Showing results by narrator "B.J. Harrison" in All Categories

After a long stay in South Africa, Richard Hannay arrives back in London just before the outbreak of World War One. There he meets Franklin Scudder, who claims to be investigating the Black Stone - a German spy organization. Hannay gives a shelter to the man but one day he finds him dead. Now the Scotsman fears that he might be the next one on the Black Stone’s list. Hannay decides to go back to his native Scotland with the notebook Scudder gave him before he was murdered.

A delightful day in 1910 at the Haxford Spring Fair turns horrifying and deadly when a balloonist plummets to the earth from the blue skies above. However unlikely, it’s soon discovered that this unfortunate corpse was not done in by his precipitous plunge but instead from an arrow fatally lodged in his chest. Unraveling the twisted web of intrigue that took the man’s life requires the expert skills of Haxford’s brilliant and sartorially splendid Chief Inspector Pignon Scorbion. But the quirky detective is not alone. Aiding Scorbion in his dogged pursuit are his chosen deputies.

Brianna Putnam needs a juicy scandal and fast. Up for a promotion at a high-profile tabloid, she has one month to convince a hard-nosed editor that she has the chops for the job. What could be better than a story exposing Nocturne Falls, a town full of magical supernaturals? She has the ideal cover. Her grandmother is Echo Stargazer, and her cousin is Jessica Callahan, long-time residents, and self-proclaimed psychics. No time like the present to meet the family.

In "The Red-Headed League", the legendary Sherlock Holmes catches one of London's most daring criminals while investigating the strange business of the League, a suspicious organization that gives its members money for "nominal work".

The pages of The Jungle Book are opened, and a wild mongoose fights tooth and nail with deadly cobras.

What does a retired vampire hunter do with the rest of her life? That’s a question Bess Walker-James is desperately trying to figure out. Having recently been made redundant, she holes up at her family home in Maine to do some serious thinking about what comes next. Unfortunately, she has no idea. Until her handsome next-door neighbor shows up. Turns out, Callum McCarthy needs more help than just finding his missing cat. And what else has she got to do? But little does Bess know, he’s a lot more than he seems.

A father and his son visit a magic shop. This is not just any magic shop, but the "genuine" one, as the shop owner points out to the father. The father is not impressed but the boy is mesmerized by what he sees and hears. Yet when one trick turns out to be too real and the father is gripped by something he will not easily forget. H. G.

Suzi still lives on a luxurious yacht in Marina del Rey California with her legal buardian, attorney Peter Sharp and still has her trusted bodyguard Bernie, a huge Saint Bernard, but for this adventure she doesn't want to see the adults take advantage of her superior computer skills and grab all the credit for solving the crimes, like they have in the first 15 books that chronicled Peter Sharp's high-profile criminal cases. The assignment she has given herself is to figure out the identity of a murderous serial church bomber.

Latimer is convinced that he has a special power. According to him, he can see into the future and he can also read people's mind. Actually everybody’s but one; his brother’s wife Bertha's mind remains closed to him. Although he marries her after his brother’s death, he still cannot manage to read her thoughts. What he realizes however is that Bertha is manipulative and her heart is not pure.

France and Great Britain are waging a fierce war for the control of the North American colonies. Cora and Alice Munro are two sisters who travel through the forest to visit their father - Colonel Munro. Major Duncan Heyward and an Indian named Magua escort the two girls. However, unbeknownst to them, many dangers are lurking in the forest and stand reading to strike unsuspecting travellers.

Some poems can really teach us something if we read carefully and understand the essence. This lyric poem by Kipling makes no difference. By reading it, a man can find some wise advice in it. The advice that most of us will find is how to deal with different situations in life. But is this all? Maybe there is a secret message which only few of us will understand. If you want to find out, do not hesitate to read Rudyard Kiplings poem "If-".
B. J.

The traitors hiding under the roof of their family home were found and punished. But where do the threads woven into a sophisticated tangle of conspiracy lead? The young Prince Gorchakov will have to confront rogue guardsmen, outraged rebels, the people sent by the German Kaiser to aid the crisis, and one legendary general who went over to the dark side. Sometimes, all of them at once.

Mrs. Pratt mysteriously dies in her sleep after a fight with her husband. He thought that she had tried to poison him. But maybe it was the other way around? After a while Mr. Pratt is found dead as well, with a skull next to his head. Those who believe in ghosts think that Mrs. Pratt finally got her revenge. What do you believe? What happened with Mr. Pratt? If you are courageous enough, find the answer in "The Screaming Skull" by Francis Marion Crawford. B. J.

The book that inspired the new Netflix series, "Lupin" with Omar Sy. "The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar" is the first collection of stories about the infamous thief, Arsene Lupin. Cunning, charming, and roguishly good-looking, Lupin leads the French police department on a merry dance across Belle Epoque Paris in these adventure-filled mysteries. Evading the authorities, getting the girl and usually pocketing some rare jewel for himself, Arsene Lupin’s adventures will keep any reader on the edge of their seats. B.

H. Rider Haggard's 19th-century novel "Allan Quatermain," is the sequel to the novel "King Solomon's Mines"(1885). In this novel, adventurer Allan Quaterman's son has passed away and Quatermain longs to get back into the wild. From the eastern coast of Africa, he and a party of comrades arrive in the hostile territory of the Maasai and eventually make their way to a sacred lake of the Zu-Vendis. Although they are not welcome, the lake is ruled by two queens who take a great liking to the party.

"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." In the winter of 1801, a man named Lockwood rents a home in Northern England. When he meets his unfriendly landlord, Heathcliff, who lives in the old nearby manor Wurthering Heights, Lockwood is curious to know why he seems so troubled. By asking his housekeeper, Lockwood finds out much more than he bargained for. One of the most controversial and debated love stories of all times, 'Wuthering Heights' is one of those classics you just have to read.

An impoverished Oxford scholar decides to quit his studies and joins a group of gipsies. He absorbs their customs, trades and traditional way of learning. He learns that wisdom is not only to be found in schools and universities. It is among us and it is up to us to open our eyes to it. Matthew Arnold’s "The Scholar Gipsy" reminds us of this. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

John Carter has exposed the fraudulent Martian religion, and now there are many who want him to pay. Among them are the defrocked and black-hearted Thurid, and the bitter patriarch Matai Shang. These two villains concoct a plot that will not only plunge the Martian governments into perpetual chaos, but will condemn the plucky Dejah Thoris to a life of cruelty and misery.

Experience the original earth-shattering novel! Wells’ classic was written serially from 1895-1897, when steam locomotives and similar gargantuan machinery constituted the pinnacle of technological development. Now, relive the horrific wonder and amazement as aliens and their alien technology wreak havoc and mayhem in this world they’re determined to conquer.

As a firefighter, Captain Ken Cavanaugh knows his way around dangerous situations - but he'd rather run into a burning building than help plan his 25th high school reunion in Barefoot Bay. Unfortunately, it's his best chance of finally putting things right with Beth Endicott two and a half decades after they ended so badly. But the instant they see each other again, the years blow away like ashes in the heat of their combustible chemistry.