Showing results by author "Malcolm Archibald" in All Categories

Kent, England, 1762. Bloody smuggling wars are raging on England's southern coast. It's a time of daring men and bold women, and deadly skirmishes between rival gangs and the law. John Smith, a man both hanged and drowned, returns to his home village, swearing vengeance on the landowner who killed his father. There is no quarter asked or expected when Smith begins to carve out his place among the Free Traders of Kent. What he doesn't know is that the Preventative Service has sent Ambrose Grant - their most effective man - to hunt him down.

Major Jack Windrush of the 113th Foot is given a mission to convince Batoor Khan to support the new Amir. However, when a rival to the Afghan throne, Ayub Khan, appears to threaten a British garrison, Jack joins the army sent to restore order. From that point, Jack’s time in Afghanistan descends into chaos. From major battles, savage skirmishes, family feuds, an enigmatic woman, and a mysterious Timuri, Jack finds that Afghanistan continues to be a dangerous place.

In this audiobook, Sergeant Watters finds himself overwhelmed with three simultaneous cases. With a case of poisoning, a series of child kidnappings, and somebody with a seeming dislike of clocks and watches, Watters and his team are stretched thin. Things become even more complicated when a circus comes to Dundee, and Watters has to help raid an illegal gambling den. Fortunately, Dr. Beaton is there to help. But who is the mysterious man who crosses his path in Dundee, and why would anyone wish to kidnap boys from impoverished backgrounds?

Caribbean, 1762. With the French in Canada defeated, the focus of Sergeant Hugh MacKim’s war shifts to the West Indies. Still with Kennedy’s Rangers, a French privateer captures his ship off the Bahamas, and the French captain murders the crew. From that point on, MacKim and the Rangers fight their way through the campaign, with battles on Martinico and Cuba only the backdrop to their personal war with Captain Rene Roberval of Douce Vengeance.

Sailing west across the Atlantic, Melcorka and Bradan encounter a strange woman entombed within an iceberg. On her is a headband decorated with the symbol of a falcon. Soon after, they meet a fleet of Norse ships and set sail with them towards the New World. Fighting their way through skraeling hordes and facing the mysterious Ice Giant, they find the ancient pyramid city of Cahokia. But what is the secret of the strange falcon artifact?

In the ninth book in the Jack Windrush series of military novels, Jack and the 113th Foot join the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1878, trying to counter an alleged Russian threat. Training the young battalion for the trials he know will come, Jack's unit is assigned to Afghanistan, to a war created by Russian interference and British politicians. Between bloody battles, treacherous spies, and friends who may be on either side, Jack must guide his men through a morass of dangers. But can he succeed and return home safely, or will he never see his wife Mary again?

When Sergeant George Watters is assigned to a scuttling case, he thinks he can solve it in a few days. Instead, he discovers a connection to a string of burglaries of high-value shops and hotels across Dundee. Things take a turn for the worse when one of Watters' informants tells him that someone from the police force is involved in the burglaries. Soon, George realizes that the mystery runs deeper than he expected.

Canada, 1759. After the capture of Quebec in the Seven Years War, Corporal Hugh MacKim and other 78th Highlanders attempt to desert the British army. But when Hugh's group is caught in an ambush, his loved one, Tayanita, is mortally wounded by a tall, tattooed Canadian. MacKim swears vengeance. Suffering from nightmares, he returns to the army, transfers to the Rangers and decides to fight in a series of skirmishes through the winter.

Dundee, 1860s. Sergeant George Watters and his team investigate the murder of a local banker, found dead on the 13th tee of a local golf course. Illicit prizefighters, merchants, and prostitutes all seem to be somehow connected to the murder, and even the toughest of Dundee are refusing to talk.

From hunting pickpockets in London omnibuses and ghosts in Hesse Square, Sergeant Watters and Detective Silver are led into the notorious Wild Geese public house, and a tangled mystery that involves the murder of a guardsman and the vivacious wife of an Austrian diplomat. With the help of the Irish woman Rowena, Watters trawls through the back streets of London, encounters female prize-fighters and suave cracksmen, and finds himself in the savage world of espionage. But can he unravel the mysterious words: "There is a storm from the east and the west"?

