John Escott crafts compelling narratives, often delving into the crime and mystery thriller genres. His works, whether original creations or adaptations, are designed to engage readers of all ages, particularly students. With a distinctive style, Escott focuses on building immersive plots that satisfy a reader's appetite for suspense and intrigue.
Original / British English Marcel is a mouse and a famous detective. He lives
in Paris. One evening, two thieves steal a very expensive diamond ring -- the
'White Star'. Then they steal a car. Marcel follows them across Paris to a
cafe. Can he get the 'White Star' and bring it back?
This romantic adventure story is set in 17th-century Southwest England. Young farmer John Ridd confronts the notorious Doones, known for their crimes. However, he falls in love with Lorna, who lives with the Doones.
Help your students build reading confidence and fluency with the Oxford Bookworms Library. With adapted American and European literature, teachers can make the Oxford Bookworms Library a part of their English language arts curriculum. English learners and struggling readers can enjoy the same novels that are found in the mainstream curriculum. Available in seven accessible levels, students can choose from more than 150 titles from starter level to advanced for extensive or independent reading.
The Macmillan Readers series are carefully graded from Starter to Upper Intermediate (A1-B2) to help students choose the right reading material for their ability. Our list of titles includes great stories from both contemporary and classic authors.
'The moment I heard how McAra died I should have walked away. I can see that now...' The narrator of Robert Harris' gripping new novel is a professional ghostwriter - cynical, mercenary, and with a nice line in deadpan humour. Accustomed to working with fading rock stars and minor celebrities, he jumps at the chance to ghost the memoirs of Britain's former prime minister, especially as it means flying to the American resort of Martha's Vineyard in the middle of winter and finishing the book in the seclusion of a luxurious house. But it doesn't take him long to realise he has made a terrible mistake. His predecessor on the project died in circumstances that were distinctly suspicious, and the ex-prime minister turns out to be a man with secrets in his past that are returning to haunt him - secrets with the power to kill.
The year is 1717. It is a bad time to be the captain of a ship in the Caribbean because of pirates. The most frightening pirate on the sea is Edward Teach, or 'Blackbeard'. 'The Governor of Virginia wants us all dead!' Blackbeard thinks. 'But can he kill me - the most famous pirate in theCaribbean? No!' This is his story...
Word count 1,260 Read at a comfortable level with word count and CEFR level on
every cover Illustrations, photos, and diagrams support comprehension
Activities build language skills and check understanding Glossaries teach
difficult vocabulary Free editable tests for every book Selected Bookworms are
available for your tablet or computer through the Oxford Learner's Bookshelf
Ben has a job in Mr. Tyson's store. Then Mr. Tyson finds money in Ben's bag. Get out of my store! Mr. Tyson says. But is Ben the thief? There is an earthquake in the city - and Mr. Tyson gets his answer.
Bond is off to Harlem, the kingdom of Mr Big, black master of crime and voodoo baron. The trail of terror, treachery and torture leads from New York's black underworld to the shark infested island in the sun that Mr Big calls his own.
'Surround yourself with human beings, my dear James. They are easier to fight for than principles.' In Casino Royale, the first of Fleming's 007 adventures, a game of cards is James Bond's only chance to bring down the desperate SMERSH agent Le Chiffre. But Bond soon discovers that there is far more at stake than money.
A carefully graded series of retold versions of popular classic and contemporary titles and specially written stories continue to grow and there are now over 170 titles in the series. Most titles are available with Audio CDs and most include accompanying exercises and glossaries.
Meet Tiffany Case, a cold, gorgeous, devil-may-care blonde. She stands between James Bond and the leaders of a diamond-smuggling ring that stretches from Africa via London to the States. Bond uses her to infiltrate this gang, but once in America the hunter becomes the hunted. Bond is in real danger until help comes from an unlikely quarter.
Bernardo likes hats. One day he buys a new hat at a street market and people laugh at it. "Why do you want another hat, Bernardo?" his wife says to him. "You have twenty." But what can she do?
Gone with the Wind is a story of love and war and one of the best selling books of all time. Part I follows the popular but selfish Scarlett O'Hara, the gentlemanly Ashley Wilkes, and dangerous but charming Rhett Butler as their world is destroyed in the terrible American Civil war.
