Showing results by narrator "Vikas Adams" in All Categories

As an only son, Kiran has obligations - to excel in his studies, to honor the deities, to find a nice Indian girl, and, above all, to make his mother and father proud - standard stuff for a boy of his background. If only Kiran had anything in common with the other Indian kids besides the color of his skin. They reject him at every turn, and his cretinous public schoolmates are no better. Cincinnati in the early 1990s isn't exactly a hotbed of cultural diversity, and Kiran's not-so-well-kept secrets don't endear him to any group.

The new world of results-driven aid that could put an end to extreme poverty. Drawing on two decades covering global development as editor in chief of Devex, Raj Kumar explores how nontraditional models of philanthropy and aid are empowering the world’s poorest people to make progress.

An American physician in rural Afghanistan faces the unimaginable. Dilip Joseph dreams of life as a medical humanitarian. In 2009 his dream comes true as he joins the staff of Colorado-based Morning Star Development, a nonprofit community and economic development organization. On December 5, 2012, Dr. Joseph and two native colleagues, en route from a medical clinic in an Afghan village to Kabul, find themselves face-to-face with four men carrying AK-47s.

In 2013, Edward Snowden shocked the world when he revealed that the United States government was secretly building a system of mass surveillance with the ability to gaze into the private lives of every person on earth. Phone calls, text messages, emails - nothing was safe from prying eyes. Now the man who risked everything to expose the truth about government spying describes for a new generation how he helped build that system, what motivated him to try to bring it down, and how young people can strive to protect their privacy in the digital age.

Icarus plunges into a terrifying new world; an endless green forest where wolves appear out of nowhere and dreams seem as tangible as reality. To make matters worse, he can’t remember anything that came before the fall; not Hawk, not the Dimension, not even his own name.

Kihrin grew up on tales of long-lost princes and grand quests - despite being raised in a brothel, making money as a musician and street thief. One day he overreaches by targeting an absent noble’s mansion, hunting for jewels. There he witnesses a prince performing a terrifying dark-magic ritual. Kihrin flees, but he’s marked by a demon, and his life will never be the same again. That night also leads to him being claimed as a lost son of that prince’s royal house. But far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner.

Chris, Jennifer, and Robin must save Rhadaz, a fantastical land that has been oppressed under false rule for too long. It is time for these three from Earth to save a planet that is new to them. It is time for them to use their powers as warrior, shape-shifter and sorceress to reinstall the long-lost Aletto to the throne that is naturally his. It is time for the power of the Night-Threads to overthrow the demonic Hell-Light as the planet demands one thing: One Land, One Duke.

Casualties. That's how I refer to the guys who've had the bad fortune to fall for me. They see only long legs that they wish were wrapped around them, a catlike smile, and the reckless abandon to take on any wild dare. It's all a game to me. Show me a bridge, and I'll leap over the side. Give me a car, and I'll race it. Give me a heart, and I'll break it. I always win. I even showed Death who was boss a long time ago. Or so I thought. Now time is running out, and I'm losing fast...and big.

The United States intelligence establishment is a colossus. With stations in 170 countries, armed with cutting-edge surveillance gear, high-tech weapons, and fleets of armed and unarmed drone aircraft, it commands the most extensive and advanced intel force in history. But America's spy establishment still struggles to keep pace with a host of determined enemies around the world. In Intel Wars, leading espionage historian Matthew M. Aid delivers the inside stories of our decade-long struggle against terrorism.

From the introduction by David L. Ulin: "For me, Cape Cod is a repository of memory: forty summers in the same house will do that to you. But it is also a landscape of hidden tensions, which rise up when we least anticipate. In part, this has to do with social aspiration, which is one of the things that brought my family, like many others, to the Cape. In part, it has to do with social division, which has been a factor since at least the end of the nineteenth century, when then summer trade began."

