Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisCeleste Price is an eighth-grade English teacher in suburban Tampa. She is attractive. She drives a red Corvette. Her husband, Ford, is rich, square-jawed and devoted to her. But Celeste has a secret. She has a singular sexual obsession - fourteen-year-old boys. It is a craving she pursues with sociopathic meticulousness and forethought.Within weeks of her first term at a new school, Celeste has lured the charmingly modest Jack Patrick into her web - car rides after dark, rendezvous at Jack''s house while his single father works the late shift, and body-slamming encounters in Celeste''s empty classroom between periods. It is bliss.Celeste must constantly confront the forces threatening their affair - the perpetual risk of exposure, Jack''s father''s own attraction to her, and the ticking clock as Jack leaves innocent boyhood behind. But the insatiable Celeste is remorseless. She deceives everyone, is close to no one and cares little for anything but her pleasure.

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Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestseller by the author of modern classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being.''Like all great writers, Kundera leaves indelible marks on his readers' imaginations.'' Salman Rushdie From a playful gesture between an old woman in a swimming pool and a youthful lifeguard springs the heroine of a novel: Agnès. In the course of her daily life - Saturday chores, saunas, lunch in the hectic Paris streets - memories arise of her dead father, an unexpected widower. Their conversations flood back, and Agnès realises that her secret inheritance was his way of granting her freedom. As she mentally revisits her childhood, from formative loves to her intense relationship with her sister, her past casts light on her present: her marriage, daughter, and eventual death.Exploring identity and existence, eroticism and modernity - with cameos from Goethe, Dali, Hemingway, and beyond - Immortality

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Book SynopsisFrom her home on the California coast, Dalva hears the broad silence of the Nebraska prairie where she was born and longs for the son she gave up for adoption years before. Beautiful, fearless, tormented, at forty-five she has lived a life of lovers and adventures. Now, Dalva begins a journey that will take her back to the bosom of her family, to the half-Sioux lover of her youth and to a pioneering great-grandfather whose journals recount the bloody annihilation of the Plains Indians. On the way, she discovers a story that stretches from East to West, from the Civil War to Wounded Knee and Vietnam, and finds the balm to heal her wild and wounded soul.One of Harrison's most ambitious novels, Dalva explores an extraordinary family through the strong, engaging voice of an unforgettable woman, confirming Harrison as one of America's most memorable writers.Trade ReviewMonumental . . .There is no putting aside Dalva until the time bombs go off, the identities are revealed, and the skeletons almost literally tumble from the closets. . . . A book to read with trust and exuberance. -- Louise Erdrich * Chicago Tribune *Harrison's storytelling instincts are nearly flawless . . . The people in Dalva reemerge as full-blooded individuals who almost incidentally embody much of the innocence, carelessness, and urgency that played so large a part in the settling of this country. * New York Times Book Review *Moving, interesting, satisfying . . . Dalva is Harrison's most ambitious novel to date. * Washington Post *If the reader is in any doubt at all during the opening pages of Jim Harrison's 1988 novel Dalva as to whether they're in the hands of a master craftsman, then it is likely that these doubts will be put to bed not far into its opening chapter. . . . His subjects . . . are as violent and raw and strongly regional as those in any work of rural American fiction, but no less intellectually complex. -- Tom Cox * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''Her territory isn''t young or old; it''s the heart-and brain-matter of people, their desires and worries and fantasies and intricate interactions. All of this is set capably against a particular landscape, and the result tends to be vivid and real. Beautiful, like Willa Cather'' Meg Wolitzer, New York TimesThe barren, beautiful Cumbrian fells provide the bewitching setting for the adventures of Bill and Harry, two children who find wonder at every turn as they experience the Hollow Land. Everyday challenges give a daring edge to this rural work and play. There are mysteries to explore and uncover , like the case of the Egg Witch, and everyone is curious about the Household Name, a visitor from London, moving into the jewel of the territory, Light Farm.Gardam is at her best with this novel, which won the Whitbread award in 1981.Trade ReviewJane Gardam has a spectacular gift for detail of the local and period kind, and for details which made characters so subtly unpredictable that they ring true * Times Literary Supplement *Gardam's prose is so economical that no moment she describes is either gratuitous or wasted * New Yorker *

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Book Synopsis‘I loved this book . . . I laughed and cried and couldn't put it down’ Reader review ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ ‘Sarah Morgan never disappoints! It's so easy to relate to her characters and the amount of "sizzle" in her work is just right! A perfect read’ Reader review❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ ‘This is yet another wonderful romance told with many laughs along the way’ Reader review ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ ‘Lovely curl up by the fire feel good read!’ Reader review❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ ‘I could not put this book down and was hooked from start to finish . . . full of suspense and intrigue as both Skylar and Alec come to terms with the changing nature of their relationship. Highly recommended’ Reader review ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ * * * The most wonderful time of the year? Jewellery designer Skylar isn’t so sure. Especially if she has to spend it with cynical, aloof Alec. So what if he’s a famous historian? He’s also determined to think the worst of her and when a twist of fate means they’re stuck together, she’s expecting disaster! But as they flee snowy London on a winter adventure that takes them from his family’s festive Cotswold chaos to her native Puffin Island, she realises that she may have misjudged him. As glittering Christmas nights draw in, the sparks between Alec and Skylar glow ever brighter. Could they find their own Christmas Ever After? Fall in love with the Puffin Island series from the number one Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah Morgan. Perfect if you love: ❤️Small town romance ❤️Enemies to lovers ❤️Forced proximity * * * Praise for Sarah Morgan 'A gorgeously sparkly romance about letting go and learning to love again. The perfect Christmas read!' Julia Williams, bestselling author of Coming Home for Christmas 'The perfect book to curl up with' Heat ‘Sarah Morgan puts the magic in Christmas’ Now magazine 'Full of romance and sparkle' LovereadingTrade Review'A gorgeously sparkly romance about letting go and learning to love again. The perfect Christmas read!' – Julia Williams, bestselling author of Coming Home for Christmas '…full of flirty, sparkling fun' – Prima on First Time in Forever' ‘The perfect book to curl up with' -Heat on Maybe This Christmas.

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Book SynopsisA crew is staying at Richard's B&B while filming at a nearby chateau. But when a beloved actor suddenly dies, Richard and Valerie go undercover to discover whether his death was really an accident.

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Book SynopsisOne flirty Hollywood actress. One grumpy Scottish islander. One magnetic connection.''Gorgeous and heartfelt. The perfect blend of sweet and super spicy. I loved it!'' Cressida McLaughlinWhen her acting career hits rock bottom, Hollywood star April Sinclair returns to her Scottish hometown on the Isle of Skye to lick her wounds. In desperate need of distraction, she sets her sights on restoring her family whisky distillery to its former glory. But she wasn't expecting short-tempered and totally irresistible Malcolm Macabe to be the one in charge.Master distiller Mal has three loves in his life: whisky, his dog, and silence. He has no time for the pampered princess poking her nose around, even if said princess is the one who got away. Mal is content to wait her out. She'll grow bored and run back to her glamorous world eventually.But their shared desire to save the distillery will mean working a lot closer than either of them might wish With a stunning rural Scottish setting, a healthy

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Book Synopsis*Special collector's edition with designed foil board and endpapers, limited to the first print run*The whole world disappears when you enterTHE SILENCE FACTORY''Extraordinary writing silk, secrets and silence woven into a gleaming Gothic web. What a treat''ANNA MAZZOLA''Epic in scope and rich at sentence level, this is storytelling at its most immersive'' ERIN KELLYHenry dreams of silence.A world without the clattering of carriages through cobbled streets, the distant cries of drunken brawls, the relentless ticking of the clock.Then he meets a fascinating, mysterious gentleman who sells just that. Precious silk that can drown out the clamour of the world and everything Henry is so desperate to escape.Summoned to Sir Edward's secluded factory to try to cure his young daughter's deafness, Henry is soon drawn deeper and deeper into the origins of this otherworldly gift: a gift that has travelled from ancient Mediterranean glades to English libraries.Ignoring repeated warnings from the g

