Showing results by narrator "Jake Urry" in All Categories

The short stories written during and about World War I are often overshadowed by the excellent verse of the War Poets. Yet the short story is perhaps their equal in other ways. Within these succinct little time capsules of words are captured ideas, attitudes, feelings and life that are expressed in a few minutes just as movingly, imaginatively and tellingly as in any other form. Some of these stories will be familiar, but some may not. From Virginia Woolf to Katharine Mansfield and John Buchan to C. E. Montague, various writing styles try to make sense of this world at war.

The Mailer family are oblivious to the terrible danger that enters their lives when seven-year-old Anthony is referred to the child guidance service by the family GP following the breakdown of his parents' marriage. Fifty-eight year old Dr. David Galbraith, a sadistic, predatory paedophile employed as a consultant child psychiatrist, has already murdered one child in the soundproofed cellar below the South Wales Georgian townhouse he shares with his wife and two young daughters. Anthony becomes Galbraith's latest obsession and he will stop at nothing to make his grotesque fantasies reality.

When nineteen-year-old university student Emma goes missing, Detective Inspector Gareth Gravel is called in. But what is a simple missing person case soon turns into something much darker as Gravel’s inquiries lead him to the graves of five young women - each of whom looks just like Emma. With a serial killer on the loose and his latest victim already in his control, can the police find Emma in time? Or will Emma have to save herself?

The visit of the Comte du Barcelone to Les Baux sparks bitter memories of the recent civil war and Lady Etiennette des Baux has no intention of ceding to her overlord. Nor does she plan to remain a widow and she sets her sights on Dragonetz, offering him Provence as an incentive. Meanwhile, Estela faces her own demons. Confronted with her childhood abusers, threatened and attacked, she confides in her friends. Unfortunately, one of those friends is Dragonetz' worst enemy and Estela has no idea of what he is capable.

Imprisoned in Damascus, Dragonetz suffers the mind games inflicted by his anonymous enemies as he is forced to remember the traumatic events of the crusade two years earlier. His military prowess is as valuable and dangerous to the balance of power as the priceless Torah he has to deliver to Jerusalem, and the key players want Dragonetz riding with them—or dead. Instead of remaining safely at home, Estela is desperate to rescue Dragonetz at all costs. She sets out for the Holy Land, never realizing that the person she thinks will be her knight's savior might actually be his doom.

George Robert Gissing was born on November 22, 1857, in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He was educated at Back Lane School in Wakefield. Gissing loved school. He was enthusiastic with a thirst for learning and always diligent. By the age of 10 he was reading Dickens, a lifelong hero. In 1872, Gissing won a scholarship to Owens College. Whilst there, Gissing worked hard but remained solitary. Unfortunately, he had run short of funds and stole from his fellow students. He was arrested, prosecuted, found guilty, expelled and sentenced to a month's hard labour in 1876.

This bundle features two classic horror stories narrated by Jake Urry. Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a timeless horror classic that has captivated listeners for over a century. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a thrilling and captivating novel that has mesmerised listeners for over 200 years.

Dragonetz failed his liege, Eleanor of Aquitaine and is in exile, branded an oathbreaker. But she plans to be Queen of England and gives him one chance to redeem himself. His mission will take him alone into the hostile court of the Welsh princes, Rhys and Meredith, relying on song and sword to win their trust. Unlikely to survive, he intends to die alone.

A king, a witch, an assassin, a farmer, and a backwoodsman struggle to survive in this fantasy novella about magic, power, and family. Tresladore, where both white and black magic are outlawed and masters of the sword are worshiped, is the first island we explore in this saga about kings and queens fighting to win and keep their thrones.

DI Gravel is supposed to be on mandatory leave, but when a severed head washes up on the estuary beach his holiday is cut short. Back on the job, he’s shocked when the case leads him to the victim from an old case. Seventeen years ago, the system failed Rebecca. They let the abuser of a six-year-old girl walk free. But she’s all grown up now and taking the law into her own hands. Is this one killer DI Gravel doesn’t want to catch?

