Showing results by narrator "William Dufris" in All Categories

Sam Blackman is an angry man. A chief warrant officer in the criminal investigation detachment of the U.S. military, he lost a leg in Iraq and has been outspoken in his criticism of his medical treatment. Then, ex-marine and fellow amputee Tikima Robertson walks into his hospital room, hinting that she has an opportunity for Sam to use his investigative skills. But before she can return, Tikima is murdered.

Enter Valentino, a mild-mannered UCLA film archivist, who buys a decrepit movie palace and uncovers a skeleton in the secret Prohibition basement. He then makes a second discovery: long-lost, priceless, reels of film: Erich von Stroheim's infamous Greed. The LAPD wants to take the reels as evidence, jeopardizing the precious old film.

An outrageous outdoor adventure heightened by ribald humor, violence, sex, pitch-perfect dialogue, unforgettably eccentric characters, and a riveting plot.

In The Secret Sentry, Aid provides the first-ever full history of Americas largest security apparatus, the National Security Agency.This comprehensive account traces the growth of the agency from 1945 to the present through critical moments in its history, from the cold war up to its ongoing involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

From the introduction to Philadelphia Noir: "America's first great city, first capital, and first industrial metropolis contained from the beginning the mix of poor workers and elite culture, of ethnic enclaves and religious intolerance, of easy skullduggery and flesh-pot possibilities, that led Lincoln Steffens in 1903 to famously rule it 'corrupt and contented'."

When Odile Meével agrees to help smuggle out of the former Soviet Union several works of Communist folk art, this clothing designer doesn't bargain for more than a few days' worth of illicit activities. But by the time she arrives back home in Paris, her partner-in-crime has disappeared. That's not all: her apartment is ransacked for no discernible reason, and she will have already unintentionally set in motion a chain of events that will put her and those closest to her in grave danger.

The city of Maras-Sund has stood for more than 20 years - two lands joined together by a magical bridge the Marasai used to conquer the Sundain. But the man known as Issel has magic of his own - an ability to manipulate water - which he will use to free his people. He finds an ally in Jendre, the daughter of a general in Maras's army and a woman with her own vendetta against the regime. Her sister is held captive along with others whose life essences power the magical bridge between her land and Sund.

Mainspring is the story of a young clockmaker's apprentice, who is visited by the Archangel Gabriel. He is told that he must take the Key Perilous and rewind the Mainspring of the Earth. It is running down, and disaster to the planet will ensue if it's not rewound. From innocence and ignorance to power and self-knowledge, the young man will make the long and perilous journey to the South Polar Axis, to fulfill the commandment of his God.

If there's one thing Warlock Marcus Shifter hates, it's the Delwinn Council, the governing body of the magical community. Between the grudges many on the council harbor because he walked away from magic and his suspicions that someone is working to undermine a 20-year peace with the nonmagical Normals, they really don't get along. Marcus has spent months hunting the traitor, infiltrating the Council and helping with "menial tasks" like repairing unstable rifts in the fabric of reality.

The High, a band with a few hit songs in the late 1970s, have reunited to play the nostalgia circuit at casinos. But for bassist Barry and lead singer Cliff, this tour promises to be unforgettable and even more worthwhile than ever. In this fourth installment of the Toronto series, these two band members turn the tables on the gritty underworld of casinos, as they rob the loan sharks and drug dealers who work at every stop of the tour.

Julian de Laurent needs a temporary wife. Camille Chandler needs a job after he inadvertently gets her fired. If she agrees, he'll pay her five million to marry him. It's just a business deal, but neither could have foreseen what happens next, especially Camille, when she learns he's capable of stealing her heart.

It is nine months after the end of the previous book. Many noble allies have come to the Ninefold Forest for a Feast in honor of General Rudolfo's first-born child. Jin Li Tam, his wife and mother of his heir, lies in childbed. As the feast begins, the doors of the hall fly open and invisible assassins begin attacking. All of Rudolfo's noble guests are slain, including Hanric, the Marsh Queen's Shadow. And on the Keeper's Gate, which guards the Named Lands from the Churning Waste, a strange figure appears, with a message for Petronus, the Hidden Pope.

It is April 17, 1861 - the day Virginia secedes from the Union and the 16th birthday of John Alan Muro. As the Commonwealth erupts in celebration, young Muro sees his dream of attending medical school in Philadelphia shattered by the sudden reality of war.

Former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier Jack Pilgrim has it all - big bucks, a successful security business with plush government contracts, a beautiful wife. Then Pilgrim's partner, Merc Conrad, goes missing in Afghanistan with a chunk of government cash and most of the company's assets. The CIA threatens to throw Pilgrim in jail if he doesn't find Merc and return the money.

A jaded homicide detective working a serial murder case is teamed up with a new partner - a law enforcer from an alien race. Big-city life in the near future is full of violence and tension for Saigo City homicide detective David Silver. His latest assignment is to track down a serial killer dubbed "Machete Man" because he hacks his victims to pieces. But Silver and his partner Mel Burnett just caught a break: One of Machete Man's intended victims - an elderly woman who would've been number six - escapes.

When the first young boy goes missing in a quiet Cape Cod town, Lieutenant Bill Warren is pulled into a morass that promises no happy ending. As his pursuit uncovers the unimaginable, he is led into a world of gambling, drug peddling, corruption, and secret psychiatric experiments. Now he must fight to maintain control of an investigation that more and more people - from the state police to the district attorney to a tenacious Boston reporter - have become seriously interested in.

Life under the thumb of the Spark Lords - the League's Earthly representatives - is dull but comfortable for Philemon Abu Dhubhai and the other teachers at a third-rate private school for second-rate rich kids. But all that changes when a female student is found murdered by an unknown alien organism, and her boyfriend, the prime suspect, goes missing. Suddenly an unofficial homicide investigation has snared Philemon and five other "misfits", trapping them all in a web of terrifying conspiracy.

The job was simple: decapitate the zombie, get paid, get out. Warlock Marcus Shifter followed the plan perfectly. The corpse, however, did not. Now there's a body on the loose, accusations of illegal necromancy are flying, and the answers are waiting in the perilous alleys between the mortal and paranormal worlds. They're no place for someone who mostly gave up magic after a childhood accident. And given his tendency to shoot off his mouth and his Glock, Marcus is having a hell of a time digging up more than just bodies. When an apocalypse-minded megalomaniac threatens Marcus's family, things get personal.

It's 24 on Mars: a non-stop futuristic thrill-ride, all in one day, through the critical events which were the breaking point for the underclass of Martian citizens and precipitated a revolution to break the Martian colonists free from the formidable Sol System government. The formerly red planet would never be the same would the human race.

A century and a half after the Martian Separatist Wars, and the final defeat of insane terrorist leader El Ahmi, Alexander Moore returns to the stars with the Sienna Madira, a United States Navy supercarrier spacecraft outfitted with advanced FTL and endlessly strange, extremely effective, quantum-based weapons and remote sensing technology. And, of course, he's brought marines and lots of them.