Showing results by author "Michael A. Thomas" in All Categories

America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman, one of our most influential columnists, and Michael Mandelbaum, one of our leading foreign policy thinkers, analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation’s chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what we need to do now to rediscover America and rise to this moment.

Nate has a talent for space combat after hundreds of victories in the Star Crusader videogame simulation. His skills are unique, enough to gain him a rare privilege: the chance to join five other Alliance cadets and escape the dull routine of the classroom. They will enter a fierce competition light-years away in the ancient Byotai Empire. Yet days after their arrival a rebellious faction begins a bloody mutiny that spreads like wildfire. The time for competition has ended; the time of war has begun.

World after world falls, until only the barren and lifeless planet of Kretos remains, a planet of little strategic importance. A world of small cities, mountains, sharp rocks, bitter storms and a civilian population unprepared for war. Without warning, the first wave of tiny spacecraft force their way through the blockade and fill the sky with landing pods and gliders. Waiting inside are thousands of terror troops, the Vrokan’s elite and most feared warriors.

That's Mr. Faggot to You continues Ford's exploration of contemporary gay life. He does not shy away from personal revelations - he recalls his own traumatic high school experiences but recognizes that, years later, he's happier and, more importantly, a great deal more attractive than his classmates - but also offers insight into more political issues such as religion and politics and Wynonna Judd. Never abandoning his caustic wit, Ford is honest to a fault and does not suffer fools or dog-haters lightly.

When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.

In the first book of the Star Crusades: Uprising series, the bloody struggle is told through the eyes of an illegal pit fighter named Spartan, who is forced to choose between incarceration or military service. Choosing the Confederate Marine Corps over servitude he begins his 30 long weeks of training. Together with his group of marines, they are honed into a force ready to be thrown into the meat grinder on the newest and greatest planet in the Confederacy, Proxima Prime.

How will Jane Austen break the news to her fiancé that she’s not only undead, but also a 200-plus-year-old literary icon? In sleepy upstate New York, Jane’s wedding preparations have taken on a bloodsucking intensity. So when Walter suggests they ditch it all and combine their marriage and honeymoon with a house tour of Europe, Jane jumps at the chance to flee Lord Byron and the lingering threat of Charlotte Brontë. But to Jane’s chagrin, more than one secret from her past is about to resurface.

It was a beautiful, mythical city sparkling with riches. But many years ago, a huge wave washed away the entire city. Is it possible the legend of Atlantis is true?

Battle Prayers: 100 Prayers of Hope and Encouragement, by Michael Klassen and Thomas Freiling, gives listeners a model for lifting their prayers to God. Like classic books of prayer that have helped believers in their prayer lives over the years, this book emphasizes not only prayers for self, but for others too.

Named to the New York Times Book Review's annual 10-best list, this blues-tinged novel tells the story of an unnamed black man estranged from his white wife and their three children. As he struggles to pull money together to provide for his children, his story emerges as a powerful statement about American society.

The religious insurgency continues to spread through the weakened colonies of the Confederacy. Spartan, now a sergeant in the Marine Corps and his armored platoon is rushed to the defense of New Carlos on the planet of Prime. The massive city is besieged by the terrifying Biomech shock troopers, its fall is imminent. As the battles rage across the continent, enemy agents continue to foment revolt throughout the remaining colonies in their struggle to bring the empire crashing down.

History professor Ned Brummel is living happily with his partner of 12 years in small-town Maine when he receives a phone call from his estranged friend - Jack - telling him that another friend - Andy - is very ill and possibly near death. As Ned boards a plane to Chicago on his way to his friend's bedside, he embarks on another journey into memory, examining the major events and small moments that have shaped his world and his relationships with these two very different, very important men.

Nate and his friends are expert gamers and now veteran combat pilots. They have proven their skills by inflicting defeat on the enemy and saving their ship in the process. The passengers and crew regard them as heroes, yet after their violent escape, they are to be sent home to a life of study and boredom. Their ship, ANS Relentless, sets off to join the fleet to embark on a secret operation. A new battle is about to begin, and Nate and his gamers are unwilling to be pushed aside so easily.

In this suspenseful and deeply moving novel, Michael Thomas Ford propels us beyond smiling holiday photographs and beloved anecdotes to explore the complex ties within one family - and between two very different brothers whom catastrophe will either unite or divide forever....

Marine biologist Ben Ransome understands the sea, especially the tiny, beautiful sea slugs he has studied and admired for most of his life. What Ben doesn't understand are people, and now, one of the most important people in his life - his 16-year-old daughter, Caddie - is coming to live with him for the summer. But the sweet, happy child he remembers has been replaced by a wounded, angry stranger who resents everything about her father. Caddie is determined to act out in every way, leaving Ben feeling more alone than ever.

Nate faces his greatest challenge when his squadron embarks on a near impossible mission. Of the hundreds of pilots in the fleet, only they have experience operating alongside the alien pilots of the Byotai Imperial Fleet. Even if this experience was gained only in simulation. Over the past weeks, the videogame pilots have proven their mettle in battle. Now they will face the ultimate test and join the elite Byotai pilots aboard the battleship Furiosa. Ahead of them lies the most critical phase of the conflict.

Nate and his friends undertake their greatest adventure yet, when their squadron joins Battle Fleet Victorious on a top-secret mission. The elite group of powerful ships makes up the fastest and deadliest battle fleet in the entire Alliance. They are heading deep behind enemy lines, to where the Star Empire has located an ancient and deadly weapon - one that would give them the means to defeat the Alliance in a single overwhelming battle.

Change Business Career with God is a book for people who can't seem to stop drifting. Years of making quick fixes hasn't worked. Secular, self-serving approaches to your career have left you despondent. You have nearly lost hope of ever find a meaningful career and are looking for a deeper reality. Change Business Career with God will help anyone who wants to work in a business that belongs to someone else or build a business of their own.

Hundreds of ships and thousands of mercenaries start their epic journey through the deadly Su'bartu Maelstrom that will take them to the heart of the Median Empire, a region protected by the vast Imperial Fleet. Few ships have ever made the journey, but this is no mere fleet of traders. The battle hardened mercenaries of the Legion are interested in just one thing, loot, and they intend on finding it no matter where they have to go or who they have to kill.

August 1917. As the Allies launch a massive offensive on the Western front, Captain Richardson, a battlefield veteran of the trenches leads four heavy tanks on an impossible mission against the German front line. A brazen assault through the wasteland battlefield that could shatter the German defences and create an opening for Allied soldiers to pour through and hasten the end of the war. But when tank F41 becomes trapped in no-man-land, that battle is transformed. The men can neither advance nor retreat as the tank sinks deeper into the mud, all while shells rain down all around it.