Audiobooks narrated by Matthew Waterson

A Mystery of Revolutionary America: Blood of the Oak

The Edgar Award-winner’s colonial series continues as Scottish exile Duncan McCallum uncovers a loyalist conspiracy?“Historical mystery at its best” (Booklist, starred review). The American Colonies, 1765. As the Stamp Act dissent marks the first organized resistance to English rule, someone is kidnapping and killing members of the Iroquois Nation. Asked by an elder to investigate, Scottish exile Duncan McCallum soon uncovers a network of secret runners supporting the nascent “committees of correspondence,” engaged in the political dissent fomenting across colonial borders. But as Duncan follows the trail further, it leads to his capture. Thrown into slavery with the kidnapped runners, Duncan discovers a powerful conspiracy of highly placed English aristocrats bent on crushing all dissent. Inspired by an aged Native American slave and new African friends, Duncan decides not just to escape but to turn their own intrigue against the London lords. A Publishers Weekly Best Book, the fourth entry in the Bone Rattler series moves ever closer to the beginning of the American Revolution. With a cast of characters that includes Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, the early Pennsylvania rebel James Smith, and Dr. Benjamin Rush, Blood of the Oak takes a fresh view on the birth of the new American nation.

Eliot Pattison (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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A Simple Favor: A Novel

She’s your best friend. She knows all your secrets. That’s why she’s so dangerous. A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time. But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems. A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.

Darcey Bell (Author), Andi Arndt, Matthew Waterson, Xe Sands (Narrator)

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A Simple Favour: An edge-of-your-seat thriller with a chilling twist

Now a major film starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively as a pair of mismatched best friends, each with something to hide . . . 'Packed with betrayal, secrets and plenty of twists and turns' - Telegraph What happened to Emily? When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son from school she agrees happily. Their children are classmates and best friends. And five-year-olds love being together - just like she and Emily. As a widow and stay-at-home blogger mum living in suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a glamorous and successful PR executive. The trouble is that Emily doesn't come back. No matter what the police say, Stephanie knows that she would never leave her son. Terrified, she reaches out to her fellow mummy bloggers. And she also reaches out to Emily's husband - just to offer her support. What Stephanie hasn't shared are the secrets buried in a murky past. For fans of Gone Girl and Big Little Lies, A Simple Favour by Darcey Bell ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing thriller that holds you in its grip until the final page.

Darcey Bell (Author), Andi Arndt, Matthew Waterson, Xe Sands (Narrator)

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Adam Smith: Father of Economics

A dazzlingly original account of the life and thought of Adam Smith, the greatest economist of all time Adam Smith (1723-1790) is now widely regarded as the greatest economist of all time. But what he really thought, and the implications of his ideas, remain fiercely contested. Was he an eloquent advocate of capitalism and individual freedom? A prime mover of "market fundamentalism"? An apologist for human selfishness? Or something else entirely? In Adam Smith, political philosopher Jesse Norman dispels the myths and caricatures, and provides a far more complex portrait of the man. Offering a highly engaging account of Smith's life and times, Norman explores his work as a whole and traces his influence over two centuries to the present day. Finally, he shows how a proper understanding of Smith can help us address the problems of modern capitalism. The Smith who emerges from this book is not only the greatest of all economists but a pioneering theorist of moral philosophy, culture, and society.

Jesse Norman (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Advanced Analytics and AI: Impact, Implementation, and the Future of Work

Once thought of as science fiction, major corporations are already beginning to use cognitive systems to assist in providing wealth advice and also in medication treatment. The use of Cognitive Analytics/Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems is set to accelerate, with the expectation that it'll be considered 'mainstream' in the next five to ten years. It'll change the way we as individuals interact with data and systems-and the way we run our businesses. Advanced Analytics and AI prepares business users for the era of cognitive analytics/artificial intelligence. Building on established texts and commentary, it specifically prepares you in terms of expectation, impact on personal roles, and responsibilities. It focuses on the specific impact on key industries (retail, financial services, utilities and media) and also on key professions (such as accounting, operational management, supply chain and risk management). - Shows you how users interact with the system in natural language - Explains how cognitive analysis/AI can source 'big data' - Provides a roadmap for implementation - Gets you up to speed now before you get left behind

Tony Boobier (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America

The Edgar Award winner’s acclaimed mystery set in colonial America is “The Last of the Mohicans meets Braveheart, with a curious dash of CSI”. —Entertainment Weekly Unfairly convicted and force into indentured servitude, young Highland Scot Duncan McCallum finds himself aboard a prisoner ship bound for the New World. A series of mysterious deaths plagues the passengers and claims the life of Duncan’s dear friend Adam Munroe. Enlisted by his captors to investigate, a strange trail of clues leads Duncan into the New World and eventually thrusts him into the bloody maw of the French and Indian War. Duncan is indentured to the British Lord Ramsey, whose estate in the uncharted New York woodlands is a Heart of Darkness where multiple warring factions–the British, rogue Scots, the French, the Huron, and the Iroquois–are engaged in battle. Exploring a frontier world shrouded in danger, Duncan, the exiled chief of his near-extinct Scottish clan, finds that sometimes justice cannot be reached unless the cultures and spirits of those involved are resolved. “Having already won an Edgar for his Inspector Shan series, Pattison makes a strong bid for another with this outstanding” first novel in his acclaimed Bone Rattler series. —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Eliot Pattison (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America

