Showing results by narrator "Mark Topping" in All Categories

Wilhelm Canaris was appointed by Hitler to head the Abwehr (the German secret service) 18 months after the Nazis came to power. But Canaris turned against the Fuhrer and the Nazi regime, believing that Hitler would start a war Germany could not win. In 1938 he was involved in an attempted coup, undermined by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. In 1940 he sabotaged the German plan to invade England, and fed General Franco vital information that helped him keep Spain out of the war.

Mr. Bennet discovers his days are numbered, so he immediately begins to set his affairs - and his five unmarried daughters - in order. Knowing they will fare best should at least one of them find a suitable husband, he cannot refuse any respectable suitors. The high-spirited Elizabeth suspects something isn't right in the halls of Longbourn, but nothing prepares her for a certain haughty gentleman from Derbyshire.

Sir Alanbart avoids action, recoils from romance, and shuns self-sacrifice; yet when he finds himself drawn into a harebrained attempt to rescue King Arthur, he becomes a victim of all three, and then poor Alanbart must fight hard to stay true to his cowardly and indolent nature.

Three Days and Two Knights is a genre crossover that blends fantasy adventure, comedy, and romance in a historical literary setting.

A dying light, an ancient hope, a coming evil. The Epic of Haven trilogy will compel listeners to journey along in this allegorical tale of poets and priests and warriors and heroes. When the great burning tree of Haven begins to die, leaving the otherwise unlit world of Aeinor in a state of ever-growing darkness, a young man sets upon a quest to discover a new source of light before the unknown evils lurking in the shadows unleash their fury upon the unsuspecting world.

Thomas Berrington, emigre Englishman who has made the doomed city of Garnatah his home, is once again attempting to solve a series of mysterious deaths. Accompanied by his companion, the palace eunuch Jorge, Thomas struggles to discover the truth while those in power seek to distract him. As his investigation continues, his personal life splinters into chaos, and he finds the Spanish, once more, demanding his presence.

For Thomas Berrington, torn between two warring civilizations, Ronda is an escape from the madness engulfing Gharnatah. For al-Zagal, the default leader of al-Andalus, it is a return to his mountain stronghold. In the year 1485 this should be a time of recovery and replenishment. Until the Spanish army arrives, spreading across the plain below towering cliffs. And someone is murdering women so subtly the first the deaths go unnoticed. Thomas and Jorge are once more thrown into the pursuit of a killer as the world around them changes, and the end of a once great civilization draws closer. Can they unmask the Incubus before he steals the breath of more victims?

Summoned to attend the Spanish queen, English surgeon Thomas Berrington discovers Sevilla in turmoil. Plague ravages the city, and the Inquisition takes both innocent and guilty alike. Among this chaos Thomas must investigate a series of killings. Two victims are taken together, but for what reason?

When 13-year-old Thomas Berrington is attacked by a group of boys on his way home, he believes it is just another beating he must take - until one of the boys is found dead, and Thomas is accused of the murder. Fighting to save his reputation and his life, Thomas is distracted by his feelings toward a girl his father would disapprove of: the pretty and resourceful Bel Brickenden. Together they uncover a web of deceit and lies to reveal the sad truth behind the murder.

Spain, 1489. Cordoba, Andalusia. Sent to Cordoba on the orders of a man he hates, Thomas Berrington welcomes the distraction of a murder, but is shocked when he uncovers evidence pointing to the killer being his closest companion. When Jorge is imprisoned, Thomas must continue the investigation alone - a task made harder by the distraction of two beautiful women.

Grief-stricken following the death of his baby son, surgeon Dan Lewis is struggling to make sense of it all as his marriage collapses. His work is his lifeline. But when he fixates on a child patient he thinks has a potentially lethal disease, no one believes the diagnosis. They all think he’s losing his mind. When one of Dan’s critics is senselessly murdered and the evidence points to the damaged doctor as the prime suspect, his bad situation becomes desperate. But there’s a dark secret linking the ill child and the murder victim - one that no one other than Dan can see.

