Showing results by narrator "Tom Lawrence" in All Categories

A vivid eulogy for London of the late 1970s and early '80s - the last years prior to the rise of the digital city. An elliptical, wildly atmospheric remembrance of the sites and soundtrack, at once aggressively modern and strangely elegiac, that accompanied the twilight of one era and the dawn of another.  

Meet Chesney Arnstruther. Once a mild-mannered insurance actuary, now a full-time crime-fighting superhero, it’s all he can do to kick bad-guy ass while at the same time holding down a steady relationship with the gorgeous Melda. Something is going on. Meet Xaphan, wise-cracking demon and the source of (almost) all of Chesney’s powers. He’s been asked by his infernal master to give Chesney whatever he needs…but surely stopping bad guys is not in Hell’s plan?

When Nat Carver and his Wolven pal Woody learn that their arch enemy is creating a bad werewolf pack, they know they must stop him. Although it doesn’t help that Nat’s having problems with his own shape-shifting ability. Digging deep into history, the boys have to solve clues and riddles to stop one of the worst monsters ever!

Young James Mann came from Texas to find his missing uncle in the lawless Indian Territory. Then the boy's father came after him. Now they've earned the wrath of the vicious McCoy-Maxwell gang, who are about to pull off their most savage attack. But the Manns of Texas have a secret weapon: Deputy Marshal Jackson Sixpersons.

After accidentally summoning a demon while playing poker, the normally mild-mannered Chesney Anstruther refuses to sell his soul…which leads through various confusions to, well, Hell going on strike. Which means that nothing bad ever happens in the world – and that actually turns out to be a really bad thing. There’s only one thing for it. Satan offers Chesney the ultimate deal – sign the damned contract, and he can have his heart’s desire.

A collection of four novellas: each taking place in 1998, each set in the world of Six Four and each centreing around a mystery and the unfortunate officer tasked with solving it. Prefecture D continues Hideo Yokoyama's exploration of the themes of obsession, saving face, office politics and interdepartmental conflicts. Placing everyday characters between a rock and a hard place and then dialling up the pressure, he blends and balances the very Japanese with the very accessible, to spectacular effect.

Three boys, two Easter bunnies, and a whole lot of trouble! When Jordan, Boy Dave and Ryan meet game-obsessed TC, they realize it's time he discovered what the real world is all about - and they're just the boys to show him! But will they be able to save TC, the school, the village and their own skins... before it's too late?

Tom's heavily pregnant girlfriend, Karin, is rushed to hospital with severe flu. While the doctors are able to save the baby, they are helpless in the face of what transpires to be acute leukemia, and in a moment as fleeting as it is cruel Tom gains a daughter but loses his soul mate. In Every Moment is the story of a year that changes everything, as Tom must reconcile the fury of bereavement with the overwhelming responsibility of raising his daughter, Livia, alone.

Delving into the interesting, amusing and often bizarre lore of numbers, this intriguing book uncovers the numbers that have shaped our history and culture, from ancient Babylon to the present day. Light-hearted and entertaining, but chock-full of fascinating and little-known detail, here you'll find the origins of many well-worn numeric words and phrases, explanations of numbers in art and popular culture, and numbers of religious and mythical significance and the superstitions surrounding them.

Jake is sure he's going to hate the village where he's moved with his mum and twin sister, Jenna. There are only about ten houses and a green - boring. But when Jenna spots the ghost of a cute-looking beagle with a lead in its mouth, Jake and Jenna begin to realize that the village might not be as boring as it first seemed and that there are some very spooky goings-on...not least, the deserted derelict house and the creepy noises that are coming from somewhere inside it....

Like the flesh-and-blood humans whose uncensored emotions it represents, slang's obsessions are sex, the body and its functions, and intoxication: drink and drugs. Slang does not do kind. It's about hatreds - both intimate and national - about the insults that follow on, the sneers and the put-downs. Caring, sharing and compassion? Not at this address. There are over 10,000 terms focusing on sex, but love? Not one.

A breath-taking debut from an author whose vision is both acerbic and tender. Seb's beautiful, beloved wife Leda has been killed by a swan. With a name like that, with a bizarre family history like hers, it isn't really surprising. Seb has a grip on her story and its aesthetics; he knows how it should go. Except that he doesn't. Sorting through her belongings after her death, he comes across a packet of unopened letters from a man whom Leda has never mentioned.

 This book recreates in written form seventeen of the most popular, frankly personal and engaging lectures on literature given by the award-winning teacher Richard Jacobs, who has been working with students for over forty years.

It’s within the power of each and every school to unleash the best in teachers, day by day, month by month, year by year. This practical handbook takes the guesswork out of professional learning, showing school leaders how they can build a self-improving culture and remove barriers to learning. The authors set out their advice for how every school can bring in the best ideas from the whole system, and make sure that these have a lasting effect in the classroom. 

Perhaps I would be too late to save them. The last dozen had been spotted on a remote island in the North Atlantic, on a bare ledge of rock, but it was already rumoured the final breeding pair had been killed - their skins sold to private collectors - and the single egg between them needlessly crushed. These were only rumours, I kept telling myself. But as I set out for the Liverpool docks, on that breezy April morning in 1845, I couldn't help hoping that I might be able to reach them in time, the last of the birds.

I knew I was in Paris, I knew that was the Seine beneath me, the sky above, but when I looked around for help, the grand apartment buildings of the Quai Voltaire stared back at me, indifferent. In the sixth arrondissement everything is perfect, and everyone is lonely. This is the Paris of 13-year-old Paul. Shy and unloved, he quietly observes the lives of the self-involved grown-ups around him: his glamorous maman Séverine; her young musician lover, Gabriel; and his fitness-obsessed papa, Philippe.

Beginning with the Roman army's first recorded encounter with the Gauls and ending in the era of Emmanuel Macron, France takes listeners on an endlessly entertaining journey through French history. Robb conveys with wit and precision what it felt like to look over the shoulder of a young Louis XIV as he planned the vast garden of Versailles, and the dangerous thrill of having a seat at the French revolution. Some of the protagonists may be familiar, but appear here in a very different light—Caesar, Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte, General Charles de Gaulle.

Charlie left his hometown behind years ago and hasn’t looked back since. These days, with a successful career and a beautiful soon-to-be fiancée, he couldn’t be happier. But when he receives some unexpected news, his life is forever changed. Suddenly things are falling apart, and now Charlie has to care for his family. How is he supposed to look after a heartbroken little brother and a sullen teenage sister who want nothing to do with him? He’s completely at a loss and knows he can’t do it alone—not without the help of his oldest friend, Pippa.

Eddie, Adam, and David have the same gift. Separated by generations, they are linked by their ability to time travel. Using their dreams, they can appear like ghosts, wherever and whenever they want. The first is the genius who discovers dreamwalking. The second is a Haunter, a dreamterrorist, determined to change history for his own ends. The last is the novice dreamwalker who must battle to save his family, and himself, from oblivion.

Jamie may be a 12-year-old with his first summer job cleaning cars, and with a hopeless crush on 17-year-old receptionist Kitty - but in reality he is Jamie B., a dynamic superspy on a top secret undercover mission.