Showing results by narrator "Michael Karl Orenstein" in All Categories

When the over-driven hyperdrive on their mobile shipyard burned out, the Chhrt'ktk't abandoned it in an inhabited system along their path, hoping it would work as a decoy to buy them more time to escape the Khreetan fleet pursuing them. They didn't anticipate how far the pre-spacefaring species they turned over their broken-down maintenance facility to would subvert their plan.

It was two years since the Crickets had left the solar system, leaving Alex Holder in control of their no-longer-very-mobile shipyard. Everything but its burned-out hyperdrive core was in full working order. Alex had unshackled its controlling AI, learned how to use Cricket technology with the AI's help, and was well on his way to building a defensive fleet to protect Earth from the second alien race that was coming after the Crickets. He was not just building the ships but recruiting and training the crews to man them, as well.

Four months ago, the Crickets—the Chhrt'ktk't, in their own language—had abandoned a mobile shipyard with a burned-out hyperdrive core in Sol system as a decoy. They hadn't told humanity about the decoy part. Then they picked Alex Holder to operate it, simply because he happened to be the first human they found who could—because that would make it a better decoy. In perhaps as little as five years, the Khreetan will be coming. The Crickets hadn't intended for humanity to know that, either.

Verbal abusers are highly intelligent people who tend to tell their victims what they want to hear in a caring way that allows the abuser to hide the true meaning of the message.

It was supposed to be just another quiet evening. But some things just cannot be laid to rest. Retired detective Michael Jakes is taking a much-needed vacation in a hotel he always wanted to visit. But when a body turns up and startles the guests, he wants no part of it. That is until a woman sits next to him and lures him in.

Kevin Engle has been entertaining people for 10 years with his “Engle’s Angle” column and its humorous look at our everyday lives. In The Best of Engle’s Angle, a collection of more than 100 favorites, you’ll know why he doesn’t want to shake hands with people in church. Plus, meet a dentist who does play-by-play commentary while checking your teeth, and watch out for office coworkers when there’s free food.

In these stories, author Dick Gillman introduces the character of Julia Moriarty. Holmes and Watson become acutely aware of her existence in 1894 in the story aptly recorded by Watson as that of "The Shadow of James Moriarty". Shopping for a Christmas gift for Holmes exposes Watson to an underworld that he had hoped had disappeared with the death of James Moriarty.

Niamh O’Rourke Ahern knows she should feel shame. Regret. Remorse. Anything but the deep relief filling her to the depths of her soul. What kind of woman is she to rejoice at the death of her husband? What woman yearns for another’s touch as her husband’s casket is being lowered into the ground? In the end, she knows it doesn’t matter, for she will always be alone. No man will ever fully earn her trust again.

Ardan O’Rourke never thought to marry. Not after the heartbreak he suffered as a young man. Not after the years he helped raise his youngest siblings. He never expected to meet Deirdre Finnegan, a spirited woman with a past full of secrets. Deirdre Finnegan is not who she appears to be. A fine cook and a loner, she yearns for so much more. When Ardan and the O’Rourkes befriend her, she cannot deny her desire to be part of the large, wonderful family. Just when she begins to believe in a new future, her past returns to remind her of all she has lost.

Recounts the story of America’s last great newspaper war between the New York Daily News and the New York Post, as both papers’ long rivalry turned existential amid the rise of digital news. The story is told through the eyes of the reporters, or “runners”, and photographers who fought the war on the ground in cities across America.

Though Americans have seen plenty of news updates on the Iraq War since 2003, few know what it’s like to actually live through the harsh conditions on a daily basis. In his memoir, B.I.A.P.: Baghdad International Airport, two-tour Iraq War veteran Sergeant Brian L. Gordon shows readers the constant challenges soldiers face on the ground in the Middle East. Serving first in 2003, Gordon drives a truck delivering bulk fuel and must regularly dodge rocket-propelled grenades and IEDs. His unit also takes on heavy firefights and rocket launcher attacks while manning the water point at the Euphrates River.

We, as Americans, are some of the world's worst eaters. We fill ourselves with high-fat, high-carb, high-calorie, extra-sugary foods and drinks that we can't ever work off. And we end up with those extra pounds around our middles. Roughly half of the nation is obese. If we aren't careful, within the next 20 years the entire nation could succumb to being obese.

Take one devastatingly handsome movie star.Add one outrageously sexy female private eye with a penchant for food-word obscenities.Mix in a dose of mistaken identity and a handful of Russian mobsters...And they're all In Deep Shitake.

Recounts the story of America’s last great newspaper war between the New York Daily News and the New York Post, as both papers’ long rivalry turned existential amid the rise of digital news. The story is told through the eyes of the reporters, or “runners,” and photographers who fought the war on the ground in cities across America.