497 episodes
Headline Books Headline Publishing
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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As a boy, Nathan Penlington had loved Choose Your Own Adventures, the literary phenomenon of the 1980s which thrust the reader into the role of main character and compelled them to make decisions and direct the flow of the story. So, when he discovered a job lot of the first 106 adventures for sale on eBay, there was never any question that he would place a bid. When the books arrived, he lost himself in the old adventures.
Yet, as he flicked through the pages, there was another story being written - for, in the margins of each book, were the scribblings of the little boy who had once owned them, a little boy by the name of Terence John Prendergast. In the margins of the books, Terence wrote jokes, hints for adventurers following the same stories as him - and, more troubling still, intimations of a tormented childhood: of the boys and teachers who had bullied him; of the things he hated about himself and had to improve; of his thoughts of suicide and his desperate need to find friends, be liked, and find somebody - anybody - to confide in.
THE BOY IN THE BOOK is Nathan's poignant recreation of the discovery of the fragments of Terence Prendergast's diary, his quest to find the lost boy, and the friendship that resulted from their first meeting. In doing so, Nathan is forced to examine his own childhood - and, as his relationship with Terence deepens, he begins to believe that the two men are not so different, and to reflect on the darkness that can exist in childhood.
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DEATH BY THE SEA by Vera Morris, read by Antonia Beamish - audiobook extract 3
Vera Morris returns with the sixth instalment in her much-loved Anglian Detective Agency Series.
THE ANGLIAN DETECTIVE AGENCY ARE BACK!
Thorpeness, 1973. Wrongly exiled from London, Judge Neville Hanmer sought solace and a quiet life on the Suffolk coast. But then a face from the past unexpectedly resurfaces and he turns to The Anglian Detective Agency for help.
Laurel, Frank, and the rest of the team are busier than ever trying to solve the mysterious theft of rare plants from Yoxford Hall Gardens. But when Judge Hanmer doesn't show for their meeting, they find themselves embroiled in yet another case - one that will take them to darker places than they've ever been before.
With Laurel and Frank's relationship see-sawing out of control, can the team uncover the truth before it's too late? Or will a depraved killer succeed, and separate Laurel and Frank forever? -
DEATH BY THE SEA by Vera Morris, read by Antonia Beamish - audiobook extract 2
Vera Morris returns with the sixth instalment in her much-loved Anglian Detective Agency Series.
THE ANGLIAN DETECTIVE AGENCY ARE BACK!
Thorpeness, 1973. Wrongly exiled from London, Judge Neville Hanmer sought solace and a quiet life on the Suffolk coast. But then a face from the past unexpectedly resurfaces and he turns to The Anglian Detective Agency for help.
Laurel, Frank, and the rest of the team are busier than ever trying to solve the mysterious theft of rare plants from Yoxford Hall Gardens. But when Judge Hanmer doesn't show for their meeting, they find themselves embroiled in yet another case - one that will take them to darker places than they've ever been before.
With Laurel and Frank's relationship see-sawing out of control, can the team uncover the truth before it's too late? Or will a depraved killer succeed, and separate Laurel and Frank forever? -
DEATH BY THE SEA by Vera Morris, read by Antonia Beamish - audiobook extract
Vera Morris returns with the sixth instalment in her much-loved Anglian Detective Agency Series.
THE ANGLIAN DETECTIVE AGENCY ARE BACK!
Thorpeness, 1973. Wrongly exiled from London, Judge Neville Hanmer sought solace and a quiet life on the Suffolk coast. But then a face from the past unexpectedly resurfaces and he turns to The Anglian Detective Agency for help.
Laurel, Frank, and the rest of the team are busier than ever trying to solve the mysterious theft of rare plants from Yoxford Hall Gardens. But when Judge Hanmer doesn't show for their meeting, they find themselves embroiled in yet another case - one that will take them to darker places than they've ever been before.
With Laurel and Frank's relationship see-sawing out of control, can the team uncover the truth before it's too late? Or will a depraved killer succeed, and separate Laurel and Frank forever? -
PROMISE OF THE RUNES written by Christina Courtenay, read by Eilidh Beaton - audiobook extract
Brimming with romance, adventure and vivid historical detail, Christina Courtenay does for the Vikings what Diana Gabaldon's Outlander and Clanlans does for Scottish history.
The long-awaited story of Ivar Thoresson, foster brother of Linnea and Madison Berger, is told in Promises of the Runes!
He travelled through time to capture her heart. -
HENRY VIII written by Alison Weir, narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick - audiobook extract
Six wives. One King. You know their stories. Now it's time to hear his.
The magnificent new Tudor novel from the author of the Sunday Times-bestselling Six Tudor Queens series.
A second son, not born to rule, becomes a man, and a king...
In grand royal palaces, Prince Harry grows up dreaming of knights and chivalry - and the golden age of kings that awaits his older brother. But Arthur's untimely death sees Harry crowned King Henry of England.
As his power and influence extends, so commences a lifelong battle between head and heart, love and duty. Henry rules by divine right, yet his prayers for a son go unanswered.
The great future of the Tudor dynasty depends on an heir. And the crown weighs heavy on a king with all but his one true desire.
HENRY VIII. HIS STORY.
Alison Weir's most ambitious Tudor novel yet reveals the captivating story of a man who was by turns brilliant, romantic, and ruthless: the king who changed England forever. -
THREE NIGHTS IN ITALY by Olivia Beirne - Audiobook Extract, Harriet read by Polly Edsell
Zoe always knew this day would come. After all, no one can live for ever. She may not be ready, but Zoe knows the importance of goodbye - and how much it hurts when left unsaid - so it's time to return to her grandmother's home in Italy one last time. Even if that means deceiving her mum, Ange.
Harriet doesn't know where she fits anymore. It's not in Cornwall with the new family her mum is building, and it's certainly not in the job she hates. The trip to Italy may not be the adventure Zoe and Harriet promised themselves, but Harriet is simply not being left behind.
Ange was doing fine. Well, she was coping. Like she has been for the past fourteen years because her daughter needed her. But since her mother's death, nothing has felt fine. Even her relationship with Zoe is cracking at the seams.
Then, the last person any of them expects to see suddenly turns up, and soon it seems the only way to move forward is to revisit the past...
Explore the sun-drenched Italian countryside in this hilarious and heart-warming novel about unconditional love, second chances and the importance of not taking life for granted.