Showing results by narrator "John Pirhalla" in All Categories

In his first collection of short stories, Ron Ripley delivers eight spine-tingling tales of the strange and the macabre. Weaving an intricate web of storytelling, listeners are asked to join him on a journey through some of the darkest of his works. Book a room at the old Crowe’s Bed and Breakfast, but be certain you can leave. Join the treasure hunter as he digs up graves and awakens more than just the dead. Lay beside a homeless man in a shelter, but make sure you’re not trespassing.

Safe within the magical kingdom of Havenwood, Bella Birch studies in earnest to become a Necromancer. For her final exam is only a few years away, and she is determined to be ready for it. But when General Craven, an invincible living statue, is sent by the queen of the Pentad to arrest Gideon for painting without a license, Bella can only watch as Gideon is captured...and brought to the capitol of the Pentad to stand trial for his crimes. Now Bella must gather her friends and travel to the capitol to save Gideon from the most powerful kingdom in the world.

The magical kingdom of Havenwood is everything a girl could want...except a girl like Bella. While everyone else there loves painting dragons, fairies, pixies, and other such creatures of light, and bringing those paintings to life, Bella finds herself drawn to the darkness. To death and rot and the undead. Her best friend is an undead dragon called Nemesis, after all. She just doesn’t fit in...and she knows it. So when Gideon offers to take Bella to a faraway city to meet Petrusa, the Queen of the Dead, Bella jumps at the opportunity.

The Hades Galaxy is so far from Earth, its light hasn’t even reached our most powerful telescopes. It’s a strange place - familiar, yet different. It’s also inhabited. Or it used to be. So how did Paul Johnson get from his grandpa’s ranch in Montana to the shores of alien waters in a distant galaxy? How did he and millions of colonists become trapped there, with no hope of ever returning home? He did what men throughout history have done: he chased after a beautiful woman. And he got her. Sort of.

It’s finally time to end the danger. Time to take the war to the aliens. But is it a trap? Captain Anderson Cross and Commander Kate Flynn scored a win. But now it’s time to secure that victory. Naturally, the enemy has a different idea. Cross and Kate know they will be separated again. They know their dreams are on hold until they can find a solution to the aliens’ holy war. Civilians are in danger, and the human forces must make a choice. Do they defend their people, or do they strike at the homeworld of the alien force? Either way, the risks are immense.

Axel Font, once the champion metal sorcerer of the underground arena, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life as an airship engineer. But with the constables coming knocking on his door and claiming he's under investigation for the murder of a member of the Senate, privatized paramilitary start trying to shoot him, and someone starts making appearances as his old masked identity, he's not likely to get the chance.

A job pits Jonathan and his team against Heziah, where they finally find a way to fully rid themselves of him. Now jailed, Heziah is no longer a threat. The team can finally relax—and Jonathan can retire with his newfound wealth.

Meet Jerrell Landish: A thief, a con artist, and an utter rogue. Clever, inventive, and skilled, he executes plots that astound his patrons and confound his enemies. When Jerrell hires out his services, he soon discovers that the schemes of ambitious wizards involve risks any sane person would avoid. Well, this thief is just crazy enough to manipulate the ruling wizard class against one another...until he finds himself the victim of even greater machinations.

After botching a mission to retrieve a precious artifact from a wealthy, mysterious collector called Octavius Quinn, Hunter, Sukri, and Vi must deal with the consequences. For Hunter’s father has just crossed through the Gate into the world of Varta…and Octavius kidnaps him. Hunted by Octavius’ cronies and with time running out for his father, Hunter must band together with his nemesis Lady Camilla to find and destroy Octavius. If they fail, Hunter’s father will die…and Hunter, and everyone he loves, will join him!

The Lumari Collective stands on the verge of chaos. After a prominent member of their society aided a violent mob, security personnel work to undo his efforts. They turn to the humans caught in the middle, Carson Flint and Nell Brooks, outsiders who might provide an edge against the terrorists. But time is running out, and plans are in motion that may bring the entire civilization to its knees before it can be saved.

