Showing results by author "Des & Sa" in All Categories

Autumn Jackson had a rough life in the rough streets of Southwest Atlanta. The smart girl has plans and visions of life beyond her bleak surroundings. A life-changing incident at the age of 15 transforms the sweet girl into another person. Her innocence is lost, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to secure that bag. Her and close friends, Meka and Qianna, set off on a journey to run up a check up. They follow the bad examples of the bad girls in the hood while adding their own unique twist.
Will they achieve the riches they seek or die trying?

Based on the life of the author and members of her tribe, these stories provide a revealing glimpse into the world of the Dakota-Sioux at the turn of the last century. Part One is based on the experiences of the author, and describes a young girl growing up in a changing environment. Part Two consists of revealing stories about other members of her tribe.

The world was once ruled by magic and monsters, but after a cataclysmic war, the chancellors of old eradicated these curses and ushered in a new world. One where sorcerers are hunted, and lowborns are sent to their deaths fighting the wars of nobles. In this world, a young slave reveals magical power before an empire. This revelation may be enough to spark a revolution, if Tori can escape the magic hunters pursuing her.

Picking up the pieces after another devastating betrayal, Gunnar aims to change the cutthroat city of Thailen for good. If that means outsmarting a powerful sorceress and starting a guild war, then so be it. Meanwhile, Em holds a secret to Gunnar's past that could alter everything he thought he knew about Pantheon Online. Soon, Gunnar must reckon between the truth and his reality in this new world. His decision will change everything.

With grit, intelligence, and a stroke of luck, Gunnar passed his guild trials and has been granted the opportunity to be the champion of a goddess. He now has the opportunity to form a faction of his own, join a powerful guild, and make a name for himself in the city of Thailen. But he has also made some bitter enemies, including an old nemesis who is bent on destroying everything he has accomplished. To survive this cutthroat world of thieves and assassins, Gunnar will have to be smarter, and stronger, and more ruthless. Learning some dark magic might not hurt either.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

Tyler and his friends are back, traveling the world as they are on their way to become Master Monster Trainers. What starts off as a normal academy year quickly takes a turn when a new Behemoth monster is born. Tyler has always had a special connection to the rare Behemoth monsters. And he has to discover why exactly that connection exists in order to harness it and save the world he's come to know and love.

In the swirling sewers beneath Arkham, excavators uncover a crystalline formation that hints at dark events from the city's past. As the discovery makes headlines, so too does a series of bizarre murders. With no leads, the Arkham police are always one step behind. Acting on a hunch, down-on-his-luck former journalist Andy Van Nortwick reunites with adventurer Jake Williams and struggling filmmaker Maude Brion to unearth the truth. The trio know of the supernatural horrors that lurk beyond this world, and the reality haunts them.

Through financial smarts, the internal power gained from cultivating wealth, and a heaping of raw cunning, Peter has found his way from lowly Gold clan slave to master of the Bo clan's fiscal empire and a beautiful collection of lovers and wives. But his true purpose in this strange realm of magic and martial arts remains unknown. Until now. As the tendrils of darkness begin to strangle the country, Peter will find out the truth. To survive the dangers ahead, he will need to break through to the next level of cultivation, all while weaving through the minefield of Imperial politics.

When Egyptologist Rom Hardy receives a strange letter from his old friend, the bounty-hunting sniper Rex McTroy, he finds himself drawn into a chilling mystery. In the mountains of New Mexico, a bloodthirsty creature is on the loose, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. Now, a wealthy big game hunter has offered a staggering reward for its capture, and Rom’s patron – the headstrong and brilliant Evangeline Waterston – has signed the team up for the challenge.

This concise, accessible introduction provides an analytical narrative of the main events and developments in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1936. It examines the impact of the revolution on society as a whole - on different classes, ethnic groups, the army, men and women, youth. Its central concern is to understand how one structure of domination was replaced by another. The book registers the primacy of politics, but situates political developments firmly in the context of massive economic, social, and cultural change.

In the swirling sewers beneath Arkham, excavators uncover a crystalline formation that hints at dark events from the city's past. As the discovery makes headlines, so too does a series of bizarre murders. With no leads, the Arkham police are always one step behind. Acting on a hunch, down-on-his-luck former journalist Andy Van Nortwick reunites with adventurer Jake Williams and struggling filmmaker Maude Brion to unearth the truth. The trio know of the supernatural horrors that lurk beyond this world, and the reality haunts them.

In his introduction, guest editor S. A. Cosby observes that writing short stories is “a special skill that combines brevity with wit and cleverness and the hint of the existential malaise that imbues crime fiction with its gravitas.” The stories in this collection overflow with gravitas in the most unexpected ways: a cryptic note left on a windshield, a murder for hire meets a game of Mouse Trap, a swipe right on a dating app goes horribly wrong.

Everything seemed fine. I took my farm back, made peace between the local troll tribe and the villagers, and wrapped everyone behind a protective wall. From there it was just back to the peaceful farming life. Until the adventurers came back . . . with a vengeance. Now, they threaten the women I love, the land I swore on my parents' grave to protect, and the people that live there. And they will never stop. Protecting my land isn't enough. No, it's time to unify every dungeon in the land and fight back.

When Arkham Advertiser reporter Andy van Nortwick receives a mysterious film reel in the mail, with a simple note: "Maude Brion is very much alive!", he steps onto a path which will lead him to the brink of madness. Brion, the famous actress and film director, vanished a year ago on an ill-fated expedition into the Amazon rainforest, delving into the legend of the Spider Queen. Thrilled by the prospect of his big break, Nortwick swings the funds to launch a rescue mission. He gathers a team of explorers and a keen folklorist to bring back Brion and cement his reputation.

Aspiring painter Alden Oakes is invited to join a mysterious art commune in Arkham: the New Colony. When celebrated Spanish surrealist Juan Hugo Balthazarr visits the colony, Alden and the other artists quickly fall under his charismatic spell. Balthazarr throws a string of decadent parties for Arkham’s social elite, conjuring arcane illusions which blur the boundaries between nightmare and reality. Only slowly does Alden come to suspect that Balthazarr’s mock rituals are intended to break through those walls and free what lies beyond. Alden must act, but it might be too late.

Sawyer Reed is heading home after rambling for seven years after the Civil War ended. His family’s cattle ranch is waiting, and he is ready to get to work. On his way home from Mexico, Sawyer runs into a mysterious woman who will change his life and his future forever. Josephine Alverez is a chef at a posh restaurant in San Antonio, Texas in the year 2020. She is off for a weekend of fun when she is sucked into a miniature blue twister.

Sharon Stevenson is a forensic psychiatrist. Her job is to decide whether a patient is of sound enough mind to stand trial, not whether they did or didn’t commit a crime. But Sharon is also a mother grieving the disappearance of her seventeen-year-old daughter, Maddie, who has never been found. And what if the man sitting before her, who has been charged with the murders of several women, also claimed the life of her sweet girl? It’s time to find out the truth.

The fate of the Monster Trainer world is in the balance. The evil Arkan's master plan to control the Behemoths and the world itself rushes forward, and unless Tyler and his team of monsters can level up fast enough, they'll have no chance to stop him! But leveling up is only part of the challenge. Wondrous new regions, dangerous new monsters, and Arkan's legions await to end Tyler's quest before it can begin. Can Tyler truly prove that he's the best Monster Trainer ever and save his new home? Find out in the thrilling conclusion to Monster Trainer Academy!

A mad surrealist's art threatens to rip open the fabric of reality, in this twisted tale of eldritch horror and conspiracy, from the wildly popular world of Arkham Horror.