Showing results by narrator "Chris Monteiro" in All Categories

On a frigid winter night in early 1963, Rocco Anthony Balliro and a pair of associates stormed a darkened apartment on the outskirts of Boston and were immediately embroiled in a deadly shootout with several unseen assailants. Unbeknownst to Rocco at the time, the men who returned his fire were several Boston police officers, waiting in ambush for him. It was, as Rocco later described it, a hastily planned rescue mission that went downhill in a hurry. In the aftermath, his beloved girlfriend and her toddler son lay dead.

Having Seaman Jenna as the mascot on the USS Vandegrift was never meant to be a statement or symbolic act, or to put the crew on the radars of four-star admirals. Jenna came aboard unannounced, a Christmas gift that brought instant joy to the crew and transformed a gray ship into a home for 225 sailors. Her addition was not pre-approved by the chain of command—contrary to military protocol. Before long, Jenna became a phenomenon—the only dog on a Navy ship since World War II—despite the best efforts to keep her from the public eye.

With the fate of the United States in the hands of militia and surviving citizens, their darkest hour is upon them. After Gunnar Nelson is delivered into the hands of the traitor and mercenary Santiago Cruz, Miles Arrington mounts a daring mission with Snow, Grady, and Tex to rescue him. But in a cruel twist of fate, he soon discovers two secrets that calls into question everything, and one that may cost him his life. Meanwhile, enemy troops aren’t done with the Midwest.

The late Van Slayden trained on the PT-3 kite-like biplane in 1937, but he learned fighter pilot operations flying "by the seat of his pants," walking away from five crashes. Shortly after the invasion of Normandy, he landed on Utah Beach to help establish a US Army Air Forces' (AAF's) presence in Europe. He flew the P-47 Thunderbolt, a fighter-bomber, in combat over Northern France and commanded the 36th Fighter Group—the "Fightin' 36th"—at Batogne, St. Vith, the Bridgehead at Remagen, Operations Grenade, Clarion, Varsity and other missions.

This is a detailed journey of three immigrants forced to flee their small farm town in Czechoslovakia and start all over in the land of opportunity, America. This exciting tale spans multiple decades laying out just how these three siblings changed the live music industry and drug trafficking world forever. Come inside this wild ride of good and evil found in each person as these immigrants search to unlock the key to riches where they believe happiness is found.

Penny doesn't remember much about her childhood, and what she does remember isn't all that great. She and her mother moved too many times to a series of cheap motels. There were too many men visiting her mother, and none of them were her father. As for him, all Penny knew was that her father was rich and dead. When she was found abandoned on a deserted beach on the Salish Sea when she was four years old, Penny didn't even know her own name. Shunted from one foster home to another, she struggled to overcome the odds.

The four-year-old Brandon Sims had not been seen since July 3, 1992, when he attended a birthday party with his 20-year-old mother, Michelle Jones. For years, Jones lied to her friends about Brandon, telling some that he was living with his father and others that he was staying with his grandmother in another state. When Brandon’s father, who had been in jail, came looking for Brandon, Michelle’s shocked friends confronted her. She confessed that Brandon was dead. She repeated her story of how Brandon died to a detective. The detective didn’t believe her story.

American politics today can be defined by the intense and increasingly toxic divide between Democrats and Republicans. Matthew D. Luttig explores why so many Americans have endorsed this level of political conflict.

Years after a strategic attack killed millions and left the twelve states of the Midwest in darkness, the nation struggles to rise from the ashes. After a surprise ambush in Springfield, Missouri sets in motion a deadly chain of events, Miles Arrington leaves for Branson to aid militia in a life-or-death mission. As communities fall, and survivors turncoat, it’s not long before panic ensues. While Gunnar Nelson and Arianna narrowly escape enemy troops, Miles discovers a horrifying truth about August and a secret that may change the course of this fight forever.

