Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

August 2022. Simon Sharman is out for revenge, pursuing the assassin of his former colleague across war-torn Ukraine. Back in London, a Russian spy ring at the heart of the British Establishment remains active, attempting to sabotage the West's support for Ukraine. In the fiercely contested Donbas region, Simon finds himself sucked into a terrifying shadow conflict between Russia and the West. Can a lone spy make a difference to the course of a conflict?

The sun is bloated, diseased, dying perhaps. Beneath its baneful light, Shadrapar, last of all cities, harbours fewer than 100,000 human souls. Built on the ruins of countless civilisations, Shadrapar is a museum, a midden, an asylum, a prison on a world that is ever more alien to humanity. Bearing witness to the desperate struggle for existence between life old and new is Stefan Advani: rebel, outlaw, prisoner, survivor.

Beyond the lights of Spark City lies a town that bandits and mercenaries call home. Where darkest deeds are currency, and only the ruthless survive. But when the enigmatic and dangerous assassin Aurora arrives at their gates with a legion at her back, even the lawless rules of banditry are tested. Raven Rock's infamous inhabitants are no strangers to bloodshed, yet Aurora brings a storm of carnage and madness unlike any they have ever known, plunging the town into a siege that threatens to wipe it from the map.

Hatushaly, last scion of the Firemane dynasty; his beloved Hava, and their dubious friend Donte have been transported across space and time from their war-torn world of Garn to the relative peace of Midkemia. There, on Sorcerer’s Isle, under the guidance of the great magician Magnus and his reincarnated father Pug, Hatu will explore and expand his unique magical abilities: for if Garn is to be saved, they will be needed.

Isabella Rose lives a quiet life in Marrakech, hiding a dark secret: she pays the bills by accepting wet work for an unknown broker. Her one solace is the time she spends at a local orphanage that offers a haven to children who have lost everything. When a powerful and corrupt general sets his sights on acquiring the orphanage's land, Isabella finds her two worlds colliding. Brutal tactics escalate, culminating in a devastating fire that forces Isabella to risk everything to save the children she's grown to love.

Maggie Webb has lived the last decade caring for elderly husband, Stanley, as memory loss gradually erases all the beautiful moments they created together. It's the loneliest she's ever felt in her life. When a mysterious stranger named Hassan appears at her door, he reveals a shocking truth: Stanley isn't losing his memories. Someone is actively removing them to hide a long-buried secret from coming to light. If Maggie does what she's told, she can reverse it. She can get her husband back.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

The Man on the Mountaintop tells the story of Holy Man Joe, an ageing and unassuming man who lives in a hermitage on top of a mountain. During the summer months, thousands of hopefuls line the path leading to his door, seeking his wisdom. From bombastic, wealthy nobles intent on cheating their way to the top to drunkards who gradually build the physical and mental strength they need to quit their addiction, The Man on the Mountaintop is a rousing tale full of humour, wit and life lessons.

Prior to assuming his new role with a different constabulary, Danny Maik has taken a holiday in Singapore to reconcile with an old friend, Guy Trueman. When a street brawl turns deadly, Danny is facing a charge of manslaughter, but when evidence emerges that he may have planned the victim's murder, Maik is looking at the death penalty. Back in Norfolk, Maik's replacement is trying to resurrect his career after an earlier serious error. At first, the signs are promising. His astute observations turn the apparent suicide of a local pheasant farmer into murder.

Everyone knows about the Cambridge Spies from the fifties, identified and broken up after passing national secrets to the Soviets for years. But no spy ring was ever unearthed at Oxford. Because one never existed? Or because it was never found...?

Jack Kane is a wanted man. Governments want him dead. And he is the last hope for a family facing a ruthless private military organization. A UK football club owned by a father-daughter team finds itself the subject of an aggressive takeover bid. Things get out of control when the buyers turn out to be a company backed by a private military group with links to the Russian government. Jack Kane and Frank Craven are the family's last hope as they try to survive brutal attacks and violent thugs in this life-or-death thriller.

Locan was once the deadliest man in the Dominion. Now he’s a nobody—a stranger living quietly at the edge of the world. And that’s just how he likes it. But when bandits raid his home in the night, killing and burning, Locan is forced to reveal his skill with a blade. A vicious enemy ordered the attack—someone Locan thought he killed years ago. But the vampire Solis Deadhand is alive. And far to the north he is building an empire of blood and magic.

When his most celebrated case is suddenly reopened, Detective Chief Inspector Jejeune's long-buried secrets threaten to come to light. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Lindy, faces an unseen threat of her own, one which Jejeune may not be able to protect her from. Between fending off inquiries from the internal review and an open murder case to solve, more than ever Jejeune will have to rely on the help of the stalwart Sergeant Danny Maik. But Maik is learning things on his own that have caused him to question his DCI‘s actions, both past and present.

Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he's actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world. Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor—but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart.

Identifying the murderer of the Chancellor of the university is not the only challenge facing physician Matthew Bartholomew. Many of his patients have been made worse by the ministrations of a 'surgeon' recently arrived from Nottingham, his sister is being rooked by the mason she has commissioned to build her husband's tomb and his friend, Brother Michael, has been offered a bishopric which will cause him to leave Cambridge.

The desire for fulfilling work is one of the great aspirations of our age. This book reveals explores the competing claims we face for money, status, and meaning in our lives. Drawing on wisdom from a variety of disciplines, cultural thinker Roman Krznaric sets out a practical guide to negotiating the labyrinth of choices, overcoming fear of change, and finding a career in which you thrive. Overturning a century of traditional thought about career change, Krznaric reveals just what it takes to find life-enhancing work.

Hatushaly, last scion of the Firemane dynasty, his beloved Hava, and their dubious friend Donte have been transported across space and time from the war-torn world of Garn to the relative peace of Midkemia. There, on Sorcerer's Isle, under the guidance of the magician Magnus and his erstwhile father Pug, in his reincarnated form, Hatu will explore and expand his unique magical abilities. With the evil Pride Lords defeated, the Church of the One has risen to bring death and destruction to his home world.

2022: Former spy Simon Sharman is eking out a living in the private sector. When a commission to delve into the financial dealings of a mysterious Russian oligarch comes across his desk, he jumps at the chance. But as Simon investigates, worrying patterns begin to emerge. His subject made regular trips to Oxford, but for no apparent reason. There are payments from offshore accounts that suddenly just...stop. Has he found what none of his former colleagues believed possible, a Russian spy ring now nestled at the heart of the British Establishment?

Meet John Milton. He considers himself an artisan. A craftsman. His trade is murder. Milton is the man the government sends after you when everything else has failed. Ruthless. Brilliant. Anonymous. Lethal. You wouldn't pick him out of a crowd but you wouldn't want to be on his list. In this second dip into his case files (see 1000 Yards for a further novella), Milton is sent to Italy to investigate the death of a colleague from Group 15.

A man falls to his death in Western Scotland. From a distance another man watches. He approaches the body, tucks a book into the dead man's pocket, and leaves. When the Scottish police show visiting detective chief inspector Domenic Jejeune the book, he recognises it as a call for help. Back in Saltmarsh the brutal murder of a researcher has everyone looking at the man's controversial studies as a motive.