Showing results by author "J.J. Michael" in All Categories

Before the most recent pandemic was the Great Plague -- the Black Death -- of the mid-17th century which claimed the lives of 200 million people in Europe and Asia, making it the most devasting such pandemic in human history. This account of that earlier pandemic by the classic author Daniel Defore (author of "Robinson Crusoe" and "Moll Flanders") was used for hundreds of years as a textbook account of the course of such a disease through a population. But that plague was not the first, as will be demonstrated by accounts of other pandemics, plagues, and pestilences, that have struck human ...

Dive into a world where shadows dance with secrets and the human spirit navigates the extraordinary. This captivating anthology weaves together tales of intrigue and mystery, alongside poignant explorations of the heart. From a detective ensnared by the very enigma he seeks, to the unsettling presence of an alligator in suburbia, and the heartwarming journey of adopting a mythical creature, these stories will transport you to unexpected realms. Encounter wicked mermaids, witness the fierce loyalty of nature's guardians, and embark on a perilous quest for a lost city. Share in the quiet ...

Elia is the kind of girl most people don’t notice—quiet, careful, invisible in the rush of everyday life. She keeps her head down at school, tiptoes through the silence at home, and clings to the memory of the one person who truly saw her: Grandpa. When he passes, all she has left is his worn Bible and the whispered promise that God sees her—even when no one else does. Then, one day in the woods, she finds something impossible: a fallen angel, hidden in the trees. Broken. Angry. Alone.

Since the early days of the American republic, political thinkers have maintained that a grossly unequal division of property, wealth, and power would lead to the erosion of democratic life. Yet over the past thirty-five years, neoconservatives and neoliberals alike have redrawn the tenets of American liberalism. Nowhere is this more evident than in our current mainstream political discourse, in which the politics of economic inequality are rarely discussed.

Few films in the history of cinema have achieved the haunting, meditative power of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972). This masterpiece of science fiction transcends the genre’s typical preoccupation with technology and speculative futures, reaching instead into the depths of human consciousness, memory, and the aching poetry of the unknown. Adapted from Stanisław Lem’s novel of the same name (in turn, one of the greatest masterpieces of speculative science fiction narrative), Solaris eschews the cold rationalism of many sci-fi narratives in favor of a contemplative, almost mystical ...

Packed with extensive enhancements, including new international case studies and more strategies to introduce and maintain action learning programs within an organisation, Optimizing the Power of Action Learning delivers an innovative and fresh perspective - making it a must-have for any organization looking to heighten competitive advantage and sustain success.

Barbarians, dragons, mermaids, and wizards abound in this eccletic collection of fantasy from Chattanooga's own, The Corner Scribbler's. Forward and "An Oath's Other Edge" - a Shijuren universe short story - by guest author, Rob Howell.

The international order must find ways to survive illiberal assaults from Russia, China, and, increasingly, populist revolutions among its leading members. Doubling down on U.S. dominance would be the wrong approach. It would be better to build a less hegemonic, more diverse system.

"An utterly brilliant and wonderfully executed idea." –Jennifer Clarke (singer/songwriter) and Lenny Clarke (comedian/actor) Told from two different perspectives, The Cringe Chronicles is a unique father-daughter memoir following Kristin Tougias on her teenage tribulations and strange family vacations. Kristin’s father, author and travel writer Michael J. Tougias, is a bit eccentric and a true nonconformist who inadvertently adds to Kristin’s woes. At the end of each chapter chronicling their misadventures, Kristin’s father Michael gives his personal and humorous point of view, ...

Dr. Jason Davies, a young associate veterinarian, continues his work in small-town Birdie, Oklahoma, under the watchful eye of Dr. John Keating. Each day brings new adventures to Dr. Davies and his entertaining, and sometimes mischievous, clientele.

Peculiar Monstrosities is packed with 14 exquisitely crafted stories from new and established authors of Bizarro fiction.

