Showing results by narrator "Christian Rummel" in All Categories

Ozark Free Territory, 2071: The Kurian Order has reigned for 50 years. Using the dreaded power of their Reaper avatars, the alien, vampiric Kur hold dominion over the Earth and its inhabitants. Yet there are those who would rather die fighting than surrender to the unquenchable thirst of the enemy - those like David Valentine .

Within the L, a tri-star system located inside the Aquilian Nebula, Jax makes a living trading and smuggling whatever goods pay the best. So far, he’s avoided being caught with anything too damning in his ship’s holds, but when he takes a job for Korinth, an infamous arms dealer, all that changes. The haul is worth 10 times his ship, and when the contents gets him embroiled in a tug of war between the major political factions of the L, Jax has to keep the criminals he works for from discovering that he’s playing both sides.

Fes has always longed for stability. Raised within the slums of the empire, taught to steal and hurt others to make his way, when he’s discovered by the emperor’s chief fire mage, he’s given a chance to use his particular gift for gathering lost dragon relics to become something more. An encounter with a priest in possession of a dragon bone reveals the existence of a new power that threatens to return the long dead dragons to the world. Chased by the dangerous enemies, Fes travels into the bleak lands of the Dragon Plains before others can reach it.

LAPD veteran "Hollywood Nate" Weiss could take or leave the opulence, but he wouldn't say no to onscreen fame. He may get his shot when he catches the appreciative eye of B-list director Rudy Ressler, and his troublemaking fiance, Leona Brueger, the older-but-still-foxy widow of a processed-meat tycoon. Nate tries to elude her crafty seductions, but consents to keep an eye on their estate in the Hollywood Hills while they're away.

The Watcher has released the Guardians, and now extinction is coming. Perry scrambles to unite humanity against the threat, but in the chaos of imminent doom, everyone is at each other's throats. As alliances fracture and friendships strain to the breaking point, Perry must find the final clues to the truth that lurks in the myths and unlock the true meaning of Confluence.

Lightspeed: Year One compiles fiction published by the online science fiction magazine Lightspeed in its first year. Produced by Skyboat Media, and under the direction of Grammy and Audie Award-winning narrator and producer Stefan Rudnicki, the Lightspeed podcast features audiobook-style recordings of the stories published each month in Lightspeed.

It is the 45th year of the Kurian Order. Lt. David Valentine is a proud member of the Wolves, an elite fighting force dedicated to regaining control of Earth. But a disastrous battle against the enemy has left more than half of his company wounded or dead - and Valentine facing a court-martial. Resigning his position, Valentine accepts an offer to become a Cat, one of the stealthy warriors trained to spy on - and go toe-to-toe against - the Reapers.

It's the 48th year of the Kurian Order. The alien, vampiric Kur and their avatars, the Reapers, control most of Earth - their new feeding ground. Humanity is scattered and survives only at their new masters' whims.

But the Resistance is attempting to reclaim Earth. David Valentine, member of the elite Cat spy force, is in enemy uniform aboard the aging gunboat Thunderbolt.

Earth's last Assault Troopers become Star Vikings, raiding alien worlds. In the third book of the Extinction Wars series, the Emperor of the Lokhars declares a holy crusade against the last humans, promising to finish what he started. Years ago at his orders, the Lokhars nuked the Earth and sprayed it with a bio-terminator. Creed has begun raiding alien worlds for more starships and the tech needed to clean the radioactive Earth. But how can his handful of cruisers stop the approaching armada?

I fell in love with a boy a long time ago. I was only a small girl. Scared and frightened, I was taken from my home and held against my will. His father hurt me, but he protected me and kept me safe as best he could. Until I left him. I ran the first chance I got, and even though I knew he wasn't behind me, I didn't stop. The branches lashed out at me, punishing me for leaving him in the hands of a monster. I've never felt such guilt in my life. Although I survived, the boy was never found. I prayed for him to be safe. I dreamed he'd be all right and come back to me.

