Adventure Talking Books

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Adventure Talking Books

Adventure

Talking Books

The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.

Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.

If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer Services Team on 0303 123 9999 or email [email protected]

If you would like further information, or help in selecting titles to read, then please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email [email protected]

You can write to us at RNIB NLS, PO Box 173, Peterborough PE2 6WS Bagley, Desmond Night of error. 1984. Read by Stanley McGeagh, 10 hours 4 minutes. TB 5300. Oceanographer Mike Trevelyan's brother, Mark, dies on a remote Pacific island, leaving behind the clue to an immense treasure on the sea bed. Mike sets out to find it with a band of ex-commandos as crew but finds he has more than wind and wave with which to contend. TB 5300.

Bellow, Saul Henderson the Rain King. 1958. Read by Marvin Kane, 13 hours. TB 1707. Urged by an inner compulsion to look for some ultimate satisfaction, Henderson goes to Africa, meets up with an unknown tribe, and encounters in their primitive rites and loyalties the experiences he is seeking. TB1707.

Birmingham, George Spanish Gold. 1908. Read by Stephen Jack, 7 hours 38 minutes. TB 2534. The story of a search for buried treasure on the Island of Inishgowlan in Moy Bay. TB 2534.

Brink, Andre An instant in the wind. 1976. Read by Steve Hodson, 13 hours 4 minutes. TB 5440. In 1749 the Eric Larsson expedition into the South African interior came to a halt along the Great Fish river. The guide had committed suicide, the Hottentot bearers had deserted and all but two of the oxen had been stolen by raiding bushmen. Elizabeth Larsson's husband lay dead in a thicket some miles away. Her fate was decided by the arrival of a runaway slave from the Cape, Adam Mantoor, who for some weeks had been secretly and compulsively tracking the wagons. TB 5440.

2 Birch, Carol Jamrach's menagerie. 2011. Read by Steve Hodson, 13 hours 33 minutes. TB 19028. 1857. Jaffy Brown is running along a street in London's East End when he comes face to face with an escaped circus animal. Plucked from the jaws of death by Mr Jamrach - explorer, entrepreneur and collector of the world's strangest creatures - the two strike up a friendship. Before he knows it, Jaffy finds himself on board a ship bound for the Dutch East Indies, on an unusual commission for Mr Jamrach. His journey - if he survives it - will push faith, love and friendship to their utmost limits. Contains strong language. TB 19028.

Brookmyre, Christopher One fine day in the middle of the night. 1999. Read by Jonathan Hackett, 13 hours 42 minutes. TB 12337. Gavin is creating a unique "holiday experience" - every facility any tourist who hates "abroad" will ever want is to be available on a converted North Sea oil rig. He hosts a school reunion to test the resort, but a group of terrorists have invited themselves to the party. Contains violence. TB 12337.

Broster, D K The flight of the heron. 1925. Read by Stanley Pritchard, 13 hours 45 minutes. TB 857. The flight of the heron trilogy; book 1. This novel is set in Scotland in 1745 and covers Bonnie Prince Charlie's adventures in the Highlands. TB 857.

Buchan, John Salute to adventurers. 1915. Read by Robert Trotter, 8 hours 23 minutes. TB 9048. Andrew Garvald is captured by dragoons, and as the son of a Covenanter can expect no mercy, but is released through the intervention of Elspeth Blair. Years later in Virginia he meets her again and falls in love - hopelessly, for he is a despised merchant and she the toast of high society. Secretly involved in organising an army of pirates and rebels to defend Virginia's frontiers, he is trapped by Indians and the fate of the colony and of the woman he

3 loves depends upon him. A warning must be delivered or the invading horde turned aside: either seems impossible. TB 9048.

Buchan, John The thirty-nine steps. 1915. Read by Andrew Timothy, 3 hours 56 minutes. TB 897. The first of the famous Richard Hannay spy stories; a web of international intrigue spun in London and Scotland. TB 897.

Buchan, John Prester John. 1994. Read by Robbie MacNab, 8 hours 55 minutes. TB 10696. Nineteen year old David Crawfurd sails from Scotland to South Africa to work as a storekeeper, meeting again with John Laputa, the celebrated Zulu minster, of whom he has strange memories. In his remote store, David finds himself with the key to a massive uprising led by the minister, who has taken the title of the mythical priest king, Prester John. David's courage and understanding of this man take him to the heart of the uprising, a secret cave in the Rooirand. TB 10696.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice Tarzan of the apes. 1999. Read by Peter Marinker, 9 hours 22 minutes. TB 13488. When Tarzan is orphaned as a baby, deep in the African jungle, he is saved by a she-ape and raised as one of her own. By the time he has grown into a young man, Tarzan has the strength and courage of ten - but then his jungle domain is disturbed by the arrival of "civilized" men. TB 13488.

Campbell, Fiona Death of a salaryman. 2007. Read by John Chancer, 13 hours 8 minutes. TB 16602. The story of a Japanese salaryman who loses his job at a TV corporation, on his 40th birthday, and slips through to a different layer of society, a shadowy world where curious characters show him the way - a travelling salesman with a passion for Elvis, a pachinko pro with dreams of returning to Hawaii, and a TV producer who will stop at nothing to get his big break - and Kenji sets off on a roller-coaster ride of misadventures. TB 16602.

4 Canning, Victor The great affair. 1970. Read by David Broomfield, 11 hours 50 minutes. TB 1499. Sangster takes R.L. Stevenson's advice that "the great affair is to move", and in the few months after his release from prison he covers nine countries, numerous love affairs and a range of extraordinary adventures. TB 1499.

Carter, Angela Nights at the circus. 1984. Read by David Banks, 13 hours 31 minutes. TB 5394. Fevvers is the greatest aerialist of her time: a Cockney Venus who is borne up by the spread of wings that can't be real - or are they? Jack Walso is obsessed with her and bamboozled by the sorcery of her dresser and confidante, Lizzy. He allows himself to be talked into a journey from London to Siberia, entering a world of danger and joy with Colonel Kearney's Circus. TB 5394.

Cendrars, Blaise Gold: the marvellous history of General John Augustus Sutter. 1982. Read by Andrew Jack, 3 hours 40 minutes. TB 5141. This is the story of a bankrupt Swiss papermaker who leaves wife and children to seek his fortune in America. Fate is to plunder the earthly paradise he makes there and although based on a real life story, this becomes a tale of adventure, almost a Western. TB 5141.

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de The adventures of Don Quixote. 1950. Read by Eric Gillet, 21 hours 45 minutes. TB 2230. In this classic among comic novels, Don Quixote sets out to roam the world, imitating the knights-errant of whom he had read. Only his practical and trusty servant Sancho Panza brings him down to earth and saves him from the danger to which he exposes himself on all occasions. TB 2230.

5 Clancy, Tom The bear and the dragon. Read by Garrick Hagon, 43 hours 25 minutes. TB 12745. Jack Ryan; book 11. Sequel to Rainbow Six, TB 13536. President Jack Ryan faces a world crisis unlike any he has ever known. Domestic pitfalls await him in America; while in Moscow, assassination and China's infiltration have the potential to cause havoc. Who is behind this mayhem? The new Russian elite and Chinese dissidents are likely candidates. Contains strong language. TB 12745.

Clavell, James Whirlwind. 1986. Read by Jon Cartwright, 53 hours 50 minutes. TB 6980. Asian saga; book 6. Sequel to Noble House, TB 4722. The story covers three weeks of world headlines: the Shah has gone and caught up in the consequent eruption of political and religious fanaticism is the company S-G Helicopters, Aberdeen-based and connected with Struan's of Hong Kong which services the oilfields. Andrew Gavallan and Duncan McIver are in charge and as the mullahs and mujhadin become locked in a bloody power struggle, they try to keep their machines flying and their marriages to Iranian wives intact. Contains strong language. TB 6980.

