Showing results by narrator "Michael Axtell" in All Categories

In The Social Leap, William von Hippel lays out a revolutionary hypothesis, tracing human development through three critical evolutionary inflection points to explain how events in our distant past shape our lives today. From the mundane, such as why we exaggerate, to the surprising, such as why we believe our own lies and why fame and fortune are as likely to bring misery as happiness, the implications are far-reaching and extraordinary.

Julie and James settle into a house in a small town outside the city where they met. The move - prompted by James' penchant for gambling, his inability to keep his impulses in check - is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to leave behind their usual haunts and start afresh. But this house, which sits between lake and forest, has plans for the unsuspecting couple.

Roun was born clanless, depriving him of a future in an empire where bloodlines and reputation mean everything. His only hope for escaping the life of an outcast lies in being awakened by the Eldest Throne and becoming a guardian of humanity.

Evan Michaels is back in a new life as a Syrian refugee. When strange memories of his former lives lead him back to Zurich, headquarters of his old family of fellow reincarnationists, the Cognomina, he must reacquire their trust to rejoin their ranks. On the last leg of this journey, he is intercepted by an excommunicated member of the Cognomina who holds some serious grudges. She’s on a mission to wipe out large portions of the world’s population to save the planet from destruction. She proposes a union of the Cognomina and her own group of reincarnationists.

Did anyone ever tell you about the Dimension Rifts? Yes, portals to other dimensions, which one day, sprung up all over the entire world. Rumors say it happened on a day like any other, and it came without any warning. With the Dimension Rifts appearing all over the world, a new era had come. Though filled with endless possibilities, its lurking dangers would prove to be our end. That was the start of the apocalypse; the Dimension Apocalypse. It's also the start of one man's story: Evan Cross, a warrior from the destroyed future of Earth.

Fed up living under the oppression of monsters, Clara kills a vampire to rid the world of at least one of the beasts. But when her father’s gambling debts rage out of control and put her sister in harm’s way, she offers herself up to pay the debt. Thrust into a world of darkness and chaos, Clara does what she must to survive Alaric, her new master, who is determined to make her pay for what she did.

Glenda Lawson believes her husband was the only US serviceman shot and killed on American soil during World War II. But in 1945, investigators ruled that Billy Lawson died in a “mugging turned ugly.” Sean O’Brien is learning the ropes of commercial fishing when he gets his anchor caught on something underwater. He discovers a German U-boat partially buried in sand, and inside is a frightening cargo. The media pick up the story, and a 35-year-old woman who has a haunting tale visits O’Brien.

On the brink of a disaster that could end all human life on Earth, tech genius Robert Eisenbraun joins a team of scientists in Antarctica on a mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to mine a rare ore that can provide for Earth's long-term energy needs. But as he and the rest of the team train under the ice shelf in preparation for the long journey, trouble erupts. Before they embark, Eisenbraun finds himself the odd man out, and is put into cold sleep against his will.

Dr. Aaron Berkowitz had just finished his neurology training when he was sent to Haiti on his first assignment with Partners in Health. There, he meets Janel, a 23-year-old man with the largest brain tumor Berkowitz or any of his neurosurgeon colleagues at Harvard Medical School have ever seen. Determined to live up to Partners in Health’s mission statement “to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need”, Berkowitz tries to save Janel’s life by bringing him back to Boston for a 12-hour surgery.

Prince Aiden is gone. Taken. Kidnapped by the fae and portalled to only the Goddess knows where. And Penny Barclay is determined to find him. With a pack on her back and Aiden's trusty dog at her side, Penny rushes headfirst into Faerie—the world she'd always dreamed of but never thought she'd see. At first, the magical kingdom is mystical and fantastic, but as Penny journeys deeper into the seasonal Courts, she discovers that some magic is not to be trifled with and that her childhood fantasies were just that, fantasies.

