Showing results by narrator "Tavia Gilbert" in All Categories

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives - an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there. When a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there's no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die?

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: a terrifying ability to channel electricity and to see a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude ... until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire. Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all - but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula.

This is the astonishing true story of three teenage Dutch girls, Hannie Schaft and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen, that has inspired many throughout the world. When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in World War II, these girls took up arms against the enemy by seducing high-ranking Nazi officers, luring them into the woods and killing them. They provided Jewish children with safe houses and gathered vital intelligence for the resistance.

Some stories are so timeless we can't wait to share them with our children. You'll find five such classics in this collection from PlainTales, including the tales of the naughty Gingerbread Boy, the clever Billy Goats Gruff, the enchanted Frog Prince, the stalwart Little Red Hen, and the courageous Bremen Town Musicians. All are told with simple, engaging language perfect for the littlest listeners.

Samantha Brinkman, an ambitious, hard-charging Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, is struggling to make a name for herself and to drag her fledgling practice into the big leagues. Sam lands a high-profile double-murder case in which one of the victims is a beloved TV star - and the defendant is a decorated veteran LAPD detective. It promises to be exactly the kind of media sensation that would establish her as a heavy hitter in the world of criminal law.

The world has been saved; life is beautiful and everyone loves and appreciates the hero, even though they have put him in some godforsaken place. To keep him safe, or so they say.... But it's too boring there! Only at first glance, however, because entertainment can be found anywhere and the street phase of the world tournament, Battle of the Champions, is just the right thing to pass the time, especially if some divine gifts are taken into consideration, which, regardless of his unique strategic and tactical talent, seriously complicate his life.

There are other worlds with mysteries to solve. Worlds where not all of the suspects are technically alive. That's when Karma kicks in. Stripped of her position, facing an unsure relationship with potential boyfriend Adam, and still foster mom to an emo sixteen year old poltergeist named Pixie, ghost transporter Karma Marx thought she'd seen it all . . . and then she is sent on a train ride across Europe to save a woman from her abusive spouse.

Do your kids think that clean, folded clothes magically appear in their drawers? Do they roll their eyes when you suggest they clean the bathroom? Do you think it's your job to pave their road to success? As parents, so often we hover, race in to save, and do everything we can for our kids - unintentionally reinforcing their belief that the world revolves around them. When Kay Wyma realized that an attitude of entitlement had crept into her home, this mother of five got some attitude of her own.

For half a century, the French writer Annie Ernaux has transgressed the boundaries of what stories are considered worth telling, what subjects worth exploring. In this probing meditation, Ernaux turns her attention to the phenomenon of the big-box superstore, a ubiquitous feature of modern life that has received scant attention in literature. Recording her visits to a store near Paris for over a year, she captures the world that exists within its massive walls.

Join Merry Hanson, a very modern 16-year-old living in Pennsylvania's Amish country, as she faces the true-to-life struggles and heartfelt triumphs of growing up to be the best she can be in God's eyes. Can Merry count on her friends to understand as she at last attempts to come to grips with a years-old tragedy?

Emma Keim was heartbroken when her husband, Sanford, passed away, leaving her to raise three young daughters alone. In the years since, her relatives have made it no secret that they expect Emma to remain a widow, mourning Sanford indefinitely. But when she meets Jay Hilty - a widower with three young sons of his own - Emma is delighted to have a new friend who understands her struggles. Emma is dismayed her family is so opposed to their friendship - and the idea of it ever becoming anything more.

When attorney Rachael Flynn learns her bighearted younger brother has been arrested, she at first takes it in stride; Joshua has been in trouble before when his zeal for helping the downtrodden and disadvantaged pitted him against the law. But this time, the charge is murder and he's confessed to the crime. Certain that he's innocent, Rachael begs Joshua to let her represent him, but her brother refuses her offer of counsel.

When word had gotten out that Andy Warner had committed suicide, everyone in Walnut Creek, Ohio, had been shocked. For seven men and women in their 20s, each of whom had once counted his or herself as one of Andy’s best friends, it had been extremely painful. And, maybe, a source of guilt. Years have passed since they’d all been together last. Now, the seven remaining friends, still reeling from Andy’s death, have vowed to look after each other again.

Marguerite Caine has done the impossible, traveling to alternate dimensions with the Firebird - the brilliant invention of her parents; her boyfriend, Paul; and their friend, Theo. But she has also caught the attention of enemies willing to kidnap, blackmail, and even kill to use the Firebird for themselves. When Paul's soul is splintered into four pieces - pieces that are trapped within Pauls in other dimensions - Marguerite will do anything and travel anywhere to save him.

Bride-to-be Leona is thrilled to be on a mini-vacation in the pretty town of Pinecraft. Her girlfriends think she’s happy to be away from the stress of wedding planning; they have no idea that Leona’s real joy is in being away from her fiancé. Edmund is a good man and will make a decent husband...just not for Leona. The more time she spends with him and his overbearing ways, the less she wants to be his wife.

This narrative charts Annie Ernaux's teenage awakening and then the parallel progression of her desire to be desirable and her ambition to fulfill herself in her chosen profession - with the inevitable conflict between the two. And then she is 30 years old, a teacher married to an executive, a mother of two infant sons.

In her ruefully funny and wickedly perceptive debut novel, Alison Espach deftly dissects matters of the heart and captures the lives of children and adults as they come to terms with life, death, and love. At the center of this affluent suburban universe is Emily Vidal, a smart and snarky teenager, who gets involved in a suspect relationship with one of the adults after witnessing a suicide in her neighborhood.

In a series of beautifully paced narratives, Sarah Thornton investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the workings in Takashi Murakami's studios, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the competition behind an important art prize, life in a notorious art-school seminar, and the wonderland of the Venice Biennale. She reveals the new dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life.

It is 1914, and the world has been on the brink of war so often many New Yorkers treat the subject with only passing interest. Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. Eliza embarks on the trip of a lifetime to see the splendors of Russia. But when Austria declares war on Serbia, Eliza escapes back to America, while Sofya and her family flee to their country estate. In need of domestic help, they hire the local fortune-teller’s daughter, Varinka, unknowingly bringing intense danger into their household.

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before - before Dara kissed Parker, before Nick lost him as her best friend, before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred. Now the two sisters, who used to be so close, aren't speaking. In an instant Nick lost everything and is determined to use the summer to get it all back.