Showing results by narrator "Edoardo Ballerini" in All Categories

A heartrending, at times darkly comic but ultimately redemptive novel, Paolo Giordano’s The Human Body is an exploration of brotherhood and family, of modern war, and the wars we wage within ourselves. It is a novel that reminds us of what it means to be human. A platoon of young men and a single woman leave Italy for one of the most dangerous places on Earth. At their forward operating base in Afghanistan; this band of inexperienced soldiers navigates the irreversible journey from youth to adulthood.

America's most wanted man. The world's only hope? For months, the FBI has been on the hunt for a terrorist who seems invincible. The death toll is rising, yet somehow the killer, known only as the 'Green Man', has avoided leaving a single clue. This is no ordinary villain. Each attack is carefully planned to destroy a target that threatens the environment. Each time, the protest movement that supports the Green Man grows ever larger.

Bridge and Nicole are hired by a wealthy businessman to find his daughter, who’s been kidnapped. Ava Dermott has been taken by someone named Gemini, and Bridge follows the clues, with the case taking him back to an old place he’d rather not go. But there’s something more to this case than meets the eye. It’s not a simple kidnapping. There’s something else at play. But will Bridge and Nicole find out what it is before it’s too late? Someone will get double-crossed. The question is: Who?

First published nearly a quarter-century ago and one of the very few short-story collections to win the PEN/Faulkner Award, this is American fiction at its most vital - each narrative a masterpiece of sustained power and seemingly effortless literary grace.

It is a city of seemingly irreconcilable opposites, simultaneously glorious and ghastly. And it is Ben Taylor’s remarkable ability to meld these contradictions into a whole that makes this the exciting and original book it is. He takes his stroll around the bay with the acute sensitivity of a lover, the good humor of a friend, and the wisdom of a seeker who has immersed himself in all aspects of this contrapuntal culture. His curiosity leads him to many byways, both real and metaphoric, and his passion for this ancient city and its people becomes, in his graceful prose and amusing anecdotes, irresistibly contagious.

How do you know whether a real-world situation calls for a storybook hero? Is there such a thing as a knight in shining armor, or does every good deed come with unintended consequences? With chilling insight, five bestselling crime writers explore what it means to rise to the occasion—and the space between intentions and results.

Originally published in 1860, Ivan Turgenev’s First Love follows a 16-year-old boy’s infatuation with an older princess, who has moved in next door.

New Pittsburgh, 1898 - a crucible of invention and intrigue. Born from the ashes of devastating fire, flood, and earthquake, the city is ruled by the shadow government of The Oligarchy. Jake Desmet and Rick Brand travel the world to secure treasures and unusual items for the collections of wealthy patrons, accompanied by Jake's cousin, Veronique Le Clerque. But when their latest commission leads to Jake's father's murder, the three friends are drawn into a conspiracy where dark magic, industrial sabotage, and monsters that prey on the night will ultimately threaten not just New Pittsburgh, but the whole world.

These 12 stories - published over the last five years in Harper's, The Best American Short Stories, McSweeney's, Playboy, and other publications - veer from comic tales of love to social satire to suspenseful crime fiction, from hip Portland to once-hip Seattle to never-hip Spokane, from a condemned casino in Las Vegas to a bottomless lake in the dark woods of Idaho. This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive conmen, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.

It is 1943, and the Nazis' stranglehold over Europe is starting to loosen. In a corner of Norway, work is underway at a remote mountain factory to alter that course.... Kurt Nordstrum is a courageous fighter who has lost everything. His fiancée. His unit. His cause. When Kurt learns of the Nazis' atomic research in his homeland, he teams up with a group of patriotic fighters driven by one goal: to disrupt activity at the heavily guarded factory.

February 1939, and Europe is on the brink of war. Charles Mossman is in a bar in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, reeling from the loss of his job and his failing marriage, whilst outside thousands of Nazi sympathisers are attending a hate-spewing rally. As he confronts one, Charles makes a horrendous mistake with deadly consequences....

Chicky Diaz is everyone’s favourite doorman at the Bohemia, New York City’s world-famous home of celebrities, financiers, and the cultural elite. In the basement staff room, the life-and-death stakes of daily life are hardly news to the primarily Black and Latino hospitality. So, when the NYPD fatally shoots an unarmed Black man and the streets swell with both protestors and counter protestors, the staff’s concerns are less about the building or its residents and more about their survival – and what justice will look like.

Henry James’s classic tale of an American girl abroad, doomed for her wild and unconventional ways.

Three of Gogol’s most famous stories, together in one audio collection for the first time.

The world believed Daniel Burke was dead. At least, the few people in the government who knew he existed did. Once part of an elite black op team, Burke faked his death so he could avenge his brother. Now that those responsible have been brought to justice, he plans to leave the country and start a new life.

Auschwitz, 1944. Alfred Mendl's days are numbered. But he has little left to live for - his family were torn away from him, his life's work burned in front of his eyes - until a glimmer of hope arises as he watches a game of chess. To the guards Mendl is just another prisoner, but in fact he holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. The other is working hard for the Nazi war machine. Four thousand miles away, in Washington, DC, intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum decodes messages from occupied Poland.

A masterpiece of American individualism, Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is considered by many to be one of the most important pieces of political and philosophical writings ever produced by an American. Thoreau wrote the essay because of his opposition to slavery and the Mexican-American War. When the government engages in actions that are unjust, he believed that citizens should completely withdraw their support of the government and stop paying taxes, even if it results in imprisonment or violence.

Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, André Aciman has written a luminous series of linked essays about time, place, identity, and art that show him at his very finest. From beautiful and moving pieces about the memory evoked by the scent of lavender; to meditations on cities like Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and New York; to his sheer ability to unearth life secrets from an ordinary street corner, Alibis reminds the listener that Aciman is a master of the personal essay.

Attempting to make sense of the incredible upheaval of 2020—from the devastating impact of COVID-19 to the sudden loss of his father—Edoardo Nesi considers the changing global economy and its effect on our lives. He shares the stories of Alberto Magelli, a small textile entrepreneur; Livia Firth, a prominent advocate for sustainability; Elisa Martelli, a young Sangiovese winemaker; Enrico Giovannini, a leading economist and statistician; Rino Pratesi, a proud butcher from the heart of Tuscany; and more.

Would you risk your life for total strangers? When she is assaulted while on vacation in Key West, the unforgettable Kate Bowers marshals her skills as a former homicide detective and Army MP. As she hunts down her assailant, she discovers women enslaved in a high-end sex trafficking operation on a luxury super-yacht. That’s only the first complication. The president’s daughter is missing and in mortal danger.