Showing results by author "k-d-" in All Categories

It’s Halloween in Black Rock Falls, and Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy, David Kane, are called to a small lodge on the outskirts of town. Jenna is devastated to find the lifeless body of Willow Smith, a military widow whose husband went missing in action and has been presumed dead for years. Her breath catches in her throat when she notices the heart-shaped purple medal on Willow’s pale chest. Was Willow clinging to it when she died, or was it placed there after she took her last breath?

Nathan's preparations will be tested, as this war will be won with ancient spells and forbidden magic, not sword and bow. He'll need to gather his battered allies and utilize every trick and spell he's learned to keep the war from spiraling out of control. Storm clouds loom in the east, however. Civil war brews in the joint republic of faeries and elves, and someone or something is fanning the flames. Nathan finds himself playing both general and peacemaker.

Surviving the first days of the apocalypse, William is a wreck and hiding in an attic. The daily acid storms, floating elementals, and bizarre mutated animals are the least of his problems. The reality-warping apocalypse has rules and a system much like those in video games. To survive, he must learn how the new uncooperative system works, choose a class without any real knowledge of what it does and create a place safe from the spawning horrors.

Six-year-old Jaxon Lathan disappeared while playing in a park. Ten years later, he’s found wandering a deserted highway. The boy’s family races to the hospital to see him, but they are shocked at the sight. The bubbly youngster has been replaced by a scarred and emaciated teen. As they begin to bridge the lost years and rebuild their bonds, they must wrestle with their own guilt and demons.

After killing one of the Elvraeth to save his friends, Rsiran finds a measure of peace, but fears that it will be short lived. When attacked using knives he forged, he is pulled into a struggle that he wants nothing to do with. Worse, friends have secrets they do not share, secrets that could place both he and Jessa in danger. Finding answers sends him Sliding throughout the city and beyond, testing his ability all while trying to understand the secret of the alloy that might be the key to their safety.

Finance isn't detective Nick Waite’s strong suit, but he’s learning fast as he investigates the cover-up of a murder inside Neo Babylon’s oldest bank. The winds of conspiracy whirl around him, and everyone from the police commissioner to gang lords warn him to step back. Taking the easy way out isn’t in his nature, however. He’s gotten where he is by being stubborn and a chance to knock a corrupt bank down a peg is too good to pass up. But all isn’t well with his partners, the police’s elite Archangels.

Demonic invasions ripple across the land, and Nathan questions if any moral line in the sand is worth the death of his loved ones. His years of preparation to save Doumahr may vanish overnight as he faces an onslaught intended to end everything. Where the goddess Omria failed time and time again over countless millennia to defeat her tormentors, Nathan must succeed. His second chance in life burns in front of his eyes. There won't be a third. Nathan will either defend his home, or he won't have one.

Trapped by Venass. Tormented by the Forgotten. And both desire the very ability that allowed his escape. Chased through the city by someone able to influence his Sliding, Rsiran and his friends prepare for the next attack, uncertain whether the Forgotten or Venass will move first. When Rsiran learns that his sister was abducted, he must decide whether to help a family that abandoned him. If he does not, Alyse might suffer a fate worse than any torment he has already endured.

Jason has returned to the normalcy of the mountain village, but nothing is as it had been. Now connected to the Ice Dragon and responsible for keeping his presence a secret, it won't be long before the Dragon Souls return. They know the Ice Dragon exists and will stop at nothing to control him. When the Ice Dragon makes a request of Jason to search for other dragons like him, how can he refuse? The search leads Jason away from home and into direct conflict with those searching for another dragon misfit.

Rsiran now understands that he can use not only the arcane power of lorcith, but also that of heartstone. This ability makes him powerful, perhaps too powerful for some. Others know of his ability and seek to use him. After Brusus is attacked, Rsiran makes a decision that requires an unlikely ally, and brings him to dangerous Thyr, where the Scholars of Venass offer their aid, but for a price. But the scholars want Rsiran for the same reason as the Forgotten.

I fired off a storm of raunchy text messages...to the wrong number. And he replied. Him: Show me a picture. Him: Tell me your name. Why does the lure of anonymity have me craving to indulge a stranger?

It is 1745, and the Jacobite rebellion is on the rise. Ewen Cameron, a principled young Scottish Highlander, is destined and honoured to serve Bonnie Prince Charlie, the young Pretender, and to help the 'rightful King' ascend to the British throne. Major Keith Windham is a career soldier with the English Army - seemingly the antithesis of Ewen. He is jaded, worldly and loyal to the Crown but, ultimately, an outsider.

The Inquisitors have been stopped, but the one who leads them remains at large. Tolan discovers a dangerous plot against the Academy - and all of Terndahl - the Inquisitors have planned for far longer than any have suspected. The power involved is unlike anything ever encountered by those within the Academy. Tolan isn’t sure he’s capable of understanding what has happened, but with his connection to the elementals, he might be the only one able. The key to what’s happening is tied to something in Tolan’s past.

When a car belonging to Black Rock Falls’ much-loved bartender Maisy Jones is found abandoned on an ice-covered road outside of town, Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy David Kane are called in. The exhaust has been tampered with, which can only mean one thing: someone wanted Maisy stranded on that isolated road….

Following a frantic emergency call in the middle of the night, Detective Jenna Alton arrives at a secluded family home to find the body of Lucas Robinson lying in a pool of his own blood in his bed. His wife Carol, shivering in shock, has just watched an intruder shoot her husband in cold blood. As Jenna investigates the murder, she soon discovers that Lucas was having an affair. And when his mistress is also found strangled to death in the center of the small town, Jenna is convinced that the murderer is living amongst them.

Trained to kill from a young age, Gavin Lorren finally escaped that life. No more killing innocents. No more working alone. The jobs are still dangerous, but at least he can choose. Now an old friend has invited him to the city of Yoran where the work is plentiful. The Roasted Dragon tavern is rough but cozy. The regulars are seedy but welcoming. The owner, Jessica, is fond of him. It's almost too good to be true.

Having stopped Lorren and saving the egg, Jason now faces his most dangerous threat as Lorach moves on Dragon Haven. With the city under attack from a strange new power, only with an understanding of the misfit dragons will Jason - and the dragons - finally be free. When even Dragon Haven seeks to use their power, Jason is forced to make a choice between the people who took him in and the dragons he pledged to protect.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a local playground in the center of Black Rock Falls, Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy, David Kane, rush to the scene. Jenna recoils with horror when she sees the body, dressed in a thin nightgown, her face covered by a terrifying Halloween mask. Jenna makes a connection with a cold case where the killer tortured young women for years and was never caught. Days later, Jenna’s fears are confirmed. A serial killer is back in town, and they’re picking off women one by one.

Zarinth is a dangerous city at the edge of the kingdom, illuminated by the constant fire of the nearby volcano Ishantil. For thief Ty, it’s more than a city filled with valuable ancient dragon relics. It’s the home he could never leave. When Ishantil threatens to erupt and put the city in chaos, Ty wants one last score before finally leaving it - and his past - behind. All while the notorious Dragon Thief chases the same prize. The Dragon Thief has a reputation for a reason, but Ty begins to think there’s more to the job than just the prize.

More than a decade ago, Gallup combed through its database of more than 1 million employee and manager interviews to identify the 12 elements most important for sustaining high performance. These were identified in the 1999 bestseller First, Break All the Rules. The Gallup study now includes 9 million employee and manager interviews spanning 114 countries and conducted in 41 languages.