Eliot Pattison (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Chopin's Piano: In Search of the Instrument that Transformed Music

In November 1838, Frederic Chopin, George Sand, and her two children sailed to Majorca to escape the Parisian winter. They settled in an abandoned monastery at Valldemossa in the mountains above Palma, where Chopin finished what would eventually be recognized as one of the great and revolutionary works of musical Romanticism: his twenty-four Preludes. There was scarcely a decent piano on the island, so Chopin worked on a small pianino made by a local craftsman, Juan Bauza. Chopin's Piano traces the history of Chopin's twenty-four Preludes through the instruments on which they were played, the pianists who interpreted them, and the traditions they came to represent. Yet it begins and ends with the Majorcan pianino, which assumed an astonishing cultural potency during the Second World War as it became, for the Nazis, a symbol of the man and music they were determined to appropriate as their own. After Chopin, the unexpected hero of Chopin's Piano is the great keyboard player Wanda Landowska, who rescued the pianino from Valldemossa in 1913, and who would later become one of the most influential artistic figures of the twentieth century. Paul Kildea shows how her story resonates with Chopin's, simultaneously distilling part of the cultural and political history of mid-twentieth-century Europe and the United States.

Paul Kildea (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Cryptography: The Key to Digital Security, How It Works, and Why It Matters

Despite its reputation as a language only of spies and hackers, cryptography plays a critical role in our everyday lives. Though often invisible, it underpins the security of our mobile phone calls, credit card payments, web searches, internet messaging, and cryptocurrencies-in short, everything we do online. Increasingly, it also runs in the background of our smart refrigerators, thermostats, electronic car keys, and even the cars themselves. As our daily devices get smarter, cyberspace-home to all the networks that connect them-grows. Broadly defined as a set of tools for establishing security in this expanding cyberspace, cryptography enables us to protect and share our information. Understanding the basics of cryptography is the key to recognizing the significance of the security technologies we encounter every day, which will then help us respond to them. What are the implications of connecting to an unprotected Wi-Fi network? Is it really so important to have different passwords for different accounts? Is it safe to submit sensitive personal information to a given app, or to convert money to bitcoin? In clear, concise writing, information security expert Keith Martin answers all these questions and more, revealing the many crucial ways we all depend on cryptographic technology.

Keith Martin (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Destination Casablanca: Exile, Espionage, and the Battle for North Africa in World War II

In November 1942, as a part of Operation Torch, 33,000 American soldiers sailed undetected across the Atlantic and stormed the beaches of French Morocco. Seventy-four hours later, the Americans controlled the country and one of the most valuable wartime ports: Casablanca. In the years preceding, Casablanca had evolved from an exotic travel destination to a key military target after France's surrender to Germany. Jewish refugees from Europe poured in, hoping to obtain visas and passage to the United States and beyond. Nazi agents and collaborators infiltrated the city in search of power and loyalty. The resistance was not far behind, as shopkeepers, celebrities, former French Foreign Legionnaires, and disgruntled bureaucrats formed a network of Allied spies. But once in American hands, Casablanca became a crucial logistical hub in the fight against Germany--and the site of Roosevelt and Churchill's demand for "unconditional surrender." Rife with rogue soldiers, power grabs, and diplomatic intrigue, Destination Casablanca is the riveting and untold story of this glamorous city--memorialized in the classic film that was rush-released in 1942 to capitalize on the drama that was unfolding in North Africa at the heart of World War II.

Meredith Hindley (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Dynasty: A Very Short Introduction

For thousands of years bloodlines have been held as virtually unassailable credentials for leadership. At the heart of royal dynasties, kings were inflated to superhuman proportions, yet their status came at a price: while they may have reigned, they were very often ruled by others who sheltered behind the ruler's proclaimed omnipotence. Descent through the female line also occurred, subverting our common view of dynasty as built on father-son succession. Everywhere, women were important as mothers of boy-kings, and could even rule in their own right in some places. In this Very Short Introduction Jeroen Duindam connects the earliest history of kings and queens to contemporary examples of family-based leadership. His sweeping overview of five millennia of dynastic rule brings to light recurring predicaments of families on the throne. Examining persistent family conflict and the dilemmas of leadership, he shows how the challenge of governing the family was balanced by the necessity of family scions, close or distant, for the survival of dynasties. In addition, guidebooks for rulers throughout history provided counsel that will appear strikingly familiar to contemporary leaders. Throughout, Duindam sheds light not only on similarities, but also on divergence and change in dynastic practice.

Jeroen Duindam (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Enemy At The Window

Someone knows what you did... and they're watching you... Daniel is living the dream with a devoted wife, perfect job and adorable toddler. Until out of the blue, his wife accuses him of having an affair and stabs him in a frenzied attack with a kitchen knife. As his wife is sectioned in a psychiatric ward, Daniel returns home from intensive care to find his precious world is inexorably falling apart: Who is prowling around his house? Why is someone sending threatening postcards? And who is his son talking to in the dead of night? As Daniel attempts to put his life back together, a merciless force just out of reach is unraveling it, bit by bit, until Daniel is plunged into his worst nightmare.

A J Waines (Author), Matthew Waterson (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Matthew Waterson