Simon Mattacks has narrated 52 audiobooks on Listento.it by 44 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 88 ratings. The most-rated is The Retreat.
The Retreat
Summary
An Amazon Charts bestseller. A missing child. A desperate mother. And a house full of secrets. Two years ago, Julia lost her family in a tragic accident. Her husband drowned trying to save their daughter, Lily, in the river near their rural home. But the little girl’s body was never found - and Julia believes Lily is somehow still alive. Alone and broke, Julia opens her house as a writers’ retreat. One of the first guests is Lucas, a horror novelist, who becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Lily. But within days of his arrival, the peace of the retreat is shattered by a series of eerie events. When Lucas’s investigation leads him and Julia into the woods, they discover a dark secret - a secret that someone will do anything to protect... What really happened that day by the river? Why was Lily never found? And who, or what, is haunting the retreat? From the bestselling author of Follow You Home and The Magpies comes his most terrifying novel yet.
©2018 Mark Edwards (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
When You Disappeared
Summary
All she wanted was the truth, but she'll wish she never found out. When Catherine wakes up alone one morning, she thinks her husband has gone for a run before work. But Simon never makes it to the office. His running shoes are by the front door. Nothing is missing - except him. Catherine knows Simon must be in trouble. He wouldn't just leave her. He wouldn't leave the children. But Simon knows the truth - about why he left and what he's done. He knows things about his marriage that it would kill Catherine to find out. The memories she holds onto are lies. While Catherine faces a dark new reality at home, Simon's halfway around the world, alive and thriving. He's doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the truth. But he can't hide forever, and when he reappears twenty-five years later, Catherine will finally learn who he is. And wish she'd stayed in the dark.
©2017 John Marrs (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things
Summary
Nature, money, work, care, food, energy, and lives: these are the seven things that have made our world and will shape its future. Bringing the latest ecological research together with histories of colonialism, indigenous struggles, slave revolts, and other rebellions and uprisings, Patel and Moore demonstrate that throughout history, crises have always prompted fresh strategies to make the world cheap and safe for capitalism. At a time of crisis in all seven cheap things, innovative and systemic thinking is urgently required. This book proposes a radical new way of understanding - and reclaiming - the planet in the turbulent twenty-first century.
©2017 Raj Patel and Jason Moore (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Combo Prospecting
Summary
Unleash a killer combination of old and new sales strategies. How do you break through to impossible-to-reach executive buyers who are intent on blocking out the noise that confronts them every day? Old-school prospecting tactics or new-school techniques alone won't provide the answers. But Combo Prospecting will...by showing how to combine time-tested sales processes with cutting-edge social media strategies and clever technology hacks. The book reveals today's new breed of Chief Executive Buyers, the channels they use, the value narrative you need, and the mix of methods that works. With actionable insights in every chapter, it explains how to: Do deep-dive research into social Locate leverage points that matter Secure decision-maker meetings Earn executive engagement Build a knockout, online brand Nurture a network that helps you thrive Profit from referrals Publish insights that set you apart and steer the agenda Employ an efficient, lethal library of scripts and templates And much, much more Want to wildly exceed your quota? Combo Prospecting is a potent playbook that will pack your pipeline and turn you into a selling champ.
©2018 Tony J. Hughes (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Published by arrangement with AMACOM, a division of American Management Association International, New York
Scorched Shadows
Summary
In the final chapter of the Hellequin Chronicles, secrets will be revealed, friendships tested, and destinies fulfilled. Avalon is under siege. A shadowy cabal, headed by a mysterious figure known only as "My Liege", has launched a series of deadly attacks across the globe, catching innocent human bystanders in the crossfire. Emerging from the debris of battle, Nate Garrett, the 1600-year-old sorcerer also called Hellequin, and his friends must stop My Liege once and for all. But powerful forces stand in their way. To save Avalon, they will need to enlist the help of Mordred, once Nate's greatest nemesis, now his most formidable ally. But Mordred is grappling with a dark prophecy that could spell Nate's doom... The fate of the world hangs in the balance. Even if Nate can halt the war, will there be anything left worth saving?
