Showing results by narrator "John Pirhalla" in All Categories

Sleepwalk’s hero, Will Bear, is a man with so many aliases that he simply thinks of himself as the Barely Blur. At 50 years old, he’s been living off the grid for over half his life. He’s never had a real job, never paid taxes, never been in a committed relationship.

Awakening from cryo sleep after barely surviving the Tarrant System Battle, Captain Hazard King begins working on restoring the wrecked Imperial Fleet. The Swarm forces smell blood and press their victory, sending a strike fleet to attack the Fleet base at Icarus. In the past, the Empire had ten years between attacks. This time, they'll only have two. Even worse, the Empire doesn't have the forces or the technology needed to stop the massive Swarm fleet, and Hazard is stymied at every turn by an entrenched bureaucracy that is unable to give Hazard the resources required to win the war.

As executioner within Verendal, Finn takes on more responsibility, especially now that he’s saved the kingdom from repeated attack. When protests erupt within Verendal, those from the poorer sections clashing with Archers, Finn finds himself investigating a very different kind of crime than he’s ever pursued, one that might involve witchcraft that he doesn’t understand. This time, his usual tactics might not be enough. Finn must find those responsible before the city falls into chaos, but it might be too late to keep the violence from spreading throughout the kingdom.

Abner Fortis joined the International Space Marine Corps for two reasons: to escape a life of drudgery building biodomes for his father’s company and to pay off several billion credits in student loans, which the ISMC promised to do. Every Space Marine starts out as a cherry, though, and Abner is no different. When he makes his first combat drop, or cherry drop, he’s a know-nothing second lieutenant added to the mission roster as an afterthought.

A year ago, Captain Abner Fortis led a dangerous mission to kill the leader of the Maltaani insurgency, a mission that almost cost the life of his best friend, Gunnery Sergeant Petr Ystremski. Since then, he’s been assigned to a research and development project while Ystremski recovered from his wounds.

Hazard King was ready to get back to a normal life… Well, as normal a life as the next emperor of the Brittania Empire could expect, anyway. Hazard wanted to continue his naval career—to grow and take on positions of higher responsibility—because he knew the Swarm would be back, and he intended to be there to fight them when they returned. He had learned how to delegate, though, and while he was training, the rest of Team Hazard was tasked with eliminating the Marxist spy network, which they had discovered was mostly made up of rogue Imperial spies.

Mike and Beth didn't know each other existed before the night of the meteor shower. A melancholy film producer and a house sitter barely scraping by—chance made them neighbors, a bottle of champagne brought them together, and a shared need for human connection sparked something more. After a drunken and desperate one-night stand, the two strangers awake to discover a surprise astronomical event has left widespread destruction in its wake. But the cosmic lightshow was only part of something much bigger, and far more terrifying.

Now that Tolan knows the secret of the Draasin Lord, he recognizes more needs to be done. As a student, he’s not in a position to be able to do more, but as a master shaper, he’d be free to travel as he feels necessary. When another attack targets the academy, Tolan knows his unique abilities might make him the only shaper able to respond.

Chicago, sometime. Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different.

A young woman’s night-time escapade goes eerily wrong. A man is forced to relive the horrible accident that tore his family apart over and over again. An underground thrill through ancient catacombs proves disastrously horrific. A young boy is haunted by the scarecrow in the fields behind his home. And a woman is revisited by the ghost of a psychotic killer in the most dreadful of ways. Scare Street brings you some of the best short horror stories by authors Ron Ripley, David Longhorn, Eric Whittle, Sara Clancy, and A. I. Nasser, all in one book.

Hazard King finally managed to win peace with the Swarm, and he stabilized the Marxist Federation and helped create a more democratic new government on Lenin. The Black Dragon virus, though, continues to kill thousands there, and Imperial Scientists have finally admitted that antidotes are beyond their ability. Worse, it is only a matter of time before the virus makes it off planet, an event that is sure to kill billions and bring down the empire. But there is hope. If they can find the original virus, the creation of a vaccine may be possible.

Recovering ancient relics for the Italian mob can be deadly. When Harry Fox narrowly outwits a thieving artifacts dealer to escape with his life, he quickly discovers he came away with more than he bargained for. The stone tablet with a strange tale etched on it tells of lost knowledge from the cradle of civilization--the ancient Persian Empire.

From the deserts of North Africa to the mountains of Italy, 15men and women veterans of the Italian campaign open up about a war that was so brutal, news of it was downplayed at home. Here are the stories from a vanishing generation speaking to America today. The war in the Mediterranean, and particularly the Italian Campaign, is one that for many Americans is shrouded in mystery and murkiness. Yet it was here that the United States launched its first offensive in the west on enemy soil.

It's 2182. Stuck on a dull space station, 17-year-old Loni Solace's heart is failing her, and not just metaphorically. In search of one last thrill, she jumps aboard a freighter to see the galaxy for the first and last time. She expects adventure, but what she gets is a nightmare as crewmates start to disappear, and crazed robots start attacking. Enter Hardy: a combat ChronoBot with a messed-up memory, now Loni's unexpected ally in a system aimed against her. Loni, Hardy, and a few badass crewmates are thrown into high-octane battles and face-offs.

Two thousand years ago the Celtic Queen Boudica waged war against the Roman army. She nearly won, though history cannot explain why. When Harry Fox uncovers lost documents from Aristotle and Emperor Nero, he learns Queen Boudica used an unearthly weapon to nearly topple Nero's army. And this weapon may still exist.

For millennia, stories of God’s greatest prophets have inspired Christians across the world, urging them toward the kind of faith that compelled these celebrated sages of old. But one modern madman wants that power for himself - to conquer a world he views as filled with unrepentant sinners as he ushers in a new age of religious rule.

Mathison and his Marines have been reunited, and they’ve found unlikely allies in their mission to save humanity, which is currently tearing itself apart. SOG systems are rebelling, the Republic wants to run away…and then there’s the whole invasion of the vanhat they have to contend with.

As a war journalist, Jonah Wall saw enough of humanity’s horrors to last a lifetime. He wrecked his marriage, alienated his two sons, and escaped by working on an oil rig in Alaska, as far from civilization as possible. But when he finds a spacecraft that was buried for millennia under the tundra, he is suddenly and reluctantly thrust into an unbelievable adventure. As the ship is being unveiled to the world, it mysteriously comes to life, taking Jonah, his estranged son, and a disparate group on a terrifying journey.

Harry Fox just wants to know the truth. About his father's amulet. About his mother's death. But two Viking drinking horns with an incredible secret are about to change his plans.

The intergalactic barbarian has started establishing himself in this new future. But with a growing reputation comes the need to accomplish more complex feats. The Komran are happy to oblige, though they may not know it. They have taken a valuable Vale-sanctioned mine, trapping all the residents within and forcing them to work night and day. Curiously, the hostage-takers are not searching for the ore within.