Showing results by narrator "Peter Kenny" in All Categories

Written by a retired British soldier, Trouble at Zero Hour is a breathless and vivid story, dramatising three of the key Allied operations that turned the tide of the Second World War. 6 June, 1944, somewhere over the Normandy coastline: Robbie Stokes sits in a glider, his Bren resting on the floor between his outstretched legs. The nose lowers and the glider descends rapidly: 10 minutes of stomach-churning twists and turns until suddenly the call goes up to 'brace'. The belly makes contact with the ground and the first Allied troops tumble out into occupied Europe.

London, 1897. A young girl, Valentine Grey, arrives in England. She's been brought up in the remote and sunny climes of India and finds being forced into corsets and skirts in damp and cold country insufferable. The only bright spot: her exciting cousin, Reggie. Reggie and his lover, Frank, seek out the adventure the clandestine bars and streets of London offer and are happy to include Valentine in their secret. And then comes the Boer War, and Reggie's father volunteers him; the empire must be defended. But it won't be Reggie who dons the volunteer regiment's garb.

Die for the company, live for the pay. And the ultimate payoff is DH-17, an earthlike planet hundreds of light years from human habitation. Ruthless corporations vie over the prize remotely, and war is in full swing. But soldiers recruited to fight in the extremities of deep space come with their own problems, from AI minds in full rebellion to Carlos 'the Terrorist' and his team of dead mercenaries, reincarnated from a bloodier period in earth's history for one purpose only: to kill.

Rome, AD 67. Vespasian is tasked with the impossible: should he quell the revolt in Judaea, as the emperor Nero has instructed? If his conquest succeeds, he risks becoming the sole object of the emperor's jealousy. If he fails, then his punishment will be severe. But Nero has committed suicide. Sabinus, Vespasian's brother, is caught between the warring factions of Aulus Vitellius, a cruel opportunist, and the noble Marcus Salvius Otho, who finds himself severely outnumbered.

It's expected to be an excursion like any other. There is nothing in the records to indicate that anything out of the ordinary will happen. A bus will take them to the mall. They will have an hour or so to look around. Perhaps buy something, try their food. A minor traffic incident on the way back to the resort will provide additional interest - but the tour rep has no reason to expect any trouble. Until he notices that one of his party is missing. Most disturbingly, she is a woman who, according to the records, did not go missing.

In Three Dialogues (set in a ‘Platonic’ garden), Hylas begins by challenging Philonous that he denied the existence of material substance. ‘What!’ says Hylas. ‘Can anything be more fantastical, more repugnant to Common Sense, or a more manifest piece of Scepticism, than to believe there is no such thing as matter?’ And Berkeley, in the guise of Philonous, replies, ‘Softly, good Hylas. What if it should prove that you, who hold there is, are, by virtue of that opinion, a greater sceptic, and maintain more paradoxes and repugnances to common sense, than I who believe no such thing.’

An Abyssal Rift is about to open in Heartillia and Noah is invited to the city by its Lord on a special quest. Having reached level 50 at a rapid rate, he will need to train his body to keep up with his soul's progress. But the effort will be worth the price when Noah learns what awaits him at the end.

London, 1958. By crafting magical outfits for his friend, Princess Katherine, cloth mage Paul Gallagher is getting ahead. It’s not a seamless path. Not since the Virtuis Party came to power. The far-right faction is using criminals to create a protective barrier around England. The enchanted uniforms the prisoners wear may beget a demand for mages, but using luckless convicts as tools for warmongering reactionaries isn’t Paul’s dream for cloth magic.

In 1910, eleven-year-old Iris Villarca lives with her father at Rawblood, a lonely house on Dartmoor. Iris and her father are the last of their name. The Villarcas always die young, bloodily. Iris believes it's because of a congenital disease which means she must isolate herself from the world. But one sunlit autumn day, beside her mother's grave, she forces the truth from her father: the disease is biologically impossible. A lie, to cover a darker secret.

