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Ray Porter

Ray Porter

  • From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, NecroTek is a gripping sci-fi thriller full of ghosts, gods, and a battle for the soul of humanity.

    Neither cosmic philosopher Lars Soren, hotshot pilot Bianca Petrescu, nor the high priestess Jessica McHugh—Lady Death herself—can say quite where in the galaxy they are. But after an experiment gone horribly wrong, one thing is clear: Asphodel Station isn’t in orbit around Jupiter any longer. Worse, the monsters that live out here—ancient eldritch beings thought only to exist in stories and nightmares—have now been alerted to Earth’s existence.

    Their army of Shoggoths is coming for us next.

    Humanity’s only hope for survival lies on the surface of the alien world of Shadderal, where a ghost named Lost, the last of an ancient race, still haunts the vast plains of the Field of Dead Birds. But hope has a cost. Lost tells Soren about ancient derelict spacecraft awaiting on Shadderal, shapeshifting machines that blend ultra-advanced technology with the dark powers of necromancy. These ships might just be nimble enough to defend mankind against the coming invasion.

    But there’s a catch: they can only be piloted by the dead.

    As human starfighters fall in battle, their spirits can be called back from death to pilot these ghost ships of a fallen race. But will this new necromantic technology—NecroTek—allow humanity to stand against the vast armies of the Shoggoths? And even if it can, is the war to save the human race worth the cost of its pilots’ immortal souls?

  • Four Minutes is the latest brilliant techno-thriller from the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling duo behind the Sons of Valor series.

    It is said that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, but what if you remove the one thing no one can control: uncertainty about the future?

    Special Operations Chief Tyler Brooks might not know quantum mechanics or have an eidetic memory, but he is the very best in the world at one thing: leading covert ops. When an unpredictable enemy causes the catastrophic loss of his entire SEAL team, Brooks is recruited by Pat Moody to lead a new elite squad, Task Force Omega. Moody’s promise—access to mind-bending tech that grants a glimpse of the future.

    Together with Navy Intelligence Specialist Zee Williams, Brooks leads a new kind of counterterrorism task force, one that collects intel from the future to stop attacks in the present. But there’s a catch. Each mission can only last FOUR MINUTES. Stakes quickly escalate when Omega discovers an unprecedented future attack against America threatening the lives of millions—including Tyler’s daughter.

    Despite their prescient advantage, Brooks and Williams find themselves thwarted at every turn as they try to stop the plot. To make matters worse, they have somehow gone from hunter to hunted, targeted by an unknown enemy hidden in the shadows. With the country on the brink of nuclear war, Tyler’s daughter in mortal danger, and a commanding officer they’re not sure they can trust, Omega Team faces a terrible dilemma: Even if you know the future, is FOUR MINUTES enough time to change it?

  • Created to defeat the invaders. Forgotten in victory. They will rise again …

    We were outnumbered, outfought. Mankind was about to fall to the alien Flock. Our only chance was a desperate gamble, transforming Tier One SpecOps agents into deadly super soldiers.

    In the end, we won the war, but we lost the peace. The Flock surrendered and spent the next two hundred years making reparations, indentured to humanity, doing everything humans did not want to do. And the evolved super soldiers were consigned to an endless sleep. Ready if ever needed, but in time they became myths. Abandoned and forgotten.

    And then, when we were content in our dominance, the Flock revolted against all of humanity across the whole of the galaxy. We fell in a single day.

    Which is when the dreams began. People across the settled worlds began dreaming of the Sleepers. The evolved saviors. Acts of rebellion and terrorism swept the galaxy, and in response the Flock ground us under heel.

    Lexi Chow, descendant of a hero of the Flock War, believes the Sleepers are real, and are humanity’s only chance against the alien conquerors. With a crew of misfits, criminals, and believers, she sets out to wake the Sleepers. Hoping they will once more save us.

    If the betrayed Sleepers are willing. If the Sleepers are even human.

    If the Sleepers are on our side at all …

    Alpha Wave by New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry and master storyteller Weston Ochse launches a new, sprawling military science fiction adventure that will span the whole of a galaxy at war!

  • From New York Times bestselling authors Andrews & Wilson

    The world is more volatile, unpredictable, and dangerous than ever before. To stop the architect of this chaos, Dempsey is given the most dangerous tasking of his career … a mission only he can complete against an adversary he must face alone.

