Showing results by narrator "Luke Thompson" in All Categories

July 1942. Never has the outcome of the war been more uncertain. Britain might have ruled out any risk of invasion, but Stalin's Russia is bowing under the blows of Hitler's armies. The Nazis unleash an occult war in an attempt to tip the scales: whoever reunites the four sacred Swastikas will win. Double Agent Tristan Marcas sets out in search of the Romanov treasure, which is said to harbour the final relic. He's got no time to lose: the battle is about to come to a head.

November, 1941. Germany is about to win the war. Only one thing still separates the Nazis from a certain victory: they must find the three remaining all-powerful swastikas and reunite them with a fourth that is safely hidden away in Himmler's mountain stronghold. Churchill has no choice but to mobilise his best man, double agent Tristan Marcas, and employ the most risky techniques to beat them to it. It all comes to a showdown at a ball in Venice.

Solitary photojournalist John Wallace struggles to consciousness to find he has been bound and blindfolded by a masked man who is preparing to hang him in his own living room. Forced onto a chair with a noose around his neck, Wallace briefly reconsiders his mostly lonely life before the chair is kicked out beneath him and his world fades to black. Then he gets lucky and manages to escape his apartment, just ahead of his assailant. Bloody, barefoot, and with at least one broken rib, he has no choice but to run for his life.

For career criminals Jack and Billy Thatcher, ripping off London's most notorious gangster seems like a sure fire way to kick off their retirement plans. Unfortunately they don't bank on their bosses' underworld connections going a lot deeper than expected. Now finding themselves on the run from undead monsters and chainsaw-wielding freaks, the Thatcher boys will have to employ every dirty trick they know if they want to live to see another dawn.

How did descendants of Viking marauders came to dominate Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East? It is a tale of ambitious adventures and fierce freebooters, of fortunes made and fortunes lost. The Normans made their influence felt across all of western Europe and the Mediterranean, from the British Isles to North Africa, and Lisbon to the Holy Land. In Empires of the Normans we discover how they combined military might and political savvy with deeply held religious beliefs and a profound sense of their own destiny.

In a Europe on the verge of collapse, the Nazi organisation Ahnenerbe is pillaging sacred landmarks across the world. Their aim is to collect treasures with occult powers, which will help them establish the Third Reich. The organisation's head, Himmler, has sent SS officers to search a forgotten sanctuary in the Himalayas, whilst he tries to track down a mysterious painting. Which ancient power do the Nazis believe they hold the key to?

A selection of enchanting stories by one of the world's best-loved children's authors, Enid Blyton. Ribby the Gnome has a very bad habit: he always borrows things and never brings them back! But when he takes a wizard's umbrella and doesn't return it, he's in for a horrible surprise. The umbrella is magic, and it is very angry!

A young woman's future is torn away in a heartbeat. Herded on to a train bound for Auschwitz, in an act of desperation she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger. All she has left now is hope. Jean-Luc thought he had left it all behind. The scar on his face a small price to pay for surviving the horrors of Nazi Occupation. Now, he has a new life in California, a family. He never expected the past to come knocking on his door. On a darkened platform, two destinies become entangled. Their choice will change the future in ways neither could have imagined.

The Ticket Collector from Belarus tells the remarkable story of two interwoven journeys. Ben-Zion Blustein and Andrei Sawoniuk were childhood companions in 1930s Domachevo, once a holiday and health resort in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and then a struggling township in Belarus. During the events which followed its Nazi occupation in 1942, they became the bitterest of enemies. After the war, Ben-Zion made his way to Israel, and ‘Andrusha the bastard’ found work as a London Transport ticket collector.

When war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up. Tom Shaw decides to give it a miss - until his flatmate, Alistair, unexpectedly enlists, and the conflict can no longer be avoided. Young, bright and brave, Mary is certain she'd be a marvelous spy. When she is - bewilderingly - made a teacher, she instead finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget.

Fabien and Sylvie had both known their marriage was no longer working. And yet when Sylvie is involved in a fatal car accident, her husband is stunned to discover that she had a lover who died alongside her. With thoughts of revenge on his mind, Fabien decides to find out about the lover’s widow, Martine, first by stalking her, then by breaking into her home. He really needs to get Martine on her own. But she never goes anywhere without her formidable best friend, Madeleine...

Christmas 1953. Max Mephisto, and his daughter, Ruby, are headlining Brighton Hippodrome, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savoury support act: a tableau show of naked 'living statues'. This might appear to have nothing in common with DI Edgar Stephens's investigation into the death of a quiet flower seller, but if there's one thing the old comrades have learned it's that, in Brighton, the line between art and life - and death - is all too easily blurred.

John Wallace survived. Now he has to take control and find out who he can trust in this high-octane follow-up to Pendulum. Fans of Simon Kernick and Terry Hayes' I Am Pilgrim will not be able to pause this. Eight months after confronting Pendulum, John Wallace is losing himself in a dangerous war zone in a misguided attempt at penance for what he has done. But an assassination attempt makes Wallace realise that he has once again been targeted for death.

The hilarious, bawdy and touching story of a good man who loved too well and dared challenge the absolute power of the Sun King himself.

They believed it was over. Having survived the lethal Pendulum conspiracy, photographer John Wallace atones for his past mistakes. DI Patrick Bailey clings to the hope that he can, at last, return to a normal life in London. But it's only just beginning. FBI investigator Christine Ash - alone and paranoid - hunts down the remaining members of the ruthless Foundation organisation. Dark forces are rising again. But when masked assassins strike at the heart of the UK government, a shocking new threat emerges that forces all three to reunite.

Brighton, 1963. Edgar Stephens has been promoted to Superintendent and is married to his former sergeant, Emma Holmes. Edgar's wartime partner in arms, magician Max Mephisto, is a movie star in Hollywood, while his daughter Ruby has her own TV show. The funeral of an old friend highlights just how much the gang's lives have changed in the last nine years. Edgar is struggling with fresh responsibilities and the new swinging Brighton of rioting mods and rockers; Emma is chafing against the restrictions of life as a housewife.

The soldiers of one of the world's most famous fighting forces, the Paras, tell the gripping story of the regiment in their own words. Published to coincide with 75th anniversary of its formation, this is the definitive history of the iconic Parachute Regiment, told through the voices of more than 200 of the soldiers themselves.

In the aftermath of Jo Cox's tragic death in 2016, her husband, Brendan Cox, urged us to remember Jo's life and what she stood for and not the manner of her death. In this moving and impassioned portrait of Jo - as daughter, mother, wife, sister, MP and activist - we see how much she gave and how much more she had to give, and her legacy of values and beliefs which will live on.

Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres and to explore what some of her much-loved creations such as Dr Ruth Galloway might have done outside of the novels. This collection gathers them all together in one splendid volume. Here are bite-sized tales to please and entertain every thriller taste as well as all Elly Griffiths' fans.

Eight months after confronting Pendulum, John Wallace is losing himself in a dangerous warzone in a misguided attempt at penance for what he has done. But an assassination attempt makes Wallace realize that he has once again been targeted for death. This time, Wallace is prepared and, tracking down his would-be assassin, he discovers a link to his nemesis, Pendulum. The link is the missing piece of a puzzle that has tormented FBI Agent Christine Ash ever since they confronted Pendulum, but with no Bureau support she has been unable to pursue her case.