Showing results by narrator "Patrick Cronin" in All Categories

It should be simple - a dragon defeated, a slumbering princess in a castle, a prince poised to wake her. But when the prince falls asleep as his lips touch the fair maiden's, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over. With a desperate fairy's last curse controlling her mind, Princess Aurora must escape from a different castle of thorns and navigate a dangerously magical landscape - created from her very own dreams.

Having reclaimed her throne, Queen Myriam is now desperate to find her missing grandmother. Over Ganry's protests, she embarks on a dangerous rescue mission. But with an unexpected threat, and mysterious forces at work, even Ganry's sword may not be enough to protect her.

Ganry, former mercenary, has pledged his sword to keep Princess Myriam safe. To claim her throne as the rightful heir, Myriam must overcome the usurper once and for all. With Ganry at her side, and friends at her back, their quest for justice begins.

In the wasteland of commercial culture that is future America, police are operated not by government but by private companies. In Seattle, that role is filled by Civil Protection, and Daniel Gray is a detective in Homicide Solutions. What used to be considered an important - even glamorous - department for public police is very different for the corporate species, and Gray finds himself stuck in a dead end job. That is, until the Spine Thief arrives. When a serial killer begins harvesting the spinal tissue of corporate employees all over the city, Detective Gray finds himself plunged into the first truly major case of his career.

Prize-winning author Benjamin Hale's fiction abounds with a love of language and a wild joy for storytelling. In prose alternately stark, lush and hallucinatory, occasionally nightmarish and often absurd, the seven stories in this collection are suffused with fear and desire, introducing us to a company of indelible characters reeling with love, jealousy, megalomania, and despair.

Former special-ops soldier and now an analyst for the think tank Vektor, Max Anger would kill to move on from the scars of his past - if only for the sake of Pashie, his girlfriend and fellow operative, who wants out of the battle zone. For them, a normal life is just one more dangerous uncertainty. Especially now that evil is hitting closer to home. Sofia Karlsson of the Swedish police wants Max’s help in a high-profile and high-stakes murder investigation: the hunt for a serial killer stalking the streets of Stockholm, who’s eliminating his victims in gruesome ways.

The greatest philosopher who ever lived. A dissolute tyrant in need of an education. What could possibly go wrong? Plato was the most brilliant thinker of his age. Head of the Academy in Athens, friend of the best minds of his generation, his philosophy was famous across the Greek world. But would he ever get the chance to try his ideas out?

In a provincial town on Lake Constance, Johann basks in the affection of the colorful staff and regulars at the Station Restaurant. Though his parents struggle to make ends meet, around him the world is rich in mystery: the attraction of girls; the power of words and his gift for music; his rivalry with his best friend, Adolf, son of the local Brownshirt leader; a circus that comes to town bringing Anita, whose love he and Adolf compete to win.

The only son of a cattle rancher, Anthony Fry chafed against the expectation that he would take over the business that had belonged to his family for generations. While his ancestors planted deep roots in the unforgiving Montana soil, Anthony wanted nothing more than to leave Billings for the excitement, sophistication, and culture of city life. After college he fled to New York, hoping to turn his lifelong love of the theater into a career.

Paul How guides you on what to expect once you commit to learning, with all its ups and downs, so that you can optimize the experience. The first section of the book examines the mindset necessary to acquire a skill, emphasizing processes rather than results. Next, the book delves into techniques for better memorization of your subject matter. The final section on "Action" discusses how to best apply what you've learned in order to lessen anxiety and maximize enjoyment.

The defense of Castle Elfwood, hidden in an enchanted forest in Albion, from barbarians and the unearthly Orcs depends on four young people - a lord, a magician, a druidess, and an orphan - in the first book of the series.

Paladin, traitor, outcast, mercenary... Dain Gladstone has been all of these. From childhood he’s been groomed for battle and trained in the Light. When war came he was branded a traitor and exiled for a treasonous act of mercy. To make his way in the world, Dain has sold his skills to the highest bidder. But now he’s grown tired of war, tired of fighting for causes not his own, and he’s got a plan.

His whole life Carter’s fought to hold it together: To help Mom run their store. To be there for his special-needs sister, Sara, and be the perfect boyfriend Mel wants. To dominate on the basketball court - the only place he ever feels free. And to carry Mom up the stairs when she’s too smashed to make it on her own. It isn't like she has a problem. Mom loves them. If she doesn't drink every day, she's not really an alcoholic, right? Wrong. Then Kira Dawson, a girl with a bipolar wardrobe and rotating hairstyles comes to town. Somehow, she sees the truths he hides from the world.

Swordsman Caltus Talienson, sorceress Bith, Hathor the troll, and the elf Endril band together to battle the forces of the Dark Lord of Mistwall, an evil force that has so far decimated the defenders of the Westwoods.

Orphan-warrior Caltus Talienson must capture Skryling's Blade, the ancient rune-carved sword and the only weapon that can slay the Dark Lord's fire-breathing servant.

When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited—to fill five places.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment. Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

In early 2013 same-sex marriage was legal in only 10 states and the District of Columbia. That year the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor appeared to open the door to marriage equality. In Texas, Mark Phariss and Vic Holmes, together for 16 years and deeply in love, wondered why no one had stepped across the threshold to challenge their state's 2005 constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage. They agreed to join a lawsuit being put together by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLD.

In the crypt-like depths of Ochre Mountain, an evil vampire rises from a slumber of centuries. Eager to pay homage to the Dark Lord, he unleashes a legion of zombies to conquer the land of the living, and to at least breach the boundary of the Dark Divide.

It is the 147th century. In the radically advanced post-human worlds of the Amaranthine Firmament, there is a contender to the Immortal throne: Aaron the Long-Life, the Pretender, a man who is not quite a man. In the barbarous hominid kingdoms of the Prism Investiture, where life is short, cheap, and dangerous, an invention is born that will become the Firmament's most closely kept secret.