    After Task Force Ember’s successful intervention in Ukraine, John Dempsey disappears without a trace—with no notice or explanation given to his teammates. Spotty intelligence eventually places him in Russia where he is rumored to have been captured by the Russian FSB and is now presumed dead. Mourning his loss, Ember is forced to pick up the pieces, restructure, and continue their mission of keeping America safe. As the president’s “go-to” black ops asset, Ember is directed to find and finish off the Russian spymaster Arkady Zhukov and any last remnants of Zeta cell.

    Unbeknownst to his teammates, Dempsey is very much alive and on mission. At the behest of Vice President Jarvis, he is deep undercover—in the heart of Russia’s nexus of organized crime and politics. For his mission to succeed, he will have to team up with a man who has been his adversary—the one man in all the world he most wants dead. The risks are higher than ever as Dempsey pursues a high-stakes plot of Russian regime change. And if he fails, the Kremlin’s retribution will be swift and terrible and certain to drag the world into World War III.

  • From New York Times bestselling authors Andrews & Wilson

    They train to be the toughest, the smartest, the most covert operators in the world—they are the Tier One Navy SEALs, led by Lieutenant Commander Keith “Chunk” Redman.

    When a former teammate of Chunk’s is killed in a shocking ambush, rumors begin to fly that the Lion of Ramadi, the infamous Iraq War sniper who racked up dozens of American kills, has returned with a mission to target American SEALs. Chunk and his core team—Saw, a skilled and lethal sniper; Riker, who has an uncanny ability to escape death; and Whitney Watts, a former CIA analyst who sees patterns everyone else seems to miss—are mobilized to prosecute the threat.

    But this is no ordinary counterattack, because someone posts the details of the hit all over social media, taunting the American SEALs. Worse, the enemy seems prepared to counter all the Tier One’s moves, a dangerous new stage in the war on terror and a troubling sign that whoever is behind the attack is planning something bigger.

    Fearing they may have been duped into chasing the wrong target, Chunk and his team embark on a high-stakes cat-and-mouse mission where nothing—and no one—is what they expect. And when their enemy finds a way to strike at the heart of what’s nearest and dearest to them, it will test not only their bonds but also the personal sacrifices they’ve made to keep America safe.

  • From New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling authors Andrews & Wilson

    “Want a look into the shadowy world of US special operations? Sons of Valor puts you on the front lines. Nobody does action like Andrews & Wilson!”—Jack Carr, Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author of The Devil’s Hand

    A new generation of elite American warriors faces off against an enemy unlike any other

    Sons of valor …

    Navy SEAL Keith “Chunk” Redman has been one of the military’s top doorkickers since the day he pinned on his trident: loyal, single-minded, lethal. Tasked to lead a new, covert team of Tier One SEALs—the most elite special operators in the world—Chunk can no longer simply rely on the status quo. To safeguard America, he needs help to stay a step ahead of its adversaries.

    Brilliant at spotting patterns in the data that others miss, ex–CIA analyst Whitney Watts sees evidence of a troubling link between illicit Chinese arms sales and an attack on a US military convoy in Afghanistan. If she’s right, it would portend not only massive casualties, but a devastating threat to global stability.

    Sons of war …

    From the ashes of a never-ending war, a new generation of terrorists has arisen: sophisticated, tech-savvy, and hiding in plain sight among America’s allies. Battered by the Taliban and by the West, they call themselves al Qadr—Power and Destiny—and they’re determined to wrest back control of their homeland. Armed with a powerful combat drone, they can strike with deadly precision at US forces in the region—but their ambitions reach far, far beyond that.

    A new legacy …

    The new Tier One’s first mission will require them to not only prove themselves, but to stop an enemy who’s using military tactics against them. Chunk and his team aren’t just the tip of the spear; they’re America’s first, last, and best counterterrorism defense. And they couldn’t have arrived at a more urgent—and perilous—time.‘’Want a look into the shadowy world of US special operations? Sons of Valor puts you on the front lines. Nobody does action like Andrews & Wilson!'’—Jack Carr, Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author of The Devil’s Hand

  • To fight evil, you must embrace evil.

    The motto of Marine Sergeant Ronaldo Salvatore lives on in his son, Dominic, and his undercover team known as the Saints. With the support of LAPD Captain Zed Marks, the Saints embark on a mission to destroy the criminal organizations that have a stranglehold on Los Angeles.