When a man of science and a man of faith develop the ability to go back in time, there is only one place for them to go to demonstrate their new technology. After they make a wager about whether or not the resurrection of Jesus really happened, the two set out to prove it, one way or the other. Along the way, they face obstacles and challenges from those who want to use their technology for personal gain.

Richard Edward Carey came from a broken home. Enlisting in the Corps in 1946 he later earned a commission, fighting at Inchon and Chosin in Korea before becoming a pilot. During his thirty-eight-year military career he witnessed and participated in major historical events, though a high school wrestling injury would eliminate him from the Mercury-7 space program. As a second lieutenant, he tackled General Douglas MacArthur on the way to Seoul in 1950. Carey would provide critical intelligence decisions enabling the successful defense of the Chinese attack on Hagaru-ri at the Chosin Reservoir.

A hard-won peace has been earned by the McDonald family’s Georgia settlement, Hickory Falls. The rural community offers shelter, food, and safety. At least for now…. But in the aftermath of the solar flare, and the fall of the old world, danger takes many forms. It begins with a drought that threatens crops. Then a flood of refugees arrives, driven from their homes by a raging wildfire. They’ve lost everything, and the inferno is spreading.

In The Making of White American Identity, Ron Eyerman provides an explanation for how whiteness has become a basis for collective identification and collective action in the United States. Drawing upon his previous work on the formation of African American identity, as well as cultural trauma theory, collective memory, and social movements, he reveals how and under what conditions such a collective identification emerges, as well as how the mobilization of collective action around an ideology of whiteness and white superiority.

Kip Garrity’s father is the only family or friend he has left. After a viral catastrophe known as “the Outbreak” destroyed human civilization, Kip and his family locked themselves inside their fortified home to protect against a horde of mindless, infected killers that rose from the ashes of the old world.

Jodi McDonald and her family have escaped from the Helios cult. But their freedom has come at a heavy price. Now, grief-stricken and fractured, they are once again on the road. As they search for a new sanctuary, Jodi is driven by one need above all others: to protect her family at all costs. Every person has their breaking point, and Owen McDonald has reached his. To cope with unbearable loss, he fixates on finding a new home—a fresh start. But his obsession with reaching the coast could have deadly consequences.

In 1968, a budding New York City entrepreneur who provided immigrants with jobs takes a Florida vacation with his family. Meanwhile, his relative, an employee, is murdered on Long Island. Upon returning to New York, Sam Sommer learns the fate of his wife’s uncle, Irving Silver, when he doesn’t show up to carpool to work. Three days pass with no clues about his death. Then Sam is kidnapped by detectives with the engine still running. While held in custody, he is beaten and allegedly confesses to the murder.

A manager's guide to winning on the business battlefield from one of Fast Company's Fast 50 Innovative Leaders.

Disaster has struck the McDonald family. Everything they’ve built since the fall of civilization has been destroyed by a devastating fire. They’ve lost their community, supplies, and even loved ones. The death of Mike and James hits hardest of all. The other survivors are scattered. There’s nothing left. All that remains is the indomitable will to survive. Jodi is lucky enough to have several family members survive the fire, as they take to the road to find their new home.

In Savannah, Georgia, three college professors decide to ditch their boring research conference to crash a paranormal convention that happens to be taking place in the same building. After all, what better way to spend their time in the City of Ghosts? One by one, they sneak into lectures and presentations covering the many unexplained mysteries of the world. Amused by what they observe, they decide to take their fun a bit further: They each select a paranormal topic to investigate over the summer break.

On the morning of July 2, 2012, in the most dangerous warzone in the world, Lieutenant Clint Lorance took command of his small band of American paratroopers at the spearhead of the American War in Afghanistan. Intelligence reports that morning warned of a Taliban ambush against Lorance’s platoon. Fifteen minutes into their patrol, three military-age Afghan males crowded on a motorcycle and sped aggressively down a Taliban-controlled dirt road toward Lorance’s men.