Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Literature & Fiction

It’s a club like no other. Only the most important women receive an invitation. But one daring young reporter is about to infiltrate this female-run secret society, whose bewitching members are caught up in a dark and treacherous business. From the author of Happy and You Know It.

It's 2011 and Esther is living her best life, according to her Facebook posts. Sure her marriage is falling apart and her job is going nowhere, but at least everyone thinks she's happy. The truth is, the only thing keeping her going is Canadian actor, Ted Levy, and the fan site where her and the 'Tedettes' stalk his every move. When Ted gets a new celebrity girlfriend, Esther decides that things have gone far enough. She walks out on her life and buys a one-way ticket to Canada. After all, Ted might not know it yet, but they are meant to be together – he just needs a little bit of persuading.

Ellen is tired of being overshadowed at work. Tired of watching less competent, entitled suits take the promotions she’s earned. But when one of them pushes her too far, things take a murderous turn. And it turns out the darker Ellen goes, the shinier her future starts to look. Business can be murder, but it turns out murder can also be good business for Ellen.

It’s been disastrous since Bud and Catherine opened up their marriage, and none of the Flynns can remember the last time a meal was cooked, a load of laundry was done, or a social code was abided by. Not that Catherine and Bud aren’t trying – and trying new things. Bud still drives to his job at the Harbor(TM) in the family minivan, which, yes, is also now his home, and Catherine still refuses to conform to domestic pressures – she’s an artist, a woman, and no one understands her! And the girls? Surely they’re fine, whatever it is they’re up to.

Ted’s missing briefcase has become a cause célèbre.Ever since the day he left it behind in the woods, and someone else took it, it’s remained his primary mission to get it back. And now, that undertaking has lead him to foreign climes and a daring rescue mission. Many people have asked Ted what’s in the briefcase, and why getting it back means so much to him. Maybe the answer lies with the film supremo Quentin Tarantino, who said the value of the briefcase in his classic 1994 movie Pulp Fiction lay not in its contents, but actually in the briefcase itself.

York, 1988. Dr Tom Frith is beginning his first term as a tutor at the University of Eboracum. After teaching primary school children for several years, he's sure shaping the minds of young adults will be a welcome change. But that's before considering the pressures he'll face outside the lecture hall, from helping three hapless students who've been surviving exclusively on porridge, to fielding inappropriate propositions from students chasing higher grades. And then there's the particular challenge of Edna Wallop, the Acting Head of Faculty.

Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It’s 1972, and she is the city’s busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiance and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for anything--or anyone--that gets in her way. When she stops by the famed restaurant of her favorite chef and mentor, Laurent Tirel, early one morning, she stumbles across a horrific scene in the kitchen: Laurent's severed head, perfectly preserved in a flawless mold of jellied aspic.

What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive post-it notes escalates with the death of literary titan Edward David Adams, A.K.A. The Lion. His estate is up for grabs, and Rebecca and Ben are thrown into a fierce competition to land it. But when secrets about the Lion emerge, they are forced to ask—what role do they want to play in his legacy? And most importantly, is their post-it war actually . . . flirting?

On her last day as a Detective, Midge McGowan is given the retirement present from hell: a ticket to take part in a haunted house tour. She’ll have to spend a weekend ghost-hunting in an isolated mansion, with a group of misfits, including a know-it-all paranormal investigator and a has-been pop star. It isn’t long before the tour starts to spiral out of control. Midge and the guests see an unsettling figure walking the grounds late at night. Then the unthinkable happens – someone is murdered in a room that’s been locked from the inside.

Eliot Weiner – snob, shameless opportunist, Morris dancing-obsessive – is on a mission. He has got wind of a trunk of bawdy love letters by Warren Harding, ‘the shallowest President in history’, now guarded by his octogenarian mistress on her crumbling Hollywood Hills estate. They could reignite his failing academic career – and there’s no depth to which he won’t stoop, no preposterous scheme he won’t undertake, to get at them.

Bob Bloomfield is, in the words of his best friend's wife, a 'selfish, arrogant a--ehole', who hasn't spent a great deal of time making friends in his 49 years on earth. But what if he could change? What if Bob could stop the very thing that has made him the man he is, the death of his younger brother, Tom in 1986. If he could save Tom, could he save himself? And what if all it took was a phone call?

She's just a small town girl, with big mythic dreams. Starr Weatherby came to New York to become...well, a star. But after ten years and no luck, she's offered a big role—on a show no one has ever heard of. And there's a reason for that. It's a 'reality' show beyond the Veil, human drama, performed for the entertainment of the Fae. But as Starr shifts from astounded newcomer to rising fan favourite, she learns about the show's dark underbelly—and mysterious disappearance of her predecessor.

While filming on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland, John Doe, the universally adored host of the culinary travel show Last Call, is found dead in a hotel room in an apparent suicide. As the news of his untimely demise breaks stateside, a group of friends, fixers, hustlers, and opportunists vie to seize control of the narrative: Doe’s chess-master of an agent Nia, ready to call in every favor she is owed to preserve his legacy; down-on-her-luck journalist Katie, who fabricates a story about Doe to save her job at a failing website.

Olivia Vincent dreams of stand-up comedy stardom. Bustling around a busy Manhattan office by day and hustling from club to club by night, she can’t catch a break. Work is falling through the cracks, and after ditching a major client to make a performance, Olivia gets the boot. Determined to pursue her dreams, she snags an audition in Los Angeles for a coveted spot on late-night TV. But the only way to get there is to join seasoned stand-up Nick Leto on a cross-country road tour. She agrees on one condition—no funny business.

Three letters. Two mistakes. One Last chance. When Jennifer Cole is told she has three months to live she decides to write three letters sharing the desires, fears and frustrations she has always kept to herself. And at first she finds that telling the truth makes her feel free and liberated. But three months later, Jennifer's secrets are alive and out in the world...and so is she. As she discovers, sometimes the truth has a way of surprising you....

In this compulsively listenable debut, set between London and Sicily over one blood-drenched week in the dead of summer, an identical twin reveals the crazy lies and twists she'll go through to not only steal her sister's perfect life but to keep on living it.

Noah and Kate were meant to be together forever. Married with two gorgeous sons, it looked like they'd got their happy ever after. But marriage isn't easy. And one day, Kate left, taking their two boys with her. These days, Noah is a weekend dad - and it breaks his heart. He misses the chaotic meal-times, the bedtime stories, the early mornings and the late homework. Suddenly, he decides enough is enough - he has to win his family back. Starting with Kate. The only problem? In six weeks' time, Kate is getting married to someone else.

Gianna Kostas is on the cusp of a fairy-tale life. Sure, she's just lost her job, but she's about to marry one of New York's most eligible bachelors. On her way to taste wedding cakes, though, things go sideways. Shocking news sends Gia off on a wild journey halfway around the world in pursuit of her ailing — and nearly estranged — father.

For Maria, nothing is certain. Her life is a chain of accidents. Friendship passes her by, and she's unimpressed by the devoted Ronny and his endless proposals of marriage. Maria lives in a world of her own - yet not of her own making. Stumbling through university, work, marriage and motherhood, she finds it hard to see what all the fuss is about. Will she ever be able to control the direction of her life? Or will it end as it began, by accident? What does chance have in store for the accidental woman?

It’s 1952, and Lily Briggs has just arrived in Ragley, ready to begin her first school year as a teacher at the village school. There to welcome her is John Pruett, who, after his years in the war, has settled into the role of headmaster. Tom Feather, the local bobby, is also on hand to make her feel at home up north. But Lily has a secret lurking in her past that threatens the new life she’s trying to build. Can she move forward and begin to love again? Only time will tell.