Showing results by narrator "Todd McLaren" in All Categories

The invaders had cut the United States virtually in half at the Mississippi, vaporized Washington, D.C., devastated much of Europe, and held large parts of the Soviet Union under their thumb. But humanity would not give up so easily....

A 19-year-old aspiring model has disappeared in Paris. Her father, Bart Denum, turns to his old friend Hugo Marston for help. Marston, the security chief at the American Embassy, makes some inquiries and quickly realizes something is amiss: Bart's daughter was not a model, but rather a dancer at a seedy strip club. And she headed to Barcelona with some guy she met at the club. With his friend and former CIA agent, Tom Green, Marston heads for Barcelona.

A historian shares strange-but-true stories of the city and its unsolved mysteries, from the nineteenth century to today. From Chicago historian Adam Selzer, expert on all of the Windy City's quirks and oddities, comes a compelling anthology of forty unsolved mysteries from the 1800s to the modern day. Among many other topics, he explores what really started the great Chicago fire; who was the first "automobile murderer;" the identity of the Tylenol killer; and whether there was actually a vampire slaying at Rosehill Cemetery.

Arabella Craig was just eighteen when Ethan Hardeman opened passion's door, then slammed it in her face just as fiercely. His subsequent marriage to another woman left her emotionally devastated, and Arabella knew she'd lost the only man she'd ever truly love… Years later, tragedy has brought Ethan back into her life. He's just as long, tall, and handsome as ever, but now, divorced and embittered, Ethan is a changed man.

Cassie Wright, porn priestess, intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication. On camera. With 600 men. Snuff unfolds from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, and Mr. 600, who await their turn on camera in a very crowded green room. This wild, lethally funny, and thoroughly researched novel brings the huge yet underacknowledged presence of pornography in contemporary life into the realm of literary fiction at last. Who else but Chuck Palahniuk would dare do such a thing? Who else could do it so well, so unflinchingly, and with such an incendiary (you might say) climax?

Stories of Your Life and Others presents characters who must confront sudden change-the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens-while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. In the amazing and much-lauded title story (the basis for the 2016 movie Arrival), a grieving mother copes with divorce and the death of her daughter by drawing on her knowledge of alien languages and non-linear memory recollection.

Hugo Marston's friend Paul Rogers dies unexpectedly in a locked room at the American Library in Paris. The police conclude that Rogers died of natural causes, but Hugo is certain mischief is afoot. As he pokes around the library, Hugo discovers that rumors are swirling around some recently donated letters from American actress Isabelle Severin. The reason: They may indicate that the actress had aided the Resistance in frequent trips to France toward the end of World War II.

The Big Stick is truly a man's guide to (almost) everything, from dating and relationships to career success and happiness. You'll learn how to: overcome Nice Guy Syndrome; become more attractive; develop interpersonal skills; live with integrity; improve your dating skills; navigate relationships and marriage; heal sexual shame; overcome heartbreak; deal with infidelity; discover your passions and purpose; experience more joy; and so much more.

Cool, composed rancher Harley Fowler finds his world turned upside down when a beautiful whirlwind bumps into him. Investigator Alice Jones has come to Jacobsville, Texas, to solve a deadly mystery, and all too soon, Harley finds himself square in the middle of her case. But sparks fly between the cowboy and the beautiful brunette, leading them to wonder which will win out—true love or a dangerous threat?

Months after the fall of Liberia, Lieutenant Sunshine of the Kakata Korps Mercenary Company finds herself adrift in the galaxy. Her last remaining mission, which she has sworn to complete, is to find a member of the Peacemaker Guild and pass along a message from the dead. There’s just one problem - nobody can find the message hidden inside the old, broken-down CASPer in which she escaped the final battle.

Shelby Jacobs never meant to hurt Justin Ballenger when she broke their engagement - and his heart - six years before. Truth is, she loves him more than ever...and she'd had her reasons for pushing him away years ago. But with her family facing hard times, Shelby is all on her own in Jacobsville, and she leans on Justin for support. Can she help the bitter rancher finally let down the walls around his heart - and let love in?

In a galaxy where the fabric of reality can be bent and shaped by a privileged few, and almost any skill desired is a mere injection away, one young man is thrust into the fight of his life. Tane, a hydroponics farmer with some mad cereal crop gene-splicing skills, decides to get chipped. The operation gives him full control over his autonomic nervous and endocrine systems, plus the ability to install custom memories. All seems well until a couple of days later aliens come knocking at his door. And they aren't the friendly type.

25 to 1. Those are the odds of being struck down-and resurrected-by the savage plague that's sweeping the country, forcing survivors to band together against the dead. Even among the living, there is dissension. A new leader known as the Red Man has risen up and taken charge-and he's nearly as dangerous as the hungry dead. Some, like Bob Richardson and his friends, strike out on their own. Because if the men with guns don't get them, the zombies will.Fleeing the cities, Richardson and his crew find sanctuary in an abandoned farm.

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned 35, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords....

From the glamorous San Francisco social scene of the 1920s, through war and the social changes of the ’60s, to the rise of Silicon Valley today, this extraordinary novel takes us on a family odyssey that is both heartbreaking and inspiring, as each generation faces the challenges of their day. The Parisian design houses in 1928, the crash of 1929, the losses of war, the drug culture of the 1960s - history holds many surprises, and lives are changed forever.

When administered at the right time, estrogen therapy can lead to substantial improvements in a woman's quality of life. Yet for more than a decade, women have been told about many worrisome side effects of hormone replacement therapy, including an increased risk of cancer, blood clots, and heart disease. In The Estrogen Window, Dr. Mache Seibel shows that not taking estrogen at the right time following menopause actually increases the risk of suffering one of those events.

Hugo Marston accompanies his boss, US Ambassador J. Bradford Taylor, to the first night of an art exhibition in Montmartre, Paris. Hugo is less than happy about going until he finds out that the sculptures on display are made from his favorite medium: books. Soon after the champagne starts to flow and the canapes are served, the night takes a deadly turn when one of the guests is found murdered. Hugo lingers at the scene and offers his profiling expertise to help solve the crime, but the detective in charge quickly jumps to his own conclusions.

For decades, people have tried to persuade the leader of the Cuban Revolution to tell his own life story. Ignacio Ramonet, the celebrated editor in chief of Le Monde diplomatique, has finally succeeded. For the first time, in a series of extensive and probing interviews, Fidel Castro describes his life from the 1950s to the present day.

England has driven the French from Atlantis, giving King George leave to tighten his control over the colonies. The Redcoats have seized the continent's eastern coastal towns, depriving the Atlanteans of the markets where they sell their goods as part of a strategy to bend the colonists to their will.

I just wanted to keep the family farm going, till the land of my ancestors, and do right by my parents' memory. And then the adventurers came. They said they were going to help clear out the "monsters" on my land, but instead, they slept in my bed, ate my food, and worst of all . . . they broke my mother's prized pot. Now, I'm going to take my farm back and protect what's mine, and there's only one way to do it. I'm going to make my farm into the most dangerous dungeon in the land.