Showing results by narrator "Toby Longworth" in All Categories

These 16 short tales delve into realms of existential investigation, from dark horror and science fiction futures to fantastical flights of scientific wonder. Each story is a self-contained world of its own, a moment in time that illuminates a thought, a person, an experience or a curiosity.

Previously uncollected and unpublished: new short stories from a master of psychological suspense. New and uncollected tales of murder, mischief, magic and madness. Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense: these are 10 (and a quarter) of her most chillingly compelling short stories, collected here together for the first time.

The Songs follows Iz Herzl, famed political activist and protest singer, who has always told his children that it is the future not the past they should concentrate on. Now, at 80, an almost forgotten figure, estranged from everyone who has ever loved him, his refusal to look back on his extraordinary life leaves his teenage children, the brilliant Rose and her ailing younger brother, Huddie, adrift in myths and uncertainty that cause them to retreat into a secret world of their own.

Now there is a common enemy. The Earth's government is under Cyber control. The only hope for civilisation is that androids and humans can work together. But the Cybermen intend to activate their Master Hibernation Vault on Telos, releasing billions of Cybermen.... There is nothing to fear.... Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

One girl's missing. One girl's dead. McAvoy can't let either of them go.... The fifth stunning novel in the DS McAvoy series by best-selling author David Mark, perfect for fans of Val McDermid and Peter Robinson. Hannah Kelly has been missing for nine months. Ava Delaney has been dead for five days. One girl to find. One girl to avenge. And DS Aector McAvoy won't let either of them go until justice can be done. But some people have their own ideas of what justice means.

Francine would prefer to be thinner but is happy enough to suffer her boss' manhandling of her ample hips if it helps her survive the next cull in quality assurance. She just wishes she could get the dead biker's crushed face out of her mind's eye. Robin is having a baby with the wrong woman, wishes he were with the perfect Polish waitress instead, leans hard on Deleuze for understanding, and wonders if his work in film will continue to be valued by the university management.

They have taken DS Aector McAvoy's family. They have taken DCI Colin Ray's foundation. They have taken DS Trish Pharaoh's fight. Now the ruthless criminal network that has tightened its stranglehold on Hull intends to take everything that remains from those who dare to stand in its way. Taking Pity is a police procedural thriller that pulls no punches. It is the story of three officers who can take no more and a merciless nemesis that takes no chances, no prisoners and no pity.

Joe is just an ordinary boy until he makes a wish on a spooky Egyptian amulet... Now he's the Protector of Undead Pets! In Flight of the Battered Budgie, Buddy the budgie is dead and needs Joe's help. Can Joe prevent his owner falling victim to a devious scheme? Only if Joe succeeds will Buddy fly on to his final destination...

Just when Joe thought things couldn't get any stranger, he is visited by Fizz, a zombie goldfish in Goldfish from Beyond the Grave. Fizz was flushed down the toilet by his owner Danny's little sister, who doesn't realize that she's sent the fish to a watery grave...

In "The Plot on the Pyramid", the workers building the Great Pyramid are blamed when their supervisor disappears. Only Dafia knows the truth - can she clear the men's names? "The Magic and the Mummy" features Neria, who helps her father make mummies. But when she is asked to mummify the Pharaoh's cat, she is too squeamish to kill it.... "The Phantom and the Fisherman" sees apprentice scribe Menes agreeing to write a prayer to rid Maiarch of his family ghost. But what if the ghost is more human than supernatural?

In "The Sword of the Viking King", young Ethelbert must fight to protect his country, but it will take cunning and mystery to defeat the Vikings. "The Hand of the Viking Warrior" finds the conquering Vikings settling in North America. But can they befriend the fierce, warlike natives? In "The Eye of the Viking God", Fleece the slave girl works hard looking after the sheep and serving the Vikings. But when they bury their warrior chief, Fleece is faced with the most difficult job of her life.

In "The Lion's Slave", Archimedes' servant Lydia is the bane of his life. But when the Romans besiege Syracuse, it is Lydia who comes up with ways to help the Greeks.... "The Town Mouse and the Spartan House" sees orphaned Darius going to live with his uncle Alcmaeon, a general in the Spartan army - but he finds Spartan life shocking. In "The Boy Who Cried Horse", young Acheron is known for his tall tales. So when he tells Prince Paris that the Trojan Horse is a Greek plot, no-one believes him....

"The Sea Monsters" features a dangerous race between two giant steam ships, the Sirius and the Great Western. Which steam-driven sea monster will get to New York first? In "The Twisted Tunnels", the building of the London Underground Railway comes at a terrible cost for Jenny and her grandfather. In "Terror on the Train", Charles Dickens is involved in a train crash, and fights heroically to save lives and rescue the handwritten manuscript of Our Mutual Friend.

When Joe Edmunds makes a wish on an Egyptian amulet, little does he know that he has volunteered to guide and defend the undead pet inhabitants of his town! Dumpling the hamster came to a dusty end inside a vacuum cleaner...but he suspects that his owner Oliver's parents never admitted to their son that they were to blame for Dumpling's demise. Now the hamster needs Joe's help to reveal the truth - but there's a furry surprise awaiting them at Oliver's house...

When Joe Edmunds makes a wish on an Egyptian amulet, little does he know that he has volunteered to guide and defend the undead pet inhabitants of his town! Disaster strikes when Bonsai the pug chases Pickle the cat into the street, where she is flattened by a car. But the fact that Pickle has (almost) shuffled off her mortal coil isn't her biggest concern; she is worried that Bonsai will pursue her sister Pebble into an early grave too, unless she and Joe teach the dog a lesson...

In ‘The Pirate Lord’, Tom is a cabin boy for Captain Francis Drake, on a mission to defeat the Spanish galleons and steal their plundered gold. ‘The Pirate Queen’ tells of Cassia O’Malley, the terror of the Irish sea. Her gang of sea-robbers rule the waves - until she is captured…. ‘The Pirate Prisoner’ is the story of Red-legs Greaves, who has been a slave, a pirate and a rich sugar planter.

The village of Templeton was evacuated during World War II - but something terrible stayed behind. Now even the ghosts are leaving. Ben and his new friends at the School of Night must find out what’s going on. But they are soon trapped in the village, where even the trees and plants turn against them. Could you survive against all the odds? Could you free the village from a curse that threatens the whole world? If you could, then maybe you have what it takes to join the School of Night…

There is an unseen world most people can’t begin to imagine: unless they can see the ghosts. Ben’s sister Sam saw them all the time. Then she looked into the Judgement Box, and that’s when Ben’s life changed forever. Would you look into the Judgement Box? Would you dare? If you can see what’s inside, then maybe you have what it takes to join the School of Night... The gripping first book in the 'School of Night' series from best-selling author Justin Richards.

When Ulrich the knight turns up at a tavern wearing a green dress and a long blonde wig, he causes quite a stir in The Knight of Silk and Steel. In The Knight of Spurs and Spirits, Roger the stable boy fails to have a horse ready for cruel Sir Robert and suffers a terrible punishment.

Meet Max Flash; he's not your usual undercover agent. When the top secret Department for Extraordinary Activity discovers that an evil computer game character has escaped from the virtual world and is intent on causing chaos, they know the time has come for Max's first mission.