Showing results by narrator "Joel Richards" in All Categories

Late-1970s Los Angeles was rampant with killers and shady characters, but all the go-getters at Space Matters saw was possibility. Richard Kasparov was handsome and charismatic; his younger associate, Jerry Schneiderman, brilliant and nerdy. When the pair hired a veteran contractor to oversee construction, the space planning firm they operated out of a hip mansion in LA's Miracle Mile district appeared poised to transform the boundless skyline into their jackpot. After the promising team imploded, however, the orderly lines on their blueprints succumbed to treachery and secrets. 

Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag always swore that he would never return to Oakmont, Connecticut, the small mill town where his family lived for generations. But when his childhood sweetheart phones to say that her mother, Mary McKenna, the librarian who inspired Hoagy's dream to be a writer, has died, Hoagy knows he has to return for her funeral.

Dungeon. Quest. Adventure. A journey into madness. When John Younger answered the Regent's call to find a missing prince, he thought it would be an easy way to make some coin. He was wrong. Thrust into a life-or-death battle with creatures only heard about in stories long since forgotten, John finds himself in a dungeon of elder ones and old gods. As he descends into the heart of darkness, John must use all of his brains and brawn to successfully make it through each floor of the dungeon, while saving others and gaining the favor of those within.

Sympathy with the sea, with the weird, and with monsters fills the stories of Imperfect Commentaries. Ruthanna Emrys' collection offers listeners feminist and #ownvoices Neo-Lovecraftian fiction, anthropological science fiction, and fantasies of belonging, plus miscellaneous deleted scenes, poems, and secret story origins. Listeners familiar with her novels (Winter Tide and Deep Roots) will see the first appearance of Aphra Marsh, an Innsmouth survivor, still recovering from her losses and making a life for herself in late-1940s San Francisco.

Matthew Crain gives internet surveillance a much-needed origin story by chronicling the development of its most important historical catalyst: web advertising. Profit over Privacy uses the 1990s as its backdrop to show how the massive data-collection infrastructure that undergirds the internet today is the result of twenty-five years of technical and political economic engineering. 

The Uses of Delusion is about aspects of human nature that are not altogether rational but, nonetheless, help us achieve our social and personal goals. Psychologist Stuart Vyse presents a lively, accessible exploration of the psychological concepts behind "useful delusions," fleshing out how delusional thinking may play a role in love and relationships, illness and loss, and personality and behavior. Along the way Vyse draws on the work of William James, Daniel Kahneman, and Joan Didion—who wrote about her compelling belief that her deceased husband would soon return to her.

After 25 hundred years as an immortal protector, fate is trying Ajax Petrakos's patience. The lethal, but exquisite Greek warrior has been King Leonidas' right-hand man since ancient Sparta - and before their immortal bargain with the god Ares. The millennia of epic fighting has taken a toll on Ajax, and he's nearly given up on finding his prophesied love. Tasked with a mission in Savannah, Georgia, he hardly expects the tidewater town to shelter his destined mate.

Curiosity stirs the soul of every human. Who has not wondered about how the human body works? Can we drown from drinking too much water? What is a black hole? Can black holes allow us to time travel? Is spontaneous human combustion possible? Do identical twins have the same fingerprints? How do scientists age dinosaur bones? How does gravity make things fall? Why do sunflowers always face the sun? What about a man flying with wings? How big would those wings have to be? How tall can a human grow? Why are tennis balls fuzzy? What happens to the white when snow melts?

New York City, after decades of martial law, suffers a perpetual gray cloud cover and rainfall, a remnant effect the nuclear strikes upon the world's weather. Troops and armored personnel carriers patrol the streets. A curfew remains in effect. All of this is just business as usual for Chief Inspector Isaac January of the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division of the New York Garrison. That is until he is called to a grisly murder scene that appears to be an exact copy of a scene that January saw 10 years before.

Ex-CIA Officer Patrick Evans is too late to save his colleague from a drug overdose—but just in time to kill the Chinese spy responsible. The two killings trigger an avalanche of twisted connections, treason at the highest level, and grim deaths in quiet places. Drafted to investigate by his Congresswoman employer, Pat follows a trail of chemicals and money from the Chinese provinces to Mexico City, and back home to Washington DC—where the Fentanyl boom is secretly financing one man's political machine.

A toolkit of proven strategies and practices for building capacity and creating transformation. Recent years have seen a proliferation of information on how to make change in business, in social and environmental movements, and on a more personal scale. But, even with all this attention, two out of three change efforts fail to achieve their desired result. How can you make your own effort buck this trend?

Faith to Foster is a candid look into the life of ordinary foster parents T.J. and Jenn Menn. It is a journey chronicling their decision-making process, how the children arrived, the birth parents struggle to rehabilitate, help from friends and family, emotional goodbyes, and how faith in Jesus empowered them through it all. TJ and Jenn share their experiences and feelings in a way that encourages any listener to serve their neighbors, not just foster parents. Faith to Foster reminds Christians how God can use them to make a difference in their community.

Confidence is sexy. Confidence is powerful. Call it what you want - chutzpah, charisma, or the cool factor. But whatever you call it, Randy Cohen, the CEO (chief energizing officer) of TicketCity, says it’s all about swagger - or confidence with an attitude! Cohen has been courtside, ringside, and inside at some of the greatest events on the planet - Olympics, Super Bowls, and sold-out mega-concerts. Secrets of Swagger shares his expertise on how 10 celebrities have reached amazing success by channeling their inner power and then strutting their stuff all the way to the bank.

Just after 4 pm on September 6, 1901, 28-year-old anarchist Leon Czolgosz pumped two shots into the chest and abdomen of President William McKinley. Czolgosz had been on a receiving line waiting to shake the president’s hand, his revolver concealed in an oversized bandage covering his right hand and wrist. McKinley had two Secret Service agents by his side, but neither made a move to stop the assailant. After he was apprehended, Czolgosz said simply, “I done my duty.”

Achieving your life's full potential and turning your dreams into your reality is made much easier when you understand how to tap into the unlimited power of your subconscious mind. You are born with an incredibly powerful tool at your disposal, yet most of us never learn how to use that asset to its fullest potential. This book will teach you how to systematically program your subconscious mind into becoming the person that you were intended to be.

A behind-the-scenes look at how the military uses video game technology to train soldiers, treat veterans, and entice new recruits How does the U.S. military train its soldiers for new forms of armed conflict, all within the constraints of diminished defense budgets? Increasingly, the answer is...

River Kassandros has spent more than 2,000 years as a humble servant, bound to immortal Spartan warrior Ajax for eternity as his captain's weapon of choice. The two complete each other, forming a powerful fighting team against demonic foes. But at the height of an epic battle, River is flung into the depths of the Savannah River by their darkest enemy.

Ten years after the end of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, a career Foreign Service officer, Thomas J. Corcoran, set down in writing his thoughts on the history of US State Department policy during America's involvement with South Vietnam. Like many Americans of his generation, he was perplexed by the failure of America to achieve its goals in South Vietnam. As an ambassador and with over thirty years of diplomatic experience he brought to his analysis a long and rich personal experience with events in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Original story published in Lariat story magazine - July 1947.

Lieutenant Scott Dillon isn't an overly complicated man - he has a rebel military operation to command and alien enemies to battle. But he also must cohabitate with humans in the middle of his unit's temporary home in remote Wyoming- humans who suddenly interest him on a much more personal level than ever before. Well, one human has enticed him, to be more precise: a female FBI linguist who not only speaks his native language, but managed to save his life in one of the worst fire fights he ever experienced - despite also being blind. That she's beautiful and alluringly sensual only arouses his interest even more.