Showing results by narrator "David McCallion" in All Categories

When the Dawson family is found slaughtered in what appears to be a tragic murder-suicide, it seems like another heartbreaking case of a man pushed to the edge, taking his wife and children with him before ending his own life. But DI Alec McKay has doubts. Why was a mysterious BMW spotted at the Dawsons’ holiday home that day, and why are its owners also now dead? What’s behind the erratic behaviour of the new senior investigating officer? And, most disturbingly, who is sending out packages containing toys taken from the crime scene?

Jimmy McGuire, a washed-up comic, is found dead on the streets of Inverness, his body garroted. Back in the 1990s, McGuire had been half of a promising double act until his partner, Jack Dingwall, was convicted of rape. Soon, a second corpse is found in an abandoned industrial site on the edge of the Moray Firth. The body has been there for some days and has also been garroted. The victim turns out to be a former musician turned record producer who had also been the subject of rape allegations.

Andrew Carnegie immigrated to the United States with his parents as a young child. He began his climb to the top as a modest errand boy and eventually moved into the steel industry. By the time he was an adult, Carnegie was one of the richest men in the country. Known as a generous man, he spent a great deal of his fortune investing in organizations that aimed to advance social progress and improve conditions for people of all classes. Andrew Carnegie was also intensely interested in world peace and the security of democracy.

In 1819, Walter Scott published Rob Roy, a book that would eventually become one of the most-read historical novels of all time. The story unfolds through the eyes of Frank Osbaldistone, the son of an English merchant. Frank first travels to the north of England, eventually ending up in the Scottish Highlands. He is determined to collect on a debt owed to his father, but on his journey he encounters Rob Roy MacGregor, who sets the tone for the story's development.

In 1831, the HMS Beagle took sail. Onboard was a young Charles Darwin. He would set out on an adventure that would lead him to question everything about man's place in the world. The Voyage of the Beagle is the journal Darwin kept of his observations of the extraordinary and natural wonders he encountered, from volcanoes to the coral reefs of Australia. It would be these natural wonders that would lead to him questioning how the different species of the world came to be and eventually to his radical theories.

Jake Boulder’s help is requested when his friend’s family is crucified and burned.

When a woman’s body is discovered, Boulder realises the murders have something unusual in common. After a young couple is snatched, the case takes a more brutal turn. Gruesome footage is sent to the major US news outlets; the pressure to find those responsible mounts. With the authorities against him, can Boulder catch the killer?

Written by Saint Augustine of Hippo, Confessions is the saint's autobiography that features 13 books that detail his early life and his conversion to Christianity as a result of the sin that he had incurred in his youth. Throughout the series, he also delivers his philosophical ponderings and ideas on theology, and it becomes evident that each event that has occurred in his life has had something to do with religion, as Saint Augustine is able to bridge the connections between these two very important topics.

1964. A hoard of the finest Scotch whisky ever made–the legendary Dalziel Double Proof–goes missing. 2023. Albie, youngest son of the wealthy Dalziel family, vanishes. His desperate mother turns to Robbie Gould, a disgraced reporter with a reputation as a 'psychic crimebuster'. Broke and unemployed, Gould is in no position to turn down the job. He throws himself into a twisted chain of criminals, bent cops and Japanese gangsters, but when someone fires a shotgun through his door, he realises he doesn't need supernatural powers to see how deadly the situation has become.

The Scottish Hebrides. A strange group of people have descended on the small island of West Uist. Camped out in the grounds of the Castle, they are preparing to celebrate the summer solstice. Museum curator Finley McNab becomes suspicious of the cultlike group, and when he challenges them it seems his investigations could be deadly. Inspector Torquil McKinnon is called in to keep an eye on the group. Are they innocent pagan worshippers, or is something more sinister going on behind the scenes? As the day of the solstice draws ever nearer, whispers of murder are on the horizon....