Babylon, 323 BC: Alexander the Great is dead, leaving behind him the largest empire the world has ever seen. As his final breaths fade in a room of seven bodyguards, Alexander refuses to name a successor. But without a natural heir, who will take the reins? As the news of the king's death ripples across the land, leaving all in disbelief, the ruthless battle for the throne begins. What follows is a tangled web of scheming and plotting, with alliances quickly made and easily broken, each rival with their own agenda.

Kit doesn't know who his mother is. What he does know, however, is that his father, Guy, is dying of cancer. Feeling his death is imminent, Guy gathers around him his oldest friends - or at least the friends with the most to lose by his death. Paul - the rising star in the Labour party who dreads the day a tape they all made at university might come to light; Alison and Robbie, corporate bunnies whose relationship is daily more fractious; Pris and Haze, once an item, now estranged, and finally Hol - friend, mentor, former lover and the only one who seemed to care.

Think and Grow Rich is a guide to success by Napoleon Hill, which was first published in 1937 following the Great Depression. It was immediately welcomed as an antidote to hard times and remained a bestseller for decades. Many people still find its philosophy of positive thinking and its specific steps for achieving wealth both relevant and life-changing. Hill contends that our thoughts become our reality, and offers a plan and principles for transforming thoughts into riches, including visualization, affirmation, creating a Master Mind group, defining a goal, and planning.

The Kemps were a Cornish Catholic family who had held on to Kellycoryk, their family home, for almost five hundred years. But it was beginning to look as though the present century would be their last. Roger, head of the shrinking clan, was desparate to save the house and land. His second marriage, to the shrewd and tough businesswoman, Bridget, offered a way out.

A trial awaits in the lost kingdom of Dragons. Having prevented an Abyssal Rift from forming in Heartillia, Noah and his party are now headed towards Drakonias, the lost kingdom of dragons, with word of another Shard piece hidden inside an ancient vault. A trial awaits them here, with warriors from all over Erandir coming to compete. The reward? The title of [Dragon Warrior] and access to the ancient vaults of the kingdom filled with powerful treasures. But to compete, one must be at C rank at the very least.

Two 19th century stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later.

From the shattered empire, five kingdoms are emerging. Seleukos, triumphant in the capture of Babylon, now faces the challenge of holding onto his hard-won prize. One-eyed Antigonos and his son are newly reconciled and both hungry for revenge. But Antigonos has foes of his own. Driven by vengeance, widowed Artonis sides with Ptolemy, planning to thwart the one-eyed brute. The key to their success is Herakles, the sixteen-year-old illegitimate son of Alexander. To see him crowned, they will not only need an army but also to eliminate Kassandros, a powerful rival.

Everyone knows who you find in bookshops: people who want to buy books. But, as Shaun Bythell reveals, that's really only half the story. Join Shaun as he introduces us to seven bookshop characters, from the Person Who Doesn't Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) to the harried Parents Secretly After Free Childcare and all the way over to the erotica section, where we'll meet The Person Who Is Up to No Good.

The 21st century is reaching middle age. Installations orbit the Earth, and synthetic intelligences rule the digital. The Forwards have destroyed the Mesh. The Thalassocracy of New Atlantis lies shattered, reeling from multiple atomic strikes. Might the dreams of better times have been nothing more than naïve figments of wishful thinking?

When little spider Milton discovers he's been branded deadly on social media - and is targeted by pest killers BugKILL - he fears for his life and the future of his species. Alongside his BFFs, big hairy Ralph and spindly daddy long legs Audrey, he searches for a way to clear his name. But to succeed, Milton realises he must communicate with his house humans, a schoolgirl called Zoe - and her arachnophobic dad. Is he mighty enough to achieve the impossible?

There was a mistake, an error. No king ordered his summoning to battle a demon lord. No god sent him to save the world from destruction. In fact, the closest thing this world has to a god would have been very upset at his presence. Fortunately for him, by the time she noticed, it was too late to interfere. A soul had fallen into the world that did not belong there. A soul not bound by the Law of the world. A soul that was free.