Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

The Starship Atlantis takes you on an unforgettable journey through the extraordinary. From alien civilizations and rogue AI to desperate missions on the brink of collapse, these stories will transport you across the stars into the heart of the unknown. This anthology features six never-before-published novellas and short stories, plus two exclusive bonus tales.

Justin is excited to start his new job at an energy mine on a distant planet—until things begin to go wrong. Small things. Annoying glitches in the mining complex's tech. Enough to aggravate him. Enough to notice a connection. When the first miner dies from a tech-related accident, Justin can no longer turn a blind eye. But the mine's brass don't want him digging for answers even though something from the mine's past is lurking beneath the surface...and it wants blood.

Detective Dillon Storm is headed back to Naples for the first time in a dozen years, and the occasion is not a happy one. The illegitimate son of the richest man in America's richest city, Dillon spent his entire life in the shadow of a family that would never accept him. Now, he's come to bury the man who neglected him and, in doing so, put that part of his life behind him forever. But when the lawyer dealing with his father's estate is murdered and Dillon's number is found on his phone, it sets the detective on a path that will unearth family secrets.

Bella: Meeting him was a fluke. Dating him was a mistake. Watching him become a drug addict put me through hell. Running was my only option. Jackson: I'm running from my demons and when I find out she's trying to escape her past, I know what I have to do. One broken cop. One woman fighting for her life. A fragile love. Sinister secrets that threaten to tear them apart. They've been to hell. The hard part will be finding their way back together.

Just outside of Tokyo lies Aokigahara, a vast forest and one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Japan...and also the most infamous spot to commit suicide in the world. Legend has it that the spirits of those many suicides are still roaming, haunting deep in the ancient woods. When bad weather prevents a group of friends from climbing neighboring Mt. Fuji, they decide to spend the night camping in Aokigahara. But they get more than they bargained for when one of them is found hanged in the morning - and they realize there might be some truth to the legends after all.  

Diggory Finch had a mother that didn’t seem to want him and a father that chose to run from every struggle the family ever had. The same father lied about the family fortune. But now Grandma Beatrice is gone, and Diggory has inherited Finch Island in Twin Falls, as well as millions of dollars, a house, an old mill building, and the profound, evil darkness that dwells at the center of his family’s heart.

What is it like to be a dog? A bat? Or a dolphin? To find out, neuroscientist Gregory Berns and his team began with a radical step: they taught dogs to go into an MRI scanner - completely awake. They discovered what makes dogs individuals with varying capacities for self-control, different value systems, and a complex understanding of human speech. And dogs were just the beginning. In What It's Like to Be a Dog, Berns explores the fascinating inner lives of wild animals from dolphins and sea lions to the extinct Tasmanian tiger.

Kevin Taylor is an Internet-famous handyman on a mission: Find a house and renovate it in 30 days. By flipping a derelict house in a month's time and chronicling the entire thing on video for his online subscribers, he seeks to become a star. The problems that plague this property will require more than elbow grease to fix, however. Shadows throughout the home are distorted, and an enigmatic trespasser keeps showing up in his footage. Worse still are the hideous voices that issue from otherwise empty rooms in the dead of night.

FOUR RIDES. FOUR PASSENGERS. FOUR DESCENTS INTO DARKNESS. Charlie has been a New York City Rideshare driver long enough to know everyone has a story. Each passenger that requests his car gets in the backseat with their own hopes, dreams and aspirations. BUT MANY HAVE DEMONS. Four of these people will share their tales with Charlie, each more harrowing than the last. From innocence lost to bloody vengeance, these are not the accounts of your average commuter. THEY ARE CONFESSIONS OF HORROR BEYOND COMPREHENSION.

Bryan and Ellie Stockton hope they left behind their demons when they move to their idyllic new home in southern West Virginia. Above all, they want a fresh start for their young son, Derrick, who witnessed the tumultuous first years of their marriage—years that were rife with substance abuse, rage, and resentment. Their bright hope for the future is darkened when a child disappears from their neighborhood. The couple becomes suspicious of a reclusive resident with a degenerative brain disorder.

The Rising is the story of Jim Thurmond, a determined father battling his way across a post-apocalyptic zombie landscape, to find his young son. Accompanied by Martin, a preacher still holding to his faith, and Frankie, a recovering heroin addict with an indomitable will to survive, Jim travels from state to state and town to town facing an endless onslaught of undead hordes and the evils perpetrated by his fellow man.

Beyond simple small talk: what to say and when to say it to be likable, connect, and make a memorable impression. Actionable and applicable verbal maneuvers for just about every phase of conversation - good and bad. Whatever your conversational goal, you’ll find tactics to put you in a winning position - in a literal sense with arguments, and in a figurative sense with making friends. You can never underestimate the power of a simple conversation.

After getting reincarnated as a dungeon, Theodor thought he’d finally get some rest and relaxation. That changed when a bumbling old hero stumbled into him and died, making Theodor the target of adventurers everywhere. Masquerading as a house in the small town of Rosewind, Theo must now do whatever it takes to remain unnoticed… even if it means creating an avatar to interact with people or go on a mission set by the annoying Earl Rosewind!

Only 1 percent of the population is blessed with magic affinity at birth. Fewer still have high enough affinities to rule. Ian’s decemancy eclipses all, granting him ultimate control over Death. He conquers cities with a thought and turns them into ruins with a gesture. But overwhelming power isn’t enough to escape the time loop or reveal its purpose.

Newlyweds Lisa and John's summer drive through the Oregonian wilderness takes a chilling turn when an unexpected blizzard traps their car. Desperate for refuge, they find hope in a sign: WELCOME TO__. Bundling up, they trek through the storm and find that, within the town, the blizzard ceases, though it rages just beyond the town's limits. The streets are eerily quiet, lined with lifelike ice statues. Lisa and John soon realize they are being watched by the wary townsfolk, who reveal a haunting truth: this town is a prison, and the storm is a trap.

Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others.

In early 2015, Roderick Toombs, aka Rowdy Roddy Piper, began researching his own autobiography with a trip through Western Canada. He was rediscovering his youth, a part of his life he never discussed during his sixty-one years, many spent as one of the greatest talents in the history of pro wrestling. Following his death due to a heart attack that July, two of his children took on the job of telling Roddy's story, separating fact from fiction in the extraordinary life of their father.

With the empire secure, Otto turns his focus west. The first piece of the Immortality Engine lies across the ocean in Lord Colt’s Workshop. Complicating Otto’s mission, Eddred of Markane is already in Colt’s Land, trying to persuade them to help him defeat the empire. Can Otto navigate a web of politics and intrigue unlike anything he’s ever encountered? Or, will his mission fail before he even reaches Colt’s workshop?

It isn't enough to keep the Finch family in Twin Falls, caged in by the conspiracy of cults and the elder gods they kill and dance for. The Twelve families want more. They want more power, more control, and to build a foothold for their legacies on Earth. When the Murphy family lost a young son to the Abrahamson family in the battle versus the alien god Knife Eyes they demanded justice, but the council said no. So in service to the ancient god Danu, they seek to usurp the very genetic line of Diggory Finch to amplify their control over the machinations of Twin Falls.

Joe works for a government facility. A very secret government facility, where human 'antennae' with brutally increased psychic ability are used to 'intercept' potential threats to the nation. But now Joe's work has followed him home. There's someone in the corner of Riley's eye. Someone who isn't there when she turns around – and who can not just intercept her senses, but manipulate them to see and believe terrible things. And they have a plan. The government's most sinister weapon has turned itself against his own daughter. The question now is: how far will he go to save her?