Cleary, Jon High road to China: a novel. 1978. Read by Nigel Graham, 12 hours 1 minute. TB 9977. In 1920, Eve Tozer's American tycoon father is captured by a warlord in China. The ransom was a priceless statuette Eve had with her, and the only way of getting it there in time was to fly. Finding a pair of ex-FFC pilots, and equipping three aircraft, they evaded trouble in France, ran into it in Germany and were helped by a former member of von Richthofen's circus. Wild characters are met in the Balkans and in India, and Bradley Tozer, in China, is fascinated by and finds himself liking his captors, even while waiting for the blade to fall on his neck. TB 9977.

6 Collins, Norman The governor's lady. 1968. Read by Garard Green, 15 hours 14 minutes. TB 501. A colonial governor in Africa meets a sudden end while on safari, and his lady knows more than she is willing to tell. TB 501.

Cooper, James Fenimore The last of the Mohicans. 1990. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 16 hours 53 minutes. TB 8856. This is a fictional novel with a factual core, namely, the massacre of the British by the Indians at Fort William Henry in 1757. This fictional aspect involves romance, sexuality and heroism, but within the placid character of the novel there lurks a dramatic and violent inner part, which reflects the hatred felt between the two warring factions. TB 8856.

Cooper, Scott Glad waters. 1987. Read by Crawford Logan, 6 hours 19 minutes. TB 9237. Lieutenant Dick Holgate fought his war in an elderly river gunboat. After a passage to Colombo his crew retire to Kilindini in the Indian Ocean, where his work in the cipher office is not appreciated. Our hero settles down, falls in love with royalty and makes himself at home in paradise. TB 9237.

Cordell, Alexander Moll. 1991. Read by Rosemary Miller, 10 hours 32 minutes. TB 8928. Moll Walbee leaves behind her reputation as a pickpocket in the slums of Paris and becomes a highwayman. Eventually arrested and transported, she continues her adventurous life on board ship and on arrival in Australia. TB 8928.

Cordell, Alexander The bright Cantonese. 1967. Read by Marvin Kane, 6 hours 45 minutes. TB 471. Beautiful Mei Kayling travels across China, Hong Kong, and the United States in search of a sailor who has deserted from the

7 American warship suspected of having launched an atomic bomb in China. TB 471.

Cornwell, Bernard Wildtrack. 1988. Read by Arthur Blake, 12 hours 45 minutes. TB 7183. Falklands veteran, Nick Sandman, VC, dreamed of restoring the ocean yacht "Sycorax" to its former glory. But he wasn't prepared for the devil's bargain he made with egomaniac TV star Tony Bannister - or the peril he sailed into on his very first voyage. Contains strong language. TB 7183.

Cornwell, Bernard Sharpe's devil. 1993. Read by Alistair Maydon, 10 hours 19 minutes. TB 10069. Richard Sharpe; book 21. Sequel to: Sharpe's Waterloo, TB 11396. Five years after Waterloo, Sharpe's retirement in Normandy is shattered by a plea for help from Don Blas Vivar's wife; he is missing in Chile, reported dead at rebel hands and appeals to Sharpe to find out the truth. Reluctantly he and Patrick Harper find themselves bound for Chile via St Helena where they meet Napoleon. Convinced that they are going to collect a corpse, neither can imagine the dangers awaiting them in Chile. TB 10069.

Cornwell, Bernard Crackdown. 1990. Read by Terrence Hardiman, 11 hours 42 minutes. TB 12003. Nick Breakspear may look like the perfect Hamlet, but he wanted nothing to do with the theatrical world inhabited by his father, Britain's greatest living actor. So he joined the Royal Marines and is now sailing the blue waters of the Bahamas. But dreams of paradise are shattered when he becomes swept into a small but deadly corner of a war against the drug-runners that infest the area. Caught up in a world that denies every truth he believes in, the only defence is to draw on the despised skills of his father's world and fight with reckless courage. TB 12003.

8 Cornwell, Bernard Sea lord. 1989. Read by Stephen Thorne, 10 hours 43 minutes. TB 7932. John Rossendale is a sea-gypsy, wandering the oceans in the 38- foot cutter, "Sunflower". He is also the 28th Earl of Stowey, but titles don't mean much at sea. Four years ago he turned his back on England, swearing never to go home again. Now, out of sense of duty, he returns to British waters. At his mother's funeral, he finds his family hostile, his boat under violent attack and his life in danger. Contains strong language. TB 7932.

Crichton, Michael Pirate latitudes. 2010. Read by John Bedford Lloyd, 9 hours 11 minutes. TB 17821. Jamaica, in 1665 a lone outpost of British power amid Spanish waters in the sunbaked Caribbean. Its capital, Port Royal, a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops and bawdy houses - the last place imaginable from which to launch an unthinkable attack on a nearby Spanish stronghold. Yet that is exactly what renowned privateer Captain Charles Hunter plans to do, with the connivance of Charles II's ruling governor, Sir James Almont. Hunter's crew of buccaneers must battle not only the Spanish fleet but other deadly perils - raging hurricanes, cannibal tribes, even sea monsters. But if his ragtag crew succeeds, they will make not only history, but a fortune in gold. TB 17821.

Crosbie, James Ashanti gold. 2010. Read by Joe Dunlop, 10 hours 19 minutes. TB 17647. It's 1970s London and Glaswegian Colin Grant is finally free. After four years at Her Majesty's Pleasure, he needs to make up for lost time. But when his firm's next robbery goes badly wrong, he knows it's time to move on fast. In Africa Colin finds a new way of life and new friends. But, as he soon discovers, it's a land of unbelievable and almost irresistible riches. And all he has to do is work out how to fly a planeload of gold out of the country without anyone - especially Major Judas Akaba - finding out. TB 17647.

9 Crowther, Bruce Unholy alliance. 1981. Read by Christopher Saul, 5 hours 14 minutes. TB 3841. Lucas, mercenary with a conscience, finds himself and his strange assortment of companions heading for a Mediterranean island and a deadly task. TB 3841.

Cussler, Clive Trojan odyssey. 2004. Read by Jeff Harding, 15 hours 20 minutes. TB 14310. Dirk Pitt; book 17. Sequel to: Valhalla rising, TB 12700. Dirk Pitt was astonished to discover that he had two grown children he had never known, 23-year-old twins born to a woman he thought had died in an underwater earthquake. Both have inherited his love of the sea, and now they are about to help their father in the adventure of a lifetime. The two young people are working in a NUMA underwater enclosure off the shore of Nicaragua, trying to determine its origin. Then the worst storm in years boils up out of the sky, heading not only straight for them but also for a luxurious floating resort hotel. Desperately they, and the NUMA crew, rush to the rescue of the hotel's inhabitants, but what they find in the storm's wake makes the furies of nature pale in comparison. TB 14310.

Cussler, Clive Lost city: a novel from the NUMA files. 2004. Read by Jeff Harding, 13 hours 24 minutes. TB 14044. NUMA files; book 5. Sequel to: White death, TB 13940. An enzyme that will dramatically prolong life has been discovered two thousand feet down in the North Atlantic, in an area known as "Lost City". But why are people attempting to harvest it getting killed? Why are the scientists in a remote Greek laboratory disappearing one by one? What does this all have to do with a body found frozen in the ice high up in the Alps? For Kurt Austin, leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team, and his colleague Joe Zavala, it's clear they have their work cut out for them. TB 14044.

10 Davidson, Lionel A long way to Shiloh. 1966. Read by Peter Reynolds, 10 hours 15 minutes. TB 76. A young Englishman finds himself suddenly involved in the search for a sacred Jewish relic in Israel. A mixture of ancient scriptures and modern politics make this a most exciting adventure. TB 76.

