The Trial is one of the great works of the twentieth century: an extraordinary vision of one man put on trial by an anonymous authority on an unspecified charge. Josef K, 30, lives in a large town in an unspecified country. He is summonsed to answer a charge and appears in the court room for his trial. Franz Kafka evokes all the reality of trial without any of the specifics in a society that seems to have degraded into chaos: squalid environment, rats, yellow liquid shooting out of a hole in the wall. Guards, claustrophobia, anxiety – this is a gripping story and an allegory of modern life. This text remains just as relevant a century after it was written.

World Classics

The Trial

Get ready for the biggest NEW publishing phenomena of 2007! “So you won't keep anything from me again?" He put his hand to his chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die." "Okay then. Though you don't actually have a heart," she said. "I know." "And technically, you've already died." "I know that too." "Just so we're clear." Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. When all hell breaks loose, it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there's anything Skulduggery hates, it's torture… Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it.

Skulduggery Pleasant

The third book in Landy's fantastically imaginative and illustrious series about our favourite dead detective. With all the characters read once again by Rupert Degas 'The Faceless Ones' will enchant, enthral and keep you gripped as they take you through another adventure in this brilliant series. The third book in Landy's fantastically imaginative and illustrious series about our favourite dead detective, Skulduggery Pleasant and his wonderfully cheeky and inquisitive side kick Valkyrie take us through another journey which promises to be filled with adventure, dark mysterious meetings, and classically funny moments. With all the characters read once again by Rupert Degas 'The Faceless Ones' will enchant, enthral and keep you gripped as they take you through another adventure in this brilliant series.

READ BY RUPERT DEGAS. It’s the fourth Skulduggery Pleasant adventure… only Skulduggery Pleasant himself is lost on the other side of a portal, with only some evil gods for company. Can he possible survive? (Yes, all right, he’s already dead. But still.) What can we say, without giving too much away? Not much, is the answer. But what we CAN say is that this book is hilarious, it’s tense, and it’s packed with all the eye-popping action, crackling one liners and imaginative set pieces you’ve come to expect. There’s a new threat to our plucky heroine, of course. But that’s not all. There’s also the little fact of the Big Bad, the uber-baddy who’s going to come along and really, really destroy the world. (Really.) And what we learn about that villain in this book will literally make your jaw fall off and your hair go white with shock. (Not really.) Will Skulduggery make it out of the Faceless Ones’ dimension? Who knows. The problem is, he may not have much to come back to…

Meet Skulduggery Pleasant Ace detective Snappy dresser Razor—tongued wit Crackerjack sorcerer and walking, talking, fire-throwing skeleton As well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgely, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone stand in the way of an all-consuming ancient evil.

"Titus, Earl of Groan, is becoming aware of a world beyond the suffocating confines of Gormenghast, bound by centuries of tradition into a pattern of decaying rituals. He yearns for freedom. Meanwhile the amoral Steerpike continues to forge his way into a position of power, leaving death in his wake and nearly dying in the process. But his rise places him at odds with Titus himself; and only one will survive. This award-winning sequel displays all of Mervyn Peake’s imaginative brilliance in creating and sustaining the extraordinary world of Gormenghast."

Gormenghast

He mounted his assault rifle to his shoulder and fired a three-shot burst into the thorn bush. The man who had been lying behind it leaped to his feet. He was turbaned and cloaked with his AK-47 slung over his shoulder and a small black box in his hand, from which dangled the thin red insulated cable. "Bomb!" Hector screamed. "Heads down!" Some debts can only be paid in blood... When Hazel Bannock, billionaire oil tycoon, discovers her daughter has been kidnapped by Al Qaeda pirates just off the coast of Somalia, she uses all the power at her disposal to rescue her daughter but politics and diplomacy fail her at every turn. Her only hope is her ex-military head of security, Hector Cross, an expert in surveillance, infiltration and combat. For all Hazel's connections and wealth, Cross is the one man who is offering to find her daughter and bring her home. Hazel and Cross must work together to bring Cayla home, but neither of them realise that the kidnappers are not merely interested in ransom -- what they have planned is far, far worse... The first Hector Cross thriller