The Deerslayer gives listeners a glimpse into another time and another culture. Raised by Indians, the young white man Natty Bumppo takes pride in doing everything just as well as his peers. Natty is courageous and one of the best hunters in his group which earns him the name Deerslayer, but his true test will come in the form of warfare. The Deerslayer’s story is one of violence and the reality of warfare. After killing his first enemy, Natty is captured and tortured. He believes this is the worst of mankind but nothing can prepare him for the cruelty of the civilized man.

The annual West Uist literary festival - The Gathering - always attracts the best in the business. But with the tiny island population suddenly doubling, the local police force is stretched to breaking point. And this year they have to deal with more than just drunken fights and rowdy behaviour.... Ranald Buchanan, the local poet, is found dead, with his head brutally caved in, and Inspector Torquil McKinnon is brought in to investigate. Did Ranald trip and fall, as suggested? Or is something more sinister happening?

This delightfully narrated classic is a story within a story. In an attempt to postpone execution, the king's new bride spends one thousand and one nights enchanting him with story after story of true love, tragedy, sorcerers, and jinns.

DI Alec McKay is back. Twenty years ago, Jackie Galloway was a senior cop with a bad reputation. Then he ended up on the wrong side of the wrong people, and his career was ruined. Sacked and with no pension, he ends up eking out his last days on Scotland's Black Isle, his mind lost to dementia, supported only by his wife, Bridie...until Galloway is found dead. The police assume the death to be accidental until Bridie reveals that her husband has been receiving threatening letters containing only the phrase 'not forgotten. Not forgiven.'

Honoré de Balzac uses his classic style of detail to describe a most controversial setting in his novel Le Pere Goriot. The story takes place in Paris just after the fall of Napoleon in 1819. The story focuses on three characters, Rastignac, a student who wants to try and make it big in the capital, Vautrin, an interesting and funny character who is also quite mysterious, and the main character, Goriot, that carries a heavy burden that only a loving parent would endure.

It is a serendipitous encounter for the hapless DI Greg Byrne when retired sleuth James Munro stumbles upon his crime scene. And perhaps also for Munro himself, who, his protégé Charlie West having firmly snapped his apron strings, needs other lambs to wean. The day is far less auspicious for the victim in the affair, the unfortunate property developer Rebecca Barlow, who has been trussed up like a scarecrow in her yard. Though occurring off DI West’s Ayrshire patch, the investigation will soon intertwine with one of her own.

Ivanhoe is the perfect novel for any listener who loves an action-packed adventure based on the mythology and legends of Medieval times in England. Set in the 12th century, Ivanhoe is the story of a young man who joins up with Richard the Lion Hearted during a dark time where England is split between the Normans and the Saxons, pitting friends and family against each other through the conquering of land and the changing seats of the Royal Family.

Compiled by Thucydides, an Athenian historian and general during the Peloponnesian War, The History of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) is considered to be one of the first scholarly historical works ever written.

Set in 18th century Philadelphia, the book follows Frank as he amasses a large fortune through stock speculation and purchases of shares in the growing street railway industry. He marries an older woman and has two children and uses his new found wealth to become socially prominent. Things however take a turn for the worst when he has an affair with Aileen Butler, the daughter of a politically prominent Irish industrialist.

This series of poems covers the story of the legendary hero, King Arthur, beginning with his first encounter with Guinevere, the woman who would become his queen on his search for the Holy Grail, to the betrayal of Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, and finally ending with Arthur's last battle. First published between 1859 and 1885 as a series of twelve poems, Idylls of the King retells the story of King Arthur with a unique and Victorian flavor beloved by many.

Published in 1651, Leviathan is considered to be one of the most important works of political philosophy and a major contribution to the modern idea of central government. In the mid-17th century, England was going through a turbulent time of change and unrest, which likely shaped Hobbes' ideas on strong government. Thomas Hobbes established the social contract theory. He believed that self-government did not create the ideal state due to the human tendency to be self-serving, something he believed would eventually lead to chaos.