Showing results by narrator "R.C. Bray" in All Categories

A breakthroughexamination of professional wrestling - its history, its fans, and its widercultural impact - that does for the sport what Chuck Klosterman did for heavymetal

The Squared Circle grows out of David Shoemaker'swriting for both Deadspin, where hestarted the column "Dead Wrestler of the Week" - a feature on the many wrestlingsuperstars who died too young because of the abuse they subjected their bodiesto - and Grantland,where he covers the pro-wrestling world and its place in the pop culturemainstream. Shoemaker's sports writing has since struck a nerve withgenerations of wrestling fans who, like him, grew up worshiping a sport oftenderided as "fake" in the wider culture. To them, these professional wrestlingsuperstars are not just heroes but an emotional outlet and the lens throughwhich they learned to see the world.

Starting in the early 1900s and exploring the path of prowrestling in America through the present day, The Squared Circle is thefirst book to acknowledge both the sport's broader significance and wrestlingfans' keen intellect and sense of irony. Divided into eras, each section offersa snapshot of the wrestling world, profiles some of the period's preeminentwrestlers, and examines the sport's influence on our broader culture. Throughthe brawling, bombast, and bloodletting, Shoemaker argues that pro wrestlingcan teach us about the nature of performance, audience, and, yes, art.

Full of unknown history, humor, and self-deprecatingreminiscence - but also offering a compelling look at the sport's rightful placein pop culture - The Squared Circle is the book that legions of wrestlingfans have been waiting for. In it, Shoemaker teaches us to look past thespandex and body slams to see an art form that can explain the world.

Mark is the accused rapist. Miss P. is the victim, his former teacher. Moira M. is an apathetic juror. As the trial unfolds in this intense short story, three personal histories emerge, along with three alarmingly different points of view: Obsessed and angry. Menaced and disillusioned. Disaffected and searching through an unexamined life for moral conviction.

Ruddy McCann, former college football star, now Kalkaska, Michigan, repo man, is finally getting his life back on track. He has a beautiful fiancée, Katie Lottner; a somewhat stable job stealing cars; and a lazy, lovable basset hound. With his job suddenly in jeopardy, his fiancée wanting a break, and a new court-ordered psychiatrist insisting he take his medication or violate the terms of his probation, Ruddy finds himself missing the one thing he thought he would be happy to be rid of - the voice of Alan Lottner, dead realtor and Ruddy's future father-in-law.

Twenty-five years have passed since a savage killer terrorized California, massacring three ordinary families before disappearing without a trace. The only surviving victim of his rampage was a child…who is now wanted by the FBI for brutal crimes of her own.

Hugh McDaniel lives in Queens, New York. He's a genius, and he has been struggling to pick one area to focus his life’s work on. His brother and best friend, Travis, is a marine officer. They get along very well, despite their differences. When aliens suddenly invade and destroy their entire culture, they are forced to struggle together in the ruins. At first they just tried to survive; to collect food, medicine, weapons, and to find other survivors. But now, they've set their sights higher: on resistance and reclaiming their planet from invaders.

The one unbreakable rule in the Man Code is this: no matter how beautiful, smart, and clever she is, do not fall in love with your best friend's woman. Yeah, so I screwed up big time when I fell for her. I might have let my sin of unrequited love slide, given everything that went down in the last few years, but Lulu just walked back into my life as vibrant as ever. And the cards are stacked against me once again. We're working together, and the last thing I want to do is mess up her life with a forbidden office romance now that she's finally got the fresh start she deserves.

Combat pilot Jake Bronson believed the worst was behind him. But when a sophisticated terrorist cell shows up in his hometown, he's drawn into a conflict that threatens the heart and soul of every mother in America. The bonds of love and loyalty are tested as Jake and his friends are swept into a deadly chase that takes them from the beaches of California to the depths of the world's longest underground river, and finally to the remote jungles of the Venezuelan rain forest.

Jonas kills people...with his mind. He reaches out, focuses for a moment, and feels a snap of pain between his eyes. Then his target falls over dead: a hole in the center of their brains. The cause of death is unknown to all aside from Jonas, and his lone companion, Bubbles, a sarcastic AI with aspirations to be more human, or a serial killer. One of the two. Maybe both. Jonas calls his ability...mind bullet.