Hector Cross

Those in Peril

Just when you think you’ve saved the world… "You will kill her?" the Torment asked. Skulduggery sagged. "Yes." He hesitated, then took his gun from his jacket. "I'm sorry, Valkyrie," he said softly. "Don't talk to me," Valkyrie said. "Just do what you have to do." Valkyrie parted her tunic, and Skulduggery pointed the gun at the vest beneath. "Please forgive me," Skulduggery said, then aimed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that’s what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home…?

Deep in the labyrinthine corridors of Gormenghast Castle, a child is born. Titus, 77th Earl of Groan, is heir to arcane and all-embracing rituals that determine the activities of everyone from Lord Sepulchrave, his father, to the vast cook, Swelter, and the irrepressible Dr Prunesquallor. But not the steely and devious Steerpike, who will lie, cheat and even murder to get on. One of the greatest feats of sustained imaginative writing, the world of Gormenghast Castle is brilliantly realised in this darkly fantastic novel. Its rich description and vivid characters make it one of the most enduringly popular works of the 20th century.

Titus Groan

On 6 October 1973 Ted Simon knew there was no going back. He loaded up his 500cc Triumph Tiger in the pouring rain and said goodbye to London. Over four years he rode 64,000 miles round the world. Breakdowns, revolutions, war, a spell in prison, and a Californian commune were all part of his experience, which was coloured variously by utter despair and unimaginable joy. He was treated as a spy, a god, a welcome stranger and a curiosity. The extraordinary trip became a journey into his own soul, and for many others – including the bikers Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor – it is a pure inspiration. Rupert Degas, ‘the most versatile of narrators’ (The Times), captures all the thrills and spills of Simon’s experience and the timeless charm of his writing.

Jupiter's Travels

"Titus Groan has fled the rambling, ruined and ruinous castle of Gormenghast, desperate for a view of the world beyond. But he wasn’t prepared for this. Satellites, death-rays, sinister policemen and underworld outcasts live in a nightmarish contemporary city that feels like something by Wells, Burroughs or Philip K. Dick. Threatened and lost, he begins to miss the home he left; but surely he won’t be tempted back? Titus Alone is a completely unexpected development, its bizarre and absurd satirical vision placing the dangers of progressive modernity against the deadening force of tradition."

Titus Alone

This book is not of today or of the future. It tells of no place. It serves no cause, party or class. It has a moral which grows on the pillar of understanding: The mediator between brain and muscle must be the Heart. — Thea von Harbou, in the novel's original epigraph Originally published in German in 1925, this expressionist epic tells a story about class difference and love in a city that boasts technological growth at the expense of exploited laborers, contending with the relationship between advances in technology and social progress. Written in tandem with the 1927 science-fiction film of the same name, which was directed by Thea von Harbou's husband Fritz Lang, the story, through both the novel and the film, has inspired and influenced countless works of art, creating a legacy that extends across the science-fiction genre and beyond it.

Metropolis

An extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of Europe' - NEW YORK TIMES 'LEGION OF THE DAMNED is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice ... He is graphic, at times brilliantly so, but never brutal or bitter. He is, too, a first-rate storyteller' - WASHINGTON POST Convicted of deserting the German army, Sven Hassel is sent to a penal regiment on the Russian Front. He and his comrades are regarded as expendable, cannon fodder in the battle against the implacable Red Army. Outnumbered and outgunned, they fight their way across the frozen steppe... This iconic anti-war novel is a testament to the atrocities suffered by the lone soldier in the fight for survival. Sven Hassel's unflinching narrative is based on his own experiences in the German Army. He began writing his first novel, LEGION OF THE DAMNED in a prisoner of war camp at the end of the Second World War. Read by Rupert Degas (p) 2014 Orion Publishing Group

Sven Hassel War Classics

Legion of the Damned

The sixth book in the hilarious ROMAN GARSTANG ADVENTURE series It is the month before Christmas, and Roman's class is preparing for the Christmas fete and the school pantomime. The new teacher at the helm - the awful Mr Le Gonk, a flamboyant, theatrical and downright nasty piece of work - is the least of Roman's worries. He also has to contend with the most rubbish role in the panto as well as organising the Santa's grotto stall at the Christmas fete with loose cannon Darren Gamble. As the panto nears, it seems that everything that could possibly go wrong is about to. It is left to Roman to save the panto and the day ...

