A short story about a man and his experience with a different kind of fountain of youth.Sixteen-year-old Anna Grey has the personality of an online encyclopaedia crossed with a leashed miniature bulldog and she is about to discover that she has a very special gift. The 'gift' doesn't compute well and her orderly little world is about to be turned upside down. Anna is about to discover that she can see the dead ... speak to the dead and crush (blush) on the dead.Meet her two mismatched best friends always annoyingly by her side–Dylan Ray, a drama queen of an undecided nature and Jacqui Van Eden, a fragile butterfly girl. Together they inadvertently summon the soul of an Australian WW1 teenage soldier named Leo. Leo is confused and stuck, pining for a love long while being a bit on the nose.Being amongst the living is becoming harder for Leo to achieve and he is scared that he will dissolve into a bootstrap with an earlobe before his mystery is solved. Armed with their cutting edge IT devices, the trio travel virtually through history to unearth why Leo has one foot in No Man's land and a bum cheek on Anna's good couch. It's going to take more than facts and figures–it's going to require HEART. Views: 280
Gus Corral can't quite believe it when an old high school buddy he hasn't seen in years asks him for help. Artie Baca looks as cool as ever; the hippest guy in high school now looks like a GQ cover boy, Chicano style. And like always, Artie has women problems, even though he's married. He's being blackmailed because of an imprudent fling—caught on video, of course. Artie has a prosperous real estate business and can afford to pay off the young girl, but he'll reward Gus handsomely for his help in convincing her that there won't be any future payments.Gus's life hasn't been as successful; he manages his ex-wife's second hand shop after losing his job in the recession and claims to also work as the night watchman so he can live there too. He can really use the money Artie is offering and agrees to help, even though he knows Artie probably deserves the shake down.But before Gus can deliver the money, Artie is dead and the police want to know why the deceased was... Views: 280
Is there a family in history more dazzling, dangerous and notorious than the Borgias?
A powerhouse of the Italian Renaissance, their very name epitomizes the ruthless politics and sexual corruption of the Papacy.
The father, Pope Alexander VI, a consummate politician and a man with a voracious appetite both as Cardinal and Pope.
The younger Juan, womanizer and thug, and their lovely sister, Lucretia, whose very name has become a byword for poison, incest and intrigue.
But how much of the history about this remarkable family is actually true, and how much distorted, filtered through the age old mechanisms of political spin, propaganda and gossip?
What if the truth, the real history, is even more challenging? Views: 280
Twenty years after he declined an invitation to join the CIA, Air Force Colonel Paul Cameron finds he’s a part of the secret Phoenix Group and takes on an innocent-sounding CIA mission to help an old friend. Al-Qaeda hunts the pair from Europe to the Middle East, Cameron must rely on his wits to survive relentless attacks designed to silence his Saudi friend and preserve a plan to attack AmericaIt's a quick trip to Paris, right? A little cloak and dagger work, but anybody can do that when nobody's after you. All you have to do is get to a meeting. No problem, unless someone IS after you.Colonel Paul Cameron takes the trip, thinking he'll be home in a week after a quick meeting with his old friend Fahd al-Auda, a General in the Royal Saudi Air Force. But what he soon learns is that Fahd knows something is going on in Saudi Arabia something that he fears may turn into the most diabolical plot yet to threaten the American homeland. Fahd has left Saudi and come to Paris, and he doesn't know he's only one step ahead of the al-Qaeda mastermind's pursuit, a pursuit designed to kill him and all his family before they can reveal anything and ruin the plan.What ensues is a desperate chase, from the subways of Paris to the parched dunes of the Arabian Desert, The Phoenix Affair is a fast-paced and intricately-wrought thriller that skips across three continents. Cameron turns out to be a natural survivor, with skills he's never used, and his is a sweeping tale of technology, tradecraft, quick-thinking and hard fighting from the first pages to the final climactic conflict. Views: 280
A thief extraordinaire and general rapscallion teams up with his old partner in crime, an intelligent woman of humble upbringing and excellent swordsmanship, in order to escape the wrath of a vengeful inspector.The first installment in a series of thrilling tales of high stakes Victorian adventure, The Viatic of Thaddues Moon is a story of exhilarating heroics and narrow escapes. Thaddeus Moon, thief extraordinaire, finds himself trapped in a prison cell beneath the streets of Victorian era London, with nothing to aid him but his wit and a friend on the outside. Things are not going well for Thaddeus, who quickly finds himself at the end of his rope, or more accurately, on his way to that of a hangman. When a sudden explosion tears through the walls of the cell, his interrogation at the hands of a vengeful inspector comes to an abrupt halt. With his old partner coming to his rescue, the duo must outrun and outsmart the police as they rush to the docks and the ship that can carry them to safety. Views: 280
In the far future a dark fog emerges that threatens the end of humanity. Gil Tungsten, born and raised within a world were mankind has united under a single government faces a decision changing the rest of his life. He and his wife can either flee from planet Earth by joining the Exodus fleet, or become part of those who will go beneath the surface to wait out the dark storm.A short story serving as a brief introduction to the Earthborn universe. In the far future a dark fog emerges that threatens the end of humanity. Gil Tungsten, born and raised within a world were mankind has united under a single government faces a decision changing the rest of his life. He and his wife can either flee from planet Earth by joining the Exodus fleet, or become part of those who will go beneath the surface to wait out the dark storm. Views: 280
Short story. Receiving news of a child-eating ogre, the young knight errant Cedric embarks on his first quest. Alas, things are not as straightforward as they might seem….A collection of lyrics and poetry inspired by our debut, this booklet is the companion to Hobbes feat. Kuderski's album: "Voices of Reasons". Our debut is a concept album by nature. When I wrote the lyrics, what I had in mind is that each song represents a person, with their personal point of view, stemming from their "Voice of Reason" in their mind. A few poems will be lyrics on our upcoming album.To me, it's all about the interplay among people. Mom always used to say to me "It takes two to tango", and "There are two sides to every story." For me, it's about all of us being our own individual selves, communicating it to others as best we can, while really listening to the other "Voices of Reasons" out there. That works on building a sense of understanding, acceptance of, and mutual respect for one another.A few poems will be lyrics on our upcoming 2-disc album: "At This Point". I hope that you, in your lifetime, are moved to create something beautiful of your own, and that you then share it with the world. Views: 280
(Author note: This is NOT a dark romance.)
