Showing results by author "Drake" in All Categories

This two-story compiliation, read by Stefan Rudnicki, offers two stories from David Drake's popular Hammer's Slammers series. In At Any Price, Col. Alois Hammer's indomitable Slammers are called in to support human colonists against a native uprising in this novel-length adventure. But even though the natives' off-world weapons are no match for the Slammers, their ability to teleport gives them a frightening advantage! In Rolling Hot, the battle-crazed troop of recruits and vets, led by Captain Ranson, must cover 300 miles of hostile enemy territory.

Bullets fly during a dangerous mission, and Major Mark Lopez is critically injured. A Blackstone soldier, Mark is transferred to the North Dakota hospital, where he meets a pretty nurse, Mia. After Mark recovers from surgery, he is discharged from the hospital with orders to rest; not that he does. But when he returns to the hospital again and again with minor - and not-so-minor - injuries, Mia suspects he’s only coming to see her. When someone from Mark’s past comes to him for help, more blood is shed, and Mark must put his life on the line to keep Mia safe.

Daxas has reached rank eight. He has conquered and subsumed a second dungeon increasing his power and pulled one over the Divine Lords in the process. However, he is aware this will bring new difficulties to his door and the Divine Lords are unlikely to take their humiliation well.

Alison, Julie, Sarah, Heather. Four friends living the suburban ideal. Their jobs are steady, their kids are healthy. They're as beautiful as their houses. But each of them has a dirty little secret, and hidden behind the veneer of their perfect lives is a crime and a mystery that will consume them all.

Riots blaze in the streets of Cinnabar, threatening not only the Government but the Republic of Cinnabar Navy. The forces of the tyrannical Alliance are probing outnumbered Cinnabar garrisons among the distant stars, using guile and treachery as well as brute strength.

Nine months ago, Rowan Ward thought he had it all. Now, he's fighting to pull his shredded life together, buried in work and battling the kind of grief that destroys a man's soul. When fires spring up around Cincinnati threatening Rowe's friends and clients, he's thrilled to find his old Army buddy, Noah Keegan in town. They were a hell of a team when they served together, so in-sync, it was rumored they could read each other's minds. Noah thought devoting his life to the Army would be enough. Then he realized he had no family and only one friend he cared about.

Gangs ruled Cantilucca. Guns were the only law, and there was no lack of guns. It was hard to imagine matters getting worse. Until the survey team arrived.... Major Matthew Coke was not a squeamish man, but the state of affairs on Cantilucca turned his stomach. He was only human after all. Where some of the rest of his team were concerned, it was difficult to be sure: five professional mercenaries who'd learned the hard way that in the end they could defeat anything - except their own consciences.

Dave Smith is having a bad day, week, month, maybe even year. Freshly unemployed, facing eviction, and now he's been transported to a fantasy world. A wish come true for many a geek, if only he hadn't died less than a day after he arrived. Now trapped in this fantasy realms version of purgatory, he faces the prospect of trying to navigate a new existence as a dungeon. That wouldn't be so bad, except ending dungeons seems to be the path out for many of the other denizens of these Proving Grounds.

Keith left behind the feisty love of his life, Lexi Klein, 10 years ago when he chose to become a soldier and leave for Iraq, but after a tragedy struck Lexi’s family and Keith couldn’t come home, she felt abandoned. When Keith finally managed to make it back to Boston, Lexi had completely withdrawn from everyone, including him. She decides to end their relationship and move on. Keith returns to Boston years later for a wedding and finds out Lexi is dating the leader of the infamous Almas Perdidas Gang. Lexi is in over her head, and Keith will stop at nothing to keep her safe.

Ian Banner is loving his hectic life. He’s newly married, ready to start a family, and opening a new restaurant. All his dreams are coming true. The last thing he needs is a problem with his restaurant. But when one attack after another comes, he grows convinced he has another enemy. Ian tries to handle things by himself, but his friends are soon drawn in when the attacks become violent. That’s when Ian realizes the target isn’t Rialto. It’s him.

Susannah Fletcher has everything a young lady could desire: wealth, the attentions of well-to-do duke, and a reputation as spotless as an angel's petticoats. Yet, she would throw it all away for one opportunity to perform her music on stage—scandalous as that may be. Which is precisely when the rich and menacing "Wolf of Mayfair" makes her an offer she couldn't possibly refuse.

An ex-military man returns to his hometown and reunites with his first love in this suspenseful romance—but he's made some powerful enemies that are after them both . . . Love is the greatest risk of all. After multiple tours of duty, Brandon Forte returns to his hometown on a personal mission...

The tyrannical Alliance continues its war against the Republic of Cinnabar, and Daniel Leary, newly promoted to Commander, and his crew have a new mission: stop Dunbar's World from falling to an invasion by the planet Pellegrino. Nataniel Arruns, son of the dictator of Pellegrino, has landed with a large contingent, intending to set himself up as the ruling warlord, with the planet's population becoming serfs of the Pellegrinian overlords.

Torin has been victorious against his self-proclaimed arch-enemy Luca Gattosi. The Brotherhood of the Lion's Claw has fallen. All of their territory had been absorbed into the Shattered Storm's growing empire. This has not come without a cost. Torin is suffering from a prolonged debuff that endangers his life and he has put his trust in the young Jackson to act on his behalf and further the Shattered Storm's ends in Pandaemonium.

For her sixth birthday, Fiona Campbell’s mother, Claire, made her a peace-sign piñata filled with wishes for a better planet instead of candy. When she got her period, her mother held a womanhood ceremony at their café and invited the neighborhood. On her 16th birthday, they celebrated with a drum circle. Fiona grew up trying to keep the impulsive Claire in check and their struggling café afloat. She plans to move out, but first she must find a way to stop a big corporation from tearing down their business and destroying her mother’s livelihood.

Daxas has survived his first few weeks as a Dungeon. He has successfully discovered several exploits in the system and has been thriving. He is advancing to the second rank, fought off an invasion of orcs and goblins, and, most importantly, now has a lovely wood elf companion named Jessamyn. However, success brings new challenges and new, more powerful challengers. It's time for the Wolf King to expand his dungeon, cut down any who dare oppose him, and add to his harem of mates. Meanwhile, the Divine Lords are plotting in the background, trying to engineer his downfall.

When Kevin Murdock, martial artist and outdoorsman extraordinaire, is revived from suspended animation aboard a transport pod, he and his nine fellow occupants have no idea what to expect. Murdock argues for caution after seeing something strange: animals also inhabit their new environment, all of them larger than their Earthly counterparts. Conflict soon erupts between Murdock and James Whittier - a politician with a lust for power and control.

A monolithic computer is using General Raj Whitehall to reunite the planet and start humanity back on the road to technological achievement, but armies of musket- and saber-wielding barbarians stand in the way.

Planted by interstellar probes on hundreds of human-occupied worlds, the downloaded personalities of Raj Whitehall and the ancient battle computer known as Center work together for planetary unity. Their goal is to prepare those worlds for membership in the Second Federation of Man. But on one planet they do the opposite: on Visager they work to prevent unity.

Chen traveled to the US with his clan, hoping to rescue his kidnapped brother from the fae. They just need a witch to find the exact location of where the door between the human world and the fae world will open—the one thing Moon can't do. Chen grabbed the wrong type of witch. That's not stopping Moon from clinging to Chen as he guides them through new territory, introducing them to the witches, shifters, and vampires who can help them. The longer Moon remains at Chen's side, the more he hopes the witch might consider staying with him always.