Showing results by narrator "A. R. Smith" in All Categories

Every family has its secrets. When Kyle Wells and his friends take an annual trip to his family’s cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains, a string of events unravel to expose what his family has kept hidden for decades. As an unexpected blizzard pounds the mountains, a friend begins to act different and seems a bit off after a strange encounter in the woods. Mysterious beings known as Exalls follow them back to the city where further chaos erupts.

From a co-founder of empowr.com comes this "Why?" story behind the massive social platform, empowr, that’s been in the making for 15 years. Learn exactly what drove the participants (founders, advisors, success coaches, and 1,000 employees, plus 100,000 alpha test users) in their gigantic moonshot project.

Leigh Hawthorne, a widow and local farmer in Tucker Springs, receives an unusual letter from a man out west who wants to marry a woman with ranching expertise. Could this solve all of Leigh’s problems? Hoping to find a better life, Leigh embarks on a journey to Chance City, Oklahoma. Fired for breaking Pinkerton rules, former detective Cyrus Decker just wants to live a quiet life as a cattle rancher. The problem is that he knows nothing about ranching - and his bank account shows it.

When a dying man approaches the Order with a vengeful request of necromancy, the Order refuses. But funeral director and funerary priest Jay Ray finds the request intriguing. Amid mounting rumors of the Order's involvement in necromantic experiments, Jay Ray takes matters into his own hands with terrifying results. Can he save himself and the Order before reality reinforces rumors and the Order's ethical reputation is destroyed? Are you ready to choose a side?

Mary Rose, the last of the blood born Sandersons, was content to be a docile housewife, allowing her husband, John, to run her father's legacy - The Ba'al Collective. Until she learns John's terrible secret. A secret so dangerous, it could rip the coven apart. For Magus Garrett Hammon, it's time for the Sanderson bloodline to retake its rightful leadership, and exalt the coven to its former glory. But at what cost? Sacrifices must be made.

After Magister Thaddeus Blackwood of Temple of the Magi boasts of necromancy and spirit traps, Neal and Aaron, leaders of The Watch, have no choice but to investigate. They are the Chroniclers of the Thirteen, and the ones who will herald in the coming of The One. Their investigation, however, uncovers far more than they bargained for, revealing a sinister plot that could throw Thirteen Covens into chaos.

Jon Archer wants to get home to his comfortable bed. He’s on his way to it in fact when he suddenly and inexplicably finds himself standing in the middle of a desert. Life deals him three more strange hands in the form of a talking goat, a British-speaking spider, and when he thought things couldn’t get weirder, a space man.

Ayn Rand's philosophical novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged made her the most controversial author of her age. Her works have drawn millions of fans and continue to sell at a breathtaking pace. Their impact on American culture runs from libertarian politics to the self-esteem movement in psychology to the rugged individualism of Silicon Valley and the Internet. Rand also launched a movement of intellectuals committed to her philosophy of Objectivism.

Death and vengeance are in the cards in this macabre collection of horror. So cut the deck and deal, if you dare, for no matter which cards you draw, you can be assured there will be blood.

The gathering was supposed to have been a perfunctory media exercise on retiring Senator Jackson Ridge's last day in office. When a grieving mother slips in and poses that simple question, though, everything from Ridge's own legacy to American interests in Afghanistan all get called into question. Racing against a ticking clock and powerful figures that would prefer to keep things happening across the globe a secret, Ridge must call on every last favor he has accumulated over the course of his time in office in search of answers.

Entrepreneurs must learn to be the masters of their tools and practices, instead of religious followers of them. They need to learn how to build, explore, and preserve empathic connections to the people they intend to serve with their solutions. The Lean Startup brings up interesting perspectives to optimize the development process. Those productivity-driven assets will be incredibly helpful, as long as entrepreneurs are building something relevant to the people they are aiming to serve. Service design, with its human-centrism, opens crucial empathetic windows.

The cost of sexual indiscretion is highly disproportionate to whatever momentary gain or pleasure you may derive from it. Moral and spiritual drains caused by sexual indiscretion are often gradual, and the decline is often unnoticed, until it is too late to stop the drift. God commands sexual purity, and enlightened self-interest demands it. The longer you are sexually indiscrete, the more entwined in it you become, and the more difficult it becomes for you to get out.

This guide to energy drinks tackles the three most common questions about these controversial products: Are they safe? Do they work? How do they work? Within this guide, you'll meet the 20 most common ingredients found in energy drinks. For each ingredient, you'll find information on a safe/effective dose, as well as helpful stories, puns, and metaphors to learn the science behind what these ingredients do. You'll also discover the key factors that make energy drinks safe or unsafe, and how unsafe products are regulated and reported.

Richard Horn and Timothy Davenport met in the SEALs 20 years ago, and have been lovers ever since. Now running their own paramilitary organization, Strike Force Omega, they work in the shadows to protect their country and its people. When Tim falls for Eric Newton, a deadly sniper and strategist on their team, Richard accepts that Tim's heart is big enough for two men. He respects, admires, and even desires Eric enough, to accept him into their relationship - and their bed - but he's never been fully a part of what Eric and Tim share.

Gus Stevens has the worst of both worlds. By night, he resides in the Dream World, a place steeped in magic and exotic dangers. By day, a giant snow-lizard stalks him in the Real World, looking to make Gus its next meal. In order to regain control of his life, young Gus must undergo a psychoanalytic exorcism. But this comes with a high price-he must break away from everything he has ever thought was real.

Nearly three billion years into the future, the solar system is a very different place. Earth is long gone, and the sun is a gray, shrunken dwarf. All that remains of humanity and conscious thought is Jonathan - the last machine.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could meet anybody and, within minutes, know quite a bit about them and even know if they are lying to you? Or perhaps you have an interview coming up and you want to know if your potential future boss is just nodding his head to be nice or if you're actually doing a great job. You can know these things. In this book, you will learn how to categorize people into personality types upon meeting them.

Back in the old days, when a witch deserted his coven, the coven sought revenge. Jacob Mallory knew the stories, but he left Shadow Marbas anyway. After a disagreement between Cult of Lucifuge and Temple Apophis leaves Jacob defenseless and he discovers Marbas' remnants of a curse, he seeks protection from Lucifer's Haven. Shadow Marbas, however, won't be denied. Either Jacob is theirs, or he dies. There is no in-between.

The Lucifer's Haven elders took in newcomer Connie Hudson the day she arrived. But the mentor assigned her, Jason, senses something off about the demur 20-something blond from Boston. As if her bizarre behavior and strange questions aren't enough, none of The Haven's younger members can find any trace of the mysterious newcomer's former life. When one of them is found face down in a river, and Jason thinks he has Connie figured out, the coven is approached by Lucifer to take on a perilous task.

A private plane with a family spanning three generations disappears in the mountains. After a desperate plea for help, a major search and rescue mission is launched. Meanwhile, a hiker sets out to climb a 9,415-foot mountain on his own. He fails to return, causing his fiancée to report him lost. Another search and rescue is launched on his behalf. With help from the stratosphere, the two search missions each make unexpected discoveries, leading to a dramatic change in circumstances and ending.