Showing results by narrator "Vikas" in All Categories

Nobody has written so powerfully of the relationship between and within India and the Western middle classes than Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. In this selection of stories, chosen by her surviving family, her ability to tenderly and humorously view the situations faced by three (sometimes interacting) cultures - European, post-Independence Indian, and American - is never more acute.

Ryanna Raines is the host of a popular true-crime podcast. Her specialty is investigative journalism, her style is truth-seeking moxie, and with millions of listeners along for the ride, her star is rising. But when an intriguing message is left on her tip-line, the reporter is pulled into the most challenging case of her career.

When Dean Arnault’s mother decided to run for president, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone, least of all her son. But still, that doesn’t mean Dean wants to be part of the public spectacle that is the race for the White House - at least not until he meets Dre. The only problem is that Dre Rosario's on the opposition; he’s the son of the Democratic nominee. But as Dean and Dre’s meetups on the campaign trail become less left to chance, their friendship quickly becomes a romantic connection unlike any either of the boys have ever known.

"Marry me." "What?" I stared back at him, unblinking. He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. "I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me." What's an 18-year-old girl who was madly in love with her 19-year-old boyfriend say? Of course, I said yes. Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel. Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why.

Ryan’s week of digital mayhem succeeded in he and Sasha bringing Headshot to its knees, crippling the game, and ruining the highly anticipated launch. But Deep Dive is now aware of his interference and will stop at nothing to end his involvement once and for all. They’ve sent in super soldiers with rule-breaking privileges, and Ryan’s locked in the post-apocalyptic world until they extract him by force. Ensnared in the game’s code, his only hope is that he’s now attached to Sasha’s new Headshot character.

From the very first hour Cayden had set foot inside the massive, real-life game that was the Tower of Babel, nothing had gone according to plan. A unique skill, a handful of new friends, and the wrath of an ultra-wealthy, patricidal lunatic were just some of the complications to his best laid plans.
So why was he even surprised when a special event trapped him, his companions, and dozens of other players inside the tower, squaring them off against a murderous army of stone-faced warriors?

Buffalo, New York, is still the second-largest metropolis in the state, but in recent years its designation as the Queen City has been elbowed aside by a name that's pure noir: The City of No Illusions. Presidents came from here; and in 1901 a president was killed here while visiting the Pan-American Exposition, by a man who checked into a hotel under a name that translates as Nobody.

In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection—featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar—queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy listeners, yet leave them wanting more.

The new world of results-driven aid that could put an end to extreme poverty. Drawing on two decades covering global development as editor in chief of Devex, Raj Kumar explores how nontraditional models of philanthropy and aid are empowering the world’s poorest people to make progress.

In Drawn, a mysterious little boy has begun appearing in the paintings of an artist who can't remember ever actually seeing him. A partially blind, disfigured agoraphobic who suffers crippling panic attacks if he even tries to leave his apartment is forced out by an unseen entity. A lonely widower begins to suffer terrifying nightmares that his long-missing, presumed-dead son is still alive and in mortal danger. A young runaway realizes that a man he thought was his traveling companion is actually his captor...and a predator.

Like Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun and Alexander Masters’ Stuart, this is a tour de force of narrative reportage - an intimate portrait of an invisible man. Mohammed Ashraf studied biology in college, and after college he learned how to repair television sets, cut suit lengths, and slice chicken. He has lived in Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Surat, and Patna, but this evening he is stoned on a street in Sadar Bazaar, in North Delhi. The morning shall bring hangovers, whiskey breakfasts, and possibly answers to the lingering questions that haunt Ashraf.

Ravirn is the best hacker around. But when the system controlling the multiverse needs a massive reboot, Ravirn must utilize all of his skills as a mage and prevent complete chaos - even if it costs him his life.

If you keep a monster as a pet, don’t lose your grip on the leash...Captured by Deep Dive and broken by the nefarious Desmond, Ryan has become a weapon. Headshot’s developers use him to destroy their competitors, and along the way the enthusiastic gamer almost loses himself in a web of lies, pain and forcible mental resets. Almost. Months have passed. With Sasha off the grid and Ryan a brainwashed recruit, the relaunch of Headshot may finally succeed in its ultimate goal - malicious, unprecedented access to the innermost thoughts of those that play it.

From the New York Times best-selling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the second installment in a brand-new series set an elite boarding school that’s a contemporary spin on fairy tales, this one a delightful, romantic twist on The Frog Prince.

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy - aka Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

David Hallberg, the first American to join the famed Bolshoi Ballet as a principal dancer and the dazzling artist the New York Times described as "the foremost classical stylist of our day", presents an intimate journey through his artistic life up to the moment he returns to the stage after a devastating injury almost cost him his career. Beginning with his real-life Billy Elliot childhood - an all-American story marred by intense bullying - and culminating in his hard-won comeback, Hallberg's brave memoir dives deep into life as an artist.

Necessity - the sentient computer that runs the universe - has caught a virus that crashes most of the magical Internet, and Ravirn is tasked with fixing it. And Ravirn hasn’t missed the fact that whoever repairs Necessity will, for that moment, run the universe, able to remake the worlds to their liking.

Sunshine incarnate Bhanu brings big UX energy to whatever she does, including going for the promotion where her only serious competition is her work nemesis, AKA Sunny, the grump with the Denzel voice. She expected to get a reprieve from him while visiting her family in Hawai’i, but the universe has other plans. When Bhanu runs into Sunny at the hotel and witnesses his ex criticizing him about being single, Bhanu does the first thing that comes to mind: she impetuously claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend just to get some peace and quiet.

In How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World, Neil Irwin, senior economic correspondent at the New York Times, delivers the essential guide to being successful in today’s economy when the very notion of the “job” is shifting and the corporate landscape has become dominated by global firms. He shows that the route to success lies in cultivating the ability to bring multiple specialties together - to become a “glue person” who can ensure people with radically different technical skills work together effectively.

Hana has grown up hidden by her mother in a secret room of the bioship Cyclo until the day her mother is simply gone - along with the entire crew. Cyclo tells her she was abandoned, but she's certain her mother wouldn't leave her there to die. And Hana isn't ready to die yet. She's never really had a chance to live. Fenn is supposed to die. He and a crew of hired mercenaries are there to monitor Cyclo as she expires, and the payment for the suicide mission will mean Fenn's sister is able to live. But when he meets Hana, he's not sure how to save them both.