Showing results by narrator "Kevin T. Collins" in All Categories

Russia, 1940. Fifteen-year-old Misha’s life is about to transform when his father is offered a job in Stalin’s inner circle. They move into a luxurious apartment in the Kremlin, but doubts about the glorious new Russia quickly surface. Misha realizes that the secret police can do whatever they like. His own mother is arrested and sent to prison, but Misha and his father daren’t complain. Then as German troops advance on Moscow, the atmosphere in the Kremlin ignites.

To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact. This blinds us to the physical realities of mental function. We ignore bodily influences on our psychology, from chemicals in the blood to bacteria in the gut, and overlook the ways that the environment affects our behavior, via factors varying from subconscious sights and sounds to the weather.

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters. We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace. For now, we watch from afar. Pressia Belze has lived outside of the Dome ever since the detonations. Struggling for survival she dreams of life inside the safety of the Dome with the 'Pure'. Partridge, himself a Pure, knows that life inside the Dome, under the strict control of the leaders' regime, isn't as perfect as others think.

In trouble more often than not, guilty of assault, manslaughter, and honorably discharged from the military by the skin of his teeth, David "Bugs" McKenna can't seem to help doing the right thing at the wrong time - or the wrong thing, every chance he gets. But when he drifts his way into Ragtown, Texas, things seem to finally be turning around for Bugs. Still, things are likely to get ugly, fast - and odds are, it'll have something to do with the bombshell wife of Bugs' new employer....

Peace isn't the way we thought it would be. The planet hangs on the brink of collapse, with only pockets of resistance remaining. While governments fold and submit in the wake of a new enemy, civilians are rounded up and assimilated into new communities. With the little that remains, Jacob knows that they must make a stand and let the world know that we will not lie down quietly. Those who are willing to take up the fight. They see that now is a time for heroes...a last chance to stand up against the invaders.

Harrison J. Walker - Jaywalker, to the world - is a frayed-at-the-edges defense attorney with a 90-percent acquittal rate, thanks to an obsessive streak a mile wide. But winning this case will take more than just dedication. Seventeen-year-old Jeremy Estrada killed another boy after a fight over a girl: shot him point-blank between the eyes. No one disputes those facts. This kid is jammed up big-time, but almost unable to help himself. He's got the face of an angel but can hardly string together three words to explain what happened that day...yet he's determined to go to trial.

In a world where one's magical prowess is determined by one's skill with words and ability to spell, Nicodemus is a wizardly apprentice afflicted by a curse that causes him to misspell magical texts. Now the demon who cursed him has hatched a conspiracy to force Nicodemus to change language and ultimately use it to destroy all human life. As Nico tries to thwart the demon's plan, he faces challenges from all sides.

Was it a living woman that stood by his side, or a dead body reanimated for the time or the occasion in some strange manner?

Newlyweds Polly and Leo Xanthus long for a life where they never have to hide from the mafia that forced them into seclusion. The Marcello crime family is on the brink of going under. With their revenue streams drying up and the feds ever-present on their tail, aging crime boss Alfonso Balivino looks to steal a diamond owned by his one-time boss, Kostas Xanthus, to fund the family. Now, Polly and Leo will be forced to leave their unknown location and find their way home to New Orleans before the Marcello family murders again, forcing them and the ring on Polly’s hand out of hiding.

The day has finally arrived: Mitchell Wate and Lillian English are getting married. Everyone has come together - Ethan and Lena, John and Liv, even Link is back in town - and there's enough pie to make Amma proud. But despite the joyous occasion, Ethan can't help but worry that something feels...off. When Siren-turned-Hybrid Caster Ridley blows into town unannounced, Ethan's suspicions are confirmed.

While hunting neodemons in her role as Warden of Ixos, Leandra obtains a prophetic spell that provides a glimpse one day into her future. She discovers that she is doomed to murder someone she loves, soon, but not who. That's a pretty big problem for a woman who has a shark god for a lover, a hostile empress for an aunt, a rogue misspelling wizard for a father, and a mother who - especially when arguing with her daughter - can be a real dragon.

Brand-new stories by: G. M. Ford, Skye Moody, R. Barri Flowers, Thomas P. Hopp, Patricia Harrington, Bharti Kirchner, Kathleen Alcalá, Simon Wood, Brian Thornton, Lou Kemp, Curt Colbert, Robert Lopresti, Paul S. Piper, and Stephan Magcosta. Early Seattle was a hardscrabble seaport filled with merchant sailors, longshoremen, lumberjacks, rowdy saloons, and a rough-and-tumble police force not immune to corruption and graft.

From the introduction by David L. Ulin: "For me, Cape Cod is a repository of memory: forty summers in the same house will do that to you. But it is also a landscape of hidden tensions, which rise up when we least anticipate. In part, this has to do with social aspiration, which is one of the things that brought my family, like many others, to the Cape. In part, it has to do with social division, which has been a factor since at least the end of the nineteenth century, when then summer trade began."

Epic in scope, Macrolife opens in the year 2021. The Bulero family owns one of Earth's richest corporations. As the Buleros gather for a reunion at the family mansion, an industrial accident plunges the corporation into crisis, which eventually brings the world around them to the brink of disaster. Vilified, the Buleros flee to a space colony where young Richard Bulero gradually realizes that the only hope for humanity lies in macrolife - mobile, self-reproducing space habitats.

Mac Callahan, a seasoned FBI agent in Washington, DC, has given up the fast lane to live a life of sweet tea and sunshine in Alabama with the girl of his dreams, Samantha Peterson. But Mac’s years of bringing down drug lords and psychotic criminals is about to catch up with him just as he’s resigned himself to leave it all behind. Carefully planning, Hector Quintes has patiently waited to crash Mac and Samantha’s happily ever after. As Hector becomes intimately close to their family, the line between friend and foe grows strangely blurred.

With the weight of expectation riding on Nyx's shoulders, the stakes have never been higher. She's got to save herself, her brother, and everyone else who's counting on her survival knowledge... if only she knew how to get them all out. It's back to the drawing board, but there's no way she's giving up her dream of freedom after coming so far, whatever the cost.

Christian Montgomery is burnt out - the family business might be his entire world, but his father's judgment means Christian never stops working. His only respite is gazing at the beach and the carefree surfers riding the waves, especially the curvy redhead who's caught his attention.

She's all I could ever want.... I have a reputation around school. Cold. Untouchable. Unfeeling. Only one girl could ever make me want to change and that's Amanda Winters. Too bad I broke her heart and drove her away. So to get through the rest of my days in high school, I tell myself I need to focus on more important things. Like taking our football team to championships. Get accepted to the college of my choice. And finish my senior year without wanting to run away from my problems.

Sometimes the good guys win and the bad guys end up dead. But that isn't how it always goes down. In the ZOO, you are either fast and lucky or you are dead. Heavy Metal has a few videos that are out gaining attention in parts of the world, and that doesn't bode well for them. Some people are noticing that Sal and his team have someone extra-special working with them, and they want a piece of her...or all of her. This time, it's back to basics for Heavy Metal with just Sal, Madigan, and Courtney. Are they enough to save their friend?

Discover the science behind the Fortnite phenomenon! This book will discuss how many of the game's most fantastical weapons might actually work, how the player-made structures would or wouldn't stand up to the stress of battle, and what the deal is with that huge purple storm! Whether you're a fan of Battle Royale, Save the World, or Creative play, The Science of Fortnite will entertain and enlighten you with the scientific truths behind this amazing game.