Showing results by narrator "Steve Marvel" in All Categories

In 2003, local Genovese family captain "Big Al" Bruno got shot five times with a .45 caliber handgun as he walked out of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel social club in Springfield, Massachusetts. Since Vito Genovese took his empire north from New York City, a string of mobsters dating back a hundred years have operated in the Greater Springfield area. With this migration came murders, mayhem, treachery, criminal trials, and constant corruption.

The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative politics in our time, creating a toxic phenomenon that culminated in the election of Donald Trump, a bumptious fraud whose checkered career and tawdry retinue, including his presidential cabinet, have featured almost every variety of scam. But long before he appeared, Trump's path to power was blazed by the motley horde of swindlers and quacks who preceded him.

The four elements are the pillars that uphold the manifest world and anchor spirit to matter. They are associated with a wide range of spiritual entities, from small elementals to divine beings. This book explores the consciousness of the elements, which provides a system of understanding that supports most of the magic of the West and paganism. The use of the elements in a wide range of systems and practices will be examined. Much has been written about the four elements already; this book offers new teachings for newcomers and long-time practitioners alike.

Harney County, Oregon, 1968: Nick Drake has a chest full of medals and enough demons to fill a duffel bag. He's been trained to kill but was never retrained to rejoin society. Drake flees to the lonesome high desert in search of redemption and takes a job patrolling wildlife refuges where the only conflicts are keeping out stray cows and ticketing poachers. But then he stumbles across a girl's body ritually placed in a gully. Her murder is only the beginning, and Drake must face humanity's heart of darkness once again if he's to stop a killer from turning even more gullies into graves.

The mission was straightforward enough. Infiltrate civil-war-torn Slovakia, rescue the hostage, then get out undetected. Except that it's not Matt Bowen's first rodeo. He and his teammates know well just how badly things can go once the metal meets the meat. But even these hardened combat veterans aren't ready for what's about to go down.... A coordinated surprise attack. Massacres in the countryside. The next world war might have just kicked off, in a storm of blood, fire, and betrayal.

The war came back at Pallas Group Solutions. Chris and Nick both found themselves fighting for their families’ lives. In response, they struck back. Now, with two major underworld figures dead, who had facilitated crimes for the People’s Republic of China, the cartels, and others, the war has entered a new phase.

In the clandestine world of shadow ops, he's known as The Man From Orange. A master of surveillance, signals intelligence - and silent killing - special operative Drake Woolf has been groomed and trained by the old-guard intel community after his CIA father and mother were murdered in Tunisia. Now he works for Task Force Orange, handling cases the government doesn't want its fingerprints on. Woolf can always be relied on to carry out an assignment with surgical precision - and exterminate a threat with extreme prejudice. But his latest mission is different.

There are no more red or blue states; just empty states. And empty cities. But a few Americans survived, and are fighting to stay alive. Ted, the pilot, still protects Vice President Emily Williams as he retains the hope of finding his niece. His skills are tested as enemy forces zero in on their location. Tabby, the tour guide, is stuck with three young teens as she looks for her parents. Entire cities are theirs to explore. Dwight, the homeless man, is known for talking to an invisible parrot. He might also be witness to the first wave of the invasion force.

The United States is under siege, and the enemy has help from the White House! Scott Stiletto is one of the CIA's toughest assets, a veteran of numerous missions, an operative with compassion and ruthlessness in equal parts. His enemy is the New World Revolutionary Front, a terrorist organization seeking to overthrow the government of the United States and install their own puppet who is already very close to the president he wishes to replace. With freedom and justice hanging in the balance, Scott Stiletto will give the enemy a one-way ticket to hell!

A cave-diving expedition gone wrong. Oh so wrong. But there just might be a few perks... When a hidden portal opens into a prehistoric world, it's up to me, Professor Jake Montblanc, to save my all-girl college class from extinction. With danger lurking in the jungle and survival on the line, what am I supposed to do with twelve horny college babes? Protect them. Build them shelter. Make them as happy as possible.

