Showing results by narrator "Paul Woodson" in All Categories

What if mankind's "missing link", the apelike Homo erectus, had survived to dominate a North American continent where woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers still prowled while the more advanced Homo sapiens built their civilizations elsewhere? Now imagine that the Europeans arriving in the New World had chanced on these primitive creatures and seized the opportunity to establish a hierarchy in which the sapiens were masters and the "sims" were their slaves.

When Brighde Kerr collapses in his arms at Castle Dunbeath in the middle of the night during a Highland thunderstorm, Alexander Sinclair does not hesitate to bring her inside to receive medical care and shelter. Hiding secrets that she is sure will only bring danger to the Sinclairs if revealed, Brighde struggles against her growing attraction and affection for Alex. She attempts to keep her identity a secret, but it does not take long before Brighde realizes that Alex could be the one person to save her.

The rise and fall of the Roman Republic occupies a special place in the history of Western civilization. From humble beginnings on the seven hills beside the Tiber, the city of Rome grew to dominate the ancient Mediterranean. Led by her senatorial aristocracy, Republican armies defeated Carthage and the successor kingdoms of Alexander the Great, and brought the surrounding peoples to east and west into the Roman sphere. Yet the triumph of the Republic was also its tragedy.

The transcontinental railroads of the late 19th century were the first corporate behemoths. Their attempts to generate profits from proliferating debt sparked devastating panics in the US economy. Their dependence on public largess drew them into the corridors of power, initiating new forms of corruption. Their operations rearranged space and time, and remade the landscape of the West. As wheel and rail, car and coal, they opened new worlds of work and ways of life.

After months at sea, Leif Ivarrson wants nothing more than to revel in the comforts of home. Yet when word arrives that a new threat has invaded their land, Leif is forced to take up his sword once more. Tasked with rescuing a jarl's niece, Sigrid, from this malicious enemy, Leif departs on a journey that will alter the course of his fate.

The handpicked stories in this collection introduce us to the most determined of gumshoe gals, from debutant detectives like Anna Katharine Green's Violet Strange to spinster sleuths like Mary Roberts Rinehart's Hilda Adams, from groundbreaking female cops like Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly to contemporary crime-fighting PIs like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, and include indelible tales from Agatha Christie, Carolyn Wells, Edgar Wallace, L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace, Sara Paretsky, Nevada Barr, Laura Lippman, and many more.

In April 1938, a man calling himself Josef Hofmann arrives at a boarding house in Hamm, Germany, and lets a room from the widow who owns it. Fifty years later, Walter Gersdorff, the widow's son, who was 11 years old in the spring of 1938, discovers the carefully hidden diary the boarder had kept during his stay, even though he should never have written any of its contents down. What Walter finds is a scathing chronicle of one the most tumultuous years in German history, narrated by a secret agent on a deadly mission.

Lord Henry Radcliffe, the scarred but sinfully sexy Earl of Langlevit, is a beast. The only way Henry can exorcise the demons of his war-ravaged past is through intense physicality. In and out of bed. An endeavor that has no shortage of willing participants. Intent on scandalizing London, Princess Irina Volkonsky is a hellion and every gentleman's deepest desire....except for one. Irina knows better than to provoke the wickedly forbidding earl, but she will stop at nothing short of ruination to win the heart of the only man she's ever loved.

Though Aedan Cameron would sooner spend his life as a scholar, reading, and watching the stars than assume a leadership role in his clan, his father's untimely death forces his hand. To make matters worse, he's immediately called upon to ride into battle to protect his land and his people. But everything changes for Aedan when a beautiful girl with a mind as curious as his own heals him. Suddenly, he realizes he's capable of becoming the leader his father wanted him to be while still pursuing the stars.

Catlin MacRob is used to being called headstrong. So when news arrives that she will be forced to wed Laird Broden Shaw in one month’s time if their clans’ feud is not laid to rest, she knows what she must do: single-handedly solve the mystery of her missing clanswoman, which has pushed both clans to the verge of war. Easy enough. But when Broden comes upon her snooping on his lands, his steely blue stare sends her wits scattering, and his nearness throws her best-laid plans into disarray. Can she uncover the truth before she loses her heart to the enemy?