©2017 Steve McHugh (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Edinburgh Dusk
Summary
The prize-winning author of Edinburgh Twilight returns to the darkening shadows of nineteenth-century Scotland to track a killer on a profane mission of revenge. A wicked Scottish winter has just begun when pioneering female physician Sophia Jex-Blake calls on Detective Inspector Ian Hamilton to investigate the suspicious death of one of her patients - a railroad lineman who she believes succumbed to the horrific effects of arsenic poisoning. The most provocative aspect of the case doesn’t escape Hamilton: the married victim’s numerous sexual transgressions. Now, for the first time since the unexplained fire that killed his parents, Hamilton enters the Royal Infirmary to gain the insights of brilliant medical student Arthur Conan Doyle. Then a second poisoning occurs - this time, a prominent banker who died in the bed of a prostitute. It appears that someone is making Edinburgh’s more promiscuous citizens pay for their sins. As the body count rises and public panic takes hold, Hamilton and Doyle delve into the seedy underbelly of the city, where nothing is as it seems, no one is immune to murder, and even trusted friends can be enemies in disguise.
©2018 Carole Lawrence (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds
Summary
Missing diamonds. Mysterious deaths. And all that jazz. London, 1925. With their band the Dizzy Heights, jazz musicians Ivor ‘Skins’ Maloney and Bartholomew ‘Barty’ Dunn are used to improvising as they play the Charleston for flappers and toffs, but things are about to take a surprising turn. Superintendent Sunderland has had word that a deserter who stole a fortune in diamonds as he fled the war is a member of the Aristippus private members’ club in Mayfair - where the Dizzy Heights have a residency. And the thief is planning to steal a hoard of jewels hidden there under the cover of a dance contest. As mutual pal Lady Hardcastle has suggested, Skins and Dunn are perfectly placed to be Sunderland’s eyes and ears - and Skins’s wife Ellie soon lends a hand with a bit of light snooping. But the stakes change dramatically when a mysterious death at the club brings a sinister note to the investigation. With the dance contest fast approaching, the trio must solve the mystery of the missing diamonds, unmask the murderer, and prevent more deadly crimes - all without missing a beat.
©2020 T E Kinsey. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Apollo 11
Summary
Informed by extensive interviews with astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernan, David Scott, John Young, Alan Shepard, Charlie Duke, Al Bean, Gordon Cooper, Al Worden, Walt Cunningham, Tom Stafford, Dick Gordon, John Glenn, Pete Conrad, Edgar Mitchel, James Irwin, Stu Roosa, Ron Evans, Deke Slayton, Wally Schirra, as well as key politicians and NASA personnel Fifty years ago in July 1969, Apollo 11 became the first manned mission to land on the moon, and Neil Armstrong the first man to step onto its surface. President Nixon called it the greatest week since creation. In the most authoritative book ever written about Apollo, David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the mission, telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players. This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space, through President Kennedy's enthusiasm and later doubts, to the astronauts' intense competition to leave the first footprint. Here is the story as told by the crew of Apollo 11 and the many other astronauts who paved the way or went to the moon themselves after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. Astronauts, engineers, politicians, NASA officials, Soviet rivals - all tell their own story of a great moment of human achievement. The full list of interviewees includes NASA employees such as James Fletcher, Roco Petrone, Brainerd Homes, Bob Gilruth, George Mueller, James Webb, John Houbolt, Robert Seamans, Max Faget, Director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory William Pickering, and Sergei Khrushchev, son of Soviet Premier.
©2019 by David Whitehouse. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Death Unleashed
Summary
A deadly venom. A looming rebellion. A vicious siege. And the clock is ticking. For sorcerer Nate Garrett, the stakes have risen. If Asgard falls, he may lose much more than his home - he may lose the thing dearest to him. To stand a fighting chance against Avalon, he must be ready to go to war. But when his best friend and father are poisoned, Nate must race against the clock in a desperate quest to find a cure. Layla Cassidy is tasked with gaining the aid of the Valkyrie in Valhalla, but once there, she finds herself involved in another rebellion and must pick a side. Meanwhile, Mordred finds himself on a hunt for Excalibur, a weapon of incredible power that would aid the rebellion in their fight against Arthur and his allies. But to retrieve it, Mordred must face uncomfortable truths about himself. War looms over the rebellion, and the battle for Asgard is at hand. Time is running out as Avalon's forces threaten total destruction. But Nate can't be in two places at once. Can he find the cure, and can he, Layla, and Mordred save the realms before it’s too late?
