Showing results by narrator "Simon Vance" in All Categories

When genealogist Jefferson Tayte is shown a locket belonging to one of the Empress' victims, a British admiral’s daughter named Alice Stilwell, he must travel to England to understand the course of events that led to her death.

In a case of mistaken identification, Barnaby Rudge, a pale half-wit with long red hair who dresses all in green and carries a large raven on his back, is arrested as the leader of a mob of anti-Catholic rioters. He is condemned to death on the gallows, but an upright locksmith named Gabriel Varden comes to his aid.

It is May 1660 and the fate of nations is at stake. Mazarin plots, Louis XIV is in love, and Raoul de Bragelonne, son of Athos, is intent on serving France and winning the heart of Louise de la Valliere. D'Artagnan, meanwhile, is perplexed by a mysterious stranger, and soon he learns that his old comrades already have great projects in hand.

A struggling boy begins a life-changing journey when a disgusting guest disturbs his dinner. As he encounters other sources of suffering, the boy must investigate fundamental truths he has believed about himself, love, and life. He confronts the most persistent questions of life: What am I? What causes me to suffer? How can I be at peace with the traumas of the past and the uncertainty of the future? What determines how I experience all this?

Lady Wetherby had a big, soft heart, and she hated hurting her fellows. As a rule, when she had bad news to impart to any one, she administered the blow so gradually and with such mystery as to the actual facts that the victim, having passed through the various stages of imagined horrors, was genuinely relieved, when she actually came to the point, to find that all that had happened was that he had lost all his money.

In this newest installment of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series, Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge is faced with his most perplexing case yet: a murder with no body, and a killer who can only be a ghost.

Malouf's fable engraves the epic themes of the Trojan war onto a perfect miniature. David Malouf shines new light on Homer’s Iliad, adding twists and reflections as well as flashes of earthy humour to surprise and enchant. In this exquisite gem of a novel, Achilles is maddened by grief at the death of his friend Patroclus. From the walls of Troy, King Priam watches the body of his son, Hector, being dragged behind Achilles’ chariot.

One of Thomas Hardy's classic statements about modern love, courtship, and marriage, The Return of the Native is set in the pastoral village of Egdon Heath. The fiery Eustacia Vye, wishing only for passionate love, believes that her escape from Egdon lies in her marriage to Clym Yeobright, the returning "native", home from Paris and discontented with his work there.

Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary. He is perhaps most well known as the subject of the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which depicted his experiences training and racing in the Olympics and the religious convictions that influenced him. In his book about spiritual disciplines, he outlines his own pattern for living, which has as its foundation a daily Bible-reading plan.

Desil has spent his life training, but a promise to his mother has kept him from using his abilities for anything worthwhile. Now all he does is help his mother manage her tavern as his father rests in a grave. Desil knows there's at least one other mage somewhere in this territory who can do what he can; they share a connection through their magic, although they've never met. He stays up nights wondering what they might be able to accomplish together.

Rew, the king’s ranger, leads his young companions on a deadly journey to find their father. On a path that twists across the Eastern Territory, they fight toward the prison where Baron Fedgley is held. The party will face bandits, assassins, treacherous noblemen, spellcasters, and Rew’s fellow rangers to get there.

The Mercenary Code has been broken, and a new Protectorate Empire has arisen. In league with renegade mages known as the Fallen, the Protectorate will stop at nothing to expand its reach and unify the factions of Old Caledun by any means necessary. The few who escaped the coup are now in a tenuous struggle against the growing influence of this corrupt new Order.

Publius Quinctilius Varus, a Roman politician, is summoned by the Emperor, Augustus Caesar. Arminius, a prince of the Cherusci, is playing a deadly game. He serves in the Roman army, gaining Roman citizenship and an officer's rank, and learning the arts of war and policy as practiced by the Romans. An epic battle is brewing, and these two men stand on opposite sides of what will forever be known as the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest---a ferocious, bloody clash that will change the course of history.

Hurlbut's Story of the Bible has its roots in the old custom of parents telling their children stories from the Bible. One of those parents who kept this custom particularly alive and meaningful was Dr. Jess Lyman Hurlbut. Like many great works of literature, the stories that make up this book were told and retold innumerable times before being set down on paper.

Against the larger-than-life backdrop of England's conflict with Napoleon, young Anne Garland is courted by three suitors: the trumpet-major John Loveday, his sailor-brother Bob, and Festus Derriman of the yeomanry cavalry. For Hardy, the loves and sorrows of ordinary characters are as much the material of history as any record of emperors and generals.

From the tip of his black Homburg to the crease in his cheviot trousers, Drew Farthering is the epitome of a stylish 1930s English gentleman. His only problem? The body he just discovered. With the help of beautiful and whip-smart Madeline Parker, a guest from America, Drew proposes to use the lessons he’s learned reading his mysteries to solve the crime. Trying hard to remain one step ahead of the killer - and trying harder to impress Madeline - Drew must decide how far to take this dangerous game.

Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding story of how a handful of amateur British intelligence agents wined, dined, and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and businessmen, they hoped to use the recently founded Anglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilize and enlighten the Nazis. Straddling the porous border between hard and soft diplomacy, their activities fueled tensions between the amateur and the professional diplomats in both London and Berlin.

Doctor Thorne adopts his niece Mary, keeping secret her illegitimate birth as he introduces her to the best local social circles. There she meets and falls in love with Frank Gresham - the heir to a vastly mortgaged estate and obliged to find a wealthy wife. Only Doctor Thorne knows that Mary is to inherit a large legacy that will make her acceptable to the otherwise disapproving middle-class society to which Frank belongs.

Samuel Rutherford, born in the early 1600s, faced many hardships throughout his personal and spiritual life. Despite the criticism of his faith, imprisonment for advocacy of the church, and his exile from his beloved hometown, Rutherford was still able to inspire the people of Scotland with his preaching. Rutherford is still an inspiration in the world of Christianity today through the letters he wrote, some of which can be found in The Loveliness of Christ.

Having fled Spinesend following a calamitous encounter atop one of the city’s towers, Rew and his companions face a long journey across a dangerous land to the city of Carff, the seat of Prince Valchon. In the third book of the King’s Ranger series, the shroud of secrecy around the king, his sons, and the terrible necromancy that has kept the family in power is yanked away. The Investiture is just the beginning of a terrible truth that endangers all who know it. The stakes are revealed, and failure means an eternity of damnation.