Showing results by narrator "Nick Cracknell" in All Categories

Runic Awakening is the first book in the Runic series, a contemporary epic fantasy series set in the world of Doma, where magical engineers called Runics rule the land. They are equaled in power only by Weavers, men and women that can manipulate the very fabric of the universe with their wills.

Scandal. Blackmail. Obsession. It's just another day if you're a Marinossian. When Annika disappears without a trace, Talvi launches the hunt for his most infuriating rival yet. His only clues are from a government he's increasingly at odds with. In exchange for access to their resources, he does the unthinkable and reveals Annika's true nature. Time is short, but the list of names Talvi can trust keeps getting shorter.

Aspiring rock star Annika Brisby thinks she knows where her life is going until she steps through a broken portal that leaves her stranded in a fae-filled realm of fairies, shapeshifter druids, psychic vampires, and other mythical beings. Unable to return until it's repaired, she's rescued by wood nymphs who believe her sudden arrival is no accident. After being taken in by a prominent family of elves, Annika finds herself struggling to resist the seductive spell of their youngest son, Talvi.

Talvi Marinossian has slain maenads and fought off vampire attacks, but nothing has prepared him for getting involved with one of these forbidden "modern girls". When he finally tracks down Annika it's obvious that she's changed since her recent adventure in his homeland. It's also clear that she's not ready to embrace the next chapter in her life. He tries to persuade her to open up to him, but she finds it difficult since he won't even explain how he earns a living.

Terrorist leaders are not benevolent men inclined to make peace but vicious bullies. The IRA was the Islamic State of its day. Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan are similar wars. In these, an insurgency like the IRA/Sinn Fein mix is the main problem. A proven solution is the rule of law, where police intelligence dominates because investigative practices fail. The approach - widely misrepresented and commonly misunderstood - devastated the IRA. Some terrorists were killed, most were in prison, and many were on the run.

Having barely survived the dark god Xanos's devastating attack on the Empire, Grand Weaver Kalibar knows all too well that another assault is coming...and that this time, the Empire will not survive. Now he is forced to make a terrible decision...does he surrender to Xanos, enslaving his people to the will of the dark god? Or will he fight one last time, risking the annihilation of his people...and the death of his children?

Novi Navarro's life hangs in the balance after being sentenced to serve in the Temple of the Chimera. The Prioress in charge seems intent on breaking not only her spirit, but the spirit of every living thing within those impenetrable walls. When a chance encounter leads to an unexpected friendship with one of the sacred creatures inside, she discovers a new reason to go on.  

I broke the rules and stole an auction item from her buyers. Because somehow, they’d managed to abduct a Gryfala princess. Though, she doesn’t look, or act, or sound quite like I thought one of her kind would. But I’m merely a Rakhii gladiator; this is the closest I’ve actually ever been to a princess. I’d be considered lucky, indeed, if she chose me to guard her. Instead, I want more. I need her to claim me. Because she doesn’t know it, but now I can’t let her go.

A week has passed since the Empire was nearly destroyed by the dark god Xanos. Now the leader of the most powerful government in the world, Kalibar must protect his people against Xanos's undead army. But when an assassin nearly succeeds in murdering Kalibar, he realizes that the Empire stands little chance against Xanos's enormous power.

I was abducted by aliens and auctioned to a positively lovely, bleak place called the Underwater Pleasure Dome. An amphibious alien with hands like bug zappers helped spring me, and if you've followed my friends' adventures, you know Dohrein and I teamed up because we're both equally stellar, and awesome attracts awesome. This is the story of what happened after abduction life. The good part. The part where we settle in and build brand-new lives on this brand-new planet. I just need to have tea with my alien-in-law and convince her to set her pet humans free. No biggie.

Darkness has fallen on the Marinossian family, leaving ruined lives in its blood-stained wake and leaving Annika to pick up the pieces. With a deadly doppelgänger still loose and most likely in deadly pursuit, she's escorted back home to wait out the storm and heal her broken heart...however long that may be. But when she makes a shocking discovery, she'll do whatever it takes to make things right. A world away, Talvi has been dragged to the desolate prison on Bleakmoor Island where he awaits trial for murder.

When my human mate was auctioned, she was sold to a savage lot of aliens. I rescued her body from her tormentors. But her mind... She is hurt. She’s afraid I will abandon her; but I’ve been waiting all my life for my mate. I am not going to walk away. I’m going to help her heal. And I will help her fight for us.

Created when they intermingled with demons, the dark elves who rule over the fae of Sinaryos have come to rely on humans to keep their race alive. The royal family is no exception, with a king on the verge of death, a court riddled with spies, and a broken line of succession. Despite everything working against him, Prince Fallon Blackwood has met all the demands of the crown for nearly 100 years...except for one. After avoiding this obligation for too long, the time has come for him to take a harem and prove that he's capable of continuing his family's bloodline.

Lining the granite walls of the first, high above an orderly reservoir of fossilized eggs, an inscription spanning 85 miles describes the genome of a proto-mammalian species eradicated during the Permian Extinction. In the next, researchers discover etchings of the constellations as they would have appeared across the eons; a global timeline of 10 billion years remembered and foretold by a primordial intelligence beyond our own. 

For thousands of people this is The Ultimate Teach Yourself Acoustic Guitar Book. Inside is a Complete Program of Playing Lessons that helped them achieve in weeks, what took many people years to learn.

Once the belle of her village, life took a dark turn for Adelaide upon her parent’s death. Plagued by lingering grief, there was not a soul who didn’t turn their back on her. They called her angry and spiteful...hell, they called her a monster. One fateful day Adelaide finds herself alone, lingering on the edge of the perished woods - a cursed and evil place. Without warning, an orc army attacks. Her village ablaze, Adelaide races into the perished woods, seeking refuge in a place of nightmares. With orcs at her heels, she’s desperate to escape.

A decorated knight for Richard the Lionheart and an ally of the House of de Lohr, Sir Garret de Moray was a man described as cold, intimidating, foreboding. A man with eyes as black as night. Receiving a royal appointment as Captain of the Household Guard, there was no man more qualified or prepared for the role because on the sands of the Holy Land where Garret went on Richard’s great quest, the Christian armies whispered of a knight whose wisdom was ancient. Some wondered if he was the walking dead, an immortal soul who had lived many lifetimes over, because his skill and power exceeded earthly restraints. Kronos, they called him. The father of the gods. Then came a lady without hope…

As a child, Jackston Forbes made a promise to lovely - and pushy - Lizelle Menzies. A man of his word, Jackston never forgot that promise. Through the years of experience and growth, Jackston has become a powerful warrior, now returning to his home in the highlands to assume his place as his father's heir. But along the way he meets a young woman who will test the strength of his vow to marry Lizelle, and when he discovers the brutal and petty woman Lizelle has become, it becomes a difficult choice for him - will he remain true to a childhood vow?

Hundreds of human cages hidden in a desert warehouse, emptied only hours earlier. A woman's name scrawled in blood on a Chicago store receipt. The trail of suffering leads east, and Wren has no choice but to follow - plunging into a fight for his life against a swirling conspiracy of wild-eyed extremists. Old secrets are stirring. Dark figures from the past return seeking vengeance. Christopher Wren stands ready to greet them with a headbutt in the face.

From the author of The Things Our Fathers Saw in the World War II eyewitness history series comes this book, offering the true story behind an iconic photograph taken at the liberation of a death train, deep in the heart of Nazi Germany. It's brought to life by the history teacher who discovered it and went on to reunite hundreds of Holocaust survivors with the actual American soldiers who saved them.