Showing results by narrator "Michael Rahhal" in All Categories

The United States occupation of Iraq is a swamp of incompetence and self-delusion. The CPA has disbanded the Iraqi army and police as a consequence of its paranoid policy of de-Ba'athification of Iraqi society. Tales of hubris and reality-denial abound, culminating in Washington hailing the mess "a glorious mission accomplished". Inspector Muhsin al-Khafaji is a mid-level Iraqi cop who deserted his post back in April. Khafaji has lived long enough in pre- and post-Saddam Iraq to know that clinging on to anything but poetry and his daughter Mrouj is asking for trouble.

A murder victim is turned into a zombie, just long enough to cover up the circumstances of his own death.... A silent ghost with a friendly grin greets those about to meet their doom.... The only clue to who's killing a party of adventurers is the letter 'H', written in the blood of one of the victims.... All new stories of murder, suspense, and intrigue by Elaine Cunninham, Jeff Grubb, Ed Greenwood, and other favorite Forgotten Realms authors.

Sam Cooke gave up the notion of finding anyone from Clear Creek to marry. What available women there were, were either too young or too old, and heaven help him if his mother, Belle Cooke, got his matchmaking Aunt Sadie to help find him a bride. No, some things a man had to do on his own. But when he travels east on business to fetch his mail-order bride, little did he know what sort of hi-jinx awaited him on the journey home with her!

Coupon-clipping police superintendent Jonah Merlin thinks he has an open-and-shut case on his hands after the body of a beautiful woman is found discarded in a run-down building in Tel Aviv. All evidence points to two suspects, but finding them will require unorthodox methods to decode the cryptic words sprayed at every crime scene. As the body count rises, graffiti expert Rai Zitrin and precocious 17-year-old Zoe Navon agree to help Merlin uncover the connection between the killing spree and the words of Polish writer Bruno Schulz.

Her ship is gone, her crew is captured and notorious mercenary Andi Racella is suddenly a fugitive, ruthlessly hunted across the galaxy. The bloodthirsty Queen Nor now rules most of the galaxy, and she’ll stop at nothing to destroy her most hated adversary. Andi will risk anything, even her precious freedom, to stop Nor. However, as her crew fight to regain their freedom, Andi and her unlikely ally Dex discover a threat far greater than anything they’ve faced before.

Josiah King came to Clear Creek with a past. A past no one in town knew about until now. For the one person in the world who knew of the deed he'd done had been part of it, and Josiah thought to never see Annie Stone again. Annie Stone was on the run, running from an evil so vile, so utterly despicable she couldn't bear to speak of it to anyone. But the residents of Clear Creek were different and Annie thought perhaps in time she could finally face her past, until she saw Josiah King.

The Weaver clan was growing. Not only was Arlan, Ma Weaver's oldest son and his wife about to have a baby, but Benjamin, one of her identical twins, was about to get his very own mail-order bride! Ma Weaver couldn't be happier! Sure, Benjamin and his brothers had been sheltered in the small valley where they lived most of their lives, and maybe they didn't live as fancy as some folks. But they still lived well, and Ma Weaver was determined her sons would marry well too.

When Sadie Jones, the daughter of cattle baron Horatio Jones, set out on her own in search of her dying birth mother, she got more than she bargained for. She never dreamed the stage would be robbed and she herself taken along with the rest of the loot! After all, being kidnapped was the last thing on her mind that morning. Unfortunately it was the foremost thing that afternoon.

As a public information officer for the US Supreme Court, idealist Hope Denby knows how to spin a story. A journalist at heart, she loves being in the middle of a juicy scoop and has her sights set on future press secretary for the White House. When a Supreme Court chief justice is accidentally killed in a road-rage accident and a high-profile conspiracy blogger claims it was premeditated murder, Hope has to shut down the paranoid blogger - until she discovers that he is not as crazy as she thought.