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD "Deftly traversing time, culture and continent to weave a tale of both home and unbelonging, this is truly a novel not to be missed." - Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil and The Hate Race"Chandran is an excellent storyteller." - The Weekend AustralianWelcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure. Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights – a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule. But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents’ existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided. Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is about family and memory, community and race, but is ultimately a love letter to storytelling and how our stories shape who we are. Trade Review‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is a lyrical, stirring, accomplished exploration of the trauma we carry, the secrets we keep, the histories we harbour, and the family we find. Chandran's characters are so vividly drawn you can sense them sitting across the table long after you've closed the covers. Deftly traversing time, culture and continent to weave a tale of both home and unbelonging, this is truly a novel not to be missed.’ -- Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil and The Hate Race‘This is an engaging story that feels both urgent and necessary. It is also a terrific read.’ * The Daily Telegraph *‘a powerful, compassionate novel about friendship, family, community-building, and the racism faced by members of diasporic communities in this country.’ * The Au Review *‘this story burns with anger and sings with optimism, sprinkled through with moments of levity and humour.’ * The Canberra Times *An engrossing, urgent, warm, wise and utterly, utterly beautiful novel. * Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident and Love Objects *‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens filled this reviewer’s heart with both hope and rage at witnessing history repeat itself, while somehow preserving optimism about how communities can be rebuilt.’ * Books + Publishing *‘Chandran is an excellent storyteller.’ * The Weekend Australian *‘Chandran’s novel has serious heft, spanning several timelines and tackling complex topics like race, trauma and the structural inequality engendered in so-called multicultural Australia.’ * The Guardian *‘Wise and dignified.’ * The Australian Women's Weekly *

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Book Synopsis*Discover the magic of The Twilight Garden, the brand new novel from Sara Nisha Adams available to buy now**A finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction, discover this year's most uplifting and heart-warming debut*Absolutely gorgeous' RUTH WAREA joyful, uplifting read!' GOOD HOUSEKEEPINGA captivating debut' HEIDI SWAIN________________________________________________________________A faded list.Nine favourite stories.For two strangers, friendship is only a page away . . .When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life's about to change.He meets Aleisha, a reluctant librarian and the keeper of a curious reading list just a scrappy piece of paper with the names of 9 stories. It doesn't seem anything special. Yet something tells her to keep it close . . .Story by story, Mukesh and Aleisha work their way through the list their worries slipping away with every encounter, with every world discovered in their unlikely book club of two.A fresh chance at life, at friendship, wasn't on the cards for these lonely souls but every story starts somewhere . . .Everyone's getting swept away with The Reading List:Oh this book what a glorious, emotional, powerful and uplifting read' Netgalley reviewerA lovely story about the power of books and libraries' Libby PageA gorgeous debut novel about the power reading has to bring people together' RedIf you love books, read this. If you love crying with sadness, crying with happiness, and feeling like you have been wrapped in the blanket of someone else''s life, read this' Debbie JohnsonJoyous, uplifting and reminds us what it feels like to find a book we connect with' Netgalley reviewerIt's a perfect escape for anyone who wants to be reminded of the power of stories' Stephanie ButlandA beautiful book about the joys of reading and connecting with people' Netgalley reviewerA stunning debut that broke my heart and put it back together again' Radiya HafizaTrade Review‘A love letter to books, reading and the power of connection – absolutely gorgeous’ Ruth Ware 'A gorgeous, life-affirming novel full of moments of tenderness that will fill readers' hearts with joy. Sara writes so beautifully about family love, loneliness and loss' Huma Qureshi ‘The story is an absolute joy. I loved the way Aleisha and Mukesh found their lives entwined thanks to the power of books . . . A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut’ Sunday Times bestseller, Heidi Swain ‘A real heart-lifter . . . . A joyful, uplifting read’ Good Housekeeping ‘A gorgeous debut novel about the power reading has to bring people together, no matter the barriers of age, culture and class’ Red ‘This is an uplifting and life-affirming novel […] it oozes charm’ Platinum ‘Wonderful…It’s a perfect escape for anyone who wants to be reminded (if we need to be reminded) of the power of stories’ Stephanie Butland ‘A beautiful and very special read, which reminded me why I love books so much and it made me miss the library even more’ Emily Koch ‘If you love books, read this. If you love people, read this. If you love crying with sadness, crying with happiness, and feeling like you have been wrapped in the blanket of someone else's life, read this’ Debbie Johnson ‘The Reading List absolutely captures the magic of reading and of libraries’ Louise Hare ‘This story utterly stole my heart, it’s a love letter to book lovers everywhere and I for one have become entirely smitten by Sara’s words’ Emma Cooper ‘A spellbinding novel about friendship, loss, community and the power of reading. A stunning debut that broke my heart and put it back together again’ Radiya Hafiza ‘Compassion, humour and intelligence shine through on every page of this wonderful novel . . . Sara Adams finds hope in abundance, and in the most wonderful, unexpected of places’ Rosie Price

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Book SynopsisAn unprecedented glimpse into the formation of the legendary talent of Leonard Cohen.Before the celebrated late-career world tours, before the Grammy awards, before the chart-topping albums, before 'Hallelujah' and 'So Long, Marianne' and 'Famous Blue Raincoat', the young Leonard Cohen wrote poetry and fiction and yearned for literary stardom. In A Ballet of Lepers, readers will discover that the magic that animated Cohen's unforgettable body of work was present from the very beginning.Written between 1956 in Montreal, just as Cohen was publishing his first poetry collection, and 1961, when he'd settled on Greece's Hydra island, the pieces in this collection offer startling insight into Cohen's imagination and creative process, and explore themes that would permeate his later work, from shame and unworthiness to sexual desire to longing, whether for love, family, freedom or transcendence.The titular novel, A Ballet of Lepers - one he later remarked was 'probably a better novel' than his celebrated book The Favourite Game - is a haunting examination of these elements, while the fifteen stories, as well as the playscript, probe the inner demons of his characters, many of whom could function as stand-ins for the author himself.Meditative, surprising, playful and provocative, A Ballet of Lepers is vivid in its detail, unsparing in its gaze, and reveals the great artist and visceral genius like never before.Trade ReviewThe writing captures all the gorgeous poeticism that we have come to love about his music, as well as a youthful naivete and a playfulness, a rawness that I wouldn't have predicted. There's something so fun in seeing where this all began -- OTTESSA MOSHFEGH * * CNN, Best Books of 2022 * *A fascinating collection of Leonard Cohen's early fiction foreshadows motifs and concerns that the performer later mined across decades * * Observer * *Cohen's lyrical flair and talent with words is apparent throughout * * Independent * *A posthumous treat from the late Leonard Cohen . . . A cut above what most rock stars could dream of writing * * Telegraph * *A curious and compulsive examination of the boundaries of honesty and cruelty . . . Poetically astute and quite psychologically unhinged * * Guardian * *The writing deals with themes that would come to feature prominently in his magnificent canon: alienation and sexual desire, cruelty, loneliness, the search for love. Dark and unsettling * * Daily Mail * *Veering between the grim and the grandiose, the melancholy and the melodramatic, these early fictions from charismatic Leonard Cohen . . . deal in ecstasy and existential agony with worldweary narrators yearning for an indefinable something * * Daily Mail Scotland * *Praise for The Flame: The last word in love and despair . . . Full of youthful spark, beauty and romance . . . Elegantly and posthumously published . . . Leonard Cohen does not use language to pose, startle or reinvent. Words are his old comrades, and see him through to the end * * Observer, Poetry book of the month * *[A] fiercely brilliant posthumous collection . . . provides fascinating insight into Cohen's unique talent . . . The entire collection is an intricate exploration of the happenings of the human heart -- Anita Sethi * * iNews * *Cohen was a poet before he was a musician, and with this posthumous collection his career completes its circle. Encompassing poems and lyrics written in his last decade, as well as self-portraits and notebook extracts, the book is introduced by his son Adam Cohen * * Financial Times, Best Poetry Books of 2018 * *

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Book SynopsisNeal Asher takes us on a thrilling ride into interstellar politics and impending war, in this second volume of Rise of the Jain.Their nemesis lies in wait . . . Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination.Earth Central, humanity’s ruling intelligence, knows Orlandine was tricked into releasing her weapon, and fears the Jain are behind it. The prador king knows this too – and both foes gather fleets of warships to surround the disc.The alien Client is returning to the accretion disc to save the last of her kind, buried on a ship deep within it. She upgrades her vast weapons platform in preparation, and she’ll need it. Her nemesis also waits within the disc’s swirling dusts – and the Jain have committed genocide before.The Warship is set in Neal Asher's popular Polity universe.'Neal Asher's books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain' – John Scalzi, author of Old Man's War and The Collapsing Empire.

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Book SynopsisA lorry crashes on one of the treacherous bends in the Italian Dolomites, spilling a terrible cargo . . . A prominent international layer is found dead in the carriage of an intercity train at Saint Lucia . . . Can the two tragedies possibly be connected? Commissario Guido Brunetti digs deep into the secret lives of the once great and good for the answer. For in a seedy Venetian bar lies the clue to an evil crime network reaching far beyond the laguna. But it will take another violent death in Venice before the forces of justice can even begin to proceed . . .

