Showing results by narrator "Ron Butler" in All Categories

The novel centers on Dickie Cornish, a Black streetwise survivor living in a homeless camp near DC's Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Framed for the murder of two of his closest friends and facing life in prison, Dickie crosses paths with wealthy ex-Homeland Security Secretary, Jamie Bracht. Bracht offers him a chance at a new life if Dickie can navigate an underground world to uncover a prize Bracht will stop at nothing to acquire.

An award-winning novelist, philosopher, essayist, screenwriter, professor, and cartoonist, Charles Johnson has held numerous impressive titles over the course of his incomparable career. Now, for the first time, with his trademark wisdom and philosophical generosity, he turns his attention to his most important role yet: grandparent. In Grand, Johnson shares stories from his life with his six-year-old grandson, Emery, weaving in advice and life lessons that stand the test of time.

Alice is fifteen, with hair as red as fire and skin as pale as bone. Something inside Alice is broken: she remembers words, but struggles to speak them. Still, Alice knows that words are for sharing, so she pins them to posters in tucked-away places: railway waiting rooms, fish-and-chips shops, quiet corners. Manny is sixteen, with a scar from shoulder to elbow.

Why is the athlete so important to us? Few public figures can dominate the public imagination with such power and authority. Drawing from art, literature, politics, and history, Something like the Gods explores the powerful grip the athlete has always held on the Western imagination. Amidon examines the archetype of the competitor as it evolved from antiquity to the present day, from athlete-warriors such as Achilles and Ulysses to global media icons like Ali, Jordan, and Tiger Woods.

It's 1969 when 15-year-old Huey Fairchild begins high school at Claremont Prep, one of New York City's most prestigious boys' schools. His mother had uprooted her family from their small hometown of Akersburg, Georgia, a few years earlier, leaving behind Huey's white father and the racial unrest that ran deeper than the Chattahoochee River. But for our sharp-tongued protagonist, forgetting the past is easier said than done. At Claremont, where the only other nonwhite person is the janitor, Huey quickly realizes that racism can lurk beneath even the nicest school uniform. After a momentary slip of his temper, Huey finds himself facing legal charges.

An artist, a cop, a cowboy, several fly fishermen and even a reluctant romance novelist inhabit these revealing and often hilarious stories. An old man ends up in a high-speed chase with the cops after stealing the car that blocks the garbage bin at his apartment building. A stranger gets a job at a sandwich shop and fixes everything in sight: a manual mustard dispenser, a mouthful of crooked teeth, thirty-two parking tickets and a sexual identity problem.

Blondy Baruti's boyhood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was shaped by a desperate ordeal to survive. After marauding soldiers invaded his village, he, his mom, and his sister fled to the jungle to escape the atrocities and violence. Their odyssey ended some 16 months later when they finally reached safety - but Blondy's journey had only just begun. In an amazing true story that seems more like fiction, we see Blondy overcome incredible odds in pursuit of daring dreams that take him from his fight for survival in the Congolese jungle to a dazzling turn on an A-list red carpet.

Maverick is a man who knows his own mind – and he knew from the beginning that a fling with long-time friend Sapphire would be more than just mind-blowing sex. That is, until she says they should go back to being just friends… before announcing she’s pregnant with his child and her father expects her to marry someone else! Nothing will stop Maverick from claiming what’s his…

Did Mark mean what Alison Lind hoped? Was her boss declaring his passion for her? Did he really feel the same way she secretly felt for him? Apparently not. Instead of asking her to be his lover, he was asking her to be temporary nanny to his baby niece. Not an ounce of desire in sight. Or was there? Living together, spending time in intimate surroundings, might create a sensual tension too powerful to ignore. How long before this strictly business relationship turns into a strictly passionate predicament?

Nikki Cartwright can't believe Jonas Steele–the Jonas Steele–has chosen her for a high-profile marketing venture. It could make her career. But when she remembers the kiss they once shared, a kiss so intimate it sent their desire skyrocketing from simmering to blazing, Nikki knows she must guard her heart against the seductive Phoenix playboy as if her life depends on it.

D'marcus Armstrong was demanding, autocratic and cranky as a boss. But as the star of her feverish nighttime fantasies, the man was simply divine. Still, Opal Lockhart had no chance with Detroit's self-made millionaire. What would a high roller like him want with a buttoned-up, naive secretary like her? Enter the Lockhart sisters–for some attitude adjustment and a wardrobe makeover.

Burned-by-love architect Hunter McKay came home to Phoenix to open her own firm, not rekindle her fleeting high school romance with playboy Tyson Steele. But when she runs into the sexy surgeon at a nightclub—and he unleashes that legendary Steele charm—Hunter fears she’s headed straight for heartbreak once again.

Alaskan businessman Cash Outlaw has inherited almost all of his late mother’s Wyoming ranch…except the fifty acres left to her former caretaker. But she’ll only sell him the property, if he gives her a baby! Cash’s counteroffer? That the mother of his child will need to also be his wife. Let the intimate negotiations begin…

It’s been ten years since Leslie Cassidy broke Sloan Outlaw’s heart. And now, thanks to a ruthless enemy targeting Leslie's company, Sloan can use his wealth and influence for something nice—and something naughty. He'll save her company—if she'll spend a week with him! But, when a snowstorm keeps them cabin-bound, will they discover they’ve got more than they bargained for?

World-renowned musician Dylan Emanuel never forgot his summer fling with Charm Outlaw. Nor the pain of her sudden silence and her father’s threats to stay away. So when he unexpectedly crosses paths with Charm, Dylan decides on a little seductive payback. But sun-soaked days melt into fiery nights, leaving Dylan caught by his own trap. When he learns what happened that summer, will he trade revenge for a second chance?

The most spectacular theme park in the world is headed to the Big Apple. After Atlanta, Cam Walker and his family are ready to turn over a new leaf with Futureland. This is where dreams literally come true, and the Walkers are going to show the people of New York City that their park is back and better than ever. But trouble isn’t done with the Walkers yet. Glitches keep happening with the park attractions. There's a creepy carnival in town that gives Cam goosebumps. Plus, he just can’t shake the feeling that his family is being watched.

Moments after the inauguration of our 45th president, best friends Barack Obama and Joe Biden were escorted to a secret lab run by the world’s greatest scientists. They were asked to take off all their clothes and hold very still in a fetal position until they felt a painful tingling sensation. Then they vanished. They would awake to find themselves apart, and inside their younger bodies and driven to find each other, and to change history for the better. 

The biblical account of Gideon. The ancient story of the Trojan horse. Deceptive techniques have been used in war through the ages. But while the principles have changed very little, the technology behind fooling the enemy has evolved dramatically. Paul B. Janeczko’s fascinating chronology focuses on the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf Wars to reveal evolving attitudes toward the use and effectiveness of deceptive operations.

Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on fashion runways. A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion’s biggest stage. The body is identified as Annabelle Leigh, the teenager who famously disappeared over a decade ago from her boyfriend’s New York City mansion.

Part guide to Christian living, part spiritual autobiography, The Way of Jesus is Jay Parini's exploration of what Jesus really meant, his effort to put love first in our daily lives. A lifelong Christian who has at times wavered and questioned his beliefs, Parini recounts his own efforts to follow Jesus' example, examines the contours of Christian thinking, and describes the solace and structure one can find in the rhythms of the church calendar.