Showing results by narrator "Paul Heitsch" in All Categories

Ex-Army paratrooper Griffin “Fin” Brooks thought he left danger behind when his battlefield injuries forced him to pursue a new career in marine biology. But one fateful night off the coast of South Africa, a ship nearly crashes into him and his loyal golden retriever, Jacques. Not just any ship. A starship. Though its alien pilot is dead, the rare extraterrestrial animal inside is not. Fin learns the creature is being smuggled across the galaxy when a pair of interstellar visitors respond to the crash. But those same investigators accuse Fin and his dog of crimes he didn’t even know existed.

China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® is a concise introduction to the most astonishing economic growth story of the last three decades. In the 1980s, China was an impoverished backwater, struggling to escape the political turmoil and economic mismanagement of the Mao era. Today it is the world's second biggest economy, the largest manufacturing and trading nation, the consumer of half the world's steel and coal, the biggest source of international tourists, and one of the most influential investors in developing countries from southeast Asia to Africa to Latin America.

The Starship Atlantis takes you on an unforgettable journey through the extraordinary. From alien civilizations and rogue AI to desperate missions on the brink of collapse, these stories will transport you across the stars into the heart of the unknown. This anthology features six never-before-published novellas and short stories, plus two exclusive bonus tales.

After the daring rescue of a political dissident, Omega Force is contracted to investigate a rash of violent attacks on civilian shipping lanes within a group of star systems known as the Concordian Cluster. It seems a simple enough job with a huge payday at the end, and it's exactly what the ragtag group of mercenaries needs in order to keep their ship flying and to stay one step ahead of those hunting them.

The ConFed has ruled the galactic quadrant for nearly two thousand years. During that time a relative peace has been kept by threat of force from their mighty fleet. But as with all things, their dominance must come to an end. Now that the ConFed is crumbling and their fleet is withdrawing back to the Core Worlds, the strong are once again preying on the weak. In the border regions, trafficking rings have popped up alongside the refugee pipelines making the journey for new colonists a treacherous one.

Jason Burke was a man hiding from himself in a small cabin high in the American Rocky Mountains when his simple, quiet life was shattered one night by what he first assumed was an aviation mishap. But when he investigates the crash, what he finds will yank him out of his self-imposed exile and thrust him into a world he could have never imagined.

Each member of Omega Force carries his own baggage. Most of them are running from their pasts or simply trying to forget them. One member of the small mercenary crew is not who he claims to be, however. When his former life collides with his current one, the team is drawn into a conflict that could have profound consequences for the future of an entire species. Captain Jason Burke struggles to find answers as the tight cohesion of his crew seems to dissolve.

The quadrant is burning. Violent, deadly uprisings are breaking out, seemingly at random, all across the Confederation's sphere of influence. The response by the powerful Confederation Fleet has been swift and decisive, but for every planet they restore order to, another erupts into chaos. Omega Force is working along the frontier worlds when they're forced to come to the aid of a longtime ally and soon realize that the two events are not unrelated.

Fin, Renata, Drake, Audrey, Theta, and a freshly rescued Jacques must outmaneuver the Ranger Corps’ own security protocols in frantic pursuit of their close allies and the Ranger Corps fugitives. As if this mission weren’t already personal enough, the raiders of the Ranger Corps station may also be responsible for the disappearance of Drake’s broodmates. With no support and a brand-new spaceship salvaged from an intergalactic junkyard, Fin and the crew embark on their most perilous mission yet.

When the Rot spreads to an Accord-protected planet, Yormanth, Ranger Fin Brooks and the ragtag Black Sheep crew plunge into action. But what begins as a mission to save one world quickly spirals into an ancient mystery that threatens the entire galaxy. Old criminal rivals are already a step ahead of Fin and the Rangers. They know what lies buried beneath treacherous jungles, prehistoric alien ruins, and deep, subterranean oceans teeming with dangerous secrets. Echoes of the past haunt the galaxy. History threatens to repeat.

In Breakfast with Seneca, philosopher David Fideler mines Seneca's classic works in a series of focused chapters, clearly explaining Seneca's ideas without oversimplifying them. Best enjoyed as a daily ritual, like an energizing cup of coffee, Seneca's wisdom provides us with a steady stream of time-tested advice about the human condition - which, as it turns out, hasn't changed much over the past 2,000 years.

The Machine - a terrifying and relentless enemy - reigns supreme in the galaxy, and the real fight is just beginning. Omega Force keenly feels the weight of responsibility for the Machine's arrival in the quadrant, but even with the resources of the Blazing Sun organized crime syndicate backing them, there's only so much the small mercenary crew can do against the malevolent AI that has already usurped control of most of the government. The Machine is now firmly in control of the ConFed's military.

Punk’s War reveals the inner workings of the US Navy as only an insider can. An authentic and riveting thriller, it is a highly acclaimed novel of a fighter pilot’s experience in the era just before 9/11. As the US military enters another postconflict period, the themes of leadership during crisis and accomplishing the mission make Punk’s War more relevant than ever.

The world is facing a global leadership crisis. Seventy-seven percent of leaders think they do a good job of engaging their people, yet 88 percent of employees say their leaders don't engage enough. Based on extensive research, including assessments of more than 35,000 leaders and interviews with 250 C-level executives, The Mind of the Leader concludes that organizations and leaders aren't meeting employees' basic human needs of finding meaning, purpose, connection, and genuine happiness in their work.

Ever since he joined Omega Force, Captain Jason Burke has lived with the underlying fear that one day Earth would be discovered. His desire to keep Earth's existence and location a secret has driven him to extremes, and kept him far away from his homeworld for a long time. But now Jason's greatest fear is realized, and a fleet of alien ships has attacked his planet. Omega Force rushes to Earth's defense, but the ships are like none they've ever encountered, and employ weapons they have no defense for.

Captain Jacob Brown knew something was up when the United Earth Navy sent two capital warships to their small outpost base. Nobody ever came out to Mosler Station unless they had to. Scout Team Obsidian was scheduled to stand down after two lengthy deployments, letting the team recuperate and rest, but leadership had other ideas. A prototype weapon system has been stolen from Earth, and Obsidian is being called up to track it down.

The galactic quadrant continues to tumble into chaos after to the collapse of the ConFed and new nations scramble for control in the power vacuum it left behind. It’s a dangerous and tumultuous time. Captain Jason Burke and his Omega Force crew are trying their best to stay clear of the trouble, but fate has other plans. What starts as mild curiosity about an incident involving a random stellar phenomena will quickly spiral out of control and puts them at odds with two competing superpowers, both after the same thing.

Trapped on the other side of the galaxy, Ben, Noah, and their companions are dragged into the midst of war by the mysterious Warden. Relentlessly hunted, they must choose the best of bad options and learn the ultimate lesson to prevail.

Rumors have swirled around about the demise of the ConFed for as long as Jason Burke had been in space, a lone human among countless alien species. He largely ignored them...until now. For the first time since any of the members of Omega Force can remember, someone may have figured out how to destroy the ConFed without directly engaging its powerful military. As one crewmember's past seems connected to the current trouble, Jason must decide what side of the fight he's on....

Without any solid leads from the Ranger Corps, Fin spearheads his own audacious investigation into the sinister black-market weapons ring run by criminal syndicate Acheron. As the syndicate's new leaders unveil their diabolical scheme, they hope to dissuade the Rangers from chasing after them by wielding an important hostage—Fin’s beloved golden retriever, Jacques.