Showing results by narrator "Ryan Burke" in All Categories

On a distant planet outside the reach of the Confederation, Garret Cushing finds himself in dire straits. Struggling with a guilty conscience and his life in the balance, he decides to do the unthinkable: turn himself over to the Confederation in exchange for protection.

Who is The Horoscope Writer? It’s not Bobby Frindley. He’s an ex-Olympic athlete who has fast-talked his way into an entry-level position at a dying newspaper. He’s supposed to be writing horoscopes, but someone has been doing his job for him . . . On his first night on the job, Bobby receives an email with twelve gruesome, highly detailed horoscopes, along with a chilling ultimatum: print them and one will come true, or ignore them and all of them will.

How do you know whether a real-world situation calls for a storybook hero? Is there such a thing as a knight in shining armor, or does every good deed come with unintended consequences? With chilling insight, five bestselling crime writers explore what it means to rise to the occasion—and the space between intentions and results.

Life is going great for Seaville High senior Erick Rudd. He's a good student, he has a girlfriend he'll probably marry, and he's on a straight path to college. Then his best friend's girlfriend lets him know she's attracted to him. Seventeen going on 25, Nicki Marr is blond, green eyed, and gorgeous. Soon, Erick is seeing her on the sly. Guilt ridden over his deception, Erick isn't prepared for what happens next.

As Jack’s reputation increases, so does the size of the bounty on his own head, but that’s not the worst of it.... The conspiracy he’s uncovered points to a doomsday scenario, an impending act of depraved violence with steep collateral damage—and it’s set to happen right on his home planet.

Fighting, apocalyptic quests, endless danger—it's nice to get a break from that kind of thing sometimes. Why not escape into a world where fighting isn't the only way to level up? Come to a place where you'll get a mug of tasty beer and a bowl of hearty winter stew to warm your belly. A place with bookstores owned by grouchy satyrs, and bakeries where delicious sweet treats are guaranteed. Does that sound like just what you need? If so, you're in luck.

Oscar has his own problems - and his own fiancée. He'd planned the cruise as a last ditch attempt to save their relationship, but she decided to skip it. The tide turns when he meets Sydney as they both reach for the last éclair at the dessert station. Now he can't get the beautiful, feisty woman off his mind.

Historians Cameron Thorne and Amanda Gunn stumble upon a mysterious spiral necklace and a 12,000-year-old human skull, sparking their search for Atlantis and its true legacy. But are modern-day Knights Templar and a cabal of goddess worshipers conspiring against them? Only after a whirlwind of international travel and a violent encounter with a shadowy paramilitary group do the mysteries of Atlantis finally reveal themselves.

While rooting around in the mysterious stone chambers of New England, historian Cameron Thorne and his fiancée Amanda Spencer-Gunn stumble upon a reinterpretation of the Biblical passage calling on Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. It is a revelation—long suppressed by the medieval Knights Templar—that threatens to destabilize the Middle East forever. It is also a secret Cam and Amanda want nothing to do with. Not that a rogue faction of puppeteering Freemasons gives a damn what Cam and Amanda want.

After Vexx White and his fellow dungeoneers survive their latest brush with death, a chance encounter with a woman at the market leads them on their next wild adventure. The mission she describes is dangerous, and all she has to offer is a mysterious amulet in exchange for the rescue of her missing husband. But something about the amulet intrigues Vexx, and against his better judgment, he accepts her quest and vows to reunite the lovers at any cost.

A mysterious pyramid appears in Chicago, oozing fantastic creatures and sucking humans into our own mythological past. It's an alien invasion from within! When a special forces team sent to capture an AWOL official gets into deep trouble with a certain one-eyed Norse god, redoubtable comparative mythologist Jerry Lukacs must rescue them, strike a deal with the droll and dangerous Loki, and risk bringing on Ragnarok itself to once again save human myth from alien domination.

Despite their dubious successes in the past, Vexx and his two companions find themselves back where they had started: penniless and scrounging the streets of Cloudbury for menial work. When they chance upon what seems to be a simple delivery quest to Golden Streams Landing, Vexx accepts it with no hesitation. But what Vexx doesn’t realize is that the roads leading to the city are treacherous, and that there are powerful enemies basic fire magic and rudimentary necromancy can’t defeat.

Vexx White is a down on his luck apprentice mage, recently expelled from Fallanden Magical Academy for experimenting with necromancy. With nothing to lose, he becomes a dungeoneer for hire — taking odd jobs in his home town of Cloudbury for pocket change. Nine out of 10 dungeoneers die in their first 10 quests, and to survive Vexx finds himself teaming up with a clumsy elf and a crazed succubus. When they’re not busy trying to kill each other, the dungeoneers drum up all the work they can get, from raiding dungeons to hunting down thieves.

When an ancient evil threatens the galaxy, all that stands in the way is a bounty hunter with a plan… but no plan survives contact with the enemy. Jack walks right into a trap, inadvertently giving the Predecessor Cult exactly what they want; the means to unleash a devastating new weapon. Without immediate and decisive action, death and destruction will wash across the entire galaxy, wiping out human and Tahni alike. A threat of this magnitude cannot be thwarted by a lone bounty hunter.

The galaxy is thrown into chaos as the wrath of The Regime gets unleashed. Newly-promoted Warrant Officer “Pappy” Gunther is tasked with training the next generation of UEAF officers as the galaxy-spanning Regime gains ground. When a commander from his past shows up and asks him to join a covert black-ops unit, Pappy has a crucial choice to make. Speaks-The-Truth has a chance to live a life of peace on a world far-removed from the conflict. Yet, she’s haunted by the demons of her past and feels compelled to join the greatest struggle in the history of her people.

The Cipher ran the universe with its game-like rules, and it has chosen Cullen, an exiled bounty hunter, to be the method of its return. He's given a quest to free a telepathic mother and son from wrongful imprisonment. If he can break his targets out of prison, they'll have to level up, learn new skills, and hunt down the prophecy's clues. All while facing down berserkers and EMP-hurling tigers in a jungle that offers no succor.

Are you a civilian crime writer who wants to use picture-perfect law enforcement details? Do you worry that your mystery novel or screenplay lacks credibility? Fiction and nonfiction author Sergeant Patrick O’Donnell has seen it all in his 24 years working for one of the largest police departments in the country. Now he’s here to help your writing honor the men and women who risk their lives in the line of duty.

Summer is finally here and geography teacher Sara Larson has exactly one month to find the perfect date for the wedding of a high school rival. The odds seem stacked against her, but the last thing she wants is to sit at the kids' table again. Or even worse, the singles' table. While trudging through an assortment of certified losers, Sara fights her attraction towards Ian, the irresistible guy next door.

When it comes to saving the universe from an apocalyptic force, Kyren would’ve picked anyone to be the hero.... Anyone, but himself. With half the galaxy in ruin and whole star systems filled with the husks of starfleets that failed to stop the deathbots, one self-taught robot boxer will attempt what no one thought possible. He’ll save the galaxy. But he won’t do it alone. Aided by a cat-girl engineer, a crazy alien scientist, and a child oracle, they will search the galaxy for the key to victory against the unstoppable juggernaut of the deathbots.

America’s first line of defense - Brad McLanahan and the heroes of the Iron Wolf Squadron - must counter a dangerous Russian strike from within the homeland in this cutting-edge tale from the New York Times master of the high-tech military thriller, Dale Brown. On a remote island estate, a billionaire investor sells his air freight company to a mysterious new owner. The purchaser is none other than the President of Russia, Gennadiy Gryzlov. The Russians will use these private planes to secretly transport dangerous cargo into the United States.