The Beetle
About this audiobook
The Beetle is a horror novel that was published in 1897 and significantly outsold Dracula, which appeared in the same year. A polymorphous Egyptian creature – the Beetle – seeks revenge on the eminent British politician Paul Lessingham for crimes committed against the disciples of an ancient cult. Although it is less well-known than Dracula to modern readers, The Beetle remains a leading example of the Gothic novel.
The story is told from the perspectives of four different characters, concluding with the account of the detective Augustus Champnell. The action takes place within a three-day period in an undisclosed year in the 1800s
About the author
Gunnar Cauthery trained at RADA. His recent theatre work includes All My Sons at the Old Vic, Ravens, Wild Honey and Wonderland at Hampstead Theatre, Mack and Mabel at Chichester, Little Shop of Horrors at the Royal Exchange Theatre and Privacy at the Donmar Warehouse. He has also appeared in This House and The White Guard at the National Theatre. His television work includes Doctor Who, The First Team, Mars, Genius, and The Demon Headmaster. Films include War Horse, The Nest and Benjamin Dove. Recent radio credits include Home Front and China Towns.
Jonathan Aris is a British film, television, theatre and voice actor. He has appeared in films including Zone 414, Vivarium, Get Duked, The Death of Stalin, Rogue One, The Martian, Sightseers, Bright Star and Topsy- Turvy. His TV work includes The North Water, Dracula, The End of the F***ing World, The War of the Worlds, Black Mirror, Good Omens, Tutankhamun, The Night Manager, Sherlock, Humans, Wolf Hall, The Game, Spooks, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, The Government Inspector, Planespotting, Not Only But Always and The Project. He has also narrated many TV documentaries and audiobooks.
Natalie Simpson is an Ian Charleson Award- winning actress. She trained at LAMDA then went straight into playing Juliet in Joe Hill-Gibbins’s Measure For Measure at the Young Vic. In 2016 she performed in the RSC productions of Hamlet, Cymbeline and King Lear, and in 2017 she received rave reviews for her performance in the lead role in The Cardinal at The Southwark Playhouse. Recent stage credits include Jack Absolute Flies Again and Three Sisters at The National Theatre, Boudica at Shakespeare’s Globe, Death of a Black Man at Hampstead Theatre, Hedda Tesman at Chichester/ The Lowry, and Honour at Park Theatre. She has performed in the films Tula: The Revolt and 23 Walks, as well as the TV series Outlander, Les Misérables, Mallorca Files and Midsomer Murders.
Andrew Wincott trained as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy, and has performed in many leading UK repertory theatres. He has played Rochester in Jane Eyre, Alec in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina, and the Actor in The Woman in Black. For over 25 years he has recorded radio drama and book readings for the BBC, where he has twice been a member of the Radio Drama Company. He has also created voices for countless video games and recorded hundreds of audiobooks, but he is perhaps best known as the voice of Adam Macy in The Archers and of Simon in the Sony Award-winning Clare in the Community for the BBC.
