Showing results by author "J. J. Smith" in All Categories

Max Stark is a trained circus clown whose tricks can be downright terrifying - especially for his ex-wife. News anchor Laura Stark thought she’d seen the last of her devious ex-husband, but a series of sinister pranks has her convinced Max is back - and hell-bent on turning her life upside down. After she broke a controversial story that left her unable to rely on New York’s finest, Laura turns to a pair of eccentric private investigators for help.

When mystery novelist David Reid marries his British editor, Kate, they seem perfectly matched. But soon Kate spirals into a deep sadness and, within two years, leaves.Just as the shock of her absence sets in, David gets word that Kate has been struck and killed by a subway train. Was her death an accident? A suicide? A murder?A tortured soul, David becomes obsessed with the works of Johannes Vermeer and, as he tries to uncover the truth about his wife, becomes fixated on two of the Dutch master’s paintings featuring beautiful, unknowable women.The more David learns, the less he wants to know — especially when he discovers Kate had been having an affair. Soon he finds himself entangled in a web of deception and betrayal, and facing the chilling question: How much do we really know about those we love?

The Wild Duck Chase takes listeners into the peculiar world of competitive duck painting as it played out during the 2010 Federal Duck Stamp Contest - the only juried art competition run by the U.S. government. Since 1934, the duck stamp, which is bought annually by hunters to certify their hunting license, has generated more than $750 million, and 98 cents of each collected dollar has been used to help purchase or lease 5.3 million acres of waterfowl habitat in the U.S. - the core of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The son of Russian expatriates, London-based writer Alex Ostroff longs to publish a masterpiece. But his manuscripts find only rejection - as does Alex himself when London’s literary set unceremoniously toss him from a party. Heeding the advice of his exasperated agent, Alex finally writes about his own experiences. As he mines his childhood for inspiration, he becomes obsessed with finding the truth about his parents.

After fleeing to Paris to escape communist rule, Polish émigré and piano player Jerzy Wozzeck finds it nearly impossible to support his family on his low-paying bistro gigs. So when a friend offers a fat payoff for handling a string of deliveries, Jerzy quickly finds himself in the uneasy employ of an anonymous suit and his sensual assistant. With a couple of flawless jobs under his belt, Jerzy starts living the good life - until, on one such run, he stumbles across a corpse and realizes his benefactors will go to any lengths to protect their operations. 

What is embryonic stem cell research? Why is it so controversial? What is its relationship to human cloning? Events are moving so fast and biotechnology seems so complicated that many of us don't have an informed opinion about issues that are remaking the human future before our very eyes.

Mark Noble plans a surprise proposal to his girlfriend during a Caribbean vacation. But before he can pop the question, she disappears, and his father - a world-famous celebrity doctor who seems to have perfected mind-control - is killed in a mysterious fire back home. While searching for his girlfriend, Mark finds himself chased by two thugs, and the race is on to find out the truth of her disappearance before it’s too late. Mark’s investigation uncovers a sinister connection and a secret he doesn’t even know he possesses.

When history professor Jill Bowman learns of her husband’s murder in a seedy motel room, she knows he had no business being there. Not the serious, sincere psychiatrist Peter Freytag — the man she’d known so intimately.

Enveloped in grief, Jill struggles to piece together seemingly impossible events, and slowly she learns Peter’s secrets. But Jill discovers dark parts of herself as well… secrets she’d never known she was keeping.

In this modern-day Orpheus tale, one man descends into Paris’s hellish underworld to find his missing wife — and learn the dark secrets of her past. Adam Füst thought he knew his wife, Honnie. But when he begins investigating her sudden disappearance, he’s shocked to find so much of her a mystery. In order to find Honnie, Adam must enter the darkest shadows of the City of Lights. Paris’s sex shops, dark streets, and the people who inhabit them simultaneously repel Adam and draw him deeper, giving him a painfully clear look into Honnie’s past — and his own soul. Adam’s grief eventually gives way to his obsession with finding Honnie, taking his very sanity to the breaking point. Will learning the truth about Honnie push him over the edge?

Wilmington, Delaware, is one of those cities that feels more like a small town. Neighbors know one another, and businesses cater to the needs of the citizenry. But what happens when the local car salesman suffers one lost sale too many, when one more customer decides to buy from the competition because the price is too high, interest rates aren’t friendly, or that shade of blue just won’t work?

With the police on his back and his agency taking sleazy cases he never thought he’d have to, Paul Chang erupts under the job’s pressures and sees his personal demon, an alter ego he calls the dragon, emerge. Only the training from his martial arts teacher and old friend Shu keeps Chang sane. But his ex-wife Colleen and a journalist are being stalked by someone trying to make it look like Chang is the aggressor, and when the harassment turns deadly, the lives of everyone close to him are in danger.

Nick Copeland is an ad man. Correction: was an ad man. He’s been living the pretty-good life, but somewhere under the mountain of bills is buried whatever happiness he had. Nick Copeland is an ad man. Correction: was an ad man. He’s been living the pretty-good life, but somewhere under the mountain of bills is buried whatever happiness he had. Desperate, Nick looks for work at a job fair, but instead reconnects with an old college friend who’s in it even deeper.

Bookish & Unbalanced is a podcast all about mental health in the book world. We dive deep into conversations and discussions with authors, readers, reviewers, editors, publishers, and more to talk about mental health. From our own personal mental health, to the characters in books, to the community as a whole.

Joelle Lawton wishes for a simpler life . . . a life where her husband doesn't cheat, her children don't resent her, and her career doesn't pose veiled threats. She wishes she could get past the depression that seeped into her life over a year ago, after the loss of her third child.

With her husband dead and a broken foot, Wendy Haskins will be plunged deep into the ultimate test of survival. Aided by a transgender girl named Gail, they will have to traverse through one nightmare scenario after another in a desperate attempt to reach town before it is too late.

With how busy our lives can be, the stress of the future, and even the worries we feel whenever we’re just trying to live, it can take a toll on the body. Most of us end up staying up too late and getting up too early. If you’re someone who used to fall asleep hearing the lull of your parent’s words, then this book is for you. Sit back, relax, and hear these wonderful stories, and you’ll see, as you listen to them, how relaxing it can be for you, and how, with a few small stories, they can relax you, so you’re happy and satisfied. 

Join Max Axiom as he explores the science behind chemical reactions. Max helps listeners understand how chemical reactions happen and why they are important.

The Verb Altitude Hour covers diverse & a wide range of events & topics geared towards contemporary political science, social justice, civil rights and all things public policy affecting everyday lives in Coastal Georgia, State of Georgia, Nationally, & Globally. VAH's goal is to engage the public by sticking to the facts, and remaining objective. VAH features diverse conversations on a wide range of political topics & covers a recap of this week’s events and local, State of Georgia, and national news.~The highest news your way twice a week-in an hour-just for you! #theverbaltitudehour

Based on ethnographic observations and interviews with prisoners, correctional officers, and civilian staff conducted in solitary confinement units, Way Down in the Hole explores the myriad ways in which daily intimate interactions between those locked up twenty-four hours a day and the correctional officers charged with their care, custody, and control produce and reproduce hegemonic racial ideologies.

The best guide for gardening, step by step!