This reader is accompanied with a CD that contains the full audio of the text in MP3 format. Pete and Carla are students. One day they look at some very old coins and stamps in a shop. Pete wants to buy some stamps, but they are very expensive. Later that day some coins are missing from the shop - and the shopkeeper wants to find Pete.
Original / British English Pete and Carla are students. One day they look at some very old coins and stamps in a shop. Pete wants to buy some stamps, but they are very expensive. Later that day some coins are missing from the shop -- and the shopkeeper wants to find Pete.
This is a graded reading series with language support on every page. These readers are ideal for students who need extra motivation and a more structured reading program.
This award-winning collection of adapted classic literature and original stories develops reading skills for low-beginning through advanced students. Accessible language and carefully controlled vocabulary build students' reading confidence. Introductions at the beginning of each story, illustrations throughout, and glossaries help build comprehension. Before, during, and after reading activities included in the back of each book strengthen student comprehension. Audio versions of selected titles provide great models of intonation and pronunciation of difficult words.
Original / American English Ricardo and Gisela are going home to Rio. Gisela likes reading and quiet people. Ricardo likes noise ... and he likes Gisela. In Rio, a thief takes Gisela's bag. What can Ricardo do?
Original / British English This is Nicky's first visit to New York. He is going to stay with his aunt, but she is not at the airport. Then some older boys on motorbikes play a dangerous game with him. Not long after he arrives, the police are looking for Nicky. Can he find his aunt before the police find him? This Pack contains a Book and MP3
[Penguin Readers Level 2] When Judy and Peter find a board game in the park, they take it home, hoping to alleviate their boredom. One live lion, an erupting volcano, and a dozen destructive monkeys later, the children are no longer bored. Their jungle adventure game has come to life!
Presents eleven of the English writer's works including the title story featuring a three hundred-year-old ghost who fails to intimidate the newest occupants of his manor house.
"Call me Ishmael." Thus begins one of the most famous journeys in literature--the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod and its embattled, monomaniacal Captain Ahab. Ishmael quickly learns that the Pequod's captain sails for revenge against the elusive Moby Dick, a sperm whale with a snow-white hump and mottled skin that destroyed Ahab's former vessel and left him crippled. As the Pequod sails deeper through the nights and into the sea, the divisions between man and nature begin to blur--so do the lines between good and evil, as the fates of the ship's crewmen become increasingly unclear.... Melville's classic tale of obsession and the sea, one of the most important and enduring masterworks of nineteenth-century literature, Moby Dick is a riveting drama, exploring rage, hope, destiny, and the deepest questions of moral truth.
READ BY DAVID SOUL Duration: 2 hours 28 minutes Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) was an American poet, writer, editor and literary critic. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe’s full-blooded Gothic style influenced generations of writers, filmmakers and musicians, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Baudelaire to Roger Corman and Lou Reed. The five tales collected here range from the famous to the obscure, but each displays Poe's unique sense of the macabre and his love for the baroque. A victim of the Inquisition finds himself in a nightmarish torture chamber, a castle is besieged by plague, a man becomes obsessed by the evil eye of his fellow lodger, a mesmerist suspends a man's life at the point of death and a jester takes his revenge on his cruel employers.
Use these fully illustrated classic and contemporary plays for reading practice or performance. Each script offers performance notes, character lists, exercises, and glossaries.
This series provides a stimulating introduction to the great classic stories of literature and the best in children's fiction. The books are easy and enjoyable to read, and feature full-page, full-color pictures and photographs. Each title includes interesting information about the authors, and comprehension questions to spark discussion.
This award-winning collection of adapted classic literature and original stories develops reading skills for low-beginning through advanced students. Accessible language and carefully controlled vocabulary build students' reading confidence. Introductions at the beginning of each story, illustrations throughout, and glossaries help build comprehension. Before, during, and after reading activities included in the back of each book strengthen student comprehension. Audio versions of selected titles provide great models of intonation and pronunciation of difficult words.
