Showing results by narrator "Ben Onwukwe" in All Categories

From the vaults of the British Library comes a new anthology celebrating the best works of forgotten, never-since-republished supernatural fiction from the early 20th century. Waiting within are malevolent spirits eager to possess the living and mysterious spectral guardians - a diverse host of phantoms exhumed from the rare pages of literary magazines and newspaper serials to thrill once more.

It's 1952, and London is victorious but broken, a city of war ruins and rationing, run by gangsters and black-market spivs. An elaborate midnight heist, the biggest robbery in British history, sends newspapers into a frenzy. Politicians are furious, the police red-faced. They have suspicions but no leads. Hunches but no proof. For two families, it is more than just a sensational headline, as their fathers fail to return home on the day of the robbery.

Harry Freedman uncovers the spiritual traditions that lie behind Leonard Cohen's profound and unmistakable lyrics. The singer and poet Leonard Cohen was deeply learned in Judaism and Christianity, the spiritual traditions that underpinned his self-identity and the way he made sense of the world. In this book Harry Freedman, a leading author of cultural and religious history, explores the mystical and spiritual sources Cohen drew upon, discusses their original context and the stories and ideas behind them.

Eighty years ago, Britain stood at the brink of defeat. In 1942, a string of military disasters engulfed Britain in rapid succession: the collapse in Malaya, the biggest surrender in British history at Singapore, the passing of three large German warships through the Straits of Dover in broad daylight, the longest ever retreat through Burma to the gates of India, serious losses to Rommel's forces in North Africa, the siege of Malta and the surrender at Tobruk. All of this occurred against the backdrop of catastrophic sinkings in the Atlantic and the Arctic convoys.

Zimbabwe, 1980s. The war is over, independence has been won and Robert Mugabe has come to power offering hope, land and freedom to black Africans. It is the start of a promising new era. For Robert Jacklin, it's all new: new continent, new country, new school. And very quickly he learns that for some of his classmates, the sound of guns is still loud, and their battles rage on...

When his village is destroyed by the evil Prince Mephtik, young Jarral Gullen must search for answers. With the help of his three friends Archer, Scythe and the Lady Mandragorina - a band of magically talented adventurers - Jarral must make a terrifying journey into the unknown. Only then will he be able to answer the questions that haunt him. Will he be able to discover what strange talents he possesses? And why does the spectre known as the Poisoner want to hunt him down?

Joe King Oliver was one of the NYPD's finest investigators until, dispatched to arrest a well-heeled car thief, he is framed for assault, a charge that lands him in the notorious Rikers Island prison. A decade later, King is a private detective, running his agency with the help of his teenage daughter, Aja-Denise. When he receives a card in the mail from the woman who admits she was paid by someone in the NYPD to frame him all those years ago, King realises that he has no choice but to take his own case....

"You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit." One day, the artist Basil Hallward is painting a picture of his muse Dorian Gray with his friend Lord Henry watching. Dorian listens as Lord Henry confidentially presents his hedonistic world view, saying beauty is the only thing in life that truly matters. It makes Dorian wish that his painting would age instead of him. Not long thereafter, Dorian sees his girl perform Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and is so turned off by her bad performance that he rejects her.

Gathering a wide range of traditional African myths, this compelling new collection offers tales of heroes battling mighty serpents and monstrous birds, brutal family conflict and vengeance and desperate migrations across vast and alien lands. From impassioned descriptions of animal-creators to dramatic stories of communities forced to flee monstrous crocodiles, all the narratives found here concern origins - whether of the universe, peoples or families.

Nnamdi's father was a good chief of police, perhaps the best Kalaria had ever had. He was determined to root out the criminals that had invaded the town. But then he was murdered, and most people believed the Chief of Chiefs, most powerful of the criminals, was responsible. Nnamdi has vowed to avenge his father, but he wonders what a 12-year-old boy can do. Until a mysterious nighttime meeting, the gift of a magical object that enables super powers, and a charge to use those powers for good changes his life forever.

