Showing results by narrator "Richard Joel" in All Categories

Nate Temple is finally taking some time off to appreciate the finer things in life...like his new Valkyrie, Kára. But their weeks of romance come to a swift and lethal end when assassins invade the sanctity of Chateau Falco. Not only that, but Nate finds himself neck-deep in politics when he is framed for murdering one of the most notorious Academy justices to ever walk the Earth, and the legendary suits of magical armor belonging to Camelot are suddenly up for grabs.

My name is Nate Temple, and I’m secretly a wizard. I ride a foul-mouthed unicorn, drink with Achilles, and am pals with the Four Horsemen. I’ve even cow tipped the Minotaur. I understand the theory of following the rules. I’m just not very good at the application. Because, rules were meant to be broken. Especially when I find out a monster just murdered my parents. Now all I can hear is the sweet, soothing song of vengeance in my ears, playing on repeat.

The Roman Empire lasted a solid 500 years—an impressive number by any standard. The decline and final collapse of the Roman Empire took longer than most other empires even existed. Any historian trying to unearth the grand strategy of the Roman Empire must, therefore, always remain cognizant of the time scale. Over the centuries, the Empire's underlying economy, political arrangements, military affairs, and the myriad of external threats it faced were in constant flux, making adaptability to changing circumstances as important to Roman strategists as it is to strategists of the modern era.

Two old dudes want to kill me. Oh, and one of them is my ancestor.... And after centuries of practice, they’re pretty good at the whole murder thing. But at least they want to kill each other just as badly. Now, I’ve taken down a Greek goddess, worn a Horseman’s mask, and I ride a homicidal unicorn who hates rainbows with a passion. Some might say sending two senior citizens to a permanent retirement home should be a breeze. It ain’t. Because that’s not my biggest concern. One of my friends is in danger, or possibly dying, and I need to get her back before her fiancé kills me.

The fate of Taiwan hangs in the balance. If it falls to the Chinese, they will be one step closer to dominating all of Asia. Japan, Thailand, the Philippines - no one is safe from their hostile takeover. While North Korea no longer poses a significant threat, the incursions there have greatly weakened the United States military force. Will the President's draft and retooling of the economy move swiftly enough to make a victory possible? Or will America's resources be stretched so thin that Europe and Asia will both be lost?

Bobby Hale is a Union veteran several times over. After the war, he sets his sights on California, but only makes it to Montana. As he stumbles around the West, from the Wyoming Territory to the Black Hills of the Dakotas, he finds meaning in the people he meets - settlers and native people - and the violent history he both participates in and witnesses.

Revolutionary War officer Nathan Hale, one of America's first spies, said, "Any kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary." A statue of Hale stands outside CIA headquarters, and the agency often cites his statement as one of its guiding principles. But who decides what is necessary for the public good, and is it really true that any kind of service is permissible for the public good? These questions are at the heart of James M. Olson's book, Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying.

The United States of America has been the most powerful country in the world for more than 70 years, but recently the US National Security Strategy declared that the return of great power competition with Russia and China is the greatest threat to US national security. Further, many analysts predict that America's autocratic rivals will have at least some success in disrupting - and, in the longer term, possibly even displacing - US global leadership. Brilliant and engagingly written, The Return of Great Power Rivalry argues that this conventional wisdom is wrong.

When anthropology professor Gideon Oliver is offered a teaching fellowship at US military bases in Germany, Sicily, Spain, and Holland, he wastes no time accepting. On his first night, he is forced to fend off two desperate, black-clad men who have invaded his Heidelberg hotel room with intent to kill. And then there are a few trivial details that the recruiting agency forgot to mention - such as the fact that the two previous holders of the fellowship both met with mysterious ends.

In the stygian darkness beneath his ancestral mausoleum, Nate sets out to explore the shadowed history of his infamous Temple ancestors. And to brutally destroy a poisonous weed threatening to strangle his family tree. Aiden Maxon, Nate’s half-brother, is on the warpath, committed and capable of killing everything and everyone Nate loves and holds dear. But…are they truly brothers? Was that a lie? In the obsidian Temple of Reverie, Nate will face a choice: vengeance or virtue, power or principle, history or future, hate or love.

