Showing results by narrator "Laurie Winkel" in All Categories

Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death. A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s - a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

Before being conscripted to fight in the Total War, Private Hector Park had a shattered family, a collection of old video games, and a promising career as a motorcycle stuntman. Now, he is dying from a virus threatening humankind with extinction. He has three days to live. When Hector’s brother contacts him after years of hostile silence, Hector goes to try and make peace. But his brother offers him something even better: the chance to cheat death by joining him in Archemi, a full-immersion fantasy VR-RPG video game.

Having survived the first wave of invading players, Oren now seeks to strengthen his clan. With the Breeder's Den destroyed and most of Goblin's Gorge's resources devoted to rebuilding, his best hope lies in creating an army of golems. But for that, he needs Viridium, a rare metal that can only be obtained from hobgoblin towns, where Oren and his clan of goblins are viewed as nothing more than potential slaves.

In the latter half of the 21st century, Alexander and his guild mates play Io Online for fun and to earn a living. Given the chance to test a new experimental immersion system, the veteran players must give up their high-level characters and begin again at level one. As they work through the noob zone quests, they discover that the new immersion system allows them to play in ways that hadn't been possible before. They quickly run afoul of a party of player killers and become the targets of an entire PK guild bent on spawn-camping them until they leave the game. War has been declared.

With one major enemy town behind them, the GreenPiece clan marches onward to new conquests. Facing Oren and his monster army are the combined forces of the so-called "civilized races", intent on halting his invasion of their territory. Reality blurs as Oren fights harder than ever to save the trapped players, his clan, and his family.

In this powerful true crime memoir, an award-winning identity theft expert tells the shocking story of the duplicity and betrayal that inspired her career and nearly destroyed her family. Axton Betz-Hamilton grew up in small-town Indiana in the early '90s. When she was 11 years old, her parents both had their identities stolen. Their credit ratings were ruined, and they were constantly fighting over money. This was before the age of the Internet, when identity theft became more commonplace, so authorities and banks were clueless and reluctant to help Axton's parents.

Mace and Shari continue their search for survivors among the undead even as they struggle to stay alive themselves. While working to raise their sync levels with the game, the new couple pursue the quests they’ve picked up, explore a dungeon or two, and work to stabilize the game world they hope to live in. With the undead world above closing in, will they have the time to figure out how to save themselves and other survivors?

Jynn Devhro was the world's lowest-ranked Hunter. But since getting her System, she's been secretly leveling up. Now, with her razor-sharp kindjal at her side, she's ready to defend humanity from its enemies. And none too soon . . . because an interdimensional parasitic planet hangs above the Earth, releasing poison into the atmosphere and creating new monsters with its trailing toxins.

Paris, 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

Jynn Devhro used to be Earth's lowest-ranked Hunter, one of a breed of enhanced humans trained to fight the monsters terrorizing what's left of mankind. Through rigorous training and death-defying encounters with monsters—along with the help of the vengeance-seeking System grafted onto her soul—she has secretly leveled up, leaving her public ranking untouched. Now, her razor-sharp kindjal at her side, Jynn's ready for battle. But just when things seem to be looking up, it all comes crashing down.

It’s been years since anyone has seen Noble Vincent, the player that brought down World-Tree Online’s tyrannical moderator. Even with a lifetime of perceived experiences in the game, he still has centuries to go before the update finally ends and the people trapped in the game are freed. After taking a long vacation and traveling to many worlds, he realizes its time to get his team back together so they can try to reach the top of the World-Tree.

She's gotten food and shelter for her family. Her oldest is turning into a wizard, her middle boy is some kind of self-healing monkey, and her youngest is accumulating a small army of pets. That's a bit much to roll with, but when monsters are appearing on the lawn, it's probably for the best. What worries her is the mysterious—and dangerous—"challenge" she knows is fast approaching, and she's got to get her kids and community ready to face it. Some neighbors are ready and willing to pitch in, but others? They might end up being a bigger problem than the alien monsters.

As reward for stopping a serial killer and restoring the Kingdom of Vlachia to its rightful ruler, Dragozin Hector and his queen dragon, Karalti, have earned a noble title, a castle, and land of their own. There’s only one problem – it’s occupied. By a freaking elder vampire. Not only has the vampire unleashed the blight of undeath across the land, but Hector's nemesis is on the warpath. His mission? To steal Karalti, kill a god, and use their combined power to become the Insane God-Emperor of Archemi.

Events have shown Meghan that protecting her kids also means making sure they're ready to stand on their own when needed. Meghan needs to figure out a way, however, and the aliens won't let her sit down and figure it out. While wrestling these personal dilemmas, she also needs to keep stabilizing her area, find a way to deal with these mysterious new Titans, and deal with some other nasty twists humanity's alien tormentors have in store.

After experimenting with an exploit, Vincent begins to develop new spells that will take him higher in the game than he ever thought possible. Unfortunately, he crosses paths with the last moderator, a young man named Lucas that uses his mod abilities to torture and subjugate other players. Lucas is willing to abuse his power to conquer the World-Tree, but Vincent’s exploit might just be the key to stopping him.

I never believed in superheroes. I certainly didn't believe I'd become one, or that strategically forming a harem of hot chicas and getting down with them to unlock my superpowers would be the key to my survival. Did I say my survival? I meant the universe's. No, really.... That's exactly what happened when I was taken to a galaxy of supers, thrown into a prison ship full of villains, and told it was up to me to stop them all.

The dungeon cores are dying. In the wake of the demon invasion, dungeons are being exterminated to protect the land. The Cult of Chaos may have been defeated, but the Exalted One remains in the shadows, pulling the strings. Now, his time has come. Ryan, struggling with memories of his life as a human, finds himself once again under threat from the Church.

Since leaving the orphanage, Esil has spent the past year toiling in the data mines of Pangea while watching the wealthy elite traverse its myriad of game worlds. His luck changes forever when he discovers a legendary Developer's Chest. The Premium Worldpass inside grants him unlimited access to all of Pangea. With his newfound fortune, he enters a tournament to compete against some of the most skilled adventurers Pangea has to offer. He’s a long shot to win, but for the first time in his life, being a kid from the slums has its advantages.

Shari is a med student, months away from being a doctor. Mace is a coder on his first day of an exciting new job. When the world comes to a sudden and horrifying end, none would have expected them to be among the few survivors. Hyper-aggressive undead zombie creatures hunt anything living on the surface, where even the grass and trees can kill you. Hiding underground is safe, but not much of a life. Their only escape is a virtual world of magic and monsters where Shari can use her healing skills, and Mace can focus on something other than his fears.

King Alexander and his guildmates have expanded Elysia into a formidable kingdom. Their ongoing battle against the Dark One and the drow wizards is escalating. Alexander works to bring together the Elves, Dwarves, and Human Kingdoms to establish the alliance proposed by the Dragon King. But the dark magic of the drow has infiltrated even the highest offices, blocking his efforts. War comes once again to the gates of the keep, and Alexander must find a way to defend his citizens before he can go on the offensive and take the fight to the stronghold of his enemies.