Showing results by narrator "James Langton" in All Categories

Oliver Twist is one of the most well-known stories ever told, about a young orphan who has to survive the mean streets of London before ultimately being rescued by a kindly benefactor.

But it is his friend, the Artful Dodger, who has the far more intriguing tale, filled with more adventure and excitement than anything boring Oliver could possibly get up to. Throw in some vampires and a plot to overthrow the British monarchy, and what you have is the thrilling account that Charles Dickens was too scared to share with the world.

In Second Activation, the two brothers escape from Monroe, Michigan, and head for New York to face down Genesis Alliance, a despotic organization that is implementing the chaos to create a new order. Caught in a race against time, confronted with a local team intent on revenge and expecting the imminent arrival of a larger reinforcement, Harry and Jack must avoid existing dangers, gain allies, and stop the Alliance from launching its next Activation.

Just 30 years ago, socialism seemed utterly discredited. An economic, moral, and political failure, socialism had rightly been thrown on the ash heap of history after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately, bad ideas never truly go away — and socialism has come back with a vengeance. A generation of young people who don’t remember the misery that socialism inflicted on Russia and Eastern Europe is embracing it all over again. 

In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He's also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House.

A cop as well as an art historian, Marco Valoni leads a crack team of investigators in a race to solve a crime he's certain is about to shock the world: someone is planning to steal the Holy Shroud of Turin.

The surprising history of Balif has finally come to light.... The Journeyman is charged to use the ancient Anvil of Time to travel back along the river of time and find the lost stories that fell between the pages of the history books. One of the most intriguing figures in Dragonlance is that of Balif, the elven general who was an intimate of Silvanos, the first Speaker of the Stars. Balif founded the city of Balifor, granted the kender a homeland, was an advocate for the wizard Vedvedsica, lived under a curse, was altered by the Graygem - but no one elf could do all those things. Or could he?

When Tom's girlfriend walks out on him the day before Christmas, he feels humiliated but not necessarily heartbroken. Sadie wasn't, after all, The One. If we're being precise, she was number 85. And so, for reasons that are only mostly wrong, Tom embarks on a mission to bring his number of encounters up to a nice neat 100. Over the course of his quest he sleeps with a colleague, a colleague of a friend, a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend's wife, the estate agent selling his flat, and several more besides.

When Meagan was five years old, her mother was viciously attacked and murdered. Now an adult, she herself is the victim of an abusive relationship. She’s desperate to escape but doesn’t have the courage to leave. So when Meagan meets Oliver, a decent guy who is on the rebound after a failed relationship, the two strike up a connection. But when Meagan confesses that her husband is abusive, it leads Oliver down a dark and dangerous path. Just how far would you go to protect someone? Oliver is about to find out and be pushed to his very limits....

The Journeyman is charged to use the ancient Anvil of Time to travel back along the river of time and find the lost stories that fell between the pages of the history books. He finds Bradok Axeblade. A chance meeting in a pub turns into a dire warning of impending apocalypse, and Bradok and a determined band of dwarves must brave the dark of the underworld, facing strange new dangers and horrors long hidden from the light. Hunger, fatigue, betrayal, and death await them, all in their quest to find safety in an alien environment - the surface world.

In this comprehensive biography, David Willey explores the religious and personal background of the inspirational Pope Francis, his stunning impact on the Catholic Church, the hopes he has raised, and the legacy he will leave behind.

Find out how love blooms when red-hatted Juliet meets blue-hatted Gnomeo while their rival families wage war to have the best garden in Stratford-Upon-Avon. This junior novelization is a complete retelling of the new animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet.

Convicted of thievery and transported from England to America, Oliver Cromwell Pitts, shackled to his fellow prisoners, endures inedible food, filthy conditions, and deadly storms on his voyage across the Atlantic. But the hazardous shipboard journey is nothing compared to the peril that waits for him on the colonial shores.  

Late in the twenty-first century, drought and wildfires prompt an exodus from southern Europe. When twelve-year-old Caleb is separated from his mother during their trek north, he soon falls prey to traffickers. Enslaved in an enclave outside Manchester, the resourceful and determined Caleb never loses hope of bettering himself. After Caleb is befriended by a fellow victim of trafficking, another road opens. Hiding in the woodlands by day, guided by the stars at night, he begins a new journey - to escape to a better life, to meet someone he can trust, and to find his family. 

A unique and fascinating look at Victorian society through the remarkable lives of an enlightened and philanthropic aristocratic couple, the marquess and marchioness of Aberdeen, who tried to change the world for the better but paid a heavy price. This is a true tale of love and loss, fortune and misfortune. 

It is autumn time, and on a peaceful Cornish beach, Finn and his sister, Ava, defy planning regulations and achieve a childhood dream when they build themselves an illegal beach hut. This tiny haven will be their home until Ava departs at Midwinter for a round-the-world adventure. In town, local publican Donald is determined to get rid of them.

High adventure from a master storyteller about one boy's attempt to fend for himself among cruel orphan masters, corrupt magistrates, and conniving thieves. In the seaside town of Melcombe Regis, England, 1724, Oliver Cromwell Pitts wakes to find his father missing and his house flooded by a recent storm. He's alone in his ruined home, with no money and no food. Oliver's father has left behind a barely legible waterlogged note: he's gone to London, where Oliver's sister, Charity, is in trouble.

After recovering from near-fatal injuries sustained on a mission, Luke Porterfield is offered a second opportunity to fight terrorism by a private venture. He is stored in bleeding-edge technology before agreeing to the deal and wakes to an uncertain fate. In the vastly changed and advanced city of London, Luke is tasked to defeat a deadly and elusive terrorist group. When his mission unearths a five-decades-long conspiracy, the explosive consequences force him into a fight against the power of a demented dictator.

In a tiny village in Northeast Hungary, close to the Romanian border, a young unnamed boy warily observes day-to-day life and chronicles his family's struggles to survive. Like most of the villagers, his family is desperately poor, but their situation is worse than most - they are ostracized because of his father's Jewish heritage and his mother's connections to the Kulaks, who once owned land and supported the fascist Horthy regime before it was toppled by Communists.

In the winter of 1836, a young journalist named Charles Dickens held an infant in his arms. Only eight months of age, Ruby Spriggs was living under the most deplorable conditions that existed in London. Crushing poverty seemed her only future. Through the intervention of kind patrons, the child blossoms into a young woman instilled with a love of learning and books. But the forces that Dickens fought against for most of his life threaten to destroy her.

Pick up the acclaimed Atlas of Cursed Places, and visit the world's most nerve-wracking locations. With pithy historical profiles, this is a clever gift for the intrepid traveler or armchair adventurer who wants to explore destinations both remarkable and daunting. Visit: a coal town where the ground is constantly on fire; a Zambian national park where more than eight million bats darken the skies; the infamous suicide location of Aokigahara Forest near Mount Fuji; the lesser-known Nevada triangle, in which dozens of aircraft have inexplicably disappeared.