The Transpop Rebellion ended 10 years ago with now-Secretary General Nicholas Seafort as a hero. With that political capital, Seafort stepped into place as one of the most powerful men in the world. But political clout isn't all it seems to be. While Seafort tries to stay true to his moral code, he's being pulled in every direction. His former colleagues in the navy demand more ships, while the enviro lobbyists plead with him to repair the planet's broken ecosystem. Patriarch's Hope returns the focus to the Seafort Saga's charismatic and troubled title character.

A largescale riot rages through Westbrook prison in upstate New York, incited by a poem in the house literary journal. Our unnamed narrator, barricaded inside the computer lab, swears he’s blameless - even though, as editor in chief, he published the piece in question. As he awaits violent interruption by his many, many enemies, he liveblogs one final Editor’s Letter. Riots I Have Known is his memoir, confession, and act of literary revenge.

Philip Moeller has written a reliable, concise guide to health care and health insurance basics. He provides tools that patients need before, during, and after they get medical care. He describes the care we need, the care we don’t, and how to deal with doctors, hospitals, and other health-care providers. Moeller explains telemedicine and health-care apps that have become so important during the coronavirus epidemic. The book shares the stories of disruptive health innovators who have given us access to true health costs, cheaper prescription drugs, and low-cost care.

RuPaul Andre Charles always knew he was meant to be a performer. Even as a young child, he loved to dress up and imitate the glamorous women he saw on television. When he turned 15, he began studying theater in a performing arts school in Atlanta and never looked back. Ru developed his drag-queen personality and launched his career in the 1980s. He now hosts and judges the widely popular and long-running show RuPaul's Drag Race, which has raised the profile of the art of drag and drag queens around the world.

In October 2017, Jagmeet Singh was elected as the first visible minority to lead a major federal political party in Canada. The historic milestone was celebrated across the nation. About a month earlier, in the lead-up to his election, Jagmeet held community meet and greets across Canada. At one such event, a disruptive heckler in the crowd hurled accusations at him. Jagmeet responded by calmly calling for all Canadians to act with “love and courage” in the face of hate. That response immediately went viral.

Michael Koresky's most formative memories were simple ones. A movie rental. A mug of tea. And a few shared hours with his mother. Years later and now a successful film critic, Koresky set out on a journey with his mother to discover more about their shared cinematic past. They rewatched ten films that she first introduced to him as a child, one from every year of the '80s, each featuring women leads.

Summer vacation is Levi London's favorite time of the year. Each summer, he and his brothers are shipped off to Florida to stay with their grandparents. For 10 weeks everything is perfect. He has freedom, fun, and Summer West - the cute and spunky girl across the street - for whom he's planned to confess his giant crush.

Waking aboard an unfamiliar ship missing all the attributes he spent years earning, Aren remembers little except that his sister, Claire, is in mortal danger. "Save me. Save the Empire." Those were the last words she'd said to him...or was that even her? Somehow, he's become an oath breaker, a pariah, and enemy to the throne. With the help of a fellow new recruit to his clan, Aren set's out to find Claire, all while battling new enemies far beyond his level, and piecing together his broken memory. But still, Aren can't help the nagging feeling that there's something greater at stake.

Like Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun and Alexander Masters’ Stuart, this is a tour de force of narrative reportage - an intimate portrait of an invisible man. Mohammed Ashraf studied biology in college, and after college he learned how to repair television sets, cut suit lengths, and slice chicken. He has lived in Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Surat, and Patna, but this evening he is stoned on a street in Sadar Bazaar, in North Delhi. The morning shall bring hangovers, whiskey breakfasts, and possibly answers to the lingering questions that haunt Ashraf.

Mani Steinn is queer in a society in which the idea of homosexuality is beyond the furthest extreme. His city, Reykjavik in 1918, is homogeneous and isolated and seems entirely defenseless against the Spanish flu, which has already torn through Europe, Asia, and North America and is now lapping up on Iceland's shores. And if the flu doesn't do it, there's always the threat that war will spread all the way north. And yet the outside world has also brought Icelanders cinema!