Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

Evil Is Closer Than You Think. You should be celebrating the happiest night of your life. Instead, churches burn, suicides spread like wildfire, and brutal murders tear through your town. What begins as an engagement celebration quickly descends into hell on earth. When your fiancée becomes possessed by Satan himself, you are forced to make impossible choices, each one pulling you deeper into darkness. The Devil does not just want her soul. He wants yours. Can you resist his influence and save the woman you love, or will you give in to the evil already growing inside you?

Gripping psychological horror for fans of supernatural thrillers and dark fiction in the tradition of Paul Tremblay, Riley Sager, and Stephen King. Fifteen years ago, theater director Mike O’Brien fled Seattle, leaving behind a tragedy too horrific to face. He swore he’d never return. But when an estranged best friend sends him a mysterious script with a story he can’t ignore, Mike is drawn back into the spotlight—and into a nightmare he thought he’d escaped for good. As rehearsals begin, reality starts to warp. Shadows move when no one’s watching. Cast and crew suffer disturbing accidents.

Eight deliciously talented mystery authors have lent their skills of crafting murder and suspense to this collection of gripping short stories. Each of these eight provocative tales is designed to entertain and mystify—and maybe even chill you to your core. Get lost in the wild imaginations of such New York Times bestselling writers as Andrew Child, Heather Graham, Reed Farrel Coleman, and John Gilstrap, plus authors Rick Bleiweiss, Jennifer Graeser Dornbush, Amanda Flower, and Don Bruns.

Al Elan is a street urchin just trying to survive in the back allies of Dragon’s Landing. When he’s found to have the Breath of the Dragon, it’s his way out. But life in the Red Dragon’s military academy isn’t an easy one. He’ll need to master his power quickly if he wants to survive. See the humble beginnings of a future dragon champion in this action packed novella.

Matt, a shy but engaging and resourceful student, discovers that his recently deceased father was involved in research that could enable the construction of the world's first conscious machine. Matt's enquiries lead to him being kidnapped, as he is caught in the crossfire between two groups pursuing that goal - one led by a Russian billionaire and another backed by the US military. Matt has to do more than simply survive. He has to harness these powerful forces to his own ends, and his life as well as his family's is at stake.

Are you a perfectionist? Is your perfectionism causing you to feel stressed, irritated, and chronically unhappy? What if you could silence your inner critic and eliminate your fear of failure? How might these two simple changes improve your life?Imagine being able to take action without the fear of self-criticism. Imagine no longer feeling paralyzed with indecision. Imagine finally letting go of your perfectionism, and feeling confident, enthusiastic, and inspired.

Wiz Zumwalt and his gang of Silicon Valley hackers and otherworld wizards must stop whoever has created the adjoining universe, where magic and technology both work and whose power could destroy their own world.

Ghosts wreak havoc in the streets of Duck Falls, and Lilian Roth has gone underground, hiding in the Laramies' backyard bunker. With the town under military quarantine, the death toll continues to rise. And Hedgewood's massive infrasound array stands to wipe out every "ethereal" within its radius, Ben Laramie and his friends at the Temple among them. Setting the ethereals free from Ghostland was only the beginning for Rex Garrote. He's returned to the remains of his house to tear open the Dark Rift and unleash its nightmare creatures upon the world.

The crew of the deep-sea exploration rig Leaguer discovers oil sweeter, purer, and easier to refine than the fields in Saudi Arabia. To confirm their own analysis of their trillion dollar find, a test barrel is flown from the drill site off the coast of Papua/New Guinea to Houston Analytical Laboratories (HAL).

Haunted by a childhood tragedy and estranged from her family, Heather finds herself back in Hunther, Wisconsin, after 20 years running from it. She returns to finally put the past to rest but uncovers another tragedy and finds herself in the beguiling grip of a young woman who knows more of her family secrets than Heather does. To survive this homecoming, Heather must piece together a toxic history that she long tried to forget.