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Book SynopsisWOW! WOW! WOW! What a read!' NetGalley reviewerThe blockbuster of the summer!' NetGalley reviewerTHAT twist. I did not see it coming!' NetGalley reviewerYou're looking over your shoulder, thinking someone's watching.You're checking the doors are locked, spooked by a noise.You're running through the woods, convinced you're being followed.You're being stalked. And they won't stop until you're theirs.If you enjoy reading twisty psychological thrillers that leave your heart racing, then you'll loveThe Stalker from USA Today bestselling author, Sarah Alderson. Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Harlan Coben.Readers love The Stalker:Wow!! What an ending! Suspense, intrigue, and lots of twists and turns! Then BAM! I did not see that ending coming at all!! Wow, what a crazy good book!' NetGalley reviewer, ?????What a book. Couldn't put it down, had me reading in into the night.' NetGalley reviewer, ?????Had me on the edge of my seat I did not expect the twists and turns throughout this boTrade Review PRAISE FOR SARAH ALDERSON: This is an exhilarating ride where nothing is what it seems… Good luck getting anything else done until you've turned the final page. (Heat) Fast-moving and beautifully told, it is hard to put down. (Daily Mail) Cleverly plotted, well written book kept me engaged to the last page. (Rachel Abbott, author of Come A Little Closer) Captivating writing with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you on your toes… Absolutely loved it! (SJI Holliday, author of The Lingering) A brilliant psychological read. (Woman)

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Book SynopsisA remote Highland castle. A dark and stormy night. A murder most haunting.It's Halloween, and when an elderly billionaire is discovered dead in the locked study of his stately Highland home, DCI Jack Logan and his team must race the worsening weather to get to the scene of the crime.There, among the victim''s extended family and staff, Jack finds no shortage of suspects. Everyone, it seems, had reason to want the old man dead, and they all have something to hide.Cut off from back-up by the worst storm in decades, and with the cast and crew of a TV ghost hunting show seriously cramping his style, Jack's only chance of solving his latest case is by going back to basics.But the castle's residents won't give him a minute to think.Not even the dead onesTartan Noir meets Agatha Christie in A Dead Man Walking, the 18th book in the number-one-bestselling DCI Logan Scottish crime fiction series from author, JD Kirk.

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Book Synopsis* A Financial Times and Evening Standard Book of the Year ** LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2020 *'Masterly .

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Book SynopsisBased on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world.The matriarchal, cultured land of Arbonne is rent by a feud between its two most powerful dukes, the noble troubador Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval, over long-dead Aelis, lover of one, wife of the other and once heir to the country''s throne.To the north lies militaristic Gorhaut, whose inhabitants worship the militant god Corannos and are ruled by corrupt, womanizing King Ademar. His chief advisor, the high priest of Corannos, is determined to irradicate the worship of a female deity, whose followers live to the south.Into this cauldron of brewing disaster comes the mysterious Gorhaut mercenary Blaise, who takes service with Bertran and averts an attempt on his life. The revelation of Blaise''s lineage and a claim for sanctuary by his sister-in-law sets the stage for a brutal clash between the two cultuTrade ReviewPraise for A SONG FOR ARBONNE: ‘For anyone who appreciates that rarest of literary treasures: the ideal novel’ Charles de Lint ‘This panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world of love and music, magic and death’ Publishers Weekly ‘A richly ornamented and tightly woven tapestry… War, love, assassination, deception, kindness, heroism, loyalty, friendship, and magic mix…in startling, unexpected, and satisfying ways’ Locus ‘An exhilarating epic…a powerful tale of great events in a richly drawn magical kingdom’ Kirkus Reviews 'Flair, glamour and unstudied romance' Sunday Express Praise for Guy Gavriel Kay: ‘A fine, intelligent series. Probably the best of its kind’ British Fantasy Society

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Book SynopsisNO ONE IS EVER INNOCENT IN PARADISE.**THE TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH**A small town. A closely guarded secret, stretching back decades. And blood in the water.''A masterful, stunning thriller. A twisting mystery epic in scale yet intricate in detail. Irresistible.'' Chris Whitaker''Epic. Shakespearean in depth and range'' The Times''Fierce, gripping and spine-chilling.'' Daily MailA body has washed up in an irrigation canal, the artery running through Yuwonderie, a man-made paradise on the border of the Outback. Stabbed through the heart, electrocuted and dumped under cover of night, there is no doubt that detectives Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan are dealing with a vicious homicide. The victim is Athol Hasluck, member of one of the seven dynasties who have controlled every slice of bountiful land in this modern-day Eden for generations.

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Book SynopsisRichard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory and his most recent novel, Bewilderment, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lives in the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Book SynopsisTHE 12 MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ENZO FILES AND THE CHINA THRILLERSAWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2021'One of the best regarded crime series of recent years.' Independent'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.' New York Journal of BooksPETER MAY: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT MURDER TO THE OUTER HEBRIDESA brutal killing takes place on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland: a land of harsh beauty and inhabitants of deep-rooted faith.A MURDERDetective Inspector Fin Macleod is sent from Edinburgh to investigate. For Lewis-born Macleod, the case represents a journey both home and into his past.A SECRETSomething lurks within the close-knit island community. Something sinister.A TRAPAs Fin investigates, old skeletons begin to surface, and soon he, the hunter, becomes the hunted.LOVED THE BLACKHOUSE? Read book 2 in the Lewis trilogy, THE LEWIS MANLOVE PETER MAY? Buy his latest frontlist thriller, THE NIGHT GATETrade ReviewA rip-roaring thriller . . . thoroughly enjoyable * Mail on Sunday *A wonderfully complex bookThe Lewis Man shone like a bright star out of this year's book lists. Lyrical, empathetic and movingHe is a terrific writer doing something different * Mark Billingham *From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writerWonderfully compellingWestern France - now May's own stamping ground - is as much a character in the book as the Hebrides were in his formidable Isle of Lewis sequence * Guardian *Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth * New York Times *Instantly struck by the beauty of the descriptions of the wild island terrain as well as by the roundedness and complexity of the characterisations * The Times *May's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships * Sunday Times *Will have the reader relishing every tendency of description and characterization * Independent *Dark, exciting and atmospheric * Scotland on Sunday *Powerful and authentic * Glasgow Sunday Herald *Fast, exciting ... an entertaining read that will also give food for thought * Irish Times *A tense and atmospheric thriller with a heart-stopping ending * Tangled Web *Truly the best of May's series so far, this is not to be missed * The Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisTwo lonely bookworms. An unexpected friendship. A library that needs their help 'A touching story of a friendship between a troubled teenager, a yoga-practising farming woman in her seventies and a local library. A delight!' – Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Fforde Teenager Tom has always blended into the background of life. After a row with his dad and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library. Pensioner Maggie has been happily alone with her beloved novels for ten years – at least, that's what she tells herself. When they meet, they recognise something in each other that will change both their lives for ever. Then the library comes under threat of closure, and they must join forces to prove that it's not just about books – it's the heart of their community. They are determined to save it – because some things are worth fighting for. EVEN MORE PRAISE FOR THE LIBRARY! 'Such a heart-warming and thought-provoking novel! A touching tale of true friendship, overcoming adversity and the genuine joy books can bring to our lives' – Jill Mansell 'A touching tale that will warm your heart and put a smile on your face' – Hazel Prior 'A story that was deeply moving, and ultimately uplifting... Definitely recommended – it was one of my best reads this year' – Janet Gover 'Heart-rending and inspiring in equal measures. A wonderful story. I adored it!' – Celia Anderson 'Beautifully and sensitively written, the characterisation is superb!' – Sue Moorcroft 'Absolutely LOVED IT! It's Bella's best book yet! A glorious heartfelt novel' – Christie Barlow 'The Library is a beautifully uplifting story full of wit, warmth and tender moments, with community at its heart and characters you truly care about' – Cressida McLaughlin 'I absolutely loved this book. Heart-warming with genuine characters, the plot pulled me in and I was rooting for the library every step of the way. A great tonic for the times and highly recommended!' – Talli Roland 'A truly special book, brimming with charm, heartwrenching moments and inspiring characters. The Library is one of those feel-good books that is sure to delight readers' – Carmel Harrington, author of The Moon Over Kilmore QuayTrade ReviewTender and heartwarming * Fabulous Magazine *A touching story of a friendship between a troubled teenager, a yoga-practising farming woman in her seventies and a local library. A delight -- Sunday Times bestselling author Katie FfordeSuch a heart-warming and thought-provoking novel! The Library is a touching tale of true friendship, overcoming adversity... and the genuine joy books can bring to our lives -- Jill MansellThe Library is heart-rending and inspiring in equal measures. A wonderful story of the triumphs of community over bureaucracy. I adored it! -- Celia AndersonI absolutely loved this book. Heart-warming with genuine characters, the plot pulled me in and I was rooting for the library every step of the way. A great tonic for the times and highly recommended! -- Talli RolandBeautifully and sensitively written, the characterisation is superb -- Sue MoorcroftA story that was deeply moving, and ultimately uplifting... Definitely recommended – it was one of my best reads this year' -- Janet GoverAbsolutely LOVED IT! It's Bella's best book yet! A glorious heartfelt novel -- Christie BarlowThe Library is a beautifully uplifting story full of wit, warmth and tender moments, with community at its heart and characters you truly care about -- Cressida McLaughlinTender and heart-warming * The Sun *It's hard to convey what a charming, affecting, uplifting and entertaining read it is * My Weekly *A wonderful, endearing story... A really enjoyable read * Beauty and Lace *A wonderful story of two people whose lives have not been easy. The book is written with a lovely touch of humour and so easy to read * Beauty and Lace *

