Showing results by narrator "Simon Shepherd" in All Categories

The swashbuckling first book in an explosive new series. Imagine if you lost your parents - not just in place, but in time. Jake Djones' mum and dad have gone missing and they could be anywhere in the world - at any time in history. Because the Djones family have an astonishing secret, which for years they've managed to keep - even from each other. They belong to the History Keepers: a secret society which travels through the centuries to prevent evil enemies from meddling with History itself.

It’s a difficult time for William Dougal. He’s given up smoking and, to make matters worse, a touch of blackmail persuades him into doing a job for his old adversary James Hanbury. Nothing complicated - all he has to do is keep an eye on Dr Vertag, the leader of a lunatic fringe survival group. But he has hardly started when the barman who tried to warn him off is murdered. Suddenly Zelda appears from Dougal’s murky past. Zelda is big, black and very beautiful. And just as suddenly she is kidnapped from his flat.

On the threshold of 40, Jasper Rees fished his French horn out of the attic and, despite limited ability, sets himself a near-impossible target: to stand up in front of a paying audience in 12 months’ time and play a Mozart concerto. Alone. This is the inspired story, not only of a midlife rethink, but also of man’s first musical instrument, and its journey from the hunting fields of aristocratic France to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

In Sherlock Holmes and The Dead Boer at Scotney Castle, the great consulting detective comes up against the rich and powerful Kipling League. Dr Watson recounts the extraordinary events which took place on a spacious early summer day in the Sussex and Kent countryside in 1904. None of the earlier stories chronicling the adventures of Sherlock Holmes compares to the strange circumstances which determined Watson to take up his pen

Built up over the millennia, layer upon layer, the City is ancient and vast. Over the centuries, it has sprawled beyond its walls, the cause of constant war with neighbouring peoples and kingdoms, laying waste to what was once green and fertile.And at the heart of the City resides the emperor. Few have ever seen him. Those who have remember a man in his prime and yet he should be very old. Some speculate that he is no longer human, others wonder if indeed he ever truly was.

Uncover the secrets of Edward Fairfax Rochester, the beloved, enigmatic hero of Jane Eyre, as he tells his story for the first time in Mr Rochester, Sarah Shoemaker's gorgeous retelling of one of the most romantic stories in literature. On his eighth birthday, Edward is banished from his beloved home, Thornfield Hall, to learn his place in life. With the help of friends, enemies and a series of eccentric mentors, he discovers more than he might have wished about the ways of the men - and women - who will one day be his peers.

Just after 10 o’clock on Thursday, 7th May 2015, Nick Robinson stared down the lens of camera five in the BBC’s Election Night Studio to explain to millions the significance of an exit poll that shocked the country and heralded an earthquake in British politics. That moment was a personal milestone for the BBC’s political editor, who had been discharged from hospital just hours earlier following weeks of treatment for cancer and the loss of his voice after surgery.

The relationship between those who wield power and those whose job it is to tell us what they are doing has always been fraught with tension. Politicians now expect to be on camera and facing aggressive questions from the moment they open their front door to the moment they return home at night. Everything they say and do is instantly broadcast and dissected on 24-hour news channels, blogs, and Twitter. It was not always this way. Live from Downing Street takes us on an absorbing journey through the hard-fought battles for the right to tell the public about the decisions taken on their behalf.

Imperial Tragedy tells the story of Rome's gradual collapse. Full of palace intrigue, religious conflicts and military history, as well as details of the shifts in social, religious and political structures, Imperial Tragedy contests the idea that Rome fell due to external invasions.

Its two days before Christmas and Helsinki is battling ruthless climate catastrophe: subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are burning in the streets. People are fleeing to the far north where conditions are still tolerable. Social order is crumbling and private security firms have undermined the police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few still willing to live in the city.

Mari Jungstedt’s compelling series of novels featuring Inspector Anders Knutas continues to go from strength to strength with, The Dead of Summer, the fifth crime adventure set on the island of Gotland. Her trademark combination of rich characterisation, taut crime plots and the continuing unfolding drama of her series characters’ lives add up to a mix that rivals Henning Mankell’s Wallander series.

This audiobook delivers the fascinating account of one Western family’s time living and working in China. Told through a series of letters, China from the Inside: Letters from an Economist presents insights into the society and economy of a country that is often opaque to outsiders and poorly understood. The author’s expertise as an economist and the family’s efforts to integrate into Chinese society furnish a vivid and unique account.

It's the height of World War II. Britain is being ravaged by bombs, and most young men are off fighting. Gordon wishes he was too. Maybe then he wouldn't get bullied for having a cowardly family.... Gordon's dad didn't serve in World War I, and now his older brother ,Raymond, isn't serving in World War II - he's gone missing. When Gordon finds a revolver hidden in his house, he tracks Raymond down but ends up involved in more than he'd bargained for.

When Alan and Mika's summer explorations are cut short by a grisly discovery, they can't understand why their parents seem so upset. Will their beach ever be just a playground again?

When twins Greta and Feliks lose their beloved Aunt Gisela to a poisoned marzipan cake and are sent to the ill-omened Schwartzgarten Reformatory for Maladjusted Children it seems their fate is sealed... that is until they are rescued by the glamorous and wealthy Olga Van Veenen, a fabulous children's author. The two twins are grateful but something tells them that Olga's motives are not entirely genuine...

The true story of the men - Joseph Bell and Henry Littlejohn - who inspired the creation of Sherlock Holmes. The Ardlamont murder trial, which took place in Edinburgh's High Court in December 1893, was the culmination of one of the most intriguing criminal cases in British legal history. But perhaps more remarkable than that was that it brought together the two principal real-life inspirations behind the creation of the world's favourite fictional consulting detective: Sherlock Holmes.

Meet Marius Myerdorf, the newest recruit of Schwartzgarten's most secret of societies. His is a tale of adventure and abduction, friendship and fearlessness, as the Band of Blood race against time to unmask two of the foulest fiends in the history of the Great City. The deeds are dastardly. The twists are terrifying. And happy endings are not always guaranteed.

The History Keepers embark on their third adventure, and this is the most explosive one yet! The time-travelling agents voyage from Shakespeare's England to Imperial China in pursuit of their most villainous foe yet, Xiang Xi, whose aim is to decimate the population and destroy the world's trade links. Jake, Nathan and Topaz must join forces with international agents in order to prevent mayhem on a global scale.

Built up over the millennia, layer upon layer, the City is ancient and vast. Over the centuries, it has sprawled beyond its walls, the cause of constant war with neighbouring peoples and kingdoms, laying waste to what was once green and fertile.And at the heart of the City resides the emperor. Few have ever seen him. Those who have remember a man in his prime and yet he should be very old. Some speculate that he is no longer human, others wonder if indeed he ever truly was.

Inspector Anders Knutas is back in the sixth instalment of Mari Jungstedt's dark and compelling series of crime novels, set on the island of Gotland. This crime adventure builds on the already strong series, which combines chilling atmosphere, razor sharp plot twists and a brilliant cast of subtly crafted characters. In The Dark Angel, Jungstedt's writing is as thrilling and poignant as ever, ensuring that Knutas will continue to have the reader gripped from start to finish.