Showing results by narrator "Michael John" in All Categories

This short story was written for a syndicated newspaper page for children; but Mr. Asimov, like every good writer of children's stories, is talking not only to the children but to all of us. His characters here are young, but the idea hehind the story is as timeless as it is acute.

Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed, and rival players are assassinated. Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he'll wind up just another stat in the column marked "killed on the field."

The ongoing battle between star quarterback Quentin Barnes and team owner Gredok the Splithead is coming to a head. Endless threats and promises of ultraviolence hang on their every word. With sentients of several groups trying to manipulate or kill him, Quentin must chart a new course if he is to survive and overcome his injury to once again lead his beloved Krakens into battle.

Life in the big city has its problems: traffic, overpopulation, and crime, not to mention the brain-hungry living dead. But for hard rockers Straw and Whip, life among the flesh-eating populace is easy. They pass their time disguising themselves to fit in with the decaying hordes, pilfering musical instruments from deserted shopping malls, eating like kings, and performing rooftop rock shows...until they meet a gun-crazy vixen named Betty. Soon the duo begin to feel the flames of jealousy over who in all likelihood is the last woman on Earth.

People dream of being stranded in paradise...until it happens for real. You know those dumb quizzes on social media that tell you to pick the one person you wouldn’t mind being stuck on a deserted island with? Well, a few months ago, I would have said Kate. I thought she was the one. Until she ghosted me. Now she’s back and wants to make amends. She had a reason for what she did, even if it hurt, so against my better judgment I invited her to go fishing on my boat. I definitely didn’t plan for what happened next.

Adventure, action and dark humor galore, delivered Ralph Cotton style, in his fictional take on the real-life DEA - FBI joint Operation Swordfish, a covert effort launched by the two agencies in the early 1980s. Meet Eddie Vango - Chicago gambling debt collector for the Outfit, the lovely Leslie Wright, and ex-con Delbert Moss as they make their way through the ranks of South Florida Drug Lords and take a giant share of the underworld’s operating capital while the drug world is busy 'replacing' its leadership.

This begins the saga of The Lewis family, Mordecai and his sons Michael and Andrew. The leave Tennessee and head for Spanish-ruled Texas in search of wild horses. What they find will change their lives forever.

Esmay Suiza and Brun Meager should be friends - they're both bright, brave, likable and adventurous. But true friendship doesn't run any smoother than true love. Brun thinks Esmay's a stuck-up prig, and Esmay thinks Brun's a spoiled rich brat who's making a play for Barin Serrano, Esmay's first love. So when Brun falls into the hands of a repressive religious militia movement, Esmay finds herself n disgrace, suspected of conniving at the capture.

Based on John Ball's novel which inspired the Oscar-winning film and the Emmy-winning television series, In the Heat of the Night pits a visiting black detective from California against a small Alabama town simmering with anger over desegregation. A fitting reflection of America in the 1960s, this Off-Broadway hit is provocative, timely, and uncomfortably relevant.

Abraham Lincoln delivered what is considered to be the most famous speech ever at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863. There are five known copies of this speech in Lincoln’s handwriting, each with a slightly different text. John W Michaels reads from the Bliss copy which appears on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. In the background we hear the U.S. Army chorus performing the Battle hymn of the Republic.

1944: Texas Ranger Jim Strong investigates a triple murder inside a Nazi POW camp in Texas. The present: His daughter, fifth generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong, finds herself pursuing the killer her father never caught in the most personal case of her career - a conspiracy stretching from that Nazi POW camp to a modern-day neo-Nazi gang.

'Brother', by Nigel Fairs. Auron scientist Gustav Nyrron is back aboard the Liberator, on his way home. But Avon does not trust him, and soon a drugged Nyrron wakes to find himself in Avon’s clutches on a devastated world. In this desert, their pasts are waiting for them...and a devastating truth that will shake their very beliefs to the core. 'Poison', by Iain McLaughlin. Federation Freighter Antares is a ship with many secrets. Why is it making regular runs to a heavily guarded frontier world?

Hard work and no play makes for a cranky cowboy. Needing a night out on the town left me sneaking in my father’s house like a teenage boy. That was my first mistake of the day. The second was playing hero to a damsel in distress that turned out to be no damsel at all but a sexy, snarky woman who took me by surprise. How you ask? I’d been a ladies man. That is until I became a father. I didn’t need the complicated messy kind of love stuff. My hands were full. The day I met the woman who would steal my heart.

1883: Texas Ranger William Ray Strong teams up with Judge Roy Bean to track down the Old West's first serial killer, who's stitching a trail of death along the railroad lines slicing their way through Texas. The present: Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong finds herself pursuing another serial killer whose methods are eerily similar to the one pursued by her great-grandfather almost a century-and-a-half before.

Your brain is the master organ in your body. Everything is controlled by this complicated computer, which operates your entire body, from head to toe, from eyesight to digestion, from feelings of high self-esteem to stress and anxiety. By feeding your brain with specific foods, such as fish, blueberries, and even coffee, you help it operate much, much more effectively.

One day, cold-blooded killers stole the life of Cuno Massey's young, expectant bride. Now, Cuno realizes his fate - and with his .45 in hand, he's going to make certain the killers realize theirs. Because if there's one thing Cuno has come to thirst for, it's the bittersweet taste of revenge.

I’m independent, outgoing, smart, and don’t like constraints on my life. Curtis took all that from me. Somehow, he stole it away a little at a time, and I barely noticed. Until it was too late. Then, it was all-out war between us. Seth stepped in and saved me; not once, but twice. The super-sexy, hard-bodied bar owner makes my heart melt with his protectiveness. It’s not easy to woo me, but Seth has done a remarkable job. His tender caresses mixed with the lust for me in his eyes steals my breath.

Acrotomophilia: The deriving of sexual gratification from fantasies or acts involving an amputee. The continued story of Willard. Willard's actions has landed him a residence in a mental institution for the criminally insane. The fact that he doesn't have freedom or weapons doesn't mean that he can't live out a few more of his sexual fantasies.

Lance Corporal Matthew Mills returned home from his first deployment with more than just a bullet wound. While he knew that injury would heal, he feared the invisible ones never would. He couldn't trust his own mind anymore and the only way to keep Olivia safe was to push her away...maybe for good. Olivia wanted nothing more than to stand by her husband while he battled PTSD. If he needed time and space, that's what she'd give him. But how long was too long? Just when she was about to lose hope, fate, and a few meddling friends stepped in.

The five members of an elite commando group nicknamed “the Stone Wolves” once raged against Creterakian rule. Now, four decades after their heyday, they each try to stay alive and eke out a living. But a friend from the past won’t let them move on, and neither will their bitterest enemy. Hopscotch, RedWire, the Killer, Lulz and Recoil will soon wish their pasts could stay dead.