Showing results by narrator "Paul Metcalfe" in All Categories

Masinissa: Ally of Rome resumes the story of the Numidian Prince at a moment when he is beginning to question his alliance with the Carthaginian Empire during the Second Punic War. He has been fighting as a cavalry commander on the Iberian Peninsula for several years, but the fortunes of war and his own clandestine meeting with the Roman consul Scipio Africanus, ostensibly his sworn enemy, has led him to reconsider his loyalties.

Mechanical Engineer Pattee Crow Flies knows trouble when she sees it. As her EEP is crashing, she's mentally preparing for permanent residence on the jade-green planet visible through her viewport. All she has to do is make camp, find fresh water, and survive. Simple.

Masinissa: Ally of Carthage is the first part of the story and experiences of the Numidian Prince and later King Masinissa during the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage. In terms of the wider world, Rome and Carthage (the most powerful nations of the time) have been at war for five years, ever since Hannibal crossed the Alpine passes and inflicted catastrophic and crippling defeats on the Roman armies at the battles of Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and most devastatingly, at Cannae, where an army of nearly 90,000 Romans was completely destroyed.

Are you struggling to deal with the loss of a loved one? Would you like some guidance on how to handle death, grief, and mourning? Have you tried almost every therapeutic outlet, but simply want to find relief naturally? Great news—this audiobook is going to show you how! Losing a loved one is painful, but death should not leave you feeling defeated. After using the powerful methods in this audiobook, you’ll never have to worry again about facing the unbearable pain alone, being unable to move on with your life, or using ineffective methods to deal with your loss.

Amity Diaz has had worse days, but not in recent memory. No, recent memory has her waking up amidst smoking wreckage in a hellscape of craggy rocks and woman-eating trees. Did she mention the near-miss to her femoral artery or the deadly respiratory bacteria? Nevertheless, she found drinking water, Meals Ready to Eat, assorted supplies, a stray alien dog, and her trusty artificial general intelligence sidekick hasn't steered her wrong yet.

Do you believe that there is Life After This? This book will take you on a journey through history to look at how past civilizations buried their deceased loved ones, communicated with them, and honored their Gods. You will hear details from people who have encountered near-death experiences, and from people such as doctors, nurses, and caregivers who witness the death of loved ones on a daily basis. The author also looks at the reality that we receive signs and messages from the other side, and how we can communicate with our loved ones if we choose to do so.

Peter Williamson, investment director at Aardvark in London, is in trouble! The investment he led into Riverjack Crypto looks doomed when the notorious founder kills himself (and his finance director) in a bizarre car crash! Peter's boss, Gordon, is on the hunt, seemingly not just for him but for superstar Susannah. Meanwhile, the firm's suave lawyer, Tom, is permanently distracted by Peter's delectable PA. When everyone descends on a hotel for the meeting—and at night attempt to descend on each other—total mayhem ensues. This is the world of venture capital—fully exposed!

This is the hilarious follow-up to Going Around the Bend on the QE2 where Nick now runs away to America to escape his proctologist. He is welcomed by the American people and delighted to find that they love his accent. As always, the outspoken Nick runs into many situations, some of which would seem to be unbelievable, but they are true: He meets a number of Hollywood stars and has a flaming row with one of them, is interrogated by the FBI, lives with a top model, has a fight with a mobster, and sadly witnesses the Americans' reaction to 9/11!

"In Love" handles a serious subject in a light, almost comic way. A couple are engaged but have no sexual feelings for each other. The tensions, as they try to do what is expected of them, explode until a compromise is reached. But will the marriage last?

Two Blue Birds tells the tale of the classic triangle of the man, the wife and the secretary, who struggle to work out what their relationships are with each other. Neither of the women seem to want the man sexually but the secretary offers devotion while the parasitic wife has more insight into the man and his work. All the relationships seem unhealthy, all three seem to want something different but are incapable of expressing what they desire.

"The Man Who Was Through With the World" picks up the same themes as in Lawrence's short story "The Man Who Loved Islands". He asks if we can ever withdraw from the world, no matter how much it disgusts us. The ironic part of this fragment is that the hermit vainly seeks to think holy thoughts while all around him is the natural world which could provide his life with meaning. The fragment is unfinished, leaving the listener to wonder if the hero would return to the world, if the world would come to him, or if nature would take its course and let him die in his hut.

Lawrence uses the story of a storm and the deaths it causes to revive the feelings for (if not an actual belief in) the old gods, in this case Mercury whose shrine is ignored by the tourists but who takes his revenge.

"None of That" concerns itself with the nature of desire. The man in the story is no more than an animal with base instincts but is attractive to women. The woman looks for something deeper with imagination, but in the end is brought down by the more instinctive man. Lawrence again seems to be saying that a woman cannot exist beyond the control of a man, however crude, and can only bring unhappiness on herself if she tries to live on her own terms.

"Mother and Daughter" can be understood as one of Lawrence's diatribes against women. Two women do their best to get along without men, but in the end, as Lawrence always proposed, a woman cannot be fulfilled without a dominant man, however unsuitable he may be.

"The Blue Moccasins" has the charm of looking at some eternal human problems such as unequal marriage, the waning of sexual desire, and a woman who cannot give herself wholly to her husband in a thoroughly English and local setting: the stage of an amateur dramatic society where all the passions and delusions come to a head.

"The Undying Man" is a slightly unfinished piece, drawing its inspiration from Shelley's Frankenstein about the creation of life and the fear of death. It is interesting to speculate where Lawrence would have gone with the story, but the sound of broken glass is the most likely ending.

"The Lovely Lady" is a fine observation of a life - the lovely lady of the title - that thrives by sucking the life out of others. The two victims escape by a somewhat melodramatic and comical means, but in the process destroy the lovely lady and form what will probably be a dull and passionless union.

"A Dream of Life" is unfinished, but there is enough extant to let us know where Lawrence was going in this story. He begins by looking back and bemoaning what has become of his generation, under the thumb of women and lacking the spark of his father's mining friends. Then, in a scene reminiscent of Pilgrim's Progress, he travels forward in time and sees his village in the distant future. The people are living in an idealized commune, but do they have the spark of life?

"Rawdon's Roof" is a slight comic piece, relying for its humor on the folly of a man throwing away his chance of happiness because of an unexplained and unlikely vow.

"The Last Laugh" is another of Lawrence's supernatural stories, set in a dreamlike snowy London. The question left open is who the three people in the story saw on the snowy evening. Perhaps Pan, returned to destroy the Christian God, as the church is destroyed in the story, and to bring love to the frigid young woman in the form of a policeman who is prevented from leaving the house. But why the other quite harmless, and Platonic lover, had to die is a mystery. Perhaps because he had made love to a Jewess?