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

Winter looms in this place of icy splendor near the top of the world-chilling a heart already frozen by hatred and cold dreams of revenge? Experience and adversity have made the storyteller Chakliux a wise and powerful hunter and a man of great respect. But a tender heart is his weakness. In his village lives the beautiful Aqamdax for whom he yearns, though she is mated to a cruel and dangerous tribesman she does not love. It is Chakliux she runs to under a clear, moonlit sky while the village sleeps.

In the collection's title story, Frederick Gray is closing in on seventy and has outlived his usefulness as a professor of law. He has no family; his best friend, fellow faculty member Ben Lovell, has recently died. Before Gray moves into a retirement home, he takes a final canoe trip to a favorite fishing spot he and Lovell had visited many times, only to find that someone has built a house on the remote riverside. When an accident leaves Gray stranded and in pain, he returns to the shelter seeking aid and instead finds a new reason for living.

It's crazy. Finn McKinnon knows dreams can't be real. So why does his wolf shifter side have the overwhelming urge to step through a portal into a mysterious new realm? Is Kaleena Sinclair his mate or just a figment of his overactive imagination? For years, Kaleena has known that Fate has designated the deliciously hot man from Earth as hers, but she can't reveal she's a dragon shifter - at least not yet. Dream-walking has been her only connection to him, but damn, Finn still thinks she doesn't exist. So what's a girl to do - especially when Finn is her sole chance at survival?

After being saved from his own execution by a deal-making daemon, Keaton's tasked with killing a dungeon lord. A straightforward task for a former assassin, but the moment Keaton's dagger plunges into the dungeon core crystal, he becomes the newest lord of The Labyrinth. What starts as a maze of useless caverns quickly turns into something respectable as Keaton uses his powers to craft defenses and facilities. But to truly grow his dungeon, he needs minions. And to control those minions, he needs lieutenants: Beautiful, monstrous women with strength and powers beyond his understanding.

New to the Hot Springs PD, Lisa Reynolds was not all that welcomed by her coworkers, especially those who were passed over for the position. But it didn't matter anymore. Her 30-day probation period ended on the same day of the Z-poc's arrival. Overnight the world goes from bad to worse as thousands die in the initial onslaught. National Guard and regular military units deployed the day before to the north leave the city in mayhem. All directions lead to death until one unlikely candidate steps forward with a plan.

The Leadership Contract provides the manual that leaders around the world need. With only seven percent of employees feeling confident in senior leadership, the problem is evident: disappointing, and often disgraceful leaders. Employees deserve better than that; organizations need better than that - and this book provides a robust framework for stepping up and making the decision to lead. If you're not exceptional, step up or step aside - this book helps you toughen up and put your commitment to great leadership in writing for yourself as much as everyone else.

In 1997, Daniel Trush, a bright, active, outgoing twelve-year-old, collapsed on the basketball court and fell into a deep coma. Rushed to the hospital, he was found to have five previously undetected aneurysms in his brain. One had burst, causing a massive cerebral hemorrhage. While Daniel remained comatose, the uncontrolled pressure inside his skull caused him to suffer multiple strokes.

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?

Named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Clifford D. Simak was a preeminent voice during the decades that established science fiction as a genre to be reckoned with. Held in the same esteem as fellow luminaries Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury, his novels continue to enthrall today's audiences. And his short fiction is still as gripping and surprising now as when it first entertained an entire generation of fans.

A Hidden Wholeness has helped people in every walk of life rise to the challenge of living "divided no more." What leads us to live divided lives that defy our own sense of identity and integrity? When we do, what price do we and the world pay? How can we recover the wholeness that is our birthright gift? Palmer examines the forces that deflect us from the soul's true north and gives us the tools we need to regain our bearings. Palmer explores perspectives and practices that can help us embody integrity in a world where it often feels risky to be who we are.

When all other processes, controls, and technologies fail, humans are your last line of defense. But, how can you prepare them? Frustrated with ineffective training paradigms, most security leaders know that there must be a better way. A way that engages users, shapes behaviors, and fosters an organizational culture that encourages and reinforces security-related values. The good news is that there is hope. That's what Transformational Security Awareness is all about.

Dale's worlds are facing unprecedented dangers from horrors beyond the scope of understanding. Facing threats beyond the power of gods, all creation is at risk.

It is the summer of 1940, and Lisbon, Portugal, is the only neutral port left in Europe - a city filled with spies, crowned heads, and refugees of every nationality, tipping back absinthe to while away the time until their escape. Awaiting safe passage to New York on the SS Manhattan, two couples meet: Pete and Julia Winters, expatriate Americans fleeing their sedate life in Paris; and Edward and Iris Freleng, sophisticated, independently wealthy, bohemian, and beset by the social and sexual anxieties of their class.

Drawing upon their experience founding more than 30 companies, authors Lars Tvede and Mads Faurholt share their entrepreneurial wisdom and reveal the real-world techniques that lead to success. A simple step-by-step process will help you translate your ideas into effective business plans, raise the capital needed to start and grow your business, build a winning team, and leave the competition behind.

Enjoy the wisdom, compassion, gentle humor, and companionship of a master teacher in a beloved book that has helped hundreds of thousands of people find their way toward meaning and purpose.

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.

If it weren't for bad luck, safety expert, Nessa Caspian, wouldn't have any luck at all. Just when she thinks things can't get worse, an explosion traps her in the mine. Really? If she hadn't been a dragon shifter, capable of clawing her way out, she'd be dead! When she learns the mining inspector, Kyle Harper, has to shut down her family's legacy because of all the safety issues, she's livid - that is until she realizes the super-hot man is her future mate. Well crap. Now what is she supposed to do? Bite him?

The story of Luigi Ronsisvalle is an intimate look at the life of a professional killer. It is, in some ways, the story of all workingmen and women with ambition who never achieve their ultimate goal. But what makes Luigi unique is that, for him to achieve his goal, people had to die. His ambition, from when he was twelve years old, was to be a made man in the Mafia. He once told a presidential commission, "American child falls in love with baseball, I fall in love with Mafia."

Distinguished author Dr. Charles R. Chaffin delivers a fun and evidence-based exploration of how you can devote more attention on what you believe is important while ignoring the distractions that increasingly permeate your life. Using research from cognitive, education, positive, and clinical psychology, the book identifies the sources of noise and distraction in this information age and how we can manage it in all aspects of our lives.

The CEO of Technology shows today's CIOs how to become exceptional leaders and bring value to their organization. By taking lessons from some of the world's best CEOs, you'll develop the traits and characteristics that drive legendary leadership. Interviews with top executives at leading global technology companies including Apple, Boeing, Direct TV, Facebook, Texas Instruments, and more provide deep and valuable insight into what it means to lead in a hyper-driven tech environment.