Showing results by narrator "Stephen Bel Davies" in All Categories

The Cold War dominated international life from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But how did the conflict begin? Why did it move from its initial origins in Postwar Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? And why, after lasting so long, did the war end so suddenly and unexpectedly? Robert McMahon considers these questions and more, as well as looking at the legacy of the Cold War and its impact on international relations today.

Ancient evils lurk in the Western New York town of Oneka Falls, and they are hungry. Only three children have encountered them and lived. Psyches fractured, each child has survived as best they could - wrapped in fantasy, the comfort of amnesia, or the silence of isolation. When those evils intrude on their lives a second time, it sets a chain of events in action that can only end in destruction. But who will be destroyed, the children or the ancient evils that plague the town?

After 4,000 years of waiting, Prophecy has been fulfilled! The Dark Lord Tommus, heir to the Throne of Orcus, has relit Mount Doom in the Abyss! It is time for the Orcs to reclaim their rightful place in the multiverse! As the orcs rejoice and race to rebuild the connections between their worlds and the Abyss and the alvar gird for war, Tom discovers his new home comes with some unexpected guests - guests who may provide him with leverage in his conflict with the god Tiernon.

This volume contains ten stellar short stories by Clifford D. Simak. In "Grotto of the Dancing Deer," a man carrying an ancient secret finally speaks up, unable to bear any longer the loneliness he has experienced for millennia. In "Over the River," which Simak wrote in memory of his beloved grandmother Ellen, children from an embattled future are sent back for safekeeping to their ancestors in the peaceful past. And in "Day of Truce," the inhabitants of a suburban subdivision must barricade themselves against bands of roving attackers.

Boston real estate agent William Collins knows that his habits are slipping out of control. Due to obsessive-compulsive daily cleaning binges and a penchant for nightly online cruising for hookups, he finds his sales figures slipping despite a booming market. There’s also his ongoing struggle to collect the rent from his passive-aggressive tenant and his worries about his best friend, Edward, whom he’s certainly not in love with. Just as he decides to do something about his life, he meets Charlotte and Samuel, wealthy suburbanites looking for the perfect city apartment.

In the fourth installment of Germany’s popular Ghostsitter series, famous best-selling author Tiffany Shuster wants to promote her latest vampire romance novel, so she decides Tom’s Ghost Train is the best place for a photo shoot. But when she and Vlarad the vampire suddenly disappear, Tom and his team of monsters must investigate and rescue them. All leads seem to point toward rival carnival attraction Zoracz's House of Mirrors. Will Tom and his friends find Vlarad and Tiffany before they are accused of kidnapping?

"Readers of Brooklyn Noir will recall that its contents were labeled by neighborhood - Bay Ridge, Canarsie, Greenpoint, etc. We have chosen the same principle here, and the book's contents do a good job of covering the island, from C.J. Sullivan's Inwood and Charles Ardai's Upper East Side, to Justin Scott's Chelsea and Carol Lea Benjamin's Greenwich Village."

Determined to live a dark life in the company of the assassin who freed her from bondage, Sarai sets out on her own to settle a score with an evil sadist. Unskilled and untrained in the art of killing, the events that unfold leave her hanging precariously on the edge of death when nothing goes as planned. Sarai's reckless choices send her on a path she knows she can never turn back from and so she presents Victor with an ultimatum: Help her become more like him and give her a fighting chance, or she'll do it alone no matter the consequences.

Beginning with the unforgettable title story—a wry and chilling horror tale about cloning and alien invasion that inspired the classic teleplay "The Duplicate Man" from the television series The Outer Limits—Simak propels the listener on a breathtaking journey across the galaxies and into the future. He then enthralls us with the strange chronicle of twin siblings, one tied to the Earth, the other drawn to the stars; imaginings of a volatile reunion of two former enemies who must join forces on Jupiter's moon or face extinction; and the story of a house in the middle of nowhere.