The Novices of Lerna introduces the enigmatic fictions of Ángel Bonomini to English listeners for the first time. Shot through with wry humor and tender absurdity, these meditations on identity, surveillance, and isolation remain eerily prescient. The collection's central novella follows Ramon Beltra, an unambitious scholar who receives a mysterious invitation to a lucrative six-month fellowship at the University of Lerna in Switzerland.

When NYPD Detective John Frankel's ex-wife is discovered murdered on the floor of his Manhattan studio apartment, he instantly becomes the prime suspect. Frankel's gun is linked to the fatal bullet, he had a motive, and he flees the city, all of which convinces his colleagues of his guilt. In spite of the mounting evidence, Frankel's bride-to-be, Rachel Grant, and her father, Austin Grant, formerly a detective at Scotland Yard in London, are certain of Frankel's innocence. But with the police under orders to use whatever force necessary to stop him, the duo will have to act fast to save him.

Special Forces veteran and Dark Knights Motorcycle Club member Bullet Whiskey lives to protect his family, their bar, and the residents of his small hometown. He's rough, unapologetic, and haunted by a secret, painful past. He's also a master at keeping people away, and when his sister hires gorgeous and sweet Finlay Wilson to help expand their biker bar, he knows just how to get rid of her.

Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan presents a stunning retrospective of the first 10 years of the author’s work. It is a compilation of more than 200,000 words of short fiction, including many of her most acclaimed stories as well as some of the author’s personal favorites; several previously uncollected, hard-to-find pieces; her sci-fi novella, The Dry Salvages; and a rare collaboration with Poppy Z. Brite.

Heroes are made, not born. From the moment he first sees Sela Seton, Connor Grant is drawn to the woman known as the Ice Queen. Although his cousins assume she’s as guilty as the men she serves, the unscrupulous smugglers of the Channel of Dubh, Connor is convinced she’s being coerced. His mother was abused and controlled, and he suspects the same is true of Sela. For five years, Sela has known only misery, with one exception: her sweet daughter, Claray.

In her second collection from Trepidatio Publishing, award-winning author Gemma Files takes her listeners on journeys out beyond safe borders—from the trackless depths of the sea, to the empty desert frontiers of the Weird West, even to the edges of cracks between worlds. Here, in these narrow spaces between the known and the unknown, behind the paper-thin curtains of reality, lurk monsters both human and ancient: selkies and avenging revenants, voodoo priestesses and pirate sorcerers, ghosts and vampires, and the most famous murderer of all time.

Bran Davidson's sister is going to be hanged unless he agrees to take Werrick Castle. Ever a pawn in a rich man's game, Bran has no choice but to force his way into Werrick on behalf of the Scottish Middle March Warden. He quickly discovers getting into the castle is the easy part. Dealing with its mistress, however, will take every ounce of cunning and determination he can muster, especially when she turns his blood to fire.

Enormous, with a Scots father and a Greek mother, Tay Munro is the stuff gods are made of. He is also the meanest, biggest, nastiest trainer of men at Blackchurch. Most importantly, he is a firm believer that women should not be warriors and he does his best to wash out the female he is assigned to train. Enter Athdara de Ghent. Beautiful and mysterious, Tay is attracted to her from the start but that does not stop his attempts to break her. When he realizes how strong she is, he becomes intrigued.

Twelve years ago, Rhona Shaw was forced to marry the devil Duncan MacAdder instead of Royce MacRob, and hatred erupted between the Shaw and MacRob clans. Now Rhona is free, and she knows only she and Royce can end the feud—by getting married. Their previous passion flares when they meet again, but old anger is hard to dispel. Royce has spent the last 12 years simultaneously trying to convince himself he hates Rhona for marrying another and refusing to consider any other woman as his wife. And her proposal sends him reeling.

Lily Ramsay is the sunshine at the center of the Ramsay clan. Even as a wee lassie, sick with a childhood illness, she had the power to spread smiles and laughter wherever she went. But when Lily's beloved brother marries and becomes laird of the clan, Lily feels lost. Her once steadfast companion has little time for her, and his new wife has assumed the duties she used to carry out for the clan. While she couldn't be happier for her loved ones, she longs for something more for herself.