Showing results by narrator "Jack Hawkins" in All Categories

What was a Buddhist monk doing at the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos lecturing the world's leaders on mindfulness? Why do many successful corporations have a chief happiness officer? What can the chemical composition of your brain tell a potential employer about you? In the past decade, governments and corporations have become increasingly interested in measuring the way people feel: the Happiness index, Gross National Happiness, well-being and positive psychology have come to dominate the way we live our lives.

The second instalment of Ian Irvine's dramatic epic fantasy series, The Song of the Tears. Beset by false friends and the weight of a world's expectations, Nish flees his father, the God-Emperor - always searching for the means to orchestrate his downfall. Nish's reluctant allies are Maelys, who believes he betrayed her family; former scrutator Xervish Flydd, now stripped of power; and Colm, whom Nish owes a favour he can never repay.

Set during England's bloody and brutal War of the Roses, this is the second novel in an epic historical fiction series. If you liked Conn Iggulden's Stormbird, you will love Toby Clements' Kingmaker novels. October 1463. England is a divided nation. In the north the Lancastrian king struggles to hold power while in the south the princes of the house of York prepare for war.

With his father dead, Martyn has a choice. Tell the police what happened - and be suspected of murder. Or get rid of the body and get on with the rest of his life. Simple, right? Not quite. One story leads to another. Secrets and lies become darker and crazier. And Martyn is faced with twist and turns that leave him reeling. Life is never easy. But death is even harder.

When Mackenzie's 17th birthday comes around, she plans to spend a few years at the school for the marked learning about her new powers and then leaving and living her life. But nothing goes as planned when she attends the marking ceremony and all 12 marks appear. Kenzie lives in a world where being marked with six powers is normal, being marked with seven or more is rare. But being marked with 12? Well, that's unheard of.

What if your prank killed your best friend? Could you live with yourself? You try to forget and move on; you enrol in Army training, you want to make something of your life. The training is tough and it almost breaks you. But you survive; you know you’ll make a good soldier. Finally, when you’re out in Afghanistan, under enemy fire, you come face-to-face with your best friend’s brother. He still blames you for his brother’s death. You now have more to fear than just enemy soldiers.

It's a deadly game of hide and seek. Liam Scott has joined Recce Platoon, and it looks like he will be heading for Somalia. His mission is to gather intelligence from behind enemy lines, carrying out top-secret surveillance and dead-letter drops. But he's new to the game and there's a lot to learn. Soon Liam is monitoring a den of Al Shabaab militants and hunting a key terrorist target. Can Recce Platoon find their man and get out undiscovered? If the militants find them first, it's game over...

Know your enemy. Liam Scott is back in Afghanistan, this time with 4 Rifles. No longer the new guy, it's his chance to prove himself and take the lead. But the warzone has changed dramatically, and so have the rules. Working alongside the Afghan National Army, Liam and his new patrol face daily attacks from Taliban insurgents. But the real threat seems to be coming from within his unit. It looks like there's a traitor in their midst.

After 10 years of servitude, Nish is about to be released from the blackest prison of his corrupt father, the maimed God-Emperor, Jal-Nish Hlar. Using the sorcerous Profane Tears, Gatherer and Reaper, Jal-Nish has crushed all opposition and is remaking Santhenar in his depraved image. The oppressed peoples of the world see Nish as a messianic figure, the Deliverer, who promised long ago to return and cast down his father.

Commander Lanoe is one of the navy's greatest heroes, but the civil war left him with nothing but painful memories. When a planetary governor is murdered, it falls to Lanoe to hunt down the killer and bring them to justice. Yet his pursuit will lead him towards the greatest threat mankind has ever faced. An unknown armada has emerged from the depths of space, targeting an isolated colony planet. As the colonists plead for help, the politicians and bureaucrats look away. But Lanoe has never run from a fight.

We live in the age of the individual. We are supposed to be slim, prosperous, happy, extroverted and popular. This is our culture's image of the perfect self. We see this person everywhere: in advertising, in the press, all over social media. We're told that to be this person, you just have to follow your dreams, that our potential is limitless, that we are the source of our own success. But this model of the perfect self can be extremely dangerous. People are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy.

Cold Hill House has been demolished to make way for a new housing estate. Luxury living at its best with high specification gadgets all thrown in - part exchange available for the right buyers. The first two families move in, and as soon as they do, the unearthly residents of Cold Hill begin to make themselves known. Nobody who moves into Cold Hill reaches their 40th birthday, and the old couple that have just arrived...let’s just say their days are numbered.

Most of us think the law is only relevant to criminals, if we even think of it at all. But the law touches every area of our lives: from intimate family matters to the biggest issues in our society. Our unfamiliarity is dangerous because it makes us vulnerable to media spin, political lies and the kind of misinformation that frequently comes from other loud-mouthed amateurs and those with vested interests. This 'fake law' allows the powerful and the ignorant to corrupt justice without our knowledge - worse, we risk letting them make us complicit.

Dazzlingly inventive, witty and mysterious: a writer pieces together the story of a young man's death in an exhilarating narrative puzzle reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial. A young man dies in a car crash - accident or suicide? An unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to piece together Samuel's story. From friends, relatives and neighbours, a portrait emerges of a loving son, reluctant bureaucrat, contrived poser, loyal friend. But who was Samuel really, and what happened to him?

Kenzie's 12 marks have caused her nothing but trouble since she was blessed with them. From getting her treated differently at school to getting her kidnapped by rebels, her marks have caused chaos in her life. When a familiar face shows up in the warehouse she is being kept in, Kenzie doesn't know who to trust or what to believe anymore. With time running out to escape and the threat of the rebel's plans looming over her, can Kenzie overcome these challenges?

Jack’s lovers are soon to be married, and his place as their Dominant is unshakable. Then Jack loses the one thing a Dom requires. Rory can't wait to get married, but she can't marry both of her men. If she wants the happily-ever-after wedding she's always dreamed of, she'll have to learn to fight for it on her own.

'The situation as far as I'm concerned', says the young narrator-hero of MF, 'is an interesting one. In two days in a strange country I've acquired a mother in the form of a Welsh-speaking Bird Queen who scares me. I've spent some hours in prison, I've discovered the works of an unknown superlative artist in a garden shed and I've been shot at by a riddling lion-faced expert on Bishop Berkeley. Most interesting of all I'm due tonight to be married by a circus clown to my own sister.'

Driven by money, power and success, Gabriel has worked ruthlessly to get to the very top of the banking game. He's not going to let the inconvenience of a terminal brain tumour get in his way. But the tumour has other ideas. As it grows, it appears to be doing strange things to Gabriel's personality. Whether he likes it or not, he seems to be becoming less selfish, less mercenary, less unlikeable. Once he could dismiss the rest of humanity as irrelevant. Now he's not so sure.

A story about love, loss and finding hope against all odds. Rob Coates can't believe his luck. There is Anna, his incredible wife, and, most precious of all, Jack, their son, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. Rob feels like he's won the lottery of life. Or rather, he did. Until the day it all changes - when Anna becomes convinced there is something wrong with Jack. Now Rob sleepwalks through his days, unable to bridge the gulf that separates him from his wife, his son and the business of living.

Years after a violent war destroyed much of the world, Kaspar has grown up in a society based on peace and harmony. But beyond the city walls, a vicious band of rebels are plotting to tear this peace apart. It is up to the Guardians - an elite peacekeeping force - to protect the city, without ever resorting to the brutal methods of their enemy. When Kaspar joins the Guardians, he has a chance encounter with a rebel - a beautiful girl named Rhea.