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of FOE, now a major motion picture starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal Penny, an artist, has lived in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She is resigned to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made, unbeknownst to her, for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many “incidents.” Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny – with a growing sense of unrest and distrust – starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging, or is she an unknowing parTrade Review'Iain Reid’s We Spread is a taut and frightening read, perhaps best called a thriller. But the true thrill is in how so slender a book tackles such big questions—What does it mean to make art? What happens as we near death?—with such grace' Rumaan Alam 'In We Spread Iain Reid masterfully gets into the psyche of his characters and readers all at once. What a gift' Alma Har'el 'I loved this book and couldn't put it down--a deeply gripping, surreal and wonderfully mysterious novel. Not only has Reid given us a brilliant page turner, but a profoundly moving meditation on life and art, death and infinity. Reid is a master' Mona Awad 'With this latest hypnotic transmission, Reid delves into the strange substructures of psychology, where individual minds blur and a more undifferentiated kind of life teems. With tenderness and mastery, he offers us great insights on the nature of aging and the vertiginous experience of being human' Alexandra Kleeman 'As with all the finest weird fiction, We Spread is infinitely more than just a horror story. Its deceptively simple, deadpan delivery – like the ostensibly similar pieces of Hilbert’s Pando Puzzle – is a screen behind which a multiplicity of interpretations and possibilities, both horrific and mundane, lie cunningly concealed' Guardian 'Reid combines magnetic character development with clipped, eerie prose in this masterfully crafted psychological thriller that will keep the reader guessing until the very last word on the final page' Booklist '[An] exquisite novel of psychological suspense . . . [Leaves] readers contemplating their own mortality and primed to see the sinister behind the mundane . . . This deep plunge into fears about growing old and losing control is unforgettable' Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis'A romantic book-filled treat' Heidi Swain, author of The Secret Seaside EscapeThe Borrow-a-Bookshop Bookshop Café invites literature lovers to run their very own bookshop … for a fortnight.Spend your days talking books with customers in your own charming bookshop and serving up delicious cream teas in the cosy café.Bookworms, what are you waiting for? Your holiday is going to be LIT(erary).Apply to: The Borrow-a-Bookshop Bookshop Café, Down-a-long, Clove Lore, Devon.Jude Crawley should be on top of the world. She’s just graduated as a mature student, so can finally go public about her relationship with Philosophy professor, Mack.Until she sees Mack kissing another girl, and her dreams crumble. And worse, their dream holiday – running a tiny bookshop in the harbour village of Clove Lore for two weeks – is non-refundable.Throwing caution to the winds, Jude heads down to Devon, eager to immerse herself in literature and heal her broken heart.But there’s one problem – six foot tall, brooding (but gorgeous) Elliot, who’s also reserved the bookshop holiday for two weeks…As Jude and Elliot put their differences aside to run the bookshop, it seems that Jude might be falling in love with more than just words. Until she discovers what Elliot is running from – and why he’s hiding out in Clove Lore.Can Jude find her own happy ending in a tiny, tumbledown bookshop? Or is she about to find out that her bookish holiday might have an unexpected twist in the tale…The perfect cosy, romantic read for any bookworm! Fans of Jenny Colgan, Cressida McLaughlin and Philippa Ashley will love this feelgood romcom.Readers are loving their stay at The Borrow-A-Bookshop!‘Every bookworm should read this book. It’s just delightful and my heart feels so happy!’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘Pure escapism…I highly recommend this book to totally get lost in’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘I really loved this story and was thoroughly charmed…the characters were interesting and fabulous’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘Emotional, fun, charming and delightful… I absolutely loved this book’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘Such a heartwarming and humorous read…I thoroughly recommend this book if you need a pick me up!’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘An enchanting and endearing story… Perfect romantic read!’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘I absolutely loved this book…This was the perfect escapism’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘This book is total holiday goals! ...A heartwarming, cosy, feel good romcom.’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Reader Review‘The perfect summer read that leaves you wanting to feel the sand beneath your toes’ Reader Review‘I loved this fun, uplifting feelgood book. It really made me smile’ Reader Review

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Book SynopsisPre-order THE STALKER, a new standalone cat-and-mouse thriller from Kate Rhodes, coming Autumn 2024!THE ISLES OF SCILLY MYSTERIES #7 ‘An absolute master of pace, plotting and character’ ELLY GRIFFITHSON A REMOTE ISLAND When Jez Cardew’s boat is found drifting empty on the Atlantic Ocean, DI Ben Kitto and his fellow lifeboat crew members immediately fear the worst. After an extensive search yields no results, the team are forced to retreat to dry land as darkness sets in.  THE OCEAN IS MERCILESS But Kitto can’t let it go. Why would Jez – an experienced sailor – get into difficulty when the sea has been calm for weeks? Unless his disappearance was no accident.  BUT SO ARE THE PEOPLE . . . The gruesome discovery of a hand washed ashore on the beach confirms his hunch. Because a medal is attached to th

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Book SynopsisA PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST'Sweeping and quietly devastating' New York Times'A David and Goliath story for our times' O, the Oprah MagazineSet in the fictional African village of Kosawa, this is the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations are made - and broken. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. But it will come at a steep price - one which generation after generation will have to pay.How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community's determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman's willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people's freedom.Trade ReviewSweeping and quietly devastating . . . In Kosawa, Mbue has created a place and a people alive with emotional range . . . Profoundly affecting * * New York Times * *The unforgettable story of a community on the wrong end of Western greed, How Beautiful We Were will enthral you, appal you and show you what is possible when a few people stand up and say "this is not right". A masterful novel by a spellbinding writer engaged with the most urgent questions of our day -- DAVID EBERSHOFF, New York Times bestselling author of THE DANISH GIRLImbolo Mbue would be a formidable storyteller anywhere, in any language. It's our good luck that she and her stories are American -- JONATHAN FRANZENA David and Goliath story for our times, a riveting tale of how people coming together to make change can topple even the fiercest, best-financed foe * * O, The Oprah Magazine * *How Beautiful We Were goes to the heart of one of the most urgent matters of the day. The highly suspenseful story of an African village's struggle for survival and justice in the face of ruthless American corporate greed is written with remarkable acuity and compassion. Mbue has given us a book with the richness and power of a great contemporary fable, and a heroine for our time -- SIGRID NUNEZ, author of THE FRIEND, winner of the National Book AwardImbolo Mbue's revelatory novel of a fictional African village ruined by Big Oil is a mighty addition to the stacks * * ELLE * *What a beautiful book! I can't tell you how many times I cried for these characters, their place and their story . . . Beautifully written with moving and vivid descriptions, engaging complex characters, interesting plots, and tension so tightly wound that at times I found myself holding my breath -- YVONNE BATTLE-FELTON, author of REMEMBEREDTells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Exploring what happens when the reckless drive for profit comes up against one community's determination to hold onto its ancestral land, it makes for unputdownable reading * * Glamour, Best new novel you won't want to put down * *Imbolo Mbue crafts an aching narrative about greed, community and perseverance * * Time * *A generation of narrative voices, many of them children, shape this sweeping, elegiac story of capitalism, colonialism and boundless greed, reminding us of the myriad ways we fail to make a better world for our children * * Esquire * *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD AND THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE AND THE WOMEN'S PRIZEThe moving, powerful and urgent English-language debut from one of the brightest young stars in world literatureSuppose you and Pa were gone, and we were lost. What would happen then?A family in New York packs the car and sets out on a road trip. This will be the last journey they ever take together.In Central America and Mexico, thousands of children are on a journey of their own, travelling north to the US border. Not all of them will make it there.Trade Review'Fascinating, haunting, poetic' Sunday Times ‘A mould-breaking new classic … The novel truly becomes novel again in her hands – electric, elastic, alluring, new’ New York Times ‘Daring, wholly original, brilliant … a twist on the great American road trip novel, a book about alienation that chronicles fractures, divides, and estrangement’ NPR ‘Timely and poignant’ Vogue ‘A wonderfully subtle story in which the experience of migrant children is filtered through the delicate, funny, effortlessly poetic account of a family’s road trip from New York to the Mexican border’ Guardian ‘Roving and beautiful … a searing indictment of America’s border policy' Daily Mail ‘Powerful and urgent’ Stylist

