Napoleon Ryan has narrated 54 audiobooks on Listento.it by 36 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 464 ratings. The most-rated is Bone Crossed.
A Man's Word
Summary
The crime-solving duo known as the King's Hounds - Halfdan and his master, Winston - are investigating a possible plot against King Cnut by onetime enemy-turned-ally Jarl Thorkell. Joined on the arduous journey by Winston's woman, Alfilda, and Atheling, his cranky mule, they venture to the markets in Thetford to gather information. On the way, they meet a wealthy farmer who is seeking justice at the District Court against a thane accused of rape. When the thane tells a bald-faced lie in court, resulting in a dismissal of the charges, all hell breaks loose. In a time when noblemen are the law and they can't be trusted to be ethical, the law has no meaning. When the thane turns up dead, the tables turn and the accuser becomes the accused. Winston and Halfdan race to solve the crime before the region erupts in violence. Allegiances are tested and motives questioned in this captivating drama of justice and treachery in medieval England.
©2012 Martin Jensen and Forlaget Klim. English translation © 2014 by Tara F. Chace (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
How to Kill Friends and Implicate People
Summary
Fergus Fletcher is a hit man. For five thousand pounds, he'll kill anyone you want. For seven, he'll frame someone else. Pretending to kill someone is a first, but Alex Pennan has stolen from the mob and needs to fake his own death. Fergus is looking for love. So is Sam Ireland, a private investigator and part-time bike messenger. But she's got her hands on a very important package and is in a world of trouble with the mob. Joe Pepper, pillar of society and corrupt gangland fixer, will stop at nothing - nothing at all - to intercept the package and protect his reputation. Can Alex stay dead while his widow dances on his grave? Can Joe save himself before his stomach ulcer explodes? Can Fergus and Sam make it to a second date before Joe hires him to kill her? Welcome to Glasgow. It's a love story.
©2016 Jay Stringer (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Murder at Mandeville Hall
Summary
Number-one New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of unexpected romance that blossoms against the backdrop of dastardly murder. Well-born rakehell and head of an ancient family, Alaric, Lord Carradale, is finally preparing to find a bride. But loyalty to his childhood friend Percy Mandeville necessitates attending Percy's annual house party, held at neighboring Mandeville Hall. Alaric decides that as soon as he's free, he'll hie to London and find the mild-mannered lady he believes will ensure a peaceful life. But the following morning he comes upon the corpse of a young lady-guest. Constance Whittaker accepts that no gentleman will ever offer for her. Now acting as her grandfather's agent, she arrives at Mandeville Hall to extricate her young cousin, Glynis, who unwisely accepted an invitation to the reputedly licentious party. But Glynis cannot be found. Venturing into the shrubbery, Constance discovers an outrageously handsome aristocrat crouched beside Glynis' lifeless form. Unsurprisingly, Constance leaps to the obvious conclusion. Luckily, commonsense reasserts itself, and Constance discovers Alaric to be a worthy ally. Yet even after Scotland Yard takes charge of the case, the murderer's identity remains shrouded in mystery, and learning why Glynis was killed tests the resolve of all concerned. Flung into each other's company, Constance and Alaric can't deny the connection that grows between them. Then Constance vanishes. Can Alaric unearth the one fact that will point to the murderer before the villain rips from the world the lady Alaric now craves for his own?
