Showing results by narrator "Jess Nahikian" in All Categories

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games. Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Aidan Thomas is a hard-working family man and a somewhat beloved figure in the small upstate New York town where he lives. He’s the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. But Aidan has a dark secret he’s been keeping from everyone in town and those closest to him. He’s a kidnapper and serial killer. Aidan has murdered eight women and there’s a ninth he has earmarked for death: Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed, fearing for her life.

After a tragic accident claims the life of one of her children, Marie Egide is desperate to carve out a fresh start for her family. With her husband and their three surviving children, Marie travels to New Hampshire, where she plans to sell a family estate and then, just maybe, they’ll be able to heal from their grief. Marie’s plans are thwarted when she realizes a war veteran known by locals as “the river witch” is living in a cabin on the property, which she claims was a gift from Marie’s grandfather. If Davina refuses to move on, Marie won’t be able to either.

Camryn Lane is living her dream. After years of struggle and rejection, her first novel has finally been published. Her editor is happy; her teenage daughter is proud; and her boyfriend and friends are all excited for her. She’s on top of the world—until she receives a disturbing message from an unknown sender. Rattled by the accusations she finds there, Camryn swallows the sick feeling in her stomach and resolves to put the missive out of her mind. But when she checks her ratings on a popular book site, she finds a scathing one-star review.

If there’s a healthy way to grieve, Erin Gaines hasn’t found it. After her husband’s sudden death, the runaway success of the tech company they built with their best friends has become overwhelming. Her nerves are frayed, she’s disengaged, and her frustrated daughter, Shorie, is pulling away from her. Maybe Erin’s friends and family are right. Maybe a few weeks at a spa resort in the Caribbean islands is just what she needs to hit the reset button…

SWORD FIGHT and WAR CAR, the epic two-part adventure series set in a world where knights drive fast cars and clash in duels of honor across a medieval America.

Brooke is a divorced single mom, financially strapped, living with her mother, and holding tight to the one thing that matters most: her two-year-old daughter, Etta. Then, in a matter of seconds, Brooke’s life is shattered when she’s carjacked. Helpless and terrified, all Brooke can do is watch as Etta, still strapped in her seat, disappears into the Los Angeles night. Miles away, Etta is found by Molly, a homeless teen who is all too used to darkness. Thrown away by her parents, and with a future as stable as the wooden crate she calls home, Molly survives day to day by her wits.

Marley Henderson is having the worst year of her life. First, a drunken mistake costs her everything, including her engagement and her closest friend, Thea. Then, a series of cruel rumors make her an outcast in the small Georgia community she calls home. Finally, a string of vicious arsons rip through town, leaving unchecked destruction—and Thea’s body—in their wake.

When Nicole Rayburn travels to Lockwood Hall and begins to research Alys’s story for a new book, she discovers startling irregularities in Alys’s case. Nicole’s suspicions mount as every answer leads to more questions. What really happened to Alys? And what became of her son, who disappeared the day she was hanged? Could it be that Alys’s death was the result of a well-planned conspiracy, or is there another, less obvious answer? And who is trying to sabotage Nicole's efforts by stealing her work?

Freakishly smart. That’s the unwelcome box Ru Evans is put into for life. After all, she taught herself Euclidean geometry at age seven, has an eidetic memory, and is about to enter college at thirteen years old. Boarding at a house near campus 150 miles from home, Ru meets seventeen-year-old Gabriel, an outsider himself who, like Ru, has trouble making friends—until they form a fast sibling-like bond. Finding a relatable someone in the world to talk to is a first for both of them.

Valerie was born with one foot on the accelerator. Raised in a family of renowned swordsmen, her need for speed sets her apart. But when a tragic murder casts her out of the noble society she’s relied on to protect her, she has to master the way of the sword to fight her way back. The king is searching for the next knight to sit at the Round Table, but Valerie only wants justice. To get it, she’ll enter his tournament and face road warriors from all over the kingdom. Her only hope for survival is a brooding swordsman mentor, a blade with no name, and one legendary car.

Grace is an usher at the stately (and possibly haunted) Royal Ruby Theater. She’s also an aspiring actress ready for her big break. Vanessa is the glamorous yet spiteful star who’s made more enemies than friends on her rise to the top. When Vanessa winds up dead in act one, Grace is determined to find the killer. But is she seeking justice, or something darker?

After Emily Starr loses her dear father, the ten-year-old orphan is packed off to live with her starched relatives on Prince Edward Island. If only she could relate to them. Frankly, whip-smart, ambitious Emily can’t imagine ever feeling at home at New Moon Farm. Especially when her writerly dreams are routinely dashed by her autocratic aunt. Then Emily finds an outlet for her creative spirit with a group of friends every bit as passionate and gifted as she. With their help, New Moon could start to feel like home after all.

What should you do when you're dragged to the hells? As a holy maiden of the Phoenix Queen, Jasmine was a prize of immense value to the demons. To their shock, she and her nearly defeated rescuers are rescued by the beautiful but scathing Xandra, an enslaved elven sorceress who’d been damned for over a millennium. And the fickle hand of fate would reunite her with Xandra again, once darkness shrouded her homeland and all the other holy maidens are captured. She doesn't know that acerbic, destructive sorceress will provide her only source of hope for the future.

Candace Pert stood at the dawn of three revolutions: the women’s movement, integrative health, and psychopharmacology. A scientific prodigy, she was 30 years ahead of her time, preaching a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to healthcare and medicine long before yoga hit the mainstream and “wellness” took root in our vernacular. Her bestselling book Molecules of Emotion made her the mother of the Mind/Body Revolution, launching a paradigm shift in medicine. Deepak Chopra credits her with creating his career, and he said as much in his eulogy at her funeral.

There are rules for Voynich Woods: Always carry a whistle. Never go alone. Always come home before dark. And if anyone calls your name, don't answer. Because everyone who wanders from the path is never seen again. Except for Riley Walcott. Riley knows better than to stray from the trail in the woods behind her uncle Toby's house. But her little sister Sam breaks the rules in pursuit of a local legend, so Riley chases after her and discovers a knife-wielding figure and a waiting grave.

1958. Kate Morgan is looking for an escape, and she gets her chance by honoring a cryptic plea from her grandfather: Find the beautiful stranger. The search takes her to Hotel del Coronado, the beachfront landmark on the Southern California coast where filming is underway on the movie Some Like It Hot. For a movie lover like Kate, it’s a fantasy come true. So is the offer of a position at the glamorous hotel. But as sure as she is that Coronado is her future, Kate discovers it’s also where the ghosts of the past have come to stay.

When nature gets up close and personal, it isn’t always pretty. A fallen tree sparks a poisonous feud between neighbors. A child searches the darkness for the gleam of a tiger’s teeth. A woman holds off a colony of oddly relentless prairie dogs. In unsettling stories that range from horror to magical realism, award-winning authors lay bare the secrets hidden in the land.

Bree’s new home is luxurious and private, with a fancy Beverly Hills address. What a shame it’s not hers. Widowed, penniless, living in her car, and out of options, she’s climbed the fence and crashed in the pool house. All she wants is a good night’s sleep. But when Sophie, the absentee owner, finds her, she gets a whole lot more.

Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story. One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?