There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois. It seems good things usually come in threes.Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.From their pens to your your ears.01 - 3 Stories - Irony02 - The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant03 - The Gift of the Magi by O Henry04 - The Monkey's Paw by W W Jacobs
There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois. It seems good things usually come in threes.Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.From their pens to your your ears.01 - 3 Stories About - Class and Status02 - The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield03 - The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant04 - The Lost Reflection by E T A Hoffman
There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois. It seems good things usually come in threes.Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.From their pens to your your ears.01 - 3 Stories About - Hope and Dreams02 - The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant03 - Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov04 - From A to Z by Susan Glaspell
When you stare into the shadows... do the shadows stare back?
Sasquatch! Mothman! Nessie! The Jackalope! Many cryptids are famous, but which ones are real? Search beyond blurry photos and sketchy eye-witness accounts to examine physical evidence of cryptids that shows... how we know they are real.
Sample passages:
From Chapter 1
'Studying cryptids sharpens the mental tools needed to cut through the thickets of misleading and incomplete evidence. The skills you’ll practice as you judge the existence of Bigfoot can be used to analyze any number of scientific, commercial, political, or philosophical claims. The study of cryptids can lead the open-minded explorer into a better understanding and appreciation of our world.
From Chapter 16
'The giant squid swims through deep, dark seas surrounded by things we’ll never see, and can’t imagine.
In this light, the fact that anyone would state that we’ve already discovered every large creature in the wild is a foolish claim. Just because something is unknown isn’t proof that it’s unreal. If someone tells you a certain cryptid doesn’t exist, there’s no reason to accept that as the final word. There can be no final word. Reality is still being discovered and understood, and there’s an infinite supply of the unknown to transform into the knowable.'
1152: Les Baux de Provence. Medieval France comes to life in a historical page-turner full of intrigue, romance, and adventure!
The visit of the Comte du Barcelone to Les Baux sparks bitter memories of the recent civil war and Lady Etiennette des Baux has no intention of ceding to her overlord. Nor does she plan to remain a widow and she sets her sights on Dragonetz, offering him Provence as an incentive.
Meanwhile, Estela faces her own demons. Confronted with her childhood abusers, threatened and attacked, she confides in her friends. Unfortunately, one of those friends is Dragonetz' worst enemy and Estela has no idea of what he is capable.
In this third volume of the Troubadours Quartet, Jean Gill, the 'master of historical intrigue', continues to weave the gripping adventures of Dragonetz and Estela seamlessly into real historical events.
'Very accomplished historical fiction.' Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice
Winner of the Global Ebooks Award for Best Historical Fiction
Finalist in the Wishing Shelf Awards and the Chaucer Awards
5* 'By far the best historical fiction I have read this year!' - Rabia Tanveer, December 2015, for Readers' Favorite
Book 2 of the multi-award-winning medieval Historical Fiction series The Troubadours Quartet.
'Wonderful. If you love historical adventure and romance, you must pick up this series!' Autumn Birt, The Rise of the Fifth Order
1151: the Holy Land, where one book is worth more than a man's life. Imprisoned in Damascus, Dragonetz suffers the mind games inflicted by his anonymous enemies, as he is forced to remember the traumatic events of the crusade, two years earlier. His military prowess is as valuable and dangerous to the balance of power as the priceless Torah he has to deliver to Jerusalem, and the key players want Dragonetz riding with them - or dead.
Instead of remaining safely at home, Estela is desperate to rescue Dragonetz at all costs. She sets out for the Holy Land, never realising that the person she thinks will be her knight's saviour might actually be his doom. Can Estela get him out alive, despite Nur-ad-Din, the Muslim Atabeg; Mélisende, the Queen of Jerusalem; and an avenger from the past? Will she still want to, when she knows what they've done to him?
