Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

Private investigator Thomas Austin is enjoying a relaxing holiday vacation in picturesque Port Townsend, Washington, accompanied by an intriguing new friend. But his tranquility is shattered when the nearby community of Mystery Bay is rocked by the death of a revered musician at an infamous counterculture festival: The Rabbit Hole.

In today's world, men are more involved in their wives' pregnancies than ever before. This 2nd Edition of Dad's Guide to Pregnancy for Dummies gives new fathers a hands-on guide that covers all of the logistical, physical, and emotional aspects of pregnancy. It is a wealth of information on topics, such as setting up the nursery, childbirth 101, and how to take care of your newborn. The book includes ideas for knowing the right time to break the news and the pregnancy timeline.

Four brand-new horror novellas all about books, stories, manuscripts—the written word has never had sharper teeth. In The Skin of Her Teeth, a cursed novel drives people to their deaths. A delivery job turns deadly in The Dark Brothers' Last Ride. In This Book Belongs to Olo, a lonely child has dangerous control over an usual pop-up book. A choose-your-own adventure game spirals into an uncanny reality in The Story. Full of creepy suspense, these collected novellas are perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Stephen King, and Joe Hill.

College professor Stephen Barlow needs cash. Badly. He puts his skepticism aside and signs on to a paranormal research organization in the hopes of scoring a fat bonus. Enter Chaythe Asylum: a long-shuttered and controversial institution where patients were allegedly subjected to unethical experiments. Stephen deems the old building, closed in 1989 after a series of grisly murders, as good a place as any to explore the possibility of the supernatural, and arranges to take a tour with his students. But it turns out that the asylum is not as abandoned as it seems. There is something sinister in the building.

Does your mind blank in conversation and create awkward silence? Do you run out of things to say and struggle to keep dialogue flowing? (A) Conversation isn't scripted, (B) it's 100% unpredictable, and (C) it can be terrifying at times. How do you prepare for such a thing? By learning how to apply improv comedy techniques to roll with any punch and improve your conversations and social interactions.

Fergus Ferguson, repo-man, has one job: find the spacecraft Venetia's Sword and steal it back from Arum Gilger, ex-nobleman turned power-hungry trade boss. Finding Gilger in the farthest corner of human-inhabited space, a gas-giant harvesting colony called Cernee, was easy. The hard part will be getting past a field of space mines, hacking into the Sword's compromised AI, and fighting a crew of hostile enemies to take control of the ship. But when a cable car explosion launches Cernee into a civil war, Fergus finds himself caught in the crosshairs.

In 1979, a florist's lifeless body surfaced in the serene waters of Dyes Inlet, an enchanting estuary connected to the vast Puget Sound. Although the murder was never solved, a sinister heart carved into the victim's back made the case unforgettable. Forty-four years later, history repeats itself as not one, but two more victims are discovered within 48 hours, each bearing the exact same chilling carving in their flesh. The county's darkest mystery is about to be ripped wide open.

Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home.

After a six-year absence, Addison Potts is back in Charleston to stir things up. And what better place to make her villainous return than her estranged cousin’s wedding? Only, the nuptials hit a snag when the bride doesn’t show, leaving Addison to play getaway driver for the jilted groom. Elijah Montgomery Du Pont is the future mayor of Charleston. From his military career to city hall, every detail of his life has been meticulously planned. Until now. His only respite from life’s sudden upheaval is Addison, his new, improbable best friend. She makes him happy. Grounds him.

The woods and forests can be a true dichotomy of experiences. For many they offer a peaceful connection to nature, but for some they have been a source of terror. In the shadows of towering trees and hidden in the brush, these unlucky few have encountered creatures or monsters that most think only inhabit our nightmares. Steve Stockton, a veteran outdoorsman and paranormal researcher, has put together a vast collection of over eighty terrifying, odd and strange encounters. These chilling tales may leave you questioning whether you ever want to journey into the woods again.

Do you want to resolve conflict peacefully without creating awkward tension? To stand up for yourself, set boundaries, and never feel disrespected? What if you could have those tough personal and professional conversations with less stress...and more success? Prevent avoidance and fear from dictating your decisions.

Otto Shenk is the youngest son of a minor baron. He's also a wizard. Abused by his family and considered less than human by his kingdom, Otto does his best to survive. But everything changes when Otto stumbles across a tower hidden deep in a dark part of the forest near his home. A tower that was once the home of an Arcane Lord, the immortal wizards that long ago ruled the world. Otto’s life will be changed forever. And so will the world.

Celebrating the persistence of Turtle Power Raise Some Shell critically and cleverly examines the origins, evolution, and impact of the Ninja Turtles phenomenon―from its beginning as a self-published black-and-white comic book in 1984, through its transformation into a worldwide transmedia phenomenon by the middle of the 1990s, and up to the sale of the property to Nickelodeon in 2009 and relaunch of the Turtles with new comics, cartoons, and a big-budget Hollywood film.

Video game sales as a whole have continued to grow, now raking in twice as much money per year as the entire film industry, and countless psychologists have turned their attention to the effects gaming has on us: our confidence, our identity, and our personal growth. The Psychology of Zelda applies the latest psychological findings, plus insights from classic psychology theory, to Link, Zelda, Hyrule, and the players who choose to wield the Master Sword.

Since the late 1980's, The Square had been one of the most important clubs in New York for the alt-comedy scene. But before that it was something much darker and is now a place where evil lingers, waiting for a chance to spill blood. After a night of killing on stage, four comics find themselves in a desperate situation as the spirits of the past come out to play, and a fight for laughs becomes a fight for survival in the most unlikely of places.

In the city where he lost everything, he'll stop at nothing to learn the truth. Former NYPD detective Thomas Austin has spent three long years haunted by his wife Fiona's unsolved murder. Three years searching for answers. Three years finding little. Until one lead changes everything.

In a post-nuclear Eastern Europe, Hammel E Varka departs for a remote island to join a survey team cataloguing the abandoned Gollitok prison in the hopes that he will redeem his family's tarnished reputation. After the passage across the strait leaves a team member injured, Varka quickly realizes that this survey is far from routine and that what he thought he knew about the island was a cover for more horrifying truths. As his team presses deeper into the decaying facility, hidden agendas splinter the team, and they find themselves beset with dangers beyond their worst nightmares.

After a long and brutal conflict, the war is over. Otto controls all the portals on the continent, and Garenland has made vassals of the other kingdoms. But some people can’t accept defeat. While Otto hunts King Villares in Rolan, Axel chases Prince Uther across Straken. With Markane scheming to help their enemies, the future of the New Garen Empire is far from certain. Even worse, the Wizards Guild is challenging Otto for leadership of the empire’s wizards, and they’ll use any means necessary to win. The war may be over, but the battles are far from won.

Thaless is still reeling from the actions of the assassin known as the Emperor's Mask, and in the aftermath, believers in magical superiority have been greatly emboldened. When a goblin girl named Tinga Vreeg goes missing, it seems like a tragic consequence of the atmosphere of hostility and anger toward the non-magical. But when Tane and Kadka investigate, they find a much deeper mystery. Tinga isn't the only one missing—and she might have been on the trail of something important herself.

Bart is 30. He is bald. He is overweight. He wears glasses. He is a fry cook. He hates cats. And kids. Bart occasionally does very bad things. He is looking for his perfect match. He has done his research.