AD 1569. The March lands between England and Scotland are a place of terror, where outlaw bands and broken men rob, pillage, and murder in open defiance of the law. Here, deadly blood-feud is a way of life. Families of robbers, known as Border Reivers, live via blackmail and terrorism. No man sleeps safe in his bed, and the sound of hoof beats on the tops is a herald of death. Richie Reade, known as Richie O'the Bow, finds himself dragged into this dark and bloody world.

1570 AD. The March lands between England and Scotland are a place of terror, where outlaw bands and broken men rob, pillage and murder in open defiance of the law. Here, deadly blood-feud is a way of life. Families of robbers, known as Border Reivers, live via blackmail and terrorism. No man sleeps safe in his bed, and the sound of hoofbeats on the tops is a herald of death.

For Thomas Berrington it begins with the mystery of a stolen body. Soon he is hunting a killer searching for the untold wealth of the richest city in Al-Andalus. Moving to Malaka with his family and friends, Thomas hopes for respite from the war that ravages Al-Andalus. Then two events conspire to throw his settled life into chaos. Someone seeks the location of the city’s fabled wealth while Spanish forces gather like storm clouds ready to rain down fire and iron.

The dawn of the fifth century and the Roman Empire totters on the edge of the abyss. Already divided into two, the Imperium is looking dangerously vulnerable to her European rivals. The huge barbarian tribes of the Vandals and Visigoths sense that their time is upon them. But, unbeknown to all of these great players, a new power is rising in the East. A strange nation of primitive horse warriors has been striking terror upon border peoples for 50 years. But few realise what is about to happen. For these so called 'Huns' now have a new leader. His name is Attila - 'the Scourge of God'.

Thomas Berrington has come to the high mountains of Spain’s Sierra Nevada in search of an escape from the loss that haunts him. Standing at the boundary between life or death he cannot decide which to choose. When his friend Jorge Olmos tracks him down Thomas tries to reject him, but Jorge cannot be rejected. Events draw Thomas back toward the world of the living, and he finds himself pursuing the men who stole all hope from him. Thomas’s nemesis Abbot Mandana is working together with his son to gather an army. But for what purpose?

The fifth century has dawned in blood. The young boy exiled 30 years ago has grown into a man. One stormy autumn day, a mysterious rider is seen out on the plains. Attila has returned, his sentence served, to claim his kingdom. He will ride out at the head of no more than 100 chosen men, driven by the ambition to unite all the feuding Hunnish and Scythian tribes under single banner and a single king.

Nathan Bannister thinks he's finally mastered his magic. But that doesn’t do him much good when he loses his magical knife to the enemy. He's terrified his rivals will use it against him. Granny get’s involved, but things go from bad to worse when Lashtang's biggest enemy escapes from prison. Knowing he needs help, Nathan turns to some of England's old kings, as his enemies bring back the dead. But in the end Nathan realizes that only he and Poppy can make things right. Can Nathan reclaim his magic knife and the throne, or will his final battle end in tragedy?

Northmen sacked the monastery at dawn before anyone had awakened. They burned the village and slaughtered all who stood in their path. The relics of Saint Philbert were lost, and the island was abandoned by those who once dwelled there. Sixteen years later, a monk named Abriel who had survived the attack as a boy is sent to recover the relics to help restore the reputation and legitimacy of Saint Philbert. What he discovers on his journey changes his life forever.

For centuries, ships' commanders kept journals that recorded their missions. These included voyages of discovery to unknown lands, engagements in war and sea and general trade. Many of their logs, diaries and letters were lodged at The National Archives and give a vivid picture of the situations that they encountered. Entries range from Captain James Cook's notes of his discovery of the South Pacific and Australia, to logs of the great naval battles, such as Waterloo and Trafalgar.

1944, England. Calum Auger can see 10 seconds into the future. Desperate not to die in the air over Germany, the Lancaster bombardier uses his unique gift to drop his payload more accurately and help the pilot avoid enemy fire. But when he can’t find a way through the flak and the damaged plane crash-lands in England, he’s stunned to discover two government agents waiting to recruit him. Drafted into a top-secret team of psychics, Calum and his new unit are tasked with tracking down spies who stole sensitive documents—papers containing information on how to build an atom bomb.