Harper audio

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2013

‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’

The Shock of the Fall is an extraordinary portrait of one man’s descent into mental illness. It is a brave and groundbreaking novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction

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The Shock Of The Fall, by Nathan Filer, read by Oliver Hembrough

The Heroes’ Welcome is the incandescent sequel to the bestselling R&J pick My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You. Its evocation of a time deeply wounded by the pain of WW1 will capture and beguile readers fresh to Louisa Young’s wonderful writing, and those previously enthralled by the stories of Nadine and Riley, Rose, Peter and Julia. 

 1919, and Britain is realising that it is no longer at war. Now, Nadine and Riley, Rose, and Peter and Julia, must try to regain a sense of normality.

But long shadows cast by the war dim the potential joys of peacetime, and matters of the heart prove arduous and bewildering. Normality doesn’t seem to exist the way it did, and there is no ‘going back’ to anything. What must give, for happiness to stand a chance?

For those who fought, those who healed and those left behind, 1919 is a year freighted with perilous beginnings, unavoidable realities and gleams of indestructible hope.

The Heroes’ Welcome, By Louisa Young, Read by Dan Stevens

A funny, festive picture book about Paddington, the beloved, classic bear from darkest Peru. 

 When the Browns take Paddington to the Christmas grotto at the local department store, their journey through the Winter Wonderland is full of unexpected surprises. But the best surprise is a present from Santa. After all, who else would find the perfect present for a bear like Paddington?

Join Paddington on his festive adventure as he discovers why Santa Claus makes everyone’s Christmas so special.

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Paddington and the Christmas Surprise, By Michael Bond, Read by Paul Vaughan

Could life for the Baudelaire orphans possibly get any worse? In a word, yes. 

 Dear Customer,
I hope, for your sake, that you have not chosen to listen to this CD because you are in the mood for a pleasant experience. If this is the case, I advise you to put it down instantaneously, because of all the volumes describing the unhappy lives of the Baudelaire orphans, this might be the unhappiest yet. Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are sent to Paltryville to work in a lumbermill, and they find disaster and misfortune lurking behind every log.
These include, I’m sorry to inform you, such unpleasantries as a giant pincher machine, a bad casserole, a man with a cloud of smoke where his head should be, a hypnotist, a terrible accident resulting in injury, and coupons.
I have promised to record the entire history of these three poor children, but you haven’t, so if your customers prefer stories that are more heartwarming, please feel free to make another selection.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

Book the Fourth – The Miserable Mill, By Lemony Snicket, Read by Lemony Snicket

More doom and gloom for the Baudelaire orphans, and school as well. 

 Dear Customer,
If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. You might expect that Violet, Klaus and Sunny would do very well at school. Don’t. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives.
Within the chapters of this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E and the metric system.
It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and recording the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night’s sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other tape.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

Book the Fifth – The Austere Academy, By Lemony Snicket, Read by Lemony Snicket

It’s still not too late to change your mind about reading this information. Stop looking now. Please. 

 Dear Customer,
Like the previous CDs in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, there is nothing to be found in this narration but misery, despair and discomfort. This time, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire encounter a darkened staircase, a red herring, some friends in a dire situation, three mysterious initials, a liar with an evil scheme, a secret passageway and parsley soda.
I have sworn to record these tales of the Baudelaire orphans so the general public will know each terrible thing that has happened to them, but if you decide to listen to something else instead you will save yourself from a heapful of horror and woe.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

Book the Sixth – The Ersatz Elevator, By Lemony Snicket, Read by Tim Curry

The eleventh in the dreadful Series of Unfortunate Events continuing the story of the Baudelaire orphans.

Read by Tim Curry. Listen if you dare! 

 Snicket’s saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to alarm its distressed and suspicious fans the world over.

The eleventh book in this outrageous publishing effort features more than the usual dose of distressing details.

This is one chilling recording you would be better off without.

Book the Eleventh – The Grim Grotto, By Lemony Snicket, Read by Tim Curry

The thirteenth in the dreadful Series of Unfortunate Events continuing the story of the Baudelaire orphans.

Read by Tim Curry. Listen if you dare! 

 Snicket’s saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to alarm its distressed and suspicious fans the world over.

The thirteenth audiobook features more than the usual dose of distressing details.

Like an off-key violin concert, the Roman Empire, or food poisoning, all things must come to an end. Thankfully, this includes "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket. The final installment in Mr Snicket's baker's dozen of audiobooks will answer readers' most burning questions: Will Count Olaf prevail? Will the Baudelaires survive? Will the series end happily? If there's nothing out there, what was that noise? Then again, why trouble yourself with unfortunate resolutions? Avoid the thirteenth and final audiobook of Lemony Snicket's international bestselling series read by the ever gloomy Tim Curry and you'll never have to know what happens.

