Showing results by narrator "Edoardo Ballerini" in All Categories

Faldistoire’s grandfather thinks he’s a ghost. Sylvie’s mother reads Tarot and summons storm clouds to mete her witch’s justice. Behind his Dad-of-the-Year demeanor, Sébastien’s father hides dark designs. It’s Croustine’s grandfather who makes the boy a pair of slippers from the dead family dog, but it’s his dad, the uncannily named Kevin Lambert, who always seems to be nearby when tragedy strikes, and in the cemetery, under the expressionless gazes of toads, small graves are continuously being dug: Chicoutimi, Quebec, is a dangerous place for children.

Sage Singer has a past that makes her want to hide from the world. But when she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Josef Weber, a quiet old man and respected pillar of the community, she feels that finally, she may have found someone she can open up to. Until Josef tells her the evil secret he's kept for sixty years…

Pinerolo, Italy. April 1945. At a fascist conference, a writer disappears and is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Thirty years later, a young man - a political activist or maybe a terrorist - interviews the survivors to try to uncover the truth about what happened and its consequences. Who was this writer? What did he believe in? Why, shortly before his death, did he save a man who could have killed him? Where is his lost work? And what does any of this have to do with a teenager in contemporary Milan involved in a violent confrontation with the police?

A struggling author is stuck at the airport, his flight endlessly delayed. As he kills time at the gate, he bumps into a former classmate of his, Jeff, who is waiting for the same flight. The charismatic Jeff invites the author to drinks in the first-class lounge, and there, swearing him to secrecy, begins telling him the fascinating and disturbing story of his gilded life, starting with a pivotal incident from his youth.

Imagine that your father is one of New York City’s top gangsters, and that you want nothing to do with him or his criminal empire. Now imagine he’s been murdered...and the only person who gives a damn is you. Meet Mat Lawrence, a stand-up guy who’s got one thing on his mind: revenge. The last place Mat wants to go is back to New York, but that’s where the killers are, and he won’t stop until they’re dead...or he is. And there’s only one man who can help him track them down: his father’s criminal attorney - the Mouthpiece.

When an unsuspecting scientist and explorer discovers “The Red One,” a totem worshipped by headhunting natives, his fate is sealed.

The tale of Pinocchio is one of the most ingenious growing-up stories ever told. Pinocchio's desire to be a boy is almost thwarted by his desire for mischief. Were it not for the good-natured Geppetto, the Blue Fairy, that "miserable croaker" the cricket, and many others, Pinocchio would be a story of dreams that don't materialize.

As 13 year old André stands at the foot of the gangway to the ship, his mother fusses over their luggage - 32 suitcases, trunks and tea chests that contain their world. The ship will refuel and return to Alexandria, the home where they have left their father, as the Aciman family begin a new adventure.

Abandoned years ago to the foster-care system, two young brothers end up in an unimaginable hell, and when one dies, the other vows revenge on those responsible. Chicago Fire Department veteran Reed Solliday immediately knows he needs help when an autopsy reveals that a young girl found in the wreckage of an explosion was raped and murdered before fire ripped through the house. Determined to bury herself in work after her partner is shot, Detective Mia Mitchell understands Solliday's case will be her most challenging to date.

Attempting to make sense of the incredible upheaval of 2020—from the devastating impact of COVID-19 to the sudden loss of his father—Edoardo Nesi considers the changing global economy and its effect on our lives. He shares the stories of Alberto Magelli, a small textile entrepreneur; Livia Firth, a prominent advocate for sustainability; Elisa Martelli, a young Sangiovese winemaker; Enrico Giovannini, a leading economist and statistician; Rino Pratesi, a proud butcher from the heart of Tuscany; and more.

Auschwitz, 1944. Alfred Mendl's days are numbered. But he has little left to live for - his family were torn away from him, his life's work burned in front of his eyes - until a glimmer of hope arises as he watches a game of chess. To the guards Mendl is just another prisoner, but in fact he holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. The other is working hard for the Nazi war machine. Four thousand miles away, in Washington, DC, intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum decodes messages from occupied Poland.

Drawn to the ocean, 10-year-old Tabitha wanders the marshes of her small coastal village and listens to her father's stories about his pirate voyages and the mother she never knew. Since the loss of his wife, Helen, John has remained land-bound for their daughter, but when Tab contracts yellow fever, he turns to the sea once more. Desperate to save his daughter, he takes her aboard a sloop bound for Bermuda, hoping the salt air will heal her.

1940, France. Varian Fry, a young American journalist, arrives in Marseille armed only with three thousand dollars and a list of writers, thinkers and artists he hopes to rescue - so long as the Nazis don't get to them first. With borders closing around him, Varian tries to track down those on his list. At home in New York, making a list seemed hard, but in the middle of humanity's darkest hour, Varian must do all he can to help. And as the Nazis begin to get word of Varian's secret operation, he must dig deep and find the courage to rescue as many innocents as he can.

Tim Beckdolt, rangy and self-reliant, is as American as the frontier itself. But after spending eight treacherous months digging $175,000 in gold out of Desperation Peak - all he has left is desperation. Two sadistic strangers have taken his gold, and now they want to take his life. He's on the run - the target of a Devil’s Manhunt.

Cristian has lived his entire life in the grip of a repressive dictatorship. The country is governed by fear. When the secret police blackmail him, Cristian has an impossible choice. Save the life of his sick grandfather by informing on his family, or risk his life—and all of theirs—by resisting? At 17, Cristian dreams of being free but doesn't know where to turn. In this climate of constant suspicion, can he trust his best friend, his girlfriend or even his family?

From New York Times best-selling author Wally Lamb, this is a disquieting and ultimately uplifting novel about a marriage, a family, and human resilience in the face of tragedy. As Annie Oh’s wedding day approaches, she finds herself at the mercy of hopes and fears about the momentous change ahead. She has just emerged from a 25 year marriage to Orion Oh, which produced three children, but is about to marry a woman named Viveca, a successful art dealer, who specialises in outsider art.

It’s the start of the Hollywood on Hudson film festival, and New York City is swept up in the glamour. There’s a red carpet premiere every night; the most exclusive restaurants are filled with wealthy producers and pre-eminent directors; and thousands of fans gather with the paparazzi, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous and beautiful faces in the world. With so many celebrities in town, special task force NYPD Red is on high alert - and it can’t afford to make a single mistake.

Brooks Haxton has been writing for years about the connections between human beings and the creatures we find fascinating. Mister Toebones, his new collection, draws its title from a nickname Haxton gives to a daddy longlegs he sees at his father's grave. In another poem, the poet and his mother, in search of a swimming hole, find a copperhead rearing to strike, about to birth its live young. Elsewhere, waist-deep in the Mississippi River, under the Atlantic Ocean, on the cracked ice of a frozen pond, even in outer space, the poet explores forces that seem past endurance.

1930s New York City. Three brothers grow up poor on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father forces them to find work to support their family. Each brother takes a different path. Twelve-year-old Morris Rabishevsky apprentices himself to a garment manufacturer with the aim of running the business. Sol, six years older, heads to accounting school but is forced to drop out. Scarred by a family tragedy, Harry falls under the spell of the charismatic Louis Buchalter, who in a few short years becomes the most ruthless mobster in town.

One ordinary summer's day a young girl disappears while cycling to volleyball practice. Her abandoned bike is found in exactly the same place that another girl was assaulted and murdered 33 years previously. The perpetrator was never brought to justice, so the authorities suspect the same killer has struck again. The eeriness of the crime unsettles not only the police and public, but also someone who has been carrying a burden of guilt for many years.