Shipwrecked on the African coast, Major Jack Windrush and his wife Mary find themselves embroiled in a war, as the Ashantis attack the British colony of the Gold Coast. While Jack leads a company of the West India Regiment, Mary tries to help the refugees in Cape Coast Castle. Soon, they both find themselves deeply involved in the war, and will need to make sacrifices they could have never anticipated.

After the campaign against the Norse, Melcorka the Swordswoman is unsettled. She wishes revenge on Egil the Norseman, yet knows that Defender - her magic sword - cannot kill without cause. After a visit to the seer Fitheach, Melcorka receives a dire warning. They head toward the Western Isles in search of knowledge, facing many dangers on their path. With the help of pirate leader Osprey and Hector, leader of the Ulvust, they forge on toward the Standing Stones of Callanish to face the most fearsome foe of all: The Shining One.

After surviving the Battle of Culloden in 1746, young Hughie MacKim swears a blood oath to avenge the murder of his brother. Trained as an infantryman in Fraser's Highlanders, Hugh joins the Army himself and follows the trail across the horror of war in North America, through to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759. But how can he trace the men in the anonymous ranks of the British Army?

It is the year 1915, and the British and Ottoman Empires clash in a deadly struggle in the Middle East. Tasked with keeping the Ottomans out of Suez Canal, Major Andrew Selkirk discovers that his real assignment is to retrieve a Bengali spy working for those who vow to see British rule out of India. After landing on the west coast of Palestine, Selkirk discovers the Ottomans have taken the spy captive. Even more troubling are the plans by Ottomans and Germans to draw Afghanistan and Persia into the war against Great Britain.

After her adventures around the world, Melcorka the Swordswoman has returned to her homeland of Alba. Facing war on two fronts, the High King of Alba orders Melcorka to hunt down and defeat the Butcher - a savage who wields Loki's sword. Fighting through a variety of increasingly dangerous enemies, she and Bradan make their way towards their formidable, final foe. But is there something more to the Butcher than meets the eye - and what is the secret of Loki's sword?

Scotland, 1388. After Fergus Scott of Eildon travels north to investigate reports of a malevolent presence, he encounters the ferocious Alistair Mor. Drawn into battle against enchantment and death, Fergus is aided by the lovely but quick-tempered Seonaid. Meanwhile, Donald of the Isles and his army march to confront Alistair, and trouble is brewing as the witches of Scotland gather to recreate the Book of Black Earth.

Murders, riots, strikes, and runaway horses. Midlothian in the 18th and 19th centuries was an interesting place to live. This book introduces the listener to the hard lives of the colliers, the birth of the rural police force, and the impact the army had on life in the county south of Scotland’s capital city. Highwaymen and grave robbers, footpads and murderers, illicit distillers and murderous poachers - all lived or worked in Midlothian at a time when Scotland was changing from a rural to an industrial nation.

Years after leaving the 113th Foot, Jack Windrush is sent to the Northwest Frontier of India to investigate reports of gun-running among the Pashtun tribes. When he discovers that the reports are not only true, but run deeper than initially believed, he is assigned to stop the rogue group and prevent an uprising. Soon, old friends turn into mortal enemies and loyalty becomes a scarce commodity. As the Islamic revolt against the British rises across the Frontier, can Jack and his unit stop the rebel uprising?

Scotland has always given generously of her people to the world. This book tells the story of some of the many hundreds of thousands of Scots who have contributed to the fabric of modern world. In here are explorers and entrepreneurs, settlers and soldiers, politicians and missionaries, traders and police officers. They are a diverse lot with only two things in common: they made their home in a foreign land, and they hailed from Scotland. The world is all the richer for the part they played.

In the seventh book in the Windrush series, Jack is sent to infiltrate the Fenian Brotherhood, who are threatening to cause mutiny in the British Army. The journey will take him from deepest England to Ireland and across the Atlantic to the United States and Canada. Jack discovers that another nation is using the Fenian cause for its own ends, and gets involved in battles and intrigue. But what's most worrying of all is the involvement of Helen, Jack's old flame. What is she doing with the Fenians?