Name: THE GOOD LIFE - Martina Cole - Audio Extract by Headline Books in audio books
Duration: 4 min 11 s
Description: From the number-one best-selling author of REVENGE, THE LIFE, THE FAITHLESS and many more, and the queen of crime drama. With THE GOOD LIFE, Martina Cole delivers a hard-hitting and uncompromising new thriller.

audio books

From the number-one best-selling author of REVENGE, THE LIFE, THE FAITHLESS and many more, and the queen of crime drama. With THE GOOD LIFE, Martina Cole delivers a hard-hitting and uncompromising new thriller.

THE GOOD LIFE - Martina Cole - Audio Extract

Brought to you by Penguin

Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025

‘Without mud, the lotus could not survive.’

Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka Isawa has severe spine curvature and uses an electric wheelchair and ventilator. Within the limits of her care home, her life is lived online: she studies, she tweets indignantly, she posts outrageous stories on an erotica website. One day, a new male carer reveals he has read it all – the sex, the provocation, the dirt. Her response? An indecent proposal…

Written by the first disabled author to win Japan’s most prestigious literary award and acclaimed instantly as one of the most important Japanese novels of the 21st century, Hunchback is an extraordinary, thrilling glimpse into the desire and darkness of a woman placed at humanity’s edge.

‘Filled with unforgettable insight’ Sakaya Murata, author of Convenience Store Woman

©2025 Saou Ichikawa (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Hunchback, written by Saou Ichikawa and read by Yuriri Naka

Brought to you by Penguin.

'We love a rags-to-riches story, and we love to see someone triumph through sheer determination. But the story is rarely that simple. My story isn't, anyway.

'As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O'Sullivan making anything of her life. When she became a mother at 15 and ended up homeless, what followed were five years of barely coping.

This is the extraordinary story - moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling - of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revived those seeds in adulthood.

Now an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education, Poor stands as a stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids' futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.

©2023 Katriona O'Sullivan (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Poor, written and read by Katriona O'Sullivan

Brought to you by Penguin.

Six friends. One remote hotel. A long-overdue reunion. Welcome to The Hitchcock Hotel...

Alfred Smettle adores Hitchcock.

And who better to become founder, owner and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a remote, sprawling Victorian house sitting atop a hill in the beautiful White Mountains, New England. There, guests can find movie props and memorabilia in every room, round-the-clock film screenings, and an aviary with fifty crows.

For the hotel's first anniversary, Alfred invites the five college friends he studied film with. He hasn't spoken to any of them in sixteen years. Not after what happened. But who better to appreciate Alfred's creation?

His guests arrive, and everything seems to go according to plan. Until one glimpses someone standing outside her shower curtain.

Another is violently ill every time she eats the hotel food. Then their mobile phones go missing.

You should always make the audience suffer as much as possible, right?

The guests are stuck in the middle of nowhere, and things are about to get even worse. After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a dead body.

'Fans of Knives Out, Agatha Christie, and (of course) Alfred Hitchcock, rejoice! The Hitchcock Hotel is cool, classy – but such fun; reverent – yet so original.' A.J. FINN

'As twisty as a Hitchcock film' ALEX MICHAELIDES

'A scream from start to finish' JANICE HALLETT

©2024 Stephanie Wrobel (P)2024 Penguin Audio

The Hitchcock Hotel, written by Stephanie Wrobel and read by Michael Crouch, Helen Lloyd, Gail Shalan

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This program is read by a full cast, including Grammy-winning narrator Julia Whelan, who has narrated over 600 audiobooks and is a multiple Audie and SOVAS Award winner; Marisa Calin, an Audie, Odyssey, and AudioFile Earphones Award winner; and Katie Leung, best known for her role as Cho Chang in Harry Potter.


Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab - Audiobook Preview

On sale May 13th, 2025

From legendary tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou comes a motivational and inspirational guide to help readers achieve new success in any endeavor. 

Superstar coach Patrick Mouratoglou knows what it takes to win. An international icon in the world of tennis, he coached Serena Williams for a decade at the height of her career. Now he currently coaches four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and has worked with numerous top players over the years, including Holger Rune, Coco Gauff, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and many more. In Champion Mindset, Mouratoglou distills his lifetime of coaching excellence into ten commandments applicable to achieving success in all aspects of life, not just the court. Mouratoglou’s emphasis on coaching the player’s mindset is what makes him singularly successful as a tennis coach and effective in helping the rest of us reach our goals. He shows us how to embrace the “Progress Zone”—which challenges us and keeps us moving forward. He teaches us how to “Modify Your Inner Language” to turn every moment into an opportunity instead of a place to doubt our intentions. And how to “Take Responsibility for Results”—and really embody it.   

In addition to being an extraordinary self-help book, Champions Mindset is a gripping personal story in which Coach Patrick reveals his own difficult but rewarding journey. The lessons, insights, and experiences shared in this book are a roadmap to help every reader find their own path to success, however they define it.