Defoe, Daniel Robinson Crusoe. 1994. Read by Stephen Thorne, 11 hours 13 minutes. TB 16120. Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being. TB 16120.

Demille, Nelson The lion's game. 2000. Read by Garrick Hagon, 26 hours 25 minutes. TB 12464. John Corey; book 2. Sequel to Plum Island, TB 12529. From a special observation post in JFK Airport members of the elite Anti- Terrorist Task Force wait for a passenger arriving from Paris; an alleged Libyan terrorist known as 'the lion'. Amongst those marking time are agents John Corey and Kate Mayfield. At first everything is going as planned, yet it soon becomes apparent that something is horribly wrong. As a bloody trail of terror streaks across the country, John and Kate soon learn that their quarry is more than a man. Until this assignment, Corey has always been lucky, but to survive in a new game with no rules, he must invent a strategy that includes no luck at all... TB 12464.

Doyle, Arthur Conan The exploits of Brigadier Gerard. 1896. Read by Peter Gray, 8 hours. TB 1943. The life of a soldier in France in the time of Napoleon. TB 1943.

11 Drabble, Margaret The gates of ivory. 1991. Read by Frances Jeater, 17 hours 16 minutes. TB 9383. Liz Headland receives a mysterious parcel from South-East Asia which causes her to embark on a pilgrimage to Cambodia in search of her novelist friend, Stephen. Gradually the reader learns of Stephen's difficult trip to Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon and finally Cambodia, while in England his friends Alix, Hester and Hattie engage in their own lives. At last Liz decides to go in search of the man who might have become her lover. TB 9383.

Dumas, Alexandre The three musketeers. 1844. Read by Andrew Timothy, 26 hours 45 minutes. TB 3153. King's musketeers; book 1. A historical romance, this novel tells of the adventures of the hot-headed young Gascon, d'Artagnan and his three companions Athos, Porthos and Aramis as they gallantly defend the Queen of France, using their wit and their swords. Set in the seventeenth century. TB 3153.

Dumas, Alexandre Count of Monte Cristo. 1909. Read by Andrew Timothy, 51 hours 5 minutes. TB 2354. Falsely condemned to life imprisonment, Dantes escapes to Monte Cristo and sets out to avenge himself on all who have wronged him. TB 2354.

Dunnett, Dorothy Niccolo rising. 1986. Read by Peter Barker, 29 hours 4 minutes. TB 7112. The house of Niccolo; book 1. It is 1459, the time of the early Renaissance, of trade and war and banking, of the fall of Constantinople and the Wars of the Roses. In Bruges are the permanent trading colonies and the small community has become an international centre for money, gossip and spies. It is a time when a young man with a head on his shoulders can slip through the fingers of those who would use and abuse him to win riches, however humble his birth. Young Niccolo is prepared to do just this. TB 7112.

12 Durrell, Lawrence Monsieur, or, The Prince of Darkness. 1974. Read by David Banks, 11 hours 56 minutes. TB 5895. Avignon Quartet; 1. Egypt, France and Venice provide a colourful background for the action, an original interpretation of the sin of the Templars. The characters are caught up in the mysterious doings of a Gnostic suicide club which has worldwide affiliations and headquarters in Paris… TB 5895.

Follett, Ken Lie down with lions. 1985. Read by Gene Foad, 13 hours 51 minutes. TB 6321. To Afghanistan's Five Lions Valley comes Jean-Pierre, a French doctor who yearns to emulate his father who fought so heroically for the resistance against the Germans. With him is his wife Jane. Their self-imposed task is to bring medical aid and care to the rebel tribesmen fighting the Soviet invaders. Or is Jean-Pierre's plan quite as clear-cut as that? TB 6321.

Forester, C S The "African Queen". 1935. Read by Anthony Parker, 7 hours 41 minutes. TB 699. Gripping tale of a prim woman missionary thrown together with a Cockney mechanic during World War I. Marooned in German Central Africa, they battle their way down the river in the African Queen, a 30 foot long, squat, flat-bottomed boat. TB 699.

Forester, C S Mr Midshipman Hornblower. 1950. Read by David Broomfield, 8 hours 55 minutes. TB 359. Hornblower series; book 1. The first story about Hornblower, still only a midshipman, but with promise of a great future. TB 359.

Forester, C S Lieutenant Hornblower. 1952. Read by Robert Gladwell, 10 hours 15 minutes. TB 2362. Hornblower series; book 2. An adventure episode in Horatio Hornblower’s early life. TB 2362.

13 Forester, C S Hornblower and the 'Hotspur'. 1962. Read by Richard Baker, 11 hours 15 minutes. TB 169. Hornblower series; book 3. The adventures of Captain Hornblower and his sailors in the Hotspur during the Napoleonic Wars. TB 169.

Forester, C S Hornblower and the 'Atropos'. 1953. Read by John Dunn, 10 hours 47 minutes. TB 787. Hornblower series; book 4. With a fortune of gold and silver aboard, HMS Atropos is trapped between a 56-gun ship of the line, a hostile army, and the cross-fire of Turkish batteries in the bay. In this adventure, Captain Hornblower's wits need to be sharper than ever. TB 787.

Fraser, George Macdonald The pyrates. 1994. Read by Nigel Lambert, 15 hours 14 minutes. TB 10901. "The Pyrates" is a swashbuckler of tall ships and desert islands, gallant adventurers and glamorous heroines, buried treasure and ghastly dungeons... all to the accompaniment of ringing steel, thunderous broadsides and the sound of people falling in the water and exchanging period dialogue. TB 10901.

Fraser, George Macdonald Flashman, from the Flashman papers, 1839-1842. 1969. Read by Peter Reynolds, 6 hours 45 minutes. TB 1854. Flashman papers; book 1. Flashman, the bully of Tom Brown's Schooldays, goes from bad to worse after being expelled from Rugby for drunkenness. Honest only in his description of his own adventures, he is a blackguard and coward of the worst sort, and his adventures, supposedly taken from papers discovered in 1965, make horrific reading. TB 1854.

Frayn, Michael Headlong. 1999. Read by Daniel Philpott, 11 hours 25 minutes. TB 12149. A tale of historical investigation and comic invention. Invited to assess some old paintings, an easily-distracted philosopher is

14 convinced that one of them is a lost work by Breughel. He risks everything he has in the effort to establish its provenance and trick it from its owner's possession. Contains violence. TB 12149.

Gale, Iain Man of honour: Jack Steel and the Blenheim campaign, July to August 1704. 2008. Read by Cornelius Garrett, 9 hours 33 minutes. TB 16288. Jack Steel series; book 1. Upper Bavaria, 1704. The British Army, illustrious and fresh from victory, stands proudly to attention, ready to fight for honour and glory. Their enemy is Louis XIV of France, the self-styled Sun King, who wants to possess all of Europe. TB 16288.

Gale, Iain Rules of war: Jack Steel for Queen and country. 2009. Read by John Telfer, 10 hours 23 minutes. TB 17262. Jack Steel series; book 2. Ramilles 1706 was one of the great victories of the British army. But for Captain Jack Steel, standing at the head of his Grenadiers, and receiving contradictory orders, it was hard to see Lord Marlborough’s grand stratagem. Far from the battle lines he enjoys, Jack Steel is sent undercover to identify the loyal locals who would help a few British advance troops into the besieged city – a dangerous mission made deadly by his identification by an old enemy of his and the brilliant malevolence of the renegade French pirate who is in charge of Ostende. Contains strong language. TB 17262.

Gallico, Paul The Zoo Gang. 1971. Read by David Broomfield, 8 hours 45 minutes. TB 1676. The members of the Zoo Gang, a formidable group which operated in occupied France during the war, now live quietly except when reunited for the occasional burst of activity in some exceptional cause. TB 1676.