While investigating a government cover-up, former FBI agent Mitch Monroe is framed for murder. A wanted man, Mitch has no choice, he needs Special Agent Caroline Foster - the FBI's top sniper and a woman who wants nothing to do with him - to clear his name. After sharing a night of passion with Mitch a year ago, Caroline hasn't been able to get him out of her head. On the run, Mitch and Caroline can't fight their reigniting passion. She'll lose her career if she proves Mitch is innocent...he'll lose his life if she doesn't.

Newly released from prison, the last thing Colin Cooke expected to see in Clear Creek was an angel. But there she was, just getting off the stage, and was of course everything an angel ought to be. Beautiful, of exquisite form, and with honey gold curls that bounced when she walked. Unfortunately, she walked straight into the arms of Mrs. Irene Dunnigan! The one person everyone avoided as best they could. At least until they needed something from the mercantile, then they had no choice.

Sheriff Clayton Riley asked for a pair of boots for Christmas, not a mail order bride! Unfortunately for Clayton, his brother and mother figured a bride would look better on him than a new pair of boots! After all, he'd been sulking around long enough after the death of his wife, and his family decided it was time to take matters into their own hands and see to it Clayton had a very merry Christmas!

One. Lee D. Beck counted the first wave and waited for the second, knowing that he’d have a chance of surviving if he could hold his breath, maintain his composure, and count to six, the number of waves in a typical set. The leash of his surfboard, wedged in coral, was holding him captive underwater. If he freed himself before the waves broke, they would send him tumbling into the reef behind him. The waves kept coming. Lee kept counting. Six. Seven.... Thirteen.

Eloise was the least adventurous of her sisters, and thought she wanted a life of peaceful serenity alongside a quiet man, one civilized and genteel. But did she know herself well enough to stick to her own assumptions? Seth Jones gave the appearance of a dutiful, yet bumbling hotel clerk, while his brother Ryder was considered the rugged hero, one who'd saved his wife and himself from death. How could Seth compare to that?

The mystery matchmaker has struck again! Independence was a quiet little town, until the antics of Mercy, Martha, and Maude brought a mail-order bride last summer for their unsuspecting pastor. Now, four mail-order brides later, the town is about to get another, only this bride, (not to mention three out of the previous four) were sent for by a mystery matchmaker! This time Jess Templeton is the unsuspecting groom, and chaos erupts when his bride arrives.

Constance had an adventurous spirit, but was it adventurous enough to make a life with Ryder Jones? His country speech bordered on barbaric (at least to her) and his isolated way of life out on the prairie scared her to death! Would she ever see her sisters again? How could she possibly adapt to living with such a man?

Her sister gone, her roommates soon to follow, Leora Mitchell must now face the fact that she, along with the others, are mail-order brides. For years, her life revolved around Brown’s Textile Mill, her sister Lottie, and their friends. Now, as mail-order brides, they’d be scattered across the country, ready to start a new life. The only problem was Leora had no idea what that life looked like, nor did she have any idea who she was without the familiar faces she loved so much.

Eva Brock's mother was the most overbearing, controlling, and opinionated woman she had ever known, and if she didn't escape out from under her roof, she'd have Eva married off to a man not twice but three times her age! Her only hope was to become a mail-order bride and marry herself off before her mother did. Finn Mullany wasn't looking for a wife and didn't want one. Or, rather, he didn't deserve one! He'd made some mistakes of late that cost his best friend his sight.

One of the most talented seamstresses of her time, Ilsa Thorsen could sell her creations anywhere in the world, but she ends up on her sister’s ranch in the western town of Pendleton, Oregon. Disgusted with the dust, smells, and nearly every aspect of rural life, Ilsa wonders how she'll survive, particularly with the arrogant Tony Campanelli constantly underfoot. Enterprising and hardworking, Tony Campanelli embraces life in the small community of Pendleton with his sister and their friends, especially since Ilsa Thorsen moves to town.

Orphaned at birth and a loner all his life, the last thing Sergeant Klayne Campbell needs is for feisty Delaney Danvers to entangle his thoughts. Bravely volunteering for a top-secret mission almost certain to get him killed, Klayne can't bear the thought of dying utterly alone. All he wants is to face death knowing his life meant something to at least one person. Offering Delaney a marriage of convenience, he plans to leave behind a war bride as his beneficiary.