Showing results by narrator "Joel Leslie" in All Categories

Sam never liked his birthdays because not a single one of them was happy. When he turned one, he fell face-down into his birthday cake. When he turned five, he broke his left arm. When he turned seven, he broke his right arm and his left leg. When he turned 12, his house caught fire. Now Sam is about to turn 16 and he is dreading the day. The only birthday wish he has is for Jake who is the Mr. Popular of Arcadia High to even acknowledge his existence, or better yet give him a happy-birthday kiss.

Danny Neumann is a boring 16-year-old who's crushing on his best friend, Becky, and lamenting the defection of his good friend, Kevin, when a man in black arrives at his birthday party and tries to kill him. Fear never has a chance as suddenly bursts of pure energy erupt from Danny's hands and knock the man in black on his ass-ets! But more surprises are in store for Danny as he learns he's adopted, his real parents were the last demigods left, and he's the first offspring of two demigods.

Since graduating from Whisperwood School for Boys, William has found a sense of normalcy in his life with James. He has a steady (albeit secret) relationship, a home, and a job - even if it doesn't pay the greatest. Never mind that he lacks James' reckless bravery when it comes to dealing with spirits; he does his best, and it hasn't killed him thus far. When a new client calls on their expertise in solving a grisly multiple homicide, William resists. They're spirit hunters, not detectives. But the money is too much to pass up when they don't know when their next meal will be.

Listeners will discover lost and forgotten women who wrote horror every bit as effectively as their male contemporaries. They will learn about their lives and careers, the challenges they faced as women working in a male-dominated field, the way they overcame those challenges, and the way they approached the genre - which was often subtler, more psychological, and more disturbing.

With their band on the brink of stardom, Johnny Gehrings is cast out by his stepmother and half-brothers because he’s not pretty enough for social media. He takes some solace when Zimri Hayes quits the band too—beautiful Zimri, who is Johnny’s secret heart’s desire. A job at a grocery store and a part-time music gig at a drag club pay the bills, but Johnny is still emotionally adrift, a wanderer abandoned in the forest. And when Zimri is offered a chance to make it big, Johnny fears that a devious manager will eat Zimri alive.

A catastrophic fire drags gay speakeasy owner Dash Parker into the treacherous underworld of Little Italy — where people are seduced and imprisoned by their own vices. When his club’s doorman suffers a devastating loss, Dash must learn if the fire is connected to a sordid gambling den and the predatory family that runs it, or to a secret society that many hoped was long dead. Untangling a decade’s worth of lies between a terrified father, a wily widow, and an enigmatic spiritualist pushes him to the limit.

Will and Thomas, freshly christened agents in America's newly established Office of Strategic Services, are dropped into occupied France with one simple mission: help the resistance and sabotage enemy supply lines. But nothing in war is simple. The constant fear of discovery tests the limits of Will and Thomas's relationship. They're in love, but in war, is love enough? Then a member of their team overhears a Nazi officer and a scientist discussing an insidious new weapon that could tip the balance of the war, and everything changes.

Will Shaw and his friends are typical college students, enjoying dances and parties without much care for life beyond. When Thomas, a handsome Naval officer and newly arrived student, nearly stumbles into Will and his friends, Will's heart spins, though he doesn't understand why. Sparks of something new burst within, opening his eyes to possibilities he'd never dreamed. In the giddy fog of a forbidden courtship and the safety of the campus bubble, the world's troubles seem far away. Until they aren't. German tanks roll through Europe, while Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.

Discover the Dark Side of the Decade That Roared. What killed the infamous flapper Rosalie Frazier? And was gay speakeasy owner Dash Parker’s booze to blame? These are the burning questions in Dash’s mind as he is forced to team up with an unusual, unpredictable gangster and investigate the deadlier side of Prohibition. Sinister mob men with hidden motives. A pair of seedy Times Square roommates hoping for a financial windfall. A shattered family full of bitterness and spite. And at the center, a young woman who loved coded messages and uncovering secrets.