Showing results by narrator "Whitney Dykhouse" in All Categories

Before Ratmansky was the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, the resident choreographer at American Ballet Theatre, the artist in residence at New York City Ballet, and generally, as The New Yorker has it, "the most sought-after man in ballet," he was just a boy from Kyiv, sneaking into the ballet at night, concocting his own juvenile adaptations of novels and stories, and dreaming up new possibilities for bodies in motion.

Sure, I hate how everyone was over the moon about her TikTok fame. And I suppose I got a little bit carried away with vengeance when she tried to ruin my life. But seriously, when my friend gave me that leather journal, I’d never had so much power in my life. It was intoxicating. Who wouldn’t have done what I did to Eva? Now everyone thinks that just because she vanished in the forest after a party, that I killed her. That the blood on the jackets is proof. Or the text messages. The slightly weird thing I had with Eva's dad. The fire.

At the Happily Ever After Bookstore, happiness is always found within the pages of the books on its shelves. Its owner, Leona, revels in finding each reader just the right book to bring them joy. She also enjoys meddling just enough to bring readers together who might not know they are destined for one another. In need of a holiday pick-me-up, Sadie seeks out Leona’s advice for a good holiday romance. While scanning the book selections, she knocks into Charlie McGowan, who is certainly out of his element.

Aja knowingly sacrificed herself to save 20 girls from the Spider’s Web child trafficking network. She also gave herself up thinking it would free Marsha and two other SHIELD team colleagues. Unfortunately, she never should have trusted that the Black Widow would hold up her end of the bargain.

For 12 years, I had managed to separate my personal life from my professional life, becoming one of the best reconstructionists in the world - and proving to myself that I could do so on my own merits. Then I’d been forced into contact with my family, reuniting with someone I thought I’d lost forever, and rescuing my best friend. Now I had to savor what little time I had left before the contract with the Conclave came due and my future was wrenched from my control. Except there was one last case to solve. One last set of puzzle pieces to collect, then assemble again.

Somewhere in the Badlands, embedded deep in centuries-buried rock and sand, lies the skeleton of a massive dinosaur, larger than anything the late nineteenth century world has ever seen. Some legends call it the Black Beauty, with its bones as black as ebony, but to seventeen-year-old Samuel Bolt it's the "rex," the king dinosaur that could put him and his struggling, temperamental archaeologist father in the history books if they can just quarry it out.

Aja narrowly escaped dying, being incarcerated as a traitor, and suffering a catastrophic rift in her relationship with Marsha. All just to have the Black Widow avoid capture, pivot, and sell her trafficking operation to some unknown U.S. billionaire. Complicating matters, three U.S. Senators who tried to eliminate SHIELD through budget cuts are missing. Fueling rumors that they may somehow be involved in the billionaire’s nefarious operation. And then there’s the not-so-little matter of Aja’s former paramour joining the team to work on the SPIDA project.

Sadie Windas has always been the responsible one - she’s the star player on her AAU basketball team, gets good grades, dates a cute soccer player, and helps out at home. Not like her older sister, Carla, who hangs out with druggies and leaves her three-year-old daughter, Lulu, with Aunt Sadie while she parties and gets high. But when Sadie and Carla are caught up in a drug deal - wrong place, wrong time - it falls to Sadie to clean up the mess, confessing to a crime she didn’t commit to keep Carla out of jail and Lulu out of foster care. She’s supposed to get off with a slap on the wrist. Instead, she’s sentenced to six months in juvie.

What Sheryl remembered most about her life up to now was the cycle of chaos - brief moments of happiness soon snuffed out by misery - again and again and again. Now married, she thought those days were finally behind her. She had strong faith, a wonderful husband, and a baby in her womb. So why were dark thoughts flooding her mind? Why was she walking to the cliff in the dead of night? Why was a tall, lanky stranger intensely studying her from the darkness?

What's it like to be a trail angel and can romance truly blossom from first meeting to marriage on the Pacific Crest Trail? How do trail names get bestowed and what does it mean when you find yourself roaring back at a mountain lion? How have climate change, technology, and the sheer number of hikers affected life on the PCT? Find the answers to all these questions, and so many more, in the diverse writings gathered in Crossing Paths, an anthology of stories and poems written by PCT hikers.

All the kids at Slaughter Elementary had the sense to steer clear of Old Lady Ketchel’s place. Everyone except for Bobby Briars. And for his folly, Bobby and his parents mysteriously disappeared. You see, Hagatha Ketchel had a bone to pick. Not just with foolish kids like Bobby Briars, but with the entire town of Slaughter.

Bill Wright has spent years building a successful career that allows him ample time to work on his favorite hobby, all while blending in with the rest of society. After a tragedy hits home, Bill’s marriage to a woman nearly half his age teeters on the edge, threatening his way of life. Bill invites Ashley to join him in his interests, hoping to reignite some passion in their relationship. Holding on to a secret she isn’t aware of, Ashley struggles against the void that comes with each agonizing headache as she discovers who her husband really is…and who truly lies within her.

Gwen used to be the most feared of the Twelve Generals of Lucifer — demons who have roamed the Earth since being sent down from heaven at the dawn of time, bringing chaos and destruction to everything around them. Their goal: Open the gates of hell and destroy Earth once and for all. However, Gwen is starting to have a conscience.

Regan Keller fell in love with a wealthy and powerful man once. He was her boss. When that turbulent relationship ended, she swore she’d never again date someone she worked with. That was before she literally fell into her new boss’s lap.

Hagatha could not be more pleased as she approached her centennial celebration. All the pieces to her devious plan of destruction were finally coming together. And now, she had cast a spell on her great-granddaughter to help her carry out the crowning blow. Karen Garber-Slaughter, however, felt conflicted. She harbored a web of lies from her husband and wanted to come clean but was never quite able to do so. Something always compelled her to continue the charade as she hurtled toward carrying out Hagatha’s deadly masterstroke.

Everybody likes Chris Goodman. Sure, he's a little odd. He wears those funny bell-bottoms and he really likes the word ennui and he shakes your hand when he meets you, but he's also the kind of guy who's always up for a good time, always happy to lend a hand. Everybody likes Chris Goodman, which makes it especially shocking when he's murdered.

Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive. Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he's coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it - even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor.

Former FBI serial killer profiler Darcy Haines put the past behind her. She’s happy living along the coast in her new marriage and keeping her family safe. Then a rash of grisly murders force Darcy to make an impossible decision. Will she answer the law enforcement community’s call and risk her sanity? Or will she allow more innocents to die?

Ricki Wagner and her husband, Brock, are thrilled when they get an invite to her boss’s stunning lake house, never imagining the weekend of horror that awaits them. When a woman’s body washes up on the sandy shore, they soon find themselves tangled up in a dark crime with many threads.

Fourteen-year-old June Baker never in a million years thought she’d be dressing like a boy, sneaking into a hobo camp, and jumping onto a moving freight train to travel across the state of Tennessee. But, that’s what she has to do to find work so her family’s farm can survive. It’s 1933, and the Great Depression is spreading misery throughout America. Where once June was sitting on top of the world, now she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.