Showing results by narrator "Tom Stechschulte" in All Categories

No child should ever be a soldier. Jon Moore knew that better than most, having learned to fight to survive before he’d hit puberty. So when a former comrade, Alissa Lim, asks for his help in rescuing a group of children pressed into service by rebels on a planet no one cares to save, he agrees. Only later does he realize he’s signed up to do far more than he’d ever imagined.

Jon Moore grew up in a prison laboratory. When he escaped with nothing but his body's nanotech enhancements and more anger than even a long lifetime could wash away, an entire planet died behind him. Memories of the things he’d done still haunted him; because of them, he often ended up helping those in need. His kindnesses frequently didn't work out well. This one really didn't work out well. This one really didn't work out well. It hurled Jon and Lobo, the intelligent assault vehicle and Jon's only friend, down an accelerating, ever more dangerous spiral.

The job looks simple enough: Jon Moore, the nanotech-enhanced, world-weary, soldier of fortune, agrees to help a con man, a friend from a part of his past he’d rather forget, protect a very special young boy. The deal doesn’t stay simple, as each move Jon and Lobo make results in more danger and more enemies. The situation grows even more complicated when a beautiful woman with an unclear agenda joins them in their quest.

Reporter Lester Booker joins legendary gunfighter Rance March on the trail of a dangerous outlaw to learn how the West was really won.

Kate and Nick Kavanaugh (lawyer and cop respectively) take in young Rainey Teague, whose parents have died under mysterious circumstances. Rainey is a handful. Well, actually, Rainey is turning out to be someone - or something - downright scary: a shape-shifting time-bending little boy who will have to resist being taken over by "Nothing." Will Kate and Nick be able to save him? Will the mirror they have kept up in the attic ultimately be their downfall? When more disappearances start to happen, where do they turn?

As a child, Joseph Beck heard the stories - when other lawyers came up with excuses, his father courageously defended a Black man charged with raping a White woman. Now a lawyer himself, Beck reconstructs his father's role in State of Alabama vs. Charles White, Alias, a trial that was much publicized when Harper Lee was 12 years old.

RITA finalist Donna Alward’s debut romance, Hired by the Cowboy, earned her the Booksellers’ Best Award. In Proud Rancher, Precious Bundle, Wyatt Black is stunned to come home from a hard day of ranching to find an infant on his doorstep. According to a note in the diaper bag, the baby’s name is Darcy - the daughter of his estranged half-sister. Wyatt’s neighbor Elli Marchuk reluctantly agrees to help care for Darcy for a few days. But she’s soon in love with the baby - and falling fast for the gorgeous Wyatt.

Ben has just returned from a war waged against a nameless enemy. To avoid being nabbed by police and forced to work in a factory, he’ll need to find a wife. But to do that, he must wear a bachelor’s suit—and the tailor won’t make one for him.

With tales of rugged heroes and gun-barrel justice, Ralph Compton became a beacon for aspiring Western authors. Marcus Galloway maintains this legacy with Rusted Tin. Sheriff of Keith County, Nebraska, Zeke Wolpert wears a tarnished badge - taking bribes from criminals and turning a blind eye to their misdeeds. But with a shipment from Wells Fargo on its way into town, Zeke is torn between visions of setting himself up for life or finally living up to his job’s mandate.

Lee Smith, one of today's finest writers in the Southern literary tradition, has been compared to Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor. This collection of nine stories, ranging from poignant ballads to delightfully inventive forms, showcases Smith's celebrated talent. The stories will make you chuckle and leave you with a satisfying sense that no matter how unruly or warped life may seem, equilibrium can be found after all.

Will Brite is a Slash Five cowboy working in the Middle Concho region of Texas in the winter of 1884 when a blizzard descends upon him - the likes of which he has never seen. Trapped under his horse and entangled in a barbed wire fence, Will finds an unexpected (and unwelcome) savior in the form of Zeke Boles, a former slave on the run from a bloody, guilt-filled past.

In compelling poetry, the spirits of Frederick Douglas, John Brown, and William Tecumseh Sherman come alive. So does the heart-rending tale of a Confederate son and Union father, the desperate struggle of boys fighting like men, the horrifying shrieks of the wounded, and the pitiful plight of a toil-weary slave. One poetic letter finds distraught parents aching for a son who hasn’t been heard from in months. Another spotlights a wounded lad languishing in a POW camp, determined to survive his living nightmare.

Jason Manning, popular Western author, sets this tale at the beginning of the Civil War. Lieutenant Joshua Barlow, just out of West Point, is sent into the West by his influential father, who hopes he will be safer there. However, a different conflict is being waged on the plains. Kiannatah and his band of Apache warriors are determined to fight those who dare to invade their land, no matter how much blood is spilled.

A storyteller in the very best southern tradition, Lee Smith pens unexpected plots vibrant with luminous prose. Her powerful short stories in Me and My Baby View the Eclipse capture those extraordinary moments in everyday life when greatness and tragedy shimmer through the surface. This collection was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

Jess Kirkman’s mother is dying of congestive heart failure, and he has come home to be at her bedside. Charged with getting family affairs in order, he faces the daunting task of sorting out the secret workshop that his father left behind when he died 10 years ago. As he investigates his findings—a map littered with the names of strange women and a strange invention of stovepipe and ceramic—Jess discovers an intriguing side of his father.

ine Briggs Martin, author of multiple ALA Notable Books, delivers an entertaining tale that teaches the value of hard work. Carl Diehl is a 10-year-old boy who dreams of building a boat. With a little help from neighbors, family, and friends, Carl’s dream becomes a reality. Tom Stechschulte’s narration captivates listeners, making them feel a part of the Sand Island community.

Jackson Crain is a widowed county judge living in a quiet Texas town with his quirky 13-year-old daughter. When his deceased wife's sister is found dead, all signs point to her husband, who's rumored to be sleeping around. But Crain turns up a surprising suspect - the attractive woman who just moved into town.

The author of numerous works of historical nonfiction, John Milliken Thompson put his extensive researching skills to good use when penning his critically acclaimed first novel, The Reservoir. Based on real events in 1885 Virginia, Thompson’s gripping tale is the story of a pregnant woman found floating in the city reservoir - and of the shocking details that emerge during the subsequent investigation.

Author Nancy Bell serves up riveting small-town murder mysteries - Lone Star style. Joe Junior, the barber of Post Oak, Texas, has been murdered. And though he was beloved around town, there are no less than three primary suspects. Judge Crain has the final word when it comes to laying down the law in PostOak, but this time he's having a dandy of a hard time figuring out where to lay it.

Both a fast-paced story of social unrest and strike, and the tale of one young man's struggle for identity, In Dubious Battle is a novel about the apocalyptic violence that breaks out when the masses become the mob. Set in California apple country, a strike by migrant workers spirals out of control as principled defiance turns into blind fanaticism. Caught in this upheaval is Jim Nolan, a once aimless man who finds himself briefly becoming the leader of the strike before being crushed in its service.