This is one chilling recording you would be better off without.

Book the Thirteenth – The End, By Lemony Snicket, Read by Tim Curry

The seventh book in the series telling the miserable and disastrous lives of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire 

 You have undoubtedly picked up information about these tapes by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would listen to this particular story about the lives of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded on our audiobook.

We can think of no single reason why anyone would want to listen to an audiobook containing such unpleasant matters as migrating crows, an angry mob, a newspaper headline, the arrest of innocent people, the Deluxe Cell, and some very strange hats.

Book the Seventh – The Vile Village, By Lemony Snicket, Read by Tim Curry

Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos – threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade. 

 Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos - threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade. As he struggles to unite Britain and hold back the Saxon enemy, Arthur is embroiled in a doomed romance with beautiful Guinevere.

The Winter King, By Bernard Cornwell, Read by Jonathan Keeble

The highly anticipated third volume of the haunting, disturbing and evocative Southern Reach trilogy. 

 It is winter in Area X. A new team embarks across the border, on a mission to find a member of a previous expedition who may have been left behind. As they press deeper into the unknown – navigating new terrain and new challenges – the threat to the outside world becomes only more daunting. In this last instalment of the Southern Reach Trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may have been solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound – or terrifying.

Acceptance, By Jeff VanderMeer, Read by Bronson Pinchot, Xe Sands and Carolyn McCormick

Hey, buster! Normal life is a total yawn. Break out of boredom with Ruby Redfort, the super-awesome new creation from multi-million-copy bestseller Lauren Child… 

 Want to know more? Of course you do, bozo.

Here’s the low-down on Ruby Redfort: she’s a genius code-cracker, a daring detective, and a gadget-laden special agent who just happens to be a thirteen-year-old girl. She and her slick side-kick butler, Hitch, foil crimes and get into loads of scrapes with evil villains, but they’re always ice-cool in a crisis.

In LOOK INTO MY EYES, we go right back to Ruby’s beginnings as an agent. When an anonymous caller sets Ruby a challenge, it’s not long before she finds her way into the HQ of the most secret of secret agencies – SPECTRUM. They need her help to crack a code but her desk job soon spirals into an all-out action adventure, as Ruby uncovers the dastardly plans of the formidable Fool’s Gold Gang…

Ruby Redfort book 1: Look Into My Eyes, By Lauren Child, Read by Rachael Stirling

Are you taking your life for granted?

Lucy Silchester is. She’s busied herself with other stuff: friends’ lives, work issues, her deteriorating car, that kind of thing. But she’s stuck in a rut – and deluding everyone. Only Lucy knows the real truth.

Time for a wake-up call – a meeting with life. And life turns out to be a kindly, rather run-down man in an old suit, who is determined to bring about change – and won’t let Lucy off the hook.

Sometimes we all need to make time for our life…

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The Time of My Life, by Cecelia Ahern, read by Amy Creighton

REVELATION OR DEVASTATION?

The certainties of the modern world are about to be blown apart by a three thousand year-old conspiracy nurtured by blood and lies …

A man throws himself to his death from the oldest inhabited place on the face of the earth, a mountainous citadel in the historic Turkish city of Ruin. This is no ordinary suicide but a symbolic act. And thanks to the media, it is witnessed by the entire world.

But few understand it. For charity worker Kathryn Mann and a handful of others in the know, it is what they have been waiting for. The cowled and secretive fanatics that live in the Citadel suspect it could mean the end of everything they have built – and they will kill, torture and break every law to stop that. For Liv Adamsen, New York crime reporter, it begins the next stage of a journey into the heart of her own identity.

And at that journey's end lies a discovery that will change EVERYTHING …

SANCTUS is an apocalyptic conspiracy thriller like no other – it re-sets the bar for excitement and fascination, and marks the debut of a major talent in Simon Toyne.

Sanctus by Simon Toyne, read by Jonathan Keeble

Beautifully read by Richard Briers - ‘There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.’

A timeless and celebrated children’s classic, Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows has delighted for nearly 100 years. In the idyllic English countryside, Mole, Badger, Rat and Toad encounter adventure at every turn – whether it’s gipsy caravans, Rat’s love for the river, or Toads passion for motorcars, the loveable friends and their escapades continue to delight children and adults alike.

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The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame read by Richard Briers

Heroism or cowardice? A stunning story of the First World War from a master storyteller.

Told in the voice of a young soldier, the story follows 24 hours in his life at the front during WW1, and captures his memories as he looks back over his life. Full of stunningly researched detail and engrossing atmosphere, the book leads to a dramatic and moving conclusion.

Harper audio

Kim Shields