Showing results by narrator "Eric Jason" in All Categories

Detective Elijah Wade is on the trail of a serial killer when the skies above Los Angeles erupt into the most spectacular light show humanity has ever seen. And the most deadly. His daughter is in a hospital bed on the other side of the continent, but where does his duty lie now? To her, to justice, or to his species?

For generations, the big city has promised romance, danger, opportunity. But what happens when you wake up one hungover morning and realize the promise is gone...along with your cheap apartment? That your whole existence in Berlin - 10 years of easy living based on cheap rent and the ability to just barely make it in the creative industry - was just a historical accident, the cheap rent and Bohemian setting products of a perverse economy, a miracle that couldn't possibly last?

Drawing on an array of primary sources in multiple languages, Farzin Vejdani argues that the ambiguity in defining the boundaries between private and public in Qajar Iran often corresponded with the jurisdictional friction between government authorities and religious scholars regarding who had the authority to police and punish public crimes.

After Life is a collective history of how Americans experienced, navigated, commemorated, and ignored mass death and loss during the global COVID-19 pandemic, mass uprisings for racial justice, and the near presidential coup in 2021 following the 2020 election.

Abducted by the Zoos Collective, Max Cromwell and his fellow unlucky humans were drafted to fight in the Cosmic Games. Fighting for survival on the hostile planet of Alpha Ludus against three extraterrestrial armies, the recruits from Earth have become super-soldiers by learning to cultivate mana. But Max's prowess surpassed that of both his teammates and his enemies as he not only developed extraordinary abilities but became Soulbound to the spirit of a sentient firearm named Maverick.

Assemble Artifacts: A short story magazine that assembles a thrilling new mix of stories from genres including horror, science-fiction, comedy, and suspense. Buried at the heart of every story in the magazine is a unique artifact, an object that has inspired our storytellers to create a big idea, an irresistible question, a new immersive world, or a sense of wonder. Includes “Nothing Was Already Here” by April Wolfe, “Labyrinth Loop” by Isabel J. Kim, “Divine” by Michael Griffo, “Dismantle” by Joshua Sky, “The Twelve Gates Barber Shop” by K.T. Jayne, and “Refrain” by Gretchen McNeil.

They had all—the artificial intelligences of Sol and the sailors of the Third Expeditionary Fleet alike—believed the Starless Horrors were mindless monsters: little more than beasts driven by eldritch desires, lashing out from their unknown depths to kill and destroy. But that naïve perception was thoroughly crushed after an encounter with a terrifying entity who called itself the Executor.

In Murder in Manchuria, Scott D. Seligman explores an unsolved murder set amid the chaos that reigned in China in the run-up to World War II. The story unfolds against the backdrop of a three-country struggle for control of Manchuria—an area some called China's "Wild East"—and an explosive mixture of nationalities, religions, and ideologies. Semyon Kaspe, a young Jewish musician, is kidnapped, tortured, and ultimately murdered by disaffected, antisemitic White Russians, secretly acting on the orders of Japanese military overlords who covet his father's wealth.

Nothing has changed more in the last few decades than our concept and perception of reality. The effects have manifested in our news, entertainment, and Google searches; we're finding that a lot of things we thought were objective aren't automatically so. Reality is not a concept we want to flush down the toilet with yesterday's food, though. However, we must begin to understand how it works in a world where profit is the driving force.

Zhe and the Bone Mages have brought the war home to T'iru Midiri. Now that he is a Threefold Mage, Zhe's power is growing every day, and their struggle for freedom is advancing through the countryside. But Queen Diarmuid and the Dragon Riders haven't been staying still. She has combined her own dragon magic with the powers of metallurgy of her allies, the Iron Boatmen of Mun. She now has a secret weapon that can stop Zhe's magic.

Lost and empty without his four-legged companion, who had seen him through a divorce, relocation to a new city, and a new job, Mark decided to go to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah to volunteer and find his way through the pain. Humphrey Was Here is about how one carries on after the death of a pet that meant the world to them. It's an emotional and cathartic story of grieving and recovery that will deeply touch any dog lover.

At age eleven, Helen disappeared in the wilderness of Mount Rainier National Park while camping with her father, Benjamin. She was gone for almost a week before being discovered and returned to her family. It is now twenty-five years later, and after more than two decades of estrangement, Helen and Benjamin reconnect at his home in Portland, Oregon, to try to understand what happened during the days she was gone. Meanwhile, Benjamin meets an odd pair, a woman and boy who seem driven to help him learn more about Helen's disappearance.

Don't go to sleep. These tales will surely haunt your dreams. No one awakens from their dark embrace. If your nightmares are not filled with a child murderer and a reanimated, murderous corpse, you will never find rest from the deadly secrets of the past, dismemberment, or being buried alive. Sleep if you dare. Run if you can. You will never be safe again.

From celebrated historian of knowledge Jonathan Lyons comes The Society for Useful Knowledge, telling the story of America's coming-of-age through its historic love affair with practical invention, applied science, and self-reliance. Lyons illustrates how a social movement in support of useful knowledge is key to understanding the flow of American history and the development of our society and culture from colonial times to our digital present.

The story starts with the initial moments of COVID's appearance in Wuhan and ends with Joseph Biden's inauguration in an America ravaged by well over 400,000 deaths - a mortality already some 10 times worse than US combat deaths in the entire Vietnam War. This is an anguished, furious memorial to a year in which all of America's great strengths - its scientific knowledge, its great civic and intellectual institutions, its spirit of voluntarism and community - were brought low by political incompetence and cynicism on a scale for which there has been no precedent.

Scripted tales of the past, written by James Urbaniak and Brie Williams. An audio road movie about the personal and political crossroads that is Bicentennial America. A cast of dozens featuring Angela Trimbur, James Urbaniak, Rhea Seehorn, Nate Corddry, Johnny Pemberton, Samm Levine, John Ross Bowie and Andy Daly as Jimmy Carter. Music by Jonathan Dinerstein.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, US intelligence caught three high-profile Russian spies. However, these arrests left major questions unanswered, and rumours have long swirled of another mole, often referred to as the Fourth Man. Three pioneering female veterans of counterintelligence were tasked with unearthing him. With steadfast determination and expertise, they came to a shocking conclusion, one which had, and continues to harbour, dramatic consequences for American security.

The technology industry regularly invests billions of dollars into products that will never find mainstream consumer success. They fail because of one simple reason: poor marketing. The industry is leaving billions of dollars on the table because most companies don’t know how to turn their customers into brand evangelists.

He examines the crumbling of the social fabric and the fractures of the Biden era, including the halting steps toward a Green New Deal, the illegitimate authority of the Supreme Court, in particular its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the ongoing fallout from COVID-19. Chomsky also untangles the roots of the War in Ukraine, the diplomatic tensions among the United States, China, and Russia, and considers the need for climate action on an international scale.

In the 36 years since its release, Sell Out, though still not the best selling release in The Who’s catalog, has been embraced by a growing number of fans who regard it as the band’s best work, one of the few recordings of the late 1960s that best represents the ambitious aesthetic possibilities of the concept album without becoming mired in a bog of smug, self-aggrandizing, high art aspirations. Sell Out, powerfully and ecstatically, articulates the nexus of pop music and pop culture.