Showing results by narrator "Chris Andrew Ciulla" in All Categories

Small-time magician Oscar Diggs' life suddenly changes when he's hurled from uneventful Kansas into the enchanting Land of Oz. The inhabitants there see Oscar as a powerful wizard, and they shower him with the fame and fortune he has always imagined would be his. That is until three very powerful witches start to question Oscar's abilities. Drawn into an increasingly dangerous world, Oscar must quickly figure out who is good and who is evil in order to combat the wicked forces at large.

Joseph Antonelli has never lost a case he should have won and has won nearly every case he should have lost - yet he's about to see his client, Justin Friedrich, convicted for a crime he didn't commit. His wife was found shot to death in the bedroom of their yacht in the San Francisco marina, and Friedrich doesn't stand a chance. But then the real killer approaches Antonelli. Famous and enigmatic, James Michael Redfield, the head of a high tech company that leads the world in the development of artificial intelligence, Redfield gives Antonelli evidence proving Friedrich's innocence.

Richard Hudson, woman chaser and used-car salesman, has a pimp's awareness of the ways women (and men) are most vulnerable. One day Richard decides to make an ambitious film, which turns into a fiasco. Enraged, he exacts revenge on all who have crossed him.

Hope Beiler needs Aaron Kanagy’s help. She is determined to give her sister a beautiful new bed frame as a wedding present, and Aaron is the best carpenter in Charity Creek. Unfortunately, she can’t move past something he said last year...and there’s unexplained animosity between their fathers that makes interacting difficult. Aaron wishes he could spend more time honing his woodworking craft, but his parents need help running their gift shop. When Hope approaches him with a solution that will allow them both to achieve their goals, he accepts.

In Mark Haines’s former life, he was an evangelical youth pastor, a role model, and a family man - until he abandoned his wife, his daughter, and his beliefs. Now he’s marking time between sunny days surfing and dark nights working security at an industrial complex. His isolation is broken when Cindy, a charming 22-year-old drifter he sees hitchhiking on the Pacific Coast Highway, hustles him for a breakfast and a place to crash - two cynical kindred spirits.

Patrick Crough served more than 20 years as a Monroe County Major Crimes detective, where he investigated some of the region's most tragic crimes. They include horrifying acts, like that of a Valentine's Day killing rampage that left four people dead, as well as the case against Ed Laraby, the serial rapist who terrorized women in Rochester and Monroe County.

Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time provides listeners a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story following lead character Nick Adams through a series of short stories around the time of World War I. It was praised by fellow authors John Dos Passos and F. Scott Fitzgerald for its precision and simplicity in its messaging. With gruff prose and blunt dialogue that would become standards of his career, it established Hemingway as one of the most promising young American writers of his era.

Violet March and Sam Nash are as different as night and day and have been enemies ever since Violet accused Sam of dognapping her beloved Dalmatian. Sam knows that's impossible - for one thing, Cinder is a well-trained fire-safety-demonstration dog who never steps out of line for serious firefighter Sam. Sprinkles, on the other hand, has never met a command that she didn't ignore completely, much like her bubbly owner.

In these seven stories of People from Bloomington, our peculiar narrators find themselves in the most peculiar of circumstances and encounter the most peculiar of people. Set in Bloomington, Indiana, where the author lived as a graduate student in the 1970s, this is far from the idyllic portrait of small-town America.

Gunner James is good at death—an expert. His job is to clean up the messes no one else can. But behind that tough exterior, he has a few secrets of his own. Eight years ago, he left his hometown and vowed to never look back. When his past collides with his present in the form of a familiar face, he must return home to take care of one final mess: the woman he left behind.

Anthony “Tony” Costa grew up admiring his Uncle Dom - a made member of the New England mafia - so when Dom asks him to collect gambling debts from around the neighborhood, Tony is happy to help. Even after his uncle gets thrown in jail, he does his nephew a good turn from behind bars, getting him a job as a longshoreman on the Boston waterfront. The year is 1958, and Tony is only 18. His new job quickly teaches him what it will take to survive on the docks.

Saul doesn’t get why he’s misunderstood. At his high-tech day job, he hides in the bathroom writing a novel about his dead grandfather and wonders why his boss wants to fire him. He tells his almost ex-wife about a blind date and wonders why she slams the door in his face. He aches with worry for his seven-year-old son, who seems happier living with his mom and her new man. When the blind date becomes a complicated relationship, and Saul’s blunders at work threaten the survival of the company, Saul has to wake up and confront his fears.

The novel begins when the man who assaulted Andrew Harrison’s sister is released from prison. Benjamin Williams was barely more than a kid when he was sentenced to 11 years, but it is impossible to know what he has become since. Andrew, nicknamed H, is compelled to learn for himself when his uncle Billy hands him a gun and says to go find the man. As H’s interest in Williams grows, he struggles to keep his world in balance.

In the world of business, who you know is usually more important than what you know. While most research highlights the personal characteristics and expertise important to business success, this book demonstrates that networking is the core of entrepreneurship. Both counterintuitive and powerful, this perspective reframes entrepreneurial action by placing networking at the center of the process.

Welcome to Danforth Putnam, boarding school for the elite, sprawled across its own private island off the coast of New England. Sam, a war vet who feels sure he’s seen it all, has been called here to find a stolen rare book. But as he corners D&D nerds, grills steroid-raging linemen, and interviews filthy-rich actresses, he soon senses that something far stranger—“witchy”, in fact—is afoot. When students start to meet mysterious and gruesome deaths, Sam realizes just how fast the clock is ticking.

After robbing some banks, Torn Slater knows he should lay low. But when a beautiful widow asks for his help, he can't say no. Her reckless son has gone looking for trouble in Mexico - and found it in a woman called La Señorita. This power-mad femme fatale combines the torture methods of the Spanish Inquisition with the heart-ripping rituals of the Aztecs to get whatever she wants. And she wants the widow's son. Slater would be lying if he said taking down La Señorita would be easy. But dead men don't lie....

Magically quiet yet deeply satisfying, Macken in Love follows two middle-aged lovers who must navigate personal histories in search of the one thing that has evaded them both. Lonesome but loveable, 50-year-old Kevin Macken devotes his days to the Irish bakery he inherited from his parents. Once Juilliard-bound, Jill Novak has never recovered from the tragedy that derailed her promising career more than two decades ago. For two people who have all but given up on love, finding each other feels too good to be true.

After Jake quits the drug business, his realtor/ex-wife, Nina, gets him a job as a housesitter for her wealthy clients. Jake celebrates by throwing a party in the mansion he was hired to look after. Unfortunately, the guest list gets out of hand, leaving Jake to contend with a hallucinogenic-vitamin-dispensing yogi, a dead guy in the bathroom, and the Norwegian - a criminal force of nature with a grudge against Jake.

When David's wife dies at the hands of a corrupt medical system, David is out for justice. With his skills as a lawyer and position inside the biggest health insurance company in America - American True Care - he plans to bring down the system, from the inside. David begins to work his way up the company while recruiting a clandestine team to build a covert case against American True Care. But this is a dangerous game and the players have ties to the highest levels of government. Propped up by lobbyists, senators, and even the White House, American True Care will do whatever it takes

WARNING: Highly prone to spontaneous fits of delirium, irrational logic, and violent, unpredictable mood swings. This individual has been sober, swollen, and hungry for the past nine months, so proceed with caution and handle with care. Anything said during the course of labor and delivery should not be taken seriously. Side effects may last up to 18 years. Please consult your physician should castration occur. And never forget, this is all your fault.