Showing results by narrator "David Sweeney-Bear" in All Categories

The lore and everyday life of the Caucasus Region had a great impact on Mikhail Lermontov's work. In addition to serious, profound pieces with very clear Caucasus influence, like "The Hero of Our Time" and "Demon", he offers up this very traditional and slightly mischievous tale of a wandering minstrel in search of happiness.

Spanning 10 decades, A Surgeon's Tale is a historical biography that reaches beyond the mere personal to convey something of the cultures, people, politics, and places that touch the inscrutable heart of human nature. This multifaceted immigrant's story percolates with tales of childhood neglect, intrigue, medical training, medical discoveries, scientific dishonesty, illicit romance, unspeakable scoundrels and murder, all the while disclosing the rites, rituals, rules, and language of surgery.

From the author of Embrace the Darkness, Tunnels, and The Artist comes Four. Four friends spend a night away camping in the English countryside, each taking a turn to tell a horror story that will terrify the others. But the group soon discover that there is more to be afraid of than just some campfire tales, and that no one is as innocent as they seem.

Mastering the Knife, Volume II, of A Surgeon’s Tale, is the coming-of-age story of an Egyptian/German medical student in the hospitals of London in the 1960s. Hounded by failure, self-doubt, and cultural identity, he searches for his social and professional place in the world. The story masterfully goes beyond the biographical to encompass the people, language, and the rituals of surgical training. The author lifts the veil on the technical and moral concerns that contribute to the making of a successful surgeon.

The sequel to HG Wells' celebrated comic novel, The History of Mr. Polly. Time has moved on for Mr. Polly. Over 10 years have passed since the tragic loss of his beloved Nancy - "Nan" as he lovingly called her. Polly thinks he should now leave the Potwell Inn to allow Nan's daughter to rightfully inherit her home and fully live her own life.

After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o' them folk in his native Ireland, he can't. Instead, he's cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants. Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he's ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead—until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter's drawn into the townsfolk's lives, homes and troubles.

Separated from his parents by a devastating fire, eight-year-old Elijah embarks on a journey guided by a simple command: "Follow the river." Alongside Cedar, a wise rabbit; Oliver, a venerable horse; and Rin, the fallen alpha, Elijah navigates their journey filled with both danger and wonder. Together, they discover that true strength lies not in solitude but in the connections they make and the lives they touch.

When Betelgeuse turns supernova and showers the Earth with unexpected radiation, it changes everything. You are astrophysicist Geoff Arnold, and suddenly you find your body changed beyond all recognition. You then discover that your wife and children have vanished into a world you can hardly recognize. Can you find them and save the world from the effects of Mindslip? Prepare to be immersed in bizarre and unexpected characters and to imagine their impossible yet frighteningly realistic predicaments.

Having escaped being burnt at the stake, the reluctant sorcerer Fursey is back in this sequel, trying to make a quiet life for himself as a grocer in the realm of King Ethelwulf. But when his old enemies seize his wife, Fursey resolves to embrace evil and return to Ireland to reclaim her. Along the way, he'll have to contend with bloodthirsty Vikings, a melancholy vampire, an alcoholic wizard, a lovesick cow, and Satan himself, who is more determined than ever to get his hands on Fursey's soul.

When Woodsley, a young English painter, arrives in Barbados and finds no lodging available, he thinks himself fortunate to be invited to stay at Eltonsbrody, a mansion belonging to the eccentric widow Mrs Scaife. But behind the locked doors of the house’s disused rooms lurk terrible secrets, and soon strange and blood-curdling events begin to unfold. The tension builds towards a shocking and unforgettable conclusion, when the full horror of Eltonsbrody will be revealed.

It's September 1953, and a helicopter crashes in the jungle. The pilot and a military policeman are burned to death, and it’s unclear what they were doing, but this was no accident. The name BlackJack is found at the scene. Ash Carter knew that the Special Investigations Branch were tracking a killer, and the discovery of a faceless body draws Carter into the case that involves the murder of ex-soldiers.

From the author of Embrace the Darkness, Tunnels takes you on six terrifying journeys full of terror and suspense. Join a group of ghost-hunters, dare to visit the Monroe house on Halloween, peek inside the marble box, and feel the fear as you meet the creatures of the night.

1844. In the final days of his life, Captain Basil Hall begins rewriting the journal of his acclaimed voyage to the coasts of the New World. But as Basil sails the HMS Conway into the forgotten corners of his mind, his past resurfaces in the form of a passenger with a dark secret and the tragic death of one of his men.

The fantasy continues.... Whatever happened after happily ever after? This thrilling collection of classic fairy tales answers the question, each story going deeper into the fanciful creations the world has loved and shared over the centuries.

The nightmares continue in this third installment of short horrors from P.J. Blakey-Novis. The Artist and Other Stories contains a terrifying mix of serial killers, sirens, ghosts, claustrophobia, supernatural powers, and revenge guaranteed to get your heart racing and set your nerves on edge.

What if the gods themselves wanted you dead? A young boy lies on a beach on a warm summer's day. While trying to block the sun from his eyes Arpherius makes a shocking discovery; he has no shadow. Confused and bewildered he asks his uncle why he is shadowless. What he learns is a terrifying secret that will change his life forever. Set in the Northern Realms, Shadowless is a fantasy novel about individuals born without a shadow. Spawned by the malevolent deities of this world these children of the gods are persecuted at every turn.

Someone Waiting for You is the second of two novels comprising Jerome Ostrov's World War II saga When Country Calls. The story begins in August 1936 as Jonathan Sternbloom and his best friend Charlie Brody, both recent graduates of London's prestigious St. Paul's School, prepare to disembark from the RMS Queen Mary. They are headed for Cornell University, where they have received scholarships to play soccer.

In Ways Unimagined is the first of two completed novels that comprise Jerome Ostrov’s World War II saga When Country Calls. The story begins in April 1933, shortly after enactment of the Nazi exclusionary laws prohibiting Jews from occupying university positions. Respected anthropologist Anton Sternbloom has determined there is no longer any future for him at the University of Hamburg.

Heroes All is the sequel to Jerome Ostrov’s WWII story, Someone Waiting for You, and the third story in his WWII trilogy, When Country Calls. Emphasizing the heroic roles they played in the tortuous journey leading to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Israel, the listener is introduced to a Jewish Canadian airman, a young Jewish California lawyer, a survivor of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, a soldier grievously injured, and a German engineer.

Shortly before the global pandemic, the world found itself at the threshold of a cataclysm of a different kind - a besieged Israel prepared to use any means at its disposal to counter the increasingly bellicose actions of an Iran intent on relieving domestic pressure by attacking the Jewish state.