The third collection in the Music and Murder Mystery Series, Back in Black features one story for each song from the seminal hard rock album of the same name. This book showcases ten brilliant mystery writers at the top of their game, including Reed Farrel Coleman, Heather Graham, Tori Eldridge, Ward Larsen, and Andrew Child, among others.

Hotel manager Eloise Price is getting a crash course in being careful what you wish for. After years of dreaming about owning the historic Crane Hotel, she was thrilled when her former boss left half of the hotel to her in his will. But dreams have a funny way of turning into nightmares and all that original plumbing has sucked her bank account dry. It doesn't help that her co-owner hasn't lifted a finger to help. Would a jury convict her if she strangled him?

What the New Order Seeks, Reginald Must Find... The new vampire president and his psychotic right-hand man have been playing a dangerous game with the humans over the past six months. In the public eye, the two races appear to be at peace ... but the situation below the surface is hot enough to boil. And while the untrusting humans mass their defenses, vampire armies have been building to match them — with plans to exterminate the planet's current inhabitants, saving only a handful of blood slaves.

When multiple acts of violence committed by a stranger leave everyone afraid, Chief of Police Brock Lowery finds himself in the middle of something much worse than he anticipated. He is forced to question whom he can trust as people he's known his entire life turn against him to serve this mysterious figure. Can Lowery save the town and the people he's sworn to protect, or will he fail against the monster that has brought evil down upon Rappahanok Falls?

Jessie Parker rang in the new year with a bang, or at least that's how it felt when she saw her one true mate for the very first time. Then, he ghosted her. For the last year, she has done everything possible to avoid being home. The ARC has been her safe haven, but there's no way her parents will let her escape coming home for the holidays. Problem: Collier Pack is way too small to think she won't cross paths with him again and she's not sure her heart can survive another rejection.

Falling down is an accident. Staying down is a choice. Going down is a career-changer...that's the one I did. How was I supposed to know that the NHL's toughest enforcer, the Red Wings' laundry room, and one security video would be my downfall? I've spent more time in the penalty box than any other player in the NHL, but this time I really screwed up. How was I supposed to know that one night and one choice would be worse than all of my transgressions on the ice? Now, I've lost my team, my sponsors, and my publicist. For most people, it's bend or break. For me, it's melt or harden.

When an ill-fated NASA project causes an extrasolar meteor to hit a small Pacific island, people rush to blame the agency for a mysterious death on the island. Under social media pressure, NASA sends David Anderson to the island to investigate the death and vindicate the agency. But Anderson is not the only newcomer to the island. More people are dying. Anderson and his team must figure out what is killing everyone before they, too, become victims. But how do you stop a killing machine that keeps evolving?

Conryu's life was supposed to be peaceful after the fall of Morgana. Two months living on the floating island and working on bikes have been among the best of his life. But that all changes when Jemma St. Simmons, Director of the Ministry of Magic in London, contacts him looking for help. Conryu is forced once more to get involved in a dangerous magical situation. Now faced with an enemy that negates his greatest strength, can Conryu find a way to defeat a long-forgotten foe before it's too late?

When Carter Monk, one of the Circle of Sorcery’s agents, goes missing in Australia, Dasiuke Kugo and his partner Helena are dispatched to find out what happened. But just getting to Carter’s last known location is a challenge since Australia is now a sealed country, no foreigners allowed. When they finally arrive, they’ll have to deal with monsters, demon magic, and an obsessed cult if they want to rescue their friend and get to the bottom of the mystery he’d been investigating. Succeed or fail, nothing will be the same after they mission.

Lee has a lot going for her: tons of money, true friends who will stand by her, an unexpected bonus of extended life from advanced medical treatments, and a start at unraveling some of the secrets in the stars. But there is so much to do to take advantage of these opportunities that she's overwhelmed. Keeping all they've gained may not be easy. Their new allies have received a follow-on delegation from their home world who seem determined to undo everything they accomplished. Eventually everybody is going to find out Lee isn't just a sweet little girl if you keep getting in her way.