Showing results by narrator "Rudy Sanda" in All Categories

Looking for an escape from childhood abuse, Reymundo Sanchez turned away from school and baseball to drugs, alcohol, and then sex and was left to fend for himself before age 14. The Latin Kings, one of the largest and most notorious street gangs in America, became his refuge and his world, but its violence cost him friends, freedom, self-respect, and nearly his life. This is a raw and powerful odyssey through the ranks of the new Mafia.

With a nation seemingly more divided than ever, many worry that Americans risk losing ground on solving the complex, interrelated problems the country faces - including rising inequality, the specter of climate change, astronomical health care costs, and economic stagnation. The renowned economist Jeffrey D. Sachs offers a practical approach to move America toward a new consensus: sustainable development.

Ceasefires have one big downside: They eventually come to an end. And when they do, once again game nodes are set ablaze, and platoons of Dark Faction soldiers threaten our customary world with destruction. The enemy has grown stronger and more numerous. To make matters worse, they also got their hands on even deadlier weaponry. They have learned painful lessons from previous encounters and adjusted their tactics accordingly.

In the untamed dunes of the North Sea island of Sylt, sled dog Athos cherishes his wild escapades—particularly as winter's chill approaches and the ebbing tourist influx grants him the freedom to explore undisturbed. However, one fateful night the sands reveal a chilling secret: a freshly dug grave. Beneath the disturbed earth lies a man who has met a brutal end. As the police delve into the mystery, they discover he was a private investigator commissioned by a renowned film star.

Daniel O'Dwyer, ex-hospital pharmacist, accidental detective is back. Content to be unemployed and spend his days in the sun and sand of his Oak Island paradise, Daniel is once again drawn back to the local hospital and the mysteries that surround it. Construction on the hospital grounds unearths human remains, which are quickly dismissed as being part of a Native American burial ground. A young, clumsy medical resident who runs into Daniel, thinks otherwise. Meanwhile, Daniel's socially imbalanced sidekick, Willie, has a problem of his own.

Will Finch, a San Francisco crime reporter, is drawn to a small Oregon town where a murder exposes dangerous secrets. The local sheriff controls the town with an iron grip, determined to block Finch's investigation at every turn. At the center of the case is the victim's fiancée, a senator's daughter, whose silence only deepens the mystery. As Finch follows the trail, he uncovers a web of corruption and betrayal stretching far beyond the wilderness. The truth could cost him everything.

When Eric Carter helps a friend with a deadly ritual that could determine the fate of the most powerful mage family in Los Angeles he steps into the middle of centuries-long feuds with people who make the Borgias look like the Brady Bunch. Eric's just fine with the murder, soul eaters, and death magic. He's just having trouble adjusting to being brought back from the grave. If he's not careful, somebody's going to put him right back.

Athos, Pearl and their two-leggeds are guests at a beautiful palais in Vienna, Austria. A grand ball is to be held there to celebrate the eighteenth birthday of the family's daughter, and recently Bella, a young Malamute just like Athos, has also moved into the grand historic mansion. But instead of fun and games with the puppy and a glittering night at the ball, a murder takes place—for which Victoria Adler, the Master Sleuths' very own human, is arrested!

Ex-Navy SEAL Adam Cain finds himself attempting to make a living the best he can in the alien universe he's been dropped into - as an assassin. After all, with his kick-ass attitude and instinctive hatred for aliens, he's a natural at it. As a human among aliens, he's stronger, faster, and tougher than just about everyone - and everything - he encounters. In this reality, Adam is the Superman.

Thea Glenheim's new next-door neighbor turns her small town upside down. Trace Della's handsome, successful, and committed to helping high-risk boys. And he's changing things in ways a lot of people don't like. One in particular. Bad things begin happening on Trace's property, and troublemakers compete with each other to stop him in his mission to provide a place for kids who need help. All the while Thea is caught in the middle, between the people she's known all her life and this new man in town. He's a mover and shaker. She's a quiet piano teacher. Yet opposites attract, don't they?

When the Blackout arrives, Dax Harper finds himself alone and fighting for survival on the chaotic streets of New Orleans. He is on the run, desperately searching for his estranged sister as the riots intensify. An unexpected encounter with his ex-girlfriend thrusts Dax into a leadership position—one he's not sure he can accept. As the hours pass, the city floods, pitting Dax in an epic battle against time and a mysterious new enemy threatening the future of humankind.

There was something about that first score, and not just on the football field. I loved all of life's firsts, which was why I'd been saving mine for one girl, my older sister's best friend—Hazel Jones. She was tough and sarcastic with walls around her heart as tall as a football stadium, but I knew she was the one for me. Desperate times called for desperate measures and I'd have done anything to make her mine. Like create a fake online persona. Lie about my age. Pretend I wasn't some naïve virgin. And catfish the hell out of the love of my life.

Victoria can't wait to start college, but there's a hitch - she can't remember anything before arriving on campus. Her memories finally spark when she sees her ruggedly handsome math professor, but she senses something terrible happened. The shock on his face affirms her fears. Toby is an alpha wolf who never thought he'd see his true love again - not after she died in his arms. Nothing could have prepared him for her walking into his class. But to his dismay, not only has she forgotten the past, she doesn't even know who she is.

I hope that by now you've lost any illusions you had about the Selected being some kind of elite force of intelligent civilization, chosen to fight against Universal Evil. So far, the only evil I've seen is the buggy System and the lack of basic sanitary facilities while we're adventuring. Also, it would be a real stretch to describe my companions as "elite". As for all the problems that come with being Selected—well, we can handle them!

Return to the world of Wicked Lovely! Listen to an all-new Dark Court short story. "Love Hurts" catches up with Irial, Niall, and Leslie - and offers clues about the Wicked Lovely prequel novel, Cold Iron Heart. Tales of Folk & Fey also includes "Old Habits" and "Stopping Time" (previously published Wicked Lovely Dark Court stories) and two previously published selchie short stories ("Awakened" and "Love Struck"). As a bonus, the collection also includes "Carnival of Lies", a prequel story to the 2012 novel, Carnival of Secrets.

Courtney is a curvy, feisty bombshell who has watched her friends be swept off their feet by the alpha men of the Devil Chaser's Motorcycle Club. She thinks she has met her match when she falls for one of the MC bad boys, but a vindictive act against the Devil Chasers will change her forever. After surviving a horrific accident, Courtney is badly shaken by the uncertainty of her life. Her doubts and fears rise to the surface as she reevaluates everything she holds dear.

Nicole Morgan has been labeled many things - the geeky music girl, the shy sidekick of Miss Popularity, and the girl with the scar. Now only one name haunts her through the halls of Oyster Bay Prep. The girl in the picture. After heartthrob Chace Porter is found dead in the woods near the school, the police search for the girl snuggled up next to him in a picture discovered among his personal effects. A girl no one knew was even close to him - and whose best friend, Lana Rivera, was his girlfriend.

The eighth book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.

Anyone who has ever crammed for a test, capitulated to a grade-grubbing student, or fretted over a child's report card knows that the way we assess student learning in American schools is freighted with unintended consequences. As experts agree, our primary assessment technologies—grading, rating, and ranking—don't actually provide an accurate picture of how students are doing in school. In Off the Mark, Jack Schneider and Ethan Hutt explain how we got into this predicament, why we remain beholden to outmoded forms of assessment, and what we can do to change course.

Between an angry death goddess, family secrets steeped in blood, a Djinn who's biding his time, and a killer mage who can create copy after copy of himself, Eric's new life looks to be just as violent as his last one. But if he doesn't get to the bottom of why he's back, it's going to be a hell of a lot shorter.