Showing results by narrator "Gabrielle Nellis-Pain" in All Categories

As soon as we open the door to our beautiful new home, I sense their presence . . . the couple who lived here before us. They’ve left things behind, as if on purpose, for us to find. First, there is the mysterious diary that ends too abruptly, followed by pictures of a couple in their thirties, just like us. Tired-looking parents with two small children. Who are they?

In the grim darkness of the far future, the galaxy burns as its disparate races fight for resources, territory, and divine purpose. The Imperium faces threats both alien and heretic, and the touch of the warp is ever a moment from seeping into reality, with deadly consequences. Survival is earned in blood.

Khemet has guarded the tombs of her people for millions of years, patiently waiting for the day when the numberless legions of the dead will rise again. As they finally begin to stir, old ambitions and treacheries are roused with them. Betrayed and imprisoned, dogged by the shame of a terrible failure, Khemet has endured the gravest punishment Necron ingenuity can conjure. Now she is free, offered a single chance to restore her honour and reclaim her standing.

The end of the world has been and gone. There was no one great natural disaster, no all-consuming world war, no catastrophic pandemic. Only scores of storms, droughts, and selfish regional conflicts. Humanity was not granted a heroic end. Instead, it bled to death from a thousand cuts. But where Earth fell apart, Mars pulled together. Engineered men and beasts, aided by Bees – an outlawed distributed intelligence – survived through co-operation, because there was simply no alternative.

Of all the devout warriors in the Adepta Sororitas, none are as renowned or battle-hungry as those of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Yet while others seek glory in their own martyrdom, Sister Helewise is determined to stay alive, so that her death might serve a greater purpose when the God-Emperor wills it. Assigned to Fleet Quintus of the Indomitus Crusade, Helewise and her sisters follow an ancient route of pilgrimage to rediscover and liberate the shrine world of Cion, once a sacred bastion of their order.

Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed.

It has been twenty years since Anvilgard – now known as Har Kuron – fell to the Daughters of Khaine, and a terrible secret waits in the occupied city’s depths. Knight-Incantor Tivrain Greymantle is haunted by the call of her brothers and sisters, who Morathi-Khaine has imprisoned there, knowing that if they were killed or released, her perfidy would be revealed to Sigmar as he reforges their souls. Commanded by her superiors to forget their captured comrades, Tivrain resolves to do the unthinkable.

This new selection of ghost stories, by Michael Newton, brings together the best of the genre. From Elizabeth Gaskell's 'The Old Nurse's Story' through to Edith Wharton's 'Afterword', this collection covers all of the most terrifying tales of the genre. With a thoughtful introduction and helpful notes, Newton places the stories contextually within the genre and elucidates the changing nature of the ghost story and how we interpret it.

Within the vast sprawl of Varangantua lies the Spoil. It is a broken crossroads, forsaken by the Lex, abandoned by the city’s uncaring masters, where the only choice is a slow death in the manufactories, or a quick one on the street. And it is in turmoil. Andreti Sorokin, the gangster king whose vicious rule brought order to the Spoil, is dead, slain in the most brutal fashion. Melita Voronova, skilled info-broker and reluctant agent of the imperious Valtteri cartel, is tasked with uncovering the mystery of who killed Sorokin.

Rowan is visiting her aunt—Winne the hedge witch—in the Welsh countryside, to get back to nature and hone her skills, as well as taking a break from her annoying sisters and enjoying some peace and quiet. However, Rowan soon comes to realise that hedges are a serious business and this isn’t quite the opportunity to rest and escape she thought it might be. Not only that, but mysterious events around the town are causing panic in the secret magical community and cowans—non-magical folk—are starting to take notice.

Evil stirs in Briardark, an ancient forest that looms over the Shyishan village of Felstein, where whispers abound of the spectres and brutes that lurk amongst the trees. One man keeps these perils at bay—Samuel Helmgaart, the revered beasthunter of Felstein—but when tragedy strikes his family, an unknowable foe is unleashed, one that stalks the villagers and turns neighbour against neighbour. Soon, a witch hunt ensues, and in the midst of his own sorrow Samuel’s daughter, Cicely, struggles with grief that has twisted into something dark.

Everything changes when Mark comes home from a work trip with dark circles under his eyes. The police want to question him about the murder of a beautiful, blonde young woman. Mark swears he had nothing to do with it, that she was a colleague, nothing more.

Kirsten and Nick are enjoying a weekend away until, on their drive home, they accidentally run over and kill a man. They should call for help – but they have too much to lose, and no one can know the real reason they’re here. Instead, they make a split-second decision to conceal the accident. Amy and Greg have just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. Amy is expecting a baby, and they couldn’t be happier. So when Greg fails to come home from a dog walk one weekend, Amy knows the police are wrong to believe he left of his own accord.

Helen and Ben parted as heartbroken 18-year-olds and went their very separate ways. Twenty years later, mother-of-two-teenagers Helen is still in Manchester, a part-time primary teacher, stunned by the behaviour of her love-rat husband. In an old T shirt and scruffy jeans, she feels at the lowest point in her life. And suddenly, impossibly, Ben is standing on her doorstep. Tired maybe, lonely even, but clearly still the world-famous, LA-based multi-millionaire rockstar he has become. Can you ever go back?

Rhydsbury House, an artists’ retreat in rural Shropshire, is home to the eccentric painter Alistair Blair. Its tranquillity shatters when the new maid, Rosie Blackthorne, discovers Blair’s wife garrotted in his white room. Suspicion falls on Blair and his estranged brother, recently returned after six years abroad. Fresh from solving the Montgomery Canal murder, Inspector Isabelle Cannon is called in. But as inconsistencies emerge, she soon discovers the truth hidden in Rhydsbury House is far darker than it first appears.

August 27, 1982. Near Upton Waters, a stagnant stretch of the Montgomery Canal yields a grim discovery: the naked, strangled body of a woman, caged in an upturned shopping trolley. New Year’s Eve, 1990. Inspector Isabelle Cannon, transferred to Upton Waters Police Station as part of a disciplinary action, is handed the cold case by Sergeant Williams to keep her out of his way. Reluctant to invest in a case nearly a decade old, Isabelle’s curiosity is stirred when she learns the victim was never identified. Who was she? Why was she murdered? And could the killer still be living in Upton Waters?

Reeling from a tragic car accident, social media darling Grace Thomas embarks on a two-week Mediterranean cruise. But serenity quickly gives way to mounting paranoia, as unsettling memories and shifting alliances among her fellow passengers begin to erode Grace's grip on reality. Is someone on board hiding a deadly secret? Or is Grace's mind playing tricks on her?

Mum-of-two Audrey only looks away from the stroller for a moment, as her daughter runs off across the park. But the next thing she knows, her baby son is rolling towards the lake. When Claire steps in to prevent disaster, Audrey is beyond grateful. She can't imagine what would have happened if Claire hadn't been there that day. As Claire and Audrey grow closer, Audrey couldn't ask for more from her new best friend. ut when tragedy strikes for a second time, Audrey discovers that Claire wasn't who she thought she was...and now it's far too late.

"England, 1940. Dearest Ruby, you must have heard the news by now. The very worst has happened. Our countries are at war. What can I do? How can I stop this nightmare from happening? One day soon we’ll be together again. I swear. I love you. E. x". Ruby Summers is a tapestry of memories, her ninety-six years laced with both love and loss. The echoes of a wartime Norfolk summer, where young Ruby's heart entwined with Edmondo's under orchard skies, are as vivid as ever. Yet a single, haunting secret - born from a love tested by war and a betrayal that shattered her - remains locked within her.