Showing results by narrator "Kevin T. Collins" in All Categories

When FBI Agent Leo Xanthus invites the beautiful and beguiling Polly Benson to his family home in New Orleans, he does so knowing an introduction to his concealed life could change hers forever. As his plans to sweep her off her feet unfold, Leo learns every family has secrets - some more deadly than others. With ties to a high-profile mafia family and the FBI, Leo and Polly’s worlds collide in and out of the bedroom, and their insatiable need for one another will blur the lines between what is right, what is wrong, and what is impossible to resist.

I knew from the moment I first saw her she was the one. The only girl I could ever want. The only girl I could ever love. She is light. I am darkness. She is innocent. I've done too much. She is good. I am bad. She is my every dream. I should be her every nightmare. We come from different worlds. She's...perfect. And I'm...not. Somehow she wants me anyway.

I knew from the moment I first saw him he was the one. The only boy I could ever want. The only boy I could ever love. They say he's bad for me. But I know he's not. Until the day he rejects me. And breaks my heart. Completely. Everything changes in the blink of an eye. My entire life as I've known it is...gone. Secrets are revealed. Promises once made are irrevocably broken. There's no way my family can get back to what we once were. So when Nicholas Fairfield walks back into my life like he never left it, I'm furious.

The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it's...something at first sight. He knows she's special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of "friend" gets messier, too.

Brian Cuban was living a lie. With a famous last name and a successful career as a lawyer, Brian was able to hide his clinical depression and alcohol and cocaine addictions - for a while. Today, as an inspirational speaker in long-term recovery, Brian looks back on his journey with honesty, compassion, and even humor as he reflects both on what he has learned about himself and his career choice and how the legal profession enables addiction.

It's 1955, and Albert Einstein lies in a hospital bed, deathly ill. He suddenly stirs, asks his assistant for paper and pen, then scribbles something down. Minutes later, he dies. History tells us that Einstein jotted down equations that night. But struggling scholar Jacob Morgan believes that history is wrong. He's convinced that Einstein wrote a deathbed confession that night - a secret that the great scientist didn't want to take to his grave.

Without warning, something has gone terribly awry. In the remote and unnoticed places of the world, small pockets of death begin occurring. As the initially isolated extinctions spread, the world's eyes focus on this unimaginable horror and chaos. Out of the ecological imbalance, something new and extraordinary is evolving and surviving to fill the voids left by these extinctions. Evolution is operating in ways no one could have expected, and environmental damage may be the catalyst.

It's Saturday night in Santa Barbara and it seems like everyone is headed to the same destination. The reason is simple: To celebrate the end of school. But for eleven different people the motives are bit more complicated - to be noticed, to hook up, to make friends, to numb the pain, to get over an ex, to say goodbye. As each character takes a turn and tells his/her story, the eleven individuals intersect, reconnect, and combine in ways that none of them ever saw coming.

Carter Montgomery broke the family mold when he went to culinary school. Now a successful restauranteur, he's at a crossroads: Should he continue on his successful path or look for a new challenge? What he needs is time alone to think things through. But his matchmaking family has other ideas.

Donovan was shot by a cop. Four of the nine shots were lethal or would have been, if their target had been anybody else. The Foundation picked him up, brought him back, and trained him further. “Lethal” turns out to be a relative term when magic is involved. When Marci was 15, she levitated a paperweight and threw it at a guy she didn't like. The Foundation scooped her up for training too. “Hippie chick” Susan got well into her Foundation training before they told her about the magic, but she's as powerful as Donovan and Marci now.

A Missing Ferryman. An Undead Dilemma. An Immortal Detective. An emissary from the Dark Council has just materialized in the office of the Montague & Strong Detective Agency, and makes Simon Strong an offer he can’t refuse. Charon is missing. The legendary ferryman responsible for transporting sorcerer souls across the river Styx hasn’t been seen in days. And with each passing hour, those unable to cross the river are left to walk among the living, tilting the world further out of balance. Meet Simon Strong, an immortal, who is also the best private detective in New York City.

Broken bodies and bloody messages are appearing in the darkest corners of New York City. Infected werewolves are roaming the streets attacking innocents. The Dark Council demands answers. They summon Simon and Tristan to investigate. The evidence points to the work of a powerful mage, unfortunately, there is only one mage in the city powerful enough to cause this kind of infection-Tristan Montague.

Hunter continues his journey through his icy alien world. Having adapted to the merciless conditions beyond the Bunker, he has begun to expand his "territory" and explore new points on the map around the enormous Pillar.

The offworlders are defeated. The Lithoids have been destroyed. It seems like a long-awaited peace is about to befall Hearth, but the servants of Chaos have their own designs. They're eager to destroy the trouble-maker and control him like some kind of puppet. Once a doomed soldier, always a doomed soldier.

All or nothing. Life or death. There is no third option. Neither the ancients, nor outside forces, nor Chaos itself can find any other way to preserve the integrity of the world other than to destroy Archduke Maximilian Valevsky. They send him on a mission that can only be completed under one condition—Maximilian must die. And if he doesn't fulfill this mission, everyone he holds dear will perish in his stead.

Sam Capra and his thirteen-year-old son, Daniel, are living a quiet life in Austin, Texas, from where Sam runs a collection of bars and nightclubs around the world for America's most secret espionage agency, known as Section K. But a shocking revelation will uproot everything that Sam has been trying to build: Markus Bolt is missing. Having turned over allied agent names and military secrets to the Russians, Bolt fled to Moscow when he was discovered. But now a trusted source inside the Kremlin tells Section K that he has vanished, without a trace.

"Something Passed By", a story by Robert McCammon, was originally published in his short fiction collection Blue World and was selected for inclusion in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection.

Executive assistant Emma Taylor is desperate for a little time away - away from her job, from her life, and from thoughts of her boss' son, who doesn't seem to know she even exists. Tired of waiting for the time to be right, she takes advantage of her boss' generous offer for a little weekend getaway to thank her for helping out with a difficult business deal.

The Appalachians are an ancient and mysterious mountain range, whose peaks at one time rivaled the Himalayans. The mysteries of these mountains have been cataloged by Native American tribes and settlers alike. One of these mysteries is that Bigfoot inhabits these parts. Building off his book, Tracking the Stone Man: West Virginia's Bigfoot, Dr. Russell Jones, a certified master naturalist, lifelong outdoorsman, and longtime Bigfoot researcher, has put together one of the most complete examinations of these creatures in Appalachia with The Appalachian Bigfoot.

Sergey has defeated an incredibly dangerous enemy and earned so many rewards, if he was a hamster, his cheeks would explode. On top of that, he's finally reached Berlin. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a dud, so now he's heading back to Mother Russia.