Showing results by narrator "Jennifer O'donnell" in All Categories

Dark Stars, edited by John F.D. Taff, is a tribute to horror’s longstanding short fiction legacy, featuring 12 terrifying original stories from today's most noteworthy authors, with an introduction by bestselling author Josh Malerman and an afterword by Ramsey Campbell.

Melanie Mooney thought she was just doing her job when she came upon an unusual accident in the deep woods late one night. Acting alone, what she found was nothing like she’d expected. What followed was even more unexpected. Recruited by emissaries of a galaxy-spanning civilization, Melanie is thrust into a world she thought only existed in supermarket tabloids. As the first human in the Galactic Union Medical Corps, she cares for extraterrestrials in desperate need of a medic who can ignore the fact that they’re nothing like any patient she’s ever seen, even on their best days.

Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative writer Valentina Garnier loves a good story, so when she learns that CIA director Agnes Pendalon wants her to travel to Kunashir Island in Russia’s easternmost province, she jumps at the chance. Top scientists, political aides, CIA agents and even the vice president’s daughter have all made mysterious trips to the island in recent weeks. Could it be coincidence, or is something more alarming at play? When Val arrives in Kunashir, she’s mesmerized by a magical rowan tree and its leaves that turn to golden threads, encircling the visitors.

Carla Matthews is a single mother struggling to make ends meet and give her daughter Kaleigh a decent upbringing. When Kaleigh's absent father Seth - a famous alpine climber who never wanted to be tied down - begs for a second chance at fatherhood, Carla is hesitant because she doesn't want to pin her hopes on a man who is always seeking another mountain to scale. A man who was never willing to stay put in one place and raise a family.

A woman has the Christmas Eve from Hell. Two cat shifters play naughty games. And a witch brings out the beast inside the man. The magic of the season takes on a whole new meaning in these three fantastic and festive novellas from some of the best voices in paranormal romance. This anthology includes Tangled Tinsel by Vivian Arend, No Angel by Vivi Andrews, and Freeze Line by Moira Rogers.

Jane is haunted. Since she was a child, she has carried a ghost girl that feeds on the secrets and fears of everyone around her, whispering to Jane what they are thinking and feeling, even when she doesn't want to know. Henry, Jane's brother, is ridden by a genius ghost that forces him to build strange and dangerous machines. Their mother is possessed by a lonely spirit that burns anyone she touches. In Swine Hill, a place of defeat and depletion, there are more dead than living.

They live in the shadows, Jack and Jill, feuding twins who can never stop running. From earliest memory, they've been taught to hide, to hunt, to survive. Their prowess is outdone only by Clare, who has always been mentor first and mother second. She trained them in the art of espionage and sharpened their minds with nerve-racking psychological games. As they grew older, they came to question her. But when Clare's safe house explodes and she goes missing, they're forced to believe the unthinkable: Their mother's paranoid delusions have been real all along.

Monreith, Massachusetts, was once a small community of whalers and farmers. These days it’s a well-to-do town filled with commuters drawn to its rugged coastline and country roads. A peaceful, predictable place—until popular restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is found brutally murdered in her own home. Suspicion naturally falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix. But there are other rumors too. Among the group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, theories abound concerning Laurel’s death.

While recovering from a heart transplant, Nadia Carmichael is haunted by a recurring dream that sets her on a path to discover the identity of her donor. Her efforts are thwarted, however, when the father of her baby returns to wreak havoc on her life. It's not until Nadia learns of his estranged brother Jesse that she begins to explore the true nature of her dreams, and discover what her new heart truly desires.

An impossible mission. A dangerous love triangle. And an evil determined to destroy them all....

When Lark was sentenced to 25 years behind bars, she thought San Judas was her lucky break. The primitive 16,000-acre community in rural New Mexico isn't like any other prison. There are no cells, there is no warden, and Mother Mercy is the law. She didn't realize she'd be fighting for survival on a daily basis - battling hunger, violent inmates, and Mother Mercy's iron fist. Lark's only friend is Bernie - an off-the-rails environmental activist doing time for arson - and a mysterious stranger who's been sending her illicit messages from the men's colony.

Destruction is in Jame Knorth’s nature. Literally. She is the avatar of a god known as That-Which-Destroys, the god of chaos and ruin. Yet Jame is also a noblewoman within an ancient race, and the designated heir of her twin brother Torisen Knorth, High Lord of the Kencyrath. Jame’s people are fleeing, world by world, from a terrible enemy that has pursued them through a multitude of universes. Its name is Perimal Darkling.

It's been three years since Emma Cochran endured the worst possible tragedy - the sudden, unexpected death of her two-year-old son. The emotional trauma tore her marriage apart, but now her divorce is final and she wants to begin again. She's found happiness at last with her fiancé, Luke, who is eager to start a family with her.

The Raven has hidden among them all their lives, waiting to attack; now she is at full strength. Her darkness and brutality are unmatched. And before the battle is over, Noru blood will spill....

Lilly Miyamoto is a passionate analog photographer striving to pursue an ever more distant dream. Huian Li is preeminent among the Silicon Valley elite as the founder and CEO of the pervasive tech giant Cumulus. Graham Chandler is a frustrated intelligence agent forging a new path through the halls of techno-utopian royalty. But when Huian rescues Lilly from a run-in with private security forces, it sets off a chain of events that will change their lives and the world.

The Broker is dead. The secret network he controlled has lost its restraints. From the darkest deep-state enclave to the farthest reaches of the planet, the world's deadliest assassins are now free to pursue their own agendas. The United States government, unwilling to risk upheaval and global chaos, has preemptively mobilized killers of its own to hunt down and terminate each threat. Among the most dangerous agents on this list are Jack and Jill.

Death was warned. Fate was ignored. Time has run out. A new evil is here; Angel blood will be shed, and a dark secret will shatter the team forever....

News arrives from Tai-tastigon, the vast city that formed Jame into the master thief, wily fighter, and godling-in-the-making that she has become. It seems something is preying on the gods of Tai-tastigon. The new Pantheon is falling, and the ancient city is in turmoil. The self-serving, beguiling demi-god leader of the Thieves Guild has coerced Jame into finding the soul of his missing brother by holding hostage people she loves. She reluctantly returns to find a Tai-tastigon in turmoil, with citizen pitted against citizen, and day and night-time folk at one another’s throats.

Interstellar medic Melanie Mooney races against time to save her patients while unraveling cosmic mysteries and navigating the dangers of space, all while longing for the Earth she left behind.

All we ever did was try to help the angel world and humanity like we were raised to. But some of you paras plot to destroy us for no other reason than how powerful we will become. And now the days of playing nice with the paras are over....