Audiobooks narrated by Neil Shah

As a boy, Otah Machi was exiled from his family, Machi's ruling house. Decades later, he has witnessed and been part of world-changing events. Yet he has never returned to Machi. Now his father—the Khai, or ruler, of Machi—is dying, and his eldest brother, Biitrah, has been assassinated, Otah realizes that he must return to Machi for reasons not even he understands. Tradition dictates that the sons of a dying Khai fall upon each other until only one remains to succeed his father. But something even worse is occurring in Machi. The Galts, an expansive empire, has allied with someone in Machi to bring down the ruling house. Otah, the long-missing brother with an all-too-obvious motive for murder, is accused.

Daniel Abraham (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Burning: The most electrifying debut of 2021

'Immaculately constructed, acidly observed and gripping from start to finish, A Burning is a brilliant debut.' The Guardian 'A big hit in America last year, this buzzy debut about the impact of a terrorist attack in a Kolkata slum on three connected characters is full of hot-button global topics, including violent nationalism' Metro 'Powerful. […] Majumdar's page-turning thriller seeks to open our eyes to the role of persecution in populist politics' - Mail on Sunday 'An evocative insight into class, corruption, injustice and power dynamics, this poignant tale makes for memorable reading' Cosmopolitan 'Majumdar conjures up three notably effervescent, intense voices'? Daily Telegraph 'A brilliant character study about politics and power, this assured debut moves at a thriller's pace but with a meticulous eye for detail.' Nikesh Shukla 'A Burning is a political thriller so charged and tense, it will keep you reading after lights out.' Red Magazine A girl walks through the slums of Kolkata holding an armful of books. She returns home smelling of smoke, and checks her most prized possession: a brand-new smartphone, purchased in instalments. On Facebook, there is only one conversation. #KolabaganTrainAttack On the small, glowing screen, she types a dangerous thing… 'If the police didn't help ordinary people like you and me, if the police watched them die, doesn't that mean that the government is also a terrorist?' Set in contemporary India, A Burning is the story of three unforgettable characters, all dreaming of a better future, whose lives are changed for ever when they become caught up in the devastating aftermath of a terrorist attack. Jivan - a poor, young, Muslim girl, who dreams of going to college - faces a possible death sentence after being accused of collaborating with the terrorists. Lovely - an exuberant hijra who longs to be a Bollywood star - holds the alibi that can set Jivan free, but telling the truth will cost her everything she holds dear. PT Sir - an opportunistic gym teacher who once taught Jivan - becomes involved with Hindu nationalist politics and his own ascent is soon inextricably linked to Jivan's fall. Taut, propulsive and electrifying, from its opening lines to its astonishing finale, A Burning confronts issues of class, fate, prejudice and corruption with a Dickensian sense of injustice, and asks us to consider what it means to nurture big ambitions in a country hurtling towards political extremism. A Burning is a novel for our times and for all time.

Megha Majumdar (Author), Deepti Gupta, Neil Shah, Priya Ayyar, Soneela Nankani, Ulka Mohanty, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Dead Hand

Best-selling author Paul Theroux has been hailed as a 'masterful and mesmerizing storyteller' (Booklist). Theroux's A Dead Hand unfolds around Jerry Delfont, a travel writer living in Calcutta and suffering from writer's block. But when Jerry receives a letter from a wealthy fan requesting help, he soon finds himself entangled in a mystery involving a dead boy and an innocent man fleeing for his life.

Paul Theroux (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Dire Isle: Harith Athreya Book 2

Harith Athreya is back, this time to face a centuries old-curse in the second novel in the internationally acclaimed series! An archeological team is excavating on the banks of the Betwa River near Jahnsi. A place where, legend has it, a couple forbidden to marry had run away to be together—forever cursing anyone who dares set foot on the island. When the head of the expedition defies the myth, the fallout is swift and deadly, the body found exactly as the ancient stories describe. Is the death a result of the ancient curse, or is it a down-to-earth case of murder? Detective Harith Athreya, an investigator with a vivid imagination, begins to uncover a mystery where the lines between past and present are blurred, reaping a harvest of evidence and motives—theft, plagiarism and a host of other crimes, showing that few of the archaeologists are what or who they appear to be. Will he be able to unravel the truth from legend before the curse strikes again? The second novel in the internationally acclaimed Harith Athreya series is perfect for fans of riveting classic mysteries by Agatha Christie and films such as Knives Out.

