Showing results by narrator "Patrick Cronin" in All Categories

Cam Alvarez is a Drop-Trooper. A warrior-knight wrapped in the futuristic armor of a high-tech battlesuit, and he’s one of the best. When he’s promoted to sergeant and asked to become a leader, he faces a whole new challenge. The Marines are striking deep into enemy territory, and the casualties are mounting. Cam is torn, knowing his job is to follow orders and carry out the battle plan, even if he doesn’t agree with it. But his squad has become his family, and now he’s being asked to lead his family into battle, knowing it will mean their deaths.

Volume two. Four more stories: the mind of a mind reader, babysitting the supernatural, packing up, and what's it like to be a queen.

J. G. Boswell was the biggest farmer in America. He built a secret empire while thumbing his nose at nature, politicians, labor unions, and every journalist who ever tried to lift the veil on the ultimate "factory in the fields". The King of California is the previously untold account of how a Georgia slave-owning family migrated to California in the early 1920s, drained one of America 's biggest lakes in an act of incredible hubris and carved out the richest cotton empire in the world.

Arlo Finch is a newcomer to Pine Mountain, Colorado, a tiny town of mystery and magic, but he has already attracted the attention of dark and ancient forces. At first he thinks these increasingly strange and frightening occurrences are just part of being in Rangers, the mountain scouting troop where he learns how to harness the wild magic seeping in from the mysterious Long Woods. But soon Arlo finds himself at the center of a dangerous adventure, where he faces obstacles that test the foundations of the Ranger's Vow: Loyalty, Bravery, Kindness, and Truth.

Moving on from the trauma of combat in Afghanistan, former Green Beret Captain Sam Dale has just begun to settle down in his hometown of Castle Rock, Colorado. Now the owner of several small businesses, he is unaware that his world is about to be turned upside down. The call comes in at 2:30 a.m. The skies outside have opened up, unleashing a torrential rainstorm. Sam’s small towing company is being tasked with the retrieval of some kind of crashed aircraft.

Some doors aren't meant to be opened.... While many on Earth grow fearful of the Messengers' remarkable powers and others lament a lack of interplanetary cooperation, two discoveries threaten to turn the world on its head. One find could simultaneously rewrite the history of two planets; one revelation could tear Dan McCarthy's life apart. With the stakes higher than ever following the birth of his daughter Piper - a child like no other with a secret the world isn't ready to handle - Dan will do whatever it takes to protect his family.

Former Marine, brilliant hacker, and wanted fugitive Gibson Vaughn is off the grid in the Caymans. Until the ice-cold assassin Tinsley draws him out of the shadows. Complying with the man who murdered his father and left Gibson for dead? In the war against terror, never say never. Especially when half a million lives are at stake. Tinsley's in possession of a heavily encrypted thumb drive. But the details of the plot - the motive, the targets, and the day of execution - are a mystery.

Cursed by a blind witch in a remote corner of Waristan, Special Ops Captain Jason Wolfe finds himself transforming into a creature of local legend, a lupine referred to in fearful whispers as Blue Wolf. Faster, stronger, and more lethal, he’s the perfect soldier - but not for the US military. To break the curse, Jason must join a war between ancient tribal foes: blue werewolves and the formidable White Dragon. In a battle spanning from the peaks of Central Asia to the valleys of Manhattan, Jason will push himself to the breaking point.

Faced with writing college papers, prepping for tests, and teaching testy witches, Declan O'Carroll has enough on his plate. Not to mention the magical withdrawal of leaving his very own magical kingdom behind on Fairie. But when he and his friends are attacked from creatures out of folklore and fable, it seems the Queens of Summer and Winter aren't done with him yet.

With Declan O'Carroll on Fairie and Chris Gordon on Earth, what could go wrong? Try everything. Scheming elves, deadly zombies, killer goblins, flaming dragons, and dirty diapers. With a growing, insidious threat to Earth, Chris and Tanya race to save lives while Declan, Stacia, and friends work just as hard to save their own lives on an alien world, far removed from the comforts and safety of home. Only together will they overcome the odds. But, come on, with this team, maybe the odds should look out.

Staff Sergeant Markus ‘Spartan’ Nicolos is one of the Intelligence Department’s best. A hacker who can beat any code, he’s in charge of communications intercepts for the Golden Horde’s Computer Operations section. Spartan used to be a frontline CASPer pilot - until he lost his entire squad in an ambush. He also lost his edge in the attack, and he swore he would never pilot a CASPer in combat again. Everything changed, though, when he came up with an idea for a new type of scout CASPer - one that would prevent what happened to him from ever happening again.

Unfortunately for him, the secrets of the giant machines appear to have been lost to antiquity. Still, he has to try. After returning from a lucrative contract, he secures a base of operation for his Cavaliers in the Karma system, then he sets off toward the galactic core. It’s something he feels he needs to do by himself, so he leaves his overprotective mentor Hargrave behind.

When Zuul-led thugs attack members of the Queen Elizabeth’s Own Foresters leaving the Lyon’s Den, the battles on Cimaron 283133-6A and Peninnah become enemy action, not simply mercs fulfilling contracts. What the Foresters don’t realize is that these attacks have been planned for years as part of an even larger series of plots aided by members of the Mercenary Guild.

They have absolute power; after all, they are the ones with the weapons. The only other armed agency, the Peacemaker Guild, is far smaller and unable to bend them to their will. But absolute power has the tendency to corrupt absolutely, and this is becoming increasingly apparent as the guild’s members pursue their hidden agendas.

Taylor Van Zant has a lot on his mind. Like everyone in Jacksonville, North Florida, the early-20s bartender from Riverside saw his world upended when his brother, Terry, an interstellar mercenary and local hero, died suddenly in a freak starship accident. Five years later, having been stonewalled for answers, Taylor faced a choice: Honor his mother’s wish that he never go merc or defy it to save her life by resurrecting Terry’s company. That was 13 months ago. Now the newly reformed Eagles stand on the verge of a major milestone: owning their own flagship.

What would you do to protect a loved one? Would you kill? Widower Ian Moore will do almost anything to protect his daughter from a threat that comes straight out of our darkest fairytales.

After risking everything, Grant and Leah Walton are finally reunited. But it's no happy ending. As the reality of the situation dawns on their neighbors, the Waltons find themselves the subject of more than idle curiosity. Not everyone can be trusted. People they counted as friends now look at them with suspicion and fear. Faced with neighbors determined to take all they have, Grant and Leah prepare to leave. But strangers have other plans.

Ruby was murdered on Earth 18 years ago and reincarnated on Zadok as a Pastel Zeek named Harlow. To be born at the bottom of her race’s caste colour system to a middle-class family of Magentas has made Harlow a source of conflict amongst the ruling Purples, and a source of derision from all three colours.

Many organizations are facing the uphill battle of modernizing their legacy IT infrastructure. Mirco Hering, a thought leader in managing IT within legacy organizations, lays out a road map to success for IT managers and tells them how to create the right ecosystem, how to empower people to bring their best to work every day, how to put the right technology in the driver's seat to propel their organization to success, and addresses the different challenges that legacy organizations face as they transform into modern IT departments.

Clear, concise, and penetrating, Practical Religion contains a series of writings about the daily duties, dangers, experiences, and privileges of all who profess and call themselves true Christians. Ryle explains that a "practical religion" is not a religion of works, but rather one in which those who are saved can put their faith into practice.