Showing results by narrator "Steven Pacey" in All Categories

As Hitler's forces smash into Soviet territory, a lone German scout plane is forced down. Contained in a briefcase within is a seemingly inconsequential painting of a red moth. Military Intelligence dismisses the picture as insignificant, but Stalin suspects a German plot. He summons his old adversary, Inspector Pekkala - the Finn who was Tsar Nicholas II's personal detective - to discover the real significance of this strange cargo. As the storm gathers, Pekkala and his assistant from the Bureau of Special Operations find themselves on the track of the most formidable art thieves in history.

Trouble is brewing in Egypt. Rebel gladiator Ajax and his men have been posing as Roman soldiers and attacking naval bases, merchant vessels, and villages. Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro have been charged with the task of tracking down the renegade warrior before the problem gets out of control. Joining forces with Legion III, the hope is to destroy their enemy on the battlefield. But the cunning gladiator has other ideas....

Menace awaits. Sleath. Quiet, peaceful. A small village hidden away in the Chiltern Hills, almost forgotten by the modern world. Nothing much seems to happen here; little disturbs the centuries-old tranquillity. Until the ghosts begin to appear and frighteningly bizarre events start to occur. Psychic investigator David Ash, a man burdened by the dark secret of his own past, is sent to Sleath to investigate the phenomena and his discoveries there drive him to the very edge of his own sanity.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler, first introduced in The Various Haunts of Men, is on a painting holiday in Venice when he is summoned home by a telephone call. He has family problems to face, and the stress and grind of running a busy police station. When a little boy is snatched as he stands with his satchel at the gate of his home, waiting for his lift to school, an ordinary community realises that terror and evil are in their very midst.

When Simon Serrailler was a rookie constable with the Met, he did something reckless in the course of a night's work which caused a man's death. But his act was praised by his colleagues, and he was called a hero. Years later, now a detective chief superintendent who has been badly injured in the course of duty, he receives a medal for bravery at Buckingham Palace while recollecting that fateful night of his early career, when chance disguised itself as bravery.

The death of a journalist from a single bullet to the heart makes for a dramatic story - but the twist in the tale is that this time, it's the man who fired the gun who's asking all the questions... The assassin, Michael Weston, knows he has carried out his assignment successfully. One mistake was enough, a long time ago, when a young girl had accidentally received the fatal bullet. Her father hired a PI named Hoffer to track him down. Every time Weston completed a job, Hoffer was not far behind.

In the contested and unexplored territories at the edge of the Empire, a boat is making its laborious way up stream. Riding along the banks are the mercenaries hired to protect it - from raiders, bandits and, most of all, the stretchers, elf-like natives who kill any intruders into their territory. The mercenaries know this is dangerous, deadly work. But it is what they do. In the boat the drunk governor of the territories and his sons and daughters make merry. They believe that their status makes them untouchable.

Defector: Avon orders Tarrant and new crewmember Del Grant to assassinate a Federation figurehead. Has he gone too far this time? Planetfall: can Avon and Cally get off Space Station Arcadia before it crashes into the planet below? Secrets: with the future of the rebellion in jeopardy, Vila and Grant infiltrate an illegal arms bazaar - but who exactly is Solvin Tavac, and what does he want with the crew of the Liberator?

While centurions Macro and Cato are returning to Rome from a harrowing campaign against the Parthians, their transport ship is almost capsized by a tidal wave. They barely make it to the port of Matala in Crete, where they are stunned to find a devastated town. An earthquake has struck the island, destroying its cities and killing thousands.

In the midst of the fighting, two Russian soldiers seek refuge in the crypt of a German church. There, clutched in the hands of a skeleton priest, they find The Shepherd - a priceless icon thought to have been destroyed long ago. When news of its discovery reaches Moscow, Stalin calls upon his most trusted investigator, Inspector Pekkala, once a favorite of the tsar and known to all of Russia as The Emerald Eye.

Desperate to gain American citizenship and start a new life with the woman he loves, Nick Stone agrees to do one last job for the CIA. He must infiltrate an Arab republic, kill a money-laundering local businessman, and bring back gruesome proof of his death. He doesn't know why, and he doesn't care. Too late, Stone realizes the truth about his real mission, which has only just begun.

Charlie Cook is reading a book about a pirate captain, who is reading a book about Goldilocks, who is reading about a knight, who is reading about a frog.... From kings and queens to aliens and ghosts, there's something for everyone in Charlie's amazing book of adventure! Perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime - or any time at all!

The world is on the brink of war. Fisk and Shoe - mercenaries, not wanting to get caught in the middle of a political whirlwind - must deliver a very important message and find a very dangerous man. They have caught the eye of the powerful men of the world, and now the stakes are higher than they like. And the Emperor has decreed that Livia Cornelius, pregnant with Fisk's child, must travel to the far lands of the Autumn Lords on a diplomatic mission. It will mean crossing half the world and facing new dangers.

Bodyguarding a TV crew on the streets of war-torn Basra, ex-deniable operator Nick Stone seems certain to die when insurgent gunmen attack. Only the reporter's swift action saves his life. When the reporter vanishes within hours, presumed kidnapped, Stone is asked by the Intelligence Service to find him. The trail leads from Iraq to London, Dublin, and ultimately Kabul: the dark and brutal city where governments, terrorism, and big business inexorably collide.

Mallory, Miller and Andrea are united into a lethally effective team. Their mission: to silence the impregnable guns set in the tall cliffs of Navarone. On their success or failure rests one of the most critical offensives of the Second World War.

A voice is calling in the darkness. A voice that only Cally can hear. Vila has abandoned his crewmates, searching for the mythical water of life.

With Cally acting suspiciously, Tarrant and Grant face danger at the heart of paradise. A gift is being offered. A gift that will cost one member of the Liberator crew dearly. But will Cally accept?

Vila is scared. Of course he is. Vila is always scared. He should feel safe. He is onboard the Liberator, the most powerful ship ever constructed. He is home - but he is certainly not alone. Ghostly figures stalk the corridors of the Liberator. Spectres who know Vila's name. Revenants. Demons. And Vila has nowhere to run.

The search for Dayna takes the Liberator to Solace, a former galactic tourist trap fallen on hard times. When he loses a second member of his crew, Avon is forced to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances. As Orac and Del Grant track a radical new movement that is campaigning for the purity of Solace, a deadly trap begins to tighten. The future is Fortuitas. The future is now.

The world is burning. Rume is under attack. The Autumn Lords, rulers of the Tchinee Empire, have had their true nature revealed. The Emperor descends into madness. And Fisk and Shoe - unlikely heroes, very likely mercenaries - must find their way to Fisk's wife and child, whom he has never seen. There might be quite a lot in their way. A war, for one thing. But Livia is as determined as Fisk to be reunited. And Shoe may have a plan....

J. G. Ballard was, for over 50 years, one of this country’s most significant writers. Beginning with the events that inspired his classic novel, Empire of the Sun, in this revelatory autobiography he charts the course of his astonishing life. Miracles of Life takes us from the vibrant surroundings of pre-war Shanghai, to the deprivations and unexpected freedoms of Lunghua Camp, to Ballard’s arrival in a devastated Britain.