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Book SynopsisThe latest installation in the beloved Isabel Dalhousie series''Cosy and effortlessly charming'' Herald''Delightful'' Sunday Telegraph''Humorous and thought-provoking'' Undiscovered ScotlandIsabel Dalhousie joins the advisory committee of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, but soon finds herself swept up in a delicate dispute between members of a prominent family. David''s support for Scottish nationalism puts him at odds with his sister Catriona and her socialist views, threatening family harmony. Always one for courteous resolutions to philosophical disagreements, Isabel can''t help but intercede when she is asked to by their mother, Laura, a fellow committee member.Meanwhile, Jamie, having criticised Isabel for getting involved in the affairs of others, does precisely that himself when he suspects the conductor of his ensemble may have selected a new cellist based on something oTrade ReviewThe moral centre of the novel is stated with restraint and elegance... For all its gentle humour, this latest novel shows Alexander McCall Smith to be a steely moralist -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *A gentle exploration of morality... cosy and effortlessly charming * Herald *McCall Smith delves into the inner machinations of a modern-day philosopher whose nuanced approach stands in stark contrast to the fiery rhetoric of the day... While touching on a variety of topics, the tone is never preachy or pedantic but instead is an open examination of how to lead a moral life... Hand this title to those looking for a more contemplative approach to their mysteries * Library Journal *An intriguing and rather beguiling book that is by turns humorous and thought-provoking * Undiscovered Scotland *

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Book SynopsisTHE MILLION COPY #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY IS BACK WITH THE NEW BOOK OF THE MOMENTDelicious'' JOJO MOYES''Super-sharp, lethally witty'' NIGELLA LAWSONWonderfully wicked'RED''Very funny I inhaled it'' JOE LYCETT?Taut, pacy, seamless a huge pleasure to read' MARIAN KEYESI was immensely grateful that despite the gruesome way my husband died, he'd done it with his clothes on.'Anthony Wistern is wealthy beyond imagination. Fragrant wife, gaggle of photogenic children, French chateau, Cotswold manor, plethora of mistresses, penchant for cutting moral corners, tick tick tick tick tick tick.Unfortunately for him, he's also dead. Suddenly poised to inherit his fortune, each member of the family falls under suspicion.And that's when everything comes crashing down''A blend of Miss Marple-style whodunnit and social comedy a gleeful satirising of the awfulness of the 1 per cent in TV shows such as The White Lotus and Succession'SUNDAY TIMES, Pick of the MonthMackie has assembled a gloriously repugnant cast everyone here, apart from her rather sweet TikTok sleuth, is dreadful, but in a pleasurably awful way A dark, funny story of a very dysfunctional family' OBSERVERWonderfully wicked' RED MAGAZINEFerociously entertaining' GOOD HOUSEKEEPINGGripping, sharp and funny, this window on the mega-wealthy is perfect for fans of Succession' WOMAN & HOMEAnother caustic satire from the million-copy bestseller of How to Kill Your Family' i NEWS''Still not over Succession? A dysfunctional family with four inheritance-obsessed children gives the Roy clan a run for its money, with a murderous twist'' SUNDAY TIMES STYLEWHAT READERS LOVE ABOUT BELLA MACKIE:Just when you think you''re a step ahead, she pulls something out of the bag' ?????Caustic sarcasm delivered with elegance' ?????Mackie's writing is sharp and funny' ?????Her sarcasm knows no bounds and I love it' ?????Sparky, slick, wildly compulsive' ?????Macabre, flippant, and darkly hilarious' ?????Her irreverent, withering put-downs and sharply observed comments' ?????What A Way To Go was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 16.09.24

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Book SynopsisFrom the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of Weyward: FOUR SISTERS, SEPARATED BY HISTORY, BOUND BY THE SEA ''Beautiful and magnificent'' Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE''A profoundly moving and rich historical story wrapped up in a contemporary murder mystery' ROSIE ANDREWS, author of THE LEVIATHANWhen Lucy arrives at her sister's house in a wild panic, she doesn't find the solace she's desperately seeking only an abandoned house, in a town steeped in mystery.As Lucy searches for her sister, instead she uncovers tales of missing men. Stories of women drowned just off the coast two hundred years before. Rumours of their voices on the waves.Can the voices lead Lucy to her sister or are they trying to pull them both under?''I can''t wait to see what Emilia Hart writes next'' Kate MortonREADERS ARE SAYINGThis book is a beauty. A real hidden gem. Beautifully woven storytelling' ??????????I devoured this book in a few days, desperate to get the next piece of the puzzle' ??????????There are few reads that leave me completely speechless and this is one of them' ??????????A truly captivating book' ??????????Emilia Hart''s book ''The Sirens'' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2025-02-17.

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Book SynopsisHeather, Rachel and Antonia are going to Almanby. Heather needs to find her boyfriend who, like so many, went and never came back. Rachel has a mysterious package to deliver, and her life depends on it. And Antonia - poor, lovestruck Antonia just wants the chance to spend the day with Heather. So off they set through the idyllic yet perilous English countryside, in which nature thrives in abundance and summer lasts forever. And as they travel through ever-shifting geography and encounter strange voices in the fizz of shortwave radio, the harder it becomes to tell friend from foe. Creepy, dreamlike, unsettling and unforgettable - you are about to join the privileged few who come to understand exactly why we don''t go to Almanby.

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Book SynopsisShe's no damsel in distress, and he's certainly not wearing shining armour. But one knight can change everything?Daisy Hastings has always thought she was born in the wrong era. So when she bags a summer job at the Tower of London helping to run their Knight school, it feels like a step in the right direction.Theodore Teddy' Fairfax is a loose cannon. A disgraced distant relative of the royal family, he's tall, dark and now (begrudgingly) helping with the Tower of London's summer programme and there's nowhere he'd like to be less.When Teddy's oath to be an obstruction almost gets Daisy fired, she declares war. But as the two cross swords, they start to discover they both need a little rescuingAnd that maybe, just maybe, love can bloom, even on a battlefieldReaders are falling hard for Love at First Knight!''I LOVED this book!'' NetGalley review ?????''I was in love from page one.'' NetGalley review ?????''So cute!'' NetGalley review ?????''I finished the book in a single sitting. Coul

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Book SynopsisAN ADRENALINE-CHARGED NEW WILDE & CHASE ADVENTURE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHORArchaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, former SAS soldier Eddie Chase, believe their globe-trotting adventures are over - the biggest worry being how their now-adult daughter Macy is going to spend her life.But after the violent theft of dangerous relics, with the only surviving guard claiming his attackers were angels, Nina and Eddie are thrust back into action. Without their knowledge, though, Macy is approached by a mysterious group called the Knights of Atlantis - who want to recruit her.In a deadly race stretching from the glamorous French Riviera to the blistering heat of the Karakum desert, Nina and Eddie must confront mercenaries, secret societies and the machinations of the world''s first trillionaire - with the fate of the world in their hands...Praise for Andy McDermott:''Action, adventure and mayhem aplenty'' SCOTT MARIANI''A writer of almost cinematic talent'' DAILY EXPRESS''Adventure stories don''t get much more epic than this'' DAILY MIRROR

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of the Great Blackout, faced with the near-extinction of humanity, a pair of lovers speak to each other. They parse, with precision, with familiarity, the endless aspects of their love. Out of their dialogues, piece by piece, a composite image of love takes form, one that moves outwards beyond the realm of relationships and into metaphysics, geology, linguistics, AI. Years previously, a writer and her husband, a Latin professor, stay in Venice while she works on a text. As they roam the city, strange occurrences accumulate, signalling that the world around them is heading towards a point of no return. Blending fiction and essay, poetry and philosophy, Agustín Fernández Mallo’s The Book of All Loves is a startling, expansive work of imaginative agility, one that renders love unfamiliar so as to renew it, and makes the case for hope in the midst of a disintegrating present. Trade Review‘Here, a sense of menace and a kind of melancholy tension are beautifully realised in Mallo’s brooding prose.’ — Michael Cronin, Irish Times‘There are certain writers whose work you turn to knowing you’ll find extraordinary things there. Borges is one of them, Bolaño another. Agustín Fernández Mallo has become one, too.’ — Chris Power, author of A Lonely Man‘A protean taxonomy of love whose shape veers between three modes, that of commonplace book, gendered dialogue and metafiction. Agustín Fernández Mallo finds not one but many envelopes to contain the cosmos.’ — Jesse Ball, author of Autoportrait‘The Book of All Loves defies definition. The prose gallops on from one shining brilliance to the next, both disarmingly playful and devastating. Gorgeous, melancholic, mysterious – it is a book to be read again, many times.’ — Claire Oshetsky, author of Chouette‘In his Book of All Loves, Fernández Mallo offers us an encyclopaedia of loves, each one sounding – as if for the first time – as a pure tone, from an infinite spectrum of tones. Here is a book unlike any other, a book that recreates and regenerates love, even as it asks us whether it is strong enough to hold.’ — Amy Arnold, author of Lori & Joe‘The Book of All Loves is a deeply poetic novel ... Fernández Mallo reflects on the present through the past, and projects us into a future where the conditions of the self, the environment, relationships and the body are all called into question.’ — El Mundo‘Reading Agustín Fernández Mallo is the closest thing in literature to putting on a VR headset.' — La Vanguardia‘The Book of All Loves is at once an essay, an ode and a gospel, where two lovers become the link between one world ending and another being born, and using deep geological time to explain why some people stay with us our whole lives.’ — ABC España‘The most original and powerful author of his generation in Spain.’ — Mathias Enard, author of The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild‘One of the best writers in Spanish, with an absolutely unique style and fictional world.’ — Jorge Carrión, New York Times in Spanish‘A strange and original sensibility at work – one that combines a deep commitment to the possibilities of art with a gonzo spirit and a complete absence of pretention.’ — Christopher Beha, Harper’s