Roman Garstang Disasters

The Mighty Mince Pie Massacre

Following on from the events in A Zoo in My Luggage, The Whispering Land sees Gerald Durrell and his wife Jacquie travel to Argentina to collect animals for their newly established zoo. With rare insight and unique charm, Durrell pulls the listener into the tropical landscape of Patagonia, where he witnesses magical moments with penguins, seals and ocelots, and encounters a hilarious cast of characters, including a swearing parrot and a belching guanaco.

The Whispering Land

Tender, magical and captivating – a story of family, friends, and the unlikeliest of romances . . . Elizabeth’s sister Saoirse is a red-haired whirlwind, always leavng behind pieces that Elizabeth struggles to pick up. One of these pieces is Saoirse’s 6-year-old son Luke, a quiet, contemplative boy. When Luke is playing in Elizabeth’s garden one day, witnessing the latest scene between his mother and his aunt, a friend named Ivan walks into his life. This unexpected and rather mysterious friend will change Luke – but will have an even greater impact on Elizabeth. Always capable and self-contained, Elizabeth finds Ivan creeping under her skin and beginning to change her life in ways she could never have imagined. With all the warmth and poignancy fans have come to expect from Cecelia Ahern, this is a magical novel, and a suprising love story. With all the warmth and poignancy fans have come to expect from Cecelia Ahern, this is a novel full of magic, heart and a suprising love story.

If You Could See Me Now

The fifth book in the hilarious and anarchic ROMAN GARSTANG ADVENTURE series It's the end of term for Roman - the last week ever of primary school, in fact. And in what should be an unremarkable, tying-things-up kind of week, Roman's class get the opposite - a very special visitor. One Jason Grooves - ex-pupil turned mega-famous singer. Jason is back at school to film his new reality TV show - Jason: Grooving on to the Next Chapter. He's got big plans, and he wants Roman and all the class to get in with the action. Filming, proms, auditions, charity gigs and the launch of his brand-new food lines, including some very special spaghetti hoops ... All Roman Garstang wants is a quiet life. But is he going to get one? You bet not ...

Revenge of the Spaghetti Hoops

Beasts in My Belfry is the wonderfully funny memoir about Gerald Durrell’s time at Whipsnade Zoo and his experiences as a young zookeeper. Following the Second World War, Durrell joined Whipsnade Zoo as a junior keeper – an opportunity that fulfilled a lifelong dream. Thanks to Rupert Degas’s brilliant voicing, which captures all of Durrell’s charm and wit, the listener can enjoy being taken behind the scenes of one of the world’s very first zoos. This is a delightful portrait of the animals who lived there and those who looked after them.

Beasts in My Belfry

Married couple Mark and Cecilia seem to have it all—looks, wealth, love. But behind closed doors, things are very different—they live in silent resentment, their marriage broken by the shattering loss of the child they so desperately wanted. Enter Alice: Mark’s idea of the perfect woman. She appears from nowhere and offers Mark the chance of a new life filled with love, passion, and, finally, the joys of parenthood—everything he’s ever dreamed of. But there’s a catch. Mark can’t leave Cecilia because she knows a dark secret from his past that would ruin him if it was revealed. And he’s sure she'd be more than happy to use it against him if he betrayed her. Mark’s future with Alice seems doomed. But then one night, in a secluded cottage on the Dorset coast, they hatch an unspeakable plan that might bring devastating ruin...or life-long happiness. But who is Alice really? And can love ever begin with murder? The Woman on the Bench is a gripping psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Mark Edwards, K. L. Slater, and Daniel Hurst.

