Showing results by narrator "Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki" in All Categories

As the early years of detective fiction gave way to two separate golden ages - of hard-boiled tales in America and intricately-plotted, so-called “cozy” murders in Britain - the legacy of Sherlock Holmes, with his fierce devotion to science and logic, gave way to street smarts on the one hand and social insight on the other, but even though these new sub-genres went their own ways, their detectives still required intelligence and clear-sightedness as characterized the earliest works of detective fiction: the trademarks of Sherlock Holmes, and of all the detectives featured here.

Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, with the help of his friend newspaper reporter Hutchison Hatch, solves a variety of mysteries using cold, hard logic. No matter how twisted the trail of clues or how clever the perpetrator, Professor Van Dusen, aptly dubbed “The Thinking Machine”, reminds us that “two and two make four, not some times, but all the time”.

Who is the Crimson Empress, and what does her conquest of the Named Lands really mean? Who holds the keys to the Moon Wizard’s Tower? The plots within plots are expanding as the characters seek their way out of the maze of intrigue. The world is expanding as they discover lands beyond their previous carefully controlled knowledge. Hidden truths reveal even deeper truths, and nothing is as it seemed to be.

Science fiction dwells mostly in the realm of possibility, where mysteries proliferate nevertheless, meaning is never static, and “time and history have convinced us that things are not as they seem”. So, too, does all language, argues Samuel Delany, in his vigorous justification for the writing life. Chronicling his struggle with dyslexia, the evolution of his gay and Black identity during the AIDS crisis, and his experiences and relationships through five decades as a writer of fiction and nonfiction, Delany is a longtime observer of language’s inner workings.

In an attempt to soothe growing Cold War tensions between America and Russia, Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits the US to see all that his “enemy” has to offer. Top of his to-do list? A trip to Disneyland and an introduction to sexual icon Marilyn Monroe. Thanks to the impossible security requirements, Disneyland is out of the question. Marilyn, on the other hand, jumps at the chance to put on a show for the Russian official. During her appearance, she overhears the details of an assassination plot designed to spark an atomic holocaust and devastate both superpowers.

Letters of a Nation is a unique and timeless collection of extraordinary letters spanning more than 350 years of American history, from the arrival of the Pilgrims to the present day. Many of the more than 200 letters are published here for the first time, and the correspondents are the celebrated and obscure, the powerful and powerless, including presidents, slaves, soldiers, prisoners, explorers, writers, revolutionaries, Native Americans, artists, religious and civil rights leaders, and people from all walks of life.

Lord Angle Theta and his men seemed unstoppable and unbeatable, no matter the odds. But when they met their match in the swamps of storied jutenheim, Lomerian blood ran like rivers. Ector and Malcolm Eotrus had a simple duty: Keep their family's mighty fortress safe, as had their ancestors for untold centuries. They failed. Time and again, Lomerian wizards conquered challenges that brawn and brain alone could not master. But magic has a weighty price. Even the greatest sorcerers cannot escape the Wizard's Toll.

No matter what strange forms the future takes, says Ben Bova in his introduction, crime and criminals will always be with us - and with them, the need for law enforcement. Included in this collection of short stories are the full-length novel City of Darkness and "Brillo" - the famous collaboration between Bova and Harlan Ellison.

One child holds the key to the survival of the Fae and humanity. But with King Jarvok a shadow of his former self, Asa has chosen to disobey him and disguise herself as a member of the Court of Light to find answers. Together, she, Indiga, Dora, and the Familiars undertake a perilous mission to rescue the Little One who can lead them to the prophecy child. Yet, even if they save him, they still have many powerful enemies who will do anything to prevent the prophecy child from being found and fulfilling their destiny.

Micah Abrams has been transformed. No longer the bully who tormented David Donner, he faithfully follows a divine mission to spread hope and healing across the ashy wastelands of the Pacific Northwest. But when Sera Donner is taken from him once again, doubt comes prowling for Micah's own soul, and he makes a shocking choice that changes everything. Running from an enemy he once believed couldn't destroy him, adrift in a lawless land where people will do anything to survive, Micah must come to grips with a God whose power is perfected in weakness.

These stories are set in the familiar quasi-medieval worlds to which modern listeners are accustomed, and also stories rooted in the authentic myth-constructs of high antiquity, along with several that depend for their power on the juxtaposition of fantastic situations and terribly contemporary aspects of modern life on Earth. Together these stories make up a collection which provides reassuring proof of fantasy's eternal power in this technological age.

Vampires. Zombies. Wendigo. There are a million books about them, and of similar paranormal, undead creatures. Sparkly cutesy ones. Vicious evil ones. Heroic ones. Impossible to kill ones. Slow and fast ones. Some books even purport to tell you of their origins. Well, they're all bunk and bother, as Ob would say. Nothing but humbug. This eighth volume of the Harbinger of Doom saga is different. It reveals the truth about those creatures.

Magee was given a key to the Baldpate Inn so he might write in solitude, but he soon discovers that he is not the only person with a key. In fact, he is only one of seven! And the other guests, including a young woman who catches Magee’s eye, are all there on a mission to find a mysterious package with a large sum of money.

Michael B. Koep’s final installment in the Newirth Mythology trilogy brings a psychologist face to face with his greatest fear: madness. On the other side of the world, a professor of mythology struggles to interpret a sudden shift in the historical timeline, the mysterious discovery of the ruins of an ancient city, and the anomalous nature of Loche’s writing.

Do zombies scare the stuffing out of you? I'm not talking the slow ones that mindlessly stumble around moaning and tripping over their own feet. I'm talking fast zombies. Ones that will run you down, tear you to pieces, and eat you for supper. Ones that keep coming no matter what damage you do to them. Did any such creatures ever exist, except in people's imaginations? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. This seventh volume of the Harbinger of Doom saga reveals the truth about them.

Blackstone Audio presents An American Family Shakespeare Entertainment: Based on Charles & Lamb's 20 Tales From Shakespeare, augmented by miscellaneous scenes and soliloquies from Shakespeare's plays. Featuring Elizabethan songs and dances in new arrangements for stringed instruments.

Aurora, Queen of the Light Fae, is a former Virtue angel sent to earth to nurture the planet in preparation for humanity. Jarvok, King of the Dark Fae, was once a nameless foot soldier from the Power Brigade angels cast down to earth to fight against the demon horde.

Four years after Aletto, the rightful duke of Zelharri, is restored to his throne, Lialla, the outcast duchess of Zelharri must use her secret powers of Hell-Light to determine her fate.

A billionaire scientist, driven by the unsolved murder of his wife and daughter at the hands of religious extremists, offers his newly developed Fountain of Youth Pill to the world free of charge - under condition that the recipient abandons any and all support of religion. His goal is the creation of a global utopia based on science and reason, but has he underestimated religion's power for good in the world? Will its destruction threaten the very Armageddon he seeks to prevent?

Goon Squad is set in a version of modern-day Manchester. Its biggest divergence from the real city is that it - along with most other large urban centers - has a team of superheroes to protect it against unusual threats with which the conventional forces of law and order would have problems.