Showing results by narrator "Gildart Jackson" in All Categories

When 14-year-old Zoe Johnson doesn't come home on a Monday night in early December, the alarm bells in Kings Lake Central police station do not ring straight away - after all, she's from the Dockmills, one of the toughest estates in the town. But for Detective Sergeant DC Smith, due to retire in just three weeks' time, there are some strange echoes of the case that has haunted him for the past 13 years. Maybe it's simply his over-developed sense of irony, or maybe, in his final days as a police officer, Smith must look once more into the eyes of a serial killer.

Two weeks of rest and recuperation - that's what the doctor ordered. Detective Sergeant DC Smith could listen to some music, make some of his own, and maybe even catch up on his reading; he is almost looking forward to it. And then there is a knock on the door. It's only his next-door neighbor, but it is the beginning of a sequence of events that will bring him face to face with some of the darkest episodes and the most dangerous people from his own past.

"And see if there's any news about the missing girl." Life, as Smith used to say, is just one thing after another - as one investigation ends, a new one begins. But for reasons unknown to the rest of her team, DCI Cara Freeman will be haunted by the next case for the Kings Lake Central murder squad. They find themselves delving into the seamy side of life in the town, and one of their number will have departed before this new investigation is over. Perhaps Detective Sergeant Chris Waters should have seen it coming, but he has a lot more than work on his mind these days.

Ahren can hardly believe his luck. His normal life consists of being beaten up by his drunkard father or bullied by the village lads. But at the annual suitability tests for apprenticeships, the young boy finds himself selected by Falk, the guardian of the forest, to be his apprentice and his world is turned upside down. From his new master he learns the skills of archery and how to fight the Dark Ones. And then, on the day of the Spring Ceremony there is another unexpected turn of events. He touches the Stone of the Gods and it illuminates for the first time ever. 

The new Kings Lake Central murder squad is about to spend its first morning on team-building exercises and reviewing cold cases when the call comes in that the body of one of the city's rough sleepers has been found in a shop doorway. It happens, someone says, he isn't the first to die on the streets and he won't be the last, but the story the new team begins to uncover is far from routine.  

She's just watching, thinking about it again, when a big flash car pulls up outside. No one gets out. Then the doors of the bar open and people appear. Two men and a youngish woman, and one of the men has a hold on the woman's arm. It looks as if they're having words. Then this all happens quickly—they push the woman towards the car, one of the back doors opens, and they manhandle her inside. Sarah hears a muffled shout from the woman and the car pulls away. It's all over in a few seconds.

Charlie Hills, former desk sergeant at Kings Lake Central, is in trouble. He hasn't told Smith, his old friend and sparring partner, but someone has, and now the two former policemen are about to embark on a difficult and potentially dangerous search for the truth. For one of them, it could be life-changing.

Jetta needs to escape… As a kitchen maid who has finally managed to escape abuse at her master’s hand, she finds herself at the scene of a crime. Now she's involved in a murder. How many times can her life be turned upside down? Never knowing her parentage, she has struggled alone for too long. Dominic is a friend of the king… Enjoying a peaceful life was never his choice. He wanted a change from the monotony. But finding his Farrier murdered, with only a slip of a girl as the likely culprit, was possibly taking things too far.

This is DC Smith's third investigation with the Diver and Diver Associates agency. They have been asked by a member of Norfolk's aristocracy to look into the tragic death of her younger brother, Freddie, the late Lord Thorpe of the title. The inquest verdict was of misadventure, but it isn't long before Smith begins to suspect there has been a serious miscarriage of justice.

The Paladins are still short one of their number for them to finally be considered a complete fighting force—the thirteen Champions of the gods. Hence, Ahren and his friends, make their way onto the Ice Fields in the far south, following what scant clues there are in their efforts to track down the man considered to be the father of all Forest Guardians and who was last seen hunting down the fearsome dragon, Four Claws. An odyssey on sea and ice awaits them

Welcome to Fountain Reach. Ancient seat of the Aubuchon dynasty. Majestic setting of the White Stone tournament. Alex Verus' (not necessarily reliable) reputation attracts all sorts. Most are plain bonkers. Yet there's one invitation he just can't refuse. At Fountain Reach, Alex is perfectly placed among the noted and notorious to figure out why apprentices have been vanishing.

A German secret agent threatens the D-Day landings. February 1944. British Intelligence is using German double agents to deceive the German high command about Operation Overlord - the location chosen for the D-Day landings. When they pick up an unauthorized transmission from near London, the whole deception plan is thrown into jeopardy. And Kurt Müller is the main suspect. To save Operation Overlord and clear his name, Kurt must find the rogue agent and silence him.

When a worker goes missing from a North Sea gas platform, there seem to be just two possible explanations - it was a tragic accident or a suicide. It does not take Smith and his detectives long, however, to discover that James Bell led a double life back onshore in Kings Lake, a life complicated enough to make him at least one dangerous enemy. Before the case can be unraveled, Smith must get a new team working together.

Winner of the British Fantasy Award, The Scar by China Miéville is a colossal fantasy of incredible diversity and spellbinding imagination, set in the richly visualized world of Bas-Lag. A human cargo bound for servitude in exile . . . A pirate city hauled across the oceans . . . A hidden...

When another resident of the Rosemary House care home is found dead in her chair one Saturday evening in December, no one is very surprised - not until the results of a routine post-mortem reveal something extraordinary. Sergeant DC Smith and his team have to tread carefully as they investigate what took place, and Smith himself has to confront some difficult memories. Others, meanwhile, seem intent on getting him to leave the force altogether.

After falling in love with the king's intended, Lewis Deathstalker is now exiled, an outlaw from the empire he faithfully served for so long. With Lewis out of the way, former Paragon Finn Durandal has led a silent coup to wrest control from the king and set himself up as the power behind the throne. But Durandal is not the Empire's biggest threat. The Terror that Owen Deathstalker prophesied nearly 200 years ago is almost upon them, and Owen is supposedly the only one who can save civilization from unspeakable horrors. 

Alex Verus is tracking down dangerous magical items unleashed into the world by Dark Mages - however, when the Light Council decide they need his help in negotiating with the perpetrators, Alex must use all his cunning and magic to strike a deal. The ninth novel in the urban fantasy series which began with Fated - the Alex Verus novels are magic-filled fan favourites, perfect for fans of Jim Butcher and Ben Aaronovitch.

Norway, AD 958. The Northern realm is once again at war. The exiled sons of Erik Bloodaxe have returned with the help of the Danes and have slain King Hakon. They now come for Hakon's heir, Jarl Trygvi. Trygvi's wife, Astrid, and young son, Olaf, flee their home with the aid of their household warriors. Pursued by the Bloodaxe brood, the family escapes east, through the dark, forested land of the Swedes and across the treacherous East Sea. 

In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, Kaine is forced to rely on two women he barely knows-a country veterinarian who treats his wounds and an IT expert with a dark secret of her own. Kaine must battle his overwhelming guilt, life-threatening injuries and strong moral code as he hunts for the people who turned him into a mass-murderer.

A year has passed since the cataclysmic impact of asteroid AG5. Whilst Earth's survivors struggle against a devastating winter, the world's finest assemble on the International Space Station for a covert mission that could change the course of civilization. Back in the US, former director general Steiner is due to stand trial for masterminding heinous acts of terror. As calls for the death penalty gain momentum, those that sit in judgement are unaware that Steiner holds the key to the survival of the entire human race.