'Where are you taking me?' asked Dantes. 'Turn round and look,' said the officer. Dantes turned. The boat had passed the entrance of the port. On the right, he saw the dark shadow of the island of Ratonneau. An on the left he saw the black shape of the island off it.
Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions.
Published in June 1848, less than a year before her death, Anne Bronte's second (and last) novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is the somber account of the breakdown of a marriage in the face of alcoholism and infidelity. The novel enjoyed a modest success that led its publisher, theunscrupulous T.C. Newby, to issue a "Second Edition" less than two months later. The present edition, which completes the Clarendon Edition of the Novels of the Brontes, offers a text based on the collation of the first edition with the second. The introduction details the work's composition andearly printing history, including its first publication in America; and the text is fully annotated. Appendices record the substantive variants in the first English and American editions, and discuss the author's belief in the doctrine of universal salvation.
In 1137 the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales and they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics. Canny, wise and all too worldly, Cadfael isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to a bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself dealt the blow. Brother Cadfael knows that a carnal hand did the killing, but he doesn't know that his plan to unearth a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice, where the wages of sin may be a scandal- or his own ruin.
Kriminalroman. En rig enke forsvinder fra sit hjem i Californien, og privatdetektiven KInsey Millhone, der har påtaget sig sagen, opdager snart, at den har forbindelse med en tidligere mordbrand i naboejendommen
A story of entangled love. The gentle John Loveday, the trumpet-major, is in love with Anne Garland but she has two other suitors. Who will she choose?
In this adventure thriller, a captivating storyline unfolds when a beautiful blonde girl hands Pete a cassette film. As he develops the pictures, the mystery intensifies, drawing him deeper into an intriguing plot. Designed for English learners, the Macmillan Readers series features controlled vocabulary and helpful illustrations to enhance understanding, making it an engaging choice for those looking to improve their language skills while enjoying a thrilling narrative.
Sherlock Holmes is a very clever man. When people have strange, difficult problems, they come to him. Where is Mr Hosmer Angel? Which student saw the exam paper before the exam? Why is someone following Miss Smith? Can you find the answers before Sherlock Holmes does?(back cover)Sherlock Holmes and the strange Mr. Angel --Sherlock Holmes and the important exam paper --Sherlock Holmes and the dangerous road.
Some sisters are good friends, some are not. Somtimes there is more hate in a family than there is love. Karin is beautiful and has lots of men friends, but she can be very unkind to her sister Marcia. Perhaps when they were small, there was love between them, but that was a long time ago. They say that everybody has one crime in them. Perhaps they only take an umbrella that does not belong to them. Perhaps they steal from a shop, perhaps they get angry and hit someone, perhaps they kill...
The final episode in the saga of 'The Three Musketeers' finds Artemis attempting a royal coup. Philippe, the 'Man in the Iron Mask', has been a prisoner in the Bastille for 18 years. He is also King Louis' twin brother. Artemis wants him on the throne, but D'Artagnan cannot allow it.
PI Kinsey Millhone of California goes looking for the loot of a $500,000 robbery, an assignment filled with danger as one of the robbers is a psychopath. By the author of "K" Is for Killer
"Twenty-five milion people come to England every year, and some never go out of London. But England is full of interesting places to visit and things to do. There are big noisy cities with great shops and theatres, and quiet little villages. You can visit old castles and beautiful churches - or to go festivals with music twenty-four hours a day. You can have an English afternoon tea, walk on long white beaches, watch a great game of football, or visit a country house. Yes, England has something for everybody - what has it got for you?"--Publisher
How much do you know about the Wild West? What do you know about cowboys and Indians, about wagon trails and gunfights? Inside this book you will find the true story of the Wild West, and of some of the famous people who lived and worked there. People like Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Billy the Kid - and Annie Oakley, the best shot in the West.
Zoe Baker works in a bookstore. She also likes acting, and she has a part in the play Romeo and Juliet. Mike Morrison writes about the play for the newspaper. What does he write about Zoe? Is Zoe a good actress... or is she just 'a pretty face'?What does Zoe think when she reads the newspaper? What does she do?
