Showing results by narrator "Todd McLaren" in All Categories

The name Edgar Allan Poe conjures up thoughts of hearts beating long after their owners are dead, of disease and plague amid wealth, and of love that extends beyond the grave. The richness of Poe's writing, however, includes much more than horror, loss, and death. Poe's stories teem with irony and black humor, in addition to plot twists and surprise endings.

No one’s mourning the death of Cuba’s dictator, Fidel Castro. His heirs, including daughter Carla, are jockeying for power. Guerrilla rebels threaten to topple the teetering government. But there’s more at stake than just the island nation. Il Jeffe’s legacy includes a long-hidden atomic missile, left over from the Kennedy-era Bay of Pigs crisis - which guerrilla leaders threaten to use against any American interference. Ace pilot Marine Lt. Edward Garcia is tasked to find the launch site.

These treasured stories from the most influential authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries are selected for their literary importance as well as their dramatic, oral qualities. Listen to these 10 unabridged classics by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, O. Henry, and Willa Cather.

When 57-year-old Ethan Zachary is ravaged by mysterious ball lightning, he starts growing progressively younger. As the condition begins to take hold, he realizes the end result will eventually kill him, ruining his plans to run for Congress - as well as his marriage. He does find a few compensations: his new youth and vigor attract a Cuban refugee reporter and a young lady lawyer, and his libido has been magically restored. Then a reclusive billionaire snatches "EZ" to use him as a medical guinea pig.

A famous naturalist seeks a near-extinct species of bird found only on the rarest of lands in "Audubon in Atlantis." A young American on a European holiday finds himself storming an enchanted German castle in "The Catcher in the Rhine." The philosopher Sokrates plays a key role in the Athenian victory over the Spartans in "The Daimon." Centaurs take a sea voyage aboard "The Horse of Bronze" to a land where they encounter a strange and frightening tribe of creatures known as man.

Hewitt Pearce is a 43-year-old blacksmith who lives alone in his family home, producing custom ironwork and safeguarding a small collection of art his late father left behind. When Jessica, a troubled young vagabond, shows up in his backwoods one morning, fleeing her demons, Hewitt's previously hermetic existence is suddenly challenged - more so when he learns that Emily, the love of his life whom he'd lost 20 years before, has been unexpectedly widowed.

The time is 1953. The world has changed. Richard Curtis Van Loan has been forced to hang up his mask. But The Phantom Detective is drawn out of retirement by the sudden murder of his longtime friend, publisher Frank Havens; and must then face the greatest challenge in his long career, as he finds himself pursued and hounded by a vicious, unseen assailant, ?The Phantom's Phantom.? The hot, sunny hills of Southern California present a very different problem from the cold, dark-edged streets of the Big Apple. As the bodies begin piling up, Van Loan is driven to the very limit of his resources. Who is The Phantom's Phantom?

The Time of Troubles had almost passed. The chaos of spilled blood, lawless strife, monsters unleashed, and avatars roaming Faern was reaching an end. However, not so Those Who Walk in Shadow. The dreaded and insidious Shadowmasters realize that they have one last chance to seize control while chaos wrecks havoc on all of the Realms, and in doing so seal the fate of not just their archenemy Elminster, but all of Mystra's minions as well.Darkness threatens to envelop all Faern.The shadows loom.

In 2005, 15 workers were killed when BP's Texas City Refinery exploded. In 2006, corroded pipes owned by BP led to an oil spill in Alaska. Now, in 2010, 11 men drilling for BP were killed in the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. What's next? In In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race That Took It Down, Stanley Reed - a journalist who has covered BP for over a decade - and investigative reporter Alison Fitzgerald answer not only that question, but also examine why these disasters happen to BP so much more than other large oil companies.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is Washington's response to America's call for a new regulatory framework for the 21st century. In The New Financial Deal, author David Skeel offers an in-depth look at the new financial reforms and questions whether they will bring more effective regulation of contemporary finance or simply cement the partnership between government and the largest banks.

Aachen saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Second World War. Through the determined defense of their city the citizens of Aachen held off the oncoming American forces for six weeks, giving the Nazis time to mobilize their troops for what would become the Battle of the Bulge. Had it not been for dogged resistance of these men and women the last great German offensive in the West might have never occurred, potentially ending the war in Europe six months earlier and saving the lives of thousands.

My name is Marten Mann. I work for the devil, or the prince of lies, as you people are so fond of calling him. Yes. You read that last line correctly. I am employed by the powers of evil as acquisitor ad infinitum. I did not seek out this job: I was chosen for the position. To put it in simpler terms, I am a broker of sorts - you know, the guy who finds out what it is that you want the most. I make it readily available to you for a price. I think we all know just how costly that one thing that you think you need so much can be.

As a pirate, Willow Jackson has stolen hundreds of ships, if not thousands, but this ship is the first with someone on board. Trigg Lorrz, brother of the ship's owner and son of the king of Lorr, a powerful alien race, is . . . her hostage? He also happens to be Willow's one-night stand from the night before, the hottest lay she's ever had, and pretty much the epitome of her type. But they're both about to become hostages of Jorvlen attackers, who have a grudge against them both.

Alien warrior Grux Lorrz thought his brother was an idiot for the whole "pro-bono case" thing, but all of a sudden, business is picking up. With his brother disowned by their father—the king—and off making plans for a life with his human mate, Grux finds himself taking charge of their private investigation firm. (Though he doesn't like the administration work that comes along with it—that was always his brother's thing.) With jobs rolling in from all over the galaxy, the brothers are forced to split up, and Grux ends up on the planet Xoyosis, a dark hovel of a place.

Elite networks are informal social networks between politicians in power and top executives of politically connected firms where personal ties and long-term interactions build trust and loyalty between involved actors. Both groups draw benefits from these interactions; politicians stay in power, and corporate executives extract rents for their firms. Firms reward connected executives with higher salaries thus widening the dispersion of earnings in society. In Elite Networks, Vuk Vukovic offers a different perspective on the long-run origins of inequality.

Over the past generation, the Democratic and Republican parties have each become nationally coordinated political teams. American political institutions, on the other hand, remain highly decentralized. Laboratories against Democracy shows how national political conflicts are increasingly flowing through the subnational institutions of state politics—with profound consequences for public policy and American democracy.

The Winter Soldier has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Tough Texan Blake Kemp considers himself first and foremost a man of the law. But he will stop at nothing to avenge the death of the woman he loved long ago, even if that means breaking some rules along the way. Despite his best efforts, Blake can’t deny his growing feelings for his beautiful assistant, Violet. But can his passion replace his need for revenge?

From the moment cattleman Rey Hart first sets eyes on Meredith Johns, he is mesmerized. He asks the lovely young woman to become the cook on his ranch, but convincing her to take the job is a cinch compared to breaking the enchanting spell she casts over this long, tall Texan’s heart.

Carnegie, first human Alcazar member, attempts to get in the captain's good graces with a hint on Lincoln's whereabouts. After sixteen long years Lance must decide between duty and family. Only to have his command taken away by a new SOAT operative. Under constant surveillance by the new captain, Lance and his team are forced to exercise their creativity to complete their mission without disobeying their new superior officer. Disobeying orders is a death sentence under the eye of the Svikari SOAT.