Once more, 'the master of historical intrigue' whirls the reader off into medieval mayhem. Jean Gill's details of crusading strategy and riding a camel are as convincing as the pangs of medieval childbirth. She brought medieval France to life in Song at Dawn; now she adds 12th century Damascus and Jerusalem with equal aplomb.
'A Masterpiece. A Historical Feast.' C M T Stibbe
Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice
Winner of the Global Ebooks Award for Best Historical Fiction
Finalist in the Wishing Shelf Awards, HNS Indie Awards and the Chaucer Awards
Discovered Diamond Award
5* 'I like my historical romance heavy on the history, light on the romance, with a strong cupful of action and adventure thrown in. When an author can get all of the elements in exactly the right proportions, we are probably talking bestseller. In Bladesong we have a bestseller.' Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite
A young solicitor travels to Transylvania to assist an eccentric Count with the acquisition of some property in London. But all is not as it seems in Dracula’s castle, and he finds himself making a desperate escape. Shortly afterwards, a ship arrives in Whitby during a violent storm, manned only by its dead captain, strapped to the wheel. Soon, a young woman notices tiny wounds in her neck, and the eccentric Doctor Van Helsing is enlisted to get to the bottom of her rapidly worsening illness.
This new recording narrated by Jake Urry brings this classic tale to life.
A Victorian scientist travels into the far future and discovers the descendants of humanity, the Eloi, living in apparent peace and tranquility. However, after his time machine goes missing, he discovers that humanity has in fact split into two distinct species, and the Morlocks are not quite so benign as the Eloi. The time traveller must arm himself and get his time machine back if he ever wants to return to his own era.
In this new audio version, narrator Jake Urry vividly brings this classic H. G. Wells tale to life for 21st-century audiences.
In Edgar Allan Poe's short and turbulent life, he laid the groundwork for the genre of modern horror and, almost as an aside, invented the modern detective story. This collection brings together Poe's most popular short stories and poems, listed below:
- The Masque of the Red Death
- Berenice
- The Fall of the House of Usher
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue
- The Black Cat
- The Pit and The Pendulum
- The Tell-Tale Heart
- Eleonora
- The Oval Portrait
- Hop-Frog
- Ligeia
- The Sphinx
- The Cask of Amontillado
- The Premature Burial
- The Raven, Annabel Lee, The Bells & seven other poems
Narrated by Jake Urry, each story has its place in the history of dark fiction, and went on to inspire authors including Dostoevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne.
First published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological tale explores the idea of the split personality. Respectable Dr. Jekyll's mysterious association with the notorious young Mr. Hyde culminates in a shocking revelation in the doctor's laboratory.
In this new audio version, narrator Jake Urry vividly brings this chilling tale to life for 21st Century audiences.
Captivated by the allure of his own portrait, Dorian Gray gives his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. His friend Lord Henry Wotton draws him into a double life of secret vice, while to the world outside he preserves his immaculate facade. As his hidden portrait becomes uglier with each new sin, Dorian begins to lose control, and his past comes around to haunt him.
Oscar Wilde's only novel is half gothic horror, half morality tale, and is as timeless as his plays and poems. First published in 1889, this unabridged audiobook edition narrated by Jake Urry captures the wit, the charm and the horror of Wilde's most controversial work.
A country doctor arrives at 221B Baker Street and presents Sherlock Holmes with an old local legend and a new cryptic mystery. The owner of Baskerville Hall is dead, and his heir, Sir Henry Baskerville arrives from Canada to take over the estate. From the moment he arrives in London, he is warned to stay away from Baskerville Hall by an unknown agent. Sir Henry is unperturbed however, and Holmes decides to send Watson down to Devonshire with him to report on any developments. Is there any truth in the legend of a huge spectral hound that has haunted the family for generations? Or does the truth lie with one of the enigmatic characters in the surrounding area?
Perhaps the most well known outing for Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles has all the ingredients of the cosiest of mysteries. Jake Urry brings this head-scratching tale to life in this unabridged telling of a timeless classic.
