Showing results by narrator "Steven Pacey" in All Categories

When the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice, he expects to have to do nothing more taxing than a little levitation or a few simple illusions. But Nathaniel is a precocious talent and has something rather more dangerous in mind...

Three years on from the events in The Golem's Eye, the magicians' rule in London is teetering on a knife-edge, with strikes, riots, and general unrest. The Prime Minister is largely controlled by two advisors, one of whom is 17-year-old Nathaniel. Meanwhile, living under a false identity, Kitty has been researching djinn; she has come to believe that the only way to destroy the magicians is for an alliance of some kind between djinn and ordinary people.

In The Amulet of Samarkand, the young magician Nathaniel won wide acclaim for his daring exploits in saving the powerful jewel for the government. Now, he seems set to continue his meteoric rise through the ministerial ranks. But the mysterious Resistance inflicts terrifying destruction on London, and soon Nathaniel's job and his very life are under threat, not only from the elusive Kitty and her companions, but from an unknown and bewildering source.

Trouble is brewing in Egypt. Rebel gladiator Ajax and his men have been posing as Roman soldiers and attacking naval bases, merchant vessels, and villages. Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro have been charged with the task of tracking down the renegade warrior before the problem gets out of control. Joining forces with Legion III, the hope is to destroy their enemy on the battlefield. But the cunning gladiator has other ideas....

Mallory, Miller and Andrea are united into a lethally effective team. Their mission: to silence the impregnable guns set in the tall cliffs of Navarone. On their success or failure rests one of the most critical offensives of the Second World War.

In the first century AD, the Roman Empire faces a new threat from its long-standing enemy Parthia. Parthia is vying with Rome for control of Palmyra an officially neutral kingdom. Palmyra's royal household is on the brink of open revolt, and so a task force under the command of experienced soldiers Macro and Cato is dispatched to defend its king and guard its borders.

Twenty years on and an Argentine military junta is returned to power. They determine to reinvade the Falkland Islands. Now a senior NCO, Hood is back in the South Atlantic, haunted by memories he thought he had buried. British air defences have been knocked out in a sneak attack and once again Argentine forces are being secretly readied for an assault on the Islands.

Halli loves the old stories from when the valley was a wild and dangerous place - when the twelve legendary heroes, led by his ancestor Svein, stood together to defeat the ancient enemy, the bloodthirsty Trows. Halli longs for adventure but it seems these days the most dangerous thing in the valley is boredom. He tries to liven things up by taunting his siblings and playing practical jokes. But when one of his jokes goes too far reawakening an old blood feud Halli finds himself on a hero's quest after all.

While centurions Macro and Cato are returning to Rome from a harrowing campaign against the Parthians, their transport ship is almost capsized by a tidal wave. They barely make it to the port of Matala in Crete, where they are stunned to find a devastated town. An earthquake has struck the island, destroying its cities and killing thousands.

Outside of Pakistan, the world's highest concentration of al-Qaeda lurks in southeast Asia and there, Nick Stone's bosses get wind of an act of terror that will dwarf even the nightmare of 9/11. When Stone is despatched to Malaysia by the CIA to assassinate a biochemist, he expects his mission to be a straightforward part of the fight against Bin Laden.

It is America's most secret base, hidden deep in the Utah desert, an Air Force installation known only as Area 7. And today it has a visitor: the president of the United States. He has come to inspect Area 7, to examine its secrets for himself. But he's going to get more than he bargained for on this trip - because hostile forces are waiting inside. Among the president's helicopter crew, however, is a young Marine.

Desperate to gain American citizenship and start a new life with the woman he loves, Nick Stone agrees to do one last job for the CIA. He must infiltrate an Arab republic, kill a money-laundering local businessman, and bring back gruesome proof of his death. He doesn't know why, and he doesn't care. Too late, Stone realizes the truth about his real mission, which has only just begun.

Bodyguarding a TV crew on the streets of war-torn Basra, ex-deniable operator Nick Stone seems certain to die when insurgent gunmen attack. Only the reporter's swift action saves his life. When the reporter vanishes within hours, presumed kidnapped, Stone is asked by the Intelligence Service to find him. The trail leads from Iraq to London, Dublin, and ultimately Kabul: the dark and brutal city where governments, terrorism, and big business inexorably collide.

Penguin Classics presents Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actor Steven Pacey. Do I desire unreasonably much in wanting what is called life - music, poetry, passion, war, and all the beating and pulsing that is going on in the great arteries of the world? Tempestuous Eustacia Vye passes her days dreaming of passionate love and the escape it may bring from the small community of Egdon Heath.

Recuperating in Switzerland after a job that cost the life of one of his closest friends, ex-deniable operator Nick Stone is looking for peace and quiet. But when his private life starts to disintegrate, Nick is reluctantly forced back into action. The trail leads him to Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it isn't long before his dark past comes knocking on his door.

Spitfire Ace provides a vivid portrait of the few that flew in the Battle of Britain. The battle, in 1940, was one of the most famous air battles in the history of warfare. It is a story of ruthless organisation, and brilliant control and command. And at its heart is a legendary figure, the RAF fighter pilot, and one particular plane, a piece of machinery of almost mythic historical glamour: the Supermarine Spitfire.

Laurence Sterne’s great masterpiece of bawdy humour and rich satire defies any attempt to categorize it. Part novel, part digression, its gloriously disordered narrative interweaves the birth and life of the unfortunate "hero" Tristram Shandy, the eccentric philosophy of his father Walter, the amours and military obsessions of Uncle Toby, and a host of other characters, including Dr Slop, Corporal Trim and the parson Yorick. A joyful celebration of the endless possibilities of the art of fiction, Tristram Shandy is also a wry demonstration of its limitations.

The Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday. That very night the priceless stone is stolen again, and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel’s household is above suspicion. The Moonstone is a marvellously taut and intricate tale of mystery, in which facts and memory can prove treacherous, and not everyone is as they first appear.