Showing results by narrator "Jessica Preddy" in All Categories

One day, the power goes off and the world falls silent. And in two very different parts of America, two very different nightmares are about to begin. In Manhattan, Elizabeth and her brother Henry are all alone in their parents' apartment. Looking out the window, they can see the carnage slowly spreading through the city. But as hopes fade for their parents to come back, Elizabeth and Henry discover that dangers might already have entered the building. 

Two sisters, haunted by more than their past... Just weeks after discovering each other’s existence, Jess and Hannah Ballard arrive at Fairhaven Hall, where they will learn the clandestine ways of the Durupinen, an ancient sect of women who control the Gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. Though they are considered outcasts by most of their classmates, Jess and Hannah are determined to learn what they can to fulfill their responsibility to the many ghosts that haunt them. But danger, it seems, has followed them as closely as a shadow to their new home. 

Birds, Strangers and Psychos is a thrilling anthology that brings together the biggest names in mystery and crime fiction to pay homage to Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary filmmaker whose name is synonymous with suspense. Acclaimed editor Maxim Jakubowski curates 24 original short stories, each inspired by the mood, tension, and style that defined Hitchcock’s groundbreaking work.

Nuremberg, 1938. Lisavet Levy's watchmaker father saves her from the Nazis by pushing her through a mysterious doorway. There, she discovers the Time Space—a vast, magical library where the memories of everyone who has ever lived are stored in books. Her father promises to follow, but he never comes.

One morning, Emelie can't get out of bed. Her therapist calls it burnout. Her neighbour calls it the tiny work death. She needs to get away from the brightness of the city lights, the noise of the people, the constant demands, so she goes to the woods, pitches her tent overlooking the lake, breathes. And that's where she sees them, the Colony:

The heroine of this haunting, spare novel is voraciously alive in the afterlife. She has forgotten even her name, but she remembers with unbearable longing the place where she knew herself and was known – where she loved and was loved. She heads west and into mind-boggling adventures, carrying a dead but laconically opinionated crow in her chest.

When recently engaged Nat flips through a bridal magazine, she spots a quiz on page 111 about being ready for marriage. After failing it, she’s determined to prove it wrong. If only it was that easy. Getting married to Archie, whose smile makes her insides go funny, should be a dream come true. So why is it a total nightmare? 

Seriously, why do guys on dating apps think I want a picture of what’s in their pants? I could open an art gallery with the collection I’ve got. Zoe really doesn’t want to die alone and surrounded by cats. But it’s not looking good: she’s had sex precisely twice in the last year, and her feline friend isn’t the kind of male company she wants in bed.

London, 1941: In a cramped bunker in Winston Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms, underneath Westminster’s Treasury building, civilian women huddle at desks, typing up confidential documents and reports. Since her parents were killed in a bombing raid, Rose Teasdale has spent more hours than usual in Room 60, working double shifts, growing accustomed to the burnt scent of the Prime Minister’s cigars permeating the stale air. 

One hundred days after humanity was brought to its knees, Elizabeth Marter has joined a small group of survivors in Boston. Under constant attack from scavengers who live beyond the city limits, Elizabeth and the others desperately try to come up with a plan. But when they learn that a more organized enemy is on the way, they realize that they face a battle for what's left of their resources.

The festive season has come to Sinclair’s and Sophie and Lil are spending the holidays at snowy Winter Hall. But it turns out that this is no ordinary house party… As sinister secrets come to light, our intrepid heroines find themselves faced with a more baffling mystery than ever before! With the help of their friends, can they uncover the truth in time to foil a truly diabolical plot? Or will Mr Sinclair’s New Year’s Eve Midnight Peacock Ball spell disaster for the dauntless young detectives?

Decades tend to crest halfway through, and 1995 was the year of the Nineties: peak Britpop (Oasis v Blur), peak YBA (Tracey Emin's tent), peak New Lad (when Nick Hornby published High Fidelity, when James Brown's Loaded detonated the publishing industry, and when pubs were finally allowed to...

Sixteen-year-old Mila lives in LA with her mom and A-list actor dad, whose fame constantly thrusts their lives into the media spotlight. But when Mila’s antics around town make waves ahead of her dad’s next big movie, something needs to be done. So Mila is dispatched 2,000 miles away to Nashville, Tennessee, where she can cool off for the summer with her aunt and grandfather. The perfect solution - right? Mila’s not so sure. She’s dreading the idea of a summer away from her friends, not to mention being shipped to the other side of the country.

In the wake of their terrifying escape from Fairhaven Hall, sisters Jess and Hannah Ballard find themselves on the run, pursued by the two most powerful groups in the history of the spirit world. On one side, the Durupinen, determined to capture the girls and prevent their role in an ancient prophecy that promises to destroy them and unleash the spirit hordes on the earth. On the other side, the Necromancers, ancient enemies of the Durupinen, hell-bent on bringing the same prophecy to fruition. When the girls are betrayed and one of them falls into the Necromancers’ hands, both face decisions with cataclysmic consequences.

University student Matt Pine has just received devastating news. Nearly his entire family have been found dead while holidaying in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI aren't convinced - and they won't tell Matt why. The tragedy thrusts his family into the media spotlight again. Seven years ago, Matt's older brother, Danny, was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his teenage girlfriend. Danny has always sworn he was innocent, and last year, a true-crime documentary that claimed he was wrongfully convicted went viral.

There’s a very particular reason why Chloe Sinclair has not met her Mr Right - he doesn't exist. And the reason he doesn't exist is because the right couples in history did not get together. It now falls to Chloe to travel back in time to matchmake like her love life depended on it.... Each of Chloe’s trips revolves around the iconic Hotel Del Coronado - part historic landmark, part Californian fairy tale. Here she experiences the Victorian era, the Roaring '20s, the fabulous '50s and the '80s karaoke party of your dreams! 

Corsica, 1993. Seventeen-year-old Séverine Guimard knows in her heart that it's only a matter of time before she'll escape this provincial island for Hollywood's glimmering lights. Until then, she'll spend her days listening to "What is Love" on her Walkman, smoking cigarettes, and riding her bike at dusk along the picturesque roads that wind around her parents' gated villa. That is until three masked men emerge from an idling car, tear her from her bike, duct tape her mouth and wrists, and take her somewhere hidden from prying eyes...

Having been rescued from the forest, Elizabeth is shocked to find herself living with a small group of survivors. But when she's plunged into an unlikely reunion, she begins to realise that the task of saving humanity might require difficult decisions. Meanwhile, Thomas discovers the truth about another group of survivors. Old alliances are destroyed and new alliances are formed, but finally Thomas is forced to make a stand. 

2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her husband—a famous university professor—to death. Detective Maxine Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation. Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and murder, secret societies and spiritism...and women at breaking point, who will stop at nothing to protect the ones they love.

Ava Langston knows exactly what she wants: her very own café and a life free of complicated relationships. But her plans go awry when her long-distance dad phones insisting she hop on the next plane to Costa Rica to meet his brand-new wife. Ava has no intention of jetting to Latin America to acquire a stepmother - until, that is, her father offers her head honcho status at a beachfront café. The lure of frothing cappuccinos in a land where the coffee beans grow proves irresistible.