Rv Raman (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Distant Heart

Her name means "miracle" in Sanskrit, and to her parents, that's exactly what Kimaya is. The first baby to survive after several miscarriages, Kimi grows up in a mansion at the top of Mumbai's Pali Hill, surrounded by love and privilege. But at eleven years old, she develops a rare illness that requires her to be confined to a germ-free ivory tower in her home, with only the Arabian Sea churning outside her window for company ... until one person dares venture into her world.Tasked at fourteen years old with supporting his family, Rahul Savant shows up to wash Kimi's windows, and an unlikely friendship develops across the plastic curtain of her isolation room. As years pass, Rahul becomes Kimi's eyes to the outside world-and she becomes his inspiration to better himself by enrolling in the police force. But when a life-saving heart transplant offers the chance of a real future, both must face all that ties them together and keeps them apart.As Kimi anticipates a new life, Rahul struggles with loving someone he may yet lose. And when his investigation into a black market organ ring run by a sociopathic gang lord exposes dangerous secrets that cut too close to home, only Rahul's deep, abiding connection with Kimi can keep her safe-and reveal the true meaning of courage, loss, and second chances.Infused with the rhythms of life in modern-day India, acclaimed author Sonali Dev's candid, rewarding novel beautifully evokes all the complexities of the human heart.

Sonali Dev (Author), Neil Shah, Soneela Nankani (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Girl Like That

In this young adult debut set in Saudi Arabia, where the law forbids romantic relationships outside of marriage, two teens fall in love with tragic consequences. Sixteen-year-old Zarin Wadia is many things: an Indian girl, a bright and vivacious student, an orphan, a troublemaker whose romantic entanglements are the subject of endless gossip among the girls in her school. "You don't want to get involved with a girl like that," they say. So how is it that Porus, a Parsi boy, has only ever had eyes for her? And how did Zarin and Porus end up dead in a car together, crashed on the side of the highway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia? When the religious police arrive, everything everyone thought they knew about Zarin is called into question.

Tanaz Bhathena (Author), Firdous Bamji, Lameece Issaq, Neil Shah, Soneela Nankani (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Life of Adventure and Delight

A young woman in an arranged marriage awakens one day surprised to find herself in love with her husband. A retired divorce tries to become the perfect partner by reading women's magazines. A man's long-standing contempt for his cousin suddenly shifts inward when he witnesses his cousin caring for a sick woman. The protagonists in A Life of Adventure and Delight deceive themselves and engage in odd behaviors as they navigate how to be good, how to make meaningful relationships, and the strengths and pitfalls of self-interest. Elegantly written and emotionally immediate, the stories provide an intimate and profound assessment of human relationships between mothers and sons, sons and lovers, and husband and wives.

Akhil Sharma (Author), Deepti Gupta, Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Shadow in Summer

The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an andat bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity. If they can dispose of Heshai, Seedless will perish and the entire city will fall. In the middle is Otah, a simple laborer with a complex past. Recruited to act as a bodyguard for his girlfriend's boss at a secret meeting, he inadvertently learns of the Galtish plot. Otah finds himself as the sole hope of Saraykeht: either he stops the Galts or the whole city and everyone in it perishes forever.