15 Garland, Alex The beach. 1997. Read by Daniel Philpott, 12 hours 37 minutes. TB 11615. When Richard flies to Thailand he learns of the mysterious beach from a man who subsequently commits suicide. Teaming up with a young French couple, they set off to find it. Contains strong language. TB 11615.

Graham, Winston Tremor. 1995. Read by Michael Lumsden, 7 hours 54 minutes. TB 10613. Agadir, Morocco. 29th February, 1960. The earthquake lasted just long enough to destroy the Hotel Saada. Long enough to change forever the lives of its guests. Matthew Morris is escaping from a failed marriage and career. Nadine Deschamps, an actress, is searching for solitude. Jack Frazier is a criminal running from the law. Also staying are a distinguished American lawyer, and three French prostitutes. This is a novel of emotion and suspense, love and greed, wickedness and courage, and of one man's search for himself. Contains strong language. TB 10613.

Graham, Winston Stephanie. 1992. Read by Carol Marsh, 11 hours 38 minutes. TB 9713. Stephanie was a happy student, carefree until she discovered that her lover, Errol Colton, had a double life. Unable to ignore her knowledge, what should she do with it? The coroner did not want to bring a verdict of suicide, but was he right? James, her father, is a man of courage and will, who fights for justice at risk of his own life, and there is Nari, the young Indian, blackmailed into becoming a human carrier. The fate of these people is the subject of a tense story of the highest quality. TB 9713.

Guterson, David East of the mountains. 1999. Read by Peter Marinker, 9 hours 56 minutes. TB 12142. When Dr Ben Givens left his Seattle home he never intended to return. It was to be the journey past snow-covered mountains to a place of canyons, sagelands and orchards, where, on the verges

16 of the Columbia River, Ben had entered the world and would now, take his leave of it. TB 12142.

Haggard, Henry Rider King Solomon's mines. 1886. Read by Stephen Jack, 8 hours 50 minutes. TB 1857. Allan Quatermain; book 1. Allan Quatermaine sets out with Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good to find Sir Henry's brother who was believed to have gone into unexplored and savage parts of Africa in search of the lost diamond mines of the Solomon Mountains. TB 1857.

Harding, Georgina The solitude of Thomas Cave. 2007. Read by Gareth Armstrong, 5 hours 41 minutes. TB 16601. It is August 1616. The whaling ship Heartsease has ventured deep into the Arctic, but the crew must return home before the ice closes in. All, that is, save Thomas Cave. He makes a wager that he will remain there alone until the next season, though no man has yet been known to have survived a winter this far north. So he is left with provisions, shelter, and a journal - should he not live to tell the tale. TB 16601.

Hailey, Arthur Airport. 1968. Read by Carol Marsh, 19 hours 1 minute. TB 749. An exciting account of seven eventful hours at a large deficient airport during a midsummer snowstorm, of the men and women who share them, and their varied backgrounds and reactions. TB 749.

Hemingway, Ernest To have and have not. 1994. Read by Eric Meyers, 6 hours. TB 10844. "I don't know who made the laws, but I know there ain't no law that you got to go hungry." Harry Morgan was hard, the classic Hemingway hero. He had to be hard, rum-running, gun-running and man-running from Cuba to the Florida Keys in the Depression. He risked stray coastguard bullets and sudden double-crosses, but

17 it was the only way he could keep his boat, keep his independence and keep his belly full. Contains violence. TB 10844.

Higgins, Jack The last place God made. 1971. Read by Jon Cartwright, 6 hours 12 minutes. TB 8653. Neil Mallory was a pioneer pilot of the 1930s who crashed in some of the worst jungle in the world. TB 8653.

Higgins, Jack In the hour before midnight. Read by Stephen Rea, 5 hours 20 minutes. TB 12028. Sicily: a sun-soaked island of golden beaches, cheap wine and dark-eyed beauties. But behind that facade of paradise there lurked a darker place, sterile and barren, where the Mafia reigned supreme and where survival was the name of the game. For Stacey Wyatt the job seemed simple enough: free the beautiful daughter of a local millionaire from the clutches of the most evil bandit in Sicily. But not only did he come face to face with the girl in question, but also with the fact that his life was at stake. TB 12028.

Hilton, James Lost horizon. 1933. Read by Michael de Morgan, 8 hours 26 minutes. TB 845. Following a plane crash, Conway, a British consul, his deputy, a missionary and an American financier find themselves in the enigmatic snow-capped mountains of uncharted Tibet. Here they discover a seemingly perfect hidden community where they are welcomed, the mysterious city of Shangri-La. TB 845.

Hope, Anthony The prisoner of Zenda. 1894. Read by George Hagan, 6 hours 17 minutes. TB 13035. The perilous and romantic adventures of Rudolph Rassendyl, an English gentleman in Ruritania, who by impersonating the king, defeats a plot to oust him from the throne. TB 13035.

18 Humphreys, C C Jack Absolute. 2004. Read by C C Humphreys, 11 hours 6 minutes. TB 14318. Jack Absolute; book 1. 1777. After years away, Jack returns to London to find that he's famous. A playwright has stolen his name and made "Jack Absolute" the star of his hit comedy The Rivals. This notoriety makes the real Jack's job somewhat difficult - he's a spy! But Jack’s retirement has to be put on hold when a duel over an actress forces him to seek refuge with his old commander. John Burgoyne has been appointed to lead an army down from Canada and crush the American Revolution. Jack has experience of the Iroquois of North America and can help rally these vital allies to the King's cause. But there is a traitor at the heart of the British army, willing to betray Jack's every move. Contains passages of a sexual nature. TB 14318.

Innes, Hammond The wreck of the "Mary Deare". 1956. Read by Ian Stuart, 8 hours 13 minutes. TB 10101. The "Sea Witch", fighting its way through the March gales in the Channel, encounters a steamer which appears to ignore its signals and bears down on the little vessel. There is no one to be seen on board. The crew board her and find one man. This is the start of a series of events culminating in a desperate struggle for survival in the cold seas off France. TB 10101.

Innes, Hammond Campbell's kingdom. 1957. Read by Ian Stuart, 8 hours 51 minutes. TB 9669. After Stuart Campbell passed away, he left behind him only a derelict oil rig and his home, now a crumbling old shack. His sole heir was his nephew, Bruce Campbell Wetheral. It was said that no one in his right mind would live seven thousand feet up in the Rocky Mountains trying to fulfil a dead man's dream, but Bruce was not one to give in that easily; he only had six months to live, so what did he have to lose? TB 9669.

19 Innes, Hammond The angry mountain. 1982. Read by Michael McStay, 8 hours 6 minutes. TB 9480. Dick Farrel is a man haunted by his wartime memories of torture and fear, a time better forgotten, but past and present merge when a trip to Eastern Europe embroils him in the twilight world of the industrial spy. Farrell becomes a reluctant player in a lethal game as the hunt shifts from Czechoslovakia to Southern Italy. Beneath the blazing summit of Vesuvius in full eruption, he comes face to face with the living ghosts of his past. TB 9480.

Innes, Hammond Dead and alive. 1946. Read by Joe Dunlop, 5 hours 43 minutes. TB 9566. "The letter said 'Find out what has happened to Monique'. Pinned to it was a faded photograph of a girl. I stared at it, thinking of the docks of Naples, the dirty streets below the Castello San Elmo, of Terracina, Cassino, Formia and all the other towns where war had left rubble. This might be the likeness of a beautiful girl - or the memory of a skeleton buried beneath a shattered building ..." TB 9566.

Kaewert, Julie The Avengers. 1998. Read by Tim Bruce, 6 hours 55 minutes. TB 13152. A novelisation of the film "The Avengers" - a 1990s remake of the television series featuring John Steed and Emma Peel. TB 13152.