Flies are a nuisance. They are annoying when they buzz around you, but you can brush them away with your hand. After all, a fly is only about half the size of your fingernail. But suppose it wasn't. Catch a fly and look at it closely - look at its head, its eyes, its legs. Now imagine that this thing was the size of a human being... These eight stories offer horror in many shapes and forms, in worlds full of monsters and evil spirits, where terror lies waiting in the shadows, and where the living and the dead dance hand in hand.--Quatrième de couverture
The men and the woman in this book - William Tell, Tom Blood, Lord Bao, King Matthias, Johnny Appleseed, and Lady Godiva - are all real people from history. But every time someone tells an old story, they change things in it, to make them bigger, better, and more exciting. So what is true in this book and what is not? Read all six of the stories, and see what you think.--P. [4] of cover
The acclaimed #1 New York Times and undisputed King of Horror Stephen King offers a frightening suspense novel about a young girl who becomes lost in the woods as night falls. On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror. As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio’s reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her—protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods…
In the desolate, frozen wilds of north-west Canada, a wolf-cub soon finds himself the sole survivor of the litter. Son of Kiche - half-wolf, half-dog - and the ageing wolf One Eye, he is thrust into a savage world where each day becomes a fight to stay alive
Introduction and Notes by Henry Claridge, Senior Lecturer, School of English,
University of Kent at Canterbury. This is a troubling story of crime, sin,
guilt, punishment and expiation, set in the rigid moral climate of 17th-
century New England. The young mother of an illegitimate child confronts her
Puritan judges. However, it is not so much her harsh sentence, but the
cruelties of slowly exposed guilt as her lover is revealed, that hold the
reader enthralled all the way to the book's poignant climax.
1757 - the Hudson River, North America. The armies of France and England are fighting. And Indian tribes are fighting for each army. Hurons are with the French. Mohawks and Mohicans are with the English. The daughters of the English general, Munro, start a journey through the forest. But soon they are in danger. This is the story of the scout, Hawk-eye, and his two Indian friends - the last of the Mohicans.
"You're a brave man, but I am afraid for you,' says Lady Marian to Robin of Locksley. She is afraid because Robin does not like Prince John's new taxes and wants to do something for the poor people of Nottingham. When Prince John hears this, Robin is suddenly in great danger"--Cover
A famous painting is going to the Grierson Gallery in LA and they want a top man to come to America. He can talk about the artist. The National Gallery in London sent Mr Bean. But something is very wrong with Mr Bean! He's very, very strange. And dangerous! After he arrives accidents start to happen.
Mit Originaltexten und Bearbeitungen klassischer sowie moderner Literatur lädt die 'Oxford Bookworms Library' zum Lesen ein. - Illustrationen erleichtern die Einführung neuer Vokabeln. - Ein reichhaltiger Aufgabenapparat liefert Übungen und Aktivitäten. - Ein 'glossary' erklärt alle Wörter, die über die angegebenen Grundwörter hinausgehen.
Nicky has just got off the plane at New York to stay with his Aunt Carrie. But at once things start to go wrong. Soon Nicky is being taken on a terrifying tour of New York by some young people he doesn’t even know. And the police think he is a thief! Nicky is lost, alone and very scared. A gripping adventure for younger readers.
These stories by John Updike, Graham Greene, William Boyd, Susan Hill, D.H. Lawrence, Saki, Penelope Lively, Bernard McLaverty, Frank Tuohy, Morley Callaghan explore life from a child's perspective, and show that the world can be a strange, baffling, and sometimes very frightening place.
Mr Ross lives on an island where no visitors come. He stops people from taking photographs of him. He is young and rich, but he looks sad. And there is one room in his house which is always locked. Carol Sanders and her mother come to the island to work for Mr Ross. Carol soon decides that there is something very strange about Mr Ross. Where did he get his money from? How can a young man buy an island? So she watches, and she listens - and one night she learns what is behind the locked door. --Page 4 of cover
A magazine-style reader with stories and articles exploring both the fun and the difficult aspects of Christmas. There are interesting articles about Christmas and its traditions, plus recipes and quizzes. There is a look at the serious meaning of Christmas, too. An entertaining guide to one of the most important festivals in the world.
