Showing results by narrator "Adam Barr" in All Categories

Vince Carver is persona non grata. As an asset, he's difficult to control. As an operator, he has no equal. Carver may be on the outs with the CIA, but the feds recognize a value proposition when they see one. Sooner or later, his services are always in demand. He gets a shot at redemption when the son of a Mexican congressman is kidnapped by narcos. A newly hobbled DEA with diminished operational resources needs two things more than ever: a solution, and deniability. With Delta Force experience in hostage rescue and no official government ties, they tap Carver for the mission in Tijuana.

What would happen if we were to awaken one day and suddenly realize that the world we live in appeared eerily alien, as if we'd been teleported to some other distant world? That frightening prospect is now. Our planetary hydrosphere, which animates all of life on Earth, is rebelling in the wake of a global warming climate, spurring biblical spring floods, devastating summer droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires and powerful autumn hurricanes and typhoons, wreaking havoc on ecosystems and society.

By the middle of the second century BCE, after nearly one hundred years of warfare, Rome had exerted its control over the entire Mediterranean world, forcing the other great powers of the region—Carthage, Macedonia, Egypt, and the Seleucid empire—to submit militarily and financially. But how, despite its relative poverty and its frequent numerical disadvantage in decisive battles, did Rome prevail? Michael J. Taylor explains this surprising outcome by examining the role that manpower and finances played.

As increasingly contentious politics in the United States raise concerns over the "politicization" of traditionally non-partisan institutions, many have turned their attention to how the American military has been—and will be—affected by this trend. Since a low point following the end of the Vietnam War, the US military has experienced a dramatic reversal of public opinion, becoming one of the most trusted institutions in American society. However, this trend is more complicated than it appears.

In The Storied Life, veteran author Jared C. Wilson explores the ins and outs of writers and writing, exploring the myriad ways the craft is more about transformation than simply communication. From decades of experience and with his signature wit, Wilson brings well-earned insight, autobiographical reflections, and meaningful meditations to the topic of writing as a way of life and as a way of worship, showing how the concept of Story—our personal stories and God's grand story of redemption—shapes fiction and non-fiction writers alike.

The vivid, behind-the-scenes story of perhaps the most consequential political moment in American history—Abraham Lincoln’s history-changing nomination to lead the Republican Party in the 1860 presidential election.

With the same vigor he brought to examining man's relationship with nature (and himself) in Moby Dick, Herman Melville turns inward in this deeply textured novella of an unknowable soul, his effect on those who encounter him, and how little we really understand about our fellow creatures. Melville's deft touch in dialogue and description evoke a Wall Street of another age, but lay bare ageless and difficult truths about being. To hear this timeless tale, and to return to it, is to be enriched and prodded at the same time.

The Players' Coach is a player-development masterclass. It is also an inspirational life story, from humble beginnings to becoming the quarterback for the University of Iowa, a college coaching career, and then to assistant-coach and offensive-coordinator roles in six different decades. This book is destined to be a football classic, a coaching Bible, and a must-listen on leadership.

Cameron Winter is falling in love. After finally working up the courage to contact the attractive therapist Gwendolyn Lord, he finds himself immersed in a passion that feels heaven-sent. When Gwendolyn tells him about a true-life “locked room mystery,” Winter feels compelled to investigate. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a solid citizen named Owen McKay suddenly went mad and killed his wife and child. Locked in a padded cell and monitored on video, he was nonetheless discovered dead from a projectile fired into his head.

A mutated rabies virus is sweeping through the world’s dog population, and no one is safe. With over 90 million domestic and tens of millions more wild and feral dogs in the United States, Rabies 2.0 is about to unleash hell. The infected animals aren’t just rabid, they have mutated into ugly, insatiable, and very large killing machines and Captain Crowley is about to lead a team into an overrun town to rescue a group of civilians trapped in a school.

