Showing results by publisher "Beacon Audiobooks" in Literature & Fiction

It is the dawn of the Renaissance, a time when new ideas are just beginning to emerge. Alfred - the eponymous second son - comes of age in the enlightened court of his grandfather. Alfred is convinced that his life will be unremarkable, spent in diligent but mundane service to king and kingdom. His grandfather, however, foresees for him a special destiny. It is also a time when peace and stability are tenuous, and threats can arise from unexpected quarters.  

In Israel, famed archaeologist Christopher Jordan and ancient manuscript expert Kathryn Ferguson team up again to save two recently discovered jars and the early Christian documents they are believed to contain. Complicating their effort are an American fundamentalist student who discovered the jars and fanatically believes they should be in Christian hands, and a Hezbollah kidnapping attempt of Chris and Kate in reprisal for their earlier heisting of Mark's original gospel from Syria. Israeli and Palestinian antiquity authorities are also in the mix for claiming ownership of the jars.

Angela Alexander, a New England bookshop owner and support talk-line volunteer, is dedicated to listening to people without her own filter getting in the way. Though her life is full and satisfying, she faces the ultimate dilemma after her husband, Tucker—an exuberant bird photographer and blues musician—is harmed by medical malpractice during a routine hernia repair. Left in intractable pain, he struggles to focus on any shred of quality of life. When Tucker expresses the desire to end his life before he loses full autonomy, Angela has to decide to support him in that decision, or not.

It must be said. Scandal follows her family like an ever-faithful hound. No matter how hard they kick it away, it comes slinking around time-after-time. Although her relatives are obsessed with social position and the opinions of others, heiress India Elisabeth Petra De Vries Ledbetter is determined to live life by her own terms, family expectations and society's demands be damned.

When Allison Montgomery's beloved father-in-law and long-time confidant passes away, her mother-in-law, Margaret, "temporarily" moves in. From rearranging the furniture and taking over the kitchen to undermining and embarrassing Allie at every turn, Margaret turns Allie's life upside down.

"No one who ever crossed the wall ever came back." Joshua Andrews had heard those words his entire life. He had never met anyone who had ever been over the wall, and the single truth was what everyone knew. You crossed the wall, you died. So when Joshua found himself on the wrong side of the dividing line between life and death, he knew it was only a matter of time before that truth came calling. But while he is trying to find a way back over the wall, he stumbles on another truth, one that will shake the foundations of his beliefs. Not everything is what it seems.

After 240 years traveling toward Tau Prius and a new planet to colonize, the inhabitants of the generation ship Argos are bored and aimless. They join groups such as the Markers and the Breeders, have costumed orgies, and test the limits of drugs, alcohol, and pain just to pass the time.

Set in modern-day Tokyo, The Butterfly Café tells the story of American Jessie Yamada. When her emotionally abusive husband suddenly dies in a traffic accident, she is overcome with guilt because while making plans to leave him, she had often thought how much easier it would be for her if he were dead. Those feelings quickly shift to shock and anger after discovering her entire marriage had been built upon secrets and lies.

When she moves her Alzheimer’s-afflicted dad into the home she shares with her husband and elderly dog, Rachel Morgan expects some complications, but she never imagines the biggest one will occur on the first day, threatening her best-intentioned caregiving plans. Her normally sweet-natured dad - a former mailman who experienced too many run-ins with biting dogs - is adamant about wanting nothing to do with her big black Labrador. But as Rachel tends to the escalating physical and emotional needs of each, she realizes these two souls whom she loves deeply are on the same journey.

Japanese business magnate Kenji Watanabe, 80, has protected the secrets surrounding his father’s murder for many years. When a detective calls in 2002 hoping to solve the case with new information, Kenji takes immediate action to keep the truth from becoming public. In 1967, Kenji’s father, a former general in the Imperial Japanese Army, had more than his fair share of enemies. When a burglar stole his war sword and left a threatening note, it became clear that someone held a nasty grudge.

