Showing results by narrator "Kevin Hely" in All Categories

An unmissable paraquel to the internationally best-selling Skulduggery Pleasant series, The Skulduggery Pleasant Grimoire is at once a thrilling recap of the books so far, a reference guide to characters and a treasure-trove of bonus content. As the Skulduggery Pleasant series nears its end (again), relive the adventure in this compendium of all things Skulduggery.

A murder. A mystery.​ Two murders, actually. Well, three, if you’re counting. Oh, look, here comes a fourth... So much murder that skeleton detective Skulduggery Pleasant must annoy Valkyrie Cain, the infamous Destroyer of Worlds, with his incredible deduction abilities at every available opportunity. As Valkyrie’s irritation grows, the detectives sink deeper into a hidden world of dark motivations, festering hatred and unimaginable pain. ​ And a teensy bit more murder.

Major Brendan Archer travels to Ireland - to the Majestic Hotel and to the fiancée he acquired on a rash afternoon's leave three years ago. Despite her many letters, the lady herself proves elusive, and the Major's engagement is short-lived. But he is unable to detach himself from the alluring discomforts of the crumbling hotel. Ensconced in the dim and shabby splendour of the Palm Court, surrounded by gently decaying old ladies and proliferating cats, the Major passes the summer.

As the war with Mevolent rages on, the Dead Men are dispatched to a walled town in the Tuscan hills – not to assassinate the Lord of the Dark Sorcerers, but to save him. A rift has opened to a hellish dimension where a being of devastating power awaits, and only Mevolent is strong enough to seal it and save the world.

Enter a world where Apocalypse Kings and ancient monsters stalk beside the killers, the misfits, the oddballs and the weirdos. Enter the world of Skulduggery Pleasant. This definitive story collection has been updated with seven new twisted tales of darkness and light, of heroes and villains and everything in-between. It will drag you, screaming, further than you have ever dared venture.

A pair of ghost-hunting journalists arrive at the most haunted house in Britain – the Hollow Hotel. They’re here to interview the Dark King of television magic, Romeo Gideon. Instead, they discover the body of a murdered man hanging from the rafters – the work of a killer who wields actual magic as viciously as he does his blade. With the storm closing in, all exit routes cut off, and the killer taking them out one by one, their only hope lies with the two mysterious Irish detectives who seem quite at home with all this bloodshed …

A raw and often funny 12-month snapshot of seven-year-old Tommy's brutal young life. Moving us through his daily struggle with poverty and neglect in 1960s Manchester like it's the most natural thing in the world, Tommy lives at the heart of a large Irish family in derelict Hulme, ruled by an abusive and alcoholic father and a drunk, negligent mother.

Over a hundred years after she went missing, Isolde, born to the family of a famous Irish king and a powerful immortal, inexplicably reappears. Her mother's kin, the Descendants, are one of the two magical races of Ireland. But no Descendant can understand the reasons for Isolde's disappearance, and worse yet, she is giftless – born with no magical ability, a dangerous thing when the magic-rich Fomorians, ancient enemies of the Descendants, are growing in strength.

A killer is stalking and murdering sorcerers, and Valkyrie Cain is next on his list. While hunting down a cult of magical terrorists intent on taking their revenge on the mortal world, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are drawn into a murder investigation with unsettling similarities to a case they just closed – the case that nearly took the lives of both Valkyrie’s sister and girlfriend. With the body count rising, a special night approaches – a night where the elite of sorcerer society will gather on a remote island to witness a ceremony that could change that society forever.

In 1962, three sorcerers converged to do battle in a hidden chamber near a disused platform in the London Underground. Prophecy foretold that the victor would hold the very fate of humanity in their hands. Since then… nothing. Now, the people who are trying to find out exactly what happened all those years ago are being murdered – there is a killer coming after them, a killer with a plan – and their only hope for survival lies with Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain.

Spanning four centuries, The Long Gaze Back features 22 new stories by some of the most talented Irish women writers working today. Taken together, the collected works of these writers reveal an enrapturing, unnerving, and piercingly beautiful mosaic of a lively literary landscape. The anthology presents an inclusive and celebratory portrait of the high calibre of contemporary literature in Ireland. These stories run the gamut from heartbreaking to humorous, but each leaves a lasting impression. They chart the passions, obligations, trials and tribulations of a variety of vividly drawn characters with unflinching honesty and relentless compassion. These are stories to savour.

Some see Britain as an ally; others look to Germany for a hopeful future while some wish to remain as neutral as possible. In this atmosphere of edgy uncertainty, a young lieutenant, Paul Duggan, is drafted into the army's intelligence division, G2, and put on the German desk.

Paul delves into the double-dealing worlds of spies and politics, where ruthlessness, deviousness and occasional violence prevail, before confronting a surprising secret that challenges everything he has grown up believing.

The shocking true story of a young boy hidden away from his family and the world in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin. Born an 'unfortunate' onto the rough streets of 1950s Dublin, this is the incredible true story of a young boy, a secret child born into a home for unmarried...

Jim Lucey has been working for more than 25 years with patients suffering from mental health problems. When people at their most vulnerable present to his room at St Patrick’s University Hospital, Dublin, they reveal their fears, traumas and very real human predicaments. Most of the assessments described in this audiobook took place in this room. While the patients’ stories are diverse, one common theme emerges - that of recovery.

The Faceless Ones have returned to our universe. The bad guys have won. With the end of everything just days away—and no longer able to rely on Valkyrie Cain—Skulduggery must make allies of enemies if he's going to stand any chance of saving what's left of the world. And just when things are looking their bleakest, they manage to get even worse, with Omen Darkly suddenly having to step up when his brother, the Chosen One, falls.

In a matter of days, the world will change. Billions of lives will be wiped away in a final, desperate search for the Child of the Faceless Ones—she who is destined to bring about the return of humankind's ancient overlords. To prevent this, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain have one last–terrible–option: the assassination of Damocles Creed.

On a desperate journey to recover her sister's lost soul, Valkyrie Cain goes up against the High Sanctuary itself, and there's nothing Skulduggery Pleasant can do to stop her. With Abyssinia's grand plan about to kick off in a night of magic, terror, and bloodshed, it falls to Omen Darkly to save the lives of thousands of innocent people. And as the madness unfolds around him, as hidden enemies step into the light, and as Valkyrie is sucked into a desperate, lawless quest of her own, he has no choice but to become the hero he never really wanted to be - or die in the attempt.

War is coming. To avert catastrophe, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are sent on a secret mission that takes them away from everything they know, to a forsaken land of magic and grim, unrelenting terror. It is here that Valkyrie will have to fight the hardest - not only against the enemies who want her dead, but also against her own self-destructive impulses. It's only by crawling through darkness that she'll be able to once again stand in the light....

Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They’re driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone - never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story.

For years, Valkyrie Cain has struggled to keep her loved ones safe from harm, plunging into battle - time and time again - by Skulduggery Pleasant’s side, and always emerging triumphant. But now the very thing that Valkyrie fights for is in danger, as a ruthless killer snatches her little sister in order to lure Valkyrie into a final confrontation. With Skulduggery racing to catch up and young sorcerer Omen scrambling along behind, Valkyrie has only 12 hours to find Alice before it’s too late. The clock is ticking....