Showing results by narrator "Matthew Davies" in All Categories

Emma and Dele’s dreams came true nine years ago when they adopted their daughter, Isla. It felt like fate, like they were meant to find each other, and now they’re living the life they always wanted. But then one day a new family moves into Forest Grove - and Emma can’t shake the chilling feeling that the wife looks just like Isla’s birth mother.

In 1353, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron: 100 nested tales told by a group of young men and women passing the time at a villa outside Florence while waiting out the gruesome Black Death, a plague that killed more than 25 million people. Some of the stories are silly, some are bawdy, some are like fables. In March of 2020, the editors of The New York Times Magazine created The Decameron Project, an anthology with a simple, time-spanning goal: to gather a collection of stories written as our current pandemic first swept the globe.

The year 1989 brought the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. It was also the year that the economic theories of Reagan, Thatcher, and the Chicago School achieved global dominance. And it was these neoliberal ideas that largely determined the course of the political, economic, and social changes that transformed Europe over the next quarter century. This award-winning book provides the first comprehensive history of post-1989 Europe.

Winning the United Kingdom's favorite singing contest is a challenge for half-Afghani Pasha Trueman. He doesn't have the best voice, but success would be life-changing. His strategy is simple - he'll make the British public love him. Ed Britten is an ex-soldier with a different agenda. Winning means he'll keep a promise made after a deadly Afghan ambush. His voice is his weapon, but he leaves his heart unguarded. Ed and Pasha's discovery that the contest isn't a fair fight calls for creative tactics. Staging a fake love story could bring victory, only there's more at stake than the prestigious first prize.

In March 2008, the public learned the news that Prince Harry had been fighting with British troops in Afghanistan. This amazing book gives the definitive inside story of Prince Harry's brave service and reveals, amongst other breathtaking stories, how the third in line to the throne was operating only 500 yards from enemy positions, calling in air strikes and carrying out surveillance of Taliban fighters in Helmand province.

A flawed heist of forty gold bars from a security van late at night. One of the perpetrators is killed by his brother as they argue over what they have stolen. Eighteen years later, the murderer, released after serving his sentence for his brother's murder, waits in a church for a man purporting to be the brother he killed. The threads stretch back a long way, and now more people are dying in the search for the missing gold bars.

The Agents of the Crown - the “rollicking new historical thriller” (The New York Times Book Review) series - returns with this riveting novel following the original MI6 agent as he is assigned a dangerous mission to recreate a weapon from antiquity.

In an alternate future where the British empire never crumbled, the spaceships of Her Majesty’s Navy work to keep the spaceways safe. But there are those among the stars who are not so happy being subjects of the British Empire. In the Tau Ceti system, a cauldron of trouble brews as a terrorist faction of the rebellious Sons of Arnold attacks the empire from within, and warships of the theocratic Caliphate enter the system, prepared to do their worse to destroy the hated empire head-on.

Situated high in the Pyrenees the monastery of St. Lazarus is a forbidding place. Behind its ramparts and battlements it hides a secret so dangerous its keepers will kill to protect it. At the end of a bitter winter, a delegation headed by the ambitious Inquisitor Rainiero Sacconi arrives to investigate the monks of St. Lazarus.

Getting snowed in at a remote cottage in Wales with someone he'd fancied for ages isn't exactly how Sam expected to spend Christmas. His feelings for Ryan are pointless. Ryan's straight - or so he thought.

When they were at uni, Owen always had a bit of a crush on Nathan. But Nathan was apparently straight, and Owen was too busy with other guys to take his crush seriously. When Nathan moves back to Bristol after a year away, Owen hears that Nathan has come out of the closet, and he propositions him. Nathan doesn't want to be just another notch on Owen's bedpost, though, so he challenges Owen to prove he can be serious: five dates before they have sex.

Spanning three centuries and eight thousand nautical miles, and compiled by a direct descendant of a sailor who waged war with pirates in the early nineteenth century, The Penguin Book of Pirates takes us behind the eye patches, the peg legs, and the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger and into the no-man’s-land of piracy that is rife with paradoxes and plot twists.

Since childhood you've had all of the resources that you need to create the life that you want, and over time you've simply lost touch with them. Now is the time to find them again. With expert guidance from broadcaster and entrepreneur Ed James and behavior and relationship experts Mark and Nicky Taylor, you'll rediscover your sense of purpose, reconnect with what is important to you, and find out how to unlearn unhelpful habits and behaviors.

More than ever before business success depends on standing out from the crowd and delivering authentic experiences that turn your customers into advocates for your business. Bold tells the stories of 14 companies that prove that brand building is now about completely rethinking the customer experience and redefining the relationship you have with your customers. Each inspiring story is told by the executives involved who were brave enough to pursue audacious goals, challenge industry norms and win.

Cory Wilson is woken in the middle of the night with a summons to appear in the president of Nations of Earth's office. An aid worker in Djibouti has discovered a shipment of alien guns. As ambassador to gamra, the extraterrestrial organization which controls the Exchange, the FTL wormhole network, Cory has often been critical of Earth's handling of extraterrestrial problems. This is his moment to shine, to apply his knowledge about alien customs, to, in the words of the president, "get those idiots out of there".

Patrick Mason travels to Bristol to spend the summer with his brother, Ben. He's cat sitting for the first two weeks while Ben goes on holiday. But Ben neglected to tell him he wouldn't be doing it alone. Will Adams - Ben's mate and Patrick's long-time crush - is staying in Ben's guest room while he waits to move into his new house after a breakup.

Peter Mitchell walked away with from his marriage with two things: a suitcase and hairy Harry, the family pet. When Harry becomes ill, Peter is faced with one of the hardest decisions he's ever had to make...saying goodbye to his best friend. Evan Wells is the locum vet who attends to Harry, and Peter is surprised at how quickly they become friends. Peter finds himself looking forward to Evan's nightly phone calls and the meals they share together.

When Aiden agrees to run the Mad Mucker - a 12-mile muddy slog over an obstacle course - he’s expecting it to be a bit of a laugh. The training will be tough, but Aiden could use the motivation to regain some fitness.

Surprising, entertaining, and illuminating, this is a must-listen for armchair travelers and word nerds. Our dictionaries are full of hidden histories, tales, and adventures from all over the world - if you know where to look.

Trust is the foundation of all meaningful relationships, yet 70 percent of professionals don't trust their managers. It's a number that actually surprises few but profoundly concerns most of the awesome thought leaders alive today. From Simon Sinek to Patrick Lencioni, Paul Zak to Brené Brown, all agree that a lack of trust is the root of faltering relationships and mediocrity at work. What galvanised Matthew Davies to write this book was the lack of tools to address this appalling problem.