Showing results by narrator "Stephen Davies" in All Categories

Scholars have often claimed that democracies, whatever their virtues, are functionally short-sighted. The evidence is clear: We have been unable to manage many long-term issues, including climate change, nuclear waste disposal, natural disaster preparedness, infrastructure maintenance, and budget deficits. To solve long-term problems, do we need political systems that are less democratic, or even authoritarian?

Written by multiple Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake, "A Very Old Man with No Wings at All" was first published in the August 2007 issue of Aeon. Over his long career, Jay Lake has published 10 novels and more than 300 stories. He was honored with the 2004 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Five years removed from winning a state championship in Nowata, Jerry Bailey had ended his run as the head coach at Sapulpa and was ready to move on to another high school and another football team. However, Bailey and his assistant Reagor left school on a January morning and never returned. Because of the Hate is the true story about the murder of Jerry Bailey, a beloved high school football coach in Oklahoma. In 1976, Jerry Bailey had resigned as the Sapulpa High School head football coach but was murdered by his assistant Paul Reagor, Jr.

Lead & Influence explains how to use the power of ownership to become even more successful in leading your organization. Based on 30 years of leading and influencing across distances and cultures, author Mark Fritz has identified key leadership mindsets and habits that create a culture of ownership. It begins with a leader's personal ownership. Second, it's about enabling personal ownership in others. Third, it's about enabling team and organizational ownership. Why? Because you want your people to not just do their job, but also to own the achievement (the outcomes).

Wolfgang Schmitt, ex-underwear model, self-proclaimed wisecrack, and cynical copywriter turned undercover agent, is biding his time, unsure how to spend the millions he scored after his recent undercover mission for the FBI. Complicating matters is the fact that he might be called in for a new mission; if it's off the books and calls for a touch of seduction, Wolf is the man for the job.

In 1997, Daniel Trush, a bright, active, outgoing twelve-year-old, collapsed on the basketball court and fell into a deep coma. Rushed to the hospital, he was found to have five previously undetected aneurysms in his brain. One had burst, causing a massive cerebral hemorrhage. While Daniel remained comatose, the uncontrolled pressure inside his skull caused him to suffer multiple strokes.

The game is a weeklong retreat. It’s located in a remote region of northern California. It’s designed to build teamwork, establish trust, and increase awareness. The players are three ambitious executives - one woman and two men, each prepared to put his physical, mental, and moral limits to the test. They never dreamed how far they could go. The rules are simple. First you run. Then you hide. Don’t appear weak, don’t admit to the fear, and don’t react to the pain. The prize is staying alive. Let the game begin.

Early on a May morning in 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz set off for school on his own for the first time. He vanished, and for three decades his case both frustrated and exhausted police, the FBI, and a public heartbroken by the tragedy. Then, suddenly, the police in 2012 announced that a former bodega clerk from the Manhattan neighborhood where Etan lived had confessed to killing the boy. Detectives were convinced they had the boy’s murderer, and prosecutors soon indicted the man, Pedro Hernandez.

Private investigator Mike Haller has been hired to find Muriel Contreras, a hooker who's inherited nearly $1,000,000. But just when he's approaching an answer to her whereabouts, he discovers he's been sabotaged - and his P.I. license is suspended. Haller sets out on his own to find out who is trying to stop him, but the chase quickly turns deadly when his colleague - who assigned Haller to the case - is brutally murdered.

The Devil gives Norman Reeves an ill-fated mission he has no choice but to accept: Find the center of Eden and reverse the Fall of Man. Thrust into a place called Creation, Norman's task is plagued by unimaginable people and events. He must unravel impossible clues to free the Three Trees and keep himself out of Hell at the same time. On this surreal and humorous journey, Norman discovers many things better left unknown: the shocking secret lives of people close to him and the other unthinkable reason he was brought here.

His name was Jim Racine, and years ago he had been a top heavyweight contender in the United States. But now he's over the hill and desperate, so he takes a fight in a corrupt South American country - and accidentally kills a young man in the ring. The public outrage forces an investigation, and the government refuses to return his passport. Racine is in limbo, but he figures if he can get to the U.S. Ambassador, his problems will be over.

Captured and imprisoned by Colton, the wizard Premoran rails against his fate. Without Premoran, the essences of the ancient Lalas trees will be lost forever. While the Twins prepare to embark on their separate quests for the Gem of Eternity, another rises to aid the Lalas. Her name is Tamara, a Sister of Parth. Trained in the mystical mysteries, though unaware of the true extent of her power, she alone can traverse the Hollows.

Although Colton and his forces have been winning battles, scattered forces still resist. Only now is the most powerful threat emerging - the Darkening, a physical emptiness, a void, which encroaches upon the very heart of the land, jeopardizing life itself, chilling souls to the bone, bringing death and annihilation, stealing memories and thoughts.

In this second volume of the GemQuest series, the battle lines have been drawn. The Dark Lord reaches beyond his realms in search of the heir, and the disparate nations of the world begin to recognize the magnitude of his evil. They rise up united and renew their bonds. From the dazzling ice kingdom of Eleutheria to the magnificent tree-top city of Seramour, revived allies succor and protect the Twins during the preparation for their all-important quest for the Gem of Eternity.

A scandalous thriller of the dark world of Silicon Valley billionaires, and the women who prey on them for their money. The man: Wolfgang Schmitt: former model, newly single, habitual wiseass. It's a profile only his ailing mother could love - but it makes him perfect for one thing.... The bait: Billionaire Nelson Scott wants Schmitt to seduce his wife - setting off a prenuptial clause that will keep her hands off his money. The job pays a million bucks just for trying.

Back in hometown Chicago, Neville attends the funeral of the man he's murdered and meets his widow, Claudia, and her 3-year-old son. Neville gradually insinuates himself into the widow's confidence and conceives a plan to seize the victim's life - his wife, his son, his work, his wealth, and even his persona and appearance.

In this shocking thriller set in Baja California, a movie cast and crew on location becomes the setting for murder and depravity. As the cameras roll on a desolate stretch of Mexican coast, and the gruesomely mutilated body of a crew member is found, a terrifying scenario unfolds - and art becomes a matter of life and death.

Target of Opportunity opens in the midst of World War II as San Francisco Police Inspector Gilman and his brother-in-law, former Washington attorney Donald Kerwin, stop into a 7-Eleven - and are met with a torrent of bullets. A gunman at the register kills Kerwin and wounds Gilman, and an illegal police search follows, leading to a dismissal of charges against the suspect.

High school wrestler Jake Persson is living on vitamins and diet Mountain Dew as he fights to make weight at the height of championship season. In the small mining town in northern Minnesota's Iron Range where Jake lives, this is the most exciting thing that has happened in years. During his last meet, Jake confronts his future and the unnerving sense that his own body and desires are starting to betray him. Chelsey Johnson writes a gripping story about hunger, control, and wrestling down desire.

Written by multiple Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake, "Dogs in the Moonlight" was first published in the 2005. Over his long career, Jay Lake has published 10 novels and more than 300 stories. He was honored with the 2004 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.