Showing results by narrator "Richard Joel" in All Categories

This is not a simple story. This is not even just one story. There’s a boy, and there’s a girl. But there’s so much more than that. I was going home. Not forever; only long enough to watch my eternally irresponsible father marry a girl who happened to be my childhood enemy. There were no plans to embark on some crazy sex odyssey with a wild 19-year old baseball player. Easton Malone is insufferable, crude, and far too close. The hot, reckless days we shared should never have happened. I would forget him.

Buried ceremoniously, high in a cave on the Rock of Gibraltar, lies the skeleton of a human woman, clutching the skeleton of a part-human, part-Neanderthal child. Fascinated, Professor Oliver jumps at the chance to visit the site. But two deaths, possibly murders, have rocked Gibraltar. As Oliver tries to piece things together, he's about to fall for some deadly tricks. After all, unlike the Gibraltar Boy, he's only human.

The dead man is the manager of Tahiti's Paradise Coffee Plantation, producer of the most expensive coffee bean in the world, the winey, luscious Blue Devil. Nothing tangible points to foul play behind his fall from a cliff, but FBI agent John Lau, a relative of the coffee-growing family, has his suspicions. What he needs is evidence, and who better to provide it than his friend, anthropologist Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective? Gideon is willing to help, but surprisingly - and suspiciously - both the police and the other family members refuse to okay an exhumation order.

Irony and sarcasm are two of the most misused, misapplied, and misunderstood words in our conversational lexicon. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, psycholinguist Roger Kreuz offers an enlightening and concise overview of the life and times of these two terms, mapping their evolution from Greek philosophy and Roman rhetoric to modern literary criticism to emojis.

Hidden for centuries in the vast Peruvian jungle lies the ancient city of Machu Picchu. It is one of the finest examples of Incan architecture on the continent, preserved and unplundered by the Spanish when they invaded in the sixteenth century. It eluded the Spanish and although it has long been rediscovered, its essence is still shrouded in mystery.

A practical guide to outguessing everything from multiple-choice tests to the office football pool to the stock market. People are predictable even when they try not to be. William Poundstone demonstrates how to turn this fact to personal advantage in scores of everyday situations, from playing the lottery to buying a home. Rock Breaks Scissors is mind-reading for real life.

In the second audiobook of the McBride trilogy, Dr. David McBride enters the story having committed an egregious act that transgresses both moral and civil law. Left with no semblance of a normal life - his family, freedom, and humanity stripped away - he resigns to accept his fate and face whatever punishment is forthcoming. But David McBride is too valuable a commodity to languish in prison, and he soon finds himself caught between opposing forces - a corporate spy representing a Russian biotech firm and a man trying to save his daughter's life.

A planet in the endless emptiness of space, far from the warmth of any sun. And yet there are people who populate its vast caverns, living, working and loving. Since time immemorial, they have been on course for Andromeda, the neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way. This is the prophecy of the ancients, the one goal that unites them all, their cult. But then the unthinkable happens: the journey stops because the planet enters the orbit of a mysterious object that can't be seen in any telescope.

COVID-19 was not an accident. Its successor, the highly lethal and contagious COVID-23, is not a mutation of COVID-19. China would like us to believe the passage of 19 from animal to human was random and 23 is a natural mutation of 19. The United States wants us to believe both 19 and 23 are weaponized versions of a harmless coronavirus released during a botched Chinese bioweapons experiment. It will be up to Dr. David Aaronson, the new surgeon in the desert town of Fallon, Nevada, to tell the world what really happened.

Hoping to write his book in quiet and seclusion, Horton Smith has returned home to Pilot Knob. Here, in the tiny village where he passed so many carefree childhood years, he is untroubled by the pressures of the big city and can freely answer the call of his muse. Of course, back in the city Horton didn't have to run from dinosaurs. There were no cartoon hillbillies offering him moonshine, Don Quixote was content to confine himself to the pages of a book, and the devil himself was not on Horton's tail.