The Woman on the Bench

Books 4, 5 and 6 in the SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT series – known collectively as TTHE DEATH BRINGER TRILOGY, Derek Landy's fantastically imaginative series about our favourite dead detective. DARK DAYS Skulduggery Pleasant is lost on the other side of a portal, with only some evil gods for company. Can he possibly survive? (Yes, all right, he’s already dead. But still.) MORTAL COIL Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are back – just in time to see their whole world get turned upside down… DEATH BRINGER The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer, and that’s a good thing. There’s just one catch…

This audiobook edition of A Mile at a Time includes additional insights after each chapter from author, Travis Macy, and a bonus track featuring poetry written and read by Travis Macy. In October 2018, Mark “Mace” Macy, sixty-four years old, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. He had spent thirty years competing in Colorado and around the world in ultra-endurance competitions and is one of the few people who have finished all eight Eco-Challenge events. Once diagnosed, he feared losing endurance, strength, and independence. Mace's son Travis, also a professional endurance athlete, also struggled to see his father battling the disease. In 2019 they decided to participate in World's Toughest Race—a seven-day, grueling 400-mile marathon of trekking, climbing, biking, and paddling through the jungle—for one final race together. Weaving excerpts from Mace's passionate personal journals alongside a first-person narrative by Travis, A Mile at a Time tells the story of this incredible journey and what both father and son learned along the way. A powerful story about living—and thriving—with a disease that impacts nearly six million Americans, this timely and deeply moving father-son adventure sheds light on the hard truths of this disease while giving listeners hope of all that still can be achieved.

A Mile at a Time

There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade's End is one of them. — W. H. Auden Last Post is the fourth and final installment of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, a work that Ford hoped would contribute to the obviating of all future wars. The story follows Christopher Tietjens, a wealthy British landowner and the last British Tory; his wife, Sylvia; and his mistress, Valentine Wannop. The final entry of Parade's End continues to depict the challenges of navigating a social and political landscape utterly upended by the Great War. Through the eyes of multiple characters, Last Post contextualizes or re-contextualizes the events of previous installments—particularly those surrounding Armistice Day. Unique among other literary works depicting the Great War, the Parade's End tetralogy privileges not the conflict of World War I itself, but the impact the war had on its participants and upon society writ large. It is often referred to as one of the greatest 20th century novels, and one of the best depictions of war in literature. The 2012 television adaptation, written by Tom Stoppard and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall, was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and seven BAFTA Television Awards.

Parade's End Tetralogy

Last Post

Phineas Donovan is possessed of a sharp intellect. Fresh from Cambridge, he obtains a generous live-in position as tutor for the son of the wealthy Lord Bettencourt. If he can prove his value, he has hopes of being given the patronage of his employer, allowing him to take up a position as vicar. There, he can pursue his intellectual endeavors in peace and relative financial comfort. In her humble but informed opinion, Lady Sarah Danneville is possessed of an even sharper intellect. If anyone should be tutoring her younger brother, it is she, not the reserved, bespectacled gentleman her father has employed to do the job. He is not fit to instruct a Danneville of Bettencourt. But as Sarah works to undermine him, Mr. Donovan shows more pluck than she expects, not to mention that he harbors a secret hobby that would be laughable if it weren’t so dreadfully unsophisticated. If she can use this secret against him, she can finally persuade her father she is more than bait to lure a prosperous match. Now, if only she can avoid being drawn into the dearth of sophistication—and Mr. Donovan’s eyes—herself. Battling the Bluestocking is the third in Martha Keyes's The Donovans regency-set romance series. Each book can be treated as a standalone.

