Showing results by narrator "Kevin Collins" in All Categories

During the pandemic, our homes and apartments have transported us to new places, different experiences, and changed our understanding of ourselves and others. This collection of 12 tales explores those journeys through the lens of fantasy and science fiction, accentuating the strange and unexpected to reveal the relatable, human dimensions of our continuing migration from what’s normal to a new normal...or even paranormal.

 Welcome to the challenge. You're an absolute nobody here - nothing; a zero; a useless lump of meat filled with bones. You're but a delicious morsel for your antagonists and those who got lucky at the start. The only goal you can have in your miserable existence is to kick the bucket as soon as possible. 

A young man caught in a time loop has to figure out how to convince his crush—a barista at his favorite coffee ship—to go out with him so he can escape the loop. After a series of mortifying and hilarious attempts, he finally realizes the only approach he hasn’t tried is to simply be himself.

Sam Capra has one reason to live: to reclaim his baby son from the people who kidnapped him. Teaming up with a young mother whose daughter went missing, he tracks his child across the country in a dangerous, desperate race against time. From the internationally best-selling author of Panic, The Last Minute is the most heart-stopping thriller of the year, from "one of the best thriller writers of our time" (Harlan Coben).

In the second book of the Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Bruce Catton - one of America's most honored Civil War historians - once again brings the great battles and the men who fought them to breathtaking life. As the War Between the States moved through its second bloody year, General Ambrose Burnside was selected by President Lincoln to replace the ineffectual George "Little Mac" McClellan as commander of the Union Army. But the hope that greeted Burnside's ascension was quickly dashed in December 1862 in the wake of his devastating defeat at Fredericksburg.

Does extraterrestrial life exist? Have alien beings actually visited Earth and, indeed, left clear traces of their visits? One man has the answer...and his son can now break the silence. The Roswell Legacy is the story of Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer for the 509th Bomber Group (famous for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan), and the first military officer to reach the scene of one of the most famous and enduring UFO events in the recorded history of mankind. 

The history of our world tends to move along a shallow spiral - when completing a turn, you end up mighty close to where you started. The history of Second World, in contrast, seems to have simplified its path to a ring from which there is no apparent way out. An unforeseen invasion lays waste to whole provinces, prompting the game's most powerful clans to ally with the emperor's guard to stop the monstrous hordes in their tracks. A war erupts that nobody saw coming, shattering the tedium of peaceful life.

Parasites and parasitic relationships are fundamental to life on Earth and to human history. Our Bodies, Our Planet explores how vital they are. Unlike harmful pathogens, parasites may produce no ill effects and may even improve our well-being and the lives of the creatures that surround us. Marcus Hall shows how our fellow travelers have evolved to help keep us alive, or else they themselves will perish. Parasitism is a phenomenon of partnership, and the association of parasite and host has had far-ranging cultural, biological, and possibly geophysical consequences.

God is not bound by the laws of the natural world. He is, by definition, supernatural, and he created us in his image. We are supernatural beings. So why do we confine our understanding of him - and our relationship to him - within our own physical, finite limitations?

There has never been a mage this powerful before. And yet, what use is power when bad things happen while you sleep? For most people, the question is: "How do I go on?" For Bud, the question is: "How do I fix this?" The problem is determining why it broke, so it won't happen again. But fixing things is easy. It's the consequences of your choices which are difficult. And what of the other things which need fixing? Once you start fixing things, where does it end? He's worked for Kali, Ganesha, and Shiva, across two galaxies. Now, he's Destiny's Spacemage.

Sam Capra and his thirteen-year-old son, Daniel, are living a quiet life in Austin, Texas, from where Sam runs a collection of bars and nightclubs around the world for America's most secret espionage agency, known as Section K. But a shocking revelation will uproot everything that Sam has been trying to build: Markus Bolt is missing. Having turned over allied agent names and military secrets to the Russians, Bolt fled to Moscow when he was discovered. But now a trusted source inside the Kremlin tells Section K that he has vanished, without a trace.

A reconstruction of the life and milieu of Dan Mitrione, his work as a US police advisor in Brazil and other South American countries, and his kidnapping and murder by Uruguayan guerrillas.

The Heart of Hospitality is the essential guide to creating exceptional customer service and hospitality for guests of all generations, including millennials, boomers, and more.

A complicated war is about to get a lot more complicated. And Bud's brought it on himself. There's no end in sight to either the Rawtenuga or Trixone wars. And the search for the dinosaur home world is proving just how big the galaxy is, especially where it's not properly mapped. The enemy keep popping up in too many places, and as fast as the sensor network expands, they seem to have expanded faster.

People work; folk play. That is how it has been in this country for as long as Sam can remember. He is happy, and he understands that this is the way it should be. People are bigger than folk. They are stronger. They do not need food or water. They do not need the warmth of a fire. All they need are jobs to do and a blacksmith to fix them when they break. The people work so the folk can drink their moonshine, fish a little, and throw horseshoes. But once Sam starts to wonder why the world is like this, his life will never be the same.

A dozen sentient species occupy the galaxy, and the Quadrail connects them all. Arriving at Proteus Station under a cloud of suspicion, ex-government agent Frank Compton finds he must answer for the death of six members of the Filly elite, a crime for which he has been falsely accused. Filiaelian captivity, however, is the least of Compton's worries, for his horse-faced alien accusers are guarding a terrible secret that dates back centuries: the Shonkla-raa, a race of super-soldiers believed to be extinct.

Sergey has defeated an incredibly dangerous enemy and earned so many rewards, if he was a hamster, his cheeks would explode. On top of that, he's finally reached Berlin. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a dud, so now he's heading back to Mother Russia.

Become a better crisis leader while equipping yourself with the tools for every day transformative leadership Managing crisis well is at the very heart of good leadership. Here, the team from the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University draws on a deep well of research...

In this world, I'm the heir to the princely Morozov line, but I don't have any talent for the magical arts. When my enemies find out I'm alive, they'll definitely come looking for me. I think someday I'll have a warm welcome prepared for them, but in the meantime I have to continue my training, kill demons, and juggle my schoolwork on top of that. Wait up, Imperial Academy! Here I come!

Fountain of Youth, or Valley of Death? While eating his supper of microwave popcorn, PhD student-genius Salinger Jacobs is grabbed from his apartment in California, stuck on a C-130 military plane, and sent to the Sahara Desert to witness the reality of the ZOO for himself. With the life expectancy of untrained scientists working inside the ZOO measured in hours, he has a lot to learn. Fast. First order of business? How do you shoot a gun, and just how much is that plant worth?