Showing results by narrator "Jeffrey Kafer" in All Categories

In the aptly titled Offbeat, Richard Matheson, a modern master of strange fiction, offers 13 excursions into the unsettling and bizarre. In these stories you will encounter a major league pitcher with a horrific secret for his astonishing success; an ordinary man who wakes to find himself in a silent, empty world; a death row prisoner with an extraordinary explanation for his innocence; and a novelist whose fictional creations transcend the printed page.

The VC Warriors are an elite group of vampire who protect innocents, whether human or those of their own race. Jared Kincaid, along with other Warriors, are shocked when a fiery red head with a gun and attitude, bring news of young teens being turned into an army of half-breed vampires capable of taking out all VC Warriors. Breaking into the famed VC Warriors compound was definitely not the smartest thing Tessa Pride has ever done, but she will do anything for her brother, Adam.

His chiseled jaw and silver gaze haunts both my nightmares and my dreams, though I’ve only ever gotten a glimpse of either. There’s a treaty between us and them; mere mortals and the ones who terrify but keep us safe. The contract demands that every year there’s an offering, and this year I’ll walk across that stage presenting myself.

A mammoth, flash frozen in solid ice 10,000 years ago is brought to the surface by a team of scientists. An act of sabotage frees the giant from its icy tomb and reveals the secret held inside: the body of an ancient woman, cloaked in furs, slides out of the mammoth's belly. But it is not the woman that holds the team's attention - it is the object she is clutching: a device created by an advanced civilization.

Just when the Soulkeepers think they've established a foothold in the war between Heaven and Hell, the playing field shifts. Enraged by Cord's disappearance, Lucifer replaces his right-hand man with the Wicked Brethren: three Watchers so formidable even their own kind fears them. The Soulkeepers struggle to survive in an increasingly deadly world while continuing to defend human souls.

When his own goddaughter becomes the latest victim of a serial killer wielding an ice pick, New York City Detective Frank Janek knows he must get inside the mind of a serial killer to locate this monster.

A ship in the hands of their enemy...A liberation gone wrong...A chance to double their ranks...A bold and daring plan...Their support from the Pentaurus cluster dwindling fast, the Alliance faces new and unpleasant realities in the Sol sector. But, as they soon discover, untoward changes have the potential to bring unexpected opportunities. The trick is in how you use them.

When jaguar shifter Lauren Hayes breaks into an alpha's home to steal back what rightfully belongs to her pride, she doesn't expect to be tackled by Max McCray, second-in-command of the Kincaid wolf pack. As punishment for her crime the sexy wolf shifter demands that she stay with him for one week.

Hell Squad soldier Gabe Jackson has lost everything that mattered, including his twin brother. Now he just wants to kill the invading aliens anyway he knows how...and he knows a lot of ways. Previously part of a secret Army super-soldier project, he's faster, stronger, deadlier...but on the inside, he's a mass of rage, and pain, and grief - all waiting for a chance to drag him under. Until he finds her.

Estranged from his powerful father for choosing the military instead of the family business, Eric brews with an internal chaos that drives him toward ops with high-risk flying, razor-thin margins, and bad odds. But posing as a male prostitute with a gorgeous, smart-mouthed DEA agent who pushes all his bad - and dangerously good - buttons may be the mission that finally unravels him.

Virtual reality is able to effectively blur the line between reality and illusion, pushing the limits of our imagination and granting us access to any experience imaginable. With well-crafted simulations, these experiences, which are so immersive that the brain believes they're real, are already widely available with a VR headset and will only become more accessible and commonplace. But how does this new medium affect its users, and does it have a future beyond fantasy and escapism? In Experience on Demand, Jeremy Bailenson draws on two decades spent researching the psychological effects of VR and other mass media to help listeners understand this powerful new tool.

My name's Cesar Hawke. I'm a witch working for a division of the government you've never heard about. The world's not what everyone thinks it is - unless you think that our world's a pawn in a game of chess between Heaven and Hell, and riddled with as much magic and wonder as it is with evil. In that case, the world is exactly what you think. My place of employment - the Office of Preternatural Affairs - takes a modern approach to an ages-old problem.

The world is barely holding on. A century after a series of apocalyptic events, humanity is struggling to survive. In the frigid north of Scandinavia, people have returned to farming, fishing, and fighting amongst themselves, living as their ancient Viking ancestors once did.

In the middle of an alien invasion, will the bad boy berserker catch the geeky tech genius? Computer genius Marin Mitchell is doing her part to help humanity survive the raptor invasion, working tirelessly to decrypt alien data. She spends her days working and drooling over a certain tattooed, biker berserker from Squad Three. But Marin knows the rules: geeks do not snag sexy bad boys.

It has been a year since John Henry Booth's exile from New America and the fall of the Black Cathedral. Cursed with a slow transformation into a monster, he has begun a doomed relationship with fellow escapee Mercury Halsey as they seek some way to arrest his transformation. Dubious hope arrives in the form of the University, the deranged scientists and cultists descended from the staff of Miskatonic University. Except their offer of help comes at a price.

The season of Yule is fast approaching, but not all in the barony of Löngutangar are festive. For it has been two years since Salem disappeared. Two years without word. Two years without their friend. New rumors speak to a possible location, and a crack team sets out to find Salem and bring him home. But does what they find even qualify as human?

Consumed with finding those responsible for the death of his family 10 years earlier, Max is approached by Juno Rey, a seductive CIA agent with a tantalizing offer—information on the killers in exchange for Max's help on a top-secret mission. The target: a covert biomedical research facility located deep in North Korea, where scientists are attempting to reverse engineer the alien life-form discovered in Alaska. An elite team of CIA operatives accompanies him, but even their advanced weapons cannot ensure survival against the murderous abominations created at the facility.

When former berserker Manu Rahia lost his leg on a mission, he was forced to leave his squad. He knows his new role as head of the Enclave's firing range and armory is important, but hates that he isn't still out there fighting face-to-face against the aliens and protecting his brothers' backs. But then one woman catches his eye. A no-nonsense woman dedicated to her job as head of security. A woman who seems cool on the surface, but who Manu is convinced is hiding more under her business-like exterior.

As Reed and Natalya wage a sensual battle of desires, they also work together to decipher a mysterious alien energy cube. Hell Squad needs Natalya's expertise and they need her to go back into alien territory to use it. But on a mission to destroy an alien outpost, secrets are uncovered - of what the raptors really did to Natalya. Secrets that mean the future she wants with Reed is just an impossible dream.

After a year of lusting after his sexy employee, werewolf pack-leader Grant broke his no-involvement-with-humans rule and made a move on Talia. A month later the sex is still red hot and everything between them is perfect. Or so he thought. Until the night he shows up at her place expecting their usual ritual of mind-blowing sex and finds out she has other plans. And they don't include him. When Talia announces she's tired of being his last priority, Grant realizes he might lose the only woman he's ever cared about.