He was a champion of sword magic sworn to track the hounds of hoolies. Yet before Tiger waited perils far deadlier than any hounds - the Dragon's Lair. A magical novel of sword and spell from the author of Sword-Dancer and Sword-Singer.

Accused of murdering a man the Southern tribes believe to be their messiah, but who is actually the slayer of Del's family, Tiger and Del flee across the deadly Punja desert, hunted by religious zealots and sword-dancer assassins. But evading death by assassins' blades is only one of the challenges they face. For Tiger's sword, Samiel, has been possessed by the spirit of the deadly sorcerer, Chosa Dei—a wizard out of legend with the power to unmake the entire world, a master of evil who seeks to mold Tiger into his ultimate weapon of destruction.

Sword-Singer once again unites Del and Tiger - she among the greatest of Northern sword masters, he a Southern warrior of legendary skills - on a new and perilous journey into the North, to the Place of Swords, where Del must submit to trial-by-combat for the slaying of her sword-master.

While on duty, Trig had received an Automated AEthereal Message from the OCSS Bone Wracker: a Call-To-Arms, an extremely rare type of message that was only issued when a ship encountered a situation that was beyond the capabilities of a single OCSS. Of course, the truly exciting news was that his superior, Thargus, was temporarily incapacitated, making Trig the acting First Shaman, giving him a front row seat to the investigation as part of the First Away Team. It appeared that, at long last, his on-duty life would get exciting enough to distract him from his off-duty life.

In this engaging audio edition, find out why Wilderness Essays is the top-selling book by John Muir. Wilderness Essays is an essential collection of the finest essays ever written by the “Father of the National Parks.” An ardent outdoorsman, a gifted writer, a dedicated preservationist, and a spiritual beacon, John Muir conveys here the boundless love and wonder of the natural world that drove his critically important work.

Victor Faust's new Order is growing. Business is good, as there is no rest for the wicked in an underground world of hardcore criminals and contract killing. Relationships among the operatives have changed little over the past year - but things are about to change now, and all six high-ranking members of the new Order will be blindsided by an unlikely enemy. Loved ones whose only ties to Victor's organization are their relationships with its members are abducted.

Few leaders will admit it, but again and again the growth of their organizations outruns their skills. If you're one of those leaders, you know the result: as the job grows bigger than you are, you get disoriented by a world of unfamiliar challenges. You then hit a wall of ineffectiveness, a stall point. Why won't doubling down on the managerial and technical building blocks that have worked before help you out of a stall? Because you invariably neglect the new political, personal, strategic, and interpersonal skills needed to manage yourself and others.

Swordfighters Tiger and Del return in this all-new swashbuckling adventure-filled with all the dramatic action, danger, magic, and the crackling repartee and verbal fireworks that characterize the national bestselling Sword series.

In the title story, a man's newfound ability to walk in the past allows him to dwell among dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers . . . and something even more timeless. In "Construction Shack," the first manned expedition to Pluto reveals that no matter how advanced aliens may be, even they don't always get everything right. And in "Univac 2200," the thin line between humans creating technology and humans becoming technology is about to be crossed-and there may be no going back.

The promise of artificial intelligence is automated decision-making at scale, but that means AI also automates risk at scale. In Ethical Machines, Reid Blackman gives you all you need to understand AI ethics as a risk management challenge. He'll help you build, procure, and deploy AI in a way that's not only ethical but also safe in terms of your organization's reputation, regulatory compliance, and legal standing—and do it at scale. And don't worry—the book's purpose is to get work done, not to ponder deep and existential questions about ethics and technology.

Americans are afraid of their food. And for good reason. In 2011, the deadliest food-borne illness outbreak in a century delivered killer listeria bacteria on innocuous cantaloupe never before suspected of carrying that pathogen. Nearly 50 million Americans will get food poisoning this year. Spoiled, doctored or infected food will send more than 100,000 people to the hospital. Three thousand will die. We expect, even assume, our government will protect our food, but how often do you think a major U.S. food farm get inspected by federal or state officials?