Showing results by narrator "Michael Kramer" in All Categories

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Vatican Diaries comes a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the Vatican investigates claims of miraculous events. Apocalyptic prophecies and miraculous apparitions are headline-grabbing events that often put the Catholic Church's doctrine of "rational faith" at odds with the passion of its more zealous followers. To some, these claims teeter on the edge of absurdity. Others see them as evidence of a private connection with God.

Interviewing scores of line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists, Genoways reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point. Along the way, he exposes alarming new trends: sick or permanently disabled workers, abused animals, water and soil pollution, and mounting conflict between small towns and immigrant labor.

The city of Peradain is the heart of an empire built with steel, spears, and a monopoly on magic...until in a single day it falls, overthrown by a swarm of supernatural creatures of incredible power and ferocity. Neither soldier nor spell caster can stand against them. The empire's armies are crushed, its people scattered, its king and queen killed. Freed for the first time in generations, city-states scramble to seize neighboring territories and capture imperial spell casters.

Johnny D. Boggs turns the battlefield itself into a character in this historical retelling of Custer's Last Stand, when George Custer led most of his command to annihilation at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in southern Montana in 1876. More than 40 first-person narratives are used - Indian and white, military and civilian, men and women - to paint a panorama of the battle itself. Boggs brings the events and personalities of the Battle of the Little Bighorn to life in a series of first-hand accounts.

Owyn and Zara, having saved the rangers and the Conclave from certain destruction, return to the capital city by royal summons. The king has a plan to unite his fractured kingdom... and the young heroes of Forest Hill are going to help him. However, when Owyn's master, Elias, returns in a most unexpected way, he brings a troubling message - a secret that's been held for more than 20 years.

Set against the epic backdrop of a world at war with myths and legends brought to life, Mythborn 2 continues the sweeping saga of Arek Winterthorn, wayward apprentice of the eldritch Way as he struggles to survive in the demon realm of Arcadia. Accompanied by Prince Niall Galadine, he searches for his father, unaware he is the prize in a war between Highlord Valarius Galadine’s warforged elves and Lady Lilyth’s demonic Furies. One seeks to possess him, the other to use him as a weapon as something dark and sinister within him grows, something called - blackfire.

Separated by a great distance in the 1890's, can a widower and a schoolteacher overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of their love and commitment? John Feist unfolds a true-love story, old-fashioned letter style, in his historical romance novel, The Color of Rain.

It's been three months since the cruise ship M/S Atlantica arrived in a hostile new world. The survivors dream of building a home, but just as their hopes rise, they learn the true cost of saving thousands of people from catastrophe. Conrad Wakefield, the architect of the Locus project, killed billions. Fleeing, Wakefield unleashes the full fury of the advanced weaponry of his ship, the Osiris, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

Cal Claxton is determined to reinvent himself as a small-town lawyer in the aftermath of his wife's suicide. Once a hard-charging Los Angeles prosecutor, he now lives in solitude in an old farmhouse overlooking Oregon's wine country. When a scruffy, tattooed kid shows up asking for help in solving a cold case - that of his mother's murder - Cal wants to say no. Times are tough, and he's no private eye, anyway. But the kid, who calls himself Picasso, has ridden a bicycle in the rain all the way from Portland, and something about his determination touches Cal.

Framed for murder, Dewey “Mac” McKenzie is running for his life. Though Mac’s never even made a pot of coffee, he talks his way onto a cattle drive heading west — as a chuckwagon cook. Turns out he has a natural talent for turning salt pork and dried beans into culinary gold. He’s as good with a pot and pan as he is with a gun — which comes in handy on a dangerous trail drive beset with rustlers, hostile Indians, ornery weather, and deadly stampedes. Mac can hold his own with any cowboy twice his age. At least until the real showdown begins....

In The Republican Noise Machine, David Brock skillfully documents perhaps the most important but least understood political development of the last 30 years: how the Republican Right has won political power and hijacked public discourse in the United States. Brock, a former right-wing insider and the author of the New York Times best seller Blinded by the Right, uses his keen understanding of the strategies, tactics, financing, and personalities of the American right wing to demonstrate how right-wing media has all but subsumed the regular media conversation.

Sam has a problem. In a world where all of your memories can be digitally augmented and recorded for later viewing and sharing, Sam's are eroding fast due to malfunctioning equipment. Unfortunately for Sam, that particular bit of equipment is installed in his brain, and a simple malfunction can lead to a decidedly less than simple cerebral hemorrhage, coma, and even death. Sam's only hope to prevent losing everything is a pithy computer program, a piece of technology known as The Goldfish.

Sacrifice. The single act capable of bringing both death and life simultaneously. Thannuel Kerr is handsome, young, and brash, fumbling through childhood toward his inevitable inheritance: the next Lord of the Western Province. He struggles to accept his arranged marriage and to grow into the man he must become. The journey toward that end, however, is fraught with more peril than he could possibly imagine.

The consistently best-selling What Works on Wall Street explores the investment strategies that have provided the best returns over the past 50 years - and which are the top performers today. The third edition of this BusinessWeek and New York Times best seller contains more than 50 percent new material and is designed to help you reshape your investment strategies for both the post-bubble market and the dramatically changed political landscape.

As Melekath's Guardians build an army—one burned soul at a time—Rome races to raise a force that can stand against him. But the shadow world of Pente Akka has awakened, and he is beginning to realize there are more enemies in this war than he ever imagined.

Professor Arronax, in search of a sea monster, discovers it to be Captain Nemo and his remarkable submarine, the Nautilus, on which the professor and his party eventually become imprisoned.

Armed with a sardonic wit and a snarky tongue, Tilthan and his notorious thieving troupe embark for the Isle of Korath. Their purpose there is simple: steal the Eye of Rab'di, a gemstone rumored to hold magical properties. But all is not as it seems on Korath. Unexplained murders and mysterious deaths plague the city. Amid their heist, Tilthan and his gang stumble across the truth and are faced with a choice: steal the gem or escape with their lives.

In this full and frank memoir - a personal story of duty, family, justice, politics and resilience - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reflects on his rise, fall, and rise in politics, and recounts his defining personal and political moments and tough but necessary lessons he has learned along the way.

The end has come. The Arc of Radiance has been destroyed. Asmodeus, the Prince of Darkness, marches on Tarsynium with an innumerable demon host. It would seem that, at long last, the end of the world is here. The remnants of humanity gather in Tarsys, uniting their forces to make a final stand. A slim hope remains as Zara discovers an ancient spell capable of defeating the demons once and for all. Together, she and Owyn embark on a gambit to save the kingdom before it can be destroyed. Their success hinges on their friends holding back the R'Laar so they can try their desperate plan.

It all began with Ragnarok, with the Children of the Light and the Tarnished ones battling to the death in the ice and the dark. At the end of the long battle, one Valkyrie survived, wounded, and one valraven - the steeds of the valkyrie. Because they lived, Valdyrgard was not wholly destroyed. Because the valraven was transformed in the last miracle offered to a Child of the Light, Valdyrgard was changed to a world where magic and technology worked hand in hand.