Showing results by narrator "Michael Goldstrom" in All Categories

With eloquence and wit, Wayne Hoffman explores the unlikely camaraderie between a young Jewish man and an Orthodox rabbi, in this rich, insightful novel about love, honesty, faith, and belonging. In Yiddish, there is a word for it: bashert - the person you are fated to meet. Twenty-something Benji Steiner views the concept with skepticism. But the elderly rabbi who stumbles into Benji's office one day has no such doubts. Jacob Zuckerman's late wife, Sophie, was his bashert. And now that she's gone, Rabbi Zuckerman grapples with overwhelming grief and loneliness.

In 2022 American Jews face an increasingly unsafe and anti-Semitic landscape at home. Against this backdrop, the Jacobson family gathers for Passover in Los Angeles. But their immediate problems are more personal than political, with the three adult children, Mo, Edith, and Jacob, in various states of crisis, the result, each claims, of a lifetime of mistreatment by their father, Julian. The siblings have begun to suspect that Julian is hastening their mother Roz's demise, and years of resentment boil over.

Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist - a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he's ever seen. She's wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her.

Gabriel Finley is longing to find his mother, who vanished without a trace when he was just a baby. Along with Gabriel's raven, Paladin - with whom he has a magical bond that enables them to become one creature and fly! - and his three friends, he ventures back to the ruined underground city of Aviopolis to free her from the rune in which she has been imprisoned. But Aviopolis is home to Corax, the Lord of Air and Darkness, who is also Gabriel's uncle. And before Tabitha Finley is released, Gabriel must answer a riddle.

His wish led to the addition of a new system to Genesis Online: siege mechanics. Rival guilds can now declare war and attack each others' cities. If the attackers win, they take ownership of the defeated settlement. With few details on how the new system will work, Kevin must build up defenses to protect the town of Prosperity. He will need to train hard with his guild members and recruit allies to ensure they will have enough defenders when the attack finally comes. Will they be ready to withstand the forces of an enemy determined to get revenge?

For 16-year-old outcast Dan Crawford, the summer program at New Hampshire College Prep is a lifeline. Finally, a chance to make some friends before college. Even if that means staying in a dorm that used to be a old asylum. Soon Dan's hanging out with Abby and Jordan, and summer is looking up. But then he learns that the asylum was not just any sanatorium - it was a last resort for the criminally insane.

Arthur Vance walks into P.I. Joe Scintilla's office and tells him an incredible story: his wife, Katharine, had commited suicide a year and a half before, and yet he is convinced that she is now passing under the name of Elena Cavalieri, having just been married to another man. Is Vance merely distraught over his wife's death, or is he correct in believing that "The Removal Company" - a shadowy organization that appears to help those who wish to slough off the burden of existence, and which assisted Katharine in her self-destruction-is something much more sinister than it appears?

In a riveting novel of love and adventure, young Julius Meyer comes to the New World to find himself acting as translator for the famed Indian chief, Standing Bear. Young Jewish immigrant Julius comes of age surrounded by the wild world of 1867 Nebraska. He befriends the mysterious Prophet John, who saves his life when the two are captured by the Ponca Indian tribe. Living as a slave, Julius meets the noble chief Standing Bear and his young daughter, Prairie Flower, with whom he falls in love.

After the battle in Italy, Joseph tries to live a normal life, but that's just not in the cards for him. He's engaged to the Illuminator's sister Jenna, has a Fallen Angel bodyguard, and plans on adopting the cutest five year old anyone's ever seen. If that isn't enough to keep anyone busy, now Joseph's home is under attack by reporters and protestors. After a frightening incident that leaves his house in ashes, he decides he's had enough. It's war.

Nathan has been locked in his room ever since "it" started growing back. They’re going to come for him soon, so he’s got precious little time to tell us what is happening.

With eviction looming, St. Ives searches for a big payday and a rare book. Philip St. Ives has no love for New York's drafty, broken-down Adelphi Hotel, but he is in no mood to be evicted from it. His cash dwindling, he is happy to learn about a job that calls for his specific talents as a mediator between thieves and their victims. It sounds like the set-up to a bad joke: A thief, an insurance salesman, and the Library of Congress call Philip's lawyer to ask about a stolen copy of Pliny's Historia Naturalis. To find it, Philip will risk becoming history himself.

Dan, Abby, and Jordan were traumatised by the summer they shared at New Hampshire College, the former site of the Brookline asylum. They want to move on, but someone is determined to keep the terror alive by sending them anonymous photos of an old-time carnival. Forsaking plans to never to go back, the teens return during a weekend for prospective students, and realise that the carnival from the photos is not only real, it's here on campus.…

Patrick Cusimano is in a bad way. His father is in jail; he works the midnight shift at a grubby convenience store; and his brother's girlfriend, Caro, has taken their friendship to an uncomfortable new level. On top of all that, he can't quite shake the attentions of Layla Elshere, a goth teenager who befriends Patrick for reasons he doesn't understand, and doesn't fully trust. The temptations these two women offer are pushing Patrick to his breaking point.

During the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, a match was set up between Dynamo Kiev’s players, playing as FC Start, and a German side. Kiev won. And when the Germans fielded a better side, Kiev beat them, too. And again, and again. Until the half-starved FC Start players faced an international-calibre German side, under the threat of execution if they didn’t let the occupiers win.... An astonishing true story.

Jimmy can’t stand Dax’s bullying any longer. He steals $150 from his father and runs away. But Dax is on the same train - and he sees the money. Now Jimmy and Dax are locked in a frantic chase. Can Jimmy run fast enough and far enough?

Everyone knows the flooded quarry is a dangerous place. But when Jacob spots the tail of a huge reptile disappearing into the undergrowth, nobody believes him! He needs to get a photo as proof before anyone will take him seriously. And that means hunting the beast himself....

Andy is a troubled teenager. Fighting is the only thing he’s good at, it gives him his reputation, and he does a lot of it - so much that he’s going to be expelled and dumped if he can’t change his ways. The Head suggests a boxing club, but Andy reckons boxing is for wusses...until he’s knocked out in his first match by a kid half his size. Now Andy faces losing his reputation at school - and that’s about all he has left. Will boxing be Andy’s doom, or his salvation?

Scott, Jaz, Lee, and Mo get bored of scary videos at Hallowe'en. Mo tells them about how Ouija boards work using the power of suggestion, so the four friends decide to make up details about a fake 'ghost' to see if their collective imaginations will create 'messages' from it. The messages start to come, all right. And then so do the accidents...

Struggling with the sudden, nagging notion that his mother once assassinated a prominent neo-Nazi leader, Ben - a performance artist, about to turn 40 - doesn’t know where to turn. His parents are both dead and his brother, having previously been institutionalized, is a lousy source of information. In a non-chronological montage of memories, this inventive tale blends suburban realism with out-of-body surrealism as Ben travels back and forth through life events, attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together.