"My name is Kinsey Millhone and I'm a private detective. I'm thirty- two years old, and I live and work in Santa Teresa, in southern California. The day before yesterday I killed someone. I had to do it, but knowing that doesn't make me happy. I'm a nice person. I have a lot of friends. Killing someone has made me feel bad. I've already given a signed statement about the death to the police. I've also written a report for the client that I was working for. But now I want to tell the whole story."--Cover.
Who is the stranger and why has he come to the island? Why does he look at Eagle's Rock and Vitalis' house? Costas wants to know the answers to these questions. And he wants to be the first to climb the dangerous Eagle's Rock. But will the stranger do it first? A dramatic adventure follows.
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a pirate's fortune.
"If 'Treasure Island' is the pirate story par excellence, then 'Kidnapped' is the romantic Scots adventure story of all time. Written in 1886, it is set in the turmoil and aftermath of the 1746 Jacobite Scots rebellion against the English at Culloden - events that established much of the national Scots character, which persists to this day. The story follows David Balfour, the canny eighteen year old, who is keen to seek his fortune. He sets out from the lowlands of Scotland to meet his mysterious relative, in search of work and 'whatere he may find'. His adventures begin at almost at once, and dark family secrets are soon only the starting point for an adventure that is a sort of Scottish Odyssey, with sea voyage, shipwreck, good friends and fights aplenty in the Hieland mountains and valleys.
"Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the famous Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The work is commonly known today as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, or simply Jekyll & Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named John Gabriel Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde."--Amazon.com viewed Feb. 6, 2024.
It is festival time in the City of Themon, and Hercules and Iolaus are to choose the festival queen. But will she die, like all festival queens before her? And is Hera the lover of Zeus behind it all? Before these and others questions can be answered, Hercules must figt the terrible Sea Serpent of Themom.
Nick Lortz is sitting outside a café in Whistler, a village in the Canadian mountains, when a stranger comes and sits next to him. She's young, pretty, and has a beautiful smile. Nick is happy to sit and talk with her. But why does she call Nick 'Mr. Hollywood'? Why does she give him a big kiss when she leaves? And who is the man at the next table - the man with the short white hair? Nick learns the answers to these questions three long days later - in a police station on Vancouver Island.
One of the most celebrated thrillers ever written, The Day of the Jackal is
the electrifying story of the struggle to catch a killer before it's too late.
to murder General de Galle.Known only as The Jackal this remorseless and
deadly killer must be stopped, but how do you track a man who exists in name
alone?
"On the Road" chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make "On the Road" an inspirational work of lasting importance. Kerouac s classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be Beat and has inspired every generation since its initial publication more than fifty years ago."
From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!"Matilda will surely go straight to children's hearts." —The New York Times Book Review Cover may vary.
Prince William is rich, handsome and the future King of England! But in many ways he is also an ordinary teenage boy. This is the story of his life and tells you all about his school, his friends, the sports, music and fashion he likes, as well as interesting facts about the Royal Family and his mother, Princess Diana. With seven pages of full colour photographs, this is a wonderful way to learn more about the British Royal Family and in particular this shy, eighteen-year- old Prince.
This Level 2, elementary Penguin Reader contains 500 words and tells the story of the Men in Black, who must save the world from the Bug. If they don't, there will be a war
Most of us love reading about crime in the newspapers, and reading stories about Sherlock Holmes and the other great detectives. This book looks at some of the great crimes of history - crimes like the Lindbergh kidnapping and the Mona Lisa robbery. It also looks at some great criminals, like the poisoner Dr Crippen. Most of these crimes were solved, but some, like the assassination of President Kennedy, still hold their mysteries.
What does the name " Agatha Christie " mean? To many people, it means a book about a murder mystery - a " whodunnit ". " I'm reading an Agatha Christie, " people say. " I'm not sure who the murderer is - I think it's . . . " But they are usually wrong, because it is not easy to guess the murderer's name before the end of the book. But who was Agatha Christie? What was she like? Was her life quiet and unexciting, or was it full of interest and adventure? Was there a mystery in her life, too? Cover images courtesy of The Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection/Angus McBean, Topham Picturepoint, Topham Picturepoint/Press Association, National Railway Museum/Science & Society Picture Library, and Stephen Oliver.