Showing results by narrator "Thomas James" in All Categories

I was a just normal guy until the night the cherry blossoms bloomed, the night that Grace appeared on my doorstep. A failed sci-fi writer, a gamer, but a normal guy nonetheless. Grace was everything I was not - a psychic shifter, beautiful beyond my wildest imagination, a government conspiracy waiting to be unraveled. And that was before the second superpowered woman showed up to kill us both.

With the defeat of the Elemental, Arbor should be hailed as a hero. Instead, he is shunned, turned away from the Defiants by those seeking power and fearing his own. Having little choice, Arbor sets out with his force of gremlins toward the slave city of Fivora in hopes of finally being reunited with his sister. Meanwhile, strange things are happening in the elven capital of Srila. An Infiltrator is stalking the streets and leaving death in its wake. However, the Infiltrator isn’t the only one with its sights set on the elven homeland.

Navy Ace pilot and TOPGUN instructor Bill Driscoll demonstrates how his own life-or-death aerial dogfights - and the preparation for them - can help guide high-risk corporate decisions. Interviews with over 200 senior executives and 26 Ace pilots, as well as strategies from Driscoll's own highly successful second career in commercial real estate, reinforce the consistent patterns underlying exceptional performance under pressure.

The familiar world collapsed overnight. As the Transformation progressed, disasters occurred throughout the Earth. Materials changed their properties, new species of flora and fauna appeared. The Game converted our world into a huge dungeon, completely replacing the previous civilization. However, the alien plans for Earth began to go awry from the very beginning. The conversion was less successful than expected. An ordinary young man stole the bonus for the first gaming action, depriving the invaders of their perk.

In the aftermath of the Developer’s Tournament, Esil has a new life filled with opportunity. He’s the first person to test out their most innovative technology, full-immersion gameplay, in a brand new, unexplored gameworld. Magic and mayhem collide in ways he never thought possible, and soon he finds himself caught in a quest that may alter the course of the game for years to come. As Esil experiences the grandeur of full-immersion and the line blurs between reality and the gameworld, the NPCs he meets feel more like friends than data.

Esil is content with his quiet life beta testing new game worlds, so he doesn’t give the invitation a second thought. Having every detail of his life scrutinized while pursuing gold and glory are ambitions of the past, and mentoring is at the bottom of his to-do list. That all changes when Dean, a teenager from the same orphanage where Esil grew up, begs for help. This is a life-changing opportunity for a kid from the boxes.

To the Creshe Empire, I’m just a number. I’ve spent the past five years in isolation and under study. With my home razed by a Syldrari attack, my mind damaged, and nothing but white walls and a viewing window around me, I dedicated myself to two things: training my body, and reading any book they allowed me to have. The Empire wants me to serve, to use the inhuman power the Incident stirred within me. Technically, they asked, but it wasn’t much of a choice. It never is. Serve, or...I refused to be a mindless slave. My life was taken from me once. Never again.

Double, double, bard in trouble. Mob will catch him in a couple... Okay, the mobsters looking for Daniel still hadn't found him. That was the good news. Bad news? The net was tightening - and Daniel was running out of places to hide inside the Dawnlight Forest in the World of Chains. His skills and achievements as a bard did not help avoid attention - quite the opposite, in fact.

Young Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves became blood brothers on the day the rancher's son saved the half breed's life, forging a bond no one could ever break. Beneath the Montana big sky, Matt learned the ways of the Cheyenne from his friend. And as years passed, a legend grew of the breed and the white man who rode together — and who could jerk killing iron with the best of them....

Ted Rockson and his small band of soldiers fight to rid the land of a Soviet occupational force bent on world domination. But Rockson not only has the enemy to contend with, for out of the ashes of the nuclear devastation of World War III, the Earth has become one large death zone. Mutated animals, destructive storms, and barbaric humans now roam the land. Death seems to be everywhere. Hope seems fleeting. But Rockson will not give up.

From his Missouri farm, the boy traveled west. In his hand was a Navy Colt given to him by Jesse James. By his side was the old mountain man named Preacher, who would teach young Smoke Jensen everything he needed to fight like the devil and die like a man. And in his heart...was vengeance. His enemies destroyed everything he'd ever loved. But they made one mistake. They let Smoke Jensen live.

Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot-tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobody’s business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to Hell. The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a renegade demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. It’s an offer she can’t refuse. There’s just one catch. How do you kill something that can’t die?

Working on a dig on the southern coast of India, the last thing Annja Creed expects is to be hit by a tsunami. Or to strike archaeological gold. But that's exactly what happens when several objects wash ashore in the storm. The relics carry unfamiliar markings that hint at a legendary city. Excited by the prospect of discovering a culture believed lost to civilization, Annja embarks on a perilous journey deep into the heart of danger.

Carl thought his life was on track until disaster struck. Now he looks like a 35-year-old and is out of points, so he needs to scramble to change the situation before anyone finds out the truth. The question is, what should he do next? Buy more businesses, or focus on his love life? And always in the background is his family, wondering what happened to their father and grandfather and if he will ever talk to them again. Follow Carl as he discovers new ways of living when he is nearing the end of his own life.

Dante Valentine has been through Hell. Literally. Her body shattered and her mind not far behind, she's dumped back into her own world to survive - or not - as a pawn in one of Lucifer's endless games. Unfortunately, he's just messed with the wrong Necromance. And this time she's mad enough to do something about it. This time, the Devil will pay.

Touch-sensitive FBI Agent Lily Yu is recruited by the Secret Service to help identify elected officials who have accepted demonic pacts - bringing Lily and her werewolf bond-mate, Rule, to DC just before the holidays. But Lily must turn to fellow Agent Cynna Weaver for help when Cynna's former teacher, a demon master, emerges as the main suspect behind the pacts. After a demon commits a gruesome murder, sorcerer Cullen Seabourne joins the team racing the clock to find the apprentice of evil who uses demons to kill.

Forensic evidence in a couple of assassinations reveals a curious link between the killers: identical fingerprints and genetic code. Could it be twins? But when the next killer's traces show the same result, law enforcement authorities are baffled. The bizarre problem is entrusted to CURE's Dr. Harold Smith and he puts Remo and Chiun on a trail leading back decades to a literal dead end.

Bounty hunting is a helluva job, but it pays the bills. And it lets necromance Dante Valentine forget her issues. Like struggling with her half-demon side and the memory of her lover’s death. Now psychics all over the city are being savagely murdered and a piece of the past Dante thought she’d buried is stalking the night with a vengeance. Too bad she’s got no way to tell which fiend - or friend - to trust.

Charlie and the Misfits have been invited to join the closed beta of the new space-themed VRMMO, Star Nova Online. Together with hundreds of other test pilots, they hope to defend Earth from destruction. The Roth - a lizard-like warrior race - has nearly wiped humanity from the face of the universe and are on the way to finish the job. The test pilots have just seven days to train and prepare themselves.

Even small increases in mindfulness can lead to big changes in productivity and quality of life for the overworked and overwhelmed professional. Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative is a guide for doing just that.