With the tide of dead lapping at the walls of London, Major Jameson must decide whether to roll the dice and lead One Troop on a desperate mission into the fallen Russian Empire, to retrieve a designer pathogen so lethal it even kills the dead....

The battle to keep the undead tide from the walls of London is lost. Africa is a deadly hall of mirrors, leaving Alpha team riven with dissension and doubt. And the one man who might save the world is crashing to Earth half a world away. Only our greatest warriors can walk through this fire.

In the aftermath of the shocking revelations about the propagation of the human race, Dan latches on to a desperate chance to change the future, which many have accepted. The group splits, and Dan leads his closest allies on an uncertain journey to find a solution. They find themselves battling against the elements, against new foes, and above all, against time. They must succeed. They must have hope.

With Juice in heavy contact on the do-or-die shore mission, Ali in a blistering sniper duel over the South Atlantic, and Homer all alone and massively outnumbered deep beneath the keel of the JFK, the Alpha operators are in the fight of their lives—against tactically outstanding, pain-invulnerable, and utterly merciless Spetsnaz commandos and with no guarantees about who will be left standing at the end....

With the plan of mass murder foiled, Rivera and his team face the challenges of cleaning up the mess. They soon come to realize that Zion can't operate in a vacuum, and the key to their future relies on uniting the wasteland. Going back out, the fight to rid their world of the most dangerous elements comes at a great cost...Can they handle it?

Between the fall of man and the arrival of the JFK, the Horn of Africa is a battleground. Salvation. Vengeance. Vanity.

Three years have passed since Valducan knight Matt Hollis defeated Tiamat's cult, but her demonic children are still a threat. Now, a mysterious enemy is stealing holy weapons across South America, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. The Valducans fear that Tiamat's followers have returned. But not all is as it seems and a new player has joined the hunt: the paladins of the Catholic Church. To stop an evil that none of them could ever imagine, the Order must set aside centuries of animosity and join forces with its long-standing enemy.

Special Agent Matthew Roarke has abandoned his rogue search for serial killer Cara Lindstrom. He's returned to the FBI to head a task force with one mission: to rid society of its worst predators. But as the skeletal symbols of Santa Muerte, "Lady Death," mysteriously appear at universities nationwide, threatening death to rapists, Roarke's team is pressured to investigate. When a frat boy goes missing in Santa Barbara, Roarke realizes a bloodbath is coming - desperate teenagers are about to mete out personal, cold-blooded justice.

It’s been six months since Marcus and Kyja obtained the help of the land and water elementals, but before they can secure help from the mysterious air elementals, the two friends must first be reunited. While attempting to return to Farworld, Marcus find himself in the Abyss of Time, facing four doors: the Is, the Was, the Will Be, and the Never Was. What he learns in that dangerous place has the potential to change his life - and Kyja's. But does he have the courage to tell her what he learned?

Years have passed since the battle of Kublar, and Wraith is in deep cover for Legion Dark Ops, living a second life on the edge as an irreverent smuggler and bounty hunter under the alias of Captain Keel. As he fights off pirates and double-crossing rebels, Keel comes to realize that the old lines between right and wrong have blurred as the Legion sinks further under the corrupting influence of the House of Reason and its points.

This publisher's pack contains Sanctuary (book five) and Rebellion (book six) of the After It Happened series. Set in the UK in the immediate aftermath of a mysterious illness that swept the country and left millions dead, the series follows the trials facing a reluctant hero, Dan, and the group he forms around him. They must battle the elements, find sufficient supplies and equipment to survive, and protect themselves against the most destructive force on the planet: other people.

Brand-new stories by: Daniel Woodrell, Matthew Eck, Catherine Browder, Nancy Pickard, John Lutz, J. Malcolm Garcia, Kevin Prufer, Linda Rodriguez, Nadia Pflaum, Phong Nguyen, Andres Rodriguez, and others. Kansas City: where East and West collide, where naked ambition meets broken dreams, where blues and the night go together like rye whiskey, vermouth, and bitters. Yes, Kansas City is a surprising place of grit, gore, and betrayal, at least in the imaginations of our diverse lineup of contributors.