Secrets can be buried, but bones can speak.... After standing witness to a murder on the streets of the Caribbean island of Camaho, young Michael 'Digger' Digson is recruited into a unique plainclothes homicide squad, an eclectic group of semi-official police officers, led by the enigmatic DS Chilman. Digger becomes enmeshed in Chilman's obsession with a cold case, the disappearance of a young man. But Digger has a murder to pursue, too: that of his mother, killed by a renegade police squad when he was a boy.

On the Caribbean island of Camaho, forensics expert Michael 'Digger' Digson is in deep trouble. His fellow CID detective Miss Stanislaus kills a man in self-defence - their superiors believe it was murder, and Digger is given just six weeks to prove his friend is innocent. While the authorities bear down on them, Digger and Miss Stanislaus investigate a shocking roadside murder, the first tremors of a storm of crime and corruption that will break over Camaho at any moment.

When two bodies are found brutally murdered at a building site in Battersea, DS Calil Drake is first to the scene. Assigned to work with the enigmatic forensic psychologist Dr Rayhana Crane, and on the hunt for an elusive killer, Drake’s investigations lead down the dark corridors of the past to the Iraq war and the destruction he and Crane witnessed there. With a community poised on the brink of violence, Crane and Drake must put their lives on the line to stop the killer before vengeance is unleashed.

Let Me Be Frank is the new book from one of the world's sporting greats. A deeply personal story, Bruno talks about his battle with mental illness, his time inside a mental facility, the impact his illness has had on his family and his career - and his long road back to stability. Now ready to talk about the condition that devastated his world, Frank's story offers his own unique perspective on living with bipolar disorder. His fears, his triumphs and the great affection he feels for the legion of fans he has to this day. His aim is to give others hope and inspiration.

Odysseus’s thrilling adventures continue in the gripping third instalment of the historical Greek fantasy, the Olympus Series. Prince Odysseus and the daemon Bria must penetrate the haunted caverns beneath Dodona, seeking a way to save their doomed nation, Achaea, from the might of Troy. The startling revelation that follows will set Odysseus on his most daunting mission yet, as he seeks to reunite the divided Achaean kingdoms before the rapacious Trojans strike.

Daisy is the night security guard at the Manchester Museum of Social History. She takes her job very seriously, protecting the museum from teenage troublemakers. Nate works the day shift, though he'd be more suited as a museum guide the way he chats with the visitors. Daisy doesn't approve: how does he find it so easy to talk to strangers? For five minutes each day their shifts overlap at handover. He passes the torch over to Daisy - always with a smile on his face and she asks him for a full report of the day, which he gives reluctantly.

On the banks of the river Thames a new building is being completed. A stunning creation of glass and concrete that will be a new landmark on London's skyline. The only problem is that people are dying because of it. Dozens of mysterious accidents have claimed lives during the construction of the Crystal Tower. The owner, an enigmatic Russian businessman, has links to the site reaching back to the 1930s.

Norwell Roberts, the Met's first Black police officer in 1967, found out he had a new job the same way the rest of the country did—from a Daily Telegraph headline that read 'Met to Have First Coloured Policeman'. From that day forward his face became a symbol—of acceptance, of a diverse police force, of a changing Britain. He was turned into the poster boy for progressive policing—but his day-to-day reality was anything but. Greeted with prejudice, ridicule and rejection, he refused to quit.

When Prince Odysseus is sent on a quest to recover his family honour, he’s led to Delos where a mysterious new prophecy has captivated the gods.

The first rule of heartbreak club is - get your heart broken. That's all really. Caroline's heart broke when her husband took his own life. Josh's heart broke when his wife was killed in an accident. And somehow, talking to a group of strangers once a week doesn't seem to be helping either of them. Until Sylvia arrives. When she lost her own partner two years ago, she fell apart and had to put herself back together. Most of all she wished for the help of someone who'd been through it already. And now she's here to pass her handbook on to those who need it most.