Showing results by narrator "Mark Topping" in All Categories

It's been nearly 300 years since anyone's received the Golden Circle firemark, but when the symbol appears on Archie's palm, it marks the resurgence of the Alchemists' Club and its dreaded curse. Archie Greene is doomed, and he's got the firemark to prove it. The last time the Golden Circle appeared, the marked apprentices were never heard from again. The rebirth of the Alchemists' Club is met with uneasiness, but it's clear the present is not so different from the past. The charms protecting the magical texts the Flame Keepers have sworn to look after are fading.

Archie and the Alchemist's Club have been rewriting the magical spells contained within books, but someone is drawing on their power for evil purposes. The museum elders confirm that their worst fears have come true - the Dark Flame is rising, and they can only stop it by uncovering Fabian Grey's prophecy. Archie vows to help - but is he more closer to the prophecy than he knows? And who is behind the mysterious notes for him, labelled F. G, and with the sign of a raven? 

Archie Greene receives a mysterious present on his birthday. Deep within an ancient wooden box he finds an old book, written in a language he doesn't recognise. With the book comes a Summoning - Archie must travel to Oxford to return the book to the Secret Library. Soon Archie will meet family that he never knew he had, and discover the world of the Book People - a community devoted to finding and preserving magical books. 

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.

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'.

The battlefields run with blood in this gripping finale to the best-selling Attila trilogy. The infamous leader of the Huns stills thirsts for blood and supremacy as he crosses the Danube and prepares to attack the Western Empire and face once more his boyhood friend-turned-foe: Aetius the Roman. For Attila is set on a plan that will take him right through the entire Italian peninsular and up to the gates of Rome. He must weigh up whether he should attack this, the greatest of cities, or whether the gamble is too high, even for the most battle-hardened of warlords. 

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?

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. 

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.

In a time of chaos choosing the right side is impossible. 1491-2: Granada, Andalusia: In a land ravaged by willful destruction, Thomas Berrington tries to serve Queen Isabel as best he can. When an attempt is made on her life, only Thomas can save the life of her companion. The assassin doesn’t care who they hurt in their quest to change the conflict that is coming to a conclusion. Alongside his companions, Thomas tracks down the culprit only to discover someone else lies behind their actions. For Thomas, Jorge, and the others life has grown complex.

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?

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.

Through pioneering research and interviews with a host of major figures, ranging from Jay-Z and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman to Bernie Madoff and Man Booker Prize-winning Hilary Mantel, Waller and Younger reveal the key mechanisms that make and remake our reputations, providing the essential guide to the most important game in business and in life.

In this original and deeply researched book, polling expert and professor of public policy Bobby Duffy explores how when we're born determines our attitudes to money, sex, religion, politics and much else. Informed by exclusive studies from IPSOS, as well as his own research, Duffy reveals that many of our preconceptions are just that: tired stereotypes.

Do you eat too much sugar? What proportion of your country are immigrants? What does it cost to raise a child? How much tax do the rich pay? Are we more ignorant than we used to be? Take a minute to answer these questions. No matter how educated you are, this audiobook suggests you are likely to be very wrong indeed. Informed by exclusive research across 40 countries, conducted by global polling firm Ipsos, The Perils of Perception investigates why we don't know basic facts about the world around us. 

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.

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.

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 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.