Showing results by narrator "PJ Ochlan" in All Categories

Ruth is a 74-year-old woman. Rowan is a 23-year-old man. They’re in love. And Ruth’s 43-year-old son is freaking the hell out.

It's been six weeks since Jack McBride's life went to hell: The resolution of his first case as chief sparked a county-wide drug war, his brother Eddie rode into town with a pocket full of cocaine and trouble on his mind, his estranged wife returned from her one-year sabbatical determined to win him back, and Ellie Martin ended their brief affair.

Nearly a decade after his triumphant Charlie Chan biography, Yunte Huang returns with this long-awaited portrait of Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1874), twins conjoined at the sternum by a band of cartilage and a fused liver, who were "discovered" in Siam by a British merchant in 1824. Bringing an Asian American perspective to this almost implausible story, Huang depicts the twins, arriving in Boston in 1829, first as museum exhibits but later as financially savvy showmen who gained their freedom and traveled the backroads of rural America to bring "entertainment" to the Jacksonian mobs.

In the shadow of a devastating hex, pursued by a stealer of souls, with both interference and help from Tormy and the potty-mouthed kitten Tyrin, Omen faces monsters, ghosts, and grave troubles unshackled by the volatile seasons themselves. Accompanied by the prince of Terizkand, a Sundragon scholar, a cynical spy, and a reckless Corsair, our young firebrand has to employ all his strengths as the autumn winds carry them into the center of a cataclysm that threatens to swallow the world.

Just after World War II, a young orphan living in Naples comes under the protection of Don Gaetano, the superintendent of an apartment building. He is a generous man and is very attached to the boy, telling him about the war and the liberation of the city by the Neapolitans. He teaches him to play cards, shows him how to do odd jobs for the tenants, and even initiates him into the world of sex by sending him one evening to a widow who lives in the building. But Don Gaetano possesses another gift as well: he knows how to read people’s thoughts.

Welcome to summer 258 B.C.

Welcome to the spring of 258 BC. The expanding war with the Qart Hadasht Empire is changing the Republic's military supply structure. Supplying scattered Legions and far-flung naval squadrons is overextending the provincial quartermaster system. Growing awkwardly to handle the needs, the military organizations are evolving, slowly. Now evil men have found a way to profit from the disorganization.

When American covert operative Chase Fulton and his team of battle-hardened warriors lose one of their own in an unthinkable and unprovoked act of vengeance, there’s no limit to the wrath they will unleash on their shadowy attacker to make him pay the ultimate price for his unforgivable sin. Unlike the sanctioned assignments in the past for tactical Team 21, when global interests conspire to eliminate every member of the team, one by one, the rules of engagement crumble, and only one simple directive remains.

For young bard Nikki Deldano, this summer was meant for love songs, not dodging fireballs and unraveling ancient mysteries. But when the Sundragons of Melia send him on a perilous mission to Frelzaire, Nikki’s music is thrust into a far deadlier key. In a realm simmering with political intrigue and shadowy threats, Nikki uncovers the truth behind a heinous attack. Alongside fiery elementals, sword-wielding warriors, and enigmatic scholars, he finds unexpected allies in the strangest places — including a clever, talking kitten with a quest of its own.

Welcome to 259 B.C. By law, all debts must be paid by the Ides of March. For men like them, sharp steel was the only acceptable currency. Unless something changed, one would emerge a winner and the other the guest of honor at a funeral. Blood payment might not have been the official objective. But it would not matter to an enraged Alerio Sisera as he clutched a gladius and held a temple voucher aloft.

When two hundred of the world’s most elite businessmen, political leaders, and senior military officials are taken hostage by a force so dark it’s impossible to comprehend, the U.S. military isn’t an option, but Chase Fulton and his team of hardened warriors were molded from the grit and clay for missions exactly like this one.

When life starts to look like it's all sunshine and rainbows, you can bet there's a storm on the horizon. Terry has the solution to his magical issue. All he has to do is put it into action before another case grabs the team's attention. No such luck. Not one, but two sticky situations land in their laps, and Angelina is determined to meddle in Terry's love life. But Terry left his heart among the stars . . . and their new enemy is not all he seems. When secret societies come out of the shadows, it's bad news for everyone.

As Omen and Tormy discover the supernatural secret of the fae's ancient castle in Wyldwood Fate, this short parallel tale takes young Nikki Deldano to the precipice of a new adventure. Searching for his lost love, captured by the children of the forest, Nikki gets a crash course in Sundragons, faerie diplomacy, and the resonant power of the bardic gift. Will a courageous heart be enough to turn the tide of war?

On the one hand, Terry is doing great. He has awesome friends, more money than he could possibly use, and he managed to take down a huge threat to humanity. On the other hand, while he enjoys being on Earth in general, he doesn't have magic. Or...does he? Can he find a way to get what he wants? Intrigued by the possibilities, Terry goes on the hunt to see if he can generate a source of power his body can convert into magic. The only problem is, Angelina and Charley are worried he might be thinking about getting the heck off this hunk of celestial rock, and, well, they would miss him.

Era Gualtieri—public enemy #1, swashbuckler, provocateur, hero, villain, philosopher, madman—is about to have the worst Holiday Season of his life. For starters: Prince Raphael Koschei, the so-called Hero of Luminar, is dead. Good riddance and all, but the assassin was none other than Era's bestie and perpetual "it's complicated," Liv. As the Empire mourns its problematic fave, Era sees his chance to put a stop to House Koschei's "Island" conspiracy. But when he finds what he seeks, let's just say too much truth can be a biohazard.

Unfortunately, Terry has seen her very human response to the situation Angelina, Charley, and he dealt with in San Antonio. Except this time, there is no one to help her deal with the emotions but an alien from another system and a guy from the south. In short, her two friends. When Angelina finds another "ticket" into trouble, will she have the guys help this time or deal with it herself? Perhaps Terry will find out just how much humans can manipulate their bodies to match his capabilities on their own.

Four "delightfully twisted" scripted stories by Erin Mallon are now available as a bundle.

Connecting the dots between political violence and "law and order" politics, Chard reveals how American counterterrorism emerged in the 1970s from violent conflicts over racism, imperialism, and policing that remain unresolved today.

A short sublime book on the three things dearest to Jean-Claude Izzo’s heart: his native Marseilles, the sea in all its splendor, and Mediterranean noir — the literary genre his books helped to found. This collection of writings shows Izzo, author of the acclaimed Marseilles trilogy, at his most contemplative and insightful. His native city, with its food, its flavors, its passionate inhabitants, and its long, long history of commerce and conviviality, constitute the lifeblood that runs through all of Izzo’s work.

When terrorists bomb bridges across the country and threaten the Hoover Dam, the vulnerability of America’s infrastructure becomes a matter of national security. But Dan Reilly, a former Army intelligence officer, predicted the attacks in a secret State Department report written years earlier - a virtual blueprint for disaster, somehow leaked and now in the hands of foreign operatives.