Showing results by narrator "Vikas Adam" in All Categories

In the stories of Havana Noir, current and former residents of the city - some international sensations such as Leonardo Padura, others exciting new voices like Yohamna Despestre - uncover crimes of violence and loveless sex, of mental cruelty and greed, of self-preservation and collective hysteria.

Every school has them: the cool kids. The insiders. Gavin Meeks is one of them. He lives an easy life of parties, girls, snowboarding adventures, and whatever else comes his way. But when dark, dramatic Antoinette crash-lands at Evergreen High, the entire school feels the impact. Antoinette has seen things, been places, experienced deep tragedy firsthand. She's not just a rebel; she's a force of nature. Gavin, for one, is captivated and is soon pursuing interests he never knew he had.

Julia lived in her country club world and Colt...didn't. Then Julia dies in a car accident. Colt is devastated but can't mourn openly, and he's tormented that he may have played a part in her death. And when Julia's journal ends up in his hands, he is forced to relive their year together - just when he is trying to forget. The problem is, how do you get over someone who was never really yours to begin with?

Characters from the Epic of Gilgamesh populate this high-stakes contemporary adventure in which all of Manhattan is threatened by the ancient god of plagues. Thirteen-year-old Sik wants a simple life going to school and helping at his parents' deli in the evenings. But all that is blown to smithereens when Nergal comes looking for him, thinking that Sik holds the secret to eternal life. Turns out Sik is immortal but doesn't know it, and that's about to get him and the entire city into deep, deep trouble.

Set in 1942 New York and Berlin, A Master Plan for Rescue is an enchanting novel about the life-giving powers of storytelling and the heroism that can be inspired by love. In essence it is two love stories: that of a child who worships his parents then loses his father to an accident and his mother to her resulting grief and that of a young man who stumbles into the romance of his life then watches his beloved decline, forever changing the arc of his future.

In love and soon to be a father, Luke Carey has the life he's always wanted. That is until a mysterious, late-night phone call summons him to San Francisco. Luke's first daughter, whom he hasn't seen in six years, 14-year-old Danielle, needs him, and he's desperate to do anything he can to help. But coming back into Danielle's life means facing his ex-wife, Nora, and the explosive, violent drama of the life he left behind.

RuPaul Andre Charles always knew he was meant to be a performer. Even as a young child, he loved to dress up and imitate the glamorous women he saw on television. When he turned 15, he began studying theater in a performing arts school in Atlanta and never looked back. Ru developed his drag-queen personality and launched his career in the 1980s. He now hosts and judges the widely popular and long-running show RuPaul's Drag Race, which has raised the profile of the art of drag and drag queens around the world.

David Metcalf is trying to survive after the lights went out and the aircraft circling the Dallas and Forth Worth metro area fell to earth. With nothing to stop the firestorm that ensues, the city and neighboring suburbs burn. The conflagration is only one part of the problem; people are running out of water and food and willing to kill their fellow man to get it. David needs to find someplace safe where he can protect his family, but he discovers that there are things at play behind the scenes to keep the misery going.

A riveting, suspenseful and exuberant novel from the best-selling, Booker Prize-winning author of The White Tiger about a young illegal immigrant who must decide whether to report crucial information about a murder - and risk deportation. Danny - Dhananjaya Rajaratnam - is an illegal immigrant in Sydney, denied refugee status after he has fled from his native Sri Lanka. Working as a cleaner, living out of a grocery storeroom, for three years he’s been trying to create a new identity for himself.

In October 2017, Jagmeet Singh was elected as the first visible minority to lead a major federal political party in Canada. The historic milestone was celebrated across the nation. About a month earlier, in the lead-up to his election, Jagmeet held community meet and greets across Canada. At one such event, a disruptive heckler in the crowd hurled accusations at him. Jagmeet responded by calmly calling for all Canadians to act with “love and courage” in the face of hate. That response immediately went viral.