Heed the Slammers Battle Cry! A warrior's truth: "In the long run, everybody's dead. So screw the long run!" Patriotic hoo-ha may be well and good for recruitment parades, but David Drake's battle-hardened mercenaries know it takes tanks, guns, and grit to win when the real fighting flares. Yet peace brings its own problems to old soldiers - for killing potential enemies in battle is self-limiting, but once the killing starts in peacetime, there may be no end to the madness.

The magic of the ancient dragons cannot be ignored. Learning he’s descended from the ancient Deshazl, those once known as the Dragonwalkers, has changed nothing for Fes. He continues to serve Azithan and the empire, even after deceiving them. The ancient Deshazl magic lives within him, but Fes doesn’t know how to control it or even if he should try. An old nemesis approaches him with a job he can’t refuse, and he’s forced to head toward Toulen. When betrayal separates him from from a friend in need, Fes must begin to understand how to use his Deshazl magic.

The discovery of a deadly virus being smuggled across the border pits FBI Special Agent James Mason and his strike force against an unknown adversary hell-bent on humanity’s destruction. In a desperate effort to contain the pathogen, they launch a predawn raid, only to find that their enemy knows they’re coming...and it’s not about to be taken alive. An explosion rips through the building, killing the majority of Mason’s team, including his partner and mentor.

When Roberto sneaks off to see a movie in his Italian village, he has no idea that life as he knows it is over. German soldiers raid the theater, round up the boys in the audience, and pack them onto a train. After a terrifying journey, Roberto and his best friend Samuele find themselves in a brutal work camp, where food is scarce and horror is everywhere. The boys vow to stay together no matter what. But Samuele has a dangerous secret, which, if discovered, could get them both killed. Lovers of historical fiction will be captivated by this tragic, triumphant, and deeply moving novel.

Humorless and drug addicted, physiognomist Cley is ordered by the Master of the Well-Built City to investigate a theft in a remote mining town. Well-versed in serving justice, arrogant Cley sets out to determine the identity of the thief using the pseudo-science of judging people by their features, but becomes distracted from his task by a beautiful girl from town.

The aliens have seen many worlds, but they know that Earth in particular is a jewel. They lust for its soaring mountains, its shining seas, its gorgeous forests and majestic deserts. There is just one part of the planet that they don't want: us. Flynn Carroll knows that the aliens are a race of brilliance and extraordinary cruelty. And he knows that they have found a way to eliminate humanity: capture the mind of the president of the United States.

Audible brings to life through dramatic performance the 1945-1946 radio broadcast reports covering the greatest courtroom drama of the 20th century - the Nuremberg trials. The original broadcasts have been lost forever, but the verbatim text - written by Harold Burson, founding chairman of one of the world’s leading public relations firms, Burson Marsteller, who at the time was a reporter for the Armed Forces Network - has been newly interpreted by an ensemble of some of our fine actors.

From New York Times best-selling author Kim Karr comes a flirty new love story. The whole stethoscope-and-white coat thing isn't my cup of tea. I prefer a man with an artistic vein in his body and 9-to-5 hours. And I can definitely do without the half-lidded, sleepy bedroom eyes. (Okay, so those are kind of sexy.) Tall, dark, and handsome doesn't change the fact that he's arrogant, cocky, and rude. Not that I care, but he's made it clear he wants nothing to do with a quirky girl like me, which is why he said no. Turns out no isn't an option.

Earth’s first colony ship finally reaches the target world. The excitement of planetfall is indescribable, but quickly transforms into sick disappointment when they find the atmosphere is a roiling mass of hydrochloric acid, carbon dioxide, and other deadly poisons. They fly onward, seeking better planets. They find them, but none are ideal. The search goes on for a century, then longer still. As they move farther from Earth, aliens discover the intruding ship, and they begin to investigate humanity. They find our species unacceptable.

Speed: the most demonized - and misunderstood - drug in the land. Deprived of the ingrained romantic mysticism of the opiate or the cosmopolitan chic of cocaine or the mundane tolerance of marijuana, there is no sympathy for this devil. Yet speed - crystal meth, amphetamines, Dexedrine, Benzedrine, Adderall; crank, spizz, chickenscratch, oblivious marching powder, the go-fast - is the most American of drugs: twice the productivity at half the cost, and equal opportunity for all.