Showing results by narrator "Nicola Barber" in All Categories

In 1892 New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the supernatural. First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound.

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England - like who's created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around town.

February, 1906. As the personal secretary of the recently departed duke of Olympia - and a woman of scrupulous character - Miss Emmeline Rose Truelove never expected her duties to involve steaming through the Mediterranean on a private yacht, under the prodigal eye of one Lord Silverton, the most charmingly corrupt bachelor in London. But here they are, improperly bound on a quest to find the duke's enigmatic heir, current whereabouts unknown. Maximilian Haywood was last seen at an archaeological dig on the island of Crete.

Shane is just a boy, but in order to free his people, he's resolved to do whatever to become whomever his mission requires. Throughout their journey to save the world, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan have faced this dangerous foe again and again. But none has learned truth of the boy who nearly changed the course of history forever.

Discovered on the doorstep of a country estate in Wiltshire, England, the infant Fanny is raised to womanhood by her adoptive parents, Lord and Lady Bellars. Fanny wants to become the epic poet of the age, but her plans are dashed when she is ravished by her libertine stepfather. Fleeing to London, Fanny falls in with idealistic witches and highwaymen who teach her of worlds she never knew existed. After toiling in a London brothel that caters to literati, Fanny embarks on a series of adventures that teach her what she must know to live and prosper as a woman.

Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters is a collection of 23 stories focused around the theme of strange creatures in the vein of Pacific Rim, Godzilla, Cloverfield, and more. The anthology opens with a foreword by Jeremy Robinson, author of Project Nemesis, the highest selling Kaiju novel in the United States since the old Godzilla books - and perhaps even more than those. Then, from New York Times best sellers to indie darlings Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters features authors that are perfectly suited for writing larger-than-life stories.

Dashiell Hammett was a crime writer who elevated the genre to true literature, and The Thin Man was Hammett’s last - and most successful - novel. Following the enormous success of The Thin Man movie in 1934, Hammett was commissioned to write stories for additional films. He wrote two full-length novellas for the films that became After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man.

In this short tale for fans of Cinderella and Bridgerton, Pearl’s ball gown may carry the whiff of mothballs, but her dance card for the duke’s ball is full…until she loses a shoe. In her enthusiasm, Pearl’s foot slides out of her too-big damask slipper in the middle of a dance and gets kicked around the ballroom to the amusement of the sophisticated guests. What is a spirited but clumsy heroine to do? Can her composure and good humor save her social dignity?

In The Gadwall Incident, listeners get a glimpse into James' life a mere 24 hours before the tipping point - before life as he knows it changes irrevocably and his childhood slips into the shadows. Listeners will come to know the dangers that surround the Moriartys before James and Moria are sent off to the hallowed halls of Baskerville Academy, where they first meet the insufferable, inexhaustible Sherlock Holmes.

When Julia Conley hears that she has inherited a house outside London from an unknown great-aunt, she assumes it’s a joke. She hasn't been back to England since the car crash that killed her mother when she was six, an event she remembers only in her nightmares. But when she arrives at Herne Hill to sort through the house - with the help of her cousin Natasha and sexy antiques dealer Nicholas - bits of memory start coming back.

In Letter From a Stranger, Barbara Taylor Bradford delivers a lush and evocative new novel of family secrets and betrayals that stretch from the streets of World War II Berlin to the winding alleys of Istanbul to the present day. Justine Nolan is a documentary film maker who lost her beloved...

Nothing has been normal since Vanessa Sands learned that her sister was murdered by siren femme fatales of the watery depths and that everything she believed about her family was a lie. Her boyfriend, Simon, has been the only person Vanessa feels she can really trust. But now there are some secrets she can't tell even him. And when Vanessa finds herself in the sights of Parker, Hawthorne Prep's resident charmer, she needs someone to confide in more than ever.

It’s five years since psychiatrist Olivia Hofmann’s husband and daughter vanished without trace, and five years since the body of troubled teenager Lisa Manz was found murdered in a quarry outside Vienna. While the trail of Lisa’s killer has gone cold, Olivia receives an anonymous postcard each year on the anniversary of her family’s disappearance. Who is sending the messages, and why are they sorry? When one of her patients claims he has seen Lisa alive, Olivia joins forces with detective Levi Kant, who was taken off the murder case when he was close to finding answers.

Barbados, 1854: Emily Dawson has always been the poor cousin in a prosperous English merchant clan - merely a vicar’s daughter, and a reform-minded vicar’s daughter, at that. Everyone knows that the family’s lucrative shipping business will go to her cousin, Adam, one day. But when her grandfather dies, Emily receives an unexpected inheritance: Peverills, a sugar plantation in Barbados - a plantation her grandfather never told anyone he owned.

On June 2nd, 1894, in the wake of President Marie Francois Sadi Carnot's assassination, France descends into chaos and riots in the streets of Varbourg. Many lives are lost in the mayhem, but when one lady of the night is found murdered with brutal incisions and no sign of a struggle, it is clear something is amiss. Madeleine Karno, the tenacious protagonist from Doctor Death, must ask herself the terrifying question: Do they have their very own Jack the Ripper in France?

The Wollestonecraft Girls embark on their most important case yet - the famed dinosaur fossil hunter Mary Anning is being blackmailed. Her precious dog has been snatched and the kidnappers are demanding that Miss Anning authenticate some fake dinosaur bones up for auction at the British Museum in order to get him back. Ada and Mary have just three days to track down the fossil fakers, find the dog, and save the integrity of science!

This beguiling historical romantasy debut blends dark academia with the glamour of Bridgerton, as a scholar of magic investigates her sister’s murder—perfect for fans of Heather Fawcett and H. G. Parry. In an alternate London alive with botanical magic, Elswyth Elderwood is a thorn among...

In this under-reported and under-taught story of the American Revolution, light is shed on the little-known role Benjamin Franklin played in bringing the Northern and Southern colonies together against corrupt British rule. Along with an “Inner Circle” of British Abolitionists, Franklin worked behind the scenes to help free one American slave, James Somersett; and then, in cooperation with a vast network of colonial allies, set in motion a series of events that provided the impetus for Northern patriots and reluctant Southern slaveholders to join forces.

Summer, 1936. In England, an assassin is loose. Someone is killing young people who possess Talents. As terror overtakes Britain, Kim Tavistock, now officially employed by England's Secret Intelligence Service, is sent on her first mission: to the remote Sulcliffe Castle in Wales, to use her cover as a journalist to infiltrate a spiritualist cult that may have ties to the murders. Meanwhile, Kim's father, trained spy Julian Tavistock, runs his own parallel investigation - and discovers the terrifying Nazi plot behind the serial killings.

Spin - The Rumpelstiltskin Musical: A witty musical reimagining of Grimm's fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, created by Broadway veterans, narrated by Jim Dale, and featuring a cast of Broadway musical stars. The story takes place in a Nice Little Kingdom, and ignites when a foolish miller brags that his daughter, Jane, can spin straw into gold. Since she cannot perform such a miracle, Jane desperately enlists the powers of a magical being...Rumpelstiltskin...in exchange for a promise with dire consequences. A fun, fractured fairy tale for the entire family.