Showing results by narrator "Napoleon Ryan" in All Categories

Obesity has hit epidemic levels. In the developed, and much of the developing world, it is now 'normal' to be overweight with a BMI of 25 or more. And the global population is getting fatter all the time as a powerful mix of cheap foods, social behaviours, and commercial pressures drives us to the biscuit tin again and again and again. But this is not the worst of it....

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of unexpected romance that blossoms against the backdrop of dastardly murder. Well-born rakehell and head of an ancient family, Alaric, Lord Carradale, is finally preparing to find a bride. But loyalty to his childhood friend Percy Mandeville necessitates attending Percy's annual house party, held at neighboring Mandeville Hall. Alaric decides that as soon as he's free, he'll hie to London and find the mild-mannered lady he believes will ensure a peaceful life. But the following morning he comes upon the corpse of a young lady-guest.

Charlie Muffin shouldn’t be condemned for mourning the end of the Cold War. For decades the KGB provided him with endless professional success and now that it’s gone, Charlie is nearly out of a job. Removed from active duty, he is now training new recruits on operations in a post-Soviet era. It’s dull work that leaves Charlie yearning for the adventures of old and this time, he’ll get more than he bargained for.

December 1943. In the years before the rise of Hitler, the Gerber family’s summer cottage was filled with laughter. Now, as deep drifts of snow blanket the Black Forest, German dissenter Franka Gerber is alone and hopeless. Fervor and brutality have swept through her homeland, taking away both her father and her brother and leaving her with no reason to live.

The crime-solving duo known as the King's Hounds - Halfdan and his master, Winston - are investigating a possible plot against King Cnut by onetime enemy-turned-ally Jarl Thorkell. Joined on the arduous journey by Winston's woman, Alfilda, and Atheling, his cranky mule, they venture to the markets in Thetford to gather information.

In 1926 the British government was worried about revolution. Two million people are about to go on strike and class warfare is about to erupt. Tom Hankey is caught between his love for Judy, a bright young thing, and Kate, a fireball agitator. Brought home from Oxford by his father, Tom volunteers to drive a train in the General Strike. When the train is ambushed, Tom is thrust into the darkest and most threatening regions of English politics.

Firmly rooted in modern archaeological discoveries about Bronze Age cultures, The Shattered Horse paints a vivid picture of a decaying golden age seen through the eyes of the survivors of Trojan War. At the center of the story is Prince Astyanax: heir to the Trojan kingdom, marked for death as a child by the Greek conquerors, escaping, perhaps by divine intervention, and doomed, perhaps, to repeat history.

Mint-addicted aliens. Talking horses. Little girls in wheelchairs who get the chance to pilot starships. Odd little jade carvers who save the last great Mayan city by magic. A sexy wolf girl who saves a teddy bear boy and her clown boyfriend's heart. A famous director who cloned herself and now is dying of cancer, only she's raised her clone like a normal child. Guys at the end of the world who discover they're not the world's greatest poet, they're about as bad as it gets.

After rescuing Pythia, the creature who turned him into a vampire, Aleric follows her back to the land of the Saracens. There, they must raise an army, for Aleric's lost love, Enora, has become the Queen of the Wastelands. Aided by her minions and her legions of wolves, she has begun the quest to call the Dark Madonna from beyond the Veil into the world of man. To stop the end of all, Aleric must become what he was destined to be - the Messiah of the Damned - and lead the undead in a final battle against the Mother of Darkness.

With rapid globalization, the world is more deeply interconnected than ever before. While this has its advantages, it also brings with it systemic risks that are only just being identified and understood. Rapid urbanization, together with technological leaps, such as the Internet, mean that we are now physically and virtually closer than ever in humanity's history. We face a number of international challenges - climate change, finance, pandemics, cyber security, and migration - which spill over national boundaries.

King Arthur is probably the most famous and certainly the most legendary medieval king. From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to have discovered the "facts" about, or to unlock the secret or truth behind, the "once and future king". Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs.

Hailed as the prophesied messiah of the vampyre, Aleric seemed destined for glory - until, like many of his brethren, he was captured by the sorceress Enora. Imprisoned, he is now forced to fight in the arena for her amusement. To end Enora's reign of terror, Aleric must escape and find the alchemist behind her power, though that may mean unleashing Pythia, the Lady of Serpents - and Aleric's old enemy, the seductress who ended his mortal life.

Charlie Muffin has done well since he “died.” He’s been on the run for years from the intelligence forces of Great Britain and the United States when an official declaration of death finally puts an end to their pursuit. Suddenly, Charlie can breathe again. He’s even put a lid on his single malt whisky habit. Now all he needs is a job.

The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon is an exciting story of detection involving legends, expert decipherment of ancient texts, and a vivid description of a little-known civilization. Recognized in ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon and its location still remains a mystery steeped in shadow and puzzling myths. In this remarkable volume Stephanie Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, gathers for the first time all the material on this enigmatic World Wonder.

Charlie Muffin was once the toughest agent in British intelligence. He wasn’t strong, fast, or charming, but he knew how to survive. When his agency branded him a traitor, he eluded their pursuit for years. After eventually proving his innocence, he’s invited back into The Firm. But only just. Consigned to a monotonous desk job, it takes months for Charlie to get a real assignment. A KGB agent in Tokyo wants to defect to the other side. Charlie’s role is to bring him across.

Fleance is the son of Scottish thane Banquo, friend and then victim of the ruthless Macbeth. Ten years have passed since his father's brutal murder, and still Fleance lives in hiding in the woods of Northern England - his identity cloaked, his birthright denied. With sweet, beautiful Rosie by his side, he has settled into a simple life rather than one of power and prestige. But every man has his price....

While recovering at his uncle's estate from wounds sustained in the Sudan, Jack Cameron - a loyal Scottish captain in the British army - is haunted by the words of a dying officer: one of her majesty's Black Dragoons is aiding the slavers they were sent to suppress. But how will he uncover the traitor without sending the culprit to ground?

Ranging in age from six to 40, 38 sons and daughters of lesbians offer brief essays that could be valuable to like offspring, as well as to relatives and friends trying to understand the problems such children face. Homophobia, visited upon the children as well as their mothers, is the most commonly cited concern; some younger contributors feel isolated from their peers, and a couple of boys endure rejection from radical lesbian acquaintances.

Toward the end of his long life, Tiziano Vecelli - known to the world ever since as Titian (circa 1488-1576) - was at work on a number of paintings that he kept in his studio, never quite completing them, as though wanting to endlessly postpone the moment of closure. Produced with his fingers as much as with the brush, Titian’s last paintings are imbued with a unique rawness and immediacy without precedent in the history of Western art.

Behold the Rolling Stones: run-ins with the law, chart-topping successes, and now the World's Greatest Continually Operating Rock and Roll Band. 50 Licks tells the story of the Stones, right from its very origins. On July 12, 1962, London's Marquee Club debuted a new act, a blues-inflected rock band named after a Muddy Waters song-the Rolling Stones. They were a hard-edged band with a flair for the dramatic, styling themselves as the devil's answer to the sainted Beatles.