Showing results by narrator "Toby Longworth." in All Categories

These 16 short tales delve into realms of existential investigation, from dark horror and science fiction futures to fantastical flights of scientific wonder. Each story is a self-contained world of its own, a moment in time that illuminates a thought, a person, an experience or a curiosity.

The police think Crystal Heathers isn't missing. The trainee detective assigned to the case isn't so sure. McAvoy thinks someone was being held at the derelict building where they just found a body pinned to the wall...and that all the signs point to it being a little girl. But why would anyone not report a kidnapping? And how far would someone go to get revenge? The case will test McAvoy to breaking point - as the crimes of the present lead him to a final violent confrontation with an enemy from his own past.

I was wrong to think that there were floodlights. Nobody's got a torch lit. There's no need. She's difficult to look at. She's too bright. She's lighting the whole damn scene with her blood. Welcome to Vox. A city of perpetual night, existing under a star that burns in darkness. Light-starved citizens shoot up on Prometheus while the wealthy live in the radiance provided by three Hearts that beat light into the city. Aquila. Corvus. Cancer.

The Songs follows Iz Herzl, famed political activist and protest singer, who has always told his children that it is the future not the past they should concentrate on. Now, at 80, an almost forgotten figure, estranged from everyone who has ever loved him, his refusal to look back on his extraordinary life leaves his teenage children, the brilliant Rose and her ailing younger brother, Huddie, adrift in myths and uncertainty that cause them to retreat into a secret world of their own.

Three Irishmen went to America. One's dead. One's as good as. One is missing.... The missing man is Valentine Teague. Petty criminal, bare-knuckle fighter - and DS Aector McAvoy's brother-in-law. Back home Val's being held responsible for the blood spilt in the snowy woods of upstate New York.

Old soldiers, comrades in arms - the Brigadier saw many fall during his years with UNIT, but perhaps none more tragically than those at Kreigskind. Called to help when a friend falls ill, how can Lethbridge-Stewart fight an enemy that can breach every defence? Written by: James Swallow. Directed by: Nigel Fairs.

It is the long, oppressive summer of 1912. Four months ago the RMS Titanic was lost to the Atlantic. In Europe the drumbeats of war grow louder. These things have yet to touch Mr. Sherlock Holmes who, estranged from Dr. Watson, lives in reclusive retirement on the South Downs. The world’s foremost criminal investigator has turned his back on the past, hiding from the world and thinking himself immune to its excesses.

As a storm rages across Collinsport, ancient forces are stirring throughout the town. The waters of the ocean hold dark secrets for the Collins family - secrets that must be revealed once and for all. As a malevolent power takes hold, Quentin finds himself facing a final confrontation....

As Christmas draws near, Quentin issues an arcane invitation into the unknown. Meanwhile, as children are reported missing across Collinsport, the festive season brings Collinwood new terrors when a persuasive spirit seeks to divide and conquer.

Francine would prefer to be thinner but is happy enough to suffer her boss' manhandling of her ample hips if it helps her survive the next cull in quality assurance. She just wishes she could get the dead biker's crushed face out of her mind's eye. Robin is having a baby with the wrong woman, wishes he were with the perfect Polish waitress instead, leans hard on Deleuze for understanding, and wonders if his work in film will continue to be valued by the university management.

Book four in the Hull-based crime series, Taking Pity takes detectives McAvoy, Ray and Pharaoh on their most dangerous case to date. DS Aector McAvoy's family is in hiding. He has lost his way. His boss Trish Pharaoh gives him a distraction in the form of an old case. The Winn family was killed 40 years ago: were the police right about who pulled the trigger? But McAvoy's enemies - the ruthless criminal organisation known as the Headhunters - are pitiless

If you think you know Oliver Twist, think again.... The world according to Oliver Twisted is simple: Vampyres feed on the defenceless, orphans are sacrificed to hungry gods, and if a woe-begotten catches your scent it will hunt you forever. When a talking corpse reveals that Oliver will find his destiny in London, he sets out to find the truth - even if it means losing his soul.... A monstrously good story for older children, Oliver Twisted is a terrifying take on Dickens, with added zombies, vampires, and werewolves.

Joe is just an ordinary boy until he makes a wish on a spooky Egyptian amulet... Now he's the Protector of Undead Pets! In Flight of the Battered Budgie, Buddy the budgie is dead and needs Joe's help. Can Joe prevent his owner falling victim to a devious scheme? Only if Joe succeeds will Buddy fly on to his final destination...

The village of Templeton was evacuated during World War II - but something terrible stayed behind. Now even the ghosts are leaving. Ben and his new friends at the School of Night must find out what’s going on. But they are soon trapped in the village, where even the trees and plants turn against them. Could you survive against all the odds? Could you free the village from a curse that threatens the whole world? If you could, then maybe you have what it takes to join the School of Night…

In Night of the Howling Hound, Joe is off on a school trip to an adventure camp, and he can't wait to put Uncle Charlie's survival tips into practice! But it's not long before he's visited by Dexter, a scruffy-looking dog, with a howling tale of woe...

There is an unseen world most people can’t begin to imagine: unless they can see the ghosts. Ben’s sister Sam saw them all the time. Then she looked into the Judgement Box, and that’s when Ben’s life changed forever. Would you look into the Judgement Box? Would you dare? If you can see what’s inside, then maybe you have what it takes to join the School of Night... The gripping first book in the 'School of Night' series from best-selling author Justin Richards.

Joe is just an ordinary boy until he makes a wish on a spooky Egyptian amulet... Now he's the Protector of Undead Pets! In Rise of the Zombie Rabbit, Fluffy's owner Olivia, lost a necklace in her back garden and she's going to get in big trouble if it isn't found. Fluffy can't bear to see her owner in distress and she demands that Joe finds the necklace - now!

Lucinda is a nice, middle-class girl fresh out of university, determined to 'repay her debt to society'. But when she signs up as a volunteer 'mentoring' ex-cons, it is not long before she is seduced by the darker side of life.

Superloo is a power-crazed toilet with an ego as big as a planet, a microchip that belongs to NASA and a mission to rescue his toilet ancestors from the past. All he needs now is a human helper - and then along comes Finn... In this second loo-natic adventure from W. C. Flushing, Superloo whisks Finn off to Roman Britain where the Emperor Hadrian is visiting his Wall. Conspiracies and plots are afoot involving gladiators, bears, very fierce British tribes and, of course, Hadrian's famous latrine.

Meet Max Flash; he's not your usual undercover agent. When the top secret Department for Extraordinary Activity discovers that an evil computer game character has escaped from the virtual world and is intent on causing chaos, they know the time has come for Max's first mission.