Showing results by narrator "Gareth Richards" in All Categories

Big Pharma is more interested in profit than health. This was made clear as governments rushed to produce vaccines during the Covid pandemic. Behind the much-trumpeted scientific breakthroughs, major companies found new ways of gouging billions from governments in the West while abandoning the Global South. But this is only the latest episode in a long history of financializing medicine—from Purdue's rapacious marketing of highly addictive OxyContin through Martin Shkreli's hiking the price of a lifesaving drug to the 4.5 million South Africans needlessly deprived of HIV/AIDS medication.

If one looks too long into the abyss, the abyss looks back. Drangar Ralgon has been avoiding the abyss's gaze for far too long and now he turns to face it. For 100 years the young kingdom of Danastaer has thrived in peace. Now their northern neighbor, mighty Chanastardh, has begun a cunning invasion. Thrust into events far beyond his control, the mercenary Drangar Ralgon flees his solitary life as a shepherd to evade the coming war and take responsibility for his crimes. In Dunthiochagh, Danastaer's oldest city, the holy warrior Kildanor uncovers the enemy's plans for invasion.

In our spine-chilling homage to the late, great Dennis Wheatley and the inimitable Hammer Horror films spawned from his works, HellBound Books presents 20 superlatively satanic stories guaranteed to have you fearing for your very soul. A whole host of hell's denizens skulk within this audiobook, waiting with growing impatience for the brave of heart - or the relentlessly foolhardy - to make their otherworldly acquaintance, so please, do venture inside. If you dare....

The Black Plague's terrible toll never ends, unleashing a new wave of zombies with disastrous consequences. Low on hope, Knight Alaric von Mertz and his companions flee their crumbling sanctuary, and soon come under the unlikely wing of murderous pirates. There, they learn of a legendary artifact called Mournshroud that could destroy swathes of the undead, but to claim it they must defeat an evil sorceress on an isolated island. Guarded by a dragon! A knight's honor demands he defend his kingdom, no matter the cost.

Ex-chef and now fully dedicated vanlifer, Max Effort picked the perfect spot for a relaxing few days. A quiet campsite where he could unwind with his best friend Anxious the Jack Russell. When his parents arrived to spend a few days with him, he wasn't surprised to find them towing a huge monstrosity they called a "caravan"—think flamingo pink with enough chrome to blind astronauts. Even more shocking was the stewed corpse of a man inside their rental.

Over their long lives, Greek myths have expressed a myriad of meanings. This erudite yet accessible exploration examines how the world's most influential myths have survived to the present, and how they have shaped our ideas on everything from family and society to sexuality and culture.

This book summarizes the theoretical principles behind talk in school and briefly maps the research tradition in this field. It examines the evidence relating to a variety of forms of classroom talk, including whole school culture and oracy; classroom environments conducive to talk; whole class teacher-pupil talk and pupil-pupil peer talk. The final chapter explores up-to-date issues and influences relating to talk, such as mastery learning, informed by international comparisons.

It's Lydstock time again, the most anticipated music festival of the year. Max Effort, chilled ex-chef turned vanlifer, is already there, and when Min arrives to spend the whole weekend with him and Anxious the Jack Russell Terrier, he's as happy as any ex-husband could be. As the first night gets underway, and Uncle Ernie "Elbows" Effort's ska punk band The Skankin' Skeletons headline instead of their arch-rivals The Third Skatallion, things get spicier than a habanero vindaloo.

The names of few medieval monarchs and their queens are better known than Eleanor of Aquitaine, uniquely queen of France and queen of England, and her second husband Henry II. Although academically labeled "medieval," their era was the violent transition from the Dark Ages, when countries' borders were defined with fire and sword. If princes fought for their succession to crowns, the princesses were traded—usually by their mothers—to strangers for political power without the bloodshed.

Burned-out chef Max Effort-he still hates his parents for the name-is slowly settling into van life. Used to swanky kitchens and state-of-the-art equipment, he's even mastered cooking outside without the flame blowing out. One-pot cooking or bust was Max's promise to himself, but the joys of letting his dinner simmer for hours on lazy summer days are soon on the back-burner when murder rears its ugly head once more.