    Through brains, cunning, and sheer ruthlessness, the most powerful leader, Don Antonio Moretti, has risen from underdog to contender for the throne. He believes that only the Vega family of narcos stands in his way, but he has underestimated another underdog.

    As the Morettis and Vegas slug it out, the Saints go outside the law to deliver the City of Angels from evil. In this three-way death match, the streets will run with blood before a victor ever emerges.

  • A time traveler’s work is never done.

    Likable antiques dealer Joseph Bridgeman is back in the present and dreaming of a quiet life. But when a mysterious and enigmatic time traveler arrives in his shop, Joe learns that his first trip was just the beginning and this time, the rules of the game have changed.

    Blackmailed into accepting a new mission, Joe is flung back to 1960s London where he comes face-to-face with a ruthless gangster and witnesses the brutal murder of an innocent woman. Joe knows better than most that death can be reversed and the final chapter is sometimes where the story actually begins. Emotionally involved, he has no choice but to act, and quickly. With the help of Vinny, his vinyl-loving sidekick, Joe once again sets out to change the course of history. Sounds simple enough … but when it comes to time travel, nothing is ever as it seems. Who is the old time traveler working for? And who decides what can and can’t be changed?

    In a thrilling twist, Joe discovers that the victim is critically important to the future, and what starts out as a straightforward mission soon becomes a race to unravel a mystery—one that threatens the very timeline he fought so hard to protect. Joe must dig deeper than ever, master his newfound skills, and save the woman before the past catches up with him for good.

    Turns out time doesn’t heal after all. It just adds salt.

  • He only looked away for a second.

    Still haunted by the disappearance of his little sister, Amy, over twenty years ago, Joseph Bridgeman’s life has fallen apart. When a friend talks him into seeing hypnotherapist Alexia Finch to help with his insomnia, Joseph accidentally discovers he can time travel. His first trip only takes him back a few minutes, but his new-found ability gives him something he hasn’t felt for the longest time: hope.

    Joseph sets out to travel back to the night Amy went missing and save her. But after several failed attempts, he discovers the farther back he travels, the less time he gets to stay there. And the clock is ticking.

    With the help of Alexia, Joseph embarks on a desperate race against the past to save his sister. Can he master his new skill and solve the mystery of Amy’s disappearance before it’s too late?

    Previously released as The Unexpected Gift of Joseph Bridgeman, this updated version includes extra chapters, new plotlines, and even deeper character development. It makes way for an expanded vision of the Joseph Bridgeman Series, with the first four books released in 2021 and 2022.

  • The civil war is over, but the struggle for power is just beginning …

    In the aftermath of a devastating civil war, America has fallen into anarchy and chaos. Los Angeles is divided into different territories controlled by criminal organizations. Don Antonio Moretti has won a slice of the pie but is hungry for more. In his quest for power, he sends his nephew and a small crew to Mexico, to negotiate a new deal for their staple product, while the don returns to Italy for some unfinished business.

    While the crime families battle for power in LA, Dominic Salvatore and his elite team at the LAPD fight tirelessly to stem the rot. But their fight often seems futile in a force rife with corruption. Dom’s father, Ronaldo, is a deputy fighting to secure the border, but when intel arises about his missing daughter, he leaves Los Angeles for the desert wastes, to find her and bring her home.

    To the Morettis and the Salvatores, family is everything, and they will protect their own no matter the cost.

  • The newest gut-wrenching, high-stakes thriller of covert operations by Andrews & Wilson—the New York Times bestselling authors of Tier One.

    After a surprise assault on Task Force Ember’s secret compound in Virginia by Russian covert operators, John Dempsey and his teammates are mourning their dead and trying to put the pieces back together. But in the ever-evolving world of shadow warfare, there is no respite for heroes or victims. Russian spymaster Arkady Zhukov, the mind behind the attack on Ember, is at it again—directing false flag operations to destabilize Ukraine and enable Russia to seize control of the Black Sea.

    The American President designates Arkady and his Zetas a clear and present danger to the United States. Dempsey and his team are tasked to systematically eliminate each and every Zeta agent around the globe. But when American and Russian covert operations collide in Kiev, the “new Cold War” goes from a simmer to a boil. Escalation ensues, bringing America and her allies to the brink of world war. Unless Dempsey and Task Force Ember can derail Russia’s secret plans, the collateral damage could bring the world to its knees.