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE, was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 13, 1884. His father was an Anglican clergyman which involved postings abroad. Walpole’s early education was by a Governess until, in 1893, his parents decided he needed a better education and the young boy was sent to England. He first attended a preparatory school in Truro followed by Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow in 1895, where he was bullied, frightened and miserable.

William Pett Ridge was born at Chartham, near Canterbury, Kent, on 22 April 1859. His family’s resources were certainly limited. His father was a Railway Porter, and the young Pett Ridge, after schooling in Marden, Kent became a Clerk in a railway clearing-house. The hours were long and arduous, but self-improvement was Pett Ridge’s goal. After working from nine until seven o’clock he would attend evening classes at Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institute to follow his passion: the ambition to write.

In The Invisible Man, an unexpected guest at the Coach and Horses in Iping arouses the local's interest with his short temper and his completely covered face. Griffin is seeking solitude and quiet, but is soon forced from the village and finds temporary shelter in the home of an old university friend, Kemp. In The Time Machine, a Victorian scientist travels into the far future and discovers the descendants of humanity, the Eloi, living in apparent peace. However, after his time machine goes missing, he discovers that humanity has in fact split into two distinct species.

Wilfred Owen was born on 18th March 1893 at Plas Wilmot, near Oswestry in Shropshire, the eldest of four children. His mother's strong Anglican views passed through to Wilfred, and the Bible, along with books on the Romantic poets, particularly John Keats, were particular favourites and contributed to his initial devotion to the church. In 1913 Wilfred began work as a private tutor teaching English and French at the Berlitz School of Languages in Bordeaux, France, and later with a family.

Thomas Burke was born Sydney Thomas Burke on November 29th, 1886 in Eltham, London (at the time it was part of Kent). An author in the early years of the century who brought his skills of pen and eye to parts of London, specifically the Limehouse district of the East End, and wrote with drive and vigour about the characters he met and the places that he knew.

The United States has July 4th, Ireland St Patrick’s Day and France Bastille Day. Most Nations celebrate a particular day as ‘theirs’. That day is when they turn to themselves; to reflect on the past, to revel in the present and to look forward to the future. For England 23rd April is St George’s Day. St George, a hero from bygone days, who slays dragons and pursues other mythic deeds, is part of childhood. But for modern times, for modern nations, a greater purpose is needed. For England St George is best now described as a principle.

Successful novelist Mia is being stalked. Photos of her and her four-year-old daughter arrive in untraceable emails that demand Mia perform various tasks or else... Terrified, Mia tries to escape, but the killer follows her all the way to Italy. In desperation, she returns home, but nowhere is safe. Meanwhile, DI Gravel is investigating the murder of three women. The detective’s last case pushed him to new extremes. Now with his health failing and his career at an end, what lengths will Gravel go to in order to catch a vicious killer?

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on the 1st April 1875 in Greenwich, London. Leaving school at 12 because of truancy, by the age of fifteen he had experience; selling newspapers, as a worker in a rubber factory, as a shoe shop assistant, as a milk delivery boy and as a ship’s cook. By 1904 he had completed his first thriller, The Four Just Men. Since nobody would publish it he resorted to setting up his own publishing company which he called Tallis Press.

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on the 1st April 1875 in Greenwich, London. Leaving school at 12 because of truancy, by the age of fifteen he had experience; selling newspapers, as a worker in a rubber factory, as a shoe shop assistant, as a milk delivery boy and as a ship’s cook. Wallace now began to take his career as a fiction writer more seriously, signing with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921. He was marketed as the ‘King of Thrillers’ and they gave him the trademark image of a trilby, a cigarette holder and a yellow Rolls Royce.

John Buchan was born on August 26th 1875. After a brief career in the legal profession he began a twin career as writer and politician. He was a prodigious writer not just of fiction but of such acclaimed works as a 24 volume history of World War I. It was during the war, where, as a sideline writing propaganda, he wrote his most famous work, ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’. Its hero, Richard Hannay, continues his story in other Buchan novels, most notably Greenmantle (1916) and Mr Standfast (1919).