Showing results by author "J. Smith" in All Categories

Mark Noble plans a surprise proposal to his girlfriend during a Caribbean vacation. But before he can pop the question, she disappears, and his father - a world-famous celebrity doctor who seems to have perfected mind-control - is killed in a mysterious fire back home. While searching for his girlfriend, Mark finds himself chased by two thugs, and the race is on to find out the truth of her disappearance before it’s too late. Mark’s investigation uncovers a sinister connection and a secret he doesn’t even know he possesses.

When history professor Jill Bowman learns of her husband’s murder in a seedy motel room, she knows he had no business being there. Not the serious, sincere psychiatrist Peter Freytag — the man she’d known so intimately.

Enveloped in grief, Jill struggles to piece together seemingly impossible events, and slowly she learns Peter’s secrets. But Jill discovers dark parts of herself as well… secrets she’d never known she was keeping.

In this modern-day Orpheus tale, one man descends into Paris’s hellish underworld to find his missing wife — and learn the dark secrets of her past. Adam Füst thought he knew his wife, Honnie. But when he begins investigating her sudden disappearance, he’s shocked to find so much of her a mystery. In order to find Honnie, Adam must enter the darkest shadows of the City of Lights. Paris’s sex shops, dark streets, and the people who inhabit them simultaneously repel Adam and draw him deeper, giving him a painfully clear look into Honnie’s past — and his own soul. Adam’s grief eventually gives way to his obsession with finding Honnie, taking his very sanity to the breaking point. Will learning the truth about Honnie push him over the edge?

Wilmington, Delaware, is one of those cities that feels more like a small town. Neighbors know one another, and businesses cater to the needs of the citizenry. But what happens when the local car salesman suffers one lost sale too many, when one more customer decides to buy from the competition because the price is too high, interest rates aren’t friendly, or that shade of blue just won’t work?

With the police on his back and his agency taking sleazy cases he never thought he’d have to, Paul Chang erupts under the job’s pressures and sees his personal demon, an alter ego he calls the dragon, emerge. Only the training from his martial arts teacher and old friend Shu keeps Chang sane. But his ex-wife Colleen and a journalist are being stalked by someone trying to make it look like Chang is the aggressor, and when the harassment turns deadly, the lives of everyone close to him are in danger.

Nick Copeland is an ad man. Correction: was an ad man. He’s been living the pretty-good life, but somewhere under the mountain of bills is buried whatever happiness he had. Nick Copeland is an ad man. Correction: was an ad man. He’s been living the pretty-good life, but somewhere under the mountain of bills is buried whatever happiness he had. Desperate, Nick looks for work at a job fair, but instead reconnects with an old college friend who’s in it even deeper.

A very ordinary day in the lives of the four Hodges-Bradley children takes on frightening dimensions in the aftermath of what seems like a typical California earthquake. A year and a half has passed since the great sorceress Morgana Shee, with the children's help, closed the last gateway to the Wildworld, a shimmering parallel universe of legend and danger.

In another age, the pathways connecting Earth to the Wildworld were sealed, forever separating humans from the shimmering parallel universe where legends still live. A great sorceress, Morgana Shee, guards the solitary gate between the worlds. She alone holds the secret of Fell Andred, her mansion built directly on the Great Coastal Passage, whose mirrors are the last doorways to enchantment.

Amelie and Janet are in love with the same man: Janet's husband. One knows it; the other doesn't. Or does she? As best-selling novelist Amelie Ferrar knows, an affair with a married person is like a work of fiction - a kind of spy story with its own rules, customs, and private rituals. But like any spy story, there will inevitably be a betrayal: something will slip; someone else will find out; someone may even die. As Amelie falls deeper into her obsession with the man she loves - and his wife - the twisted ending to this story is one that not even she could have seen coming....

