Showing results by narrator "Michael A. Smith" in All Categories

Far from the catchy television spots and sleek magazine spreads are the comparatively modest ads that pop up on websites and in Internet searches. But don't be fooled - online advertising is exploding. Growing at a compound annual rate near 20%, it is now the second-largest advertising channel in the United States. Part history, part guidebook, part prediction for the future, Targeted tells the story of the companies, individuals, and innovations driving this revolution.

A man treks through the frigid Yukon with his dog. When night falls, the temperature drops to negative 75, and they struggle to keep warm.

It had been raining for weeks. Maybe months. He had forgotten the last day that it hadn't rained, when the storms gave way to the pale blue of the Gulf sky, when the birds flew and the clouds were white and sunshine glistened across the drenched land. Following years of catastrophic hurricanes, the Gulf Coast - stretching from the Florida panhandle to the western Louisiana border - has been brought to its knees. The region is so punished and depleted that the government has drawn a new boundary ninety miles north of the coastline.

Three years ago, an archaeological expedition led by Vatican scholar Juan Vargas discovered something unusual on the shores of the Dead Sea. Early the next morning, Father Vargas, and the artifact he uncovered, disappeared without a trace. Until now. An injured and badly dehydrated Father Vargas wanders out of the New Mexican desert, telling a wild story about a secret research installation and bloodthirsty demons hunting men through its halls.

Lou Prophet loves to keep beautiful women company. But when the invitation comes from Miss Louisa Bonaventure, the Vengeance Queen, he finds himself intimate with hot lead instead of her warm female form. Louisa’s got him riding the brutal Mexican frontier chasing outlaws led by Tony Lazzaro, a notorious thief whose deadly weapon, Sugar Delphi, is a blind and blood-hungry pistolera.

Jass Dietrich has everything a college senior could dream of: solid grades, a supportive girlfriend, and cushy job waiting for him the moment he graduates. But then, on his last spring break trip, he meets and falls for Annabelle, the mysterious free spirit who challenges him to reconsider his plans. When Jass returns to campus, he finds himself finally facing the questions he had avoided for so long: Is it too late to change career paths? Are he and his girlfriend truly meant to be together? And will he ever see Annabelle - the girl who left an imprint on his heart - again?

Michael Smith spent 20 years restoring Melbourne's beloved Sun Theatre and becoming one of Australia's last independent cinema operators. He then set off on a rather different journey: to become the first person to fly solo around the world in an amphibious plane. With limited flying experience, no support team and only basic instruments in his tiny flying boat, the Southern Sun, Smith risked his life to make modern aviation history.

This Bible audiobook is easy for kids to understand and brings the story of Jesus to life. Parents, see how easily you can teach your children about the miracle of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection using this tool. Churches, The Action Bible Easter Story is the perfect resource for Sunday school teachers and families. Don't forget the most important gift of all this year. Share the true meaning of Easter with The Action Bible Easter Story.

Mario Woods is looking forward to one normal night before he graduates. He's spent most of high school riding solo. But when fate lands him a date for prom, he figures this might be his chance to be less of a loner.

Luke Jensen brings a body to Rio Rojo. After all, it's his job and he's going to get paid. But before he can collect the bounty for killing a killer, two notorious criminals hit the Rio Rojo bank. Now Luke can't get paid unless he catches bandit Gunner Kelly and his Apache sidekick Dog Eater. Unfortunately, a would-be man hunter is after the money-toting outlaws, too, and young Hobie McCullough is mostly a menace to himself. With a green kid to protect, renegade Mexican soldiers, and a beautiful runaway bride crossing Luke's trail, the blood hunt takes one deadly detour after another.

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche is a profound and influential philosophical work that follows the journey of Zarathustra, a sage who retreats into the mountains for solitude and enlightenment. After years of contemplation, Zarathustra returns to share his insights with humanity. Through a series of parables, discourses, and aphorisms, Zarathustra explores complex themes such as the death of God, the will to power, and the concept of the Übermensch, or superman.

Half-white, half-Cheyenne Yakima Henry has been ambushed and badly injured. Bleeding to death, he doesn't know who'll get to him first: the gunslingers or hungry wolves. Thankfully, comely widow Aubrey Coffin comes along and drags Yakima to safety. But as he heals, lawless desperados circle closer to finish the job they started by putting his innocent savior in the cross fire.

Boot Stoner spent 12 years of his life behind bars for stealing a horse and rustling cattle. Upon release, he adds murder and kidnapping to his criminal skills, slaughtering his own parents before exacting revenge upon the man responsible for his incarceration and abducting a young Creek girl his folks adopted. The best hope for stopping Stoner's bloody rampage in Oklahoma Indian Territory is the veteran manhunter, John Ward, deputy marshal.

In 1866, the border between the U.S. and Mexico is a hotbed of gunrunners, mercenaries, and the Emperor of Mexico's spies, saboteurs and double agents. On top of which, West Texas is plagued by Comanche warriors. Into this mix ride two massive gangs of the meanest, most kill-happy bunch of bloodthirsty ravagers to ever draw a breath. Sam Heller and Johnny Cross have got the marauders in their sights, but they aren't ready for the slaughter and destruction the raiders unleash on Hangtree County.

In Hangtree, Texas, any day could be your last. For on the heels of the Civil War, Hangtree is drawing gamblers, fast women and faster gunmen. Amidst the brawls and shooting, the land-grabbing and card-sharking, two men barely hold the boomtown together: Yankee Sam Heller and Texan Johnny Cross. Heller and Cross can’t stand the sight of each other. And Hangtree needs them more than ever. A Comanche named Red Hand leads a horde of warriors on a horrific path of bloodshed and destruction, with Hangtree sitting right in Red Hand’s path.

Some call him a Russian Mark Twain. And with his special blend of comedy, social commentary, and fantasy, Nikolai Gogol paved the way for his countrymen Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. This sampling of Gogol's works includes the increasingly fantastic entries of The Diary of a Madman followed by the wonderfully surrealistic The Nose in which the title character embarks on some unlikely activities when separated from its owner's face. Rounding out the collection are the woefully comic tale of a clerk's acquisition of The Overcoat and Ivan Fyodorovich and his Aunt, in which the title character retires to his country estate, managed by a wily Aunt.

Cade Williams is no ordinary man. His ability to cross over to the other side makes him uniquely qualified to command the Church’s special operations division. As a modern-day Knight, Cade can use the curse that has scarred his soul as a weapon against the forces of darkness. But a new kind of unholy war is brewing — and soon Cade may be the last man standing...between the living and the dead.

Young twins Jed and Tim Strange set out to find their sister, who left home to avenge their father's murder over a year ago. But when they're accused of a murder they didn't commit, they must go on the run to find the true killers.

Lou Prophet is in mixed company these days. He doesn’t mind being close to his pretty pistol-packing partner, Louisa Bonaventure. Known as the Vengeance Queen, she has his back — and dare he say it, part of his heart. But accompanying the vile outlaw Blanco Metalious back to Nugget Town to see him hang isn’t exactly Lou’s idea of a good time.

Forget the traditional model of selling that says you should focus first on the transaction or the sale. It's outdated thinking and there is another way. A way to develop stronger, more powerful relationships by adopting an approach that is more authentic, which strips away the unnecessary layers then focuses on how to add greater significance to others. That way is to Go Naked.