Showing results by narrator "Chris Ciulla" in All Categories

The horrific 1988 murder of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn shocked the citizens of Philadelphia. Plucked from her own front yard, Barbara Jean was found dead less than two and a half hours later in a cardboard TV box dragged to a nearby street curb. After months of investigation with no strong leads, the case went cold. Four years later it was reopened, and Walter Ogrod, a young man with autism spectrum disorder who had lived across the street from the family at the time of the murder, was brought in as a suspect.

Armed with two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, young Elmer runs away with an alley cat to a faraway island. There, he must overcome fierce beasts in order to rescue a baby dragon. The first of a three-part series, which includes Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland, this Newbery Honor Book and ALA Notable Book has been in print continuously for more than 40 years.

Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront is the fascinating account of one gangster's ascension from altar boy to the leader of New York City's violent Irish Mob. Eddie McGrath's life and crimes are traced through the tail-end of Prohibition, the gang warfare of the 1930s that propelled him into the position of an organized crime boss, the sordid years of underworld control over the bustling waterfront, McGrath's involvement in dozens of gangland murders, and finally the decline of the dock mobsters following a period of longshoremen rebellion in the 1950s.

Quinn Black thought his work was finished. After all, in the years since he discovered he could time travel, he saved the human race from disaster and restored hope to the world. At least in the current timeline of the universe. Out in the multiverse, the Earth—and everyone he loves—is in trouble again. Someone sent Quinn's team a video begging for help. If Dr. Green's assessment of reality is correct, how will he find his way home if he gets lost in the vast expanse of the cosmos? However, the alternative might be worse.

Violet March and Sam Nash are as different as night and day and have been enemies ever since Violet accused Sam of dognapping her beloved Dalmatian. Sam knows that's impossible - for one thing, Cinder is a well-trained fire-safety-demonstration dog who never steps out of line for serious firefighter Sam. Sprinkles, on the other hand, has never met a command that she didn't ignore completely, much like her bubbly owner.

Contains books one and two of the Metal Fury series: I Am Mech and Mech Planet.

For nearly a decade, twenty-nine-year-old Hudson Miller has made his living in the boxing ring, but a post-fight brawl threatens to derail his career. Desperate for money, Hudson takes a gig as a bouncer at a dive bar. That’s when life delivers him another hook to the jaw: his estranged father, Leland, has been murdered in what appears to be a robbery-gone-bad at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part.

The Viking's Consort is the exciting finale to the Clan Hakon series by USA Today best seller Quinn Loftis. Two worlds collide in this epic historical fiction centered on an undeniable chemistry that smolders against the odds. Richly written and injected with moments of humor, this action-packed romantic tale will leave you breathless.

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, was first published in 1851. Known for its famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael," and for its epic narrative, complex characters, and rich symbolism, it is considered one of the greatest works of American literature.

In Slaughter in the Streets, Don Stradley masterfully unfolds the story of how Boston became "boxing's murder capital." From the early days of Boston's Mafia, to the era of Whitey Bulger, Stradley tells the fascinating stories of men who were drawn to the dual shady worlds of boxing and the mob.

"We have your granddaughter. Here's what you need to do." That's the text message Supreme Court Justice Arnold Hirschfeld receives as hearings commence in the US Supreme Court to determine the fate of the 28th Amendment - enacted to criminalize abuse of power on the part of our political representatives. In court to defend the amendment, retired US District Court Judge Cyrus Brooks observes his old friend and law school classmate Hirschfeld acting strangely and dispatches veteran D.C. homicide detective Frank Lotello to find out why.

Told against the backdrop of the American landscape of the late '80s to the mid-'90s, Growing Up Dead is the story of Peter Conners's journey from straight-laced suburban kid to touring Deadhead. Peter discovered the Grateful Dead in 1985, at the age of 15, through friends who exchanged bootleg tapes of live Grateful Dead concerts. A teenager living in the suburbs of Rochester, New York, he became exposed to an entirely new way of life, and friends who were enjoying more freedom and less parental guidance.

On the heels of a bad breakup, Amelia Montgomery heads home for the holidays. Her hometown is a far cry from the metropolis where she lives now, but not nearly far enough away from Jake Grayson. Amelia's family festivities turn terrifying when a distraught Jake shows up uninvited on the Montgomery's doorstep. Jake will not stop until he possesses Amelia; one way or another, she will be his. In a chilling nightmare, one man's obsession is so evil, it's deadly. Amelia must fight for her life, and the lives of those she loves most, in the only place she's ever called home.

The third collection in the Music and Murder Mystery Series, Back in Black features one story for each song from the seminal hard rock album of the same name. This book showcases ten brilliant mystery writers at the top of their game, including Reed Farrel Coleman, Heather Graham, Tori Eldridge, Ward Larsen, and Andrew Child, among others.

Life was never easy for Marcus, even before his parents’ murder/suicide in a seedy trailer park in Florida. Now he’s landed in Vegas with his older brother, Mac, hoping to start over. But plans usually go sideways when Mac’s involved. He’s a mean brawler, and Marcus all too often ends up on the receiving end. Then Marcus meets Trina—a ray of hope in his sea of despair. He’s smitten. Trina, however, has a thing for bad boys, and Mac is as bad as they come.

“Irishman dies from stubbornness, whiskey.” So began Christopher Clifford Connors’s obituary of a life that included hunting bears in Russia, inventing limo surfing, surviving a shipwreck, and training with Navy SEALs—for starters. At the end of 2016, Connors’s story captivated the world when the exploits of his sixty-seven years went viral.

It’s the hottest winter on record, but Raymond’s demanding, bedridden mother doesn’t mind. She likes it warm. Lately, however, control over the thermostat has become a nasty struggle. And each morning that she’s still alive is a suffocating new challenge for Raymond. How high can the mercury climb before he boils over?

Contains books three and four of the Metal Fury series. Steel Legion: Jack learns about a ship with signal access to the lead manufacturing vessel. In order to get past the ship’s defenses, Jack needs to harness the full power of his Will to pilot his mech for maximum effort. Iron Samurai, In the aftermath of a black hole, anything is possible. Still, he never thought he would end up here. He’s been banished to the edge of the galaxy. His powers are failing. And now Jack might be trapped with an exiled enemy.

If someone accused your best friend of a terrible crime, when would you stop defending him? Seven years after Joe Tyler's daughter Elizabeth was abducted, he hasn't stopped looking for answers, and he hasn't forgotten the friend who stood by him as he lost his wife, his home, and his career in his search. Now he's been brought back to San Diego by the news that this friend has been arrested for beating up a teenage girl - a girl not much older than Elizabeth would be now.

The birth of South Sudan was celebrated the world round. But the celebration would not last: South Sudan's freedom-fighters soon plunged their new nation back into chaos, shattering the promise of liberation and exposing the hubris of their American backers. Drawing on extraordinary personal stories of identity, liberation, and survival, this narrative tells an epic story of paradise won and then lost. Zach Vertin's firsthand accounts, from deadly war zones to the halls of Washington power, bring listeners on an extraordinary journey into the rise and fall of the world's newest state.