Isaac McGlynn has it all and he’s taking it with him. Isaac is cold, unfeeling, and wildly successful. After experiencing the loss of his mother and living his childhood in an orphanage, he gained everything as a businessman. Everything but emotion. When Isaac is diagnosed with terminal cancer and realizes that his time on Earth is severely limited, he decides to take some of his money with him rather than leaving it all to John Hannebury (his best friend and business partner) or Susan Mitchell (his personal assistant and only other friend).

Christine Stewart is a regular woman just doing her job when she becomes stranded in history. When she gets up for the day, her plan is simple: Wake up and head off to work, traveling back in time to Oklahoma in 1867 to deport a cyber-criminal. After work, it's back to 2070 Los Angeles to prepare for a vacation with her son, Michael. That's the plan. Then the system fails, leaving Christine - and dozens of other transporters around the world - stranded in the past with minimal training and no supplies.

Amid a revolution, archaeologist Christopher Jordan and ancient manuscript expert Kathryn Ferguson travel to Syria in search of the original scroll of Marks' Gospel. Paralleling their quest is the story of the evangelist's escape with the scroll from the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., his struggles to complete the manuscript, and his journeys and efforts with the daughter of Peter the Apostle to protect and save it for the ages. For both couples, time is running out and enemies are closing in.

With the help of her new companions, the path Kansas follows leads to more knowledge of the ever adapting famished. The team finds help in unlikely places, meeting more survivors, and discovers the possibility of a new beginning. When the team experiences a devastating loss, Kansas struggles to keep her humanity from fading and distorting like that of the surviving society around her. It begins with knowing who to trust and who to leave behind.

It's February 2023. An Alluring and determined CIA Case Officer, June Cohen, must flawlessly execute an unsanctioned plan of action or the U.S. will invade Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction. She coerces Robaire Assaly, a Los Angeles based DEA Confidential Informant, to take part in her elaborate scheme. Robaire agrees, however, in doing so, he must betray his long-time DEA Agent handler, Gary Lowery, to get what she needs. Robaire soon realizes June has tricked him into taking the blame for stealing a Stinger missile, which she pulled off right under the nose of the hapless FBI.

La Rochelle, France, 1661. Fierce Protestant Isabelle is desperate to escape persecution by the Catholic King. Isabelle is tortured and harassed, her people forced to convert to the religion that rules the land. She risks her life by helping her fellow Protestants, which is forbidden by the powers of France. She accepts her fate—until she meets a handsome Catholic soldier who makes her question everything. The only way to save herself is to flee to the colony of Canada. She can have money, protection, and a new life—if she adopts the religion she’s spent a lifetime fighting.

Some genres were never meant to cross. Joe Slade is a detective with a hot lead and a warm gun. He no longer believes in happy ever afters, but his faith in plot twists is devout. Good thing. He is about to discover the biggest twist of all. Joe Slade is not real. He is a character in a series of mystery novels. And when he discovers all his pain has been in the name of book sales, there will be hell to pay. Vowing revenge on his author, he will set off for the World Where the Books Are Written.

Nicky Covo is a Holocaust survivor. In 1990, Nicky - a Brooklyn psychiatrist - receives a letter from Abbess Fevronia, the head of a women’s monastery in Greece. Although Nicky believes the rest of his family died at Auschwitz, he learns that Theodora, a mysteriously silent nun who’s lived at the monastery since 1944, may be his baby sister Kal.

Aimee Trapnell reluctantly leaves her apartment on Manhattan’s Central Park West to return to her childhood home in Georgia for her father’s 90th birthday. Also on hand are her two brothers, wily Marsh and ne’er-do-well Trainor. With a 40 billion dollar inheritance at stake, they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make the old man happy. To their shock they learn that what their father wants for his birthday is to kill someone. He doesn’t care who it is. He just wants to know what it’s like to commit murder.

No one knew it at the time, but April 19, 2011, was the most important day in the history of the world. After his only friend and colleague John Manta disappears without a word, Dave Randall further entrenches himself in the humdrum life of an unenthusiastic lawyer. But once he begins to understand what happened, he embarks on a journey to uncover the deeper meanings and implications of John’s fate.