©2018 Stephanie Laurens (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Confounding Case of the Carisbrook Emeralds
Summary
A young lady accused of theft and the gentleman who elects himself her champion enlist the aid of Stokes, Barnaby, Penelope, and friends in pursuing justice, only for the investigators to find themselves tangled in a web of interfamily tensions and secrets. When Miss Cara Di Abaccio is accused of stealing the Carisbrook emeralds by the infamously arrogant Lady Carisbrook and marched out of her guardian's house by Scotland Yard's finest, Barnaby Adair's cousin Hugo Adair takes umbrage and descends on Scotland Yard, breathing fire in Cara's defense. Hugo discovers Inspector Stokes has been assigned to the case, and after surveying the evidence thus far, Stokes calls in his big guns when it comes to dealing with investigations in the ton - namely, the Honorable Barnaby Adair and his wife, Penelope. Soon convinced of Cara's innocence and, given Hugo's apparent tendre for Cara needing to clear her name, Penelope and Barnaby join Stokes and his team in pursuing the emeralds and, most importantly, who stole them. But the deeper our intrepid investigators delve into the Carisbrook household, the more certain they become that all is not as it should be. Lady Carisbrook is a harpy, Franklin Carisbrook is secretive, Julia Carisbrook is overly timid, and Lord Carisbrook, otherwise a genial and honorable gentleman, holds himself distant from his family. More, his lordship attempts to shut down the investigation. And Stokes, Barnaby, and Penelope are convinced the Carisbrooks' staff are not sharing all they know. Meanwhile, appointed Cara's watchdog until the mystery is resolved, Hugo, fascinated by Cara as he's been with no other, seeks to entertain and amuse her...and, increasingly intently, to discover the way to her heart. Consequently, Penelope finds herself juggling the attractions of the investigation and the Adair family's demands for her to actively encourage the budding romance. What would her mentors advise? On that, Penelope is crystal clear. Aided by Griselda, Violet, and Montague and calling on contacts in business, the underworld, and ton society, Penelope, Barnaby, and Stokes battle to peel back each layer of subterfuge and, step by step, eliminate the innocent and follow the emeralds' trail.... Yet instead of becoming clearer, the veils and shadows shrouding the Carisbrooks only grow murkier...until, abruptly, our investigators find themselves facing an inexplicable death, with a potential murderer whose conviction would shake society to its back teeth.
©2018 Stephanie Laurens (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Heads or Tails
Summary
The highly anticipated seventh novel in the bestselling DI Nick Dixon Crime Series. A man has been mutilated and left to drown on the incoming tide, handcuffed in his van. With the murder bearing a striking resemblance to a string of sadistic killings carried out with surgical precision in 1990s gangland Manchester, it can mean only one thing: the killer is back. Transferred to the Major Investigation Team, DI Nick Dixon is assigned a new partner and sent to Manchester. Meanwhile, the gruesome murders in Somerset continue. Convinced of a connection with the unsolved gangland killings, and with the odds stacked against him, Dixon takes the ultimate gamble, determined to bring the killer to justice before it's too late. But is it the same killer? If so, why has he resurfaced now? And how many more must die?
©2017 Damien Boyd (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Swansong
Summary
Isobel Swan, a sixth form student, has been murdered. First, her ring finger is severed, then her throat is cut. With the investigation going nowhere fast, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon is sent undercover as a trainee teacher into Isobel's boarding school. But to find the killer, he must first confront his inner demons and lay to rest the ghosts lurking in his own past. If he can... As Dixon digs deeper, the stakes have never been higher and a murder has never felt so personal. Swansong is the fourth novel in Damien Boyd's highly addictive crime series.
©2015 Damien Boyd (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Here Comes Charlie M
Summary
Disavowed spy Charlie Muffin wages war against his former employers.Charlie Muffin has come back to England. The ex-spy, a veteran of 25 years’ service to the Crown, was last seen in Berlin, where an attempt on his life by his own organization led to international embarrassment. They had expected Charlie—a disheveled, middle-aged survivor of every double cross in the book—to die easily. Instead, he disappeared. But after months on the run, dulling his instincts with alcohol and laziness, the strain of life in the shadows finally gets to Charlie. By now the heat back home must have died down, and he shouldn’t have any trouble sneaking across the Channel. Now, he expects, he can finally be safe in England. Charlie Muffin is dead wrong.
©1978 Innslodge Publications Ltd (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Madrigal for Charlie Muffin
Summary
On a routine insurance job in Rome, Charlie yet again becomes a target. Charlie Muffin is back at rock bottom. The ex-spy has had a rough few years since British intelligence first turned on him and forced him to go into hiding. He’s drinking again, forgetting things - getting soft. He hasn’t even noticed the tap on his phone. Though Charlie doesn’t know it yet, the walls are closing in again. He takes a job for his only friend, Rupert Willoughby, who sends Charlie to Rome to check the security system for some valuable jewels. Charlie has chosen the wrong time to visit the Eternal City. There’s a mole in the British embassy there, and the agents of the East and West are homing in fast. Charlie, unlucky as always, is about to find himself caught between a very solid rock and an equally hard place.
