Showing results by narrator "Michael Norman Johnson" in All Categories

I've come to wreak vengeance on the man who killed my parents. My own little brother—an abomination, a snake in the nest. I'm Hazel Fury—a phoenix, a killer—and I'm not leaving this insane asylum until Baz is in a body bag. Someone has to do it and that someone will be me. Bring on your friends, little brother. Bring on death and mayhem—there's no stopping a phoenix. Nothing but you. I'll do whatever it takes. Even if that means using a trickster you can't outmaneuver and the big man himself—Dr. Stein. And don't worry about being lonely in Hell... I'll send your friends there with you.

Fool's Play is the first book in a new series in the System Apocalypse universe. Written by David R. Packer in Tao Wong's bestselling post-apocalyptic LitRPG universe, System Apocalypse: Kismet follows a different path through a post-apocalyptic world, one of hope, redemption, and second chances.

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.

Garath was a gamer that spent his time adventuring in magical worlds behind a keyboard. He was exploring one of those very worlds when the planet that he actually inhabited became suddenly and drastically more interesting.

Arianne Capizola is her father’s daughter. Humble. Hardworking. Honest. She’d rather spend her days helping at the local shelter than brushing shoulders with her vain and entitled classmates. Niccolò Marchetti is his father’s son. Dark. Dangerous. Deceitful. He’d rather spend his days getting bloody in the ring than attending class and keeping up pretenses.

I've been called many things, most of which are true. But when you're an outlaw, you wear those words like badges of honor on your cut. I grew up in the Devil's Skull MC. It's all I know. It's all I've ever wanted to be.

Fool and Jackal returned, triumphant from their latest mission. As a reward, they get to babysit a spoiled rich kid as he levels up and maybe becomes a valuable asset. An easy job, until the Armageddon cultists showed up.

Greed. Power. Sin. It all comes with the gavel. Blurs the lines between church and state. But the Knightdale Charter of the Satan's Knights MC is my life. And I'd do anything for this club. Like letting the best woman I ever had slip through my fingertips. A sinfully beautiful spitfire, she's my better half in every way. My twin flame. My everything. My biggest regret. But there's no making things right between us.

When the end comes for Fool and Jackal, they’re going out with style. Past plans set in motion ago are coming to a head faster than expected. The Foundation has sent Fool and Jackal to Vancouver on another easy, simple mission. It's anything but. A mystery. A new enemy, stronger than both of them combined. Little grey aliens. Secrets revealed. And at the center of it all?

All Ambrose Drake wants is a quiet life. Too bad he’s the most notorious sorcerer in the Hallowed World—with a demon queen from the Seventh Hunger stuck in his head. Once a top operative for the Crown, the secret society policing magic and the horrors beneath our world, Ambrose took a wrong turn into the underworld and picked up an unwelcome hitchhiker. Now, the demon queen wants out, the Crown wants him leashed, and supernatural nightmares keep landing at his doorstep.

Darkness always works overtime. It thrives in the depravity of grown men. Hardening hearts and leaving them empty. It destroys everything and everyone it touches. Now it's coming for our innocent beacon of light. Stronger than she knows, but still so fragile. In the fight of her life, all I can do is watch. There's no outlaw justice for what she's facing. No protection from the cold realities of life and death. But there's also no limit to what I would do for her.

These stories and more are featured in the third short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, continuing the saga of survival in a world transformed by the arrival of the System. Humanity has adapted to a new reality filled with Classes, magic and monsters, but the struggle for life, love and purpose never ends. This anthology brings together gripping tales from returning authors and two new short stories by Tao Wong.

I was protected by the monsters under my bed when I was a kid in the foster system. I have a feeling I could use them again. My time in the foster system wasn’t great. Maybe they were imaginary, but when things got bad, the boogeyman and an imp always came to my aid. If I needed to run, a beautiful white stag would appear at my window to let me know to get out of there. I’ve touched the stag. I know he’s real.

Adrik Volkov worked hard to wipe the slate clean of his criminal past for his sake and his brother’s. Bringing Volkov Industries into the 21st century has taken everything he’s got. But it’s been worth it. His company’s patented mining techniques for harvesting rare earth metals used in electronics and smart tech have made him a billionaire. Sofia DiFalco was more than just a damsel in distress. The curvy stranger made his body buzz with desire and his hard heart beat a little faster.

Arianne Capizola is living a lie. Angry. Abandoned. Afraid. She'd rather spend her days locked away on her father's estate than with the guy who stole her innocence: her fiancé. Niccolò Marchetti is living a nightmare. Broken. Banished. Betrayed. He'd do anything to save the girl he loves, even if it means paying the ultimate price.

Dorian Gray’s painting was never in the vault of the library. We currently have no idea where it is and the only person who can track it is probably being held hostage in a storage yard with all kinds of cursed objects. Balthazar’s dick is still cursed and there’s no easy way to remove it. I already made it worse once. I hope it doesn’t fall off this time. I was totally against marrying Reyson when he woke up and announced I would be his new wife, but my resolve on that is starting to weaken. I’m starting to care for the damned god.

Strong. Fierce. Unshakeable. Three things I've always strived to be. But life is unexpected. It's confusing. It's cruel. All it takes is one blink, one blip in time, and your life is changed irrevocably. I knew he would come for me. What I didn't anticipate was how much I would need him. He locked me up and told me I was his forever.

He's a blood stained monster, but one look at her and he knows she will be his. Gaven Belmonte is a cold-hearted killer. A hitman. Now, he's my jailer. Even though he's twice my age, I'm being forced into an arranged marriage to secure Gaven's position as the next head of the Price Family Syndicate.

Danny tried the relationship thing, and it ended violently. He has no desire to let another alpha close enough to hurt him…especially not an intimidating stranger like Knox. Knox has never been called patient. He's grumpy and stubborn, and he's afraid he'll inadvertently push Danny further away. But when a rogue wolf pack threatens the omegas of Grizzly Ridge, Danny must trust Knox if he wants to escape with his life—and heart—intact.

They've made it through the Iron Dungeon but not without a heavy cost, mentally and spiritually, for Jeb. His madness once again flared up, instigated by the revelation some of his soldiers have been pulled into the Crucible of War, and yet, they still have no clue where humanity will land, in which deranged City they will be shoved into, and if it is not Blood City, how they will get to them?