Showing results by narrator "Penelope McDonald" in All Categories

Foster carer Maggie Hartley is finally enjoying a well-earned holiday from fostering, savouring time with her brand-new baby granddaughter. One night, though, the peace and quiet is interrupted by an urgent call from Social Services. A man has been stabbed, and Social Services need to find an emergency placement for his little girl. Maggie is used to children arriving on her doorstep at all times of the day and night, but nothing can prepare her for the sight of 11-year-old Nancy.

The follow-up novel to the hugely successful debut, The Street. In this dank corner of town, you have to keep your friends close and your enemies closer – even if those enemies are your family. Jimmy Wild saunters around the streets of Campbell Road, and among the people he used to terrorise. Even though the years have passed, he’s still a tyrant. The sight of his lanky frame is enough to terrify the inhabitants of this close-knit community, who reside in this villainous corner of London.

When one of the ladies in residence at Hampton Court Palace fails to answer her maid's call in the morning, Mrs Lydia Bramble, palace housekeeper, is called in to investigate. What Mrs Bramble finds sends shockwaves through the whole palace: Miss Philomena Franklin, slumped over her desk, a knife in her back.

Evie and Elliot are scrawny, filthy and scared when they turn up on foster carer Maggie Hartley's doorstep. Aged just two and three years old, this brother and sister have hardly set foot outside their own home. They have been prisoners, locked in a world of abuse, violence and neglect. Maggie soon realises that Evie and Elliot are lacking the basic life skills we all take for granted, and the outside world terrifies them. Gradually unlocking the truth of their heartbreaking upbringing, Maggie tells their shocking true story.

When fellow student John Foremile turns up at his flat on a rain-sodden winter’s night, former Merchant Navy Captain Rex Slingsby thinks he’s in for just another boozy night down the pub. John, however, has come laden with a package of ancient-looking manuscripts, and Rex is soon engrossed in reading an outlandish tale of a powerful, benevolent race of Dragons and of the human wizards hell-bent on destroying them. Incredulous at first, the two friends quickly find themselves embroiled in an epic quest to rescue a fertile dragon’s egg.

An extraordinary cast of characters play out their dramas amongst the chaos of the emerging modern world... Jamaica 1909. Millionaire Silas Whittam is struggling to bring his dream of a luxury hotel to life. He's relieved when his sister, Eve, arrives - basking in the success of her Yorkshire pies and puddings business. But as Eve befriends the staff, secrets hidden by Silas begin to emerge.

In Love and War, we meet more of the protagonists embroiled in the complex plots and counter-plots that form the fabric of the tale. Colonicus, the mad medieval wizard, is released from his five-hundred year confinement and goes on the rampage. Korti Jizel, the super-intelligent alien assassin takes Robert, one of Colonicus's manufactured super-humans, on a madcap journey through time to witness the greatest battle that humanity never heard about; the Dragon War.

10-E. 19-E. How long would humanity have to wait? A long time. Not until 93-E was the world declared ready. But in the background a journalist lurks, biding his time over the decades, waiting for the perfect moment. And now it's here. Melodie Trudeaux's Sci-Fi audio short, "The 93-E Contradiction", opens on Prime Tech Alfredo's 93rd birthday, the day that his greatest invention will finally come of age.

This short, poignant, and intelligent novelette extrapolates society's current need for global consumerism and seemingly relentless expansion. The author, Sue Knight, has delved deep into the underlying wants and needs of a society determined to have the best of the best at a fraction of the cost, regardless of the long term impact. This tale is set in the midst of that impact, and it is a chilling indictment of the dangers of runaway capitalism.

The protagonist Hailey is captivated by divisions that balance, particularly in snow. Her brother has a very, interesting to say the least, correspondence to her dilemma. A long-time friend Zíâd also helps her, he does not realize it but his distraction does help Hailey—reminding her that life is not only about knowing; and then her sex life and science unite which ultimately sums up her answer to Who Shovels the Sidewalks?