Showing results by narrator "BJ Harrison" in All Categories

G.K. Chesterton is most notable for his creation of Father Brown. This unlooked for, and often unwelcome, detective is actually not a detective. But rather, an individual self-trained to think as criminals think, for he has heard so many of their confessions. He knows how their minds work, and can piece together many things that others cannot.

Annamaria Gabor can kill with a whisper and a touch. Her victims never realize she’s given them a deadly disease. The cops will never arrest her. No jury will ever convict her. And no one can stop her - no one except her brother. Luke Johnson can heal by touch. He works as a night janitor in hospitals and nursing homes, healing patients as discretely as he can. Once people notice his work, he moves on to the next city - before the hired assassins arrive.

How far are you willing to go to secure your friend's good opinion? Little Hans gives freely of all he possesses, in order that the miller will esteem him as a true friend. The miller even promises to give little Hans his wheelbarrow. Hans' gratitude is never-ending, and he learns too late what it sometimes means to be a devoted friend.

While capturing anacondas in the jungles of South America, adventurer Wandering Smith spies an orchid hunter fleeing from a troupe of angry natives spewing poisoned arrows. But when this orchid hunter joins the hunting expedition, it becomes clear that he thirsts for something other than rare orchids - he is also collecting the jewels used to adorn shrunken heads.

After weeks spent in deliberation and hiding, the last of those who oppose Rosewood are still divided. Victor and his small team are forced back to the Heights with less help and fewer resources than they could have imagined. Not to mention, everything has changed—their former home, the previous power structure, even the lay of the land.

Showcasing three of O. Henry’s sharpest short stories, Crisis of Conscience highlights the choices available for folks whose options are limited and difficult. In the first, "An Unfinished Story", O. Henry uses a technique of only half telling two stories, delivering a clear and powerful message. The other two tales, "A Retrieved Redemption" and "A Blackjack Bargainer", are more traditional narratives, each examining folks who are trying to get back up on the straight and narrow, and their terrible wrangle with the most evil adversary of all – hope.

Only one yellow rose bush exists in the whole of the Hungarian Plain known as the Hortobágy, and its flowers are only given by the maiden who runs the Hortobágy Inn. But when she has a lover’s spat with her betrothed, and remembers a recipe for love she learned from a gypsy woman, how could she know that she would poison her beloved?

Scratchy Wilson will have his day. When word gets around that Sheriff Jack Potter is arriving on the afternoon train with his bride, Scratchy intends to raise all kinds of hell. Published in 1898, Crane’s story was indicative of the growing sentiment for the American West. B.J. Harrison’s authentic and textured narration brings a greater depth to this American classic.

Hikaru, a humble teacher and a fearsome Samurai warrior from a small village in the mountains of Japan, yearns for knowledge. But his hunt for the Great Master, from whom he hopes to learn to become a great teacher, will bring him face to face with beings out of legend and take him to places and worlds he could never have imagined.

Henry Pifield Rice is a detective, technically. He prides himself in his disguises, which are, in truth, pretty deplorable. So when he’s detailed to follow a touring theatrical romantic comedy, his life is absolutely transformed.

Dr. Amir Hadad is being stalked. A stranger, hiding in the dark crevices of his home, whispers, “I can’t rest.” Alarmed and unwilling to risk his family’s safety, Amir contacts the police. Only there is no trace of an intruder, no marks of forced entry. If there is a prowler afoot, the police cannot find him. As the days wear on and Amir continues to hear the same disembodied voice speaking to him, he begins to worry about his health and sanity. The Irish lilt has escalated from pleas for help to threats against Amir’s family unless Amir does precisely as he says.

Sure, you have some concept of a supreme being - but is your god-notion God? The one true God? The biblical God? The God who is? To anyone who has ears to hear, I simply say that it’s time to open the book and truly behold the dreadful holiness and terrifying awe of "I am". Certainly, it is long past time in this era of low-resolution preaching, denominational banality, and pervasive biblical illiteracy. For indeed, the Bible is unmistakably clear: “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31)

In the hollow of a terrible storm, four hunters meet a melancholy madman who offers them shelter. But has this man really lost his mind, or is he laboring under the burden of a terrible curse?

Marine Levi Haywood has returned to his family's ranch to heal and start a new life. The only problem? Life at the ranch has moved on since he joined the service, and suddenly his role in the family business is much less clear. Things get a lot more confusing when the woman he left behind returns home. Carrie Lynn Waite has never known a time when she didn't love Levi. They were childhood sweethearts, but because of her health, she was forced to move. Now Carrie's come home only to learn her family's ranch is in trouble and Levi is back, along with an attraction she can't resist.

Jobless, broke, and struggling to support herself and her invalid mother, paramedic Sophie Miller doesn't have time or energy for a relationship. Especially with her mother's clock ticking down. So when the sexy cowboy she meets at a carnival proposes a no-strings, one-night stand, she's all over it. Until her one-night stand shows up again and turns out to be everything she's ever wanted.

Bryan Dalyrimple returns to his hometown as a war hero after World War I. But after the ticker tape parades and back-slapping handshakes, he finds himself stuck in a dead-end job with little room for advancement, and frustration begins to mount. He decides to turn to the only option left for him—crime. Originally published in the 1920 short story collection Flappers and Philosophers, Fitzgerald shines a light on the sentiment toward the returning doughboys of World War I, and the dwindling opportunities awaiting them upon their return.

Suzi still lives on a luxurious yacht in Marina del Rey, California, with her legal guardian, attorney Peter Sharp, and still has her trusted bodyguard, Bernie, a huge Saint Bernard. But for this adventure, she doesn't want to see the adults take advantage of her superior computer skills and grab all the credit for solving the crimes, like they did in the first 15 books that chronicled Peter Sharp's high-profile criminal cases. The assignment she has given herself for this first solo adventure is to figure out the identity of a murderous serial church bomber.

When Henri Devecheaux receives a curious shipment from his friend Lamont, among the treasures lies a lantern unlike any other. This spectral light, sent to Henri in hopes of finding a resolution to its haunting luminescence, sets him on a journey into the heart of the paranormal. The quest for answers leads Henri to the old Franklin Theatre in DeRidder, Louisiana. The theatre's past intertwines with Henri's own history in the world of the stage.

When two friends reunite after a twenty-year absence, the limits of friendship become evident. Painting two distinct portraits of people who have grown apart, O. Henry explores themes of friendship, loyalty and trust. In Mammon and the Archer, the pursuit of love, and the love of money go head-to-head for dominance in a timely engagement. Famous for his unexpected plot twists, O. Henry was not only a master at the craft of writing the short story, but explored deep themes that still resonate today.

When he was seven, Davey Boyd asked Santa for just one Christmas present: “Please make me normal.” Because Davey had always believed—always known—Santa could do anything. Until Santa didn’t. Because even Santa couldn’t. Instead, Santa and Davey struck an agreement.