When Courtney Burke appears at Ponce Marina on a humid summer morning, she leaves Sean O’Brien with a haunting tale. Her story could lead O’Brien down a path that began with a brutal crime 40 years earlier and hidden family secrets spawned from the desecration of the innocent. O’Brien learns that Courtney is linked to a series of carnival murders. Police are convinced she’s a serial killer, and all of her victims are men. But like the illusions found in the carnival’s house of mirrors, nothing is as it appears.

When Joe Billie stops a grave robber from unearthing a Seminole Indian burial site, Joe becomes the prime suspect in a bizarre murder. For Sean O'Brien, the first challenge is getting Joe to talk about the circumstances surrounding the killing. As Joe faces first-degree murder charges, O'Brien thinks he knows why his old friend is evasive. But proving it will send O'Brien deep into Seminole history to uncover a greedy killer hell-bent on creating a modern-day Trail of Tears.

Cheater now has a straightforward goal, or so it seems to him. To everyone else, his endeavor sounds suicidal for a high-level veteran, never mind a newcomer whose intellect is still shackled by the System. Cheater sees only one way forward: develop his skills, conquer monsters, and become stronger, faster, wiser, and more fearsome with each passing day. Until he makes progress on his own capabilities, he cannot hope to achieve anything else. But the System has intentions of its own.

The Tutorial Zones have converged. Humanity was caught unprepared and must now deal with new challenges. Now, Liam must get the situation under control once more before it is too late. Novel enemies emerge while deprivation of resources becomes a real issue due to the number of people. In the meantime, a mysterious organization's plans brew beneath the surface. In order to stand up to them and protect humanity at the same time, Liam will have to push himself to his limits. Left with no other choice, he must become exponentially stronger than before at a much faster rate.

When Sean O’Brien stops near the Florida Everglades to buy flowers for a woman, he doesn’t know that the purchase will lead to a trail of deceit, greed and murder. Chester Miller’s life goal is to restore rare ghost orchids in the Everglades. Entering the glades, he sees something that is very much out of place. The elder botanist becomes a target. O’Brien, in a race with the clock, follows a near invisible path that takes him across Florida in a web of dark political corruption.

As multiple worlds and dimensions converged, humanity was met with the Unknown. A mysterious System forces it to play its part in a death game, and through the workings of a higher power teleports every human to a deadly Tutorial Zone. In order to save himself and others, Liam must reach his full potential as the last hope. This is the story of a man's desperate attempts to save humanity from certain extinction, as well as find out who's behind it all. He dreams of creating a fairer, more just reality and through the System, finds a ray of hope.

Guilt dogs Prince Aiden's every footstep. He can still hear Penelope's screams in his dreams and see the flames devour Barclay Manor until it is nothing but ashes. But with a murderer on the loose in the capital, he can't risk allowing his feelings to cloud his judgment, even if it means keeping Penelope Barclay far away from him. With Penelope now trapped in the capital, Aiden has to do whatever he can to make the city safe—even if that means running away from the mage girl with cinnamon hair and emerald eyes shadowing his every move.

After being sanctioned by Avyleir Library, Roun and his friends find themselves looking forward to their futures as sacred guardians of humanity. Roun knows, however, that their evaluation was only one obstacle along an endless path, and it does not take long before they receive their next challenge: the coterie’s first Copper rank mission. The job seems simple on the surface, and tasks them with protecting a village from the threat of a roaming brigand clan. Yet upon their arrival, they discover the inhabitants are anything but what they expected.

Mikey Callahan, a 30-year-old who is suffering from the clouded vision of macular degeneration, is reconnecting with "The Gunners", his group of childhood friends, after one of their members has committed suicide. Sally had distanced herself from all of them before ending her life, and she died harboring secrets about the group and its individuals. Mikey especially needs to confront dark secrets about his own past and his father. How much of this darkness accounts for the emotional stupor Mikey is suffering from as he reaches his maturity?

The audiobook The Last Incarnation is filled with stories and reflections about Rama - Dr. Frederick Lenz. There are over 100 stories written by people who had direct personal contact with Rama for periods of time ranging from a few months to many years. Together these stories create a collection of powerful spiritual experiences retelling an ancient story: the search for God and Truth in human experience.