©2020 by Steve McHugh. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved
Promise of Wrath
Summary
A powerful sorcerer. A forgotten past. Hellequin is back, and the end is near. A terrible storm is brewing in London, and Nathan Garrett, the sorcerer known as Hellequin, is the only one who can stop it. But his enemies have other plans. Harnessing the power of an ancient stone tablet, they cast Nate and his allies into another realm, where a bloody conflict rages between creatures twisted by magic. Meanwhile, with his friends' lives in danger, Nate must put centuries of differences aside, and place his trust in one of his greatest foes. Time is running out. Trapped and outnumbered, Nate must use all his wits and power to survive and find his way home before his enemies start a war that could destroy everything he holds close. Welcome to the penultimate chapter of the Hellequin Chronicles.
©2016 Steve McHugh (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved
Sorcery Reborn
Summary
He doesn’t need a weapon. He is the weapon. After losing his powers in an epic battle between good and evil, former sorcerer Nate Garrett finds himself living as a humble human in Clockwork, Oregon. While the world thinks Nate is dead, his friends continue to fight against Avalon and the evil it’s intent on spreading. Avalon’s forces turn up in Clockwork, and Nate’s frustration grows with every passing day his magic doesn’t return. He finds himself trying to stop Avalon’s plans while hiding from enemies who would destroy everything in their path to see him dead. Avalon’s darkness begins to threaten the people Nate cares about, and an old nemesis returns; magic or no magic, he has no choice but to fight. But will Nate see his magical powers reborn before the entire town - and everyone he loves - is destroyed?
©2019 Steve McHugh (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Checking Out
Summary
What do you do when the doctor says you could die at any moment? Well...after you’ve made a cup of tea, of course. Nathan James is young, successful and has the world at his feet. Unfortunately, he’s also about to die - which ruins things somewhat. And now he’s staring imminent death in the face, Nathan is having to rethink some of his life choices very hard. This means embarking on a hectic journey of self-discovery that includes, amongst other things, losing his dignity to an inescapable bean bag, suffering screaming nightmares about a monstrous potato, and getting up close and very personal with a bipolar donkey. All of which is fine, but then Nathan falls in love with a charming girl called Alison, which is a really stupid thing to do. Because how can you give your heart to someone when it might be about to stop? From Nick Spalding, the bestselling author of Fat Chance, Bricking It and Mad Love, comes a comedy about dying - which is easy - and living, which is most certainly not.
©2018 Nick Spalding (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved
Horsemen's War
Summary
It’s a dark day for the earth realms. Will it be the last? Sorcerer Nate Garrett lost much in the battle that devastated Asgard, but the war against darkness is far from over. He’s spent a year searching for Arthur, hell-bent on stopping the evil leader of Avalon and rescuing his friend Tommy from his clutches. Nate’s investigation brings him to Washington, DC, where he finds the city under siege. Just when all hope seems lost, Layla Cassidy and her team arrive to join the fight, but Avalon’s deadly plan to conquer the earth realm is underway. Meanwhile, Mordred is on a quest to find allies in the upcoming war against Avalon, hoping to find Arthur and stop him before it’s too late. As the rebellion forces close in on Arthur, each of them know this could be their last fight. But with Arthur massing an unstoppable army of his own, will Nate’s fury be enough to defeat him once and for all?
©2020 Steve McHugh (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Professor Maxwell's Duplicitous Demon
Summary
Asked to name a great physicist, most people would mention Newton or Einstein, Feynman or Hawking. But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list.
Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive color. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.
Along the way, he set up one of the most enduring challenges in physics, one that has taxed the best minds ever since. "Maxwell’s demon" is a tiny but thoroughly disruptive thought experiment that suggests the second law of thermodynamics, the law that governs the flow of time itself, can be broken. This is the story of a groundbreaking scientist, a great contributor to our understanding of the way the world works, and his duplicitous demon.
©2019 by Brian Clegg. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Operative 66
Summary
Former special ops soldier Alex Reeve is Operative 66. One of the UK's deadliest weapons, he is part of the mysterious C6 - an elite and top-secret security service with a remit to neutralise the country's most dangerous enemies. But now Reeve is in the firing line. Framed as a traitor, Reeve is forced to flee as every operative is instructed to kill the 'rogue asset'. On the run from his own government, alone and under the radar, Reeve must survive off grid with fearsome assassins on his trail. He doesn't know why he's a target. Or who betrayed him. But if one man has the skills necessary to uncover the truth...it is Operative 66. From the international best seller comes an explosive, action-packed new thriller series - the perfect pulse-racing listen for fans of Lee Child, David Baldacci and Gregg Huwitz.
