Showing results by publisher "Real Reads" in All Categories

Here is a test, a puzzle for you. It is a faithful account of two most gruesome murders. Can you work out what actually happened in the early hours of one fateful morning in the Rue Morgue? Before you start, here are a few tips. To be a good detective you need the same skills as a good card-player. You must consider and examine every detail, not just the obvious ones. You have to observe every change in a person's face, everything they say, everything they do and you must always expect the unexpected. And finally, you must remember it all.

Frank hates working in his father's office. He swaps places with his cousin Rashleigh. But what is Rashleigh up to? Who are his mysterious friends? Frank has to find some missing papers to save his father's business. The search takes him to Scotland, where he finds that his life is in danger. But who is it that wants to kill him? Frank meets the outlaw Rob Roy and heads for the Highlands, where he's seized by soldiers looking for Jacobite rebels. Whose side is Rob Roy really on? And how can Frank recover the papers which will save his father?

Young, attractive and impetuous, Bathsheba has inherited a farm and is determined to be as independent as possible. Her natural beauty is a magnet for men; how will she choose between them? Gabriel Oak is a young farmer, just set up in business with his own flock of sheep. He meets Bathsheba and falls in love with her, but she turns him down. He has to stand by and watch while the woman he loves is courted by others, first by William Boldwood, much older than Bathsheba; then by Sergeant Troy, young, handsome and reckless.

The world's greatest classics retold for children. If there ever was an epic that touches upon every conceivable human emotion and poses the most complex of questions, it has to be the Mahabharata, the most famous of stories from India. The deadly rivalry between the royal cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, can only end one way - in the mightiest of battles imaginable. The gods watch in dismay as the opponents draw up their forces. Will the mighty warriors Bhishma and Drona survive to see the end? And what of Karna?

If there ever was an epic that touches upon every conceivable human emotion and poses the most complex of questions, it has to be the Mahabharata, the most famous of stories from India. In the second book of this exciting three-part series a single roll of the dice reverses the fortunes of the Pandavas. The peaceful years following the division of the kingdom of Bharata are soon to end because of Duryodhana's jealousy.

If there ever was an epic that touches upon every conceivable human emotion and poses the most complex of questions, it has to be the Mahabharata, the most famous of stories from India. The rivalry between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, royal cousins fighting for the throne at Hastinapura, will end in a mighty battle, but what is it that makes such a conflict inevitable? Is it the eldest Kaurava brother's envy of his cousins' exceptional military skills?

Rama is the embodiment of righteousness, honour and valour - the perfect man and the ideal king of Kosala. Rama's stepmother, Kaikeyi, longs to see her son, Bharata, crowned king and persuades King Dasaratha that Rama, the rightful heir, should be sent into exile for 14 years. Rama's beautiful and devoted wife, Sita, and Lakshmana, his inseparable half-brother, both choose to accompany him.

The foundations of Jewish law are under threat from the followers of a man called Jesus. These people have reached Damascus. They must be stopped. Saul, uncompromising and brutal, is the man for the job. But by the time Saul reaches Damascus, he is blind and in shock. What could have happened to him on that journey? How does a man react when his beliefs are turned upside down? Now calling himself Paul, can he convince his former enemies to trust him? Can he convince the world that Jesus's teachings are for everyone?

Poor Judas - he just can't decide what to do with his life. Everybody expects him to follow in his father's footsteps, but he has too many doubts. Then one day he meets a man who changes everything. With new hope and a new sense of purpose, Judas leaves his home and his family to follow Jesus. But for how long can Judas accept the simplicity of Jesus's work? How soon will his mind return to its former complex ways? Tortured by increasing doubts, troubled by rivalry within the group and sensing that time is running short, Judas feels compelled to take action.

Mary's childhood in Magdala leaves her with emotional scars she fears will never heal - until she meets Jesus. Recognising the importance of Jesus' work, she decides to do all that she can to support him, but what good can a woman do in a man's world? Will Mary ever be accepted by Jesus' other disciples? What will she learn from the miracles she witnesses and from her many conversations with the Son of God? To Mary the message seems simple, so why can't others believe?