Daniel Abraham (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Woman Like Her: A Novel

An unexpected love story from Marc Levy, international bestselling author of The Last of the Stanfields, and the most widely read French author in the world. It’s been five years since fate upended resilient Chloe Bronstein’s world. While she may be living with her father, and her acting career has taken a decidedly unexpected turn, she’s alive. And she’s intrigued by Sanji, the charming new elevator operator in her quaint Manhattan apartment building. There’s just something about the Mumbai-born, Oxford-educated, thoroughly modern elevator man that doesn’t quite add up. Sanji is dazzled by Chloe. They have so much in common: Both defiant. Both independent. Both determined to live by their own rules. But there’s one thing about Sanji that Chloe doesn’t know. Yet. However hesitant Chloe and Sanji’s burgeoning romance is—complicated by family, friends, neighbors, and the past—it also awakens them to life’s limitless possibilities.

Marc Levy (Author), Megan Tusing, Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

Agent Storm: My Life Inside al-Qaeda

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Agent Storm: My Life Inside al-Qaeda by Morten Storm with Tim Lister and Paul Cruckshanks. Read by Neil Shah. He was the Western convert who would plunge deep inside al-Qaeda. He named his first son Osama after 9/11 and became a Jihadist. But then - after a sudden loss of faith - Morten Storm made a life-changing decision. He became a double agent and joined the CIA, MI6 and MI5. Filled with hair-raising close calls and deception, Storm's story builds to the climactic finale when he must betray his friend and mentor al-Awlaki - al-Qaeda's biggest threat to the West. Storm is trusted to find al-Awlaki a wife from Europe. She becomes the bait for a possible American drone strike.

Morten Storm, Paul Cruickshank, Tim Lister (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear

"I remember the four words that repeatedly scrolled across my mind after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. 'Please don't be Muslims, please don't be Muslims.' The four words I whispered to myself on 9/11 reverberated through the mind of every Muslim American that day and every day after . . . . Our fear, and the collective breath or brace for the hateful backlash that ensued, symbolize the existential tightrope that defines Muslim American identity today." The term "Islamophobia" may be fairly new, but irrational fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims is anything but. Though many speak of Islamophobia's roots in racism, have we considered how anti-Muslim rhetoric is rooted in our legal system? Using his unique lens as a critical race theorist and law professor, Khaled A. Beydoun captures the many ways in which law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the frightening resurgence of Islamophobia in the United States. Beydoun charts its long and terrible history, from the plight of enslaved African Muslims in the antebellum South and the laws prohibiting Muslim immigrants from becoming citizens to the ways the war on terror assigns blame for any terrorist act to Islam and the myriad trials Muslim Americans face in the Trump era. He passionately argues that by failing to frame Islamophobia as a system of bigotry endorsed and emboldened by law and carried out by government actors, U.S. society ignores the injury it inflicts on both Muslims and non-Muslims. Through the stories of Muslim Americans who have experienced Islamophobia across various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, Beydoun shares how U.S. laws shatter lives, whether directly or inadvertently. And with an eye toward benefiting society as a whole, he recommends ways for Muslim Americans and their allies to build coalitions with other groups. Like no book before it, American Islamophobia offers a robust and genuine portrait of Muslim America then and now.

Khaled A. Beydoun (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia's Big Cats

Today ten times more tigers live in captivity than survive in the wild. For over five decades, K. Ullas Karanth has been engaged in the struggle to bring wild tigers back from the brink in India, their last remaining wild stronghold. He tells the story of the tiger itself-its incredible biology, its critical role in shaping natural ecosystems of Asia, and the unique place it holds in our collective imagination. Among Tigers is the story of how we wound up with fewer than 5,000 wild tigers, and how, with focused efforts, we can grow that population ten times or more in a few decades. In doing so, we would bring not only the world's largest and most beloved feline back from the brink, but also save countless other species that share the tigers habitats from the freezing forests of Siberia to the tropics of India. Karanth shares the adventurous real-life story of his quest to save a species and, along the way, the hopeful realization that tiger conservation is a battle that can be won. Ultimately, the book is a roadmap showing us how to not only to save the greatest of great cats, but to bring it roaring back at numbers never before seen in our lifetimes.

K. Ullas Karanth (Author), Neil Shah (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Neil Shah