Showing results by narrator "John Pirhalla" in All Categories

So, there I was…just minding my own business and having a drink at a local watering hole, when this strange woman approaches me, begging for help. I’ve never seen this woman in my life. I have no idea who she is. If she’s to be believed, she doesn’t know who she is, either. Nor does she know where she came from, or exactly why it is she needs my help. She sure as heck knows who I am, though. She knows that I’m the Blade Mage.

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.

A new crime lord has risen, claiming control of Marquithe's underbelly. Ruthless and powerful, this man demands Jerrell join his ranks. Jerrell refuses, preferring his independence, but soon realizes he cannot face the entire thieves guild on his own. With a gorgeous and conniving partner at his side, he acquires a new client willing to pay an outrageous sum if he can execute the impossible: steal a ton of silver from a mine controlled by a powerful wizard and guarded by an army of soldiers. Action, intrigue, and betrayal await in this outlandish conclusion to Jerrell's solo adventures.

Agent Farrell and his team have Joshua backed into a corner. At the NSMZ base, a Maelstrom permie rig and a team of scientists await Joshua’s arrival. Silently observing from the sidelines is Peter Yee of the Siuping Clan, a powerful crime boss to whom Joshua owes a favor.

Destined to be an apprentice of Elazar the Magician, Magnus’s future is destroyed when his best friend Tyrus betrays him. Magnus can only watch as everyone he loves is destroyed by the terrible power of Tyrus’s magic Kagi mushroom. Magnus barely escapes with his life, spending the next two decades running from his horrible past.

This anthology, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg, offers a sweeping survey of robots as depicted throughout literature. Since the Iliad—in which we are shown golden statues built by Hephaestus “with minds and wisdoms”—humans have been fascinated by the idea of artificial life. From the Argonautica to the medieval Jewish legend of the Golem and Ambrose Bierce’s tale of a chess-playing robot, the idea of what robots are—and who creates them—can be drastically different.

A quick-witted thief aspires for fame and fortune...if he can survive the schemes of the ruling class. After foiling an assassination attempt, Jerrell conducts a masterful piece of sleuthing to identify and capture the culprit. His actions earn him an office at the vaunted Marquithe Bureau of Trading, where he can promote his services to Farrowen's aristocracy. Wealth and fame await him. His first client offers a vast sum for the retrieval of an item of power. Unfortunately, the item is already the prize of a mighty and influential wizard.

High up in the fog-shrouded mountains, a secluded resort has been infested by the ultimate evil. A powerful demonic entity has claimed a teenage girl as its lover. And its tendrils of corruption stretch through the town, infecting the icy ground with its foul taint.

In volume eight of the Things Our Fathers Saw® series, you will return to the Pacific with our veterans as they recall the chaos in the aftermath at Pearl Harbor, the first challenges on land at Guadalcanal, island-hopping with the Marines, Navy, and Army at the Marshalls, Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. You will witness the most horrific bonzai charges of the war, accompany airmen on their B-29 missions over Japan, and lean over Navy corpsmen as they work to save the wounded.

The children of a powerful psychic, gifted with the ability to sense impending death, Wren, Shrike, and Lark have inherited a terrible burden. They must kill every last soul their late father had saved. For those who cheat death are claimed by the supernatural entities they now hunt. Arriving in town, the three siblings discover they may already be too late. Multiple mysterious deaths haunt the streets. And all the victims are linked to one Clarence Muller...a kindly man who runs a charity for the homeless. But something lurks behind Clarence’s kind words and friendly smile.

The island of Tarawa, a tiny spit of sand out in the middle of the Pacific, teemed with five hundred pillboxes filled with artillery pieces and highly motivated Japanese soldiers. Their commanding officer encouraged his troops, saying, “It would take one million men one hundred years” to conquer Tarawa. They were convinced that the Americans would be slaughtered before they ever got ashore.

The story of Angela Hanson, a girl from the grim NYC public housing projects, a beautiful, complex woman whose sweetly innocent ruthlessness powers her rise into the billionaire class by her early thirties. She rocketed to the top of advertising with the help of legendary adman Jack Price, her mentor-turned-lover and the married man who dumped her. Returning as the executive charged with firing Jack and hundreds of others, she destroys his career in order to make him a pawn in her high-stakes game with a flighty heiress and her billionaire septuagenarian father.

Isabelle Berger has little interest in men. So when a boorish hunter proposes, the timid girl begs her protective father to decline on her behalf. But after her beloved papa is killed tracking a wolf with her would-be husband, Isabelle flies into a rage and sets off in pursuit of the fiendish creature. Thrown from her horse while hunting the beast, the bookish young woman is quickly drawn to the mysterious stranger who rescues her. But when her rugged savior loses his temper, Isabelle is terrified by the dark secret he’s hiding.

In a time beyond the Parting, the team known as 50-Out have passed their initiation and are taking their show on the road. Dedicated to solving the problems of their failed nation through corporate team-building activities and good ol’ fashioned training-the-trainer exercises. The introduction of 50-Out to the political gamesmanship of the Paramilitary Institute or (PI), ends in backstabbing, treachery, and Byte being set up for trying to overthrow the system.

Centuries after a mysterious war ended, and with their only food source disappearing, survivors Royah, Buddy, and the giant of a man known as Onnin embark on a seemingly impossible quest to prevent humanity’s extinction. They must learn what was behind the devastation on the war-scorched planet they call home and why their ancestors were sent there in the first place. Yet their journey is no simple task, as many dangerous enemies want them to fail, while others want to murder them for the limited supplies they carry.

Vincent Donnelly’s fractured mind is filled with strange voices: souls trapped inside him, wanting to be set free. And he has no idea who he really is or what led him to his fate. But the key to ending the wrath of chaos itself may lie in a twisted deal with Razul. It's a bargain that could cost Vincent his mortal soul.

Young elf prince Drynn has always lived in the shadow of his athletic and popular elder brother. But, when the bookish boy’s mother dies from a mystery illness and he receives the Queen’s Opal, he’s plagued by visions of the past and a growing power. And, with the gem supposedly cursing those who possess it, he must enter the human realm to hunt down the cure…or become the next to die. Outside the forest, Drynn finds much has changed with the world now ruled by greedy wizards coveting more magic.

The barriers have fallen. The war has begun. There is revolution on the streets and an invasion building in the north. Drynn’s new powers might be the key to crowning a new king and stabilizing the realm, but at what cost? Is embracing the darkness the only way to bring back the light?

Wren, Shrike, and Lark are three, very special siblings with one unusual calling. Raised by a father gifted with the ability to sense impending death, his visions allowed them to save people’s lives. But they never imagined meddling with fate would have horrific consequences. Now their beloved father is dead, murdered by one of the people they saved. And the Rose siblings have unearthed a terrifying secret: those who were meant to die have become hosts for demonic spirits from beyond. Ghostly apparitions who feed on misery and pain. And who delight in torturing their human victims.

France, 1918. Nurse Marcelle Marchand has important secrets to keep. Her role as a spy has made her both feared and revered, but it has also put her in extreme danger from the approaching German army. American soldier George Mountcastle feels an instant connection to the young nurse. But in times of war, love must wait. Soon, George and his best friend Philip are fighting for their lives during the Second Battle of the Marne, where George prevents Philip from a daring act that might have won the battle at the cost of his own life.