Showing results by narrator "John Keating" in All Categories

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: an hilarious story.

In the spring of 1945, farm-worker Matthew Peoples runs into a burning byre and does not come out alive. The farm's owner, Barnabas Kane, can only look on as his friend dies and all 43 of his cattle are destroyed in the blaze. Following the disaster, the bull-headed and proudly self-sufficient Barnabas is forced to reach out to the farming community for assistance. But resentment simmers over Matthew Peoples' death, and Barnabas and his family begin to believe their efforts at recovery are being sabotaged.

Taliesin escapes Affalon to discover things in the world are much changed. Uthyr Pendragon has taken Gorlois' widow, Igerna, as his wife and elevated Caer Leon to its former Roman glory. He learns Brython is preoccupied with threats from a warlord who claims to be Octa, son of Hengist, though he was believed to have been executed in front of thousands at Uthyr's victory games in Caer Lundein.

The last of the Romans have left Britannia, leaving greedy and ruthless men to seize power and rip the land asunder. Without the discipline of Rome to stop them, relentless Picts come down from the North to raid her settlements while boatloads of Saxons sail west from Germania to pillage her shores. Grown soft with nearly five generations of Roman order, most men in Brython are unable to defend their homes against the ever-growing threats from all sides. But there is hope.

1950s Dublin: When a body is found in the canal, pathologist Quirke and his detective friend Inspector Hackett must find the truth behind this brutal murder. But in a world where the police are not trusted and secrets often remain buried there is perhaps little hope of bringing the perpetrator to justice. As spring storms descend on Dublin, Quirke and Hackett's investigation will lead them into the dark heart of the organisation that really runs this troubled city: the church.

Born to an aristocratic family on an estate outside of Dublin, Alexander Moore feels the constraints of his position most acutely in his friendship with Jerry Crowe, a Catholic laborer in town. Jerry is one of the few bright spots in Alec's otherwise troubled life. The boys bond over their love of swimming and horses, despite the admonitions of Alec's cold and overbearing mother, who scolds her son for venturing outside of his class.

Why would suicide need a witness? On the east coast of Ireland, Victor Delahaye, one of the country's most prominent citizens, takes his business partner's son out sailing. But once at sea, Davy Clancy is horrified to witness Delahaye take out a gun and shoot himself dead. This strange event captures the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett and his friend Pathologist Doctor Quirke.

Dez Limerick is a retired mercenary, previously known as The Gatekeeper—the man who opened doors that others wanted shut. He's checking out sunny California when his hotel suddenly falls under attack. In the wrong place at the right time, Dez stops a meticulously planned scheme to kidnap Petra Alexandris, the daughter of a major military contractor. While helping her uncover a secret plot buried within her father's company, Dez exposes a conspiracy that becomes more sinister at every explosive turn.

As late summer steals in and the final pearls of barley are gleaned, a village comes under threat. Over the course of seven days, Walter Thirsk sees his hamlet unmade: the manor house set on fire, the harvest blackened, three new arrivals punished, and his neighbours accused of witchcraft. But something even darker is at the heart of his story, and he will be the only man left to tell it…

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: an hilarious story.

As the Order celebrates its union with the crown, a founding member of the secret society plots its demise. Wanting to use the potential of the Soul Stones - legendary relics of unspeakable power - Victor gathers his supporters to rise against the Prophet and all those who wish for the stones' existence to be kept unknown. Caught between his duty and his heart, Lucian must either stand with Victor and betray his fellow brethren, or take his true love, Sarie, and leave it all behind.

Here's the story of an intrepid knight, only our narrator can't quite remember the details. Did that knight carry a sandwich or a sword? Was he supposed to fight a cat or a dragon? A hilarious and unpredictable adventure ensues, building through laugh-out-loud rhymes until, at last, the narrator remembers his own role at the center of all the marvelous madness.

In nine short stories and one brand-new, never-before-heard Sherlock Holmes mystery, Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand, starting with England's declaration of war in 1914. As told in Mary Russell's teenage diaries, the whip-smart girl investigates familial mysteries, tracks German spies through San Francisco and generally delights with her extraordinary mind - until an unimaginable tragedy strikes.

Splat is concerned his first day at cat school will not go well, so he takes along his mouse pal, Seymour. All is fine - until Seymour escapes and Splat learns that cats are supposed to chase mice!

Ireland. County Wexford, 1951. A father and son go swimming in the sea. The waves crash. The wind rises. Only one comes back - Colin, aged six. His mother, Eileen, runs to seek help, but this is a tragedy that will haunt them forever. Colin won't speak a word. He is mute and struggling to cope. But Eileen can see he has a talent for painting. She shows him his father's artwork and gives him a print of a Paul Henry landscape, and slowly, with her encouragement, he begins to follow his dream.

The year is 1645. A murderous war has been raging in the Holy Roman Empire for 28 years, and there seems to be no end in sight. Gustav and his master have been banned from the Black Feldsher Guild and have had to take leave of the Swedish army. In the middle of winter, they roam the battle-scarred land as simple healers, helping the war-weary people. But their enemies are still on their trail.

Splat is trying hard to be good before Santa's arrival, but he just keeps messing up. Join the fun and find out if all his hard work will be enough for him to get the presents he dreams of.

James Dwyer was born in rural county Limerick before moving to Dublin as a teenager and ultimately settling in Ann Arbor. One night James’ past appears in the form of a down-and-out man named Walter, who issues an invitation for James to come to Upstate New York to visit his old childhood neighbor, Kevin Lyons. Although neither James nor Kevin particularly cares for each other, there’s no denying their complicated past.

The year is 1645. A murderous war has been raging through Central Europe for 28 years, and there seems to be no end in sight. After the death of his master, Martin, Gustav is left with nothing. Only Anike is there to console him over the heavy loss. When she asks him to help her possessed father, Gustav realizes that the key to helping her—Martin's Codex Daemonum—makes no sense to him.

Lenard Sikophsky’s father has been feeding him plutonium since the age of six in the hopes of making him the world’s first bona fide superhero. First, he must pass the unusual tests of manhood locked in the centuries old tomb, The Manaton, a secret relic passed down for generations. Falling in love with the beautiful, compulsively suicidal Laura Moskowitz doesn’t make his life any easier.