The idea that Christianity and science are inextricably in conflict is a relatively recent conception. However, with each new scientific discovery and scriptural insight, it's an idea that's being proved to be insupportable. Sy Garte has immersed himself in both science and faith and knows they work beautifully together to sing of the greatness of God. Now this respected scientist shares how God's world (nature and science) and God's word (made flesh in Christ) are bound together in loving harmony. In Science and Faith in Harmony,

A white woman has been bludgeoned to death with an altar cross in a rural church on Cicada Road in Walterboro, South Carolina. Sam Jenkins, a Black man, is found covered in blood, kneeling over the body. In a state already roiling with racial tension, this is not just a murder case: it's a powder keg. Two young women are murdered on quiet Edisto Beach, an hour southeast of Walterboro, and the killer disappears without a trace. Thirty-four years later, the mystery remains unsolved. Could there be a connection to Stander's case?

The Houdini Club captures the personal drama of World War II Special Forces warfare. The men of maverick Colonel William O. Darby's Rangers had abundant tales of glory, yes, but also tales of misery, fear, and murderous intent. Then, there was the utter exhaustion contrasted by the thrill of combat, the devastating final battle that all but destroyed them, and the ingenuity and sheer determination that made the highly vaunted German Afrika Korps and veteran German Parachute and Panzer units marvel at their guerilla tactics and their prison breakouts.

Drawing on archeological and ethno-historical evidence, Irving Rouse sketches a picture of the Tainos-the first people Columbus encountered when he arrived in the Americas-as they existed during the time of Columbus, contrasting their customs with those of their neighbors. He then moves backward in time to the ancestors of the Tainos-two successive groups who settled the West Indies and who are known to archeologists as the Saladoid peoples and the Ostionoid peoples.

From 1974 to 2012, during his years as publisher and editor-in-chief of the New Republic, Martin Peretz was a familiar presence on the political scene. In its time under his leadership, the magazine was always fresh, erudite, contrarian, and brave. Anyone interested in finding out the most distinctive expert takes on the issues that mattered—whether they be domestic or international, cultural or political—knew that the New Republic was required reading.

Belief and Cult argues that belief isn't uniquely Christian but was central to ancient Roman religion. Drawing on cognitive theory, Jacob Mackey shows that despite having nothing to do with salvation or faith, belief underlay every aspect of Roman religious practices—emotions, individual and collective cult action, ritual norms, social reality, and social power. In doing so, he also offers a thorough argument for the importance of belief to other non-Christian religions.

In Nature's Best Hope (Young Readers' Edition), Tallamy empowers kids to use their own yards to help combat the negative effects of climate change. He does so by breaking down complex concepts into simple terms and real-world examples that kids can easily grasp. Black and white photographs help further clarify concepts. In addition to sharing the science, Tallamy encourages kids to take direct action. Some of these ideas include planting an oak tree at home. If that’s too large of a task, he suggests they can plant asters—a beautiful flower whose pollen bees use to feed their young.

For 50 years, Freeman Tilden's Interpreting Our Heritage has been an indispensable sourcebook for those who are responsible for developing and delivering interpretive programs. This expanded and revised anniversary edition includes not only Tilden's classic work but also five additional essays by Tilden on the art and craft of interpretation, a new foreword by former National Park Service director Russell Dickenson, and an introduction by R. Bruce Craig that puts Tilden's writings into perspective for present and future generations.

By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans. After a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washington’s Capitol grounds that day to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation by arguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the war’s unimaginable horrors - every drop of blood spilled - might well have been God’s just verdict on the national sin of slavery.

In 1997 a six-year-old boy questioned by authorities relayed disturbing stories of abuse. The more he talked, the more people were implicated in his shocking revelations. And he was only the first child to come forward. Within a year, fifteen more children with similar tales were transferred out of the Bassa region of Italy to protected locations. Their parents were accused of belonging to a satanic sect that performed sex rituals under the aegis of beloved local priest Don Giorgio Govoni. With each child’s confession, the network of monsters grew.