Showing results by narrator "Marc Vietor" in All Categories

When Sy Levin, a high school teacher beset by alcohol and bad decisions, leaves the city for the Pacific Northwest to start over, it's no surprise that he conjures a vision of the extraordinary new life awaiting him there: "He imagined the pioneers in covered wagons entering this valley for the first time. Although he had lived little in nature Levin had always loved it, and the sense of having done the right thing in leaving New York was renewed in him."

The war with the Arduans - profoundly alien invaders who originally arrived in STL ships - is over. Most of those attackers are now probationary (and very productive) citizens of the Rim Federation. However, many among the Arduans' warrior caste have accepted neither defeat nor the personhood of any of the other intelligence races. Their leader, the ruthless admiral of the second Arduan exodus, Amunsit, is in firm control of the Zarzuela system.

Yates movingly portrays a man and a woman from their courtship in the 1950s to their divorce in the '70s, chronicling their heartbreaking attempts to reach their highest ambitions. Michael Davenport dreams of being a poet after returning home from World War II, and at first he and his new wife, Lucy, enjoy their life together. But as the decades pass and the success of others creates a fear of failure in both Michael and Lucy, their once bright future gives way to a life of adultery and isolation.

Jon Hawkins and his crew are exhausted and homesick. They've destroyed the alien machine menace, going deep into the Kuiper Belt to annihilate the secret A.I. base. From out here, the sun looks like just another star. It's a lonely existence. They're ready to go home. What they don't know - what no one could - was that the A.I. destroyer was only a scout. More alien vessels drop out of hyperspace. This is an A.I. assault. The clock to human extinction has begun ticking.

Earth belongs to mankind once again. But not everyone has the same vision for the planet. Dean visits Earth, touring the colonies, and quickly learns that not all remaining humans are pleased with the new changes to their planet. The Restorers are determined to build a pre-Industrial Revolution state, claiming technology will only destroy them again. Dean must infiltrate the group and learn their master plan before they go too far.

The tribal Braxan - created to become the ultimate warriors. The Azeans - raised to master the power of the mind. Two civilizations fighting an endless war over a long-forgotten cause. Now, after a century and a half, the legacy of their greatest military leaders threatens to tear apart both empires.

As fierce fighting across Poland and the Baltics captures the world's attention, a single squadron of American F-16 pilots deployed to Ukraine must battle against overwhelming odds and impossible conditions to take the war to the Russians. Shot down behind enemy lines on a dangerous sortie in the skies over Kiev, rookie pilot Steve "Lone Wolf" McQuade is rescued by a group of Ukrainian refugees who are on a mission to rally patriotic resistance against the Russian invaders. With time fast running out, McQuade decides to help the refugees on their perilous journey.

Things have slowed down for Dean and Mary as they manage the expanding human colonies on Haven, New Spero, and Earth - until they receive a distress call from the Keppe. Magnus and Natalia are in the midst of a three-year exploration mission on the alien vessel, but mysteriously vanish with less than a year left to go. The portals are failing, making the journey more arduous, and when the crew finally think they know what’s happening, they realize they are also stranded.

They say that necessity is the mother of all inventions. Amir Weatherby has the world in his hands, quite literally. When his company discovers an asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth, they decide to keep the news quiet and find a way to survive the impending apocalypse themselves. Secret projects begin with the intent of preventing the world going the same way as the dinosaurs.

The Academy is a galaxy-class school, created to train the next generation of Gatekeepers. Jules Parker is attending the Academy, alongside her best friend Patty. When the Kold threaten everything her father and his friends have spent years building, she must reveal that her Iskios abilities are stronger than ever. With Magnus and Slate away on the Horizon, and Mary working on the board of the Alliance of Worlds, Dean finds himself out of the action for the first time.

Through desperate tactics and by deliberately keeping a low profile, we survived the machine assaults longer than any human or cybership thought possible. But now our luck has deserted us. The main A.I. brain-core has just given human extinction top priority. The robots are massing an armada to exterminate us. We’ve done what we could in expectation of this grim day, grabbing enemy factory planets to mass produce warships. And we found an ally, the Star Lords of Roke. But it’s just not enough, damn it.

Jules has recently graduated as the youngest Gatekeeper in Academy history and takes residence on her father's newly appointed ship, Light. Together they must escort Brik, a being from the long-deserted world of Sterona, to his people's distant home. The trek won't be easy, but for the Parkers, nothing ever is.

Chris Collins is a CIA deputy director with a history of rogue missions. He's lost his wife, his career, and maybe his friends...but there are new "friends" around every corner. And along with the new friends, some powerful new enemies. On a bitterly cold night in Washington DC, Chris Collins is heading home to open his favorite bottle of red, when his past walks right by him. A day later, his world falls apart. But he has no time to feel sorry for himself, as he soon realizes that evil forces are at work on an international scale and his country is under attack from within.

In keeping with the Akashic Noir series tradition, each story in Boston Noir is set in a different neighborhood of the city - the impressively diverse collection extends from Roxbury to Cambridge, from Southie to the Boston Harbor, and all stops in between. Lehane's own contribution - the longest story in the volume - is set in his beloved home neighborhood of Dorchester and showcases his phenomenal ability to grip the heart, soul, and throat of the reader.

Juno is a dirty cop with a difficult past and an uncertain future. When his family and thousands of others emigrated to the colony world of Lagarto, they were promised a bright future on a planet with a booming economy. But before the colonists arrived, everything changed. An opportunistic Earth-based company developed a way to produce a cheaper version of Lagarto’s main export, thus effectively paupering the planet and all its inhabitants.

The first human exploration vessel has been manufactured. All it needs is a mission. Horizon is a state-of-the-art vessel, a hybrid born of Keppe technology and human innovation. Magnus accepts the role of captain as the new ship is launched on its maiden voyage. Dean’s thrilled to take a back seat on the adventure, but things don’t ever work out as planned for our hero.

Finding people who don't want to be found is a young man's game. But when a beautiful celebrity begs semi-retired Walter Sherman to locate her nephew, he can't refuse. In his search for Harry Levine, Walter soon discovers that others are desperate to find him and willing to kill for what he has: the written confession by the mastermind behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Protect your retirement from the next big crash with a new twist on the old investment strategy. For years advisors have recommended that investors take a "buy and hold" approach to the market. But people over 50 can't afford to rely on this strategy. Buy, Hold, and Sell! uncovers the myth of the "buy and hold" investment philosophy and explains why it's dangerously incomplete.

The battle for Sparta has begun. Logan Brannigan has taken back his father’s name and now he and Wholesale Slaughter fight to reclaim his father’s throne. But deposing the traitor, Rhianna Hale, without bringing all of Sparta into a bloody and divisive civil war won't be easy. And while the Spartans fight among themselves, vultures circle, waiting for their chance to claim what’s left. When former allies are forced into opposing sides, who can Logan trust to have his back...and who will deliver the Judas kiss?

The Iron Kingdoms is a land dominated by mighty warcasters, arcanists who command the terrifying war machines called warjacks. While these epic figures lead armies and shape the futures of their nations, other powerful individuals, no less skilled, forge their own destinies in steam and steel.