©1981 Brian Freemantle (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Different Mothers
Summary
Ranging in age from six to 40, 38 sons and daughters of lesbians offer brief essays that could be valuable to like offspring, as well as to relatives and friends trying to understand the problems such children face. Homophobia, visited upon the children as well as their mothers, is the most commonly cited concern; some younger contributors feel isolated from their peers, and a couple of boys endure rejection from radical lesbian acquaintances. Despite such difficulties, many contributors enjoy close relationships with their mothers and are happy in their unconventional homes. For older children, their own sexual orientation is an issue, and there is occasional resentment engendered by a parent's coming out - "Growing up is a hard enough thing to do," says one young woman. Rafkin edited Different Daughters: A Book by Mothers of Lesbians.
©1990 Louise Rafkin (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Comrade Charlie
Summary
Trapped at a desk job, Charlie Muffin uncovers a deadly KGB plot Charlie Muffin is too good an agent to be working a desk, but after a bust-up with his new director, he has been relegated to clerk work. Among the heaps of papers, though, Charlie stumbles upon the clues to a last-gasp plot from the collapsing Soviet Union. The signs point to a new Soviet Star Wars system - and to the involvement of a British traitor. Or do they? After all, the KGB wants one more chance to eliminate their old adversary Charlie. When the agency discovers his involvement, it sets a nasty trap. As the Soviet regime crumbles, it could take Charlie down with it.
©1989 Brian Freemantle (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Someone to Save You
Summary
Fifteen years ago, Sam Becker's sister was killed, a tragedy that haunts him to this day - particularly as his best friend, Marcus, was jailed for her murder. Driving home from the bittersweet celebration of what would have been her thirtieth birthday, Sam is confronted with a terrifying scene, and has just moments to try to save four lives. In the aftermath of this chilling drama, he is hailed as a hero by the press - but to the investigating police, things do not add up. Sam finds himself drawn into a conspiracy of lies and organised crime that puts his own life in danger. And to make matters worse, Marcus is out of prison, hoping for reconciliation and determined to clear his name. Sam is forced to confront his own dark past, but as the layers of deceit are peeled back, can he really trust anyone around him?
©2015 Paul Pilkington (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Run Around
Summary
An authorized agent again, Charlie Muffin must thwart an assassination attempt that could turn the tides of the Cold War It could be the most sensational defection of all time. The head of the Russian KGB’s cipher section comes with every code, every plot, every secret. But his most startling disclosure of all is that the Russians are planning a shocking assassination. But the defector doesn’t know who. Or where. Or how. Or when. All Charlie knows is that he must stop the murder from happening - without being marked for death himself.
©1988 Brian Freemantle (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
The Queen of Wolves
Summary
After rescuing Pythia, the creature who turned him into a vampire, Aleric follows her back to the land of the Saracens. There, they must raise an army, for Aleric's lost love, Enora, has become the Queen of the Wastelands. Aided by her minions and her legions of wolves, she has begun the quest to call the Dark Madonna from beyond the Veil into the world of man. To stop the end of all, Aleric must become what he was destined to be - the Messiah of the Damned - and lead the undead in a final battle against the Mother of Darkness.
©2007 Douglas Clegg (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
The Improbable Primate
Summary
In this fresh and provocative view of a seven-million-year evolutionary journey, Finlayson demonstrates the radical implications for the interpretation of fossils and technologies and shows that understanding humans within an ecological context provides insights into the emergence and spread of Homo sapiens worldwide. Finlayson argues that environmental change, particularly availability of water, played a critical role in shaping the direction of human evolution, contributing to our spread and success. He argues that our ancestors carved a niche for themselves by leaving the forest and forcing their way into a long-established community of carnivores in a tropical savannah as climate changes opened up the landscape. They took their chance at high noon, when most other predators were asleep. Adapting to this new lifestyle by shedding their hair and developing an active sweating system to keep cool, being close to fresh water was vital. As the climate dried, our ancestors, already bipedal, became taller and slimmer, more adept at travelling farther in search of water. The challenges of seeking water in a drying landscape moulded the minds and bodies of early humans and directed their migrations and eventual settlements.
©2014 Clive Finlayson (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Charlie Muffin U.S.A.
