Showing results by narrator "David Ackroyd" in All Categories

Peter is thrilled to leave New York City to accompany his parents on an expedition to Greenland to study global warming. There he has visions of things that should be too far away for him to see. Generations ago, the people of Thea’s community were hunted for possessing unusual abilities, so they fled beneath the ice. Thea needs help that only Peter can give. Their meeting reveals secrets of both their pasts, and changes the future for them both forever.

Over a tense weekend of reflection, Major Norman Starr of the National Security Council prepares to appear before a congressional committee to publicly account for his covert actions. Hoping to learn something from his proud, troubled heritage, Starr looks for guidance in the lives of his ancestors: all-Americans who weren't always right. From a framer of the Constitution to a slave owner, from a Supreme Court justice to a courageous suffragist, each recalls an important legacy that Starr must somehow reconcile with his own perilous dilemma.

John Perkins has seen the signs of today's economic meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiascos, the banking industry collapse, the rising tide of unemployment, the shuttering of small businesses across the landscape are all too familiar symptoms of a far greater disease.

In 16 wonderful stories, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James A. Michener burrows deep into the secret lives of animals and the hidden world of nature. Here he sheds light on nature's most awesome and beguiling handiwork, from the sublime shaping and reshaping of earth's lands and seas to a ridiculous armadillo's assault on a bit of Texas real estate that paid off handsomely.

A walk around the block, a quick drive, before shutting down your PC ? these short story collections are perfect for when you only have a few minutes to listen."

Harry Stanford, one of the world's wealthiest man, dies mysteriously while cruising his yacht along the rugged coast of Corsica. Immediately following Stanford's funeral in Boston, a lovely young woman identifies herself as the tycoon's daughter and heir to a share of his estate. When the well-respected Stanford family looks into the identity of the unexpected heiress, they uncover a world of blackmail, drugs, and murder that leads them through the Italian Riviera.

In 1851, Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows—gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a place where time itself seems suspended.

When 16-year-old Helmuth Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he's tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmuth's story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times, to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.

The Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, formerly number one in the region, is swiftly being encroached upon by a fearsome and sophisticated competitor called the World of Darkness. Ava’s mother, the park’s indomitable headliner, has just died; her sister, Ossie, has fallen in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, who may or may not be an actual ghost; and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, who dreams of becoming a scholar, has just defected to the World of Darkness.

This superb collection of nine detective stories focuses on the police procedural genre where crime investigation takes on a sense of reality.

A mad bomber is terrorizing the city. But New York has a weapon of its own - Detective John McClane. Originally published as tie-in novelization to the 1995 major motion picture.

When Ruben and Jed find a dead body on the Rhode Island shore, they are certain it has something to do with smuggling liquor. It's the 1920s, Prohibition and bootlegging is in full swing, and almost everyone in the shore community is involved. Suddenly, the boys find themselves involved as well: didn't the dead man have something on him, and didn't they take it? It isn't long before Ruben is actually on the legendary Black Duck itself, caught in a war between two ferocious prohibition gangs.

Following an unprecedented, relentless four-year investigation, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr delivered 36 boxes of evidence against then-President Bill Clinton to the House of Representatives on September 9, 1998. Dubbed “The Starr Report,” the documents alleged—in lurid detail—that Clinton lied under oath in a sworn deposition about his affair with an intern. This became the prime piece of evidence in the subsequent impeachment hearings.

Richard Nixon said he wanted administration to be "the best chronicled in history". But when Alexander Butterfield disclosed the existence of a voice-activated tapind system to a Senate committee in July 1973, Nixon's White House and its recordings quickly became the most infamous in American history. Only 60 hours were actually made public in the 1970s. Many thousands of hours remained secret and Nixon's hands, and he fought fiercely to keep them that way right up to his death.

For over 100 years, animal lovers have known that their dogs, cats, and other pets have complex emotional lives. Scholar and psychoanalyst Masson, with the help of Susan McCarthy, presents scientific evidence, fascinating anecdotes, and illuminating insights that offer powerful proof of the existence of animal emotion. When Elephants Weep draws upon the illuminating experiences of animal trainers and pet owners to create riveting and revolutionary stories that will permanently change and enrich the way we look at animals.

In the morgue of a Philadelphia hospital, a group of physicians open a coffin and uncover the corpse of a beautiful young woman. What they see takes their breath away. Within days, one of them strongly suspects that he knows the woman's identity - and the horrifying events that led to her death.

They called it Satan's Circus - a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the turn of the twentieth century, murder was so common in the vice district that few people were surprised when the loudmouthed owner of a shabby casino was gunned down on the steps of its best hotel. But when, two weeks later, an ambitious district attorney charged young policeman Charley Becker with ordering the murder, even the denizens of Satan's Circus were surprised.

Top best-selling business author, James A. Belasco teams with corporate leader Jerre Stead, CEO of Ingram Micro, Inc. to create the ultimate business guidebook for the future.

Fascinating “What If?” stories from Hugo and Nebula award-winning masters of alternate history! What would the world be like if Teddy Roosevelt had fought in World War I? If the space race started during World War II? If Joseph McCarthy had been elected President? These and other questions are answered in this collection of alternate histories. As these stories suggest, the world as we know it might have turned out different than it is today, if only one minor—or major—change had occurred in history.

There is no higher praise we can give people than to say they have good character. But what does this mean, really? What makes this quality so essential to achieving personal success and fulfillment? More importantly, how can we build our own character and live more satisfying lives? Reflecting society's diversity, the contributors to this unique collection of essays speak from various cultural and professional backgrounds to share their observations on living with integrity, honesty, and compassion.