Showing results by narrator "Xe Sands" in All Categories

'Come home.' Vera's mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories—she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family. Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren't alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera's childhood for spare parts.

True crime, as an entertainment genre, has always prioritized clear narrative arcs: victims wronged, police detectives in pursuit, suspects apprehended, justice delivered. But what stories have been ignored? In Evidence of Things Seen, fourteen of the most innovative crime writers working today cast a light on the cases that give crucial insight into our society.

Rabies enjoys a fearsome and lurid reputation. Throughout the decades of spiraling growth that defined New York City from the 1840s to the 1910s, the bone-chilling cry of "Mad dog!" possessed the power to upend the ordinary routines and rhythms of urban life. In Mad Dogs and Other New Yorkers, Jessica Wang examines the history of this rare but dreaded affliction during a time of rapid urbanization.

These 10 classic tales attest to the growing depth of Gurganus's genius. Offering characters antic and tragic, Gurganus charts the human condition as we live it now. His parables recall William Faulkner's scope and Flannery O'Connor's corrosive wit. We encounter a seaside couple fighting to save their dog from Maine's fierce undertow; a mortician whose dedication to his departed clients exceeds all legal limits. A virginal 78-year-old grammar-school librarian has her only erotic encounter with a Joe Exotic-like polyamorous snake farmer.

In the latest entry in Anne Stuart's exciting Ice series, when Finn MacGowan escapes from captivity in Latin America, taking with him feisty American heiress Elizabeth Pennington, the pair encounters even more trouble as they try to make their way toward safety.

A prominent sociologist, lecturer, and writer of the late nineteenth century, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's unorthodox concepts and lifestyle helped shape future generations of feminists. This audiobook includes her most enduring work, The Yellow Wallpaper as well as her 1913 article, "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper." The Yellow Wallpaper told as a series of secret diary entries, the story is about a young woman, confined to her room and denied all creative outlets, who gradually suffers a mental breakdown.

Cutting Teeth is about the complex dilemmas of early midlife-the vicissitudes of friendship, of romantic and familial love, and of sex. It's about class tension, status hunger, and the unease of being in possession of life's greatest bounty while still wondering, is this as good as it gets?

Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness, uniformity, and monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and express their creativity, and those on the outside often see little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own creative force, made each one of us unique, peculiar, and irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?

In the near year and a half following her tragic ordeal in She Dreams of Fire, Agatha “Aggy” Grae and her allies have been hunting the remnants of the Umbra coven. By fighting back against the corrupt witches who imprisoned and killed the Fae for their blood, Aggy and her friends have become beacons of hope. But inner turmoil plagues the team, as the price for freedom is a weight upon their souls.

From the east came the Bone Giants. From the south, the fire-wielding Hathrim. It was an invasion that sparked war across the six nations of Teldwen. Now the kingdom's only hope is the discovery of a new form of magic - one that will call the wondrous beasts of the world to fight by the side of humankind. In the start of a thrilling new series, the New York Times best-selling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles creates an unforgettable fantasy world of warring giants and elemental magic.

Maree Davenport refuses to let a tearful past rule her future. After losing her parents at the age of five, the big-hearted fabric designer is determined to embrace her feelings and find happiness no matter what. So when she literally runs over a handsome new firefighter in the produce section, the hopeless romantic is certain she’s just collided with destiny.

For ten years, Jessie's career as a prosecutor at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has given her a mission in life, enabled her to fight for victims and their families, and deeply fulfilled her. She cannot imagine doing anything else. But when a new DA replaces her boss in a shocking election victory, all of that changes in a heartbeat. The new regime cares nothing about justice, only politics. The message is clear—Jessie can adapt to the office's new priorities, or leave. Her dilemma intensifies when the DA targets a family friend who is close to Jessie's heart.

Jules Bartlett stopped believing in fairy tales the day Prince Charming got caught banging her friend on their expensive countertops. Now, having returned to her seaside hometown—sans prince—the only men in Jules’ life are her crew of 12 smartass fisherman who pose no romantic threat and endlessly dote on her daughter. Perfection.

In this award-winning collection, listeners will find spellbinding stories of loss, absence, and the devastating effects of chance - of what happens when the unthinkable bad luck of other people, of other towns, becomes our bad luck, our town. Taut, lucid, and engrossing, provocative and dark - and often darkly funny - these stories have much to offer the lover of literary fiction as well as the listener who just loves a great story.

Pepper hasn’t been on a vacation with her husband - without the kids - ever. As in, never ever. On top of that, she still hasn’t told him about her magical water powers yet. Oops. (She meant to get around to it, really.) And now the magic won’t leave her alone, sending one strange emissary after another to interrupt every single supposed-to-be romantic moment. She has her hands full just trying to hide the truth, let alone trying to rekindle the other kind of magic with her husband.

Magic is real, and hungry—trapped in ancient texts and artifacts. Only a few who discover it survive to fight back. In this third season, join Detective Sal Brooks, newest recruit to a black-ops magic hunting team backed by the Vatican, as she travels the world to keep the supernatural in check.

Fifteen years ago, Krista Bremer would not have been able to imagine her life today: married to a Libyan-born Muslim, raising two children with Arabic names in the American South. Nor could she have imagined the prejudice she would encounter or the profound ways her marriage would change her perception of the world.

First loves never die but Grayson Ford comes close. Bleeding out in a war zone, he barters with God. Bring him back alive, and he'll make it right with his girl. Emma is not his girl anymore. Time has skipped by and life's been hard. She strips to pay the bills, waitresses to fill the hours between classes and her third job. All while working to be the best mama she can be to the little girl who will never know her daddy.

Julia Severn is a student at an elite institute for psychics. Her mentor, the legendary Madame Ackermann, afflicted by jealousy, subjects Julia to the humiliation of reliving her mother's suicide when Julia was an infant. As the two lock horns, and Julia gains power, Madame Ackermann launches a desperate psychic attack that leaves Julia the victim of a crippling ailment. But others have noted Julia's emerging gifts, and soon she's recruited to track down an elusive missing person who might have a connection to her mother.

After years of braving the Arctic’s frigid temperatures or endless hours tracking the Spirit Bear to capture the perfect shot for National Geographic, Meg Jeffries decides to move back to the city — San Francisco. Westin Drake is famous for fast cars and box office sales. When the public mistakes a simple kiss on the cheek for a budding romance, Meg and West are caught in a media frenzy. Somewhere amid the backseat getaways and plastered smiles, Meg discovers the man behind the glossy photographs, and West wonders how he’ll ever let her go once the cameras stop rolling.