Keneally, Thomas A victim of the aurora. 1977. Read by John Richmond, 8 hours 45 minutes. TB 3209. During a polar expedition before the First World War, one of the men is found strangled. Tension, already high under the stress of the Antarctic conditions, is stretched almost beyond endurance. TB 3209.

20 Kent, Alexander Richard Bolitho, midshipman: a midshipman Bolitho story. 1975. Read by Derek Chandler, 4 hours 39 minutes, TB 6553. Richard Bolitho series; book 1. Although only 16, Midshipman Richard Bolitho is already a veteran of 4 years on the King's Navy. In October 1772 he joins his second ship, the 74-gun "Gorgon". Her captain is ordered to take her to Africa's West Coast to destroy the growing menace of piracy across the trade routes. Soon it becomes evident that their enemy is as dangerous and skilful as any encountered in the line of battle. TB 6553.

Kipling, Rudyard Kim. 1901. Read by Anthony Parker, 15 hours 30 minutes. TB 955. Kim is an orphan sahib and bazaar-boy who lives by his wits. His chameleon's talent for disguise draws him into the Great Game - British Intelligence in India - and on a mission to thwart foreign agents on the North-West Frontier. His travels coincide with the quest of his friend the Tibetan Lama, who is seeking redemption from the Wheel of Life. TB 955.

King, Stephen The girl who loved Tom Gordon. 1999. Read by Laurence Bouvard, 6 hours 24 minutes. TB 12036. A girl gets lost in the Northeast woods and begins to lose hope of ever getting out alive. She listens to Red Sox baseball games on her walkman, creating an imaginary friendship with her hero Tom Gordon. As she struggles to survive she realises that something in the woods is watching her. Contains strong language. TB 12036.

Kingsley, Charles Westward ho! 1855. Read by Stephen Jack, 25 hours 27 minutes. TB 1541. A patriotic tale of adventure, Jesuit intrigue and naval enterprise in the time of Queen Elizabeth. TB 1541.

21 Kyle, Duncan A cage of ice. 1970. Read by Jon Cartwright, 7 hours 13 minutes, TB 8630. The envelope was addressed to Professor Edwards. It contained a published paper on hydro-electrics by a Russian academician. To retrieve it, men were willing to kill and go on killing. Edwards fled for his life until a well-framed murder charge stopped him. The KGB had missed a trick and in Washington the CIA were determined to avert a world catastrophe. TB 8630.

L'Amour, Louis Sackett's land. 2004. Read by John Curless, 5 hours 13 minutes. TB 13765. Son of a feared fighting man, Barnabas Sackett inherited his father's fiery temper, sense of justice and warrior skills. Declared an outlaw in his native England, Barnabas set his daring sights on the opportunities of the New World. The ruthless piracy of the open seas and the unknown dangers of the savage American wilderness lay before him. And so did the thrill of discovery and the chance to establish a bold new future if he survived. TB 13765.

Llewellyn, Richard Up into the singing mountain. 1960. Read by Ray Jones, 12 hours 22 minutes. TB 4912. Sequel to How green was my valley, TB 2756. Huw Morgan leaves the passionate, prejudiced and inbred world of his young years to seek adventure among the Welsh settlers in Patagonia. TB 4912.

Llewellyn, Sam Maelstrom. 1994. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 15 hours 16 minutes. TB 10938. Fred Hope was a nice guy at one time, running an eco-hotel in Devon, a scrap yard on Humberside and a charter boat. Then his whale-watching activities landed him in jail for manslaughter. When he gets out he opts for a quiet life but he is just one of those people who gathers trouble to them. His wife's brother Hugo needs to be watched, for he has distasteful habits and friends to match. This time he has disappeared to Norway in Fred's charter boat with some very unpleasant Americans who want an old-fashioned whale-hunt. TB 10938.

22 London, Jack Wilderness tales. Read by John Shedden, 2 hours 34 minutes. TB 8975. Like water seeping from some mighty reservoir, the trappers and prospectors trickle through the dark forests and mountain passes, threading the river highways in bark canoes or breaking trail for the wolf dogs through the Arctic landscape, and stone clashes with steel as the natives of the Northland resist the invasion. The basic struggle for survival between man and the environment and between man and man can seldom have been more compellingly drawn than in these stories set in the wilderness of the Yukon. TB 8975.

Ludlum, Robert The apocalypse watch. 1995. Read by William Dufris, 23 hours 55 minutes. TB 10707. Harry Latham is a multilingual officer who, after thirty months in deep cover, traces and enters the Bruderschaft Valley in the Hausruck Alps and finds, to his horror, a processing centre for those dedicating themselves to the emergence of the Fourth Reich. Harry is captured, betrayed by his own people and, without his knowledge, undergoes surgery to invade his brain. He is then permitted to escape, for the particular information he now carries puts scores of innocent people under suspicion, which in turn puts groups and organisations against one another. TB 10707.

McDermott, Andy The hunt for Atlantis. 2008. Read by Laurence Bouvard, 16 hours 51 minutes. TB 16411. Archaeologist Nina Wilde believes she has found the location of the lost city of Atlantis and now she wants the opportunity to prove her theory. Someone else though wants her dead! With the help of ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase and beautiful heiress Kari Frost, Nina faces a breakneck race against time around the world, pursued at every step by agents of the mysterious and murderous Brotherhood of Selasphoros. TB 16411.

23 MacLean, Alistair Fear is the key. 1961. Read by David Sinclair, 9 hours 44 minutes. TB 6233. The drowsy calm of Marble Springs is shattered when an unknown Englishman ruthlessly shoots his way out of the county courtroom, abducting the lovely Mary Ruthven at gun-point. Who is he? And what is his concern with the girl, with the General's secluded house, and with the great oil-rig 12 miles out to sea? TB 6233.

MacLean, Alistair Ice Station Zebra. 1963. Read by Steve Hodson, 10 hours 36 minutes. TB 5247. The US atomic submarine "Dolphin" leaves the Holy Loch in a hurry one stormy night. The orders are to take a Dr Carpenter under the North Polar ice-cap, surfacing near a burnt-out weather station called Zebra. But who is he and what does his locked bag contain? What has happened at the lonely station and what is wrong with the "Dolphin"? TB 5247.

MacLean, Alistair Breakheart Pass. 1974. Read by Marvin Kane, 5 hours 30 minutes. TB 2500. Set in Nevada in 1873 where a crowded troop train is waylaid by Paiute Indians with tragic but surprising results. TB 2500.

MacLean, Alistair Dark crusader. Read by Jon Cartwright, 8 hours 58 minutes. TB 9548. The job is for a fuels expert in Australia; the salary astronomical. Eight scientists have already gone - and vanished without trace. The trail leads to a remote Polynesian island, where Bentall and the girl posing as his wife find themselves in mortal danger. Behind the community of archaeologists and their Chinese henchmen a desperate crime is being prepared, and as the presence and meaning of the Dark Crusader comes to light, the story moves to an enthralling climax. TB 9548.

24 Manning, Jason High country. 1993. Read by Jeff Harding, 10 hours 4 minutes. TB 14851. High country; book 1. In 1825 Zach Hannah was a raw youth when he left the hill country of Tennessee to seek his fortune in the West. The mad demand for beaver pelts spawned a booming fur trade that sent men to battle against the fury of nature, hostile Indian tribes, and sense each other in an adventure that only the strongest could survive. Zach Hannah took the challenge to learn the ways of the wild and those who lived in it to discover that white treachery could be as deadly as Blackfoot terror and to find passionate love with a beautiful Indian woman and a fight to the death to protect. TB 14851.

Martel, Yann Life of Pi. 2002. Read by Garrick Hagon, 12 hours 38 minutes. TB 13950. Pi and his family, who own a zoo, decide to emigrate from India. On the way, tragedy strikes and the ship is sunk. Pi finds himself in a life boat with a hyena, a zebra, a tiger and an orang-utan. He manages to keep his wits as the food chain establishes itself. TB 13950.

