Showing results by narrator "Ted Brooks" in All Categories

This essay is an introduction on the Tao Te Ching exploring the three points of truth, love ,and the interconnectedness of the life. It is written in a modern style using the pop music of Kenny Loggins, Bruce Springsteen, and David Gates to illustrate the points. The purpose of this essay is to serve as a companion to the Tao Te Ching. It is for those who wish to dive deeper into the essence of the Tao while living in the modern world.

Johnny Delmer was born in a cabin that should have been condemned in a small town known as Docerville. Johnny's parents didn't have much money to put food on the table for little Johnny to eat. Johnny's father, Jack, worked at Doc's gas station in Docerville whenever he wasn't drunk. Johnny's mothe,r Susan, worked as a waitress at Dugers Diner also located in Docerville, but only part-time because she had an alcohol problem as well. Seeing the way Johnny's father treated his mother was one factor that would later mold little Johnny Delmer into a serial killer.

Marine Second Lieutenant James Byerley is looking for some action in the seedy side. Instead, he finds a beautiful woman fighting off assailants. The coincidental meeting sets off a lifelong relationship as Byerley discovers he's stumbled onto a coup attempt and has rescued the crown princess. Rescuing the princess launches Byerley's career, but it also puts him in the crosshairs of the star kingdom's ambitious politicians.

Kay Sullivan Lynch, reinstated to the Chicago Police Department after two years as a widowed mom of four, not only plans to excel on the force, but to show her brothers - who opposed her return to "the job" - that she's up to the challenge. Captain Flynn Dowd, battling demons of his own, empathizes with Kay's struggles - but Sidewalk Santas collecting for the hungry are dropping dead all over Chicago. No apparent motive, no identifiable MO. It's up to Kay and Flynn to stop the "Santa Slayer." As they race against time to stop the killer, Kay's grief-deadened senses awaken to Flynn's overwhelming sexual magnetism.

What's supposed to be an upcoming authors dream would turn into a night of hell and become a curse to any one that happened to glance upon the last writings of author Richard Valance from the unfinished horror novel titled A Blast from Hell. Richard's publisher said in angry voice, if you don't finish that book tonight you're a dead man, and just to make sure, I'm coming over until you finish the last pen stroke. I've got too much money invested for this novel to die from someone that made a promise to me and not deliver.

It was 1863 in a town called Cactus Jack and Dr. Henry Corbin who was the town's doctor had grown tired of practicing medicine and was really interested in opening his own wax museum. When Henry brought mannequins to his wax museum and had his grand opening it turned out to be a disaster and Henry was out for revenge. That's when the horror begun for the townspeople.

Hell Hill Island was founded in 1863 by Marshall Sam Tucker who didn't believe in a fair trial because of his short fuse. If you back talked the Marshall, he would shoot you in both legs, then drag your wounded body with a rope he held as he rode his horse up to the Gallows to be hung high and when the Marshall was through watching the dead body swing back and forth on the Gallows, he would set their body on fire and light his cigar from the flames off their body.

In San Francisco, the brutal murder of a Chinatown businessman sets off a deadly chain reaction that exposes a long dormant blood feud. The spotlight falls on his eldest son Joe Sung, an aspiring folk singer, who must now evade death at the hands of a rival tong. At the same time, his girlfriend Maya gets caught in the crossfire as she digs deep into his family's hidden past.

In the beginning the Devil created Hell on Earth. The skies were red as fire and the oceans and seas ran deep with blood. The Devil liked what he created, so he created a demon called Beelzebub, meaning "Prince of Demons" in his likeness and set him out into the world to enjoy the Hell that was created. The Devil explained to Beelzebub, "Whatever you do don't eat the fruit from the Garden of Hell." Beelzebub replied, "Why master, it looks tasty." The Devil answered, "If you do, you won't see the wonderful Hell that I have created for you. Just to make sure you don't eat of the tree."

One night when Jimmie was spending the night at his grandparent's house his grandfather told him he was going to make the graveyard story more vivid, but would try to reassure him that it was all make believe. Jimmie went along with his grandfather's plan, but was unaware that his grandparents were Witches.

Michael was the youngest in his family - just eight years old - and loved to watch his favorite TV show called Dark Shadows. Michael's older brother David and his sister Susan would constantly sneak up while Michael was watching Dark Shadows in the dark and scare him. Even though his brother and sister did a good job scaring him, what really scared Michael the most was the vampire Barnabas Collins.

Springville Community Christian Church is nestled in the mountains of North Carolina and is a quiet, Mayberry-esque type of town - that is until a ruthless businessman sets his sights on the town and opens the first bar in the middle of the quiet community. Pastor Daniel Whitefield seeks only to do the will of God. Nothing more, nothing less.

With CPD cutbacks and a serial murderer to apprehend, new Chicago Police Department Captain Patrick Sullivan struggles to uphold the law and his reputation, while infamous defense attorney Charlie Demarco seems determined to undermine him. Chained to her job to restore her family's finances, Charlie has no choice but to defend the criminals Pat wants behind bars. Her biggest battle yet involves defending her heart against Patrick Sullivan.

Lizzie Moran is desperate to help her best friend’s husband recover from grief-stricken despair after her friend passes away. But their love was unlike anything Lizzie has ever seen. A love she knows will never happen for her, considering the bad choices she’s made. Jack Clark is ready to take whatever measures necessary to yank his brother out of the abyss he’s fallen into after his wife’s death. And when he meets the lovely Lizzie who has the same goal, he is perfectly willing to put aside their differences, for the sake of his brother.

When he loses his wife to a drunk driver, Richard Anthony Millay believes there will be no more brightness in his future. He may be right, for it is the darkness of an unrecalled past that pulls him away from everything he thought was real. Moving into the house that his wife had wanted so badly before she died, he soon comes to discover that it holds dark secrets, secrets that will haunt him in ways he couldn't imagine.

Dr. Phillips was an archaeologist that had a hunger for finding the big one, meaning a dig that would put him in history books. But Dr. Phillips wasn't a very patient man and if anyone got in his way of finding something worth celebrating, they were a dead man.

One night, while Dr. Phillips was reading his newspaper and smoking his pipe, he came across an interesting article that said there was a dig deep in the jungles of Africa, but no one has been able to recover the artifacts--only to die trying.

Lische, the second book by Wynn Johnson, reads like a novel but the people we meet and the events that take place were very real. The author relates in detail how his ancestor, Lische, establishes his farm after staking his claim in the wild lands of Kentucky in 1857. He marries his childhood sweetheart, Sally, in 1858 and, almost against his original idea of leading a simple, self-sufficient farming life, becomes the patriarch of a very successful family where their businesses make them very wealthy.

Four short stories in one package. Stories include: "Lucky Stiff", about a homeless man who comes across a black plastic bag filled with money; "Banding Together", a story about a musician checking Craigslist for a band to join and the frustration he encounters along the way; "State Pen Pal", about a man who writes to another man in prison while pretending to be a woman; and "Friends for Life", the touching story of two guys who grew up together in the same neighborhood and how they were close friends until something drove them apart.

The Tyrell Brothers Circus was rolling during the 1986 season. With dozens of cities to cover between spring and fall, Rick Tyrell and his brother, Buck, had their hands full just managing the staff, the equipment, and all the animals. What they didn't need was the person responsible for sabotaging their show. Two performers were dead, as was the biggest African elephant in any circus. Ring acts were sabotaged, and someone has a score to settle with the Tyrell Brothers. But who could it be?

15 short stories by the author of the Cooper, P.I. series.