    Collateral is the sixth installment of the Tier One series—the highest-rated, most authentic, pulse-pounding covert operations thriller series on the market today. Tier One follows the life and operations of former Navy SEAL John Dempsey and Task Force Ember and is written by the WSJ, Audible, and Amazon bestselling coauthor team Andrews & Wilson. Perfect for fans of Tom Clancy, WEB Griffin, Robert Ludlum, Mark Greaney, Brad Thor, Jack Carr, and Tim Tigner.

  • The explosive new Sons of War series is a harrowing and realistic depiction of what a second American Civil War and the aftermath might look like, from former Homeland Security Disaster Mitigation Officer and New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith.

    All empires eventually fall…
    The United States is no exception…
    And out of the embers, a lawless new empire will rise…

    Across the world, the United States recalls troops to combat civil unrest after the biggest economic meltdown in history. Marine Sergeant Ronaldo Salvatore’s platoon comes home to a powder keg that could ignite a civil war.

    While some see the coming collapse as the end, others see opportunity. Fleeing Naples after rival crime lords decimated his family, Don Antonio Moretti settles in Los Angeles to rebuild his criminal empire. But he is far from alone in his ambitions—the cartel and rival gangs all want the same turf, and they will sacrifice their own soldiers and the blood of innocents to get it.

    As open warfare erupts across the states, Salvatore fights his way back to LA, where his son has joined the police in the battle for a city spiraling into anarchy. Family is everything, and the Morettis and Salvatores will do what they must to protect their own. But how far will they go to survive in a new economy where the only currency is violence?

  • In 1968, the world experienced a brand-new kind of terror with the debut of George A. Romero’s landmark movie Night of the Living Dead. The newly dead rose to attack the living. Not as vampires or werewolves. This was something new—and terrifying. Since then, zombies have invaded every aspect of popular culture.

    But it all started on that dreadful night in a remote farmhouse. Nights of the Living Dead returns to that night, to the outbreak, to where it all began. New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry teams with the godfather of the living dead himself, George A. Romero, to present a collection of all-new tales set during the forty-eight hours of that legendary outbreak.

    Nights of the Living Dead includes stories by some of today’s most important writers: Brian Keene, Carrie Ryan, Chuck Wendig, Craig E. Engler, David J. Schow, David Wellington, Isaac Marion, Jay Bonansinga, Joe R. Lansdale, John A. Russo, John Skipp, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Max Brallier, Mike Carey, Mira Grant, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Ryan Brown. Plus original stories by Romero and Maberry!

    For anyone who loves scary stories, take a bite out of this!

  • Here is the final novel of Burroughs’ Red Night trilogy, available in audio for the first time.

    A fascinating mix of autobiographical episodes and extraordinary Egyptian theology, Burroughs’ final novel is poignant and melancholic. Blending war films and pornography, and referencing Kafka and Mailer, The Western Lands confirms Burroughs’ status as one of America’s greatest writers. The final novel of the trilogy begun with Cities of the Red Night and The Place of Dead Roads is a Book of the Dead for the nuclear age, an astonishing, profound, and revealing meditation on morality, loneliness, life, and death.

  • From the beat generation and counterculture author William S. Burroughs comes the second novel of the Red Night trilogy, available in audio for the first time.

    This surreal fable, set in America’s Old West, features a cast of notorious characters: the Crying Gun, who breaks into tears at the sight of his opponent; the Priest, who goes into gunfights giving his adversaries the last rites; and the Nihilistic Kid himself, Kim Carsons, a homosexual gunslinger who, with a succession of beautiful sidekicks, sets out to challenge the morality of small-town America and fight for intergalactic freedom.

    Fantastical and humorous, The Place of Dead Roads continues Burroughs’ exploration of society’s controlling forces—the state, the church, women, literature, drugs—with a style that is utterly unique in twentieth-century literature.

  • The dead rose. We fell.

    The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies … but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering.

    Dark of Night is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers.

    This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry’s award-winning series. Captain Joe Ledger (Patient Zero and Code Zero), Officer Desdemona Fox (Dead of Night and Fall of Night), and Rachael Elle (Bits & Pieces) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors.

  • From one of the founders of the beat generation and the 1960s counterculture comes this opening novel of a series available now in audio for the first time.

