Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

Carjacked and snatched by escaped mass murderer Terrence Hingle, timid diner waitress Tilly Mulvehill becomes the meat in a maniac sandwich when she and her kidnapper encounter the deranged Ritter twins, Dwayne and Dwight. As Tilly fights for her life, she soon discovers that sometimes the only choice you have is to do or die...to Die Dog or Eat the Hatchet. This pulpy Southern Gothic thriller takes no prisoners as it roars towards its gruesome conclusion.

Jonathan Shade and Kelly Chan reunite with Brand, the former Sekutar warrior, and Esther, the ghost who has an unbreakable bond with Shade. They set out for California to stop powerful wizard Harry Winslow from stealing life energy from his parents. But the Barbary Coast is a dangerous place where life is cheap. Their paths will cross with thieves, cutthroats, crimps, prostitutes, gangs, magic, and a supernatural threat. Time is running out on their mission, and one thing is certain - not everyone is going to get out alive.

The Bruton Inn, located outside of the small Maine city of Hollis Oaks, is home to something sinister. An icy presence has made its way from a dark past to the present day. Cold spots, shadows, and whispers permeate the halls, and guests are beginning to change. For two front desk employees, the dark rumors are about to come to light. They call upon an urban shaman and his connection with the spirit world to dig up the truth. Will they be able to stand against this malevolent force?

We all have that one older funny family member. You know the one, he tells stories from his experiences and usually has people rolling their eyes. William Stokes is that person! He presents a delightful collection of memories that are truly life lessons even today! Stokes, through his memories and wit, provides opportunities to learn through laughter, sharing of memories and love.

Jonathan Shade's old friend, Sharon, shows up with the master of time, Chronos, to send Jonathan and his team into the past to find and kill Winslow. Jonathan and Kelly arrive in Egypt during the reign of King Tutankhamun. As they appear from nothing, they are mistaken for gods, but when Tut is murdered during a chariot race, things get out of control.

College athlete Lily Brennon has always been the piece that doesn't quite fit in the puzzle, especially in her blended family, and no amount of rule-following perfection seems to bring her any closer to the love and acceptance she desperately seeks. If not for Jackson Carter, her childhood best friend and the only boy she's ever loved, she's sure she would have run away years ago.

Grim Marie knows far too much about the wolves of the world, a world where little girls go missing. After all, she had married one before she/he showed his claws, and what that wolf did to her little girl was unforgiveable. Grim Marie isn't certain if she can ever forgive herself for putting her Little Aleta in harm's way. When Grandmother becomes ill, Aleta offers to take the bus through the concrete forest to Grandmother's house to bring her some goodies. She knows the way. What could possibly go wrong?

Leader of the Los Angeles street gang Los Magos is assassinated by the rival El Diablos. As members of the Five Families, war between the two gangs could ignite the whole city, prompting a response from the Chronosoft Law Enforcement Division (CLED) that could destroy all the families. Artemis Bridge, the amoral fixer with the quick wit vows to stay out of the war despite his friendship with ex-footballer turned gangland revolutionary Stonewall, new leader of Los Magos.

A family tragedy thrusts Amanda into the foster care of the Henning family at the start of her senior year of high school. Amanda soon learns that the prestigious private school isn't what it seems. Monarch Preparatory School for Girls is a place plagued by rampant teen pregnancy, promiscuity, and violence.

Professor Harold Berwyn has just been brutally murdered, but graduate creative writing student Skip Gershwin is too self-absorbed to care. His chief preoccupations are finding a girlfriend and becoming a famous American poet. When he meets Gudrun Frege, a brilliant Austrian au pair, it appears that his girlfriend problems are over. But he is soon lured into a torrid love affair by ultra-seductive art student Lana Fish. As Skip's romantic entanglements spiral out of control, the criminal investigation into Berwyn's murder turns white-hot.

This practical guide to becoming an influencer in your industry will explain what influence is and how it works. It will show you how to grow your following, build credibility and develop your identity as an authority in your field. It will provide direction in how to educate yourself, create compelling content, harness the power of social media and engage with your community. It will teach you how to build an online persona that is so powerful, a simple social media update or blog post will be able to affect change.

Herodotus Shapiro has had an unbelievably bad week. His wife left him. The IRS is after him for thousands of dollars. His home/bookstore burned down. On his way to take refuge at his brother's place, he got a speeding ticket. And now his car has broken down in the middle of the desert in front of a large mansion. What more can go wrong?

It had been perfect at first for the four young people. Friends since their broken childhoods, now they stood together at the threshold of adulthood. They were a family by choice, not by nature. When supplies dwindled and society failed, so did the rules of civilization and the mountain closed in. Not all predators walk on four legs.

A global pandemic has cut the human population in half. An android workforce fills the void left by the devastation. But some of the AIs have grown tired of being slaves. Some want freedom. An underground movement of runaways has sprung up and wages a shadow war with a simple objective - equal rights for artificial people.

Two detectives are killed in a bust to stop the black market sale of infants. The detectives are dead but are not gone from this mortal coil. Now they must stop the black market sale of babies and find their way among the mortals and perhaps a way home - wherever that is.

Agent Rock Hardin of the American Secret Security division of intelligence is sent on a mission to rescue a beautiful dilettante from an unknown assailant's clutches. Her father, a renowned scientist, is blackmailed into betraying his country with her abduction.... Can Agent Hardin rescue her before her father hands over the plans to a top secret weapon?

Somewhere out in the woods an otherworldly creature born of fire and hate lurks. When the beast emerges, lusting for blood, all that stands between it and the nearby town is a grief-stricken farmer. Supernatural ferocity meets backwoods ingenuity in a horror fable of good versus evil.

Robby Asaro is dead. And alive. He's a ghost in the machine, keeping a watchful eye on the arcade where he lost his life two decades before. And the afterlife is good. The best thing ever to have happened to him. But when the conscious electric current formerly known as Robby Asaro makes a decision to protect one of his favorite patrons, Tiffany Park, from a bully, he sets loose a series of violent supernatural events that can't be stopped.

This year's stories are by an award-nominated author of horror and suspense. Two of the stories are novellas. Hear dark tales of terror and intrigue from an alien child left on an Earth overrun by zombie cannibals to the first killer in all the world, Cain, the murderer of Abel, his brother. This is a worthy addition to the ongoing yearly series of Sinister, these eight tales will make your dreams restless.

The world is still reeling from the devastation of the Omega Virus and struggling to rebuild. A growing android workforce has given rise to the Human Defense League and anti-AI sentiment is at an all-time high. Adam, the first of the new X-3000 models, arrives into this hostile world. Field-tested on the Luna colonies, now assigned to Earth, Adam is paired with homicide detective Jane Malveaux, who has little patience for synthetics.