©2020 Andy McDermott (P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Edinburgh Midnight
Summary
Superstition and murder haunt nineteenth-century Scotland in a twisting mystery by the prize-winning author of Edinburgh Twilight and Edinburgh Dusk. Spiritualism has captured the public’s imagination. Séances are all the rage, and Detective Ian Hamilton’s otherwise sensible aunt Lillian is not immune to their allure. But for Ian, indulging her superstitions has its limits. When members of Lillian’s circle of séance friends begin turning up dead, Ian doesn’t need a medium to tell him these aren’t freak accidents. With the help of his friend Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian investigates, and he is soon drawn into a dark world of believers and tricksters, and a puzzling series of murders with no pattern, no motive, and no end in sight. Most alarming, the crimes conjure up the ghosts of Ian’s own past, including the mysterious deaths of his parents, which have haunted him for years. As two cases converge, science collides with the uncanny, and Ian must confront truths that are more disturbing than he could ever have imagined.
©2020 Carole Bugge. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Beyond the Point
Summary
DI Nick Dixon is on the hunt for a vicious serial killer, following a trail of fingerprints and DNA across west Somerset. When the body of a young woman is found on the building site of a nuclear power station, work grinds to a halt. The body bears all the hallmarks of yet another random murder at the hands of the escaped killer. Then Dixon finds a motive. Fighting for his place on the Major Investigation Team, he soon uncovers a family’s desperate search for the truth, exposing a web of corruption and death that will shake the billion-pound construction project to its very foundations. But who can be trusted when so much money is at stake? Can Dixon find the killer under intense pressure from the top of government? And, can he do it before anyone else has to die?
©2019 by Damien Boyd. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Finance Curse
Summary
Financial journalist Nicholas Shaxson first made his reputation studying the “resource curse,” seeing first-hand the disastrous economic and societal effects of the discovery of oil in Angola. He then gained prominence as an expert on tax havens, revealing the dark corners of that world long before the scandals of the Panama and Paradise Papers. Now, in The Finance Curse, he brings his knowledge to bear in an eye-opening investigation of how banks have overbalanced the economies of Western democracies, exerting an outsize effect on policy-making and effecting a brain drain of the brightest and best to the financial industry and its offshoots, much to the detriment of both business and broader society. How did we get to this situation? Shaxson describes the transformation of banks over the twentieth century as they changed from relatively small institutions that did well for themselves by serving the needs of business, to unfettered global behemoths. As the world reeled from World War II, the banks grew bigger in the post-war restructuring, experimenting with esoteric financial instruments like the Eurobonds in the 1960s, and then in the 1970s and ’80s taking increasingly high risks in order to compete with each other to return more profit to their demanding shareholders. Now these megabanks spread the fiscal gospel that business must be taxed as little as possible, that corporations need rights previously granted to humans, and encourage a fight to the bottom between states to provide the most subsidized environment for big business, in the name of “competitivity.” We need strong financial institutions - but when finance grows too big it becomes a curse. The Finance Curse is the explosive story of how finance got a stranglehold on society and how we might release ourselves from its grasp.
©2019 Nicholas Shaxson (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Frozen Rage
Summary
The Realm of Dreich is a getaway for the rich and powerful, a medieval-inspired town in the middle of a vast frozen wilderness. Now it’s the site of a wedding, intended to join two feuding families who have spent centuries in an uneasy truce with each other. When Tommy Carpenter asks his best friend, Nate Garrett, to help him with the security of the wedding, Nate reluctantly agrees, knowing that it will be a long weekend of work and, in all probability, treachery. It is only a matter of time before members of each family are found murdered and it is up to Nate and Tommy to find the killer before more bodies fall, potentially reigniting a war.
©2020 Steve McHugh. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Hunted
Summary
Cursed by witches centuries ago, Remy Roax was content with living his long life as a half-man/half-fox. But when he learned he had had undiscovered powers, he had no choice but to learn how to use them. After relocating to North Dakota in order to practise his new-found abilities, he soon finds himself in the targets of Louis Bonne, a man who wants to understand how the curse placed on Remy worked, so that he can use the souls of innocent people to make himself immortal. Since Remy has no interest in helping, Louis sends a group of murderers intent on convincing him. But Remy isn’t some helpless bystander, and these people will soon discover that Remy isn’t the kind of fox who runs from a hunt. Hunted is a novella set in the universe of the best-selling Hellequin Chronicles and Avalon Chronicles series.
©2019 Steve McHugh. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.