Showing results by narrator "Gabrielle De Cuir" in All Categories

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler tells a magical and humorous contemporary fable that captures the state of humanity at the cusp of a new millennium - as seen through the uniquely sensitive perspective of an empathetic extraterrestrial. An audible.com audio exclusive!

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has submitted ten of its best of 2002. Although the collection is a veritable cornucopia of styles and subjects, each story is somehow notable for its compassion and humanity.

For Amy Grey, home has always been Rattlesnake Bend, Arizona, population 423. It's a safe place to raise her daughter, Katie. Then free spirit Jace Holmes rides his motorcycle down Main Street, rumbling through Amy's carefully ordered life with news about the father she never knew and stirring up questions about her family's past. The best thing for all would be if Jace kept on riding.

Too bad Katie immediately tags Jace as a potential daddy. Sure, there's no denying the attraction between Amy and Jace, but her life is here and his, well, isn't. Yet the longer Jace is in town, the more her visions of tomorrow match Katie's.

Sixteen-year-old Claire wants her father back. His death left her only memories and an empty locket. After six difficult years in foster care, her vocabulary no longer includes "hope" and "trust". But everything changes dramatically when she encounters Justin, a Spirit Knight restlessly hunting dangerous ghosts that devour the living, who rides into her path on his magical horse and takes her under his wing. When an evil spirit threatens Claire's life, she'll need Justin's help to survive.

After years of living in boarding houses and working to pay for the care of her mentally ill husband, Dawn O’Hara feels closer to fifty than twenty-eight—and on the edge of a mental breakdown. The stress of her life in the big city sends her to the doctor, who advises her to return to her small hometown in Michigan to recuperate. With help, Dawn is able to get a job as a newspaper reporter, meet people, and have a year’s worth of adventure. She is ready to start fresh, but with the memory of her husband, she fears she will never truly be free to love—or to be herself—again.

Guy de Maupassant was a master of the short-story genre, producing more than 300 during his lifetime. These concise stories contain twists and shocking turns, and range from the fantastic and supernatural, with characters descending into madness....

A beautifully crafted collection of eight short stories by Edna Ferber: In Gigolo, Edna Ferber delves into the minds of eight diverse characters from all walks and stages of life.

Two o’clock in the morning is the perfect time to be asleep. So when long-suffering Brandy Borne is rudely awoken by her eccentric mother, Vivian, and invited on a surreptitious shopping trip, the idea is less than tempting. But if Vivian—Serenity’s true-crime writing, septuagenarian super-sleuth—has a nose for sniffing out antiques, Brandy’s sense of smell is just as good … and trouble’s on the wind. A little light blackmail and one run-in with the police later, and Brandy and Vivian are the ‘proud’ owners of a selection of dead stock.

Vivian Borne—true-crime author, antiques dealer, and ex-sheriff of Serenity, Iowa—is looking forward to meeting her new editor in London. Flying first class, rooms at the Savoy…her long-suffering co-author, daughter Brandy, worries the trip will bankrupt them both, but the alternative—Mother travelling alone—is unthinkable. Brandy’s almost tempted to make her fiancé, Tony—Serenity’s Chief of Police—call Scotland Yard and warn them Vivian’s coming.

Most people know of the Near Death Experience (NDE), but very few have heard of the The Shared Death Experience (SDE). The SDE is similar to the NDE except that it occurs not to the person who is dying, but to a loved one who is physically well. That person could be sitting right next to their loved one, sitting across the room, or even across the globe unaware of the impending death of someone they love.

In the last innocent days of pre-World War II Honolulu, two people meet almost by chance: Keo, a gifted jazz trumpeter native to the islands, and Sunny, a fiercely independent beauty of Hawaiian and Korean heritage. As their love grows, youth and ambition propel them into a world that is spiraling into madness. From New Orleans to Paris to Shanghai, through the horrors of Pearl Harbor, Nazi occupation in Europe, Japanese prison camps, and beyond to Hawaii's struggle toward statehood, this beautiful and haunting novel paints a mesmerizing portrait of a people and their history.

Originally published in 1951, the story is set on the Northumberland moors, where Daphne Hazel appears to cross the boundaries of time, becoming involved with terrifying personalities from the mysterious past.

Livvy Foster has a new heart and home and a place in the powerful halls of House Windhook. The fall of Sliver was only the beginning of a civil war that sees angels from across the sky challenge each other to lead a world in which the past and the future are connected by a storm crafted from time, ambition, and power. When House Selinus attempts to bend the light of days in order to become the supreme power in an apocalyptic future, they confront a goddess who is older than time itself - and she'll stop at nothing to get the one soul who escaped her deadly grasp: Livvy.

Struggling to forget a crumbling marriage, 40-year-old Anna Lucia Lottol comes to Venice to visit an old friend - but instead of finding solace, she is dragged into the police station and accused of murdering a money-laundering count with whom she had a brief affair. A US Treasury officer with brains and athleticism, Anna fights to clear her name in a seductive city full of watery illusions. As she works to pry information from a cast of recalcitrant characters sometimes denying what she sees and hears, she succeeds in unleashing a powerful foe bent on destroying her.

James Wong built a billion-dollar software company with his childhood friend, Maria Cortez. He had everything until an ultra-rich investor stole control of his company with a shady contract. How do you fight the rich and powerful? In a video game, he would use a power-up to defeat the villain. Maria tells him there aren't power-ups in real life, but James finds the ultimate power-up: become the president. They must uncover secrets about their company, themselves, and the dark forces aligned against them.

Hedonistic socialite turned undercover detective and poster girl for the war effort, Fancy Anders is back to solve another case. The Hollywood Canteen has just opened as a refuge and nightclub to give enlisted men some nights they will never forget as they prepare to head into war. With Hollywood elite cooking food and tending bar, with beautiful young actresses and starlets serving as hostesses and dance partners, the Canteen is a wonderland indeed. But when a young hostess dies in a car accident, the entire club—and possibly the entire American military service—is in jeopardy.

In truth, Percy just wants to lead a normal life – low-key, boring, and predictable. So when a mysterious hag appears with a (fake) luck talisman, Percy jumps at the chance for a bit of normalcy. But as strange coincidences start to converge around him, Percy finds himself in the middle of all sorts of misadventures.

For this special edition, Susie Bright has gathered human sexuality in all its diversity: pleasure and desire in all its forms. Featuring erotic stories by: Bret Easton Ellis, Poppy Z. Brite, William Harrison, Michelle Tea, Aimee Bender, and Molly Weatherfield.

Now genuinely a Spirit Knight, 16-year-old Claire wants to know everything about the job. Fate dumps a dragon on her, and she only has more questions. She knows how much she needs training and wishes she could snap her fingers to learn everything at once. Justin can answer Claire's questions, but between his demanding young daughters, his sarcastic horse, and the recent loss of his own mentor, he'd rather just be a Knight.

Now that the Spirit Knights have accepted 16-year-old Claire into their order, she just has to convince all its Knights she belongs. Forced into a test to prove her worth, she discovers more than anyone wants her to. Meanwhile, Justin runs around playing janitor. He's made some big messes, but cleaning them up puts him on a new path, one he never imagined his future could hold. All on Thanksgiving.