Showing results by narrator "Dave Cruse" in All Categories

Did you ever wake up wondering where you were…and perhaps equally important, how you got there? Yeah, me too. The only the thing is, it usually happens when I've been drinking…and I'd been dry for the better part of two years. I'm Commodore Jeremy David Riker…my friends call me JD or just plain “Dog.” I have the dubious honor of running a starship boneyard in the middle of nowhere.

The north was decimated by war centuries ago and nature never recovered. Rumors and whispers now spread of the return of the darkness that once plagued the lands. Prince Gilford remains as the only surviving heir of a dying kingdom but he must remain vigilant as he knows there is more to fear than simply the darkness.

Opportunities there are few and far between...that is, unless you're willing to put on a uniform. For ace-pilot Deborah Allen Riker (aka “Admiral Dare”), life had never been easy. She's defended Earth against countless enemies, both alien and human alike. Now she's retired. Committed to a life of solitude and studying the aliens she spent a lifetime fighting...until she finds herself dragged into a new conflict. A conflict she never saw coming.

An imperfect hero for an imperfect time. For generations, Riker men have been the best of the best. For the Battleborn that comes with a cost. I spit out the blood in my mouth. I had to give the other guy credit. That was a fine right hook. Every bit as good as my mom used to give me. Of course, the best right hooks were the ones I landed on the other guy rather than the ones the other guy landed on me. My dear departed mother had always taught me it was better to give than receive.

I watched as the alien weapon’s neutronium hull fractured and then exploded. The antimatter-driven explosion engulfed the remaining three ships. Even neutronium is not impervious to antimatter. In one final act of love, my wife had saved us. A piece of my heart died that day in the Paradise system. In a way, the wound never healed. I learned to live with it. I raised our son as best I could. I carried out the mission. But I missed the woman who represented everything good in my life.

His touch can heal or harm. His fate is solitary. His agony belongs to us all…He was born on a day of pain: November 22, 1963. He came of age in agony: that moment of tragedy when fun-loving rock-and-roll deejay Paul Handler discovered the inexplicable power in his own hands. It is the power to make the wounded whole again. The power to make the lame walk and to heal the sick. It is a power that will sap his soul and plunge him into the world of a famous faith healer. It is a power that can turn to rage, even murder. It is a gift that makes Paul Handler a living, breathing human sacrifice. For thousands of years, a secret cabal has guarded the lineage to which Paul is heir — scapegoats who have been forced to bear humanity's anguish upon themselves. Now, while the cabal searches for him, and one man seeks to destroy him, Paul makes a lonely, frightening journey to the core of his identity and to his destiny … to all the pain his soul can bear, to all the redemption he can give, to the freedom that is death.

This morning was no different than any number of other mornings, except for one small detail, I had no idea where I was. In fact, there were a lot of little things I didn't know: Who was I? Why was I here? How come I was so hungry? And what the hell was that smell?

Suddenly on the far side of the Milky Way, Admiral Deborah Allen Riker and her crew find themselves neck-deep in trouble...again! It turns out the galaxy is a very dangerous place. Threats come in all shapes and sizes. For Admiral Dare, peace and protecting the innocent is the price of being human. It is a precious commodity that must be paid for with the blood and tears of those willing and able to fight for it.

Newly reinstated Captain Deborah Allen Riker (a.k.a. Admiral Dare) has been called many things over the years. Risk-averse is not one of them. When she and her badly crippled starship found themselves lost in the middle of an ocean of uncharted stars, with the fate of the galaxy on the line, facing enemies from the past, present, and future.... She did what any Riker would do....She attacked.

Eighth graders discover a dragon egg on the beach, a unicorn in their pasture, and follow Bigfoot through the portal the creatures have come through, along with a government agent and a poacher who’s after all the magic he can accumulate.

It’s odd the way some things work out. You expect to wake up dead, and instead, you wake up to the beautiful face of your wife. I was confused. I had died...or at least I sure as heck thought I had. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’ve been alive for a number of years now and to be honest...I’m quite fond of it. I just didn’t understand "how" I was alive. My name is Fleet Admiral Jeremy Riker...but my friends call me Dog. This is the rest of my story.

Although Miss Bessie Myers is a figment of my imagination, she is every bit real in the sense that we all have a Miss Bessie in our lives. Miss Bessie is everyone’s crazy aunt, spooky neighbor, beloved grandmother, and dearest friend. She can be brutally honest, painfully funny, sweet as honey and prickly as a pear. She is both the preacher’s staunchest supporter and sharpest critic. Of all the words used to describe this godly saint, there is one which stands out above them all...unpredictable.

Three centuries after the Calming, the System is alive, but it’s not well. All that remains of the once-omnipotent AI are the book it left behind, and the itinerant professors charged with keeping its wisdom.

Pharmacology professor Miklos Rosen (now Michael Ross) retires from the world of academia in 1970 and opens a community pharmacy in a peaceful upstate New York town. He puts the horrific tragedies of his past behind him and finds serenity in his new life. That is, until he recognizes a customer as former Nazi SS officer Hans Stern....

Wars with aliens make for strange bedfellows. Five hundred years ago I died. In most cases that would have been the end of it. The thing is, I didn't stay dead. Well, actually I did, but more to the point my mind woke up in brand spanking new, state-of-the-art cloned body custom built by the Imperium to fight the B'dar. This is my story. This is the future history of me.

It had been ten years since Roy came to New Terra. At the conclusion of the great interstellar war against the Serpent People, Roy went from being an ace fighter pilot to a simple farmer, married to his beloved wife Katreena and father to their three beautiful children. He had discovered a happiness that he had long given up on having again in his lifetime. However, their lives were overshadowed by a dark prophesy.

When journalist Liam "Mick" Murphy lies to the chief of police in order to get a story, he uncovers a conspiracy to smuggle a cheap, lethal, cocaine-based drug through Key West. Before long, local authorities, federal agents, and drug-cartel hit men are looking for Murphy because of what they think he knows. With help from an eclectic group of friends, including an old black-ops acquaintance from Central America, Murphy sets out to prove who's behind the smuggling plot.

What would you do if the Fae took over your town? Fateh's life was as ordinary as it could be with the Fae. He deals with Tabor, an annoying but familiar presence. The fact that he's one of the Fae complicates things.

A funny thing happened on the way to the battlefield. Arthur, High King of Brydein, must fight the last of the rebel kings to acknowledge his right to govern them all: his old nemesis, King Urien of Dalriada. Before he can lead his army to where Urien's forces sit ensconced, however, a fey man appears from the midst of a sudden, eerie storm to block the way. The man claims to be the high king of an altogether unknown land...and he wields uncanny power the likes of which Arthur has never seen.

Verngaurd’s soil, already drenched in blood from civil war, hungrily awaits more as hordes of Dark Warriors invade in unimaginable numbers. Every realm must shake loose and empty the dusty corners of their lands for any and all remaining warriors in anticipation of the upcoming battles set to determine the fate of the world. Even if the League completes their quest, how can they survive friend and foe moving to surround them, intent on stealing the source of magic?