Survival Mystery

Runner-up in the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies Essay Contest. Does consciousness continue after death? For 150 years, scientists, doctors, and other highly qualified investigators have carefully collected evidence in hopes of answering this question. In this award-winning essay, Sharon Hewitt Rawlette analyzes the best of that evidence to date.

Months after foiling an attack on a commercial jetliner, Doctors Without Borders physician Jonathan Ransom is working under an assumed name in a remote corner of Africa while his wife, Emma, desperate to escape the wrath of Division, the secret American intelligence agency she betrayed, has vanished into the netherworld of international espionage. Both look forward to sharing a stolen weekend in London - until an ambush on a convoy of limousines turns their romantic rendezvous into a terrorist bloodbath.

I volunteered to be a spy, not an assassin. I know this is war...but I just want to do what's right. If you ask me, none of us should be here - but no one gave me a choice. And I won't blindly follow orders. I am essential to the plan. And I will be a hero for my country. If I were normal, I wouldn't be old enough to join the army. But I'm not normal. I'm a weapon.

In a frozen wasteland where survival hangs by a thread, Simon Frost and his band of hardened warriors embark on a daring mission. With their lives on the line, they scour the treacherous landscape in search of vital resources to keep their camp alive. But when they encounter a ruthless adversary, they find themselves outnumbered and outmatched as a relentless battle erupts. Bullets tear through the air, and the stench of blood saturates the earth as they fight tooth and nail, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.

Shy takes the summer job to make some money. A few months on a luxury cruise liner - how bad can it be? Bikinis, free food, maybe even a girl or two...there’s always going to be a fresh crop of passengers, after all. He’ll rake in the tips and be able to help his mom with the bills. But then an earthquake more massive than any ever recorded hits California, and Shy’s life is changed forever. The earthquake is only the beginning. Twenty-four hours and a catastrophic chain of events later, Shy is lost at sea, fighting to survive - and stuck with her....

Plunged into a free for all lifestyle with survival of the fittest the only law, it would be easy for Cole Evans and his family to remain in short-term survival mode, living in the moment. But, Cole refuses to lose his conscience - his humanity - and won't stop fighting for a better future.

Tony, Craig and Shawn are trapped on an ice floe on the Petitcodiac River in the dead of winter, and the rapid current is pulling them toward the ocean. Twelve-year-old Petra arrives, and the boys think they’re saved, but their dangerous journey is only just beginning.

Welcome to the Arcadia. Once a luxurious cruise ship, it became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. Now it floats near the coastline of the Federated States—a leftover piece of a fractured USA. For forty years, residents of the Arcadia have been prohibited from making landfall. It is a world of extreme haves and have nots, gangs and make-shift shelters. Esther is a loyal citizen, working flat-out to have the rare chance to live a normal life as a medic on dry land. Nik is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all.

It was supposed to be just one night in the cabin: one night for Lottie and her brand new stepsister, Jade, to try to get along. When a solar flare causes a massive blackout—no power or cell signal—Lottie knows they've got a long night ahead of them. Then, in the dark, someone else shows up at the cabin—a stranger named Alex, claiming to be lost and needing shelter from the coming snowstorm. But later that night, Lottie spies him in the driveway talking to two mysterious men in a pickup truck, and she's sure he's lying about why he's here.

The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist. Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day...they don't show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates.

Flavia, Jonathan, Lupus, and Nubia - friends and detectives - sail to the Bay of Naples to spend the summer with Flavia's uncle, who lives near Pompeii. There they uncover a riddle that may lead them to a great treasure. Meanwhile, tremors shake the ground, animals behave strangely, and people dream of impending doom. One of the worst natural disasters of all time is about to happen: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius!

While camping in a remote location, Maddie Davenport gathers around the fire with her friends and family to tell scary stories. Caleb, the handsome young guide, shares the local legend of the ferocious Mountain Men who hunt unsuspecting campers and leave their mark by carving grisly antlers into their victims' foreheads. The next day, the story comes true. Now Maddie and her family are lost in the deep woods - with no way out - being stalked by their worst nightmares. There were other, more horrifying stories told that night - and Maddie's about to find out just how they end...

High-school senior Riley Ozment is desperate to change her reality after making a fool of herself on social media. She needs to do something drastic to repair her social standing - like trying out for a Survivor-style reality TV show. Suddenly, Riley's dropped onto a deserted tropical island with 19 other teens competing for a million dollars and a rumored treasure lost on the island. But that treasure has a history: A local curse says that seven people need to die before the treasure can be found.

In the secluded village of Misthaven, an eerie mist rolls in from the sea, bringing with it visions of the future—visions that reveal devastating truths. For generations, the villagers have feared what the mist shows them, knowing that once you see your future, you can’t escape it. Evelyn, a strong and determined woman haunted by the loss of her father to the mist’s last warning, has always known this day would come again. Now, as the mist returns, Misthaven is divided—some believe the visions are a curse, while others see them as a guide.

A normal Alaskan life is suddenly shattered by violence. Rebecca Milton's reaction to run as quickly and as far as she can leads her deep into the sub-arctic mountains of Central Alaska. Now she must depend on her own survival skills as she faces the extremes of Mother Nature, as well as the rocky road of emotional recovery, but she is not alone.

Alexandra LaDuca is smart, tough, and cool under fire. But when she travels to Cairo to investigate a former mentor who was believed to be dead, Alex is caught in a bizarre game of double cross, and her life is more perilously on the line than ever.

When an EMP decimates the world’s power grid, the Arizona desert is plunged back into the lawless era of the Old West. Where electricity, cars, and cell phones had once dominated daily life, this disaster ushers in the return of outlaws, shootouts, and settling differences the old-fashioned way. For Vin, a former special-ops soldier turned bounty hunter, the change is a welcomed one.

The sac isn't shrinking, but those alive are! New faces are introduced as old friends are trying their best to remain alive! Who will survive, who will perish? Find out in book 5 of Zombies on the Block: Survival Isn't for All. Book 6 continues the chaos, the mayhem, and the hell unleashed. Don't forget that these dead never get satisfied, and their rage knows no end. The lucky will see another day as the living—the less fortunate will roam the Earth full of hunger and rage. A zombie no one expected and no one was ready for.

Ein neues Trainingsprogramm der Regierung soll die Agenten des FBI in Form bringen. Mit nichts als ihrem Verstand und einem Notfall-Rucksack ausgerüstet, werden die Teilnehmer irgendwo in den riesigen Wäldern im Nordosten der USA ausgesetzt. Dort müssen sie sich eine Woche lang in der Wildnis durchschlagen. Was relativ unbeschwert beginnt, entwickelt sich für die FBI-Agents Jeremiah Cotton, Philippa Decker und Zeerookah mehr und mehr zum Albtraum. Nachts wachen sie durch Schüsse auf.

Shay, one of the rare survivors of the epidemic sweeping the UK, has surrendered herself to the Army because she believes she's a carrier of the deadly disease. Along with other survivors, she unwillingly becomes a test subject in an effort to find a cure. When the lab where she's being held is attacked, Shay and a few others escape - with the help of Dr. Alex Cross, Kai's hated stepfather and Callie's father. Alex is the leader of the cult-like group Multiverse. Their agenda is murky, but genetic engineering might be one of their goals.