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Book Synopsis??A bad boy hockey player is exactly what she never wanted ??The first ever hockey romance now with new and expanded scenes from the author of BookTok sensations Off-Campus and Briar U! ***After a childhood spent being dragged around the country by her hockey coach father, Hayden Houston intends to take some time to figure out her future. Whether that future will include her currently off-again boyfriend remains to be seen. What it certainly won't include is the for-one-night-only guy she just met at a bar.It seems hockey star Brody Croft did not get the memo about being temporary. Big, bold and driven, he's dedicated in everything he does. Up till now, that's been his team the one owned by Hayden's dad. But his night with Hayden has sparked something he didn't expect. The two of them are good together. Really good. There's a connection he's never experienced before, one he knows they'd be wrong to ignore. Even with a game-fixing scandal testing both their loyalties to teammates, to friends to family.Part of Hayden wants to turn tail and run. A complicated relationship with a bad boy hockey player is exactly what she never wanted. But when it comes to Brody, Hayden is realizing that people can be so much more than what they seem Readers are OBSESSED with Body Check:''Warning you''ll fall in love with Brody'' ?????''Perfect for the hockey romance lover inside you'' ?????''Elle Kennedy's steamy writing keeps me coming back for more'' ?????''Elle Kennedy writes the best hockey romances I have ever read'' ?????''Excellent characters, great plot and steamy scenes'' ?????''Loved every second'' ?????Tropes:??Good girl x Bad boy??Boy obsessed??Dual POV??He falls first

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Book SynopsisRemember me? Relive Takumi Fujiwara's journey from tofu delivery boy to street-racing legend in an all-new, large-sized, 2-in-1 print edition of the series that made Japanese street racing into a worldwide phenomenon.Contains a new translation of Initial D Vol. 7-8.Keisuke Takahashi's technique is improving. As the Akagi Red Suns resume their travel challenging street racing teams, Keisuke goes up against Takeshi Nakazato of the Night Kids on his home turf of Mount Myogi. But when roads turn slippery in a downpour, will they slide out of control or manage to reach the top?This edition is still running in the '90s but features a refreshed translation and lettering for the 2020s, as well as a special large size.

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR GLOBAL NETFLIX ADAPTATION STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, KEVIN BACON, ETHAN HAWKE AND MAHERSHALA ALI *A THE TIMES #1 BESTSELLER* *THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK 2021* 'Easily the best thing I have read all year' KILEY REID, AUTHOR OF SUCH A FUN AGE 'Intense, incisive, I loved this and have still not quite shaken off the unease' DAVID NICHOLLS 'I was hooked from the opening pages' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'Simply breathtaking . . . An extraordinary book, at once smart, gripping and hallucinatory’ OBSERVER _______ A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a holiday: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter. But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another? _______ FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2020 FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2021 A DAILY TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMES AND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR Everyone is talking about LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND 'You will probably need to read it in as close to one sitting as possible’ Sunday Times 'A page-turner taking in themes of isolation, race and class’ Guardian ‘A book that could have been tailor-made for our times’ The Times ‘A literary page-turner that will keep you awake even after it ends’ Mail on Sunday 'An exceptional examination of race and class and what the world looks like when it's ending' Roxane Gay 'A thrilling book - one that will speak to readers who have felt the terror of isolation in these recent months and one that will simultaneously, as great books do, lift them out of it' Vogue 'Explores complex ideas about privilege and fate with miraculous wit and grace' Jenny Offill ‘For the reader, the invisible terror outside in Leave the World Behind echoes the sense of disquiet today in a world convulsed by the pandemic’ Financial Times 'Alam's achievement is to see that his genre's traditional arc, which relies on the idea of aftermath, no longer makes sense. Today, disaster novels call for something different' New Yorker 'Read it with the lights on' Jenna Bush Hager, October Book Club pickTrade ReviewStupendously good . . . Simply breathtaking, full of moments of exquisite recognition, as terrifying and prescient as Cormac McCarthy’s The Road . . . Leave the World Behind is an extraordinary book, at once smart, gripping and hallucinatory . . . When future generations (if that term doesn’t sound over-optimistic at the moment) want to know what it was like to live through the nightmare of 2020, this is the novel they’ll reach for * Observer *Would be resonant and terrifying even in a more normal year . . . In his dazzling prose, his fascination with catastrophe and his apparent ability to portend the future, Alam is a worthy descendant of Don DeLillo . . . You will probably need to read it in as close to one sitting as possible * Sunday Times *A sensation . . . A tense, atmospheric, splendidly written attempt to grapple with impending doom … Even in its infancy, Leave the World Behind was well poised to become the book of an era . . . A striking, unsettling novel * Independent *Without any exaggeration, I can honestly say that I devoured Leave the World Behind, in one greedy, uneasy gulp. It’s a taut page-turner – one that starts out as a smart, knowing, contemporary comedy of manners, but quickly spirals into an apocalyptic nightmare so terrifyingly realistic that it sent shivers down my spine * Daily Telegraph *For the reader, the invisible terror outside in Leave the World Behind echoes the sense of disquiet today in a world convulsed by the pandemic. There are intense parallels between the unreality of life in the Long Island bolt-hole described in the book and lockdown . . . The novel excels in its dissection of modern liberal America and forces the reader to confront the limits of their own heroism in the face of disaster * Financial Times *A book that could have been tailor-made for our times, with its tale of racial tensions and an unnatural disaster . . . It’s a close-up narrative, and its strength lies in the emotional pull . . . There’s something for everyone: that is, to terrify everyone, from parents to nature lovers to hypochondriacs * The Times *A page-turner, taking in themes of isolation, race and class . . . As the author of a book about people trapped inside a house by a huge event, desperate for information, Alam is a curious prophet . . . Alam has an almost anthropological eye for the absurdities of the upper-middle class, for the blindness of white people . . . Leave the World Behind was influenced by Jordan Peele’s film Get Out, apparent in Alam’s acuity on whiteness. But the closest literary comparison could be Shirley Jackson, whose cold, detached voice can be heard in Alam’s narrator when we are shown glimpses of what is happening in the wider world * Guardian *Rumaan Alam creates an atmosphere of dread so convincing and prescient that it stays with the reader long after reading . . . Explores issues of race, class and identity in the face of overwhelming disaster * Irish Times *Alam has built an apocalyptic thriller around a single concept: what would you do if the world was crumbling around you? . . . This novel is catching hold of its readers, and it’s easy to see why . . . A bracing read. The story is crafted with a deft lightness of touch and, at a mere 240 pages, it’s brisk and unfaltering. But it’s the eeriness of the burgeoning apocalypse, and the paralytic inability of the protagonists to help themselves, that will stay with you the longest * Irish Independent *An exacting and dread-inducing story of suspicion, prejudice and hysteria . . . It feels so entwined with the DNA of 2020, capturing the hallucinatory quality which time takes on when stuck inside not knowing what the future holds * Esquire *Once you read this topical and gripping novel, it’s all you’ll want to talk about * Stylist *Rumaan Alam’s elegant novel presents a scenario familiar to many readers of contemporary fiction in 2020: a mass power meltdown . . . Alam controls the tension by almost imperceptible degrees . . . A wonderful novel about the figurative walls we build to keep the world outside * Metro *If the first half can turn a mirror on you, the second half will shatter it . . . Undeniably haunting * New York Times *Poised to be one of the biggest titles of the fall . . . A comedy of manners wrapped inside a tense disaster plot * New York Magazine *A slippery and duplicitous marvel of a novel . . . Leave the World Behind is atmospheric and prescient: its rhythms of comedy alternating with shock and despair mimic so much of the rhythms of life right now . . . A signature novel for this blasted year * NPR *Rarely have I encountered a book so cuttingly prescient about the current emotional atmosphere . . . Alam’s deployment of creepy, inexplicable detail is masterful . . . This is a thrilling book - one that will speak to readers who have felt the terror of isolation in these recent, torturous months and one that will simultaneously, as great books do, lift them out of it * Vogue *Alam has written a genuine literary thriller, one that is also a disturbing window into our precarious age * Independent *The fall's biggest novel * Entertainment Weekly *Enthralling . . . Alam keeps close to his characters, who, like insects in acrylic, remain trapped in a state of suspended unease. This, he suggests, is the modern disaster – the precarity of American life, which leaves us unsure, always, if things can get worse . . . Alam’s achievement is to see that his genre’s traditional arc, which relies on the idea of aftermath, no longer makes sense. Today, disaster novels call for something different, a recognition that we won’t find a new normal * New Yorker *Like Stephen King’s 1980 novella The Mist, Leave the World Behind expertly illustrates the horror of the unknown, the almost painful humanity we feel when facing down the end and, of course, human nature under duress. During an era of plague, racism, hatred, and division, this tale of a vacation gone awry is terrifyingly prescient * Rolling Stone *One of the eeriest, most disturbing stories I've read in some time . . . The contours of everything might be recognisable, but what's contained within is wholly deranged * Refinery 29 *Riveting and claustrophobic, Leave the World Behind invites us to sit with our discomfort and reflect on our own rushed judgments, delivering a dazzling and dark examination of family, race, class and what matters most when the impossible becomes possible * Esquire *Leave the World Behind is that rarest of things: a beautifully written, emotionally resonant page-turner. Alam explores complex ideas about privilege and fate with miraculous wit and grace * Jenny Offill, author of Weather *Perfectly paced, clever and haunting . . . This is one of those stories that inspires a hungry turn of pages, preceded by that desperate and lovely need to come up for air. So easily the best thing I've read all year * Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age *This is an exceptional examination of race and class and what the world looks like when it’s ending – not at all different from the world we are in now * Roxane Gay, author of Hunger *Rumaan Alam's Leave the World Behind is a canny Trojan horse of a novel, and also a Pandora's Box. Like the family at its center, we're seduced utterly by the bounty and insularity of its world, only to find ourselves, inch by inch, approaching a larger darkness lurking just beyond. With a potent Shirley Jackson energy, it is both eerily timeless and sharply prescient at once, and lingers long after its final page * Megan Abbott, author of Give Me Your Hand *Leave the World Behind is so many things--funny, sharp, insightful about modernity and race and parenthood and home--but at its core it's a story of our shared apocalypse; a steady look at humanity in the moment it tumbles from a great height. I have not been this profoundly unnerved by a science fiction novel since Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. * Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties *Here in your hands, wrapped in the delicious cloth of suspense, Rumaan Alam begs us to ask the most important questions. How do we let the other in? Where do we draw the borders of home? A prescient book, built for these strange times, sure to entrance and electrify * Samantha Hunt, author of The Dark Dark *Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam's third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped--and unexpected new ones are forged--in moments of crisis * Laura Lippman, author of Lady in the Lake *