Three horror writers and their guests riff on objects, inspiration, and those ideas that scratch at the door, miaowing to be let in. Guests to date include Nathan Ballingrud, Alan Baxter, JS Breukelaar, Isobelle Carmody, Brian Evenson, Kathe Koja, John Langan, Paul Mannering, Lee Murray, TR Napper, Dan O'Malley, Garth Nix, Sarah Read, Lynda E. Rucker, Melinda Smith, Cat Sparks, Paul Tremblay, Sean Williams and more!

Crucibles: History's Most Formidable Rites of Passage explores fourteen elite organizations, with a special emphasis on the onerous trials designed to cull initiates from aspirants. It analyzes the underlying commonalities of such trials, describing how they work, why people are willing to subject themselves to such rigors, and how such tests benefit or harm the organizations that require them.

Step into the shadows where the line between flesh and nightmare blurs, where the body becomes both canvas and cage. In this chilling anthology, darkness reigns supreme as twisted minds explore the depths of human agony and transformation. From the grotesque to the surreal, each story delves deeper into the macabre, weaving tales of torment that will leave you breathless and disturbed.

Early Oklahoma was a haven for violent outlaws and a death trap for deputy U.S. marshals. The infamous Doolin gang's OK Hotel gunfight left five dead. Killers like Bible-quoting choir leader Deacon Jim Miller wreaked havoc. Gunslinger femme fatale Belle Starr specialized in horse theft. Wannabe outlaws like Al Jennings traded train robbing for politics and Hollywood films. And Elmer McCurdy's determination and inept skill earned him a carnival slot and the nickname "the Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up."

A recent release from a glorified prison system, Jeraldine Adelric wants nothing more than to live as legally as possible so she’s never sent back to Joab. As she buys her ship and works toward being an owner and proprietor, she also finds a potential new love in Arloa, an older woman, an aristocrat, and someone way out of her league. As her crew takes their first job, problems arise. Not only are they ill-prepared for the work, but the virus that rages through their planet hits her crew, and Jerry has to make a choice. Who will she save and who will she kill?

We are all influenced every single day of our lives by both the positive and well as the negative. Influencing people requires you to have a certain power over them.

With how busy our lives can be, the stress of the future, and even the worries we feel whenever we’re just trying to live, it can take a toll on the body. Most of us end up staying up too late and getting up too early. If you’re someone who used to fall asleep hearing the lull of your parent’s words, then this book is for you. Sit back, relax, and hear these wonderful stories, and you’ll see, as you listen to them, how relaxing it can be for you, and how, with a few small stories, they can relax you, so you’re happy and satisfied.

An inspirational tale of triumph over extraordinary setbacks, A Colonel & A Cowboy tells the remarkable story of rodeo great Stran Smith and retired U.S. Army Colonel J. Craig Flowers. Stran Smith’s journey to becoming a World Champion rodeo cowboy is woven together with Colonel Flowers’ experiences supporting some of the most elite teams in the world. Through dramatic, real-life storytelling and humor, these two native Texans offer a profound analysis of what it takes to move from great to elite: Mission, Mindset, and Process.

Buckle up for an explosive ride into the heart of battle with 'Contested Landing' – the ultimate anthology of military science fiction that'll leave you on the edge of your seat! Get ready to dive headfirst into the fray as fearless defenders clash with relentless invaders in heart-pounding actions across the cosmos. From pulse-pounding firefights to jaw-dropping heroics, these adrenaline-fueled tales will thrust you into the heart of interstellar conflict like never before.

Discover why and how to put joy first in a world that rewards hustle over happiness. This bi-weekly show is for workaholics, founders, perfectionists and parents…the hardworking humans who struggle to find, choose or share joy because they are just so damn busy surviving.Expect inspiration, education and practical how-to’s for living and working in a way that allows you to easily and consistently prioritize joy over fear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One month ago Eli Miller risked everything to track down a dangerous fugitive in the labyrinth of tunnels which surround his home but failed. While the Mayor deals with the fallout he has tasked Eli and his team with interrogating those suspected in a conspiracy to return to the surface—the very location the journal points to for salvation. When old friends return with a dire warning Eli must once again put his own plans aside to protect the citizens of Lincoln.