The Donovans Series by Martha Keyes

Battling the Bluestocking

The Thirty-Nine Steps begins John Buchan’s series of spy novels featuring adventurer Richard Hannay. Having just returned from South Africa, he finds life dull until a mysterious American tells him about an assassination plot before being murdered in Hannay’s London flat. The obvious suspect, Hannay flees to his native Scotland pursued by the police and his ruthless enemies. His life and the security of Britain are seriously threatened, and it is vital to uncover the mystery behind ‘the thirty-nine steps’. Filled with suspense, unexpected twists, and fast-paced action, Buchan’s classic novel of 1915 has captivated readers for generations, laying the groundwork for the modern spy thriller genre and inspiring numerous film, TV, stage and radio versions. It is read by Rupert Degas, whose ‘quick-change brilliance’ in Patrick Barlow’s long-running stage adaptation was so highly praised.

The Thirty-Nine Steps

This is a book of horrors, and should be left alone by those prone to nightmares. Sven Hassel's descriptions of the atrocities committed by both sides are the most horrible indictments of war I have ever read ... A great war novel!' Alan Silitoe Stationed on the Russian Front and now equipped with armoured vehicles, Sven Hassel and his comrades from the 27th Penal Regiment fight on remorselessly... All of them should be dead: life expectancy on the Russian Front is measured in weeks. But Sven, Porta, Tiny and The Legionnaire fight to the end, not for Germany, not for Hitler, but for survival. WHEELS OF TERROR is a sobering depiction of war's brutalities, and the violence and inhumanity that the history books leave out. Read by Rupert Degas (p) 2014 Orion Publishing Group

Wheels of Terror

The first installment of Ford Madox Ford's acclaimed Parade's End tetralogy. There is a hard brightness overlying the emotion and the human suffering and the human passions… Mr. Ford achieves not only what is probably his own best work but what is certainly one of the ablest of recent English novels. — The New York Times, 1924 Some Do Not… is the first of four novels in Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, a work that Ford hoped would contribute to the obviating of all future wars. Following Christopher Tietjens, a wealthy British landowner and the last British Tory; his wife, Sylvia; and his mistress, Valentine Wannop, the novel begins in 1912 and progresses to 1917, in the middle of World War I. The Parade's End tetralogy privileges not the conflict of World War I itself, but the impact the war had on its participants and upon society writ large. It is often referred to as one of the greatest 20th century novels, and one of the best depictions of war in literature. The 2012 television adaptation, written by Tom Stoppard and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and seven BAFTA TV Awards.

Some Do Not…

Albert Maltz’s novel captures the racial tension of America and the failure of the American dream. As time ticks along with indifference, the inmates of Washington’s District Jail now spend their lives numbed by a daily routine behind bars, shut out of society. Each prisoner has a story: some are charged with assault, murder and manslaughter, others with forgery, robbery and larceny; others still were simply born to certain parents at a certain time in a certain country. A Long Day in a Short Life, first published in 1957 and written after Maltz’s own experience of a federal prison, is a powerful indictment of the penal system and a strong reminder about the underlying humanity of each individual. Please be advised that this audiobook contains language that some may find offensive.

A Long Day in a Short Life

There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade's End is one of them. — W. H. Auden A Man Could Stand Up — is the third of four installments in Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, which follows Christopher Tietjens, a wealthy British landowner and the last British Tory; his unfaithful wife, Sylvia; and his mistress, Valentine Wannop. Opening on Armistice Day (November 11, 1918), A Man Could Stand Up — serves as the climax of the series. Highlighting the tension between traditional values and a rapidly changing social order, the novel details Christopher and Valentine's trials as the post-war world takes shape around them. Unique among other war fiction of the time, the Parade's End tetralogy privileges not the conflict of World War I itself, but the impact the war had on its participants and upon society writ large. With it's publication, Ford hoped to contribute to the obviating of all future wars. Parade's End is often referred to as one of the greatest 20th century novels, and one of the best depictions of war in literature. The 2012 television adaptation, written by Tom Stoppard and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall, was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and seven BAFTA Television Awards.