Listen Here

Champion Mindset By Patrick Mouratoglou (Audiobook Excerpt)

On sale May 13th, 2025

He does not let anyone roll the dice.After High Elf Archer received an invitation to a wedding back in her home village, the party sets out for the forest of the elves—and joining them on their trip are Cow Girl and Guild Girl! Goblin Slayer and crew are long overdue for a vacation, and what better place is there to get some rest and relaxation than under the brilliant forest canopy?But things take an unexpected turn when they head upriver for the elf homeland only to see the shadows of goblins looming…And what’s more, there’s talk of an ancient beast slumbering within the forest. With all this danger close at hand, will there even be a wedding for our heroes to celebrate?

Goblin Slayer, Vol. 7 By Kumo Kagyu, Read By Hayden Daviau & Josh Bangle (Audiobook Excerpt)

Listen to an excerpt from MY FRIENDS by Fredrik Backman, read by Marin Ireland.

MY FRIENDS Audiobook Excerpt

On sale May 13th, 2025

After months of staying by Kiyoka’s side, Miyo is finally invited to the Kudou family villa to meet her future in-laws. Far from receiving a warm welcome, however, she quickly discovers that her fiancé’s mother, Fuyu, has no intention of accepting her as his bride. But Miyo will do anything to make her engagement work, even if that means putting up with abuse from Fuyu while attempting to bridge the gap between them. Meanwhile, Kiyoka heads to a nearby village to investigate reports of a fiend that stalks the night…

My Happy Marriage, Vol. 3 By Akumi Agitogi, Read By Miranda Parkin & Damien Haas (Audiobook Excerpt)

Listen to an excerpt from THE LAST SUNRISE by Anna Todd, read by Ruby Hunt with Andre Bellido. 

THE LAST SUNRISE Audiobook Excerpt

Listen to an excerpt from THE ART OF WINNING by Bill Belichick, read by the author.

ART OF WINNING Audiobook Excerpt

The prologue from the twenty-second novel from Sunday Times No.1 bestseller, Martina Cole, author of DANGEROUS LADY, THE TAKE, THE GOOD LIFE and many more...


Playing grown-ups, the future is theirs for the taking.

Sharon Conway and Lenny Scott are childhood sweethearts.  Everyone says they are too young, but nothing can keep them apart.  Sharon doesn't question Lenny's business dealings and it isn't long before his reputation as a hard man destined for the top means they are living the good life with their sons.

It leaves a stain on her heart for ever.

But one night Lenny doesn't come home. It isn't the first time he has gone AWOL.  But it is his last.  He is found murdered - beaten to death in an act of brutality that shocks even the police.  And Sharon never knows why.

Old wounds will surface.

Now, twenty years later, Sharon is about to find out the truth.  Such a crime cannot go unpunished.  Revenge is long overdue.  The time has come to... 

GET EVEN

GET EVEN - Martina Cole - Audio Extract

Betrayal is the twenty-third novel from Sunday Times No.1 bestseller, Martina Cole, author of DANGEROUS LADY, THE TAKE, GET EVEN and many more. The 'undisputed queen of crime writing' (Guardian) and the biggest selling female crime writer in the UK, Martina's unique, powerful storytelling will appeal to fans of Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell.

Survival. It's all down to who you trust.

Aiden O'Hara has been head of the family since he was kid, and he's going to keep it that way.

Jade Dixon is the one who watches his back. Mother of his son. The one who makes him invincible.

But Jade's been in the game a lot longer than Aiden. She knows no one's indestructible.

And when you're at the top, that's when you've got to watch the hardest.

Especially the ones closest to you . . .

(P)2016 Headline Digital

Betrayal

BETRAYAL by Martina Cole - Chapter One

Looking back, Nick Leary couldn't say exactly what kept him awake that night. He'd had a lot on his mind; perhaps he'd been thinking about the 'respectable' Essex business that he ran, or about his two young sons sleeping in the room next door. Or was it simply the sound of his beautiful wife's steady breathing beside him . . . Whatever it was, he was awake when he heard someone's footsteps downstairs, and Nick's instinct was to fight. It had always been that way, to protect the things he treasured most: his family, his privacy, his reputation. He'd grafted for these things all his life and no one was going to jeopardise them now. Unless, of course, Nick's instinct is wrong, and what happens this time is the start of something even he cannot stop . . .

Audible UK: http://adbl.co/2uqJHzO
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2uqskPM

The Graft

THE GRAFT by Martina Cole

Imelda Dooley is scared. Really scared. She's played hard and fast and now she's been caught. She's pregnant and now she's on her own. Her father, not a man to mess with, will see that somebody pays for this. And it's not going to be her. So Imelda Dooley tells a lie. A lie that literally causes murders. 

When Mary Dooley's husband is killed in the night's events, she knows she must graft to keep the family afloat. And graft she does, becoming a name in her own right. But she still has to watch her daughter's life spiral into a vicious, hate-fuelled cycle of drugs and prostitution. 

Caught up in the carnage that is Imelda's existence are Mary's adored grandchildren, Jordanna and Kenny. Pretty little Jordanna isn't yet three and she already knows far too much. All she can do is look after her baby brother, Kenny, and try not to draw unwanted attention to herself.

Audible UK: http://adbl.co/2tt2YmU
Amazon UK: http://adbl.co/2tt2YmU

The Business

THE BUSINESS by Martina Cole

Published by Isis Audio
Read by Annie Aldington

THE GOOD LIFE - Martina Cole - Audio Extract

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