The festival was intended as a getaway from UCLA for Gary, his girlfriend, Joan, and their friends. But soon after they arrive, Joan vanishes. Calls to her parents’ home yield only dead air. Her school records are gone. And there’s no evidence that Joan, or even her roommate, ever existed. Most disturbing of all is what they do find. Among Joan’s belongings is a prayer written on a small scroll. It’s a safeguard — and a warning — from something called The Outsiders. For Gary and his friends, it’s the only clue.

Special Forces are accustomed to crazy ops, but orbiting a black hole to slow down time and fight Earth’s dirty wars in the future? That’s new, even for them. But that’s the mission for Owen Quarry, Anaya Pretorius, and the rest of COG, a company of elite, disgraced, soldiers from around the globe. They join a defrocked company commander, an AI warship with self-confidence issues, and a crew of misfit troopers on a dizzying time-quest: prove the concept of stationing armies in space-time. If they complete ten missions, they’ll be redeemed as citizens in good standing.

After his divorce, Hunt Jackson decides to start over in Tucson, where an old buddy fixes him up with his wife's friend, Beth. The attraction is immediate, and they're married a few months later. But Hunt's happiness is marred by his bizarre encounter with an insurance agent whose insistence that Hunt increase his coverage sounds, incredibly, like a threat. The agent - tall, gaunt, oddly dressed in an old-fashioned suit and fedora - is himself a menacing figure.

Meet Calcannis Illudere, a certified dungeon accountant (TM), who takes on failing dungeon cores, turning their lairs into the hero-slaying death traps of their dreams. On Fidotopia, a world full of otherwise happy puppies, a sudden shift in the Tree of Souls has flooded a cynical stink slime’s disorganized dungeon with new energy. Now that rubbish dungeon is the number one destination for powerful raiders looking to level up quickly.

WHEN A GOD DIES, they are reborn somewhere in the world...and deadly warriors calling themselves the Keepers begin The Hunt to find and enslave them. For their divine flesh can be harvested to create magical artifacts of extraordinary power. Artifacts the kingdoms of Man will stop at nothing to possess. Trained by his father to excel in the art of combat and crafting weapons, 16-year-old Damian’s life takes a deadly turn when the Keepers invade his hometown.

The Warlock. He is unseen and anonymous. A covert agent in charge of a program designed to disrupt one of the most dangerous alliances in the history of the world. Although the black budgets fund his work, no American authority has issued his orders or given him permission to act. He simply does what he must.

Strak is a run-of-the-mill Orcus Empire recruit whose days are filled with following orders, patrolling corridors, and stamping papers. When he’s captured by the most-wanted space pirate in the galaxy, he assumes (quite logically) that the end is nigh. Instead, he finds himself…spearheading a birthday celebration for said space-pirate’s 12-year-old daughter?

In Fellion, monsters are everywhere—almost. Still, it's enough that the world teeters on the brink of collapse, and survival depends on one thing: leveling up. Fortunately, Eli has an irascible dead wizard guiding him on his path to power. One who claims to once have been nearly omnipotent—but, now that he's dead, he offers his humble advice for free. Hopefully, he knows what he is talking about...

He isn’t the only one. Everyone has amnesia. None of them remember who they were before their arrival. Considering the danger they now face, not being able to remember their past might be for the best. This world is a mysterious winter planet, and surrounding them is a place they call the Moat, where something deadly lurks. No one knows for sure what it is, but anyone who goes exploring goes missing.

Commander Kyle Griffin was a good soldier. Perhaps the perfect soldier. Owner of countless victories in an unyielding galactic civil war, he was bred to be the harbinger of death for the meager Splinter rebellion, and he did not disappoint. He and his team of elite Infinity Force operatives had the war all but won. Until he finally met an adversary he could not defeat: the truth.