A Man Could Stand Up —

The Ragpicker—a man, bonded into a mysterious 'secondskin' that has prolonged his life after the digital apocalypse—wanders the lush, deserted Earth, haunted by failing avatars and fragmented texts. He’s searching for traces of his long-dead husband but his journey is interrupted by a girl, Ysmany, fleeing her remote village in order to save a baby orphaned by a military-grade secondskin, ‘The Server,’ the fanatical ruler of their town. Together they cross the flourishing, treacherous landscape towards sanctuary. Yet the signals and static of the previous age echo in the Ragpicker’s mind and whisper in the girl’s dreams, drawing them toward the gap between map and territory—while offering precious hope.

The Ragpicker

With a horse between his thighs and a weapon in his grip, the dashing Brigadier Etienne Gerard, Colonel of the Hussars of Conflans, gallops through the Napoleonic campaigns on secret missions for his beloved Emperor and his country. He encounters danger and hair-breadth escapes but never loses his bravado, his eye for a pretty girl, his boastfulness or his enormous vanity. Gerard is Conan Doyle’s most lovable character. At times hilarious, at times touching, these stories are amongst Conan Doyle’s most popular.

The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard

Napoleon is one of the giants of modern history. From the last days of the French Revolution to the epochal battle of Waterloo he bestrode the political landscape of Europe like a colossus, and the age to which he gave his name remains one of the most tumultuous in the history of the continent. But who was Napoleon Bonaparte? And why does he still arouse such powerful passions? This audiobook traces the remarkable rise and fall of a man who, as military leader and lawgiver, left his mark on the lives of millions in France and beyond, and whose presence continues to be felt in Europe and the wider world to the present day.

Napoleon – In a Nutshell

Best known for his masterpiece of horror, Dracula, Bram Stoker wrote a number of other novels and many short stories, all on supernatural themes or filled with a physical terror reminiscent of Poe. Dracula’s Guest was originally part of the great novel, but was excised and published separately. Some of these stories, such as The Squaw, The Judge’s House and The Burial of the Rats, rank very high among classic tales of the macabre. These stories deserve to be better known for the light they shed on the enigmatic author of one of the world’s supreme literary adventures into the realm of nightmare.

Dracula’s Guest and Other Stories

H.H. Munro (Saki) is one of the undisputed masters of the short story. In this complete compendium, the full gamut of his subjects and themes is experienced. His stories are imbued with humorous satire, biting irony and often the macabre, all of which have one target: the stupidities and hypocrisies of Edwardian upper-class society.

The Complete Short Stories

A terrifying ghost is haunting the ancient mansion of Canterville Chase, complete with creaking floorboards, clanking chains and gruesome disguises – but the new occupants seem strangely undisturbed by his presence. Deftly contrasting the conventional gothic ghost story with the pragmatism of the modern world, Wilde creates a gently comic fable of the conflict between old and new. Rupert Degas’s hilarious reading brings the absurdity and theatricality of the story to life.

The Canterville Ghost

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard

Titus Awakes is the fourth and last novel in the Gormenghast series and was finished by Peake’s widow, Maeve Gilmore. In this last novel, Titus has left the world of Gormenghast behind, but he remains haunted by memories of his former life. Journeying from snow-covered mountains to archipelagos strewn with coral reefs, he awakens his senses but fails to conquer his aching sense of solitude. A mesmerising novel, Titus Awakes celebrates and mourns both the passing of Gormenghast Castle and the life of its creator.

Titus Awakes

In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the small town of Concord for the country. Beside the lake of Walden he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect – while surviving on eight dollars a year. From this experience emerged Walden, one of the great classics of American literature, and a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism that Thoreau saw as the main impulses of mid-19th-century America. Here also is Civil Disobedience, Thoreau’s essay on just resistance to government which not only challenged the establishment of his day but has been used as a flag for later campaigners from Mahatma Ghandi to Dr Martin Luther King.

