Showing results by narrator "Adam Sims" in All Categories

Overwork is the new normal. Rest is something to do when the important things are done - but they are never done. Looking at different forms of rest, from sleep to vacation, Silicon Valley futurist and business consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang dispels the myth that the harder we work the better the outcome. He combines rigorous scientific research with a rich array of examples of writers, painters, and thinkers - from Darwin to Stephen King - to challenge our tendency to see work and relaxation as antithetical.

A MONASTERY. Hidden deep in the wilderness are the cloisters of two dozen monks - men of prayer and music, famous the world over for their glorious voices. A MURDER. But a brutal death throws the monastery doors open to the world. And through them walks the only man who can shine light upon the dark deeds within: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. A MYSTERY. Who among the brothers has become an angel of death?

Winter in Three Pines, and the sleepy village is carpeted in snow. It's a time of peace and goodwill - until a scream pierces the biting air. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match has been fatally electrocuted. Despite the large crowd, there are no witnesses and - apparently - no clues. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache discovers a history of secrets and enemies in the dead woman's past.

When horror-obsessed Riley Lawrence and his group of college friends arrive in the small town of Carousel for their Centennial Celebration, the few decrepit cars parked in the street don’t scare them. But when they enter a locked building, an animatronic usher hands them each a ticket, and the lights dim, Riley realizes they’ve entered the inescapable patchwork of a horror movie set. And they’ve each been assigned an archetype—Scholar, Athlete, Eye Candy, Final Girl—to play out as the curtains rise.

It's Easter, and on a glorious Spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead.... When Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete du Quebec arrives the next morning, he faces an unusual crime scene. A séance in an old abandoned house has gone horrifically wrong and someone has been seemingly frightened to death. In indyllic Three Pines, terrible secrets lie buried, and even Gamache has something to hide. One of his own team is about to betray him. But how far will they go to ensure Gamache's downfall?

Hollywood actor Robert Soloman stands accused of stabbing his wife and her lover, but he is pleading that he had nothing to do with it. This is the trial of the century, and the defence want Eddie Flynn on their team. The biggest case Eddie has ever tried before, he decides to take it on despite the overwhelming evidence that Robert is guilty. As the trial starts, Eddie becomes sure of Robert's innocence, but there's something else he is even more sure of - that there is something sinister going on in the jury box.

Trapped inside the game that they once loved, Iron Riot are now faced with a slow death by dehydration as their bodies in the real world are left to rot. The Masters, enigmatic creators of Strata, are willing to let anyone die so long as it preserves their perfect imaginary world. But there was one thing that they haven’t accounted for: A rat with a plan. If Iron Riot can finish the game before the timer runs out, defeat the Archdukes, beat the system, and show everyone what they are capable of, then they’ll have the attention of the whole world.

The kobolds’ Core has been destroyed. The Grotto is safe once more, and the gnomes are finally beginning to regroup. But when a greater threat rises, their only hope of survival is to embark upon a monumental exodus, abandoning everything they’ve built and striking out across the surface in search of a new home. As the god of gnomes, Corey must place more faith than ever before in his denizens - and a few unexpected allies.

Set deep in the remote countryside of Massachusetts, New England, in a world of small-town prejudice, pettiness and rural poverty, the story of Ethan Frome explores the crippling marriage of a young man to an older woman and his love for her vibrant young cousin, Mattie, who lives as a dependent in the Frome household. His feelings lead to a day of explosive emotions with tragic consequences.

More than half a century ago, the naturalist Farley Mowat accepted an assignment to investigate why wolves were killing Arctic caribou. Mowat’s account of the summer he lived in the frozen tundra alone – studying the wolf population and developing a deep affection for these wild creatures (who were no threat to caribou or man) – is today celebrated as a classic of nature writing, at once a tale of remarkable adventure and an indelible record of the myths and magic of wolves.

