomer to this part of the galaxy.

Thirty years ago, Harry Winslow's wife and children died in a tragic house fire while he was out of the country on a mission for Uncle Sam - or did they? Someone has left Harry an envelope containing photos of his wife and children some years after they were supposed to have died. Freshly retired from his years as a government agent, Harry turns to Sam Prichard. Sam and Indie manage to track down his family, but the incredible story only gets wilder from there.

It's October of 1993 in Hawaii. A drunk driver hurtles toward a bend in the road. From the opposite direction, accomplished advertising creative and triathlete Phil Slott takes a routine drive. As he eases into the bend, he meets the drunk driver skidding into the wrong lane and, in one second, Phil's life takes a dramatic turn. As he struggles to stay alive in the ICU, Phil's organs, bones, and much of his brain are broken. What he and everyone else come to realize is that his creative drive and passion remain intact.

When his best friend and fellow Navy SEAL, Evan Prescott, died in his arms on the battlefield, Logan Kincaid gave his word to watch over Evan's widow. But for two years he kept his distance... torn between honoring his solemn vow and succumbing to his secret love for his fallen comrade's wife. But when Dani Prescott desperately reaches out to Logan for the help only he can give, he rushes to her side - determined to fight for her safety as fiercely as he fights against his own buried desire.

Retiring peacefully in Genshin Valley was never an option for Danzen Ravja, regardless of his intentions. To prevent any more attacks on the defenseless valley he now calls home, Danzen and his yokai companions head west to address the Diyu Brotherhood head-on, to face down two honorable assassins and even more with no honor at all.

To understand something, you need to know its history. Right? Wrong, says Alex Rosenberg in How History Gets Things Wrong. Feeling especially well-informed after reading a book of popular history on the best-seller list? Don't. Narrative history is always, always wrong. It not just incomplete or inaccurate but deeply wrong, as wrong as Ptolemaic astronomy. We no longer believe that the earth is the center of the universe. Why do we still believe in historical narrative? Our attachment to history as a vehicle for understanding has a long Darwinian pedigree and a genetic basis.

Danzen Ravja’s life has never been easy, not when he was an orphan at the Diyu Brotherhood, not since he retired from the blood trade, and certainly not since he began cultivating his echo, which has unlocked an entirely new level of enemies. Nomtoi, Danzen’s demon half-brother, has unleashed the Seven Evils, the most vile hellspawns that Diyu has to offer. While Danzen and his companions have been able to stop some of them already, Uchi and Kitazawa prove to be challenges that they may not be able to overcome.

Humanity's last encounter with aliens saw 16.2 billion people killed in a war with the Merkiaari that had spanned decades. Only by the grace of God and the use of Nanotechnology were they defeated. The result of that Nanotech? Vipers, a regiment of super soldiers tasked with protecting the Alliance and annihilating the Merki. It was a job they performed with distinction, a job they completed almost two centuries ago. A job that cost them their humanity.

Julia is a strong-willed Englishwoman who knows what she wants, and she's working hard to achieve it. An Olympic gymnast, she's training hard every day in preparation for the upcoming games when tragedy strikes, and her world ends with a phone call. Her parents have been killed in a senseless car accident, killed by a drunk driver. Suddenly everything is different.