Showing results by narrator "James Anderson Foster" in All Categories

Massimo Vacchetta, an Italian veterinarian specializing in large animals, is recently divorced and feeling heartbroken and depressed - until the day that someone brings an orphaned baby hedgehog into his clinic. As the tiny hedgehog cries and whimpers, Massimo immediately understands the extent of the animal's vulnerability and isolation. Recognizing her helplessness and desperation in himself, he connects with her in a way he has never connected with any other animal. In caring for this hedgehog, Massimo uncovers her vibrant personality and rediscovers his own.

Eight years ago, Elliott Nash’s daughter was murdered. Since then, everything the brilliant former criminal psychologist had is a memory - his child, his career, his wife, and his home. Now he lives on the streets around Washington, DC, with only a bottomless well of guilt and nightmares to make him feel alive. Until Amy Scowcroft solicits his help.

There is no turning back from war now. The Fringe Liberation Campaign has sparked protests and rebellions across the Collective. Can the fringe unite into a single front before the Collective Unified Forces send everything they’ve got to destroy the Campaign and kill every last torrent?

When a series of coordinated blasts takes down several Los Angeles power stations, FBI bomb tech Paul Grale is tapped to investigate. That means leaving his vulnerable niece, Julia, behind in Las Vegas. The sole survivor of a homeland bombing that killed her parents, Julia's still struggling through grief and trauma. An avowed pacifist, she's being trolled as anti-American. And entangled in an affair with the wrong man, she's facing the fallout from his crimes: stolen military-grade ammunition found in her car. But Grale has no choice but to head to LA.

They are humanity's defense against the supernatural. They are the light in the darkness. They are the guardians that walk in the night. They are the Shadow Council. Joanna Harrison is a freelance editor, working mother, and loving daughter. She is also the great-granddaughter of legendary steel driving man John Henry, and she has taken up his hammer to fight against the monsters that threaten her family and her world. She is Jo Henry, and she packs one hell of a punch.

Retired, divorced banker, and now hot air balloon pilot Tim Feely doesn't know the world is being eaten alive by zombies. It's early in the morning, and the first of the undead are only now appearing on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Right in Tim's town, in fact. So when he takes Julie and Lucas up into the air for their first hot air balloon ride, before the news reports start, and before the car accidents and looting begins, he has no idea just how crazy the ride will be.

A boy and his father walk on the shore of an ocean filled with bloody spears cast off from a war between gods. A father travels back in time over and over, unable to rescue the mother of his child. A mischievous satyr lurking in a dungeon has a field day with trespassing adventurers. These tales and more are in Resurrections, a compilation of short stories written by Chris Philbrook.

On a December night in Austin, Texas, teenagers Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas closed up the yogurt store where they worked. The girls were joined by Jennifer's younger sister, Sarah, and her friend Amy Ayers. Less than an hour later, all four girls were dead - tragic victims of an apparent fire. Until it was discovered that the girls had been bound and gagged, sexually assaulted, and shot execution style.

Andrew Vachss is a lawyer who represents children and youths exclusively. His many books include the Burke series and two collections of short stories, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times, among other publications. A native New Yorker, he divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.

"Red beef and strong beer" was how C. S. Lewis described his education under one of his early tutors. It was, in other words, a substantial education that engaged deeply with the intellectual tradition and challenged him to grow. Gary Selby sees Lewis' expression as an indication of the kind of transformation that is both possible and necessary for the Christian faith, and he contends that spiritual formation comes about not by retreating from the physical world, but through deeper engagement with it.

Germany, 1926. When Richard and Paula meet in bustling, cosmopolitan Hamburg, everything feels possible. They fall in love, marry and are soon blessed with twins. When Richard qualifies as a psychiatrist, life ahead looks bright. Their only sadness is that their son, Georg, was born deaf, although with his family to protect him they’re sure he’ll be okay. But happiness turns to horror when the Nazis seize power and begin forcing doctors to euthanise anyone the regime deems imperfect. Suddenly, Richard is falsifying medical records to save his patients - and hiding Georg.

He'd been shot in the head, decapitated, and set on fire. Who could have turned on the real-estate ace with such bloodthirsty fury? Even before the remains were found, circumstantial evidence was building against Rudin's 52-year-old wife, Margaret, who stood to inherit a handsome share of her husband's fortune. Rudin's friends also suspected Margaret, and the victim had thought that his wife was trying to poison him when he was alive. Then a chilling caveat was discovered in Rudin's living trust: should he die under violent circumstances, an investigation should be conducted.

During the Cold War, stories of espionage became popular on both sides of the Iron Curtain, capturing the imagination of readers and filmgoers alike as secret police quietly engaged in surveillance under the shroud of impenetrable secrecy. And curiously, in the post-Cold War period there are no signs of this enthusiasm diminishing.

Kyle has his mentor over for dinner to catch up and introduce him to his girlfriend, Jamie, and the three have a great time. When William mentions that he’s been writing a novel, Kyle is overjoyed. He would love to read the opus his mentor has toiled over—until the novel turns out to be not only horribly written but also the most depraved story Kyle has ever read.

In 2025 America, it's hardly news when a renowned octogenarian scientist dying of cancer disappears from a local hospice, but when Kansas City Star reporter Rich Azadian begins to dig, he discovers that other elderly scientists around the world have also vanished recently - all terminally ill and receiving the same experimental treatment from a global health company.

In a peaceful North Carolina town, no one ever suspected something sinister was brewing beneath the surface. Walter, a self-proclaimed hero, dreams of solving a major crime but tends to get sidetracked. He doesn’t like lying to his wife, Martha, but sometimes it’s necessary. Disillusioned after years of marriage and bored in her spin cycle life, Martha meets a new friend when she steps out of her comfort zone. They quickly bond over their shared contempt for her friend’s no-good son-in-law.

After receiving a mysterious mission from the System, Ae and his friends passed the Test of Time, defeated their sworn enemies, and made their way to the capital of the Empire. A place where new adventures, clan wars, dangerous dungeons, and the best Dwarven cars are waiting for our heroes.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Michael Gerson possessed one of the most important consciences of his generation. As the chief speech writer for George W. Bush, he wrote the words that rallied and ennobled the nation after September 11th. He helped design and champion Bush’s PEPFAR program, which saved upwards of 20 million lives as HIV ravaged Africa. Defiant Hope is his writings about the things he loved—humanity, God, his dog, and his boys.

The stories in this anthology range from quietly strange to ambitiously speculative. Humans transform into cosmic energy or sentient algae. A man wakes up in a new body in a world with continents cut out, months absent from the calendar year, and souls misplaced. Students at a high school regularly vanish without a trace. A woman descends into the depths of the ocean and encounters all-knowing creatures who may have the answers to her deepest questions.

Ae and Herman have decided to follow the path of heroes. In a world full of mysteries and extraordinary possibilities, they will have to pass a serious test of strength. On their way, they will learn more about their past and destiny, meet old friends and new enemies, and get the answer to the main question: what is Humanity 21A? A unique species of human capable of ignoring the limitations of space-time for the sake of survival? A dangerous virus? Or the lower caste of persecuted rebels, behind whose backs a gigantic shadow is already unfolding its wings?