Showing results by narrator "Patrick C" in All Categories

When tall, fair, good looking but lonely Mark Martin living in northern England is offered a lot of money in 1961, aged just fourteen, it sets him off in a whole new direction as a rent boy. At the same time he becomes labelled a hero so his public profile is raised at a time when he wants to keep certain things very private. How does he balance these two?

Growing up in a Russia plagued by homophobia, Maxym wrestles with his conflicting emotions toward Muslims and his own suppressed homosexuality. Alongside his innate psychopathic tendencies and an unsettling fascination with killing, his exceptional marksmanship skills make him a coveted asset. Trained to be an unrelenting assassin, he walks a precarious tightrope, embodying a paradoxical blend of tender affections and unwavering loyalty to the nation that nurtured him—an enigmatic figure in the tapestry of contemporary Russia.

In the tenth year of the Change, the survivors in western Oregon live in a world without technology. Michael Havel’s Bearkillers hold the lands west of Salem in peace and order. To the east, the Clan Mackenzie flourishes under the leadership of Juniper Mackenzie, bard and High Priestess. Together, they have held Norman Arminger - the warlord of Portland - at bay. With his dark fantasies of a neofeudal empire, Arminger rules much of the Pacific Northwest, spreading fear with his knights, castles, and holy inquisition. 

Rudi Mackenzie has been abducted by the forces of the Portland Protective Association, whose forces have pushed the Bearkillers and Mackenzie’s to the edge of defeat. Will aid arrive in time or will Mike Havel and his family be defeated by Norman Arminger and his mad grab for power? What of the secret plan now afoot between the Mackenzie’s and the forces at Mount Angel? Will the Abbot Dmwoski and his forces be able to break the siege of their monastery in time to come to the aid of Lady Juniper and her Witch Army?

The Blood Countess — Elizabeth Bathory, a true monster of history — is one of the most infamous serial killers. Said to have murdered 650 young women for their blood, she believed bathing in it would preserve her vitality and beauty. It's a story that has always fascinated archaeologist and TV host Annja Creed. Something so fantastic could only be a story. So what is Annja to make of the girl she finds dying on the side of the road…from blood loss? 

Tensions between the Bearkillers, the Mackenzies and Mount Angel alliance, and Norman Arminger’s Portland Protectorate Association have finally come to a head, as the Protector’s armies invade the Western Territories. Mike Havel faces down the deadly Lord Alexi Stavarov and his combined forces at the now ruined city of Salem. Meanwhile, Lady Juniper and the Clan Mackenzie take to the hills with a guerrilla style campaign against the Marchwarden Conrad Renfrew.

Perched on a windswept cliff, Neptune’s Rest is an old seaside hotel where silence carries weight and the past refuses to stay buried. When historian Arthur Finch arrives to catalog the property, he expects routine archival work. Instead, he finds a building that listens, residents who avoid certain questions, and records that don’t quite agree with themselves. As Arthur documents the hotel’s rhythms—its guests, its tides, its long-vanished proprietor—he begins to notice small inconsistencies. Missing details. Revised entries. Truths softened into something more convenient.

Life in Stories is a deeply human collection of fiction, lyrics, and novel excerpts that traces the arc of life—moving through youth and age, humor and tragedy, love and loss. From the beaches of Rio to the soccer fields of New Jersey, from the Roman conquest at Alesia to the American West of the 18th century, these stories explore athletes chasing vanished glory, lovers trying to find their way back to each other, ordinary people facing extraordinary moral choices, and moments of quiet reflection that define who we become.

Hijackers ditch an airliner into the remote Canadian wilderness, and 17-year-old Kyle Reynolds, along with the rest of St. Mark's award-winning jazz band, somehow, survives the crash. Kyle escapes into the wild with Misty, the girl of his daydreams, only to find out the hijackers will stop at nothing to find her.

Some people have to be force-fed maturity - particularly teenagers stranded helplessly on remote Canadian Islands. Join Patrick Marks, a towering icon of wimp-i-tude, in this hilarious short tale about maturing experiences with bears, mosquitoes the size of large poodles, Pot-Licker the cat, and near-death experiences with outhouses.

Lou Prophet loves to keep beautiful women company. But when the invitation comes from Miss Louisa Bonaventure, the Vengeance Queen, he finds himself intimate with hot lead instead of her warm female form. Louisa’s got him riding the brutal Mexican frontier chasing outlaws led by Tony Lazzaro, a notorious thief whose deadly weapon, Sugar Delphi, is a blind and blood-hungry pistolera.

A beautiful woman, a powerful Mexican rancher, and an exotic new breed of cattle come to John Slaughter’s San Bernardino Valley ranch, along with the prospect of making a small fortune. While Slaughter’s men are out keeping the peace in Tombstone, an act of betrayal turns up the heat under his own roof, and a killer is stalking Slaughter’s wealthy Mexican guest. Indians suddenly savagely attack Slaughter’s ranch, but it is only the first shot in a bigger, blazing Arizona bloodbath.