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Book SynopsisRead the Sunday Times bestseller, The Summer Swap, the heart-warming new novel from Sarah Morgan, out now. Another great read from Sarah Morgan A story of family, friendships and forgiveness and its beautifully written with warm-hearted characters I loved it' Reader review ?????The Summer Swap is another great roller coaster of an emotional novel from Sarah Morgan. There is romance, heartbreak and the uncovering of long-held secrets and mistaken assumptions Difficult to put down!' Reader review, ?????* * *It''s never too late to start over again A summer escapeWhen Cecilia Lapthorne's 75th birthday celebrations take an unexpected turn, she seeks solace away from the festivities and escapes to Dune Cottage without telling her family where she's going.A new friendshipLily Thomas, a struggling artist, has secretly been staying in the unoccupied cottage. When Cecilia discovers Lily during a late-night visit, an unexpected bond forms between the two women.A chance to start over Then Cec

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Book SynopsisA gorgeously written novel set over the course of one life-changing summer in an isolated Australian coastal townTrade Review'Lush and gorgeous... A delicious read, beautifully written and emotionally satisfying.' New York Times'This intimate debut charts the course of a formative age-gap love affair set evocatively on the wild coast of Australia's New South Wales... A poignant exploration of love, need, desire, time and motherhood.' Daily Mail'Thirst for Salt gripped me immediately, with the tender acuity of its voice and the propulsive electricity of the relationship at its core.' Leslie Jamison, author of The Recovering'[A] sly, sensual debut about mothers and lovers... Lucas's writing is soft and sinuous, as sensual when she's detailing the landscape as she is about sex.' Sunday Telegraph'A woman looks back on a lifechanging summer in her 20s, when she fell in love with a much older man, in this nuanced love story. The descriptions of the small coastal town in Australia are so beautiful that you will want to visit.' Good Housekeeping'A mesmerizing portrait of a romance with graceful, seductive writing... This novel has a sea glass quality - timeworn, beautiful, worth holding onto.' Bustle'Luscious and melancholy... Sensual and electric.' Foreword Reviews (starred review)'A sensual coming-of-age novel.' NYLON'I'm astounded this is a debut and was swept away with the exquisite writing.' Prima'The writing is rich, sensuous and attentive... As a novel that illustrates the need to organise life into narrative, such fealty to the past self is refreshing.' Irish Times'Lucas writes as if she's telling the story at a dinner party, with a lingering pace and an easy familiarity with the characters.' Guardian

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW NOVEL BY THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE WEEKEND, NOW LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024A Guardian Book of the Summer 2024A Book of the Year for the Sydney Morning Herald and ABCShortlisted for the Victorian Premier''s Literary Award Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year Shortlisted for the ABIA Award for Literary Fiction Longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award ''A beautiful, mature work that does not flinch from life''SUNDAY TIMES''A book about what it means to be good: simply and with great humility, it asks the big questions, leaving the reader feeling kinder, more brave, enlarged''ANNE ENRIGHT, author of The Wren, The Wren ''I have rarely been so absorbed by a novel . . . A powerful, generous book''GUARDIAN''Beautiful, strange and otherworldly''PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of

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Book SynopsisMaud Ventura lives in Paris. She led the podcast division of one of France's major radio stations and speaks fluent English. My Husband, her first novel, was a bestseller in France and winner of the Prix du Premier Roman.Emma Ramadan (translator) is the recipient of the PEN Translation Prize, the Albertine Prize, an NEA Fellowship, and a Fulbright Scholarship. She lives in Brooklyn.

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Book SynopsisTHE 12 MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LEWIS TRILOGY AND THE ENZO FILESAWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2021'Peter May is one of the most accomplished novelists writing today.' Undiscovered Scotland 'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.' New York Journal of BooksIn the second novel in the China series, Li Yan and Margaret Campbell are reluctantly reunited, on the trail of a killer reenacting a series of gruesome ritualsTHE SECOND OPINIONThe Chinese police have once more been forced to enlist the services of American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell: this time to investigate a series of four horrific ritual executions that have taken place in Beijing.THE THIRD DEGREEDetective Li Yan is determined to discover just how one of the victims in particular, an American diplomat, became caught up in the slaying. And he is arguably even more determined to have nothing to do with Campbell.THE FOURTH SACRIFICEThe polarity that once attracted Yan and Campbell eventually pulls them back into partnership. Yet the closer they are drawn to the truth, the nearer they come to a killer prepared to use extreme force to conceal it.LOVED THE FOURTH SACRIFICE? Read the third book in the series, THE KILLING ROOMLOVE PETER MAY? Buy his new thriller, THE NIGHT GATETrade ReviewPraise for Peter May:He is a terrific writer doing something different. -- Mark BillinghamFrom the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer. -- Sophie HannahWonderfully compelling. -- Kate MosseA true pleasure to read. * Guardian *Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth. * New York Times *One of the best regarded crime series of recent years. -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent, on the Lewis trilogy *Lyrical, empathetic and moving. -- Alex GrayA wonderfully complex book. -- Peter James, on Entry IslandMay's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships. * Sunday Times *Will have the reader relishing every tendency of description and characterization. -- Barry Forshaw * Independent *Dark, exciting and atmospheric. * Scotland on Sunday *Powerful and authentic. * Glasgow Sunday Herald *

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Book SynopsisJingqiu, an innocent young woman from a politically questionable family in the city, is selected as one of a small group of students to be sent to the countryside to work on a project that will further the Cultural Revolution. Clever, curious and eager, she tries to fit in with her hosts and the rural way of life, and it isn't appropriate for her to fall in love. But she does, with the son of a mighty army general. This beautiful, simple story of love against the odds will break your heart.