This is the sprawling story of what led to the Ghosn Shock and what was left in its wake. The book chronicles Ghosn's two decades building a colossal partnership between Nissan and Renault. To the world it looked like a new model for a global business, but the alliance's shiny image fronted an unsteady, tense operation. Culture clashes, infighting among executives and engineers, dueling corporate traditions, and government maneuvering constantly threatened the venture.

The frontier is beginning to feel like home for the ragtag team who came together to fight the good fight and found a family in the process. Commander Beau Ward must take the fight to the pirates to rescue the rest of the colonists. To succeed, he needs a bigger team. The Admiral assigns the men Beau needs, but the newcomers are, unsurprisingly, misfits with a secret of their own that could compromise the entire mission.

Learn about the story of Dante’s Inferno with iMinds insightful knowledge series. “Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself in a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost.” So begins the classic text of the Inferno, a medieval poem written in 14th century Italy. Along with its sequels, Purgatorio and Paradiso, it makes up the classic Divine Comedy. But what is the poem about? In the Inferno, the narrator of the tale travels through hell.

There are two ways to be a hero. One is more violent than the other. And the universe needs a hero, because a mysterious entity known as the Fathom is terrorizing the known universe and seizing control. But they’ve made one mistake: They woke Rico, the universe's greatest killer, from a coma. And he’s decided he might be the good guy this time. But being a hero isn’t easy. Rico has to work with others (not his favorite), and the impossible odds means it’s going to take an insane scheme or two (more to his liking).

Cultivating a positive outlook can help you and your team embrace strengths, see opportunities instead of problems, and even feel more engaged in routine tasks. This book provides insights on how to create an environment where everyone can flourish and grow. You'll learn about the effects of emotional contagion; how gratitude, feedback, and perspective matter; and how to establish an optimistic and innovative team culture.

Do you feel anxious, frazzled, or fatigued? Are you struggling with addiction, attention deficits, depression, or compulsive behaviors? Could your mind or memory be sharper? If so, these are tell-tale signs that your brain could use a tune-up. Fortunately, as author Ralph Carson explains, the brain is a very forgiving organ, and in this compelling guide, he reveals the many ways we can heal our brains from the assaults of everyday life and avoid specific situations that injure brain health.

Failed surgeon David McBride is in exile from the surgical community after making a costly error in judgment. Down but not out, he perseveres and is given a second chance to establish a career in surgery. But, as McBride stands on the threshold of a new life, the malignant underside of his fellow man intervenes. Under the threat of violence, David is forced to perform illegal organ harvests in a makeshift operating room hidden in a dilapidated meatpacking warehouse in lower Manhattan.

Southern Mozambique, 1894. Sergeant Germano de Melo is posted to the village of Nkokolani to oversee the Portuguese conquest of territory claimed by Ngungunyane, the last of the leaders of the state of Gaza, the second-largest empire led by an African. Ngungunyane has raised an army to resist colonial rule and with his warriors is slowly approaching the border village. Desperate for help, Germano enlists Imani, a 15-year-old girl, to act as his interpreter. She belongs to the VaChopi tribe, one of the few who dared side with the Portuguese.

The Victors know nothing but war. It has shaped them and changed them in ways that they didn't think possible. Now is not the time to lament on the friends lost, the wounds gained. The medics might be able to patch them up, but they can't heal their minds. Harmony is making their play for Earth, and the Troopers will be there to greet them. The Victors are finally going home over 200 years since they left for Sacremon. The last system-wide battle between the EHC and Harmony is about to begin.

Home to the giant tortoises that gave them their name, the Galapagos Islands lie one thousand kilometres off the coast of mainland Ecuador. The famous group of islands remained untouched by humanity for thousands of years, being only charted in the seventeenth century. Two hundred years later the stunning wildlife provided Charles Darwin with the perfect place to work on his theory of evolution. Darwin’s book ‘The Origin of the Species’ was partially inspired by his trip to the Galapagos.