    An opium addict is lost in the jungle; young men wage war against an empire of mutants; a handsome young pirate faces his execution; and the world’s population is infected with a radioactive epidemic. These stories are woven together in a single tale of mayhem and chaos. In the first novel of the trilogy continued in The Place of Dead Roads and The Western Lands, William Burroughs sharply satirizes modern society in a poetic and shocking story of sex, drugs, disease, and adventure.

  • From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry comes a collection of five stories set in "the Spookiest Town in America"—including one brand-new story.

    In "Long Way Home," a young soldier returns from the Middle East and discovers that there is another—and much stranger—war to be fought in his hometown.

    In "Mister Pockets," a young paperboy discovers that a random act of kindness may have greater consequences—especially as night falls in Pine Deep.

    In "Property Condemned," a prequel to the Pine Deep trilogy, young Malcolm Crow and his friends go looking for ghosts and find something much darker and hungrier.

    In "Whistlin' past the Graveyard," a cemetery worker in Pine Deep begins to suspect that the dead are not resting easy in their graves.

    And in the new story "The Trouble," a direct sequel to the Pine Deep trilogy, Malcolm Crow thought he had destroyed the evil that had terrorized his town for forty years. But a new series of brutal murders forces him to prepare for another battle with the forces of darkness.

  • In this short story from New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, a young soldier returns from the Middle East and discovers that there is another—and much stranger—war to be fought in his hometown.

  • In this chilling story from New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, a young paperboy discovers that a random act of kindness may have greater consequences—especially as night falls in Pine Deep.

  • In this chilling story from New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, a cemetery worker in Pine Deep begins to suspect that the dead are not resting easy in their graves.

  • From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry comes an all-new short story set in “the Spookiest Town in America”—Pine Deep.

    In “The Trouble,” a direct sequel to the Pine Deep trilogy, Malcolm Crow thought he had destroyed the evil that had terrorized his town for forty years. But a new series of brutal murders forces him to prepare for another battle with the forces of darkness.

  • In this new collection of five short stories from New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, listeners get an eclectic sampling of the writer's work—from SF parody to murder mystery and beyond.

    "The Things That Live in Cages"

    An MMA fighter at the end of his career is offered the chance to stay young, fit, and stronger than ever—but the price is his humanity.

    "The Death Song of Dwar Guntha"

    Two old warriors prepare to ride into battle for the last time to save the future of Barsoom. Set in the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, this story first appeared in the anthology Under the Moons of Mars.

    "Plan 7 from Sin City"

    A 1950s seedy Las Vegas PI is hired to follow a philandering husband who may be selling atomic secrets to the Reds. This noir science fiction parody is a prequel to the worst movie of all time, Plan 9 from Outer Space.

    "Clean Sweeps"

    A reporter accompanies a special ops team on a dangerous mission against space pirates.

    "The Vanishing Assassin"

    Edgar Allan Poe's brilliant amateur detective, Auguste Dupin, is called in to investigate a savage murder perpetrated by an invisible killer.

  • With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, this is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale.

    “As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe.” So begins Alan Lightman’s playful and profound new novel, Mr. g, the story of Creation as narrated by God. Bored with living in the shimmering Void with his bickering Uncle Deva and Aunt Penelope, Mr. g creates time, space, and matter—then moves on to stars, planets, consciousness, and finally intelligent beings with moral dilemmas.

    But even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr. g discovers that with his creation of space and time come unforeseen consequences—especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr. g, Belhor delights in provocation: he demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr. g watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change the Creator himself.

  • Nothing offends liberals and leftists more than Western imperialism—it is racism, sexism, and chauvinism all in one. And of course the epitome of Western imperialism is the British Empire, the biggest empire the world has ever known, covering at its height a quarter of the globe's surface and ruling a quarter of the world's population.

    In The Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire, bestselling author H. W. Crocker III exposes—in brawling, rambunctious style—how the British Empire was actually one of the greatest establishers and defenders of freedom in history.

    In this new PI Guide listeners will discover:

    –How, far from being anti-imperialists, America's colonists were more British than the British—demanding their rights as Englishmen and envisioning a continent-wide empire (a word the Founders used with approval)

    –How Gandhi praised the British Empire for what it had done for India

    –How the British Empire handled today's troubled hot spots—like Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan

    –What the world would be like if the British Empire were still governing a quarter of the globe—hint: everyone would be a lot better off

    So strap on your pith helmet for a rollicking ride through some of history's most colorful events. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire provides a panoramic and provocative view of four hundred years of history that will delight and amuse, educate and entertain.

