Showing results by narrator "Ciaran Saward" in All Categories

After being summoned to a crime scene late one Friday afternoon, Detective Mark Turpin arrives to find the body of a man, his face obscured by a plastic sheet wrapped around his head. When the victim’s final moments are traced to a rented property in the Oxfordshire countryside, Mark discovers another body, one that has been brutally cut to pieces and left to rot.

'Wise, comprehensive and brilliantly succinct' OWEN MATTHEWS, author of Stalin's Children When Joseph Stalin died in 1953, he had been the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union for over twenty years, having presided over the ruthless modernisation of the early 1930s, the Great Purges later in the decade, the near-catastrophe and ultimate victory of World War II, and the country’s postwar emergence as a superpower. He was surrounded by a cult that made him seem godlike; no successors were in sight. His death was bound to be a deeply unsettling event, both in the Soviet Union and elsewhere.

The king’s watch needs you.... Because there’s a Dragon on the loose. Conrad Clarke is ready to claim his reward. He’s saved the girl, so surely he can rest on his laurels? Just a bit? Not a chance. First, he has to pass a new test. A magickal test. And then there’s a missing Dragon’s egg to investigate.... Even with a new partner, Conrad is soon in deep trouble. Deep Dragon-shaped trouble. It’s time to use his secret weapons: Charm and humor. Armed with them, who needs a fire-resistance spell? Dragons? Bring them on.

When the body of a young woman is found by the side of a quiet country road, police first suspect a hit and run. Then a darker side to the victim is uncovered–a dangerous addiction that led to her violent death. With little sympathy from a local population, Detective Mark Turpin faces a daunting task to track down her killer. When a second victim dies after a ferocious attack, Mark realises someone is determined to hide the truth. Both victims kept to the shadows of society–will their secrets die with them?

Lara, Rufus, Tom and Barney are back in their second exciting adventure together. With the help of friends old and new, can they navigate their way through the ancient wonders of Egypt to unearth one of the greatest treasure troves in history?

Two master criminals are on the run with ancient treasure, using London's web of hidden trails and passages to conceal their loot. The Adventurers must track them down using their wits, Uncle Logan...and a stolen red bus. Join Lara, Rufus, Tom, Daisy and Barney as they race to uncover the City of Secrets!

The threat of nuclear war is no longer scary. This is much worse. It's invisible. It works quickly. And it's coming. The scourge has already infected and killed half the population in China and it is heading towards the UK. There is no time to escape. The British government sees no way out other than to distribute 'Dignity Pills' to its citizens – one last night with family or loved ones before going to sleep forever … together.

For boxer Declan King, his performance on the UK’s #1 reality show, Summer of Love, will be the hardest of his life. To win, he must convince five million viewers he’s looking for the right girl. In reality, Declan is rapidly falling for the wrong guy. Oliver Wright, a ballet dancer, needs to win the show and prize money to get his ex-girlfriend back. But when his and Declan’s on-screen bromance leads to an off-screen kiss, they can no longer deny their attraction to one another.

Conrad’s 11x great grandfather has been haunting his house since 1622, keeping a secret and biding his time. A secret that spells trouble for the world of magick. The King’s Watch want to Summon him. The keepers of the secret don’t want that to happen. They unleash a fire Mage to stop the summoning and don’t care who dies on the way. And when Spectre Thomas finally makes an appearance, he passes the guilt of old sins on to Conrad’s shoulders.

Run. Don’t look back. When a young teenager is stabbed to death at a busy fairground, Detective Mark Turpin is assigned the task of finding the boy’s killer. But this was no random murder. Mark knows the victim, and the man who ordered his death. As he sifts through the young victim’s final days, he uncovers a powerful crime syndicate that will do anything to protect its interests. Then tragedy strikes, and suddenly Mark isn’t just trying to solve a murder–he’s fighting for his own survival.

The Soviet Union is gone, but its ghostly traces remain, not least in the material vestiges left behind in its turbulent wake. What was it really like to live in the USSR? What did it look, feel, smell, and sound like? In The Soviet Century, Karl Schlögel, one of the world's leading historians of the Soviet Union, presents a spellbinding epic that brings to life the everyday world of a unique lost civilization. A museum of—and travel guide to—the Soviet past, The Soviet Century explores in evocative detail both the largest and smallest aspects of life in the USSR.

Emily dreams of one day owning a house where her son, Josh, and the little one on the way can grow up, but when her husband, Aidan, insists on leaving his lucrative job as a luxury car salesman, she senses something more is afoot - even while she harbours a secret of her own. What is Aidan hiding, and will it jeopardize their young family’s future?

In a sleepy Devon village, a woman is taken from the streets. Local vet Jenny is horrified. This kind of thing doesn’t happen here. But it’s not the first time she’s been so close to a crime scene. The daughter of a prolific serial killer, she’s spent her whole life running from who she really is. And the crime is harrowingly similar to those her father committed all those years ago.

People often think of imagination as something used only in creative endeavours. In fact, we use imagination constantly as we reminisce, anticipate, plan, daydream, read, create imagined worlds. The truth is we live in the here and now much less than we tend to think. Imagination isn’t the exception in our daily lives; it’s our default setting. Yet only now are we beginning to understand exactly how it works. From hallucination to sleepwalking, from REM sleep to delusions, neurologist Adam Zeman brilliantly guides us through the latest scientific studies in the world of the imagination.

40 per cent of self-made millionaires are dyslexic.Dyslexia does not equal stupidity. For many, it’s a superpower. Think Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg and Sir Richard Branson. The Dyslexic Edge challenges the narrative that views dyslexia as a deficit or impediment to success, presenting compelling research to demonstrate quite the opposite. By delving into the lives and experiences of some of the best-known dyslexic minds worldwide, Jamie Waller and Dr Helen Taylor highlight the distinct advantage that dyslexic thinking brings.

Conrad Clarke is about to get married. Could life get any better for the Lord Guardian of the North? The Codex Defanatus is sealed away, peace has been cemented in the Lakeland Particular and as far as he knows, no one is out to get him. Time to relax....If only.

The Mage-King of Wessex has passed away, and the stage is set for a battle royal: the richest mage in England versus the most powerful coven of witches. And Conrad finds himself in the middle. The struggle is a civilized one at first - Lord Mowbray and the Daughters of the Goddess meet for a conference in Mowbray’s Mage Palace of Pellacombe, with Conrad, Mina, and Saffron sent to see fair play. Until first tragedy and then murder plunge the staff kingdom of Wessex into a dangerous crisis, and Conrad has to draw on all his team’s powers and his own experience to avoid a bloodbath.

This wonderfully funny audio collection contains eight adventures from the master of animal tales, Dick King-Smith. Perfect for young listeners, this magical collection features one of Dick King-Smith's most loved stories: The Hodgeheg. Other timeless classics included in this collection are: Poppet, E.S.P, The Mousebutcher, The Merrythought, Lightning Strikes Twice, A Narrow Squeak, and Under the Mishmash Tree.

Mina’s Bollywood extravaganza is a huge hit–especially when a surprise celebrity makes a dramatic entrance. While everyone queues for a selfie, Conrad is wondering why a Fae Princess has descended on him. It turns out she has a problem, and her problem is about to become Conrad’s problem: amidst the dark Satanic mills of Lancashire, something is attacking the Fae.

What’s it like to live forever? Alicia is about to find out... Just because you don’t grow old, it doesn't mean you won’t die a violent death at the hands of your broodmates. Or the Queen who laid your egg. From the moment she hatches in the Derwent Sídhe, Alicia is fighting. For her life. To gain position. To become an adult. And then, the moment she drops her wings and emerges, the fun really starts.