Showing results by narrator "John Pirhalla" in All Categories

This is the final stand for Vale and its system against the Komran Empire. The council doesn’t even want to call it a war, but the Vale General and Sergeant of the Army have a plan. They needed one ugly marine when the Komran were getting aggressive, but now that the enemy are here in force, they need as many as they can get. Much to his chagrin, Joe is pulled from the fighting. His help is needed as the older soldiers and technicians are thawed out from the cryo storage.

Aldo Cassidy, formerly a low-born freelancer, finds himself at the heart of a desperate operation to save humanity. With the threat of a seemingly mindless alien force looming at the borders of the human empire, a brave group of military personnel works to form an alliance that may give them a chance against an invasion. Heading to a beleaguered outpost, Aldo and his team must rescue an alien delegation. Success gives a union a chance, while failure could lead to war. Meanwhile, a conspiracy threatens to upend the inner workings of human civilization.

The odds are against Mathison and his Marines. The Republic has abandoned them, and the Governance has collapsed. The vanhat are sweeping through human space almost unopposed, crushing the few humans still scattered throughout the ruins of the Governance.

Joe and his team pushed themselves to their limits to stop a Komran invasion force from getting a foothold in their galaxy. But moments after the victory cheers were let out, they realize that the attack they routed was not the end game. This was only the beginning. Instead of retreating, the Komran launch an assault on Odin, one of the garden planets in the system that was blitzed in the surprise attack. While it started as simple revenge, the alien empire sees an opportunity to strike and sends an armada to reinforce their forces in the system.

The key to finding the one responsible for the attack on Terndahl involves crossing the waste, but is Tolan willing to risk the tenuous peace they've achieved for revenge? Now a master shaper, Tolan must serve the Academy, but he understands the risk his mother poses. While others want to study the power out on the waste, Tolan sees the need to look beyond Terndahl. His mother remains at large, and they still don’t know her ultimate goal.

After establishing an uneasy truce with the constables, Gavin has settled in Yoran to offer protection to his friends and the remaining magical element in the city. When a job reveals a dangerous new threat in the city, Gavin must take action. This time the target isn’t Gavin, but the city itself. Magic was banished a generation ago, but the Fates have returned. They bring a dark magic Gavin has never seen before - and might be helpless to control.

Being a supernatural assassin and bounty hunter had its perks...until the Trust’s bloody assignments made me question everything. When I found my sister lying in a coma, I became a mercenary, killing vampires to pay her hospital bills and searching desperately for a cure. When my handler offers me a job that could clear my debts and give me answers about what really happened to Cat, I’m all in.

A captured thief holds the key to the kingdom. Having learned the truth about the Dragon Thief and saving Zarinth, an impossible decision will bring Ty away from the only home he’s known. When a dangerous priest demands his help finding something the Dragon Thief failed to find, Ty must finish the job even the Dragon Thief had failed to complete, but must stay ahead of Roson James and the Dragon Touched. The prize will secure the Dragon Thief’s freedom, but there’s even more at stake than Ty can imagine.

With the threat of rogue elementals escaping from the element bond and fear of another attack by the Draasin Lord, life at the edge of Terndahl is difficult for Tolan. Without any magic of his own, he spends his days working as a carpenter’s apprentice. When an elemental attack draws the attention of the Inquisitors from the Academy, everything changes.

Brad Woods has performed a lot of autopsies, but never one like this. The body is purged of all blood. Fear has made Sue Wing run from the darkened school and into night, a fear so powerful she can only name it using the Cantonese myths of her grandmother: Cup-hu-girngsi, the corspe who drinks blood. Reporters like Rich Carter don't believe in the supernatural, but all the signs are pointing to the same conclusion: a vampire is stalking the streets of Rio Verde. No, Rich Carter doesn't believe in such things. Not yet.

Sam Levine knows what it means to struggle. After several missed opportunities, he's been forced to turn his talents to freelance work, picking up whatever dirty job he can find only to make ends meet. But there's an end in sight. An opportunity to change everything. And when a dangerous, high-profile job comes his way, he sees light at the end of the tunnel. Hope has been in rare supply, but even with the dangers inherent in his decision, he puts his life on the line for a chance to elevate his situation.

Artorian's stroll onto Earth is cut short by a dagger in the back. Dealing with an unjust loss, he's torn between mourning what was lost and plotting a deviously calculated revenge. An eye for an eye, a stab for a stab. It's time to roll up those sleeves, whip out the master plan, and get down to crafting the narrative.

Bentley Little was born in Arizona a month after his mother attended the world premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. He is the author of 10 previous novels, including The Revelation, The Mailman, The Summoning, Death Instinct (published under the name Phillip Emmons), University, Dominion, The Ignored, The Store, The House, and The Town. An acknowledged master of horror, he is currently at work on his next novel.

Finn has grown into the role of executioner, taking on more responsibility with each passing year. After thwarting another plot against the kingdom, he’s developed a reputation - and the attention that comes with it. When attacked investigating missing women throughout the city, Finn finds his list of enemies growing. After another high profile abduction, Finn’s newfound skills are tested trying to find answers before it’s too late, but an imprisoned man speaking the strange language of the Alainsith forces Finn and Meyer to divide their work.

The final moments of the journey in Ancient Greece sets the stage for a revolution ready to explode faster than a poorly brewed potion. The Old Guild and Asguardian Remnants are itching for a comeback tour. Led by Odin's feathered spies, Huginn and Muninn, they’re all set to hunt Artorian down—this time for good. They're betting their last shiny coin on vengeance, aiming to turn Artorian's dream of a New World into a nightmare—permanently.

For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. With no trace of Ali after she is abducted, a cloud of suspicion hangs over him, though he is never charged. Trying to put his past behind him, Ryan changes his name and enters law school. It’s on a summer trip to Italy that he gets the call: his missing car has finally been found, in a lake in his hometown. But inside the car are two dead men. The only trace of Ali is a cryptic note, the envelope in her handwriting: If something happens to me…Reeling from the news, Ryan sees the man who has haunted his nightmares.

Hazard King finally managed to win peace with the Swarm, and he stabilized the Marxist Federation and helped create a more democratic new government on Lenin. The Black Dragon virus, though, continues to kill thousands there, and Imperial Scientists have finally admitted that antidotes are beyond their ability. Worse, it is only a matter of time before the virus makes it off planet, an event that is sure to kill billions and bring down the empire. But there is hope. If they can find the original virus, the creation of a vaccine may be possible.

The vanhat are within the walls, and mankind’s days are numbered. Mathison has a desperate plan. A suicide mission. Infiltrate fortress Sol to shut off the defenses long enough for a d-bomb strike to kill the vanhat invaders.

Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America and winner of countless awards—including the Hugo, Nebula, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker—Harlan Ellison proved once more that he was both unpredictable and irrepressible in this second collection of innovative science fiction. Again, Dangerous Visions—the middle installment in a planned three anthology series—includes award-winning stories from incomparable writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Gene Wolfe, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Piers Anthony, Dean Koontz, and James Tiptree, among many others.

Torian Ranth wants nothing more than to master his sahir magic. Having spent years training, he still can’t form even his primary patterns consistently, let alone attempt any higher tiered power. His continued failures mean that his time in school must come to an end.