When treasure hunters excavate the long-lost wreck of the Steamship Arcadia from a Kansas corn field, a buried creature awakens - a mindless brute made of accursed earth, shaped like a man, but in no way mortal. A century and a half after its creation, the golem’s sole mission resumes: to assassinate a savage pro-slavery guerilla commander named “Bloody Bill” Wolcott. Wolcott, of course, is long dead, but his closest surviving descendant - a corporate IT burnout named Ben Middleton - is quite available.

Elliot lives in America, and Kailash lives in India. They are pen pals. By exchanging letters and pictures, they learn that they both love to climb trees, have pets, and go to school. Their worlds might look different, but they were actually similar. Same, same - but different!

A tragic car accident will forever change the Keller family. Fifteen-year-old Levon Keller survives, though his older brother, David, star athlete and golden child, does not. As the fragile family mourns while trying to move on, guilt-ridden Levon finds himself lost between the memory of his brother and the constant attention his younger sister requires with a rare genetic affliction. When beautiful and unpredictable teenager Lucy Bell moves in next door, Levon finds a trustworthy friend - one capable of providing salvation and true insight.

I had no idea how much I would love Alex the day he walked into my life. He changed everything. The way I breathed. The way I thought. The way I loved. He brought me back to life. He gave me strength and a safe place to land. And then he broke me.

To the world he is Sri Ramakrishna - godly avatar, spiritual master, beloved guru. To Rani Rashmoni, she of low caste and large inheritance, he is the Brahmin fated to defy tradition. But to Hriday, his nephew, he is just Uncle - maddening, bewildering Uncle, prone to entering trances at the most inconvenient of times, known to sneak out to the forest at midnight, who must be vigilantly safeguarded not only against jealous enemies and devotees with ulterior motives but also against that most treasured yet insidious of sulfur-rich vegetables: the cauliflower.

Kihrin grew up on tales of long-lost princes and grand quests - despite being raised in a brothel, making money as a musician and street thief. One day he overreaches by targeting an absent noble’s mansion, hunting for jewels. There he witnesses a prince performing a terrifying dark-magic ritual. Kihrin flees, but he’s marked by a demon, and his life will never be the same again. That night also leads to him being claimed as a lost son of that prince’s royal house. But far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner.

The world of Zelharri, where magic reigns supreme, begins a chaotic existence after the death of the Duke. To usurp the throne and prevent the Duke's son, Aletto, from taking his rightful place, the Duke's bother, Jadek, marries his widow and exercises enormous power of Zelharri. Fearing that all the good in Zelharri will be unraveled, Aletto and his sister, Lialla, summon allies to aid them. In this bewitching fantasy novel, three Californians are recruited into helping Aletto assume his royal position as Duke of Zelharri.

Nikhil is a passive landowner. His houseguest is Sandip, a headstrong anti-imperialist. Between them is Nikhil’s wife, Bimala, dutiful to her conventional husband yet drawn to the fiery independence and bold flirtations of the charismatic Sandip. As Bimala questions her role as a woman and the possibilities for her life outside marriage, the three undergo an emotional struggle that will change their lives forever—just as their country undergoes a radical upheaval of its own.

Nick Antosca's The Girlfriend Game is a tumble through the looking glass into a vortex of violence and desire. The 12 stories in the newest collection by the Shirley Jackson Award-winning author are brutal, urgent and unforgettable. In "Predator Bait", a decoy in a sex-sting news show questions her job and the man who shares her bed. An undependable son watches his mother become a creature he hardly recognizes in "Amphibian". A young man plots the death of his girlfriend's killer in "Winter Was Hard".

When Charlie Guest gets dragged along on a cruise by his friend Martin, he thinks his biggest worry will be seasickness. But when an outbreak forces some of the passengers to quarantine in paradise, things take a decidedly different turn, especially after a body turns up in a pool. Everyone is a suspect. With a cast that includes an aging Hollywood bit player, a closeted rising politician, a recent Oscar winner, a charming drag queen - and a hunky mystery man who might or might not be a former ‘80s porn star - Michael Thomas Ford's latest hysterical novel blends romance and mystery.