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A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is set in Paris and London, firmly placed in the period leading up to and including the French Revolution to the subsequent Reign of Terror. It's primarily the tale of Doctor Alexandre Manette, who is unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years; his daughter, Lucie Manette, who believes him to be dead; two men who both fall in love with her; and the supporters or foes of the family who, for their own reasons, love or despise them.

For the past six months, since solving the thefts of England's subsidies meant for its war allies, Lady Cecilia and Sir James Branstoke have concentrated on renovating their estate in Kent. When David Thornbridge sends word to them that someone has kidnapped a child from The East India Company dock, Cecilia and James immediately return to London to investigate. Their investigation leads them from warehouses, to a society musical entertainment, and to the rooftops and chimneys of London. And just when they rescue the child, murder occurs.

"The Wood Beyond the World" is perhaps the first modern fantasy novel to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural and is thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. The protagonist, (Golden Walter), gets married when he is a young man. His wife betrays him with another, so in his sorrow and to avoid a feud with her family, he sets off to sea.

Across half a galaxy, the Terran Empire maintains its sovereignty with the consent of the governed. It is a peaceful reign, held by compact and not by conquest. Again and again, when rebellion threatens the Terran Peace, the natives of the rebellious world have turned against their own people and sided with the men of Terra - not from fear, but from a sense of dedication. There has never been open war. The battle for these worlds is fought in the minds of a few men who stand between worlds; bound to one world by interest, loyalties, and allegiance; bound to the other by love.

This is Charles Dickens’s second novel and regarded as one of his best. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and titled; Oliver Twist, or; A Parish Boys Progress. As a book, it first appeared in 1838 in three volumes. The story follows the title character Oliver Twist, who, being born and raised in a workhouse for the first ten years of his life, runs away to nearby London. Here, he falls in with a gang of young thieves and pickpockets controlled by Fagin, an elderly criminal.

Nine-year-old Jenny Carson is brutally murdered in Kenton Wood on her way from school. Then Charles Lendon is found stabbed to death with a skewer through his heart. He was a ruthless lawyer and something of a womanizer. Jenny's father blamed him for her murder. As the local police struggle, Inspector Crow is called in. Can he connect the two killings? He discovers that several of those closest to Charles Lendon had good reason to hate him: his housekeeper lover, her unstable brother, even the boyfriend of his attractive young colleague Cathy Tennant.

When newlyweds Sir James and Lady Cecilia Branstoke come to console a widow on the death of her husband, they discover some things don't add up about the death of the young Lord. Worse, a man who won't state his purpose, but is obviously military, wants a carte blanche to search the dead man's library! The sheer effrontery!

Scrooge! His name has become synonymous with being miserly and miserable, especially at Christmas! A Christmas Carol is the much-loved novella by Charles Dickens which tells Scrooge's story. This mean, misanthropic man is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, and then three spirits: the ghosts of Christmas Past, of Christmas Present, and of Christmas Yet to Come.

It's 1941. A German submarine, U-330, patrols the stormy waters of the North Atlantic. It is commanded by Siegfried Lorenz, a maverick SS officer who does not believe in the war he is bound by duty and honor to fight in. U-330 receives a triple-encoded message with instructions to collect two prisoners from a vessel located off the Icelandic coast and transport them to the base at Brest. A British submarine commander, Sutherland, and a Norwegian academic, Professor Bjørner Grimstad, are taken onboard.

The Man Within is Graham Greene's first published novel (1929). The story is set on England's South Coast and concerns Francis Andrews, who reluctantly became embroiled with a gang of smugglers. The novel opens with Andrews desperately fleeing over the downs and eventually reaching an isolated cottage. He finds it's the home of a young woman, Elizabeth, who is alone and recently bereaved of her guardian, protector, and possible abuser.

A young woman is found dead in a college while the students demonstrate. It turns out she was the principal's secretary, and there was more to her than meets the eye. Who wanted her dead and why? And what does it have to do with the student revolt led by a charismatic firebrand from Iraq? Inspector John Crow is called in and has little doubt who's responsible, but a series of surprises will make him reconsider everything. Many of the faculty seem to have things to hide.

Ex-detective superintendent Brandt has turned against society. The first kill was a stab in the dark, but now he's got a real taste for it. But his pursuer, DCI Stella Johnson, has rankled him. She has leaked to the press the idea he is impotent, and it has taken hold. Brandt wants to prove himself. Who better a victim than the woman who has embarrassed him? Johnson's strategy backfires, and she is in trouble with her superiors. Yet she now has a very personal reason to hunt down Brandt. Will going solo put her at even greater risk than before? And just what has he in mind for her?

Rathen, ex-captain of the late king’s army, pulls together a team to defeat the evil that threatens them all. The Book of Ziz, with its instructions for protective spells against an evil deity, has fallen into the nefarious hands of High Priest Litagus, meaning soon untold evil will reign unchecked if Rathen fails. Consumed by his personal vengeance for the betrayer in the earlier death of his friends, Rathen travels to the ruins of Ghrakus Castle to enlist the aid of the very being who tried to kill Rathen once before.

The novel is the story of a scientist who, through the study of optics finds a way to make things invisible. In a desire for recognition, fame, and the advantages of being invisible, he subjects himself to the process. But being unseen isn't as positive as he had hoped, and he soon finds himself regretting his condition, and his mind also becomes warped. He becomes mentally unhinged. Later, he embraces his invisibility and begins to spiral into a lust for power and control, and he reveals a plan he has hatched to unleash his personal "terror" on the world.

"Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific" by Capt. Frederick Marryat, follows the adventures of a devoutly Christian family (The Seagraves) and their servant (Juno) who are shipwrecked at sea and find themselves having to survive on a desert island.

Far from civilization, on the hunt for Sir John Franklin's recently lost Northwest Passage expedition, Lieutenant Morgan and his crew find themselves trapped in ever-hardening Arctic ice that threatens to break apart their ship. When Morgan realizes that a stowaway will give birth to his child in the frozen wilderness, he finds new clarity and courage to lead his men across a bleak expanse as shifting, stubborn, and treacherous as human nature itself.

Charlie Rutland, a womanizing journalist, is found brutally murdered. He worked for a muck-raking gossip magazine and therefore had many enemies. Detective Crow is assigned to Yorkshire where he must eliminate a long list of suspects. And where does the German businessman Conrad Gunther fit in? Mysterious lights at Lockyer Tarn, a homeless man hiding out on the Yorkshire Dales, a stolen Volvo, and a former Gestapo officer are all seemingly linked in some manner. And then the British spy services get involved....

This is Dickens’s third novel and was originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. It’s a wonderful example of Dickens’s ability to weave plots within plots and portray the most glorious characters. Both theatrical and prosaic, Dickens magnetically and majestically pulls the reader (or listener!) into his unique and inimitable world. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby tells the story of a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies leaving the family impoverished.

Frank Bowen attempts to piece together a fractured life at home but finds himself pulled back into the dark state once again. Only, this time, he’s playing both sides. Hired by John Rhodes, founding father of the Liberatus movement, his mission is to escort a valuable asset to South America. Then the spectre of Carl Paterson emerges and Frank finds he has to work once again with his old agency, Ghost 13.

Frank Bowen's mission is to find a GCHQ whistleblower, but in doing so unwittingly risks everything, including his own family's safety. As part of a covert team, assigned to dangerous missions, Bowen believes he knows what he's up against, until a team of Russian mercenaries are thrown into the mix, leaving everyone and everything hanging in the balance. It's a race against the clock to save all that he holds dear and uncover the dark truths behind his mission.