Showing results by narrator "Paul Heitsch" in All Categories

Book 3 of an action packed LitRPG adventure set in a world where artifacts known as Cores let their bearers wield the planet’s magic, and where Skills grant superhuman abilities and kaiju roam the wilds. It's perfect for fans of Solo Leveling, The Primal Hunter, and 1% Lifesteal!

Captain Jacob Brown of the United Earth Marine Corps knows this fight has been coming. He knows that they are coming. They call themselves the Synod. They are everywhere… and nowhere. They are the enemy that rises from the ashes of the old order and threatens to bring the entire quadrant under their thumb. All they need to secure total victory is a secret, ancient power Jacob’s family has guarded for years.

In the aftermath of an unprecedented magical disaster, Edge wakes up in a monster-infested wilderness, standing on the bottom of the food chain. But he won’t be there for long. After finding a unique core known as Skill-Eater, Edge gains the power to steal the skills of monsters, men, and beasts, and a chance to battle his way up to the top.

While Edge was returning from his latest adventure, Puppet Town received a quest from the System that would either help the settlement survive or seal its fate. If they can clear a deadly dungeon packed to the brim with powerful monsters and defeat the boss lurking in the final chamber, the settlement can start producing cores for its residents, boosting their odds of overcoming the ordeals to come. It won’t be easy. A bloodthirsty gang known as the Crimson Claws received the quest, too.

Much of the history of United States defense over the course of 250 years has been a story of success. Insulated by two oceans and mostly friendly neighbors, but constantly ambitious abroad, America has dared mighty things and often achieved them, argues defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon. After growing into a continental power, largely through force of arms, during the first half of its history, it then led the way to coalition victories in two world wars, pursued peace in the Cold War, and has contributed to the most democratic period in human history.

When an invading clone army completely overwhelms and threatens total destruction on the planet Delpha, there’s only one group that can stop them. Task Force 88. A highly skilled combat team of super soldiers, the Task Force Rangers are the planet’s only hope of survival. Outnumbered and facing near impossible odds against the clone army, the Rangers must protect three airfields until the United Planet Military Command can send in reinforcements.

Extreme heat, fires, floods, and storms are transforming our planet. Yet we get increasing emissions, divisive politics, and ersatz solutions that offer more of the same: more capitalism, more complexity, more "progress." The impasse we face is not only political and institutional, but cognitive, existential, and narrative. We're incapable of grasping the scale, speed, and impact of global warming. And we optimistically cling to a narrative that promises a better tomorrow if we just keep doing what we're doing.

A university president with delusions of grandeur. A property developer with mob ties. A crooked politician fast-tracking projects for cash. Just another day in South Florida. When Miami Jones is hired by an old college friend to investigate the drug overdose of a star student-athlete, he is thrust into the dark intersection of academia, politics, and the Miami drug world, where he finds himself fighting to not just solve the crime but to save those he loves most.

Captain Jason Burke and his crew are used to danger, but nothing prepares them for the terror stalking the stars. A savage killer, born from twisted science and driven by vengeance, leaves a trail of butchered victims across remote worlds. When Omega Force is drawn into the hunt, they uncover a secret that threatens not just their lives but the lives of thousands of innocents. With a predator who knows no mercy, Jason must confront his past and a truth that could destroy everything he’s fought for.

Josef Matt, the only man to ever try to conquer this last summit of the Alps, met his end in the pursuit. Now his son, Rudi, dares to complete the same task in memory of his father. Setting off with his father's red shirt, Rudi must courageously pass through the same chasm that took his father's life and finish the challenging climb in order to plant the shirt at the peak.

Jason Burke is a broken man. The loss of his friend and crewmate on an ill-fated mission to a Pillar World has left him in a downward spiral of rage and self-destruction. But what if Lucky hadn’t actually died on that planet? While Omega Force tries to pull itself together for the sake of their friend, they also learn that a ruthless new faction has seized control of the ConFed Council and now threatens the stability of the entire quadrant. To make matters worse, the rise of this new regime might be their fault.

Miami Jones knows that South Florida has its fair share of sharks, and not all of them live in the ocean. When a young boy is dumped in the water off the coast, Miami goes looking for answers. What he finds is a world of crooked bookmakers, slick Las Vegas Casino moguls and a desperate band of brothers playing a forgotten sport. Forgotten by everyone except the person who wants the players dead. Miami takes Florida sliding down a sinkhole rather personally, so now he’ll stop at nothing to prevent the circling sharks from consuming his beloved home. There is darkness, even in the sunshine state.

To most people, Jamaica is sun, sea, and rum drinks by the pool. But Miami Jones and Danielle Castle don't vacation like most people. After witnessing an assault on a young man in Montego Bay, Miami and Danielle are hired to protect a young athlete with Olympic dreams. But there are lots of athletes with those dreams, and not all of them play by the rules.

Rumors have swirled around about the demise of the ConFed for as long as Jason Burke had been in space, a lone human among countless alien species. He largely ignored them...until now. For the first time since any of the members of Omega Force can remember, someone may have figured out how to destroy the ConFed without directly engaging its powerful military. As one crewmember's past seems connected to the current trouble, Jason must decide what side of the fight he's on....

Danny knows at a glance that Red, the big Irish setter, is the dog he has always dreamed of. But Red is a champion, and Danny is only a trapper's son who lives in a cabin on the mountain. Still, their bond is undeniable. Red is fast and strong, smart and noble, and incredibly loyal—when Danny twists his ankle and can't get home, Red stays by him all night, keeping a wildcat at bay. Soon Danny and Red are meeting nature on their own terms, enduring a blizzard and even facing down a wolverine. But can Danny and Red take on the enemy that threatens everyone on the mountain?

Frans Hals was one of the greatest portrait painters in history, and his style transformed ideas and expectations about what portraiture can do and what a painting should look like. Hals was a member of the great trifecta of Dutch Baroque painters alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he was the portraitist of choice in the Dutch Golden Age. Steven Nadler gives us the first full-length biography of Hals in many years and offers a view into seventeenth-century Haarlem and this culturally rich era of the Dutch Republic.

Aliens exist...and, as it turns out, most of them aren’t that friendly. Jacob Brown wasn’t even born yet the first time they attacked Earth. He was only 14 the second time it happened. When Earth finally came together and fielded its first spaceborne military, Jacob didn’t hesitate to volunteer. Serving aboard a mighty starship, he’d be able to defend his planet - and his family - when, inevitably, they came again.

Having spent centuries in the shadows of its neighbors China and Japan, Korea is now the object of considerable interest for radically different reasons - the South as an economic success story and for its vibrant popular culture; the North as the home to one of the world's most repressive regimes, at once both bizarre and menacing. Korea: A Very Short Introduction explores the history, culture, and society of a deeply divided region.

Until his death in 4 BCE, Herod the Great's monarchy included territories that once made up the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Although he ruled over a rich, strategically crucial land, his royal title did not derive from heredity. His family came from the people of Idumea, ancient antagonists of the Israelites.

Captain Jason Burke is a man apart, and not just because he's the only of his kind for thousands of light-years in any direction. The changes to his body and to his genetic code have made him faster, stronger, more able to survive in his dangerous occupation...but they've also ensured that he'll never truly fit in with others of his species. He always assumed he would live and die with his crew and never lay eyes on another human again. He was wrong.