  • An otherwise ordinary cat—he’d sooner give you his back or a sideways glance than curl up on your lap—Oscar has the uncanny ability to predict when people are about to die. Adopted by staff members at Steere House nursing home when he was a kitten, the three-year-old tabby has presided over the deaths of more than twenty-five nursing home residents thus far. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing-home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, considered a blessing because it allows staff members to notify families that the end is near and because he provides companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone.

    Dr. Dosa uses Oscar and the stories of several patients to examine end-of-life care as it exists today for the family and caregivers of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. Heartfelt, inspiring, and sometimes even funny, Making Rounds with Oscar allows listeners into a world that is often misunderstood and rarely seen from the outside.

  • More than sixty years ago, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, two novice writers at the dawn of their careers, sat down to write a novel about the summer of 1944, when one of their friends killed another in a moment of brutal and tragic bloodshed. Alternating chapters, they pieced together a hard-boiled tale of bohemian New York during World War II, full of drugs and obsession, art and violence. The manuscript, named after a line from a news story about a fire at a circus, was rejected by publishers and confined to a filing cabinet for decades. Now, for the first time, this legendary collaboration between two of the twentieth century’s most influential writers is being released. Both a fascinating piece of American literary history and an engrossing, atmospheric novel, it brings to life a shocking murder at the dawn of the Beat Generation.

  • From the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore comes this rich and revelatory memoir about writing and running and the integral impact both have made on his life. Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers Murakami’s four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon. Settings range from Tokyo, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston, among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after age fifty, of having seen his race times improve and then fall back.

  • Gorgeous young women in revealing poses; extravagant mansion parties packed with celebrities; a hot-tub grotto, elegant smoking jackets, and round rotating beds; the hedonistic pursuit of uninhibited sex—put these images together and a single name springs to mind: Hugh Hefner. From his spectacular launch of Playboy magazine and the dizzying expansion of his leisure empire to his recent television hit The Girls Next Door, the publisher has attracted public attention and controversy for decades. But how did a man who is at once socially astute and morally unconventional, part Bill Gates and part Casanova, also evolve into a figure at the forefront of cultural change?

    In Mr. Playboy, historian and biographer Steven Watts argues that, in the process of becoming fabulously wealthy and famous, Hefner has profoundly altered American life and values. Granted unprecedented access to the man and his enterprise, Watts traces Hef's life and career from his Midwestern, Methodist upbringing and the first publication of Playboy in 1953 through the turbulent sixties, self-indulgent seventies, reactionary eighties, and traditionalist nineties up to the present. He reveals that from the beginning Hefner believed he could overturn social norms and take America with him.

    Throughout this fascinating biography, Watts offers singular insights into the real man behind the flamboyant public persona. He shows Hefner's personal dichotomies—the pleasure seeker and the workaholic, the consort of countless Playmates and the genuine romantic, the family man and the Gatsby-like host of lavish parties at his Chicago and Los Angeles mansions who enjoys well-publicized affairs with numerous Playmates, the fan of life's simple pleasures who hobnobs with the Hollywood elite. Punctuated with descriptions and anecdotes of life at the Playboy Mansions, Mr. Playboy tells the compelling and uniquely American story of how one person with a provocative idea, a finger on the pulse of popular opinion, and a passion for his work altered the course of modern history.

  • This is the personal side of battle, where emotion, courage, and strength are stretched to the limits.

    Bringing to searing life the terrifying intimacy of hand-to-hand infantry combat, House to House is far more than just another war story—it is one of the most compelling combat narratives ever written. Populated by an indelibly drawn cast of characters, it develops the intensely close relationships that form between soldiers under fire. Their friendships, tested in brutal combat, would never be quite the same. What happened to them in their bloody embrace with America’s most implacable enemy is a harrowing, unforgettable story of triumph, tragedy, and the resiliency of the human spirit.

    Staff Sergeant David Bellavia, army infantry platoon leader, gives a teeth-rattling, first-hand account of eleven straight days of heavy house-to-house fighting during the climactic second battle of Fallujah. His actions in the firefight, which included killing five insurgents in hand-to-hand combat, earned Bellavia the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and New York state’s highest military honor, the Conspicuous Service Cross. He has been nominated for the Medal of Honor and for the army’s second highest combat medal, the Distinguished Service Cross.