Although Simon has no idea why Jesus is beckoning to him from the beach, he agrees to leave his nets and follow him. A robust, enthusiastic fisherman, Simon makes more mistakes and asks more questions than the other disciples. Why then, he wonders, does Jesus call him Peter, which means 'rock'? When Jesus is arrested everybody except Simon Peter flees, but is he brave enough to stand by Jesus until the end? After Jesus' death, how will Simon Peter spread Jesus' teachings? Will he make the right decisions? Can he calm the rivalries developing among Jesus' followers?

Mary is a young woman living a simple life in Nazareth, when an angel's visit changes her life forever. She has been chosen by God to bear him a son. She alone amongst women has been chosen to bear the agony and the joy. From the moment of his birth, she knows that Jesus' life will be like no other. She has been warned of the pain that lies ahead. When Jesus begins his work, how will she react to her increasing awareness of the dangers facing her son?

Written in play form using Shakespeare's iambic pentameter and imitating much of his style and language, these little plays are an excellent introduction to the bard. Hamlet’s father, the king of Denmark, has died suddenly. But instead of grieving, his mother, Gertrude, has married the dead king’s brother, Claudius. One dark night Hamlet sees a ghost. It is his dead father, who claims he was murdered by Claudius, the new king. But did Hamlet really see a ghost, or did he just imagine it?

No one would have believed that planet Earth was being watched by creatures more intelligent than humankind. But planet Earth was not only being watched--soon it would be invaded by monstrous creatures from Mars who strode about the land in great mechanical tripods, bringing death and destruction with them. What could possibly stop an invading army equipped with heat rays and poisonous black gas, intent on wiping out the human race?

"On this machine, I intend to explore time..." The time traveller has invented a time machine. Its capabilities are beyond even his fertile imagination. Hundreds of thousand of years in the future, the beautiful Eloi people live in a Garden of Eden. But why are they so fearful of the dark? What horrors lurk beneath the surface of their world? What will the time traveller learn about the future? Will he survive the evil he encounters? Even if he can find his stolen machine, will it return him safely home?

"‘Breach your last to the sun, Moby Dick!’ cried Ahab. ‘Thy hour and thy harpoon are at hand!’" Why does Captain Ahab look like a man who’s being crucified? How did he come by that hideous scar and the false leg made of a whale’s bone? And why is he obsessed with Moby Dick, the great white whale?Ishmael, the new recruit, has other strange shipmates. There’s Queequeg, for instance, covered in weird tattoos and selling shrunken human heads.

A frightful horde of men and women, armed with scythes, pikes, billhooks, and rusty swords, advance towards the massive front doors of Notre Dame Cathedral. For many years Quasimodo the bellringer has lived peacefully in the cathedral with his master, Archdeacon Claude Frollo. But the arrival of Esmeralda, the young and dazzlingly beautiful gypsy dancer, changes everything. Esmeralda has fallen in love with the brave and handsome Captain Phoebus.

Running away to sea brings adventure and wealth, but then come shipwreck and a desperate struggle for survival. Defying his parents, Robinson Crusoe goes to sea. He is captured by pirates but escapes to Brazil. He makes a fortune using slave labour to grow tobacco and sugar. He sails to Africa to bring back more slaves but is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. Everyone else is drowned. For more than twenty years, he lives alone. He learns to hunt and fish and make shelter.

"It’s a woman. She’s dead, I think--dead in the snow at the Stone-pits--not far from my door." Since his arrival in the small village of Raveloe, Silas Marner has been an outsider. Nobody knows where he came from, nobody understands him, nobody dares to invite him in. All of this changes when a little girl wanders through his door one snowy night. What feelings will she stir in Silas’ lonely heart? How will she draw Silas closer to the heart of Raveloe?

Why is this feeling of regret so familiar to her? Why must she always wish she had done something different? Maggie Tulliver and her brother, Tom, grow up in the mill on the River Floss. Although Maggie adores Tom, she often finds him cruel and cold. All she wants is for life to be full and warm.The Tulliver family’s traditional way of living is threatened by changes beyond their control. Will the educated world of lawyers and lawsuits destroy what generations have enjoyed?