Showing results by narrator "Jane Cramer" in All Categories

Radio Iris follows Iris Finch, a 20-something socially awkward daydreamer and receptionist at Larmax, Inc., a company whose true function she doesn't understand (though she's heard her boss refer to himself as "a businessman"). Gradually her boss' erratic behavior becomes even more erratic; her coworkers begin disappearing; the phone stops ringing, making her role at Larmax moot; and a mysterious man appears to be living in the office suite next door.

Kassandra Black used to get away with things. She was her high school's anonymous vigilante, exposing bullies and predators. But when she's expelled for breaking into another student's car just weeks before graduation, her acceptance to Columbia is revoked. Now her future depends on behaving herself for the summer at Henley University under the watchful eye of her great-uncle Brian.

Each contributor presents a brand new story set in a distinct neighborhood. Brooklyn Noir mixes masters of the mystery genre with the best of New York’s literary fiction community - and, of course, leaves room for new blood. These brilliant and chilling stories see crime striking in communities of Russians, Jamaicans, Hasidic Jews, Puerto Ricans, Italians, Irish and many other ethnicities - in the most diverse urban location on the planet.

You get to the point where you can just say it. There was never anything special about me, except my father is rich and important. That's why it happened. It was just a normal Tuesday afternoon. I was twenty-three and thinking about my new designer boots. They kidnapped me for ransom. They raped me before I was rescued. My therapist says that talking about it means I'm starting to heal. I don't really think I am. It's even harder to talk about Gideon. He couldn’t save me when it really mattered, so he keeps trying to save me now.

After being married for just six months, Sophie's journalist husband, Mark, was captured by a Syrian rebel group and held for more than two years. Now that he has finally returned home, he's like a different person. She hardly knows him anymore, and he keeps pulling away from her. She tries to be patient and support Mark in any way he needs, but it just gets harder and harder. With another Christmas in Willow Park fast approaching, Sophie and her husband need to get to know each other once more so they can both heal. And so they can fall in love again.

For years, Lydia has dreamed of overseas mission work, the way some women dream of getting married. How ironic that she needs a husband to finally make it happen. She's always been practical, however—even if it means a marriage-of-convenience so she can finally do the work she’s called to do. Gabe needs a wife at exactly the right time. Plus, he’s kind of hot.

Her mother used to say you can feel the truth in your throat. Maybe when her story is finally told, she'll be able to breathe again. For six years, Holly has lived a reclusive life—with the Chesapeake Bay, the wild animals on her property, and dark memories as her only companions. Then she meets Cade. He's smart and handsome and sensitive and sexy, and he simply will not go away. He wants to know all about her, and Holly starts to wonder if she can open up her heart again.

Abigail has been separated from her husband for almost two years. After a marriage that brought her only insecurity, she seeks a life now of peace and independence with their six-year-old daughter. Thomas wants to put their marriage back together, because he liked the wife he used to have, but she never wants to be that person again. She might need his help with their daughter and start to enjoy his company again, but she just can't trust him with her heart. Even when she discovers that her heart still wants him for a husband.

Alice Grantham lost her fiancé and her job, so she’s had to come home to Willow Park to live with her parents. To recover some sense of independence and security, she’s cobbled together different part-time jobs, including one as assistant to the pastor of her hometown church. Nothing seems to be going right for her. Even Micah, the pastor’s brother and the first boy she ever loved, is standoffish with her now.

After years of dreaming, Jessica is finally getting married, but the marriage isn't exactly what she thought. Daniel is her best friend, and she's known him all her life, but he's never gotten over losing his wife two years ago. His dream is to become the pastor of the church in their hometown, but the small-town congregation keeps balking over calling an unmarried minister. Since Daniel needs a wife and Jessica wants a husband and family, she proposes an arrangement that benefits both of them.