Walden, and Civil Disobedience

During the Depression the ebullient American entrepreneur Charles Flanagan assembles 2,000 runners from all corners of the earth, to run from Los Angeles to New York for prize-money of $150,000. Flanagan’s Trans-America runners face 3,000 miles, across the Mojave desert and the frozen Rockies, running a daily average of 50 miles for three months. The American sports establishment, however, is desperate to crush what it sees as a professional challenge to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Every day is therefore a struggle for survival, for Flanagan himself as well as the runners. Flanagan’s Run is an epic tale, and a testimony to the strength of the human spirit.

Flanagan’s Run : Abridged

Flanagan’s Run

The award-winning Restoration is one of Rose Tremain’s most popular works, and showcases her remarkable talent for capturing historical settings and personalities. Set during the English Restoration in the decadent court of King Charles II, the novel weaves a story of corrupted innocence, betrayal, love and hope against a fascinating historical backdrop. Written in the first person, the fortunes of the fallible but charismatic courtier Robert Merivel are utterly compelling. Restoration lyrically evokes the rich tapestry of seventeenth-century London life.

Restoration

"A palmist’s prediction leads to murder; an enigmatic woman’s lifestyle is a mystery to be solved; a ghost tries to frighten the new tenants of his home; a man has discovered the dedicatee of Shakespeare’s Sonnets; a millionaire wants to be painted as a pauper. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories is a collection of fascinating short stories which are subversive as well as entertaining. Also included in this audiobook is The Birthday of the Infanta from A House of Pomegranates. An ugly dwarf loves a beautiful princess, but how will his feelings fare in a cruel society?"

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories

There is a hard brightness overlying the emotion and the human suffering and the human passions… Mr. Ford achieves not only what is probably his own best work but what is certainly one of the ablest of recent English novels. — The New York Times, 1924 There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade's End is one of them. — W. H. Auden Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, written in the aftermath of World War I, was originally published in four parts in the 1920s: Some Do Not…; No More Parades; A Man Could Stand Up —; and Last Post. Highlighting the tension between traditional values and a rapidly changing social order in a world embroiled in war, the story details Tietjens' turmoils in both his personal life and on the warfront—and what follows when some of those struggles become one and the same. Unique among other war fiction of the time, Parade's End privileges not the conflict of the Great War itself, but the impact the war had on its participants and upon society writ large. With it's publication, Ford hoped to contribute to the obviating of all future wars. Parade's End is often referred to as one of the greatest 20th century novels, and one of the best depictions of war in literature. The 2012 television adaptation, written by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love), directed by Susanna White (Andor) and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall, was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and seven BAFTA Television Awards.

Parade's End

There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade's End is one of them. — W. H. Auden No More Parades is the second of four in Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetralogy, a work that Ford hoped would contribute to the obviating of all future wars. The novel follows Christopher Tietjens, a wealthy British landowner and the last British Tory; his unfaithful wife, Sylvia; and his mistress, Valentine Wannop. Highlighting the tension between traditional values and the new reality of a world marred by war, the novel details Tietjens' turmoils in both his personal life and on the warfront—and what follows when those struggles become one and the same. The Parade's End tetralogy privileges not the conflict of World War I itself, but the impact the war had on its participants and upon society writ large. It is often referred to as one of the greatest 20th century novels, and one of the best depictions of war in literature. The 2012 television adaptation, written by Tom Stoppard and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall, was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and seven BAFTA Television Awards.

No More Parades

The respectable middle-class Twist family is settling in for their usual Sunday lunch. Husband and wife Roger and Becky are there, along with their daughter, Lucy, and her husband, Frank. But then they're joined by an uninvited guest... His name is John, and he knows everything about them—including their darkest secrets. After he manipulates his way into the house, John soon has them bound at their wrists and ankles. But what is the agenda of this twisted stranger? One by one, their hidden pasts will be revealed, and horrific events will unfold. Bit by bit, the family’s captor will unveil the shocking truth about his motivations. Will any of them survive the nightmare?

