Showing results by narrator "John Pirhalla" in All Categories

Betrayed by the Republic, Mathison and his Marines are separated. Hunted by the Republic, the SOG, and the vanhat, they have nowhere to turn but to each other.

Since the dawn of civilization, a hidden hand has gripped mankind. Operating in darkness with limitless wealth and power, this ancient Shadow Caste has controlled every major event in human history - mass migrations, revolutions, plagues, even two world wars. But now these ancient “caretakers” want to change the global experiment. Civilization is too successful, they believe, and our overpopulation threatens the existence of all life on earth.

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.

In the small town of Montgomery, Arizona, Kyle Decker's book shop is barely breaking even. When a bank opens in the empty storefront next door, he hopes the new establishment will bring in more foot traffic. Trouble is, nobody has ever heard of the First People's Bank, and the local branch has appeared mysteriously overnight. Their incentives for new customers seem reasonable...at first. But is it a coincidence when Kyle's wife has her identity stolen and his son receives emails that seem to know his private thoughts? Or when the manager of a competing bank dies a gruesome death?

When Carson Flint traded his Commonwealth military badge for the quiet life, he thought he'd left his battles behind. Two years of running a saloon called the Bulwark, a volatile hub for refugees, smugglers, and the occasional war-weary soldier, was the peace he'd been looking for. He's never had it easier, or been so bored. But when a fugitive Commonwealth operative arrives with dangerous secrets and a war criminal on his tail, Carson's sanctuary quickly becomes a target.

Crimefighting is illegal, punishable by life in prison at the bottom of the ocean. It sucks. But that won't stop me from doing what I was born to do: uphold justice and stop good people from being hurt. Even if everyone I once called a friend is against me, I'm not bowing down to the Counter Vigilante Taskforce.

Never trust a stranger… But late at night and trapped in the middle of nowhere during a terrible snowstorm, Tibby and Walker have no choice. With roads shutting down and cell towers out, running into each other and deciding to travel together could either be their saving grace or worst mistake. When they’re forced to take an unexpected detour and seek refuge in a roadside motel, the storm quickly becomes the least of their worries.

A Cold War attack by Soviet helicopters on an Afghan village. A knife-edge CIA operation that goes wrong. And a vengeful mujahideen tribesman, armed with Stinger missiles. When CIA officer Joe Johnson is handed the tough task by his boss of capturing a Soviet helicopter and forging better contacts among the mujahideen, he unknowingly finds himself up against a sinister KGB rival who wants him dead.

Intel from the Alliance raises the alarm: Earth is teetering on the brink of an impending attack. Quintos, reluctantly pulled back into service by the EUNF, finds himself up against untenable odds. The one bright spot is USS Franklin, awaiting his command, an Omninought-Class behemoth armed with the latest cutting-edge technology.

It begins in a small Southwestern town. Then, it spreads. Across the country, a series of strange deaths have overtaken the living. And a stranger compulsion has overtaken the dead. In a travesty of life, they drift with bizarre purpose toward an unknown destination. The walkers have become an obsession for investigator Miles Huerdeen. His father is one of them.

Zarinth is a dangerous city at the edge of the kingdom, illuminated by the constant fire of the nearby volcano Ishantil. For thief Ty, it’s more than a city filled with valuable ancient dragon relics. It’s the home he could never leave. When Ishantil threatens to erupt and put the city in chaos, Ty wants one last score before finally leaving it - and his past - behind. All while the notorious Dragon Thief chases the same prize. The Dragon Thief has a reputation for a reason, but Ty begins to think there’s more to the job than just the prize.

Kanar Reas, an ex-soldier known as the Blackheart, hides a dangerous secret. Exiled from the Realmsguard, he wants nothing to do with the kind of magic that destroyed his life. That is until his team of mercenaries is offered a job they can’t refuse.

Two women - strangers - board a plane. Different lives, different purposes for their trip. Three days later, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man. They say they've fallen for handsome stranger Trent McCarthy and are running away with him. And then the texts go cold, the red flags go up, and the woman are declared missing. Who's telling the truth? Who is this Trent, and what has he done with these women? Or, what have they done with him? . . .

I never asked to be Blade Mage. My fellow wizards weren’t exactly thrilled about my selection, either. Unfortunately, those weird old druids have a strict no returns policy. So I left, and for the past few years, I’ve managed to hide from my responsibilities and former life. But I always knew one day the Cabal would come looking for its precious sword. And so they have, but only because a heinous crime has occurred....

Ty has bonded to a strange smoke dragon and trains as a Tecal. If he can’t control the connection, the dragon will be stripped from him so that another can use the power of the dragon in service of the kingdom, as the threat from Lothinal is not gone. When Roson James makes his move, Ty feels an increased urgency to understand how to connect to the dragon. Help comes from an unlikely source, but it might not be in time. This time, the kingdom is not the only target.

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.

Hazard King was ready to get back to a normal life… Well, as normal a life as the next emperor of the Brittania Empire could expect, anyway. Hazard wanted to continue his naval career—to grow and take on positions of higher responsibility—because he knew the Swarm would be back, and he intended to be there to fight them when they returned. He had learned how to delegate, though, and while he was training, the rest of Team Hazard was tasked with eliminating the Marxist spy network, which they had discovered was mostly made up of rogue Imperial spies.

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.

After a year-long war bond tour of Terra Earth while his battle wounds healed, Lieutenant Fortis is ready to get back to the ISMC infantry. When fleet medical refuses to clear him for full duty, he faces a bleak future behind a desk in personnel or logistics. Instead, his mentor from Ninth Division, Colonel Anders, recruits Fortis for the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance branch of the ISMC intelligence organization.

Rita Randall, a celebrated film noir actress in 1948, leaves LA after a fatal confrontation. Clint West is a best-selling author in 2019, struggling to move on after the death of his wife. Rita and Clint travel to Long Island, New York and occupy the same beach house - 71 years apart. When Rita appears in the background of Clint’s recent cell phone photos, he’s mystified. When Clint appears in Rita’s photos, she’s troubled and confused. Clint investigates and learns about secret time travel experiments that were conducted in the area during the 1940s.