Masefield, John Bird of dawning. 1933. Read by Eric Gillett, 7 hours. TB 1293. A sea story about the wreck of a China clipper and the rescue of her crew. TB 1293.

Mason, A E W The four feathers. 2001. Read by Nigel Graham, 13 hours 11 minutes. TB 14184. Just before his regiment sails off to war in the Sudan, British officer Harry Eversham quits the military. He is immediately given four white feathers symbols of cowardice - one each by his three best friends and one by his fiancée. To disprove this grave dishonour, Harry dons an Arabian disguise and leaves for the Sudan, where he anonymously comes to the aid of his three friends, saving each of their lives. Having proved his bravery, Harry returns to England, hoping to regain the love and respect of his fiancée. TB 14184.

25 Masters, John The Himalayan concerto. 1976. Read by Garard Green, 13 hours. TB 3021. While staying on a houseboat in Kashmir, a composer is asked to help in investigating some mysterious happenings on the Tibetan border. The task proves far more mysterious and deadly than he imagined. TB 3021.

May, Peter Snakehead. Read by Laurence Bouvard, 11 hours 15 minutes, TB 12859 The discovery of a truck full of dead Chinese in southern Texas brings American psychologist Margaret Campbell together with Li Yan, the Beijing detective with whom she once shared a turbulent relationship. They set out to identify the Snakehead behind the 100-million dollar trade in illegal immigrants. TB 12859.

Mayle, Peter Hotel Pastis. 1993. Read by Michael McStay, 10 hours 4 minutes. TB 9917. Simon Shaw, 42 and freshly divorced, dreams of getting away, and like most advertising men finds reasons for doing nothing about it. A short break in the seductive air of Provence turns into something more. The enchanting Nicole makes him an offer he can't refuse; he transforms an old gendarmerie into the Hotel Pastis, a haven for the rich and famous. But what are Jo-Jo and his jail-bird friends plotting over the local firewater every night in the cafe? Perhaps Simon is only just beginning his mid life crisis. TB 9917.

Melville, Herman Moby Dick. 1851. Read by Duncan Carse, 24 hours 34 minutes. TB 1700. The story of Captain Ahab's relentless pursuit of a cunning and ferocious whale. TB 1700.

26 Monsarrat, Nicholas The master mariner. 1978. Read by Garard Green, 23 hours 55 minutes. TB 3398. Master Mariner; book 1. Matthew Lawe's act of cowardice in the midst of Drake's defeat of the Armada has brought upon him a wild witch's curse that he stays on earth until his guilt is purged. For four centuries he is to live the hazardous life of a British seaman. The first instalment takes him to with Hudson in search of a north- west passage; as a buccaneer to the Caribbean; and finally to victory at Trafalgar. TB 3398.

Munro, Neil The new road. 1994. Read by Nick Underwood, 14 hours 14 minutes. TB 14282. It is 1733, and the great military roads of General Wade are carving their way into the heart of the Highlands, destroying the influence of the once all-powerful Clans. Into this changing landscape come two adventurers who travel north from Inveraray in the autumn of that year on a clandestine mission to investigate rumours of a planned uprising. TB 14282.

O'Brian, Patrick The unknown shore. 1997. Read by Robert Gladwell, 15 hours 52 minutes. TB 11079. A novel about the sea, telling the tale of the Wager, an ill-fated ship on Anson's expedition round the world. She is driven onto rocks off the coast of Chile, and sinks. The survivors fall into trouble of every kind, including mutiny and bloodshed, before being led northwards to safety by a band of stony and depraved Indians. TB 11079.

Oldfield, Pamela Lily Golightly. 1987. Read by Carol Marsh, 18 hours 19 minutes. TB 6910. Lily has barely adjusted to her married name when her husband, Patrick, sets sail for New York to take up a position in his uncle's firm. But instead of the long-awaited summons, news comes that he has succumbed to gold fever and is planning to go west to California without her. Lily makes up her mind to share his adventure ... TB 6910.

27 Orczy, Emmuska The scarlet pimpernel. 1905. Read by Peter Gray, 10 hours. TB 2053. The Scarlet Pimpernel; book 1. As the French Revolution gives way to the Reign of Terror, Sir Percy Blakeney an English aristocrat known for little more than dandyism and sloth, risks his life to enter France in disguise to save French aristocrats from Madame Guillotine. TB 2053.

Orczy, Emmuska I will repay. 1909. Read by Peter Gray, 7 hours 5 minutes. TB 2054. The Scarlet Pimpernel; book 2. It has been ten years since Juliette de Marny's father asked her to swear revenge upon Deroulede for the death of her brother in a duel. At last she finds herself in Deroulede's house with an easy opportunity to betray him to the Citizens of France for conspiring against the people. Juliette realizes, too late, that she is in love with Deroulede. Can the Scarlet Pimpernel rescue Deroulede from certain death by guillotine? Will Deroulede forgive Juliette for her betrayal of him? TB 2054.

Orczy, Emmuska Eldorado. 1913. Read by Peter Gray, 14 hours. TB 2055. Scarlet Pimpernel; book 3. Determination to rescue the young Dauphin leads the Scarlet Pimpernel and his beautiful wife Marguerite into many dangers. TB 2055.

Parks, Tim Rapids. 2006. Read by Christopher Oxford, 8 hours 57 minutes. TB 14757. In the dramatic landscape of the Italian Alps a group of English canoeists arrive for an introduction to white water. Camping, eating and paddling together, six adults and nine adolescents seem to set to enjoy what their leader insists on calling a community experience. Contains strong language. TB 14757.

28 Patterson, James The jester. 2003. Read by Neil Dickson, 12 hours 55 minutes. TB 14030. Arriving home disillusioned from the Crusades, Hugh DeLuc discovers that his village has been ransacked and his wife abducted. The dark riders came in the dead of night like devils. Nothing is known of their identity, only that they search for a relic worth more than any throne in Europe. No man has been able to stand in their way until Hugh, taking on the role of a jester, infiltrates the enemy’s castle. And when a man is fighting for freedom, for his wife, and for everything he holds dear, he will prove a formidable opponent. Contains violence. TB 14030.

Powers, Tim The Anubis gates. 1993. Read by Ian Craig, 15 hours 39 minutes. TB 7081. This is an adventure story that travels at almost breakneck speed as it is convulsed by chases and explosions, swashbuckles through Cairo and includes a skirmish on a burning ice-schooner. There is a time-travel conundrum, embossed with classic knotty paradoxes, a literary mystery and a horror story topped by a catastrophe of necromancy. TB 7081.

Reade, Charles The cloister and the hearth. 1861. Read by Andrew Timothy, 29 hours 19 minutes. TB 1847. An adventurous novel of Renaissance times in Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries. TB 1847.

Read, Piers Paul A patriot in Berlin. 1995. Read by Robin Browne, 10 hours 41 minutes. TB 10624. It is August 1991. In Berlin a Russian couple involved in art exporting are brutally murdered, and a KGB agent disappears. These apparently unconnected events are followed by American art historian Francesca McDermott's arrival in Berlin to organise an exhibition of Russian art. Working with Francesca is Serotkin, a Russian expert. TB 10624.

29 Roberts, Gregory David Shantaram. 2005. Read by Steve Hodson, 48 hours 8 minutes. TB 16530. In 1978, gifted student and writer Greg Roberts turned to heroin when his marriage collapsed, feeding his addiction with a string of robberies. Caught and convicted, he was given a nineteen-year sentence. After two years, he escaped from a maximum-security prison, spending the next ten years on the run as Australia's most wanted man. Hiding in Bombay, he established a medical clinic for slum-dwellers, worked in the Bollywood film industry and served time in the notorious Arthur Road prison. He was recruited by one of the most charismatic branches of the Bombay mafia for whom he worked as a forger, counterfeiter, and smuggler, and fought alongside a unit of mujaheddin guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan. His debut novel, Shantaram, is based on this ten-year period of his life in Bombay. The result is an epic tale of slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison torture, mafia gang wars and Bollywood films. Contains strong language. TB 16530.