Delilah “Lily” Flynn is used to her drab existence. Lily’s been living it for twenty two years.
Her boring life is suddenly turned on its head when she’s rudely kidnapped from her bedroom.
Or so she thinks.
Nox Taylor is far too high up in his field to be assigned a babysitting job.
There’s nothing more he wants than to complete his mission so he can be rid of the smartass tomboy, Lily.
Day after day, Nox watches Lily and her strange ways. She’s unlike any woman he’s ever met.
Getting close to the girl is purely for her own protection…right?
Lily never imagined she’d make her first real friends in captivity.
What lengths would she go through to keep them?
This is a stand alone novel and is unrelated to Friend-Zoned Views: 279
This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them. Views: 279
The Templar Wars is an epic tale of magic versus science, set in the fantastical world of Agmoria. The Elder Races, under the rule of the tyrant Senlo Karath, will stop at nothing to control the source of all magic.Nick Stolter harvested the glory from his championship rodeo years and began a successful cutting horse ranch in Southern California. He married his sweetheart and their family began with joy and tragedy.Fifteen years Nick and family have struggled and an ugly secret begins to rear its head inside the horseman. Only when a long-lost friend appeared at the doorstep is any hope ignited.A horse roundup in the wilds of Arizona means days in the saddle, a chance at gold, and new breeding stock. A new start for the family comes at a catastrophic price to him and his loved ones.Instead of being gone the promised ten days, Nick embarks on a month of hell as he tries to get back to his family. The year is 1860 and the west is still very wild. Some will live, some will die and some will never be the same. Views: 279
A wounded warrior, an Afghan émigré, and a Latino 'illegal' overcome distrust and discrimination through their common love of baseball. If you like this book, please consider contributing to one of the listed military friendly charities: Gary Sinise Foundation (https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/); DV Farm(https://www.dvfarm.org/); NVHS (https://www.nvhs.us/). Tell them Joe Gribble sent you :-)Two events moved me to write this story. The first event occurred in the summer of 2011. That summer I was visiting the emergency room at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center (I had dropped a steel beam on my foot and wasn’t sure if I had broken anything, but that’s another story). While I was in the waiting room, a man came in and walked up to the reception counter, not 10 feet from where I sat. He pulled a pistol from the waistband of his shorts and pointed it at his head. A USAF staff sergeant had just come into the area behind the otherwise empty reception desk. He was shocked and tried to get the man to calm down. The man with the gun told the staff sergeant, “I have PTSD and can’t take it anymore.” Then the man with the gun pulled the trigger.Fortunately, I think self-preservation kicked in at the last second and his hand wavered. The bullet missed his head by a fraction of an inch, and he was eventually talked out of committing suicide. I found out later that this wasn’t some kid just back from Iraq or Afghanistan—this was a senior soldier whose demons still haunted him.I believe many Americans don't understand how prevalent injuries are among our returning warriors—both obvious injuries and ”hidden” injuries such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) —or how devastating both the obvious and hidden injuries can be.The second event that motivated me to write this story was a celebration we hold at the Dayton Dragons baseball field (Fifth Third Field). The Dragons are a Cincinnati Reds farm team, and the company I work for sponsors a pair of events, in coordination with the Dragons, to honor our military. During the game we welcome airmen returning from overseas, facilitate a video greeting from a deployed warrior to his family, and stand proud as a group of youngsters take their oath of enlistment. This, to me, is a very moving experience as the local community honors our heroes.I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you are like me, and you get choked up when you hear the National Anthem or watch Old Glory pass by in a parade, I think you’ll love it.I’m donating fifty percent of my revenue from this book to military-friendly charities. You can help me decide which charities to support. See how at the end of the book. I look forward to your input.Joe G. Views: 279
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy. Views: 279
Awarded a 5 star review by Readers' Favorite.Sophia's family worked hard to stay on ‘the right side of the tracks.’ But who decides which is the 'right side' and what happens when love calls from the other side in the shape of bad boy, Dane?Things are never what they seem and as a dreadful secret begins to eat away at Sophia, life at the failing New Zealand high school, starts to unravelSophia Armitage is a decent girl from a good family. They have worked hard to end up on ‘the right side of the tracks’ in the central north island town of Hamilton in New Zealand. But things are never quite what they seem and as a dreadful secret begins to eat away at her, life at the failing high school in the north of the city starts to horribly unravel. Finally pushed too far by a group of girls whose only purpose in life is to make her existence a misery, Sophia is forced to fight back, ending in disastrous consequences. To make matters worse she is befriended by Dane McArdle, the alpha male of their poisonous little group, unleashing a whole host of trouble onto Sophia’s head. Their families are so different and yet who gets to decide which side of the tracks is the right side and once you’ve landed on the wrong side, what will be the cost of crossing back over? Views: 279