House on Fire! follows Sophie, a young investigative journalist searching for answers, whose sources for a story on leadership principles in a high-purpose organization get mixed up in a series of mysterious fires around Pittsburgh. Listeners follow Sophie as she explores the intersection of faith and servant leadership in high-purpose organizations and discover how to put serving leadership to work in their own high-purpose organization today.

Diego Conner is at school when his world changes. As soon as his classmates start killing each other, he runs. Then, when he gets home, his parents try to eat him. They aren’t zombies though. They are alive and can be killed. He simply calls them “The Changed”. The only people he knows who haven’t changed are his friends, Sheena and Wes. With their families gone, the 15-year-olds are forced to look out for each other. But how will they survive? Who can Diego turn to?

Struck with Parkinson's - a debilitating, degenerative disease - at the height of his fame, Fox has taken what some people might consider cause for depression and turned it into a beacon of hope for millions. Now, in Always Looking Up, he writes about the personal philosophy that carried him through his darkest hours, and speaks with others who have emerged from difficult periods with optimism to spare.

Zombies, reapers, and more monsters. In a world where so many dark things go bump in the night, terror awaits around every corner as these authors take horror stories to the next level. Discover ghosts, demons, and your worst nightmares. Read at your own risk. Featuring 19 stories by the following 17 authors: Michael Raff, Antoinette McCormick, Matthew Ross, Charles Kyffhausen, Andrew McAuley, B.F. Vega, Douglas Allen Gohl, Toni Mobley, Barend Nieuwstraten III, E.B. Hunter, Constantine E. Kiousis, Alexis Cunningham, Katie Jordan, Maya Moes, Jodie Francis, Lori Gaudet, and J.E. Feldman.

Status-6: Poseidon’s Shadow An International Techno-Thriller by Michael J. Melton THEY DIDN’T LOSE CONTROL. THEY JUST LET YOU THINK THEY DID. When Russia “accidentally” leaks that ten of its doomsday torpedoes—autonomous, undetectable, and nuclear—have been stolen by terrorists, the world panics. But the truth is even more terrifying: the weapons were never lost. They were deployed. Across oceans. Beneath cities. Waiting. As NATO scrambles to respond, satellites begin to go dark. Bliznets, Russia’s ghost satellites, hijack Western communications.

Ragged and raging across the spectrums of cognition, race, and gender, Tarta Americana lyrically envisions forms of survival outside neuronormative perceptions and histories. Against the recent tide of white nationalism in the United States, Tarta Americana finds a rhinestone in Ritchie Valens, the rock and roll legend, surfacing across time and bodies, genders and sounds, displacing the linear unfolding of desire and biography.

You can see it everywhere—on the news, in social media, in books or movies, and by how some churchgoers behave. Just because people call themselves Christians does not mean they are anything like Jesus. His followers were first called Christians in Antioch. Why? Because they acted like Christ (the original Greek work meant “Christ-people” or “little-Christs”). At the time, it was something of an insult. If people call themselves Christians, but merely go to church, they will not like what they hear about themselves at Judgment. It is not enough to just know about Jesus. To be his ...

Malcolm Cain was once a boy with a Bible and a fire in his soul. He preached barefoot revivals, fed the homeless, and wept every time he said the name of Jesus. Now he’s the face of a billion-dollar movement. His sermons trend globally. His name fills arenas. But there’s one name he no longer mentions… and One voice he can no longer hear. As Malcolm rises to become a spiritual icon, the cost of the spotlight begins to haunt him.

Yellowstone National Park looks like a pristine western landscape populated by its wild inhabitants: bison, grizzly bears, and wolves. But the bison do not always range freely, snowmobile noise intrudes upon the park's profound winter silence, and some tourist villages are located in prime grizzly-bear habitat. Despite these problems, the National Park Service has succeeded in reintroducing wolves, allowing wildfires to play their natural role in park forests, and prohibiting a gold mine that would be present in other more typical western landscapes.