Showing results by narrator "Derek Perkins" in All Categories

The war for Scottish independence rages on, but it's only a matter of time before England is victorious. Exhausted and battle-weary, Highland dragon Erik MacAlasdair will face unknown seas to seek the Templar stronghold and claim a power so great it could free his beloved homeland forever. If...

Juanita di Perli was a young woman when she decided to live the rest of her life on a table-top. She called it God's will, but for the order of nuns that sprang up around her, Juanita's devotion was a curse. For decades they did the bidding of the holy grouch, and the entire island of San Juan el Pirata sighed with relief when she died. Twenty years later, the islanders fight for Juanita's canonization - not because they liked her, but because a local saint would be a tourist boon. The only thing keeping the island poor is the Archduke, who refuses to ask Rome to consider Juanita for sainthood.

As the War of 1812 rages, Marcel Moreau, wounded in service with Napoleon's Grand Armée, must journey to New Orleans to find Celeste de Beaumais, a young aristocrat who has fled her family and has settled herself on a sprawling Louisiana plantation. Standing in Moreau's way are various factions in and around the city—soldiers, slave hunters, marooned slaves, and Baratarian pirates—all of whom have their own interests, and enemies.

Since John Lennon composed "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" in early 1967, fans and music critics alike have argued over the meaning of the song. Is it about drugs? Is it just a lyrical response to a drawing given Lennon by his 4-year-old son Julian? Is there some deeper meaning? Professor Tim Kasser goes beyond speculative explanations by applying innovative psychological methods to the song's lyrics and music. He deeply analyzes the song's linguistic structure, its basic theme, and the way its words and music had been used by Lennon in earlier songs.

Shylo and Jexsanna are reunited, but their fight is far from over. The skies of Tarmigan are darkened by enemy dragons, and the empire is crumbling under the weight of rebellion. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, every army will fall before the might of a rising dragon god. Jexsanna is prophesied to be the Chosen One—but destiny has never been her path. As the gods tighten their grip on the world, she must decide to follow the prophecy or forge a new fate.

He would be her first kill...Kamdyn MacKay is a Banshee assassin who has never killed a man. When her first mark becomes the Berserker warlord terrorizing the Highlands, she knows she must slay him or face unthinkable consequences. Once she's face to face with the notorious Laird of Shadows, Kamdyn realizes she's also never been taken by a man, and his carnal proposition may prove too seductive to resist.

A sighting of a woman who supposedly died years ago sparks a desperate search for the truth in this breakout suspense thriller, perfect for readers of The Good Girl and The Widow. Sometimes we choose to see only what we want. Sometimes what we see changes the way we look at everything Jarlath...

Fantasy icon Jane Yolen is adored by generations of readers and listeners of all ages. Now she triumphantly returns with this inspired gathering of fractured fairy tales and legends. Yolen breaks open the classics to reveal their crystalline secrets: a philosophical bridge that misses its troll, a spinner of straw as a falsely accused moneylender, the villainous wolf adjusting poorly to retirement. Each of these offerings features a new author note and original poem, illuminating tales that are old, new, and brilliantly refined.

“You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre.” One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time...

How am I meant to feel as a Christian? You can go to an evangelical church on a Sunday and be told: "Christian, you are loved by God, no matter what you've done. God could not love you more than he does." You can go to another evangelical church and be told: "You're a wretched sinner." The emphasis can feel very different, and yet both churches are teaching truth. Holding both truths together in balance can be tricky but it's essential for healthy Christian living. Overemphasizing one at the expense of the other causes all sorts of problems.

This book is Khodorkovsky's account of what is happening in Russia today and what could happen in the future. Putin will not last forever: sooner or later, there will be a post-Putin era. But Russia's history has been deeply shaped by an autocratic trap: a revolution against an autocracy has produced another autocracy, followed by another revolution and another autocracy, and so on. If Russia is to find its place as a constructive partner in a global community of civilized nations, then it has to escape this vicious cycle.

Although she spent her life withdrawn from the people of Amherst, Massachusetts, every man, woman, and English professor in this small university town claims ownership of poet Emily Dickinson. They give tours in her house, lay flowers on her grave, and now, as the hundredth anniversary of her death approaches, they organize festivals in her name. Dickinson scholar Owen Kraznik has just been railroaded into organizing the event when Amherst starts to burn.

The Club is a blistering, timely, and gripping novel set at Cambridge University, centering around an all-male dining club for the most privileged and wealthy young men at Cambridge and following an outsider who exposes the dark secrets of this group, the Pitt Club.

From the moment he steps on the plane, Inspector Cockrill loathes his fellow travelers. They are typical tour group bores: the dullards of England whom he had hoped to escape by going to Italy. He gives up on the trip immediately, burying his nose in a mystery novel to ensure that no one tries to become his friend. But not long after the group makes landfall at the craggy isle of San Juan el Pirata, a murder demands his attention.

We meet our unnamed narrator in Paris in the 20s, where he finds himself an expat after the Russian Revolution. At a friend's request he meets the beautiful, clever socialite Lyolya, also a recent exile from Russia. What begins as casual friendship quickly turns into fascination and obsession, as Lyolya gives mixed signals and pursues other men. Our narrator, emerging from a depression, is soon overwhelmed by the very idea of her, which begins to contour all of his observations, thoughts, and feelings.

Separated again, further than they ever have before, Barl and Shryke must fight against the fell powers which have stripped them of their access to the Quantum Aether. Having lost all the faculties given to them in their training with the Assassin’s Guild, they are both faced with an impossible situation - how to survive in a world where they are vulnerable to attack, in a way they have never thought possible, when all their most basic defenses are gone.

A startling and vivid account of World War I, Secret Warriors uncovers how wartime code breaking, aeronautics, and scientific research laid the foundation for many of the innovations of the 20th century.

Tehran, Iran 1979: Simmering religious tensions explode and the Shah is forced to flee Iran. A British helicopter company—secretly owned by the Noble House of Hong Kong—with a fleet of helicopters registered in Iran faces bankruptcy if their copters are claimed or destroyed by the uprising. The pilots need to escape, but they’ve built lives in Iran, some even have families. Finnish pilot Erikki Yokkonen has married Azadeh, an Iranian woman of noble birth, whose family is caught up in the political situation exploding around them.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore are as different as England and America themselves, and yet almost two centuries later these two iconic tales remain an important part of Christmas tradition all over the world. Now they are brought together in this very special holiday recording.

Brought to you by Penguin. A brilliantly realised account of the most famous archeological dig in British history, now a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James. In the long hot summer of 1939 Britain is preparing for war. But on a riverside farm in Suffolk...