Coney Bombay isn't your average PhD. While he may be well versed in philosophy, he's also one of the most lethal members of the Bombay Family of assassins. Choosing to travel the world operating carnival rides and spending quiet evenings knitting with his pet guinea pig, even in his crazy family, Cy stands out as wild card.

What would the world be like without America? The attack only takes a few minutes to sweep from coast to coast. When it ends, nearly everyone on mainland USA is gone. Every policeman. Every housewife. Every trucker. Everyone. A continent free for the taking.... Ted MacInnis is a backup pilot on Air Force Two, over the Atlantic, when it happens. A warrior by nature, he can do little but listen as the radio signals from his homeland fade away and die.

Champagne Charlie tells the story of a dashing young Frenchman, Charles Heidsieck, who introduced hard-drinking Americans to champagne in the mid-19th century and became famously known as Champagne Charlie. Ignoring critics who warned that America was a dangerous place to do business, Heidsieck plunged right in, considering it "the land of opportunity" and succeeding there beyond his wildest dreams. Those dreams, however, became a nightmare when the Civil War erupted and he was imprisoned and nearly executed after being charged with spying for the Confederacy.

Ten-year-old Nem has just witnessed her mother's brutal murder and her life appears destined for tragedy. Until, that is, she finds her mother‘s old green journal which holds an incredible secret. This innocent looking book seems to contain the power over luck. As she uses it, Nem discovers the diary keeps a strange kind of karmic balance, that in gifting someone good fortune she must steal another's first. All it takes is a simple entry. There's dangers though, and not just for others but also for Nem.

Evelyn Lewis's secret dream of marrying her brother's best friend is shattered when he leaves their home town to seek his fortune elsewhere. For six long years, she's waited and wondered if he would return. After the shocking murder of her parents, her brother is the only family she has left. Refusing to accept a betrothal to a man she doesn't love, she decides to take control of her destiny and confront her parents' killer.

Dogs keep us company, provide unconditional love, and share in the ups and downs of our lives. They see every day as an adventure. You'll love these 101 dog tales of family, friendship, and fun. How do dogs do it? Even non-"dog people" fall under their spell. Our dogs make us better people. If we rescued them, they rescue us back. If we're sad, they comfort us. If we need to have more fun, they show us how. They are our therapists, our role models, and our best friends.

For most of us, fond memories of the Christmas season are inseparable from television's holiday presentations. The world loves everything from iconic cartoons like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas to the groundbreaking Julia sitcom segment, "I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas," Christmas in Rockefeller Center, and the 1992 television-remake of Christmas in Connecticut directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Holiday Favorites of the Small Screen embraces it all, offering a tinsel-decked traipse down memory lane.

Sizzling Sex for Life addresses men but is exquisitely sensitive to women's sexual sensibilities. While it focuses on sexual enhancement and the resolution of individual and couple sex problems, it transcends similar books by delving into social/political sexual issues, including school sex education and pornography - and in today's fraught #MeToo environment, prevention of sexual assault and harassment. This compelling, sex-positive guide will benefit men and women, from the teen years to old age.

If laughter is the best medicine, then this book is your prescription. Turn off the news and spend a few days not following current events. Instead, return to the basics - humanity's ability to laugh at itself. Maybe you should even do a news cleanse for a few days! Hide under the covers and listen to these stories instead. Or listen to a chapter a day, or a story a day for 101 days. This book contains the antidote to whatever is troubling you. They will definitely put you in a good mood.

What can Jane Austen teach us about health? Prepare to have your bonnet blown.... From the food secrets of Pride and Prejudice to the fitness strategies of Sense and Sensibility, there's a modern health code hidden in the world's most popular romances. Join Bryan Kozlowski as he unlocks this "health and happiness" manifesto straight from Jane Austen's pen, revealing why her prescriptions for achieving total body "bloom" still matter in the 21st century.