Sabatini, Rafael The Sea-Hawk. 1915. Read by Andrew Timothy, 13 hours 15 minutes. TB 1464. Sir Oliver, a typical English gentleman, is accused of murder, kidnapped off the Cornish coast, and dragged into life as a Barbary corsair. However Sir Oliver rises to the challenge and proves a worthy hero. TB 1464.

Sabatini, Rafael Scaramouche. 1921. Read by Stephen Jack, 14 hours 15 minutes. TB 1829. When a young cleric is wrongfully killed, his friend, Andre Louis, vows to avenge his death. Louis' mission takes him to the very heart of the French Revolution where he finds the only way to survive is to assume a new identity. And so is born Scaramouche - a brave and remarkable hero of the finest order and a classic and much-loved tale of the greatest swashbuckling tradition. TB 1829.

30 Sabatini, Rafael Captain Blood. 1921. Read by Robert Gladwell, 13 hours 45 minutes. TB 2315. The story of Captain Blood, a doctor captured by the Royalist troops during the Civil War and deported to a slave plantation in the West Indies. TB 2315.

Scott, Walter Quentin Durward. 1992. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 21 hours 8 minutes. TB 9778. The young Scottish adventurer, Quentin Durward, embarks on a dangerous journey through the forest of the Ardennes, seeking a name, a partner and a position in the world. Meanwhile, the Machiavellian King Louis XI of France manoeuvres his realm out of the hands of the feudal barons, and into the centralised control that Scott believed to characterise the modern state. TB 9778.

Severin, Timothy Corsair. 2008. Read by Rupert Farley, 13 hours 19 minutes. TB 16397. Hector Lynch series; book 1. In 1677, on a late summer's evening two ships lurk off the coast of southwest Ireland. They are Barbary corsairs from North Africa, slave catchers. In the village, seventeen-year-old Hector Lynch wakes to the sound of a pistol shot. Moments later he and his sister Elizabeth are taken prisoner. From then on Hector's life plunges into a turbulent and lawless world that is full of surprises. TB 16397.

Severin, Timothy Buccaneer : the adventures of Hector Lynch. 2010. Read by John Cormack, 12 hours 2 minutes. TB 18528. Hector Lynch series; book 2. Sailing across the Caribbean Hector Lynch falls into the hands of the notorious buccaneer, Captain John Coxon. Hector's friends, Dan and Jacques, are released when Coxon mistakes Hector for the nephew of Sir Thomas Lynch, the Governor of Jamaica. But when Coxon delivers Hector to Sir Henry Morgan, the Governor's bitter enemy, he is publicly humiliated when it is revealed that Hector is not Sir Thomas's nephew. From then on, Coxon seeks to revenge himself - and the young seafarer finds himself on the run again. TB 18528.

31 Seymour, Gerald A song in the morning. 1986. Read by Jon Cartwright, 11 hours 16 minutes. TB 8234. Realistically set in the turmoil of present day South Africa this gripping thriller, from a master of the genre, tells of Jack Curwen's perilous endeavours to release his father from a maximum security prison in Pretoria where he is awaiting execution. Superbly crafted, this enthralling novel holds the reader firmly in its grasp until its stunning conclusion. TB 8234.

Seymour, Gerald Condition black. 1991. Read by David Banks, 12 hours 44 minutes. TB 9042. A lowly enemy of the Iraqi regime is murdered in a quiet suburb of Athens. A straightforward killing, except a second man, a CIA agent, is killed trying to protect the victim. Bill Erlich of the FBI investigates. Contains passages of a sexual nature. TB 9042.

Sheldon, Sidney The other side of midnight. 1974. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 16 hours 34 minutes. TB 8228. It is 1947 and a sensational murder trial is about to begin in Athens. The accused are a beautiful actress named Noelle Page and her lover Larry Douglas. From various points of the globe, people converge on Athens - a man-shy American innocent abroad, an international film star, a handsome, vibrant war hero, a vengeful Greek tycoon. All of them have just one interest in common - Noelle Page. TB 8228.

Sheldon, Sidney The sands of time. 1989. Read by Eva Haddon, 11 hours 7 minutes. TB 8358. This is the tale of four nuns who are abruptly forced to flee the secure environment of their Spanish convent and face a hostile world they long ago abandoned. Suddenly these four women find themselves pawns in a violent struggle between the outlawed Basque underground movement, led by the charismatic Jaime Moir, and the Spanish army. TB 8358.

32 Sheldon, Sidney The best laid plans. 1997. Read by Laurence Bouvard, 8 hours 11 minutes. TB 13665. This text tells the story of the beautiful and ambitious Leslie Stewart, who learns that for some men power is the greatest aphrodisiac; and of Oliver Russell, the handsome governor of a small southern state, who finds out why hell has no fury like a woman scorned. Contains passages of a sexual nature. TB 13665.

Shute, Nevil Ruined city. 1992. Read by Jon Cartwright, 7 hours 26 minutes. TB 11647. In a shipbuilding town in the North of England during the Great Depression, the local people have given up hope. When successful banker Henry Warren arrives in the city, only to be taken ill and confined to hospital he learns of the plight of the community and sees the locals dying for no apparent reason. He determines to turn the city's fortunes around. But all is not well with the schemes of Henry Warren. TB 11647.

Shute, Nevil Trustee from the toolroom. 1960. Read by Stephen Jack, 10 hours. TB 534. An inventive engineer suddenly torn from his normal London life is plunged into an extraordinary quest for a lost fortune on behalf of an orphaned niece. TB 534.

Shute, Nevil No highway. 1979. Read by Bruce Montague, 12 hours 37 minutes. TB 7070. Theodore Honey, a metallurgist working for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, develops a theory on metal fatigue. His research has convinced him that the tail of a new plane, the Reindeer, will fail at about 1440 hour flying time - but he speaks with equal conviction of the Second Coming of Christ to Glastonbury. He is sent to Newfoundland to investigate the mysterious crash of a Reindeer and find the lost tail section to prove his theory. On his trip he finds out he is flying on a Reindeer. Can this brilliant scientist convince others that this fatal flaw will decide the fate of everyone on board? TB 7070.

33 Shute, Nevil Marazan. 1991. Read by David Graham, 8 hours 24 minutes. TB 9419. Were it not for the escaped convict who saved his life, Philip Stenning would never have flown a plane again. As it happened, the pilot's life was to change for good and he was soon to be flying as intently and expertly as he had in the days of World War I. As Stenning attempts to support his rescuer, he is drawn ever deeper into a tense and dramatic adventure of intrigue, drug-running and murder. TB 9419.

Sillitoe, Alan The lost flying boat. 1983. Read by Christopher Scott, 9 hours 49 minutes. TB 5152. Two rival teams set out to retrieve German gold in true Boy's Own Biggles style and on one level this is an exciting adventure story. But this is not just a Saga trap - it was the most beautiful thing ever built. TB 5152.

Sillitoe, Alan Down from the hill. 1984. Read by Richard Earthy, 6 hours 40 minutes. TB 5450. The moment of change for a country just recovering from war in 1945 and for a boy on the brink of manhood is caught in the 250- mile odyssey of Paul Morton. He is seventeen and out to use his week of summer holiday to put as many miles as possible between himself and the factory in Nottingham where he works. His adventures - romantic, sad and comic - summon up a time and countryside long since vanished. Unsuitable for family reading. TB 5450.