Time slips. Doomsday scenarios. Killer butterflies. C. J. Tudor's novels are widely acclaimed for their dark, twisty suspense plots, but with A Sliver of Darkness, she pulls us even further into her dizzying imagination. Riveting, macabre, and explosively original, A Sliver of Darkness is C. J. Tudor at her most wicked and uninhibited.

Munich in the 1930s is a magnet for rich, aristocratic young Brits. They come to learn German, but also to go wild. They ski in the Alps, swim in the lakes, drink in the beer cellars and fall for the charms of dashing SS officers. What they don't see - or choose to ignore - is the cold, brutal underbelly of the Nazi movement which considers Munich its spiritual home. But not every German is a Nazi. Murder squad detective Sebastian Wolff is one of those walking a tight line between doing his job and falling foul of the political party he abhors.

Germany, late summer 1945. The war is over, but the country is in ruins. Millions of refugees and holocaust survivors strive to rebuild their lives in displaced persons camps. Millions of German soldiers and SS men are held captive in primitive conditions in open-air detention centres. Everywhere, civilians are desperate for food and shelter. No one admits to having voted Nazi, yet many are unrepentant. Adolf Hitler is said to have killed himself in his Berlin bunker. But no body was found - and many people believe he is alive.

In our 24-7 global economy, rest feels like a luxury at best and a weakness at worst. We see work and rest as competitors - but what if they're actually partners in a productive, balanced life? Blending rigorous scientific research with examples of writers, painters and thinkers - from Darwin to Stephen King - Silicon Valley futurist and business consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang exposes how we've underestimated the power of rest for our success. Though it's as natural as breathing, it's also a skill we can all learn to boost our creativity and productivity.

As Quebec City shivers in the grip of winter, its ancient stone walls cracking in the cold, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache plunges into the strangest case of his celebrated career. A man has been brutally murdered in one of the city’s oldest buildings - a library where the English citizens of Quebec safeguard their history. And the death opens a door into the past, exposing a mystery that has lain dormant for centuries... a mystery Gamache must solve if he’s to catch a present-day killer.

In a desperate move Damien throws himself into the Streamer Contest of Saga Online, the latest fantasy VR-MMORPG. Winning will provide the funds for his mom’s surgery. Yet early betrayal and a close run in with a vampire almost ruin his attempt before he even begins. Stuck at the bottom of a dungeon with no gear, no allies and little hope, Damien must embrace the undiscovered Occultist class, master control of his new demon companions and take the contest by storm. His plan is simple enough. Topple the most famous player in Saga Online.

"To inherit a great fortune. To inherit a great misfortune." These words, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's notebook, neatly encapsulate the theme of The House of the Seven Gables - that of a family whose fortunes are poisoned by its past misdeeds. The sins of the Pyncheon father are visited upon his children over a period of several generations, until such time as one of his descendants unites with a member of the family he has wronged. Love conquers hate, and new blood washes away the original crime.

Tom Ripley is now the owner of a beautiful estate in France, a wealthy art collector and married to an heiress. The Buckmaster Gallery is staging an exhibition by the celebrated artist Derwatt, but an American collector claims that the expensive masterpiece he bought three years ago is a fake. It is, of course, and he wants to talk to Derwatt - but Derwatt, inconveniently, is dead. Ripley needs the perfect solution to keep his role in the fraud a secret and his reputation clean, but not everyone's nerves are as steady as his.

With his play style now known to all and Aetherius’ older brother, Magnitude, gaining a stranglehold on high-level content, Damien struggles to maintain his relevance in the ever-changing world of Saga Online. In order to regain his notoriety and fight back against Magnitude’s growing power, Damien must undertake a quest that is far beyond his level. If he succeeds, his occultist character will be changed forever.

When billionaire David Child is arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Clara, the FBI believes they can get him to testify and take down a huge money-laundering scheme. Con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn is given the job: persuade David to plead guilty and give the agents the evidence they need. If Eddie can’t get David to take a plea bargain, the FBI has incriminating files on Eddie’s wife - and will send her to jail. But David insists that he didn’t murder anyone.