Showing results by narrator "Ryan Haugen" in Literature & Fiction

Conquering dungeons and using them to grow has long been the most efficient way to become a powerful adventurer. The only thing keeping the process from being easy is the Beasts that inhabit these places. Questions plague those entering this particular place of power: Where do the ‘rewards’ of weapons, armor, and heavy gold coins come from? Why is a fluffy bunny charging at me? For abyss-sake, why are there so many monsters? Cal has all of the answers to these age-old questions for a very simple reason. He is a Dungeon Core, a soul forced against his will into a magical stone.

Being a lowly “walker” in a world of vampires, werewolves, and fae once kept her safe. But Mercy’s bark–and bite–are not so harmless any more. Though Mercy can shift her shape into that of a coyote, her loyalty never wavers. So when her former boss and mentor, Zee, asks for her help, she’s there for him. A series of murders has rocked a fae reservation, and Zee needs her unique gifts, namely her coyote sense of smell, to sniff out the killer.

Princess Isabelle Louise was raised for one thing: to secure a marriage alliance for the good of her people. All her hopes for a kind husband are dashed when the dark and dangerous Prince of the Fae comes seeking a human princess for his bride. Suddenly married and thrust into a world of vicious magic and lethal bargains, Isabelle discovers too late the secret her bridegroom concealed from her: that she is the key to his plan to usurp the throne. And now she is the object of the High King's wrath.

Powerful necromancers are on the move, and the dungeon has become a battleground. Without his faithful Wisp, Cal's mind slips—he begins creating traps and monsters that go against his already loose morals. A direct threat from an unexpected force causes Cal's mind to stabilize, but he doesn’t know for how long. Using every resource at his disposal, he works to keep his mind clear while he funds a search for his lost companion. When others fail him again and again, Cal takes matters into his own hands.

Abandoned to the streets as a child, enslaved, trained as an assassin, and perhaps destined to become the "Darkborn" the very embodiment of evil itself. Chael thought he had left all that behind when he fled from those who wanted to use him for their own schemes and machinations. He and his loyal companion, the undead wolf Michik, fled to the one place on the continent he thought his past wouldn't dare pursue them. But old ghosts have returned and demons once again stalk the Western Forest.

The world watches the sky with trepidation. The insanity of Xenocide knew no bounds, and all will soon suffer the effects he had planned for a millennium. Though none know what is to come, they all know it isn’t going to be easy to survive. The Master has a plan, one that can give the world at large a way to escape the onrushing desolation. It may be on the bleeding edge of morality and what he needs might prove too difficult to secure, but The Master asks for trust. Cal and Dale both have their role to play as the world hurtles toward destruction.

Retired diplomat Sam Hough boards a transatlantic flight to Paris after making a seemingly innocent promise to find the five-year-old son of a dying friend, a son the friend has never known.

With only the thinnest of clues, Sam quickly realizes that those who agree to help him soon disappear, those who don't disappear refuse to help him, and still others want to kill him rather than help find the boy. Clearly there are things his friend neglected to tell him. But what did he leave out—and why?

Dragons once led our people across the wastelands, away from storms, and toward hunting grounds. That’s what the elders say, but 11-year-old Akrist has squinted at empty skies his whole life. The dragons have abandoned them, and it’s Akrist’s fault. He’s cursed. Like every other firstborn son, he has inherited the sins of his ancestors. In his camp, he’s the only eldest boy left. Something happened to the others. Something terrible.

Shortly after discovering an ancient grave, Amon's sister disappeared. Twenty years later she arrives at his doorstep, screaming at full pitch. The plea for help draws him into a world where danger shuffles behind every corner.

This audiobook contains six fantasy and sci-fi short stories perfect for your morning commute. Each story is self-contained.

The five members of an elite commando group nicknamed “the Stone Wolves” once raged against Creterakian rule. Now, four decades after their heyday, they each try to stay alive and eke out a living. But a friend from the past won’t let them move on, and neither will their bitterest enemy. Hopscotch, RedWire, the Killer, Lulz and Recoil will soon wish their pasts could stay dead.

Tragedy befalls the esteemed Lancaster family as 12 adopted siblings bid farewell to their elderly father. Thanks to him, they have all been groomed for success in a variety of fields - debating, marksmanship, and fencing, to name a few. However, a dark creed in their family’s ancient tradition brings out the worst in them. The siblings find themselves pitted against one another in a winner-take-all competition for survival as they are locked within their colossal mansion. Mysteries are uncovered around every corner of their home.

Shortly after discovering an ancient grave, Amon's sister disappeared. Twenty years later she arrives at his doorstep, screaming at full pitch. The plea for help draws him into a world where danger shuffles behind every corner.

In the New England beach town of Stony Point, everyone is waiting for something. Or someone. They're waiting for an answer. Waiting for something to believe in. Waiting for the right time. Waiting for a friend. Some are waiting to come home. Others are waiting to make a move. Then, there's that shabby coastal table at twilight, awaiting a secret dinner guest. And The Seaside Saga continues.

For Smoke and his daughter Denny, life on the Sugarloaf Ranch is more valuable than all the gold in the world. Which works out fine, since all the gold mines in Big Rock were squeezed dry years ago. Even so, that won’t stop a pair of businessmen from the East from trying to squeeze out a little more. One of them has developed a newfangled method for extracting gold—something called “hydraulics”—and they’ve bought up all the old mines to do it. Smoke isn’t sure what to think of. Especially when they hire a small army of gunfighters to protect their mines from sabotage.

Chaiyal ""the Heretic"" North, former intergalactic heavyweight champ, flees the wrath of crimelord Gredok the Splithead by going to a place Gredok can't reach—the Reef. A frontier planetoid where citizens try to scratch a living from the rock, the Reef is a lawless land ruled by the strong and the vicious. For Chai, it's a hardscrabble life vastly removed from his former super-stardom. No more media, no more octagon, no more bright lights, and no more mods. When he hits rock bottom, he must carve out a new existence free from the weight of his past.

Reborn after near nuclear eradication, humanity struggles in a world defined by a secret history of conspiracy, rivalry and inhuman domination. As an ancient powerful race attempts to retake planet Earth, a courageous and sophisticated band of freedom fighters, the Cerberus rebels, leads the resistance in a daring battle to free humanity from the grips of an alien power struggle. In the Middle East's legendary Fertile Crescent, millennia-old artifacts are unearthed. Shockingly, they appear to belong to one of Cerberus's own.

In a cruel, unforgiving world, Akrist must navigate what it means to be marked as both a Speaker—a leader chosen by Nasheira herself—and an outcast. Haunted by the sacrifices of first-born sons, he fears the world cannot be changed, even with a dragon’s help. If he does nothing, the cycle of sacrifice will begin again when the moons touch.

Nolichucky, the house on Burnt Mountain, appears to be a secluded family lake home, forever frozen in the 1930s. But beneath its placid exterior lies a secret history and a mysterious power that profoundly affects young Luke Brooks. After spending a seemingly peaceful weekend there with his father and two teenaged friends, Luke's life is forever changed and he must thereafter confront an unexpected and potentially world-altering destiny.

Strange things come in small packages. Adrian Billard believes he knows what it's like to be different and has nearly given up hope of ever finding happiness. But a strange package left on his doorstep is about to turn his entire world upside down. Everything Adrian thinks he knows is about to change. He is about to meet...Abigail.