Showing results by narrator "Ron Butler" in All Categories

It’s been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah’s story - that she died proclaiming her faith. But it’s not true. I know because I was with her when she died. I didn’t say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah’s parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight. Except Sarah’s martyrdom is important to a lot of people, people who don’t take kindly to what I’m trying to do.

An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years, the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super-advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders, and a peace that cannot last.

The seminal rap group A Tribe Called Quest brought jazz into the genre, resurrecting timeless rhythms to create masterpieces. This narrative follows Tribe from their early days as part of the Afrocentric rap collective known as the Native Tongues, through their first three classic albums, to their eventual breakup and long hiatus. Throughout the narrative, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib connects the music and cultural history to their street-level impact and draws from his own experience to reflect on how its distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself.

Private equity firms are on the rise and rapidly changing the game. Today, more than 5,500 PE firms own tens of thousands of companies, so it is essential for CEOs and senior management executives to understand exactly how private equity firms operate. This invaluable resource can help you devise a winning PE game plan for your own company that offers you greater freedom and financial success.

When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother--but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe. There are two rules when it comes to the dragons: don't let them out of the bag, and don't feed them anything sweet. Before he knows it, Jax and his friends Vikram and Kavita have broken both rules! Will Jax get the baby dragons delivered safe and sound? Or will they be lost in Brooklyn forever?

Divorce attorney Jared Westmoreland has seen enough unhappy endings to avoid all the sticky entanglements that go with commitment - especially marriage. Even so, he can’t stop obsessing over the gorgeous stranger who barged into his office weeks ago. And when Jared meets Dana Rollins again, he decides to collect on the favor she owes him. Pretending to be Jared Westmoreland’s fiancé isn’t high on Dana Rollins’s list of priorities. But she owes him a favor, and his persuasive charm and sinful masculinity - not to mention his sizzling kisses - are impossible to refuse.

The most pressing issue on Adam Hayes' mind is planning his son's upcoming fifth birthday party. After years of operating in the world's most dangerous spots for Treadstone, he's ready to call it quits, but the feeling isn't mutual. Levi Shaw, Treadstone's director, calls Hayes back for one more mission. "It's a walk in the park. You don't even have to go in with the strike team. I just need you to set up the safe house. You'll be home in time to pick up the birthday cake." But nothing is ever easy where Treadstone is concerned.

Everyone wants a ticket to Futureland, where you can literally live out your wildest dreams. Want to step inside your favorite video game? Go pro in a sports arena? Perform at a real live concert? Grab your ticket and come right in.

Westmoreland Legacy: The Outlaws Complete Collection has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Maverick Outlaw is a man who knows his own mind—and he knew from the beginning that a fling with longtime friend Sapphire Bordella would be more than just sizzling, mind-blowing sex. That is, until Phire says they should go back to being just friends—and then announces that she’s pregnant with Maverick’s child and her father expects her to marry someone else! Maverick may not be ready to give his heart, but nothing will stop him from claiming what’s his…

James Beard award - winning author Adrian Miller vividly tells the stories of the African Americans who worked in the presidential food service as chefs, personal cooks, butlers, stewards, and servers for every First Family since George and Martha Washington. Miller brings together the names and words of more than 150 black men and women who played remarkable roles in unforgettable events in the nation's history.

Bridging Infinity puts humanity at the heart of these vast undertakings - as builder, as engineer, as adventurer - reimagining and rebuilding the world, the solar system, and even the entire universe. This continuation of the award-winning Infinity Project anthology series features bold new stories from Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear, Gregory Benford, Zachary Brown, Pat Cadigan, Kameron Hurley, Scott Lynch, Vonda N. McIntyre, Hannu Rajaniemi, Allan Steele, and many more.

Emmett's put the events at the mutagen warehouse behind him. He's finished his degree, moved in with a new roommate, got new cybernetics, and things with Clara have never been better. He's even got allies and the makings of his own superhero team. It's a good thing too, because Belport won't stay peaceful for long. There's a new supervillain gang in the city and they've claimed responsibility for a gruesome string of murders. The Freakshow—they're powerful, coordinated, and ruthless. And they'll test Belport's newest group of heroes like never before.

Are you experiencing creative burnout? Using the effective strategies for creative endurance developed by creative director of Fast Company and accomplished marathon runner Mike Schnaidt, you can remain imaginative and inventive through any tough situation, throughout your life and career. Featuring inspiring stories from designers, astronauts, illustrators, ultramarathoners, chefs, photographers, and an Olympic Gold medalist, Creative Endurance provides a unique combination of practical advice, alongside inspiring examples to help you overcome creative obstacles and thrive.

In less than a decade, the prodigious painter Jean-Michel Basquiat went from a teenage graffiti artist to an international art star at the peak of the heady, excessive 1980s art boom. A legend in his own lifetime, Basquiat was a fixture of the downtown scene, full of rock music, couture fashion, outrageous art, and heady drugs. Along the way, Basquiat was involved with several of the time's most infamous personalities, from Keith Haring and Andy Warhol to his brief romantic fling with Madonna.

Come sit on the veranda and pour yourself a glass of sweet tea, fortified with a slug of bourbon. Put your feet up and enjoy these stories set in Atlanta, a city sewn from the ashes, where everything that grows is both fertilized and corrupted by the past.

He knew better than to lust after the hired help. But Ramsey Westmoreland's new cook was just so delectable...it was enough to make the Denver rancher rethink his rules. When temptation got the best of him, he discovered Chloe Burton was just as hot in the bedroom as she was in the kitchen. Though their affair was growing steamier by the minute, Ramsey couldn't help but question Chloe's true motives. And when he discovered her ultimate betrayal, he was set to satisfy himself with cold showers.

In 1965, a mysterious beam of blue light descended from space, illuminating Northern California. This extraterrestrial beam possessed strange powers, causing those it touched to either die, go mad, or gain a unique, extraordinary ability. This newfound power represented the full actualization of human potential, bestowing strengths, understandings, and communication abilities far beyond normal human capacities. Those affected by the light were soon dubbed "Blues" and were segregated from society due to their superhuman abilities.

When seasoned big-game hunter Sanger Rainsford is cast overboard on his way to the Amazon, he washes ashore on the foreboding Ship-Trap Island. There, he encounters General Zaroff, a refined aristocrat with a dark obsession. What follows is a deadly game of wits and endurance, as Rainsford becomes prey in a twisted contest where survival is the only victory. Originally published in 1924, The Most Dangerous Game remains a chilling exploration of morality, violence, and the thin line between hunter and hunted.

Gina is a mermaid—a siren—on her land cycle and she has found a human mate she loves. In fact, they're engaged, but to overcome a mysterious betrayal she isn't sure she should forgive, she needs some time at sea, ideally above it. So she stows away on a tall ship. Seth is a precocious fifteen-year-old working on a school project, researching Cobalt Girl, a modern sailing vessel.