Summary
Charlie Muffin’s new job puts him in the crosshairs of a vicious American drug lordCharlie Muffin has done well since he “died.” He’s been on the run for years from the intelligence forces of Great Britain and the United States when an official declaration of death finally puts an end to their pursuit. Suddenly, Charlie can breathe again. He’s even put a lid on his single malt whisky habit. Now all he needs is a job. He puts his espionage skills to work for an English insurance company, ensuring the security of the Romanov stamps. A priceless collection assembled in the years before the Russian Revolution, the stamps survived only because the Bolsheviks failed to recognize their value. Now the American government means to use them as bait for a brutal drug lord. He wants the stamps, and Charlie must stop him from getting them—even if it means getting “killed” a second time.
©1980 Innslodge Publications Ltd (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Dead Lock
Summary
Early on a cold Somerset morning, ten-year-old Alesha Daniels is reported missing by her father, a violent alcoholic. Her mother, a known drug addict, is found unconscious, but it’s her mother’s boyfriend the police are keen to trace. As the hunt for Alesha gathers pace, a second local girl is taken, plunging another family into the depths of despair. Cutting short his holiday, DI Nick Dixon races home to join the Major Investigation Team, but no sooner has he identified a network of local suspects than they begin to show up dead. At odds with his superiors, Dixon is convinced the child abductions are anything but random, but nobody is prepared for the investigation to lead quite so close to home. Can Dixon and his team crack the case before all the suspects are silenced? And will he find the missing girls before it’s too late?
©2018 Damien Boyd (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Cancer Virus
Summary
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was discovered in 1964. At the time, the very idea of a virus underlying a cancer was revolutionary. Cancer is, after all, not catching. Even now, the idea of a virus causing cancer surprises many people. But Epstein-Barr, named after its discoverers, Sir Anthony Epstein and Dr Yvonne Barr, is fascinating for other reasons, too. Almost everyone carries it, yet it is only under certain circumstances that it produces disease. It has been associated withdifferent, apparently unrelated, diseases in different populations: Burkitt's Lymphoma, producing tumours in the jaw, in African children; a nasal tumour in China; glandular fever in Europe and the USA; and the majority of cases of Hodgkin's Disease everywhere. This book tells the story of the discovery of the virus, and the recognition of its connection with these various diseases - an account that spans the world and involves some remarkable characters and individual stories.
©2014 Dorothy H. Crawford, Alan Rickinson and Ingólfur Johannessen (P)2014 Audible Inc.
A Summer in the Twenties
Summary
In 1926 the British government was worried about revolution. Two million people are about to go on strike and class warfare is about to erupt. Tom Hankey is caught between his love for Judy, a bright young thing, and Kate, a fireball agitator. Brought home from Oxford by his father, Tom volunteers to drive a train in the General Strike. When the train is ambushed, Tom is thrust into the darkest and most threatening regions of English politics. Gritty, sparkling, and full of unexpected turnarounds, A Summer in the Twenties resonates and captivates.
©1981 Peter Dickinson (P)2014 Audible Studios
Dead Level
Summary
In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the wife of parliamentary candidate Tom Perry is brutally murdered in an apparent burglary gone wrong. With the by-election campaign about to start in earnest and the festive season in full swing, torrential rain brings with it flood warnings on the Somerset Levels. Suspended on full pay and transferred to the cold case unit, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon is languishing on the sidelines as the investigation into Elizabeth Perry's murder unravels and the floodwaters rise. Returning to duty, Dixon is convinced that the answer lies hidden in Tom Perry's political life, but why was Elizabeth the target and not her husband? The more Dixon uncovers, the further he is from finding the truth.... Dead Level is the fifth novel in Damien Boyd's addictive DI Nick Dixon Crime Series.
©2016 Damien Boyd (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Money
Summary
The irresistible power of money, a lever that can lift the world. Love and money are the only things. Aristide Rougon, known as Saccard, is a failed property speculator determined to make his way once more in Paris. Unscrupulous, seductive, and with unbounded ambition, he schemes and manipulates his way to power. Financial undertakings in the Middle East lead to the establishment of a powerful new bank and speculation on the stock market; Saccard meanwhile conducts his love life as energetically as he does his business, and his empire is seemingly unstoppable. Saccard, last encountered in The Kill (La Curée) in Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, is a complex figure whose story intricately intertwines the worlds of politics, finance, and the press. The repercussions of his dealings on all levels of society resonate disturbingly with the financial scandals of more recent times. This is the first new translation for more than 100 years, and the first unabridged translation in English. The edition includes a wide-ranging introduction and useful historical notes.
©2014 Valerie Minogue (P)2014 Audible, Inc.