Uninvited

When Rebecca Russell’s brother marries, she finally has the opportunity she has been dreaming of: to leave the seclusion of her reclusive grandfather’s home and enter into society. But when her inexperience has her making blunders and courting embarrassment, help comes from an unexpected source: the brooding, irritable brother of her chaperone. Valentine Donovan is a rake, mountains of gaming debt and all. With his only hope for financial relief tied up in the Admiralty Court, he must temporarily rely on his father’s charity—and all the strings attached to it. His father demands Valentine show evidence that he is changing his ways, so when the engaging but naïve young woman living with his sister presents a plan, he can’t refuse the opportunity to fulfill some of his father’s requirements, albeit reluctantly. But Valentine is unprepared for Rebecca’s guileless optimism and how impossible he finds it to say no to her increasingly onerous requests—requests that put both their hearts and reputations in danger. A Confirmed Rake is the second in Martha Keyes's The Donovans regency-set romance series. Each book can be treated as a standalone.

A Confirmed Rake

The guys in the Regiment know they face their fiercest enemies when they fight the Taliban. No-one is tougher, more deadly - or more cunning. And if they enter the Taliban's kill zone, they know just what to expect... When three deadly Stinger missiles go missing in Helmand Province, the Regiment is tasked to retrieve the weapons at all costs. SAS legend Jack Harker has to lead an eight-man mission into a suspected Taliban facility. He's suspicious about what the aims of the mission really are - and it's about to go noisy. Meanwhile, in Belfast, Siobhan Byrne, a highly trained surveillance operative, is infiltrating the drug crew of a former IRA commander. But are her motives professional or personal? Even she doesn't know any more. Neither Jack nor Siobhan can guess just how closely linked their operations are about to become, or just what's at stake. But as the President of the United States makes plans to visit the UK, a devastating plot unfolds.

The Kill Zone

Two skeletons are discovered in the grounds of St Mary's Choir School. This was not a centuries-old Christian burial. They are wearing modern-day clothes, and there is evidence of foul play. Consecrated land has been sadistically violated. Detective Inspector Gilbert Markham is a rising talent of the Bromgrove police force. He is on the trail of the murderer when another life is brutally claimed. Who is the savage killer lurking in this innocent place? DI Markham and his team are met with intense hostility when they step up their operation. Is this just local panic? Or are they about to stumble into a web of corruption that runs deeper than they could have ever anticipated? Please note this book was first published as A Walking Shadow.

Detective Markham Mystery

Crime in the Choir

When Ted Simon rode 64,000 miles round the world on his 500c Triumph Tiger, he inspired thousands of motorcyclists to begin their own adventures, including Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who chronicled their travels in Long Way Round. Nearly 30 years later, Ted Simon took to the road again to retrace the epic journey he made in his 40s. He meets up with old friends and acquaintances, revisits old landmarks and locations, and rediscovers himself, as well as the world, along the way. Dreaming of Jupiter is a remarkable achievement and a fitting sequel to Jupiter’s Travels, the groundbreaking classic of motorcycle adventure.

Dreaming of Jupiter

Handsome teacher Ashley Dean is brutally murdered at Hope Academy. It’s known as a rough place, but gossip blames the violence on a deranged intruder. DI Markham’s instincts say otherwise. Could this brutality have been the work of a student? Could there even be a connection with the staff? It seems unthinkable. After all, DI Gilbert Markham’s girlfriend Olivia teaches English at the school. Markham’s team probes deeper, and the local community begins to turn against Markham. Somebody in a position of power is hiding appalling information. More blood will be spilt before their secrets are laid bare. Please note this book was first published as Blood Will Have Blood.

Crime in the School

Sister Felicity does not return to her room after prayers. The nun is found strangled in the confessional box. She is only the first of St. Cecilia’s faithful to meet a gruesome end. The killer will not stop until this place of God is destroyed. It is up to DI Gilbert Markham and his loyal deputy DS Noakes to stop the murderer. Cruel secrets come to light that force Markham’s girlfriend Olivia to face her own past. The body count in the monastery continues to rise, and once again, a violent evil proves devastatingly close to home. Please note this book was first published as Night's Black Agents.

Crime in the Convent

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