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Book SynopsisOn a dark and stormy night, an unnamed narrator is visited by two women: one a former lover, the other a stranger. They ruthlessly question their host and claim to know his greatest secret: that he is, in fact, a woman. In increasingly desperate attempts to defend his masculinity, perplexed by the stranger’s dubious claims to be the writer Amparo Dávila, he finds himself spiralling deeper into a haunted past that may or may not be his own. This surreal novel enfolds a masterful exploration of gender in taut, atmospheric mystery.Trade Review`A key work of Mexican literature.’ Elena Poniatowska ---------- `An intelligent, beautiful story about bodies disguised as a story about language disguised as a story about night terrors. Cristina Rivera Garza does not respect what is expected of a writer, of a novel, of language. She is an agitator.’ Yuri Herrera --------- `Warning: Cristina Rivera Garza is an explosive writer yet to be fully accounted for in English. An insubordinate stylist, a skilled creator of atmospheric and haunting language, The Iliac Crest is a willfully queer piece where the workings of her wild imagination destabilize everything.’ Lina Meruane ---------- `Like the ocean itself, Cristina Rivera Garza writes a world where borders shift and dissolve. In the curves of the fantastic, the highest realism is born. This world is weird. This world is so deeply true. I love this wholly perfect book.’ Samantha Hunt

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Book SynopsisSweetpea TV series starring Ella Purnell coming out on Sky Atlantic in October!Victim. Murderer. Serial Killer. What next?Since confessing to her bloody murder spree Rhiannon Lewis, the now-notorious Sweetpea killer, has been feeling out-of-sorts.Having fled the UK on a cruise ship to start her new life, Rhiannon should be feeling happy. But it's hard to turn over a new leaf when she's stuck in an oversized floating tin can with the Gammonati and screaming kids. Especially when they remind her of Ivy the baby she gave up for a life carrying on killing.Rhiannon is all at sea. She's lost her taste for blood but is it really gone for good? Maybe Rhiannon is realising that there's more to life than deathReaders are LOVING Dead HeadI absolutely loved it! Team Rhiannon' NetGalley reviewer ?????Deliciously dark' NetGalley reviewer ?????A truly brilliant comedy thriller series' NetGalley reviewer ?????Trade Review Praise for C.J. Skuse ‘This darkly comic novel…has the potential to become a cult classic.’ Daily Mail ‘Filthy and funny… a compulsive read’ Sunday Times ‘This isn’t a book for the squeamish or the faint-hearted … think Bridget Jones meets American Psycho’ Red ‘Dark, depraved and devilishly delicious. A full throttle savage and satirical thriller’ John Marrs, author of The One ‘Hilarious, refreshing, dark and memorable. It doesn’t disappoint, I loved it’ Phoebe Morgan ‘You MUST read this book especially if you like your (anti) heroes dirty-mouthed, deadly and dark, dark dark. ADORED IT' Fiona Cummins, author of Rattle ‘Pitch dark, laugh-out-loud hilarious – the Sweetpea series is pure genius escapism’ Susi Holliday ‘Fascinating, intriguing and twist after twist in the tale’ Suzy K Quinn ‘Dark and wickedly funny, and as dry and acerbic as Fleabag, it’s hard not to love Rhiannon Lewis’ Claire Allan ‘Sweetpea hits all the right buttons. A dark, twisted read about a female serial killer with dollops of humour, sarcasm and a lightweight approach…keeping you gripped and on the hook, both smiling and squirming.’ Maxim Jakubowski, Lovereading ‘Witty, vulgar, sweary, darkly funny, but enthralling – a must-read for thriller fans’ My Weekly ‘This book is OUTRAGEOUS’ Compulsive Readers ‘This anti-hero is psychotic without doubt, sexually voracious and incredibly funny’ Shots magazine

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Book SynopsisMaria, a trans woman in her thirties, is going nowhere. She spends her aimless days working in a New York bookstore, trying to remain true to a punk ethos while drinking herself into a stupor and having a variety of listless and confusing sexual encounters.After her girlfriend cheats on her, Maria steals her car and heads for the Pacific, embarking on her version of the Great American Road Trip.Along the way she stops in Reno, Nevada, and meets James, a young man who works in the local Wal-Mart. Maria recognizes elements of her younger self in James and the pair quickly form an unlikely but powerful connection, one that will have big implications for them both.Nevada is a hilarious, groundbreaking cult classic from Imogen Binnie that inspired a whole literary movement, and is now published in the UK for the very first time.Part of the Picador Collection, a new series showcasing the best of modern literature.Trade ReviewThis is the book that launched the trans writing scene in Brooklyn that changed my own life. The scene had a basic premise: trans women writing for other trans women. It seems simple, but it had revolutionary effects, similar to Toni Morrison's famous declaration that she 'writes for Black women.' [Nevada] remains an original -- Torrey PetersI fully tip my hat to former fellow Maximum Rock N Roll columnist and my sibling in the latter-day queer punk literary revolution; I say without hesitation that we do not deserve Imogen Binnie AT ALL...it is truly a joy to watch a master of suspense paint the page with a both-feet-on-the-gas-pedal inner monologue, that is at once, spontaneous, acidic, razor sharp observant, fully embodied and (most importantly) vulnerable...TENS ACROSS THE GODDAMN BOARD.' -- Brontez PurnellI've told people that Nevada is the On the Road of trans literature, but that's glib and unfair to Imogen Binnie, who is a lot smarter than Jack Kerouac. Nevada crept in under cover of night in 2013 and assumed its position as a classic while everyone's attention was elsewhere...this is one for the ages. -- Lucy Sante

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZEFEATURED ON BBC'S BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUBPenelope Fitzgerald's Booker Prize-winning novel of loneliness and connecting is set among the houseboat community of the Thames, with an introduction from Alan Hollinghurst.On Battersea Reach, a mixed bag of the temporarily lost and the patently eccentric live on houseboats, rising and falling with the tide of the Thames.There is good-natured Maurice, by occupation a male prostitute, by chance a receiver of stolen goods. And Richard, an ex-navy man whose boat, much like its owner, dominates the Reach. Then there is Nenna, an abandoned wife and mother of two young girls running wild on the muddy foreshore, whose domestic predicament, as it deepens, will draw this disparate community together.Trade ReviewPraise for Penelope Fitzgerald and Offshore: ‘An astonishing book. Hardly more than 50,000 words, it is written with a manic economy that makes it seem even shorter, and with a tamped-down force that continually explodes in a series of exactly controlled detonations. Offshore is a marvellous achievement: strong, supple, humane, ripe, generous and graceful.’ Bernard Levin, Sunday Times ‘She writes the kind of fiction in which perfection is almost to be hoped for, unostentatious as true virtuosity can make it, its texture a pure pleasure.’ Frank Kermode, London Review of Books ‘Perfectly balanced…the novelistic equivalent of a Turner watercolour.’ Washington Post ‘Reading a Penelope Fitzgerald novel is like being taken for a ride in a peculiar kind of car. Everything is of top quality – the engine, the coachwork and the interior all fill you with confidence. Then, after a mile or so, someone throws the steering-wheel out of the window.’ Sebastian Faulks ‘This Booker prize winner is a slightly dark, witty novel … The brilliant Fitzgerald takes a subtle squint at thwarted love, loneliness and the human need to be necessary’ Val Hennessy, Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisJim Francis has finally found the perfect life – and is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter and sculptor, he lives quietly with his wife, Melanie, and their two young daughters, in an affluent beach town in California. Some say he’s a fake and a con man, while others see him as a genuine visionary.But Francis has a very dark past, with another identity and a very different set of values. When he crosses the Atlantic to his native Scotland, for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew, his old Edinburgh community expects him to take bloody revenge. But as he confronts his previous life, all those friends and enemies – and, most alarmingly, his former self – Francis seems to have other ideas.When Melanie discovers something gruesome in California, which indicates that her husband’s violent past might also be his psychotic present, things start to go very bad, very quickly. The Blade Artist is an elegant, electrifying novel – ultra violent but curiously redemptive – and it marks the return of one of modern fiction’s most infamous, terrifying characters, the incendiary Francis Begbie from Trainspotting.Trade ReviewBack to his violent best… Dark, gruesome and captivating. -- Sam Parker * Esquire *It’s a thriller in the mode of Tarantino making war films or westerns; hiding grand themes within genre. -- Alan Bett * Skinny *Intense, electrifying… Welsh has delivered a tremendously entertaining book – a whodunit, a thriller, and a probing character study – that’s obsessed with conflict, both physical and mental… A surprisingly poignant, evocative read – highly recommended. * Mr Hyde *In a year when filming begins on Danny Boyle’s sequel of sorts to Trainspotting, it seems perfect timing to revisit its most visceral force. * Skinny *[Begbie’s] intelligence and instinct make him compelling, and Welsh keep the plot roaring along… This is a dark, guilty pleasure and written with – it seems to me – the cinema screen in mind. -- Kate Muir * The Times *

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