Showing results by narrator "Jake Urry" in All Categories

William Cowper was born 26th November 1731 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. Traumatically he and his brother, John, were the only siblings, out of seven, to survive infancy. His mother died when he was six. In 1763 he was offered a Clerkship of Journals in the House of Lords. With the examinations approaching, Cowper had a mental breakdown. He tried to commit suicide three times, and a period of depression and insanity seemed to settle on him. The end of this unhappy period saw him finding refuge in evangelical Christianity, becoming the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns.

The Cockney Novelists flourished towards the end of the 19th century and spilled over into the next. They included Arthur Morrison, Edwin Pugh, William Pett Ridge and Clarence Rook. Authors being authors, they, of course, dealt with their subject matter in different ways. As a group they moved away from treating the London working classes as comedy cameos or social stereotypes.

The Mailer family are oblivious to the terrible danger that enters their lives when seven-year-old Anthony is referred to the child guidance service by the family GP following the breakdown of his parents' marriage. Fifty-eight year old Dr. David Galbraith, a sadistic, predatory paedophile employed as a consultant child psychiatrist, has already murdered one child in the soundproofed cellar below the South Wales Georgian townhouse he shares with his wife and two young daughters. Anthony becomes Galbraith's latest obsession and he will stop at nothing to make his grotesque fantasies reality.

A peculiar tablet unearthed in a Middle Eastern ossuary provokes madness in those who encounter it. One by one, people come under the tablet's sway and are subjected to horrific visions and dreams. In time, the tablet's true purpose becomes clear: It is the harbinger of an eons-dead god whose reemergence will steep the world in terror and suffering. Having put the pieces together, two men race against the clock and attempt to disrupt the terrifying work of an ancient cult.

Dr. Siegfried Klein has vanished on a mysterious pilgrimage to an abandoned infirmary in the ghost-town of Moonville. The locals in the surrounding areas are tight-lipped, hostile to outsiders. Local legend has it that the old Sick House is packed with spirits, none of them friendly, and that to set foot in it is to enter Hell itself.

Facing tough times, private investigator Harlan Ulrich takes a job looking after a historic downtown building as a favor to an old acquaintance who's out on business. Settling into the elegant Exeter House for a week-long stay, Ulrich's apartment is beautifully furnished and situated on the top floor, giving him a great view of the city. At first, he thinks it a wonderful opportunity. He's got plenty of coffee, good books to read and the whole building to himself.

When nineteen-year-old university student Emma goes missing, Detective Inspector Gareth Gravel is called in. But what is a simple missing person case soon turns into something much darker as Gravel’s inquiries lead him to the graves of five young women - each of whom looks just like Emma. With a serial killer on the loose and his latest victim already in his control, can the police find Emma in time? Or will Emma have to save herself?

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on the 16th October 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. The son of Dublin intellectuals Oscar proved himself an outstanding classicist at Trinity College and then at Oxford. His only novel, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, was published in 1890 and he then moved on to writing for the stage with ‘Salome’ in 1891. His society comedies were enormous hits and turned him into one of the most successful writers of late Victorian London. This collection of light-hearted and witty stories was written by Oscar Wilde in 1891.

Though enjoying an increase in business following his last case, life isn't all roses for private investigator Harlan Ulrich. His newest job, another missing person's case, is unlike any other he's ever taken on. Local businessman Michael Poole hires Ulrich to find his estranged daughter. The problem? She's been dead for a decade.

The invulnerable, super-strong warrior, Infidel, has a secret: she's lost her magical powers right at the moment when she needs them most. To keep a promise to a fallen friend, she must journey to the frozen wastelands of the north. Her quest leads her through the abstract realms of the Sea of Wine, where she uncovers a conspiracy that threatens all life. Hush, the primal dragon of cold, has formed an alliance with the ghost of a vengeful witch to murder Glorious, the dragon of the sun, plunging the world into an unending winter night.

While an ugly war with its neighboring realm continues to rage, the insulated members of Ruritania's upper class laugh and dance their way through their superficial lives. Some people, increasingly disillusioned by the pointless conflict, start to consider how the King might be persuaded - or forced - to end it. Meanwhile, an increasing number of items of great value are going missing from those attending these high society gatherings. At whom will the finger of suspicion point?

Lord Alfred Willoughby is deciding what is to become of his vast fortune after his death. Whilst his head is telling him to leave nothing at all to his wastrel son, Matthew, his heart is speaking differently. After much deliberation, in a last-ditch attempt to try and show to his son the importance of applying himself to a task and staying with it to the end, he devises a series of enigmatic puzzles cunningly concealed within the lines of a poem - the cryptic lines.

John Buchan was born on August 26th 1875. After a brief career in the legal profession he began a twin career as writer and politician. He was a prodigious writer not just of fiction but of such acclaimed works as a 24 volume history of World War I. It was during the war, where, as a sideline writing propaganda, he wrote his most famous work, ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’. Its hero, Richard Hannay, continues his story in other Buchan novels, most notably Greenmantle (1916) and Mr Standfast (1919).

Thirty years ago Anthony Mailer was a seven-year-old boy trapped in Dr Galbraith’s basement. Now he’s a journalist, a husband and a father. But no matter how far he’s come, at times he’s still that scared little boy. In order to save his marriage, he has to stop hiding from what happened and deal with it once and for all. But digging into the past holds dangers Anthony never imagined.

In The Invisible Man, an unexpected guest at the Coach and Horses in Iping arouses the local's interest with his short temper and his completely covered face. Griffin is seeking solitude and quiet, but is soon forced from the village and finds temporary shelter in the home of an old university friend, Kemp. In The Time Machine, a Victorian scientist travels into the far future and discovers the descendants of humanity, the Eloi, living in apparent peace. However, after his time machine goes missing, he discovers that humanity has in fact split into two distinct species.

Set in a sprawling gothic mansion in a remote coastal location somewhere in the British Isles, volume one begins in the middle of a violent storm and tells of the elderly recluse Lord Alfred Willoughby as he tries to decide what is to become of his vast fortune after his death. After much deliberation, in a last-ditch attempt to try and show to his son the importance of applying himself to a task and staying with it to the end, he devises a series of enigmatic puzzles cunningly concealed within the lines of a poem - the cryptic lines.

Oscar Wilde's only novel is half gothic horror, half morality tale, and is as timeless as his plays and poems. First published in 1889, this unabridged audiobook edition narrated by Jake Urry captures the wit, the charm, and the horror of Wilde's most controversial work. Perhaps the most well-known outing for Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles has all the ingredients of the coziest of mysteries. Jake Urry brings this head-scratching tale to life in this unabridged telling of a timeless classic.

First published as a "shilling shocker", Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological tale explores the idea of the split personality. Respectable Dr. Jekyll's mysterious association with the notorious young Mr. Hyde culminates in a shocking revelation in the doctor's laboratory.

In Edgar Allan Poe's short and turbulent life, he laid the groundwork for the genre of modern horror and, almost as an aside, invented the modern detective story.

An epic war between dragons and mankind! Dragons rule the world, united under their powerful dragon-king. Humans struggle to survive as slaves, pets, and prey. One man, the mysterious Bitterwood, strikes at dragons from the shadows, fighting a long, lonely war of resistance. When Bitterwood is blamed for the death of the dragon-king's son, the dragons launch a full scale campaign to rid the world of the legendary dragon-slayer - even if they must kill all of mankind to do so.