Smith, Wilbur Wild justice. 1992. Read by Andrew Cuthbert, 16 hours 59 minutes. TB 10143. The hijacking of a jumbo jet off the Seychelles galvanises anti- terrorist chief Peter Stride into the action for which he has spent a lifetime training, but even in the hail of bullets which follows, he knows that this is only the beginning of a nightmare. Stride is the one man who might find the twisted genius who holds the world

34 hostage, if only his every move were not anticipated by the enemy. Contains violence. TB 10143.

Smith, Wilbur Assegai. 2009. Read by Jon Cartwright, 18 hours 4 minutes. TB 16727. Courtney: book13. Sequel to: The triumph of the sun, TB 14186. It is 1913 and ex-soldier turned professional big game hunter, Leon Courtney, is in British East Africa guiding rich and powerful men from America and Europe on safaris in the Masai tribe territories. One of his clients, German industrialist Count Otto Von Meerbach, has a company which builds aircraft and vehicles for the Kaiser's burgeoning army. But Leon had not bargained for falling passionately in love with Eva, the Count's beautiful and enigmatic mistress. Just prior to the outbreak of World War I, Leon is recruited by his uncle, Penrod Ballantyne, Commander of the British Forces in East Africa , to gather information from Von Meerbach. He stumbles on a plot against the British involving the disenchanted survivors of the Boer War, but it is only when Eva and Von Meerbach return to Africa that Leon finds out who and what is really behind the conspiracy. Contains passages of a sexual nature. TB 16727.

Smollett, Tobias Roderick Random. 1748. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 21 hours 15 minutes. TB 665. Roderick Random, a selfish, unprincipled rogue, tells of his extraordinary adventures in the navy and in civilian life. TB 665.

Smollett, Tobias Peregrine Pickle. 1751. Read by John Richmond, 41 hours 45 minutes. TB 927. The adventures of Peregrine Pickle, scoundrel and swashbuckler, in 18th century England. TB 927.

Steel, Danielle Wings. 1995. Read by Laurel Lefkow, 11 hours 54 minutes. TB 10468. Cassie O'Malley's father had always wanted his son to be a pilot and not his reckless, red haired daughter but it was Cassie who

35 had the gift and her father's junior partner, Nick Galvin, who gave her flying lessons. This is the story of a young woman who fights the odds and becomes a renowned aviator. TB 10468.

Stevenson, Robert Louis Mutiny on the Bounty. 1996. Read by Various Narrators, 2 hours 44 minutes. TB 12411. Starring Oliver Reed, Linus Roache, Roger Daltrey and Lionel Jeffries. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, this epic classic serial tells the tale of Fletcher Christian's dramatic mutiny against the tyrannical Captain Bligh. TB 12411.

Stevenson, Robert Louis Kidnapped. 1993. Read by Peter Kenny, 7 hours 48 minutes. TB 14878. Set in Scotland in 1751, Kidnapped remains one of the most exciting adventure stories ever written. It tells of how young David Balfour, orphaned, and betrayed by his uncle Ebenezer who should have been his guardian, falls in with Alan Breck, the unscrupulous but heroic champion of the Jacobite Cause. TB 14878.

Stewart, Mary Airs above the ground. 1965. Read by Phyllis Boothroyd, 9 hours. TB 274. Searching for her husband in Austria, a young woman finds unexpected mystery and adventure, involving circus horses and secret agents. TB 274.

Stewart, Mary My brother Michael. 1990. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 10 hours 39 minutes. TB 9072. Camilla Haven is holidaying in Greece when she is caught up in a nightmare of danger and intrigue, which begins with an unexpected journey through the olive-clad hills to Delphi. TB 9072.

36 Thackeray, W M The memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. 1844. Read by John Cormack, 13 hours 17 minutes. TB 12693. Set in the second half of the eighteenth century, Barry Lyndon is the fictional autobiography of an adventurer and rogue. Born into the petty Irish gentry, and outmanoeuvred in his first love-affair, a ruined Barry volunteers for the British army. After seeing service in Germany he deserts and, after a brief spell as a spy, pursues the career of a gambler in the dissolute clubs and courts of Europe. In a determined effort to enter fashionable society he marries a titled heiress but is finally outwitted by her and ends his days in a debtors' prison. TB 12693.

Theroux, Paul The Mosquito Coast. 1981. Read by Christopher Saul, 14 hours 46 minutes. TB 4203. For the members of the Fox family the pipe-dream of leaving everything to live the simple life in a distant place becomes reality when Allie Fox takes them to the Mosquito Coast in Central America. But his fantastic plans become a tyranny which turns the idyll into a story of survival. TB 4203.

Thompson, Harry This thing of darkness. 2006. Read by Merv Smith, 27 hours 9 minutes. TB 16098. This seafaring adventure set in the nineteenth century, charts the life of Robert Fitzroy, the captain of 'The Beagle' and his passenger Charles Darwin. Their deep friendship and twin obsessions lead one to triumph and the other to disaster. TB 16098.

Traven, B The death ship: the story of an American sailor. 1959. Read by Jeff Harding, 13 hours 47 minutes. TB 11963. The text tells the story of a man who, having been robbed of his passport and seaman's card, is adrift in a world that doesn't want him. Expelled from one country after another, he joins a ship, the Yorikke, where no questions are asked. Its crew are like himself - stateless, and its cargo is contraband. It is rightly called `a death ship'. TB 11963.

37 Twain, Mark The prince and the pauper. 1881. Read by Andrew Timothy, 7 hours. TB 3252. The tale of a London Beggar boy and the young prince who was to become Edward VI, Identical to look at, they decide to change places, and then have difficulty establishing their true identities. TB 3252.

Van der Post, Laurens A far-off place. 1974. Read by David Dunhill, 17 hours 23 minutes. TB 2682. Accompanied by a Bushman and his wife and the young daughter of a governor who has been murdered by terrorists, the boy Francois sets out on a long and terrible journey to freedom. TB 2682.

Verne, Jules Twenty thousand leagues under the sea. 1870. Read by Malcolm Ruthven. 13 hours 29 minutes. TB 3791. The central character of this book, which is remarkable for its prediction of the invention of the submarine, are in the process of exploring marine disturbances when they are captured by the megalomaniacal Captain Nemo. TB 3791.

Verne, Jules Around the world in eighty days. 1873. Read by Corbett Woodall, 8 hours 16 minutes. TB 1356. These are the extraordinary and wonderful adventures which befall Phileas Fogg and his servant Passepartout when they set out to win a bet by going round the world in eighty days. TB 1356.

West, Morris The naked country. 1991. Read by Nigel Graham, 5 hours 48 minutes. TB 9292. Mundaru had killed the white man's animal. He had thrown the first spear into the side of the great bull, and now he was pursuing the white man to kill and conceal him. If he killed the white man, there was death for them all. The death that threatened them must be

38 sung into the body of Mundaru; he must be ritually slain. Dillon, with the Aborigine's barb buried deep in his shoulder, knew that his survival lay in his own hands. Yet if he lived through this ordeal, could he survive the shock of financial ruin and the loss of his wife? Under the blanket sky, the drama played out before them … TB 9292.

West, Morris The navigator. 1976. Read by Andrew Timothy, 14 hours 30 minutes. TB 3052. Thorkild, and his carefully chosen crew, set out to discover a Polynesian Island, whose existence he has proclaimed. In their struggle to survive as a community they discover love and comradeship in the face of primal terrors. TB 3052.

Williams, Emlyn Headlong : a novel. 1980. Read by David Sinclair, 12 hours 50 minutes. TB 3805. It was 1935 and the whole Royal Family was wiped out in one minute. There followed for Jack Green a most bizarre adventure, taking him for a brief space of time from excitement to comedy. TB 3805.

Wren, P C Beau Geste. 1924. Read by Anthony Parker, 18 hours. TB 1234. Three brothers leave their middle-class home in England to join the French Foreign Legion and danger. TB 1234.

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