Showing results by narrator "Julia Farhat" in All Categories

Life is an uncertain morphing of the beautiful and devastating, the reckless and ordained, the inconsequential and cataclysmal. Brianna Wiest writes about her own experiences and truths of life as they pertain to the greater universe in this first compilation of her work. The selected pieces are ones to turn to when you are in need of answers, comfort and a little tough love now and again. Brianna provides a place of solace and understanding while still perpetuating her beliefs as they pertain to the reality of our individual journeys.

A stand-alone novel based on high-profile child abductions, which have been followed by millions of concerned parents on the news. Five-year-old twins are abducted from a tent in the Lake District and the hunt for a dangerous paedophile ring begins. Police procedure follows the premise that 60% of abducted children are murdered within the first four hours of being taken. The first hour is called "The golden hour" and the longer a child is missing, the less chance there is of them being recovered unharmed.

Twenty-year-old Amanda Derrington is on an extended cruise with her uncle when she decides to make a short trip to the sun-washed island of Cyprus. But even before the ship arrives in the port, there is a suspicious death. Once the passengers reach the island, it soon becomes clear that the death was in fact an act of murder. What Amanda had meant to be a pleasant excursion quickly takes a turn for the worse in this classic novel of suspense and romance by one of our most celebrated writers.

It was the final test. A chance to win not only the love of Allah, but the love of her father - something she had never been able to earn. Esther took a deep breath and raised her hand in the air. At the age of 18, she had just volunteered to become a suicide bomber. Defying Jihad is the true story of a girl growing up under radical Islamic rule, trained to believe her ultimate purpose was to serve Allah by dying as a jihadist. But two nights before she was to leave forever, she had a dream...one that would change the course of her destiny.

In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection—featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar—queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy listeners, yet leave them wanting more.

Lhind has been on the run all her life. Stealing what she needs, using magic for disguise, she never stays anywhere long. Lhind even has secrets from herself, for she has few memories, and those are troubling. But life is good until she gets caught by Rajanas the warrior-prince, Thianra the bard, and Hlanan the scribe. And that’s when adventure begins, because someone very powerful wants them all dead. As they evade pursuit and work to uncover their enemies, Lhind struggles with the invisible bonds of friendship and trust, while Hlanan begins uncovering her secrets one by one.

The discovery of a brutally murdered young woman in an abandoned factory unit draws Detective Alec Ramsay and his Major Investigation team into a complex web of crime in Liverpool's underworld in this gripping thriller from acclaimed suspense writer Conrad Jones.

By the director of the hit documentary Behind the Burly Q, comes the first-ever oral history of American burlesque - as told by the performers who lived it, often speaking out here for the first time. By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men!) who lived it, Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance.

New York Police detective Dave Strauss is haunted by the one case he couldn't solve: A schoolgirl vanished off the streets of Brooklyn, with only a trail of blood and a series of untraceable phone calls from "the Groom" hinting at her fate. Now the cold dark night has engulfed another young girl - but this time she is part of Dave's family. He and his wife, Susan, know 14-year-old Lisa has not run away, and they know her disappearance is not just a tragic coincidence. And once the first phone call comes, they know she's not alone....

If you’ve ever studied a foreign language, you know what happens when you first truly and clearly communicate. As Zora O’Neill recalls, you feel like a magician. If that foreign language is Arabic, you just might feel like a wizard. Join O’Neill for a grand tour through the Middle East, to laugh with her in Egypt, delight in the stories she passes on from the Gulf region, and find yourself transformed by her experiences in Lebanon and Morocco.

A landmark collection of writings by street prostitutes, exotic dancers, nude models, escorts, porn stars, and massage parlor workers. Since publication in 1987, Sex Work has generated much discussion and has changed the language we use to talk about sex for money.

When 27-year-old pop sensation Brooklyn Heart steps in front of a microphone, her love songs enchant audiences worldwide. But when it comes to her own love life, the only spell she's under is a dry one. So when her label slots her for a Grammy performance with the sexy and soulful Jason Monroe, she can't help but entertain certain fantasies...those in which her G-string gets more play than her guitars'.

Big changes are afoot for Love Bukowski. Just when she meets her half-sister for the first time in Los Angeles, she gets a call from her long-lost mother and hops a plane back to Martha’s Vineyard. Love is ready to embrace the new and exciting steps toward her senior year - but in Massachusetts, she finds more than she bargained for. Her mom is still not there, her boyfriend, Charlie, has changed from a down-to-earth guy into someone she’s not sure she knows anymore, and her old flame Jacob is wearing his heart on his short-sleeved tee.

Springtime blooms, but for Love Bukowski, life at home is chilly. After an incredible semester at the London Academy of Drama and Music, Love Bukowski is back at Hadley Hall. Unfortunately, it feels as though her fabulous British life (and boyfriend) are on hold. Love wants only to be at Aunt Mable’s side during her fight with breast cancer. But Love’s English boyfriend, Asher, suddenly doesn’t seem to want to talk to her, and her ex-boyfriend Jacob has popped back into her life. Love’s dad is struggling with the way she’s changed (i.e., grown up), and Aunt Mable has new information about Love’s mysterious mother.

From southern Greece to northern Russia, people have long believed in female spirits, bringers of fertility, who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. So appealing were these spirit-maidens that they also took up residence in 19th-century Romantic literature. Archaeologist and linguist by profession, folk dancer by avocation, Elizabeth Wayland Barber has sleuthed through ethnographic lore and archaeological reports of east and southeast Europe, translating enchanting folktales about these "dancing goddesses" as well as eyewitness accounts of traditional rituals - texts that offer new perspectives on dance in agrarian society.

Farrah "Digit" Higgins may be going to MIT in the fall, but this L.A. high school genius has left her geek self behind in another school district so she can blend in with the popular crowd at Santa Monica High and actually enjoy her senior year. But when Farrah, the daughter of a UCLA math professor, unknowingly cracks a terrorist group's number sequence, her laid-back senior year gets a lot more interesting. Soon she is personally investigating the case, on the run from terrorists, and faking her own kidnapping - all while trying to convince a young, hot FBI agent to take her seriously.

Romance, dating, sex and - Muslim women? In this groundbreaking collection, 25 American Muslim writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their search for love openly for the first time, showing just how varied the search for love can be - from singles' events and online dating, to college flirtations and arranged marriages, all with a uniquely Muslim twist. These compelling stories of love and romance create an irresistible balance of heart-warming and tantalizing, always revealing and deeply relatable.

She used to make the same mistakes we've all made with men - until she realized that the winning formula to attracting the right guy lay in skills she already had. As a successful saleswoman, Jess has practiced the techniques in promoting a product, finding the right approach, making the pitch, and closing deal after deal. Once she started to apply these same techniques to the dating scene, her love life made a complete 180, and she found herself with more interested men than she knew what to do with.

June Pritchard and her pet sparrow hawk, Zander, are both caught between following the rules and spreading their wings to fly. June Pritchard spends every summer with her aunts, uncles, and cousins in the big Victorian house that belonged to her grandfather. But the summer she turns thirteen, something has changed. Her mother is imposing new rules on her, and she starts to feel the thrill - and burden - of growing up. When June is given a sparrow hawk to train as a pet, she takes on the task, eager to prove she can be reliable.

People from across the country and around the globe are coming to the mountain retreat of Hester Thorne, the enthralling leader of the Universal Enlightened Alliance. They are coming to hear the comforting wisdom and messages of peace offered by Orrin, the centuries-old entity that Hester channels. They are coming to donate their money and time to Hester, the Alliance and Orrin. And some are chosen to make a more significant contribution...a greater sacrifice.