Showing results by narrator "Steve West" in All Categories

Sarah is just 17 when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a cell that measures only seven by nine paces, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth as well as pressure to marry the local lord's son, she decides to renounce the world - with all its dangers, desires, and temptations - and commit herself to a life of prayer. But it soon becomes clear that the thick, unforgiving walls of Sarah's cell cannot protect her as well as she had thought.

From the dragon-filled Temeraire series and the magical gothic halls of the Scholomance trilogy to the fairy tale worlds of Spinning Silver and Uprooted, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik's most beloved worlds. Within this anthology, we move from ancient Greece and Rome, through the Middle Ages and the Black Death, and into the modern era.

Many years ago, the storytellers say, the great King Arthur brought justice to England with the help of his gallant Knights of the Round Table. Which makes destiny a splendid thing for King Arthur and his noble knights, but what about a knight who is destined to bring disaster to everything he touches? Such a knight is poor Sir Balin, who bears the burden of a childhood prophecy of doom. And sure enough, whenever he’s around, things seem to go sour. Whether he’s battling an invisible knight or accidentally overthrowing kingdoms, Sir Balin does his best but always expects the worst.

A chill inducing and masterful collection of vampire tales, culled from the dark recesses of the nefarious and world renowned Vampires Archives. Coffins, the third volume in the mass market series, contains some of the best of the best of vampire fiction. Including Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, Edgar Allan Poe, and F. Paul Wilson, it takes its listeners deep inside the crypts of the living dead, in all their supernatural splendor.

A young psychiatric patient disappears from her ward in the dead of night. Eva Jansen’s medical records have been wiped, her history buried. Somebody wanted all trace of her extinguished forever — and fast. When forensic psychologist Alex Madison is tipped off that Eva possesses an extraordinary ability, he knows he must find her before she falls into the wrong hands. Her dangerous gift has eerie echoes of his previous cases, and he’s convinced there’s a connection to the sinister criminal network he’s been hunting for years.

Ranna Abramson wants to disappear. But she knows she can’t keep running when a former enemy tracks her down in Mumbai with dire news: her onetime lover, journalist Alex Derksen, has disappeared back home in South Africa. Torn between her desire for him and fear of a homecoming, Ranna knows she’s the only one who can find him. But only two things in South Africa would welcome her - the inside of a cell or the bottom of a grave. There, to the police she’s the prime suspect of three murders. To the press she’s the serial killer Black Widow.

Lisa’s dated a series of disastrous men; Simon’s loved and lost the girl of his dreams. She’s hoping fate might intervene in her love life; he’d prefer that it stopped meddling with his. Today, they’re meeting, courtesy of the local paper’s ‘Blind Date’ feature - but while Lisa’s looking for that elusive ‘spark’, Simon’s sure lightning doesn’t strike twice. Will theirs be a love that’s written in the stars, or merely another mismatch written up in the Gazette?

Chicago, sometime. Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different.

The eldest of the Frobisher brothers, known as the lord of the privateers, Royd expects to execute the final leg of the rescue mission his brothers have been pursuing. What he does not expect is to be pressured into taking with him his emotional nemesis, childhood sweetheart, ex-handfasted bride, and business partner, Isobel Carmichael. But is it Isobel doing the pressuring, or his own restless, unfulfilled psyche? Isobel, unstoppably resolute and determined, has a mission of her own: find her cousin Katherine and bring her safely home.

Britain was the first country to ever suffer a ballistic missile attack from beyond its borders. This book tells the story of that attack. During 1942 and 1943, confusing rumours circulated about the German development of a 'giant rocket'. Most experts, including Winston Churchill's own scientific adviser Lord Cherwell, declared that such a weapon was impossible. It was only after the patient sifting of European intelligence that the most influential doubters were convinced such a weapon was being built. Then on 8 September 1944, the first V-2 landed in Chiswick. Between then and the final rocket impact on 27 March 1945, more than a thousand landed on British soil, killing nearly three thousand people and seriously injuring more than six thousand.

Purgatory is the lawless moon colony of billionaire Fletcher Brass: a mecca for war criminals, murderers, sex fiends, and adventurous tourists. You can't find better drugs, cheaper plastic surgery, or a more ominous travel advisory anywhere. But trouble is brewing in Brass' black-market heaven. When an exiled cop arrives in this wild frontier, he immediately finds himself investigating a string of ruthless assassinations in which Brass himself and his equally ambitious daughter are the chief suspects.

London, 1667: In the wake of the Great Fire, a new city has emerged from the flames. The King has reopened the capital’s theatres, and the royal court is hell-bent on debauched entertainment. But amid the raucous festivities, an actress shows up dead, dressed in the clothes of a missing girl. It’s a time of great change for thief taker Charlie Tuesday too: his old flame, Maria, is on the cusp of marrying someone else. But when she is abducted on the way to her wedding, Charlie realises her disappearance is linked to the murder.

What do a crooked detective, an upstanding psychiatrist, and a teenager who can’t remember killing her parents all have in common? Nine years of lies.

From two veteran historians comes an intelligent and spirited history of Charles II's dissolute life and surprising legacy. To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers, and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers. Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom.

Across London, hospital patients are dying - in shockingly unnatural circumstances. A sadistic young woman is targeting them as they lie helpless in their beds, eking out every last sensation of pain as their lives ebb to an excruciating close. The killer is a sadist, but careful too, so the police bring in forensic psychologist Dr. Alex Madison to track down what is clearly an extraordinary and damaged mind.

The White Drake's army has cut a bloody swathe across the world, leaving nothing but ash in its wake. Thousands of innocents have died beneath its blades, and countless more will surely follow. Only small-time criminal Claydon Torcreek and master spy Lizanne Lethridge - along with their ragtag band of allies - stand between the White Drake's fury and the world's end. To save the future, they must delve into the past - and unravel a timeless mystery that might just turn the tide once and for all.

The Great Fire has reduced London to smoldering embers. From the ashes, thief taker Charlie Tuesday is drawn to investigate a string of strange murders. Mutilated corpses are washing up at Deptford, each marked with a dire astrological prediction. But only London's best crime-solver realizes the killer's deadly offerings will soon unleash a devastating force on England.

When Viola Marek hires Fox D’Mora to deal with her ghost-infested mansion, she expects a competent medium. But unbeknownst to Viola, Fox is a fraud – despite being the godson of Death. As the mystery unfolds, Viola and Fox are drawn into a quest that neither wants nor expects. And they'll need the help of a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel and a love-stricken reaper. And it transpires that the difference between a mysterious lost love and a dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as you’d hope.

This publisher's pack contains Ascendant (book 3) and Gunboat (book 4), the next two books in The Royal Marine Space Commando series. Ascendant (book 3): Aboard the captured enemy ship, Ascendant, Captain Warden and Lieutenant Commander Cohen must lead a mission to explore a star system held by the Deathless. NewPet is close to the colony world of New Bristol, and they must discover what threat it poses to the Commonwealth. Gunboat (book 4): A space fleet in shambles. A captain facing annihilation. There's never been a better time to play dirty....

Improv performers look like creative geniuses, coming up with brilliant comedy on the spur of the moment. But they rely on some simple rules and techniques - ones which anyone can learn, and which can help us offstage to think creatively, collaborate with others and communicate with impact. Improvise! will show you how to handle whatever comes your way at work - from giving confident presentations and handling difficult conversations to coming up with great ideas and persuading others to make them happen.