In The Customer Service Revolution, DiJulius points out how numerous companies have made customer service their biggest competitive advantage, are dominating their industries, and have made price irrelevant. As a result of this customer service revolution, people are being treated differently, better, and in a way like never before. This is a result of how companies and management are treating their employees and how employees are treating each other and the customer - which ultimately permeates into people’s personal lives at home and in their communities.

The gods never should have opened Pandora's Box...Nate Temple has been abducted by Zeus and is thrown into the middle of an Olympian family feud that could very well kick off the Omega War all by itself. There is one weapon that Zeus believes will turn the tide. Pandora's Box. But his neglect left it on earth for far too long, and Pandora has found a new master to serve. Nate Temple. Because Zeus put one thing inside the box that he never should have...hope. And hope is a dangerous thing to leave unattended...

What's going on in the sky? Astronomy For Dummies takes you through the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and all the way to the outer reaches of the universe. You'll have stars in your eyes as you discover the basics of skywatching, planets, asteroids, black holes, and dark matter. Ponder the deep questions that keep humanity guessing, like, is there anybody out there? Two NASA-award-winning astronomers take you on a tour of outer space that will fascinate you—and, if you're a student, help you through your intro astronomy course.

Jess was born a prisoner, grew up a prisoner, and at 16 knew he would die a prisoner. When his turn comes to try to break through the traps protecting a spaceship it seems his day to die has come. The ship, and others like it, have already claimed hundreds of prisoners' lives.

Mordred - the bastard son of King Arthur - has returned, and he will stop at nothing to utterly destroy everything his father ever created, burning the Arthurian legend from the history books for good. He’s already defeated Nate Temple once, corrupting the fabled Knights of the Round Table into darker, nigh-invincible, merciless killing machines: Knightmares.

Nate Temple and his pal, Alucard, just want a little peace and quiet after the events of Tiny Gods, but it just isn't in the cards for them. Tory leaves town and asks them to watch over the rebellious Reds. But they have other plans. When love is in the air, there is nothing a teenager wouldn't do. And there is nothing a dad wouldn't do to keep them safe. Even if it involves a Johnson Beaver concert, a magical djinn, and a herd of centaurs.

Despite his recent victories, Nate Temple’s problems are only just beginning. Although it had been necessary, killing the most infamous of the Norse gods has consequences, and no one knows petty vengeance like the Aesir. Especially with Odin’s legendary spear mysteriously missing. But Nate has more important things to worry about than a pantheon of angry gods. Because the God of Mischief has been freed from his imprisonment, and so has his monstrosity of a son - a creature prophesied to play a major role in Ragnarok.

Antibiotics have failed. All that's left are the Strains - bacteria so strong, they have brought the world to its knees. But humanity has fought on, carving out pockets of civilization, creating the super high-tech Clean Nation cities. From the cities, GenSOF has been born. An elite military branch of the government that enlists men and women with specific genetic anomalies that allow them to be hosts to bacteria that even the Strains cannot defeat. GenSOF protects the Clean Nation cities from the ever-encroaching Strains. But now, Control has other plans for GenSOF....

Bright Green Lies exposes the hypocrisy and bankruptcy of leading environmental groups and their most prominent cheerleaders. The best-known environmentalists are not in the business of speaking truth, or even holding up rational solutions to blunt the impending ecocide, but instead indulge in a mendacious and self-serving delusion that provides comfort at the expense of reality. They fail to state the obvious: We cannot continue to wallow in hedonistic consumption and industrial expansion and survive as a species.

Mark and Tyler Victor have fought Harmony from Masoul to Osdal. They've lost friends, shed blood and tears, and now, they're headed for one of Harmony's strongholds: Fernix. Osdal left Mark a changed man, a man not just looking to keep his people alive, but a man looking to avenge the only woman who cared for him. He has nothing to lose but his life, something he would gladly give to destroy Harmony.