Showing results by narrator "John Sessions" in All Categories

It starts with a prostitute, stripped naked and beaten to death down by the docks, in the heart of Aberdeen's red light district. For DS Logan MacRae it's a bad start to another bad day. Only a few short months ago, he was the golden boy of Grampian police. But one botched raid later, he's palmed off on a DI everyone knows is a jinx, waiting for the axe to fall with all the other rejects in the "Screw-up Squad". But Logan's not going to take it lying down.

Armageddon tells the story of the climatic months of the Second World War and the destruction of Hitler's Germany. In this compelling study, the author addresses the big human and military questions. Why did the Allies not win the war in 1944, when they were vastly stronger than the Germans? Why did the Russians produce the best generals? What was it like to fight the British, American, German and Soviet armies?

It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch - strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. There's a killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. If that wasn't enough, Logan also has to contend with a new boss, DI Insch, who doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks everyone's a fool.

In the land of Ingary, where seven league boots and cloaks of invisibility do exist, Sophie Hatter catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell. Deciding she has nothing more to lose, she makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls....

As the third moon rises over Muddle Earth's Perfumed Bog, the twinkling lights are lit on a small houseboat, home to a wizard, Randalf, and his familiar, a very sarcastic budgie called Veronica. Randalf is in trouble: he's stony broke. He's just spent his last silver pipsqueak. There's only one way for a wizard to make cash on Muddle Earth, and that's by doing some magic. Meanwhile, life is about to change beyond recognition for Joe Jefferson, an ordinary schoolboy on ordinary Earth, and his dog, Henry.

In the pale grey light of a chilly February, Aberdeen is not at its best. There's a rapist prowling the city's cold granite streets, leaving a string of tortured women behind. But while DS Logan McRae's girlfriend is out acting as bait, he's dealing with the blood-drenched body of an unidentified male, dumped outside Accident and Emergency.

Far to the south in the Land of Ingary, lives a young carpet merchant called Abdullah. In his dreams, he is the long-lost son of a great prince. This dream is a complete castle in the air…or is it? Abdullah’s day-dreams suddenly start to come true when he meets the exquisite Flower-in-the-Night, daughter of the ferocious Sultan of Zanzib. Fate has destined them for each other, but a bad-tempered genie, a hideous djinn, and various villanous bandits have their own ideas. When Flower-in-the-Night is carried off, Abdullah is determined to rescue her - if he can find her.

When the naive David Balfour sets out on his quest for a long-lost relative, a terrifying chain of events is set in motion. He is plunged into a world of infamy and violence from which there seems no escape, until, that, is, he meets the enigmatic and valiant Highland, Alan Breck.

From the admiralty to the miner's strike, from the Battle of Britain to the Nobel Prize, Churchill oversaw some of the most important events the world has ever seen. Roy Jenkins faithfully presents these events, while also managing to convey the contradictions and quirks in Churchill's character.

A Richard and Judy Summer Read Selection.
Written as a "report into the circumstances surrounding the decision to introduce salmon into the Yemen", this is a novel that is made up of e-mails, letters, diary extracts, records of the prime minister's Question Time, interviews, and chapters from the memoirs of a fantastically weaselly Peter Mandelson-type figure.

As a bloodcurlingly fearsome ghost, Humphrey the Horrible is a failure. He's not horrible at all. Instead of being ghastly and skeletal, he's pink and fluffy, like a summer cloud. Poor Humphrey can't scare anyone. But when the ghosts are in danger, it's clever Humphrey who comes up with a rescue plan.

Pinocchio is a wooden puppet who comes to life and has the most astonishing adventure. A naughty, mischievous creature, he is full of good intentions but is greedy, and lets nothing stand in his way. His maker, poor Gepetto, loves him like a son, but Pinocchio just can't stay out of trouble.

Scientist Dr Jekyll discovers a way of changing his personality and becoming the violent and aggressive Mr Hyde. At the start, moving from one to the other is easy. But not for long. Both a psychological investigation and a thrilling story, the double nature of the hero has made him an iconic figure in literature. The tempestuous nature of the tale makes it an ideal title for Young Adult Classics, the introductory series for the 13-17 age range.

Tom Jones is widely regarded as Fielding's greatest novel, a wonderful, picaresque adventure that takes Tom, a foundling, on a hilarious and by turns scandalous journey, rife with amorous encounters that often incur the wrath of those around him.

Both a cracking tale of horror and deeply audacious account of the human psyche, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has continued to thrill and fascinate since it was first published in 1886.