Neurodiversity is the idea that human brains function in a variety of ways. By understanding that people take in, process, and respond to information differently, we can appreciate how these profound differences affect the ways in which we experience the world and form relationships with one another. This Very Short Introduction looks at how neurodiversity has been understood in a variety of settings including education, research, workplace, health and social care, and criminal justice.

Archangel Uriel is hell bent on revenge on the demon prince Vladek. To get into the prince's impenetrable fortress, he'll have to fight in the pits of the underworld. And he'll need the help of the last person he can trust—the demon witch Nadya. There is no way Nadya, who spends her days taking care of others, expected to find Uriel on her doorstep. He seems no happier about being there than she does. But helping him means evening the scales against her backstabbing sister, and she'll do whatever it takes to make that bitch pay.

When I'm honorably discharged from the British Army on medical grounds following a brutal tour in Afghanistan, I use my skills as a combat medic to continue to save lives as a paramedic. I'm confident there's no situation I can't handle . . . until I'm teamed up with chirpy Grace Newton. She's everything I'm not—young, idealistic, and brimming with sunshine. Everything about her rubs me the right way, stirring wants and desires I thought were long dead. She should be off-limits—after all, I'm her mentor and work colleague. But one kiss has me wanting Grace's healing hands all to myself.

This compelling collection will engage the lovers of horror, fantasy, and science fiction and marry their eccentric desires in the church of Blithecraft. Twelve stories suitable for the discerning fantasist. A blithely return to the eccentric craft of weird short stories. Tales of other dimensions, eldritch beasts, and seditious sirens. Ancient witchcraft, necromancers, and giant arthropods. Worlds of past, present, and future are presented in a classical style with contemporary beguile.

Humans have countless dirty tricks up their sleeves. It’s a good thing Spicy the goblin is a fast learner. He’ll need every wile and skill to survive what’s coming. Two pirate crews know about the dragon Fath’s presence in the secluded delta village, and both will go to any length to recover the bomb recipe Alma and Blades stole. Spicy will have to race to be the first to catch the thieves, all while deciding who among the gangs of criminals he can trust. His journey will take him deeper into the heart of the world of humanity.

Xing Ping turned into an angel after taking a leap of faith. He'd always been one of the most evil, vile, and contemptible people from his Sect. Every year, he pillaged, raided, and took anything he pleased including as many women as he could get his hands on...It turned out that angels weren't good because they wanted to be, and as Xing Ping began his adventure he'd have to learn to live with being an angel and deal with the thousands of woman who were reserved especially for him.

Spicy the goblin is the first creature Fath the dragon has trusted in generations. Now the dragon’s apprentice, Spicy has a chance to learn lore hidden away from human and goblin-kind alike. But Spicy has a dilemma. Five children were kidnapped from his village, along with his best friend Rime. Saving them means bringing the dragon and Hog, the ever-hungry troll, with him on an unplanned detour. His journey will lead them into lands where few of his kind have ever gone.

We decided upon the shopping list theme for this particular volume of horror short stories as an antithesis to those wildly successful writers (they know who they are) of whom it is often said "we would read their shopping list if they published it!" Well, we have given 21 of the hottest new horror authors in the independent scene the unique opportunity to have their own shopping lists listened to by you - along with their most terrifying tales, of course!

Thistle will go to any lengths to get payback on the humans who murdered her family and to ensure that such a tragedy will never happen again. Leading the goblins is the warrior Noe. Her solution to the human problem? Kill them all, or at least drive them away from the goblin homeland. As Thistle will discover, the world has changed since the goblins isolated themselves in the hills north of the Inland Sea.

Charity Goswick thinks she is escaping an arranged marriage to a brute when she slips onto a ship unnoticed. Little does she realize that this is no honorable vessel of the King's Navy—it is a pirate ship. It's just a matter of time before she is discovered by a handsome rake of a pirate, who locks her in his cabin. And while she should be scared, her captor sparks the most unladylike feelings within her.